Her Teen Dream

by Archer, Devon Vaughn

  “Well, I’ll leave you two alone—if you can call this alone—and go find Jeffrey.”

  “Bye bye,” Reese said tersely.

  Cheryl whipped her braids over her shoulder petulantly and strutted away. Karin resisted giggling, till she looked up at Reese and saw that he seemed to get pleasure out of giving his ex the brush off.

  “You look nice,” he uttered, giving her the once over.

  Karin wore only a tiny bit of makeup and considered her clothing only so-so, but would gladly take any compliment he chose to toss her way.

  “So do you,” she said, and meant it, which wasn’t very difficult considering that he was always looking good and knew it.

  “Hey, can we go somewhere where it’s not so loud?” Reese asked smoothly.

  Karin felt her knees buckle, reading into his words. This meant they would likely once again be in a compromising situation. But she couldn’t say no, especially when she welcomed the opportunity for some alone time with him.

  “Okay.”

  He smiled and took her hand. Karin immediately felt the warmth of his touch, even if she was less comfortable with what could come next.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Reese and Karin moved through the throng of partygoers and went up a curving staircase. Karin wasn’t sure where they were headed and what for, but she wasn’t born yesterday. She knew what went on at teen parties behind closed doors, especially when drinking was involved. It seemed almost inevitable if you truly cared for someone.

  They were in a hallway with doors leading to three rooms. All of the doors were closed. Reese clutched one doorknob and, without pause, opened it.

  Karin was shocked to see Lesley and Marcus on the bed making out like they were caught up in their own world. Too preoccupied, neither seemed aware they were being spied upon. Karin flushed and Reese quickly closed the door as if the room held secrets better left to the occupants.

  “Looks like they’re having fun,” he remarked.

  “Yeah,” Karin agreed. Maybe too much fun. I hope Lesley knows what she’s doing.

  Reese led her toward another room and Karin wondered just how familiar he was with the house. Had he seduced Cheryl in one of these rooms? And possibly other girls, too?

  The room was empty. From a cursory scan of its size and antique furnishings, Karin decided that this must be the master bedroom—Jayne’s parents’ room. She tried to imagine being with Reese in her parents’ room. It was unimaginable.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be in here, Reese,” she said tentatively.

  “It’s okay,” he said confidently. “We won’t mess up anything.”

  She didn’t protest as he led her to the king-sized bed. They started to kiss while standing. Karin could feel the contours of his hard body against hers and knew it was Reese’s desire to be with her tonight in every way.

  They sank to the bed, their mouths never parting. Karin loved kissing Reese, which seemed to do things to her as much as him. But she knew there would be no turning back once they took the next step. Was she ready and willing to go there? In this house? In this bed?

  “I love you, baby,” Reese murmured into her mouth.

  “I love you, too,” she said back softly, giddy in hearing the words come from his lips.

  They kissed some more and Karin could feel her resistance fading fast. She squeezed her eyes shut like she was afraid to open them to the reality of what was about to happen. When Reese began to slide his hand along her thigh, she did not try to stop him. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do, when and where, but wanted to make him happy. He put his hand beneath her top and moved it upward, while still tickling her thigh with his other hand.

  The door suddenly burst open and Karin’s eyes opened wide. Looking over Reese’s shoulder, she saw Cheryl and Jeffrey standing there.

  “Oops, sorry,” Cheryl said unconvincingly. “Wrong room. Don’t let us stop you from doing your thing.” She closed the door.

  Karin studied Reese’s reaction. It looked like he resented that they had been interrupted. She was less than thrilled, too, while at the same time grateful.

  It was at that moment when something clicked and told Karin this was a mistake. She had nearly done something she was sure she would have lived to regret. She didn’t want to look back on it and wish she had been stronger and stood her ground.

  When Reese shook off his annoyance and tried to kiss her again, Karin turned her face away.

  “What’s wrong?” His brows knitted.

  “This is, Reese,” she said, trembling.

  He bristled. “But you said you loved me—”

  “I do,” she affirmed, hating to disappoint him and make him think otherwise.

  “Then let’s not let them stop us from being together. There won’t be any mistakes, I promise.”

  He tried to kiss her again, and once more she wouldn’t let him. “No. The mistake would be going through with this in the bedroom of Jayne’s parents.”

  “So we’ll go somewhere else.”

  “I’m not ready to have sex with you, Reese!” There I said it. Karin wondered if this would cost her the boy she loved. “If you love me, you’ll wait.”

  Reese ran a hand across his smooth head. “Why are you making this so hard?”

  “Why are you?” Karin shot him a narrow-eyed look.

  He sighed. “Look, why don’t we just start over.”

  She thought about it briefly, but knew she wasn’t ready to have sex.

  “I want to go home.” Karin sat up on the bed and then stood.

  Reese glared at her. “Now you’re being ridiculous!”

  “No, you are! I thought you wanted me for me and not for what you did with other girls.”

  “I do, baby,” he insisted.

  “But only on your terms—not mine, right?”

  When he didn’t respond and just stared at her as if in a trance, Karin took that as a yes.

  “I’m going home,” she told him.

  “You don’t have to do that, Karin.” He stood and moved gingerly toward her, reaching out to touch her face.

  “I think I do.” She ignored the warmth of his hand on her cheek, knowing she couldn’t allow herself to succumb when she knew in her heart and soul it was too soon. “If Lesley doesn’t want to leave now, I’ll walk.”

  “I’ll take you,” Reese said with resignation.

  “No, stay and be with your friends,” she said stubbornly, tears staining her cheeks. “I’m sure you won’t have any problem finding some other girl to give it up for you.”

  Karin ran from the room. After she’d first thought about getting Lesley to leave with her, she decided there was no reason to ruin her night, too.

  Karin found the stairs and dashed down, half-expecting Reese to be trailing after her. She glanced up and saw no sign of him, as if he’d already decided to turn his attention elsewhere. The party was still going strong. She felt slightly dizzy and wondered if it was from the beer. Or was it a reaction to the wall that suddenly seemed to be building between her and Reese?

  Karin was nearly out the door when she heard someone say, “Not leaving already, are you?”

  Turning, she saw Jayne standing there with a curious look on her face.

  “Yeah, I’m not feeling too good.” That was an understatement.

  Jayne wrinkled her brow. “Too bad. Do you want me to find Reese?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m not sure he cares too much anymore how I feel, if he ever did.”

  Jayne lifted a brow in surprise. “How about Lesley?”

  “She’s busy with Marcus. No, I’m just going to go.” Karin felt like crying, but didn’t want to in front of Cheryl’s best friend.

  Jayne looked on helplessly. “Well, I’d better get back to the party. Sorry you can’t stay. Maybe whatever issues you and Reese have can still be worked out.”

  “Yeah, I hope so,” muttered Karin. She wasn’t very optimistic about that, especially when she could imagine that Reese ha
d already sweet-talked some other girl into that bedroom and had forgotten all about her.

  * * *

  She walked the three blocks home. Every time a car passed, Karin looked to see if it was Reese, hoping he might want to go somewhere and just talk about things. But he didn’t seem to care enough about her to step up to the plate. Or was she being unreasonable? After all, he had offered to drive her home and she had declined.

  Did I just break up with my boyfriend without even realizing it?

  Or was this simply a fork in the road that most teenage couples went through when they couldn’t agree on certain critical issues?

  She wondered if Lesley had remembered to take her own advice with Marcus and not go all the way with him. One could only hope. But what if Lesley had too much to drink and things got out of hand? Should she have gone to check on her friend before leaving?

  Lesley can take care of herself, Karin decided. That was usually the case anyway. She knew her limits and would be careful.

  Right now, Karin preferred to focus on her own boy troubles and what it might mean down the line.

  When she entered the house, any thoughts of quietly slipping to her room vanished as Karin’s mother practically met her at the door.

  “You’re home early.” Josephine looked at her with one brow cocked.

  “I wasn’t feeling well. I think it was something I ate,” Karin added quickly.

  “Oh, honey. I’m sorry,” her mother said. “Do you want me to get you—?”

  “I think I’ll just go to bed,” Karin interpolated, hoping she would leave it at that.

  Of course, that was never the case.

  “How did you get home?” Josephine asked.

  Since it was obvious that it wasn’t by a car that her mother would have heard drive up, Karin chose not to lie. “I walked.”

  “Walked?” Her mother’s eyebrows touched in disbelief. “What on earth for?”

  “It wasn’t really that far, Momma, and it was my choice. I thought the cool air would help. But it didn’t.”

  Josephine studied her and seemed to refrain from a lecture about the dangers of walking alone at night or further probing into the circumstances surrounding her earlier than expected arrival home.

  “Well, I’m sure a good night’s sleep will do the trick,” her mother said.

  “Yeah, I think so, too.” Karin gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She hoped her mother didn’t smell the beer on her breath. If she had, there was no indication of such.

  Karin retreated to her room. She lay on the bed without removing her clothes and thought about Reese. Was he thinking about her, too? Her biggest fear was that they would be unable to resolve their differences concerning sex. Would one or the other have to bend in order to keep the relationship going? Or was it already over after one big disagreement?

  No matter how she looked at it, Karin knew there was nothing simple about dating a boy and falling in love. And though it had been done millions of times over the centuries—make that billions—it was only her romance that had her tied up in knots and second-guessing her every move and counter move.

  She hoped that by tomorrow there would be some clarity and things between her and Reese could get back on the right track, assuming he felt the same way she did.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The following day, Karin was up bright and early. Her lightheadedness had gone away and she was ready to face her world again and hope for the best. She went for a run, deciding not to bang on Lesley’s door and drag her out after what may have been a long night, or a short one, depending on how you looked at it.

  Karin wondered what Reese was doing this morning. Had he stayed at the party till it ended? Would he text her this morning to try and make things right between them?

  By late afternoon, Reese still had not texted or phoned. Karin really wanted to text him and maybe even apologize for her hasty retreat, but she didn’t want to seem too desperate to work things out. Even if she was desperate—just a little—in wanting some communication between them.

  She did text Lesley a couple of times, but there was no response. Karin felt a little frustrated, but knew there would be plenty of time later to catch up on everything.

  Karin had to put her own life and times on hold as she and her father took her mother out to dinner. It was her thirty-seventh birthday and Karin’s idea that they do something different than normal, which was usually a store bought birthday cake, joint gift, and going through old photo albums as if to reclaim lost memories.

  “Do you feel any older, Momma?” Karin asked, knowing that she never seemed to from year to year. Or at least not since she reached her teens.

  Josephine pondered the question and offered a weak smile. “Let’s put it this way, I stopped looking at my birthday as an aging day after twenty-nine. Much too depressing. Now I see it as simply a celebration of family and togetherness.” She lifted her goblet of wine and drank.

  “Amen to that,” Karin’s father said, raising his glass in toast. “But, just for the record, you don’t look a day over twenty-nine to me and you never will!”

  “You’d better say that, honey!” Josephine gave him a playful look.

  “Would I lie?” Greer grinned crookedly.

  “Through your teeth,” she laughed, “but I’m glad to hear it anyway.”

  Karin admired her parents expressing playfulness and love that she didn’t see often enough in their busy day-to-day lives. She wondered if she would end up in a relationship where time seemed to stand still in their commitment through the years. Could the boy of her dreams be the man of her dreams?

  “You’re not eating,” her mother noted.

  Karin snapped out of her reverie and scooped up some wild rice. “That’s because I was starting to lose my appetite with you two carrying on like that,” she teased, knowing it was more than that.

  “Like what?” her father asked, pretending to be clueless.

  “Like two practically ageless lovebirds.”

  He laughed. “Hey, don’t knock it till you’re walking in our geriatric shoes one day, sweetheart.”

  Karin giggled. “I’ll try not to.”

  “And when you’re the mother of an almost grown daughter, I’m sure you’ll be able to better appreciate trying to hold onto your youth before it slips away for good.”

  Karin could very well imagine having a daughter someday. She even wondered what it would be like to be in her thirties and beyond and want to turn back the hands of time rather than move them ahead. But, for now, she was still sixteen and just wanted to think about the present and getting the most out of life, love, and friendships.

  Greer wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin and looked at Karin. She read his eyes and knew that it was time. On cue, they began to sing Happy Birthday to her mother.

  Josephine looked embarrassed as they went through the first verse, skipping the how old are you part. Other patrons looked on with amusement and some even joined in. Afterwards, Greer gave his wife a kiss on the mouth and Karin kissed her cheek.

  “Maybe it’s not so bad growing older after all,” her mother hinted with a smile, hugging them both.

  Karin agreed. Even if she liked still being young, there were too many things she wanted to do in life—like go to college and travel to Africa and the Caribbean—to want to stay sixteen forever. Not to mention grow in a loving relationship that could only happen over time.

  Her daydream ended when Karin’s cell phone chime indicated she had a text message. She took the phone out of her bag and saw that it was from Reese.

  “Can we talk?” he texted.

  Normally she would have jumped at the chance to text or talk to Reese, but wasn’t sure this was a good time.

  “Don’t let us stop you,” her mother said, as if reading her mind, seemingly only slightly annoyed.

  “I’ll keep it brief,” Karin promised, not wanting to ruin their special family time event.

  She sent Reese a text, saying: “Hi
.”

  A moment later the phone rang.

  “Hey,” Reese said. “Thanks for responding quickly.” He sounded tense and out of breath.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked, trying to ignore her parents, who seemed to be hanging on her every word.

  “No. I think I’m in big trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  Reese paused. “I’ve been accused of sexually assaulting someone, but I have no idea who it is. The police haven’t told me anything other than they’re about to arrest me. Karin, I really need your Dad’s help. Please—”

  Karin was nearly speechless as she tried to process this. Who would accuse Reese of such a thing? “I’ll tell him,” she said while wanting to know much more about what was going on.

  “Thanks,” Reese said. “I have to go.”

  “Wait. Explain to me how—”

  The line went dead.

  Karin stared at her parents blankly, all types of thoughts—none of them good—rolling through her mind.

  “Karin...” her mother said with concern.

  “What is it, honey?” asked her father.

  When she recovered enough from the shock to speak, Karin stammered, “Reese was arrested.”

  “What—?” Greer’s eyes locked on hers. “Is this a joke?”

  Karin asked herself the same thing. But there was no humor in Reese’s tone, only apprehension.

  “He said someone accused him of a sexual assault.” The words were painful for her to speak. “He asked for your help, Daddy. And now I’m asking for it—”

  She looked from one parent to the next and Karin got a sinking feeling that this was about to get a lot worse before it got better.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  After dropping her mother off at home, Karin accompanied her father to the police station where Reese had been taken. She insisted on coming, against her parents’ wishes. Reese was still her boyfriend and she wanted to stand by him. In spite of their differences on the subject of sex, she refused to believe that he would sexually assault anyone. Why would someone accuse him of such a horrible thing?