Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2023 18:36:39 +0000 (UTC) From: Knight Timothy Subject: Young Innocence Chapter 9 Bob called his wife Mary who was with Sue at the time, to cross over the newly built bridge on the backside of their property. Take the right driveway, he told her. An hour later, the ladies pulled up. The sight that they saw first was that of a 10' high, black rod iron gate that opened electronically as they approached it. A newly built private bridge had been built that crossed over the Rum River north of Anoka. On the otherside of the river was a 12' high black rod iron fence that lined both sides of the 1/4 mile long crushed stone lane. It opened up to another 10' high black rod iron gate that also opened electronically as they approached it. After they past through the second gate, the lane split off into two separate driveways. One went off to the left and the other to the right. The left driveway disappeared as it went between two 10' high blue spruce hedges that lined both sides of the driveway. The ladies took the right one that opened up to a circle driveway,. They stopped their car in front of a beautiful 2 and a half story house that was painted yellow. This just happened to be Sue's favorite color. The door opened and out walked Dale. "Hello ladles" "I hope that you two had a nice drive over here" "Cut the crap Dale" "Wheres Bob, we want to know what's going on here" Mary stated. "Patients ladies" "If you'll please follow me" Sue and Mary followed Dale into the house. Then he proceeded to give them a tour of every room inside that was above ground. The ladies were in absolute awe because this house was laid out exactly in everyway imaginable that they would of wanted their own dream homes to be built. Dale then lead them out through the back door and into the backyard. He pointed out to them, a covered walkway that they all took. After about a two minutes of walking, the walkway came to a large screened in gazebo. But since the warmer weather was no longer around, the screens were all covered by tinted one way insulated glass panels. With the flip of a switch by Dale as they entered, the lights came on and the gas powered log fireplace came alive. Heat burst forth from the floor vents all around the gazebo.. Soon the gazebo was warm and toasty. "Very impressive but why are we here" Sue asked this time. "Come, right this way and you'll have all of your questions answered" Dale flipped off the fireplace and light switch as they left. The ladies followed Dale out of the gazebo and down the otherside of the covered walkway. At the end of the walkway, it opened up into the backyard of another home. There before them was another 2 and a half story house similar to the other one but a different style. This house was painted pale blue, Mary's favorite color. Bob was standing by the back door as they arrived. He held it open for everyone to come inside. Another tour ensued and the ladies were again very impressed with all that they saw. The tour was concluded when the small group exited out the front door to reveal another circle driveway with a working fountain in the middle of it. A crushed stone driveway lined with 10' tall blue spruce hedges that lead away from the house to disappear from sight around a curve. "Okay, whats the deal with you two" Mary asked. Both Bob and Dale smiled as they each took a set of keys and a remote control out of their pockets and handed them to their wives. "Ladies, please accept these keys and remotes to your new homes" "We hope that you'll enjoy, the many years to come of living inside of them" It finally dawned on Sue and Mary what both their husband's had been up to this past year. "We can move in, once you ladies get them furnished and set up the way that you want them to look" "So go ahead and make all the purchases you need to fill both houses" "We have set up accounts at the stores listed on this list" "If you find something you want from another store, just purchase it and put it on these credit cards" "Be sure to safe all of your reciepts" "There's a crew on stand by that will paint and do as you two request them" "I'm sure you remember Tony, my project manager" "He is at your beck and need" "Coordinate everything through him" "Here is his direct number" To say that, Mary and Sue were flabbergasted was putting it mildly. They both squealed and hugged their husband's as they showered them with kisses. After kissing them both, the ladies each got out a pad and pen from their purses and got right to work. Sandy's house. Darren told Sandy that his dad and Dale had devised a surprise birthday party for both Mattie and Carter. That it would be held at the Mall of America this weekend. They'd be staying at the Radisson Blu Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. And since next Monday is a teachers work day they wouldn't have to worry about school till Tuesday morning. The itinerary for the boys would include going on the Sky over America first and then onto Nickelodeon Universe, Sea Life, Lego World and Crayola Experience over the two full days that they would be there. Meals would be eaten at the Twin City Grill and Johnny Rockets since Bob is a 1/4 owner in both restaurants. Then they would finish off with the Amazing Mirror Maze on Monday morning after checking out. Then they would finish up by taking everyone out for lunch and then take everyone back home. Sandy got permission to use one of her dads tour busses to pick up all of Matties and Carters guest. She could fit 14, so that would limit the number of kid's going to 12. They knew it would be short notice but Sandy was confident and would start invitation calls immediately. Darren was super psych for his brother Mattie and Matties best friend Carter. He remembered when dad did something similar for his 10th birthday. Which is one of the first milestone birthdays a kid experiences. And dad wanted to make it special for Mattie as well as Dale for Carter. Number one on the list for Sandy to call was Carter. She figured that he could give her the names of all of Matties and his friends. But she needed to be careful since Carter was one of the birthday boys. She needed to make it seem like this was just for Mattie. Ring ring ring "Hello, Carter speaking" "Hi Carter" "I'm Sandy, Darren girlfriend" "Oh, hi there" "I was hoping that you could help me out" "I will if I can" "This needs to be kept away from Mattie" "Okay, that shouldn't be hard" a sad Carter stated. Sandy could hear the sadness in his voice but didn't know why. "Mr. O'Brian is throwing a surprise birthday party for Mattie" "Your the first guest on my list" "I was also hoping that you could give me some of his friends names for me to call" He gave her Carl and Connors names but told her he thought that Connor would know Matties friends best since they were boyfriends. "Can you think anyone else" "Well, Mattie did meet my friends Timmi, Tommi and Peter at the ice skating rink" "Do you think that Timmi, Tommi and Peter would like to come" "Most definitely" Hold on and I'll get you their numbers" "After Sandy got everyones names and numbers, she said goodbye and hung up. Sandy next called Connor who was very excited about the party. He asked if his boyfriend Dustin and their friend Charlie could also go. Sandy said yes but was very confused cause of the conversation she just had with Carter. Sandy now had 9 boys checked off. She still needed another three. She decided to call Mary and ask her. Ring ring ring Caller I D said it was Sandy's number. "Hello dear" "How can I assist you" "I'm having a problem coming up with 12 boys to invite to Matties surprise party" "Take this number down dear" Mary had given her Mrs. Preston's phone number to call. She told her to asked for Cory. Sandy thanked her and dialed the number. Ring ring ring ring ring "Hhheelloooo" an out of breath man answered. "Hi, I was hoping to talk to Cory" "Just one moment please" Sandy could hear in the background the man calling for Cory. That he had a phone call. "Hello, this is Cory" "Hi Cory" "My name is Sandy and I'm organizing Matties surprise birthday party for this weekend at the Mall of America" "Wow" "How can I help you" "First off, can you come"? "Hold on" Sandy heard a discussion going on in the background. Then she heard a celebrated yell. "Yes, I can come" "You'll need to pack enough clothes for 3 days and nights" "If your a diaper wearer, as I'm beginning to realize that some of Matties friends are, your diapers and supplies will be supplied for you" "I'll be around to pick everyone up at 6pm on Friday" "I'll send you the address where to meet the bus" "The most important thing is that not a word of this is to get to Mattie" "Now, I need to know if you can give me any of Matties friends names" "First there is my bf, Joey" "Also there is Palmer and Leeann" "Oh, I'm sorry but this is an all boys party" "Okay so just Palmer and Joey" Sandy got those numbers from Cory and called them next. Everyone was able to come and were very excited about it except maybe Carter. Sandy just hoped that they all could keep it a secret. Darren had called Wesley to ask him if he would help chaperone Mattie and his guest this weekend for Matties 10th birthday. He told Darren it would be his honor. Back at the new houses. Mary and Sue were working together as a team. They had already called Tony who arrived shortly to coordinate with him. All three were going from room to room. The houses were nearly identical except for a few subtle changes that only their husband's would know to include in each of the houses. It was these hints and the houses colors that allowed the ladies to figure out which house was theirs. They had already written down on ten pages, front and back of their note pads. It was time for them to head into town to pick out their brands and products. They got in Sue's Subaru and headed out. Meanwhile Tony had his own list and would start tomorrow morning getting the prep work started. Matties room. Mattie had stripped down to his diaper and tshirt before starting on his pile of homework he had. He's been hitting the books since he got out of school. He already had all of the History and Math homework assignments that he missed out on completed. What he was having some issues with, was science. He knew that Carter was a wiz in science but was still to upset with him over Dylans revelation of them being boyfriends. Mattie decided to take a break and get something to eat. He headed downstairs to make a sandwich and a bowl of fruit. After eating and cleaning up, Mattie went back to work but decided first to take a couple of his pain pills as he was very uncomfortable and hurting. Mattie decided to close his science book and start on his two reading assignments and two book reports. Swiss Family Robinson and Huckleberry Finn. It was 930pm before anyone else got home. First it was Darren who arrived but was immediately met by his dad just after he kissed Sandy goodnight. They greeted each other in the wet room as they took off their boots and jackets. "Where's mom at, dad"? "You'll find out soon enough" "I don't want to ruin the surprise" "Okay dad" "I know from experience not to ask" "So how's Matties guest list coming along" "Sandy's gotten it all taken care of" "Plus, Carter hasn't a clue" "But Sandy told me there's some kind of friction between Carter and Mattie" "Darren, Mattie thinks that Carter and Dylan a boy they go to school with are boyfriends" What he doesn't know, is that Dylan made it all up" "Because of that, Connor and Mattie are together" "But I'm sure that it will all work out in the end" "Oh boy, was I this bad dad" "Only that time you tried to juggle three girls at once before you met Sandy" "Oh, don't remind me" "You asked" The two of them headed upstairs to check in on Mattie. They entered his room together and found Mattie fast asleep at his desk. His cheek was pressed against a page in a book that he had been reading. Turned out to be Huckleberry Finn. Scattered about in neat piles was apparently alot of homework assignments that Mattie had been working on. "Darren go get Matties night diapers and supplies." "I'll get him out of his wet soggy diaper " "Okay dad" "Aahh iugghn" "It's okay Mattie" "It's just daddy" "I'll have you in a nice dry and soft diaper in no time at all" Darren was right back and handed his dad a couple of baby wipes. Soon a new diaper was on and Mattie felt snuggly and comfortable. In no time at all, he was in a deep sleep. "Hold Mattie on his side son" "I want to check his cuts and bruises" "Okay dad" "Hand me that cream on the table" We could hear Mattie almost purring as the cool cream was applied to his stitches and cuts. "There we go" "All finished up" "Son, did you have this much homework when you were in the fifth grade"? "Dad, I don't have this much homework now in college" "It might be that he's trying to get extra credit" "You know how Mattie is" "Your probably right son" Suddenly there was a loud banging noise downstairs that caused Darren and Bob to hurry back downstairs. Mary had just come home with her arms loaded down with all sorts of samples that she dropped from sheer exhaustion. When Bob and Darren reached the front room, they saw all the dropped samples scattered all over the floor. Mary was sitting on the bench looking up at them. Smiling back, Darren and Bob bent over repeatedly picking up everything that was all over the floor. "How was your day honey"? "Exhausting and exciting" "Mom, did you get a new job as an interior decorator" "No sweetheart this is for" But Mary's eyes looked over at Bob and saw that he put his finger in front of his lips as to stay quiet. "Oh, you haven't told him" The smile that appeared on Bob's face was all the answer that Mary needed. "Mom you know what's going on" "Yes sweetie, I found out this morning along with Sue" "So I guess you're not going to tell me either" "Don't worry son you'll find out when you come back on break" "Okay Dad, I have to head out now" "We have a 1:00 a.m. game against the Golden Gophers" "Why so late, or early" "They had to fix their arenas, ice making machine cause it broke this afternoon" "Coach has reserved seats behind the bench for the whole family this Thursday for our other game against the Golden Gophers" "He's doing something special for Mattie's birthday" "Why don't you see if you can get three more tickets for Dale, Sue and Carter" "I don't see that being a problem, I'll ask coach" With the help that Mary had gotten from her hubby and son, soon all of her samples were now neatly stacked on the dens table. Ready for her to start sorting out her choices for which colors to paint in the rooms. Also she had wallpaper samples and tile samples. Different styles of locks, hinges, faucets, cabinet knobs, light fixtures and lawn ornaments. Bob and Mary had a light dinner before heading upstairs and going to bed. The next morning. Mattie was already showered, diapered, dressed and downstairs just finishing eating his breakfast when his daddy came into the kitchen. "My aren't you up early this morning" "Daddy, would you drop me off to school early please"? "Sure thing" "Grab your stuff and I'll meet you out in the truck" "Thanks daddy" Carters house Carter was just getting up when his daddy stuck his head in his room. "Hey buddy" "Moving a little slow this morning" "I'm getting up" "Son, what's the matter"? He asked as he entered his room and sat down on his sons bed. "I've messed up any chance that I had to be with Mattie" "What makes you say that Carter" "He's your best friend" "But daddy, I want Mattie to be more than that" "Then you need to tell him" Carter nodded his head and hugged his daddy. "Okay you" "Now get up and get your shower" "When your ready to go, I'll take you to school" "Okay daddy" Carter got up and stripped off his soggy diaper before getting into the shower. He quickly washed and did his morning routine before getting dressed for school. He met his daddy downstairs who was chatting with Perry. There was a car honking outside. "Well, that will be Warren" "I got to get going" "Don't forget to asked him about helping out this weekend" "I will dad" "See you later Carter" "Bye Perry" "Come on Carter, I made you a couple egg and sausage burritos to go" "Lets get going" "If we hurry, you'll be on time" Bob's truck "That's an awful lot of homework you have there Mattie" "You trying to get extra credit" "Oh, no daddy" "I'm in a different classroom now" "This is part of the school work assignments that I've missed and need to do to catch up" ""Your not in Mrs Preston's yellow classroom anymore"? "No daddy, I'm in Mrs Victoria's blue classroom now" "Do I need to talk to her about your diaper issue for you" "No daddy, she already knows" "Besides, she says there's others already in the class that also wear them" "Okay champ" "Here we are" "Don't forget that were all going to see Darren play the Golden Gophers Thursday night" "Okay daddy, I won't" Mattie got up on the seat on his knees and kissed his daddy on his cheek. "Bye daddy" "I'll see you tonight "Have a great day son" "Mattie got out and walked over to the blues class staging area and greeted Mrs Victoria" "Good morning, Mrs Victoria" "Good morning, Mattie" "I see that you did quite a bit of the homework I gave you" "Yes Mrs Victoria" "All the math and history work is finished" "I'm presently working on the two reading and writing assignments you gave me" "Very good" "Just follow the blue line to class and I'll be in there shortly with the others once the other bus arrives" I left and headed to the classroom. I entered and put my homework on the teachers desk. Then I went and sat down in my seat. I was getting stared at by several of the other kids in the class. "You can't sit there" this girl said to me. "But this is the seat that Mrs Victoria assigned me on Friday" Just then Mrs Victoria entered followed by the rest of the class. "Alright everyone, settle down" "We have a busy day" Everyone took their seats. I didn't need to look cause I could feel everyones eyes staring at me. "Mattie could you please stand" "Yes Mrs Victoria" "Class, we have a new student this morning" "Some of you may have seen him around school already" "Class, this is Mattie O'Brian" "Please give him a warm welcome" Carl heard my name and couldn't believe that I was in his class now. Boy was Carter going to be shocked when he got to class. Especially since Mattie was sitting in the empty chair right next to his. Mrs Preston started taken role. She called out Carters name but got no response. "Carl, do you know where Carter is at"? "No Mrs Victoria" "Carter wasn't on the bus this morning" "Mattie heard what had been said and got sad that he wouldn't be seeing Carter today. But why was I sad, he had a boyfriend and it wasn't him. Good, I'm glad I don't have to see him today, Mattie thought. "Okay everyone, please take out your math books" As everyone was taking out their books, the sound of the door opening caught almost everyones attention. Carter entered. "I'm sorry Mrs Victoria for being tardy" "I missed the bus and had to get my daddy to give me a ride this morning" "It's okay Carter" "Take your seat and get your math book out" Carter walked over to his table to find a person in the other seat bent over facing away from him going through his backpack. Mattie finally found his math book and put it on the table. Then he put his backpack, back under the table and sat up. Carter notice it was a boy that was sitting next to him. He turned his head towards him at the same time Mattie turned to him. They recognized each other immediately. Both of their mouths gaped opened as a shocked expression appeared on Carters face. But what he saw in Matties eyes was something else. Possibly a mixture of anger and sadness. Carter couldn't blame him. "Oh, I'm sorry Carter" "Meet our new classmate, Mattie O'Brian" Mrs Victoria said. "Yes Mrs Victoria, we already know each other" "Well good then" "Lets open our books to page 32" Everyone in the classroom could feel the tension between them. Carter kept glancing over and saw that Mattie was extremely smart in math. From what he could see, Mattie had all of the homework questions correct. Next subject was history. Mrs Victoria liked playing a game where she would ask a student a question and if they got it correct, they got to try an answer the next question. It was finally Matties turn. Mrs Victoria would ask for a date to match a certain event in history. Mattie rattled off all ten dates that Mrs Victoria was looking for. "That's very good Mattie" Mrs Victoria said. "Thank you ma'am" So she changed it up to give Mattie dates to events. Again he rattled all the answers off. To say that the class was impressed was an understatement. Mrs Victoria would need to play her little game again and see just how smart Mattie really was in history. Last was science. Carter could see that Mattie was having a hard time with this subject. For his all, Carter couldn't bring himself to help him. Why was he being so stubborn about this. . Finally it was lunchtime. Mattie couldn't grab his backpack fast enough to get out of there. He went to one of the furthest diaper changing bathrooms that he could find. He put in the code and it clicked opened for him. Once inside he slumped to the floor and broke down crying. Mattie didn't know that he had been followed. Or did he hear the door open and someone else entered. A boy in Matties new class had followed him. When he saw him going into one of the diaper changing bathrooms, it surprised him. He knew for a fact, that only those who wore diapers had the code to get in. Cause he wore diapers too. He pushed in the code and quietly entered. He was going to confront him about how he was treating his friend Carter. But upon entering, he realized the boy was full on crying his eyes out. Now the boy didn't know what to do. He decided to find out what was wrong. "Are you okay" Mattie through his tears, had heard a boy ask him if he was okay. With his tear stained face, he tried to compose himself. The boy spoke again. "Why are you crying"? "You wouldn't understand" Mattie replied. "Does it have anything to do with Carter"? "It has everything to do with Carter" "Why do you care"? "Carters my friend and when I saw the tension between the two of you all during class, I followed you here cause I was going to give you a piece of my mine" "But then I saw you go into a diaper changing restroom and realized that you and I are the same" "I was still determined to give you a talking to" "So I put in my code and that's when I found you crying" "Now I'm wondering if it might be Carter who may have hurt you instead" "Carters my bestest bestest friend in the whole world" Mattie said to the boy. "I found out the other day from Duncan that he is Carters boyfriend" "When the boy said that, it broke my heart" "That dirty rotten brat" the boy said. "That's a total lie" "Carters is I'm love with a boy named Mattie" "That's all he talks about" He thought for a moment. Mrs Victoria introduced this boy as Mattie O'Brian. Could this be the Mattie that Carter has been talking about for all these years. No, it couldn't be. He goes to another school. Mattie had stopped crying and had began to change himself. He listen to the boy rambling on about Carter being in love with a boy named Mattie. If only that could be true. The boy decided that he needed a new diaper as well. So as he changed himself, he would ask some more questions. "So where did you move from to start school here" "Nowhere" "Our house got put into a new school district" "We were rezoned out of my old school district" It all fits now. Excited, he jumped off the changing table. After he adjusted his diaper tabs for a nice snug fit, he sprang into action. "Your coming with me" the boy said as he grabbed my hand. Who was I to complain. He was a cutie. Not as cute as Carter. He lead me back through the halls to the cafeteria. When we got there, he stopped and looked around. I don't know what he was looking for but once he saw it, we headed that way. He stopped next to a group of boys. Then he reached out and grabbed one of them. Over at the table that Carter was sitting at, Carl witnessed his friend Larry holding Matties hand. Then he saw him grab Duncan by the arm and literally dragged him off towards the bathroom. Carl had a pretty good idea about what was going to happen. He sat back and joined in on the tables conversation. Much more upbeat now. "Carter, don't be so gloom, things will work out" "Besides, aren't you turning ten soon"? "Easy for you to say" "From where I'm sitting, it doesn't look good at all" "Plus, neither my parents or Perry has said a word about my birthday except that Mattie is having a super cool surprise party this weekend at Mall of America" "Yea, that's going to be a blast" Carl said. All the others around the table that were also invited could only agree with him. "In here Duncan, you have some explaining to do" "What are you talking about" Duncan said after he was let go. "About the lie that you told Mattie" "I haven't told Mattie any lies" "Bullshit, you haven't" "You told him that Carter is your boyfriend" This whole time I had my head down but when I heard that, I raised it. I got a sinister look in my eyes as I turned my head towards Duncan. "You lied to me" "Carter isn't your boyfriend after all" Duncan looked downward as he confessed that he lied. "I'm sorry" "I shouldn't have told you that" "Mattie jumped up and yelled "Yippee" when Duncan said that. He lunged at him and wrapped him up in his arms as he squeezed him in a tight hug before he kissed him on the cheek. That wasn't the reaction that Larry was expecting as he watched Mattie run out the door. Mattie went straight back to the cafeteria to get his lunch. He looked around and saw an opened seat at the table Carter was sitting at. Mattie marched right over to it and sat down. Everyone at the table except for Carl was shocked. Mattie didn't realize how hungry he really was, as he quickly finished his food off. He opened his juice and took a swig. "So. If I remember right, your Carl and your Peter". "You two are the twins, Timmi and Tommi" "I need to know something" "How do you two tell yourselves apart from each other" It only took a second before the whole table got it and broke up laughing. Carter on the other hand, didn't. He got up and walked away. Carl got up next to go after him but Mattie put out his hand out to stop him. "No Carl, this is something that only boyfriends can work out" "Your right Mattie" Carl said as he sat back down with an even bigger smile on his face. I got up and started following Carter from a distance. Carter looked over his shoulder a couple of times. He knew that I was following him. He turned down the hall that lead to the library. Our next class was Free period. I saw where he was going, so I hung back for a couple of minutes. Carter opened the door to free period but looked over his shoulder one last time. He didn't see me but he knew that I was still following him. He went inside and then signed in. I had waited about five minutes before I continued. Fifth grade free period was on a sign board hanging from the door. I opened the door and went inside. Carter had entered a few minutes before Mattie and signed in. Then he went through the labyrinth maze of book shelves that lead him to where his small group of friends sat around on the chairs, tables and a single couch that they had placed there. Their little oasis was surrounded on all three sides by floor to ceiling book shelves. The librarians front desk was just on the otherside of the book shelf that was behind the couch. Carter removed a book which gave him unrestricted view of the entire entrance area and was leaning against the couch when Mattie enter. "Can I help you with something' a man asked. "Yes, I'm Mattie O'Brian" "Oh, the newest whiz kid" "Whats that supposed to mean" "They didn't tell you"? "I think Mrs Presley mentioned something about me getting the highest score for the school" "But I must ask you not to mention this to Carter" "I don't want him to know that it was me that dethroned him" "That's very honorable of you, young man" "I'm not a young man, I'm just a boy" "I'll keep your secret for you" "Sounds like you really care for Carter" "Can I tell you something and you not tell anyone" "Mattie, you can come and talk to me anytime that you need someone to talk to" "Well, I think that I blew my chance to have Carter as my boyfriend" "Why do you think that" "I just found out that Carter really didn't have a boyfriend" "Cause Duncan just confessed to me that he lied about Carter being his boyfriend" "So why do you think you blew it" "While I thought Duncan was Carters boyfriend, he discovered that Connor and I were boyfriends" "He's Carl's younger brother who is Carters best friend" "I see your dilemma" "So what are you going to do" "Apologize and beg Carter to forgive me" "Well, I personally don't think that you'll have a problem with Carter" "Why do you say that" "Ever since I met Carter over 4 years ago, all he ever talks about is a boy named Mattie" "My opinion is that he's head over heels in love with you, Mattie" "So what happens now" Mattie asked. "One of you needs to be brave enough to tell the other one how you truly feel about them" "But let's get back to the rules of free period" "You must always sign in when you first get to class" "The area over there, is the general area that I want all of you to stay in" "I know that a group of boys have rearranged some of the furniture to make them a private area" "You can do your homework, read, talk quietly amongst yourselves" "Sleep but no snoring" "Basically, just don't get loud" "Okay, what do I call you" "My nameplate over there says I'm Mr Donalds" Just then the first of two bells rang signaling the end of the period. In my case, the end of lunch. Carter had heard the whole conversation between Mr Donald's and Mattie. He put the book back in place and sat down in his recliner chair. After listening to what Mattie had said about him, a smile appeared on his face. Mattie looked around for Carter but quickly figured out that he must have gone to their private sitting area. So instead of getting upset, he walked around looking for a book to read. He found one about the history of all the wars of the world. Mattie loved history of the world. He sat down and began to read the book. The door opened and the rest of the class came walking in along with a few other kids who had study hall and choose to come to the library today. Mattie watch all them split up and go to different areas of the library. But Carl, Timmi, Peter and Tommi split off and went around tthe outside of the end book shelves and disappear. Mattie got up and grabbed his book as he went to track down his friends. Mattie was having some troubles finding them. He could hear what sounded like whispers coming from just on the otherside of the bookshelf that he was standing in front of. But he couldn't see any way to get in. So he went back to the table he was previously sitting down at and continued reading his book Up the road at the high school. "Hey Warren, wait up" "Whats up Perry"? "Are you busy this weekend" "Let me think" "Tamara wanted me to go with her to do some shopping" "But man, if you have something more important to do to get me out of going, please say so" "Well I don't know" "I don't want Tamara made at me" "Tell me what it is and I'll decide" Not seen by either of them was their girlfriends coming up behind them. "Oh its nothing Tamara" "I let Perry off the hook from having to go shopping with us this weekend" "Why would you do that" "Something about a surprise 10th birthday party for Carter and Mattie this whole weekend at The Mall of America" "What do you need Warren for, Perry" Tamara asked. "To help me chaperone the boys this weekend" "Plus Darren's going to also be there" "Oh please Tamara, you've got to let me go" "Of course you can go" "I wouldn't want you to miss out on being a kid again" "Plus I know that you'll want to hang with Darren" "WAHOO" Warren shouted out as all the students heads turned his way to see what all the excitement was about" Mall of America Bob and Dale stopped by to confirm that the entire top floor penthouse suites at the Radisson Blu were set up to his and Dale's instructions. The four rooms had been reserved and paid for, for over a year now. "Bob, Carter told me this morning about wanting to be more then just friends with Mattie" "But he feels that he may have blown it" "Yes, I understand your concern" "When I saw that Mattie had hooked up with Connor and not Carter, I didn't know how to feel" "I'm sure that they will work things out" "Oh, by the way, Darren got you three tickets to Thursday nights game against our very own Golden Gophers. We'll be sitting behind Torontos bench" "Their doing something special for the boys" "That's great news" Library Larry walked in and saw Mattie sitting by himself. He went over to ask him why. "Hey there Mattie" "I don't think that I got a chance to introduce myself earlier" "I'm Larry and I play on Carters tennis team" "I have study hall this period" "Nice to meet you, Larry" "I'm Mattie O'Brian" "If your in our class, why don't you have free period this hour" "Good question" "It's because I'm having trouble in science" "So I'm in study hall," "I can get extra help from the seniors that come over from the high school to help us understand whatever subject we need help on" "I probably be joining you soon" "Cause I stink at science" "Just ask Carter, he's a wiz in the subject" "Well, we aren't seeing eye to eye right now" "That's what I wanted to ask you about" "Why aren't you with Carter now"? "I couldn't find him" "Come with me and I'll show you where they're hiding" Mattie got up again with his book in hand and followed Larry. He went the same way that he did earlier but where Mattie turned left, Larry went right to a dead end. "See these two books" "Yes" "Pull them back till you head a little click" "Then you push in here and quickly step inside" Apparently I wasn't moving fast enough cause Larry reached out and grabbed me. Then he pulled me into this narrow passage way. "Mattie, you must enter quickly and shut the panel quietly but also quickly" "We don't want others to know about out secret oasis" "Okay" I followed him about ten feet before we ended up in some type of storage room. There were all these really old books there. I wanted to explore them but Larry said to follow him. Everyone in the room knew that someone was approaching cause the light had blinked when the panel opened. They all assumed it would be Larry. The curtain drew back to reveal Larry but he was followed by Mattie. Carter and Mattie stared at each other like deerx caught in headlights. Carl felt the tension growing and needed to defuse it. "Come on guys, let's go so they can talk" "Yea, that's a good idea" "Besides, I'm still hungry" Peter said. Everyone got up and left but not really. They stopped just behimf the curtain and stayed really quiet. Carter had gotten up and moved over to the couch, where he patted the seat next to him. Mattie sat down where Carter had patted. They sat in silence, to scared to be the first one to speak. They both turned their heads towards each other, staring into each others. The boys eyes spoke volumes about how they truly felt about one another. They leaned in closer until their lips touched. The first two kisses were just pecks but the third had unlocked the true love and passion these two young boys had for each other. Carl was getting worried as he didn't hear them talking. Curiosity got the better of him. He stepped closer and pulled back curtain just enough so he could peek inside. What he saw bought a tear to his eye. He closed the curtain an wiped his eyes. Turned quietly and whispered for them to leave. Carter saw the light blink and knew they their friends had finally left. Out of breath, Mattie and Carter pulled apart. "I'm so sorry Carter," Mattie cried out as tears burst from his eyes. "No no no, Mattie" "It's all my fault" a crying Carter flatly stated. A smile came to Mr Donalds, as he knew these two boys were starting a new chapter in lives together. Mattie snuggled his head under Carters chin as he was wrapped up in Carters arms. They stayed like that for the rest of the period. The bell rang, ending the dayI. So the two boys got up and walked hand in hand. "Mr Donalds, I'd like to check out this book" "Sure thing" Mr Donalds stamped my card and told me I could have it for 10 days. Carter slipped his hand in mind as we walked out of the library and down the hall to our busses. With everyone mingling around and getting on their busses, Carter and I shared one last kiss before separating and heading our separate ways. That ends chapter 9. Well, I know it took me awhile to post this chapter but with the holidays and all the snow on top of my daily chores. . Timmi and I have been stupid busy. eh School may have been out but for us kids that live up where we do that just means more chores to get done. I understand from visiting my uncle in the states down south that you boys wouldn't know what it's like to live our way. While you are playing video games, we're stacking firewood or getting dried meats from the smoke house. Or milking our cows to make our butter and cheese. I always think it strange how those people down south make fun of us from Canada. Calling us slow. I'd match myself against any of you boys who think that they could do what Timmi and I do, everyday throughout our lives. I'm sorry if I sound upsetting but we had exchange students from down south who just left that constantly make fun of us. But never lifted a finger to help. Shot, I had to give up bedroom for 6 weeks cause he couldn't handle living in the cabins. Making a fire, cooking water for hot drinks. Useless. I going now before I say something I can't take back. But my challenge stands. Au Revior Merci Beaucoup Mattie