Chapter 211
Story 10
They say that life is about meetings and partings, I truly discovered the meaning of this when I turned 19. Growing up in a small community, I realised early on that my parents didn't have much, compared to others.
By the age of 14, I had the best of both worlds, being a bit of a loner; I would often head to the park and kick a ball about for hours. Then one day I met Laura, a feisty little 12 year old. Standing kicking the ball off a wall, I listened as she asked me for a kick of my ball.
Looking over at the cute little blonde girl, I couldn't see the harm in letting her have one kick. Within two hours I knew everything about Laura.
Laura was your typical tom boy of a girl, the long pony tail hid the rough and tumble side of her personality well, but the more we played together the more I liked the kid I was playing with.
I guess being slightly shy, I longed to have a friend, and here I had one, well for at least a couple of hours. The following day I headed back down to the park then watched Laura appear about half an hour later.
Standing in front of me with a dress and sandals on she grinned "Give me kick".
"You can't play like that" I added dismissively.
"If you don't give me a kick, I'll take it myself" she added with a look that told me she was serious.
Watching her stroll forward with a grin on her pretty little face, I watched as she nipped in and strolled away with the ball.
Two hours later we headed back to her house, both of us covered in dirt from rolling about on the soft grass. Stepping into the house I watched Laura's mum appear then scald her for getting so dirty.
"Mum this is Craig, I told him we could get a drink" Laura added watching her mum size me up then nod as Laura dragged me through to the kitchen.
Looking at the fancy house they stayed in, I could only dream that my parents could be rich enough to afford a place like that.
Laura opened the fridge then started to pull out stuff for a sandwich as her mum stepped into the kitchen.
"You, young lady, get upstairs and have a wash and get changed, I will make something to eat" Laura's mum hissed before adding "Craig can keep me company".
Watching Laura's mum making two sandwiches stuffed full of meat and salad, I watched her eyes continue to size me up, then finally she decided to get round to saying what was on her mind.
"Craig do you not think you're a little old to be hanging about with my daughter" Terry said, gently cutting through the sandwiches as her eyes stayed fixed on me.
"To be honest with you, I can't get rid of her, I was playing by myself, and she just butted in." I said watching Terry give a smile; she must have known Laura's personality only too well.
"Don't get me wrong, I like Laura, I guess she's like having a little sister, but I wish she could take a hint" I added watching another smile creep across Terry's face.
"So do you have any brothers or sisters?" she asked then listened to me explain that my mum had complications at my birth and had to be given a hysterectomy.
"Would you have liked to have brothers and sisters?" she asked then listened to me give a full and frank account that I thought maybe having a sister would have been fun, but I didn't think I could stand the constant bitching. Laura just laughed then started to explain that as I was a couple of years older than Laura then it was possible that people would get the wrong idea.
Dropping my head in shame I groaned "I guess I never thought about that" I added watching Terry laugh then explain that she had no problem with Laura hanging about with me, as long as I didn't get her into trouble and as long as Terry knew where we were.
From that point on, Laura and I were to become best friends, during the summer Laura and I would head up to the lake and swim, or fish. By thirteen Laura was playing for a girl's soccer team.
The number of hours we spent in the park kicking a ball about, or in her large back door, I would hate to count.
By the time Laura turned 14, I was a regular guest at her house, Terry had a couple of spare rooms, one of which she allowed me to use to stay over. It seemed like I had two families and two houses.
By the age of fourteen, Laura was allowed up till 10pm, after she had went to bed, Terry and I would sit talking or watching the television.
Within a few weeks, Terry and I sat discussing her messy divorce and how she had taken her husband to the cleaners in the process. As I was sixteen Terry didn't see any harm in treating me like an adult. As the weeks passed Terry started to discuss my seemingly non existent sex life.
I explained that I didn't really like the girls my age, they were too immature, I would have preferred to date a girl a few years older than me. Laura just laughed then added "And this comes from a guy that hangs around with a fourteen year old".
She had a point, I sat explaining that Laura didn't have all the silly hang ups that other girls had, and I liked that, we could talk about anything; the only problem was sometimes she even took me by surprise.
"Oh?" Terry said then sat and listened to me explaining about Laura blurting out that she had just started taking her period. I explained that I didn't mind talking to Laura about stuff, but there were certain things that even at sixteen I didn't want to discuss.
Laura sat and laughed "Craig, I can just picture your face when she told you" Terry hissed with laughter.
"You know that's the problem with being friends with a girl, sometimes you have to listen to things that you would much rather not hear" Terry added then stopped giving me a strange look.
"Craig, can you promise me one thing?" Terry said as I watched the seriousness form on terry's face.
"Sure what?" I asked then sat in shock listening to Terry explain that Laura was now at an age where she would start taking an interest in boys.
"I know how persuasive Laura can be, please promise me that she won't learn about boys from you" Terry added giving me a cold look.
Terry had fired a warning shot across my bow, and I knew it, I sat re iterating that Laura was like a little sister and that I had no ambitions that way at all.
Terry just nodded then asked me to try and be honest with Laura without going into any great detail.
Within a few months Laura had her first boyfriend, although seemed reluctant to give him too much of the time, she had allotted for me. Within two months Laura had broken up with him, the guy expected Laura to act like a girl. Boy did he get a surprise when she didn't.
Over the next 18 months Laura had several boyfriends, and seemed keen on my advice about how to handle things with guys. She slowly got the point that guys preferred a girl in a skirt than in a pair of jogging bottoms.
The day before her 16th birthday, I sat in Laura's room watching her return from the toilet, before digging in her wardrobe for something to wear on her big date.
"Right, move, I need to get changed" Laura hissed with a grin on her face watching me head downstairs.
Half an hour later, I sat watching a beautiful young lady step into the living room with a grin on her face.
"Well how do I look?" she asked watching me nod then tell her how pretty she looked.
"Pretty..yuck" she hissed, explaining that she was supposed to look beautiful, sexy, not pretty.
Terry sat telling her how beautiful she looked, then leaned over and slapped my head playfully.
"Now be honest with her, tell her how beautiful she looks" Terry added drawing me a look as I sat nodding.
"Okay, if I was a couple of years younger, I wouldn't let you out on a date" I added watching Laura grin.
When Laura had left on her date, Terry turned and gave me a grin, "thanks Craig, I think she needed to hear that from you" Terry added watching me nod.
"My baby daughter is growing up and I can't stop it, I just hope she's smart enough not to get herself into trouble" Terry added watching me smile before reassuring her that Laura had no interest in going beyond a certain point.
"Craig, why do I get the feeling that you know something that you're not telling me?" Terry asked watching me give a wry smile then finally explaining that Laura had explained about her view on guys.