Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 13:54:23 -0400
From: insanevisionary@hotmail.com
Subject: Barton Hardwick - Part Three

                              Part Three

  There it is again.  I swear it's following me.
  I tried to ignore it while I did my homework, but there it was
again - just sitting there, staring at me while I ate my dinner,
and still later, when I was trying to watch TV.
  Now it's in my room.  It won't even let me play a video game.
It's looking right at me, teasing me.  Daring me.
  OK!  Enough!  I can't take it anymore!!
  I reached out slowly and picked it up and dialed three
numbers.
  "Information.  What city please?" a polite voice asked.
  "Prestonville Lake.  The name is Hardwick -- it's probably a
new listing."
  "Thank you."  There was a quick pause.  "The number is..."
  I scratched it down on a piece of paper, and pushed the off
button.
  There.  I did it!  Are you happy now?
  I sat there for a minute, staring out the window.
  And then it answered.  That was the easy part, it said.
  I got up to use the bathroom.
  What would I say?  Hi, Barton.  I think you're real cute.
  No.  How about - I'm sorry and will you be my friend and kiss
me again?
 No way.  Too desperate.  Too gay?  What the hell am I
thinking?
I washed my hands in cold water and dried them on a towel.
 How about --
  Oh crap!  Why was I getting so nervous over it?  Just call him
and apologize for Chrissake.  That's why you got the number
isn't it?
  Yeah.  That's it, just call and say you're sorry.  Yeah.  That's
it.
  I sat back down and dialed the first three numbers.  What if
he isn't even home?  I hit the off button.
  Of course he's home, you idiot.  It's seven o'clock on Friday
and he doesn't even have any friends to go out with.
  OK.  First three numbers again.  Then the next two...  Wait!
What was I going to say?  What if he's still mad at me and he
won't come to the phone?  Off button.
  Shit!
  I might not even have the right number.  There could be more
than one Hardwick in town.  How would I know?  But not with
a new number.
  It was staring at me again.
  No.  Not that.  No way.  Just quit acting like a damn girl and
call him and apologize.  Now, John!
  I dialed again.  The last number was real tough to hit, but I
did it.
  It rang twice and then a man's voice said, "Hello?"
  "Hel-lo." My voice broke into the phone.  "Can I talk to, uh I
mean is Barton home, I mean does he live there...?"
  A low chuckle came over the line.  "Yes, he lives here.  Just a
minute.  I'll get him."
  In the background I could hear his father call him and then I
heard his voice in the distance, "For me?" and then loud
footsteps or maybe that was my heart.
  "Hello?" he said in my ear.  He sounded confused.
  My voice froze.  My brain froze.
  "Hello?" he asked again.
  Jesus.  Say something John, before he hangs up!
  "Hi!" I practically shouted.
   Shit!  Don't yell at him!  Calm down.
  "Hi, uhhhh... I ummm - Hi... Barton?"
  A second or two of silence then... "John?"
  "Yeah.  Hi.  John.  It's John.  Uhh, it's me.  Hi.  Hi Barton."
  Oh God.  I sound like a retard.  Mouth in gear now, brain still
frozen.
  "Oh.  Hi John."
  "Hi."
  He didn't say anything.  Silence.  Shit!  Think of something.
  "So... did you want to ask me something?" he said slowly.
  Yeah.  That's it.  Ask you something.  Ask him what?
  "John?"
  "Uh, yeah.  Yeah I...  I wanted to ask about, um...
homework.  French homework.  I was wondering if you could
help me with question number four."
  "Yeah, sure, I guess.  Lemme go get my book, OK?"
  "K"
  Now what was I gonna do?  Where the hell's my book?
French homework?  Who's stupid idea was this?
  I ran into the kitchen to look for my book and then
remembered it had been on my desk in front of me the whole
time.
  I picked the phone back up and heard Barton say, "John?
You there?"
  "Yeah, I'm here.  I uh, had to find a pencil."
  "Oh, OK.  I've got my book.  Are you talking about the
assignment for Monday?"
  "Umm, yeah, why?"  Was I?
  "John?"
  "What?"
  "There's only three questions."
  Oh shit!  Shit with crap on top!  Was that giggling I just
heard?  Three?  How the hell was I supposed to know that?  I
hadn't even looked at the stupid French homework yet.
  "Oh.  Well, two.  I meant number two."
  "Oh.  The essay question?"
  Why am I sweating so much?  Jesus.  Open a window!
  "Yeah."
  "Well I don't know if I can really help you much with that
over the phone, but you can borrow my dictionary if you
want."
  "Oh, well yeah I guess you are right about that.  Maybe I
could borrow it.  Hey, do you want to come over tomorrow?"
  "I can't.  My dad and me are going into Daunton to visit my
Aunt and watch the parade."
  Oh crap that's right.   Memorial Day.  I was supposed to go to
the park with my mom and watch the fireworks over the lake,
too.
  "Oh yeah, they have fireworks here."
  "Really?"
  "Yeah, they shoot'em off right over the lake.  It's pretty cool."
  Hey I'm actually talking now.
  "Sounds neat," he said.  "Well, I gotta go help my dad with
the dishes and then pack stuff."
  "Oh, OK.  Sorry, I didn't know you were busy."
  "S'okay.  I hate doing dishes anyway."
  "OK well, see ya."
  "Bye, John."
  "Bye."
  I hit the off button and got up to open the window some more.
  Shit!  I forgot to apologize.  And he wasn't even mad at me.
And he was home.
  I looked at the number where I had written it on the top of
Monday's French homework and smiled.

  The next day the phone rang at about ten in the morning.  My Mom answered.
  "Hello?  Yes, he is.  John?  It's for you."
  Now who could that be?
  "Hello?"
  "Hi...  Uh, John?"
  Barton?  Was that his voice?  I couldn't tell who it was.
  "Yeah, who's this?"
  "It's me.  I mean it's Barton."
  Really?  I thought he was going away today.
  "Oh.  Hi."
  "Hi."
  Silence again.  Think John.
  "Are you at your Aunt's house?" I asked at the same time as he said something
I didn't understand.
  "What?" we asked in unison.
  He giggled.
  "What did you say"? I asked.
  "I was just wondering what you were doing."
  "Oh, nuthin'.  Just watching TV.  So how was your trip?"
  "We didn't go.  My Aunt called and said she was sick and wasn't up to having
company and my Dad said he could use the time to do stuff around here anyway."
  "Oh."
  "So do you still want help with the homework?" he asked after a pause.
  "Nah.  I already faked my way through it."
  "Oh."
  Another pause.  Hey, maybe he wanted to come over.  But I just said I did the
homework already.  Shit!  No. wait!
  "Hey Barton, do you wanna go to the fireworks tonight?"
  "Really?  You want me to?"
  "Yeah, sure.  Let me ask my Mom, okay?"
  I didn't wait for him to answer.  I put the phone down and tore out of my room
into the hall and screamed, "Mom!!  Mom!  Where are you?" as I ran toward the
kitchen.
  The kitchen was empty.  Shit!
  I ran into the living room shouting louder now, "Maaaa!!!"
  I was about to go outside when the bathroom door flew open and she appeared,
looking panicked.  "John?  I'm right here, what is it, honey?  What's wrong?"
  "Mom, can we take somebody to the fireworks with us tonight?"
  "What?  That's it?  Yes, I suppose.  My God John, don't do that to me again.
I thought you were being murdered out here.  Who is it?"
  "The new kid.  Barton."
  "Well OK, just make sure it's alright with his parents first."
  "K Ma, thanks."
  I ran back to the phone.
  "Barton?  You there?"
  "Yes."
  "My Mom said okay, but you have to ask your Dad."
  "I already did," he laughed.
  "Oh.  Great.  We'll pick you up, OK?"
  "OK."
  Alrrright!
  "This is gonna be cool. You'll see."
  "I bet.  I can't wait.  Thanks for asking me, John."
  "OK so I'll see ya around seven-thirty, OK?"
  "Sure."
  "K bye."
  "Bye."
  Shit.  Wait!
  "Barton, wait!!"
  "What?"
  "Uh, where do you live?"
  Was that giggling again?
  "Sorry, I thought you knew.  Just go to place at the end of Mountain road."
  Mountain road?  Up there?  No way.  There was only one house up there and it
was more like a mansion - with a pool and everything.  They must be friggin'
loaded.
  "You live in the old Werner estate?"
  "Yeah, I thought everybody knew that.  Is that bad?"
  "Uh, no.  No it's fine.  So I'll see ya later OK?"
  "OK."

  Many years later, seven-thirty came and it was time to go.
  My Mom's eyebrows raised when I told her where to go to pick him up, but then
there he was, in his grey shorts and a dark green shirt, waiting at the end of
the long, twisting drive.
  He got into the back seat.
  "Hi," he said.
  "Hi," I smiled from the front seat.  He looked real nice and smiled back.
  On the way to the park my Mom asked him the usual dumb adult questions; "How
do you like our --Town?" "Fine." "--School?"  "It's ok." " etc, etc.  Geez.  Oh
Barton, is the color of the grass here OK with you, too?
  Soon we found a good place to sit and spread out the blanket.  There was a
brass band playing, and Mom gave me some money and we went and got hot dogs and
fries and sodas.  It was real hot and we sat and watched the other kids throwing
frisbees around and stuff.
  There was a teenage girl with a little boy about 4 or 5 sitting in front of
us.  She took off his shirt and shorts and we watched him run around in his
diapers, laughing and playing with his balloon and a toy truck.  He was real
cute, with dark long hair and dark brown eyes, and he even came over to Barton
once and handed him his truck.  Barton took it and put it on the grass in front
of him and made a couple of truck noises and the boy laughed and tried to
imitate the sounds Barton made.  Then he picked up his truck and went back and
sat next to the girl.
  Before long the light faded and the first shells lit up the sky.
  There was a pause in the show at one point and Barton leaned back with his
hands in the grass behind him.
I did the same, to get more comfortable. I wasn't looking at what I was doing
and it was dark, and I set my hand down right on top of his.
  "Sorry," I said picking my hand up and setting it down again a few inches
away.
  "It's OK, Barton smiled back at me.
  A few minutes later he shifted his position a litte and I felt his warm
fingers cover mine.
  My eyes went wide and I looked over at him.  He was just looking up into the
sky, his face lit up by the fireworks.
  Shit!  He wants to hold my hand!  Well if he does, then so do I.
  I wanted to turn my hand around so I could really hold his, but he sensed the
movement and tried to pull away.  I grabbed his thumb and tugged it gently back
toward me.
  He looked at me and smiled again. God, he is cute!
  Our hands met again as we looked at each other.  Soft.  Warm.  Nice.  Like
when we kissed in the bathroom.
  Oh, this was weird.  We're both boys!  What if someone sees?
  We sat like that for the rest of the show until the finale when Barton
squeezed my hand tight and then let it go so we could clap and cheer.
  Then it was over.
  We picked up the blanket and started for the parking lot.
  On the way there I had an idea.
 "C'mon, I whispered to Barton.  "Let's take a shortcut."
  We headed off to the left toward the lake.  "We'll see you at the car," I
shouted to Mom and started to run.
  Barton followed in the dark.  "Slow down John.  I can't see a thing."
  "That's ok," I said.  "Just follow me."
  There was a path through the trees along the water that actually was a
shortcut.
  About halfway through I stopped
  Barton ran into me.  "Ooof...  What the?  Oh, sorry..."
  I turned to face him and started laughing.
  "You did that on purpose," he said.
  "Yup," I said plainly.  "And you put your hand on mine."
  I felt him blush in the dark.
  Then I reached over and sought out his hand in the dark.  I found it and
slipped my fingers between his.
  His expression went blank.
  "Is this OK?" I asked.
  He nodded.
  I was going to kiss him.  I knew it.  He wanted me to and I knew that, too.
  We both leaned forward, and just as out lips met the sound of firecrackers
came from somewhere on the other side of the lake.
  Then we heard something else.
  I turned just in time and saw two shadows right next to us.
  A blinding light hit my face.
  Barton gasped into my ear, and a female voice said, "Oh!  I'm sorry.  Wil
-- my brother had to go and I didn't think there would be any body here..."
  I looked down and there was the little boy who had been sitting in front of
us.  He had both hands between his legs, and was smiling and looking at
something about level with his head.  I followed his eyes and...  Shit! I was
still holding Barton's hand.
  I let go quickly as the girl said, "It's okay Willy, go ahead."
  The boy pulled his pants and underpants down to his knees, sighed, and began
wetting the ground in front of him.
  Barton and I just stood there, still petrified, and watched.  How much had she
seen?
  Before long he was done, and the girl helped him up with his pants.  She
pointed the flashlight down the path and they headed toward the lot.  She paused
then, turned slightly and said, "Don't worry, I won't say anything."
  I felt my breath come back.  Barton still looked scared.
  "C'mon, let's go," I said.
  We stepped around the little puddle in front of us, and had only taken a few
steps when I remembered.
  I stopped again and said, "Wait."
  "What's wrong?" Barton asked, his voice tense now.
  "Nothing," I said as he stopped next to me.
  The moon was setting to our right and bits of light filtered through the
leaves, catching the color of his straight blonde hair.
  I took his hand again and said, "I'm sorry."
  "For what?" he asked.
  "For what I said in school on Friday.  I...  I meant to apologize on the
phone before.  That's why I called you."
  "Really?"
  "Yeah, I guess I just forgot."
  "Oh," he said.
  "So I guess you're not mad at me anymore?"
  "Nah," he smiled.  "Never was, not really anyway."
  "Really?"
  "Yeah.  I...  I like you, John."
  "I like you too, Barton."  I looked at the ground, then back into his eyes.
"A lot."
  He leaned into me and put his lips on mine.  This time there was no pee
emergency, and we kissed again - a little longer this time.
  I put my hand around his waist and felt his around mine.  I could feel my
boyhood harden against the cotton of my briefs, and my hips tingled.  Our
lips still together, our bodies touched and I felt something press against
my shorts.
  Barton was getting hard too!
  My face hot with blush, I pulled my mouth from his and said, "We better get
going."
  He nodded again.  Damn he was good at that.
  "What took you two so long?" my Mom asked when we got to the car.
  "Oh, a little kid got lost in the woods and we helped him out," I lied.
  We sat in the back together on the way home and Barton "accidentally" set his
hand down on top of mine.
  I didn't notice if there was a bulge in his shorts, but there sure was in
mine!


    More to come, you bet!

			insanevisionary@hotmail.com