Forever...: a novel by Judy Blume

house," I told him the next night when he called for me, "I couldn't … "
    "Why not? My mother and father won't be home before 12:00." I checked my watch. It was 7:30. "I don't know … " I said. "I feel funny about going to your house."
    "Look," he said, "we don't have to do anything … we can just go there and talk."
    "I think I've heard that before!"
    Michael's house is red brick with white shutters. It's near the company where his father works. As soon as he unlocked the front door Tasha jumped on me. "Hi, Tasha … " I patted her head.
    "Down girl," Michael said, and Tasha obeyed. "Come on … " He took my hand and showed me around. Everything was very neat. Their furniture was big, heavy and dark and the drapes were drawn in the living and dining rooms.
    The kitchen was brighter, with yellow wallpaper, and hanging plants. A note was attached to the refrigerator with a magnetic flower. It said, M—soup in refrig. Heat, don't boil.
    "Want to see my room?" Michael asked.
    "As long as I'm here I might as well," I laughed.
    He led me upstairs, down a long hallway, to a room with cluttered bookcases and an unmade bed.
    "Sorry about that," he said. I'm supposed to make it every day but sometimes I forget."

    "How can anybody forget to make a bed?"
    "It's easy." He turned on some music while I walked around inspecting all the things on his shelves. He had lots of paperbacks, some team pennants, a picture of a chimpanzee dressed in jeans—his family must be very big on monkeys, I thought—and a cartoon showing a little boy, spelling out f-u-c-k with his alphabet soup. I held up a camp trophy. "Congratulations," I said, " … Most Improved Swimmer … wow !"
    "Yeah … that was the year I got brave enough to jump into the deep water." We both laughed while Tasha curled up in the corner, under a chair.
    "Can I look in your closet?" I asked.
    "Sure … help yourself," Michael said and he began to straighten his bed. I opened the closet. The floor was piled high with shoes, sports equipment and, I think, dirty laundry.
    "Find what you're looking for?" he said.
    "I'm not looking for anything special. I want to see everything … I want to know you inside out. So far I've discovered you're a slob."
    "Only about some things," he said.
    I opened what I thought was a second closet but it turned out to be a bathroom. There were towels strewn all around which Michael picked up in a hurry and dumped into the hamper.
    "God … " I said, going through his bathroom cabinet, "you use more junk than I do." There were three kinds of deodorant, two shampoos, a tube of athlete's foot cream, acne soaps, medicated skin lotions, several prescriptions, and at least six different kinds of after shaves. "No wonder you always smell different," I said.
    "Pick out your favorite and I'll throw the rest away."
    "I don't know one from the other," I said, lining them up on the counter. I took off all the tops and started sniffing. "I like this one." I held up a bottle of green lotion called Moustache.
    "You would … that's the most expensive of the lot."
    "Mmmm … " I said, sniffing it again. "I have good taste." He took the bottle from me and splashed some on his face.
    "Do you ever put it on your balls?" I asked.
    "I don't shave them," he said.
    "I read that in a book … this guy put after shave on his balls before he went out with his girlfriends."
    "Well … maybe I would too … if I thought anybody was going to smell them."

    "Who did you have in mind?"
    "Oh, I don't know … just anybody." He put the bottle on top of the toilet and unbuckled his jeans.
    "What are you doing?"
    "I'm going to try it now … so I'm ready … just in case." He stepped out of his jeans, then took off his underpants. "On second thought," he said, "why don't you do it for me?"
    "Me … ?"
    "It was your idea in the first place."
    I felt funny about seeing Michael exposed from the waist down, because it's always been dark when we make love. I've touched him a lot but I've