Make Me Smile

Chapter 12

I went to see Natalie. I walked in her house, putting my hands on my hips and cocking my head at her. She squealed and dragged me in her bedroom. “Ooh, I knew I could count on you! I need hot details NOW. My sex life is lame. I wanna hear how you rode that cowboy.”

I rolled my eyes. “No, it’s private.”

Natalie gaped at me for a moment, then shook me by the shoulders. “Don’t give me that crap! You HAVE to tell me. Please? Please?” She went on begging piteously until I caved, telling her what happened from start to finish. I had to stop at times to bury my flushed face in my hands, or to wait for her to stop laughing.

When I finished up, she sighed heavily. “I am so jealous. Of the sex you’re having, not of your boyfriend. I still think he looks like a mean old grump.” She made a grandiose gesture. “MY boyfriend is way hotter of course.” She slouched and slid her eyes up at the ceiling. “But definitely not as fun. All he wants to do is eat. Eat, talk about eating, think about eating. I’m like, ‘Eat me, dumb ass!’”

I burst out into laughter. “Well, maybe you have to be more forward with him.”

Natalie stared blankly at me. “I can’t get any more forward than I already am! He just gets that weird scared look on his face, and I have to back off.”

I shrugged. “Pierre’s probably just not ready yet.”

Natalie groaned, hugging her knees into her chest. “But when is he gonna be ready?” she whined. “I need to get some, like NOW! You know, if I had less morals…”

I rolled my eyes at her. “You can have LESS?”

She snatched up her pillow and threw it at me, and I deftly ducked it. “As I was SAYING,” she huffed, “if I had less morals, there would be no problem. I’d go get it on with that hot fisherman dude on the beach.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Well, supposing he doesn’t want you either?”

Natalie scowled. “Why would anyone not want this?” She gestured at herself. “Besides, who is he to reject me? He smells like fish and lives in a shack! And furthermore…” she continued ranting against the guy for hypothetically rejecting her. I just laughed until I had tears in my eyes.

“…and he probably has crabs, anyway,” she finished up, sniffing haughtily.

“Okay, Nat, that was hilarious, but I gotta go find my boyfriend.” I stood up to leave.

She tugged at my sleeve. “Ride him extra good tonight. For me, okay?” I just shook her off with a laugh and continued out the door. “I better hear a freaking stampede coming from your farm tonight! You lucky slut!” she yelled after me. Her brother heard that and gave me a strange look, which I avoided and hurried outside.

As I stepped into the sunshine, I spotted Vaughn also departing from the animal shop next door. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and walked over, sidling up next to him. “Hey,” he grunted, which would have seemed cold, if he weren’t taking my hand at the same time.

“Are you all finished up?” I asked him. He nodded, and we walked in silence, in no direction in particular. We ended up in the shade of the forest, and we sat down on a log together. I looked up at him. “Um…” He looked at me questioningly. I traced my fingers on his knee, raking my nails lightly against the black denim. “I ordered a bigger bed.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, does that mean you want me to start spending the night?” I flushed and squirmed. Oh no, maybe he thinks that’s dumb. But if he doesn’t want to…he broke off my thoughts. “Great. I won’t have to stay at the inn any more. I hate that place.” I giggled, relieved.

That night, I cooked him dinner, and then it was time for bed. I was nervous, because honestly, I was still really sore from everything we had done that morning. I watched with trepidation as he removed his hat, peeled off his vest, unbuttoned and removed his shirt. Then he unzipped his black jeans and eased them off, leaving him clad only in his boxers. I changed into just a T-shirt. He got into bed first, and I climbed in after him. I turned away from him, letting him spoon me, since it was the only way we were both going to fit in the bed. He nuzzled his face in my hair, and I got a thrill through my whole body. Then he whispered, “Good night, Chelsea.”

I was slightly stunned that he wasn’t feeling me up or something. I felt a strange mixture of relief and disappointment. “Oh…aren’t we going to…?” I trailed off.

“Are you ready for more?” he asked, squeezing me a little tighter.

“No, not really.”

“Saddle sore already?” he grunted.

I squirmed in his arms. “Enough with the horse jokes! I’m not the one that started that!” I giggled, and he just chuckled. I relaxed into his arms, and we fell asleep like that.

The next morning, I woke up and stretched. It was pretty cozy sleeping like that, but I was happy that it wasn’t going to be the permanent arrangement. I felt just a little stiff from being unable to move very much throughout the night.

I went about my farm chores as Vaughn went off to take care of animal business. The bed was delivered around noon, and I showed them where to put it. “That’s right, up next to the other one. All the way up next to it.” The delivery men seemed hesitant to do it, and but I insisted that the beds be placed together. Gee, did every couple in this region sleep in separate beds? That seemed pretty strange to me. Finally, they finished fumbling around with the mattress, and they left.

I was disappointed that evening, however. I had completely forgotten that Vaughn didn’t stay on the island Thursday nights. He took the ferry back home. I was sad, but I accepted it. He grunted his goodbyes at me, then kissed me passionately, whispering in my ear that he couldn’t wait to see me again.

I couldn’t wait to see him again, either. I would be counting down the days until Wednesday came.

That Sunday, I was surprised when I heard a knock on my door. It was Alisa from the church. “I just came to tell you that the Harvest Goddess Festival will be tomorrow. You should invite someone you like to the dance. Hope to see you there!” She departed, and I was left feeling a little sad. I couldn’t invite who I liked to the dance, because he wasn’t here on Sundays. I had totally forgotten that this event was coming up, or I would have said something while he was here. But, that kind of festival probably wasn’t his thing, anyway. And there was no way he could come on a Monday, anyway. I sighed and moped around for the rest of the day.

On Monday morning, I did my farm chores as usual, then went back inside. I changed into a white cap sleeved blouse and a blue skirt, and slipped on some black dress shoes. I undid my bandanna and pulled my hair up loosely, letting it fall around my face. Even if I was going alone, I still wanted to look my best. I had wanted to arrive with Natalie so that I didn’t have to walk in alone, but she was going with Pierre, of course. Her brother Eliot was going with Julia, and Denny was going with Lanna, a pop singer who had just moved to the island. So I was the only young person that was dateless. I tried not to get depressed about it, and headed off to the dance. I figured old Taro would dance with me, anyway.

When I got there, my heart skipped a beat when I saw Vaughn standing there, holding a flower. I hurried over to him, smiling happily. I didn’t say anything, just threw my arms around his waist. He chuckled, patting my back, then he leaned down and gave me a little kiss. “You look nice,” he grunted. “Meeting someone?”

“No, silly!” I said. “I just got dressed up because everyone else was. I’m so glad you came,” I whispered.

He tucked the flower behind my ear. “Today is a holiday everywhere. I didn’t have any work to do, so I thought I’d surprise you,” he said quietly. I just hugged him again. The old jerkface that I met last spring was turning out to be a really great boyfriend.