Tripod Chapter 19

The following story is a work of erotic fiction. If you are under the age of 18 or if this type of fiction is prohibited in the location where you are reading this, do not read any further.

All characters and names are creations of the author. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Please show your support for Nifty, a great organization that gives opportunities to all types of authors to express themselves. To find out how you can contribute, go to donate.nifty.org/donate.html

Please send comments to cagey507@gmail.com and I will reply as soon as I can. This is my first work of fiction and I welcome any and all comments.

If you would like to be notified each time a new chapter is published, please email me and you will be added to the distribution list.

"Tripod"

Chapter -- 19

The alarm went off at 6:30, but I really couldn't find the energy to get out of bed until 7:00. I was still feeling bad about the night before. Miguel had seemed like a nice guy when we talked in the park the week before, but last night, he showed an ugly side. I could definitely sympathize with his struggles growing up, the American dream always being waved in his face, yet just out of reach. I could even understand the resentment he felt for people who had it easier than him.

What was killing me was how he'd made me feel like some weird freak again. It was bad enough when I'd made myself feel that way, but it hurt worse hearing it from someone else. Yeah, he was getting off on my huge appendage, I know, but he also screamed in pain and couldn't take it. Were Tyler and Eddie going to be the rare exceptions who could bottom for me and love it? Or were they really just lying and said they loved it to make me feel better?

It also hurt that I'd lost control of my own story. If some guys were going to go totally crazy for my cock, I wanted it to be just an added bonus, after being attracted to the rest of me first. Miguel had completely separated Jaime's dick from Jaime. He didn't even care that it was attached to me. I might as well not have existed.

I rolled over and checked my phone: no texts. Miguel hadn't even had the balls to say he was sorry. A stop at He Brew for a coffee was definitely not on my "to-do" list for the morning.

I had a quick shower and ran downstairs just as Dad was heading for the door dressed in sweats.

"I'm gonna see if I can get a quick workout in before heading to the office. No meetings on my calendar until 10:00AM. See you for dinner?" Dad asked.

"I've got that Gay-Straight Alliance coffee house tonight at 7:30. I'm gonna run home at 5:00 and make some stuff to sell. Proceeds are going to benefit suicide prevention charities. I'm just gonna grab something from the fridge for dinner. You're on your own tonight. I should be home by 10:00 at the latest. I'll be sure to text you if I'm going to be late, OK?"

Dad smiled. "Thanks for worrying about your old man. You doing OK this morning?"

"I'm just OK," I said. "Miguel did a great job of making me feel bad about myself. I'll get over it. I'm looking forward to the event tonight. Besides, hanging with Tyler and Eddie makes me feel better."

Dad reached out for a hug. "For what it's worth, some guy, some day is going to realize that he's won the prize when he settles down with you. And I'm not just saying that because I'm your dad."

"Yes, you are, but it's OK anyway. It sounds good. Thanks."

I grabbed the last of the coffee from the pot, peeled a banana, and grabbed a yogurt from the fridge. Five minutes later, I was out the door and off to school.

I arrived to see Brandon standing there at the school's entrance. It brought a little smile to my face. Here was someone who had tormented me in the past, but had now moved so far away from that. He's a gay guy who'd never seen me undressed, yet waited there every day just to talk to me.

"Hey, buddy," Brandon smiled, leaning in for a hug. "What's up? How was your dinner last night?"

"Are you asking about the food or the experience, because the food was good, but the experience wasn't so great," I admitted.

Brandon looked genuinely concerned. "What happened? Wanna talk about it? I don't know if I can help, but I'll try not to cry, at least," he smirked.

"It wasn't supposed to be a date, but we had agreed to be 'friends with benefits.' Maybe I'm still kinda naïve, but doesn't that mean you're supposed to want to hang out together, too? I mean, it's not supposed to be a hook-up, right? But after a weird, tense dinner, we went up to my room and he only wanted me to fuck him. Then he called me a 'freak' because I'm kinda huge and he couldn't take it. Anyhow, thanks for listening.

"By the way, my grandma came through in a big way. How do you want me to send you the list of people your mom can reach out to for help? E-mail or can I just send the doc to your phone?" I asked.

"My phone. We're gonna have to use Bluetooth though. It's a pretty shitty, old phone. I don't have any technology that's faster. Now let's back up a sec. Miguel must be a real asshole to treat you like that. You're like the nicest person I've ever met, why would he dis you like that?"

"Actually, Eddie is nicer than me. He's the one who looks for little, old ladies to help to cross the street and acts like a crossing guard so that mama ducks can get across the street safely with their chicks, but that's beside the point. I don't know about Miguel. I think he's really angry inside about a lot of stuff. But that's no excuse to make me feel bad, right? I mean, if someone served you a nice, big, fat piece of strawberry cheesecake, would you turn around and tell them it was disgusting just because you tried to eat the whole thing in one bite and couldn't?

"I'd never do that. I love cheesecake," Brandon laughed, giving me a wink.

Brandon and I linked our phones and I sent him the doc that abuela had sent me.

"When your mom calls people on that list, she should tell them that Nyanya Cruz gave her their contact info. Nyanya Cruz is my grandma. That should open a few doors. No one says 'No' to my abuela and lives to talk about it," I smiled.

"I'd like to thank your grandma sometime. Maybe you could invite me over the next time she stops by? Would it be OK to give her a hug, you think? Some people are just weird about that," Brandon said sheepishly.

"Are you kidding? Abuela invented hugs. She'll probably pick you up off the floor, all 4'11" of her," I said.

"This help didn't arrive a second too soon," Brandon said, holding up his phone to indicate the list I'd just sent, "I sat down with my brother last night, just the two of us. I told him that I know I haven't really been there for him, even though I wanted to be. It was because Dad never wanted either of us to pay attention to anyone but him. I told my brother that I love him and that I know that he's hurting really bad and that we're all going to try to get better, him, my mom, and me. I told him that I'm pretty sure that Dad did awful things to him when they were alone and that Dad had done awful things to me, too, when I was my brother's age and that we weren't bad boys at all and that we hadn't done anything to deserve what happened to us."

I started to tear up listening to Brandon's story. "Oh, God, Brandon, that must have been hard as hell for you. How did your brother take it?" I asked.

"He burst into tears and hugged me. He cried for like fifteen minutes. I did the same thing. We just held onto each other. I think it helped a little. I also told him that if he ever felt like he was hurting so much he might harm himself to get a hold of me right away, no matter where I was, not matter what time it was."

"Hey, what's your brother's name? I've never asked you."

"It's Braden. Go figure. My asshole dad Bradley always said that he wanted his sons to be like him, but we could never be as good as him, so Bradley named me Brandon and my brother Braden, so we'd have similar names, but just not his. What a shithead. Can't wait to never visit him in jail," Brandon smirked.

We headed to our respective homerooms and I took my seat and braced myself for the morning's announcements:

"Attention ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, boys who are girls, girls who are boys and everyone in between who are both or neither, regardless of who you feel attracted to...or don't. Remember that tonight's the Gay-Straight Alliance Coffee House in the cafeteria, starting at 7:30. Proceeds from the bake sale go to charities that help prevent suicide in the teen LGBTQIA2S+ (did I get all the letters right?) community. So, Cupcake, bring some cupcakes, or pies or a nice, big, fat, juicy strawberry cheesecake and save a life."

At least for once, the wannabe voiceover said something that made me laugh, even if he wasn't in on the joke.

***

In the few minutes before chemistry class, I pulled Eddie and Tyler aside and told them what had happened the night before, "Guys, you know how much I love you, but I need you to be completely honest with me. Were you just faking it when I was fucking you? I mean, just so you wouldn't hurt my feelings? Am I just a fucking freak who's too big for anyone?

Tyler and Eddie looked at one another. There was a pregnant pause. Tyler was the first to speak, "Well, you definitely take some getting used to, for sure, but you took it slow and honestly," he turned to Eddie, "Sorry, babe," then turned back to me, "best fuck of my life."

Eddie burst out laughing. People turned around to look at him, then Eddie turned to me and said, "I have to agree. You're amazing, Tripod."

***

At lunch, Seán was bubbling over. "We did it!" he beamed.

"What are you talking about, Seán?" Tyler asked.

"Connor and me. We did the deed last night! My folks took my sister to dinner and the movies, so, Connor and me had a few hours to ourselves. Remember I told you that I'd tried to send him a dick pic, but sent it to my dance teacher instead? Well, I finally sent one to Connor and he sent me one back. Said he couldn't wait to be completely naked with me. That boy is soooo cute. Anyway, we got naked and then ordered pizza."

"Wait, what?!" I screamed. "You left out all the good parts and I'm not talking about the toppings for pizza, I'm talking about other kinds of topping. Did you fuck him or did he fuck you or like what?"

Seán turned deep crimson. "I don't kiss and tell."

"But do you fuck and tell?" Tyler laughed.

"Come on, Seán, spill it. You know what Tyler, Jaime and me have gotten into," Eddie said. "At least you could let us in on what happened."

Seán knew there was no way out of this one. "OK, well we kissed for a while. He's a really good kisser. Then he took off my shirt and rubbed his hands over my abs and said I was really in great shape."

"Come on, Seán, get to the good part already," Brandon blurted out, surprising all of us.

"Well, Connor flipped me over, ripped off my jeans and said I had the most incredible ass he'd ever seen, then started eating out my butt. It was a-ma-zing!!! I had no idea it could feel so good. I started moaning. That's when I knew I wanted him in me. So, I let him fuck me. He was really gentle to start with, then when I got used to him, he picked up speed. Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I never wanted it to stop! But after about ten minutes, he started cumming and I did, too! At the same time! But here's the best part. About a half hour later, after we'd had a chance to cuddle a bit, he said he wanted me to fuck him! So, we did. He said I was the biggest he'd ever had, so I needed to take my time, but after a couple of minutes, he was moaning like a cat in heat! Even after cumming once before, I blasted off like a rocket. It was sooo nice. He's sooo nice, too. I'm hoping he'll want to be my boyfriend. I really like him."

"That's awesome, Seán," I said, "we're really happy for you. By the way, are you both coming to the coffee house event tonight?"

"Absolutely, maybe we'll even hold hands," Seán said.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Seán added, "I sent my Irish dance teacher pictures of you guys. He said he thinks you're all hot and he'd love to hook up, if you're still interested. His name's Dan. I'll send you his contact info."

***

In the locker room after gymnastics practice, Ron walked over to Tyler and me and asked, "Am I gonna see you guys tonight?"

"Don't tell me you're going to the Gay-Straight coffee house thing," I said.

"I figure that you guys have really helped me out a lot, being an ally is the least I can do. Actually, it was Stephanie's suggestion. And she said that Ashley had told her to go. Ashley said that she was working on some cool surprise for the event. Do you have any idea what she's talking about?" Ron asked.

"Not a clue," Tyler and I said in unison, allowing just the corners of our mouths to turn up.

I ran home from practice and got to work making stuff to sell at the coffee house event. While everything was baking, I threw together a sandwich of prosciutto and provolone on a ciabatta roll, with a dab of mustard...just enough to keep me from collapsing from hunger. Gymnastics really does burn off the calories and I had been starving when I walked in the door.

Just as I stuck my now-empty plate in the dishwasher, the oven timer went off, signaling that the trays of goodies needed to come out. While they cooled, I ran upstairs to get dressed. I was still wearing my usual t-shirt and ripped jeans, which was probably just fine, but I wanted to step things up a touch. I looked through my closet and picked out a nice, long-sleeved shirt that was slim-fitting and showed off my body. It's hard to find cool clothes when you're my size. Even though I'm only 5'4", with my muscular shoulders and chest, I need a size S (not an XS), but that usually leaves the shirt gaping around my 28" waist and it usually hangs way too low.

I'm not a clothes fanatic, but for the few nice outfits I have, I convinced my folks to let me go online and buy some things from a site that specializes in short men. I found one that not only has jeans with inseams as short as 26" (66cm), but also has shirts available in short, extra slim-fit. That means there's no big gap around my waist, the shirt hugs my body, and the shirt tails don't end up behind my knees. And being able to buy jeans with an inseam that matches my height means that I haven't got rolls of fabric bunching up at my ankles or worse, having to tailor the cuffs; they never look the same. And it sure as hell beats having to buy stuff in the boys' clothing section. I doubt they make superhero underwear with a pouch big enough to fit my junk!

I realize that this is just an ordinary school event. It's not the prom, but for some reason, I wanted to look a little nicer than usual. As Mr. Choi had said, there apparently are kids who look up to Tyler, Eddie and me and I wanted to look respectable.

I pulled out a pair of jeans, but these ones hugged me in the right places, not my usual baggy pair. The shirt had a subtle, geometric pattern on it, cut tight across my shoulders and pecs. Even though it was October and already chilly, I decided to roll up the sleeves to show off my forearms and a bit of my biceps.

When I was finished, I took a look in the mirror, added a touch of hair product to tame the curls a touch, then was just about to head back downstairs to finish up when my phone chimed:

Tyler: Guess what, dude! I got my wheels back! Got the call right after practice today.

Me: Awesome. How does the car look?

Tyler: As good as a twelve-year-old, used-up, old junker can look. But she's my used-up, old junker. And I've missed her (Crying face emoji) Pick you up at 7:30? Let's be fashionably late

Me: LOL. I only live 5 mins from school. Getting there at 7:35 instead of 7:30 isn't fashionably late. CU@7:30

It was almost 7:00. Just enough time to finish up in the kitchen and get everything packed up. I ran downstairs to get a move on.

At 7:15, Dad walked into the house, "Hey, Jaime, Mmm, something smells good." He stopped for a second to take a look at the food for the coffee house, then turned to face me, "Wow! Don't you look nice. It's amazing what a decent pair of clothes can do."

"Thanks," I said. "Tyler's just got his car back. He's going to swing by to give me a lift. Oh, and by the way, abuela got me a huge list of people who can help Brandon and his family. I gave it to him this morning."

"That's Nyanya for you. I really hope it helps," Dad said.

"There's prosciutto and provolone in the fridge, if you just want to make a panino or something. That's what I ate."

"I didn't eat lunch until 3:00PM. I'll probably just have a snack later, but thanks for the advice, Mister Chef, sir," Dad chuckled. He walked over and hugged me. "Have fun tonight."

Tyler pulled up just as I'd finished packing everything up. Eddie was already in the car, so I got in the back.

"Something smells delicious, but I'd expect nothing less from you, Jaime," Eddie said.

"Well, Mr. Choi didn't want rainbow cupcakes, so I made zucchini-raisin and banana-nut muffins ," I revealed.

"Let me guess, you used a foot-long zucchini and very plump, juicy raisins," laughed Tyler.

"And jumbo-sized bananas with extra-large nuts," Eddie chuckled.

"Ha, ha, very funny," I smirked. "You're not exactly the ones to turn down over-sized goodies."

"They're our favorite," Tyler said.

"By the way, you look really cool," said Eddie. "Very handsome."

Tyler chuckled. "What do they say? First you gotta tell a girl she's pretty before you try to get into her pants?"

"Something like that," I laughed, "but it's a school night and no late-night orgies for this kid tonight. I promised I'd be home on time. I don't want to get my ass kicked again like what happened on Sunday."

At 7:40, after we'd had our school IDs checked at the door, the three of us walked into the school cafeteria and headed to the front of the room. A long cafeteria table had been set up there and wrapped with a rainbow-colored table skirt. We dropped our goodies for the bake sale off on the table and headed into the main part of the room.

The decorating committee had gone into overdrive to get this usually-cheerless place ready for the event. Hanging from the ceiling were eight progress pride flags. Those are the ones that, in addition to the traditional rainbow color design, include a triangle by the flag pole composed of white, pink, light blue, brown and black stripes, to symbolize trans and black & brown inclusion. Posters of glittery unicorns hung on the walls. And a huge, hand-decorated banner spanned the front of the room with "AMOR VINCIT OMNIA" written in rainbow colors.

"What the hell is that?" asked Tyler, pointing to the banner.

"'Love conquers all' in Latin," said Eddie.

"Not much of a hashtag," moaned Tyler.

I just rolled my eyes. "How much you wanna bet that one of the Gay-Straight Alliance members is also in the Latin Club. Probably a future priest."

"Well, if he's here tonight, he's probably already had plenty of time on his knees to practice for being a priest," Tyler smirked.

Mr. Choi spotted us laughing from across the room and headed over to say hello. "What's up, guys? Thanks for attending. You all look very nice, especially you, Jaime. What's the expression? 'You clean up OK?' You know, English isn't my first language. Sometimes I still get the expressions messed up."

"Xiè xiè, Mr. Choi," I said, blushing slightly.

"Wow, you speak Mandarin. I didn't know. I'm so impressed. Smart as well as cute."

I laughed, "I'm afraid that's about all the Mandarin I know."

"Did you boys bring something to sell for the bake sale?" Mr. Choi asked.

"I made two different kinds of muffins: zucchini-raisin and banana-nut," I said.

"I bought some rugulach. Do you know what those are, Mr. Choi?" Tyler asked.

Mr. Choi started to laugh, "I had a Jewish boyfriend in graduate school. We were together for a year and a half. I gained ten pounds because he introduced me to rugulach. They're like Jewish opioids. Highly addictive. A very difficult habit to break."

"What happened to your boyfriend, Mr. Choi?" Eddie asked.

"He was an easier habit to break," Mr. Choi smirked. "He moved back to New York after graduate school and I moved to Chicago. We decided that it wasn't worth a long-distance relationship."

The smile disappeared from Tyler's face. Eddie picked up on it right away and reached for Tyler's hand. It was the first time I'd seen the two of them show any public display of affection at school. Eddie looked Tyler straight in the eye and said, "Don't worry, Ty. We'll figure it out. Maybe we'll wind up in the same city, maybe we won't, but I'm not letting you off the hook so easily."

"I hope I'm not breaking up the love fest, dudes." It was Ron, this time with his girlfriend Stephanie in tow. We all knew about Stephanie, but had never actually met her. She stood 5'2" (1.57m), with dark brown hair and piercing, hazel eyes. And she looked like just like the sweet, innocent, high school girl that Ashley had described. It was a hoot to think that behind the peaches-and-cream skin and beautiful eyes lurked a budding dominatrix.

"Guys," Ron continued, "this is my girlfriend Stephanie." Then he turned to Stephanie, "And this is Jaime, Eddie, Tyler and Mr. Choi."

"Nice to meet you," said Stephanie, in a voice as sweet as her exterior. I still couldn't picture her strapping on a dildo and spanking Ron's ass raw.

"It's great that you guys are here to show your support. This is our first Gay-Straight Alliance event, too. Tyler, Eddie and I were all in the closet for the last event," I said.

"How's life out of the closet?" Stephanie asked.

"Much better," I said. "I should have come out sooner. The support I've gotten has been incredible."

"My ex-girlfriend blew up our closet," Tyler laughed, "but looking back, it was the best thing that could have happened. Eddie and me don't have to sneak around anymore. It's been great, except for the part where my car got trashed and sprayed with graffiti. But I got my car back today!! Life's awesome."

"Speaking of the car incident, has anyone seen Brandon? He said he was coming tonight," Eddie said.

"Ashley said to tell you guys that she and Brandon were running a little late, but they were on their way," Stephanie said.

Seán walked over, accompanied by John Robertson and Cody Burke, the other two members of the gymnastics team.

"Where's Connor?" I asked Seán.

"He's over by the food table. We looked all over town and finally found rainbow cupcakes. It's not even pride month! So, we bought rainbow cupcakes for the bake sale!" Seán replied.

Mr. Choi smiled politely, but I started to laugh, knowing that Mr. Choi didn't want to see another rainbow cupcake. "That's really sweet of you, Seán," I said.

"Hey, John. Hey, Cody. Nice of you guys to show up to support your LGBTQ+ brothers on the gymnastics team," I added.

"It's pretty cool," Cody said. "There's a good turnout. And it's for a great cause."

"I lost a cousin to suicide when I was ten," said John. "My aunt and uncle didn't know he was gay until later. He was only fifteen. My cousin was too afraid to tell anyone. I guess he just couldn't see any hope. I'm glad that this event will support charities that can help with kids like him. I only wish he'd gotten help. He was a great guy. I really looked up to him."

Everyone in the group looked at John and mumbled their condolences.

At that point, Connor Kim joined, "Everything OK? You guys look really glum."

Seán reached over and took Connor's hand, "I'll tell you later," he whispered.

"We're gonna head over and check out what's on sale," Ron said. "It looks like there's some amazing stuff to pig out on. You guys wanna join us?" Ron, John, Cody, Connor and Seán all nodded and started to walk away.

"We're gonna wait a bit," I said, wanting to wait for Brandon and Ashley to show up.

"Cool, catch you guys later," Ron said. Then he leaned in, "Isn't she like the cutest girl ever? You should see her in rubber and stilettos."

Tyler, Eddie and I burst out laughing.

Mr. Choi's eyes went wide. "Too much information," he said.

We scanned the crowd for Brandon, but he was still nowhere in sight. There were definitely a few surprises in the crowd though. A few members of Eddie's track team were there, as was Rich Kuczinski-Smith, who was the lone member of the football team to attend. But considering he has two dads, it made sense.

Then we were surprised when two varsity basketball players walked over and wanted to take selfies with us.

The shorter of the two, a blond, white guy who stood about 6'5" (1.95m) said, "We're both straight, but we wanted you to know that we're really impressed with you guys. It's tougher to be a high school athlete and come out as gay or bi than it is for non-athletes."

Then his teammate, an African-American kid who had to be at least 6'8" (2.03m) spoke up, "It took balls to admit to everyone in school that you're into dudes. And you two guys are boyfriends, too. That's cool. Can we post a picture of all of us together?"

I started to laugh. "I think Mr. Choi's gonna have to take this picture `cause I don't think even your arms are long enough to get a selfie of two basketball players standing next to two gymnasts. Only Eddie will wind up in the shot."

Mr. Choi took the cell phone and stood back a good distance to get us all in the shot. Then, just as he started to count down for us to get ready. The two basketball players grabbed Tyler and me and raised us up so that our heads were a bit higher than Eddie's. It made for the perfect group shot. Then he backed up further so that you could see our legs dangling in the air. This was going to make a great post.

The two players thanked us, then headed over to buy some sweets, with Mr. Choi in tow.

I scanned the crowd for Brandon and Ashley, but still nothing. It was 8:15.

I did spot someone who I never expected to see at this event walking over to talk to us. He seemed unsure and a little nervous. It was Ricardo Pérez, who had a reputation as a total player, but who had come on to Eddie on the down low when Eddie and Tyler got outed.

Ricardo is the quintessential Latin lover type. His mom is from Argentina, but of Italian heritage. His dad is Cuban. Ricardo is drop-dead gorgeous, to put it bluntly. He's just shy of 6' (1.85m) tall, with jet black hair, olive skin and emerald-green eyes.

"Hey, Ricardo," Eddie said. "Coming to show support as an ally?" I could see that Eddie was trying to provide cover for Ricardo, even though Tyler and I both knew that he had propositioned Eddie.

"Hey, guys," Ricardo said. He swallowed hard and continued, "No, I'm actually here to come out. I'm bi. To be honest, I'm tired of hiding and you and Tyler have really been a great example. If being bi scares off some girls, I'm OK with that. There are plenty of guys here I'd like to ask out."

"Hey, that's awesome. Congratulations on being yourself" Eddie said, leaning in to give Ricardo a hug. "Maybe you'd like to hang with Tyler and me sometime."

Tyler looked at me and subtly raised an eyebrow.

"I'd love to," Ricardo said, smiling broadly. "Give me your number and we can figure something out."

While Eddie and Ricardo exchanged numbers, Tyler leaned in and whispered in my ear, "This night is looking better and better. What a fucking stud."

Ten more minutes passed. I looked around and still no Brandon I was starting to worry. I grabbed my phone:

Me: You OK buddy? U change your mind about 2nite? It's OK if it's gonna be too much 4U.

It took another five minutes for Brandon to respond.

Brandon: All good. Just running late. Ashley's so extra, but in a good way. Should be there in about ten minutes.

In the meantime, Tyler's ex-girlfriend Megan and Eddie's ex-girlfriend Mia came over to say hello.

"Hi, boys," Megan said, "Just like old times when we double dated, except we didn't have your little sex toy to tag along." She motioned in my direction. "Just kidding. I'm retracting my claws. What's up? You guys bring anything to sell?"

"I got my car back, finally! And I bought some rugulach to donate," said Tyler.

"Oh, God. Your grandma got me hooked. I'll run over and buy them before they get snatched up. You guys want to hang out some time? Maybe catch a movie or grab something to eat? You can come along, too, Jaime," Megan said.

"That would be cool," Tyler said.

"Hey, Eddie, did you bring anything?" This time it was Mia asking, as she posed to take a selfie of the group.

"Nope, just planning on buying stuff. I know Jaime brought like four dozen muffins, which he made himself."

"Zucchini-raisin and Banana-nut," I said proudly.

"Zucchini? Banana? Ha. That's hysterical," said Megan. "Are they jumbo-sized muffins?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll love shoving one in your mouth and swallowing," I shot back.

Everyone laughed.

"Touché, Tripod," Megan said, "Gonna go grab some rugulach and check out your muffins. Catch you guys later."

It was now after 8:30 and I looked around again to see if I could spot Brandon and Ashley. I guessed they were still on the road.

Over by the entry door, I spotted Charlie Myers, our school's lone, out, trans girl chatting with Emery Barnes who's non-binary. Charlie always joked that she got lucky because her birth name worked just fine. There were plenty of girl "Charlies," so she never needed to worry about deadnaming.

Emery was in the same boat. They said that their parents must have known something when they were born because they picked a non-gendered name for them.

Charlie looked amazing. She was tall and very thin with high cheekbones. Her makeup was always flawless. And her long, brunette hair had clearly been conditioned and keratined to a lustrous shine. She loved her dresses and almost never wore jeans. She said that she fought her whole life to be her true self and that self was as girlie as they come.

Emery wore khakis, a flowered shirt and tennis shoes, with short cropped hair, and no makeup, except for mascara to accentuate their blue eyes.

Charlie and Emery were joined by a lesbian couple Maranda Gorr-Diaz and Lindsay Anderson. Maranda wore suit trousers, a white dress shirt and a bow tie, while Lindsay was in tight jeans, and a bustier. They definitely made for a striking couple.

The four of them were chatting animatedly. All of a sudden, I saw Maranda's head turn towards the door. It was Ashley, dressed to kill. Her just-above-the-knee, form-fitting skirt was slit up the side to show off her amazing legs. And her silk blouse showed just enough cleavage to be sexy, but not enough to be slutty. Yet another incredible, designer bag completed the outfit.

Maranda's girlfriend Lindsay looked up, then gave Maranda a good poke in the ribs. Lindsay had a reputation for being the jealous type, and Ashley was definitely prime competition.

Ashley just ignored the scene and strode straight over to us. But Brandon was nowhere to be seen.

"You look astounding, Ashley. Best outfit ever. But where's Brandon?" I asked.

"I told my mom about Brandon. She was so touched by his story that she kicked in $5,000 more for his makeover and let us borrow her car for the evening. He's parking it now," Ashley grinned.

Ashley's mom's car was legend. It was a limited-edition, German sports car that cost more than some people's houses.

"I have to say, Brandon was a challenge. The boy didn't know much about fashion or beauty. But he's a quick learner and, well, you guys be the judge."

Just then, a super-hot guy who bore a slight resemblance to Brandon walked in the door carrying a large box. He made a beeline for our group.

Tyler, Eddie and I stood there in awe, and not a small amount of drool was collecting in the corners of our mouths.

Brandon's dishwater-colored hair was now a perfect shade of beach boy blond, with natural looking highlights. It was cut in a top fade -- short, almost buzzed, on the side, but long and slightly tousled on top. It accentuated his cheekbones. His skin looked like it had been vacuumed clean, then sealed shut; it glowed. The unibrow that once bridged the left and right sides of his face had been plucked and the remaining brows sculpted into flawless, but still masculine arches.

Where there was once a frumpy, flannel shirt a tight-fitting, designer t-shirt with the words, "Love Wins" stenciled on it had taken its place. Most shocking of all, Brandon was built! His pecs, delts, biceps, triceps and abs were all in attendance, clearly visible underneath the white T. His 1980's era khakis had been replaced by high-end designer jeans that looked like they had been sewn just for him. His muscular thighs were clearly visible as the denim hugged them tightly. And an ample package was showing in the crotch.

"Oh, my God, Brandon!" I screamed, "Is that you? Turn around! Let me see the full 360."

Brandon did as he was told. His shoulders formed the top of an amazing "V" that shrunk down to a small waist, and just below the waist, his two perfectly-rounded cantaloupes of an ass sat perfectly encased in his tight-fitting jeans.

"Brandon! Where have you been hiding all these years," Eddie gushed.

"What a fucking stud. You're gonna be beating the guys off with a stick," Tyler said. Then he realized that he had just outed Brandon and the color drained from his face. "Oh, shit. I'm so sorry."

"It's OK, Tyler. I told her. She knows I'm gay," Brandon said.

"You look amazing! Ashley, you've outdone yourself. He really is ready to walk a runway. Brandon, you've been totally yassified. Where have you been hiding that body?" I asked.

"My dad always forced us to keep fit, so I've been lifting since I was twelve, but he'd never let me wear anything tight enough to show off all the hard work. I just wanted to thank you guys, but especially you, Ashley and your mom. I feel amazing," Brandon gushed.

"I took him to this bleeding edge hair place, then to my dermo who gave him a facial and then we went shopping. He's got a few outfits now to help keep this look going, plus some money left over to get his hair touched up every few weeks. But I gotta say, there was a lot of great raw material here. I couldn't believe it. Once he took off that awful shirt and pants, OMG. What a bod! This was a really fun project. Maybe I'll do this for a living," Ashley gushed. "But now you know why we were late. Lots to do!" She laughed.

By now, heads had started to turn and tongues were wagging. The new Brandon butterfly had emerged from his cocoon and the world had taken notice.

"Hey, Brandon," I said, "I got so distracted I forgot to ask you what's in the box?"

Brandon smiled broadly, revealing yet another surprise, his teeth had been whitened, too. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "It's a huge, juicy, strawberry cheesecake. Ya know, the kind I love."

End -- "Tripod"--Chapter 19