Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2016 18:36:52 -0400
From: 48deekross@gmail.com
Subject: Buck

      Disclaimer: This story involves a relationship between two males
under the age of 18. By the end of the story, both will have reached 18
years of age. If you are offended or prefer not to read material in which
persons are not yet 18, please read no further. I intend to harm/offend no
one. If you like the story or wish to contact the author, please email
48deekross@gmail.com. I'll take any constructive criticism. Thanks for
reading!

      It was the first day of tenth grade. I had my schedule, and I knew
where all of my classes were. It's hard not to when your school is the size
of a pinky finger. But that was Branston County High School. There wasn't
much to it, especially not when it came to the student population.
      Not that I didn't like where I went to school. Or the people I went
to school with. I had just always wanted to move on to bigger and better
places.
      First period was math. My best friend, Chett, was in that class with
me. Hell, most of my close friends were in that class. It was hard to be in
a class that didn't have most of them in it. Second period was world
history. Third was physical science. Chett was in physical science with me
too. It was nice being in the same classes. It meant that I got to fuck
around with my best friend. Fourth period was literature, and Chett was in
there, too. I was pretty stoked about how my year was shaping up.
      Fifth period was where things got a little mixed up.
      I had decided to take Mr. Johnson's web design class. I had taken him
for computer applications in ninth grade and had really liked him as a
teacher. He was a chill guy, and he didn't say a whole lot as long as you
weren't burning the building down or watching porn in class.
      I sat down at a computer against the far wall; I didn't like being
right next to the door.  I logged in and began screwing around on the
Internet, waiting for class to start. When Mr. Johnson finally called us
together, I turned around in my chair to notice that there were only about
9 people in the class. Even in a small school, that was a tiny class.
      "Well, this class barely made this year, but I knew some of you were
pretty excited about it, so I made sure to push for it." He started going
over the syllabus, just like every other teacher. I got bored and decided
to look around the class again. Most of the kids were older than I was. I
only saw one other kid my age.
      Buck Turner. He sat at a computer facing the back wall opposite of
Mr. Johnson's desk. He was wearing a camouflage ball cap and a pair of
sunglasses rested on the back of his neck.
      Buck and I had been pretty big buddies when we were in elementary
school. Every year we had been in the same class, and when you're that age,
proximity is the biggest factor in who you'll be friends with. When middle
school rolled around, we weren't in the same classes, so it had been years
since we'd hung out.
      I wasn't sure we would really get along anymore, though. He had
really grown into the redneck persona, while I had quietly transitioned
into a run-of-the-mill kind of guy. He liked to hunt and fish, always had a
Copenhagen ring in his back pocket, and spoke with a certain twang that was
unmistakable. A lot like his dad, best I remembered.
      I turned back to my computer and began dicking around on the Internet
again. Mr. Johnson was done talking, but we still had a while before the
lunch bell would ring. I didn't wanna keep staring at Buck either. I found
a game on some website and quickly became engrossed in it. All I had to do
was stay alive. Simple.
      "Hey Lee." I jumped so hard that my legs slammed into the bottom of
the table. Buck had walked over and spoken to me, but I had been so tied up
in trying to keep myself alive in the game that I hadn't noticed. I looked
like a complete idiot.
      "Oh, hey Buck." I did my best to just play it off like I hadn't just
bashed my knees in. I'm sure it didn't work.
      "Been a while man, how've you been?" He flashed a lopsided grin as he
took the seat next to me.
      "Pretty well, I guess. I'm still alive," I laughed. "What about you?"
      We went on shooting the shit like that for the next 5 or 10 minutes,
just catching up on each other's lives. When the bell rang, he waved
goodbye and moved to grab his bag from where he'd originally been
sitting. I grabbed my things, too, and headed towards the lunchroom.
      I knew Chett didn't have the same lunch as I did, so, after grabbing
my food, I looked around the cafeteria for someone to sit with. In a high
school with so few students, it should've been a piece of cake to find
someone I was friends with.
      No one stuck out, though, and I began to get a little worried that I
would spend the year sitting by myself.
      "Lee!" I turned even before I had placed the voice to its owner. Buck
was walking toward me, dodging kids left and right. "Hey man, who are you
sitting with?"
      "As of right now, nobody. I'm still looking."
      "Mind if I sit with you, when you find a place? It looks like this
lunch is mostly freshman, and I don't know any of them yet."
      "Yeah, fine with me."
      We lapped the lunchroom once more, but, finding nothing, ended up
taking an empty table near the outside edge. In between stuffing our faces,
we quickly fell into a groove of easy conversation. It was weird, us
getting along so easily. Buck was a total redneck, and I was the farthest
thing from it. But, I decided not to question it. I needed someone to sit
with at lunch, and he was a qualified candidate.
      "What classes do you have for sixth and seventh?" He asked as we
finished up our food.
      "I have Spanish for sixth and then AG for seventh."
      "You? In AG?" He started to laugh.
      "Yeah, yeah, I know, laugh all you want. It'll be an easy A, though."
      "You aren't lying. Finn is probably the easiest teacher in the
school. And you'll have a total AG genius to cheat off of in there." He
flashed that lopsided smile again.
      "Who?"
      "Me!" It was my turn to laugh.
      "You may know a thing or two about AG, but I would be hard-pressed to
call you a genius." He reached over to punch me in the arm but was laughing
himself.
      A bell signaled the end of lunch, and we parted ways. I called after
him, telling I'd see him in seventh. Spanish passed uneventfully. I was
nervous about my first foreign language, but the teacher seemed extremely
nice. She told us about her travels through Spain, and I was all-ears.
      When the bell for seventh period rang, I made my way out to the AG
barn. There was a classroom there, along with several showing pens and a
welding shop. I walked into the classroom and immediately looked for
Buck. I saw him across the room, looking at his phone. I moved over and sat
down behind him, bumping his arm as I did.
      We basically bullshitted the entire period away. Mr. Finn (or just
Finn, as most of us called him) was a particularly easygoing man and didn't
have much to say on the first day back. Most of the people in the class had
taken him before, and the ones who hadn't would pick up on how the class
worked soon enough.
      When the school day was over, Buck headed toward the student parking
lot, and I headed toward the buses. I remembered that Buck had an early
birthday, which meant he must've already gotten his license. Lucky.
      The rest of the week passed in much the same fashion as that first
day. Teachers began to teach, and students began to take notes/nap. Buck
moved over to sit next to me in Mr. Johnson's class. Getting our work done
in there was a breeze, so we had a lot of time to goof off. It felt like
old times.
      Same thing with Finn's class. Finn didn't teach much, and neither one
of us cared that much, so we goofed off in there, too.
      During fifth period on Friday, I decided to ask Buck about his plans
for the weekend.
      "Don't really have any. Blaine said something about riding dirt
tonight, but besides that, I have no idea. My parents probably have
something planned."
      "Blaine Richards?"
      "Yeah. We don't hang out too much, but for some reason, we always end
up riding dirt together."
      "I don't really know him myself, just know who he is. Sounds fun
though!" I had ridden dirt with Chett and his older brother a couple of
times. It was a pretty good time, just riding country roads and listening
to music.
      "Yeah! You should come with us." I hadn't expected that. We may be
friends within the walls of the school, but I hadn't figured on him wanting
to hang out outside of school.
      He must've seen the apprehension on my face.
      "Oh come on," he said, nudging my arm, "there will be a few cold
beers involved." And again, he flashed that lopsided grin. I couldn't help
myself.
      "Okay, yeah sure. Let me ask my mom when I get home and make sure
they don't have anything planned. Sounds like it'll be fun though."
      "Yeah man, we always have a good time!"

      When I got home that afternoon, I found mom cleaning in the
kitchen. She had been a teacher for several years but had recently retired
due to dad getting a promotion. I didn't ask any specifics about our money
situation, but, apparently, we were doing well.
      "Hey mama."
      "Hey sweetheart," she said as she looked up from mopping the floor,
"how was school?"
      "It was fine. Do we have any plans for tonight?"
      "Well, your dad and I had talked about going up to that new pizza
place in Aplet after he got off work. Why?"
      "Would it be okay if I hung out with Buck after we got back?"
      "Buck Turner?" Her face had wrinkled up in confusion.
      "Yes ma'am."
      "Well, I didn't realize you boys were still friends. Sure, that's
fine with me, as long as you aren't up to anything you shouldn't be doing."
      "Only cocaine mom, we've been over this." I smiled as I ran up the
stairs, away from her reproachful glance.
      I shot Buck a text when I got upstairs to let him know I was good to
go for the evening. I finished up my weekend homework before mama called me
to leave for dinner; I didn't want it hanging over my head.
      After dinner, I sent Buck a text to let him know I was ready whenever
the two of them were. Before long, my phone was vibrating with an incoming
call.
      "Hey Lee, I just stopped and picked Blaine up. Can you remind me how
to get to your place?" I quickly relayed the directions to Buck, and he
promised me they'd be there to pick me up soon.
      I waited by my window, nervously. I shouldn't have been nervous, but
I was. I couldn't deny that I was at least a little bit attracted to
Buck. He was a thick guy; not fat, just built a little bigger. He was kind,
and had that stupid lopsided smile. Shaggy blonde hair and a southern twang
to top it all off. He made me nervous because I didn't want to do anything
stupid.
      And then there was the added issue of Blaine. I didn't particularly
like being around people I didn't know. I knew who Blaine was, and I didn't
have any reason to think he'd be an asshole. But still, I didn't know him,
and I feared he would judge me.
      Before I could really dwell on those thoughts for long, though, the
two boys were pulling into my driveway in Buck's truck. He drove a four
door Chevy, and, to be completely honest, it added to how attractive he
was. I was a sucker for that truck.
      I hollered goodbye to mama and dad before heading outside to climb in
the backseat of the truck. Buck was sitting in the driver's seat, grey ball
cap perched on top of his head. Blaine was sitting in the passenger seat,
strawberry blonde hair poking up over the top of the seat.
      "Sup man?" Blaine turned around and nodded his head at me. I answered
something appropriate, and we were off. The sun was barely setting as we
headed into the country, but no one really seemed to care. Buck turned this
way and that down different roads. Apparently he and Blaine knew the area
well.
      As apprehensive as I had been, I found myself having a really good
time. Blaine was pretty funny, and he didn't seem to find it weird that
Buck had invited me along. Buck kept looking back at me in the rearview
mirror and smiling. I couldn't tell if it was because of the stupid jokes I
was making, or because he was happy I had tagged along. I hoped for the
latter.
      It was around 9 when Blaine looked at his phone and exclaimed "Be
jealous boys, guess who's getting some pussy tonight!"
      Buck and I both hooped and hollered and tried to coax him into
telling us who he was meeting up with. It didn't take much. He revealed he
was meeting up with Ansley Gifford, a freshman. I didn't care much but
tried to seem as interested as possible.
      He asked Buck to drop him off in town, so we headed back that
way. Blaine had left his truck at a gas station right in the middle of
town. When we dropped him off, he quipped about how we were losers who
weren't getting any pussy. We just flipped him off and headed off on our
way.
      As soon as we were well on our way down a dirt road, Buck pulled the
truck to the side and put it in park. He jumped out and quickly returned
holding two beers.
      "Here Lee, time to get the fun started." We both popped the tabs and
took a long drink. I knew I shouldn't be riding with him, but I decided
that one beer couldn't hurt. He kept driving, and we kept drinking and
having a stupid, fun time.
      After about three beers apiece, Buck pulled the truck into a hunting
club entrance and announced that he had to piss. He left the truck running
and jumped out. I had to take a leak as well, so I climbed down from the
passenger side and whipped my dick out.
      As I began to piss next to my door, I turned and saw that Buck had
walked around to the front of the truck. He was standing there, right in
the middle of the headlights, pissing away. His dick was nice and
average. I quickly looked away, and I could feel my face growing hot. I
wasn't supposed to look at him while he had his dick out.
      We climbed back in the truck and drove on. By 11:30, the same thing
had happened two more times. We had gotten out of the truck to pee, I had
looked at his dick, and then immediately reprimanded myself for it.
      After it happened the third time, I realized just how late it was. I
was supposed to be home at 12, and I had no idea how far away we were from
town.
      "Hey Buck, I'm supposed to be home by 12. Think we can head back that
way?"
      "Yeah man, sounds good to me, but why don't you just stay at my
place? My parents let me stay out until 1 on Friday nights. That way, we
can keep drinking, and maybe even drink more when we get back home. My room
is on the opposite side of the house from my parents, so I doubt they'll
know what's going on."
      I liked the idea. It meant more time out and more time hanging out
with Buck.
      "I'll text my parents and see if that's okay. They may already be
asleep though."
      "I'll head back towards town just in case." As he turned onto a
different road, I shot both of my parents a text asking if I could stay at
Buck's place. In just a couple minutes, I got a reply from mom telling me
that was fine and to stop by the house if I needed a spare change of
clothes.
      We stayed out until about 12:45. We drank more beer. We sang at the
top of our drunken lungs. It was a good time.
      When we got back to his place, his parents were already asleep. He
left a note on the kitchen counter that I was there, and we retreated to
the other side of the house. His room was that of a typical teenage boy;
tv, messy bed, couple of posters on the walls, clothes all over the
place. He flipped the TV on, and we both ended up lying on the bed to
watch.
      We each had a couple more beers, but around 2:30, he announced that
he was about to fall asleep. I was at that point, too, so he flipped the TV
off. He stood up and stripped his clothes off, leaving only his boxer
briefs on. I tried hard not to stare, but it was hard. Despite being thick,
his chest and stomach looked firm from where I was lying. He had a light
dusting of blonde hair across his torso as well. I did my best not to look
at the slight bulge that was present in his underwear.
      As he climbed back onto the bed, I stepped off the opposite side to
strip my own clothes off. Thank goodness I had boxers on. Anything tighter
would've shown how semi-hard I was.
      I began to doze off before long. The beers were working on me pretty
hard. Just before I fell asleep, though, Buck's voice brought me back to
reality.
      "Lee?"
      "Yeah?" I answered sleepily.
      "I just want you to know I'm glad we're back to being friends. I've
missed hanging out with you." In my drunken state, it didn't seem weird at
all. Looking back on it, I should've thought it a little strange. Not that
Buck was some hardened macho man, but most rednecks don't go around with
their hearts on their sleeves.
      "Yeah man, I've missed hanging out with you too."
      I started falling back asleep, but I my slumber would be interrupted
one more time that night. Before I could fall all the way asleep, Buck
lifted up his leg and ripped a massive fart. I couldn't help but fall into
a laughing fit with him, before cussing him for how bad it smelled. We both
fell asleep not long after that.

      The following few weeks were a blur. My life had fallen into a
groove, and I wasn't mad about it. I liked when things were consistent.
      Buck and I hung out a few more times outside of school. I tried to
keep from falling any harder for him than I already had, but it was
hard. He had this manly, country persona about him, but he was the
sweetest, funniest guy. I guess those things aren't mutually exclusive; I
was just used to rednecks being insensitive and (honestly) asshole-ish.
      I guess it was the end of August when Buck asked me if I wanted to go
fishing with him. His family owned a farm way out in the middle of nowhere,
and a decent sized pond fit into the middle of the property. We decided to
go on a Sunday afternoon. Buck pulled into my driveway, I threw my fishing
pole in the bed of the truck, and we were off.
      About an hour later, we were situated in a small, metal boat, out in
the middle of the pond. Plenty of clouds dotted the sky, so we had some
reprieve from the sun every now and again. Over the course of a couple of
hours, we each caught several fish. We threw them all back, though, as we
didn't have anything to keep them in.
      "Hey Lee, you hear that?" Buck turned in his seat to look me. I tried
to listen for something, but all I could hear was the wind blowing through
the trees on the shore.
      "I don't hear anything."
      "Shhhh... Listen. Can't you hear it?" I tried hard again, but
couldn't hear anything. I was about to tell him so, when it happened.
      Buck ripped a fart that rattled the entire boat.
      "Jesus Christ!" He was such an idiot sometimes, but I couldn't help
smiling. He was almost to the point of pissing himself he was laughing so
hard. I loved it when he laughed. The way his eyes gleamed made my legs
feel like jelly.
      "Damn, that was a good one." He commented as he finally came out of
his laughing fit.
      "You vibrated the whole damn boat. I'll be surprised if we catch any
more fish today. I'm sure you scared them all away." I threw a piece of
bait at him. He was unprepared, and it hit him right between his eyebrows.
      "Ah man that's it, your ass is going over!" He dropped his fishing
pole and stood up from his seat at the front of the boat. The whole thing
tipped wildly when he stood up, and I nearly fell out of my seat.
      "Holy shit Buck, sit down!" I just knew we were going to tip the boat
over horsing around like this. He didn't sit down, though, he moved toward
me at the back of the boat.
      I didn't want to go in, but I knew I didn't stand much of a
chance. Buck was definitely bigger than me and could easily throw me
overboard if he wanted. Not that it was that big of a deal, but I didn't
have a towel to dry off with and didn't want to ride home all wet.
      I threw my hands up to block him, but he easily got around them and
grabbed me by my arms. He was laughing like a little kid, apparently
enjoying how the boat was rocking back and forth dangerously. I was
laughing too, but I think I was a little more worried about flipping over.
      "Damnit Buck, let go!" I said flailing.
      "Nope, you're going in sucker!" I kept flailing, but I could feel his
grip tightening.
      And it was right about at this point that it happened.
      I ended up jerking backward in my chair as I tried to get away from
him. It threw him off balance (even more off balance than he already was in
the unstable boat), and he stumbled, falling toward me. He stayed on his
feet somehow, but, by the time it was over, he was bent over toward me, his
face less than an inch away from my own.
      His eyes were wide, as I'm sure mine were also. We had both almost
fallen out of the boat, and it was a miracle that we were both still dry
and that the boat wasn't still rocking about. We kept staring at one
another, but a smile broke out on both of our faces. We laughed, thinking
about how close we'd been to falling over.
      But we kept staring at one another, in that same position, faces
about an inch apart. If I hadn't been so attracted to Buck, I think it
would've been weird. I remember thinking that, surely, it must be weird for
him.
      I started feeling hot. I imagine that my face grew red; it felt like
there was fire underneath my skin. Where he was holding my arms felt even
hotter. It was like those parts of my arms were hypersensitive to the
situation. I could feel those hands on me more than I could feel anything
else.
      I took my eyes off of his face to look down to where he was holding
me. It felt like his hands were burning through my flesh.
      When I looked back up at him, he hadn't taken his green eyes off of
me.
      And that's when it happened. He leaned in and kissed me.

      I wish I could recount more details of the moment for you, but,
sadly, I don't remember it much myself. I was in sensory overload.
      By the time I opened my eyes and began processing again, Buck had
already separated our lips and moved away from me.
      "Uh, sorry, Lee... I didn't mean to..." he trailed off.
      "Na man, uh, it's cool." I tried to play it off. I tried to act like
I wasn't freaking out, when really, I was.
      Buck sat back down in his seat at the other end of the boat. We sat
there in silence for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say,
neither of us looking at the other.
      Finally, he spoke.
      "You aren't mad, are you?" The question caught me off guard. Mad? Me?
No. I was over the moon.
      "What? No, no not at all Buck." He looked at me, surprise spread
across his face.
      "Really? I thought you'd be pissed."
      "No, I... No, not at all." We went back to sitting in silence, though
this time, it didn't feel quite as awkward. Several minutes passed before I
worked up the courage to ask him.
      "Buck, are you gay?"
      He laughed softly.
      "Man, I don't even know anymore... I guess I might be. I've, well,
uh..." he trailed off again. I coaxed him to go on, but it still took
another couple of minutes before he spoke. "I guess I've kinda got a thing
for you Lee. Started a couple of weeks ago and I just can't stop thinking
about it."
      "You... for me?"
      "Yeah, for you, Lee. You're fun to be around, and you're so damn good
looking."
      "You've gotta be kidding me."
      "I swear, I'm not! I don't know what's going on Lee, but I do know
that I like you. I'm crushing hard man, and it kinda scares the hell out of
me if I'm being honest."
      We talked on for a while. I told Buck that I had been crushing on
him, too. I could see the relief instantly sweep across his face. I told
him about how I'd known I was gay for a while, which is why I'd never had a
girlfriend. He laughed, saying that girls were too much trouble anyway.
      "Yeah, I bet you can't fart around a girl and get away with it." I
had only meant it as a joke, but I saw his face grow red when I said it.
      "I, uh, well."
      "Yeah? What' up?"
      "I honestly can't believe I did it around you. Like, I know it was a
stupid little joke, but I still find it hard to believe I did it in front
of someone I've been trying so hard to impress."
      I laughed.
      "You don't have to try and impress me, dumbass. And besides that, I
don't really care much about being polite and stuff. It's one reason why
I've never really wanted to try dating anyone. I don't want to have to be
on my toes to try and impress someone."
      "Well, you don't have to impress me neither," he laughed, "you've
already taken care of that."
      We left not long after that. My life felt like a damn fairy tale, and
I wasn't much up for fishing any longer. Buck slowly drove us home. We
still weren't saying much; I think we were both lost in thought at that
point.
      "Alright, home sweet home." He looked over at me and smiled that
stupid lopsided smile.
      "Thanks, I had a good time today." I felt awkward. I didn't know what
else to say.
      "Yeah, I did, too. Let's talk soon, okay?"
      "Yeah, that sounds good to me." I started to open my door.
      "Wait," he exclaimed, grabbing my arm. "I lost something in the
floorboard earlier, will you help me find it?" He bent down as he said it,
looking around in the floorboard near his feet.
      I leaned back over to help, despite the fact that I had no idea what
he was looking for.
      "What did you drop?" I asked as I got closer to him.
      "Nothing," he said with a wink. He then proceeded to grab the back of
my head and pull me into a quick kiss. This time I remember it much more
vividly. His lips were firm, possibly a little chapped. My own lips tingled
after he pulled away. Being that close together, I could smell the
wintergreen dip he used, mixed with his deodorant and possibly a little bit
of musk. It was heavenly.
      "Sorry, didn't figure you wanted your parents to look out the window
and see some fag kissing their son." He started laughing. I laughed too, a
little surprised by his use of that word, but not mad by any means.
      "Okay, I'll see you around, Buck." I climbed out the door of his
truck, grabbed my fishing pole from the back, and waved goodbye. He smiled
at me again and waved goodbye, and with that, drove away.