"I don't think he's going to last much longer," the doctor told the family gathered around the bedside. "His breathing is forced. He doesn't seem to be aware of his surroundings. I'm sorry."
"Cindy Vanderhoff..."
They turned to look at the old man who had just mumbled this name. His eyes fluttered and then opened. He looked around the room like he was searching for someone.
"Cindy Vanderhoff..." he repeated in a raspy whisper.
"Who is he talking about?" The doctor asked.
No one knew. The old man closed his eyes. Time went backwards. The memories came flooding back.
**********
The year was 1957. I was seventeen years old and entering the 12th grade. We lived in a suburban community just outside of Cincinnati where all the houses look the same. When I wasn't in school I was working at the local hardware store. I had been on a few awkward dates, but most of my knowledge about sex was from listening to other boys talk in the locker room, and most of the time they didn't know what they were talking about.
My lack of experience with the opposite sex couldn’t be pinned to any one thing. I wasn’t a bad looking kid. At five foot nine and 165 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes, I was more or less average. I wasn’t a jock, although I had joined the track team and was a mediocre long distance runner. I did make good grades in school, but that wasn’t going to impress many of the girls.
Our school had three kinds of girls. The “popular girls” hung in cliques. They were worried about protecting their reputations. What they did when they were alone with their boyfriends was never discussed. Then there were the bookworms, jocks and nerds who didn’t thrive on trying to impress boys with their looks or femininity. Finally there were the fast girls who liked to fool around. Some girls could straddle two categories but it was difficult.
Cindy Vanderhoff was in a category all by herself. She was beautiful by any standard. She had high cheekbones, big brown eyes and a perfect smile with pearly white teeth. Her soft brown hair bounced against her shoulders when she walked. Her sway was graceful and feminine, and her shapely breasts rode high on her chest. Every boy in the high school secretly lusted after Cindy. I was no exception.
Cindy had transferred to our school in the middle of last year. She was outwardly friendly to everyone, but had remained a mystery. She avoided hanging with the popular girls despite their best efforts to draw her into their cliques. Her best friend was a homely looking bookworm named Betsy Cox. Normally Betsy would have been classified as a nerd, but there were rumors that she had “put out” for some of the boys at the local college.
High school boys were like putty in Cindy’s hands. A smile and a friendly greeting in that soft and sexy voice had them tripping over themselves. She played hard to get and wouldn’t go out on a date until she had been asked several times. She seldom dated the same boy more than once. Some of those that went out with her said she was a cocktease. Others claimed to have gone “all the way,” but no one believed them.
Cindy and I had one class together, World History. She was always nice to me and said hello when we passed in the hallway, but I had no illusions that her interest was at all romantic. That didn’t stop me from fantasizing. I had spewed a lot of semen, imagining what it would be like to kiss her and feel her breasts or see her naked.
One afternoon, shortly after the school year began, Cindy and her dad walked into the hardware store where I was working. She came over to say hello, putting her hand on my forearm, and looked up at me with her big brown eyes. She was saying something, but I was so excited from her touch that it didn’t register. I mumbled something unintelligible in response.
“Good,” she said as she was leaving. “Then I’ll see you at six-thirty on Friday, Paul. It’s okay that you don’t have a car. We can walk to the movies. Do you know where I live?”
Cindy scribbled her address on a piece of paper and handed it to me. Her smile was a killer, sending my heart fluttering. She squeezed my arm and walked away. I watched the back of her pedal pushers sway back and forth with each graceful step. Cindy Vanderhoff, the hottest girl in school, had asked me to take her to the movies. I couldn’t believe it.
I was terrified when I showed up at her house on Friday night. She opened the front door and greeted me with that heart-melting smile. She wore a green skirt and a white blouse. I had on a nice pair of pants and a button up shirt. She invited me inside to meet her parents. If they only knew how often I jerked off to images of their daughter they would never have let me go out with her. After a few minutes they let us escape.
“You look very handsome tonight,” Cindy said as we walked out the front door. “I’ve wanted you to ask me out for a while and thought maybe you didn’t like me. Betsy said you were just shy and that I should take the initiative. I hope that’s okay.”
I don't remember much of what we discussed during the walk to the movie theater. Cindy did most of the talking. About half-way there, she slipped her hand into mine. Our fingers intertwined. I paid for the tickets and bought some popcorn. We sat near the back, holding hands. Part way into the movie, Cindy looped my arm around her shoulder and snuggled closer. She rested a hand on my knee. My cock jumped.