Finding Rebecca

Nora ran from the party in tears. The night was unkind; lightning brightly lit the sky as sheets of wind-driven rain swept the rocky slope. Bone-jarring thunder accompanied the bright flashes. She tripped and fell to her knees, unaware that the long dress was muddied and torn. 

"How could you be so blind, Sir William?" Nora shouted into the darkness. "I cannot bear this burden of unacknowledged love any longer."

She regained her footing and clambered up the slope to the cliff she knew was there. Although she could not see, her ears heard the relentless pounding of the surf upon the rocks a hundred feet below. They offered the only solace she would ever find.

"Nora!" Sir William shouted into the stormy night as he emerged from the house. "I understand now. Please, I love you. I see it now."

Nora heard nothing but the crashing of the surf. It beckoned for her. She stood at the precipice, leaned forward, and allowed her own weight to carry her over the edge and into the darkness below.

"Oh sweetie, you're not even dressed! Dick will be here any time."

Rebecca looked up from the book and at her mom, who appeared in the open doorway of her bedroom. "It's Dirk, not Dick, mom. And he's never on time. Besides, I'm all ready except for getting dressed."

"You and those romance novels," her mom commented as she shook her head in disapproval and walked away.

Rebecca got off her bed and returned the oft-read soft-covered book to a shelf that held dozens more. She closed the bedroom door and looked in disdain at the dress that her mom had pressed and hung on a hangar from the closet door. 

The white and pink fringed dress was hopelessly out of style. But how could she tell her mom that she was slow to put it on because she would be embarrassed to be seen wearing it?

Rebecca examined the neckline and observed the retailer's tag that was fastened to the manufacturer's washing label sewn into the dress. It read "Priscilla's Boutique", the name of a local clothing store in town. They used to have a stylish inventory, but that recently changed.

She tore the tag from the dress but left behind the long plastic anchor. After tossing the tag into a small flower print trash can next to her bed Rebecca knew she had to put it on. In the end it wouldn't matter anyway, she decided. She'd be leaving this town far behind after graduation.

"Sweetie, Dick's here," her mother announced shortly after Rebecca donned the horrendous dress. 

"Mom, it's Dirk!" she angrily retorted. Although directed at her mom it was an underlying fear of the future that was the root cause.

Dirk remembered the tux but claimed to have forgotten the corsage. Rebecca suspected he didn't want to shell out the money for one. Jake wasn't very self-reliant and still depended on his mother more than was normal for a senior on the eve of graduation.

The prom was a real downer for Rebecca as she watched her well-to-do peers flaunt high-dollar, trendy dresses and anxiously reveal their college plans. That was why she agreed to leave early with Dirk. And that was why she looked down at the school from the scenic overlook far above.

An old, dented red '83 VW bug was parked on the shoulder of SH 467 overlooking the brightly lit town of Wedgewood that was laid out below. From that viewpoint it was easy to identify a string of lights that was Main Street, and a square cluster that was the Wedgewood High School.

Rebecca didn't know why she ever agreed to go to the prom. Dirk had asked her to go with him and she felt obligated to accept since they'd been dating exclusively for the past year. But once there Rebecca realized what a mistake it was. Not going to the prom, but Dirk. 

All her life she'd waited for this night. It was supposed to be magical and inspire hope and happiness. But for her it meant an end to everything she knew and the beginning of everything she didn't. She was scared.

Dirk couldn't understand and never wanted to talk. In his mind planning for the future meant figuring out where to go on Friday night, and how to get money for the next bottle of booze or a dime bag of marijuana. To him the future was something to be endured, while Rebecca wanted so much more. They were wrong for each other.

The trunk slammed closed and she watched Dirk as he opened the driver's door and sit behind the wheel. He displayed a pint-sized bottle of cheap Kentucky bourbon and twisted the black plastic cap off. He looked over at his hot girlfriend as he lifted the bottle to his thin pink lips like a king that rules a kingdom.

Rebecca was very attractive but never felt like she fit in anywhere. She self-consciously swept a few errant strands of silky brown hair out of her warm gray eyes and shifted uncomfortably in the vinyl bucket seat. She felt his eyes on her, gazing at the swell of her perky breasts beneath the out of style dress that adorned her slender body.

"Want some?" he asked as he extended the bottle towards her invitingly.

"You know I don't like that," Rebecca complained in an irritated voice as she silently scolded herself for wasting a year of her life with him.

He wasn't pleased by her attitude. "It'll loosen you up. I mean, it's a big night for us."

"A big night?" Clearly she wasn't thinking along the same lines as he was.

"Well, yeah. It's prom night, you know. I've been real patient," he hinted, as if he deserved a reward for his behavior. "This is our night."

She finally caught on. He was expecting to get lucky but Rebecca had no intention of giving up her virginity to the likes of him. Tonight had been a huge mistake and it was getting worse by the minute.

Dirk suddenly lunged for her, making it out to be a big romantic moment that was anything but. She wasn't ready for the pass and it caught her off-guard. Rebecca found herself in his arms, with his lips on her mouth and his tongue pressed inside. 

All she could taste and smell was cheap bourbon, and it threatened to turn her already sour stomach. His hands were just as quick. As the zipper at the back of her dress was tugged down with the fingers of one hand, his other hand slipped inside and gently cupped and squeezed on a bare, perky breast.

Being kissed and pawed was the last thing she needed. Rebecca tried pushing him away but he defiantly clung to her and had no intention of relinquishing his hold. In his mind he deserved the right to treat her in this manner. She was his girlfriend and she owed him for holding out for so long. His other friends were getting laid several times a week if their claims were to be believed.

"Come on, Rebecca," he urged in a frustrated whisper. "I've been waiting long enough."

He pushed his other hand down the front of the dress and each cupped a soft mound. His palms and fingers gently squeezed on the supple swells. At the same time as her nipples eagerly hardened, his penis restlessly stirred with life. Blood that his few remaining brain cells desperately needed was redirected to the growing erection that thumbed against the fabric of his black dress pants.

?Dirk, no,? she impatiently told him.

But the pulsating penis, now fully hardened, failed to hear her refusal. His mind could not comprehend her dismissal of his romantic interest. He was so captivated by the incredible silky warmth of her luscious, perky breasts and hard nipples that he couldn?t retreat. Instead he squeezed them harder, and more of his body crossed over the emergency hand brake that separated the seats. 

His weight and movement shifted her body down. A knee pressed between her thighs and although she resisted she felt them shifting far apart. Fear struck her heart as his body moved between her legs, and she knew that there was little else that could stop his advances. One hand pulled away from a breast, moved down, and reached her crotch. Rebecca knew she had to do something, and a thought came to mind.

"Not like this, you'll ruin the dress," she told him. "Just give me a couple minutes and I'll take it off. In the meantime you can get the back seat cleaned out. This front seat is too small and it?s killing my back.?

He hesitated, suspicious. She gave him a sexy smile and lightly kissed his lips. Her hands teasingly dipped the front of her dress down and revealed both of her firm, creamy swells and pink nipples. She vibrated her chest and the upright mounds bounced temptingly. 

?I need a little something more.?

His head leaned down and his lips encircled a swollen nipple. He sucked on it as his tongue licked the very tip. Her hands gently cradled and caressed his head in feigned pleasure.

?Ooh, you?re getting me so hot, baby,? she lied in a sexy voice. ?I need you so bad. Just clear out some of that junk and we can finally do it.?

Thinking he was finally going to score, Dirk got out of the driver's seat and tilted the seat forward to access the back of the small car. As he removed some old fast food bags and cups, Rebecca got out and stepped away as she fixed her loosened dress.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he saw her leaving. 

"My mom was right about you after all. You're not a Dirk, you're a Dick."

"And you're a fuckin' bitch!" he shouted back. "A bitch with a very long walk ahead of her. See you around, sweetheart."

He started the car and noisily peeled out in front of her. In a last act of last defiance he extended his left hand out of the open driver side window and flipped her off.

Rebecca watched him drive off, relieved to be away from him. A very long walk awaited her but she almost relished the thought of having time to think things through. Life had gotten very confusing over the past several months and she had no sense of direction.

How was she supposed to know what she wanted to do for the rest of her life? She wasn't even sure if she wanted to suffer through four years of college. Education had not been her forte and she found school to be tedious and unrelenting. She loved to read and write, but that wasn't any basis for a career, was it? Not without a degree to back it up. And that took her full circle back to the college thing again.