Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 22:20:27 -0500 From: Sidney Gittler Subject: Mall Punk 15 Mall Punk Part 15: Jon's Story Library and School Before I start telling the story I have a quick word to all of you who have been following Stya and my adventures since the beginning. You see my dad's been telling the story up to know, and doing a great job at it. But this part's about Joe and me at school and instead of me telling him and him telling you we decided that I'd just tell you myself. Not that Joe and Stya aren't going to help, after all they both have a lot more schooling than I do. Well, wish me luck. Jonathan Sorrel Stya and I held each other tight our first night back from the cabin. No sex, very few words, just two people who love and care for each other thinking about what could have been and rejoicing in what we have together. The truth is the two of us are having sex less and less as we move closer to what I guess a true father and son relationship is supposed to be. Besides, I have Joe and he has Eric so it's not like those needs aren't being taken care of. Monday morning I'm sound asleep and this monster walked in and started shaking me. I tried burrowing into my sheets but the demon kept after me. "Go away," I grumbled waving my arm in the general direction of the door. "Come on, time to get up and go to work." "Why?" "You have a library to complete." I sat upright in bed, "Oh shit, I forgot all about it. I've got to shower, what should I wear?" Without waiting for an answer I ran into the bathroom. When I finished my shower I walked back into my room and saw dad had put some clothes out for me. Dark slacks and a white dress shirt, ugh. I walked into my closet and tuned on the light. The first thing I spotted was the leather jacket I'd been wearing the night we met. The ripped jeans and everything else had long since been tossed out but I kept the jacket, even though I never wore it. I stroked the leather and remembered that chilly March night that had changed my life, a whole lot of lives I guess, forever. Not seeing any shirts I liked better I dressed and went into Stya's room. "I feel like a dork in this outfit, Stya." "Get used to it, that's what you have to wear to school every day." "Every day? You said they didn't have uniforms." "No uniforms but they do have a dress code and that's it." "Next you'll be telling me I have to wear underpants too." "No, a jock for gym though." I groaned, "Do I have to." "Yes, my gym teacher made us run laps all period if he caught us without one. So you'll wear it, besides you don't need hassles over something stupid like that." "Yes, daddy, now can we have some breakfast." "Yes, son, you can go make our breakfast. I'll be down in a minute." I pursed my lips and blew, making that disgusting sound boys love so much. Stya and I walked into his office at ten to nine and dad groaned. Two weeks worth of mail, memos and phone messages formed several mounds on his desk. There was a knock on the door and we turned to see Harry Lowell, his partner. "Hi, welcome back. The two of you in the conference room in ten minutes with Gary Black and me. See you then. Oh, and your dad told me about your adventures. I'm proud of you." With that he was gone. Fifteen minutes later we were sitting around the table. Mr. Lowell introduced Gary to me and explained that Gary had been in charge of reviewing my plans. "I have to tell you I was impressed with your work before Mr. Lowell told me how old you were. Before we start reviewing the design I have one question." "Yes," Jon said. "Where did you get your cost figures from." "I just used what was in the computer's database. My goal was to give them what they wanted and at a quarter million under budget." "And how old are you again?" Gary asked. "Fourteen, fifteen in November. My family's owns a growing business and I remember my father bitching that the stupid architects always used every penny in the budget and the builders always used more than that." "Well, I can't say you made a mistake but there's a problem with the numbers you used." "What? I checked and the numbers weren't that old." "Wrong way, you used New Jersey labor rates and not Colorado which are significantly lower. Same with some of the materials. You didn't come in a quarter million under; you came in a full million under budget." "Shit," I turned red, "sorry. Then I can redo the theater the way I wanted to." "Why? It's a perfectly good lecture hall now." Gary said. "Using the New Jersey numbers it would cost between five and seven hundred thousand to put in a projection room and make the stage and backstage areas suitable for live performances. Give them what they need and not just what they want." "Gary, Jon, you two get to work. We expect a progress report by tomorrow afternoon," Stya said. "Jon, listen to Gary." "Yes, dad." "OK, Stya. Let's take all this back to my office, Jon," Gary said. I'd never worked as hard as I did those three days. Don't get me wrong, being a boy whore wasn't easy but let's face it there isn't much mental or even physical work in giving blow jobs to guys who can't believe this young boy is doing it to them. Some customers just wanted to see me naked as they jerked off. After I stopped wearing the T-shirt there was one guy who after staring at my smooth hairless chest in the middle of the mall would drop a five dollar bill by my feet as he walked by. Never said a word or indicated he wanted something more. But hell, back then five dollars was supper and something for late at night. Hold it, I've got to catch my breath. Look, I know a lot of you would love to hear about some of my experiences but not right now. Right now its Wednesday evening and Gary just dropped me off after celebrating our successful final presentation. It's a firm tradition that when associates complete a project the company pays for a fancy dinner. And all we did was eat and talk. Gary's as straight as I'm gay -- a newlywed to boot. Joe and Stya are waiting for me as I walk through the door, sly smiles on their faces and their hands being their backs. "OK, what you got back there?" "You mean besides a very cute ass?" Joe asked. "It'll be a very red ass if you don't cut it out." "Promises, promises." "Later for that boys," Stya interrupted before my cock got too hard. "In honor of your achievement Joe and I decided to get you the most modern drafting equipment available." With that they gave me a box of number two pencils, a T-square, protractor and a drawing board. After a half hour Joe and I went up to my room. It was his turn to go up first and my cock sprang to life watching that very cute ass. While I was still dressed up he was wearing a mesh jersey and a pair of tight running shorts. As soon as I'd locked the door behind me I slipped my hands underneath the jersey and pulled him to me. Our lips locked, our tongues danced and I felt Joe's hands caressing my ass. My hands slipped past his waistband and I felt the warmth of his cheeks. When a finger found his crack he broke the kiss. "Horny aren't you?" "The way you're dressed my love, what do you expect?" "Say those two words again." "My love." He took his shirt off. "Again." "My love." He dropped his shorts and stood naked before me. "For my love," Joe said. Joe started unbuttoning my shirt while I got rid of my shoes and socks. "Oh shit," I moaned as his lips first kissed and then started chewing on my left nipple. I finished stripping and Joe led me to the bed. "Lay down tired working man." "Yeah, take care of me and I'll take care of my honey." "And who might that be?" "The sexy boy who goes with this," I replied as I grabbed his cock. Grinning, he slowly removed my hand and started kissing his way down my chest. With each peck my cock got bigger. I ran my fingers through silky hair that had been trimmed back to a long surfer cut. "I love you so much," I moaned as he swallowed my nuts, "oh yeah, oh yeah, oh shit, stop, shit stop before I shoot." He pulled off and looked me in the eye, "Love, you've got enough cum in you to shoot five times tonight, and I intend to get every drop of it." As he licked my cock-head I lay down and realized it was true. With Ton Ton hanging around us constantly at the cabin the two of us hadn't had much time for sex, and to be honest I hadn't really been in the mood. With my working the last three days I'd jerked off maybe once a day. The sensation of my cock being enveloped by a moist, warm mouth brought me back to the present and I concentrated on holding back as long as I could. Make Joe work for that huge first load. But I guess I taught him too well because when he had all of me inside him he ran his tongue along the bottom of my throbbing rod and I filled his throat with a gallon of cum. My back arched and I came close to throwing him off the bed as I screamed with release. When I finally finished shooting down his throat I collapsed back on the bed and sighed. Joe kept slurping for a few more minutes while I almost fell asleep. A rap on the door woke me. "You guys all right in there?" Stya asked. "Fine dad, sorry just got a little carried away." "OK, just take it easy. I'm too old to be running up here every time you shoot." Joe and I started laughing and he didn't stop till I brought his cum coated mouth to mine. When I'd taken a fair share of my cum into my mouth I lay Joe down on his stomach and spread his cheeks. There was one of my favorite sights in the whole world. His butt hole. I stuck one finger all the way up, it slid in easily, unlike the first time I'd fucked this gorgeous ass. It's still a lot tighter than mine, thank God. Not that mine's one of those you can stick a fist in with no sweat, just well broken in from years of use and abuse. I put three fingers into my mouth and coated them with the combination of cum and saliva that I'd created. I slowly inserted them into his hole while I swallowed what was left in my mouth. "Oh yeah, fucking yeah," Joe moaned as my fingers penetrated his ring and stroked his insides. "That feels so good, I've missed you so much." "Me or my cock?" "Don't ask questions just fuck me love. Fuck me now and fuck me hard." I pulled my fingers out, cleaning them on his cock as I flipped him over and put his legs on my shoulders. I put my hard cock on his rosebud and shoved in with one stroke until my pubes hit his ass. I leaned down and kissed him. "Fuck me man, do it." I straightened up and started slowly humping my cock in and out of his ass. Every couple of strokes I slapped his cheeks lightly. They slowly turned pink as I sped up my fucking and spanking. Precum oozed out of Joe's cock and I spread it over his rod and started stroking while I fucked. "Shit, I don't know how much more I can take," Joe said. "Oh yeah, fucking yes." I stopped fucking while I stroked his cock; the movement of his ass muscles as he came closer to orgasm kept me right at the edge. He clenched his muscles around my cock, moaned and shot his load all over my hand and chest. As he shot I stroked three times and filled his butt with my boy cum. My second load was almost as big as my first, and his was massive as well. When we were finally finished shooting I turned him over on his side and cuddled behind him without removing my gradually subsiding penis from his love canal. "That was great love," I whispered in his ear. "Better than great love," he replied, "but I'm beat." "Me too, let's rest a bit." "Yeah, just don't go anywhere," he said while clamping my cock in his ass. It was pitch black outside when old reliable woke me up. That's right, just as it has since the first night I spent in this house, my home, I woke up having to piss my guts out. Fortunately Joe and I had separated sometime during the night so I was able to crawl out of bed without waking him. Five minutes later I closed the light and opened the door and headed back into my room. "I thought I told you not to go anyplace," a tired voice said. "You wanted me to piss in your ass? Go back to sleep." "Get me something to drink love." "Sure, what?" "Cum. You stopped at two, you owe me three." I glanced at the clock, midnight, why the hell not. I crawled over him and took his nipples in my teeth. Joe's rod started pushing into mine and both kept growing as I nibbled on his chest. Joe grabbed my head and guided my mouth to his cock. I didn't bother reminding him that I was the one who was supposed to shoot and swallowed. "Oh yeah, oh fucking yes," he moaned. I brought my head up, "keep it down, Stya's sleeping." Wordlessly he pushed my head back down and I started bobbing my head up and down. Taking a little more into my mouth each time until I met his crotch. I kept my head still and caressed his throbbing prick with my tongue, carefully tickling every nerve ending until I was rewarded by a warm flow of boy juice. I swallowed every delicious drop. Joe lifted my mouth off his wilting rod and flipped over leaving my face inches from his delectable butt. I lowered my head and rimmed his ass, working my tongue further and further into hole until I was breathing his cheeks. When I had lubricated his hole to my satisfaction I spit in my hands and coated my cock. "Here comes number three lover," I whispered as my cockhead penetrated his outer ring. "Fuck me man, ram it home." And I did. After I caught my breath I started fucking his tight ass with a fast steady rhythm. Joe buried his face in the pillow to muffle his moaning, but I could still hear him and I picked up the pace. Suddenly I heard a thud and realized I'd driven his head into the bed's headboard. I dragged him backwards and started pounding his ass again. Now the moans were a combination of pain and ecstasy. The first time I came close I slowed down, midnight or not I wanted to make this last. I leaned over his back and nibbled on his shoulders and neck. "Oh yeah, oh fucking yeah, mark me as yours." I bit a little harder where his neck met his shoulder and started fucking again with slow, long strokes. As I bit into the other side I picked up the pace and when I felt his skin give I erupted into his ass with volley after valley of boy cum. When I finally stopped shooting I realized I'd really bitten into his skin and blood was running from the marks. "Oh shit, I'm sorry love. I didn't mean to hurt you like that. It's not bad, the bloods stopped running." Joe turned his head. "Do you hear me complaining? I can't take what you did but that doesn't mean I can't take what you do during sex." I pulled out and turned away. Not just from seeing my teeth marks on both sides of his neck but the reference to my past. Especially the torture sessions my brothers indulged in. I started shaking and flinched when Joe wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry Jon." I turned into him, leaned on his shoulder and cried. I must have cried myself to sleep because the next thing I remember is waking with the sun streaming onto my face, my head resting on Joe's chest. I lifted my head and stared into his bloodshot eyes. "You alright love?" He asked tentatively. I nodded, waited a second and nodded again with more authority. "You?" "Now," he paused and I could see he was trying not to cry. "I was so scared. I didn't know what I'd done to you. I'm sorry Jon, you know." I reached up and shut him up with a kiss and a smile. "It's not your fault, it is not your fault, it is not my fault. It's just sometimes something strikes home and it all comes to the surface. But never ask me to mark you again." "I promise." We kissed gently and Joe fell asleep in my arms and I followed him a little bit later. We woke at ten and shuffled down to the kitchen to find a note from Stya: Hi guys: About time you woke up. I'll be home at noon to take both of you to the new students' orientation at Longston Academy and the two of you have been invited to a party given by the freshman class president. I accepted for you. Be ready and dress up. Joe, your father dropped off your clothes. They're in the living room. Stya "Oh shit," we said together and started laughing. "I hope they don't expect us to hit on the girls," Joe said. "Wouldn't know how to. Never really talked to one. Dad how could you do this to me?" "Just keep your hands off me and we'll be fine. It's just a get to know you party, if you're shy everybody will understand. I wouldn't be surprised if that English teacher set this up to make Monday easier." "Don't remind me about Monday. I mean fourteen is a little old for your first day of school. I've never had anything like this in my life." "This will be any harder than all the other first times since your last birthday?" I thought about this while I got milk, eggs, butter and cheese out of the refrigerator for breakfast. It had been a wild nine, ten months. Hell, I was lucky to be alive much less where I was. We pulled into Longston Academy's main parking lot and slowly got out of the car. Joe's parents were waiting for us at the front door, which somehow looked about twice as big as it had the first time I'd walked through them. I wondered how big it would be on Monday. When the five of us entered the auditorium they had designated seating areas for each grade starting with six and going up twelve. I was glad that there were quite a few other boys and girls in our section. I felt a slight push on my arm and realized that I'd stopped in the aisle and was holding up traffic. I hurried in and sat between Joe and Stya. A long black mop of hair slowly turned in the seat in front of us and I found myself looking at the most angelic looking boy I'd ever seen. "Hi Joe, how you been?" "Tony? They sent you here?" "Only one around that would take me after last year that wasn't at least five hundred miles away. Who's your friend?" "Tony this is Jonathan Sorrel, Jon this is Antonio Calluchio. In the papers it would have 'drugs are us' in parenthesis between his first and last name." "Hey I'm clean. Spent the summer in rehab and get to see my probation officer every week to piss in a glass." "Cool," I said, "fresh start for all of us I guess." "You new in town?" Someone knocking on the mike rescued me. We turned and saw Dr. Gilead standing at the podium with two rows of teachers and students sitting behind him. At the opposite end of the front row I spotted Mr. Halsey and relaxed a little. "I want to welcome our incoming middle and high school students to Longston Academy. You arrive here from a variety of backgrounds and for as many different reasons. When you walk through the doors on Monday you walk in with a clean slate, which should be a relief to some of you." Nervous giggles came from all around the room. "Our founders designed Longston Academy to be an enjoyable but demanding educational experience. An experience we hope you will look back on with pleasure long after you graduate. Now before we continue I am going to introduce our staff, and remember their names because there will be a quiz when you get to your home rooms." A chuckle swept the auditorium but I tried to keep track of the names and prayed that I would at least remember my home room teacher's name. The teachers were followed by the student council and class presidents. Barton Finch was introduced as the ninth grade class president and I hoped he wasn't as frigid as he looked up there. If he was my first school party was going to be horrid. The first stop for the new high school students was the cafeteria where we received our home room assignments and schedules. "Jonathan Sorrel?" said a voice from behind. I turned and found myself face to face with Barton Finch. He was smiling which made him look a hell of a lot nicer. I shook his offered hand. "President Finch, an honor." He laughed, it was a soft laugh, the kind of laugh that makes you wonder. "Barton please or I'll have to call you Mr. Sorrel for the next four years. I'm glad you and Joe are coming to my house tonight." "Looking forward to it. It'll be nice to know some people before school starts." Barton looked around and lowered his voice. "Is it true you've never been to school before?" I nodded, "Home schooled up to now, but that's for another time." "I understand," he whispered, then added in his normal voice, "nice meeting you, here's the directions to my house. See you then." He handed me a piece of paper, winked and turned away. At that moment an announcement came over the speakers instructing us to head to our home rooms. Joe and I headed to our home room. My love lead as the crowded maze of hallways had me confused and nervous. The realization that there would be a lot more people on Monday brought me to a standstill. Joe walked another yard or so before he realized I wasn't next to him and came back. "What's wrong Jon?" "There are so many people, it's so confusing," I blinked back tears. "I'm scared." "You'll be fine, we'll get through this together," Joe said. A hand on my shoulder made me jump. "You OK Jon?" I looked up and saw it was Mr. Halsey and shook my head. "There are so many people, I've never had to deal with this many people at one time. I, I, I don't know." "True, but you're a survivor kid and you'll survive this place. Next Friday you'll laugh when you remember this." "Promise?" I looked up at him. "You kidding? This is going to be a bitch for you, but between Joe, Stya and me you will make the adjustments needed. Now come on, we have to get to our home room." I nodded and walked between Mr. Halsey and Joe and sat at a desk with my name on it. Joe's was on my right. There were eight of us all together with a total of eighteen desks in the room arranged in two semicircles facing the desk. Joe and I were in the center of the rear circle. My favorite teacher had each of us say our name and where we had gone to school. Everybody stared when I said I had been home-schooled up to now. "That must have been cool being able to work at your own pace and when you wanted to," one of the girls said. How was I ever going to remember all these names? "Yeah, but its kind of lonely, especially out where I lived, and my step- mother was a very strict disciplinarian. I'm glad to be here instead." "I hope you feel that way in the Spring Jonathan, next," Dick Halsey said. I let out a sigh of relief and joined in the laughter. When that part was finished Dick spent the next half-hour reviewing school rules and policies. Stressing which were important, which were strictly enforced and which were enforced when it was appropriate. The last thing he did was hand us each a set of maps which would lead us through the rest of orientation and our regular school days. Then he gave us ten minutes to relax. Joe and I compared our schedules. We had eight classes plus lunch. I had history, math, Spanish, study, lunch, English, gym, biology and finished with architecture. Joe started with history too and then went to English, Spanish, biology, lunch, study, gym, math, and finished the day with me in architecture. All together we had four classes plus lunch together. The bell startled me but then I remembered the drill that Joe had told me the other day: Pray for the bell unless you need time to finish a test. Joe and I found our first class without any problems, it was only two doors away. For me the big test was finding my own way to my math classroom since it was in the opposite direction from Joe's English class. As I wondered around I heard my name called and saw one of the girls from my home room. "Sheila?" she nodded, "where you heading?" "Advanced freshman math," she checked the schedule, "room 234." "Me too, do you have a clue?" "Let's see we're at 217," we checked the map, "if we go to the next hall and go right it should be two doors down," she pointed to the right. "Let's go," I said. I knew I should say something but didn't know what was right. I figured she'd just charge it to nerves and shyness but I knew there was ignorance on top of that. We walked in right at the bell and found we were seated next to each other. Up to then I'd just been nervous about being in school. Listening to Ms. Euclid I started worrying if I could do the work. I know what the test said and maybe it was right but I had no idea what all the terms she was tossing around meant. She must have noticed my panic because she called me up to her desk when she finished her presentation. "Is there something wrong Jonathan?" "Just a little overwhelmed I guess." "I reviewed your math test and you'll be fine." "Thanks Ms. Euclid, it's just that I didn't recognize any of those terms you used. When the problems came up on the screen I figured them out but, y'know." "Mr. Halsey briefed all your teachers about your situation Jon. We are here to help you, not make your life miserable. If you need extra help just ask. Understand?" She handed me a book. "Here's your copy of our textbook. Take it home and review the glossary over the weekend. That'll help a little." I let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "Yes ma'am, thanks." I beat Joe to our Spanish class. OK, it was just around the corner from my math class but it made me feel better. He walked into the room with Tony, who had been in his English class the period before. They walked over to me and started telling me about their English teacher. It turned out the three of us had lunch and gym together as well. I walked out able to say buenos dias. For study hall I had a first year teacher who took reading the rules seriously while most of my fellow students tried not to laugh. It was in a large classroom and was made up of ninth and tenth graders. As I had in all my classes I looked to see if I knew anybody from before. For the first time there was a possibility but he was sitting in front of me and I don't think he saw me. Lunch would have been just as stupid except Joe and Tony were waiting with our snacks when I got there. Dr. Gilead had been right; the food wasn't quite as good and the service just didn't compare to my first visit. After the announcements Tony had us rolling on the floor with his stories. After lunch it was back to my home room and English with Mr. Halsey. Being an advanced class he was more serious than during home room. Not too worried about spelling, especially on in-class assignments, but there would be a lot of reading and writing. Not only did he give us one of our textbooks but told us to read the first story and be ready to discuss it on Monday. I gulped and shook my head with the rest of the kids when he asked if that would be a problem. One of the other boys asked what about the other kids in the class and Dick said he had already mailed them their assignments. Going to the gym and boy's locker room was a little scary though I was sure nothing would happen today. Besides, since I'd stopped shaving my body I had reacquired a reasonable amount of body hair for an almost fifteen-year-old. Joe, Tony and I picked out lockers together and put our two sets of gym uniforms in them. Coach Hope, and he promised five hundred laps of the football field to the first one who called him Coach Hopeless, made us practice unlocking our locks. He promised twenty laps to the first one who asked him for their combo. All of us went scurrying for pens and scraps of papers to write down our combinations. Oh, and Stya was right, you ran laps all period if he caught you without your jock on, no excuses. My biology teacher was in his mid-twenties; long sun bleached hair, thick glasses and a smile that dazzled. I think I'm going to enjoy this class. If I can keep my mind on his lectures. Finally I got to what might be my trickiest class, Introduction to Architecture-Computer Assisted Drawing. Stya and I agreed that I had to keep pace with the class or just slightly ahead and not design any multi-million dollar libraries the first week of class. Joe made me promise that he'd get at least a B in the class. At last orientation was over and with a huge feeling of relief Joe and I headed back to the auditorium. After a few last words of encouragement from Dr. Gilead we were done and I walked out of school. Feels nice writing that. Let's be honest, there were plenty of times in the first fourteen years of my life when I figured I'd never leave the house alive. One day my asshole brothers or one of their buddies would go too far and I'd be dead. Even at the best of times I figured I didn't have any kind of future. Not that there were many best of times or that the idea of a future besides a coffin ever really occurred to me. Even after I finally escaped all I thought about was surviving until I could get some kind of job. To be going to a real school, never entered my mind. I went home with Stya and Joe went with his parents. Stya's got a date with Eric tonight so the Werners are doing the driving to and from the party and I was going to sleep over at his house for a change. Give Stya and Eric some privacy so they can "talk." When we got home I told my foster dad what had happened and I almost lost it again. Dad held me, comforted me and told me how proud he was of me. "You know son, there are a lot of things hidden in your mind and you can never tell what is going to spring a memory, an emotion. I don't know if you can really prepare against letting it affect you but you have to deal with it when they attack." "Explain." "OK, this morning it's really clear what set it off and just avoiding anything resembling s&m with Joe should avoid it. But there may be something you read for school in history or English for example that hits too close for home and you have to adjust quickly." "Like if we discuss the religious wrong in history I can't take their anti-gay shit personally but just discuss it rationally." "Right, or if something happens like at the Y." I nodded, "but with Joe and Tony there with me I should be physically safe." "But that's the kind of thing I'm talking about. There will be a time you will either come out of the closet or be forced out and you have to be prepared for the reaction. It could also just be reading about abused kids or." I held up my hand. "I get the picture dad, but right now I'm more worried about getting through this party. I walked to math class with one girl and didn't know how to talk or act with her. What do I do when one comes up to me? I can't roll into a ball you know. I'm not even sure how to talk with boys like Barton Finch who are used to this kind of thing." "First rule is to continue breathing." "Dad," I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, sometimes you forget when you're nervous. More importantly, let them take the lead. Answer their questions and get them talking about themselves or how they find school. They'll love telling you secrets about the place. Finally, no drinking, drugs, kissing, sucking or fucking. If the first two start call Joe's parents to come get you right away. "Don't worry, I don't want to end up like Peter." We looked at each other and started laughing. Through tears Stya whispered, "at least one of your God forsaken brothers set you a proper example." I collapsed into his arms and we watched TV together until supper. I showered again after supper, wasn't sure how much sweating I'd done at school. I put on a beige pair of pants and a purple shirt; a little different from the black and white I'd worn to school. I also left the top two shirt buttons undone and my socks off. I was looking at a good-looking kid in the mirror when the doorbell rang. Almost did recognize myself. Barton lived in a gated community called Camelot Gardens and all the streets were named after knights or other inhabitants of the Arthurian tales. Barton lived on Merlin Way which was shaped like an upside down wizard's hat, a narrow opening and spreading wider as you went further in. His house was at the base of the hat. I know it's a little weird coming from as rich a family as I do but I was really impressed by the street and especially the sprawling brick house I was heading to. I was relieved when Barton opened the door himself, I'd half expected a butler, and after we shook hands he lead us downstairs into a large room filled with twenty to thirty boys and girls. I recognized some from orientation and figured the rest were returnees. There was music in the background, a table with snacks and soda against the far wall and some couches. Joe and I walked around as Barton left us to answer the doorbell. Around a corner we found a pool table, two video arcade games and Tony talking to another boy. We walked over and Joe shook his head. "Talk about odd couples, never thought I'd see the two of you together." "Good to see you too Joey," Tony said, "I guess it's up to me to make the introductions. Jonathan Sorrel this is Andrew Clayton McGuyver the third, Andy, Jon. The new boy shook his head as he extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, but please keep it Andrew, this poor wretch is the only one who gets away with Andy, and only because I've known him since pre-school. Do you prefer Jon or Jonathan." "Unless it makes you uncomfortable I prefer Jon." "Andrew made the move over last year, before that he was always at the head of our class as opposed to Tony who was the class head," Joe said. Tony must have seen the confused look on my face. "What your friend is trying to say is that Andrew always had the best grades while I was the class drug head for the last couple of years. So what was it like being home-schooled?" "Very lonely, mostly they just handed me some educational software and told me to learn it. My father and step-mother were not very supportive." I stopped and shrugged, not knowing where to go, or how. Joe put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed, "Let's say that if we put everybody's in this room real and imagined hurts from their family together we wouldn't come close to Jon's reality and leave it at that. Including yours Tony." "I'm sorry if I hit the wrong button Jon, I'll keep my mouth shut," Tony said. "No problem, you couldn't know, maybe another time and place. So Andrew what are the three of us getting ourselves into?" I have to give Andrew credit; he started talking about school without missing a beat. Whether he meant to or not he actually eased some of my concerns. Yeah it was going to be a shit load of work but Ms. Euclid was serious when she offered all the extra help I needed. Tony was another story. While he seemed to be paying attention his eyes never left me and I knew he was wondering how hard my life had been to be that much worse than his own. I found myself praying that Joe was right. Weird isn't it? As he wound down Andrew turned towards me and paused. I knew what was coming. "Jon, I know you don't want to." "Lamont's my cousin on my father's side, not really sure about how close but I've only seen him a couple of times. And relax, I have a feeling I'll be saying that about a million times in the next few weeks." "Say what?" We turned and saw our host approaching. "That I'm Lamont's distant cousin and not close in any way," I said and the others said two. Barton turned and pointed to a tall, slender girl with waist length brown hair. "That's Betty Collins, she's the ninth grade editor for the school's newspaper. Maybe we can get her to run a story about you." "Did I hear you using my name in vain Barton?" My stomach turned as Barton introduced everybody. I might really have to talk to a girl now. Betty looked at me. "Sorrel, are you related to Lamont Sorrel?" "Three," Joe, Andrew, Tony and Barton said in unison. "Sorry Betty. Andrew asked, and I said I expected to be asked that question a million times. Then when Barton asked it became two and you became three. The answer is he's a distant cousin and we're not close in any way. Actually Barton was suggesting that we get you to write a story to save me the hassle." "Something under the headline 'Lamont Who?' has possibilities." "Let me think about it," I said and forced a smile, "but come up with a different headline. Nobody growing up in this town can say that with a straight face." "But that's the idea. Look I'll write something up and let you see it before I submit it. Let me warn you though, this is the last time I'll give you that privilege. Screw up and you'll be first page news." I smiled back at her. "What's that saying, yes, as long as they spell your name right any publicity is good publicity. But I will try to stay out of your magnifying glass. So when did you start going to Longston?" "Betty was born at Longston," Barton said. Betty slapped him on the shoulder lightly. "Now don't go spreading stories Bart, you know mom made it to the hospital in time," she turned back to us," my mother is an elementary school teacher at Longston. Timed my birth so it fell late July and was back to work in September. Got Gilead to open the day care center to new borns. I've got more seniority than two-thirds of the faculty." "Then you must know where all the bodies are buried," Tony said. A slight nod was the only answer. "You three have been hiding back here with Andrew long enough, it's time for you to meet the others," Barton said, "Andrew you take Joseph, Betty you take Tony and I'll take Jon around. Any questions, no, good." With a little pressure on my back he had me moving around the room and meeting everybody else in a crowd that had grown to at least forty people. I was glad to see Sheila there as well as a few other faces I remembered from my various classes. When we had finally talked to everybody at least once we were at the bottom of the steps. "You want a tour of the house?" Barton asked. "Sure, the outside was really impressive as we drove up." "Thanks, my dad spent a lot of time designing the place." It was a half-hour later that Barton opened the door to his room on the top floor and waved me in. There was a king size bed, two desks, one with a computer on it, TV, stereo system. "This is really something, you've got everything here except a refrigerator." "Next to the bookcase. I picked everything out myself, completely redid it over the summer." I could feel his eyes on me as I wondered around the room. This is what I should have had, I thought. He spoke again when I was near his bed. "I've dreamed of having you up here since the first time I saw you Fido." I froze. "Saw you at the mall countless times and heard about you from some of my friends you stayed with, but I was never able to invite you. I just fantasized about the two of us together." "Barton, please." "Don't deny it, I could never forget your face." "I won't deny it, but Fido died after I moved in with my foster father. I'm sorry it didn't happen before, I could have really used somebody like you back then but things have changed. I'm sorry." "I know, I just wish that it could still happen." I walked over and kissed him gently on the lips. "I've got a boyfriend Barton and I love him, but there may be a time and place. Just promise me this goes no further." He kissed me back, "I promise, and you keep it our secret too, I'm not ready to really come out yet." We kissed one last time and went back down.