Date: Mon, 3 May 2021 13:19:08 -0500
From: G Jones <geojonsey@gmail.com>
Subject: Martin's High School Years - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The rest of the day went by uneventfully and before I knew it, it was
Monday morning and I was off to school. I tried to take the latest bus
possible so I'd get there just in time for classes. I was going to try my
best to avoid Randy as much as possible. It turned out that I had nothing
to worry about; I found out partway through the day that he wasn't at
school. I had no idea why, but it suited me just fine. A couple of times I
saw his friend, the one that had been at the mall, but he either didn't see
me or was ignoring me. I was surprised that he hadn't said anything or if
he had, that no one else commented. Again, it was fine with me.

The next few days went by more or less the same; no Randy, no comments
about the weekend. I wondered if he was sick, but didn't care enough to
find out. Not that I'd go and ask one of his buddies anyway; the less I had
to interact with them, the better.

I took the bus to the city library after school on Wednesday; I told my
parents I had to some research for a school project and wanted to check
some things that I couldn't find in our school library. I felt a little bad
for lying, especially when they praised me for making the extra
effort. While at the library, I found the section that had books on
puberty. I was surprised to find there were several shelves of books on the
subject, as well as on sexuality and other related topics. I took three of
them and sat at one of the study carrels. Two of them were directly aimed
at boys who were, or just had, entered puberty; the third seemed to be
directed more at parents. I spent the next hour going through them, reading
this and that. It wasn't so much that I didn't understand what Mike was
going to experience, I just wanted some better ideas on how to talk to him
about everything.

Before I left, I decided to check out a book on sexuality, one that seemed
to deal with coming to terms with being gay. I felt myself blush at the
check-out, but the librarian didn't even give me a second look; I supposed
that she was used to seeing all manner of books being signed out.

I got home and found that Mom and Dad had gone out; there was a note that
said they'd be back by about 10 pm, and that there were leftovers in the
fridge for me. I sat at the table and ate; so far my week had unfolded
without incident, for which I was very thankful.

The phone rang and answered, "Hello?"

"Hi, is Martin there", said the voice on the other end.

"I'm here, I mean ... this is Martin."

"Oh hey Martin, this is Andy."

"Andy?" I said, sounding confused.

"From Jeaneology? You were in on Saturday with your little brother."

"Ohh Andy, okay ... sorry, I uhh, I guess I wasn't expecting to hear from
you", I said, "is there a sale already?"

Andy chuckled, "Ah, no, no sale ... I ... well, to be honest I shouldn't
really be using your contact information for this, but ... well, I was
wondering if you'd maybe like to meet me on Friday? We could get a coffee?
A hot chocolate? Or something?"

"Oh, uhh, wow ... uhm, so I'm actually busy on Friday ...", I said,
wondering what he meant by the 'or something'.

"Right, sorry, I guess Friday isn't giving you much notice, I ... I guess I
should've called earlier in the week already, a guy like you must have a
pretty busy social calendar."

"Social calendar? No, ha ha, uhm, I'm looking after my little brother on
Friday night."

"Oh, is that a regular Friday night thing then?"

"Well, for the next while I guess, uhm, his mom is working nights on
Fridays for a while. I guess it's kind of what I do, I babysit for a bunch
of families."

"Ah okay, well I'm sure that keeps you pretty busy then."

"Sometimes."

"Okay, well, I don't want to keep you then, maybe it'd work another time
... I mean, unless you ... if you don't want to, that's okay, I mean, you
can just tell me ... I can take it", he finished with a light chuckle.

"No, uhm, no it's not that ... I mean, I do ... uhm, what about Saturday?"

"Oh, okay, well, I work until 6 on Saturday and then I'm closing, so ... we
could meet at 7? Do you know Cups'n'Saucers? It's just down the street from
the mall?"

"Yeah, I know where it is ... and yeah, okay, sure, 7 is good."

"Great", Andy said, "I'll see you on Saturday then."

"Yeah, great."

I set down the phone feeling stunned; had I really just been asked out on a
date? And he thought 'a guy like me' had a busy social calendar? I wasn't
sure what to think; I was somewhere between terrified and elated. There was
no way he could really be attracted to me, could he? I grabbed something to
eat and then went up to my room and flopped down on my bed.

So many different thoughts were swirling through my mind: of course there
was Andy's invitation, but there was also my night with Shawn with what I
had told him, how he had told me about having seen and watched Willy and
how much that had excited me. That hadn't just been about knowing that
Shawn had made himself cum, but it was also my increasing attraction to
boys of Willy's age. And Mike. I was confused about Mike - was I attracted
to him in a sexual way or was it just the prospect of observing a boy
entering and going through the stages of puberty, knowing what would happen
to him and remembering how all those things had happened to me.

Randy was still not at school on Thursday, and no one brought up my run-in
with him; maybe this wasn't going to be a problem for me after all. The
guys wanted to get together on Saturday night so I'd have to come up with
an excuse for not being there, or at least for being late depending on how
things went with Andy. I wasn't really quite sure what to expect, this was
something new for me.

Thursday night I babysat for family with two younger kids; it was pretty
easy money as they were in bed by 8:00 and then I'd basically watch TV for
a few hours until their parents got home.

As usual on Friday, I brought my overnight bag to school with me so that I
could head straight to Mike's. I found school to be much more bearable
without Randy around; his usual crew had more or less ignored me all
week. His being at school was like it was some sort of permission to
ridicule me. I told the guys that I would join them later on Saturday
night; I made up an excuse about Mike's mom maybe having to work for at
least part of Saturday evening.

On my way to Mike's I was thinking about how I was going to start my talk
with him. Should I just start with something? Should I start by asking him
if he had any specific questions?  I had been so busy worrying about what
to say that I hadn't given much consideration on how to start.  I arrived
at the apartment building and saw that Mike was already there, waiting for
me.

"Hi Martin", he beamed excitedly.

I ruffled his hair, "Hi Mike, been waiting long?"

"Just a couple of minutes", he said as I unlocked the door to the building.

Once in the apartment, Mike dropped his stuff in his room and I did the
same; I assumed that Mike would ask me to sleep in the upper bunk again
tonight. I vowed to myself to either be better prepared for cleanup if I
masturbated while in bed again, or that I'd do it in the bathroom to avoid
any clean-up issues.  I prepped what I felt had become our regular
after-school snack, a couple of plates of apple slices with peanut butter,
and brought them to the living room where Mike had already flaked out at
one end of the couch. I noticed that he hadn't turned on the TV, but rather
was looking at me with an expectant smile on his face.  I set the plates on
the coffee table and sat at the other end of the couch.

"So what's going on?" I asked Mike, already having a pretty good idea.

"It's Friday", he said.

"Yes, you're right, very good", I said, "you get a gold star."

Mike grinned, "Noo, you know what today is."

"Friday?" I teased.

"Nooo ... you said that next time you were here you'd talk to me about
stuff ... and it's next time!"

I contemplated stretching this out by asking him what he meant about
'stuff', but decided that maybe this was as good a spot as any to start.

"You mean puberty and sex?"

"Yeah, that stuff", Mike said eagerly.

"Okay", I said, taking a deep breath, "so ... to be honest Mike, I'm not
quite sure exactly where to start ... there's a lot of things we could talk
about and well, we've already talked about a few things, but ... I guess,
is there anything you've been thinking about or wondering that you want to
know?"

"Oh .. I don't know", Mike shrugged, "I didn't know I was supposed to think
of questions."

"Well that's okay, you weren't necessarily supposed to, so uhm ... how
about this, we don't really have to talk about everything all at once
... so what if you just ask me whatever you want when you think of it? Does
that seem okay?"

"Okay", he agreed.

We spent the evening much the same as previous times: we watched TV, ate
our dinner and played a few games. Mike surprised me when he announced that
he was going to put on his pyjamas and brush his teeth; I hadn't had to
tell him to do it. While Mike was in the bathroom, I decided I'd do the
same. In his room, I fished my pyjamas out of my bag, stripped and put them
on. Mike flushed the toilet just as I walked into the bathroom

"Hey! You've got your pjs on too."

"Well, I thought I might as well, that way we're both ready for bed later."

"Are you gonna sleep in the bunk again?" Mike asked as I'd started brushing
my teeth.

"You want me to?" I mumbled with the toothbrush in my mouth.

"Yeah", he said.

"Okay then", I said.

After I rinsed, I peed, flushed and washed my hands before joining Mike
back on the couch. Mike was sitting at one end of the couch, but when I
flopped down at the other end he quickly slid over and laid back against
me. I had one arm around his waist as we both laid there watching TV.

"Uhm, Martin?"

"Yeah?"

"Well ... so uhm, I guess I did think of a question."

"Okay, go ahead."

"Uhm, so y'know last time you were here? Y'know ... when we ...", Mike
paused, "y'know peed? Well ... so how come yours looks different?"

"Oh ... you mean my penis?"

Mike giggled, "Yeah."

I laughed a little too and gave him a squeeze, "Would you prefer I said
dick?"

"One-eyed trouser snake", Mike laughed.

"Okay, okay ... so ... I guess you mean my foreskin?"

"Your what?"

"Foreskin", I said, "it's the skin that's over the end of my ... dick."

"How come you have that and I don't?"

"Well, so I guess when you were born, the doctor cut it off."

"He cut off the end of my dick?" Mike sounded concerned.

"What? No, no", I laughed, "he just cut the skin off ... that's why you can
see the head on yours and so uhm, I have to pull the skin back to see
mine."

"The head? That's the mushroom bit on the end?"

"Yeah", I grinned, "that's right."

"Well how come it got cut off?"

"Oh, well ... so sometimes it gets cut off because it's a religious thing,
and some people do it because they think it's cleaner that way", I said,
then added, "it's called being circumcised ... and when you still have it,
like me, it's called being uncircumcised."

Even though I couldn't see his face, I could tell Mike was thinking, "Sooo
... does that means yours is dirty? Under the ... skin stuff?"

"Foreskin", I corrected him, "and no ... I wash under there when I shower,
so it's clean ... like yours."

"But you said I have a dirty pecker", Mike giggled.

"Yeah", I laughed, "but I was just kidding about that."

"When will I make sperms?"

"Oh, ah, okay", I said, "well ... so you're almost 12 ... I guess it could
start happening soon, but it's hard to say exactly when."

"When uhm, when did you make them?"

"Well ...", I thought for a moment, "I guess it was ah ... just before I
turned 12."

"Oh", Mike said, "does that mean ... is there something wrong with me?"

"Why would you say that?"

"I can't make any yet", Mike said quietly.

"That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you ... it'll happen."

"Jason? My friend? He said he made some in his sleep."

"In his sleep?"I asked, "You mean he's had a wet dream?"

"Yeah, that's it ... he said he had a sexy dream and then when he woke up
he uhm, he thought he'd wet himself, but ... well, he said it uhm, y'know,
didn't smell like pee."

I found it interesting that Jason had shared this information with Mike as
most boys tended to keep that to themselves.

"When did he tell you that?"

"A couple of months ago I guess", he said, "just after his birthday."

"And he's just had the one?"

"No ... he's had a bunch", Mike said, "Jake told him he should uhm, start
beating off so he'd stop creaming his pyjamas?"

"Jake is Jason's older brother, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know what that means? I mean, uhm, beating off?"

"Jason said it's when you play with your boner", Mike giggled.

"Yeah, that's right", I said, "uhm ... it's called uhm, masturbating
... but some guys say beating off or jacking off, jerking off."

"And that makes you stop having uhm ... what'd you call it, wet dreams?"

"Well, yeah, sort of ...", I said, "the thing is that if you uhm, beat off
you ejaculate ... ah, that means the sperm comes out of your dick ... uhm,
anyway, guys usually have wet dreams if uhm, well it's sort your body's way
of getting rid of sperms when too much builds up. I mean, you could still
have a wet dream, but it's less likely."

"So ... well, how much do you have to do that", Mike said, "uhm, beat off?"

"Oh ah, well ... maybe once a week", I replied, "but uhm, well most guys
probably do it every day. Maybe more."

"Every day? How come every day?"

"Why? Well uhm, so it's because well ... it feels good ... when you do it
and ah, the sperm comes out", I said, then added, "it's uhm, well, guys
call it cum and when it comes out it's called cumming."

"D'you do it every day?"

"Well ...", I thought about what to say, "yeah, but look Mike ... uhm, so
you can't just go around asking guys if they do it ... it's ah, well, sort
of a private thing ... I mean, the thing is ... you don't have to be
embarrassed to do it or anything."

"Oh", Mike said, "so I wasn't supposed to ask you?"

"Well, it's okay, I mean we're talking about it and ... you can talk about
it with someone you trust. Like your friend Jason. He told you about having
wet dreams because he trusts you. Understand?"

"Yeah ... I understand", he said, "but so ... how d'you do it? I mean
... how do you beat off?"

"Ah, oh, uhm, well ... so the basic way is uhm, well you wrap your hand
around it and ah, well, you kind of rub it up and down, ah ... you stroke
it, ah ... like this", I said and made a stroking motion with my hand.

Mike looked at my hand and imitated my motion with his own hand, "Like
this?"

"Yeah .. like that ... you'll, uhm, well ... it'll make sense when ah,
well, when you do it."

I became aware that Mike's erection was pressing against the back of my
hand. I also realized that I'd started getting hard as well; I didn't know
if Mike had felt it pushing up against his butt.

Maybe this had been enough for tonight, "It's pretty late, maybe it's time
to go bed, okay?"

"Awww ... okay."

Mike got up and went to the bathroom; I laid there for a minute to let my
erection settle. I got up while he was still in bathroom and went to his
room, there I quickly took my worn briefs and slid them under my pillow on
the top bunk. Just in case.

I walked into the bathroom while Mike was finishing peeing in the toilet;
he was pushing down his still semi-rigid dick to aim his stream into the
water. I started brushing my teeth as he finished and flushed. He came over
and washed his hands without being told and then walked out. I washed my
face, applied my pimple cream and then peed as well.

I checked the lock on the door and turned out the lights before heading
back into the bedroom. Mike was already laying in his bunk; I walked over
and sat on the edge.

"Ready for lights out?"

"Yeah", Mike said and sat up to hug me, "I love you."

I squeezed him, "I love you too, Mikey."

After turning off the bedroom light I climbed up into the upper bunk and
laid down. I thought that tonight with Mike had gone not too badly; we'd
covered a few things and Mike had seemed satisfied with my explanations.

I'd started to drift off when a noise brought me back to wake; I could hear
Mike shuffling in the bunk below me. My curiosity got the better of me; I
rolled from my side onto my stomach as slowly and quietly as I could. I
hung as much of my head over the edge as needed to peer at the bunk
below. By the small bit of street light that filtered into the room I could
see that with one hand Mike was holding down the front of his pyjamas while
with the other he played with his boner.  He was pushing it down and then
letting it bounce back up, not quite slapping against his tummy. I grew
hard as I watched him put his hand around it and attempted to stroke
it. His hand engulfed the entire length of it; eventually he found a
certain rhythm by using three of his fingers. His eyes were closed, but it
was clear he was enjoying himself.

I knew I should give him his privacy, but I found I couldn't look away. I
reached up my pillow and retrieved the briefs I'd stashed there earlier. I
pushed them underneath me, forcing the front of my own pyjamas down in the
process. I slowly rubbed myself against the bed, my briefs the only thing
between my hard cock and the mattress. I tried to be careful to not shake
the bed as I moved; Mike appeared to engrossed in his own pleasure to take
any notice of me. I watched, fascinated by how Mike, boys of that age, took
so naturally to making themselves feel good. It made me remember how good
it had felt when I'd first started, how good it still felt. Sliding my cock
along the mattress caused my foreskin to slide back and forth across the
head; the feelings were intense and I knew I wouldn't last long.

Below me I could see Mike was rubbing himself rapidly now, almost as though
he was going to pull his dick right off. Suddenly he froze and gave a small
grunt; he must've been experiencing a dry orgasm. I moved my head and bit
into the pillow as I creamed into my briefs, trying to not thrust as wave
after wave of my own orgasm flowed through me and spurts of my fresh cum
gushed from the head. I laid there as my cock continued to throb, coated in
slick, wet warmth from the cum pooled in my briefs. I heard Mike rolling
over and pulling his blankets back up; I waited laying there like that for
a few minutes. Finally, I slowly rolled onto my back, and did my best to
wipe my dick before sliding my briefs back under the pillow. I could feel
that my cock was still slightly damp as I pulled up my pyjamas and then the
blanket.

Mike was already up and watching cartoons when I awoke and stumbled into
the living room.

"Hey sleepy head", he said, smiling at me.

"Hey yourself", I replied, "want some breakfast?"

"Pancakes?"

"Okay buddy, pancakes it is."

I mixed the batter and then went to the bathroom while the pan heated up on
the stove. As I peed, I could see flecks of dried cum on my dick and in my
pubic hair, and I assumed there'd be spots of dried cum in my pyjamas as
well. Nothing that wouldn't come clean, I thought as I washed my hands. I
finished making pancakes while Mike watched his cartoons. When they were
ready, we sat at the table to eat.

"Good sleep last night?" I asked.

Mike nodded as he ate his pancakes, and I thought I detected as slight
flushing of his cheeks. Maybe he was remembering how he had pleasured
himself before falling asleep. I knew that if he was like most boys, that
would become a nightly habit.

After breakfast, I cleared the table while Mike went back to the TV; I
brushed my teeth, wet my hair and ran a comb through it before getting
dressed. I had just finished when Mike's mom came home. Mike and I hugged
and said good-bye before I headed for the door.

"I love you", Mike said while hugging me.

"See you buddy", I said, "I love you too, we'll talk more next time, okay?"

"Okay" Mike grinned and went back to his show.

"So Martin", Mike's mom said, "I won't be working next weekend so I won't
need you to come stay with Mike."

"Oh, okay", I said, trying not to sound disappointed.

"But I do have a favour to ask. It'll be Mike's birthday in two weeks, and
he's asked if a couple of his friends can stay over. It'll be Saturday, and
I wouldn't ask, but ... I need to work both Friday and Saturday night. I
know it's a lot to ask, especially having two additional boys here ..."

"That's no problem", I said, "I babysit for families with more than one
child, so it's fine."

"You're so sweet Martin", she said, "I'll have some cake for the boys in
the afternoon before I go, but I'd need you to feed them later, they'll be
happy with pizza. And of course it's up to you, but you're welcome to stay
during the day on Saturday instead of going home and coming back. And I'm
sure Mike would love it if you were here for the cake and everything."

"That should be fine, and I'm sure I can find something to keep the boys
busy."

"The three of them can get a little worked up when they're together, so
don't be afraid to lay down the law with them", she smiled.

I laughed, "I can do that, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"I really appreciate it Martin, and I think Mike will be thrilled that
you'll be part of his birthday!"

"I wouldn't miss it", I said before saying good-bye and heading out.  I got
home and crashed on my bed, sleeping away the rest of the morning and the
better part of the afternoon. I grabbed a bite to eat after I woke up and
then headed back to my room to clean up.

After my shower, I spent a long time trying to style my hair, beyond just
running a comb through it as I usually did. I had even bought some styling
products on my way home from Mike's. I ended up washing my hair twice as
I'd used far too much hair gel the first time around; I was reasonably
satisfied with my second attempt. I looked closely at my face in the
mirror; fortunately there weren't any new pimples to be concerned about and
the ones that were there didn't seem as bad as normal. I'd also purchased
some tinted acne cream which I carefully applied; I hoped that I had struck
the right balance between minimizing the appearance of my zits without
making it look like I was caked in make-up. I'd seen enough girls at school
who looked like that; to my way of thinking it seemed to draw more
attention to their skin condition than not using make-up at all. I also had
some cologne; I didn't really know if it was good or not, but it seemed
alright to me as it didn't smell too strong.

Next I went through my closet. I wanted to wear something nice without
wanting it to look like I was trying too hard. I also needed to be careful
to avoid making my parents suspicious. As far as they knew I was spending
the night with the guys as usual; they'd wonder if I looked like I was
dressed up to go out. I chose the new button-fly jeans that I'd bought the
previous weekend and a plain tee-shirt, but I threw a button-up shirt into
my bag. My plan was to change into after I left the house and then change
again before going Paulie's house. I'd also put the cologne in my bag so
that Mom and Dad wouldn't smell it on me when I left.  I went downstairs to
get ready to leave; Mom and Dad were sitting in the living room watching
TV.

"I'm heading out now", I announced as I passed by on my way to the door.

Mom's radar must've detected something different about me; I was putting on
my shoes when she walked over to me.

"Did you do something different with your hair?"

"Whadda you mean?" I asked, pretending like I didn't know what she was
talking about.

"Your hair, it looks different", she said, coming closer, "did you put
something in it?"

"Oh, ah, yeah, uhm ... just trying out some hair gel."

"Well ... it looks nice, it makes you look ... grown up."

"Oh god", I said, "you're not gonna cry and say your baby is turning into a
young man, are you?"

"Can't you just accept a compliment from me", Mom said, "and you're always
going to be my baby, no matter how old you are or how grown up you look."

"Fine", I said and then smiled, "and thanks for thinking it looks nice. See
you tomorrow."

I threw on my jacket and went out the door before she decided she needed to
hug me. Once I was at the side of the house, out of sight of the door, I
stopped to change into my button-up shirt and to splash on some cologne. I
hoped I wasn't putting on too much as this was all new to me. I had
intended to arrive at the Cup'n'Saucer early, but I'd underestimated the
time to change my shirt and ended up missing the bus I'd wanted to take. I
was already anxious about meeting Andy, and this was making it worse as I
knew the next bus was going to make me late. I tried to will it to get here
with my mind, and when I was finally on, I cursed in my head every time the
driver had to stop for a passenger or traffic light.

When I finally arrived, I was nearly 15 minutes late. I walked in and
looked around, panicking when I didn't spot Andy right away. Maybe he'd
gotten held up at work and late as well. Finally I noticed him waving at me
from a table at the back of the cafe; I took a deep breath and walked over.

"Hey Martin", he said, "I was worried that maybe you'd changed your mind
about coming."

"Oh, uhh, no, no", I said as I took a seat next to him, "it's just that my
bus was late."

"Oh geez, that was thoughtless of me, I should've offered to pick you up",
he said, "I guess I just assumed you were driving over."

"No, uhm, I ... don't have a car", I said, thinking that sounded better
than saying I hadn't borrowed my parents' car.

"Anyway, I'm glad you made it, you look nice, are those the jeans you
bought last weekend?"

"Yeah", I said, "first time I've worn them."

"They really do look good on you", he smiled, then added, "they look like
they fit in all the right places."

"Oh, ah, thanks", I felt myself blushing, despite my best efforts to the
contrary.

I was trying to think of something clever to say, but my brain wasn't
cooperating, "You uhm, look nice too, I mean, what you're wearing looks
nice ... I mean ... not that you don't look nice too."

I was relieved when the waitress came to ask me what I wanted; Andy already
had a coffee, but I hadn't yet developed a taste for that, so I ordered a
hot chocolate. Andy ordered a club sandwich and fries, saying that this
would be his dinner. I asked for the same, remembering that I hadn't eaten
at home since I usually ate with the guys when we got together.

"So how did it go with your little brother? Good night with him?"

"Yeah", I said, "his uh, his name is Mike, or maybe I told you that
already? But yeah, it was ... good."

I was starting to sweat; Andy was going to think that I was boring and
stupid if I couldn't do more than give him some lame replies.

"So what do you do with Mike when you baby ... I mean, look after him?"
Andy smiled.

I was impressed that he'd remembered what I'd told him about Mike not
liking it when someone said he was being babysat.

"Oh, it depends, sometimes we watch TV, or we'll play some games or just
talk about stuff", I said, thinking about the talk that he and I had had
last night.

"Sounds like fun", Andy said, "what kinds of things do the two of you talk
about?"

"Oh, ah, y'know, just ... stuff, guy talk", I said, wanting to change the
subject, "How was your day at work?"

"Fine, it was busy, this time of year the weekends can start getting nuts",
Andy chuckled, "So guy talk, huh? When I was younger that was code for
talking about sex and pretending like we knew all about it."

I blushed, "Oh, ah, well ... y'know, he's turning 12 soon and ..."

"Ah yes", Andy grinned, "setting him straight about the birds and the bees
are you? Do you charge extra for that or is that part of your standard
babysitting services?"

I laughed, "Oh, ah, no ... no, it's just that ... well I guess Mike is sort
of a ... special case."

"I see ... in that he's more like your little brother?"

"I guess. He doesn't have ... well, it's just him and his mom so ..."

"That's nice. I could see in how the two of you interacted at the store
that you're ... close? So you're passing on all your 'older brother' wisdom
and experience in that area?"

"Oh, ah ... well, I don't know if I'd call it wisdom and experience, I mean
... well, there's not that much experience to draw from", I said, smiling
awkwardly.

"You're blushing a lot", Andy said, "am I making you uncomfortable? If
you'd rather not ..."

"What ... no, I uh, no ... I want to", I said, cutting him off, "I guess
this is just, well ... I mean, I don't go on a lot of ...", I trailed off.

"Dates? I'm surprised to hear that", Andy smiled, and then surprised me by
putting his hand on my thigh, "but I'm glad to hear that I'm not making you
uncomfortable."

As quickly as he'd put his hand on my thigh, he withdrew it when our food
arrived; we talked while we ate.

"So Martin, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"How old are you?"

"16."

"Oh", Andy said, sounding somewhat surprised, "I guess I thought ... I mean
I figured you were still in high school, but I thought maybe you'd be 18,
or at least 17 I guess."

"Am I ... I mean, is it a problem? That I'm 16."

"Well no, not exactly ... is my being 20 too old?"

"Too old for what", I said, before realizing how that sounded.

Andy laughed, "For you, I meant ... I'm pretty sure I'm not too old for
... well, not for a very long time I hope."

"I didn't mean ...", I nearly choked on my bite of food, "well, you know
... that!"

Andy did most of the talking for the rest of our meal; he told me he was
working so that he'd have money to go to university. He'd moved here from
out west when he was in high school to live with his grandmother because
his mother had run off and his father had a drinking problem. His
grandmother had died when he was 18 and he'd been living on his own
since. He couldn't work part-time and have enough money to live and go to
school, so he'd decided to work full-time for at least a few years so that
he'd at least have enough not to worry about tuition.

He asked me about my plans for the future, what kind of education and
career I'd be interested in, and I talked abut my interests, not having
made any hard decisions as yet.

The more we talked, the more comfortable I felt with him, but I kept
thinking that although we were only four years apart in age, our life
situations seemed to be apart much further. I'd never given much thought to
worrying about having enough money to have somewhere to live, to buy food,
have a car, or even where the money would come from when it was time for me
to go to university. He wasn't treating me as such, but I wondered how long
it would be before Andy realized that compared to him, I was still just a
kid. It was hard to imagine that he'd want to have more than just one date
with me.

I was surprised that by the time we were done eating and talking, that over
two hours had passed.

Andy noticed that I'd looked at my watch, "Have some place that you need to
be?"

"What? No ... not really."

"Not really?"

"No ... I mean, I might drop in on some friends later, but ... well, I
didn't know exactly how long we'd be ... out."

Andy smiled at me and dropped his hand onto my thigh again, "We can be out
as long as you want. I could drop you off with your friends now ... or
later ... it's up to you."

"I ah ...", I took a deep breath, "maybe I'll take that ride now if that's
okay."

Of course I knew what Andy was hinting at. It had been a while since I'd
done anything, maybe that's why I was hesitant.

"Sure", Andy smiled while removing his hand, "whatever you want Martin, I'm
not trying to pressure you ..."

"What? Oh, uhm ... no, I know, I just ...", I trailed off, suddenly feeling
like a little kid again.

"Honestly Martin, it's fine, I ... well, I think it's obvious I like you
and ... maybe you ...?"

I smiled, "Well ... yeah, I do."

Despite my protestation, Andy insisted on paying, saying that it'd been his
idea to meet. I thanked him as we walked out to the parking lot. I slid
into the passenger seat of his two-door Malibu coupe; it obviously wasn't
new, but it looked like he kept it clean and in good condition.

"It's probably not what I'd drive", he said as he got in, "but I got it
when my grandmother ... well, you know, when she died."

"Sorry", I said, "I mean ... I don't even have a car so ... it's cool, I
bet it's fast."

"It's alright, I don't really drive it hard ... can't afford to keep it
gassed up all the time", he laughed, "so ... where am I taking you?"

I gave him Paulie's address, "I know where that is, there's some guys from
school that used to live around there."

It occurred to me I hadn't asked him where he lived now, "Do you live
around there as well?"

"No", he said, "can't really afford to on my own ... I have a little
apartment not far from downtown, it's not much, but it's enough for me."

"Cool", I said, "I've never really been in that part of town before
... guess I never had a reason to, sorry if I'm making you go out of your
way."

"It's no problem Martin, it's not like your friend's place is far ...", he
said, then smiled and added, "and well, maybe now you might have a reason
to see that part of town?"

"Ah, yeah ... sure, that'd be cool if I could see your place."

We talked as we drove; in a few minutes we were pulling onto Paulie's
street.

"Could you ...", I said, feeling stupid, "could you maybe stop ... further
down the street?"

Andy smiled at me, "Embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"No ... no ... I just ..."

"It's okay Martin, I get it ... you don't want to have to explain why
you're getting rides from strangers?"

"Sorry ... I know it's dumb", feeling embarrassed to have asked.

"It's fine, I get it ... I guess they don't know? That you like guys?"

"No."

"Don't worry about it, not many people know I'm ... gay", Andy said,
driving to the end of the street where he pulled into an empty lot near the
community club that was there.

"Thanks", I said, looking over at him.

He put the car into park, "No problem ... so I hope ... well, this isn't
the only time I'm going to see you, is it?"

"No ... no, we should ... you can y'know, show me your part of town and
... your place", I said, looking into his blue eyes.

"That'd be great", he said and leaned towards me.

He put his hand on my shoulder and tentatively pressed his lips against
mine; feeling no resistance, he kissed me a little harder and I
responded. As I leaned into the kiss, I put my hand down; I guess I'd slid
closer to him than I thought because instead of my hand resting on the
seat, it was on his thigh.

Our tongues were becoming acquainted as we kissed; I felt Andy's hand on
top of mine, pulling it between his legs. My heart was pounding as I felt
the heat and hardness against my palm. I let him control my hand, first as
he slid his own hand up to unfasten the button and zipper on his jeans,
then as he guided my hand into his now open pants. Andy moaned lightly into
my mouth as I felt his cock; he stopped kissing me briefly as he whispered
into my ear to pull it out.

I did as he asked; Andy slid down in his seat slightly to make it easier
for me. His cock wasn't long, probably not even a full six inches, but it
was thick and hot in my hand. I massaged the shaft and head, where I felt
some dampness from leaking precum. He groaned a little harder this time and
broke our kiss.

"Please ...", he said as I felt a slight pressure from his hand on my
shoulder.

As before, I offered no resistance, nor did I feel that he was making me do
anything I didn't want. I could smell the musky scent of his groin as I got
close, lightly placing my lips on the head and letting my tongue flick
against the tip.

Andy moaned, "Mmm ... Martin."

It had been a while since I'd had a cock in my mouth, but I still knew what
to do. I slowly slid my mouth over the meaty mushroom shaped head and down
the shaft; I could quite take him all the way to the base, but I was far
enough down that my nose was pressed into a thick bush of pubes. Andy moved
his hand from my shoulder to the back of my head, but he put no pressure on
it as I slowly began to bob up and down his thick prick. I could feel my
lips stretched around it's circumference; it was the thickest dick I'd had
in my mouth to date.

My saliva was running freely, coating the length of it causing a soft
squelching noise as I moved my mouth up and down the shaft, and around the
head.  "Oh fuck ...", I heard Andy say, "Martin ... uh ... god this feels
so good, it's been ..."

I wanted to tell him that it'd been a while for me too, but I was too
focused on what I was doing, ignoring the throbbing, leaking cock trapped
in my own jeans.

I wrapped my thumb and forefinger around the base of his dick, using my
other fingers to rub against his balls. I tightened my grip as I continued
to slobber all over his thick tool, giving him what I'd describe a good and
sloppy blowjob. I felt Andy starting to tense up slightly, so I knew he was
starting to get close.  Within a few minutes he warned me, "Martin ... oh
fuck, I ... you better pull off now ... I ..."

I briefly stopped and then restarted my efforts, sliding my thumb and
forefinger tightly up and down the shaft in time with my mouth.

"Oh .. oh ... Martin ... I'm gonna ...", Andy managed to say before he
ejaculated into my eager mouth. Rather than volleys of hard shots, there
seemed to be a continuous gushing of hot thick cream flooding over my
tongue; I did my best to swallow as much as I could before I pulled up. As
I came up I could see a bit more oozing from the small slit at the tip of
the large mushroom head.

I wiped a little bit off my chin with the back of my hand as I looked at
Andy; his eyes were closed and he was breathing hard.

"Good?" I asked.

"Good? Are you fucking kidding?" Andy said, opening his eyes and looking at
me, "That was ... fuck, that was amazing."

I was about to reply when I panicked; I could see the lights of several
cars coming towards us. Andy scrambled to shove his cock back into his
pants and do them up. The cars pulled into the parking lot at the adjacent
community club.

"I guess I better ...", I said as I grabbed my bag and started to open the
car door.

"Wait", Andy said, "what about ... I mean, I haven't ..."

I was still rock hard, but I also didn't feel like getting caught, "Oh
... it's uhm ... next time I guess?"

"I sooo owe you ... call me?"

"I will", I said, and then added, "I'm ... well I'm not looking after Mike
next weekend and I don't have anything else lined up ...?"

"Great", Andy said, "call me and we'll figure something out, okay?"

"Night Andy", I said as I slid out.

"Night Martin", I heard him say as I shut the car door.

I took a deep breath and watched as he backed out of the lot; I slowly
started walking towards Paulie's, hoping that the cool evening air would
calm my throbbing erection before I got there. I knew it was going to be a
long night until I could find a few minutes to relieve myself of the
pressure that had built up in my balls.

By the time I got to Paul's door my erection had subsided into something
that wasn't quite so noticeable. I knocked and then tried the door; it was
unlocked so I walked in.

Tommy was in the kitchen and he gave me a puzzled look, "Did you walk over
with Shawn?"

"No", I said, "why?"

"He came in like 30 seconds ago, didn't you see him on your way here?"

Shawn must've arrived just after I'd gotten out of Andy's car; I couldn't
really say that I'd come from a different direction as that wouldn't have
made any sense. On the other hand, if he had literally just arrived then
there's no way I wouldn't have seen him walking just ahead of me.

"Oh, uhm, no ... I, ah, got a ride over", I said, hoping that Tommy would
just assume I meant one of my parents.

"Oh, okay", Tommy said, "I'm grabbing some drinks, you want one?"

"Sure, yeah", I said and headed into the basement.

I remembered that I'd intended to change back into my regular tee-shirt,
but it was too late now. My hope that no one would notice was quickly
dashed.

"Yo, Martino", Paulie said, "you get all spiffed up just for us? Or were
yah out tryin' to get laid?"

"Didn't have to try hard, your mom took one look at me and got all wet."

"Fuck, gross", I heard Tommy say from behind me.

"But you are kinda dressed up", he said as the set down the drinks, "and is
that gel in your hair?"

"Nah, that's probably a load of spunk he tossed in there before comin'
over", Paulie piped up before I could answer.

I grabbed my crotch, "C'mere and I'll give yah a load of spunk for yours."

We all laughed, but I could see Shawn give me an odd look; I hoped that
after what he and I had talked about the last time I stayed at his place
wasn't going to make him read something into every comment I made among the
guys.

I also needed to remember that I ought to be careful about grabbing or
adjusting myself; I was still feeling a bit worked up from being with Andy
and it wouldn't take much to become fully aroused again, or worse, not that
it normally took much anyway.

"So were your parents going out somewhere?" Tommy asked.

"Going out? What do you mean?"

"When they dropped you off, were they on their way somewhere or did they
just drive you over?"

"Oh, ah ... yeah, they were going out so I figured I'd grab a ride."

"Makes sense", Tommy grinned, "we know how much your mom likes rides."

"Too bad you're too small to ride", I replied.

"Fuck you, that's not what your mom said last night."

"No, she told you to come back when you hit puberty", I laughed.

"If you ladies are done?" Paulie asked, pressing play on the VCR as well
all gave him the finger.

We watched a couple of low-budget sci-fi movies that none of us had ever
heard of; they were so bad that they bordered on being hilarious, almost as
though everything had been done to be intentionally cheesy and awkward.

I wasn't concentrating much on the movie anyway; the events from earlier in
the evening kept replaying in my head, despite my best attempts to the
contrary. I was feeling uncomfortably hard in my jeans and tried to adjust
myself as inconspicuously as I could. More than once I noticed Shawn
glancing at me; I kept wondering what was on his mind, but I wasn't going
to ask with Tommy and Paulie around. A few times I also noticed Tommy's
eyes seemed to be drawn to my crotch; my seemingly perpetual partial
erection and adjustments were apparently not going entirely unnoticed.

We bantered throughout the movies; it was nearly 2:00am by the time they
were done. When they were done, we stripped to our underwear, brushed our
teeth and took turns peeing. With four of us at Paulie's we couldn't all
sleep on the couch and the recliner so we threw an old mattress on the
floor that they had in the basement and grabbed some pillows and
sheets. Paulie took the recliner as usual, and Tommy had dibs on the
couch. Even though the couch could accommodate two if you slept at either
end, Shawn and I elected to share the large mattress pad.

"Try not to leave cum stains all over that mattress when you two butt
buddies go at it", Paulie said as he settled into the recliner.

Shawn replied, "Like you'd be able to distinguish them from all the crusty
spots you've left behind?"

"Hey Shawn", I said, "I bet if we checked, we'd find a slit in this
mattress where Paulie porks it."

"Fuck you", Paulie said indignantly.

"Let's be honest", Tommy piped up from the couch, "there probably isn't a
surface down here that Paulie hasn't ejaculated on."

"Geez, listen to the professor", Paulie said, "Ejaculated. Did your mom
tell you that your body will change soon and you'll begin ejaculating
nocturnally?"

"I believe, young man, you mean nocturnal emissions", Tommy said in an
authoritative voice.

"You seem to know an awful lot about that, huh Tommy ... anything you care
to share with the class?" I said.

"I'm sure he's not the only one who's an expert on that subject", Shawn
said, clearly directed at me.

"C'mon now", I said, "who among us hasn't woken up hosing down the inside
of their pyjamas with a batch of nocturnal emission?"

We all laughed and settled down; soon enough I heard the deep breaths of
sleep from across the room, even though I was still wide awake.

"You still awake?" I heard Shawn whispering softly.

"Yeah", I whispered in response.

"So, uhm, look ... I know your parents didn't drop you off."

I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing; what had Shawn seen?

"C'mon Martin ... I saw you drive by in that car. Who was it?"

"It uh, well ... it was just a friend, y'know?"

"A friend? Who?" Shawn said quietly, "Why'd you say it was your parents?"

I let out a deep breath, "It's ... it's complicated."

"Complicated how? I thought ... I thought we were best friends, so why
can't you tell me?"

"Shit ... okay, so ... uhm, it was ... it was a guy I met."

"A ... guy?" Shawn said, taking a moment to process, "Like ... a guy that
you ... oh my god, did you and him?"

"No ... no, I mean ... not like that ... not exactly."

"What do you mean not exactly? What did you do? C'mon ... tell me, okay?"

"It's a ... I uhm ... I ...", I started whispering, and then in a barely
audible voice added, "gave him a ... blowjob."

`Whoa, what?" Shawn said, a little louder than he intended.

We laid quietly for a minute, listening for Paulie and Tommy, but it
sounded like they were still asleep.

"You ... you actually ... sucked his cock?"

"Fuck ... yes, okay ... I ... I sucked his cock", I said.

"And did he ...?"

"Yeah ... he ... he came in my mouth", I realized the moment after I'd said
it that I'd misinterpreted Shawn's question, "shit ... that's ... that's
not what you meant, was it."

"Ah ... no", Shawn whispered, "so like ... wow ... so you ... what ... what
was it like?"

"C'mon ... you ... you don't really want to know that do you?"

"But ... I mean, did you ... y'know ... you liked it?"

"You're not really gonna make it say it, are you?"

"Holy shit ... you did."

I was about to say something else when I heard a noise from the recliner; I
wasn't quite sure at first what I was hearing. From where Shawn and I were
laying on the mattress we were directly looking towards Paulie; there was
just the slightest bit of street lamp light filtering through the basement
window and my eyes had adjusted to the dark. I saw Paulie move his hand
towards his mouth and then heard the unmistakable sound of him spitting
into it.

Shawn was looking at me so I put my finger to my lips to signal him to be
quiet.

I got as close to his ear as possible, "I ... I think Paulie is jerking
off."

Paulie's hand slipped beneath his sheet; it was clear from the movement of
his arm and the way the sheet rose and fell that he was stroking
himself. Every couple of minutes his hand would come out from beneath the
sheet so he could spit into again before returning down to his dick.

I had gently slipped my own hand into my briefs and was slowly rubbing
myself; I realized that based on the movement I felt next to me, Shawn
must've been doing the same. Over on the recliner it looked as though
Paulie's stroking had picked up speed; Shawn and I both picked up our own
pace. Between still being turned on from earlier, seeing Paulie jerking off
on the recliner and knowing Shawn was jacking off next to me, I knew I
wouldn't last long.

We watched as Paulie slid his sheet to one side; although we couldn't make
out much detail, his cock was out in the open and with a few short strokes
it was apparent he was ejaculating. We could hear him let out a long, deep
breath as he finished and wiped his dick on the sheet before covering
himself back up.  Shawn and I looked into each other's eyes; there was no
pretense about what we were doing. We were both trying not to breathe out
too loudly. Shawn's mouth opened in a silent moan, and I knew he was
cumming. That was enough to send me over the edge; I pulled my cock out of
my briefs and squirted my load onto the sheet covering the mattress. Shawn
and I grinned at each other like a couple of stupid little kids that had
just gotten away with something.

We rolled onto our backs and laid there, not saying anything else; we both
drifted off to sleep.

I awoke the next morning to sunlight streaming in through the basement
window. I looked around and realized I was the last one to wake up; from
the smells and sounds, the guys were upstairs at breakfast. I got up and
pulled on my clothes; before going upstairs I needed to use the
bathroom. After pissing and splashing some water on my face, I headed up
and sat down at the table.

"You're up", Paulie said between bites of his breakfast, "geez, looks like
you could use another month or two of beauty sleep."

"Maybe if my sleep hadn't been interrupted", I laughed and said as Paulie's
mom set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me, "it was the weirdest
thing, maybe it was a dream, but it sounded like someone kept slapping a
wet fish."


Paulie started coughing as he choked on a bite of his eggs; Shawn grinned
as he took a bite of his bacon and Tommy just looked puzzled.

"Slapping a wet fish?" Tommy asked, "What kind of weird dream is that?"

"Haven't you ever y'know ... dreamt of slapping wet fish?" Shawn smiled as
he asked.

"You guys are so weird", Tommy said.

"What kinda fish was it? Like a tuna?" Shawn asked me.

"Nah", I said, "nothing that big, maybe more like a sardine."

Paulie had stayed quiet throughout our exchange, which under ordinary
circumstances was unusual. I changed the subject and brought up the movies
that we'd watched; we all agreed that they'd been ridiculously lame and yet
hilarious at the same time.

After breakfast, Tommy and Shawn were ready to go, but I still needed to
pack up my stuff so I headed downstairs while they waited. I was putting
stuff into my bag when I noticed that Paulie had also come down. He looked
a little embarrassed and I felt a little bad for him; it's not like he'd
done anything I hadn't done a million times.

"So uhm ... wow, what a, ah, weird dream, huh?"

"Sure", I said, finishing packing my bag, "weird, but, y'know ... can't
control our uhm, dreams right? I mean hell, I uhm ... dream all the time,
y'know?"

"Yeah", Paulie said, then quietly added, "thanks."

"Forget about it", I said as I started back up the stairs, "and uhm, by the
way? If you're tossing your sheet into the laundry? You might wanna throw
mine in there too."

"Your ... what ...", Paulie started to say as I turned and winked at him.

The three of us walked to the end of Paulie's street; Tommy turned right to
head home, while Shawn and I turned to the right. For a while we walked in
silence; I wasn't sure if it felt right to talk about last night by the
light of day. It was Shawn that broke the silence.

"So uhm, wow ... last night, huh?"

"Ah, yeah, pretty crazy."

"Sooo ... who's the guy? I mean ... is it someone from school?"

"Aww geez, really?"

"C'mon ... I mean, last night we practically ... and with everything you
told me? What is it? Is he really ugly or something? Or old, y'know,
grandpa old?"

"Oh my god, gross", I said, "he's ... he doesn't go to our school, uhm,
actually he's not a student and ... okay, yes, he's older, but not old old,
he's ... 20."

"Woah, okay, so ... I mean where'd you meet this guy? Hey, you're not,
y'know ... hanging out under the bridge are yah?"  Shawn was referring to a
bridge that you'd pass under on the way to downtown; it had a reputation as
a spot for picking up prostitutes, especially ones that were underage.

"Okay, fuck, you better be kidding", I said, "I'm not a hooker, geez."

"Kidding, kidding", Shawn said, "but I mean, y'know ... where do you
... meet guys?"

"So first of all ... it's guy ... not guys", I said, "I'm not y'know,
bangin' random strangers around town."

"Okay, okay ... I don't know, uhm ... how it works, I mean ... how do you
meet guys that ah, like guys?"

"I don't know ... it just kinda happened, I was ... out ... and I don't
know, I talked to this guy and ... it's hard to explain, you just sometimes
get this ... vibe, y'know ... kinda like you can tell if a girl likes you?"

"Shit, if I could tell that ... well, there'd be less ... last night",
Shawn grinned.

"Fuck, who are you kidding ... you and your hand'ed be reliving the moment
every chance you got", I laughed.

"Okay, true, but ... so out, you were just ... out?"

"Fine, okay, I was at the mall", I said, "I'd ... I'd rather not say where
at the mall, okay?"

"Yeah, okay ... so, you gonna see him again? Or at least see his ...",
Shawn grinned and held up his hands about a foot apart.

"Geez, bring it in ... he's not a porn star for chrissakes", I said, "and
yeah, maybe ... I think so."

"Wow ... that's ... cool?"

"Thanks", I said, "look uhm, I know ... I know this is kinda ... I don't
know, anyway, just ... thanks."

We were at the point were we needed to split up to go home.

"Oh hey", Shawn suddenly said, "I completely forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"About Randy."

"Randy?"

"Yeah, y'know how he wasn't at school all week?"

"Yeah", I said, "I gotta tell yah, I was pretty relieved."

"Yeah, well ... so what I heard is his old man caught him stealing money."

"Really?"

"Yeah", Shawn continued, "y'know how his dad runs that garage? Anyway, he
caught Randy taking money out of the till, apparently he's been doing it
for a while."

"Wow, so what happened?"

"I guess, y'know, his dad lost it and gave him a beating ... like a serious
beating, gave him a black eye and everything."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, I guess he didn't wanna come back to school until bruise is gone."

"Oh my god", I said, "that's ... wow."

"He's probably forgotten all about you, y'know."

"Ah, yeah ... I guess."

"Anyway ... so uhm, I'll see yah tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah, see yah tomorrow", I said and started walking down my street.

I was thinking about what Shawn had told me about Randy; I wasn't sure how
to feel about it. I didn't like Randy; he was a bully and he'd punched
me. But to have your dad beat you like that. Did he deserve it for stealing
that money? I almost felt sorry for him; I couldn't imagine my dad laying a
hand on me for any reason. I wondered if that had been the first time he'd
taken a beating from his dad; maybe there was a reason that he acted like
an asshole at school. Not that it made it right.

I saw Randy at school on Monday and Tuesday, but he ignored me. On
Wednesday at the end of the day I was at my locker; when I closed it and
turned, I ran right into him. Instinctively I apologized and went to move
around him.

"Wait", he said as he put his hand on my shoulder.

I twisted away and turned around, giving him a look that was a mixture of
disdain, fear and confusion, "What?"

"Look, ah ... come in here", Randy said and pushed me into an open
classroom, "I wanna talk to you."

He closed the door and I started feeling panicky, "Whadda yah want? Just
leave me the fuck alone already. You're such an ..."

"Ass?" Randy cut me off, "I ... I guess I deserve that."

I was completely baffled by Randy's behaviour; what was he up to?

"I ah ... y'know, well ... sorry about the other day", he said looking down
at the floor.

"You're ... what?" I said confused, looking around, "Is this ... what is
this, a trick? Your buddies gonna jump out or something?"

"What? No ... no, there's no trick ... I just ... I wanted to, y'know,
apologize, that's all."

He sounded genuine, but I wasn't sure, "You ah ... no offence but ... why
should I believe you?"

"I don't know ... probably no reason for you to believe me", he said,
stepping away from the door, "... anyway, that's all I wanted to say."

I opened the door and looked back at him with a puzzled look, "I ... I
gotta go."

"Hey, uhm", Randy said as I walking out, "that kid you were with? Tell him
I'm sorry too, okay?"

Randy didn't follow me; I walked down the hall and out of the school as
quickly as I could. I was looking down and almost knocked Shawn to the
ground.

"Woah, what's the rush", he said.

"C'mon", I said, grabbing at his jacket to pull him along, "let's go."

Shawn and I walked, heading towards home, "Okay, seriously, what's going
on? This is weird ... even for you."

"No man, you wanna know what's weird? Randy. Fucking. Apologized."

"Wait, what? You're ... you're shitting me, right?"

"Most definitely not", I said, and told him exactly what had happened.

"What d'you think that was all about?"

"I have no fucking idea, but it was ... I don't know, I kept thinking his
buddies were gonna jump out any second, y'know?"

"Do you ... you think it has anything to do with, y'know, his dad and all
that?"

"I don't know, I guess maybe? I just really don't understand, I mean
... even if he decided he was just gonna leave me alone, but ... to
apologize? It's just weird. Even if his dad told him he had to apologize
... he could've just said he did, it's not like anyone else saw or heard us
talking."

We bantered until it was time for to split up. Randy didn't talk to me
again over the next week and a half, although a few times when I saw him he
nodded at me, like you'd do to acknowledge that you've seen someone you
know. I was still confused by his change in behaviour, but at least he
wasn't hurling insults at me. I wasn't complaining about it, but I wasn't
ready to let down my guard. For all I knew it was still a trick with some
nasty surprise when I'd least expect it. I hated that guys like Randy had
pushed me into feeling paranoid. Sometimes I was jealous of how good other
people seemed to have it, but maybe everybody had their own shit to deal
with; you just couldn't always see it.