When Bodies Collide

1

DAWN

What does it mean to break a bond between people? Not to break someone's heart, but rather to destroy what you had within a friendship? How do you repair that?

I never considered to ask that question on a fateful night the summer before I left for college. Vince and I were as close as siblings, so when he proposed an idea as simple as the word, neither of us considered our consequences.

It was a warm day, bodies were on fire and girls were stretching the limits of the dress code. Large breasts in tight short shirts, toned legs in almost too small of shorts, and hair clinging to their foreheads like they just left a car with some steamy action.

Watching the other girls seductively touch and stroke the arms of the boys in the hallways almost made me sick. The fact that kids around 15 witnessed this behavior and thought that's how people are supposed to be. We are great examples for the younger groups.

"Attention all students, final exams will begin in 20 minutes, please find your classes."

"Attention delinquents, please stop face fucking in the hallways and get an education."

Finally a voice I love to hear. Vince finally showed up to my rescue from the sickening scenes

"And I thought I was the only prude around this time of year." I opened my locker to find a pile of love letters from underclassmen. "Oh God"

Vince laughed hysterically. His brudish laugh sounded more like a grown man drinking with his friends. His softly curled brown hair bounced with every inhale.

"Looks like someone has some catching up to do." he chuckled wiping fake tears from his eyes.

He always liked making fun of how often the younger students liked me. Still, he had me beat with looks and personality and on the last day of school was a good time to show him how often he was talked about.

"And let's see your locker, shall we?"

I reached for his locker and twisted the hatch just before he grabbed my hand and pinned it behind me. An avalanche of pink and purple envelopes swam to the floor as his secret loves raged from the oldest teacher to the youngest student. A smirk spread across my face as his turned pale.

"And yet you are here, hold me like I'm some kind of wild animal when you could have any of these poor girls pinned against a wall like the pervert you are." The words came out of my mouth convincingly, but the thought that crossed my mind wasn't the thought a friend should be having of their friend.

His face became a lightly brighter shade as a flsuh came across his face. His hand slowly let me go as he picked up the letters and shoved them into his empty backpack.

"Why would I want any of them? They aren't anywhere near as fiesty as you and aren't even close to being as cool." he tussle my hair before he left to go to class. I couldn't help but blush.

°°°

"Please tell me that Spanish exam was bullshit? We didn't learn any of that shit right?" Vinny asked as he unlocked his car.

"No you just don't pay attention."

I stuck my tongue out at him as I lowered my bags into his Porsche 911 convertible. He watched me get in the car before he got in. He was a bit off today but so was everyone. The sun was beginning to set and my stomach began to rumble like a earthquake.

"Moms making her famous lasagna... Wanna spend the night and deal with the food coma?"

Mmmmmmmmm lasagna. I wouldn't miss that for the world.

"And why aren't we eating right now? You're just being a cock tease." I said turning on the radio and rolling the window down.

Vinny mumbled something under his breath as he backed out of the spot.

"what'd you say?" I turned the radio down to hear him hoping he'd repeat.

He shook his head and sped down the main street without hitting a single red light.

°°°

I laid on his couch my belly lightly bloated and exhausted from the mental pain of exams.

Vinny sat down and placed my legs on his lap as he turned on his TV to TNT showing some manly show. The blue light from the TV made his jawline pronounced and his hair fell in his face with it all damp.

He just got out of the shower and smelled like men's body wash. The smell of him alone made my head get hot. The stubble on his chin made him look even older and closer to being a man than usual.

He wasn't aware of his actions, I'm certain, because his glazed eyes were watching the TV while his strong hands grazed my legs in such a natural way its as if we had done it a million times.

I watched him for a moment before I registered what the mood in the air was before I said what was on my mind.

"Hey Vinny?" I pulled my legs into myself and sat in the fetal position. His gaze met mine knowing I had picked up on something.

He pushed the hair out of his face and awaited my question.

"What's been going on with you today? You've been acting like you're trying to make me your girlfriend. What did you want from me to make you do that?"

The look in his eyes wasn't that of shock or of anger. There was a look I hadn't seen before. A softer one that had a darkness to it as well. He didn't have to say anything, because he reached for my face in a way that was familiar to me but foreign to be receiving it from him.

His face drew closer to mine and the breath between us began to slow down as he moved me down to where my legs rested on the sides of his hips and our chests met with every breath.

"Fall semester is going to move us apart," his hand moved down my sides onto my hips, the action hypnotizing me into a kind of frenzy that was centered between my thighs. "so before that happens, and you meet someone you might want to spend your life with, I'd like us to take this summer to explore each other," his hand moved to my inner thigh tracing the marks of growth that danced along me like war scars. "But only if that's something you want to do as well."

His hands stopped moving and he pulled away giving me space to breathe. The cold basement air made my body shudder and the lack of warmth from his body left me sad. Sadder than I had felt with anyone else.

" What kind of things, " I reached a hand behind his head and pulled him back into me "did you want to explore"