Finding Love Along the Tracks Chapter 1 – Prom Night

Chapter 1 – Prom night

This is the first part of a new series that I am writing. It is all fantasy. The characters depicted in this story are all fictional and any resemblance to a real person is pure coincidence. This story is based on a 18 year old Railroad buff named John. He lives in the St. Louis, Missouri suburb of Kirkwood. In this series, he peruses the girl he has had a huge crush on since the 5th grade. I plan to make this story a long one, so I am dividing it up into chapters. There will be several chapters where there is no sex at all. I want to go ahead to apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors, as I type pretty fast and some things slip past me. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

I would like to add that the story starts in 2005, and not present day.

John was your average, and not so average 18 year old. He was born in Atlanta and when he was 4, his dad accepted a new job with Wells Fargo in St. Louis. His family bought a home in the outer ring suburb of Kirkwood. It was a nice place, friendly people abound and everyone seemed to know each other. He really enjoyed going to school. He was going to graduate soon, and he does, he will be near the top of his class. However, the one thing that really captured Johns attention was the railroad. He never wanted to work for a railroad, he just loved watching the trains roll by. His home is only a couple of blocks from the Kirkwood’s Amtrak station. Four times a day, Amtrak comes into town, either heading to St. Louis or out west to Kansas City. He almost always saw the afternoon train heading back to St. Louis, but the the morning and mid-day trains always came by while he was at school.

Most of his friends consisted of the people who hung out to watch trains as well. There was William, a guy from Florissant. He had a beautiful girlfriend named Danielle. Then there was Darrel. He was also from North County, and was one of the few African-American Railfans in the area. He is quite the character. Dan was a real good friend of his. Dan is a retired lawyer from the Union Pacific. The two of them constantly spoke about not only the railroads, but about life in general. Thanks to Dan, John had decided that he wanted to own his own design firm, designing everything from websites to buildings.

John almost always carried his camera with him. It was not an expensive camera like William’s, but for an 18 year old who was about to graduate from High School, he loved it. He mainly photographed trains, but he also loved taking photos of his friends. There was one friend however, that he not only loved to photographed, but also loved from afar as well. Her name was Kelsy, she was 17 and a Senior like him. He adored her, and they talked constantly. However, he had a major crush on her, and like any other 18 year old boy, he was very nervous of being rejected by her. He was happy with their relationship so far, but he longed for her.

Kelsy had an amazing body. She had B-Cup breasts, an hour glass figure and she weighed no more than 125 soaking wet. She had beautiful emerald eyes and dark red hair that accented her lightly toned skin. Every time she got a new boyfriend, it would crush John. But for some reason, Kelsy never had a boyfriend longer than a month, and when she broke it off, she never spoke to that guy again. That’s where John got scared, he did not want to loose Kelsy as a friend. What he loved most about her was her dimples. Every time she smiled, those dimples showed up and he would just stare at them. She also had the voice of an angel. Those were the two things that he was most attracted to about her.

The two of them were actually best friends. They met in the 6th grade when she joined his class during the middle of the year. She had moved with her mom after she divorced her father when she caught him cheating on her with her cousin. They moved to St. Louis from Denver suburb of Golden, Colorado. They had hit it off right away, and he showed her where all the good places to go where. Of course he showed her his favorite location, the Amtrak station. When she found out that he loved trains, she laughed. She found it weird that someone actually liked trains and loved taking pictures.

When she laughed at him, it hurt him. But he understood. It was not the first time he met someone who thought he needed to get a life because of his passion for trains. He was bullied most of the time in school because of it. It got so bad one time that he missed a month of school. It wasn’t until the principle of the school started to enforce a new rule that would result in detentions, suspensions and even expulsions of bullies within the school. This put him at ease, and he started to attend classes again, and the bullies started to leave him alone.

What please him the most was that she started hanging out with him. All during middle school, then high school, the two of the were close friends. She accepted the fact that he loved trains, and sometimes even accompanied him to the Station. This is when John started to fall in love with her. She accepted him for who he was. No one else had ever shown him such compassion. He was protective of her as well, and every new boyfriend she got, he felt like they were not good enough for her. He was usually right, because they either usually ended up cheating on her, or got bored with her because she would not put out.

He knew she was virgin. She wanted to save herself for the one that she knew she was going to marry. Not many girls in the area saved themselves for Mr. right, but she was one of the few. John was also a virgin who has never had a girlfriend. Most girls wouldn’t even give him a second look, or they never even noticed him, even in school. He was quite, and usually kept to him self. The only times he usually came out of his shell was when he was talking to Dan at the Station, or was talking to Kelsy. Both of them listened, and while Dan could provide the advice on how to handle the situation, Kelsy just listened. He knew she could not provide good advice, but she did manage to tell him that he needs to stay calm, and that he may never know it, but his future wife could be closer than he thought.

It was April, and he was looking forward to Prom. The two of them attended Kirkwood High School. He was going to go with Jason and Scott. They were the two friends in High School that he could actually call his friends. They too also shared a passion for trains. What he really wanted to do was to go with Kelsy, but like last year, she was asked to prom by one of the members of the schools football team, Derek. Derek was one of those jocks, and was one of the ones that had always bullied him before the principle put his foot down. He secretly wished that she had said no so that he could have asked her to go with him, even if it was only as friends.

A few weeks before Prom, John and his two friends decided to spend all day Saturday and do one of their “Marathon Railfanning” days that they did every once in a while. They would wake up an hour before dawn and they would ride their bikes down the the Amtrak station with their camera gear. They would not leave until after sunset. This gave the three of them time to talk about their latest models that had purchased from one of the area’s hobby shops or from a recent model train show. For them, it was their own little escape from reality.

John arrived first at the station. He parked his bike on the east side of that station next to one of the concrete benches. He started to check that his camera had survived the trip. He did not have to worry though as he had made this trip on his bike several times before. He had celebrated his 18th birthday a couple of months before and his father gave him a new camera, a Nikon D40. He loved the camera camera, mainly because it was the latest Nikon SLR that had come out a couple of weeks before his birthday. The camera only came with a 35-55mm lens that could only zoom in so far, so for a month after his birthday, he saved his money to get another lens, a 55-200 that could zoom in as far as 1/4 mile away from the subject. He had just bought it the previous weekend and this was the first time he would be able to try it out

Scott arrived a few minutes later, followed shortly after by Jason. Light started to break in the sky as they settled down and they all looked forward to a full day of train action.

“So John, are you taking Kelsy to prom this year?” Asked Jason

“I only wish I could, Derek asked her out the second that they announced the date” John sighed. He thought about her pretty face when Jason mentioned her name.

“I figured one of those assholes would get to her first. You know they only want to get in her pants” Scott chimed in. He also had a crush on Kelsy, but not as bad as John. Scott was more interested in her best friend, Shelby.

“I know, right, I just wish she would see that. Sometimes she can be foolish, but going to prom with one of the Varsity players just makes her look better in the eye of the school” I told them.

“Sometimes that can be the worst. I know what you are going through, John, I asked Emily to prom last week, but she turned me down. Seems to me that she is going to Prom with Jeremy” Jason said.

“Hey, we are going to go together, not as dates, obviously, but as friends. God, that would not look good if we were going there as each other’s date” John said. The thought alone sent a shiver down his spine.

“Ha!” Scott laughed “Who knows, maybe one of the jocks will do something stupid, and we can ride to the rescue to help the lady in distress.”

“That does happen at every dance, but I don’t think that we would even have any luck doing that, as you know, there are plenty of other guys that are better looking than us that would have more luck.” Jason commented.

“All we can do is just go there, stay for an hour or two, then we can come here and do some night time photography, or if dad lets me use the car, we can take a little trip over into Illinois and see whats over there” John said. “After all, I would rather be out trackside than go to a so called dance where all they play is Rap.”

“I agree, I can’t see why anyone likes the stuff, all it is to me is just fast talking to a very bad beat” replied Jason. Jason hated rap with a passion, he was a country boy, and if it was not Country or 70’s and 80’s rock, then it was crap music. He tolerated the other types of music, but he hated rap with passion

Scott looked at a Jason and said “You need to get used to it Jason, after all, its not going to go away just because you hate it.”

Then the scanner went off, it was the defect detector that was about a mile away.

“UP DETECTOR, MILEPOST, ONE TWO POINT TWO, TRACK TWO, NO DEFECTS. REPEAT, NO DEFECTS. TOTAL AXLE, TWO FOUR ZERO, TRAIN SPEED, ONE NINE MILES PER HOUR, TEMPERATURE, SIX EIGHT DEGREES, DETECTOR OUT” emitted the electronic voice

“Looks like we have a manifest.” John told his friends as he got up to get into position to grab his shots.

John got into position when the crossing activated, ringing its bell and lowering it’s gates to prevent any cars from trying to cross in front of the train. The train came into view, and he was very pleased to see a Kansas City Southern locomotive on the point of the train. He snapped about a dozen photos of the train as it rounded the sweeping around the broad curve and past the station. There were some freight cars as well that he photographed as well. A Maryland and Pennsylvania Boxcar, a Union Pacific company Tank Car, and Flat car that was hauling a beat up, derelict passenger car that looked like it was once used on the famous California Zephyr.

The train passed, and as the last car passed, he saw Kelsy standing on the other side. She was with Shelby. She was not here to hang out with him this time. He knew that the two of them were walking down the street to get some McDonald’s.

“Hi Kelsy, Shelby” John told them, “lovely day for a walk, isn’t it?”

“Yes it is, out photographing your trains again” Kelsy replied. She knew that he really enjoyed what he did and it made her happy that her best guy friend did this instead of getting high on drugs or sneaking beers out of his dads fridge to get drunk

“You know it, Scott and Jason are with me, they are around here some where”

“Tell them I said hi, I can’t really stay and talk, Shelby and I are getting some food then her dad is taking us to get our dresses for prom. Speaking of which, are you going?” She asked

“Yeah, but I couldn’t work up the nerve to ask anyone, so the boys and I are going by ourselves and just stay for a couple of hours at most”

“That’s a shame, I am sure if you asked, someone would have said yes.” Kelsy grinned as she said this.

They said bye and the girls walked down the street as John went to rejoin his friends on the bench.

“Where are they going?” Asked Scott

“To McDonald’s, where else?” John laughed

John and his friends ended up photographing 34 freight trains and all four Amtrak trains that stopped in Kirkwood. The entire time, they were talking about the upcoming prom, and Jason even brought one of his new models that he bought. It was a beautiful HO scale hand crafted brass locomotive from Overland Models of a Union Pacific General Electric model U50 (Look it up!). Both John and Scott were both amazed that Jason could afford such a model, as the retail price was around $1,200. He told them that he had been saving for two years to get it.

That night, after John had some dinner and had taken a shower, he got onto his computer to start editing his pictures. Some of the shots he deleted right away because they were duplicates, and he only kept the ones that were most appealing to the eye. It was shortly after 11 when the phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw it was Kelsy.

“There is only one person I know who would be calling me this late!” giving a chuckle as he said this.

“Well then, who would that be?” She replied, being a smart ass

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the President of the United States calling me in to rescue some pretty senators daughter who had been kidnapped by a tribe of natives in Afica?”

“Ha, In your dreams!” She laughed

“Whats up Kelsy, something the matter?” He asked

“Maybe, its my gut, you know how it is when I get gut feelings, John. I am worried that Derek might do something stupid at prom.”

He could tell that she was very concerned

“What do you think he would do? I am sure by know you had told him that you didn’t want to give it up to him” John told her, he knew that when she got a gut feeling, it was usually right.

“I over heard some of his friends when Shelby and I were at McDonald’s. Apparently from what I heard, they were all going to get hotel rooms and take their dates there, and when they mentioned Derek’s name, I knew something was up. I have a feeling me might try to force me into having sex with him”

“I would not put it passed him, I don’t know if you know this or not, but Varsity Jock’s think they can get everything and anything they wanted” He told her.

“I hope I am wrong, but you know how I am when I get these feelings. Do you think I should tell him I changed my mind and that I no longer want to go with him? She asked him

“That is up to you, Kelsy, You are one of the most attractive girls in school. You going with him to prom will only help you up the social ladder in school, besides, who else would you want to go, surely not some geek like me!”

There was a slight pause before she responded to that comment

“You are right John, it does help me. But could you do me a big favor? Would you go to the hotel as well? I know you and your friends will want to go watch some trains after you leave the dance, but I really might need you there if he really is going to do what they are planning”

“You don’t have to ask me twice, you know that I would do anything for you.” He told her

“Thanks John, you are the best, I have to go now, I have to finish studying for this history test we are having tomorrow, Tell you mom I said hi” she said

“No problem Kelsy. Hope you do well on your test, See you tomorrow”

He hung up the phone and saved his work. He couldn’t concentrate anymore because of what she told him. He had mixed emotions, ranging from happiness that she wanted him there to rescue her, to rage, knowing that Derek would do something as stupid as trying to force her into giving up her virginity.

The next day at school, he sat down to have lunch with Scott and Jason. He told them what Kelsy had said last night and the two of them also became upset. After all, both Emily and Shelby were also going with some of the jocks.

“When you talk to Kelsy again, tell her that we will be there too. Screw the trains, they will always be there, I would rather help someone that needs it.” Jason said, with a hint of anger in his voice

“I am right there with you. Jason, you already have a car, but I will ask my dad if I can borrow his car as well so we can all make a fast getaway in separate directions in case they chase the girls when they try to flee.” Jason said. He was clearly upset as well

“Right, I will tell Kelsy this, we will be there for them. Even if it does not lead to anything, at least we will know that we helped them out when they really needed it.

John went through the rest of the day distracted. He could not think, all he could think about was how to teach those guys a lesson. It pissed him off to no end that they thought of girls as a commodity, and not as a human. They use them for their pussy, then they get tossed away like throwing a cigarette butt out the car window when all the tobacco has burnt up.

That evening after dinner, he called Kelsy. He told her what both Jason and Scott had said. She knew that they both really liked Emily and Shelby. She agreed to the plan. The three of them would be waiting in the parking lot of the hotel. If the girls do not come out by midnight, we were free to leave, but not one minute before. She thanked him again, and that she really appreciated what he was doing for her and her friends.

“If you do end up saving us, I will make sure that you get the proper thank you. I think I just might treat you to a steak” She told him.

“Trying to get to my heart with a Rib eye, huh?” John chuckled

“You already have a place in my heart, as one of my best friends” she replied.

This made John blush. Just hearing the part the he had a place in her heart meant the world to him. She already had a place in his heart, but the place she occupied has been unanswered for the longest time now.

The weeks passed by, and John, Scott and Jason we busy making final plans for the get away’s in case they had to rescue the girls when they run out of the hotel. It was agreed that Scott would take Shelby. He would head south on US 67 and hit Interstate 44 east towards downtown St. Louis and if he was being followed, would us his knowledge of the roads in Illinois to get away from him, namely the roads that go into the rail yards.

Jason would also head south, but instead of heading towards downtown St. Louis, he would get onto I-44 west and then get onto Interstate 270. If he was followed, he would get off I-270 onto Page and head west into St. Charles county. If he losses them by then, we would follow the road until it turned in MO-94 and take that back to I-64 east back to Kirkwood.

As for John. He had the most difficult route, but his dad agreed to let him use his new Dodge Charger for the night. He would head north on US-67, take that to Interstate 64 then head east towards downtown. If he was being chased after, He would have to take I-64 all the way into Illinois and almost to Edwardsville before he could get off. Luckily for him, he had a friend who was a deputy for the Illinois State Highway Patrol. His name was Aaron, and he would be on duty that night. He told him that if he was being chased, to call him when they crossed into Illinois, give a description of the car that was chasing them and he would be waiting to pull over the chasing car.

With the final plans in place. The three of them went to go get their suits for prom. John had an all white suit that looked like it was from the late 80’s. Scott got a grey suit with a navy blue vest. He told his friends the colors reminded him of the Civil War. Only Scott could do something like that. Jason on the other hand got a full Tux. Both John and Scott wondered why the hell he would do such a thing. John had to admit, even though the two of them were his best friends, they were both pretty weird, even though he was weird himself

The night of prom arrived. John and the boys arrived about 30 minutes into the event. They walked in and he kept an eye out for the Kelsy and the girls. About 5 minutes later, John spotted Kelsy. She was dancing with Derek, and it looked like she was not really having a great time. He kept putting his hand on her ass and she kept pushing it away. He knew right then and there that he would have to be rescuing her later. He took his phone out and put Aaron’s number on speed dial, just in case.

He went to go look for Jason and Scott. He saw them over by the refreshments table. As he walked up, he saw a look of concern on their faces.

“You guys find Emily and Shelby?” He asked

“Yeah we did, and we both did not like what he saw” Jason said, “Emily was dancing with Jeremy, and the entire time I watched them, he kept trying to suck on her neck. She kept trying to get away from him, but he kept pushing. I didn’t watch long, but from what I saw, I will have to get her away from the hotel quickly.”

“What about you, Scott?”

“I saw Shelby. She was not acting her self. Her date had his arm around her and kept trying to pull her onto his lap. She was not having any of it, but as I was watching, she reluctantly got onto his lap. I could tell from on the look on her face that it was not going to end well for him tonight” She replied

“You remember the plan, right?” John asked. His two friends shook their head yes

“Lets enjoy this party for a while, then we will sneak out and go wait at the hotel

The three of them enjoyed prom. They managed to get to know a few more people, mostly sophomore’s, and they actually made a couple of new friends. They didn’t dare try the punch. They had all seen movies where some clever guy in a slick suit pours vodka or some other clear liqueur into the punch bowl to get everyone drunk off their ass’s.

About 10, the three of them walked out. They got into their respective cars. John was in an Orange with black racing stripes 2005 Dodge Charger, Scott was in a 2004 Chevrolet Impala, and Jason was in his own car, a 2003 Volvo. They pulled out and went to the hotel, parking next to each other. They killed the lights on bot the outside and all interior lights as well. They had a clear view of the hotel rooms, and they made sure that they could get out of the parking lot as fast as possible.

Around 10:30, the jocks and their dates started to arrive. One of the first to arrive was Jeremy and Emily. It looked like she was having a better time, but this might have happened because he somehow got her drunk during prom. Next was Derek and Kelsy. Kelsy still looked a bit worried as they walked to their room. Shortly there after, Shelby and her date arrived. Pretty soon, everyone was there and there were jocks everywhere. It looked like that the Varsity guys got some of the freshmen to do lookout duty, probably in exchange for a case of beer or something else like that.

Around 11, Emily came out bolting the room she and Jeremy were in. It looked like she was in tears. She knew which car she had to go to and ran straight for Scott’s Impala. As she was opening the door to get in, Jeremy ran out as well. He said some words and a couple of the freshman dashed towards the car. It was for nothing though, because as soon as she got in, Scott started his car, put it into drive, and peeled out of the parking lot, getting Emily out of there as fast as possible. Jeremy looked like he was not happy at all and John could here him swearing like no tomorrow. He pushed on of the two freshmen on the ground out of anger, and then went back into his room, slamming the door shut.

It was a few minutes later when Shelby ran out as well. However, John noticed that her dress was torn and it was exposing on her breasts. She tried in vain to hide it. He was amazed when no one came chasing after her. She made a beeline for Jason’s Volvo and got in. I didn’t know if he noticed that no one was chasing after her, but I could tell that he was going to make sure that no one was, and he pulled out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.

Now it was just John. The minutes were ticking by. He wanted to pass the time by listening to the radio, but he knew that this would give him away and the jocks would force him to leave. It was almost midnight and there was no sign of Kelsy. Maybe he was wrong about Derek and he was being a gentleman towards her.

At 11:50, his thoughts were proven wrong. Dashing through the parking lot, basically completely nude was Kelsy. She was running as fast as her legs could carry her, and Derek was right on her heals. She was screaming at him to start the car. John turned the key and the Hemi roared to life. She just barely managed to get into the car before Derek caught up, but before he could reach for the door handle, John put his foot to the floor on the pedal and raced out of the lot.

As he was peeling out onto US 67, He could see Derek getting into his own car. A few seconds later, Derek also peeled out, right behind him. He was in a 1989 Camaro.

“Hold on Kelsy” John yelled, “I am going to have to break some traffic laws!”

Kelsy didn’t say anything, and he could sense the fear she had. Derek must have done something very bad to her to put her into this kind of state, because he had never seen her this way before

He sped up, driving north on US 67, passed the train station and through historic down town Kirkwood. The speed limit here was only 30, but he was doing 55 to get away from Derek, who was sticking to his tail. A minute later, they raced through the intersection with Manchester Road. He ran the red light, hoping that cross traffic would stop he pursuer, but at this time of night, it was almost empty. They were now on a divided part of US 67 and he floored it, taking his speed up to almost 90, and to his surprise, Derek’s old Camaro managed to keep the pace.

A few minutes later, he got to Interstate 64. He made a hard right doing 40, making the car fish tail as he turned and roared up the on ramp. Derek had to slow down to 20 to make the turn and even then he almost lost control of the car. He quickly managed to catch up and kept on his tail. John tried to shake him by slamming on his breaks then speeding up. He weaved in and out of the light traffic. He thought to himself as they raced underneath Kingshighway of why head had not yet seen any police.

John was reaching of speeds up to 105, 50 miles over the posted 55 MPH speed limit. He was slowly getting away from Derek, but the distance that was between them was still too close for comfort. He looked over to see Kelsy holding on for dear life and he could tell she was also crying at the same time.

John reached into cup holder and grabbed his phone. He was approaching Poplar Street Bridge that would take them into Illinois. He pressed speed dial button 3 and put the phone on speaker.

“Deputy Reynolds” Aaron Answered

“Aaron, its John, Kelsy and I are headed your way, let your partners know whats going on, I am in an orange Dodge Charger with black racing stripes, we are being chased by Kelsy’s date in a dark colored 1989 Camaro. It looks like he tried to rape Kelsy” John yelled into the phone

“OK, thanks John, I am in position, I will be waiting at the I-55/I-64 split.”

“Thanks, please let your dispatcher know”

“Already have” He said before hanging up.”

John raced across the Poplar Street Bridge over the Mississippi River and into Illinois. It was only a couple of miles to the split, and the distance was covered in no time. Derek was still on his tail when they came to the split. He could see Aaron in his patrol car waiting for us. There was also another patrol car there as well. Aaron most likely had expected it to be a high speed chase between Derek and himself and wanted to make it look like that they were not notified well in advance.

John raced past the patrol cars doing 104, with Derek following him closely. The instant that Derek passed, the two cruisers went into action, turning their lights on and started chasing after the Camaro. John looked back into the rear view mirror and saw the Derek had chickened out. He pulled over and one of the cruisers pulled over behind him. He knew that Aaron would be in the other cruiser and he pulled over a 1/2 mile later. John got out of his car as Aaron stepped out of his unit.

“Thanks for the help, Aaron, I am surprised that old junker of his managed to keep up with me” he said, reaching his hand out to shake his hand.

“No problem, I told you I would have your back” he replied shaking Johns hand. “What exactly happened to cause him to chase you like that?”

“I don’t know, Kelsy didn’t say a word the entire time during the chase. She was busy crying almost the entire time”

“Lets go talk to her, maybe we can get more charges on her date other then speeding. At the speed he was going, its for sure that his license will be suspended.”

The two of them walked over to the car and opened the passenger door. Kelsy had stopped crying and and was just sniffing at this point

“Ma’am, I am Deputy Aaron Reynolds of the Illinois State Highway Patrol, would you mind telling me why that car was chasing the two of you?” He asked her

“Y…yeah, He was my date to prom, “she replied, trying to hold back more tears. “A..after prom, we went back to the hotel room he g..got for the night. H…he was being a g…gentlman until, until he shoved me onto the bed. H…he called me a prude because I am still a virgin. H..he ripped off my dress and held me down, saying that he was going to fuck me as much as he wanted to, and then he tried to rape me. I had John waiting for me in case he tried to do something. Oh god, why did I agree to even go to prom with him” She said, as she broke down crying again.

Aaron was shocked about what he had just heard, and so was John. Rage filled his eyes and if Aaron was not standing there, he would have walked the 1/2 mile down the road and beat the living shit out of Derek.

“Would you mind if I took the two of you down there so you can ID the suspect?” He asked

“Yeah, that will be fine” John told him.

John helped Kelsy out of the car, and Aaron wrapped her in a blanket as she was basically completely naked. They got into his patrol car and he drove his down to where the other deputy had Derek pulled over.

“Hey Mark, hold your suspect. I was informed by the occupants of the other care that your suspected had tried to rape the girl that was in the passenger seat. I am bringing them down there to ID the suspect.

“10-4” John heard.

A few minutes later, they pulled up to the other deputy. By this time, several other units were on the scene, and they had one lane closed for the investigation.

One of the officers pulled Derek out of the back seat of the cruiser that he was in and Aaron turned on his spotlight to blind him from seeing us in his unit.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Kelsy said, “That’s the asshole who tried to rape me”

Aaron got on his radio and informed the other officers that they had a positive ID. Since Kelsy was only 17 at the time and he was 18, not only would he be charged with speeding and reckless drivng, but also with attempted rape of a minor. All the chances he had for a full ride to collage was destroyed in the matter of hours.

“Thanks you two. Normally I would have to charge you with speeding and reckless driving as well, but considering the circumstances, I won’t be charging you with anything.” Aaron said as he drove us back to the car.

When we pulled up, John helped Kelsy of the Aaron’s cruiser and and back into his car. Aaron wished them a safe trip back home and John pulled away, getting back on the interstate to the next interchange to turn around.

During the trip home, he could see how shaken up she was. John could see how frightened she still was. Being the friend he was, he wanted to comfort her in any way possible. She really needed a friend right now, and since he was sitting right next to her, he knew it had to be him. He took his hand and held hers. He was surprised at how she responded, instantly grabbing his hand. He noticed right away this made her feel better.

The trip back home was much longer than it was to Illinois. Mainly because he was now doing the speed limit instead of 100+ miles per hour. It was only when they were coming up on Manchester that she said something.

“John, can I please stay with you tonight?” She asked

John was taken back at the question, she had never asked that before. But he knew that she really needed someone she could trust right now. “Yeah, you can, I will sleep on the couch and you can sleep in my bed.” He told her

“No, John, please, I really need someone I can trust. Right now that person is you.” She said, trying to hold back more tears

“Are you saying that you want me to hold you while you sleep?” He asked

“Yes, please. I don’t want to go home like this”

“Its fine, I will make sure no one else can do any more harm to you, Kelsy”

“Thanks, it means a-lot to me” She replied, with a slightly happier tone in her voice

They pulled up to his house andhe helped her out of the car. His parents were already in bed, so he helped her right up the stairs and to his bed room. John gave her a St. Louis Blues shirt that was way to large for him for her to wear that night. He excused himself when as he went into the bathroom to change into Pajama’s, something that he never wore.

John walked back into the room and he saw Kelsy laying in the bed already. She was just staring at the ceiling. He crawled into bed next her and put his arm’s around her. He was surprised when she cuddled up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. A few minutes later, she was fast asleep, her head resting on his shoulder.

He looked at her while she slept. She looked so peaceful. He thought about the events that had taken place that night, and he started to wonder if Scott and Jason had made it as well. They did not get chased like John did, but still, he wondered. He also wondered if the girls his friends rescued were also okay. Out of the three of them, it looked like Kelsy had suffered the most. Pretty soon, he too, fell fast asleep.

The next morning, John was the first to wake up. Kelsy was still asleep on his shoulder. He had to relieve himself, and he lifted her head ever so gently as not to wake her up. He managed to do so and he rolled out of bed and across the hall to the bathroom. After taking care of his business, he went downstairs and he saw his parents sitting at the table. There was picture of Derek on the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and a shot of the scene where he was arrested. When his dad saw him coming down, John expected him to be pissed of how he drove the car, but instead, he saw delight in his face.

“Seems like you had a busy night last night, John” His dad said

“You could say that” John replied

“You saved Kelsy from being raped, and now her date is now facing 10 to 15 years in prison because of it. You have something to be proud of son. I am very proud of you. I am a little irked about my car being driven so fast, but I know that you did the right thing” His dad went on.

John smiled because he knew that he had really done the right thing and he helped out Kelsy, the girl he had always dreamed about being with.

“What are you planning to do today, John” his mother asked

“I am going to take Kelsy home first, then I am going to meet up with Scott and Jason to go sho….” John was interrupted be his father again.

“You mean she stayed HERE last night?” His father asked with a surprised look on his face.

“Yeah, she wanted to be held by someone she could trust. After last night, how could I say no?” He told his father

“Did you get any?” He asked. At which point, he mom came over slapped him up-side the head really hard for asking such a question. John just laughed and went back up stairs.

When he got to his room, Kelsy was just waking up.

“Where did you go? I woke up slightly and saw that you were gone, I had a dream that Derek escaped and came her to kill you” She said with a frightened look on her face, “When I saw you were not in bed, I was scared that it was not a dream!”

When she said this, she jumped out of bed and right into his arms. She started to cry again as John held her trying to comfort her.

“It’s fine Kelsy. Nothing happened to me, I just used the bathroom and went down stairs.” He told her, trying to make her feel better. He felt a little guilty for leaving her alone in bed like that, but he really did have to use the bathroom.

He continued to hold her for a few more minutes when he told her that he had better get her home. She looked at him when she said this. She nodded her head yes and separated from the hug. She gathered what little things she had and dressed in a pair of his sweat pants and a T-shirt, he walked her out to the car.

It was a two minute drive, but he could tell that she was feeling better than last night. A minute later, he pulled into her drive way. He got out and helped her to the door.

“Thanks again for saving me last night, John, I knew you would help me” She said when they got to the door.

“Again, I said this before and I will say it again, I will always be there when you need help.” He told her.

“I know, but it really meant a-lot to me and my friends. You are not so much of a geek as you think you are”

“You might be right, who knows what will happen when we go back to school tomorrow”

“I know one thing, you will be crowned a hero” She said.

Right after she said this, she did something that he had never would expect from her. She put her arms around her, and he thought it was going to be another thank you hug, but instead, she pulled him down and gave him a deep kiss right on the lips.

“I will see you tomorrow, John” She said as she opened the door and walked inside.

He was speechless, but at the same time, he was was also very happy. She had just given a train geek his very first kiss.

“Who knows, after last night, she might actually want to be with me” he thought as he drove home.