“Not this again, Martin. We're just friends. There's never been anything between us, okay?”
“I know, and I'm not saying there ever was, but are you sure he doesn't have any designs on you? Usually in my experience when there has been a close friendship between two people of the opposite sex there's usually one who feels a greater affection for the other. I just think it'll be awkward, especially in the future when we're married and have a family, do you really want him hanging around all the time?”
“You want to get married?”
“Not right away, but it's in the plan, and then after that there are kids to think about as well. We've got to have the future in mind Carrie, even if it is a long way away. And I'm just not sure that I see a place for Danny in it. I appreciate that he's your friend and that you've known each other for a long time but it doesn't seem to me that there's going to be a place for him in your life. And really, is a grimy mechanic someone you want your kids to be hanging around? I don't think he's the greatest role model.”
“Danny is a great a guy and if you got to know him properly then you'd see that as well. He's my best friend and nothing is going to change that, and yeah if we have kids I will want them around him because I know that they'd always be safe with him and that he'd never let anything bad happen to them.”
“Okay, but I still think you're making a rash judgment there based on your life so far. Just think about it, okay? When you get a promotion you'll be working a lot, when you have kids you can make friends with other new moms and you'll be going to nursery, etcetera... All I'm saying is that do you really think Danny is going to fit into that life? I just think that at some point you're going to outgrow him, I mean, the man is basically a relic from the 80s, he doesn't strike me as the type that's going to change and there's nothing sadder than seeing a man being stuck in the past.”
Carrie rested her head on Martin's shoulder, too tired to argue. She watched the TV as two cops shot their way into a building and apprehended the criminals. The good guys won and everyone went home happy, all the beautiful people got together and had beautiful sex in their beautiful beds but while her eyes were seeing those images her mind traveled back to the past, when she was a teenager, in the first days of her and Danny's friendship.
Her body had been changing and growing and she had no idea what was going on. Hormones were raging around her body and causing massive explosions of different sensations. It seemed like everyone else knew what was going on and she was left alone, cast away in a lonely sea of confusion. All the pretty girls started talking about boys and sex and in gym class Carrie eavesdropped. It was all cloaked in mysteriousness and innuendo, and it made Carrie's heart beat with anticipation for her first time. But it wouldn't come until much later than high school. She was bigger than all the other girls and she knew that others knew it too. She felt ugly and unattractive. Every morning she would look in the mirror at the lumps on her body and wonder why she had been cursed by the fates while other girls had the perfect skin and the perfect smiles and those sweet supple breasts that perked up and greeted everyone with a smile. Self-esteem ebbed away every day and doubts tore at her mind, dragging her down until she wallowed in self-pity and confessed to herself that she would always be alone because nobody would ever love her.
That was even before the bullying started. The girls and boys all talked and they all started sniping at her. It started with a few small comments but they got more and more nasty and cruel until Carrie was reduced to tears. Her pillow was always wet at night and in the dark hours of midnight she thought how easy it would be to just stop everything and end her life.
But she never could.
The teasing continued. The days became an endless drag and she walked through them as though she was drifting in a mist. There seemed to be no end to them, all she knew was that she was unlovable. Then, one day, some boys from the football team followed her home and called out to her in an alley. They were the best and brightest of the school, heroes to everyone else as they carried the team to another record-breaking season but in that moment Carrie stared into their eyes and knew that they were villains. They licked their lips and prowled at her like wolves, moving in for the kill. Carrie wanted to run but her stumpy little legs wouldn't have carried her far, and there was no way she could have escaped those athletes with their big strong muscles, their tight torsos, and their rigid cocks, filled with a dark lust.
“We thought we'd do you a favor. No-one else is going to fuck you so we thought we'd let you lose your virginity to us,” the leader said as they stalked up to her. Carrie shook her head and tried to scream for help but she was trembling with fear and her words came out like a squeak, which only made the boys laugh.