The New Girl
September 5, 1978, Tuesday afternoon, New Paltz High School
Phil walked into the gym from the locker room. He noticed Conor intently watching the girls’ volleyball practice.
He walked over and said, “Conor, we better get out there, Coach will be pissed if his seniors are late for practice.”
He wasn’t only a senior; Conor was by far the best player on the soccer team. Phil was Conor’s good friend and played soccer mostly to stay in shape for baseball season.
“Seriously Conor, we gotta go.”
Nodding his head toward the court Conor asked, “Sure, but first, do you know if that’s a new girl, someone new to the school?”
The new girl had a chic layered brunette hairstyle that fell just above her shoulders accenting a perfect neckline. She seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place her. Her look was different, exotic in a way, and it caught Conor’s attention, though her chunky oversized sweats did her no favors. Yet, he was attracted by more than what she looked like. She had a fire in her eyes and a confident stride that showed she meant business.
The girl noticed Conor looking at her and caught his eye. She held it for a bit longer than a glance, then quickly looked away smirking to herself.
As they walked out of the gym together, Phil glanced over his shoulder toward the volleyballers and said, “No idea who you’re talking about Conor. We have a game on Friday and maybe you could think more about that. What do you say?”
∞
“Whoa, it’s too hot to run suicide drills. Coach’s trying to kill us”
With sweat draining off his face and gasping for air Conor was able to reply, “You’ll live Phil, this is all about getting our asses into shape”
Coach blew his whistle and ended the practice, and the team slogged their way into the locker room to shower. Conor was always a bit shy about being naked in front of others. Instead, he walked into the school to cool down while his teammates showered.
He found the soda machine in the cafeteria, pumped a quarter into it, and selected an Orange Crush. As he cracked it open and started to take a long pull on the can, the girl he watched at volleyball practice walked in.
Their eyes met and she froze in mid-stride. She had the same dazzling radiance about her that he saw in the gym. They stared at each other for several seconds. Conor’s mind was blank, and he could find nothing to say.
She was just as mute but seemed as if she could have a full conversation with just a glance. She did look familiar, and he got the sense that she knew who he was. Finally, she gave him a wry smile, turned around, and walked away down the hall.
Conor didn’t know her name or anything about her except her sweats were more suited to the 1950s, were two sizes too big, and she played volleyball. Yet, the way she looked at him was intense and beautiful at the same time, with a mesmerizing glow.
He was smitten.
Free the Butterfly: September 6, 1978, Wednesday afternoon, New Paltz High School
It was an extra hot day for early September. Conor went out before practice to hit balls against the back wall of the gym. To get a break from the sun he waded inside. Several volleyball players started to appear. The girl from the cafeteria, baggy sweats and all was one of them.
After a few minutes, Jane walked into the gym. She worked for the school paper and wrote a sports column. Seeing Conor, she walked toward him. Conor called out to her, “Don’t forget Jane, Walsh starts with a W!”
“Sure, first you have to make something happen, like scoring a goal,” Jane quickly shot back with a sly grin.
“Oh, it’s like that is it! Make sure the “W” works on your typewriter, you’re going to need it.”
They both smiled and shoulder to shoulder looked out toward the volleyball practice as an awkward pause settled between them.
“You cover all sports don’t you? Including girls’ volleyball?” Conor finally asked.
“Yeah, why?”
Conor nodded to the middle of the gym.
“Who is the new girl on the volleyball team, the one with the baggy sweats?” he asked.
Jane peered out onto the court with a puzzled look.
“Conor what are you talking about? The girl with the baggie sweats is not new for chrissakes. She was in our French class all last year and sat right behind you. That’s Katherine Adams, you knucklehead! She’s gone by Kai since the fourth grade,” Jane exclaimed.
Under his breath, he replied, “That’s impossible. Kai Adams? Come on Jane, Little Kai Adams? Kai Adams is barely four feet tall and skinny as a rail. She wears pigtails, thick glasses, and a different assortment of coveralls each day. That girl, that new girl is no Kai Adams.”
As if on cue, the girl Jane claimed was Kai, felt the heat seeping into the gym. She slowly peeled her sweatshirt up and over her full five-foot-six-inch torso, arching her back as she did. Underneath, she unveiled a white tank top that seemed a few sizes too small. It hugged her full-sized breasts that prominently stuck out as she stretched to get the sweatshirt off over her head.
She then slowly walked over to the sideline by the volleyball net and stripped out of her sweatpants revealing a pair of tight pink terry cloth shorts. They seemed more like bikini bottoms than gym shorts. They hugged her curves below the edge of her bottom with her long, and incredibly toned legs flowing down to the floor. She then pulled on a pair of pink leg warmers around her ankles that matched her shorts. This was no girl. She was all woman.
Jane watched Kai strip out of her sweats and slowly exhaled as she glanced over her shoulder at Conor.
“Looks like “little” Kai Adams has grown up, huh.”
Jane shook her head chuckling to herself as she headed out the gym door leaving Conor gaping at Kai wide-eyed in disbelief.
Out on the court, Kai felt his stare and looked over at Conor who didn’t avert his gaze. She blushed, looked away, and then looked back again, flashing him a dazzling smile. She thought she noticed him shudder a bit.
A few JV football players passing through the gym on their way to practice started jeering at Kai like construction workers watching a pretty girl walk by. The volleyball coach kicked them out of the gym. She then called out to the team to start practice and Kai took off across the court.
∞
An hour later, Phil high-fived Conor about halfway through practice. “Dang, you may want to save some of those goals for Friday’s game.”
Conor was ripping it up, dribbling through the entire team scoring easily, and hitting the upper corners of the goal with shots from 25-30 yards out. Everything was going in.
Coach came up to him and quietly said, “Conor, you need to dial it back a bit, our goalkeeper thinks he sucks, and the defense is losing their confidence. Not sure what’s gotten into you. Try channeling it into our first game, got it?”
“Sorry coach, I feel amazing today like I can do anything. I’ll be sure to hit a few shots right at the keeper to help him feel better about himself.”
∞
Conor didn’t hang around the locker room and headed straight to the cafeteria after practice. Rarely did anyone ever show up there. It was like his personal post-practice sanctuary where he replayed the day’s activities. Today was different, he stared out the huge windows into the school parking lot, hoping someone would show up.
A few minutes later he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned around and there she was. Kai had her sweats back on and gave him a sideways glance heading toward the water fountain. He watched her without saying anything, as she leaned over and had a drink.
When finished, she glanced over at Conor and said, “Hi”
“Hi yourself,” Conor replied.
There was a lull as they eyed each other and Conor continued, “I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you the other day. You’ve changed.”
He then quickly added, “For the better, definitely for the better!”
Kai smiled and added, “Yeah, this summer I kind of caught up a bit.”
“It’s as if you’ve emerged, like a butterfly,” Conor added.
Pulling at the side of her sweatshirt with a half-smile Kai replied, “Not exactly. I’m afraid more like a moth’s cocoon than a chrysalis. Uh, you know, the kind a butterfly makes?”
“You may want to rethink that, the way you shed your cocoon before practice wasn’t very moth-like,” Conor said with a sly smile and a single arched eyebrow.
“Still, I do seem to be drawn to bright lights and open flames lately, so there’s that,” Kai quickly added with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek.
“Open flames, hmm,” he paused a beat, then asked, “Do you like flying at night? If you’re feeling moth-like, perhaps a lovely Luna Moth might be a better fit. They mostly come out at night, you know, with the moon?”
Conor made a swirling motion while pointing at Kai’s sweats then added, “And may match with all that, a bit better.”
“Perhaps. Luna Moths are beautiful, unfortunately, their lifespan is for only one day, and then pfft, a goner! Where would I be then?” Kai asked.
“Yeah that definitely won’t work, I still thought I saw a colorful butterfly, emerge from all of that,” Conor retorted once again pointing at her sweats with both hands.
“Oooo, I do love a beautiful Monarch,” Kai exclaimed.
“Well, there you are then,” Conor agreed.
“I do like the night also. Somewhere I heard that when the sun goes down the real fun begins,” Kai added as her cheeks started to flush a bright red.
Conor, smiling broadly, without missing a beat asked, “I’ve heard that too and it’s almost dark. What kind of fun did you have in mind?”
Kai didn’t answer. Instead, looking at him under half-lidded eyes, she flashed a sexy sheepish grin and slowly backed out through the cafeteria doors and booked down the hall.
With adrenaline coursing through his veins, Conor wanted to run after her but didn’t feel the timing was right.
He knew one thing for certain. He needed to learn all there was about Kai Adams.
Katharine “Kai” Adams: Summer, 1978, Paris, France
Kai Adams finished her junior year of high school much as Conor had remembered her, a girl who physically hadn’t grown much past the seventh grade. Short, thin, flat-chested, frizzy braided hair, thick glasses with a penchant for hiding herself behind coveralls. Although a straight-A student, it seemed as if something was stunting her growth.
Her upbringing was less than ideal. Kai’s mom and dad couldn’t have been more different.
Her father was an IBM engineer and a control freak. Kai’s mom was the exact opposite. She was a free spirit, a creative woman who much preferred being a leaf floating down a stream. She liked to be spontaneous and lived life with an air of serendipity. They say opposites attract, and it was pretty obvious these two weren’t from other sides of the spectrum, they were from different planets.
When Kai was in seventh grade her father accused her mom of cheating on him. He filed for divorce, and it got ugly. He accused her of turning tricks as a prostitute while he was at work and the kids were at school. Drug use and heavy drinking were also brought into the proceedings.
Not one bit of it was true. Still, it was the early 1970s, and men, especially IBM men, were given the full benefit of the doubt. He trumped up enough circumstantial evidence to convince a judge that she was a deviant person, not fit to be a mother.
He won easily.
It was beyond devastating for Kai and her sister. They were emotionally and mentally traumatized by the turn of events. Kai’s mother, unable to see her children, her life and reputation ruined, decided to run as far away as she could get. She moved into a cheap flat in the Latin Quarter of Paris, enrolled at the Sorbonne, and started over as a sociology student.
On the surface, Kai and her sister mostly adapted to their plight, yet the scars never fully hidden or healed, continued to inflict pain in different ways and to varying degrees. Their father started dating and became more involved with his girlfriends. He paid less attention to the children which was fine by them.
Kai’s mother connected with her kids through letters and the occasional phone call when her ex-husband wasn’t home. Finally, after five years, she asked her ex if Kai could come to Paris for summer vacation before starting her senior year.
As it happened, that spring Kai’s dad had fallen for a local lawyer, and they wanted to move in together. This meant Kai and her sister had to move to the lawyer's house on Plains Road on the other side of town. As a trade, her father permitted Kai to visit her mother in France. In return, Kai wouldn’t make a fuss about moving in with the lawyer and convince her sister that it would be a good thing.
The summer Kai spent in Paris was life-changing. It was kind of a rebirth, and her body and soul began to heal and grow. The love her mom showered her with was like giving Kai an injection of growth hormones. In three short months, she turned from a skinny girl to a young woman with curves to match. Kai’s thick glasses, pigtails, and coveralls were replaced with contact lenses, make-up, perfume, a stylish Parisian bobbed hairdo, and designer clothes.
She didn’t want summer to end. Once back in New Paltz for her senior year in high school, Kai plotted a course back to her mom in Paris as soon as she could.
A Three K Party: September 7, 1978, Evening, New Paltz, NY
Kai’s dad and girlfriend had given her a bedroom in the basement of their new house. It was like an apartment with a walkout slider, a bathroom, and a separate phone with a party line. They began treating her like an adult, and she could come and go as she pleased, as her dad’s girlfriend wanted nothing to do with his children.
Kai picked up the phone’s receiver to make a call, and without dialing any numbers, heard voices faintly coming from it. She put the phone up to her ear in time to hear,
“What’s going on with you Kai?”
“Kiki, is that you?” Kai asked with surprise.
“Yes, it’s me, who else would I be?” Kiki asked.
“The phone didn’t ring, and when I picked it up to call you I heard your voice on the line Kiki. It surprised me,” Kai explained.
“Must be the party line thing I guess. Kate are you on the line too,” Kiki asked?
“Yeah, I’m here, how are things, Kai?” Kate asked.
“Things are fine, sort of. Something happened this week that has me a bit freaked out,” Kai confided.
“OK, what has your panties in a bunch?” Kate asked.
Kai met both Kate and Kiki during their sophomore year and became close friends. Kiki is a carefree girl, the life of the party, promiscuous, sexy, spontaneous, and up for anything. Kate is the grounded one. She’s incredibly articulate, blunt, quick on her feet, sarcastic, and protective of her friends. They’re Kai’s yin and yang with Kate telling her what she should avoid, and Kiki egging her on to go for it.
“Yeah, uh, it’s kind of, well, about a guy,” Kai responded.
“A guy, what guy?” both Kiki and Kate cried out simultaneously, surprised that Kai for once had a guy she was interested in.
“It started at volleyball practice. I caught Conor Walsh staring at me like he didn’t know who I was.”
“There’s no surprise there,” Kiki said, “your boobs are now like Linda Carter size, you know Wonder Woman?”
“You’re also about a foot taller and that Parisian hairdo is well, Parisian,” Kate added.
“O.K., I can see that my look is a bit different, it’s one of the reasons I’ve been wearing oversized sweats, so I don’t make a scene. It was really hot at volleyball practice, and I was sweltering. I had to take them off. The thing is I forgot what I had on under the sweats. Conor was in the gym and watched as I pulled off my sweatshirt, and it felt like I was stripping in front of him, and everyone else.
Stating the obvious, Kate asked, “Really, you showed the whole gym your bra Kai? That must have caused quite a stir?”
”Well I wasn’t really wearing a bra –“
“You flashed your boobs to everyone, that’s amazing!” Kiki gushed.
“No, I wasn’t naked underneath Kiki. I had a tube top and short shorts on, and they were pretty revealing. I saw Conor shudder a bit and didn’t know what else to do, so I smiled at him. Then a bunch of footballers started acting like idiots.”
“Oh my God, forget about the idiots, Kai, Conor is so – hot!” Kiki added, “And you smiled at him, what did he say?”
“Nothing he was on the other side of the gym. After practice though, I went down to the cafeteria to get a drink. I barged in thinking no one would be there, and Conor was standing by the soda machine. I was totally caught off-guard, and we both stood there staring at each other. I swear I thought I was going to die; I couldn’t breathe.”
“Did he say anything?” Kiki asked.
“No, we locked eyes and stared at each other without saying a word. I know it sounds insane, but my gut did somersaults, and my heartbeat was like a metronome gone wild. I felt something, I really did. Is that possible?”
“What Kai, the first guy you see, and you have stars in your eyes?” Kate asked with dry sarcasm.
“Then today after practice, I went back to see if he was there again, and he was! This time we talked to each other. Weirdly, we mostly talked about moths and butterflies,” Kai said.
“What the hell? Leave the bugs for biology. What were you thinking?” Kate asked.
“Well, it was all sarcasm and sexual innuendo.” After a pause, Kai added, “I think.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere!” Kiki panted.
“Not really. I stuck my foot in my mouth by saying I have more fun at night, and it came out like I was referring to sex. I turned all red and ran out of the cafeteria,” Kai said.
“Whoa girl, you said what? You need to slow down a bit” Kate said.
Kiki would have none of it.
“Kai Adams if you don’t jump Conor’s bones, you’re nuts!” Kiki continued loudly into the phone, “He’s freaking totally off the charts HOT. I’m heating up just thinking about him. Who are you holding out for, the Six Million Dollar Man?”
“Look, let’s not get carried away, he may only be interested in the few changes I made over the summer and nothing else,” Kai said.
Kate always telling it like it is added, “Sure Wonder Woman, only a few changes, who would notice, who would care…”