The Perfect Man
by Ashley Nachtman

There’s only a half an hour until he gets here. I can’t wait! Once the school play is over, I’ll get to spend more time with him. It is our senior year, after all, and I want to spend more time with him before we leave for college. At least I get to see him during drama club. Too bad he was too shy to try out for the play.

I brush my dark red hair out of my eyes and smile. There he is. Bradley is my modern day Adonis. Usually I don’t like guys like him, but something about the looks he gives me makes my heart melt. I will have to cure his preppy taste in clothing sometime, though. A yellow polo and Abercrombie sandals aren’t exactly sophisticated, but I think I can forgive him.

We arrive at the museum, and my stomach starts getting a slight churning feeling, like it does when I’m nervous. I glance at Bradley cautiously; I still can’t believe this is happening! He’s my first boyfriend, but still!

“So, how do you think the play is going?” It’s a bit random, but I can’t think of anything else to say.

“Oh, I guess it’ll be okay. You look amazing up on stage. I wish I would have tried out so I could see more of you.” There it was again, that look. My face feels warm.

“Thank you.” In hopes of getting my face back to normal, I study the exhibit on Egyptian mythology. “Could you help me practice my lines tonight, maybe? I know you have a volunteer thing going on this afternoon, but maybe you could come by afterwards?”

“I really wish I could, babe, but I’m going to be busy tonight. Maybe tomorrow night?”

I hate it when he calls me babe. I am not a sexy Barbie. First of all, her measurements are unrealistic. And, when you squeeze her head, there’s nothing there… just air. But, it’s one of his quirks. I guess I’ll come to love it eventually.

“Tomorrow is good, I guess. I have Bible study until 7:30 p.m., but after that I’m free.”

 “Great! Thanks.”

As we continue through the Egyptian exhibit, I try to sneak a glance at Bradley. Tall, blonde, and handsome. Oops, I’m caught. A smile and a squeeze of my hand tells me I’m forgiven for staring.

The next thing we come to is the section on ancient fertility and sexuality. I try to look at the figurines with an artist’s eye, but I can’t help blushing. It reminds me of our game of truth and dare a few nights ago. I asked him to reveal his most secret fantasy. He told me that he dreamed once that his girlfriend showed up at his door unexpectedly, ready to please him. I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately. I would really like to make him happy before we both head off to college. My face feels even redder now, and I hear laughing.

“Do you want to move on? I heard they have a visiting exhibit on the past pharaohs, too.” He pulls at my hand, leading me to a different section of the museum.

After visiting the rest of the Egyptian exhibit, it was time to go. I wish I could spend more time with him, but he’s in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, and he’s going to go bowling with his “brother” today.

“Well, babe, I need to go now. I’ll call you tomorrow before I come over, okay?” A quick kiss and he is gone.

“Bye, Bradley,” I call after him. I don’t know if he heard me, but I hope so.

I need to do homework once I get home. My parents and I are going out to dinner tonight, and I need to finish my paper before we leave. The paper is for my AP English class and it’s due next week, but I want to get a head start on it since so much is going on this week.

While I’m working on my paper, I start thinking about Bradley. He’s such a sweet guy. I want to do something special for him to show him how much I care, but all I can think about is his fantasy. As I think about it, I start to get excited. My mind wanders over what I’d wear and what I’d say when I showed up. Now seems to be as good of time as any to lose my virginity, I suppose.

Shoot! It’s nearly suppertime, and I’m not finished. There’s only a page left so I will work on that when we get back. The place we’re going to is very nice, very sophisticated. We’re celebrating Mom’s raise tonight. Partway through supper, I excuse myself, heading for the restroom. I haven’t been here often and I can’t seem to find the bathroom. Instead I find something else. It’s Bradley - and another girl! She’s walking away from him and he smiles at her. I’m not sure which emotion is stronger right now, anger or betrayal.

“Hi, Bradley. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” I’m trying to not sound angry, but I don’t think it’s working.

“Uh, yeah. I’m here with my… brain damaged cousin. Back when she was a kid she was in a car accident. She doesn’t get to go out much so I volunteered to take her out to eat. I hope she made it to the bathroom okay,” he tells me, making me feel foolish for even doubting him.

“Oh. I was heading to the bathroom, too. I guess I’ll just follow her. I hope you guys have a nice supper. I’ll see you tomorrow night!” I blow him a kiss and head into the bathroom.

“Oh my gosh, this wallpaper is so dorky!”  The blonde girl giggles, slipping out a snort. She wobbles on her high heels before stumbling into a stall. I feel sorry for her. It must be hard to go through life not understanding everything fully. Bradley is such a sweet guy to be taking care of her like this. Maybe I will visit him tonight and surprise him.

 All during supper I plan out tonight’s escapade. At first I’m not sure how to dress, but I decide it doesn’t matter. I will just show up in the clothes I wore to dinner. When we get home, I start getting ready. I don’t use make-up often so it takes me a while to put on a little eye shadow. After brushing my hair and teeth, it is time to go. I try to put on my best seductive smile as he opens the door.

*     *     *

Unexpected Fantasy
by Lisa Epping

Our game last night ROCKED!!  I’m leader in kills and that puts me at the top of the list in the conference.  I really hope I get recruited by UCLA, but more importantly I can’t wait to see B-rad!  My boyfriend is so awesome and we have so much in common. He really understands me and makes me feel like I’m an actual person, instead of a piece of meat to look at.

B-rad’s picking me up in a few minutes to head to the surf competition. It’s the biggest contest of the year, and I want to get there early but B-rad had something he had to do this morning.  Oh well, at least we get to spend some time together!   B-rad gives me credit for being the one who helped him perfect his surfing skills.  I swear his drowning act was all a ploy to get me to notice him.  It was extremely cute, so, of course, I fell for it.  Who wouldn’t fall for that desperate look from his gorgeous brown eyes?

Oops, there’s the doorbell.  It must be him. 

“Hey, babe, ready to go?”  I answer him with a quick peck on the cheek.

“Good job at the game last night, babe!  You did awesome and made me proud to call you mine” 

“How come you didn’t wait to talk to me afterwards?” I ask. 

He replies with the same answer I always get from him, “You know that my parents can’t see me talking to a girl, babe.  They’d kill me if they knew I was focusing any time on girls.”  I shrug it off once again.

On the way to the beach I glance at B-rad and decide I am so lucky to have him.  He dresses exactly the way I love, in his yellow polo and cargo shorts.  The thing that really gets me is his killer smile!  That, along with his gorgeous eyes is enough to make me want to jump him.  He always mentions this fantasy he has about me showing up at his front door unexpected and seducing him.  I’m not that kind of girl, but when he looks the way he does today, I feel like I’m going to give in.

The ocean looks beautiful today and the beach is packed.  I hope we get a good view!  We find a spot up on a dune so we can see all the top waves the surfers rally on.  “Do you want something to drink, babe?” B-rad asks.  

“Sure, how about a Gatorade?  And could you get me an apple, too?”  I say. 

“Okay, but why don’t you ever eat pizza or anything other than health food?”

“You know I can’t eat that stuff, I’m in training and the UCLA recruiting team will be here next week.”  He kisses me on the forehead and takes off for the concessions. 

“Here ya go, babe!” Brad says.

 “Thanks.  Who’s that blonde chick coming our way?  She looks like she’s on a mission and is looking at you like she wants to kill you.”

He looks a little worried for a minute but then smoothly says, “That’s a girl that works at the mall.  She probably wants to let me know my order came in.  I’ll be right back.”  He goes off to meet her.  After a few minutes they start towards me. 

“Hi, my name is Stef,” I say. 

“Hi,” she says rather obnoxiously.  This girl is so full of herself!  She keeps tossing her hair back and stares at B-rad like she expects him to notice how attractive she seems to think she is.

“Oh my gosh, B-rad, did you just see that awesome hang-ten,” I say. 

“I don’t understand Norwegian,” says bimbo and she stomps off. 

“Wow, she’s different.  What’s she talking about Norwegian for?” I ask.

“Who knows, she’s a bimbo!” says B-rad. 

On the way home, B-rad tells me that he has to hurry home because he has supper with his family, and his grandmother is in town visiting. 

“I really wish you could spend all day with me, B-rad!” I say.

 “I’m sorry, babe.  We will soon. You know how strict my parents are.” We pull into the driveway and he kisses me sweetly.

“Thanks for taking me today.  Maybe I’ll make a late night fantasy into reality!” I wink.  As I’m getting out of the car I make sure to drop my keys.  I bend over so that he can see the thing he loves best about me!

I head to my room to change.  I go for a run and by the time I’m done my mom has supper ready.  It’s late enough; B-rad should be done with supper.  Knowing his parents, they’ll be staying out for a nightcap so they won’t be home.  I think I’ll shower and put on the outfit he loves me in, the pink and black running pants with the little tank to match.  He will be really surprised when I show up at his door and put the moves on him.  This will be a night he’ll never forget!

*     *     *

No Need to Order Dessert
by Samantha Adams

Tonight is totally the night!  My manicurist saved my life by getting me in today!  My cuticles have been a mess.  I admire my coral pink nails that match perfectly with my new summer dress.  I catch a glimpse of myself as I glide past the mirror.  Wow!  I look great!  I tease my hair and reach around to clasp my necklace, a diamond-studded “C” for Candi.  Just as I’m slipping my dress over my two perkiest assets, I hear BJ arrive at the front door.  “Coming!” I sing through the house.  BJ is such a lucky man to be taking me out to an expensive dinner tonight… and it had better be expensive.  Not just anyone gets lucky with me… well… usually… okay, kind of, but I mean, look at me!  I grab my Prada hand bag and look myself over one last time.

I bounce out the door and down the driveway toward BJ’s sexy new car, which is part of his appeal, considering that riding in a shiny black Mustang makes us look hot.  I almost trip trying to settle myself in the passenger’s seat.  Luckily, I recover smoothly with a bat of the eyelashes and my cute little signature giggle.  Works every time.

“Hey, babe!  You look hot!” he says, nodding his head in approval.  He leans forward to kiss me.

“BJ! I just spent the last half hour applying this lip gloss!” I tell him.  He looks a bit disappointed but still manages to smile.  He is happy just to be with me.

On the way to dinner, I think about how sexy my tan looks from the beach today; much better than that weird Norwegian exchange student that BJ’s mom made him show around today.  “We are still planning on a movie at my house later, right?” he asks, throwing me a wink.

“Sure!  What movie did you get?” I ask.

“I rented Pearl Harbor.  It’s a good chick flick.  Plus, it has a pretty hot sex scene in it…” he says, smirking at me.

“Oh,” I say, sounding a bit disappointed.

“Well… ya know… it’s hot to watch…” he stutters nervously.  “I don’t expect anything from you tonight or anything.”

“Oh, no,” I reassure him.  “It’s not that.  I just don’t really like those kinds of movies.  You know, really fake ones.”

“Fake?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.  “You do know that Pearl Harbor actually happened, right?”

“Well, yeah,” I answer.  “But most of it is totally fake!  Like the Japanese pilots… there is no way they could fly all the way from Japan without stopping to eat.”

“Well, I’m sure they ate…” he challenges.

“Yeah, right!” I shoot back.  “Like someone could really use chopsticks on a plane…”

“Hmm…” he agrees.  These intellectual discussions are one reason our relationship works out so well.

We arrive at the restaurant, not the most expensive one in town, but it will do.  Everyone is looking at us as we follow the hostess to our table; no can ignore the sway of my hips and my beautiful blonde hair falling gracefully off my shoulder.  I suppose BJ isn’t a bad accessory on my arm either.  He really is the perfect height for me when I’m wearing heels; flats would be a different story.  We sit down and I stumble a bit with the chair, the darn table cloth gets in the way.  “Oops,” I chirp, again recovering with a smile and giggle. 

The waiter comes.  “Water with lemon, no ice,” I order politely and excuse myself to the bathroom. 

“Oh my gosh,” I think out loud.  “This place is so dorky!”  A girl across the room looks at me almost in pity.  I should really be the one feeling sorry for her… although I’m not sure what’s worse; her long brown skirt or her scraggly red hair.  I want to tell her that Laura Ingles called and wants her outfit back, but I resist.  I smile and giggle so she doesn’t feel uncomfortable.  I walk back to the table and BJ beams at my return.

“I ordered us both chicken salads,” he tells me.

“Oh, that’s good because I’m a vegetarian and I only eat chicken,” I reply happily.  The salads come and taste all right, but the eye candy across the table suddenly looks much more delicious.  BJ would make a very sexy Abercrombie model and he looks very tempting tonight.  His beautiful muscles are bulging from under his yellow polo.  I’m glad we are sitting down though because his tacky shorts and sandals are a bit of a turn-off.  BJ catches me gazing at him.

“What ya looking at, Babe?” he asks.  The look he gives me reminds me of why I put up with his fashion sense, or lack there of.

I giggle and flirt back, “I was just wondering about what’s under that sexy shirt you are wearing.”  The waiter returns and inquires about dessert.  BJ shoots me those beautiful brown eyes.  Thinking about the lacy black bra and panties underneath my dress, I turn to the waiter.  “No thank you.  We will be having dessert at home.”  At this BJ perks up and requests the bill.  I can already tell the rest of the night is going to be exactly how I like it.

*     *     *

Screwed Three Ways From Sunday
by Ryan Berg

As Candi and I lay on the couch watching a movie, I think to myself, “Yes, tonight is definitely the night.”  Laying here was calm and relaxing.  It was such a rough day.  This morning I had a date with Elizabeth, the smartest girl in school.  She’s really into history and drama and all that crap.  Plus, she totally thinks I’m part of this stupid Big Brothers Big Sisters program.  Yeah, I’m so in.  I’ll have her by the end of the weekend.  After that date, I went to a surf contest with the top girl athlete in the class.  Stef is sporty, sexy, and flexible, what more could a guy ask for?  And now, here I am lying next to every guy’s fantasy.  The girl that all guys want, and usually the girl that all guys get.  Who cares if she’s not that bright?  Her extreme hotness covers that up.  And I don’t care if she’s easy; she’s with me now for at least the night.  We put our movie on but quickly lose focus on the film.  I lean in and kiss her and that quickly turns into some heavy making out.

“I’ll be right back,” I whisper to Candi as I hear the doorbell ring.  I walk to the front door wondering who could be at the house this time of night.  I open the door and my heart suddenly stops.  I quickly slam the door and run back to the living room.

“Hey, you wanna take this upstairs?’ I ask Candi quickly. 

“I thought you’d never ask,” she replies.  After I tell her I’ll be up in a second, I head back for the door.  I open it back up slowly and standing in front of me is Elizabeth. 

“What the hell was that about?” she asks with a terrible glare in her eye. 

“Um, I had a bunch of dirty clothes lying around. I was embarrassed,” I quickly answer 

“Oh, well, hopefully if the night goes right, there will be even more dirty clothes on that floor of yours.” 

At that point I could literally trip over my own jaw.  Coming back to the reality of the seriousness of the situation, I ask her to wait in the kitchen while I go “get us a drink” in the garage fridge.  I run out and stand in the foyer trying to think of what I am going to do when suddenly the doorbell rings a second time.  I slowly open it, terrified of what is waiting for me on the other side.  Once again my heart stops and I feel like I’m going to pass out. 

“St, Ste, Stef!”  I say, stuttering over every letter.  She was wearing my favorite outfit, the pink and black running pants with the matching tank top. 

“Well, can I come in?” she asks. 

“Actually, it’s such a nice night out.  Let’s stay here on the porch and just enjoy it.”  I say ingeniously.  “But first I have to get something.”

I quickly run back inside, sneak past the kitchen, and make it upstairs to where Candi is waiting for me.  I walk into my room and there she is standing in her underwear. 

“She really is easy,”  I think to myself as I walk closer to her.  Without saying a word, she pushes me down on the bed and climbs on top.  We start kissing but I quickly stop it.  I shoot up off the bed with Candi looking very confused.  “Where are you going?” she asks very poutingly. 

“I uh, just realized I forgot our sodas in the kitchen.”  I quickly dart off into the hall and down the stairs.  I run into the kitchen and nearly choke.  There is Elizabeth sitting on the counter with a hiked up skirt.  I walk closer to her and we start kissing.  She runs her fingers through my hair as my hands slide slowly down her back. 

“B-RAD!” 

The sudden shriek startles me intensely.  I turn slowly and much to my horror it is Stef standing right in the doorway.  Before I can say anything, Candi walks right into the kitchen wearing my bathrobe. 

“Brain Damaged Cousin!”  Elizabeth says looking at Candi.

“Norwegian Girl!”  Candi says quickly turning to Stef.

They then both turn to Elizabeth and in unison yell, “and who the hell are you?” 

Elizabeth quickly answers, “I’m Bradley’s girlfriend,” with a little snicker of hate for the other two girls. 

“But I’m B-rad’s girlfriend,”  Stef quickly responds. 

“Are you two girls crazy?”  Candi yells.  “I’m BJ’s girlfriend!” 

Not saying a word, I realize I am experiencing something no man should ever have to witness.  It is the angry, hateful glare of three pissed off girls.  They all slowly start walking towards me. 

“Wait, I uh, I can explain.”  I say very nervously. 

“SAVE IT!” they all yell.  They back me onto a corner, and as I slide down the wall sitting into the corner they all grab me. 

“WAIT!” I yell.  ”I uh, I can explain.  I just couldn’t decide on which girl I like best.  You all had the qualities I love and I figured if I couldn’t get a combination then I’d take you all out on a date and see which quality I liked best.”

“Well, which one did you like best?”  Elizabeth asks, throwing her hands on her hips.

“Well,”  I say with a nervous laugh.  “I couldn’t decide.”

With that, they all grab me and I start to struggle.  “Get the duct tape off the counter,”  Elizabeth tells Candi. 

They proceed to tape my hands together and then my mouth.  Then they all drag me to the back of Stef’s car and throw me in the back seat.  I keep trying to yell, “what are you going to do?”  But it only comes out as muffled words.  This amuses the girls.  As they laugh, they get into the car and begin driving down the road.  It seems like forever before we finally stop.  They get out and drag me out as well.  We are in the middle of nowhere.  Stef tears the duct tape off my mouth.  I scream, “OW!”

Elizabeth turns to Stef and Candy and says, “I think this is a good place to leave him.”

I lay on the ground, actually terrified of women for the first time in my life.  Candy whispers something into Stef’s ear and then they all turn to me.  They tear off my shoes and then my pants. 

“Have fun getting back,”  Stef says as she tosses my clothes into the back seat.  Once again, they all get back into the car laughing and drive off in a cloud of dust.  I begin walking down the long dark road in nothing but boxers and a T-shirt thinking to myself, “Damn, now I really am screwed three ways from Sunday.”