Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 20:14:49 GMT From: TellerOf Tales Subject: Rich Kid part 6 WARNING: This story contains descriptions of sexual acts between boys of similar ages. If this is not to your tastes or is not legal in your locality, please leave now! The story and its associated characters are entirely fictional and any resemblance to people, living or otherwise, is purely coincidental. Some parts of the story have been idealised. The author has copyrighted this story. A single copy had been placed in the Nifty Archive. Do not distribute it to any newsgroups and/or other web-sites without permission from the author. The Rich Kid Part 6 The Separation By the time we had returned home, father had been informed of the fight and we had to go directly up to his study. I knocked on the door nervously and waited. "Enter!" Father commanded. "You wanted to see us father." I said as we entered his study. "What the hell has been going on?" He yelled. He was absolutely livid. To be honest, I can't remember ever seeing him this angry before. I explained everything leading up to today's fight. Father sat in his chair scrutinising me, every movement, every word. Mike made his points clearly and succinctly which backed up my story, but then why shouldn't it. It was the truth after all. "So Edward, you stepped in to defend Michael. To stop these other boys from assaulting him." "Yes father." "At least you are as loyal to your friends as you are to me which is good, but you know my views on fighting and by hitting these other boys you have reduced yourself to their level which is totally unacceptable! You will both now return to the study room and write a sincere letter of apology to both the headmaster and the PE teacher." "Sorry father, but what else could I do?" "You could both have turned and walked away! Now go!" Mike and I left father's study and returned to our study room and after writing the letters father had ordered, we returned to his office. Father wasn't there, but his secretary took them from us and we left. Our lessons seemed to drag for the remainder of the day and after prep, we showered and headed down for dinner. As we entered the dining room, I noticed that five places we set. This puzzled me. Four I could understand, but five? Why five? There were sounds of laughter coming from the library, so Mike and I went to investigate. It was quite a shock to us to find father and both of Mike's parents in there. We entered trying to stay calm. Father hadn't mentioned any guests for dinner this evening. "Come in boys. Come in." Father said jovially. This made me even more suspicious. What's more we were allowed a small sherry before dinner too. Normally we were only allowed soft drinks except with the meal itself and that was limited to one glass of wine. The tone of the evening was set. The table layout and the sherry pointed to one thing, a formal dinner party. The butler announced dinner was served and we filed through. The conversation all through dinner was light hearted which induced a foreboding in me. What was this all about? We moved through into the drawing room after dinner and things seemed to relax a little. Well, Mike did, he was verging on the giggly and had no idea something was afoot despite my having tried to warn him. Suddenly. "Can we get started?" Father said bringing the room to an instant hush. Mike and I were asked to sit in the two easy chairs on one side of the coffee table whilst the adults sat around the other three sides. Alarm bells started ringing in my head! "Boys," father began, "we have gathered here this evening to sort out one or two concerns that we, your parents have. We are growing concerned about how close you have been getting. Normal friendship is fine, but on several occasions now you have been caught sleeping in the same bed. What do you have to say about the matter?" Father sounded very formal, this told me he was hiding his feelings, not only from the Jones's but me also. I looked at Mike, he had stopped giggling now and was very quiet as he stared intently at me. I stood up and cleared my throat. "As you have correctly assumed, Michael and I are very close friends. From my point of view, I have been stuck here in this house since mid-July when school broke up for the summer and until late August I saw no-one my own age." "But you chose to stay here with me instead of going to that adventure holiday resort in the South of France." Father interrupted. "As I was about to say, this was partly my choice. I was hoping to spend at least a little time with you father. It would have been the only time we would have been together since Christmas, but no, you had to work. Day after day you hid away in your office. Some days I didn't even see you at meal times." I took a quick drink from my glass and looked at father. He had a surprised look on his face, but said nothing. "Then Mike came in to my life. Certainly our meeting was somewhat unusual, but from the first moment I saw him I knew he would be a good friend and possibly more. Mike." I said looking at him. Mike took over on cue. "I knew my dad had applied for a job here and with the wall around the grounds made it all the more intriguing. So for days, I spent a lot of my time looking around the grounds. Yes, I even saw Edward on a number of occasions which made the place like an irresistible force and I had to keep coming back. I knew the risks, even if I did underestimate them at the time, and on the day that Edward and I met for the first time, I carelessly forgot my watch lens and the sun which was how he caught me." Mike looked at me and grinned. "That slim, lily-white body that splashed around on the beech really distracted me." Mike stopped suddenly and went deep red. He turned and made off toward the door. I was too quick for him and wrapped my arms around him. "We have to be honest with them. I think they know any way, but we must tell them." I said quietly. Mike shrugged himself free of my hug, grasped my hand firmly and we went back to our parents. "You see, mum, dad, I don't really know how to say this, but . . ." Mike stopped and looked at me. He was shaking like a leaf and was on the whiter shade of pale by now. "Father, Mr and Mrs Jones, what Mike and I are saying is that we are in love with each other." I sat down with a bump pulling Mike with me. Our parents just stared at us not really knowing what to say. I could see tears of fear running down Mike's cheeks and timidly turned him towards me and hugged him tight making sure my face was nearest our parents in an attempt to hide his tears. The room was silent. Mike released me and nervously he looked at his mother. She smiled and he went quickly to her and hugged her tight. My father on the other hand just sat there looking down into his lap. It was most unlike him to show his emotions, normally he put on his business expression and toughed it out. Nervously, I walked over to him. He didn't even look up at me. I sat on the arm of his chair and put an arm around him. Before I knew what was happening I was sat on his lap, his arms were wrapped around me and he was sobbing into my shoulder. This was definitely a new experience for me and probably him too. Lovingly, I stroked the back of his shoulders. I didn't know what good it would do, but he did it to me on the rare occasions he saw me when I was upset. "Do you really love him?" Father asked so softly that it was almost unperceptible. "Yes, I do dad." I replied just as softly. Father looked at me with surprise. "You called me dad." He said. "You've never done that before." We hugged tight again before he suggested that Mike might need releasing from his mother's hug. I looked at him and grinned. "Don't think badly of us Mr Jones." I said cautiously. "I know this has come as a bit of a shock." "Shock!" He bellowed. "I'll give you shock!" "Michael, Edward, go and watch television for a while." Father ordered. It was obvious he was concerned about Mr Jones's reaction and felt that they needed to talk. Reluctantly, Mike's mother released him and we walk to the door holding hands, there was no need to hide how we felt any longer. The adults spent best part of two hours discussing the situation and Mike and I desperately wanted to know what was being said. We took turns listening at the door which, of course, resulted in numerous Master Edward or Master Michael's from the butler accompanied by a disapproving look. We gave up in the end when the Butler told us we were to go to bed. We both lay awake in the same bed all night unsure of what was going to greet us the following morning. The morning came and nothing. It was as though last night had never happened. This made both Mike and I very unsettled. Neither of us could concentrate during lessons and in the end, Mr Grey abandoned the scheduled lessons and opened the floor to discussions. Mike was very brave when he asked about same gender relationships. Boy did we talk that one through. We discovered a lot about adult view point and how sometimes what we, the young, perceive as unreasonable is very often exactly the opposite in the long term. By lunch time we all had a better understanding of each other and were prepared to face any consequences that might be coming our way. Mike and I had also agreed that we stand together "come hell or high water". The dining room was back to normal at lunch and Mr Grey and us boys sat at our own table whilst father and Mr Jones sat at the main table. As we were leaving Mr Jones called Mike. "Yes dad." Mike answered nervously. "If you truly love Edward, that's fine by me and your mother." Mr Jones said. "Thanks dad." Mike said as tears of joy ran down his face. His father hugged him tight and beckoned me to join them. It was an event that I will never forget! The only worry I had now, well here at home any way, was father. He hadn't said anything one way or the other. For the rest of the day, life was pretty well back to normal. The only surprise was when Mike and I went to my room to get ready for dinner and found that a second bed had appeared and his clothes were hanging up in my second wardrobe. I now knew that father didn't disapprove, but did he approve? Only time would tell. We spent that evening rearranging my room. It was hard work, but by the time we had finished, it looked more like a bedroom than a lonely boys play room. When father came up to see us that night just before 10, he was happy to see that we were in separate beds. I explained that it was the same every weekday night, he was pleased and after kissing us both good night, left us. It was strange how father seemed to be growing closer to Mike all the time. To me, it showed he was being accepted in to our, father's and mine, way of life, into our family even. Midmorning break caught Mike and I by surprise. Father and Mr Grey were in the study room when we got back from having a drink. They were looking at a letter father had received that morning. "Sit down boys." Mr Grey said solemnly. "Boys, we have here a letter from the school. Edward you have been invited to join them there after half term." I let up a cheer! "Mike, the news isn't so good for you. You will have to re-sit the entrance papers after half term and won't be able to join Edward until the start of the new term, providing your grades are better this time." The news was pretty much as we expected. My elation switched to sorrow immediately. Mike looked really downcast. Despite all my attempts to cheer him up, I failed miserably. It was then that it dawned on me too that we would be apart for six weeks at least. My jaw dropped and my spirits dropped even lower. There was no way I was going to be separated from Mike for that amount of time. I couldn't be! I realised now that my father was testing us. It was now obvious to me that he had pulled quite a few strings to get me in to this school. No school accepts new boarders mid-term. It just wasn't done. I turned and looked at father. Real anger welled up inside me. I think he knew this because he pointed at me with his finger and simply said "shut it!" I turned and ran out of the room slamming the door behind me. Father shouted something, but I ignored it. I left the house and ran as fast as I could. Despite the rain that was now pouring down, I kept running hard. I eventually stopped when I reached our beach. The place where Mike and I first met. I sat on our log and cried my heart out. Mike found me about an hour later. I was soaking wet and freezing cold. He tried desperately to reassure me that it was only for a few weeks and that we could write and phone and even e-mail each other, but this did little to raise my spirits. I hugged him tight. It was then that I saw father standing there. His suit splattered in and dripping wet. I stood up and walked off taking Mike with me. I felt that he was the only one who loved me, the only one who cared. That man was only there to pay the bills, I no longer felt anything for him. As I tried to lead Mike away from this cold hearted bill payer, he kept following us. In the end, I turned and let my anger pour forth. By the time I had finished, my father was in no doubt as to where he stood. Ok I got a good hiding for my poor choice of language, but at least it was all in context and my behind was now the only warm place on my body. My father turned away and left us. He was hurt by the things I had said, but then again, I was hurt by him pulling strings to get me away from Mike! Mike lead me back to the house shadowed by security. It wasn't that father distrusted Mike, more that he thought I might do something stupid like run away or something. That was the furthest thought from my mind. Father was going to pay dearly for pulling strings. The first thing Mike did when we got back to our room was to put me in a hot bath. He proved to be a real mother hen that night. He wouldn't leave me alone for a second. When I was still shivering at bed time, he called father and the doctor was called. My first opportunity to retaliate against my father was when the doctor asked to speak to him outside. I told them both to talk about me in front of me or not at all. This really embarrassed father. Yes! Score one to the good guys! I didn't say one word to my father for the next couple of days. Even after I was allowed to get out of bed, I insisted on wearing jeans and tee shirts and the like to dinner in the evenings. It wasn't until Mike told me about a conversation he had had with father that I dramatically changed my plans. It transpired that father had told Mike that if I didn't change my attitude radically in the next 24 hours he would be living at home and travelling in daily for his lessons. Naturally, I revised my plan of attack and reduced it to common courtesy only. This made Mike happier too as he was also threatening to go home if I didn't stop acting like a real brat! There was no physical contact between Mike and I for the whole of that weekend. Although I did treat him a lot better than I did father. Despite all of my anger at father, I loved Mike more than any one else in the world and I could never be parted from him. Father and I didn't see much of each other right up to the night before I was to leave for school. Needless to say, that night, Mike and I made love more times than we could count and when breakfast time came on the morning of my departure we both looked like hell! Father passed comment several times about it at breakfast and all I did was to smile at him and tell him how good it was. This achieved nothing apart from bringing my departure to school forward. Mike didn't want to say goodbye in public so he stayed at home instead of coming with me. I have never felt so sad in my life! The look in his eyes as we drove away, the tears we both shed, the heartache we both suffered would take months if not years to get better. I arrived at school and was first shown to where I was going to be sleeping. I was expecting to be in one of the dorms, but no. I had been allocated a two person room to my self. The second bed I found out later was for Mike. The sixth former who showed me to my room was annoyed at the prospect of having a "little kid" sleeping on his landing. Despite my reassurances that I would keep out of his way, his annoyance didn't abate. He also made it abundantly clear that the other sixth form facilities were strictly off limits. I spent the next hour or so unpacking and generally settling in. I was extremely depressed. The room was comfortable enough, but not like mine at home. There was no phone, no computer, nothing. I sat on my bed just short of tears when the door flew open. It was another sixth former. "Ah is didums missing his mummy and daddy then?" This six foot two athletic built boy said sarcastically. "Not really. I'm missing…" I stopped short. I couldn't tell him I was missing my boy friend. Blimey, that would get me crucified! "Missing my home comforts." "Like what?" The boy answered sharply. "Like my PC for a start and my phone." "You won't get them here unless you pay for them." He said a little more gently. There was a knock at the door. "Come!" I said in my best business voice. It was the porter. "The engineer from the phone company is here." The man said. "Thank you." I replied still retaining my business manner. "Show him up please." "Sorry, young sir. You have to come down and sign him in." "Can you show me where to go please?" I replied. My depression was lifting as this little ray of sunshine shone in on my solitary world. The sixth former was awe-struck! In all his time at the school, he had never seen a boy start mid-way through a year, never mind mid-term and here he was with the phone being installed on his first day. He dashed off to tell his friends. The porter led me down to the porter's lodge. It was a small office just inside what was known as the common entrance. It didn't look much, but was the hub of school security. I carefully checked the engineer's ID and signed him in. When we got back to my room, it turned out that the previous occupant had a phone in there too and all it needed was to be reconnected. The job was done in less than five minutes and after signing the engineer out, I ran back to test my new phone line. I quickly dialled Mike's room number and the phone rang. And rang and rang. I tried his home number, but got no answer there either. My ray of sunshine was fading fast. Eventually I phoned father's secretary and she said she would pass a message on to Mike for me. I gave her my new number for Mike. The trouble was I had no idea of the routine this school ran to and couldn't say when I would be there. In the end, I told her to get him to phone in the late evening. The door opened and the two sixth formers I had met earlier walked in. "Jesus! Doesn't any body knock around here?" I said angrily. "Not for lower school tykes!" The grumpy one said. "Bloody hell! He has got a phone already!" "I told you he had!" The six foot boy replied. "Hm. . . Rich kid!" "I'm Hamilton-Smythe, HS to my friends and this is Dozer." He said pointing to the grumpy one I met first. We shook hands and I introduced my self. "I'm Edward Sommerton-Thorne, but you can call me Edward if you wish." I know it sounded a bit pompous, but I wasn't sure about these guys and wanted to maintain a distance, for the moment any way. "Rich kid! That was an understatement!" HS said to Dozer. "You aren't kidding. They don't come much richer." They spoke as if I wasn't there. "Well Edward." HS started. "You're to come for coffee with us at the Master's house. First day as well." "Can you show me where to go?" I asked with just a little too much uncertainty in my voice. I got a clip around the ear from Dozer. "We said you were to COME WITH US! Dope. Don't you ever listen!" Dozer yelled. "Hey! Take it easy on him. He's one of us, not one of those damn scholarship kids." HS said in a harsh tone to Dozer. Turning to me he said "Come on youngun. It's not far." As we left my room I pulled the door to. "Don't forget to lock it." HS reminded me. "Lock it? I haven't a key." I replied now wondering about the security of my kit. "Top right hand drawer of the desk." Dozer said now in a more friendly tone. I looked and there was a small bunch of keys. I locked the door and off we went. They both became a lot friendlier as we got to know one another. Coffee with the Master was quite an auspicious start for me at school and quite an honour too. I discovered just how many strings father had pulled to get me in early. It was also why I had a room to myself, until Mike started that is. Mike. My spirits sank again. Mike was the only person I really wanted to be with. Instead I was having coffee with an old man, well 40ish and two sixth formers! We headed back to the main school building and I was shown to the school secretary's office. Documentation time! HS called it. He wasn't too far wrong either, but neither of them warned me about the physical! At my old school, it was know as "cough and drop" or more accurately drop your trousers and cough. As the doctor gently checked my balls out, his touch reminded me even more of Mike and before I could say "boing" I had an erection! I have never been so embarrassed in my life before! And it was a male doctor. He palmed me off with the usual "it happens to lots of boys, don't worry about it" crap. It didn't make me feel any better though. I eventually escaped the sanatorium and headed back to my room. What had started out as a quiet morning was rapidly becoming a noisy afternoon. I found the dining room and one pretty girl, well she looked about 18, who showed me the ropes as I collected my lunch. We sat and talked as we ate lunch. It transpired that she was the Master's daughter and she had been asked to look after the waifs and strays, me. She also warned me to be careful tonight. A new boy's first night meant initiation rights had to be performed and that it was usually carried out for several boys at once. However, I was the only one which meant all the sixth form would expect a part in my initiation. She also warned me not to cry or it would result in a repeat performance tomorrow night. We parted at the plate hatch. I was really nervous now. What sort of thing did they do here to initiate the new boys? I got back to my room to discover some rather large boxes had been delivered. I knew the markings on the boxes from when Mike's PC had arrived. I opened then carefully and to my astonishment it was a laptop! It had a docking station and a 17 inch screen too! Ok, may be my father wasn't all bad! But it would take more than this to get me to forgive him for separating Mike and I. Mind you though, it was a good laptop! The afternoon passed quickly and very soon it was what is known as social time. The school was still filing up with boys as they returned from the short break. There were lots of people around now and I was being asked lots of questions. Unfortunately, they were mostly the same questions asked by numerous different people. "Who was I? What form was I in? Where was I sleeping?" The last question caused most problems though. A third former sleeping in a sixth form area was very unusual. I met one or two potential friends, but on the whole they were a stand-offish bunch. Bed time soon came round and I became nervous. No one would tell me what form the initiations here took. I guess I would just have to wait and see. I climbed into bed wearing my PE shorts and underwear. I lay there for what seemed like ages. The door opened quietly and the duty prefect looked in. "Are you ok?" He asked. He seemed genuinely interested. "Just a bit nervous." I replied. "Don't worry. It will be a bit embarrassing, but no-one will hurt you. Just make sure you don't cry. OK?" "Thanks." I replied. "If you have any problems in the night, I am two doors down that way." The prefect said as he pointed off to my right. "Good night." "Good night." The door closed as quietly as it had opened. I put plan "A" into operation. Quickly and quietly I rearranged what little furniture I had in my room so that anyone who came rushing in would firstly make a lot of noise as they crashed into things and secondly would probably fall over. With that I lay back in bed and waited. About an hour later, I was woken up by an almighty crash and someone cursing. Oh well, at least the plan worked. I curled my knees up so my thighs were against my chest. The bed covers flew off and a hand grabbed me by the arm. As I was spun round I pushed out with my legs and made contact with some ones chest. I hope they liked flying because that's exactly what they did, right across the room and onto the spare bed. Several more pairs of hands grabbed me and that was it. I couldn't move any more. My shorts and underwear were almost ripped off and a large spongy ball was forced into my mouth. I tried to struggle, but it was no use. I was half dragged, half carried down the corridor and out of the fire escape. I shivered as the night air hit me. Someone laughed as I was man handled down the steel stairs and forced to walk across the grass to the hockey courts behind the sports centre. God it was cold! I was racked out on the side of a hockey goal. The nets had been put away so they now had full access to me. I saw the girl again. She walked slowly towards me. I could see her smile. She grasped my nuts gently and played with them. Her touch was so soft and gentle that it reminded me of Mike. Shit! I wished that I hadn't made that connection as I was now sporting an erection. The group laughed as the girl started to play with it. No. I thought to myself. NO. I did my best to regain control. Everything stopped. I opened my eyes and there was an intense white flash. Some bastard took a picture of me! I tried to yell out, but the sponge ball completely filled my mouth and there was no way I could spit it out. "Get the paint." An older boy ordered. Before I had a chance to struggle, there were about a dozen paint brushes busy daubing me with what I hoped was water colours. Wherever a paint brush touched me, a colder patch appeared. I could feel tears of emotional pain and embarrassment welling up inside me. I fought hard to suppress them. No way did I want to go through all this again. This lasted for nearly 20 minutes before most of the group dispersed, but not before more pictures were taken. Finally, I was lead back towards the main building. As we were crossing the grass. There was a shout. My heart thumped. "What now?" I asked myself. It was the duty prefect. But the others had run away leaving me alone, naked and covered with paint! "Oh God! They have gone too far this time." The prefect said. It was the one I had met earlier. I tried to speak. "Hang on a minute. This might hurt a bit though." He said as he tried to get the ball out of my mouth. My jaw cracked as he eased the ball out of my mouth and a pain shot through the side of my face. My yell echoed around the walls of the building and very soon one of the teachers came out to see what the problem was. I grabbed my jaw and held it tight as yet more screams rent the night air. The echoes made them sound quite chilling! Both the teacher and the duty prefect were furious. They accepted a degree of pranks on a boy's first night, but to strip him, paint him and leave him out in the cold was too much. I was lead into the porter's lodge and wrapped in a blanket whilst the prefect got me some clothes. I was driven to the sanatorium where the Doc' gave me a good going over before sorting my jaw out, which had dislocated when the ball was removed and dumping me in a hot bath with plenty of soap and instructions to clean myself up. Scrub as I did, I was left with a pale wash of colour over almost all of my body. My anger was now building and I wanted revenge! About half an hour later, the Master arrived and quizzed me intently. Not that I could say very much. He too was livid at what had been done and wanted to bring the perpetrators to justice. I told him nothing! That was going to be my pleasure, not his! I spent the night in the sanatorium before being released for class the following day. All went well during the morning, but after lunch I had to play sport which meant wearing shorts. Pale green legs extended down from my shorts with light blue arms sticking out of my shirt sleeves. I was a laughing stock! I had thought about my track suit, but that wasn't allowed. I also discovered that normally, they only paint your dick and balls which made me even angrier. By four thirty, I was at the hair trigger stage and ready to explode. As I started walking back to my room, I met up with the prefect from last night. He spoke softly and gently to me and told me his name was Tom. We chatted all the way back and I invited him in for a while. As I opened my door, there on the window opposite was a poster sized picture of me taken last night complete with erection. "NO!" I yelled at the top of my voice and dived onto my bed crying hard into the pillow. Tom took the picture down and dumped it in the bin for me. He sat gently on the bed and started to massage the back of my neck and shoulders. All I could think of at that time was Mike. My Mike. "Come on, let's get showered. I have some stuff that will get what's left of the paint off." Tom said softly to me. Reluctantly, I stripped down to my shorts and followed him. For some reason, I felt I could trust him, that we had something in common. We went into his room and he closed the door behind us. Being a prefect, he had a single room with en-suite. He stripped off and led me towards his shower. There not more than three feet away was a six feet tall young man. I guessed he was about 17 with a strong athletic looking body. The surprising bit was his tan. It was quite literally an all over tan! He had the most gorgeous copper coloured hair I had ever seen. It was a shame his hair further down didn't match. I slipped out of my shorts and he ushered me in. In the small cabinet on the wall was a jelly-like hand cleanser and after wetting me down he started to rub firmly and gently all over my body, well nearly all over. I felt a stirring in my loins. True to form my dick had popped up to see what was going on. "I can do that too for you if you want?" Tom asked. I nodded uncertainly. His touch was almost as good as Mike's and with this cleaning stuff of his, it was like being coated in K-Y all over. God it was erotic! His hands slid over my body like ice glides over wet ice. As soon as he took hold of my dick that was it. My legs turned to jelly and I shot everything I had. In the process of cleaning me off, Tom too had become covered in this jelly stuff and we rinsed off together. My mind was swimming with all of the pleasure Tom had induced in me. "Edward." He said softly. "Can you do something for me?" I nodded yes. He took his hand and used it to wrap mine around his seven solid inches. I instinctively started to work my hand back and forth. His groans of pleasure were the first I had heard since starting at this school. Once he had relieved the pressure in his loins we finished showering and stepped out. I dried off and returned to my room. There sat on the bed was the boy that I had pushed across the room last night. He sat there grinning and looking at a later picture, one of me covered in paint. I pounced and landed full on him. I wanted to beat all the shit out of his head that was replacing his brains. HS and Dozer pulled me off. "Woa! Take it steady Edward!" HS said. "You should show your House Captain some respect!" "Bollocks! Respect has to be earned!" I yelled back at him as I continued to struggle. The House Captain stood up. "You will learn respect and learn to take pranks like last night in your stride or you will be nothing in this school!" The House Captain yelled back at me. Unfortunately for him he got just a little too close and I firmly planted my foot in his balls. He dropped like a ton of bricks gasping as he went down. HS and Dozer left quickly. My follow up was equally as fast. I grabbed him by the throat. "You will knock before you come in here again and I will see your position as House Captain removed before the end of term!" I yelled at him. I pushed his head back hard into the floor and it hit with a thud before HS, Dozer and some of the other sixth formers dragged me off while some others led their friend away. HS and Dozer left me closing the door behind them. I curled up on my bed and cried. This place was worse than purgatory for me. I was woken up about an hour later by the house master. He told me to get my act together and not be such a baby. Then told me off for not being in prep. "Me! A baby! Christ! If there was some discipline in this dump then new boys wouldn't be abused or worse! Call this a school!" I yelled back. This only made matters worse for me. Not only was I in trouble with the House Captain, the most powerful boy in the school, but I was now in trouble with the staff too! I pushed past the house master totally ignoring him and headed for the chapel. It was the only place in any public school that a boy was safe from both masters and kids alike. I didn't know it, but the master saw me go in and he sent along the prefect, Tom, to find out what was upsetting me. Tom just knelt by the side of me and prayed too! It caught me by surprise. Normally we boys either didn't bother to pray, but sat there pretending or when we did we kept a good distance between ourselves. When I got up to leave, Tom came with me. Just outside the chapel, he stopped me and turned me into the chapel gardens. We sat on a bench and talked. "Don't worry old man. Things will get better. Believe me." Tom started. "I know. It's just that this place is full of bullies and bigots. Not even the staff seems to care!" I replied. I was close to tears again. All I wanted was to escape and go and see Mike. The one person in my life that would neither judge nor belittle me. I also wanted to warn him. "The staff care more than you know. They are as caught up in the traditions of the school as we are. Yes, it is hard to start with, but once the others know you can take it, they'll leave you alone." He paused. "You know you have made a bad enemy of the house captain. Mind you it's the first time I have seen him with tears in his eyes!" Tom laughed lightly. His laugh was sort of infectious and made me smile. "That's better Edward. So tell me, what do you think needs to be done to make things better here?" "You can start by abolishing those damn stupid initiation rituals." "I agree, but the master can only move so fast and his main consideration has to be the academic life of the school." Tom replied. "If our academic record is good people keep sending their sons here and the school continues." "Crap! Regardless how good the schools academic record is, it won't last long when boys demand to be moved to another school because their life is hell out of the classroom. I certainly want out of here as soon as I can! I don't give a shit how many strings my father has pulled to get me in. To me, this is nothing short of prison! The older boys that should be setting a good example are bullies and the staff don't give a shit!" "You had coffee with the Master yesterday. He was alright wasn't he." Tom asked. "He was only trying to ingratiate himself with my father. How many other new starters get coffee with the master on their first day? Go on answer me that!" Tom couldn't and so proved my point. We separated a few minutes later and unbeknown to me, he reported back to the master pretty well most of what I had said. I returned to my room, locked the door and phoned father. I spent ages trying to convince him he was wasting his money and in the end he just hung up on me. The tears started to flow and this time, I felt they would never end. All I could do now was warn Mike and make sure he didn't suffer the same fate. Later that night, the nightmare started again. I was dragged through to the fifth form showers, stripped and after being hit several times I was peed on by the House Captain and his small band of followers. "Why?!" I yelled at the top of my voice. The only answer came from Tom. He was my only friend in this place. Each time the sixth formers attacked me at night he was there ready to pick up the pieces. I grew to like him very much, but he wasn't my Mike. After one particularly horrific attack that left me bruised all around the small of my back, bottom and thighs I decided enough was enough. I started up my laptop and typed an e-mail to Mike. "My dearest Mike, This hell-hole is too much for me to bear. Every night since I arrived here, I have been beaten up or humiliated badly. I can't take much more of this and I am looking for a way out. All I really want is to be in your arms the way we used to be. To feel your soft skin as it rubs against mine. Those strong arms as they hold me tight making me feel safe and secure. God how I love and miss you! The smell of your skin, the tender touch of your hands as they glide over my now bruised and battered body. I long to be able to stroke your back and buttocks and feel the power of you in my hand as you shoot everything have into my mouth. The felling of you as you push into me whenever we make love. Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a few days, just remember to expect the unexpected. All my Love, Ed." I sent the e-mail immediately remembering to clear out the sent mail box before closing the laptop down and locking it away in my desk drawer. By 11 that night, I was out of the building and heading towards the main gate. I was dressed in my casual sports gear having left everything to do with school neatly laid out on my bed so that I couldn't be accused of taking something that wasn't mine. I fought my way through the dense woodland and came across the railway track. I hadn't heard the 11:35 train go past and knew I would have only a short run to the station. I made it to the edge of the area lit by the station lights, sat down and waited. I heard the train sound its horn as it approached the station and prepared to run for it. I was cold and scared. It hadn't rained yet, but it looked as though it was on the cards. I got on the train and settled in a corner seat in an almost empty carriage. I bought a ticket from the conductor as he came round. He gave me a funny look, but I didn't care. I was going to get off before I reached the station I had a ticket for. The train rumbled and rattled as it went along the track. The other two people in my carriage got off before I needed to so the coast was clear. I left the train at a small deserted platform two or three stops before the conductor expected me to. I hoped he hadn't seen me get off, but I couldn't be sure. I hid in the shadows of the station building as the train left before crossing the track. I walked past the edge of a housing estate before climbing a fence and taking to the fields. I could see the dim outline of farm buildings not to far off and headed toward them. My idea was to hide in the barn over night and leave at last light on the next day. I scrambled up onto the top of the hay stacked in the barn and after wrapping myself in as much hay as I could fell asleep with the wonderful smell of fresh hay in my nostrils. The next thing I knew was the sound of someone walking so near to me that I woke up. It was a young lad of may be 15 or 16. He hadn't seen me as he tossed bails of hay down to someone else. Suddenly a shooting pain shot up through my left leg as he trod on it! I stifled a yell, but it did no good. He had seen me. "Da'." He shouted out in a strange yokel accent. "Please." I begged. "Don't give me away. I haven't done any harm." "How many bales did you want?" He continued putting his finger up to his lips signalling me to keep quiet. "Five in all. There are three here so two more will do us." Came a deep voice from below. "Stay here and above all stay out of sight!" The young lad said quietly. That was exactly what I did. I kept as still as I could, but I was cold and starting to shiver. Around one o'clock, the lad reappeared. "You must be hungry. Here have this." He said passing me a some food wrapped up in bread bag. "Thanks." I said. "I'm starving." "So who did you kill to have to hide like this?" "Kill? No-one. I just needed to get away from . ." I stopped where was I running from. I couldn't very well say school and I had no reason to run away from home. "It's an escape and evasion exercise for Cadets." I lied. "Sounds like fun. What Cadets are you part of?" "Oh, it's the school's Cadet Corps." "Not that snobby place way over yonder?" The lad asked waving his arm in the general direction of the school. "It's not that bad. Is it really that obvious?" "Who else would play this sort of game in designer gear? No one round here could afford to. It could get wrecked." There was a pause. "You look frozen." "I am." I replied. "I spent all morning building a scarecrow in the north field. I used some of my old clothes. Take `em, but mind you don't get caught or my Da' will go potty." "Thanks." I said. "Here, take this." I said digging in my pocket and handing him a ten pound note. "I can't take that. It would make my Da' suspicious. It's more than I see in a month of Sundays." "It's all I have." I said double checking my pockets. "Boy! Where are ya?" Came a deep voiced yell from down in the farm yard. "Coming Da'." The boy yelled back. "You stay here until after dark or the dog'll wind ya and that will be that. OK?" "Ok. And thanks." I said giving the lad a smile. He gave me a funny look before going down the ladder and moving it away. I slept fitfully that afternoon having buried myself deeper into the hay. When I awoke it was dark. The lad had obviously been back because there was a sweater and some more sandwiches by the side of me. I slipped the sweater on and grabbed the sandwiches before carefully climbing down out of the hay. All was quiet so I headed off in the direction of the field where this scarecrow thing was. I found the field without any problem, but in the middle of it there was someone standing up. Very quietly and carefully, I crept around the edge of the field. Whoever was in the middle certainly knew how to stand still. They hadn't moved an inch. No-one can stand that still for so long, I thought. I crept closer still unsure only to discover it was the clothes the boy had told me about stuffed out with straw and stuff. Did I feel a fool or what? Quickly I pulled the scarecrow apart and slipped into the clothes before continuing across the fields to what looked like a road. I could see car lights travelling along it. It seemed to take me ages to get to the road and when I got there it was quite a busy road too. I started heading towards Oxford trying to hitch a lift when ever a vehicle was heading in the right direction. Eventually, a lorry driver stopped and asked me where I was going. He wasn't going all the way, but could give me a lift as far as Abingdon. This suited me fine and I climbed in. He was satisfied by the escape and evasion story and didn't ask too many questions after that. An hour later I was saying good-bye to him and watched him drive off. I guessed that school had raised the alarm now and had to be extra careful. I was only 10 miles or so from home and knew that everyone would be on the lookout for me. A couple of hours later saw me sneaking around the outskirts of the village near my home. My primary objective now was to see Mike. I crossed through back gardens jumping the walls and sneaking through those big conifer things until I found myself in Mike's back garden. The house was in total darkness. I peered in through his bedroom window. The clock by his bed said three thirty. I looked around through the glass, but no Mike. Where the hell is he? I thought, but no answers came to me. I was cold again and it was starting to rain. My first idea was to hide in his shed, but that was no good. I had done that once before and I thought it would be one of the first places they would look. Then it struck me. Mike's camp. The one he took me to last time I ran away. If you have any comments please email me at teller_of_tales@hotmail.com as usual flames will be ignored. I would like to thank Lord Vader for his help proof reading the story and Trey and Lord Vader for stirring my grey matter when it needed it. Thanks both of you.