Growing Up Together

Growing Up Together – Entry 1

Another Brick In The Wall

Chapter 4 – The Real Fight

***

GRANT:

The rest of the morning progressed much like usual, apart from the ever-increasing awareness of quiet whispering that would die down whenever I looked away.

I didn't care enough to try and find out what they were saying, but it was annoying.

Halfway through 3^rd period, my chemistry teacher's phone went off.

She took the receiver, gave a half-hearted greeting, and her face steadily hardened as the person on the other end of the phone talked.

She signed off pretty quickly, and gestured for me to come forward.

“Grant. You need to go to Interview Room 4. Mr Green says you should know why.”

I nodded solemnly, and turned around to grab my bag.

“Good luck, honey.” she whispered, giving me a little, tight smile.

I forced a smile, and started my slow walk, barely giving the intense whisperers a second glance.

The corridors were completely bare, the chatter and mayhem contained in the classrooms.

Except...

I gave a sad smile as our paths synchronised, while he just looked terrified.

I took his hand.

“Deep breath. We'll get through this.”

His terrified look softened a little, and, hand in hand, we walked into the room, knocking politely on the door as we did so.

CAMERON:

The huge table that I've never seen used for anything else other than hearings of whatever description was almost full, with two thoughtfully placed chairs placed together at the farthest away short edge.

“Ah, boys,” Mr Green said, not even bothering to stand up, “Please. Sit,” making it perfectly clear we didn't have much choice in the matter.

I stole a quick glance around the room as we took our seats.

Mr Green was seated at the other end of the table from us. To his right was our school police officer with two old, severe people in suits that I assumed were social workers.

To his left sat Liam, his nose stuck out to ridiculous proportions, wrapped in a huge bandage.

I couldn't help but give a little smile at his appearance, and I felt Grant allow himself one as well.

“I called you here so that a proper hearing can be conducted with a view to determining what future you have at Rannack Academy, and what sanctions will be placed upon you all.”

He looked at each of us in turn.

“You two will have an opportunity to put your viewpoint across, and so will Liam, and I will get some input from the police and social service, before I make the final decision.”

So, over two hours or so, yet again, we recounted the incident, ensuring we left absolutely nothing out, and that it was completely clear that we were not to blame.

All the adults seemed mildly surprised that we didn't speak like rough Glaswegan gangsters, and could actually string coherent and articulate sentences together. It's always amusing to get that reaction from older people.

Liam, without any supporting evidence, and completely against the available evidence, made clear that we had been tormenting him for the past 3 years, that I had stolen HIS jotter, and that he had defended himself against a vicious attack, despite not having any defensive marks on him.

Surprisingly enough, Cameron had hit him hard enough to crack his nasal bone, which would mean he would be splinted for quite some time. If the situation had allowed, we would have cheered.

Interestingly, Mr Nolan had apparently entered a statement that I had threatened to kill him, and he had genuinely felt scared for his life.

I didn't expect to get away with cracking him on the nose, and admitted that I had done wrong, but hoped the fact that my boyfriend had been struck unconscious would be used as a mitigating factor.

“Be honest.” I had said, “If any of you had walked in on your significant other being seriously hurt, wouldn't you take a crack at the person that had hurt them, no matter what the circumstances?”

Liam gave me a dirty look, the policeman smiled a little when he thought no one was looking, while the social workers just looked uncomfortable.

Liam maintained that we were being little shits so to speak, and that we had been terrorising him for ages, saying that he had acted in self defence when we had 'threatened to kill him'.

The police and social services had little input, since all the police officer did was to repeat the statement we gave him, and the social services simply said that there were no issues that they could see, and that the three of us were unknown to them before now.

There was absolutely no room for rebuttal, or any additional comment. We were dismissed, and told to “let the grown-ups make their decision.”

GRANT:

I was so tempted to tell him to fuck off and stop being so patronising, but I held my tongue.

No matter how much I hated their guts, it would never do to not be polite before destroying them.

“With all due respect, sir,” I began,

Mr Green looked irritated.

“Surely, we should get some kind of chance to answer the accusations that Liam has thrown at us, and tell you how completely fabricated they are?”

He levelled a look at me that I didn't quite have time to digest, as he slammed his palm against the desk, making everyone jump.

“Don't you dare speak to me in that tone of voice, boy!” he roared, in a manner I was sure could be heard at the other end of the school.

“I, for now, am your headteacher, and your superior, and you will give me the respect I deserve! So when I tell you that you are dismissed, you leave without another word!”

I bit my cheek a little to keep from matching his roar.

I guess the time for submission and quiet respect had passed.

“Sir. Sir. Sir. There is absolutely no need to raise your voice.” Cameron said clearly, sensing exactly what I had sensed. “Grant simply asked a perfectly valid question.”

The wind had gone out of his sails a little. I could tell that the shouting usually worked on everyone, and that he didn't have anything else to back it up.

For a moment, under the desk, we linked fingers, quietly showing our solidarity, and sharing our calming impulses against all the anger in the room.

Liam had frozen, and so had the police officer and the social workers, completely unsure of what to do.

“And also, the premise of your outburst is a little bit faulty.” I added.

“The fact that you are our 'superior' does not make you automatically deserving of respect.”

“Throughout this entire ordeal, you haven't treated either of us with respect.” Cameron said.

“I seem to recall having to fight with you in order to go to hospital with my own boyfriend.”

“Now wait just a minute-” he finally began, but I cut him off.

“And I seem to recall a complete lack of communication with my own mother over the incident, since you seemed to be quite content with leaving it up to the hospital to call her, allowing over half an hour to pass after the incident actually happened.”

I rubbed at my jawline unconsciously.

“And, you seem to be forgetting that I have a broken tooth, a bruised jaw, and a headache that would have prevented me from coming from this meeting if it weren't for caffeine and codeine.”

“All of which adds up to a pretty big heap of disrespect.” Cameron finished, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

“So, you'll forgive us when we feel inclined to treat you in kind.” I finished, standing up and grabbing Cameron's hand.

We politely nodded to the social workers and the policeman, and walked, hands clasped together, out of the door, not bothering to turn back to see the look on Mr Greens face.

CAMERON:

His hand was crushing mine, but I barely noticed as we walked down the corridor.

Nobody challenged us as we wandered down the stairs, and hid under the well, hugging into each other so tightly we could barely breathe.

“McDonalds?” I whispered.

He took his head off my shoulder, and nodded.

We needed to get away from all this crap.

We went to the office, asked nicely for the office staff to inform the conference room that we would not be returning, texted the guys that we were most likely going to be expelled, and that we were heading to McDonalds for the rest of the day.

Taking our ties off and ceremoniously stuffing them into our bags, we started the long walk out the door, most likely close to the last walk we'd ever make out of the school.

Our feet steered us the long way, through the huge, green-belt forest route, often used by the school as a running track, but at this hour, completely deserted.

Pent up frustrations threatened to spill over into punching inanimate objects, for the both of us, and my parents and Grant's mum would still be in, so there was only one, very dirty thing to do.

I took one quick look around, and moved my hand to his back.

We kept walking, and his smooth, firm shoulder flexed underneath my hand.

Suddenly, our worries didn't seem so bad anymore.

My hand drifted a little further down his back, tracing the outline of his spine, and he began to slow down.

I suddenly became aware of my trouser region, and how much tighter it had become.

We both stopped completely. Grant must have spotted a place before me, because he grabbed my hand and pulled me to some kind of kiddie shelter, which, at some point, I think we had begun, before some of the neighbour kids came and expanded on it.

I giggled a little at the idea of fooling around in a kids fort, then realised that that was almost all it was used for. Innocent (or not-so innocent) sexual discovery between boys and occasionally, between boys and girls.

My musings were swept away, though, when his lips brushed mine.

I gave out a little moan of contentment into his mouth, and pouted for more, sucking in his hot, stinky breath to taste.

I settled on top of him in the fort, and kissed him some more, while he rested his hands on my hips, casually pushing his fingers into the belt loops on my trousers in an attempt to bring me closer to him.

Our covered crotches rubbed against each other, making us moan into each others mouths.

It took me a second to undo his trousers, but it finally happened, in what was meant to be one motion, but ended up being an awkward shimmy.

Didn't matter though. All that mattered was that I got to suckle on that tasty dick.

I could taste a little of his salty pre-cum, mixed in with a morning's worth of crotch sweat, and sucked harder.

It didn't take him that long to get close, and I knew just what would take him over the edge.

I moved my hand underneath his legs, and found his incredibly sweaty taint with my index finger.

Finding the sweet spot just underneath his balls, I started to tickle.

At the same moment, I took the leaking head of his dick in-between my lips and squeezed.

That was all it took.

He growled, tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth, and bucked his seed right into my mouth.

I wouldn't have spat anyway, but for clean-up purposes, it was probably best.

I didn't mind him reciprocating, since I was really hungry, and as delicious as Grant's seed was, it wasn't enough to fill me up.

***

I could sense some strange looks from all the football mums around us with their young kids, the only demographic of patrons who should be in McDonalds on a Tuesday lunchtime, but I ignored them.

Stuffing a chip into the side of his mouth, Grant said, almost absent-mindedly “I wonder how long it will be before a Truancy Patrol picks us up?”

I snorted quietly.

“By the time they do their patrol, we'll be able to blend in with the rest of the school kids!”

He laughed distractedly, and resumed staring out the window.

We silently ate for another few minutes, before I decided to break the silence again.

GRANT:

“Looks like we're both going down for this.” he said gravely.

I paused mid-chew.

“What makes you say that?”

He blinked in surprise.

“Have you been sleepwalking for the last three hours? Mr Green looked like he was about to take our heads off, and he's the one with the power to end our school career, before we've even sat one fucking exam!”

I saw one of the football mums give us a dirty look, so I leaned a little closer.

“What makes you think we're giving up?”

He looked a little confused.

“What have you got in mind?” he asked, snaking his hand on top of mine, “Please don't tell me it's some form of poster.”

I snorted a little.

“Please. Nothing so pedestrian.”

Half a plan had begun to fester in my mind from the moment I realised we were being royally screwed over.

A plan that would stem from the power of the internet, and the modest followings I had garnered over the last few years on a load of platforms.

I wasn't completely sure as of yet, what form the plan would actually take, but I guess that's what I needed Cameron for.

“I've got a bit of a plan, but I really need your help to see it through.”

As it turned out, we needn't have bothered setting a plan in motion, because, back at school, another plan was already being formed in the minds of our friends. One that was much better than the paltry offerings of defiance we could muster on our own.

CAMERON:

Thankfully, our friends had the sense to wait until the official verdict was delivered, which it was, a day later.

As soon as we stepped foot into the school, we were plucked out of the social space and told to sit in front of the conference room door, as we had been “internally suspended” for taking flight yesterday morning.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I furtively glanced around before looking at it.

DANIEL:

Let us know when you get the verdict. We've got a plan :-)

Grant glanced over my shoulder, and he smiled at the message.

“Why am I not surprised that he's got a plan?” he whispered.

The divergent side of me shivered in macabre delight at the possibility of some form of display.

I almost wanted them to expel us.

Almost.

Any opportunity for further musing was interrupted by the arrival of Liam.

He gave a self-satisfied smile, and whispered, barely audibly, “Guess the asset to the school wins, eh?” before walking into the room without knocking, to warm greetings from Mr Green.

A few moments later, one of the senior managers came outside, and jerked her head inside in our direction.

We took that as an invitation to enter, and sat down in the same position as yesterday, déjà vu already beginning to creep in.

In a stroke of genius, I opened the sound recorder on my phone, and hit record, before I followed the woman in.

The microphone in my headphones should be able to pick up everything that happened in the room.

“The decision has been made, gentlemen.” Mr Green said, pausing in a self-satisfying display of dominance.

“Grant Robertson. Cameron Black. You have committed an incredibly unpleasant crime against a model pupil, who, through no fault of his own, has appeared to become a target of a campaign of emotional bullying.”

I nodded politely, letting the tide of bullshit wash over me.

“It has also come to my attention that, not only have you and your friends been using the Science Breakout without permission, the two of you have been committing gross acts of indecency on the school grounds.”

He picked up a piece of paper.

“Holding hands, kissing, even...” he visibly shuddered, “Tongue kissing in the school.”

I could tell Grant was going to let out a snort of laughter, but I grabbed his leg under the desk to silence him.

“Excuse me sir, but what makes the acts that other couples perform in the school acceptable, and our actions exclusion-worthy?” I asked.

Mr Green shuddered a little.

“Those acts can be excused as normal teenager's behaviour, something healthy, whereas the actions that you two have performed, are simply unacceptable, and set an extremely bad example for younger pupils.”

The penny finally dropped in both our minds.

The police officer looked horrified at what he had just heard, but the expressions of everyone else remained unchanged.

“As such, I feel I have no choice but to permanently exclude you from Rannack Academy.” he continued.

I took a deep breath.

“And Liam?” I inquired politely.

“No further action shall be taken against Liam.”

I sighed a little, and so did Grant, feeling the anger boil up between us, but showing extreme restraint.

“Calm. Calm. This isn't over.” he communicated to me, through the strengthening hand clasped in mine.

“The Liaison Officer will make arrangements to place you in Bell High [a high school about three miles from Rannack] starting next week. As for now, you will be asked to hand your locker keys to the office, and leave the premises immediately. As of this moment, you are no longer pupils of Rannack Academy.”

I bit the inside of my lip.

“The police officer shall be escorting you to the office, then off the premises.”

The police officer in question stood up reluctantly, and gestured for us to follow him.

GRANT:

I quietly tapped “Send” on the pre-prepped text when the policeman wasn't looking, pretending I was fishing in my pocket for my locker key.

GRANT:

We're expelled. Whatever you're going to do, do it now.

We both signed the forms to say we had returned our locker keys, despite the fact both of us had cut spares at home, since it was cheaper to get spares externally than from the school.

The police officer looked crestfallen, and the two office staff smiled sympathetically as we handed over our keys.

The bell for lunchtime went.

The stream of pupils from the front of the school started up almost instantly, mostly younger pupils running and jostling their way to the front of the lunch queue.

I didn't give it a second glance, and I was so self and Cameron-absorbed that I didn't notice how everyone's gaze had shifted out of the enormous floor to ceiling window at the front entrance, and into the car park.

My phone buzzed again, presumably with Daniels reply.

DANIEL:

Look behind you ;-)

END OF CHAPTER 4

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Young Lovers Series:

Highland Flings – http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/camping/highland-flings

Growing Up Together – http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/growing-up-together

Big And Little Lovers Series:

My Little Brigade Boy - http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/my-little-brigade-boy

Camp Blow By Blow - http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/camping/camp-blow-by-blow

Fumble And Tumble - A Short Story - http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/fumble-and-tumble

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What A Onesie Can Lead To – http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/what-a-onesie-can-lead-to.html