Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2000 15:17:03 -0500
From: insanevisionary@hotmail.com
Subject: Barton 6-7

 I knew I was going to kiss him again real soon, and I was going to like
it, bad or not.
 I smiled to myself and the world at that.
 The birds moved and chattered in the trees around and above me.
 I couldn't wait to find out what was for supper.

                         PART SIX

  The next thing I knew it was Friday afternoon again.

  I got off the bus and walked up to the house and in the back door.  My
dad was still here.  Cool.  Maybe we could go to a movie tonight or
something.

  I put my Math book down on the dining room table and went into my room to
change clothes.  I took off my school shirt and pants, and was taking an
old pair of jeans out of a drawer when I noticed my Dad standing in the
doorway, holding my Math book.

  We sometimes both ate breakfast together in nothing but our underpants so
I didn't try to hide or anything.

 "I thought you liked to wear your Spiderman undies," he said with a smile.

  I rolled my eyes.  "Yah, sure, Dad," I said.  "When I was ten maybe."

  "Oh, that's right.  Gee, you must be what... Almost twelve now, huh?"

 "Daad..." I said with my hands on my hips, trying to sound disgusted.
"You know I'm thirteen."

  He cocked his head to one side a little. . "Oh, yeah.  That's right," he
said.  He was looking right at the front of my white briefs.  They were
kinda small for me and it was time for new ones.  I was thinking about
asking for boxer-briefs this time.  I saw a couple of other kids wearing
them at school and I wanted to try them.

  His eyes narrowed a bit as he looked at my underwear. "Thirteen? I guess
I thought you looked a little - younger than that."

  "DA-AAAD!!!  Geeeez!"  I could feel my face turning red now.  He used to
always joke about how I was "Big for my age" down there.

  He laughed.  "Sorry, bud, I was just kidding.  And I thought you were
going to start wearing boxers like me."

  I put my jeans on and zipped them up as fast as I could.  "Boxers are for
old guys."

  "Oh, I see," he said.  "And what's this?" he held out the book.  "Only
one book for weekend homework?"

  "Yeah, Barton's going to help me with the rest in study hall Monday
morning," I said reaching for a shirt.

  "Oh.  Well... good.  You two seem to be getting to be good friends, huh?"

  "Yeah, I guess." I shrugged.

  "That's good.  Your Mom says he seems like a nice boy."

 "Yeaah..." I said slowly.

My Dad had a funny grin on his face now.  What's going on?

"OK, well when you finish dressing and washing up, your Mother and I want
to have a talk with you."

  Oh no!  Not that!  The sentence that every kid hates to hear.

"W..hy?"

"You'll see," he said and walked away.

Oh... Crap!  Instantly, I started the list of bad things I'd done in my
head, but for the first time I couldn't think of anything that hadn't been
found out yet.

But wait!  Barton!

Oh, Crap with shit ripple!!  They knew.  That day when His Dad gave us a
ride home and he was grinning in the front seat cuz I still had Barton's
books.  What else did he see?  Who told?  Oh, no!

I walked the last mile into the bathroom to wash my face and hands.  Was it
that time when we were pretend wrestling in the back yard?  I shuffled into
the dining room.

"Come. On.  Have a seat."  My Dad held out a chair.

I put my hand across the back and slid a cheek up, leaving one foot on the
floor.

"It's OK honey," Mom said.  "You're not in trouble."

Yeah sure.  That's what they said before they made me confess that I was
the one who put the Jell-O in the neighbor's birdbath.  I got no TV for a
week for that one.

My dad put a hand on my shoulder.  Oh, this was gonna be bad.  I started to
tremble.

"Look at him.  He's shaking," Mom said.  "Just tell him, Dan."

"Well, John,.. Your mother and I have had a talk with Barton's father..."

I KNEW it!  My nose started to tingle and I closed my eyes.

"...and we thought it would be a good idea to have them over to dinner
tomorrow night so we can meet each other and Barton can help you study."

What?!  "What?"

My father continued, "Well, we know that you are trying to get better
grades and that Barton has been helping you, and since you two are,
uh... such good friends... we thought it would be nice to have them over."

He was smiling.  He was SMILING!

Then Mom said, "And if you would like, you can ask Barton if he wants to
spend the night, too."

I couldn't think of anything to say.  I really wasn't in trouble this time.
They didn't know anything.

"Well?...  John?"

I looked up at my Dad.  "What?"

"Well say something," he said.  "What do you think?"

"Uh...  I.  Uh..."  Brain frozen again.  I blinked.  "Yeah.  Sure."

Dad sat back in his chair and looked over at my Mom.  "You were right," he
said holding both hands up.  "Look at him.  He's totally excited."

"I don't think it's hit him yet," she replied.

Brain thawing.  "You mean it?  Really?" I asked.

Mom nodded her head.

"And that's it?"  That's what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well..." Dad said.

"Yes," Mom said quickly.  "That's it."

Suddenly the phone rang. Mom glanced up at the clock and smiled.  "I'll get
it," she said as she got up.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"If Barton's Dad says it's OK, can we sleep outside in my tent?"

"I don't know.  We'll have to wait and see what he says, OK?"

"K, but I hope we can, that would be so cool."

My Mom walked into the room then, with the phone.  "John?  It's for you."

I took the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi John.  It's me.  Barton."

Like duh. I knew the sound of his voice on the phone now.  But I could feel
a big smile on my face and started to blush.  Why did that happen?

"Hi Barton."  I looked up and both parents were grinning.

My Mom turned her head and my Dad made that sound like when someone tries
not to laugh.  My Mom hit him in the arm and went into the kitchen,
motioning for him to follow.

I shook my head at them and wondered what was so funny.

Barton said, "So did your Mom tell you?"

"About tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"My Dad just told me too."

"Cool.  So can you?"

"Can I come over? Uh, sure."  He sounded confused.

"No, I mean can you stay over?"

"You want me to sleep over with you?"

Geez.  Duh!  "Yeah.  So can you?  My Dad said we could sleep in my tent if
it's OK with your Dad."

"Um, hang on, I'll ask, OK?"

"OK."

After a few seconds (YEARS) of silence Barton came back.  "John?"

"Yeah?"

"He said yes."

"Alright!" I shouted.  "This is gonna be so cool.  I got this great
flashlight for my birthday and we can bring comic books and popcorn and
stay up all night!"

On the other end Barton giggled.  "That sounds great."

Suddenly someone tapped me on the shoulder.  It was my Dad.  "Can I talk to
him for a sec?" he asked.

"Uh, sure Dad.  Hey Barton, my Dad wants to say hi."

"Hello Barton.

I'm fine thanks.

I'm glad you can come and stay over, but we want you to know that as part
of the deal, you boys are going to have to study together for at least an
hour after dinner.  After that you... Well after that you're on your own.
Is that a deal with you?  Good."  He looked at me.  "Deal, John?"

Are you kidding? An hour?  "Sure, Dad."

"OK," he said, then to Barton, "We'll se you tomorrow then, OK?

Goodbye Barton."  He handed the phone back.

"Parents," I said.  "They gotta ruin everything."

"It won't be that bad, really John."

"Do I have to bring you an apple?"

"Ha ha."

"Just kidding.  I can't wait."

"I know.  I can't wait to see you, too.  This is going to be neat."

I'm going to go set my tent up right now.  I'll see ya tomorrow."

"See ya."



				Part Seven

At about five the next afternoon, I saw the van pull into the driveway.

I had been waiting and watching from the top of a big oak tree up the hill
behind the house, and my butt was getting sore from sitting on branches.

I climbed down just in time to meet them as they were getting out of the
van.

"Hi, John," his Dad said.

"Hi Mr. Hardwick.  Hi Barton."

He looked the same as he did at school, shorts and sneakers, a green and
white striped shirt, and a backpack over one shoulder.

"Hi John."  There's that goofy grin.  My face felt warm again.  He was
reaching into the car for something.

"You want some help with stuff?" I asked.  "Sure, you can take this."  He
handed me a big duffel bag with both hands.  I almost dropped it.

"Cripes, what are you, staying a month?  What the heck you got in here,
your rock collection?

I heard someone laughing behind me.  "That's pretty close, John," his Dad
said.  "But it's comic books - almost his the whole collection and mine.
And enough clothes for at least a week, and just about his entire
bathroom!"

I looked at Barton, who shrugged and said, "I didn't want to forget
something."  He had that same look as when I helped him up off the floor
that day.

His father chuckled, "And I'm sure you didn't.  I had to stop him before he
started packing the furniture."

Barton rolled his eyes up.  "Funny, Dad."

"Well you have to understand, John," his Dad went on. "Barton has never
slept over with anyone before."

I looked at Barton.  "Really?  Never?"

He was looking at the ground.

"That's OK," I said.  I went over and put an arm over his shoulders.  "Come
on, let's bring all this stuff in and go check out my tent, K?"

He looked up and smiled. "OK."

We walked up to the house and went inside.

My Dad was there with a big smile, holding out his hand.  He liked to make
friends as much as I did.

"Hello, welcome, uh... I'm sorry I don't know your first name..."

Barton's Dad smiled back.  He was almost as pretty as Barton, but had dark
hair and more angular features.

"Actually, my first name's Barton, but my middle name is Joseph and
everyone calls Joe," he said as they shook hands.

"Well come on in then, Joe," Dad said.

We all went into the kitchen where my Dad offered Barton's Dad a beer and
then they headed out with my Mom onto the deck in the back.

I still had the duffel bag with the comic books so I said, "Let's bring
this stuff out to the tent.  Where's your sleeping bag?"

"Oh, it's in the car still."

"Well, let's go get it."



I had pitched the tent about fifty feet or so away from the house.  Far
enough away for privacy, but close enough to the bathroom and the fridge.
I had slept out a lot before, and learned that those were important things
sometimes.

"Hey this is neat," Barton said as he climbed into the tent with me.  He
was looking all around.

"It's supposed to be for four, but it's better with only two," I said.  It
was a dome tent and easy to set up.

"It's really cool, John."  He was still looking around inside and peeking
out the windows.

"Haven't you ever been in a tent, before?"

He turned pink.  "Just once.  My Dad has one that's big enough to stand up
in and we went camping once a couple years ago, but I don't have one of my
own."

"Oh, that's too bad.  Well maybe you can get one for your birthday or
Christmas, if you ask."

He just smiled and nodded.  Then he sat down next to me. Our faces were
only a few inches apart.

It was going to happen.

I put a hand on his shoulder.  My heart started beating faster like I
thought it was gong to jump right out of me.

Our faces got closer until our lips met, separated and met again.

I felt his hand on my thigh just above my knee, and covered it with mine.
His lips parted slightly, and I felt his tongue brush lightly against my
lips.

A shock went down my spine all the way to the bottom, then came around and
settled in the front of my shorts.

I pulled away slightly and sucked in a quick breath.  I'd never felt
anything like that before.

"You OK?" Barton asked.

"Uh... yeah.  Wow!" I said, trying to get my breath back.

Barton giggled.

I looked down at our hands and slipped my fingers between his.  "Can I try
it on you?"

"Sure."

As our lips met again and the hand I'd put on his shoulder slipped, by
itself, into the thick blonde curls at the base of his neck.

I opened my mouth a little and ran my tongue across his lips.

Same thing.  All the way to the bottom and then right into my underwear.

I felt Barton's shoulders shiver and then I felt the tip of his tongue
against mine.  I recoiled for a second, then relaxed and let it happen.

It was soft, warm, nice.  Like our fingers together. Real nice.  Like when
we kissed by the lake, only better.

I opened my eyes and realized that Barton's were still open, too.  They had
been blue before but looked real dark now, like almost purple.  But maybe
that was just the light in the tent...

Barton pulled back and sighed, "Yeah.  Definetly wow."

The whole world seemed to be inside my tent.  "Yeah," I said.

My briefs were feeling way too small now for sure.

"Do you think we should get back?" Barton asked.

I sighed.  "Yeah probably.  I bet supper will be ready soon."

Then I squeezed his hand and looked right at him and said, "But if I stand
up right now, there's going to be more than one tent around here."

Barton's eyes went big for a second.  He put his hand over his mouth and
giggled again.  Then he took his hand away, looked into his lap, then back
up into my eyes and said, "Yeah, me too."

I followed his eyes down between his legs, but the way he was sitting I
couldn't tell.  I wanted to put my hand down there and find out, but I
didn't dare.

"You're funny, John."

"Thanks."

"And... and you kiss good too," he blurted.

I turned bright red.  "Do not."

"Yes you do."

"No, you do."

"Do not."

"Do so," I laughed.

"Do not," he said and he pushed my shoulder with a fist.

"Do too," I said and I hit him in the arm.

He rocked back a bit, then his face went blank and he held his arm where
I'd tapped him.

"Ow."

"Oh, shit!  I'm sorry, Barton.  Did that hurt?"

He nodded and looked sad.

"Oh man... I'm real sorry.  I didn't mean to..."

Barton burst out laughing then.  "Gotcha!" he yelled as he scampered for
the tent door.

"Why you..." I said under my breath.  I reached to grab him, but my fingers
slipped off a sneaker as it disappeared through the door.

"Get back here you little..."  I came flying out of the tent and ran right
into him.  He'd only gone a couple of steps.

"Oooof...  Now I've got ya."  I reached out and grabbed him by the
shoulders.

He looked scared.  I didn't know what to do, so I pulled him in to me and
kissed him hard on the lips.

"Jo-ohn!" he whined.

Ooops.  Crap!  I'd forgotten we weren't in the tent anymore.  Oh, no!  I
just kissed him in broad daylight, in the middle of the back yard and our
parents were probably...

I let go and we both turned slowly toward the house.

Sure enough.  There they were, on the deck about 50 feet away and both our
Dads were leaning against the railing, facing us.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"It's OK.  Maybe they didn't see anything."


			     More to come soon

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