Summer of Fifteen

Pond

    Abby felt the cool, Spring, air as she walked down the sidewalk. She had her dog, Cooper, with her as she quickly walked towards the neighborhood duck pond. The duck pond was her usual place to walk her dog. The water was always filled with ducks. There were a dozen trees to hide under. And along the road, the fence had trees all along it. One even had cherries on it.

    But Abby was walking with more than just her usual slow walk. She had something to look forward to this time. She knew that here, she would be alone. Alone enough to text Justin. He had texted her about ten minutes ago asking if she could text. Abby told him she could text in a few minutes once she got to the pond. But now she was here.

    She decided that, at least for now, she would walk in circles around the pond as she texted him. She pulled out her phone and opened Messenger.

    "Hey, I'm ready!"

    A few minutes.

    "Hey cutie."

    Abby blushed. "Oh, so you think I'm cute, huh? ;-)"

    Dots. "Hell yeah, you're hella cute."

    More blushing. "Well, you're not half bad yourself."

    Dots. "Oh, so that's what you think of me, huh? XD"

    She laughed, making Cooper look up. "Nah, you're pretty good."

    Dots. "Well, that's good." Dots. "I bet I could make you feel real good."

    This is when Abby got nervous. She never really went down this path in conversation with boys. And the last time she wanted to be touched, it ended up not ending well. And he didn't even have her real consent. Abby loved physical affection, but she was young enough for her to still make her nervous. And she knew exactly what Justin was insinuating. When he put his hand on her thigh, he clearly had a very specific thing on his mind.

    But at the same time, Abby liked the thought of him being close to her. Him putting his hands on her. His lips on hers. Except there was one problem...

    She had never even been kissed.

    She finally texted back. "Really, how so?"

    He didn't see the message right away. So Abby put the phone in her pocket and went over to a tree. She picked pines off the tree as Cooper peed on a bush. As she ripped the green pines apart, she let her mind wander. She wondered what a kiss felt like. Or what the unclipping of a bra felt like. Or massaging of her ass. But those thoughts seemed to foreign. Too un-Christian.

    She finally decided to sit under a tree next to a stone barrier to the next neighborhood. Her mind got heavy and hurt. She remembered Cole Valley and what happened there. But she also wanted to know what affection was like the right way. But was this the right way?

    Her thoughts stopped when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She opened Messenger again to see a text from Justin.

    "Well, I could hold you in my arms and kiss you a lot. Maybe even get a little rowdy ;-)"

    He was clearly flirting at his hardest. And it made Abby's nerves buzz. She rocked in the grass as she took in his words. She wanted all of what he said. But she also knew how experienced he was. She wanted fun, but only to a certain point. She wanted the kissing and the holding. But she didn't want the s*x, at least not yet. She still wanted to wait until her husband showed up and ravished her on their wedding night.

    She decided to clarify a little. "Just how rowdy?"

    He didn't see the message again, so she decided to lie down in the grass. Cooper curled up by her legs. She decided to close her eyes and breathe. She was getting overly nervous and overly excited all at the same time. She was nervous because she didn't know how far he wanted to go. But she was also excited that the guy she liked liked her back. The idea that she might even get her first boyfriend made her giddy. But she wanted to make sure he'd wait for her.

    Her phone buzzed, showing it was him.

    "Well, how rowdy do you wanna get?"

    She paused before texting back. "Well, I wanna feel your arms and your lips. But I also want to save the grand finale for marriage."

    Abby saw he read the message. But he didn't answer right away. Abby stared at the screen until the very moment the dots showed up. But they showed up nonetheless.

    "I think I could do that. And I completely understand you don't wanna f**k yet. You are the type of girl who should save herself. Besides, your husband will be very lucky to see your beauty."

    Abby was shocked, to say the least. She never expected that he would be that understanding. But he was, and that made her happier than she had been all month. Brayden had been bumming her out for so long, but now Justin was there.

    She finally texted back after a whole thirty seconds of beaming. "Wow, you're more understanding than I thought you would be."

    Dots. "Who told you I wouldn't be understanding?"

    Uh oh... "Just people from McDonald's. But they clearly didn't know what they were talking about."

    Dots. "Yeah, clearly. I feel like I've known you forever."

    She blushed. "Me too."

    Unfortunately, she had the presence of mind to look at the clock. She groaned very loudly, almost scaring the dog. She had been at the pond for almost an hour. She knew her mother would be wondering about her.

    She quickly texted again before he texted back. "Hey, I gotta go. I gotta get back home before mother questions why I've been gone this long."

    He immediately saw the texts and almost immediately started texting back.

    "Oh damn. Well, I'll see you next time."

    Abby smiled. "Yeah, you two Justin."

    Dots. "Bye cutie. ;-)"

    She blushed intensely. "Bye cutie."

    She slowly stood up and pet Cooper. She began walking back to the house, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. She even walked with a slight skip in her step. She suddenly wasn't scared anymore. Maybe, one day, she'd even loosen up her rules a bit if it would make him happy.

    Maybe... but not yet.