Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 01:16:43 EST
From: ncduffer@hotmail.com
Subject: Love on the Links Chapter 7

WOW!  I know you're all excited b/c I've actually gotten a
regular update out, and it's like almost in the same week as the
proceeding chapter.  Word of warning, I've expressed some
personal religious views in this chapter.  But they are just
that, personal.  If you don't agree, it's totally up to you.  But
do me a favor regardless, write me an email and let me know what
you though about this chapter. And don't forget to visit the
homepage!

http://ncduffer.tripod.com

This story is completely fiction, as in, none of it's true.  This
story is about 2 boys finding each other and making LOVE,
therefore, If the laws where you live say you can't read this,
don't read it.  Well, if you do read it, don't get caught.  That
being said, enjoy :)		ncduffer@hotmail.com
*****************************************************************

"GO RAMS!"

The cheerleaders ended the cheer with an impressive series of
flips and stunts, sending the crowd to their feet.  Our team was
in the red zone, threatening to score.  Ah, high school football,
the premier sporting event of every small Southern town.  Friday
nights are sacred, to only be spent cheering your hometown team
to victory.  Our school didn't really have a great team, we would
finish each season around the .500 mark, so mediocrity was not
uncommon for us.  What was on the field was not nearly as
important to the students at our high school as being seen by
everyone else in the stands.  You had to wear your best going out
clothes, spend copious amounts of time getting ready, just so you
would be the envy of your peers.  Jack and I sat under a blanket
that we shared with Cara, Robert's girlfriend.

Robert was out leading our team to victory as the quarterback.
It was really impressive for him to be starting since he was only
a sophomore.  Our first string QB had been sidelined with a
broken right hand, and his return this season was questionable.
I wrapped myself up in my black leather GAP jacket, trying to
block out some of the biting wind that was cutting through me.
Almost subconsciously I snuggled up to Jack's right side.  He
looked at me and shot me a cute little smirk, as if to say, "you
want me, don't you? I can just tell you want me.  hehe, you want
me bad!"  He just winked at me and started rubbing his leg slowly
against mine.  Not anything major, virtually undetectable.  Cara
felt the blanket moving a little, though, and looked up at me,
sort of puzzled.  I just played it off and put my arm around her
waist and scooted her up beside me.

"Damn, it's cold tonight," I said.  "You better snuggle up, Cara.
See if we can get some body heat going here."

Jack was taking a sip of hot chocolate when I said that and got a
little choked.  He was trying to play it off, but I wouldn't let
him off the hook this easily.  Two can play at this game.

"I'm so cold," I said, "we could probably cram the whole football
team under this blanket and it wouldn't get me hot."

Jack was blushing majorly now, and I was really enjoying this.  I
let it go, however, and just settled for a quick squeeze of his
hand underneath the blanket.  Our scoring drive fizzled, and we
had to settle for a field goal, ending the first half with the
score tied 3-3.  A real defensive struggle.  Ok, half time, time
for the gossipfest.  We all busied ourselves with the latest
scoop; who this person was dating, who was cheating on whom,
where the party was after the game, trivial high school stuff
that we all love so much.  I really get into the gossip thing,
Jack just sort of hung back.  He always tells me to imagine how I
would feel if it were people talking about US that way.  That
always seemed to make me quit for at least 15 minutes or so,
before I was back up to dishin' the dirt.

Soon the band was marching off the field, and the teams were
returning from the locker rooms.  Maybe the coach had imparted
some inspirational words that would get our team in gear.  Not
that I really cared, everybody left before the game was over
anyway.  Nope, you just went to see, and more importantly, be
seen.  At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the visiting team
scored and the mass exodus began.   Jack and I left Cara to cheer
on her man alone, and hitched a ride with some of our friends who
were already 16.  We made our way over to the historic section of
town to one of the big old houses.  Tobacco money had made this
town, and had furnished it with some impressive old homes.  The
particular house we were at belonged to a senior whose parents
had been in this town for like 5 generations.  We parked in
behind a line of cars that already stretched down the street and
began walking towards the blaring thumps that emanated from the
house.  Ah, Puff Daddy, one of the greatest rip-off artists of
our time.  Oh well, it was good party music anyway.  Ok, the
burning question, "Where's the beer?"

Our crew rolled up onto the back lawn and headed for the two big
trashcans holding the kegs.  We smiled and waved up at Bill's
parents, who were "chaperoning" the party tonight (read: bought
the kegs).  I got a cup for me and one for Jack.  I handed him
his while I drank down a cold swallow.  Alcohol does funny
things, it's cold as hell out of a keg, yet it makes you feel
warmer inside.  I don't know, it's one of the great mysteries of
the universe, I guess.  Apparently someone had hijacked the
stereo, as out of nowhere, "Touch Me" by the Doors came blasting
through the stereo.  Jack and I immediately shot each other looks
and for some reason we burst into uncontrollable fits of
laughter.  Soon the beer got the best of my bladder, and I went
inside to break the seal.

When I came back out, I saw something that almost made me go
again, this time in my pants.  Jack was standing there smoking a
cigarette.  Up to this point, I had always considered smoking a
detriment to an athlete's game, and just a nasty habit.  But just
seeing Jack's rosy cheeks sinking in as he inhaled, my knees just
got weak.  I walked up to him as he was exhaling a billowing
white cloud.

"Damn you smoke one hell of a sexy cigarette," I whispered in his
ear.

"Really?" he responded.  "This is the first one I've ever smoked
in my life.  I'm about to fall over from the nicotine rushing to
my head.  Wow, this is a really intense buzz," he said.

I took the cigarette from his hand, making more contact than
necessary, and slowly inhaled.  Acrid fire flushed my lungs and I
coughed violently.  Jack giggled a little at me.  "God, you smoke
one of the most un-sexy cigarettes I've ever seen," he giggled.

"Shut up, the white stuff that usually goes down my throat tastes
A LOT better than that shit," I countered.

Jack just closed his eyes and took a deep drag off the cigarette.
I could just see the waves of pleasure that were rolling over his
body as the intensity of his buzz overwhelmed him.  God, this is
making me so hot, I would give anything to be that cigarette
right now.  I just silently thought to myself, he is just
absolutely perfect.  Even if I could just change one thing about
him, I wouldn't dare.  I wouldn't want him any other way than he
is right now.  I started to tear up, the alcohol making me a
little more visibly emotional than usual.  I caught myself
quickly, though, realizing how funny I must have looked staring
at Jack smoke with his eyes closed and getting all teary-eyed.  I
was feeling quite drunk at this point, and I knew Jack was too.
Even still, I was on my guard about being affectionate towards
Jack.  The look in his eyes confirmed that he was thinking the
same thing.

"Jack, this sucks, I wanna..."

"I know, Will, me too.  This is so unfair," Jack said.  "Ok,
follow my lead on this one," Jack said as he grabbed my arm and
dragged me towards Jimmy, our DD.

"Oh, Lordy, Jimmy, I am sooooo wasted," Jack said through an
exaggeratedly thick tongue.  "I think you need to take me home
before I get sick."  Jimmy just looked at me and I shrugged and
tried to sound a little drunk too, which was not hard at this
point, "Don't worry, I think he can make it home before he
pukes."

We piled in the back of Jimmy's Blazer, and he headed off towards
our neighborhood.  Jack feigned noises of nauseous agony, which
made Jimmy step on the accelerator.   Jack was having too much
fun with this, I thought.  Soon Jimmy pulled up to Jack's house,
and we both got out.  I told Jimmy that I would take care of
Jack, and he sped off back to the party.  We had already arranged
to stay at Jack's house that night, and we watched as Jimmy's
tail lights disappeared down the hill.  I wrapped my arms around
Jack's neck and gave him a wet, drunk kiss.

"Cigarettes may look sexy, but they taste like ass," I said.

"You ought to have no problem with them, then," Jack giggled.  I
couldn't help but laugh too, and soon we were howling, the beer
making everything 10 times funnier.  When lights started popping
on in neighbors' houses across the street, we made a run for
Jack's house.  After Jack slid the key in the lock and
effortlessly opened the door, we tiptoed up the back stairs up to
his room.  Soon he had locked the door and I slid my hands around
his waist.  He slid his hands up my back and played with the soft
little hairs on the back of my neck.  God, I was so horny right
then, I don't think a team of wild horses could have dragged me
away from Jack.  He could definitely have his way with me
tonight.

*****************************************************************

As light poured in through the window of Jack's room, I felt my
head pounding.  Uggh, too much beer last night.  I looked over
and saw my sleeping angel, his mouth half open, lightly snoring.
I thought he was just precious!  I laid there for at least twenty
minutes just gazing at him, thinking how lucky I was, and how
close I'd come to losing him.  I vowed never to come that close
ever again.

Around 9:30 sleepy Jack fluttered his cute little eyelids open.
I'd been dozing lightly on and off for about 2 hours, just gazing
at Jack then dreaming about him.  It felt so nice to have him in
this bed with me.  I could really get used to feeling him beside
me.  He was just so completely huggable.  Like every contour of
his body seemed to fit with every little groove in my body.  Yep,
we were each others' matching puzzle pieces.

"What do you feel like doing today?" Jack asked as he kissed me
softly.

"Hmm, making mad passionate love sounds good for me," I responded
with a wry grin.

"Would be nice, wouldn't it?" Jack said.  "Seriously, though,
what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," I responded.  "I should probably go home first,
though and see if they've got anything planned for today."

"Ok," Jack pouted, "I wish we could do the love making thingy,
though."

I licked my lips seductively and broke out in a huge grin before
diving under the covers.

*****************************************************************

When I walked home, I saw my dad in the garage messing with some
tools.  That was never a good sign.

"Will, you're just in time," my dad started.  "This yard really
needs to be raked and your mom wanted us to plant some bulbs in
her flower garden."

Oh great, I thought, no better way to spend a Saturday than
slaving away in the yard.  I went in and changed into a faded old
pair of GAP blue jeans.  Man, it's funny how good a pair of old
worn in jeans feels.  I probably haven't worn them in like a
year, and they still feel as comfy as the last time I put them
on.  Anyway, out in the yard, the autumn air was stinging my
cheeks, flushing them as I raked the nearly endless supply of
leaves from our yard.  Even though the big hurricane a few years
ago had taken out 6 trees in our yard alone, the big oaks still
standing left me plenty of work.  Around 4:30 in the afternoon,
Jack came driving by my house in his mom's Suburban.  He waved at
me as he pulled into the driveway.  I ran over to the car and
hopped in the passenger's seat.

"How did you get the car?" I asked.

"Mom said I could drive around," he answered, "as long as I don't
go fast or leave the neighborhood."

"That is SO cool," I exclaimed.

"So do you wanna take a spin around the old neighborhood, or
what?" he asked.

"Man, I would LOVE to," I said, "but I've got to finish raking
these damned leaves.  I've been at it since I left your house
this morning."

"Damn, kid," Jack said.  "I can help you finish if you want."

"That would rule, dude," I replied.

With Jack helping me, we finished raking about an hour later, as
the sun was just starting to set.  James was out helping dad
plant the flower bulbs in the flower garden.  He had become a
little distant in the past week or two, but I had been so wrapped
up in my own little soap opera that I really hadn't noticed until
now.  I wonder how things had turned out with he and Shante?  He
hadn't engaged me in any more conversations about it, so I
guessed he had either given up on the idea, or had initiated some
type of relationship with her.  I would have to ask him about it
later, I thought.  I was standing there thinking when all of a
sudden I was tackled from behind.  I was taken totally off guard
and tumbled down into the pile of leaves I was raking.  Jack and
I landed in the pile, sending leaves fluttering all around.
James perked his head up and looked over at dad with pleading
eyes.

"Ok, son," dad told James, "go on over and have fun."

With that, James sprinted over and jumped in the pile.  We spent
the rest of the waning daylight hours laughing and horsing around
together.  It was so much fun, to be there with my best friend
and my brother, and all three of us just playing around.  Mom
came out with a thermos of hot chocolate for us and we sipped on
it as the moon climbed up into the sky.  It was a frosty evening;
I could see my breath as I spoke.  Jack's nose and blush cheeks
were a rosy red color, and it just took my breath away to look at
him.  He was absolutely the most adorable thing I think I've ever
seen.  He looked over at me and caught me staring while James was
telling us a story about something that happened to him at soccer
practice the other day.  When he looked back at me, his eyes
radiated pure love and happiness.  It made me blush, and I had to
look away to keep from kissing him right there in front of James.
This was getting too hard to hide; something was gonna have to
give, and soon.  It was getting late and Jack had to be getting
home to return the car.

"I had fun today," Jack said as we walked down the driveway
toward his car.

"Me too," I said, "but this is getting so hard to hide how I feel
about you.  I just want to shout it from the rooftops, baby."

"I know, Will," Jack said, "but that's just not a possibility
right now."

I looked back over at the porch as Jack hopped up in the
Suburban.  James was still sitting on the porch watching us.
Jack rolled down the window.

"Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow," I said.  Man I really wanted
to kiss him right now.  "I L..."

"Shhh," Jack whispered, "I know, you're telling me with your
eyes.  I love you, too," Jack smiled as he put the car in reverse
and started down the driveway.  We had spent the most awesome day
together, yet I couldn't help but feel as though it were marred
by the way it had ended.  Better yet, the way it should have
ended.  It wasn't fair that I had to suppress my feelings in my
own driveway.  Yep, something's got to give, alright, I thought
as I walked back up the driveway and into the house.

*****************************************************************

As I walked upstairs and into my room, I found James waiting on
me.  He was sitting on the edge of my bed obviously lost in
thought.  Here we go again, I thought.

"Will, what's the best way to keep something secret?" James
asked.

"I guess not telling anyone," I sort of quipped.

"I thought that's what you would say, smartass," he said.

"Why, what's up, little man?" I asked.

"Well, I took your advice, and I started seeing Shante.  I have
had to really go to great lengths to keep it hidden from folks,
though, and honestly, I'm getting tired of it.  I was about to
just break down and tell mom, but the other day I overheard her
and dad talking about it.  She said, 'I can't believe one of our
boys is degrading himself like that.  To actually share himself
with someone like that, it's an abomination.'  That's got me
really scared, Will," James continued as I zoned out.

I couldn't bring myself to believe that mom and dad were talking
about James; no, they were discussing Jack and me.  Although
James didn't know it, he had just confirmed my worst fear; my
parents knew my secret and they didn't approve.  James continued
on for a few more minutes, and convinced that I knew absolutely
nothing that could help him, he left for his room.  I was
reeling.  The whole world was spinning and I couldn't plant one
foot firmly on the ground.  I was totally freaking out on the
inside.  I needed Jack right then, to help me make sense of all
this.

Well, I'm pretty sure that mom and dad know, but they don't know
that I know that they know. (catch all that?)  That's got to be
some sort of advantage in my favor, right?  So I guess that all I
have to do is come up with some plan of attack.  Or do I come up
with a plan of retreat?  Maybe James is on to something, trying
to keep it covered; I should redouble my efforts to squash all my
feelings down away from everyone.  Nope, that sucks.  But then
again, so does outing yourself because you're too weak to control
your emotions.  What was I going to do?  I guess I had to talk to
Jack before I could really come up with a plan.  It was too late
by this time to call over to his house, so I just had to try to
forget about it tonight and get some sleep.  I closed my eyes
that night with a feeling in my stomach that can only be
described as dread.

*****************************************************************

I awoke early the next morning and went to church with my family.
If I was feeling low earlier, going to church that day made me
feel abysmal.  The pastor's sermon was on the evils of secular
cultural; the homosexual in particular.  How gays are supposedly
responsible for the fall of every society that has ever existed
on this planet.  How gays will steal your children and molest
them.  I was getting sick to my stomach having to sit and listen
to this.  I had no desire to molest children, I sure as hell
didn't want to topple the government, all I wanted was Jack.
Even though everyone in this whole building thought it was wrong,
it was right to us, and as far as we were concerned, that's all
that mattered.  All through lunch that day, I wondered whether
mom and dad really knew, or if they were not only homophobic, but
racist also, and really were talking about James and Shante.   I
figured if they knew, they would have said something by now,
especially after that rousing sermon.  Nothing was said, though,
and that fostered a sense of confidence in me.

When we returned home from lunch, I went upstairs to check my
voicemail.  Jack had left me a message and wondered if I could
spend the night at his house again tonight.  Oh shit!  I forgot!
Fall break starts this week!  I was totally free from the bondage
of school.  I called him back and we talked about what all we
were going to do this next week.  This was gonna be so much fun;
almost like the good days of summer.  I just had to vent about
church, though, because it was still bothering me.

"Jack, are we going to Hell?" I asked, which totally took Jack
off guard.

"What?" he responded.

"Well, my preacher told our church today that people like me and
you are immoral and the reason that shit always goes wrong," I
said.

"Well," Jack said, "I'm no preacher, but I know one thing for
sure.  God made us like this.  There's no doubt in my mind that
He made us like this for a reason; He made us for each other.
And I vaguely remember all those Sunday School classes saying
something about Jesus stressing the Love thing, and baby, we've
DEFINITELY got that covered.  Besides, at the end of the day,
we're not responsible to your preacher, or your church, or our
families, or anyone.  We're responsible to God, and if we love
each other, what do we have to worry about?  I mean, we're doing
what he told us to do, right?"  Jack said.

"Yeah," I answered, "I guess you're right.  It just hurts knowing
that my preacher hates me.  I mean, he's been my preacher all my
life!  I just can't believe he could go from loving me to damning
me all over one little thing, you know?"  I asked.

"Yeah, well, we just have to leave that for God to deal with, and
believe me, He will," Jack said.

"Man, Jack," I said, "I really thank God that I've got you.  I
just don't know what would happen if He ever took you away from
me.  I love you so much.

"I love you, too, babe," Jack said, "more and more everyday."

I hung up the phone with tears in my eyes, but for once, they
were tears of happiness.  I was so happy because Jack just
overwhelms me with his love.  He is by far the best thing that
has or will ever happen to me.  I really don't know what I would
do without Jack; he's my anchor.  He keeps me grounded when I am
ready to hit the panic button.

I couldn't wait for time to pass quickly enough, though.  We had
made plans to meet up at his house after dinner tonight, and I
was already getting horny just thinking about having Jack make
love to me all night.  I really had to fight the urge for a quick
release right then, but I decided I would save up all my sexual
energy and just release it on Jack tonight.  Boy, did he not know
what he was in for!  I decided I would take a nap so I would be
able to be on top of my game tonight.  When I woke up, mom was
yelling at me to come down for dinner.

We sat around the table eating lasagna, (it's my mom's secret
recipe; nobody can make it quite like mom!) and James was talking
about 90 miles an hour about going on a trip.

"What's up?" I asked, "Where are we going?"

"Well," my dad started, "I had a little chat with my old
fraternity brother Knox Trudeau today.  He's invited us all down
there for the week, and since you boys don't have school, your
mother and I decided we'd all take a little vacation to
Charleston.  We're leaving early tomorrow morning, so you boys
need to go pack after dinner."   My dad winked at my mom as he
added this last little line, "Oh, and William, there's someone
there we want to introduce you to..."

*****************************************************************

Ok, so what did you guys think?  I know, I know, cliffhangers
suck.  Don't worry, though, soon all loose ends shall be tied.
Go visit the site, NOW!  Hehe.  Duffer

http://ncduffer.tripod.com
ncduffer@hotmail.com