The summer I turned seventeen was very replete. It had begun with the Stonewall riots, then the lives of seven innocent people had been brutally taken in the Hollywood Hills and Woodstock was well on it’s way into Rock and Roll history.
The Beatles had also released ‘The White Album,' which was, arguably, their best album ever.
The August heat was unbearable. It was the kind of oppressive heat that felt like an oven had been set on low and everyone, everywhere was slowly baking. The only relief to be found was sitting on the grass under a large shade tree, or in a pool if one was lucky enough to have access.
The lack of air conditioning made the heat at night worse for many Angelenos. The Tate and the La Bianca murders had just happened and the killers were still unknown; so windows normally left open were latched tight. The fear that the people of Los Angeles felt was tangible.
The house I lived in was in the middle of a suburban track, on a street you could find in anywhere, USA. Ordinary homes filled with ordinary people, doing ordinary things.
And then Kim moved in next door.
I met her and my teenage world changed. I’d never had feelings for a girl before, at least feelings that I could not throw off. I’d never really had feelings for anyone before. She was an exotic beauty that took my breath away and when I saw her I could not speak.
The jeans she wore had frayed holes in the knees which added to her sex appeal and I was dumb struck. She had golden tan skin and long dark blonde hair, and her brown eyes were framed by long dark lashes. She had butterfly bangs and full lips, but she was still a bit of a ‘tom boy’. Her tall, firm body had beautiful curves and her long legs looked sexy inside her tight 501s.
That hot August night when she sat down on the curb next to me, we started talking as if we’d known each other for a very long time. We were deep in a conversation and I was completely spellbound by her. She was down to earth and we hit it off immediately.
Over the next few weeks we became inseparable. I wasn’t a really pretty girl, but I felt beautiful around her. That in itself amazed me, because I usually felt uncomfortable around beautiful girls. I had more of a Plain Jane hippie chick look going on, with my cut off shorts and tank top; complete with love beads and pony tails.
Being with her made me feel like I was a better person. I was fun, funny, smart and cool when she was around.
She was my best friend and my first crush.
Our afternoons were spent taking walks in the wooded hills behind our houses, listening to AM stations on our transistor radios, and laying under the trees making up stories and rhymes or just contemplating our place in the world. Two teenage girls completely free and young, just goofing around and looking forward to our lives after graduation. It was a memorable summer and the hills and the trees were our sanctuary. Our friendship was a chrysalis, about to become more.
“Do you ever wonder if...?” Kim began to say, but stopped mid sentence. The wind had kicked up a little and the seven o’clock breeze was finally starting to cool the hot air, and blew through our hair, cooling our bodies and it felt refreshing.
“I wonder a lot of things,” I retorted. “I wonder if the war will ever end, or if Paul McCartney is really...”
Kim wrapped her arms around me and put her lips on mine. My knees went weak as I realized that this was what I had been waiting for all along. My desire for her was real and I recognized this as I began to kiss her back.
Her sweet lips were like sugar dissolving on my tongue. The world around us was spinning, and for some reason, the sun got a little brighter, while my heart beat faster.