Though were far from soul mates, or even especially sympathetic, there was something about Katie I admired, admired not only, with her compact gymnast’s body, long straight hair and resolute blue eyed squint, in the sense of regarding with pleasure, but also, with her abundant courage, grace and confidence, in the sense of having a high opinion of.

In order to circumvent the draconian athletic requirements of our prep school, I’d become the manager of the girls’ track team, and, despite my less than macho role, had become friends with Katie, one of the captains. If we’d been of the same sex we might have even been enemies, but female athletes didn’t have the sense of entitlement the guy jocks did and were, in fact, usually flattered when anyone took them seriously. I’d used my quick and occasionally devious tactical ingenuity to further the cause on various occasions but had also impressed Katie with my irreverent wit, which had defused a few over emotional situations.

And, yes, there were moments when she was standing there on the track, psyching herself up, hands on hips, her round muscular ass (generally considered the best in the school) curving in the drastically cut-off jeans the really cool girls wore to practice, the elaborate french braid laying straight down the middle of her back, that I lusted after her, but, come on, I was seventeen, and there weren’t many girls I hadn’t lusted after at one time or another, and our differences and attractions stayed firmly on the safe side of friendship. Besides everyone knew she’d been hot and heavy with Tad’s pugnacious brother Bill (or Twin Bill as we liked to call him) from almost the moment she’d strode into our school with the other girls as a freshman.

Katie had told me to go to hell more times than I could remember, and I no longer took it personally. "So, uh, how was your spring vacation?" I hazarded.

"It sucked," she growled. "Bill and I broke up."

"So what else is new." Katie and Bill were known to regularly take short "breaks" from each other, and then, just as regularly, get back together again.

"And I just walked in on him and Ungie in the bedroom," she continued, tight lipped. "Slut."

"Ahhh…." Things were becoming much clearer. Ungie was the most boy friendly girl in our class, but even though she was often called a slut that really wasn’t the case. It was more of a convenient category – many of us had seriously groped around with her, but, despite all the compromising situations she’d been in, and all the boasting that had been done, in the end her main man Buddy had been the only one who’d gone all the way with her. She was, however, just the person to comfort Bill during his little hejira from Katie.

And was I just the person to comfort Katie in her hour of need? I admit the thought did enter my mind by way of a lower organ, but it didn’t linger long. I hated seeing plucky Katie beaten down and realized that I had the perspective that she lacked at the moment. I knew that this was just another speed bump in Katie and Bill’s little spin through adolescence, a trip that would no doubt end with high school. Bill didn’t really have much going for him beyond a letter jacket and a hot car, but Katie, with her smarts and determination, was clearly destined for some kind of success, a success that, as hard as it was to believe now, would leave Bill far behind.

"Hey, I’ve got an idea," I said. Let’s go over to Pan’s."