Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2018 00:11:05 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Aiden II  Chapter 4

Welcome back. If you are enjoying the second part of Aiden, please think
seriously about contributing to the Nifty Archive.

In this chapter, Aiden starts fifth grade and makes two new friends.

CHAPTER 4
RESPONSIBILITIES

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

Troy called his brother Phil as soon as their brother Keegan left Troy's
house. Phil put the phone on conference call mode so Larry could take
part. Phil and Larry were not happy to hear the news that Keegan was back
in the area.

"Did you tell Keegan where Aiden was? Not that he can't find it out on his
own; it is a matter of public record, after all," Larry asked. "Of course
Keegan would need to find the wherewithal to look it up."

"No, I did not tell him where Allen was," Troy chuckled.

"Allen?" Phil asked. "Who the fuck is Allen?"

"Why, Allen Miller, of course—your son who doesn't exist."

"You mean the son-of-a-bitch doesn't even know his son's name?"

"Nope, and I wasn't going to be the one to tell him, either."

"Bro, you are one sneaky mother fucker," Phil laughed.

"It was a stalling tactic," Troy admitted. "Keegan is a lazy sleaze ball,
but he's no dummy, at least when he's sober. If he puts his mind to it,
he's going to get the information."

"He does know where we live," Larry pointed out. "If nothing else, he'll
eventually show up here to see what he can learn from us."

"Then I guess we'd better prepare Aiden for the inevitable."

"Not to mention Judge Moyer and Mary Polk." Mary Polk was Larry and Phil's
attorney.

"You may want to inform Aiden's school as well," Troy suggested.

Phil and Larry thanked Troy for calling, even if it was with bad news. They
then slapped together a couple of sandwiches, poured some cold lemonade,
and sat in their multi-purpose room to discuss strategy.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

The next morning Gordy and Aiden arrived at Lakeview School a few minutes
early for their meeting. Brody and the three girl guides were already
sitting in the school office's conference room. Aiden cringed when he saw
that one of the girls was Autumn Kellogg. The other two were Kalie Carter
and Valerie Michaels. They had not been in Aiden's fourth grade class and
weren't in Autumn's clique, so Aiden didn't know them very well.

"Oh, Gordy, I was so happy when I heard you were one of the guides!" Autumn
gave Aiden a look that said, Who needs you as a boyfriend when I have
Gordy? Autumn had a serious crush on Aiden. Her flirting with Gordy was
another attempt at making Aiden jealous.

Even Autumn could see it wasn't having the desired effect. She looked over
at Gordy and wondered if maybe he might be more responsive to her advances
than Aiden was. She thought that Aiden was much cuter, but she wanted a boy
who was much more available.

The fifth-grade guides hadn't had time to say much to each other when
Mr. Holtz, the Mayfield School District elementary school counselor,
entered the room along with Mrs. Henderson, the school secretary.

Mr. Holtz greeted the kids with a cheery good morning and paused while they
responded to his greeting. "Ok, kids, as we discussed on the phone, part of
your job description as a guide is to be an office helper when needed, so
you'll be helping Mrs. Henderson with some tasks. She will also be
explaining to you her expectations when you meet new students and take them
to their classrooms. As you astute students have no doubt observed, we
don't have a lot of turnover in our schools here in Mayfield. But, the six
of you will have ten students to place tomorrow." He saw that all six
guides were giving him their full attention. He could tell that he had
picked well.

He asked if there were any questions and was not surprised to see some
hands go up. After answering a few of them and passing off the rest to
Mrs. Henderson, he told the guides that he had to leave so he could talk to
the Parkwood School students and be ready to attend the morning staff
meetings.

Mrs. Henderson kept the guides so busy that Aiden didn't have time to be
annoyed by Autumn and her cloying ways around Gordy. But then, Autumn
didn't really have much time to be clingy. Mrs. Henderson gave the kids a
sandwich lunch provided by the school. After they ate, she presented her
lesson on what she expected the guides to do, and sent them on their way
home at around one-thirty.

The three boys congregated outside of the front door of the school to plan
how to spend their afternoon. "We can come to my house," Brody told
them. "My mom said it would be okay if any of you guys wanted to come
over." Aiden and Gordy had never been to Brody's house and liked the idea.

"My daddy is going to pick me up at Gordy's at four so I can eat and get my
gear on for soccer practice," Aiden said.

"And I have to be home at four for the same reason," Gordy added.

"And I have to kick you guys out for the same reason," Brody giggled.

"You mean you're going to be on our soccer team?" Aiden asked excitedly.

"Yep."

They really didn't know Brody very well. He had moved to Mayfield in the
middle of third grade. He was a quiet boy who kept to himself. He had not
been in the same class as Aiden and Gordy so they barely got to know him
when he first came to Mayfield. While he had participated in school
intramural sports and had played soccer and baseball the year before, he
was never on the same team as his two friends. He wasn't considered to be
much of an athlete by his peers.

Brody had been surprised when he was accepted by Aiden and his friends. It
was the first time the "cool" kids in his grade ever paid attention to
him. When Aiden invited him to his birthday party it was like he'd been
asked to the social event of the century. He never got invited places.

He was, in many ways, a lot like Mason, but without the annoying qualities
Mason had. For one thing, he could keep his mouth shut. Because of his
shyness, asking Aiden and Gordy to come to his house had been an act of
courage for Brody and he was prepared for them to say no. When they said
yes he almost exploded from the excitement.

Brody didn't live far from Gordy. His parents had divorced just before he
moved to Mayfield. He lived with his mom and a thirteen-year-old
sister. His mother had grown up in Mayfield and moved her family there
after the divorce. She worked as a secretary at the Kentburg campus of
Centralia Community College. She had taken the day before school started
off from work to help her children prepare for that first day of school.

Brody's house was an older bungalow. The yard was well-kept and the house
itself was clean and orderly. The furniture was plain and simple. It was
obvious that the family didn't have a lot of money, but it was also obvious
that they took pride in their environment.

"Let's go up to my room," Brody said. While he'd had friends at his house
before, they weren't important friends like Gordy and Aiden, whom Brody saw
as the leaders of the fifth grade, along with Miles and Muddy. Brody failed
to consider that the fact he had been chosen as a guide and office helper
meant that somebody saw him in the same light as the two boys he held in
high esteem. While he wasn't a talented athlete, he worked hard and
competed hard at sports. Academically, he was close to a straight A
student.

"Nice room," Aiden said, and he meant it. Brody's room was much neater than
Aiden's and Aiden was not a slob. He had a laptop and a shelf of
books. Aiden was pleased to see a teddy bear sitting on Brody's desk in
much the same way Horace the donkey sat on his own desk. Anybody who liked
having a stuffed animal was highly regarded by Aiden.

The boys had a great time at Brody's house. They played some games and had
fun with Brody's pride and joy, his matchbox cars, most of which were given
to him by his grandparents from his father's side of the family.

At about a quarter to four, Aiden and Gordy thanked Brody for inviting them
and headed to Gordy's house. They arrived just as Larry arrived to pick up
Aiden.

Aiden enjoyed his first soccer practice of the season. He was very happy
that Gordy and Miles had elected to play in the rec league rather than on
the ten-and-under travel team, which they could have easily made.  Aiden
would have made the team, but he elected to play in the rec league as
well. He wanted to play one more year with Mason, and now with Brody, as
well. Gordy and Miles were playing down for the same reason—so they
could play with their friends.

Aiden remembered talking to his dads the day after the family came back
from their cruise about which team he wanted to play for. "I really, truly,
for real want to try out for the travel team in baseball," he told them as
he sat naked on the love seat. Aiden had told his dads he wanted to have a
talk with them about soccer. Larry and Phil were sitting on the couch ready
to listen. "But, in soccer, I want to play with my friends like Mason who
probably can't play on the travel team in soccer," Aiden went on.

Aiden's announcement was exactly what they thought it was going to be. The
dads had discussed that possibility between themselves and were ready to
praise Aiden for his unselfishness, at least for this year. But when spring
came and baseball started, they wanted Aiden to reach as high as he
could. They had quickly learned that their new son was a talented little
athlete and an above average soccer player, but when it came to baseball
there was no doubt in the minds of the veteran baseball coaches that Aiden
was a cut above in both skills and mindset.

"Do you think it's okay if I do that?" he asked with a touching air of
innocence.

"We think it's a great idea," Larry said, "at least this year. But, when
baseball comes..."

Larry didn't have a chance to finish as Aiden interrupted him saying, "When
baseball comes, I want to be the best there is, just like Marty." Aiden's
confident grin said everything that needed to be said.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

The next morning the alarm went off all too soon for Aiden. He had been a
bit perturbed when Phil tucked him in and read some to him the night
before. It wasn't the tucking in or the reading that irked Aiden, he loved
the nightly attention from one of his dads. What upset him was Phil asking
him if he had set his alarm.

"Yes, I set my alarm," he groused. "I'm no baby—I'm ten years old and in
the fifth grade. I set my alarm almost all of last year." He pointed to the
alarm clock and went on in a very stern voice, the kind of tone of voice
that his dad used on him when he was trying to make a point. "And if you
looked at the alarm clock you bought me and showed me how to use, you could
see that it is set for the right time!"

"Okay, okay, calm down. I was just making sure you were going to get the
first day of school started right."

"Why would I get it started wrong?" Aiden asked without irony.

Phil could feel the rumbling of oncoming puberty starting in his
ten-year-old son. He decided he wasn't going to get into a meaningless
battle that he stood no chance of winning. "Good night, son," he said
quietly, ruffling the boy's messy blond hair. "How is it that we got your
hair trimmed on Friday and it already looks like an explosion in a mattress
factory on Monday?"

"It wouldn't look messy if you didn't mess it up," Aiden told him. "Good
night, dad," Aiden said. Phil kissed his son on the forehead, turned out
the ceiling light, and left the room.

Aiden got out of bed, reached up to the shelf above his bed, and took down
his large, gray stuffed donkey, setting it on the corner of the bed
abutting the walls. "I love my dads, Horace, but sometimes they can be
really dumb."

Aiden turned out the light on his desk and pulled the big stuffed animal
against him so he could cuddle it. He barely got the two of them settled in
when he fell asleep.

It seemed to him he'd just fallen asleep minutes ago when the alarm went
off. He read the time on the clock and saw that he had set it correctly. As
much as he wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, he dragged himself out
of bed, proud that he had set the time properly. He knew that after what
he'd said to his dad last night he wouldn't hear the end of it if he had
made a mistake.

Before showering, he woke up his computer and checked his email. He had one
from Darnell wishing him a happy first day of school and one from Marty
saying he would be arriving in Mayfield sometime during the afternoon. He
said he would talk to Aiden's dads and set up an evening where the two of
them could go out to dinner. He sent both of them a quick answer. After
showering, he slipped on a pair of red, gray, and white plaid boxers, and
headed down to breakfast.

"Good morning, kiddo," Larry grinned. He was already seated at the
breakfast table eating fruit and cereal.

"If you tell me welcome to the world of the living, then I am going to eat
in my bedroom."

"I only say that when you've slept in too late. You're running right on
time this morning, which makes you very much alive."

"How late is sleeping in too late?" Aiden asked in a very stern voice.

"It's as late as your dad and I say it is." Aiden glared at his daddy and
then attacked his cereal as Larry considered the oncoming ramifications of
the onset of puberty. "Don't forget that you're riding to school with me
this morning. Get yourself ready as quickly as you can."

"Why can't I just ride my bike to school this morning?" Aiden groused.

Larry ramped up his voice to his no-nonsense teacher's voice. "Aiden, we've
had this conversation more times than necessary the past two weeks, so the
matter is closed for now.

"I'm taking you to school because you have to be there early to fulfill
your new student guide duties—I suggest that while you get dressed you
take a long hard look in the mirror and work to improve your frame of
mind. You are going to have new students to show around the school and they
would be much better served if you were a bit more positive today."

Aiden took his last bite of cereal and left the table. Just before leaving
the kitchen, he turned and said, "It would be a lot easier to be in a
better frame of mind if I wasn't being yelled at all morning."

Larry knew that continuing this particular battle would serve no useful
purpose. Larry was willing to concede getting in the last word if it helped
Aiden drop the bicycle argument for a few weeks and allowed him to be able
to do his job at school when he got there this morning.

After Aiden finished dressing he looked into the mirror. He was wearing a
brown and white striped polo shirt and a pair of brand new jeans. Mr. Holtz
had asked the boys to wear a collared shirt for the first day of school.

"I promise to be good to everybody at school," he said to the boy in the
mirror, "especially to any new students I meet." Aiden usually did what his
dads suggested, even though he didn't feel obligated to let them know
it. Pausing, saying good things to his image in the mirror when he felt
angry, telling himself he was a great person, as had been suggested by
Marty, were among the tools his "big brother" had given him over the last
year.

He donned a light jacket, grabbed his backpack, and headed downstairs to
meet his daddy, who was sitting on the living room couch reading the
morning newspaper.

"I'm ready," he said simply.

"Then let's get you to school," Larry said.

"I mean I'm really ready."

"I know—I could tell." Larry wrapped a strong arm around his
son. "You're the best, kiddo, and I love you so very much."

"I love you, too, daddy," the little ten-year-old said. "I'm sorry I got up
grumpy."

"If you didn't get up on the wrong side of the bed on occasion, then you
wouldn't be human." He ended his hug and looked down at his young son and
grinned. "Just don't do it too often."

"I won't. I don't like being a grump."

Father and son rode to Lakeview School, chatting about the possibility of
Aiden getting Saturday swimming lessons at the Centralia High School pool
for a couple of months as well as ideas for finding ways that Aiden could
work on his baseball skills. When they arrived at the school, in the manner
of a boy entering puberty, Aiden found himself wanting to continue talking
to the man he only wanted to growl at less than an hour before.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Aiden, Gordy, and Brody entered the school office five minutes before their
designated time. They said hello to Mrs. Henderson, the secretary, who
pointed to the conference room. The three girls were already in there. As
soon as the boys walked into the room the girls started making a big show
of having to wait for the boys to arrive.

"Well, it's about time you showed up," Autumn crowed. She made a sweeping
gesture with her right hand saying, "We were here fifteen minutes early and
had to wait for you." Autumn was apparently the new Shana Masters, who last
year had made herself the self-appointed queen of the fifth grade.

"That's too bad," Brody said quietly. "I hope you didn't fall asleep from
being bored." Aiden and Gordy both gave Brody a look of approval— there
was more to Brody Sweeney than they thought.

Before Autumn could respond, Mrs. Henderson came into the conference room
from the office and called the three boys outside. They saw four new boys
sitting quietly on the bench, all of them appearing nervous as they looked
at the three guides. Aiden noticed right away that two of the boys were
identical twins. Aiden could make out the six new girls sitting at the
table behind Mrs. Henderson's desk.

Mrs. Henderson addressed the new students. "Boys, these are our student
guides. Their job will be to show you around the school and take you to
meet your new teachers." She pointed to each guide as she introduced them
by name.

She then introduced the four new students, assigning them to their
guide. "Brody, this is Juan Marquez. He is entering third grade and will be
in Miss Kershaw's class." Brody started a fist bump and then remembered his
instructions and presented his hand for a handshake. Juan looked confused,
but finally gave Brody a limp handshake, and the two boys left on their
tour.

"Gordon this is Ed Schaffer. He is entering fifth grade and will be in
Mrs. Lollar's class with you." Aiden cringed when he heard Mrs. Lollar's
name. He'd had a couple of run-ins with her the year before and considered
her to be the very definition of "mean teacher." After shaking Ed's hand,
Gordy led him off on his tour.

"Aiden, your two new students are Lenny and Lance Hazen. They are going
into fourth grade. Lenny will have Mr. Knox as his teacher and Lance will
be in Miss Clarke's room." Aiden shook hands with each of the new boys. He
was surprised by their firm handshakes. The twins had straight blond hair
that was cut to an average length and was kept neatly in place. Lenny's
hair was completely in place, but Lance had an unruly cowlick. While their
clothes looked a bit worn, they were clean and neat. Aiden had the
impression that they were from a poor family, but one where the members
took pride in their appearance, unlike some of the poorer students at
Lakeview (not to mention a few of the middle class and more well-to-do
students).

"You're going to like your teachers," Aiden told the new boys
honestly. "Mr. Knox was my teacher last year and he's really nice. But, he
makes you work hard and you better behave or he can get mean—he loves
giving detention. Miss Clarke is good too, but it can take time to like
her. You guys will like it here at Lakeview."

"I like it already," Lenny said. "You're really nice. I like that we get
our own guide."

Aiden wished the school had had the guide program the year before when he
was a new student. Mr. Holtz was new last year and hadn't had a chance to
start a guide program. During the spring and summer he set the program into
motion. He wanted it to be a little bigger eventually, but elected to keep
it small to start. It helped that a small-town school like Lakeview didn't
have a lot of student turnover once the school year started.

"You guys can ask me for help anytime you want," Aiden said. "I'll help you
figure this place out real quick."

"We never moved before," Lenny said, "but our parents got divorced and we
moved here where my mom got a job."

"She works as a secretary at the Central College," Lance added.

Lenny quickly corrected his twin. "It's called the Centralia College."
Aiden was sure she worked at the Kentburg branch of Centralia Community
College.

"I got center right, that's what counts," Lance said defensively.

"We live in Evergreen Park," Lenny told Aiden. That confirmed Aiden's
suspicion that the twins lived in a poor family since Evergreen Park was a
trailer park on the east side of town.

Aiden showed the boys the lunchroom, the gym, and the layout of the
playground, where he introduced them to a couple of fourth graders he
knew. He then took them to their classrooms to meet their teachers. Each
teacher welcomed their new charge, assigning them to a desk and a
locker. Aiden took the twins to their lockers, showed them how to open
them, and had them practice a couple of times each.

"As long as you remember your combination number, opening your locker is
easy," Aiden assured them.

The twins nodded in unison as the bell rang. "Do we go to our classes now?"
Lance asked.

Aiden said he'd take them back to their rooms.

"I hope we make new friends," Lenny said. "I never moved before and it's
kinda scary."

"I moved here last year at the start of fourth grade just like you," Aiden
said. "I made lots of friends. You both seem like really friendly dudes; I
bet you make lots of friends, too."

Aiden took the twins to their classrooms and placed them in the hands of
their teachers. He found that he loved the responsibility of being a
student guide. He hoped the twins found friends quickly and that they would
have questions for him so he could see them again.

Aiden's first morning of school went smoothly. He had Mrs. Riley as his
teacher. She had started her career teaching fourth and fifth grade at
Lakeview. She transferred to Mayfield Middle School where she taught sixth
and seventh grade core classes. With four years left before retirement, she
decided to return to elementary school teaching when a fifth-grade position
opened up at Lakeview.

Aiden heard that she was good teacher, and even if she wasn't there was no
way she could be as mean as Mrs. Lollar. Miles, Brody, and Muddy were in
his class and Autumn wasn't, which was all good. Mason had Mr. Jones, who
was a first-year teacher.

Aiden enjoyed his first morning of fifth grade, at least as much as a
ten-year-old can enjoy hearing he would be a busy boy and held accountable
for meeting the academic and behavioral expectations of his teacher or be
very sorry. The way Aiden saw things was that Mrs. Riley was almost a
female version of his dads—he didn't see anything that was expected of
him that he couldn't handle.

At lunch, he sat with his friends at what had been their regular table in
fourth grade. Aiden, Mason, Miles, Gordy, and Muddy all sat in their usual
places. Brody, who was now considered a part of their group, sat at the
table as well.

As soon as they were seated the six of them started babbling about their
experiences with their new teachers, at least until Muddy stopped
everything my simply saying, "Nail!"

"Jeez, Muddy, you always have a boner," Gordy said, using the general term
for an erection rather than their own made-up one.

"Can I suck it?" Mason asked.

"Do you want to see it?" Muddy asked Mason, who was sitting next to him.

"No, I want to suck it."

"You have to see it to suck it."

"I'll look at it if you go into the bathroom with me."

"It looks like nothing has changed," Miles giggled.

While nobody went anywhere, the talk turned sexual for a few minutes. Muddy
wondered if anybody else had a boner. Miles was the only one who did, but
he didn't confess to it. The boys talked in conspiratorial hushes about
arranging future sleepovers when Aiden noticed something three tables down
from them. What he saw was Lance and Lenny eating alone at the end of the
table—there was a discernable space between them and the five girls
sitting at the table.

"What are you looking at, Aiden?" Miles asked.

Aiden pointed to the table he had been perusing. "Those twins over there
were the new students I guided this morning. They're sitting all alone."

"Maybe they want to sit alone," Mason said.

"I don't think so. They told me how they've never moved to a new school
before and were worried about not being able to make new friends. We should
invite them to sit with us until they find some new friends."

"But, they're fourth graders," Mason whined. "Why should we have them
sitting with us?"

"I remember when you sat alone last year until we invited you over and made
you our friend."

"Yeah, but we were all fourth graders then," Mason reminded Aiden.

"I remember Collin, who was a fifth grader, sitting with us all spring
because he was our teammate and thought we were cool, even if we were
fourth graders." Aiden gave Mason his signature grin and went on. "It would
be nice if you went to their table and invited them to sit with us."

"You want me to invite them? But I don't want them sitting with us. We
can't talk about sex if they sit with us."

Aiden gave Mason a penetrating stare that would have made his daddy
proud. "Mason, you're going to do it because it's the right thing to do."
Aiden didn't consciously realize it at the time, but he was echoing what
his daddies and Marty had been telling him for the past year.

Mason looked around the table. "Do you guys want them to sit with us?" he
asked his friends.

All of them except Muddy, who sat with a noncommittal look on his face,
nodded yes. "That was really a dumb question, Mason," Miles said.

Mason knew the battle was lost. He walked to the table where the twins were
sitting and asked if they wanted to sit with him and his friends. They
broke out into identical grins and quickly accepted his invitation before
it vanished.  It wasn't until they followed Mason that they realized they
would be sitting at a fifth grade table.

Mason helped the twins carry their lunches over to his table. The blond
boys sat in the remaining empty seats, looking a little intimidated by the
older boys.

Aiden quickly made the twins feel comfortable by introducing his friends to
them. He then introduced the twins to his friends, saying, "This is Lance
and Lenny, and they are my new friends." The expressions on the brothers'
faces instantly went from frightened to glowing. Aiden's words caused the
twins to realize that Aiden hadn't been an older boy doing his job and
bullshitting them about how much he liked them and cared about
them—instead, he was exactly what he said he was.

What none of the boys at the table realized during that first lunch of the
school year was that Aiden Miller, who had been a frightened little fourth
grader a year ago, aching for a friend just like the twins, had, without
fanfare, become the de facto leader of the group, and maybe of most his
class as well. His role had started changing toward the end of baseball
season the spring before and would continue to evolve as he and his
friends, teammates, and classmates grew up together. But, on the first day
of school in their fifth grade year, Aiden's friends, including the newbie
twins, looked at Aiden with respect. It was apparent to all that when Aiden
knew what he wanted, he had no problem convincing others that it was what
they wanted as well.

Ironically, it was Mason, the outcast, who had objected to the twins coming
over to sit with the fifth graders. But, as soon as Aiden announced that
the twins were his friends, it didn't take long for them to become Mason's
friends as well. In fact, as soon as some of the fourth-grade boys noticed
the twins sitting with the table with some of the "cool" fifth graders,
they looked at the new boys in a different light. The aura of poverty and
trailer trash was magically replaced by the aura of being cool. The next
day Lance and Lenny were invited to sit with some of their classmates for
lunch.

Aiden's gesture of friendship quickly led to the twins' being accepted by
their classmates. But it also led to the twins becoming friends of the
older boys who had invited them to sit at their table for lunch. That
invite ended up not being a one-time affair. The twins would often sit with
their fifth grade friends, sometimes together, sometimes sit with their
classmates, and on rare occasions singly when one of them would sit with
the fifth graders and the other with some fourth graders.

But that was in the future. On the first day of school Aiden felt good
about his day. He had been given a big responsibility and had taken it
seriously. He had helped two new students feel totally at home at Lakeview
School—which was exactly what he was supposed to do. The fact that he
made them his friends was an added bonus.

Next: Gratitude

I enjoy getting email. Please email Douglas at thehakkanen@hotmail.com