Chapter One - Charlie and the Girl Factory

"Hiya. Uhmmm, Charlie, right? Charlie Cullen?” I nodded. “Are you single?"

Two really pretty girls, both very, very popular seniors, approached me. The pretty redhead was asking the question, her smile catching me off guard.

"Uhhh, yeah. I mean, I don't have a steady girlfriend or anything."

"Good," the blonde said. "We've been watching you and we want you to help us out with something."

"Please don't make fun. I'm more than just a bit tired of everyone giving me a hard time about studying so much and being a nerd. I just want to learn and leave this place. That's all. The thought of being the butt of another senior prank doesn't thrill me."

"Yeah, we heard about that," the redhead said. "This is nothing like that. I swear. We want you to help us prove that there are nice guys out there. That's all. Think you can help us with that?"

"How can I help you prove it? Or disprove it? There are. You ladies don't seem to hang out with them, but they exist."

"Now you're catching on. Meet us back here after school. It's open for after-hours study hall. The four of us want to talk with you and see what we can do to... Well, what we can do to either fix the situation or find a new one. Trust me on this, Charlie; you won't be hurt. Physically or emotionally. It's not a prank. It's not a joke. We’ve been watching you for weeks. We’ve been watching you… carefully. Since the school year started, actually. You are the one we want to help us with this. I'm Donna. Donna Stanford," the blonde said. I nodded. I knew that. "This is Trixie O'Brien." She tilted her head over to the redhead. I nodded. I knew her, too. Who didn’t?

"I'll do what I can, but ladies, please understand, my studies come first. Well, my family comes first, then my studies."

Trixie then said, "As it should be, Mr. Cullen. As it should be. Please find your way back here after class. We all get done at about the same time. We'll have Brenda Miller and Stacey Francis with us."

They probably heard me gulp. I know they saw me shake my head a bit in disbelief. Brenda and Stacy were Homecoming and Court Warming queens LAST year. As juniors! That is almost unheard of in the high school social strata, but it happened. If they were involved with this, I am most probably getting into something just a touch, like about fifty feet, over my head.

"Don't sweat it, Charlie. They... As a matter of fact, WE ALL put our panties on one leg at a time. Just like you. Well, your undies. Boxers or briefs?"

"Boxers."

"My kinda guy," Donna said. I think I turned red. “You are a cute one, Charlie. See you back here after class.”

She kissed me on my forehead, and they walked off, Trixie turning around and mouthing, 'after class', and pointing to their table. I nodded. What else could I do? Two of the four prettiest girls in school just asked a dorky junior to help them with a social experiment, and the other two prettiest were supposed to be there to help them explain it to me.

All I could think at the time was that I must've been hit by a truck on the way to school and I'm in heaven or something. Or maybe hell. Depends on how this turns out. Who knows? Maybe I’ll know more after school. Ay caramba!

To say I was worried for the next few hours would be an understatement, but I had work to do. Even though I coasted through trig, then biology three, which is really an advanced placement introductory course into college level biochemistry, the last hour was English. My absolute worst subject, but it had to be done, external interference be damned. I made it through. I got a reading assignment written down, quoted some crappy reference from Chaucer, and hightailed it back to the cafeteria. Truth be told, on the way through the halls I thought to myself that I was either a glutton for punishment or had a curiosity addiction that would kill me one day. Neither was good, but the latter seemed a little less… A little less dorky.

Donna was there. Trixie was there. Stacey was there. Damn, she was beautiful. Brenda came walking in, and as I glanced at her behind me, I noticed her legs. Even in penny loafers her legs were beautiful and went all the way up to her…

“Hi, Charlie. Thanks for coming.” That was Donna.

“Yeah, Charlie. We really need your help.” Stacey’s smile, when she spoke, told me with no uncertainty that this was real. As beautiful as Stacey was, she wasn’t plastic, or artificial, in any way.

Brenda made eye contact and made me feel better about the meeting. She seemed so sincere when she spoke. “Charlie, I can speak for us all, which I don’t, normally, as we are all, each, our own persons, or people, or whatever, when I say that you are very possibly a God send, and we appreciate your being here. Thank you in advance.” She reached out with her hand. Her soft, warm, delicate hand. I took it, as gently as I could, trying to be somewhat couth. She squeezed and smiled. I smiled back.

Trixie was last to speak. “Charlie, we want you to be our boyfriend for the rest of the year. All four of us. If you catch any flak from any of the guys, we need to know. This is about what is right, not what is expected. If you treat us the way you treated the two girls we spoke to, the ones that basically threw you away, we’ll protect you from any, and all, threats to the best of our ability. We have friends. Friends that want us happy and safe. Unlike the starting offense, the starting defensive front line actually gives a shit whether we smile tomorrow. Does that make sense?”

“You guys are friends with Travis and his… and Greg?”

“This kid’s smart,” Brenda said. “Sorry. That was uncalled for. Charlie, I didn’t mean it that way. This GUY is smart, ladies. Yes, Charlie, Travis Smith and Greg Holcomb are very good friends of ours. You knew they were gay?”

“Yeah. I tutor Travis in math, and Greg hangs out a lot. Travis told me if I ever said anything, he’d pound me into the dirt. Greg laughed when he said it, but… No matter, as long as Travis passes algebra, I think I’ll be safe.”

“They won’t be pounding you into the dirt, regardless. We’re friends. Trust me. OK, now, how do we go about this, ladies?” Stacey asked.

“One at a time, hopefully, or maybe…” Brenda said, giggling, then she cleared her throat and got serious. “The one time… Never mind. Charlie, I want you to take me to the sock hop next week. You need to take one of us to Homecoming, one of us to Court Warming, and one of us to the Christmas Ball, or Holiday Ball, or whatever they’re calling it this year. THAT is how it’s going to work. Donna, I need to tell you that Diane and Susie are both watching this whole thing. As of Saturday night, they are no longer attached. We just need to make sure not to kill him. Remember what he told you. Family, school, then all the peripheral crap, like… us. Sucks to be us, but we need to do this. Charlie, you know this is a research project, right, and you are the… the subject? We’re trying to find out what life would be like with a gentleman in our lives. If you change and are no longer the person we think we’ve come to find you are, we may have a problem.”

“Don’t worry. When I stop shaking, and explain it to my mother, she’ll make sure if I screw this up, you will be the least of my problems.”

All four of them started laughing. Trixie, after calming a bit, asked the others, “Should I call her and warn her?”

“Nah,” Donna told her. “Let him explain it to his mother and sister. They wouldn’t believe it from anyone else anyway. Charlie, I know your mother, and my sister is friends with yours. I don’t think either of them would believe you’d lie to them, so tell them the truth if you want, and tell them to call us, or talk to us, or whatever, but this is real. You now have four casual girlfriends.”

“Three,” Trixie said. “This may not be all that casual for me. If you all don’t want him after the experiment, I might just keep him. As a matter of fact, I’d like to have the Christmas Ball if it’s OK with the rest of you.” She smiled at me. I turned three shades of red. The others laughed. Trixie didn’t. The most beautiful redheaded woman in the entire world just made a pass at me. Oh, my, dear, God, please don’t let me freeze. There was no pushback. I had a date for the ball.

“Thank you, Trixie. I’ll do what I can… You know… For each of you.” I was looking directly at her when I said it. She smiled. Whew. I didn’t blow it… I don’t think.

“OK, let’s let him think about this, and he can contact us. Pass his phone around.” Brenda was back in charge. Trixie took it and loaded it with her info, then passed it to Donna. She filled in her data, then passed it to Stacey, who did the same and passed it to Brenda. Brenda put her info in, took down mine, broadcast it, then handed my phone back to me. “Charlie, this is not a joke. Not even a little. We would like you to show us how those two snotty brats were treated. Trixie overstepped a bit, but the point is, while we understand you might not be Don Juan, you just might be a respectful guy.”

“Brenda, I’m sorry, but just exactly who did you talk to?” I was extremely curious.

“Carol Broadman and Amanda Parsons. Both of them said you were a stick in the mud. A prude. You took each of them to a movie and out for a burger, or whatever, and didn’t try to screw their brains out, or even get in their pants. They both wondered why not and what they might have done wrong. All the jocks either had them… Never mind. They were incensed by the fact that you wanted a date with a girl and some companionship without wanting something in return. Something sexual. Believe it or not, they thought you were dissing them by not trying.”

“Oh. I thought…”

Stacey held her hand out, palm toward me. “NO! Don’t do that. Don’t analyze it. Don’t change anything. Don’t think about it. Let us do that for you for a while. You just be you. We think we like that guy, Charlie,” she said. She was smiling. “You weren’t wrong. There’s more to relationships than sex. A lot more. You won’t do without, Charlie, trust us, but that won’t be the center of our universe. OK?”

“Sure.” I thought for a minute as they were all getting ready to leave. “Ladies, there is one thing I’d like to mention.”

“What’s that,” Brenda asked.

“I normally kiss my girlfriends goodbye before we part, just in case something happens…” I grinned, getting cheeky smiles back from each of them.

“No problem.” Brenda leaned over and kissed me lightly on the lips. I touched her arm.

Stacey came over and kissed me, laying her hand on my shoulder. I touched her hip and felt her shiver.

Donna was next behind her, kissing me gently, squeezing my forearm, then thanking me for listening.

Trixie set her book bag down, looked up at me, hugged me, and as I placed my hands on her almost nonexistent waist, she whispered in my ear, “Thank you. I wasn’t kidding. If this works out, I will probably want to keep you, that is, if you’ll have me. I’ve been watching you for quite a while, young man.” She kissed me, licking my lips, causing ME to shiver. She let me go, grabbed her bag, and walked out, wiggling her fingers over her shoulder. She then gave me the ‘call me’ signal with her hand. Oh, God. Thank you. At least she just proved I’m not in hell. I think. Maybe.

‘Well… Shiver me timbers,’ I thought as they walked out, one after the other. Who in their right mind would have ever thought this possible? A nobody, like me, in the situation of being in the courtship of four lovelies, one of whom thought of me as a possible keeper. Damn. Damn, I love my life!

It took all night to get my homework done, mostly because my mind kept wandering. Damn. Damn, I hate English.

When I was done, though, I went and knocked on my mom’s doorframe. She was lying in bed reading some fashion magazine.

“What’s up, Charlie?”

“Mom, I have… It’s not a problem, it’s a situation. I just want you to know about it so that if I need some guidance, you’ll be ready.”

“This sounds quite deep. Spill it, kiddo.”

“I have four girlfriends, I think. It might actually be six pretty soon.”

“Do they know about each other?”

“They approached me as a group, Mom. They are the six most popular, most beautiful women, I mean girls, in the school. Well, six of the seven most beautiful. Cheryl will be in their shoes in a few years, and she’s already as gorgeous as the best of them.”

“Awww, how sweet. Your sister will be a heartbreaker, that’s for sure. I hope she’s as levelheaded as her brother when she’s your age.”

“Me, too. There are some real… There are some girls out there that I would NOT want to have as sisters, that’s for sure.”

“OK, I got it. Now, hon, tell me what happened.”

I explained my dates in late July and August, before school started, and how word got back to the school’s female royalty that I didn’t try to “get some”. Mom giggled. I even told her about Trixie saying she might want to keep me. She giggled again. Mom knows of a couple of the girls since Cheryl was friends with their younger sisters. Donna’s little sister, Darla, was actually one of Cheryl’s besties, as they call each other. Donna mentioned that today, and Mom agreed.

I went on to tell her their plan and how they said they’d protect me if anything happened.

“Charlie, I meant to ask you about it when that incident happened last year, but I forgot. You are very capable of taking care of yourself. Your father made sure of that before he left us. Why did you allow those guys to do that to you last year?”

“Well, Mom, I’m not Superman. Dad did a wonderful job. I know I can take on any one or two of them, but there were four, I was hanging upside down, and I’m pretty sure I would have had a target the size of Rhode Island on my back had I taken any of them down. It was better the way it happened. They had their fun and moved on to other targets. I lived. The next kid will live. It’s a badge of honor now that it’s in the past. Come to think of it, I have two of those guys’ ex-girlfriends courting me now. Karma is a bitch with a rolling pin.”

“You are a wonder, child of mine. That is the most adult outlook on that episode I can imagine. If your father ever starts haunting us, take him to school and have him help you out a little.”

“Yeah, that’d be fun. Guys would be flying all over the place. In any case, I can take care of myself, but I don’t want to advertise that fact.”

“Good. Mature and intelligent. I still have a man in the house, don’t I?”

“We’ll see. Just think about things and be ready with one of your wonderful, insightful jewels of knowledge to share when I come home screaming like a little girl because I’m scared to death. I get unsure about being with one girl. There are now four, and, well, you know...”

“Charlie, I’m going to tell you something you won’t believe, because you aren’t about you, and not all wrapped up in yourself, but I’m saying it anyway. Glasses and all, you are a very handsome guy. You are not a geeky pipsqueak. You are a catch. You do realize your school physical put you at an even six feet, and while you aren’t all that heavy, you are quite substantial, and we both know what you have under that shirt. Just wait ‘til those ladies see all that.” She giggled again. “Whether you want to believe it or not, you are worthy of any of those women. Girls. Whatever. You really are. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks, Mom. I love you. Goodnight.”

“G’night, sweetie. Thank you, too.”

“Thank me? For what?”

“Coming to me. Talking to me. I love you. My life is nothing if not for you and your sister. Remember that.”

“Yes, ma’am. G’night.”

I laid in bed for about ten minutes thinking about what she said, and about what Donna, Trixie, Brenda, and Stacey had said and done that afternoon. This might be fun IF I don’t let it go to my head. Either of them. Then I thought about Trixie’s kiss, my hands on her waist, and her tongue brushing my lips. I reached down to arrange myself a bit and don’t remember much else. Sleep came quickly for some reason.

Up and at ‘em, feeling great, and after getting ready for school, I went downstairs to grab a bite to eat. I walked in on Cheryl and Mom talking. I heard Donna’s name and gave Mom the evil eye.

“You sister was just telling me that Darla’s sister has a new boyfriend. What’s her name, Charlie? Is it Donna?”

“Yes, Mother.” I have to admit, I sounded, and was, quite miffed, thinking she had spilled the beans about our talk, but then I realized she said Cheryl had told her something. Before I could apologize for being a bit snarky, she lashed out.

“Don’t get pissy with me, mister. Your sister told me all about it. I didn’t say squat. She had all the news that is the news. Ain’t that right, Cher?”

“Yep. That’s right. My brother is dating Donna Stanford. Kinda cool, if you ask me. She’s nice. He’s not the worst thing to ever happen to the world, either. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

“Thanks, gorgeous. I appreciate the sentiment.” I pulled her ponytail toward me and kissed the top of her head making her giggle. I grabbed a pack of toaster pastries to eat on the way to school. “I’m outa here, ladies. I have to arrange my life to include a bunch of other people. Bye, gorgeous.”

“Bye, Charlie,” Cheryl said, smiling. She was a good-looking girl. Two years younger than me, a freshman, she was probably going to run the school the way Brenda and her friends do now.

“Bye, Mom.” I leaned into the kitchen nook and kissed her on her forehead. “Thanks again.” She nodded and I left.

When I pulled into the school parking lot, I looked over where Donna, Stacey, Brenda, and Trixie usually were, and didn’t see them, so I just went to my normal spot and pulled in… next to Donna’s and Stacey’s cars. The six of them were there. Susie Brennan’s car was on the other side of Stacey’s and she and Diane Thomas were standing with the others.

“Good morning, Don,” Susie said, giggling.

I looked at her with a question mark evidently covering my entire face.

Diane fixed it. “Don Juan, swashbuckler and enticer of women the world over.” She giggled then.

Brenda spoke up. “Cool it, girls. We started this, not him. Well, Charlie, are you ready? We have classes close to each other this morning, so let’s make an entrance. Ladies?” And that was it. We went into the building together, the seven of us, and I doubted at the time that anyone even noticed me. It seemed to me that they all had gone out of their way to look exceptionally cute that morning. It worked.

Brenda held my hand all the way to her home room. Upon arriving there, she pulled me to her and kissed me, then left me with the others and went in to take her seat. Trixie took my hand and pulled me from there a couple of doors down, then kissed me, right in front of Carol Broadman. She smiled at Carol, then squeezed my hand gently, letting go, basically dropping me off, and after they all said their so longs, they walked down the hall. Yeah, I was in heaven.

I had one acquaintance in that classroom, our homeroom, that I talked to, even though it wasn’t all that often, and we weren’t very close. He asked me what was going on.

“Charlie, what the hell is happening. Did I wake up in a different reality, like on the sci-fi shows where guys like us are getting all the good-looking pussy now?”

“No, Billy, and with an attitude like that, you never will. Look, it’s just me, it’s just them, and it’s just life as we know it. Let it go. Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.”

“Yeah, right. Are you paying them?”

“Billy, get real. Just let it go.”

“Whatever.”

The teacher started calling our names, then as she droned on, I heard, “Broadman”.

Carol replied with a snarky tone, “Here.”

I looked over at Carol and smiled. It was a genuine smile. Her ignorance led me to Trixie and the Tribe. She scoffed back, shaking her head, and rolling her eyes.

A few more names were called then, “Cullen.”

“Here,” I replied. I was the cutoff. The last of the ABC’s in our junior class home room. I’m sure you can surmise the next room started with D, and so on. She went through the day’s announcements, then we had more or less of a study hall for about twenty minutes.

When the bell rang, everyone else headed for the door, but I decided to hang back and leave after the crowd had passed. My next class was Geography, one I shared with none other than Donna Stanford. I was ever so slightly surprised when she was waiting for me at the door, hooked her hand into my arm, and off we went. The entire day went like that. If I had a class with one of my new girlfriends, she somehow met me and walked with me, either hand in hand, or arm in arm to that next class.

My biggest surprise was when Diane Thomas and Susie Brennan met me after Biology and walked me, between them, to English. We shared that class, and until that day, the day before actually, that fact really didn’t mean anything to me, so I didn’t put it together with them. Beginning at that time though, it meant a lot. They weren’t all in for the experiment yet but asked me about a million questions on the way to class. Not bad for a short four-minute walk.

“Charlie, I’ll say this about that,” Diane giggled, “I’m not happy with Freddie Nelson and his happy hands. Susie is no longer excited about being Tony Arden’s arm candy and his constant need for her to… please him. Yeah, let’s say ‘please him’. In any case, we’re going to watch this for a bit and see what happens, but I, for one, am going to stay unattached, just in case. Not to be too graphic, but Susie and I are extremely close, and we don’t really need to replace those guys any time soon. That being said, we hope you are happy and keep our friends happy. Susie?”

“Ditto that and more. Charlie, you are a good guy. We know that. Trixie has been watching you and talking about you for ages now. It’s always been a death sentence, socially, for an upper-class girl to be seen with a lower-class boy, even if it’s just a one-year difference. Sucks, because most of the senior and junior boys are out looking for fresh pussy in the ninth and tenth grade girls. Sorry. I don’t always have my filters on. In any case, if it wasn’t for social stigmas, Trixie would probably have approached you last year. You were new and all, but… In any case, let’s go sit down. I love English class.”

“Strike one for Charlie,” I said, loud enough for all to hear.

“Stop it. We know what you’re like in the hard classes,” Diane said, laughing. She touched her forehead to my arm, just below my shoulder, then looked up at me. “You really are a cutie, you know that?”

All I could do was smile and wonder how this all got started. It was beginning to make sense. A little bit. As scary as that was, it made me feel a bit better. Mom’s words came back to me doing even more to settle me a little.

When class was over, Diane and Susie each kissed a cheek, much to the chagrin of Mrs. Stachik, our English teacher, then walked out, headed for softball practice. I heard, “Hey, Trix,” in sort of an out of synch stereo, some mumbling between the girls, then saw my beautiful redheaded doll walk in the door.

“Hello, Miss O’Brien. To what do we owe this honor. I thought I passed you along the line last year,” the woman said to Trixie.

“I’m just here to pick up my boyfriend, ma’am. You did well and should consider me very much passed along.” She giggled, causing Stachik to laugh.

WAIT! Wait just a damned minute. Mrs. Stachik is HUMAN? She smiles? ‘Well, I’ll be damned’, I thought to myself.

Trixie saw me smile and shake my head. “What, Charlie?”

“I’ll tell you later, doll. I’ll tell you later,” I said in a subdued voice, then turned to the teacher. “We’ll see you later, Mrs. Stachik. Have a good evening.”

“Thank you, Mr. Cullen. I’ll try to do just that. See you kids later,” she said as I pulled Trixie out of the door.

“Trixie, that was the first time that I can remember ever seeing that woman smile. It caught me off guard.”

“Oh! Seriously? No biggie. She used to be on a bowling team with my mom. She’s actually pretty cool. Uhmm, Charlie, you called me ‘doll’.”

“Sorry. Too much? Too fast? Too early?”

“Oh, God, no! Just right, and just in time. Don’t apologize. Just to let you know, it’s much nicer than woman, or babe. Babe isn’t so bad, in private, but when in a group, it’s not as appealing. I had a date once call me ‘babe’ and introduce me to his cousin as his newest ‘ho’. I grabbed my things and walked home. I’m not going to tell any of you who it was, but you’ll figure it out someday as I won’t ever acknowledge he exists.” She smiled, pulled my hand and stopped me. “Charlie, ‘doll’ is fine. Anytime you like.” She kissed me, right there in the hallway, in front of cameras, students, teachers, God, and all. “Damn, I’ve been wanting to do that all day. Thank you. Any way you can give me a lift home? I was hoping so, and I have a backup plan, but I’d rather it be you.”

“Absolutely. Come on, doll. Here, gimme your bag.” I took it, threw the strap over my shoulder with mine, and holding hands, we walked out to the cars.

“Charlie,” Brenda said when we walked up. “What’s the story with this car, anyway. Not a normal thing for most people. Guys have trucks and muscle cars. Girls have SUVs or little bugs.”

“Yeah, and how do you wind up with more than one, anyway?” That was Trixie. I looked at her. “I saw you at the grocery store this summer in that Dodge sports car. I guess that thing really IS a muscle car, huh?”

“They were my father’s and he asked me to take care of them. Trixie, that was his hobby car. It’s an old Dodge Charger and it’s really hard to find good gas for it and all. I don’t drive it very much. This was his everyday car, and the one he used when he taught me how to drive. Believe it or not, in some circles it’s considered a muscle car, too. A 21^st century type of muscle car.”

Stacey’s father ran a Ford dealership. “That was one of the last SHOs, wasn’t it, Charlie. It’s a really a pretty shade of blue, that’s for sure.”

“One of. It’s a 2018. They made them for another year, I think. He got it in 2017 just before he got sick. It was a special order. Everything you could get on them except the sunroof. He had one on a model a few years older than this one and the thing leaked on him. We were on vacation and leaving a hotel down in Louisville. He got in and the water was running down on his leg. I still remember him cussing and swearing he’d never have a blanker blanking window in his blanker blanking roof again. I thought my little sister’s ears would fall off. Oh, my, the language!” I laughed, getting the girls all to follow.

“Ladies, I’m taking our boyfriend home to meet my mother, if you all don’t mind. She’s off today and I may not have another chance for a while.” They all agreed and after hugs and kisses and promises of calls and help with homework issues, we all split up, four cars going four different directions.

“I’m really sorry about your dad, Charlie. Most of us are so spoiled and have never had to deal with anything like that. Susie never knew her dad, but the rest of us have pretty average family lives.”

“Thanks, hon. Really, it’s been a couple of years now, and it’s easier, but we were really close. All four of us, actually. As close as we were, Cheryl and I are even closer, and now my mom is multi-tasking, but she’s really good at it.”

“Did you talk to her about us?”

“Yes. She told me some things that made me feel better about it. I just want to make sure I meet all your expectations. She’s under the impression I might be able to.”

“So are we. Home, James!” She giggled while she was putting her seatbelt on. She was a truly beautiful creature, even without the smiling face. It just got better when she looked happy. The thought that she had been looking at me as more than the resident dork in the year behind her was quite an eye opener for me.

I ‘group texted’ Mom and Cheryl, letting them know where I’d be. We did that a lot, just so we’d know where each other were in case there was an emergency. We’d been through a couple of them and weren’t always aware during the first couple of them involving Dad. It hadn’t happened much since then. We pretty much knew where to find each other.

At the O’Brien residence, a little three-bedroom floor plan house in an older, but nicely kept neighborhood, she had me park in the street. She told me her dad may come home and would need to park in the single driveway. She said her mom’s car was in the garage, hopefully, and that she should be home. In we went, me a bit nervous about meeting her mother. ‘Why?’ I asked myself. Myself said, ‘because this one may be more than an experiment’. This one may really want me to stick around for a while.

“MOM!” Trixie hollered once we were in the side door to the house.

“Beatrice Alexandra, why do you always scream like that. You know I can hear you just fine! Oh, my, we have a guest. Hello, young man. I am Trixie’s mother. Who might you be?” Mrs. O’Brien’s southern accent was really neat, and I have to say, for a middle-aged woman, she was very good looking.

“Mother, stop. He’s my new boyfriend. I told you about all this last night, remember? Anyway, this is Charlie Cullen. You may or may not remember me talking about him as far back last year when he started school, but this is the guy.”

“This is that boy? I do remember that, come to think of it. Well, Mr. Cullen, welcome to our humble abode.”

“Thank you, Mrs. O’Brien. This was all news to me, but very welcome news, naturally. Your daughter is most definitely one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met.”

“You should meet her sister. Belinda is just as pretty, young man. How I was blessed with these two beauties is still a mystery for the Goddess to answer, but her father and I are truly blessed. They aren’t the dumbest two broads to ever walk the face of the earth, either. Thank the Goddess for that, as well, since the scholarship money will help us put them through school. Money doesn’t grow on trees, after all.”

“No, ma’am, it doesn’t. I hope to meet her sometime.”

“Come on, Charlie, let’s go downstairs. Mom, we’re going down. Holler if you need me for anything.”

“OK, honey. You two be good. I’m happy to meet you, Charlie. Please make yourself at home.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Trixie took my hand and led me downstairs into their family room. She showed me around the basement area where there was a really nice bathroom with a big walk-in shower area. She showed me the laundry room and her and her sister’s bedrooms.

“Mom and Dad have an office upstairs next to their bedroom and there’s a guest room up there, too. It’s a small house, but Dad has fixed it up really nice. He’s a carpenter foreman. He builds houses for Braxton Homes.”

“Cool. It’s nice. Your room is all done in blue, hon. What’s up with that?”

She walked into her sister’s room, laid down on the bed and fanned her hair out on a pink pillow.

“Oh. I take it she’s not a redhead?”

“Strawberry blonde. Not as much contrast. Anyway, I like blue, in every form. If I told you I know it’s your favorite color, what would you say?”

“I’m falling in love with my stalker?”

“Good save. Charlie,” she rose, straightened her hair, kissed me, took my hand and pulled me out to the sofa in front of their huge TV. “I really have been looking at you for a while. I’m not even sure why. I just see the way you are around others. You are quiet, yet sure. I think there is more to you than meets the eye. I want to be the one that finds that ‘more’. Yes, I know we’re sharing you, for now, but you might see me more. They know that. After my little outburst yesterday, I’m sure they know. Donna already did. The other four knew I had a thing.”

“A thing?”

“Yes, a thing. Girls get a thing for a guy. I have a thing.”

“Guys get a thing for girls, too, but I had no idea I would ever be someone else’s thing. My mother told me something last night, and maybe I’m old enough now to understand.”

“What did she tell you, Charlie?”

“She told me I wasn’t chopped liver.” I grinned.

She broke up laughing. “I doubt your mother said that.”

“It wasn’t a quote. It was, however, the gist of the conversation.”

“She was right, Charlie. You are far from chopped liver, but please, please, please, don’t let it go to your head. So many guys, when they find out they are handsome and girls are interested, turn into conceited jerks and start treating girls, women, like crap. Please don’t let that happen. You really are a catch. If that is what your mother told you, she’s right, but shame on her. We wanted you ignorant and innocent.” She grinned.

“Trust me, doll, I’m still in awe of you and your friends. It won’t control me, as long as you want that job instead.”

“Awww, how sweet. I’ll do it. To a point. You still need to be you. Not mine to change. You need to be you. That’s who you are. That’s why we like you. You said you were falling in love with your stalker. Do you have any idea what that means?”

“More than you know, Trixie. I know love. I know dedication. I know devotion. With a woman of my dreams? No, I’m going to be learning that one, but I’m aware of the concept. I loved my father. His loss left an empty place in my heart. One that will never be filled. I love my mother. She is my rock. I love my sister. She makes my sun come up in the morning and helps me enjoy my life watching her live and have fun in hers. I would do anything for either of them. I’ll learn how to do that with someone like you, a peer, if you will.”

“You are such a romantic. A breath of fresh air, too.” She kissed me, one hand on my neck, and the other on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her small, lithe body and pulled her against me as we made out. I rubbed my hands up and down her back, listening to her moan into my mouth. Her tongue came to meet mine. It was that day, that hour, that minute, I learned how to kiss a woman like I wanted to love her. I did. I was sure of it. I hoped she felt the same, but time would tell the story.

“You’re just wonderful and beautiful, Trixie. Thank you for this.” We kissed again, this time with her pushing up against me. Her hand moved from my chest to my neck as she pulled me even closer to her. The other hand went from my neck to my ear and she was holding my earlobe between her thumb and fingers, gently fondling it. That was the sexiest thing another person had ever done to me. It was, at the time, the only sexy thing, besides this scorching kiss, that anyone had ever done to me, but nonetheless, it was life changing.

She ended the kiss and rested her head under my chin. “I have a feeling,” she said, sighing into my upper chest, “that there is something here. Something much bigger than me. I’ve never felt like this, Charlie. Please don’t take this wrong, and forget I said it after I do, but you aren’t the first person I’ve kissed. You are however, the first person I’ve kissed that made my stomach want to crawl out through my belly button. I’m not talking sexy. I’m talking intimate. Shit, I don’t know.”

“We may have reached an agreement on that, doll. I think we should work on it.”

“Me, too,” she said, then rose, straddled my lap, leaned in, and kissed me again. It was a deep, long, loving, intense, warm kiss, and when we ended it, she thanked me. “Thank you. That was nice. Can we wear blue to the ball? I think we can look really good together. Tux or suit?

“Tux. I have one. I may have to have it let out, again, but I can get some blue stuff, the tie and cummerbund, to go with it. My mom will probably call your mom about colors and the like, but we can make it a big deal. I’m looking forward to it. Are you all going to the hop, or will it just be Brenda and me?”

“We’re all going. Stag. Well, stagette? Doe?” She giggled again. A beautiful sound. “Diane and Susie will go together, and I’ll go with Donna and Stacey, but we’re off boys for a while. We may have a dance or two or something, but nothing serious. We’re really not happy with the way things were going, Charlie. It’s that bad. I’m really off boys for a while, if you know what I mean. Not off you, obviously, but I need to be before Mom comes down here and sees me like this. Kiss me and let me up.” I did, then I helped her up. She turned on CMT and we watched the tail end of some comedy and watched a few music videos.

My phone rang. “Hi, Mom.”

“You’re with Trixie?”

I looked at my girlfriend and smiled. “Yes, I am. She’s quite a girl, Mom.”

“I’ll bet. We’re going out for dinner tonight. Six o’clock at Bennie’s. Be there or be square. You need not show up alone.”

“Thanks. Hang on. Trix, you available for dinner out with Mom and Cheryl tonight?” She grinned and nodded. “Charlie plus one, Mom. Thanks again. See you at Bennie’s.” Trixie kissed my nose and ran upstairs. “God, Mom, she’s great. I mean it.”

“You told me to help if I could, right?”

“Yes, Mom. Yes, of course.”

“She’s also your first, other than casual dates, isn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“Be careful with your heart. I’m not saying she’s not it. I’m not saying someone else is. I’m just saying be careful with your heart. It’s the only one you have. It can be broken and heal, but it’s not fun.”

“Got it. See you in a little bit. I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, kiddo. Don’t ever doubt that. I’ll be here, one way or the other.”

“Thank you.” Click. She ended the call just after I said that. I must have had a look on my face. Not necessarily the same one I had when she went upstairs.

“What’s wrong, Charlie?”

“Nothing. My mother was reminding me that I’m not yet seventeen and I’m falling head over heels for a woman.”

“Smart. I’ll be eighteen in a couple of months, and I’m still just a little girl. I’m not running off to Washington D.C. to be your arm candy if you are elected senator for our state this November. Not happening. We’re a bit young for that. HOWEVER, that being said, you are my one. That’s my reality.”

“Let’s share a reality for as long as we can then, without committing to what kind of rocking chairs we’ll use to rock our grandchildren. Sound good?”

“Sounds good, as well as sounding real. Kiss me again.” We kissed, then she settled next to me and texted one of her friends or classmates about a school question while I watched Miss Ballerini in a little sequined body suit outfit and high heels sing a song.

My mind was not on Kelsea at the time. Not even a little bit. In less than thirty hours I had gone from being completely alone and happy about it, just dating once in a while if the opportunity came up, to having more than one girlfriend, one of which was pretty damned serious. She pulled out a notebook and a textbook, turned to a page in each, then started in on an algebra problem. I watched as she struggled with it, looking at the text from whoever she was chatting with.

“Hey, doll, I know it’s none of my business, but the stuff in parenthesis needs to be done first, then it’ll make more sense. You’re trying too hard. Take your time and remember what coach tells the Neanderthals. ‘Fundamentals. Start with the fundamentals, girls’.” She laughed at the way I was making fun of our football coach and his deep, funny, New Jersey accent.

“Thanks, Charlie. Let me get a couple more of these done, and we can take off. I’m going to change clothes, if it’s OK. Will you wait down here for me?”

“Sure, hon. No problem.” She had such a pretty smile. She worked a couple, getting them right, so I kept my mouth shut, then she gave me a little peck, and ran upstairs.

That was a preview of Charlie and the Girl Factory. To read the rest purchase the book.

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