There’s Something About Kristy

It was the summer of 2001.  I had just graduated from Ocean Township High School and after enjoying a solid month of laying on the beach during the day and drinking at night I found myself ready to start a new chapter of my life… college.  With some help from my guidance counselor, and some light research, I decided to go to West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV.  Being that it’s a southern school, the first semester started somewhat early, with classes beginning in early August.  However, I first had to make the 6 ½ hour ride in the first week of June for orientation.  As we all know, and as cool as we all try to be, it’s a pretty nerve-racking experience.  I took the ride with my soon-to-be roommate, who was also from Ocean Township, and our mothers.  We drove down on a Friday night for orientation, which was on Saturday morning.  We got a hotel room for two nights and planned to come back home early Sunday morning.  Little did I know that the next 24 hours would unfold to be the most incredible experience of my life.

We safely arrived in Morgantown on Friday night.  We didn’t get in town until early Saturday morning so decided to grab a bite to eat at a local Sheetz (similar to a WaWa up here) and called it a night.  We had to wake up early for orientation in the morning and to be honest I was totally exhausted.

In the morning we met at the coliseum (where the basketball team plays) and signed up for classes, which was a total cluster-fuck but we got through it.  In total, this lasted a good portion of the morning and went into the early afternoon.  The next item on the orientation itinerary took place on the other side of the campus at the student center deemed the “Mountainlair” (for those of you who don’t know, the WVU mascot is the Mountaineer).  This part of the orientation consisted of a speech by the University President followed by a buffet style lunch.

Being that I didn’t know anyone at the orientation other than my roommate and our mothers, we obviously sat together at a table during the lunch session.  My mother was pressuring me to introduce myself to some new people and “make friends” but I really didn’t want to have anything to do with it.  On the left side of me, I found myself sitting down next to a girl in a wheelchair.  At first I didn’t think anything of it, but the more I looked at her, I was astonished by her beauty.  She had blonde hair down to her shoulders, striking blue eyes and a beautiful smile.  I was quite surprised that I found myself so attracted to a blonde woman, because anyone that knows me knows that I am all about dark haired women.  I felt bad for her, because I could tell that her wheelchair was not a temporary fix.  It was old and after studying her legs (when she was not looking of course) I didn’t see any movement at all which led me to believe she was a paraplegic.

On my right side, my mother whispered in my ear “talk to her” and I knew that was the right thing to do considering I didn’t see her with any family or friends.  Being the full blooded Italian I am, the first thing that came to my mind as an ice breaker was food.  So I caught her eye and made a cheap comment about the lasagna that they were serving.  She looked at me and smiled and we started to chat.  Her name was Kristy.  I found out that the reason she was not with family is because she was actually from the town of Morgantown.  Born and raised.  She grew up going to WVU football games as she lives only 5 short minutes from campus.  Her personality was just as good if not better than her looks.  She asked me a lot about myself and why I decided to go to WVU.  I explained to her that I wanted to get away from home and really wanted to enjoy a big college city like Morgantown.  The two of us really hit it off.  I would be lying to you if I told you that I wasn’t thinking about her in that wheelchair the whole time, but I think that’s just normal; I can’t fault myself for that.

Kristy and I really hit it off.  I told her that I felt like I knew her for years and she laughed and agreed with her cute little southern accent.  Kristy explained to me that she has a lot of friends from the area that are also going to WVU in August.  I thought this was great.  She was my first friend here and at the appropriate time she could introduce me to all of her friends.  I introduced her to my roommate and when she was not looking he gave me a “go for it” smirk.  Quite frankly, I had absolutely no intentions of having any kind of relations with this girl other than a friendship.  And even that was very premature as I had only known her for 25 minutes.

Things started to get a little out of control from this point forward.  Kristy asked me if I had any plans for the night.  Being that it was Saturday, I told her that my roommate and I were planning on going out but really didn’t know if anything was going on.  At that moment her face turned a shade of pink and I could tell that she was embarrassed/nervous about something.  She then said “I am going to ask you something, but you have to Promise me that if you don’t want to you will say no, OK?”  I thought to myself, “What the fuck?”  I was very curious to see what she was going to ask but at the same time I was a nervous wreck.  “Of course” I said.  And then she asked, “Tonight is my Morgantown High Senior Prom.  My boyfriend broke up with me two weeks ago and I don’t have a date.  I wasn’t going to go, but I really want to.  Would you want to go with me?”  At that time, a million things went through my head.  Going to a Prom where I don’t know anyone with a girl in a wheelchair?!  I didn’t even have a tuxedo!  Absolutely not!  I didn’t know what to say to her.  I could tell how nervous she was and the balls it must have taken to ask me that.  On top of that, my mother heard her ask me and discretely began to nudge me.  The first thing that came to my mind was my outfit.  She told me that we weren’t going to take pictures or anything.  We were going to go right to the Prom to eat, hang out and leave and that slacks and a shirt, which I had on at the time, were more than appropriate.  My mother butted into the conversation and even offered me her car to pick her up in.  That was it.  I had no out.  I told her I would be happy to take to the Prom.

The look on her face was worth it.  I figured I would be doing a good deed, and on top of that, she really was a great person to be around.  I was actually excited.  She gave me her address, which was conveniently located 3 miles from our hotel.  She told me to pick her up at 6:30 pm as the Prom started between 6:45 and 7:00.  I gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her I would see her soon.  I then finished out the rest of the orientation still not really comprehending what just went down.  I even started texting my friends back home to let them know what just happened.  None of them believed me of course.  I can’t blame them.

We got back to the hotel room at 5ish and I showered and changed.  I couldn’t even back out because I didn’t even have her phone number.  It was go time.  I took my mom’s keys, gave her a hug, and listened to her tell me what a “good boy” I was.  Luckily she had a GPS system in her car so I plugged in the address and took off.  I was now alone and it hit me that I was really doing this.

I found her house with no problem.  When I pulled up, I found a man outside watering the flowers, which I soon learned was her father.  I parked behind a van in the driveway and he greeted me.  “I am Mr. Lily, Kristy’s daddy.  Kristy told me a lot about you.”  I thought to myself, “A lot about me?  I only talked to her for 30 minutes!”  He then said something that I never in a million years expected to hear.  “Kristy is inside getting dressed.  In the meantime, let me show you how to operate the handicap van.”  Handicap van???  Part of me wanted to get right back in my car and get the fuck out of there.  It took everything in my power not to do just that.  But the more I thought about it, I guess I was an idiot for not realizing that I could not put a girl in a wheelchair in the front seat of my mothers SUV.  I then found myself in the drivers seat of a handicap Ford Econoline.  Mr. Lily was showing me how to operate the hydraulic lift, which is the device that lifts the wheelchair from the ground up to the front seat.  This was obviously the most important thing he taught me.  I learned more in my 3 minute handicap van crash course than I learned all through high school.  From the proper hand signals in case the blinkers don’t work to the distance you have to stop before the stop signs.  Soup to nuts.

Kristy soon came out and looked absolutely gorgeous.  She really was beautiful.  I smiled at her and gave her a kiss and from that point forward I felt totally comfortable with her.  She thanked me a million times for coming and I told her it was my pleasure.  Her mom came out and introduced herself and snapped a couple of photos of the two of us.  Mr. Lily shook my hand and told me to have fun and take care of her for him.  They seemed like great people.  For a second, I actually forgot she was in a wheelchair.  But this thought was short-lived because two minutes later, I placed her in the hydraulic lift, jumped into the front seat, hoisted her up and strapped her down.  As sick as it sounds, she looked very similar to Steve Buscemi in “Con Air” minus the face mask of course.  My paraplegic friend Kristy and I were now on our way to the Morgantown High School Class of 2001 Senior Prom.

As I started to drive, I reached out with my right hand and grabbed hers.  I wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible.  The Prom was at a local Armory (hillbilly shit) and it was only about 15 minutes from her home.  When we pulled in, the place was packed as we were a little late.  I then realized that I had the benefit of pulling right up front and parking in one of the handicap spaces.  I parked the van, used the hydraulics to put her down, got out, unstrapped her and wheeled her into the front doors of the Armory.

From the minute I entered the building, I noticed a lot of people staring at me.  Quite frankly, I couldn’t blame them.  I would have been starting at me too.  I wasn’t sure if Kristy was very introverted or not, but I soon noticed that she was not talking to anyone, nor introducing me to anyone.  I am not sure if she was picked on a lot during her school years because of her disability, but there was definitely something odd about how her colleagues were ignoring her.  I was dying for a drink, but obviously no liquor was served.  I did, however, notice that everyone seemed as if they were drinking beforehand which made me very jealous.  My Prom was only 3 1/2 weeks prior to this and I got the chance to get a little tuned up before just to take the edge off.  I found out that she did in fact have some friends that we ended up sitting at a table with.  They were all girls, which I didn’t mind, and 3 out of 4 of them were also going to WVU in August.  Overall, if there was one positive thing that came out of this night (other than making Kristy happy) it was the networking.

Dinner was mediocre at best and then came the awkward part of the night…..the dancing.  I obviously could not dance with Kristy and I was not about to dance without her.  So the two of us stayed at the table and chatted it up.  Talking about everything and anything.  I was rubbing the inside of her leg (not in a sexual way) and I could tell that she was really enjoying my company as I was enjoying hers.  However, she constantly apologized for asking me to come with her because she really thought I was having a bad time.  I convinced her that I was having a great time and I think I threw in a cheap comment along the lines of “Anything I do with you is a good time.”  She smiled and I gave her a kiss and this time it was not on the cheek.

We decided to leave the Prom a little early at around 10ish.  I actually had a good time and was glad I went.  Nobody should miss their senior Prom and I was happy that I could be a “filler” for the night.  When we got back in the van we made out a little bit and we then took off.  Halfway to her house she asked me if I wanted to go to the Morgantown City Park which was adjacent to the practice football field.  I thought for a second, “hmmmmm.”  The park?  I was more interested than anything so I said yes.  So the two of us went.  I started to get a little nervous.  My hands were clammy and I really didn’t know what I was in store for.  I parked the car.  We got out and I wheeled Kristy through the open field.  As I was wheeling her she quickly said “Here is good” and instructed me to stop right next to a giant oak tree.  I would soon learn why we stopped at this specific location.

Because the night was going so well, I leaned over and started to kiss Kristy.  Believe it or not, we had great chemistry and everything just felt right.  The only problem was that my back began to hurt a bit from leaning over for 10 minutes during our make out session.  I was making out with a beautiful girl and was obviously aroused.  Kristy caught a glimpse of that and began rubbing me in that area (over the pants) and I began to think that this could possibly go farther than first base.  Shortly thereafter, I found myself on third base with my hands down her pants.  She was definitely enjoying it, which was evident by her discreet moaning and sexual upper-body movements.  I thought to myself, “This is great.”  Again, my back was absolutely killing me.  Just try to imagine the position I was in for a solid 20 minutes.  It was NOT comfortable.  At that single moment, everything changed.  Kristy stopped kissing me and in a moment of passion said “I want you right now.”  Anyone that has been with a girl that says this knows: you don’t ask questions, you just do what she wants and that is obviously what you want too.  But this situation was very unique.  She was in a wheelchair and I had absolutely no idea how to accomplish what we both wanted.  So what did I do?  I asked her, “How are we supposed to do this? I have never done this before.”  She didn’t hesitate for 2 seconds and quickly replied, “Go back to the van.  In the back seat there is some rope.  Go get it and I will show you.”

I almost fainted when she said this.  Did I hear her correctly?  Rope?  What was I supposed to say? No? So like any self-respecting man, I made my way to the van to find the rope she was talking about.  I began slapping myself in the face, asking myself if this was really happening.  I got to the van and there was no rope.  I searched high and low.  Good thing that I had a condom in my wallet, which was in the drink holder in the center console of the vehicle.  So I obviously grabbed that.  After almost giving up on the rope, I looked in the emergency compartment of the trunk and found jumper cables.  Jumper cables can do anything that rope can do so in a last ditch effort I grabbed them.  I jogged down to where she was next to the tree and told her that I was unsuccessful in my search for rope and held up the jumper cables and said “But I found these.  Will these work?”  She laughed in a cute way and then said something that to this day I will never forget.  Something that I never thought I would hear in my lifetime and I am sure that nobody else has ever heard.  “Haha… Yes, I guess.  I want you to tie me to this tree (as she pointed) with the jumper cables and fuck that way.”  I then thought, “I am going to hell if I do this.”  But my hard penis did all of the thinking for me.  If that was the way she wanted it, that is the way I am going to give it to her.

I took her pants off, lifted her out of the wheelchair and gently placed the jumper cables around her chest.  I clamped them together at the back of the tree and placed her in a position where she was elevated off of the ground with her feet “dangling” in mid air.  I then put the condom on and went in for the kill The first 2 minutes or so were very uncomfortable but is was very obvious that she was thoroughly enjoying it.  This made the situation a lot easier for me.  The whole time I thought, “I am fucking a girl that I just tied to a tree.  Is this illegal?”  But it wasn’t.  She wanted it, so I gave it to her.  After 10 minutes or so I finished.  I took her down and we both smiled and kissed like what we just did was totally normal.  I lifted her back in the van and took her home.  Her father was waiting for us outside and thanked me for making his daughter’s night.  Little did he know that I didn’t make her night… she made mine… by giving me a story that I could tell for the rest of my life.  And here I am now, sharing it with all of you.

That was the last time I ever saw Kristy.  In four years, I did not see her on campus.  Not even once.  Not even any of her friends that I met at her Prom.  It was almost like it never happened.  Like she wasn’t real.  But it was real and nobody can ever take away what we had that one summer night… under the stars… tied to a tree.