Moving on Up

[MobyRick]

Part One:

 

I hadn't planned on moving back to West Hadford, but I had been thinking about a move to the country since my company went remote a few months ago. When Mom had her surgery and needed someone to help while she was recovering, I figured I'd be a good son and give it a few months. I was absolutely not moving back in with my parents though which meant I needed to find a place of my own, and new high rise apartments were not exactly popping up in the small town of West Hadford. The few houses I had seen so far were not promising, and frankly I was already expecting disappointment from the "fixer-upper" my realtor was supposed to show me today when I got a phone call.

"Hey, sorry to bail last minute, but my car's broken down on the side of 74 and I'm stuck here until I can get a tow truck. Do you mind if I send the new girl over to show you the house instead?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I don't need a grand tour or anything, just enough of a look to see if there are any structural issues with the house. I won't be more than 30 minutes."

"Great, I'll tell her to meet you there. I think she's a local by the way, around your age. Maybe you'll recognize her?"

I wasn't thrilled by this news. The town was nice enough, but I hadn't kept up with many old high school classmates. Anyone I was interested in seeing again had probably moved away. At least, that's what I thought. I pulled up to the house a few minutes before the realtor, and when she pulled up first thing I noticed  were her long, tan legs slowly coming out of her red sedan. Those were eventually followed by a tight navy dress, curly blonde hair and blue eyes. Maybe there was one person in town I wouldn't mind seeing after all.

"Thomas, oh my gosh! My boss said it was a local, but I didn't know you were back in town."

Lexie Stafford: belle of my high school class and occasional subject of my fantasies since then. One fantasy in particular. We made some small talk about why I was looking for a house and how she had moved back to sell old farmhouses to rich couples who had watched too much HGTV, and she pulled out her keys to show me the inside of the house. I stepped into the front parlor and was pleasantly surprised. The house was old, but in decent shape. No mold, no water stains on the ceiling, no giant holes in the floor. It had clearly been empty for a while though.

"The old lady who lived here moved to a retirement home a few years ago. You're the first person to view it in a while so we haven't had the cleaners out recently. Sorry."

"Honestly, it's not that bad. Nothing that a good dusting can't fix!" I remarked as I swiped my hand across one of the counters trying to see what the stone underneath looked like. I blew some of the dust away as I noticed Lexie starting to react. She got a far off look in her eyes and began to draw in a deep breath.

"Hah...HAH-CHOO!" She turned away from me as the sneeze bent her double giving me a nice view of her figure. "Sorry it's...heh...the dust is getting to me." She placed her finger under long, slightly rounded nose as her eyelids fluttered and her breath continued to hitch until suddenly...she breathed a sigh of relief as she fought off the second sneeze like she always did. Well, almost always. Meanwhile, I was back in my high school memories remembering exactly why Lexie had never fully left my mind.

West Hadford High was a small school, and by the time my senior year rolled around, I knew essentially ever girl in the school's sneeze. There were a few quality sneezers to be sure, but no true gems. I was 18 and ready to head out into the world when Lexie moved to town. The first day of senior year biology, it was obvious that there was exactly one new face in the room, and she had every guy's attention. We were learning how to use the lab microscopes by looking at down feathers, and when Lexie went to open her pack she pulled the bag open too quickly and a cloud of small feathers drifted up towards her face.

"hi-hi-hi...HiSheww!!" I couldn't believe it! Girly but with enough force behind it to bend her full body over. High-pitched but not exaggerated. I had only every heard a sneeze like that in my private internet exploration. And I could tell she wasn't done. She started building up to what I was sure would be another big one and then pinched her nose, squeezed her eyes shut and...nothing. 

I was too stunned to say anything, but my friend Nicole went to talk to her. "I did the exact same thing last year! Except I must have sneezed about five times in a row from it."

I kicked myself for not having biology at the same time as Nicole last year. Her half-stifles were some of my favorites and I had never seen her do more than a triple.

"Yeah, I was barely able to get a hold of my nose there!" Responded Lexie. Unfortunately, it seemed like she did get her nose under control as there were no more sneezes that day. The next week in class I was admiring Lexie's profile during a particularly boring lecture on the Russian Revolution when it happened again. This one appeared to hit her suddenly.

"HAH-CHOOO!!" It was loud enough to disrupt the lecture for a few moments during which our teacher waited for the obvious next sneeze that Lexie was getting ready for. She took in a few small breaths followed by a big inhale, "heh-heh-heh-HAA...." then squeezed her eyes shut. "Sorry, I'm good now. Just one."

This pattern continued occasionally throughout the year, a single enormous sneeze, a dramatic buildup, and then nothing. One day in the spring after letting out a trademark "Lexie sneeze" as they were now affectionately known, Lexie started in on her usually buildup, and just kept building. And building. 

"Jesus Lexie, just let it out!" Chided Nicole some time into the second minute of build-up."

"I...heh...don't wanna! If I don't...stop after one...hah-hah-...I'll just keep going and going."

As the mighty struggle continued, the tickle started to subside. I found my courage and chimed in, "What do you mean you keep going?"

Lexie said through a few lingering sniffles, "After the second one it's like the floodgates are open. If it's not just one there'll be at least five more after! Once I got up to twelve!"

Nicole was curious too, presumably for different reasons than me. "I've literally never heard you sneeze more than once. Do you just always hold them back?"

"Almost always. At my old school, I started sneezing while I was giving a presentation and I couldn't stop! I think I got up to seven, and everyone was just staring at me while I sneezed my nose off!"

I was torn between disappointment that I wasn't there to see it and arousal at just the thought of the possibility.

"I got really got at holding back after that. The first one usually sneaks up on my, but after that if I focus really hard I can stop the tingling. I actually don't think I've had a sneeze attack at school since I moved here!"

I could confirm that she hadn't. But now that I knew what was possible, I had one last item to check off of my senior year bucket list.

[Mysteriousmr]

Nice story! The way she always barely stops the second sneeze is adorable. Can't wait to see what will cause her full blown sneeze fit

[Kidder]

Great start! Looking forward to the next chapter. 

[Hankyrick]

Nice start to the story. Can't wait for the next part

[Jack]

Ok. Completely hyped now to see Lexi s full lung/nose power 😁

I'll be tuned for more. 

[anna]

Oooooh excited to see where this goes

[BigECheese]

I wann see mooooooore. This is good.

[Engmanny]

What a great start this story has perfect start for more.. Looking firward to uodate 

[Engmanny]

Cant wait for part 2

[Lunaconner]

ooh that’s such a good start pls continue!!!

[Botek]

Such a nice story!