It was a magical gift most females seemed to be born with. “Oh come on, Bobby-bear, you know you want me.” For the last few years he had been arou...nd, before all the brothers split, he and I had joked around about such things. As he was over ten years my senior (me being freshly 17 at the time that they left), it was just meaningless banter. Even now as I stood almost naked in front of him, fresh from the shower, I meant it nothing more as a joke and knew that he saw it only as such. “Come to. I was simply too close to the sun. I had to avert my eyes and look away from the flame or melt from its fury. As I tried to look away she grabbed my chin and held my gaze. "No," she smiled. "I need you to get used to seeing me. We're not going to have much fun today if you can't get comfortable with me."What the hell was she talking about? We? Did she actually mean her and me? How the hell would that work? She was this goddess and I was just a regular Joe. It simply would not occur. The heavens. I thought of her beside me, snuggled into the hood of her jacket, pretending not to be cold.She would sit just looking at the trees; her eyes alight with wonder, like a small child. And she would run, kicking at the drifts of fallen leaves, laughing and gasping as they crackled and crunched beneath her feet, barely noticing the misting rain, creating a halo as it settled on her hair.A line from a song drifted into my head: "You always loved this time of year".Well, not quite.Actually, a lot of. By now he had worked off his demerit points.He had bought Cathy a lovely little gold pinkie ring with some of his savings. Cathy was very touched by his gift, especially since Cathy assumed some of the responsibility for his having acquired the demerits in the first place.It was Saturday morning, and Cathy was sitting, disconsolate, in front of the television set. She had finished her household chores. Her homework was all done, and she didn't want to go out.She had only three weeks to go.