By the end of rehearsal the following week, Melissa was feeling quite anxious about the ride home. She’d been asking around, but had not had any luck in finding someone else to take her home that week.
Jon stood patiently waiting as she packed up her things and got ready to go. She could feel his eyes on her and wished she hadn’t worn such a low cut shirt. Stupid warm weather.. she thought to herself.
The ride to her house was very quiet.. as a matter of fact, they’d barely talked since the pool party on Saturday. She wondered if she might be able to just hop out of the truck and go inside today. She felt a strange sense of almost obligation toward Jon, and didn’t know whether that or the idea of being alone in the truck in the driveway made her feel more uncomfortable.
Melissa breathed a sigh of relief as they pulled into the driveway and she saw that the garage door was open. Her mother was just getting out of her car. Jon pulled into the driveway and Melissa took off her seat belt and smiled broadly at him. But he was staring into the open garage, hand still on the gear shifter.
“Well, I guess I better go in.” Melissa said, as her mother waved at them. Jon smiled back at her with an obvious look of disappointment in his eyes.
“Yeah, I guess so.” he replied. She leaned over and gave him a quick hug.
“See you tomorrow.”
“Hey, are you going out this weekend?” Jon asked as she reached for the door handle. “John and Tom and I were going to play pool this weekend with your brother.. you coming?”
“I don’t know..” Melissa answered. “Maybe.” and with that, she hopped out of the truck and entered the house through the open garage.
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Melissa did not join them at the pool hall. She really didn’t have much interest in going out with them, with or without her brother. After their game, John came over to hang out with her brother and help him work on his car for a while. Melissa stayed in her room most of the time that they were there.
After a couple hours of sitting in her room sketching and reading, Melissa went out to use the bathroom. As she was finishing and about to open the door, there was a knock.
Melissa opened the door to find John.
He smiled at her and raised his eyebrows, pushing his way into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.
John and Melissa had done a lot of flirting over the past two years. He was a senior this year and was getting ready to join the Army. Despite all the flirting though, nothing more than hugs had ever occurred between them.. until today.
John stepped toward her and pulled her to him. Despite the grease stains on his jeans, he still smelled of cologne and aftershave. He always smells good.. Melissa thought as his face came close to hers.
“Can I leave the bathroom, please.” Melissa said, avoiding his eyes.
“Not until you give me a kiss.” he answered. Melissa narrowed her eyes and looked him in the face. He grinned back. She stretched her neck, getting up on her toes and pecked him on the cheek.
“There.” she said. “Now, may I go?”
“You call that a kiss?” John said as he pulled her tighter to him, lifting her off her feet. His mouth covered hers and she clung to his neck as he picked her up.. not knowing what else to do. She contemplated kicking him in the shins.. but wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to. John maneuvered her to the floor and she squirmed a bit under him as he straddled her.
“I gave you a kiss.” she said. “Now let me go.”
“You didn’t give me a kiss.” he teased. “I gave you one.” He pinned her wrists to the bathroom floor with one hand and bent over her to kiss her again. Melissa twisted under him as he started to unbutton her shorts with the other hand, but the hard floor was unyielding and she could barely move.
“John..” Melissa said when he finally moved his mouth away from hers. “John, stop.”
“Stop what?” he said, sliding his hand up her shirt.
Melissa had had enough. She wriggled one of her hands free from his grasp and as he tried to catch it again, she twisted and pushed her way free from his clutches. He sat back and grinned at her, reaching behind his head and locking the bathroom door.
Melissa scrambled to her feet and watched as John’s ears perked up.. hearing the door to the garage slamming as her brother came in the house. He jumped up and left the bathroom.
Melissa shut and locked the door again behind him. Turning around, she slid down the bathroom door to the floor. She sat there, wondering how on earth she’d gotten herself into this situation..
