STANDARD WARNING: This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to individuals, living or dead, is pure coincidence. Do not read this story if you are offended by man-to-man romance or sex. Do not read if you are underage according to the laws in the country, state/province, county, city/town/village or township where you live. There is sex between males. You have been warned!

Copyright 2000 by archer. Permission is granted to Nifty Archives, ASSGM, and gaywritings, to post one copy. No part may be copied, reproduced, republished, or reposted on another website without written permission from the author.
 


Pocketful of Stars

By Archer

Chapter 4

 

Summer school was going good.

Paul was great to have around. That first week, he played running bases with Josh and me and he helped me get the chain back on my bike. He fixed it so well, it never falls off anymore.

Paul was always polite to my mom. He was friendly to Cindy and Carrie, but I think they were scared of him, so they just kind of kept their distance.

Friday was hot as hell and Josh and I were hanging out on the front porch drinking Pepsi. Paul pulled up in the Camero.

"Hey guys," he said as he slammed the car door. "It’s a hot one today, isn’t it?"

I was staring at his thighs. They were gorgeous. It’s hard to get good definition in your thighs. I read about it in Muscle & Fitness and Men’s Health. Mom buys them for me because I hardly ask for anything. Carrie and Cindy always want stupid shit like Barbie dolls. I save up the really big things I want for Christmas or my birthday, which is February 12th, in case you want to send me something. That way if I ask for small things like magazines, she’ll gladly buy them for me. No, I’m not really a weightlifter. If you want to know the truth, I jack off over them. Some of the older issues are stiff with cum.

Why don’t I get some porn and look at it? That’s a stupid question. First, I’m underage. Second, all the Playgirls are sealed in all the bookstores in town. I guess I could have tried to lift one. I used to go into the bookstore in Eastland Mall all the time. There was a really nice guy who worked there, and he was really cute. He was always friendly to me. He would always say ‘hi’ to me, and ask me how I was doing. His name was Matt. After a while, he got promoted to Assistant Manager. Then, he was gone. I haven’t seen him for a year, I guess. I wonder where he went. I never did ask anyone who works there, because they always watch me as if I’ve got some skin disease or something.

Anyway, getting back to that Friday afternoon.

"Too hot," Josh said.

"Is there a pool around?"

Josh and I looked at each other. "Fairview is the closest," Josh said.

I looked at Josh. He was right, Fairview Pool was the closest, and they had a huge water slide. But Fairview was on Main Street in Normal. You remember all that junk I explained about Bloomington and Normal being twin cities? Well, there’s some things that they don’t do together, and the pools and park districts are still separate. Normal residents only have to pay $2 while we would have to pay $5. "But we would have to pay the out-of-district fee. Besides, mom already bought season pool passes."

"Cool! Besides, Holiday isn’t so bad."

"But mom isn’t home yet, and I don’t know where they are. She keeps them with her."

"Well, maybe we could go tomorrow," Paul suggested. "It’s supposed to be as hot as it is today.

"We could," I said, but I know my voice sounded disappointed.

"Tell you guys what. I’ll talk to Laurie tonight. When does she get home, Joe?"

"About five."

"I’ll talk to her, and we’ll get it set up."

Mom got home around five, and she was hot and tired. I knew I had to approach this carefully. Josh was already staying overnight, and she would look at this like it was another privilege. Mom’s all about fairness. If she does something for one of us, then she has to do it for all of us. If one gets a gift, then we all have to get something of equal value. The only exception she makes is letting me visit dad by myself. And I already told you about the magazine business.

I had a chance to corner her before she started dinner but after she changed out of her work clothes.

She sighed. This was a bad sign. "What about Cindy and Carrie?"

Another bad sign. "What about them?"

"Shouldn’t they be able to go, too?"

"But Paul said he would take us, meaning me and Josh."

"This isn’t fair."

"Well, Paul was the one who made invitation." I had a bright idea. "Let’s ask if they want to go. Carrie…."

"Joe," she interrupted. "They should be able to go without putting it to a vote."

"Aw, mom. I kinda wanted it to be just us guys. Can’t you take them tomorrow or Sunday? Look at this." I ran to my room and got my first test paper from summer school. "I got a 99% on the test this week."

She grinned and took the paper from me. "I’m proud of you, good job. OK, Joe. This will be your reward for doing so well."

Score! "Thanks, mom." I hugged her. I don’t hug her very often. I’ve learned to sort of ration the hugs. That way, when I do hug her, or my dad, they know I really mean it. And there’s other rules about hugging. They can never, ever hug me in public. They can hug me in front of Josh, because he’s almost part of the family. But I go ballistic if they try it in the mall, for example. Hey, I’m a teenager now. I have an image to maintain.

OK, so where was I? When Paul came down to talk to her about a half hour later, she gave him the pool passes. Really, only the family who purchased the passes was supposed to use them. But they didn’t ask for and ID at the pool, so who’s to know?

"Now, Paul, you shouldn’t have any problems getting in with these passes. You sure you don’t mind taking Joe?"

"No, not at all, ma’am."

"I would have thought that you would have a heavy social schedule."

"Well, one thing I found out when I got here. ISU is not exactly known for their summer school sessions. There’s really not a lot of students around."

"You’re right about that."


Josh was spending the night, as usual. Tonight, we were going to sleep in the backyard under the stars. Why don’t we sleep inside where it’s air-conditioned? I have an answer for that. We just have one window unit, which is mom’s room, of course. Then, mom positions fans around to blow the alleged cool air around. It doesn’t do much good. It’s still as hot, except the air is moving instead of sitting there.

Mom is afraid we’re going to run around the neighborhood, so she keeps an eye on us. Plus we have one of those motion sensor lights. The floodlight comes on if there’s any motion in the yard. So, if she sees the light on, she’s going to check on us. Besides, I got caught once last year in May. Josh and I went running around the neighborhood and when we got back, mom caught us. She was ready to call the police. Josh couldn’t spend the night for the rest of the summer. And I already told you that I don’t like to go over to his house much. That really sucked!

We put up a pup tent anyway, because it’s part of the ritual. I found the tent at a garage sale for $5. Mom bought it for me. She is really into garage sales and so is my Aunt Lynda. In this town, garage sales are like a freaking hobby to some people! I’m not kidding. We had one once after my dad moved to Chicago. The regular garage sale people are freaks! They get up at the crack of dawn and started knocking on the door. The first one rang our doorbell at 6:15 on a Saturday morning! Mom was pissed. She had forgotten to put the phrase "no pre-sales" in the ad that ran in the newspaper. So here were these garage sailors (that’s what the regulars are called) at our door asking if they could preview the stuff. Mom slammed the door in their faces! It was hilarious!

Anyway, there we were in the backyard on our backs looking at the stars. The upper half of our bodies were out of the tent, and the lower half inside. I had my arms crossed behind my head. The night was pretty quiet, and Josh and I just listened. That’s the great thing about Josh. We can be quiet and not say anything and still feel comfortable. I think that’s a sign that you’re good friends. When you are comfortable enough not to talk every second, I think that’s a sign that you’re close enough to just let it be.

I was thinking about a lot of things. I was thinking about Josh. He’s my best friend in the world. I tell him everything. Yeah, right, there’s one thing I haven’t told him. I want to, I really do. Someday I will, when the time is right. I almost feel guilty about not telling him.

I know what you’re thinking! You’re thinking I want to do it with Josh. Well, you’re wrong. It’s not that Josh isn’t cute, he is. But it would be kinda weird. Like messing around with your brother, or something. Some people really do that! Mess around with their brothers or sisters. All I have to say about that is ewwwwww!

OK, I confess. I give up. Yes, I have tried to get a look at his stuff. Hey, I’m a teenage boy – oops! --- I mean, kid. I just wanted to see how mine compare with his. He’s circumcised, I saw that much. They told us in sex ed that most American boys are circumcised. In sex ed, we had this guest speaker from the McLean County Health Department talk to our class. She was trying to scare us into not having sex, I could tell. She made it sound like you could get AIDS by kissing. It bothered me at first, and then I decided to ask my dad. He straightened me out, so to speak. At the time, I didn’t think to ask him how he knew so much about the subject. I’m gonna have to ask him sometime.

Back to Josh. We’re about the same size if you know what I mean. No, I didn’t see him with a stiffie, so I’m not really sure. Mine is a little bit bigger. And I know what you’re going to ask! You’re gonna ask how big it is! Tell me the truth, you want to know! Well, it’s NUNYA! That means NUNYA Business!

Then, I started to think about Paul. I started making plans for tomorrow. If I played my card right, I might get a peek at his unit! Cool! But, he might wear his swim trunks to the pool and I wouldn’t get to see it. Damn. Let’s see; he takes really good care of his car and I don’t think he would want us to sit on his seats with wet swim trunks. That’s it! That’s my plan. I’ll just wear some shorts with nothing underneath and change at the pool. Besides, I like freeballing it. It feels really good. Then I’ll tell Paul that I don’t want to get his seats wet and maybe it would be a good idea if he changed at the pool, too. Man, I am brilliant!

You probably think that I’m some sort of pervert or something because I think about sex all the time. Well, I do. Think about sex a lot. I used to feel bad about it, but dad told me it’s normal for a kid my age. He said it’s OK, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the things I need to do.

Shit! I have a stiffie! All this thinking about sex did it. Lucky thing it’s under the sleeping bag, where Josh can’t see it.

I looked over at Josh. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was asleep. But what’s this? There’s a little motion going on underneath his sleeping bag, right in his crotch area. Is he jacking off?

He is! I couldn’t believe it! We have never even talked about sex, except to talk about the stupid lady from the heath department.

I couldn’t get to sleep with a stiffie and Josh jacking off next to me. There was only one thing to do. I had to jack off. I can do it really quietly and quickly. If you slept in the same room as me, you’d never know.

I started stroking and trying to match Josh’s rhythm. Before long, I felt that familiar bump in my groin.

Damn! Josh threw off the sleeping bag, and arched his back. It was like he was putting on a show for me! I did the same.

I remember the summer night air sort of tickled on my dick when I took the sleeping bag off. I was really close now!

I looked over at Josh again, and his eyes were shut really tight. He grunted and shot all over his belly.

A second later, I did the same. I used one of my socks to mop up the mess. He used his shirt.

When we were done, he rolled over on his side away from me, without saying a word, and fell asleep.


"Josh, you have something all over your shirt," Mom said the next morning, while we were eating cereal. "Take it off and give it to me, I’ll wash it."

I looked intensely at my cereal. I imagined I was really tiny and I could use a Cheerio as an inner tube.

"No, that’s OK," Josh said.

"Really, it’s no problem. I’m doing laundry anyway. It will be ready by the time you boys get back from the pool. Joe can lend you another one for now."

Josh pulled it off without looking either of us in the eye, and resumed eating his Cheerios.

"Now, you boys be on your best behavior," Mom lectured.

 

An hour later, Paul appeared at our back door, carrying a towel that was rolled up into a tube.

"Y’all ready?"

"Yup," I answered for both of us.

"We might go somewhere after the pool, so you might want to wear some shorts and change at the pool."

SCORE!

"Paul probably doesn’t want to get his seat wet," I said to Josh as we trotted out to Paul’s car.

"Shotgun!" Josh called.

Sometimes Josh can be really immature. I did the mature thing and punched him in the arm.

We both gave him directions to Holiday Pool. It’s actually not far from Dinah’s where my mom works. My Aunt Lynda lives in a condo right next to the pool.

Holiday used to be a private pool. The country club across the street owned it, but sold it to the city. There’s a very small water slide there. We didn’t care. We were with Paul, and away from my sisters and our parents.

As we parked the car in the little parking lot next to the pool, I saw my Aunt Lynda heading out to her car. I love my Aunt Lynda. She is so cool. She’s my mom’s oldest sister. She was divorced a long time ago. Her three kids, my cousins Ben, Mindy and Drew are a lot older than me. She works at General Electric. But that’s not why I love her. I love her because she’s so much fun.

Mom calls her eccentric, and I’m not really sure what that means. Aunt Lynda is really creative. She can sew, and she does crafts, and needlepoint and all sorts of stuff. She used to baby-sit us when we were younger and mom had to work. She would always have some sort of craft project for us to do. She’s the best cook, too. And can she ever bake! Her cookie jar is never empty. And she reads tarot cards. It’s the truth! She’s not one of those freaks on a 900 line, though. She hasn’t done mine in a while. Maybe it’s about time.

But the thing I like most about her is that she likes me so much. She just thinks I’m the greatest kid! Not to be crude, but she thinks my shit doesn’t stink. I can talk to her about anything (well, almost) and I know it won’t get back to my mom.

I called out to her and ran across the little park to her. She was carrying a little basket that she uses as a purse. She’s sort of nutty that way. She uses things in unusual ways. Maybe that’s why mom calls her eccentric.

She hugged me (I let her hug me in public) and said, "How you doing?"

"Good," I said in her chest.

She ruffled Josh’s hair. "Good to see you again, Josh." That was another cool thing about her – she remembered everyone. Josh was glad she remembered him, I could tell.

"This is Paul. He lives in the apartment."

"Nice to meet you, Paul."

"Nice to meet you, ma’am."

"I detect a southern accent."

"I’m from Tennessee, ma’am."

"And you’re going to ISU?"

"Yes, majoring in chemistry." About this time I was starting to get really hot. It was about 95 degrees, and we were standing right in the sun.

"Well, I’m sure you boys want to get into the pool. It was nice to meet you, Paul."

"Same here."

"Stop by and see me sometime, Joe. You too, Josh. You’re welcome anytime."

"Your Aunt Lynda is so cool," Josh commented to me as we walked back to the pool house.

I had to agree.

 

There was no problem with the passes. The second I walked into the changing room, I could smell the chlorine. I like the smell of chlorine. It reminds me of summer.

"We might as well throw all our stuff into one locker," Paul said. "I’ll hold onto the key."

My plan was working! In fact, it was working too well. I had to change quickly before I popped a boner. Paul, on the other hand, seemed to be taking his time. He untied his shoes, and pulled them off one by one. He put one sock in each shoe, as if he had a left and right sock. At the same time, he was talking to us and looking at us. When I say looking at us, I don’t mean he was drooling. He was looking at our faces, as much as I could tell. He did it just as casually as if he did it every day. Maybe he did. He certainly must have spent a lot of time in a gym to get the body that he has, and when he’s done working out, he changes in the locker room.

I held my breath when he peeled off his shirt. It was the first time I saw him shirtless. His chest was so beautiful. That’s the only word for it. He had no hair on his chest at all. And he had no hair under his arms! What’s up with that?

Josh and I were already changed and sat on the bench waiting for Paul. He finally got around to pulling off his shorts and underwear. What I saw next both excited me and depressed me.

It excited me because he was so good-looking and I wanted to see his stuff. It depressed me because I didn’t know that they made them that big.

When we got onto the pool deck, Paul pushed us into the pool that brought a whistle from one of the lifeguards. It would be the first of many whistles that would be blown at us that day. We horsed around, which the lifeguards hate. Paul threw us in the water, we tried to dunk him. He gave us both shoulder rides. When he put me on his shoulders, I got a boner, and it pushed against the back of his head. I prayed that he didn’t notice, or if he did, that he wouldn’t say anything about it. We did goofy jumps off the diving board, and tried to make each other laugh. I did a Statue of Liberty that got a healthy round of applause.

I loved when Paul’s hands touched my chest and back. When I was on his shoulders, he had his big hands on my thighs. It was very sexy.

A few hours later, we got out of the pool and changed. Paul did the exact same thing except in reverse. He kept talking to us and asking questions. At one point, he stood there bare naked looking at Josh as Josh told him about the Pony League team he was on. It couldn’t have been more than minutes, but it seemed like hours. It bothered me at the time, but later I figured out what it was.

Paul was comfortable enough with his body that he didn’t care who saw him naked. I hope I can be that comfortable someday. It may be a few years, though. My dick is unpredictable and I can get a stiffie at any time.

Paul took us to Dairy Queen afterwards, and made us promise not to tell my mom. I knew better than to do that, because mom would invoke the Equal Time clause or some junk.

That day was one of the most fun I had so far that summer. But there were a lot more things to do and experience.

We dropped Josh off at his house on the way home.

When we got back to the house, Paul went straight upstairs.

I went to my room with the green walls, smeared some lotion on my sunburned back and wondered what was missing from my life.

I came upon the answer: I wanted a man in my life. If my father couldn’t be here with me, then Paul would do.


Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome. Just click on one of the links below. And don't forget to check out my website (new chapters are posted there earlier) and my other story here on Nifty, Paternal Instincts, in the College section.

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