Warning: This story is for 18 year olds or older and contains descriptions of sexual contact between teenage males. If it is illegal for you to read, or you find the subject objectionable, read no further. All characters are imaginary. I hope you like it. eliotmoore@hotmail.com

Turbulence

Chapter 2, Cold Feet

Daniel Surfacing, Sunday June 6th

Daniel kept pretty much to himself over the weekend. He hung out in his room and avoided his friends and mother. He even avoided chatting with his friends on line. By Sunday night he was feeling ready to face his world. Bored with re-runs, and free from the obligation of hanging with his mother, Daniel had been checking himself out in the mirror; the usual survey of body parts, checking whether anything was growing too fast, or not long enough, and whether he was buff enough for grade nine. He was younger than most of his classmates and that bothered him. They were almost all better developed.

Daniel had blocked the janitor's room from his conscious thoughts. Walking home in the rain on Friday he had been consumed with hurt and anger that the guy in the black tee-shirt, Denver, had spanked his ass. In truth, it had happened so fast that it hadn't quite registered that Denver had been touching him. He realized he had expected the guy to protect him, and instead he felt worse than if the Pimple had hit him with the meter stick. His cock looked small, hairless. "Shit, I looked like a baby." Daniel stroked around the ridge and then squeezed the shaft with a few practiced moves. He felt the tingle as it responded to his touch. "Better." His cock swelled upward, thrusting into a ridged curve that swayed as he pondered it. He locked onto his own eyes in the mirror; Denver had treated him like his feelings hadn't mattered. Could the big boys do that to him? Daniel couldn't believe he could get away with molesting him. It was too creepy.

Daniel's daydreams about being a freshie were sharply divided between fears of a domineering asshole senior, ("master" was not a word he had expected) and the big brother who would welcome him into the cool world of high school. Daniel was mostly an optimist. People generally liked him and he was always perplexed when he met someone who didn't. He had friends, but he went home lonely. Being an only child he had envied Arlo his sister. Even if she still dismissed her little brother and his friends, she would occasionally cover their backs with Arlo's parents, or even put up with the boys hovering at the edge of her gatherings caging drinks from the older guys. Daniel suddenly realized he had been counting on a big brother more than he had thought.

He had been automatically stroking the meat while he relived the art room experience and the janitor's room. He came out of his drift, frowned at his hairless body, then stepped into the shower. Water felt good. These days he showered morning and night. He liked to stay clean, but it was really all about jacking off. He adjusted his angle so that the side jets hit him just right. When he had met Arlo in grade six and brought him home for the first time Arlo twigged to the possibilities of the high tech walk-in shower right away. Later during a sleep over they had compared cocks and laughed about the force of the water tickling their balls. They'd gotten tight over the last few years, but actually going all the way on a shower head together was just not on. By himself though; his cock was a magic wand: endlessly entertaining, ceaselessly demanding. Simon Marks had joked in gym that he could barely piss without jacking off. Daniel knew how he felt.

He had his routine now. Get wet, keep the cock in play with a jet while he shampooed and reviewed the chicks in his class. He got along with most of them but he hadn't made a play for anyone. He usually hung out with whoever Mandy Cole was with. The girls couldn't wear anything cool to school (Mrs. Godfrey bitched about anything hot) but some chicks couldn't hide it if they tried. Daniel pictured Mandy's butt in her stone-washed jeans. Daniel had caught up to her in height too. She had a small waist. Greg wasn't in the picture for some reason. She'd stand in front of him while he sat on the kitchen counter. Maybe they were just sharing cokes or something after school before starting on the health project. Grab her by the belt and draw her close for a kiss – maybe slide his hands over her hips and caress her tight ass while he drew her closer so that their crotches came in contact. Daniel slid his soapy hands down his thighs and around to his ass, pushing his cock into the stinging jet.

Denver . Daniel snapped back to the grade eleven as the water streamed down his back and rippled over the fingers lightly touching his ass. Would the older boy tell his friends all about his humiliation? "Yeh that little blond kid cried like a pussy. He wasn't tough enough to hit his friend." He and the Pimple would be planning what they would do to him next. Daniel wondered how hard it was to hide in a high school.

Mandy's tight ass and his erection were gone. Daniel turned to wash the soap off his butt and scrubbed his crack; letting his fingers slip along the buried pucker of his anus. He ran his hands automatically along the back of his thighs and up to the firm muscle at the small of his back checking for soap. Spanking; he gave himself a hard slap on his right butt cheek to remind himself of the sting. Then he shrugged. A guy can't really spank himself. Denver sure knew how to lay it on. A guy couldn't spank himself, but he sure could spank the monkey. Daniel put more soap on his cock and coxed it back to work. A minute later, when he came, he watched the white spunk stream out and hit the black granite leaving a slender trail across his clenched fist. The shakes subsided and his muscles relaxed after the high. The sound of the water suddenly seemed lonely as Daniel licked cum from his hand. The salty cream coated his tongue as he kicked at the puddle pushing it toward the drain. When he was dry he paused to squeeze one last drop of clear fluid out the tip of his cock. He rubbed the drop around his glands. Then he wrapped a towel around his waist and padded back to his bed room.

The apartment had been home as long as he could remember. The Art Deco exterior modestly lifted an extra ten stories out of the surrounding neighborhood to command a view of the river and the sweep of suburbia beyond. It had declined from early elegance to the edge of demolition before being cherished by a generation of YUPIES in the eighties. The view from the eighth floor balcony was less desirable than some. The Murrells had to content themselves with the down town core jostling for sunlight and a vista of the City to the west that included the University on its hill and somewhat farther away, the red and white spire that marked the location of Riverview High School. It was a balcony for sunsets and the only back yard Daniel could remember. The space had seemed big to mother and son after his grandfather had died. Daniel stood for a minute and watched the TV. It was too early to turn in so he decided it was time to face the world again. He snapped on his lap top. It was like his friends were just waiting for him to surface.

Daniel Surfing, Sunday evening

George was curious. The man with the yellow hat had told him not visit the Freshie Auction site, but then the man with the yellow hat had told him never to visit porn sites either. A guy wanted to know where he was going and what he was expected to do when he got there. Daniel didn't get why so many less than hot women got onto the porn sites. If he had thought it through Daniel would have worked out that hot chicks didn't get off on flashing their pussy and tits for anonymous men. Kiddy porn gave Daniel a meter stick (fifteen centimeters?) to measure himself against. Only a fag would want to go head to head with another guy, but Daniel was amazed by what he saw the men doing in the pictures. Daniel typed in the school web address Simon had gotten off his brother. His mom had told him it would just worry him to think about next year, but Daniel wondered how it all worked. As the site opened Daniel glanced at his old stuffed Curious George next to the monitor. The guys teased him every time they saw it; his mom and the girls who came over thought it was cute. His grandpa had called him Curious George a lot. Daniel still missed his grandpa.

The site didn't impress him. To get on he had to log on as a senior. That meant a password. An adult might think that was security, but user names were obvious and too many students thought passwords were a joke. Daniel logged on as some stoner who had probably never met a teacher. Daniel tapped in the guy's complex password: 123456 .

Some nerdy high school student must have spent their weekend finishing the setup. It looked like you could browse through the eighth graders, select by categories, or enter a name. Daniel remembered filling out the on-line survey carefully the week before. He had treated it like a test and he had agonized over his answers trying to be honest. Daniel entered his name and stared at yet another bad picture. He didn't have a shirt on and that made it seem worse. The starting bid was $5.00. The bidding had started at 9:00 a.m. And there was still 4 days and 19 hours left. There had been six bids and he was up to $35.00. Mr. Petri had told the class that the whole thing was a spirit fundraiser. Half the money went to things like the food bank. Daniel had no idea how much money people were expected to spend, or why anyone wanted to bid for him anyway. He checked out Arlo and Greg. Nobody was bidding on Arlo and Greg was worth $15.10 at this point. There was no way to figure out who was bidding. The rumor at school was that last year a grade eight had bought himself and avoided all the misery of his ninth grade year. Daniel guessed you would have to have a grade eleven help you. Still, Arlo's sister had made it sound like hanging out with the older high school students was cool. Daniel guessed it probably depended on whether you got someone like the Pimple and Denver , or someone cool. Daniel didn't think what Denver had done had been cool at all.

Daniel spread his homework out in front of the screen and opened up a chat. That pretty much took care of the next hour. His mom came home from a meeting and pit-stopped in his room to see what he was up to. Things looked good so she disappeared into her room to make mysterious noises in her bathroom. Girl stuff Daniel supposed. Girls he knew seemed to vanish into bathrooms for hours.

Daniel rotated his time between studying for his next final exam, burning his friends.

Boner-69 says:

shit man you'r up to 30

Spank the monkey says:

no way

Butterfly says:

Skater boys going to be whipped by a big girl.

Boner-69 says:

its the Brown eyes. And he looks like a pussy.

JISM-83 says:

Whip me Mandy

Butterfly says:

Fuck you Simon

JISM-83 says:

the fag is going to have your ass gay boy

Spank the monkey says:

like i care

JISM-83 says:

brother said so

Spank the monkey says:

fyahole nobody knows

JISM-83 says:

get ready you know you want it.

Butterfly says:

It's not funny Simon

Spank the monkey says:

gtg

Daniel logged off and stared at the screen. What had Simon heard? He realized that things starting Friday might be more difficult than he had thought. BUTTERFLY requested a private chat... Daniel ignored her and tried to do some studying for the morning's test. BUTTERFLY requested a private chat. He really liked her. If she hadn't been a girl he would call her his best friend. He liked hanging out with her and Greg. Daniel accepted.

Spank the monkey says:

what?

Butterfly says:

you mad? Chris came back to class pissed off. Why were you late?

Spank the monkey says:

nothing happened its cool

Butterfly says:

one of the girls made us take our tops off.

Butterfly says:

You there?

Spank the monkey says:

this guy made us hit Chris with a ruler.

Butterfly says:

You hit Chris?

Spank the monkey says:

no

Spank the monkey says:

this whole thing sucks

Butterfly says:

my mother says she'll beat the crap out of anyone who bothers me.

Butterfly says:

my brother told me to look ugly for my picture so I borrowed Alice 's glasses.

Butterfly says:

Amber posed for the picture the slut

Butterfly says:

Helen says Amber plans to sleep with her senior.

Butterfly says

Do you think she means a boy or girl?

Butterfly says:

Simon just said a guy hit you when you wouldn't hit Chris.

Butterfly says:

Daniel? You there? What are you doing? Looking at porno?

Spank the monkey says:

jesus mandy

Spank the monkey says:

well at least were out of elementary school on friday

Butterfly says:

Yes, but I'm used to beating you on the exams. We probably won't even see each other next year. They will put us in different groups. You'll be on some team and I'll be on the yearbook.

Spank the monkey says:

Greg will try out for the teams we can go to the same parties and hang out at lunch still.

Butterfly says:

Greg said he wants to see other girls next year.

Spank the monkey says:

what do you think about that

Spank the monkey says:

he's a fool

Butterfly says:

thanks. I hope you get a cool senior.

Daniel chatted for a few more minutes then the two quit. He checked the site anxiously once more but there had been no change. Greg had dumped Mandy. He checked Mandy's name - it took him a second to realize it was her because she had definitely toned down her appearance. Mandy was smart, a volunteer and joiner. He looked at her list of interests. She was definitely smarter than him. It all said "I'm an ugly fundamentalist Christian nerd and my mom is a cop." She was too. Greg was probably going to move on because Mandy's mom looked like she'd shoot his bag off if he tried for first base. Hagar the Horrible scared most of Mandy's boy friends. Daniel didn't realize that there was an "approved list" and he was on it.

Daniel's mom popped in to tell him to go to sleep because she had to get up early. They got along, but she was never around. He opened a folder she didn't know about and thought about Mandy for a bit. When he found his hands down his pants he decided it was time for a shower. Mandy could join him.

The Broken Circle, Tuesday, June 8 th

Daniel bit into his sandwich and paused as he noticed Mandy looking across the room at Greg. Helen kept chattering about the morning's English Exam oblivious to her distracted audience. "So it was really not fair to expect us to read a poem and answer questions about it. I mean, how are you supposed to study for that?" Alice peered back at her through her thick lenses. "What did you think it was about?"

"Who cares? It's over so forget it. We have science tomorrow, worry about that." Alice spooned pudding into her mouth. Mandy turned back to the table and caught Daniel staring at her over his sandwich. He tried to smile sympathetically at her and he was rewarded by a quick smile before she dropped her eyes to the table between them. She fingered the slender bracelet a moment as she listened to Alice and Helen gossip. Daniel choked on the hard lump of ham. She was still wearing Greg's Christmas present. She glanced at him again and he realized he was still staring at her. He turned to listen to Helen. It discouraged him to think she still wanted Greg. Greg was sitting near the door with Chris and a few other guys in their grade. He realized that someone had spoken to him and he tried to focus back onto the conversation.

"What?" He tried to take a bite. Amber Klein had joined them.

"Will you let me see your notes after lunch Daniel?" her smile mesmerized him for an instant and he had to hurry through his bite and swallow before he could reply. He remembered what Mandy had said about Amber's plans with her senior.

"Sure, I guess." Daniel was generous with his notes and his time in class. Amber was also a babe. She had the best tits in the eighth grade and at that moment Daniel was entertaining himself with the view of two soft mounds pressed together through the break in her bunny hug. Arlo nudged Daniel to get his attention. Arlo had asked him for his notes earlier. "We could all work together."

"That sounds good" added Mandy and Daniel shifted his thoughts back to her. He liked this: the close circle of friends who ate lunch together, and hung out after school. They were his family. This had been their table since the winter day in grade six when Mandy had dragged Helen and Barb over to sit with Daniel, Chris and Arlo. The group had changed a little over the years, Barb moved away and Alice and Greg had joined them. There was always room at the table for others, but Daniel could always count on Arlo and Mandy. He felt a shadow across the table and scanned the faces around him unconsciously settling on Mandy last. Mr. Petre had shattered his assumptions that things would go on the way they were. He made it sound like they would not be together in ninth grade: learning communities. Daniel had read the information on the web site and poured over the letters sent to his mother. There was no way to know where they were going to put him. Riverview High was huge. Arlo and Daniel had walked around the sprawling campus of interconnected buildings and playing fields that took up two city blocks. Everyone was familiar with the pool because they had been taken there. Each year the sixth grade classes were brought in to watch a high school musical, and once after school Greg and Daniel had shyly sat in the stands and dreamed of the day when they could join the high school boys on the football field. It was a big place and Daniel was worried they wouldn't be able to find each other.

"I'll see you in class." Daniel nodded absently to Mandy and watched her cross the busy cafeteria with the rest of the girls. As they approached the door where Greg sat with Chris, Helen and Alice seemed to draw in protectively around Mandy. Greg ignored her and turned his back as if to listen to something the boys were saying. It didn't look like they would get back together soon. Daniel felt relief and a little guilt. He knew Mandy was sad about losing Greg. He watched her as she turned through the door and caught a flash of polished silver as Mandy paused with her hand on the door to look back at him. It made him smile.

Daniel pulled his trash together and dumped it as he followed Amber and Arlo out. Greg gave him a lazy wave from across the room. He sketched a wave back as he moved closer. They had been friends since grade seven and it had felt right to have him part of the group. The last couple of days had seemed strange to Daniel. It was confusing, having to choose between buddies. Greg had made it easy for him by simply leaving the group. Greg was like Daniel, there always seemed to be someone to hang with around the school. They had made a powerful team.

Daniel watched as Chris got his revenge on Simon Marks. He slipped a foot between the boy's legs and everyone laughed as the scruffy shrimp slammed into the floor with the remains of his hot lunch. Simon was stunned for an instant, popped to his feet and then turned back on Chris. The supervisor intervened before the boys could get into it. He hadn't seen what had happened and Simon was not the sort to complain. He gave Chris the finger behind the woman's back and turned to scan the floor for whatever he had dropped. Arlo and Amber ignored him and continued on toward the door unaware that Daniel had stopped. When they reached the door they seemed to realize they had lost him and paused to look back.

Daniel noticed Simon's CD player under a chair and bent to pick it up. It was battered and had some ketchup smeared like blood along the back. He offered it to Simon. "I don't need your fucking help Murrell" the angry boy snapped at him before pushing past him toward the door. Daniel felt a burst of annoyance at the little jerk. Arlo gave Simon a small shove as he passed. Daniel picked up the tray and dropped it on the table next to Greg and Chris.

"Fucking asshole" Chris growled. Daniel gave a snort of agreement, but as he turned to join Arlo he wished that Chris had just left the kid alone. Like the rest of them, Simon was just trying to get by.

Mirror Image, Tuesday, June 8 th

He turned his back to the other boys, conscious of their ever watchful eyes. It was a lonely moment for him: always a time to be extra cautious. It had been that way ever since he had let it slip that he liked boys. You think someone is your friend and then they turn on you. People on the web sites talked about always knowing they were gay. It hadn't been like that for him; he had struggled alone with the question. Acceptance came slowly. When he had come to terms with it he told Anthony. After that nobody would hang out with him. He shifted to see if the others had left the shower. Troy and Abdul chatted with each other along the other wall. He turned back to the wall and let the water weakly sprinkle his face. It felt like tears, but he was long past tears. The television shows and web sites had conned him into thinking he should be proud about himself. Sure there would be problems, but there would always be people who accepted him and watched his back. The boys voices suddenly faded away and he knew he was alone. That is what it was like now. Nobody watched his back. There was nobody to share his feelings with. He turned the water off and silently slipped into the change room. The boys had stopped writing faggot on his locker, but he knew they still said it behind his back.

"You're running late Laine." He glanced at his teacher and went back to dressing. He was in no hurry to get to class. It was only in the gym or on the track that he that he held the boys respect. He was so tired of the elementary school attitudes. Two more days and he would be out of here. Riverview High was a big place; he would find a friend.

Denver Bids, Thursday, June 10 th

Denver tapped the keyboard as he looked at the latest challenge: $75.00. The kid was not that special. Who else wanted him this badly? Across the room he could hear Mark splashing around in the tub. By Thursday Denver was beginning to feel annoyed and increasingly angry. He suspected that someone was intentionally blocking his bid. He pushed the bid on Murrell up to $85.00 and then checked the other three grade eights that he had bid for. They were all possibilities, but his episode with young Murrell had left him with a strong compulsion. He had even ditched school early on Wednesday afternoon to catch seeing him on his way home.

He had sat in front of the school feeling like some chicken hawk waiting for the bell to ring. He had watched as the boy stood talking to one of the boys from the art room. He should have left it at that, but he was driven to know more about Daniel. The eighth grader had got on a bus and Denver had cursed himself as he did a u-turn and followed the bus across town. Daniel had reappeared later and Denver watched with curiosity as the boy walked slowly down the street until he finally sat on a window ledge. Denver parked and sat watching the boy. He must have been waiting for someone, but whoever it was never came to meet him. Finally Daniel had returned to the bus stop. Denver let him go.

He browsed through some of the listings to see if his insanity was that unusual. Did it reassure him to discover that many young girls and a few other boys were bid up to a comparable amount? Or did it worry him that so much money was being dropped in the interests of dark adolescent passions. One girl was actually $100 at this point. He had to admit she was stunning in an underage sort of way. Denver was resigned to picking up at least half of the bill. His dad was not going to turn over much more than $50 to a school fundraiser: tax receipt not withstanding. Denver closed the lap-top when he heard Mark open the bathroom door.

Mark paused in the doorway as Denver turned in his chair. Denver smiled at Mark appreciatively. He was slender from the running he did. Denver was not enthusiastic about the three runs Mark forced him to take. Mark ran every day and practiced some kind of Mark-Yoga that his friends called "Markya". Denver would do laps back and forth in the pool and Mark would meditate on the edge. Mark's uncut cock swayed as he moved over to the table to pore a glass of freezer chilled vodka. Mark tossed the vodka back and gave Denver a long look. Denver slouched in silence as Mark came up to him and stood over him, crotch at lip level, Mark refrained from glancing at the closed lap top. Denver knew Mark well enough by this point to realize that his interest in having a freshie was seriously stressing his lover. Denver was honest enough to admit that Mark knew him well enough for there to be a foundation for the stress. Denver glanced at Mark and knew what the tense boy wanted.

Denver sat up and ran his hands along the freshly shaved legs and chest. Mark had kept the soft down of pubic hair above his groin, but his heavy scrotum was smooth and soft as Denver cradled it in his palm. Mark's cock lifted with anticipation. Denver breathed in the musk and light scent of soap. He kissed Mark's tight belly and Denver pulled Mark down onto the carpeted floor to make love. After they had satisfied each other they kissed and talked about the year to come. Later, as Mark slept, Denver raised his bid to $90 and thought of the lonely boy sitting in a window staring into the street.