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You know it's you Babe, giving me the courage and the strength I need, please believe that it's true... Babe I love you.
Styx.

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Every band competition featured a sight-reading challenge, which we consistently dominated. The key to victory was memorizing all the various symbols. This included which sections to repeat, codas, volume, accents, and a hundred other things. Our band director Mr. Stevenson would take a few minutes to walk us through the score, highlighting frequently overlooked details that the judges looked for. Finally, he always reminded us, "If you get confused or lost, stop playing. This is not improvisation!" He usually looked at me while delivering the warning, as I loved improvising in my small ensembles.

I had no time for browsing the sheet music to Tessa Romantico in G, so I decided to wing it, just like I did in the All State battle a month ago. Screw that 'Stop Playing' shit. I counted on Tessa to inspire a winning performance...

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7:00 PM.

Tessa and me, oh yes!
Gonna... Score!

😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

Tessa hung out with my friend's sister, so I asked "Hey, Luke! Where's Samantha?"

He looked at me suspiciously, as many boys had shown interest in his long-legged, rough-faced, yet oddly sexy sibling. Finally he relented, "Follow me, Ray."

Luke led our group to the dance pavilion, while a simple plan spread out in my mind like a rotting fungus. I would slow dance with Tessa, then introduce her to my glass-bodied sensei. We would do couple-type things like hold hands and cuddle, causing her inhibitions and good sense to retreat like a tapeworm in daylight.

Finally, I would lead her to a legendary private spot I had scouted the previous year, located behind a scene block where the parade exited backstage. At that point, we would make out until it was time to leave.

Plan B Tessa!

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On the way to the pavilion, I took a couple more blood warming swigs of rum, giving unsuspecting Tessa a better makeover than even the Disneyland Princess stylists could provide. Girls spent countless hours and money on their appearance, but Tessa had wart-encrusted frog-jumped from, "No way!" to, "Heh, why not?" with zero effort, as her intoxicated Prince Charming cretinously diminished his quality control.

As a senior, I felt creepy about getting with a young freshman, yet Tessa's physical development seemed complete enough that in many parts of the world, she would already be married and pregnant. The possibility of my actions leading to that situation made my Prudence compartment rattle a bit, but I gave it the same regard as a small earthquake. Nothing to be concerned about, as I had no intentions of going that far.

Having just turned seventeen, I was still a minor, and puberty had only knocked on my door a year and a half before, so I looked and felt just as young as her. I saw nothing intrinsically wrong, and yet...

No matter how I frame it, I'm still a creep.

Heh...

In any event, feeling creepy seldom hindered my activities. Counselor Browning had not specifically said, "Ray, don't be a creep," so I could rationalize it if I desired, though the warm buzz percolating through my body made such notions unnecessary.

Look out Tessa, your night is about to take an unexpected turn for the better!

Or perhaps for the worse...

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Upon arriving at the Tomorrowland pavilion, I found Tessa, Samantha, and delectable mellophone player Alison waiting in line to purchase snacks.

Alison! Maybe I should...

No, dickwad, stick with Tessa. You don't need two humiliations in one day...

As if it were destiny, the DJ cued up the overplayed Styx ballad, "Babe" on the sound system, while I cued up Tessa. The super cheesy, celestial keyboard arpeggios of the intro normally compelled me to change the radio station, but I raised a rock salute to the nearest loudspeaker.

With nothing rehearsed, my fortified belligerence took over. I put a hand on Tessa's shoulder, sank to one knee, then boldly spoke into her ear over the loud music, "Hey, Tessa. Did you like your first Disneyland parade?"

She flinched at my sudden cloying proximity, then smiled and turned her head to answer, "Umm. Hi, Ray. Yes, I loved it. I'm having so much fun. This is my first time here!"

All our previous interactions had been pleasant, so Tessa's friendly response came as no surprise. Time to up the ante...

I wove my fingers in her lush, midnight black, shoulder length hair, then pulled her ear to my lips. "What are you going to buy?"

To my delight, Tessa placed her small brown hand on my neck to answer, but knocked the glasses halfway off my nearly shaved head. When I looked at her, she put an index finger against her front teeth and squeaked, "Oops, sorry, Ray."

My girlfriend's kind of cute when she does that...

When I returned my head to her level, she continued, "A pretzel."

Deciding it was enough small talk, I covered Tessa's hand on my neck with my long fingers, "Samantha can get that for you. Come with me."

Still holding her hand, I gave Samantha a five dollar bill, "Hey, can you get a pretzel for Tessa? We're going to dance."

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Tessa's whole body stiffened with discomfort, but she allowed me to lead her onto the dance floor. Being lanky, awkward, six feet tall, and trying to slow dance with a pudgy, short-limbed, five-foot-one girl, presented a new challenge. I basically held her head to my chest with one hand, and caressed her back with the other while swaying a bit. Relaxing a little, Tessa put one hand on my chest, another lightly around my back, and tried to match my uneven movements.

I admired her ability to adapt to the sudden intrusion into her evening, and hoped she would continue to be... pliable. Halfway through the dance, I kissed the top of her head, and she raised a hand to my neck. Tessa responded to me far better than I had expected, and my rising arousal was a familiar, welcome addition to our embrace.

As the song ended, I softly sang the final, "Babe," in her ear, then kissed her cheek. She nervously dropped both hands, but I didn't release her. "Tessa, let's go on a ride and have a drink."

Her normally unexpressive dark eyes grew huge when I pressed her hand into my jacket so she could feel the bottle. "Umm."

Tessa looked around for guidance, found none, then laid a blank gaze on me. Taking her lack of response as a "Yes," I led us to Space Mountain.

C'mon Tessa, you can do this...

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