Homecoming week was a crazy time for me to have my first date. There was so much activity going on, between performances of "Arsenic and Old Lace," working on the float, to gearing up for the pep rally, the parade and the game, to culminate in the homecoming dance.
One tradition was the Homecoming bonfire. It took place on Wednesday night. Roz and I went out to where it was being held, which was next to the baseball field, which is across from Park Junior High School. We watched it burn. After it was over, we went to my car and made out for a little while. Then I drove her home.
My thoughts about Roz were very innocent and naive. Since she didn't talk about her past relationships, I wasn't certain if she had ever done anything outside of kissing anyone. However, I soon found out how wrong I was.
During my PE class, someone had previously asked me if I was taking anyone to the Homecoming dance. I thought, "Oh, I get to brag a bit here." I told them I was going with a senior. Everyone was impressed at first. However, a few days later, one of them said, "Hey, I heard your girlfriend likes to f***!" This came as a shock to me. Was she going to expect me to do that?
I knew I was not ready for sex. I was not ready for any of it. I was not ready to see a naked girl, I was not ready to touch her breasts, I was not ready for her to see me without my clothes. I honestly had no clue what to do.
As I had mentioned before, my parents and brother had plans that weekend to go to Santa Fe to attend the wedding of my Mom's youngest cousin. Yes, they were going to leave me in the house by myself for the entire weekend.
Now, I have reason to believe that Mom had heard about Roz' reputation and decided to take action to keep something from happening at the house. While I would be permitted to spend Friday night in the house by myself, I would have to spend Saturday night, the night of the Homecoming dance, at their friends' house. (These were the same friends who had given Loyd and me the radio and Bible Stories Christmas presents years ago.) I guess my parents didn't think I was going to be spending any time with Roz on Friday night. They were wrong.
After all the craziness of Homecoming Day, with people getting out of class to work on floats, with the assembly to crown the Homecoming Queen, I drove Roz home. Roz said that she had never, ever seen a Homecoming parade. I guess she was hinting to me that she wanted me to take her to the parade. However, my father had arranged for me to get my hair cut that afternoon.
I drove over to the stylist. (At this point, I had this hippie guy doing my hair.) I went to the shop and it was closed. I waited for a bit, and figured the guy wasn't going to show up. I then got into my car and was going to get Roz to see the parade. However, right before I could back out, the parade started down the street I was on before getting on its route on Main Street. I could not back out. I saw the float the Drama club had been working on go by with several members riding on it. I remember Orld and Rod being on the float, which looked very spectacular. I wished I could have gotten out of the car and on the float, but I didn't have any good way back from the end of the parade route to my car without having to walk. (And it was only a mile and a half. I was lazy back then.)
From tne 9th to 12th grades, I was in the Law Enforcement Explorer troop. One of the things we did was provide a security presence at the home football games. This meant I had to go to all the games. I didn't realize it at first, but Roz was also at all the games. She was in charge of keeping the team mascot, a real bulldog, on a leash on the sidelines. This meant that we were both at the Homecoming game.
After the game, Roz and I went out to get a soda and then I drove her home. We did not go to my house, even though it was a perfect opportunity because my family was a four-hour drive away. I did not kiss her good night. I didn't know I was supposed to do that. I felt that kissing was for those special occasions when we were holding each other, not for quick pecks to tell each other goodbye.
I went home and watched TV. I stayed up to watch "The Midnight Special." The next thing I remember, I woke up in my parents' bed. I did not recall getting up, turning off the TV and walking to my parents' bedroom. I would have slept in my own bed. I think what happened is that they had asked neighbors to check in on me. They probably came by, saw the living room light on and me asleep on the couch. Somehow, they came into the house, got me off the couch and into my parents' bed. To this day, I do not know who it was. I have an idea that it was the people who lived a couple of houses down, but I never asked about it.
Coming up tomorrow: My first official date, even though all this other stuff we did would have normally counted as dates.
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