Spencer's Face (Buckeye Hawks)

by Autumn Brown

  “Oh I’ll do those for you. You have to do them on a special cycle.” She said to me as she grabbed the sleeping bags.

  “I need to do them.” I told her, as I pulled them away from her. I didn’t want her to see the towel. “Just show me how.”

  She gave me a funny look. “Okay. I’ll put the soap in and set it. You put the sleeping bags in.”

  After I put them in, I left the laundry room. I was in the kitchen eating some cereal when Todd walked in. “So, how did it go last night?” he asked.

  “We won. You were there.” I answered him. What was up with him?

  “I was talking about after the game, with Taylor. How was it?”

  “Good.” I answered. Did he know? I tried to keep calm. I really wanted to yell at the top of my lungs that I was so in love with her. I knew they didn’t want to hear that though. They didn’t want me to be in love. They thought I was too young. I tried to finish up my cereal really fast.

  “So, was it everything you thought it’d be?” he pressed.

  Damn, he knew. How did he know? I told him we were going to have sex sometime soon, but how did he know that it was last night? And, why did I want to hide it? I think I just wanted to protect Taylor. “It was everything I thought it would be, and a lot more.” I told him finally. I was embarrassed to talk about it. I don’t know why. We’d talked about sex several times before I actually had sex. It seemed different somehow now.

  Aunt Janel walked in about that time, and hugged me from behind. She kissed me on the cheek. She did that occasionally but it wasn’t like a daily thing. She knew too. Damn it. “Spencer, I’m really proud of you.” She said.

  Okay, that was unexpected and what was she talking about? “Huh?” I asked.

  “For washing the sleeping bags.” She explained.

  I nodded. “They were sandy and needed washed.”

  She nodded. “You don’t want to talk to us about it. Do you?” she asked as if her feelings were hurt.

  “Not really. It’s kind of personal. Well it’s really personal.” I tried to explain.

  “Are you okay?” Janel asked me as she rubbed my hair.

  “I’m good.” I assured her.

  “It hasn’t had time to hit him yet.” Todd told Janel.

  I looked at them both. It felt like they had some kind of secret that they weren’t letting me in on.

  “Or Taylor. She’s going to be in pain today if she was a virgin like you said.” Janel said.

  “She was.” I told them. I knew that for a fact. Even if she hadn’t told me, I would have known that one. Pain? The pain was over. Wasn’t it? “What are you talking about?”

  “She’s going to be sore today.” Janel explained, easing over the words. “Really sore. Her mom can explain it to her.”

  “Her mom doesn’t know.” I told Janel. “She doesn’t talk to her mother about stuff like this. I need to call her.”

  I pulled out my cell phone and speed dialed her. She didn’t pick up. “Call me when you get this.” I left a message.

  “Her mother doesn’t know she’s having sex?” Todd asked.

  “She really should be talking with her mother.” Janel said.

  “She can’t. They’re really religious. They don’t believe in sex before marriage.” I tried to explain.

  “If she needs someone to talk to, tell her she can talk to me.” Janel offered.

  “Thanks, Janel. I’ll tell her.” I told her. I couldn’t imagine Taylor actually talking to her though. She had her best friend, Sandy, that she confided in about this stuff.

  My phone rang. It was Taylor returning my call. I picked it up right away and walked toward my bedroom for some privacy. “Hi. How are you?” I asked her easily.

  “It hurts now. I feel like I’ve worked out for the first time, and really overdid it.” She said with a strained voice. “But I’ll live. It was so worth it.”

  “Does it hurt bad?” I asked her.

  “Kind of. But I can’t go back now. And I wouldn’t if I could. But what I said about every time I see you…not today. I can’t handle it today.” she said, then laughed.

  “Okay.” I laughed at her. She was too cute. I felt so bad that she was in pain though. “Are you coming over today? Even if we’re not going to have sex, I still want to see you.”

  “I’ll be there in about an hour then, just don’t expect much movement from me today.”

  “I’ll hold you in front of the television.” I told her. “See you in an hour or so.”

  We hung up. I went back into the kitchen.

  “Is she okay?” Janel asked, concerned.

  “Sore, like you said. She can hardly move.” I answered. I hated that they were asking so many personal questions, but I think they were honestly trying to help. Give me the benefit of their experience.

  “Tell her to take a hot bath and some aspirin.” Janel told me.

  “Okay.” I said. I texted Taylor the information.

  “You told them?” she texted me back.

  “They guessed when I washed the sleeping bags.” I texted her back.

  “Thanks a lot! See you Monday morning.” she texted back. Was she mad?

  “Oh no.” I said out loud.

  “Is she okay?” Todd asked.

  “She’s mad because I told you two.” I said as I went to my bedroom again. I speed dialed Taylor. She didn’t pick up. Damn. I can’t believe she’s so upset that I told my aunt and uncle. She told Sandy. I didn’t even tell Zane. “Call me back. I’m sorry.”

  She’d never been this upset before. Should I go to her house and try to talk to her? I walked back in the kitchen. “Can I borrow your car, Todd? I really need to go talk to her.”

  Todd thought about it for a second.

  “I’ll run.” I told him. It was only three miles. Hell we ran that every other day in football practice. I turned to walk out.

  “I’ll take you. I just needed my car today, Spencer.” He called to me.

  “Thanks, Todd.” I said to him. I really should take some money out of my account to buy myself a car or a truck.

  I put my shoes on and met Todd at the door. When we backed out of the garage, we almost backed in to Taylor as she was pulling into the driveway. I jumped out of the car to talk to her. She stepped out of her car and ran over to me. She slammed into my chest when I was close enough. She hugged me and held on for a few seconds. I was so relieved that she was here, and that she wasn’t so mad at me that she was going to quit speaking to me.

  “I’m sorry.” She said to me. “I’m grouchy when I’m in pain and I don’t think before I text.”

  I rubbed her back, and held her close to me for a few more seconds. “I don’t lie to them. When they ask, I answer.” I told her.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not used to a guy who tells his parents everything. Or his aunt and uncle.” She tried to explain.

  “Can you stay and watch a movie?” I asked her.

  “Sure.” She said.

  We went inside. She was embarrassed to talk to Todd and Janel, but I tried to make her feel at ease. We sneaked past them so she didn’t have to talk to them. I didn’t want to tell her, but that doesn’t work for too long in my house. She really didn’t want them knowing that she wasn’t a virgin any longer. Even if it was because of me.

  We sat on the couch together and put in a movie. I held her close. “Did you try the hot bath?” I asked her in a whisper.

  She shook her head. “No. I felt bad for being mean to you so I drove over here as quick as I could.”

  “Well, I was on my way over to you. I didn’t want you to be mad at me.”

  “Well, it is kind of your fault for being large.” She teased me.

  “Shh!” I whispered to her. “I don’t want everyone knowing that.”

  “I thought you told them everything.” She whispered back, teasing me.

  “I wouldn’t tell them that.” I told her.

  My aunt walked in about that time. “How are you feeling
, Taylor? Did the bath help?”

  “I didn’t have time before I came over. I’ll be okay.” Taylor said. She wanted the conversation to end right there, I could tell.

  “Can I get you some aspirin?” she asked.

  “Sure. Thanks.” Taylor answered. I was sure she just wanted to get rid of her.

  After she left the room, Taylor whispered to me. “I feel so funny with them knowing.”

  “You’ll survive.” I told her.

  “Here you go, Taylor.” My aunt gave her some aspirin and some water. “Let me know if you need any more. You’re probably going to hurt into tomorrow as well.”

  Taylor gave me a look that told me she was completely uncomfortable right now. I hugged her closer and kissed her on the head.

  “Can I talk to you two?” Aunt Janel asked as she sat down in the chair across from us. It wasn’t exactly a question. It was a warning. She was warning us that she was going to talk to us about sex.

  Taylor took a deep breath and sat up on the couch better. I think she was getting ready to run toward the door. I grabbed her hand to hold her there.

  “Sure.” I told my aunt.

  “I just wanted to reiterate the birth control lecture. I don’t want you two ruining your lives. You both have bright futures. It’s a lot harder to finish college with a baby in tow.”

  “We used a condom every time.” I told my aunt. I was a little uncomfortable talking to her about sex in front of my girlfriend. But it was her house and apparently she wanted to lecture me.

  Todd walked in about that time. I felt Taylor twitch under my hand. I held her hand tighter.

  “And, I told you to pull out too. You remembered that. Right?” Todd asked.

  “Yes. I remembered. I remembered everything you told me, Uncle Todd. I pulled out every time. Can we talk about something else?” I asked him. I was about to join Taylor in her run for the door.

  “Every time?” Aunt Janel asked. “I thought you two just started having sex last night.”

  She thought we were lying to her for some reason. I never lied to them. “We did.” I told her.

  She gave me a skeptical look that told me she still thought I was lying to her.

  “I should go.” Taylor said, then struggled to get up from the couch. She was really sore and wasn’t moving too smoothly. I helped by pushing her up.

  “That should tell you that he’s telling the truth, Janel.” Todd said to her.

  I didn’t know what they were talking about. “I am. Why would I lie to you? I’ve never lied to you, Aunt Janel.”

  “You said every time, and if you’ve only done it once, you wouldn’t have said every time.”

  “We didn’t say we only did it once. We said we didn’t start having sex until last night.” I told them.

  Aunt Janel’s face turned really red. “Oh.” she said, as if she’d suddenly realized something. I don’t know what.

  “Way to go, son.” Todd said to me with a pat on the back. I didn’t really know why.

  “No wonder you’re so sore.” Janel said to Taylor. “Sit down. Don’t leave. I’m sorry I’m grilling you two. I’m a little anxious that my nephew is having sex, and a little worried that he’s going to get you pregnant.”

  Taylor sat back down slowly. She was still embarrassed. “We’re not going to quit having sex.” she said to Aunt Janel. It was the first firm thing she’d said today. I knew she would stand up when necessary, but I didn’t think she’d stand up to my aunt.

  “I know that, but maybe you could use something besides just condoms.” Janel suggested.

  “Like foam too?” Taylor asked.

  “That’s an option, and would improve the reliability some. Have you thought about the pill?” Janel asked.

  “I’m not sure how I feel about that.” Taylor answered her. “Some girls at school are on it and it messed up their periods kind of bad at first. And, made them kind of sick, and they gained weight.”

  “Time for me to go.” Todd said quickly, then left the room. He was embarrassed.

  “I’m not pushing you.” Janel said. “I just wanted you to know that you have other options other than leaving birth control completely up to Spencer.”

  Taylor gave her a look, then looked at me. “Do you think I should get on the pill?”

  “I don’t mind using condoms.” I told her. I knew that some guys did. “And, it’s your period. I don’t see where I have a right to say anything there.”

  “But it will be your baby, if she gets pregnant.” Janel argued.

  “I just don’t know if I want to go on the pill.” Taylor told her. “If I gain five pounds, they’re going to put me on the bottom of the pyramid.”

  “And, if you gain twenty five or thirty five, they’ll take you out of the pyramid.” Janel came back at her.

  “I’ll buy some foam, but I’m not ready to go on the pill. I’m trying for a cheerleading scholarship, and we’ve got championships coming up. Maybe after the championships are over. I can’t risk it now.”

  “But you can risk getting pregnant.” Janel said.

  I felt like I needed to step in between the two of them somehow, but I wasn’t sure how without getting in trouble here. If I sided with Taylor, like I knew I should, Janel would be upset with me. If I sided with Janel, I was risking my chance of ever having sex again.

  “I don’t think we’re risking it if we use condoms, and he pulls out. And, if we add the foam, I think we’re going above and beyond.” Taylor argued with her. It was turning into a debate now.

  “Just promise me you’ll always use as much birth control as possible.” She relented.

  “We will.” I assured her. “We don’t want a baby either.”

  “Thanks.” she said, then stepped up and walked away.

  Taylor gave me a look that told me she was dumbfounded. “Man!” she mouthed the word without making a sound.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know why she’s so worried.”

  “Do you think I should go on the pill? It would make things easier for us. No condoms, no foam, no pulling out.” she asked me.

  “You tell me what you want to do. I don’t want to tell you to do something that’s going to mess up your period, or your body. And, I don’t really know what messing up your period means.” I said. What the heck could that mean?

  She smiled at me. “It would be nice to be able to feel you.”

  What was she talking about? I gave her a confused look.

  “Inside me. Instead of a piece of rubber.” She whispered in my ear as she nuzzled up to my chest.

  Damn, I was getting hard. It would be nice to feel her too. “We can think about it, but it’s up to you ultimately. It’s your body.”

  “Can we go for a drive?” she asked me.

  “Sure. Where to?”

  “The desert. Bring the condoms. We’ll go buy some foam.” She said.

  After our embarrassing trip to the store, we drove to the desert. It was the middle of the day and extremely hot, as always in October. We stayed in the car to have sex on the passenger side. It took us a while to figure that one out. It worked out pretty well. Rubbers and foam. We thought that would be our birth control of choice. The more we thought about it, the more we thought we didn’t want Taylor on the pill. I didn’t want her risking her body to make things easier on us.

  We must have spent a fortune on rubbers and foam. We had sex twice a day for the next month. We had our favorite spot in the desert that we went to every morning. Taylor would pick me up for school early and we’d go out to have sex. After practice every night, we’d go out again. After the game, instead of going to the party, we’d go out again. Taylor and I spent every minute together that we could. We were both extremely busy with football and cheerleading. Taylor had to work at the dairy on the weekends. I helped every chance I had. Sometimes, I had to do yard work with my uncle on the weekends.

  One day while in the kitchen grabbing something to eat, I decided to ask Janel’s advice on so
mething. “Aunt Janel? Can I ask you something?”

  She was slicing up tomatoes for dinner. She turned to look at me, giving me her undivided attention. “Of course. What is it?”