The Venn Diagram - 1 by RinaLane on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

An adult Jenny delights in recalling how their relationship began:

"I was thinking about the first time last night. Do you remember?"

Now Nathan felt himself get angry, "I don't want to discuss it."

"I think you're overreacting. You were very nice to me, walking me home in the rain and putting your coat over my head. Very chivalrous, I've never forgotten it."

It was a cold, wet spring evening, and he hadn't been able to believe his luck as the prettiest, most intelligent girl in school asked HIM to walk her home! He'd felt like a king!

"And then we started studying Romeo and Juliet."

"Jenny please, I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm just trying to make you see how silly it all was. I convinced you that the reason that you were struggling with the Juliet interpretations was because you didn't understand what it was like to be a girl. Do you remember?"

"Of course," Nathan spat, "you tricked me."

"Well, I wouldn't say tricked. I just explained that you might be able to understand her feelings better if you put yourself in her position, and that to do that it would help if you dressed like a girl. I was taller than you even then so we used one of my Mother's little black dresses didn't we? And you put on some opaque tights and read the parts again."

He remembered the first time all too well. He had been lost in a fog of desire and pulled into her web without little struggle. He'd never forgotten the feeling as she made him put his hands over his head and slipped her mother's fancy black frock onto his 16 year old body. He felt stupid and self-conscious, but also a little excited at the taboo.

Inspired by "The Venn Diagram" by KT Pel.