Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 18:35:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: Alan R <bayoudreamn@yahoo.com>
Subject: "Quarterback: From the Inside"

This story describes sexual relationships between young men and women
(possibly). If you find this offensive, stop now and go visit someone else.
If you continue and find this story entertaining, let me know. Your
feedback encourages and inspires this story?s development. Include positive
criticisms in your feedback when you respond to bayoudreamn@yahoo.com.


From the Inside
Chapter 1
By Alan R


"Alexi and Grant are speaking again," said Jennifer to her best friend
Vicky. The two girls were sitting near the top of the high school stadium
in a packed student section. The games were always the place to be on
Friday nights and everyone supported the team. Several seasons of success
had made them a perennial powerhouse and they usually made it to the
playoffs each year. This year, in particular, the Falcons were off to a
great start and the local news media was predicting that they had a shot at
the state championship. The team was lead by several talented key players,
many of whom were upperclassmen. The big surprise was the sophomore
quarterback. He had transferred in the middle of his freshman year and
joined the squad in the spring. Shortly after joining the team, he was
challenging the senior quarterback and eventually won the starting position
as fall classes began. His name was Matt and everyone loved him; that was
why Vicky was sitting in the stands now catching up on all the gossip from
the class social icon and self-proclaimed future sorority princess,
Jennifer, while the team met in the field house preparing for the second
half. Jennifer loved to discuss the drama of high school life and often
briefed Vicky on everything and everyone in school. Vicky, a junior, and
Matt had met shortly after he transferred to Southwest Valley High. They
shared a drama class and were cutting up during breaks soon after their
first day together. The two shared many common interests and enjoyed every
opportunity to spend time developing their friendship. They were soon the
best of friends and were almost never one without the other.

"They've been arguing since they got together," replied Vicky with a sigh
of resignation. She couldn't understand why Alexi and Grant even stayed
together. They'd been dating for two years, since they started high
school. The arguments and general nastiness had followed soon after. They
were at odds more often than in agreement and almost everyone wondered why
they hadn't gone their separate ways long ago. Their disagreements usually
burst into verbal warfare with no personal secret or public event safe from
attack. Alexi was especially vicious in trying to humiliate her jock
boyfriend. Grant was a wide receiver on Matt's team and a regular and
efficient target in the high-powered Falcon offense. He led the team in
receptions and touchdowns. He stood 6'2" and had an unbelievable vertical
leap making him adept about flying up into the air over the reach of most
opponents to snag a high pass, then strong enough to wiggle free from
crafty would-be tacklers and gain extra ground. He was a scrappy player who
never backed down from an on-field battle and won many more than he
lost. His gladiator on-field attitude made him a favorite fantasy boyfriend
for many of the girls in his class and some of the senior class...a point
often leading to Alexi's wrath. But Grant, like Matt was a quiet and
down-to-earth star off-the-field who barely knew of his electric magnetism,
if he knew it all. This also was a reason for his popularity. He was
currently the leading candidate for junior class president on the student
council and a strong candidate for homecoming court in the upcoming months.

"I was talking to my mom about it one day and she says `sometimes that's
the way love is'," Jennifer answered. "She knows a few couples who have
been married for ages and are often quite the same way." The team trotted
back onto the field to begin the second half. The conversation waned as the
action picked up on the field. Vicky loved to watch Matt play. He ran the
offense with aggressive confidence, quite the opposite from his
off-the-field behavior.

Vicky had noticed the tall, muscular freshman on his first day in school.
He stood about 5'10" and weighed about 150 pounds at the time. Since then
he continued to grow and was probably 6'0" or taller and 10 pounds heavier
now, thanks in part to a relentless workout schedule. He had a deer in the
head lights look that day as he stood near the intersection of the freshman
and sophomore wings trying to decipher his newly assigned schedule.
"Bubbles," as friends often referred to Vicky for her fearlessly outgoing
personality, had grabbed the startled youngster and quickly planted him on
the right path to his first class and the beginning of a blossoming
friendship. Vicky smiled as she remembered that early time in her
friendship with Matt. "I wonder how he felt about me that day when I
grabbed him and practically dragged him down the hallway," she thought.
They joined up later at lunch and compared the rest of their schedule. The
only common class they had was drama, an elective they shared in the late
afternoon. The class can be continued each year for four years' credit. The
two had enjoyed themselves a great deal that first year and decided to
continue the class together the next year. And so it was that they shared a
single common course in this second year and the development of a lasting
friendship had continued. As she thought about it now, Vicky realized that
her friendship with Matt had been just as beneficial to her as it had been
to the beautiful and painfully shy high school freshman who now in his
sophomore season led his team in battle on the field. Vicky knew everyone
and counted almost everyone among her large group of friends. But Matt was
special. With Matt, Vicky could be comfortable being herself and sharing
anything about herself without fear of judgment or degradation. To everyone
else, Vicky was always happy and always on her game, but with Matt
sometimes her real feelings were expressed and she thought how much it
meant to her to have his strong shoulders to cry on.

"I think I know what the argument is about this time," Vicky heard her
chatty friend say, breaking her train of thought and returning her mind to
the game and their ongoing conversation. "I don't know if this is true, and
I know I talk a lot but I really don't mean to hurt anyone by what I say so
this needs to stay between the two of us."

Vicky's interest was peaked by this nervous rambling from her
friend. "Okay..."

"You know Grant runs in the park near the school in the evenings after he
closes at his father's hardware store in town?"

"Yes, so?"

"Well, apparently Alexi was driving by there the other night after picking
up her mother's dry-cleaning. She saw a young white guy who looked a lot
like Grant go into the woods at the back of the park with another boy, a
shorter boy...and he was black. She thinks it was Jeremiah." Jeremiah was
the half-back on the Falcons' squad. He stood about 5'8" but weighed 175
pounds, wide-bodied with huge biceps, shoulders and calves. Where Grant led
the Falcon air show, Jeremiah was the team's brutal ground warrior. He
averaged over 100 yards per game. Last year, he finished the 10 game season
with over 1700 yards rushing and a single game best 250 yards against a
cross town rival. He often gained attention from sports writers in Saturday
edition of the local press and from time to time had his picture proudly
displayed on the front page with accolades for his previous night's
conquests.

"Why would she get mad about that?" asked Vicky, intrigued but mystified by
her friend's tale.

"Well, remember last year there was some talk about a couple of guys
getting caught late one night in those woods? Details were vague but the
insinuation of sexual intimacy was clear. Alexi believes that Grant and
Jeremiah might be those guys. She thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her
with another guy. No one ever got anymore information on those rumors last
year and I haven't heard Grant or Jeremiah's name mentioned but Alexi for
some reason is suspicious. Imagine what is going to happen if she finds out
anything like that has happened. I'd hate to be Grant if she convinces
herself that her suspicions are accurate. So far, they are just ignoring
each other, I hope it doesn't escalate."

"Whew..." Vicky couldn't believe what she'd just heard. She remembered the
rumors from last year. She looked around to see if anyone nearby seemed to
be attentive to their conversation. Everyone was caught up in the game as
the Falcons had the ball and were driving near their opponent's goal
line. She'd have to talk to Matt about this. Grant and Jeremiah were both
good friends and she didn't want them hurt by reckless gossip. She doubted
that Jennifer would talk to anyone else about this, but Alexi often ranted
to anyone who would listen if angered. "Poor Grant..." She thought to
herself.

Vicky remembered a few years back overhearing her parents, grandparents,
aunts, and uncles having some heated conversations about something like
this at a family gathering. Her Uncle Jake, Vicky's favorite uncle, had
just graduated from high school at the time. Her grandparents had heard a
rumor that Uncle Jake had been seen kissing a friend at that same
park. They'd been livid. All day the argument raged and Uncle Jake finally
left in tears after admitting to the kiss and to a long time intimate
relationship with his best friend. The day after, he'd moved into Vicky's
house with her family for a time until he began his freshman year in
college and moved into a dorm. Eventually, he and his parents had
reconciled but it'd been a tough time for him. Vicky remembered sadly the
pain her dear uncle had endured from his own family. But the relationship
with his friend had continued and he'd found a supportive group of friends
in college and had come out on campus. Now, he and his former friend and
current lover continued to live together happily as they completed their
college career and looked forward to a life together. Since that time,
Vicky had discussed her experience with her uncle. She'd asked him about
the family argument and he'd shared with her an account of that day and how
he'd felt. He also told her about his friend and lover, about how they'd
found each other, and how their relationship had developed. Vicky's
experiences and conversations regarding her uncle's ordeal had given her
great insight to the struggles of gay couples, especially young gay
couples, in an intolerant world and she felt bad for them and swore to
always respect people's differences. The conversations had drawn Vicky and
her uncle closer together and they treated each opportunity they had to get
together with great respect and valued the closeness that had developed
between them. Vicky knew her uncle had become one of her most trusted
friends, and she was glad.

The crowd was tumbling out of the bleachers now, rushing onto the field to
congratulate their victorious heroes. Jennifer was hurrying out to greet
her boyfriend Aaron, a tight end on the Falcons team and another promising
sophomore. "Jennifer always goes for the younger guys...like me," Vicky
thought as she watched her friend jump up into her boyfriends strong arms
and hug his sweaty body tightly to herself. Vicky was happy for her
friend. "Aaron is such a wonderful guy." She thought.

Vicky's gaze shifted to Matt as he stood on the field, helmet in hand
chatting with smiling fans. She noticed one of the players from the other
team watching him too as the two teams formed their lines and moved toward
each other shaking hands with their opponents as they moved down the
line. She saw Matt look up and smile as he approached the boy she'd seen
staring at him earlier. The boys face lit up and they shook hands eagerly
and maybe longer than usual. A thought entered Vicky's mind at the exchange
but she shook it off as she reached the field and moved out to greet her
friend. Matt lifted her easily into his chest and raised her up, twirling
her around as he kissed her cheek and looked into her eyes with a smile on
his face that warmed her heart. Vicky had begun to notice deep feelings for
her friend in the last few months. They'd always been friends and nothing
more. They'd never discussed their relationship or expressed any interest
in taking their relationship to another level. They'd been comfortable
around each other, no matter where they were. Vicky had seen of Matt what
other girls desperately wished to see but nothing had ever transpired
between them. They'd always been friends and nothing more, and yet there
was more. Each of them knew that the other was their closest friend and
that they loved each other and would always be there when needed. Vicky
felt a longing though for something more. As they walked quietly, hand in
hand toward the field house where Vicky would wait for Matt to go in and
shower and change, she thought.

Vicky remembered a time late last spring. She'd been over at Matt's house
on a Saturday morning for a swim. It was the first time she'd been in his
house. He'd invited her the night before when they'd been out with the
gang. After returning home to pick up her things, she'd spent the night in
his parent's guest room and the two had enjoyed a morning swim. Vicky was
lying on a lounge chair sunning when Matt finally exited the pool. Glinting
into the morning sunlight she'd admired his body as he stood on the edge of
the pool adjusting his suit before reaching for his towel. He was tall,
broad shouldered, with a narrow waist. His hair was dark blond and long,
touching his shoulders all around. He had a lean jaw line with slightly
sunken cheeks that twitched when he was thinking. He wore a small hoop in
his left ear. His pecs were large and pronounced on a hairless chest with a
deep valley between, washboard eight pack abs and a distinct v leading to
his waistline. His legs were long and corded with striated muscles but not
overly muscled and slightly dusted with fine hairs. Under his shorts hung a
proud penis, long and thick as she'd noted one day sometime later when he
left his door slightly ajar as he changed from another morning swim. But
the most beautiful sight on Matt's gorgeous body was his tight, muscular
ass; well-rounded and narrow it filled out his suit nicely as it did his
pants as well. Vicky laughed as she thought about the times she'd seen
girls turn in the hallway as he'd walk passed them. Many times they'd bump
into other passers-by or items unfortunate enough to be in their path as
they moved ahead while looking "behind". But Matt never noticed. Too
himself he was no different than anyone else and often considered himself
unequal to others in his own estimation. The two never argued or fought but
Vicky was often angered by Matt's failure to appreciate his gifts, talents,
and his own personal value. She hated to see him "sell himself short" of
others.

"I wonder what that look meant..," Vicky asked herself as she recalled the
young opponent who'd been staring at Matt after the game. She remembered
their meeting in the lineup, Matt's smile and the other boys gleaming
response. The meeting and handshake that seemed to last a moment too
long. "Why had Matt looked up just then? Was there a message in that
smile?" Vicky had never seen Matt pay any excessive attention to other
boys... or girls. He'd always been just Matt, seemingly content with the
company of Vicky and their circle of friends. Matt had not dated since
they'd met and they never really talked about dating. She'd not dated,
either, in that time. Often she met people she found attractive, but she'd
not been asked out. Sometimes she wondered if it was because people thought
she and Matt were dating. She'd been told by her friends that it was a
widely known rumor that the two were together but just not vocal about
their relationship. She'd laughed at times at the stories of what others
were saying about them. Some had even led their audience to believe they'd
seen the two together, making out in dark places, walking hand in hand on
lonely streets, or other more intimate tales of clandestine affairs.

"She'd have to talk to Matt," Vicky decided. The two had always been
comfortable sharing things with each other. "Yes, that's what she'd do,
she'd talk to Matt," she reassured herself as she patiently awaited her
friends return.

In the other dressing room, a young man showered slowly, remembering a wink
as he returned to his team's huddle from a failed attempt to reach the
quarterback of the opposing team as they advanced the ball toward the end
zone in the closing minutes of the game.