When I looked down, I noticed that her uniform skirt had ridden up when she pulled her legs under herself, and I could see from the reflected light coming in over my shoulder that Ashley was wearing red panties under her skirt. Either she didn't notice me looking, or didn't care, I don't know, but I was a seventeen-year-old boy, so it was difficult to stop looking down there. I was feeling very excited to be alone with Ashley like this, even if all we were doing was watching a stupid movie on TV, but something made me decide to tell her about her skirt.

"You should fix your dress," I said, smiling.

She looked down, and said, "Oh", and pulled her skirt down. "Most guys would have just had a good look, and not said anything." She made eye contact and said, "So, you're a gentleman, too?"

"I guess I'm not like most guys," I said. I didn't elaborate, but it was true, most of the guys I knew were nowhere near as awkward as me with girls.

We sat for a few minutes, watching the movie, and laughing at the funny bits, and I noticed that Ashley was still sitting in that same position turned to face me and having to look to the right to see the TV. I half-wondered if I should try something, but I kept on thinking that it was just the bourbon, she wasn't really showing interest in me, and it was just wishful thinking on my part.

Then, Ashley said, "Rick! Look at the moon!" She was looking over at the windows on the far side of the room, and I could see the full moon rising over the hills in the distance. It certainly looked huge, and bright.

"That's amazing. I've never seen it like that," Ashley said, standing up, "Come outside with me and have a look."

She started to walk toward the french doors, and said, "Can you get out this way?"

"Yeah," I said, as I got up and walked over, going ahead of Ashley to open the door. We both walked out, and Ashley said, "Don't turn on the light. You can see it better."

You had to walk over towards the granny flat to see the moon properly, and we started to walk over there, but in the moonlight, you could see the uneven floorboards. "Is it safe?" Ashley asked.

"It's okay if you watch your step," I said, and Ashley put her left hand on my left shoulder, standing close on my right, and said, "Well, you better watch my step for me."

I was acutely conscious of Ashley being so close, and holding my shoulder like that, so close that I could even smell her hair shampoo, and the excitement just rose in me, as I took a few steps towards the edge of the veranda. I felt a floorboard move as I took a step, and Ashley said, "Oh! That one moved," and she put her right hand across my stomach, clinging a little closer. I could now feel her warm breath on my neck.

I now had the sexiest girl I knew holding me, in the dark, and I was so excited, I felt like I was about to burst, even though I knew it was only because the veranda floorboards were so rickety, and we walked like that, taking small, careful steps, to the edge of the veranda, to look at the big, yellow moon over the hills. "It's huge," Ashley said, enthusiastically, "You hardly ever see it like that at our place in town." She took her hands off me, and held the veranda railing, but she was still standing just as close.

"That's one advantage of living out here," I said, turning to look at her in the soft light, "You get to see the moon." I smiled.

"This's an amazing house," Ashley said, looking around, "What's in there? Is that the flat?" she said, looking across at the door to the granny flat.

"There's nothing much in there. Just junk and some of Dad's old files from work," I said.

"Can I have a look?" she asked.

"If you want to," I answered, "but it's nothing special."

I led her across the rickety floorboards and opened the door. She was still walking close to me, with her left arm linked in my right arm, and being careful where she stepped. We could afford to be pretty casual about locking things up, out where we lived, so the door was unlocked, and we stepped inside. The air was a little stuffy, but not too bad, and the floor was solid.