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Subject: {ASSM} Tricks, Part 2/2 (mf ffm rom anal)
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Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 07:10:05 -0500
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*****WARNING*****
The following is a story containing graphic depictions of sex between
under-age characters.  If you are under the age of consent in your area
or are bothered by reading about sexual acts, please don't continue
reading any further
**********

I owe a large debt of gratitude to Denny Wheeler who volunteered to
edit this for me.  If you find no errors with this story it is due to
Denny's extraordinary skill in cleaning up my mess.  If you do find
errors, they're all mine.  I can neither ask nor expect Denny to find
ALL of my errors.

I spend time writing these stories to entertain.  If you like what I
write, if you don't like what I write, or if you have some constructive
criticisms please feel free to send these comments to
kenn_ghannon@nospam.hotmail.com (removing the 'nospam' phrase as
necessary).  Thank you.


Tricks Part 2/2 (mf ffm rom anal)
By Kenn Ghannon

In nearly all of the books I had read, women preferred cuddling after
sex and men didn't.  Perhaps I was unusual or maybe I just wasn't a man
yet but I could not believe the pure joy I felt at holding Sam close to
me after we were through.  The warmth of her body, the soft sheen of
sweat on her skin, the trembling way she forced air into her lungs in
slowly quieting gasps had me wishing I never had to let her go.  She
faced away from me with my arms wrapped around her but I could never
remember feeling closer to anyone.  I reveled in the feel of her and
felt my heart growing in my chest to encompass her.  I was...blissful.

With each passing moment, I grew more comfortable.  I was as warm and
happy and comfortable as a newborn...

Baby.  As in, what comes from having unprotected sex.  As in, what I
had just done.

The bliss I was feeling melted away into stone-cold fear.

"Um, Sam," I whispered quietly, urgently.  I couldn't keep the tremor
of fear out of my voice.

"Hmmm?" she whispered in reply.  Her voice was sleepy and contented and
I could just make out the smile drifting across her face.  She pulled
my arms even closer and snuggled back further against me.

I hated this moment, having to make this choice.  Did I tell her now or
wait?  I could tell that she was at peace, without a care in the world.
I knew that mentioning my fears in the next few moments would shatter
that peace and I didn't want to do it.  Couldn't I just let her be for
a few minutes?  Just let her enjoy the afterglow?  In my mind, though,
I heard the answer I was expecting and I knew it was the right thing to
do.

With a sigh, I tightened my grip around her.  I railed against
intruding on her contentment, but the fear coursing through me would
brook no delay.

"Are you, you know, on...um....the pill or anything?"  I knew the
answer before I even asked, but it had to be brought up.

I felt her stiffen immediately so I just held her even more closely.  I
moved my head down to her shoulder and kissed her at that tender spot
where the shoulder meets the neck.  I didn't want her to worry; I just
wanted to comfort her.  I needed to reassure her somehow.

"Oh, NO!" I could feel her tears begin, feel the sobs.  It crushed me.
She had gone from the joy of our lovemaking to the depths of worried
despair.

"Sam...I'm so sorry!" I whispered to her.  My hands started slowly
stroking up and down her arms.  "I didn't think...I didn't think at
all."

I really was sorry, too.  I was sorry that I hadn't grabbed a condom.
I wasn't sorry that we had just made love.  How could I possibly be
sorry about that?  It was the single most wonderful experience I'd ever
had.

"It's not your fault," she sniffled.  The trembling of her cry was
breaking my heart.  "How could you know?"

"It *IS* my fault, Sam," I whispered to her, holding her tight.  "I
should have remembered, should have stopped.  My parents had The Talk
with me earlier this year.  They gave me, um, protection and
everything...I just...I didn't think about it.  You felt so good, so
wonderful...I'm so sorry..."

Eventually her sobs slowed, and she pulled my arms around her even
tighter.  "You did?  I mean, it was good...you know...for you?"  Her
voice was a low, disbelieving whimper.

"Are you kidding?  It was the best thing I've ever felt!" I told her
honestly.

She just lay in my arms for a few minutes, her hands absently stroking
up and down my forearms.  Her crying had subsided and she just sat
quietly thinking.

"I suppose it really doesn't matter," she whispered, her voice
thoughtful and light.  I could feel her relaxing slightly, her head
once again settling on my pillow.  I was not so at ease.

"WHAT?!?"

"My mother sold me earlier, remember?"

"Yeah," I said, more to myself than in answer to her question.  The
words still filled me with an anger that threatened to burst from me.
I know that I tightened a little, but her fingers on my forearms
soothed me somewhat.

"It's okay," she whispered.  Her voice was quiet and mellow and I felt
her relax even further into me.  "I guess, in my own way, I sold myself
too...to you.  I'm glad it was you.  The scum momma brought home - he
wouldn't have used anything either.  I think it was part of the
deal...though I'm not completely sure.  Momma wanted me to be...just
like her, I think.  If I were pregnant, I'd never be able to leave.
I'm going to end up just like her anyway..."  Her voice trailed off
into unintelligibility but her words were like a chunk of ice inside
me, threatening to consume me.

"I'm sorry," I cried, surprised at the tears in my eyes.  "I didn't
mean to hurt you..."

"Shhhh," she whispered after a few moments.  I could hear, though, the
tears converging just out of sight.  "The only hurt here was a GOOD
thing.  Besides, the pain is gone and all that's left is...beauty and
happiness and...wonder.  I've never felt like that before.  I guess I
can see where people would get hung up on it; I've never felt
so....alive.  So....I don't know..."

"What're you going to do?" I asked, changing directions.  My thoughts
were going a mile a minute and I couldn't rein them in.  This wasn't
the question I'd wanted to ask, however.  This question...I didn't want
to hear the answer but I knew that I had to.  "You can't go back."

"I don't know," she replied.  Her voice was a study in fear and
loathing.  "I guess I'm going to have to go home, face the music..."

"You don't have to," I blurted.  All of the thoughts and half-made
plans I had sorted through over the past few months assaulted me.  I
knew that I didn't have an answer for her.  The underlying fact was,
though, that I didn't want her to go.  I didn't want her back with that
deranged woman who was making her life a living hell.

"Where would I go, Brian?" she asked softly.  "Here?  Your parents
wouldn't let me stay and you know it.  Even if they would, I couldn't
leave my brothers and sisters.  Should I live out on the street?  I
thought of that...but I know I'd just end up hooking anyway, just like
my mom...or maybe worse.  I've got nowhere to go, Brian."

"We could go to the police...or maybe social services!"

She just laughed but there was no humor in it.  Instead, a lifetime of
fear and pain flowed into that laugh.  "Either way, I'd end up in
foster care or worse.  Plus, I'd be separated from my brothers and
sisters.  I can't put them through that."

"Wouldn't it be better for them, even if you are separated?"

She lay quietly for a time and I was afraid she wouldn't answer.  When
she did speak, the change of direction threw me for a moment.  "You
know, I've thought of suicide before.  Living like I have, how could I
not think about it?  I've even gone so far as to take a razor blade to
the bathroom with me and lay it upon my wrist...but then, I'd think of
my brothers and sisters and I couldn't do it.  If I take the easy way
out, they've got no one."

I just sat there, my mind awhirl.  The matter of fact way she said
things, the dispassionate sound of her voice scared me.  She was alive
only to help her siblings; without them, she'd have left this world
long ago.  I couldn't fathom the resolve it took her to get out of bed
each day, knowing how things were going to end.

I'd thought my life was bad.  I'd thought that all the teasing and
harassment I had faced over the years was more than I could bear.  Now,
though, faced with the true nature of Sam's very life...I realized that
I had it easy.  I realized that compared to hers, my life was
wonderful.  The very thought of that scared me.  Even as the fear
flooded me, though, I had to admit that she was the most courageous
person I'd ever met.

I couldn't let her do it.  I thought forward to all the suffering she
had before her, sentenced to live in that house, sentenced to live that
life, and I knew in my heart that I had to do something to prevent this
tragedy.  I just didn't know what.

"But..." I started, my mind devoid of answers or thought except the
all-consuming idea that no matter what happened personally, I had to
stop her from returning.  She didn't let me finish.

"No, Brian.  There are no 'buts'.  Don't you think I've spent my entire
life looking for a 'but'?  It's the way things are.  I'll do what I
have to.  I'll try to get the other ones out of there.  I'll live
through them...and if I can save them from the same fate, I'll be
happy...mostly.  I just wanted..." She was unable to continue for a few
moments as I felt the sobs and tears start anew.  My heart shattered,
thousands of pieces of broken glass slicing through my chest in an
instant.  "I just wanted one time...just one...that I could remember.
That I could hold onto for the rest of my life..."

"But I love you," I said vehemently, the only thing that I could think
of to ward off the inevitable.  I think I said it just to stop her,
just to keep her here...but, as I thought about it, as the idea sank
deeper inside of me and struck at my heart, I knew that this too was a
lie.  The truth was that I really did love her; that somewhere along
the line, I had fallen for her in a way that I couldn't understand.
"I'll get a job or something...and you can have all the money."

She turned, looking at me in awe.  Her brown eyes, marked red from her
tears, pierced through me and looked at my very soul.  "You...you love
me?"  Then her eyes closed and her arms wrapped themselves around me.
I felt her skin against mine but I didn't react - my heart was breaking
and it was all I could do not to clutch at my chest to keep it intact.
Her tears welled up and dropped upon my chest.  The feel of those drops
of pain kept me from thinking of anything but how much I needed to make
this right somehow.

After a while, her tears slowed but they never really stopped.  "All my
life, I've wanted to hear that.  I never thought I would, not really."
Her eyes opened and she looked deep into my eyes.  "I love you, Brian.
I've loved you for so long.  You're the first...guy...who I've ever
loved.  I've waited to see if you had any feelings for me...but you
never said anything.  Never showed anything.  I knew that you wanted
more from me...but I just....I just...assumed you...just wanted to, you
know, have sex with me...and I didn't want that because I've seen how
cheaply momma uses it.  So when...she....did that...earlier...I
just...I just said to hell with it.  I figured my love would let me
remember this even if you didn't love me."

"But I DO love you," I interrupted, my tears rolling down my cheek as I
pleaded with her.  "So let me help you."

"How would you help me, Brian?" she whispered between sobs.  "You can't
get a part time job that makes enough.  So what'll you do?  Quit school
and work full time?  You wouldn't be able to do that.  Your parents
would stop you.  The police would stop you.  Even if you could, though,
*I* can't let you do that.  I can't let you throw away your life for
me.  If I let you do that, I'd end up hating myself even more than I
already do.  So, I'll just...go back...and...take care of my brothers
and sisters...and I'll do what momma tells me to until I can get them
out of there.  I'll hate every minute of it, but I'll always remember
these few moments...and they'll help me make it through."

I wanted to say more, wanted to tell her that I didn't care about
throwing my life away, wanted to tell her that as long as she was safe,
I'd be happy...but she quieted me with a finger on my lips.  "I'll go
back...but...do you think...we could...maybe...just one more time..."

I cried, but nodded.  Our second time was slow and gentle, even gentler
than the first.  But it was marred by pain, sorrow...tears.  My cock
rose to meet the challenge but in the state of mind I was in I'm not
sure how or why.  I was crying, Sam was crying.  It wasn't good for
either of us.  Both of our bodies knew it, too.  We couldn't complete
the act - neither of us came.  Eventually, when we knew that we weren't
going to reach climax, we had to stop just from weariness.

When it was over, she silently put on her clothes as I watched.
Desperately, I wracked my brains for an answer, a solution to the
problem.  For the first time that I can actively remember, my mind let
me down and I found nothing.

I didn't know what to say or do.  I got up and began talking, but she
silenced me with a wan smile.  I slowly put my own clothes on and
walked her to the door.  Each time I started to say anything, she just
placed her finger to my lips and quieted me.

At the door, she kissed me and it almost broke my heart.  "I love you,
Brian.  I will always love you.  Do me a favor, okay?  Have a great
life.  Make something of yourself.  Please?  For me?  And later, when
you're older and successful, just remember me?  A little bit?"

"Sam," I started and the tears broke through me.  "I love you."

She smiled sadly and closed the door.

For a moment that seemed like an eternity, I just stood there looking
at the wooden door and watching through the glass as she walked,
crying, down the steps.  Eventually, my legs crumbled and I sank to my
knees, only the wall holding me up.  I don't know how long I cried but
it was a long time.  I felt completely helpless and useless as only a
heart-broken teen can.

After the tears slowed, I called my mom.  I had to tell someone.
Anyone.  I couldn't talk to Evie; those wounds were just too fresh.  So
I did the next best thing.

As luck would have it, of course, Evie answered.  "Glenn residence."
Her voice was soft and I felt a tremor of remorse born from the pit of
my despair.  I almost broke then, almost cried into the phone.  This
was my oldest friend, my oldest confidant.  I needed her more than I
ever had before.  I started, just the briefest inhalation of breaths,
to cry out to her.  Then the image of Paul Mathews pushing me outside
of school earlier that day ran through my head and the moment passed.

"Can I talk to my mom, please?" I tried to be strong, tried to keep the
tears out of my voice but it was a vain effort.  My voice cracked and
wheezed and my tears were evident.

"Bri?" she asked, amazement and concern threading through her words.
"Are you okay?"

"I just need to talk to my mom."  Once again I had a moment of doubt
and for that moment, the briefest of instances, I caved.  I remembered
all of the conversations, all of the times we had shared.  I knew I
could tell Evie, I knew that she would come over and we'd think this
through somehow...but in the last instant, I couldn't bring myself to
do it.  Her betrayal was too new and too severe for me to even think of
forgiveness.

I heard her begin to say something but she thought better of it.
Finally, I heard her calling my mom in the background.

"Brian?  Is everything okay?" my mom asked, her voice laced with
concern as well.

"Would you mind..." I began, but stopped short.  The thought of turning
to my mommy for help galled me as much as any fourteen year old, but I
had no one else I could turn to.  "Can you come home, please?" I
whispered, afraid that my tears would start anew.  The sight of Sam
outside the door, her back to me as she slowly faded into the night,
kept flowing through my head and images of the door closing with an
awful finality shook through me.

"I'll be right there," she responded and the line went dead.

As soon as she walked through the door, I was hugging her.  To hell
with my teen-aged pride, I only wanted to go back to that time not so
long ago when I could crawl into Mom's lap and have her make the world
all better again.  Deep down, though, I knew that those simple days
were gone forever.

Once again, I cried for a while; I don't know how long.  I just
couldn't stop.  Slowly, though, in between the sobs and whimpers, the
story came out.  I held nothing back even though I became extremely
embarrassed talking about having sex for the first time.  Still, when
she and dad had given me The Talk, they'd said I could come to them
with anything.  I was holding her to her word.

Sometime during the conversation, we'd moved to sitting around the
kitchen table but I couldn't remember when or how.  I just remembered
the awful rush of words coming out of me, jumbled and sometimes
incoherent, but Mom knew.  As only a mother can, she figured out what I
was saying, somehow making sense of my disjointed words.

"Oh, Brian," she whispered, startling me.  I looked up and saw tears
rolling down my mother's cheeks.  Her blue eyes were glassy, tears
welling within them.  Strangely, though, they were soft and fragile as
they looked at me.  "You're too young and far too sensitive for all of
this." Then she laughed, but even the laugh was tinged in sorrow
and...something else.  Something almost
like...hope...resolve...confidence.  "You're pretty strong,
though...and you made the right choice in telling me.  I wish you'd
have told me sooner, though.  Don't worry.  We'll figure something out.
Now, I've got to call your dad and then...well, we'll figure it out.
Go upstairs and get cleaned up.  You look a mess."

I looked at her, my sobs quieting somewhat.  In her eyes I found a
steely resolve.  There were still tears running down her face but the
confidence she exuded gave me reason to accept that hope.  I just had
to trust it would be enough.

I don't know how I made it up those stairs.  I would have sworn that my
legs didn't have the strength to bear me any farther.  I just wanted to
lie down in some hole and hide until my heart stopped hurting.  The
problem was I didn't think that would ever happen.

When I got back downstairs after washing my face and hands, mom was on
the phone.  My dad was next to her, talking to her in the half-whisper,
half-gesture language that served as their personal secret code.  When
he noticed me, he turned and I was struck by the sadness and anger
warring for dominance in his face.

"Hey, Bri.  Do you know Samantha's address?" he asked me.  My mom
turned and looked at me expectantly.

I started to ask what this was all about, but there was something in
his eyes that told me this was not the time for my questions.  "Um...I
think it's 1468 Vernoy."

"Tom," my mom spoke into the phone.  "It's 1468 Vernoy...Yeah,
Vernoy...Well, that's where they live.  Okay, call me back as soon as
you can.  Oh, and Tom?  Thanks."

"What's going on?" I asked, more than a little concerned.

"Tom's a friend of mine from the firm," my mom began.  "He's a family
lawyer.  He's going to help straighten this out.  He's calling Social
Services now."

I felt the blood drain from my face.  "No!  Call him back!  He can't
call them!" I shouted.

"What's the matter?" my mom and dad asked in the same voice.  Their
faces were etched with concern.

Sam's words rang in my ears and I knew that I had to stop this somehow.
"If they take Sam away, they'll place her in foster care.  They won't
keep her brothers and sisters together.  It'll kill her.  Her family is
all that's holding her together."

"It's okay, son," my dad walked over and clapped me on the shoulder.
"Tom's taking care of that.  They'll keep Sam and her brothers and
sisters together as much as possible, okay?  It's not going to be easy,
though.  It's going to be difficult to place 5 kids in the same place.
They might not be able to keep all of them in the same house, but
they'll do the best they can."

I just ran to my room in tears.

I didn't see Sam at all the next couple of days.  I asked my parents
about where she was, but they just told me not to worry.  They were
taking care of things.  It wasn't an answer, but at least she was
alive.  At least she was away from the bitch.

A hectic week followed.  I walked through school a zombie, not even
bothering to hide from the Posse.  Strangely, they didn't bother me
that week.  Maybe they could tell that nothing they did was worse than
what I was living.

On Saturday, my parents decided to try to cheer me up by taking me out
to dinner at San Miguel's, my favorite restaurant.  It was a
bittersweet meal.  I couldn't think of anything besides Sam and with
her weighing down my thoughts, I don't think I really even tasted my
dinner.  Of course, my parents tried to draw me out of my funk but I
didn't want to think of anything else.

As we were driving home from the restaurant, I sat looking out of the
window without really seeing anything.  Sam was on my mind and I felt
that familiar powerless feeling.  I wanted to smash something, but I
didn't even have the energy for it.  All I really wanted was Sam,- and
Sam was gone.

Eventually, the car pulled to a stop and I began to get out when I
realized that we weren't home.  We were parked in front of an unmarked
brick building that I was unfamiliar with.  I turned to ask my parents
what was going on, but they were already almost out of the car.
Following them, I climbed out preparing to ask what was happening but
my words died in my throat.

SHE was coming out of the building.

Time slowed to a crawl and I was able to take in everything at once.
She had on a simple flower-print dress that came down to mid-thigh,
showing off her beautiful legs.  Her face was creased in the most
wonderful smile I'd ever seen and she looked ecstatic to see me.  Her
dark locks flowed behind her and for a moment the world just seemed to
be a sunnier place.

The next moment she was in my arms, her lips kissing all over my face.
Astounded, I could only hold on, praying that this wasn't a
daydream...or if it was that I'd never awaken from it.  Off to the
side, I could hear my parents laughing but it barely registered.  The
warmth of her arms and the wonder of her kisses filled me and it was
all I had room to acknowledge.

Later, my parents introduced me to a large, dark-skinned man.  I
vaguely remember shaking his hand, but I don't remember at all what was
said.  I don't even remember his name.  All I knew was that Sam was
tucked in the crook of my left arm and her arm was around my waist.
All I knew was that Sam and I were together again.  Nothing else
mattered.

They showed Sam and me to a small room.  In the center was a long
rectangular table surrounded by some comfortable padded chairs.  A
whiteboard was affixed to the wall at the head of the room with a
pegboard on the side wall next to the door.  The soft yellow of the
other walls and dark blue carpeting presented the impression of a board
room in some law drama but it could have been a palace as I stared into
Sam's smiling eyes.  Her hand was in my own and I felt as if my heart
would burst.

The adults talked for a while before stepping out into the hall but I
admit I didn't hear a word they said.  My entire being was focused on
the exquisite young woman in front of me.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her, my fingers tracing patterns on the
back of her hand.

"Now?  Everything is perfect," she smiled.  Something about her was
different and it took me a few moments to understand it.  In all the
time I'd known her, she had mostly walked in a slouch, books hugged
tightly to her chest, eyes to the floor.  Now, though, she sat upright
and her eyes were alive.  Her arms were on the table, hands clasped in
my own and there was no self-consciousness at all.  I was astonished;
it was as if the weight of the world were off her shoulders.  I
couldn't believe the change.  "I owe it all to you.  Your parents,
actually, but they wouldn't have gotten involved if it weren't for
you."

"What happened?"

"I was home.  I had told my mom everything and she was screaming at me,
telling me that if I was going to whore around I was at least going to
get paid for it," her words were harsh, but they were offset by the
grin that she gave me.  "The police broke in before she could say
anything else.  It turns out they were listening at the door and heard
the whole thing.

"At first, I was mad at you," she continued.  "I figured I was going to
foster care and they were going to break all of us up.  I couldn't
believe you'd gone and done that but I guess I knew the reason why.
They spent hours filling out some paperwork and asking a lot of
questions of me and the other kids, but they brought us all here.  It's
a temporary shelter for abused children.  They're going to keep us here
until Monday.  Then, we're all going to be placed in the same group
home.  My brothers and sisters and I are all going to be together!"
Her smile dazzled me and all I could think of was holding her close and
never letting her go.

A thought crossed my mind, though.  "Where," I started, my voice a
worried whisper.  "Um...where's the group home?"  I was happy that she
would be with her siblings and I could honestly say that it was enough
for me.  I had played some small part in removing her from the tragedy
of her life and if I never got to see her again, it would truly be
enough.  Oh, I'd cry about her for weeks, months, maybe even years.
But I could live through that pain knowing that she'd be happy.  I
couldn't help but hope, however, that there would be more for us.

She looked at the table for a moment, drawing out her answer.  Her face
was expressionless.  "Well, it's over on Madison and 12th.  Mark and
Betsy will be able to go to the same middle school they have now.  Matt
and Mary are going to have to transfer, though.  That's going to be
hard on them, I think.  I'll just have to help them out a little more."

"And...um...what about you?"  I asked, fearing I already knew the
answer.  School districts are broken up into sections. The school you
attend depends ultimately on which of those sections you live in.  I
knew where Madison and 12th was located, but I didn't know what section
it was in.

"I guess that depends,"  she said quietly.

"On what?" I asked, the leading edges of exasperation tainting my
voice.  It was a weird moment.  I desperately wanted to hear her answer
but I was just as desperate not to hear it.  I wanted to relish the few
moments of hope before they would be dashed.

"On whether you'd be interested in having a girlfriend or not?"  She
looked up at me under her eyelids, her face an expressionless mask.

It took a few moments for the words to soak in and another few moments
to actually believe what I'd heard.  When the words Sam spoke finally
sank into my overwhelmed mind, though, I got the goofiest smile on my
face.  "You're kidding," I whispered, still not quite willing to
believe my ears.  It was too much to hope for.

She just smiled at me with a smile that rivaled the very sun.  "Is that
a yes?" she asked coquettishly.

I didn't need to answer.

Mathews managed to flatten me again Monday morning, driving my face
into some mud, but it was a minor inconvenience.  Of course, my coat
was going to need some cleaning, but I didn't care.  Sam was going to
be back on Tuesday and I couldn't wait.

Lunch was strained; Evie, of course, still didn't even look at me so I
had to eat alone.  It was weird how much I missed having her to talk
to.  I felt like I was missing a little piece of myself and I couldn't
figure out what happened to it.  I admit I watched her a little,
surreptitiously, wondering if she felt as I did.  Sitting and laughing
with her friends, though, I realized that she had already forgotten me.
We had known each other nearly since birth and it only took one man to
break us apart.

I wanted to be angry with her.  I wanted to hate her with all of my
will.  I couldn't.  There are brief instances when a person is granted
a singular clarity of vision with which to examine his soul.  When I
looked within my own, I didn't find the blamelessness I sought.  I had
allowed this.  In a real way, I had at least partially caused this.  An
instant of rage had crushed the only real friendship I had ever known.
I just couldn't figure out if I had been wrong or not.  Even worse, I
wasn't really sure if I was so angry with her for going out with Paul
Mathews...or just that she had gone out at all.

Actually, I didn't even want to think about that.  I was afraid to go
down that road.

Melancholy set in briefly, but I wouldn't let it consume me.  Sam was
going to be back on Tuesday.

I waited in front of the school on Tuesday and even managed to avoid
being tripped by Paul.  Of course, he gave me some grief because I
didn't deign to fall into the mud again but his pushing and shoving
only served to distract me somewhat.  When she stepped off the bus, it
made it all worth it.

She was dressed in a new black skirt with matching black Mary Janes
that only served to accentuate her perfect legs.  A large dark coat was
wrapped around her, topped by a soft white scarf with matching white
hat.  But it was her smile, tinged by the common rosy cheeks of a cold
winter day, which drew me in and made me feel warm.

I'd like to say that she rushed up to me and threw her arms around me
but I couldn't wait that long.  I think I flat out ran to reach her as
she finished climbing down the bus steps and I held her to me as if she
were a vision that might be pulled from me at any second.

She gave back as good as she got, her cheek pressing to mine.  "I
started today," she whispered in my ear, pulling back slightly to give
me a Significant Look.  It took me a moment to understand what she was
telling me but finally her words caused the correct sequence of
synapses to fire and I got it.  I hoped I didn't look as relieved as I
felt...but the look on her face was an echo of that relief just the
same.  We both knew that we were not ready for parenthood.  I just
pulled her back into the hug, holding on for dear life.

Hand in hand, we walked into school; I might as well have been walking
on a cloud.

The group home had some rules about the kids dating.  You began on
level one, which meant you had almost no privileges.  You couldn't
bring guests home (since I was tutoring her that rule didn't apply to
me, though), couldn't go out on your own for more than 1/2 hour, had to
be in bed by 9 PM, and so on.  At higher levels you'd get higher
privileges - but you had to earn those levels. The highest level was
level six which meant you got to go out on school nights for 3 hours
and weekend nights for 6 hours, bed at 11:00, you could bring a few
friends home and so on.

Basically, you'd get points for doing your chores, keeping your room
clean, doing good deeds and a number of other things.  If you did
something bad - like forgot to do your chores, fought, or broke some
other rule (the rules were posted where everyone could see; they didn't
look too suffocating), you'd have points deducted.  If it was bad
enough, stealing and so forth, you would automatically be placed back
on level one for two weeks.  If you had enough points built up at the
end of the week, you'd get moved to the next level.  Each level needed
a higher number of points.

The home was owned by an organization that contracted it out to the
state and run by several psychologists and psychology students who were
paid to be there for 8 hour shifts.  For security, there almost always
were two adults there at any given time.  Under normal circumstances,
the home was supposed to be either all boys or all girls (though the
staff was a mix of the two) but the courts allowed Sam's family to stay
in the same home and the psychology staff was excited by the prospect
of being able to study how siblings reacted to one another.

Needless to say, Sam, Betsy, Mark, Matthew, and Mary were overjoyed.
Even the base level one was a step up for them compared to how things
went with their mom.

Over time, things between Sam and me only seemed to get better.  We
couldn't find a place to make love every day but when we did it was
slow and deliberate and glorious.  We talked every day, though.  We
shared everything with one another - our hopes, our dreams...our very
lives.  I was amazed at how close we became.  I began feeling Evie's
loss less and less.

Of course, things between Evie and me only grew worse.  I could stand
being laughed at and teased by the Paul Posse, but to get it from her
was a hell I couldn't live with.  Evie knew all of my secrets and she
drove those knives deep, pressing buttons that I was certain I had
buried within my soul.  Every time we met any more it seemed we ended
up yelling at one another.  Unfortunately, not all of our
confrontations were private - we'd often get into arguments in front of
others.  When those arguments devolved to name calling...well, it got
ugly in ways that I couldn't begin to fathom.  I'd scream at her about
how she used to kiss her Barbies (at age 5) and she'd counter with how
I was still afraid of the dark.  I'd come back with how she used to run
naked through the back yard (well, she was 6 at the time...) and she
revealed to the world how I peed my pants (when I was 8) while we were
watching "The Exorcist."

Eventually, I began avoiding her as much as possible - and, I guess,
she began avoiding me.  The rumors, though, didn't stop.  Somehow,
people found out about the time I'd peeked in on Mr. and Mrs. McGill
having sex.  The next week, I was approached by a pair of girls who
somehow found out that I'd hidden in the towel bin of the girls'
showers and watched them undressing.  After that, word of how I'd
dressed in my mom's clothes (complete with make-up) got out (it was for
Halloween two years ago, but somehow that part didn't make it into the
rumor mill).  I couldn't prove it was Eve, of course...but she was the
only one who knew all of those things about me.  When the rumor about
my wetting my bed until I was almost 12 made the circuit, my
humiliation was complete.

I knew almost as many embarrassing stories about Evie, of course.
While it occurred to me to share some of them with the rumor mill to
get her back (and Sam actually encouraged it after a while) I knew that
I couldn't.  Those embarrassing tidbits had been given to me in
confidence and I couldn't bring myself to share them.  No matter what
she had done, I couldn't betray her that way.

For Valentine's Day, I got Sam a 14 kt. gold heart-shaped locket.  It
was small, too small to have it inscribed, but she loved it just the
same.  As I put it around her neck she burst into tears.

"What's wrong, Sam?" I asked, worried that I had done something wrong.

"I don't have anything for you.  I don't have any money or anything..."
her voice trailed off but I shushed her with a finger to her lip.

"I have your heart," I said quietly.  "Anything else is just stuff."

Of course, Evie and I had a Valentine 's Day tradition that went back
to when we were 3.  Every Valentine's Day for nearly all her life I,
with my mom's help, had gotten her a single flower - rose, carnation,
daffodil, whatever - and a card asking her to be my Valentine.  I
hadn't forgotten the tradition, but I had decided not to do it this
year.  After all we had been through I figured I was due a year off at
the very least.

When I got home from visiting Sam, however, my Mom had already gotten
her a card and a single red rose.  I was about to demur but I had
second thoughts.  The truth was that even with her betrayal - our
betrayal -- even with the growing closeness I shared with Sam, I missed
Evie.  Maybe I felt the weight of my part in our falling out.  Maybe it
was just too tough to completely end a friendship that I had enjoyed
all my life.  For whatever reason, I couldn't completely give up.
Maybe a simple gesture such as this could begin mending what had become
so broken.

After an hour of careful thought, I decided that simple was probably
the best approach and I wrote a quick note in the card: "Evie, we've
been through a lot.  I hope that one day, though, we'll be able to look
back on this and laugh.  Your Valentine, Brian." I put the card in its
envelope and took it next door, laying it and the rose on the welcome
mat.  Gathering my courage, I rang the doorbell and ran as fast as I
could back home.  The courage to write, I had.  The courage to actually
face her, I didn't.

I don't know if she ever got it.  The following day she was the same
heartless shrew I had come to expect.

And later on that year, she took the meaning of the word shrew to an
entirely new level.

As I was walking into school one day at the end of May, I barely saw
the Posse catching up to me.  They yanked me back outside before I
could get completely through the door.

"Man, Brain...for a brain, you ain't too smart," Paul said.  David had
grabbed one arm and Tony had the other.  I just clutched my book bag
and prepared for the worst.  Mark, Evie and Missy (David's girlfriend)
just stood behind and watched, laughing.

"You know we use the front door," Paul continued.  "Didn't you ever
think of using the side door?"  Actually, I had but I was running a
little late today and would never be able to get to class on time if I
used the side entrance.

"Sorry, pal.  It's gonna cost ya!" David and Tony turned me and slammed
my face in the building.  I tried to duck when I realized what they
were intending, but that just made it worse.  The top of my head hit
the brick wall and the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground,
stars gliding by my eyes.  I was dazed and confused and I tried to turn
my head to see what had happened.  That's when the foot caught me in
the face and a sharp pain drilled through my nose.

"Yeah!  Way to go, Evie!  You nailed him!" Paul chortled.  It was the
last thing I heard for a while.

I woke up in a blindingly white room, with some woman's blurry face
right in front of me.  I tried closing my eyes to clear them, but that
just brought a sharp stab of pain to the middle of my forehead.

"You awake Mr. Katye?" The face resolved into a woman with a nurse's
cap.

"Yeah," I mumbled quietly.  Even the sound of my own voice made me
nauseous.

"Good, good," she murmured.  "You're gonna be okay.  You've got a
slight concussion, so we're going to keep you here overnight.  You
needed a couple of stitches on the top of your head and your nose was
broke so we set it, but you should be okay.  There's some people I'm
going to let in to talk to you now.  You okay with that?"  I could only
nod weakly and even that caused me more pain than it was worth.

My parents came in followed by a large, dark-skinned man in the
familiar blue suit of a police officer.  It was evident my mom had been
crying and my dad didn't look too steady either.

"How are you feeling, hon," my mom asked.  She brushed her hand across
my cheek in the familiar gesture that mothers have used since the dawn
of time, but I couldn't even crack a smile.

"Uh...I hurt?" I said weakly.  To my relief, they both smiled at my
meager joke.

"This is Officer Bennet," my father introduced the police officer
gruffly.  "He needs to take your statement."

"Hello, Brian," Officer Bennet said pleasantly.  His voice was gruff
and far deeper than I would have thought possible.  "Can you tell me
what happened?"

I thought for a moment.  A part of me wanted to scream out the whole
sordid story...but I couldn't.  For some reason, even after all this, I
couldn't bring myself to do this to Evie.

"I...I..." I began, unsure what to say.  Then, knowing I'd probably
regret it later, I lied.  "I don't remember much.  I must have fell.
Hit my head on a stone or something."

Officer Bennet stopped writing and just looked at me.  "Are you scared,
son?  I can guarantee you that the people who did this won't bother you
any more."

I put on my best "I'm not sure what you're talking about" expression -
which, based on the amount of pain I was in and the silly harness that
was wrapped around my nose, wasn't very good -- and replied evenly.
"No.  I'm sorry but I just can't remember anything.  One minute I'm
heading to school and the next...I'm lying here."

He just looked at me shrewdly and looked at his notes.  "That's funny,"
he said to me, but his voice didn't sound amused.  "I've got statements
from nearly 20 other students that tell me three guys accosted you as
you entered the school, slammed your head into a brick wall and then a
girl kicked you in the face while you lay bleeding on the ground.  Now,
are you SURE you don't remember?"

"I...I'm sorry," I replied weakly.

"Huh.  Well, I tell you what.  I'm gonna give your dad my card.  You
have him call me if you remember anything, okay?"

"Yeah."  I knew what I should do, but I couldn't turn Evie in to the
police.  I just couldn't.

"Okay.  Mr. and Mrs. Katye, if I could have a word with you for a
moment."

My mom and dad left with the officer and I just stared at the ceiling.
I was startled to realize that I more felt sad at losing Evie's
friendship than I was angry with her.  She had been my best friend for
as long as I could remember having a best friend and that meant
something to me.  I couldn't turn her in...which meant I couldn't say
anything about the Paul Posse either.

My parents came into the room and stood looking at me silently.
Finally, my dad spoke up.

"Son, can you tell us what happened?"

I looked at him for a moment, a myriad of emotions crossing over me.
Finally, though, the dam gave way and I burst into painful tears.  When
the tears slowed and I was once again able to form coherent sentences I
extracted their promise not to tell the police and then I told them
everything.  I told them about Evie dating Paul and how she had joined
Paul's Posse.  I told them about the constant humiliation and bullying.
I told them how much I missed Evie, even now, even after she had done
this to me.  To their credit, they just stood there and looked
concerned.  I could tell they were angry, but they stayed quiet until I
finished.

"Bri," my dad started.  "I can't tell you how proud I am."

"Why?" I replied sarcastically.  "Because I can take a beating?"

"No," he replied seriously, moving closer to look into my eyes.
"Because you stuck to your convictions.  You have a friend who
is...well, she's fallen into a bad crowd and you still protect her the
best way you know how."

"Now, you've taken your mother and I into your confidence, so we won't
tell the police anything if you don't want us to." My mother just
looked startled at that, but dad quieted her down.  "But I am going to
have a long talk with Evie's parents.  They deserve to know.  Now, you
get some sleep and we'll be back tomorrow morning."

I thought about talking them out of it but it was the best I could hope
for so I just let them go.

After I got out of the hospital, Sam was with me every free moment she
had.  My mom and dad would pick her up after dinner and take her home
by her curfew (she had made it to level 5 so she had two and a half
hours to stay with me on weekdays and 5 hours on Saturday and Sunday).
We just did homework (she picked up all of my assignments from my
teachers), sat and talked, watched TV or sometimes even read a book.
We even found time to make love, though it was a bit painful at first.
Still, it was wonderful.

When Sam wasn't there and I had healed sufficiently, I began working
out with Mac again.  This time, I was dedicated and pushed myself every
day.  I worked out whenever I had time, sometimes as much as six hours
a day.  I bought books and magazines about nutrition and muscle groups
and studied them as hard as I had ever studied before.  I was tired of
being the class punching bag.  I thought maybe if I got big enough, the
Posse and the rest of the bullies would just leave me alone.  I would
never be as big as Mac - I just didn't have the genes for it, he
explained - but I did manage to bulk up some.

As far as school went, my parents understood that I didn't want to go
back this year.  I only had two weeks of school left and I was caught
up in all my classes.  So, they talked to my principal and he agreed to
let me take the finals and have an extended summer vacation.  Of
course, I passed all my classes with 'A's.

I'm not sure what happened to Evie or even if she had gotten punished
at all.  I didn't ask and my parents didn't volunteer the information.
They still played cards with the Glenns, of course, either in our house
or theirs but Evie never showed up at our house and I never went next
door.  By the end of June they didn't even bother asking me any more.

My 15th birthday was coming up at the end of June and I was in a bit of
a panic.  Normally, my family and the Glenns would celebrate together
but I didn't feel like putting up with Evie on my special day.  So,
when they came over for one of their card games with my parents I
politely drew them aside and asked them if I could celebrate this
birthday with just my family.  I was trying to be circumspect, but I
think they saw right through me.  Mrs. Glenn, though, pulled me aside
later.

"Just hang in there, Brian.  This too shall pass," she said with a
little smile.  I wasn't sure what she meant but I smiled and thanked
her anyway.

My parents must have noticed my new commitment to body-building,
because for my birthday they bought me an expensive Nautilus machine
and some free weights.  The Saturday after my birthday my dad and I
cleared a spot in the garage and set up the whole set.  Now Mac and I
had an actual gym to work in instead of his crowded basement.  He even
brought his bench and weights over and set them up next to the
Nautilus.

"Mom's been bugging me for the room anyway," he grinned.

Sam was given a small allowance through the group home based on which
chores she did.  She worked hard and saved for a while and managed to
save enough to buy me a beautiful pen and pencil set.  She was worried
that it wasn't that expensive, but I told her that I didn't need
anything more than her love.  We both cried a little at that.

True to their word, the Glenns didn't come to my birthday party but
they did send me a nice card with $100.  In it they wrote that they
considered me their surrogate son and were very proud of me.  In my
heart, I knew that it was true.  I looked up to Dave and Marie as much
as I looked up to my parents and I felt horrible that I had excluded
them.  I called them and thanked them, tears in my eyes.  At the end, I
broke down and told them how sorry I was.  Of course, they forgave me
immediately but I learned a valuable lesson.  Sometimes, to do what's
right you have to do something you don't want to do.

Fourth of July was different.  My family and the Glenns had always
celebrated the Fourth together.  We alternated houses every year but we
always had a big barbecue and a lot of fireworks.  This year was no
exception.

Sam came as my date and Evie brought Paul (both my parents and the
Glenns were very strict in that sense; if the family had a function,
you HAD to attend).  For the most part, Sam and I avoided them and they
avoided us.  We didn't say two words to each other.  With Sam at my
side, however, I had a great time.

Strangely, I was invited to Evie's birthday in late August.  I thought
long and hard about going, knowing that Paul would be there.  I had
worked extra hard on my body during the summer and had really gotten
fairly big.  Not as big as Mac, but then we all couldn't be defensive
linemen.  I figured if I showed off a little, maybe Paul'd get the hint
and leave me alone.  After a while, though, I just decided to beg off.
I didn't want the added aggravation.  Instead, I sent a silver bracelet
with my parents.  It was nothing extravagant, but it was nice.

As September rolled around and tenth grade loomed, I didn't have the
same pipe dreams as I had before ninth grade.  I was still a nerd and
probably always would be; no amount of weight lifting would change
that.  If I were being truthful, I wouldn't want that to change.  I
realized over the summer that it was just who I was.

Luckily, Paul's Posse wasn't waiting for me on the first day of school.
I knew that I would meet up with them eventually, but I was glad for
the short reprieve.

Sam and I had coordinated our schedule as much as possible so we could
sit together in the same classes.  That may have been a mistake for me;
even after all this time she could still take my breath away and it was
going to be very difficult concentrating on class with her so near.
Still, we were comfortable around one another and it showed.

Of course, while I was still a little shy, Sam's freedom from her mom
had liberated her.  When she walked now, it was with her head held high
and her books tossed in her bag over her shoulder.  Her clothing was
more revealing and fashionable.  She smiled more and was just generally
more...complete.  It was the greatest transformation I had ever seen
and I was even more in awe of her.  Her smile could still outshine the
sun, but she was now much more comfortable sharing that smile.

We had decided on first period trig, fourth period lunch, fifth period
Econ and sixth period Computer Science II together.  Then while she had
Biology II and English Lit for second and third hour, I went with
Chemistry and Speech.

Trouble came our first lunch period.

Mary Beth Ryerson was the head of the 'Beautiful People' clique - and I
mean that in the most snobbish, insensitive, and horrid way.  While she
had never overtly teased me in front of anyone, the whispers behind my
back more than made up for it.  I had even heard some of the comments
she made about Sam last year - and if I had heard them, so had Sam.  So
I was pretty surprised when Sam pulled me to the 'Beautiful Table' at
lunch.

It turned out that Mary Beth shared third period English Lit with Sam.
I found out later that during class the two of them had struck up a
conversation and Mary Beth had invited her to lunch.  I don't know if
Sam was impressed to suddenly make new friends or impressed to be asked
to lunch with the People, but she had agreed.

"Brian Katye!" Mary Beth greeted me with mock sincerity dripping in her
southern accent.  "Is that you?  My, you've gotten all...big...all of a
sudden haven't you?"

Mary Beth's fellow 'Beautiful Females' Annette Benig, Claudia Ramirez ,
and Dalia Orgle just tittered at the sarcastic comment.  Danny
Manterns, Richard Olgay, and Pete Rizzo rounded out the group, but they
just smiled at Mary Beth's comments.

"Hello, Mary Beth," I replied quietly.  Though just being near her was
making me physically ill, I had always been taught to be polite.  I set
my lunch down next to Sam's.

"Oh," Mary Beth looked at me.  "Are you joining us for lunch?"

"I'm eating with Sam," I replied as I sat down.  It was
uncharacteristic of me to be so directly confrontational, but I was
more than a little tired of Mary Beth's sniping comments.

"Oh.  Okay," Mary Beth giggled a mirthless laugh.  "The more the
merrier, I always say!"

As we began to eat our lunch, Mary Beth , Annette, Claudia, Dalia and
Sam started talking about different make-ups and other girl stuff.  I
almost laughed.  The 'Beautiful People's' conversations weren't all
that different than the lunches I used to share with Evie and her
friends.  They'd talk about cosmetics, television shows, and so on.

Of course, thinking about Evie only served to darken my mood somewhat.
Even now, I'd rather be sitting with her and her old friends rather
than THIS group.

"So, Brian," Danny turned to me.  Unlike most of the People, Danny had
always treated me decently.  "Are you trying out for football or
something this year?"

"No," I replied.  "Just decided it was time for something different."

"You should think about it.  We could use another big guy on the line."

I just looked at him, stunned.  I really wasn't all that big.  But
before I could answer, Mary Beth shushed us all.  "Dead girl walking,"
she whispered.  The whole table quieted down and turned to look.

I stared hard at the girl passing by our table.  It was Evie, though I
almost didn't recognize her.  Her beautiful red hair, once filled with
soft curls that seemed to just glow down her back, now lay in a heap,
matted and unkempt.  As I gaped at her face, I was struck dumb by how
ashen and sickly her skin now looked.  Even more startling was the
deadened, glassy fixed stare of her reddened eyes.  Even the way she
walked had changed, her once boundless gait had turned into something
more akin to a shuffle as if her legs didn't have the energy to lift
themselves any longer.

I watched as she passed, her hands holding tightly to her tray as if it
were the only thing keeping her upright.  Her eyes, bags hanging below
them, never left the tray in front of her.  It looked for all the world
as if she had lost her will to even live.  Finally, she reached an
empty table and just dropped onto the adjoining bench.

Mary Beth just laughed under her breath.  "What I heard is that Paul
Mathews dumped her this morning.  It seems he got tired of sharing his
favorite party favor with the rest of his crew."

"I beg your pardon," I replied automatically, my mind unable or
unwilling to process the words she had just spoken.  Maybe we weren't
talking about the same person.  Evie would never allow something like
that to happen to her.

Mary Beth just grinned her evil vulture grin.  "Yep.  Isn't that the
juiciest?  Turns out that Paul got in her pants on the first date!
After a while, though, he decided to...um...branch out the love.
Started passing her around his crew; favors for favors."  She turned
and gave everyone a conspiratorial wink.  "He had her pull a train at a
party last month.  I've got friends who were THERE..."

I could feel my temper flaring and my knuckles grew white as I gripped
the table in front of me.  Sam saw my reaction and placed her hand on
my arm to calm me.  She looked in my eyes for a moment and nodded her
head slightly.  Then she started gathering her tray together.

"What's the matter, Sammie?" Mary Beth asked in confusion.  Her voice
dripped with over-dramatized concern.

"I think we're at the wrong table," Sam replied calmly, standing up and
grabbing her tray.  "I didn't realize we were in the 'Snipe and Gripe'
section."

Mary Beth couldn't do anything more than sit there and gasp.  I
noticed, however, that Danny and some of the others at the table were
laughing under their breath.  I just smiled at them.

"Sorry, Brian," Sam whispered to me as we walked away.  "I didn't
realize how bad she was."

"Sorry?" I questioned with mock sincerity.  "Honey, you have NO idea
how wonderful I think you are right now."

Sam laughed and kissed me lightly on the cheek.  "So, where do you
think we should sit?" she asked me, her eyes looking at me sidelong.

"Um...well..." I stuttered.  I knew where I wanted to sit, but I wasn't
sure how Sam would take it.  "I think...um...Evie might need some
company..."

Sam placed her hand on my arm to stop me and turned me towards her.
Her eyebrows were knitted slightly and her face was very serious.
"After what she did to you, you still want to sit with her?"

I looked at her, wondering how I could put in words what I was
thinking.  "I know it sounds like I'm just being a glutton for
punishment," I started, trying to keep my mind one step ahead of my
mouth.  "But...well...Sam, Evie's been my friend for a long time.  I
know it seems bizarre...but I just can't abandon her.  Even now."

Sam's face slowly relaxed and her smile dazzled me.  "Good answer, man
o' mine.  I know that you've been miserable without her.  You think I
don't see the way your face gets all wistful whenever you talk about
her?  I'm not saying I completely understand why you still love her so
much after all the things she's done to you.  Maybe what they say is
true: Love really IS blind."

I started laughing.  "Whoa, there.  You've got it all wrong, Sam," I
chuckled.  "I don't love her.  Not like you mean, anyway.  I love you.
She's just always been my best friend...and I miss that."

"Suuuuure, you don't," Sam giggled at me.  Then she noticed the look of
consternation on my face and became more serious.  "Bri, there's
nothing in the world that says you can't love two people.  If you're
going to sit there and tell me that you don't love her then you're just
lying to yourself.  It's so evident whenever you look at her...I know
those looks too well; I see them every time I'm watching you when you
look at me."

I tried to protest more, but she cut me off before I could get the
words out of my mouth.

"I used to be jealous, you know," she continued to me reflectively.  "I
remember I got kind of angry once when I saw you looking at her in that
way you have.  I was about to get into an argument with you about it
when you looked at me...and it was the same look.  I think it was then
that I realized; I was kinda waiting for you to figure it out on your
own."

"I think you're on drugs or something," I laughed at Sam but the
laughter sounded a bit hollow, even to me.  She had to be wrong.  I
mean, sure, I loved Evie -- as a friend -- but that was all.  I was in
love with Sam.  Wasn't I?

"Whatever," Sam replied dismissively, a huge grin on her face.  "Let's
just go see if your friend could use a shoulder to cry on."

Evie didn't just look a mess; she really was a mess.  When we first sat
down, she didn't even look up.  When she finally did look at us
briefly, she just turned her face back to her plate.

"What?  You two come to gloat?" she asked, despair tainting her words.
"Go ahead.  It's what I deserve."

She looked so vulnerable, so beaten down that my heart went out to her.
I didn't know the words to use to tell her how sorry I was...so I
tried a slightly different tack.  "What happened, Evie?  Is there
anything I...we...can do?"  I tried desperately to instill an apology
in those words but I couldn't be sure I'd succeeded.

"Yeah," she replied.  Her voice was tight but otherwise expressionless.
"You can leave me alone."

"Sorry," Sam interrupted before I could answer.  "We can't do that.
We've already left one table today and that's our limit."  I smiled at
Sam and she smiled right back.

"Fine," Evie replied morosely.  She began gathering her tray together.
"I'll leave then."

Before she could get up, I gently laid my hand on her arm.  She yanked
it back as if she'd been shot.  "Don't, Evie," I whispered.  "We didn't
come here to hurt you and if you really ask us to leave we will.  But
it looks like you could use a friend right about now...and we're
available.  We honestly just want to help."

Startled, Evie just looked at me...looked straight into the sincere
concern calmly reflected in my eyes...and her fa�ade just cracked
away.  Tears formed but she resolutely blinked them back.  "Why, Brian?
Why would you even care after all that I've done to you?"

"Evie, you're my friend," I replied firmly.  "Even more than that,
you're my best friend.  Sure, you've been a little hard to live with
lately...so have I, I suppose.  This wasn't all your doing; I'm at
least partially responsible.  Besides, when the going gets the
toughest, that's when your friends get together to support you.  I'm
your friend, Evie.  I always have been.  You just forgot for a while."

She looked at me for a moment, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Finally, she nodded to herself.  "I don't deserve you, you know that?
Maybe that's why..."  But she stopped and her eyes grew wide.

"Why what?" I asked.  She just shook her head.

She turned to Sam.  "Are you sure you want to do this?  I've put your
boyfriend here through hell, which means you can't be too happy with
me.  Besides which, I'm not sure you're really going to like what I
have to say..."

"Yeah, you fucked him over pretty badly," Sam began, the
uncharacteristic epithet spitting from her mouth almost carelessly.
Then she looked from Evie to me and back and a knowing smile covered
her face.  "But for some reason the big goof still lo....er...still
cares for you.  How could I come between that?"

Evie looked closely at Sam for a moment but the tears never stopped
streaming from her eyes.  Then, once again, she nodded only this time
it was accompanied by a little sigh.  "I'm not sure I even know where
to begin."

"Well," I replied, not quite sure myself.  "It always helps if you
start at the beginning."

Evie looked from me to Sam and then just looked to her tray.  Slowly
she began to speak.

"Paul asked me out, right?  We had the same swim class 5th period and
he'd kind of been flirting with me all year, asking me out, stuff like
that.  I knew how he treated you, though, so I kept saying no...but he
was always real sweet about it and I began to wonder if maybe it was
just something between the two of you, you know?  What can I say?  He
wore down my resistance - that day he kind of cornered me in the pool
and had me laughing so hard he made my sides hurt.  And suddenly, as I
was sitting there laughing at him, at his jokes, he asked me to go to
the movies with him.  Of course, I said no way at first...but he looked
like such a sad puppy and he had been so funny...I eventually said yes.
So we went out.

"It really was great.  He was a complete gentleman, opened doors for
me, bought me a cute little stuffed animal.  He just went out of his
way to show me a good time, you know?  It was the first real date I'd
ever had...and it was really wonderful.  So, when he asked me out for
the following Friday I didn't even hesitate.  I said 'yes' again.

"Look, I have to tell you something before I go any further," she
turned to look at Sam.  "And before I do, I have to apologize to you.
Please believe me that this isn't easy for me to say out loud but I've
made such a mess of things that both of you deserve to know the truth
about...about...everything.  I'm not sure, but it might help you to
understand."

Evie turned to look at me, but almost immediately turned her face down
towards the table.  "I've had the biggest crush on you for the longest
time...since we were about 8, I think," she blurted out.  She was
talking fast as if were she to talk any slower, she wouldn't be able to
get the rest out.  "I kept sending out clues, trying to get you to
notice me and stuff but you either didn't catch on or didn't think I
was 'girlfriend' material.  I used to cry myself to sleep about
it...thinking that I wasn't good enough for you somehow or that you
just didn't like me as much as I liked you."

My chin was somewhere on the floor.  I know because I felt it hit.
Evie had a crush...on ME??  She used to cry herself to sleep...over
ME???  That just didn't make sense.

"Then, we had our blow up on the following Monday - and you told me I
couldn't see Paul.  I had been waiting for you to ask me out - I think
in the back of my mind I was hoping that my dating Paul would make you
jealous or something - and there you were, telling me who I couldn't go
out with and not giving me a single chance at who I really wanted to go
out with.  So, I just sat there and you were forbidding me to see him
but you had no interest in me and I kind of just...snapped.

"I immediately regretted what I said...but I couldn't take it back.
Worse, I was so mad...I wasn't really sure I wanted to.  So I kept
dating him.  At first, it was great.  He was really nice about
everything.  Gentlemanly, you know?  Oh, my friends told me he was bad
news.  Hell, even my mom told me.  They tried to get me to break up
with him, but he was so nice.  I figured they didn't know him like I
did.  All they could remember was what you remembered...the class
bully.  They didn't see the sweet person I thought I saw.  Eventually,
my friends and I got into a big fight over him and I stopped talking to
them.  At the time, I figured they'd come around.  I figured you'd come
around.

"But they didn't...and neither did you.  I was really hurt, at first.
But Paul and I started hanging around his friends and...well...I
thought I had fallen in love.  So it was kind of easy to ignore
you...though it hurt...a lot...

"After I had sex with him for the first time, though, he slowly...I
don't know...got meaner.  I mean it was really gradual.  He'd get mad
when I had to study instead of going out with him...but then he'd
apologize and we'd make up.  After a while, it almost became a routine,
you know...to the point where I started letting my school work suffer
just to be with him.  And when I was with him, it seemed all he wanted
was sex.

"I didn't want a relationship based solely on sex and I started
wondering if that's all Paul and I had.  So, I refused him...but he
didn't like that.  When he hit me the first time, I told myself that
was the end."  Sam and I gasped when we heard the words come out of
Evie's mouth - so matter-of-fact, so ordinary, like she was saying that
the sky was blue or you needed to breathe air to live.  Sam grabbed my
hand, entwining her fingers in my own, and held my hand in her lap.
"He brought flowers, though.  Apologized over and over, said it'd never
happen again.  And it didn't...for a while.  Gradually, though, it
started happening more often.  I even tried to break up with him...but
he just laughed and said that I couldn't break up with him.  He said I
was his property and I could only leave when I was dead or he was done
with me...and he said he wasn't done with me so if I tried to leave
he'd kill me."

I was speechless.  I had no idea of any words I could say.  I turned to
look at Sam through bleary eyes of unshed tears, and I was consoled to
see that I wasn't the only one vainly trying not to cry.

"I had no one to talk to.  His friends weren't mine...not really.  They
just laughed when he hit me.  I mean, David hit Missy all the time.  It
was expected.  They never hit hard enough on the face to leave a mark -
they didn't want to damage the property, you know? - just slaps and
stuff.  The hard punches would go to my stomach or my ribs where no one
could see."

"I had no one to talk to," Evie continued.  "All of my friends had
deserted me.  My best friend had deserted me.  I think that hurt worst
of all.  I was getting beat up almost constantly and you were so happy.
It got to the point where I hated you - because I was miserable
without you and you were happy without me."

"I saw what David and Tony did to you - running you into the school
wall -- and I hated you so much that I felt it was what you deserved.
That's why I kicked you - I just couldn't help myself.  You were so
happy and I was so miserable.  I didn't mean to get your face; you
turned at the last instant.  When I saw what I had done...I felt so
dead inside.  I didn't deserve to live."

"Evie," I whispered, but she cut me off.

"Please.  Just let me get through this, okay?

"My parents tried to ground me.  That lasted a day; the next day Paul
beat me so bad I could barely breathe.  After that, he forced me to
sneak out of the house so that I could...service him.  I just had to
shut up and take it...if I knew what was good for me.

"Then, this past Sunday there was a party.  We all got drunk and
high...yeah, Paul had forced me to use drugs - marijuana, cocaine.  At
first I didn't want to and fought with him, but after a while, it just
numbed me and it was a relief to not feel anything while Paul..." Her
voice trailed away, and she turned her face back to the table.

"Anyway...there was some porn on the TV, but that wasn't unusual."  She
stopped for a moment, swallowing over and over.  It's like she couldn't
talk any more.

"Evie," I whispered again, but the look she gave me was hollow and
lost.  "You don't have to go on if you don't want to."

"No.  I've got to get this out of my system.  I just...I want someone
else to know...in case..."

She stopped for a moment, a look of fear passing over her face.  Before
I could ask what she was talking about, though, she continued.

"Paul, Dave and Tony got all...horny.  Tony, though, well he didn't
have a girl and Missy...she was...having her monthly visitor."  She
started crying softly, tears running down her cheeks.  "I don't know
how it happened.  Paul took my hand and put it in his pants.  I
resisted, but he just hit me and I could barely breathe and the next
thing I know I'm giving him a handjob only that doesn't last long and
he's pulling my mouth over him and I'm crying and gagging because I
can't breathe...and then, they're taking my clothes off and they're all
going at me over and over and over...everywhere...and I'm trying to
stop them but I can't...."

The tears were pouring from all of us.  I was torn between wanting to
jump over the table, put my arms around Eve and hold her and going to
find Paul and finish him.  I was stuck to my seat, though, unable to
move.  My legs weren't responding to me, my hands weren't responding to
me...I was amazed at how my hands were opening and closing of their own
accord.

"Then, this morning Paul comes up to me and tells me 'NOW you're
dismissed.'  He said that he and his friends had got what they came
for...and he'd make sure that no one would ever want me again.   I was
so happy; I was finally free of him.  I think I even smiled.  I didn't
care about his threat...I was just...free.  Then, as I'm walking down
the hall, all of the kids were pointing at me and whispering.  I heard
all the rumors and I saw the way everyone was staring and talking
behind my back and I just wanted to die...and now, I just don't think I
can keep going on..."

Sam got to Evie's side of the table first, but only because I had the
longer way to go by a step or two.  We just put our arms around her and
held her, letting her cry it out, whispering words of encouragement to
her.  We were attracting attention, causing a scene, but I don't think
any of us cared.

Sam wanted to skip school and walk Evie home immediately but I wouldn't
let her.  It was one of the group home's 'severe penalty' rules meaning
if she skipped and got caught she'd be automatically on level one for
two weeks.  She was adamant that she didn't care but I convinced her
that it would be better to be able to spend time with me and Evie after
school and on weekends than it would to throw it all away on just this
afternoon.  She didn't like it but she eventually consented.

I was under no such strictures.  Even before lunch period was over, I
walked Evie to her locker.  She just let me; not voicing any opinion or
even seeming to care what was going on.  As we walked through the
halls, I was glad that the period hadn't ended.  The halls were empty
so she wouldn't have to endure any more of the finger-pointing or
whispered laughter.  We gathered her stuff, walked to my locker and
gathered mine, and then walked out of school.

As we walked home, I called my mom on her cell at work and told her
where Evie and I were headed.  I stalled her when she asked why,
telling her I'd explain more when we could talk in person.  She wasn't
overjoyed but I had never cut school before so I guess she assumed I
had a good reason.  I knew that I did.

I got Evie to her house and opened the door.  Both of her parents
worked, just like mine, so I knew there would be no one there.  I
walked her up the stairs to her bedroom, feeling her leaning on me more
than a little bit.  When I laid her on her bed, she curled up into a
very small ball.

I sat on the chair at her desk and just looked at her.  She looked so
helpless and vulnerable - so unlike the Evie I knew.  I could feel my
heart breaking inside of me; my best friend had gotten hurt and I was
at least partially responsible.  I heard her crying and I didn't know
what to do.  She needed me but I was at a loss.

Resolutely, I stood up, walked over to her bed, and lay down behind
her.  As I wrapped my arms around her, I felt her flinch and stiffen,
but I just whispered some calming words in her ear and she seemed to
relax, if just a little.  All the while, she just kept crying.

I don't know when I dozed off or how long I slept.  I woke up to a
gentle pressure on my shoulder and turned my head to see Evie's mom
looking down at me with more than a little concern etched into her
face.  I slowly, so as not to disturb Evie, pulled myself from around
the slumbering girl and stood up, motioning Marie to silence.  Then I
took a comforter folded on the end of Eve's bed and covered her with
it.  Finally, I followed Marie downstairs to the kitchen.

Both my mom and Sam were there, worried frowns similarly carved on
their faces, but I wasn't totally surprised.    I knew mom'd come over
here looking for me eventually and I just assumed Sam would as well
once her group home obligations were met.

"What's going on, Bri?" Mom asked quietly, a great deal of concern
permeating through her simple words.

I stood there for a moment struggling with how much of Eve's story I
should tell.  It was difficult, weighing the responsibility of Evie's
trust over her need for others to know.   For me, though, there was
really only one answer.  She was going to need her parents' patience
and understanding for the next few days, if not weeks and months.
Though it was breaking a confidence, I repeated what Eve had told us at
lunch.

In the middle of my narrative, Mrs. Glenn collapsed into a chair, her
shoulders shaking and great sobs bursting from her.  A glance at my mom
showed she wasn't in much better shape.  Marie may have been Eve's mom,
but my mom had watched her grow up as well.  It was in that moment that
I realized an obvious truth that my whole life was based upon.  In a
very real way, both Eve and I had two sets of parents.

I fumbled for a moment, worried and sad.  I couldn't stop the story,
though.  I wasn't sure I was able to get through the story once, much
less over and over again.  I paused a moment, waiting for the worst of
Marie's tears to subside.  When they had, I continued barely noticing
my own tears rolling down my cheeks.

When I had finished, I was completely drained.  It felt as if all of my
energy, all of my will had been sucked out of me by Eve's plight.
Looking at the two older women, I barely registered the sight.  My
mother was trying desperately to calm Mrs. Glenn though they were both
crying.  It made sense; Eve was the daughter my mom had never had.  I
stood there, uselessly, my mind completely numb.

As I watched, helpless, Sam pulled at my arm.  As I turned towards her,
she nodded towards the upstairs with her head and I mechanically
followed her up the steps.  As we reached the top, she looked at me a
clear question in the depths of her eyes.  I just nodded and led her
into Evie's room.

Evie hadn't moved since I'd left her but I really hadn't been gone that
long.  She was still curled partially under the comforter, facing the
wall.  In panic, I looked closely at my erstwhile best friend and was
soon relieved to be able to see the gentle, rhythmic rise and fall of
the comforter.  Mercifully, the sobs had quieted and she slept.

I didn't even think of what I was doing, didn't even think of what Sam
might think.  I crawled into bed with Eve.  With my back against the
wall I pulled part of the comforter over myself and wrapped my arms
around her, being careful not to wake her as my left arm went under
her.  I pulled her to me gently, intent only on comforting her and
holding her.  I was trying hard to keep her demons away from her - but
it was too late for that.  Several months too late.

She tensed and trembled as my arms made contact and I wanted
desperately to cry for the pain of my best friend.  After a moment,
though, the tension slowly ebbed out.  I knew that she wasn't
completely relaxed but it would have to do.  She needed the rest.  I
only hoped it would be enough to renew her.

Realizing that I was curled up with a woman while my girlfriend stood a
few feet away, I glanced up at Sam.  She watched us wordlessly, her
eyes resonating with pain and compassion.  She didn't say a word as she
too crawled into bed tucking herself to Eve's back and putting her arms
around my own.  Without conscious thought, we sandwiched Eve between
us, trying to keep the nightmares from her.

The gentle shaking of the bed woke me though I don't remember falling
asleep.  Eve was still in my arms, her breath still regular and deep.
I heard whispering and I strained my ears to hear.

"Thanks for waking me, Mrs. Katye.  The group home is very unforgiving
if you're late.  I wish I could stay, but..."

"It's okay, Sam.  I understand; I wish you could stay too.  Don't
worry, I'll drive you home.  Just let me wake up my son..."

I could feel the bed start to move again as my mom got ready to 'wake
me'.  Just as I was about to let her know I was already awake, though,
Sam interrupted her.

"Um, Mrs. Katye?" Sam whispered.  I chanced opening my eyes to slits.
My mom had a knee on the bed, but was turning to face my girlfriend.
"Do you think...maybe...he could, you know, stay here tonight?"

I could only see the side of my mother's face so I could only imagine
the look of horror she was bestowing upon Sam.  Still, she didn't say a
word.

"It's just that," Sam whispered hastily.  "Well...she needs him right
now.  She's had a lot of bad things happen to her and I think it would
be good for her to spend some time with someone who's really good at
being kind and gentle, you know?"

"I hardly think a young man and a young woman sleeping in the same bed
is a good thing, Sam."  My mother had evidently found her voice.
Strangely, she didn't sound as put off by the idea as I would have
thought.  I had expected something in the way of hysterics, but all I
could hear was a restrained concern.

"I know," Sam replied.  "But, under the circumstances...look, I don't
think she's ready to...you know...do IT any more so there won't be any
of that going on."  Sam paused, her face a deep crimson blush, and I
saw a strained look of concentration flit across her features.  "A lot
of the bad stuff that has happened to her has to do with...you
know...sex.  I just think it would be a good thing if she woke up in
the arms of someone she loved who loved her right back, you know?"

There were a few moments of silence and I got the distinct impression
that my mom was busy sizing Sam up with new respect.  When she finally
spoke, it was almost with a sense of awe.

"You're a very interesting girl, Samantha," my mom whispered.  I could
almost feel the heat from Sam's blush where I was lying.  "Most young
women would be jealous of seeing their boyfriends lying with another
girl - even if it is platonic."

The tease of a smile touched Sam's face but it never quite broke
through.  Instead, worry and concern carved themselves into her face.
"Well, it isn't all that platonic.  Eve loves Brian and I'm pretty sure
she's in love with him, too.  Brian loves Eve back...maybe even more,
though I don't KNOW that.  I do know, though, that Brian is in love
with ME and I am desperately in love with HIM.  For now, that's enough.
She just needs him more than me right now."

My mom finally took a breath to speak, but Sam cut her off.  "I guess I
should be jealous or something...but I'm not.  I can't explain it.  Eve
is very important to Brian - he talks about her constantly and thinks
about her even more."  My mom must have given her a look, because she
started back-tracking a bit.  "Oh, he doesn't let me see it - not much,
anyway - but as I've gotten to know him...well, I just KNOW.  So, Eve
is important to me, too.  Maybe that's it...but...I don't know...I
really can't explain it.  This just seems right."

The two stared at each other for a few moments, but nobody said a word.
Then, my mom stood up and put her arm around Sam.  "Well, hon, I guess
if you're not upset then I shouldn't be either.  Besides, you might be
right...this might be what Eve needs.  I'll talk to her mom about it
and we'll go from there.  However, YOU are going to be late if we don't
hurry."

I could only stare in amazement as the door closed.


I'm not sure what woke me, but when I blinked my eyes open, Eve was
looking at me in startled panic.  My arms were still around her and I
could feel her body coiled in fright.  Even so, she was beautiful.  Her
face, still marked and hollowed by dark circles and pale fear, was as
wonderful as I could ever remember.

"Good morning," I said quietly, the twinges of a smile pulling at my
lips.  "Did you sleep okay?"

"We're in BIG trouble, Bri!  You must have fallen asleep here...your
mom is going to be worried sick.  My mom is going to kill us!"

As the light shone through her window directly behind her, a simmering
fire of red hair surrounded her face giving it an incandescent glow.
In a word, she was exquisite.  Just the sight of her filled me with a
strange sense of love and peace.  Being here, with her in my arms, felt
good and...right, somehow.  I worried about that for a moment...worried
that I was missing something...but I couldn't figure out what it was.
Still, the feeling wouldn't go away.

The hours of sleep had been good for her.  Her green eyes glittered,
alive in panic.  The bags under her eyes had receded though not
completely and her face looked somehow younger than I had seen it
lately.  The worry, however, was graven on her face.

After recalling the strange conversation between my mother and Sam last
night, however, the worry was more than a little comical.  In spite of
myself, I couldn't help but laugh.

"This isn't funny!" Eve whispered at me harshly.  "This is very
serious!"

"Of course it is," I laughed back at her.  Finally, in between bouts of
laughter, I recounted the events of last night.

As I spoke, emotions flitted across Eve's face.  Fear had its moment,
followed by surprise, worry, and even a shrewd, calculating look that I
couldn't quite place.  As I finished, the latter was the predominant
look...and I was no longer laughing quite so easily.

"Sam is a very clever girl," Eve said to me, looking down at her lap.
By now, we were sitting Indian-style facing each other.  At first, I
wasn't sure what she was talking about.  It took me a few minutes of
replaying last night's conversation in my mind coupled with several of
the things that Eve had said at lunch yesterday before I finally Got
It.

"Since you were 8?" I whispered, incredulously.

She hesitated a moment, wriggling a little as if she were trapped and
unable to get out.  "My 8th birthday, in fact," she whispered finally.
"I guess I shouldn't have told you that.  You gave me a kiss on the
cheek and whispered 'Happy Birthday' to me.  It was...sweet and
kind...and I just knew...

"I just...well...normally, I don't think I'd have ever gone out with
Paul.  I mean, I'm not blind.  I see how he is.  I guess...I don't
know.  I guess I just got tired of waiting for you.  I thought if I
went out with him that you'd get...I don't know...jealous or something.
Maybe ask me out to get me away from Paul.  Silly, huh?"

Her last words were said in the barest of whispers, as if she were
afraid both of the question and the answer.  I wasn't sure what to say,
so I said nothing.  I was trying to fathom how anyone could possibly
have liked me back when I was 8.  Heck, looking back, I didn't like me
when I was 8.

"Do you remember our kiss, two summers ago?" she continued.  The change
in the conversation was so quick, however, that I was struggling to
keep up.  "I soo thought you'd get it then.  I mean, it took all of my
courage to ask you to kiss me.  I thought...well, I thought - just for
a moment - that you'd felt something.  But, you didn't say anything and
you didn't try it again so I figured you just didn't like me like that.
After that, I didn't know what to do...I guess I was starting to give
up hope..."

That kiss.  How could I possibly forget that kiss?  Not only was it my
first but it was so amazingly great.  I caught myself smiling, just a
little, before returning to my own look of utter confusion.  "But...you
said...I mean...you said you were afraid that if you kissed a guy he'd
want more...so I...I..."

I couldn't finish, but I didn't need to.  Evie's face suddenly erupted
in a look of complete understanding.  "Oh, no!" she gasped.  Then she
started doing the last thing I expected: she started laughing.

It was the first time I'd heard Eve laugh in a long time - and it was
great.  When she laughed her face was no longer the cold, barren sea of
pain.  It was bright and clear, like a cloudless sky on a warm, sunny
day.  And her laugh was infectious.  For the life of me, I couldn't
figure out what was so funny...but I found myself joining in right with
her.

"We make quite a pair, huh?" she gasped between chuckles, as the
laughter started to die away.  "I'm so shy that I can't tell you - the
one person in my life I thought I could tell anything - how I feel
about you and you're so shy - and nice - that you take me at face
value."

I still couldn't think of anything to say, so I just mumbled a
half-hearted "I didn't know."

We were both quiet for a few moments, letting the echo of laughter die
from around the room.  I was both uncomfortable and extremely confused.
I didn't know what to think.  I didn't even know what to feel.

Eve had tensed up again.  Her hands were working spasmodically in her
lap and her eyes were following the movements, her face tilted slightly
down.  She looked like she was deep in thought but deathly afraid of
what she was thinking.

I've never been good at withstanding uncomfortable silences and now was
no exception.  Finally filled with the need to do or say something, I
reached out and tilted her head up to look at me.  "You okay?" I
questioned, though I knew the answer.  She wasn't okay.  With all that
had happened to her over the past months, how could she be?

She looked at me as if it was the first time she'd ever seen me.  Her
eyes bored into my face, taking in every detail.  When her eyes finally
looked into my own, it was as if time stopped.  I couldn't move a
muscle.

"Brian," she whispered, a tiny, breathy, tentative whisper.  "Will you
kiss me?"

Something inside screamed "NO!" but I didn't listen.  I couldn't
listen.  All I could see was Eve, her eyes drawing me closer and
closer.  Our lips touched and then parted and I could think of nothing
else.

Fireworks.  It was as if I was kissing someone for the first time all
over again.  I could feel the kiss clear down into my toes.  I could
feel the warmth of it slowly traveling up my body, begging me to hold
the kiss forever...begging me to never let it end.

Finally, though, it did - though whether it was moments or years later
I couldn't tell.  Nothing seemed to exist at that moment except me and
Eve.  The scent of her skin, the soft feel of her lips against my own,
the play of her jaw against my fingertips.  I don't know when I had
reached up to draw my fingers against her jaw, but I couldn't seem to
stop.

"Thank you," she whispered, and her eyes were closed as if savoring the
moment.  "I...I really needed...that."

The voice I had ignored earlier burned through me then.  It screamed a
single, silent word.  Sam.  That one word was like a slap to my face.
I had cheated on my girlfriend.  I had abused the trust of someone who
loved me.  I felt both horrible and wonderful at the same time.

That wasn't the worst part, though.  God help me, but I wanted to do it
again.

Eve was studying my face, so she must have seen the mix of emotions
echoed there.  "Don't," she whispered, the soft feel of her breath on
my skin washing over me.  There were unshed tears glittering in her
eyes.  "Please don't feel guilty..."

"But...Sam..."

"Sam will understand," she whispered softly.  Then her eyes looked down
at her hands again, and the old Eve - the Eve with a face covered in
lines of worry and anguish - came rushing back.  "She knows.  I needed
that, Bri.  I just...I needed...someone who..." Tears rolled down her
face and I reached out to hold her, but she stiffened and pulled back.
"No.  I'm okay.  I just needed to touch someone I can trust, you know?
Because I'm not sure I can even trust myself any more."

She pulled back and got up.  I saw her wince as she rose, but she
didn't look at me.  Instead, she walked gingerly over to her window and
looked out.

Uncomfortable silence.  Again.  This time, though, I didn't know what
to say.  My mind was filled with total and complete emptiness.

Then, she turned to me.  Her eyes searched my face for a moment.  "I
love you, Brian.  And Sam's right...I'm in love with you too.  I know
the difference.  I want...I need...you to be happy.  Don't worry.  I
won't come between you and Sam.  I just...I needed to tell you."

"Eve, I..."  but she cut in before I could finish.

"Shhh," she gave a forlorn little smile that never made it to her eyes.
"It's okay.  I'm a little messed up right now, you know?  I'm just
glad that you're my friend."

"Eve," I began, knowing what I was going to say and worried what it
might cost us.  All of us.  "I love you.  You have to know that.  I've
always loved you.  Our kiss...my first kiss...was with you and I knew
even then that I was in love with you.  But...it was so weird.  You're
my best friend...and I didn't want to ever ruin that.  I guess I was a
little confused myself..."

Tears welled in Eve's eyes.  "Thank you," she whispered and the next
thing I knew my lap was full of a wonderful young woman.  "Even if it
isn't true, thank you so much for saying it."  Her lips sought out my
own, and I really couldn't think any longer.

Fireworks.  That is the only word I can use to describe it which means
that my vocabulary is woefully inadequate to give the faintest idea of
what it felt like.  My heart pounded as her tongue dueled my own and I
felt a beautiful warmth where our bodies were touching.  My chest, my
lap, my lips...everything about me felt so at peace.  So right.

My conscience, though, wouldn't let me off so easily.  Guiltily, I
broke the kiss and looked into her eyes.  "But...there's Sam...and I'm
madly in love with her, too...I'm just so confused..."  My voice
trailed off, knowing that I wasn't making much sense.  I knew I should
just enjoy the moment, the feeling of Evie wrapped in my arms.  But I
couldn't.  I wasn't the type of person who could cheat that way.  It
was bad enough that I was going to have to figure out how to tell Sam
about this.

"Shhh, Brian," Eve whispered in my ear, the feel of her cheek against
my own pulling at my senses.  "It's okay.  I know you love her...and
it's okay.  I told you...I won't come between you...it'll be okay."

But I wasn't so sure.


We didn't go to class that day and there was no more kissing either.
Throughout the day, Eve's moods would come and go but I just sat there
and kept her company.  It seemed to be the thing she needed the most.

Sam came over that evening.  She had picked up both Eve's and my
homework, so we sat for awhile doing that.  The atmosphere was far from
comfortable, but I couldn't just blurt out my infidelity to Sam with
Eve in the room.  In my mind, Eve had done nothing wrong.  That left
just me to face the music.

Finally, it was time for Sam to go.  I walked with her next door to my
house to see if my mom would drive her home.  About mid-way between the
houses, I stopped her.

"Sam, there's something I have to tell you," I whispered, pulling her
up short.  Sam just stopped and looked at me curiously.

"Evie and I...well...there's no good way to say this but...well, I
kissed her..."

Sam looked at me a little worried.  "You kissed her?"  she said in a
small voice.

"Yea...well...a few times...Sam...I'm so sorry.  I love you, but
I...she..."

"You love me?" Sam repeated.  Her face was still worried, but there was
the hint of something else there...though I couldn't tell what.
"Really?"

"Sam, you've got to know that I love you," I replied, worried that she
didn't.

"You've never said it before," she whispered.

"I know it may not seem like it...I mean...having been kissing with
Eve, but I do.  I love you a lot.  But...I love Evie too...I'm just...a
little...confused..."

Sam's face broke into a smile as she pulled me closer.  "It's okay,
Brian.  Everything will be okay."  It occurred to me that she was
echoing what Eve had told me earlier, but I didn't have long to
contemplate it because the next thing I knew she was kissing me.

Fireworks.  Again.  With a different young lady, this time.  I've
kissed Sam more than once during our relationship.  Heck, we'd made
love more than once...but this time was somehow different.  It was as
if every other kiss I'd enjoyed with her had been leading up to this
one wonderful kiss.  I still can't quite explain it and I have no words
to do it justice.  This kiss was somehow more vibrant and alive and
intimate than when we had sex.

I don't quite know how I got in my house after that.  I certainly don't
remember it.


I walked with Eve to school after that.  Though I didn't feel
completely comfortable about it, we'd sometimes hold hands as we
walked.  We talked about everything and I could tell that she was
grateful to be able to share her misery with someone.  We weren't quite
the same as before - what friendship would be after all we'd gone
through? - but it was good to have my best friend back.  For her part,
she was still a bit hesitant and scared, but holding my hand somehow
seemed to calm her a little.

We'd meet Sam at her bus and walk into school together.  I'd always
greet Sam with a kiss, which was both wonderful and uncomfortable at
the same time.  It just felt weird to hold Eve's hand on the way to
school and kiss my girlfriend when we got there.

Sometimes in life, you have to take the good with the bad.  The good
was having both Sam, my girlfriend, and Eve, my best friend, together
with me.  Even if my relationship was a little strained with both
because of the other, it was still great to be around them.  They even
seemed to become friends with one another.  I'd often see them walking
through the halls together, talking and sometimes laughing, oblivious
to some of the finger-pointing and catcalls that still went on.  In
many ways, they seemed to be more comfortable with each other than I
was with either of them and I was extremely glad for that.  Eve needed
a friend right now...and Sam was her friend in a way I just couldn't
be.

The bad was Paul and his gang.

It happened on an unseasonably warm autumn day about three weeks after
I spent the night with Eve.  Sam, Eve and I were walking into school.
I still felt a bit of tension about being together with the two of
them, but it was slowly starting to ease.  I guess I was worried that
one or the other would be jealous; when it didn't happen after several
weeks I allowed myself to be nervously optimistic that things really
were going to be okay.

Of course, Paul decided to let this be the day he reared his ugly head.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't surprised; on some level I knew that it
was coming.  It was inevitable, right?  And, in many ways, I had sort
of prepared for it.  When I was alone, I would have discussions with
myself about how I was going to handle Paul; I built elaborate scenes
of how I would handle this very situation.  How I would defuse the
situation with charm, with wit...even, fairly often, with my fists.

Of course, in my scenarios I had to play both parts.  If Paul said
this, I would zing him with that.  If he talked this way, I'd say this
thing.  If he got physical, I would just slug him a couple of times and
that would end it.

Funny, how real life and fantasy can be so completely different.

"Hi, slut," Paul remarked as we walked by.  I had seen him, but it was
too late to turn around.  If we had, we would have admitted our fear of
him...and I didn't want to give him any more advantage than he already
had.  Eve just looked at the ground, but I could feel her body tense
and I could somehow sense the tears welling within her.

"Shut up, asshole."  I started to look around, trying to determine who
had said that.  I was startled when I realized it was me.  You have to
understand; I had never, ever stood up for myself.  Not with anyone at
any time.  I knew my limitations...sticking up for myself was one of
them.  I guess sticking up for Eve was not.

"What'd you say to me, prick?"  I was suddenly nose to nose with the
biggest, scariest kid I had ever known.  The mere mention of his name
was enough to cause a panic within me...and now he was right in my
face.

I'd like to say that I stood up for myself right then.  I'd like to say
that I came back with one of those witty retorts I had practiced so
often when thinking of this situation.  Even I can't lie that well,
though.

"Uh...um...nothing," I mumbled, terror filling me.  I was wound up
tighter than a kite string, sweat suddenly poring from everywhere at
once and my heart pounding like a trip hammer.

"That's what I thought you said," he smirked at me.  Then he pushed me
down on my ass hard.

I almost wanted to cry right then, both in pain and frustration.  In
fact, I think some tears did come to my eyes, making my vision blurry.
I wanted to crawl in some hole and pull it in after me.

I watched as he grabbed Eve's hand, his other pawing at her sweater
while she tried to fend him off.  I watched it and I felt ashamed and
powerless.  I was worthless.

"Leave her alone!" Sam cried, trying to push at Paul.  She didn't move
him much, but it was enough.

"Shut up, bitch!" Paul snarled at her.  Eve was crying now, her body
shuddering.  Vainly she tried to pull away but Paul's attention hadn't
been distracted quite enough.  "I'll get to you in a second and show
you what it's like to be with a real man instead of Brain the Wimp."
Dave and Tony were suddenly there, each of them holding one of Sam's
arms.  I watched as Paul's hand started going under Eve's sweater.  I
watched as Dave and Tony started pawing at Sam.  I watched...and I
heard their laughter, echoing over and over and over in my head.

I can't explain what happened next.  Somewhere inside of me - deep,
deep inside of me - I realized that I was watching while the two women
I loved were going to get molested or worse and I wasn't going to do
anything to prevent it.  Once again, I was going to crawl away on my
belly, my tail tucked between my legs.  Once again, I was going to
allow Paul to walk all over me, to use me as a rug - only this time, I
wasn't the only one that was going to get hurt.  This time, I was going
to take two of the most wonderful people in the world with me.

In an instant, I realized all this.  In that same instant, I began to
understand why I loathed the very sight of me.  If I just let this
happen without trying to stop it I was signing my own death warrant
because I wouldn't be able to live within my own skin.  I'd rather be
dead than stand - or sit - by and watch my best friend and my
girlfriend get hurt because I was too scared to stand up for them.

I'd read in books where a rage could fill a person and they would
almost blank out as they released themselves to its grip.  It would
burn like fire within them and they would find themselves with the
strength of ten men.  In those stories and accounts, they did what
needed to be done, the heat of their rage pushing them.

Maybe that's the case with other people.  Maybe it's just a lot of
bullshit written by people who know how to tell a good story.  I don't
know.  That isn't what happened with me.

Calmness settled over me and I saw the world with a clarity I had never
known.  Far from any fire or burning sensation, a cold chill swept
through me.  It was as if time no longer existed and it was almost in
slow motion that I saw Paul, Dave and Tony taking their liberties.  I
saw it and it filled me with a towering hatred, a sneering contempt and
an icy cold resolve.

I stood, giving myself to the situation.  No matter what it took, no
matter what I had to do or how much pain it caused me personally, I
could not allow Eve or Sam to be hurt anymore.  I no longer mattered;
only they mattered.

"Leave her alone, Paul."  Even to my ears, my voice was calm and
emotionless.  It was as if something inside had taken over and pushed
all my pesky emotions - like terror and self-preservation - to the
side.  I knew that I was still scared - hell, I was terrified that my
life just might be ending right now - but the cold, analytical me had
seemed to repress the terror-filled me.  A part of me wondered how long
it would last...and if it would do any good.

Paul turned to me, his hand still under Eve's sweater, the moving lump
underneath telling me that he was mauling her breast.  "You better sit
the fuck back down, Brain, or else you're going to get yourself in a
world of hurt," he sneered at me.

"Last chance, Paul."  I wanted to convey my anger and my hatred, but my
voice would not comply.  It remained cold and almost aloof.  It wasn't
that I didn't care; it was just that I couldn't care or else I'd turn
back into that terrified lump.  "Leave her alone before things get
ugly."

He pushed her away from him and I watched as she fell, but it was all
so slow.  It took her so long to hit the ground.

"You've asked for it now, dipshit.  I'm gonna hurt you now...not
gentle, like last time."

There must be some unwritten law in teenage fights that says to swing
for a guy's head.  I'm not sure who made that rule but it seems kind of
stupid.  First, the head is one big bone with skin stretched over it;
so it has to hurt pretty bad when your hand connects.  There just isn't
enough fat on the face to absorb the blow.

Second, the head, and especially your face, doesn't really have all
that many nerve endings.  Oh, sure, there's the nose - if you hit it
you blind the guy with tears for a few minutes or more...and probably
that's all it takes.  If you miss, though, you're really opening
yourself up to someone who, say, knows anatomy.

I knew anatomy.  I had studied it quite a bit, actually.  So I knew,
for example, that there are a number of places on the human body where
a large number of nerve endings came together; under the arms, for
example, or at the joint of the legs, the hollow of the neck.  If you
knew what you were doing and hit one of them, you could partially or
totally incapacitate an attacker.

So, when Paul swung at my head, I already knew he was going to connect;
I was going to let him.  While he was swinging, I was busy drawing an
'x' on his torso beginning from one shoulder to the opposite hip and
then the other shoulder and its opposite hip.  At the intersection of
that 'x' was the mother of all nerve nuclei - the solar plexus.  As
Paul connected with my jaw and I felt a burst of pain erupt from my
cheek, I was already driving my fist, the knuckle of my middle finger
extended in almost a point, with everything I had towards the
intersection of the imaginary 'x' I had drawn.

I got lucky.  I didn't miss.

I knew I had hit because, even as I was wincing in pain, I heard the
loud oof of Paul's breath and then a sharp wheeze as Paul tried to
breathe in with lungs that no longer obeyed him.  My head had cocked
around with his blow so I turned it back, ignoring the sharp agony of
my cheek, and watched as Paul dropped to his knees, his face a mask of
surprise and pain.

If you manage to hit a person correctly in the solar plexus, they can't
breathe.  They can't move.  None of their muscles really obey them much
any more, at least for a few minutes.  All they can do is sit there,
trying to make their lungs work and figure out what the hell happened
to them.  Sometimes, they'll even pass out if they can't get a breath
quick enough.  It pretty much incapacitates them for a nice long while.

I gave a satisfied smile to Paul as he knelt in front of me, his face
frozen in shock, his arms grasping his chest, his fingers clutching
spasmodically.  I allowed myself a single, satisfying moment.  Then I
got to work.

I had crawled through life, living with the pain and suffering doled
out by Paul for too many years all because of my insipid fears.  As I
swung over and over at Paul's face, my hands bursting with pain every
time they connected, I let all of those years of torment out.  I held
nothing back.

Dave and Tony just looked in surprised horror as I made a bloody mess
of Paul's face.  They were so surprised, so shocked, that they couldn't
move.  They simply couldn't believe what was happening.

I don't know if he succumbed to my blows or his inability to breathe,
but eventually Paul just slowly tottered over onto his side.  I flexed
my fingers, pain shooting through them, and noted with a detached
satisfaction the blood coating them.  For the first time, it wasn't my
blood.

Then I turned to Dave and Tony who were still clutching Sam, though not
quite as tightly as they had moments ago.

"Let her go, or you're next."  My voice was still cold, still
emotionless.  I calmly stepped over Paul's prone form as I moved
towards them, my hands once again clenched into fists.

A war brewed within them.  There were two of them, after all, against
only one of me.  Then their eyes flicked to Paul's unmoving body and
they turned and ran.  Cowards.  They didn't even think about seeing if
Paul were all right.

I picked up my book bag, once again having to step over Paul to do it,
and turned to head back in to school as if nothing had happened.  Sam
and Evie just looked at me, wonder and shock vying for control of their
faces.

"Come on," my voice was still cold, still detached, but somehow
expressively normal.  It was almost as if this were an everyday
occurrence, my victory a foregone conclusion.  "I've got to clean up
before class."

They walked in with me mechanically, their eyes never leaving my face.
Once we entered the school, though, and I knew that the fight was
behind me, the adrenaline surged out of me and I found myself so weak I
was almost unable to stand.  My hands were in severe pain; they felt
swollen and bloated and each of their movements caused me to grit my
teeth.  This, of course, offended my cheek which protested loudly in
the area where Paul had struck me.  I leaned into Eve for support.  She
and Sam wrapped their arms around me to steady me.

"I didn't just do what I think I did, did I?" I mumbled, not even
trying to make much sense.

"Are you okay?" Sam whispered to me.  Eve just had her head in my
shoulder, her body shaking lightly.  I thought she was crying and I
turned to comfort her when she looked up and laughed heartily at me.

"The school WIMP just took out Paul Mathews!" she chortled.  "Who'da
thunk it??  If I live to be a hundred, I will always remember Paul's
face as he dropped to his knees!"

Then Eve did the last thing I expected.  In front of Sam and anyone
else who was bothering to look, she almost threw me against the wall in
the entrance to school and gave me the most passionate kiss I could
ever imagine.

Have I mentioned fireworks?  Forget what I said about them earlier.
This was more of a super-nova.  Every nerve ending in my body responded
to that kiss.  As it went into what seemed like the third day, I felt
my arms wrapping around Eve, felt her grinding her hips against my own,
and felt my suddenly hard cock being rubbed hard against her.  I almost
shot in my pants.

As I came up for air, my eyes opening to look into her own, I suddenly
realized the spectacle we made.  I glanced around guiltily...and came
face to face with Sam...and the guilt increased a thousand fold.

I was about to apologize, to beg her forgiveness, when she said the
last thing I ever expected to hear from her.

She looked at Eve.  "My turn, right?"

I think Evie was just as stunned as me.  For a few seconds we just
looked at one another.  Then, when it was clear that neither Eve nor
myself knew what to say or do, Sam gently pushed Eve out of the way and
tilted her head up to my lips.

It wasn't just her lips that kissed me.  Her whole body was pressed to
mine, her arms were around me and her tongue was dancing with my own.
Sam took it one step further; instead of grinding her pelvis against my
own, she dry-humped me.  I couldn't take it, the stimulation of it all
was just too much for me.  I exploded into my underwear.

Sam felt it.  She pulled her head away from me and looked a puzzled
frown into my eyes.  "Just from kissing us?"

I blushed in shame and looked at the ground, my head nodding the while.
I was uncomfortable, in more ways than one.  There was the mess in my
pants, the pain in my hands, and my admission that merely kissing Eve
and Sam - though, god!  What kisses! - was so sexually stimulating that
I was unable to control myself.

I couldn't bring myself to look at her, but I felt her lean into me,
felt her lips at my ear.  "Well, that's just the down-payment.  Wait
until I get you tonight..."  I shuddered in anticipation.

My mood, though, fluctuated throughout the day.  I went from elation to
horniness to self-righteousness to guilt.  Especially guilt, which was
the last thing I expected.  I tried to tell myself that Paul had just
got what was coming to him.  In my head, though, I knew better.  I had
sunk to Paul's level and become a bully myself at the end.  I should
have walked away with Paul on his knees unable to protect himself.
That I hadn't made me realize that I didn't like this Brian any more
than what Eve had called me - Brian the Wimp.  Somehow the true me lay
somewhere between those extremes.  I needed to find him before I hurt
myself or someone else.


Love-making with Sam always seemed to be different and new.  That
night, though, as we were supposed to be studying in my room (I don't
think we fooled my parents but they didn't seem to mind) Sam was an
animal.

She walked into the room, her blouse tight around her breasts and her
skirt flailing a trail behind her.  She had a determined look on her
face, a look so serious that I couldn't be sure if she was angry or
excited.  I licked my lips, wondering what I should say...or do.  I
didn't have time to say anything; her books dropped to the floor with a
thump and then she was pulling me from my seat at the desk and pushing
me onto my bed.

She never said a word as she crawled up my torso, never said anything
until her skirt was around my head and her pussy was pressing itself to
my lips.  I didn't even have time to wonder about her missing panties.
"Eat me," she growled, and her tone would brook no dissension.  "Put
your fucking tongue into me and eat my pussy until I come in your
mouth."

I was surprised for the few brief moments it took my mind to comprehend
what had just happened.  This wasn't like Sam; it wasn't like her to
take control this way.  Not that I was exactly complaining, mind you.
I marveled a little bit at this new face Sam was showing me, but then I
pushed it from my mind and got to work.

I didn't have to do much.  She was grinding herself into me, truly
riding my face.  Every forward thrust flicked her clit against my nose
and every backward thrust brought my tongue out of her and flicked her
clit against it.

I could hear her moaning and gasping, could feel her every movement,
her every shuddering breath.  I could taste her and smell her and the
combination was driving me crazy with lust.  I put my arms on the
outside of her legs, more to hold on than any hope of controlling her.
She was a wild woman, grinding herself hard against me - and I loved
every moment of it.

It didn't take long...no more than 5 or 10 minutes before I was
rewarded for her efforts.  With a loud moan, her body coiled and
shuddered.  I felt her legs trembling around my ears and the grinding
of her sweet pleasure on my face grew much harder and more pronounced.
Then, she went crazy.  She was bouncing on my face and shrieking.  Her
hands were in my hair, pulling my face harder into her, her hips
bucking and grinding.  Her liquid was thick and sweet and tangy.  It
poured out of her, gushing over my tongue, my face, even my neck.  Her
smell permeated me and exhilarated me.  It had never been like this
before; she was on fire and completely...wanton.  I truly was in heaven
and hoped it would never end.

Finally, though, as her shuddering slowed, the tenseness of her body
turning to rubber and the flow of her sweet juice ebbing, it was over.
I heard her gasp and shudder a final time and then she slowly rolled
off me and lay down next to me.  She grabbed my hand in her own and
squeezed it.

"Oh, god, thank you," she moaned.  "I've been so turned on since this
morning I wasn't sure I could stand it."  She giggled.  "I had to
relieve myself three times this afternoon," she blushed crimson.  "It
wasn't enough.  I spent sixth hour trying to find a way to get us both
out of that damned computer class so I could take you to some secluded
spot and screw your brains out.  Then, when I got here and saw
you...and you were licking your lips as I entered...I knew what I
wanted...what I had to have.  I'm so sorry to do that to you."

"I didn't mind," I responded truthfully, quietly.  "It was...exciting."

She turned to me, her eyelids fluttering.  "Really?  I'll keep that in
mind."  Her eyes twinkled and she giggled softly at me.

Then she was kissing me...but it wasn't quite an ordinary kiss.  It
started as a deep French kiss that I could feel down to my toes.  I
wrapped my arms around her and kissed her back, our tongues entwined,
her ragged breath keening in my ears.

Soon - all too soon - she pulled back and started to kiss around my
face, her tongue coming out and lightly nipping at me.  It wasn't until
she was moving onto my neck that I realized what she was doing.  I took
her face in my hands and pulled it back, looking a question into her
eyes.

She blushed and looked away, settling herself next to me, her head
lying gently on my chest.  Even as she did, though, she was squirming
and restless.  "God, what you do to me.  Now I know why you like eating
me, though.  I taste...well, I taste pretty good."

"No," I said, chuckling.  "You taste fantastic.  I sometimes wish there
was enough calories in your juice, because you're my favorite food."

She giggled at that, her hand idly running itself up and down my
forearm.  Her body was trembling and she couldn't stop squirming.  I
thought, at first, she couldn't get comfortable.  I was about to move
over, to give her more room, when she spoke.

"I can't take it," she whispered, as she pushed off of me.  She turned
and looked me in the eye.  "We need to talk, I think.  I need to know
something.  I know it's going to sound crazy but I want you to answer
me anyway and I want you to tell me the truth, okay?"

My first thought was to make a quick joke to relieve the tension, but
something in her eyes stopped me.  "Of course, Sam," I whispered, sweat
breaking across my brow and a worried tremble rising through my body.

She gave me a wan smile.  "Do you love me?" she asked and it took me by
surprise.  I thought, by now, that she knew how much I loved her.  "I
mean really love me.  I'm not asking you to marry me or anything -
we're much too young - but I need to know if you really, really love
me."

I didn't even have to think about my answer.  "Sam...I love you with
all my heart and soul.  There's no way that I could love you more."  I
thought I knew where this was going, though.  I figured her next
question would be about Eve...and I worried what I was going to say to
her.  I knew that I couldn't lie.

But, as usual, she surprised me.  "Do you...do you promise...do you
swear to never do anything to hurt me?  To protect me?  Even if you
have to protect me from myself?"

That one threw me a little bit.  Protect her from herself?  I didn't
get it.

I knew, however, that I'd protect her from anything I could.  I would
do whatever it took to protect her.  Hurting her, though...  "Sam,
that's a hard promise to make."  Her face fell and tears rose in her
eyes.  I quickly went on.  "What I will promise, though, is to love
you.  I will never hurt you on purpose; I will try my best to never
hurt you AT ALL...and, of course, I'll protect you from as much pain as
I can."

I guess it was the right thing to say.  Her smile would have lit up the
room if the lights weren't already on.  As it was, just seeing her
smiling was enough to make me light up.

"Okay," she whispered, settling herself back down on me.  She seemed
happy and content and her hand started tracing patterns up and down my
forearm again.  "I know that was kind of strange, but...  I haven't
been completely honest with you.  I haven't been completely honest with
myself.  Mostly, I've been afraid.  But when you stood up for me
today...no one has ever done that, you know?  I've spent most of my
life being the only one who cared about me, who stood up for me.

"I watched you stand up to Paul and I was worried about you more than
myself.  I was so scared they were going to really hurt you.  When he
swung on you, I was about to tell him that I'd go with him if he'd just
leave you and Eve alone.  I'd give him anything he wanted if he didn't
hurt the two of you.

"I knew, then, what I should have known all along.  I really, truly,
profoundly love you.  More than I've been willing to admit.  I've been
saying the words...but they haven't been completely true in my heart.
And...and...I can trust you.  And I haven't, before...not completely,
anyway.

"We've had some really good sex," she whispered.  The seeming change in
the conversation threw me for a moment.  "It wasn't great, though...at
least not for me."  I began to get worried.  Was there something more I
needed to do?  Something I hadn't thought of?  I was about to speak up
and ask when she continued.  "It wasn't your fault.  I have..." she
laughed lightly "trust issues.  I've seen what men can be like...my mom
being what she is...and I was scared to trust someone enough to let go.
I mean to completely let go...

"I've wanted to do...well, what we just did - I'm not sure what to call
it...for a while.  But I was afraid to let myself go; afraid that I
wouldn't be able to stop.  That I'd become a slut like my mom.  In a
way, I think I was right - that orgasm was the best I've ever had, bar
none...but only because I trusted you enough to just let myself go with
you...and, God, I want more!  I want to feel like that over and over
and over again.  It's like a craving I never knew I had...

"The other...well...I've wondered what I tasted like forever...but I've
been almost afraid to even masturbate...afraid of the road it might
lead me down.  I've had orgasms - when I masturbate sometimes, with you
nearly always - but not like this one, not like what I just
felt...because every other time we've made love I was scared deep in my
heart that maybe you were just putting on a show for me, you know?
That I hadn't seen the true you.  That you'd turn out to be another
asshole like the guys my mom has brought home...

"Then, today, you stood up for me.  You were terrified...I could see it
in your eyes...you expected to get beaten up badly, and you still stood
up for me.  Well, Eve too...but you did it for me.  That was when I
knew that I could trust you completely.  That you wouldn't let me be
hurt..."

"Honey," I whispered.  "I've tried so hard not to hurt you.  To be
trustworthy..."

"Silly," she whispered back, interrupting me.  "I told you.  It was me,
not you.  You've been wonderful...too good to be true.  Maybe that's
part of the problem.  You've been so great it's been hard for me to
believe that you're real.  I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop
for so long.  Then there was you and Eve and...I half expected you to
dump me.  But you didn't."

I started to protest, but she put her hand on my lips and pulled
herself up to look in my eyes.  "Hush.  I know you love Eve.  How could
you not?  I know and I know that you love me, though.  And that's
enough.  That truly is enough."

She settled back into my side as I tried to come up with the words
explain what I was feeling.  I wanted to make her understand, but the
words wouldn't come.  Of course, she didn't give me much time to think
about them.

"I trust you completely, now," she whispered.  "I've never trusted
anyone before.  So I know that I can let myself go with you and you
won't let me do something stupid."

I was more than a little puzzled.  "Let yourself go with me?"

She chuckled.  "Yeah.  Let myself go with you.  Release the part of me
that's always been bound up because of my fear of becoming my mother.

"Brian...I want you.  More than I have ever wanted anything in my life.
I want you to make love to me.  I want you to have sex with me.
And...god help me...I want you to fuck me.  I want to experience
everything with you.  I want to feel you in my mouth as I suck the cum
from you and swallow it.  I want to feel you in my pussy, plunging into
me with abandon.  I want to feel you in my ass, taking me while I
scream.  I want to snuggle with you - without sex, or maybe before sex
or after it.

"I want you to watch as I masturbate, or as we masturbate together, or
as we masturbate each other.  I want to fulfill every fantasy I've ever
had...and every fantasy that you've ever had.  Then, when we find out
which parts we like, I want to do it over and over again.

She was silent for a moment, as if screwing up her courage.  "Please
don't be scared but...someday...in the future...when we're both
ready...I want to feel as your baby grows in me.  I want to watch as
you grow old with me."  She looked into my eyes and I could tell that
she was trying to quell my raising panic.  "I know I'm scaring you -
I'm scaring me - but this is just what I feel...what I know is right.

"But I want...I need you to be there with me, to protect me and not let
me become what my mother is.  Because I know that I could get caught up
in it...I know that I could quickly become a total slut.  That orgasm
opened the door...and I can feel the craving.  It's like I was hungry
before; hungry for something but I didn't know what.  Now that I've
experienced that first one where I've truly let myself trust in you
completely, it's more like I'm starving, you know?  But I think...if I
can be just your slut, only yours - well, I know that sounds bad and I
don't quite mean it like that - that I'll be okay because you won't let
anything happen to me.  Can you deal with that, though?  Please?"

What could I say to that?  I realized that she was serious, that
something - her hormones, her sex drive, something - had kicked in for
her and I needed to think this through.  No matter what, I couldn't
take this lightly or else she'd get hurt...and I was determined to do
everything I could for that to never happen.

So, I took a moment to think about things.  I was both scared and
excited; scared because I wasn't sure exactly what she was asking me
and excited because I did have a slight inkling.

In a "Eureka!" moment - a moment of insightful clarity - I began to
guess just what she was saying.  A philosopher once said that our
entire existence is based on perceptions.  Our reality is what we
perceive of the world around us.  In that frame of mind, we are the
centers of our individual universes.  In effect, we live in our own
worlds and we mold our worlds to our will.

What Sam was proposing was to allow me into her world; not to give me
any control over it - no one can control our perceptions/reality after
all - but to trust me enough to make me a part of her world.  As the
enormity of what she was both giving me and asking me settled, I
realized that I needed to be very careful about how I answered.

"Sam, no matter what happens I will always be there for you.  I don't
know what's going to happen in the future, I don't know how we're going
to end up.  And I don't want to know...not now...because if I worry too
much about the future, I won't be able to have fun in the present.

"I'll do what I can, what I can handle.  If you need more than I can
give...well, we'll worry about that when it happens.  Everything else,"
I gave her a warm little smile, "Well, I think I can handle everything
else."

"So, you think you can handle me, huh?" she laughed.  "I don't know...I
think you're going to have to prove that you can even keep up!"

She was laughing at me and I knew it.  It didn't matter.  She was right
that she had scared me; I was only 15, I didn't even want to think
about being a parent or growing old with someone.  But, if I looked
deep enough inside of me...inside of us...I could see it.  I wasn't
ready for it...who is?...but I could be very happy growing old with the
young woman beside me.

I smiled as I realized it, another piece of the puzzle locking into
place for me.  Then, I kissed her.

I started slow, nibbling on her lips, tracing my fingertips through her
black hair.  I moved down her jaw line until I was suckling at her ear
lobes.  My fingertips slowly left her hair, gently scraping at her face
as they moved lower, and finally finding the top button of her blouse.

I moved my lips to the hollow of her neck, planting soft, sucking
kisses there.  My fingers protested in pain when I tried to make them
undo her delicate buttons but I pushed them to their task
none-the-less.  It took me a while...but I had time.  I wasn't going to
rush this.

As the first button came undone, I moved my lips to the soft 'v' of
exposed flesh it made.  I nibbled there, my concentration split between
the succulent essence of her skin and the imposing task of getting my
pain-filled fingers to undo the next button.

Her breath caught in her throat as I moved lower slowly, button by
button.  Her flesh was soft and supple and tasted sweetly of her sweat.
I allowed my tongue to trail lower as the buttons came undone, until
finally there were none left.

I caressed the ring of her belly button with the barest tip of my
tongue.  As my tongue entered that shallow orifice, I moved my hands
back up her body - slowly spreading the sides of her blouse to expose
more of her to my gaze.  I stopped in confusion when I brought my hands
up to her breasts and felt the hard core of her nipples traced into my
palm.

"Oh god, Bri!"  Sam moaned, her hips slowly rotating underneath me.  "I
took them off - the bra and panties - before I came over.  I knew...I
knew...god, I knew what I was going to do when I got here...they
weren't necessary..."

Her explanation satisfying me, I went back to my task.  As my arms
spread the blouse wider, she moved beneath me, her stomach clenching as
it rose to me.  I watched, my tongue never leaving the safe confines of
her belly button, as she sat up partially and removed her blouse.

As she lay back down, I moved lower; my tongue lightly coating a path
of my saliva over her skin.  Her skirt was in the way, but instead of
pushing or pulling it, I just ran my tongue under the waistband.  It
bunched and gave way...but only a little.  Still I was able to feel the
beginnings of her sparse bush with the tip of my tongue.

My hands moved slowly, languidly, down her sides until they reached the
waist of her skirt.  Slowly, my tongue tracing itself across her
stomach, I pulled the skirt further down her legs and then, finally,
with Sam bending her legs to help, off.

The flexing of her legs exposed her to me in the most delightful way
and I watched her nether lips flex and open.  They glinted in the
artificial brightness of my overhead light and I realized that her
juice was still freely flowing.

I bent to her again, eager to lap up more of her sweet nectar...but a
hand on my head stopped me.

"We've already done that...I need your cock now," Sam whispered.  I
didn't need to be told twice.

I gazed in her eyes as I undressed, deliberately taking my time.  She
just lay there, content to watch me, until I pushed down my underwear
and the length of my member popped free of its confines.

Her hands were on me then, lightly pulling at me.  She used my rod as a
handle, gently pulling me to the edge of her heaven.  As she swiped the
head of my prick up and down her valley, coating the head with her
moisture, she whispered to me.

"Yeah, baby," she moaned, her voice low and sultry.  "I want you to put
this thing in me and pound me.  I want to cum with your dick pounding
into me...I want you to cum with my legs around you, my hips rising to
meet your every thrust.  I want to feel it as you squirt in me...I want
to feel your wonderful dick slowly grow softer inside of me.

"Then, when you're spent, I'm going to take it and suck it until it's
hard again.  I'm going to bob my head on your hard cock and blow you
until you cum in my mouth.  I'm going to savor your cum on my tongue
and then I'm going to swallow iiiiiiiit."

Her last words were lost as I plunged into her with a single thrust.  I
couldn't take the teasing any longer.

I started quickly, pounding myself within her.  Her ass rose off the
bed with every thrust, meeting me on every down stroke.  Her arms
wrapped around me and her fingers clawed into my back.  Her legs
wrapped themselves around me and our flesh was one.

"God...god...so good," she moaned.  Her words had a slur to them and
her eyes were no longer focused.  "Oh, I needed this.  Needed you...to
pound...the slut...out of me.  Baby, you feel so good...I can feel
your...hard cock...hitting the very deepest...uh...part of me.
So...uh...good."

I couldn't stop...it felt so good to pound myself into her with
abandon.  The soft feel of her satiny confines as I pushed and pulled
into and out of her.  I wasn't sure how much longer I could take this.

I didn't have to wait much longer.  Sam wrapped me into a bear hug on a
downward thrust and her body went as rigid as steel.  She screamed into
my ear, a hoarse, nerveless, pitiful sound that was pure passion.  I
felt her pussy tugging at my cock, felt her body shaking and trembling,
felt her legs locking and unlocking and her head burying itself into my
shoulder as the scream went on and on and on.

Her orgasm triggered my own.  Who could withstand the utter sexuality
of a woman's orgasm?  I felt myself spewing within her and I only
wished I could have two dicks so I could do this again right away.

As her body started to relax, relinquishing its crushing hold on me, I
collapsed onto her, desperately trying not to hurt her as all of the
energy flew from my body.  As soon as my body would accept my commands,
I rolled over to the side and snuggled myself against her.

I don't know how long we lay like that.  I think I drifted in and out
of sleep as I held her.  Just holding her was heaven.

It couldn't have been much later that I felt her move.  I thought she
was getting up as she crawled over me, but she had other ideas.

She slowly crawled down my body.  Her tongue encircled my nipple and I
felt the miracle of a new erection begin in my groin.  I moaned in
appreciation, suddenly aware of just why a woman likes her breasts
nibbled on.  I promised myself to explore her breasts more in the near
future.

It wasn't long until she was moving lower.  I felt the wet warmth of
her pussy trailing lower, felt it scraping down my torso and then down
my right leg.  I reveled in its feel, reveled in the way it brought
goose flesh to my arms as it trailed the slimy fluids of our union down
my body.

As her mouth enclosed my stiffening member, however, I nearly cried out
in ecstasy.

Her tongue was everywhere, licking up the sides of my cock, swiping at
the head, dragging across my balls.  I could feel her hot breath on me,
hear the sound of her saliva as she took me into her mouth and then
released me.

My blood pounded in my ears as I groaned in pleasure at her slowly
lowering her mouth down my erection until I could feel the head of my
cock bump against the back of her throat.  Her accompanying moan only
threw me to greater heights as it reverberated around my cock.

Slowly, she began to move her mouth up and down my shaft.  Her tongue
swiped the head on every upward thrust and swirled down my pole as her
mouth traveled down its length.  As the head of my cock hit the back of
her mouth, she hummed and the sensation had me gasping for air.

Over and over she moved her head, her hands grasping at my legs even as
her pussy ground itself upon me, her tongue driving me to new heights
of passion.  As her head moved up and down, she began varying her
strokes, moving her head also from side to side, then corkscrewing it
down my length.  I felt the heat of my body rise, felt the sweat pour
from my pores, and clutched futilely at the sheets as the onslaught of
pleasure threatened to subjugate me.

I don't know how long it lasted, but it was not long enough.  I felt my
hips rising off the bed of their own volition, desperately trying to
bury me deeper in her mouth.  When she began to scream around my cock,
scream out her orgasm, I could take no more.

"BABY!" I screamed, no longer able to contain myself.  "I'm
gonna...CUUUUM!"  Somewhere in the haze of her orgasm, she heard me.
Instead of pulling her mouth off my cock as I half-expected, she
redoubled her efforts.  I could hold out no longer.  I erupted into her
mouth.

When it was over, when she had sucked every last drop of cum out of me,
she slowly sat up, an impish grin on her face.  As she looked into my
eyes, she opened her mouth showing me the milky white of my cream on
her tongue.  I watched, fascinated, as she rolled her tongue around
before closing her mouth.  Then, an impish grin on her face, she
swallowed.

"Mmmm," she whispered afterwards, the edges of her grin still present
but slightly subdued.  "The consistency leaves a little to be desired -
it's kind of thick and sticky - but the taste is something I'm going to
want a lot more of."

I just laughed and pulled her to me, kissing her lips and then pulling
her in for a tongue kiss.  I could taste myself on her, but I didn't
care.  If she could swallow it, I could kiss her afterwards.

We lay there for a while, gently murmuring sweet phrases to one
another, content to just cuddle and be with each other.  Sam slowly
stroked my dwindling manhood, more playing with it than expecting it to
rise.  At least, I hoped so.  I wasn't sure I could get another one so
soon after that incredible blow-job and I told her just that.

"Darn," she whined petulantly as my soft flesh failed to respond to her
ministrations, but her smile told me she was only half serious.  "I
wanted to take this thing in my rear next."

Even I was surprised as my erection grew.  In moments, I was once again
as hard as a rock.

"Well," Sam laughed at me.  "I know one way to get you ready for me."

I groaned in frustration.  "I...well, I...don't have
any...um....lubricant."

She looked at me for a moment and then smiled a bit regretfully.
"Well, I suppose there's always next time.  For now, why don't we put
this big thing back in its home and see if we can't make it smaller
just one more time..."

I decided not to argue with her.


The next day the other shoe dropped.  I admit I was kind of waiting for
it.  I was even more than a little surprised it hadn't happened the day
before.  In the end, I was actually rather relieved; the anxious
waiting was taking its toll on me.

I was sitting in my Chemistry class, listening to the teacher drone on
about molarities and molalities when there was a knock on the door.
Before Mr. Conte could get to it, a tall willowy blond entered the room
carrying a red hall pass (a red hall pass was 'administrative' meaning
from the principal's office, the hall passes handed out by teachers
were all a soft green).  I think I started gathering my books before
she even spoke; in a rare moment of prescience, I knew the pass had my
name on it.

"Mr. Conte?  Brian Katye is wanted in the principal's office."

All of the anxiousness in my body withdrew to a hard, cold knot in my
stomach.  As Mr. Conte read the pass, I was already moving to the front
of the room.  Without a word, he handed it to me as I passed.

"We'll be finishing up chapter 4 today, Mr. Katye," Mr. Conte called as
I trudged towards the door.  Mr. Conte was an awesome teacher but he
had a fairly annoying habit of speaking to everyone formally.  "Make
sure that you complete the chapter."

I think I nodded to him as I went out, though I really don't remember.
It didn't matter anyway...I had finished up Chapter 4 two weeks ago.

I felt the oppressive weight of impending doom on the long trek to the
office.  Even though I knew in my head that this was coming, I had
secretly hoped that maybe I wouldn't be in trouble for my fight
yesterday.  Because of that, being called to the office turned out to
be somewhat of a mixed blessing.  I knew that I was in pretty serious
trouble but at least the 'Sword of Damocles' would be removed from
above my head.

The police standing in the office, however, were completely unexpected.
I had counted on being suspended, possibly even expelled.  This,
however, was a bit over the top.

"Brian Katye?" The police officer was a large man, tall and well
muscled.  When I looked at him, though, all I saw was the grim set of
his mouth and the hard glint of his steely eyes.

"Y-yes," I stuttered, nervous and afraid.

"We need to talk to you about the aggravated assault of Paul Mathews.
If you'll just step into the principal's office, your mother is on her
way in."

Stunned, I couldn't move.  There had to be some mistake here.  Paul had
been tormenting me for years and the police had never questioned him.
Why would they suddenly take an interest in our squabble?

When I didn't move immediately, the officer placed his hand on my
shoulder and gently but firmly guided me into Mrs. O'Malley's office.

"If you'll just wait in here for your mother, we can't talk to you
until she gets here."

They were the longest 20 minutes of my life.  Every second was like an
hour and every minute, a year.  The bile rising in my throat was pure
panic.  I worried about why the police were involved - had I hurt Paul
seriously?  Had I killed him somehow? - and what my mother would say
when she found out about it.  I hadn't mentioned it to either of my
parents last night.  I hadn't really had time, after being with Sam and
doing my homework, for one thing.

For the other, I was ashamed.  I didn't want them to know what I had
done.  I could justify to myself the blow to the solar plexus; he had
that coming since he had swung on me first.  After that, though...I had
just beaten up someone who was unable to defend themselves.  At the
end, I had become to Paul what he had been all his life to me: a bully.
That was not something I was proud of.

Finally, though, my torture came to an end and my mom walked into the
office...at least, I thought my torture was at an end.  The set of her
face, though, grim and angry told me other wise.  A small part of me
wanted to go back to the waiting.


"Bri?  What's all this about?" she asked me.  Her words didn't really
matter, I suppose.  What did matter was that she was called out of work
for a incident involving both police and her son.

For a moment, I couldn't speak.  I was on the verge of tears and if
there's one thing a 15 year old boy can't do, it's cry to his mommy.  I
felt so guilty and so ashamed.  I didn't know how I could get through
this.  With profound difficulty, I swallowed a few times trying hard to
get my emotions under control.

"There's something you need to know," I mumbled, when I could trust
myself not to let the tears in my eyes fall down my cheeks.
Hesitantly, I told her the whole story.  She knew about Eve, of course,
but I began there and didn't stop until the fight yesterday.  I told
her how Paul had always bullied me since the second grade, how I'd
hated him for so long.  I finished by telling her how guilty and
ashamed I felt because I had become no better than Paul...and it galled
me to have to mention my name in the same sentence as his.

For a moment, she just looked at me.  It was a bitter look, filled with
more than a little concern and disappointment.  "Bri, I have to tell
you," she began slowly, measuring her words carefully.  "When you
started lifting weights with Mac, I worried about why you were doing
it.  I kind of know some of the troubles you've been going through,
particularly with Paul, over the last several years and I was worried
that if you did get stronger you'd try to settle the score with him and
the rest of the bullies.  I meant to have a talk with you about
it...but I put it off and, when you didn't turn into a bully yourself,
I guess I let my guard down.

"Now, I have to tell you that I'm disappointed...but I understand.
Sometimes I have difficulty realizing how young you really are because
you often act so grown-up.  But part of being a grown up is knowing
when you should do something and when enough is enough.  I don't blame
you for hitting Paul; I don't think anyone would blame you.  You
shouldn't have beaten up on him after he was down, though.  That was
wrong.  I know that in the heat of the moment, it probably seemed right
after all that he's done to you over the years...but you had to know,
somewhere, what you were doing wasn't right.  I think from the way you
told your story, you know that.  You just have to listen to that voice
a little more often.

"I also have to tell you," a grim smile touching her face.  "That I am
very, very proud of you.  I've worried about you all your life, you
know.  You were always so smart...but you lacked the inner strength
that you needed to put that intelligence to use.  You let others walk
over you, bully you...and you never fought back at all.  In real life,
you often have to stand up for what you believe even when you don't
want to.

"Yesterday, though, you stood up not only for yourself but for the
people you love.  Even when you didn't want to, even when you didn't
think you were going to make much of a difference, even when you
thought you were going to get hurt...you stood up for them.  You tried
to help them.  I can only guess the kind of courage that took.  What
you did was wrong, in the end, but you did it for the right reasons."

She took a deep breath and reached out to cover my hand in her own.
The smile she gave me was full of affection and a quiet sort of
confidence.  It was enough to give me a little hope.

"Don't worry.  We'll get through this.  Now, let's bring the policeman
in here and answer his questions."

I stopped her as she started to get up.  "Mom?"

"Yea, Bri?"

I waited until she looked me in the eye.  "I can't tell him about Eve."

She paused, a look of confusion coming over her face.  "Why not?"

I swallowed, closing my eyes for a moment.  "Because it isn't my story
to tell," I sighed.  "Eve told me about all of that in confidence.  She
didn't come right out and say it, but I know that she wouldn't want me
to say anything and I lov...er...care enough for Eve that I couldn't
break that confidence.  I'll tell him everything else but I need to
leave Eve out of it as much as possible."

She looked at me, her face softening somewhat.  "Sometimes I even worry
because you seem older than your years."  Then she smiled a small,
genuine smile.  "Don't worry, we'll think of something.  We have to
tell him Eve was there but we'll let him question her if he wants that
story."

In the end, they did call Eve and Sam to the office as well as Tony and
Dave and all of their parents.  Sam's legal guardian was the state, of
course, so the head of the group home had to come in lieu of her mom to
give the police permission to talk to her.  As they took the others in,
one by one, they kept the waiting kids separate probably so we wouldn't
be able to coordinate our stories.  I saw the others go in, though.
Eve and Sam both smiled at me when it was their turn; I think that
smile was meant to convey a certain warmth and solidarity - but it all
looked cold and bleak to me.  Dave and Tony only glanced at me
surreptitiously when they thought I wasn't looking.  I worried what
their story would be.

Finally, though, the steady progression of students and parents
concluded and I was marched back into the principal's office, my mother
a few steps behind me.  The final school bell rang as I took my seat.
School was over, but I had the distinct impression that my ordeal was
just beginning.  Luckily, I was mistaken.

"Mrs. Katye," the police officer said as he took his seat, his voice
gravelly and low.  He looked at his notes for a moment and then stared
at my mom for another.  Finally, as the silence stretched out
uncomfortably, he spoke to her.  "First, ma'am, I have to commend you.
In my opinion, you've raised a very fine son.  I have a daughter a few
years younger than him and I sincerely hope that she finds someone half
as stand-up as your boy."

My mom smiled briefly and thanked him, though she looked worried.  I
was worried, too.  There was a hidden 'but' in his words and I was
afraid of what that 'but' would be.

As I contemplated all the nasty things that could be hidden in his
words, he turned to me and his face softened.  He looked almost
apologetic as he spoke.  "However - unfortunately, it's not my opinion
that counts here.  Paul Mathews' parents have made a pretty big stink
and they have friends in the District Attorney's office.  I'm going to
fill out my report and it's going to include the whole story: how Paul
started molesting two girls, how you came to their aid, how he threw
the first punch, and how you finished the fight.  Even Paul's
friends..." He paused and looked at his notes again.  "David Mitchell
and Anthony Feliz corroborated that.  As a matter of fact, they pretty
much corroborated the whole thing - including the part about abusing
Eve Glenn prior to the altercation.  I wish that I didn't, but I've got
to include that in my report as well."  Officer Daniels looked at me
askance.  "They seem to be a mite afraid of you, son.  I can't say that
I blame them after what you did to Paul."

I just looked at him quizzically.  What I had done to Paul??  What had
I done to Paul??

Officer Daniels just looked at me in surprise.  "You don't know about
him, do you?  No, I don't suppose anyone would've told you...

"Son, Paul Mathews has a broken nose, a broken jaw and a crushed
orbital bone surrounding his left eye.  He's going to be in the
hospital for a few days while they try to reconstruct his left eye
socket and his mouth is going to be wired shut for weeks.  I'd swear
that someone had taken a baseball bat to Mr. Mathews face if I didn't
have testimony that you'd done it with your hands.

"Now, Paul may have deserved what he got; some of the things I've heard
he'd done makes me want to light into him myself.  However, there are
right ways and wrong ways of doing these things.  I honestly think that
you're going to get off this time on self-defense if nothing else...but
I wouldn't go making a habit of this.  If someone else harasses you or
your friends, come talk to me and I'll take care of it, okay?"

He reached out to me, a card in his palm.  I took it and read it before
I noticed his hand was still out, waiting.  I wasn't sure what he
wanted for a second and then it dawned on me.  I reached out and
gripped his hand in my own.


There is no greater feeling of powerlessness than awaiting a decision
that could greatly affect your life and which you have absolutely no
control over.  As time interminably marched on while I awaited the
District Attorney's decision I grew what can generously be described as
increasingly irritable.  My peevishness, shortening temper and frequent
but temporary plunges into melancholia drove first my parents and then
even Sam and Eve away from me.  They still spent time with me but it
was less and less with each passing day.

Of course, between my moodiness and the circulating rumors of my fight
with Paul, my schoolmates tended to avoid me even more than before.  I
can't really say that I blamed them, though the fear I saw in their
eyes struck at me like physical blows.  I found that far from easing my
school days, the fight had actually turned me into an outcast the likes
of which I had not seen before.

Even worse was the isolation I felt from Eve and Sam.  They began
spending most of their time together and excluding me.  In my
irrational state I just figured they blamed me for Eve's "problem"
getting out in the open.  Unfortunately for me, in my state of mind
this made perfect sense and served to drive me deeper into depression.

Finally, after 6 weeks of this, my parents had evidently had enough.
On a Thursday evening the week before Thanksgiving, they quietly
ordered me to get dressed up for a nice dinner.  Then, they took me to
San Miguel's.

I recognized what they were doing, I truly did...but not even my
favorite restaurant was going to bring me away from the black edge of
my despair.  The weight of the world was upon me and I most keenly felt
its crushing weight.  Wallowing in my self-pity, I didn't think I'd be
able to make it.  I'm ashamed to say my thoughts turned to suicide
though I knew I wouldn't have the guts to see it through.  I just
didn't think I could go on for very much longer.  At least until my
parents delivered their bombshell.

We had just ordered our drinks - wine for them and coke for me - when
my mom and dad shared some Knowing Looks.  Finally, my dad sighed and
turned to me.

"How are you doing, son?"  he asked me.

"Um...okay," I lied.  I almost felt like it was a game we were playing.
They had to know what was bothering me...they had to.

"Bullshit," he replied quietly.  I jumped in my seat in surprise.  My
parents never used profanity unless they were seriously upset.  "You've
been jumping at the slightest squeak for quite a while now.  You've
driven your mother and I to distraction - almost to the point where
we've been trying to avoid you because we can't stand to see you
beating yourself up.  You've driven Marie and Todd Glenn to the point
where they don't even want to invite us over for fear you'll come too.
Eve and Sam are driving themselves nuts because they know you're
hurting and don't have any clue what to do about it - so they've been
avoiding you because they figure you're mad at them.  All in all,
you've managed to alienate or distance yourself from anyone who can
possibly help you."

With a visible effort, my father managed to pull in his temper.  "Now,
let's start again.  What's bothering you, Brian?"

I couldn't believe this.  They had to know what was going on, didn't
they?  Were they playing the fool for my benefit??  What in hell was
going on??

Finally, though, I told them.  "I've been waiting to see if I'm going
to jail, dad," I said coldly, sarcastically.  "I'm sorry that it's
inconvenienced you."

"That'll be enough of that right there, young man," my dad said,
angrily.  "You have no call to use that tone of voice with me.  How are
we supposed to know what's bothering you if you don't tell us?  The
district attorney decided against pressing charges a week and a half
ago.  We didn't think you were actually worried about that although in
retrospect we probably should have told you.  We thought you were upset
because you blamed yourself for Paul's hospital stay."

I had the hardest time believing that my parents had known for over a
week that I wasn't going to jail and had failed to tell me.  For the
first time in my life, I sincerely wanted to throttle the both of them.

"Thank God," I blurted, relief sounding through every timbre of my
voice.  "Please don't get me wrong...I feel bad about what I did to
Paul but I think I could have handled it.  However, beating myself up
over a fight that I was stupid enough to over-do and then going to jail
for it...I couldn't handle that.

"I haven't been able to sleep much because I keep dreaming of cells and
inmates.  People at school have been avoiding me like the plague - and
I figured it was because they didn't know if I was going to be with
them much longer.  Heck, I even stopped eating so much because I wanted
to get my stomach used to prison portions - and I don't even know what
prison portions are!"

I rambled on for a while, but the relief I felt wouldn't let me go on
too long.  It was as if a great weight had been lifted from my
shoulders.  I suddenly felt alive again...and it was a great feeling.
I ordered my favorite items from the menu and attacked them with a
gusto I hadn't felt in weeks.

Of course, winning my parents back was one thing.  By the end of the
meal we were laughing and joking as if the past six weeks had never
happened.  Making up with Mr. and Mrs. Glenn, I knew, wouldn't be much
more difficult.  They'd probably be so happy that I was back to normal
they'd overlook the past six weeks themselves.  My real problem, of
course, was going to be Eve and Sam.  I wasn't quite sure how to repair
that bridge.

Over the next week, I tried drawing them out both individually and
together.  It wasn't easy.  I apologized profusely for the way I had
been behaving and explained the why of it to them.  I'm not sure they
bought it completely, however.  Oh, we had lunch together and joked
around in the halls and even after school but something was missing and
I couldn't figure out what it was or how to get it back.  After school,
of course, they just stayed with each other, still excluding me.

Thanksgiving was a bit strained.  As usual, my family ate with the
Glenns - it was their turn to host this year, so we went over their
house.  In a ritual that had been going on since Eve and I were born,
Eve, Eve's dad, me and my dad sat watching the Thanksgiving parade
while the two moms spent the day cooking and baking.  The smells coming
out of the kitchen had our mouths watering; of course, either mom or
Marie would come out every now and again to give us samples so we
certainly didn't go hungry while we were waiting.

Yes, everything was just like usual - or should have been.  Eve,
however, wasn't usual.  She was jittery most of the day and almost
seemed like she was trying to avoid me.  She just had a nervous air
about her as if she was going to jump at the slightest provocation.  I
couldn't quite figure it out - it was almost like the time we spent
during our falling out.

What was even worse was when I called Sam to wish her a happy
Thanksgiving and I got the same sort of nervous jittery discussion from
her.  Something was going on...but I couldn't for the life of me figure
out what.  Of course, this just led to all kinds of Bad Things running
through my head.  By the end of the night, I had pretty much succeeded
in convincing myself that Sam didn't want me any more; that Sam wanted
to break up with me.

My parents and Eve's parents decided to indulge themselves during the
long weekend and flew out to Vail early Friday morning.  They had all
taken Monday off, which meant four days of fun in the snow.  Of course,
the trip had been planned during my six week funk so I wasn't invited.
Eve evidently had just begged off altogether.

I lay in bed as long as I could on Friday, mostly because I didn't want
to face the day.  I knew that a long talk was coming between Sam and me
and I was dreading it.  I loved Sam more than life itself and if she
wanted to break up with me I wasn't sure what I'd do.  I was convinced,
though, that that was the direction our relationship was taking.

I finally got up and called about 11 AM...but she wasn't home.  I
called again at 12 and 1 PM...and she still wasn't home.  I was
beginning to think she had left to avoid me - or had told the home
staff to tell me she was gone for the same purpose.  Waiting for her,
though, was unbearable.  I grabbed my coat and hat and I was just
heading out the door to confront her at the home when the phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered, both hoping and worried that it was Sam.

"Hey, Brian," Sam's voice came through the small ear-piece.  "Listen,
I'm over at Eve's...do you...um...can you come over? We need to talk."

A familiar cold knot grew in the pit of my stomach.  She didn't even
want to talk to me about it at my house...she had chosen Eve's house as
a neutral ground to break up with me.  My spirit sagged with the
realization.

"Yea," I responded, my voice forlorn.  "I'll be right over."

It was purposely one of the longest walks I've ever taken.  I didn't
ever want to get to Eve's house.  I never wanted to lose Sam so I took
all the time I could in walking next door.  No matter how hard I tried,
though, it wasn't long enough.

Sam let me in and I took off my coat.  She led me to the living room
and I took a seat in the middle of the couch.  My thought was that if
she sat next to me I could somehow take her in my arms and stop her
from breaking up with me.  It may not have been a good plan but it was
all I had.

She alleviated that possibility by sitting in an armchair across from
the couch.

Neither of us spoke until the silence dragged out into eternity.  I
hated the uncomfortable quiet...but I had no idea how to break it.

"Um," Sam whispered.  "Wow...this is hard."

I caved in on myself, her words driving the last vestiges of hope from
my body.  "Just start at the beginning, Sam," I murmured.

"You remember our talk a couple of weeks ago.  The one we had the last
time we...um...had sex?  The one right after the fight?"  Somehow I
nodded though every muscle in my body felt like jello.  "I told you
that I had finally trusted you and I needed you to watch over me.  You
remember your promise?"

Again, I nodded, my eyes downcast.  The tears were coming and I
couldn't even look at her.

"Then, afterwards...well, it was like you didn't want to be near me.  I
knew I had scared you and...I'm sorry.  I wish, now, that I hadn't said
anything about marriage or...or...." I looked up and was amazed to see
her crying.  Here she was breaking up with me and she was crying??
"Anyway, I know that you don't want anything to do with me any more.  I
just wanted you to know that I was sorry, okay??"

As she rose to leave the room, her words finally hit me.  "SAM!  Wait!"
I called her.  She hesitated on the threshold of the room for a second,
unsure whether to flee or stay.  Finally, she turned back and flopped
back down into the armchair.  The tears were falling heavily now, but
she wouldn't raise her eyes to my own.

"Sam...I'm not mad at you," I whispered.  I wanted so badly to take her
in my arms and make the pain go away...but I didn't know how.  "I've
been...out of sorts for the past couple of weeks because I thought I
was going to jail!  I didn't know how to handle that thought so I kind
of climbed into a hole and pulled it in after me.

"That was wrong and I know it.  Heck, I think I knew it then.  I was
feeling so guilty about what I did to Paul, though, that I think I
convinced myself that they were going to send me to jail.  So, I kind
of distanced myself from you, from Eve, my parents, her parents...heck,
I distanced myself from everyone because I figured it would be easier -
for all of us - if I started withdrawing early."

I walked over to her and knelt in front of her.  I took her hands in my
own and almost cried at the tremble in them.  "Sam...I love you.  I've
been dreading talking to you for the past day because I was afraid that
you wanted to break up with me!

"I won't lie to you...you did scare me a little with what you said that
day - but when I searched my heart, I realized that I didn't mind.  I
wouldn't mind being with you, having kids with you, growing old with
you.  It's a bit freaky because I'm nowhere near ready for that...but I
could see myself with you 50 years from now."

"I told you that you were wrong, didn't I?" another voice chimed in.

I turned and was a little surprised to see Eve standing in the doorway.
I had been so worried that Sam wanted to break up with me that I had
forgotten whose house we were in.  "He can sometimes be so stupid for a
smart guy that it's scary...but he is so in love with you that there
was no way you could have scared him off.  I'm sure once you train him
he'll even manage to be cute and cuddly!"  The last was said with the
barest hint of a smile though it seemed thin and oddly forlorn to me.

Sam giggled through her tears...but it was a little strained.  "I
thought you said you were going to let me do this alone?"

Eve just rolled her eyes at Sam.  "Well, I had to make sure that you
two were still alive down here.  Don't worry...I'm going..."

As Eve was leaving, Sam's eyes flashed.  "Wait...I have an idea..."

She pulled herself away from me and ran to Eve.  I could hear them
whispering but I couldn't quite catch what they were saying.  It looked
like Sam was trying to convince Eve of something and Eve wasn't buying
it.  Sam must have been very persuasive, though, because eventually Eve
caved in.

As Sam walked back to the armchair, she called over to Eve.  "It'll be
perfect, you'll see."

"I hope you're right, Sam..." Eve just walked away.

"Now," Sam said, her tears dried and her smile bright as she re-took
her seat in the armchair.  "Where were we?"  She grabbed my hands with
her own.

I wasn't going to let her off the hook that easily, though.  "What was
that all about?"

"Um..." she mumbled, suddenly casting her eyes to the ground.  I
noticed, worry creeping into me, that she was a little flushed.  With a
sigh she whispered to herself "now the hard part."

She looked at me, her eyes creased in worry.  Then she took a deep
breath and began.  "Remember our conversation? I told you that I was
worried about becoming...like my mom?  That I needed you to protect
me?"

I nodded wondering where this was leading.

"Well, you said you'd look out for me...and then...well...you kind of
disappeared and I...well, I...."

Worry set in again as what she was saying started to drift into my
head.  I knew suddenly why she was having trouble with this.  She had
cheated on me - although, with my absence from her life I don't think I
could fairly call it cheating.  I started going through all of the boys
I had seen her with in the past few weeks...but there had been precious
few.  Sean?  Tommy?  Somehow, I just couldn't see her with either of
them...but who then??

"You have to understand...I...um...tried to hold out.  I really think I
could have.  But I was over here and Eve and I were crying over you.
Well, I was crying and Eve was just kind of giving me a shoulder to cry
on...

"I'm not sure how it happened...but the next thing I knew, I was
kissing her.  For real.  And I liked it.  A lot.  So...well...one thing
kind of led to another...and Eve, well, I think I took advantage of her
because she was so vulnerable...I mean, the only guy she had been with
was that asshole, so..."

Oh my god.  I couldn't believe it.  Sam really was dumping me.
Somehow, that didn't seem to register in my brain at all.  Sam was
dumping me for a girl?!  In my infinite wisdom and tortured
self-loathing, I had not only managed to lose my girlfriend...but I had
driven her to lesbianism...with my best friend.

"I hope you two will be very happy together," I lied, tears streaming
down my face.

Through those tears I could see Sam's shocked expression.  She grabbed
my hand before I could get up.  "No, no, no!" she cried.  "Brian...I'm
handling this all wrong...

"Brian, I love you with every fiber of my being.  I just...needed
something...and Eve was there.  I won't lie...we both enjoyed it...and
it certainly wasn't the last time.  Not by a long shot.  But I prefer
men...I prefer you!  I'm pretty sure Eve does too...

"Damn...I'm not sure how I keep messing this up.  Brian...we both
prefer you - at least, I do and Eve thinks she's going to.  She tells
me that she's enjoyed being with me...but she thinks she'd rather be
with a guy.  Of course, she won't know for sure until she's been with
someone who isn't a complete ass...

"Which is where you come in.  Upstairs...in bed...naked...is Eve.  And
she's waiting for you."

"Excuse me?"  Words completely failed me.

"Brian, I love you.  I love Eve.  I trust you and I trust Eve.  It's
been clear to me from day one that we should be together...the three of
us.  I've known it...but I didn't know exactly how together we should
be.  I've thought you and I would be...well...you know...and Eve would
be our friend.  But...when Eve and I got together...well...it just
seems right that we should share you...

"Brian, I want you.  Now.  Upstairs.  Making mad, passionate love with
Eve and I.  Not just for tonight...but for the entire weekend...maybe
the rest of our lives, but we'll see how that goes.  Now, come on.
You've got two desperate girls in need of a good screwing..."

Sam grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet...which was a good thing
because I wasn't sure I had the energy for it myself.  I couldn't
believe what was happening here and my body was not really responding
all that well.  Well, most of my body was not responding well.  One
particular part was working quite well, thank you very much.


Eve was in bed, her face screwed up and a flash of fear coloring her
beautiful green eyes.  In modesty, she had the covers pulled up to her
chin and there was the faintest hint of blush to her cheeks like she
couldn't decide whether to be embarrassed or not.  Sam just walked
resolutely into the center of the room, dragging me behind her.

She began undressing me, Eve's eyes watching every button, snap and
zipper as they came undone.  Her eyes flicked up to my face every now
and again as the blush in her cheeks deepened and her breathing became
irregular.

I didn't help Sam with my clothing; I was too stunned.  My eyes though,
never left Eve's.  In those wonderful green orbs of hers I saw a
growing sense of happiness and wonder...as well as a sort of
expectation that I couldn't quite place.  As the last piece of my
clothing was finally removed, I barely even noted it.  Eve's eyes
traveling down made me aware, however.  I was especially gratified when
her eyes grew large as saucers.

"Good god!" she murmured in surprise.  "That thing's huge!  It's never
going to fit!"

"Not with you covered up like that it won't!" Sam said as she yanked
the covers off of Eve's body.  For the first time I saw my best friend
as God intended her.

Her breasts were perfect orbs, though I was a bit surprised to see that
her freckles extended down to their upper reaches.  Her nipples,
begging for my attention, were hard pebbles sitting on large
silver-dollar sized areolas.  Below her ample bosom, her stomach was
soft and smooth and I watched with a growing sense of wonder as it
trembled ever so slightly.  I wasn't able to discern the cause of that
barest of tremors, though I imagined it was from fear and I hoped it
was from excitement.

Her legs were beautiful - better looking, in fact, than Sam's though I
couldn't tell Sam that, of course. Between her legs was beautiful too.
She was shaved smooth there, her vaginal lips protruding and I could
just see a hint of her juices trembling out of her.  In a word, she was
amazing.

"What are you waiting for," Sam admonished, her voice husky and soft.
"Get over there and make love to her!"

I didn't need to be told twice.  I knelt at the head of the bed, my
eyes never leaving Eve's own.  I trembled with anticipation as I bent
down to her.

Our kiss took my breath away.  The taste of her lips, the scent of her
skin, the ragged gasps of her breathing only served to entrance me
further.  I slowly inserted my tongue into her mouth and felt a
peculiar jolt as her tongue touched my own.  The feeling of it
all...being here, with Eve...it seemed right on a very peculiar level.
I knew then that I loved her, that I had been hiding from that love for
a long time.

Eventually, though, I broke the kiss.  I needed something more.

As my lips traveled down her jaw line and then up to her ear lobe, the
soft sighs and gasps of her ragged breath was music to my ears.  As I
took her earlobe between my lips and nibbled on it, I slowly drew my
hand down her torso and cupped her magnificent breast lightly.  As I
flicked my tongue against the base of her lobe, I flicked my fingertips
across her nipple in a perfunctory harmony.  My efforts were rewarded
by the most stunning of accolades: a single moan escaped through her
parted lips.

Slowly, I moved my lips down, my hand never leaving her breast.  I took
my time as I traveled down her neck, trailing kisses across her sweet
skin, breathing in the wonderful scent of her fabulous red hair.  I
allowed my lips to part occasionally, my tongue darting out to sample
her skin directly.

As I reached the hollow of her neck, she trembled and another low moan
burst from her.  Pressing my advantage, I moved my hand to her other
breast, gently stroking against it and occasionally encountering the
hard nub of her excited flesh.

Slow as a glacier, I moved lower.  My lips trailed along the upper
expanse of her endowment, my hand increasing its pace on her other
breast slightly.  I teased her then, bringing my lips down the long
swell of her bust, targeting her nipple...and then pulling away at the
last minute.  Over and over I moved my lips closer, only to avoid her
waiting nipple at the last possible moment.  Finally she tired of my
teasing and with a groan from deep within her chest she grabbed my head
and sternly guided me on of the soft nubs standing erect upon her
peaks.

I reveled in the feel of her nipple against my tongue, trapped within
my lips.  As I sucked on it gently, I flicked the tip of my tongue
against it.  Eve's whole body trembled at the touch of my tongue...and
all the while, my hand was concentrating on flicking my fingertips
against her other nipple.

Slowly, I went lower pausing only to move my body between her wide
spread legs.  Eve's breath gasped out loudly as my torso made contact
with her legs.  I moved slowly, deliberately, careful that the rigid
bar of my lust did not touch her.  She groaned and squirmed, alive with
anticipation.

After all this time, all of my wondering, I would not be rushed.

Down her long, flat stomach my lips roamed.  The taste of her was
heaven, the soft feel of her skin like clouds.  I traced my way slowly,
eventually coming to the soft cavern of her navel.

I hesitated here, determined to leave no part of her untouched.  As I
looked up at her closed eyes, I slowly flicked my tongue at the rim of
that dainty cavern.  As I contacted her skin lightly, her eyes opened
involuntarily and a high wail flowed from her.  I lightly inserted my
tongue into her, pausing only to flick at the rim of her belly button.
My kisses here were a promise, a prelude to what I was going to do to
other parts of her body even further down.

Her scent was filling my lungs and I drank it in like an aphrodisiac.
The assault on my senses left my head spinning with lust and I could no
longer deny myself.  Still, I moved slowly lower, trailing my kisses,
my tongue on her skin.  I was deliberate, my eyes locked with her own
as I moved myself towards the goal of my lust.

Teasing, I kissed around her smooth pudendum, barely tracing the
outskirts of her nether lips.  Over and over I taunted her, moving
within centimeters of Eve's center but always breaking away at the last
moment.

Finally, overcome by lust, she grabbed my head and pulled me into her.
As I first made contact with her succulent flesh, she gave a little
scream and came, hard.

I worked my tongue against her as her hips bucked.  I flicked my tongue
against her clit, I fucked my tongue into her tight cavern, I licked my
tongue up and down her lower lips and all the while I drank her juice
as if it was nectar.  In truth, it was - she tasted so wonderful I
wondered how I'd ever gone this long without tasting her heavenly
juices.

Her river flowed into the waiting cavern of my mouth, my tongue
emerging every so often to ensure that no moisture escaped me.
However, this river had an end and eventually it came.  Slowly, her
body thrashed less and less and her breathing became more and more
regular.  I watched transfixed as her eyelids fluttered, my tongue
never wavering in its attention, but slowly stilling itself in time
with her breath.

With a groan, she grabbed my ears and pulled me up.  I reveled in the
feel of my hard member tracing its way up her bed clothes, slowly
zeroing in on its target.  The feel of the soft cotton on the head of
my cock was an agony but one that I was determined to bear.  I moved
ever closer and the sensation was driving me mad with lust.

I paused at the entrance, my hard member barely touching her.  I
watched her eyes, waiting for them to open fully.  As she made contact
with my eyes, as our eyes locked, I moved within her slowly, inch by
indescribable inch.  Slowly I entered her, groaning at the feel of her
tight pussy around my cock.  It was as if I could feel every ridge,
every valley of her wonderful slit.  She groaned as more and more of my
cock sliced through her and the added sensation was almost enough to
send me over the edge.

"God...that's amazing," I heard behind me and only my startled reaction
to that voice stopped me from spurting my seed within Eve.  I had
completely forgotten that Sam was in the room.  My hard rod buried to
the root within Eve, I slowly turned to Sam.

Sam's eyes were glazed with lust and her hands were working almost
desperately on her own pussy.  I watched as she plunged one and then
two fingers within her, moving them in and out.  Her other hand was
hard at work with her nipple, stroking and twisting.

I caught the rhythm of her fingers entering and exiting her moist
center and I began matching my own thrusts with hers.  Eve groaned
below me and I turned my eyes to her, but she too was watching Sam.  As
her tongue slowly licked over the parched flesh of her lips I couldn't
help but think it was the most erotic thing I had ever seen.  Little
did I know it was soon to be topped.

Sam pulled her fingers from within her and placed them to her mouth.  I
watched as she slowly sucked her own juices from them, her eyes
fluttering and a low moan escaping her lips.

"Good lord," she moaned as she pulled her fingers from her lips.  "I
need it...badly...please..."

She stood and crossed over to the bed.  With one hand she gently pulled
my head up from over Eve's own.  I wasn't quite sure what she wanted
but I obliged, using my arms to push my torso up.  My hearts
accelerated as I watched her pull herself up on the bed and straddle my
best friend's head.

She paused, her body immobile with her pussy inches from Eve's lips and
her glazed eyes focused briefly into my own.

"Please, Bri?  I need this...is it okay??" she murmured plaintively,
her voice both husky and yet pleading.

I didn't have time to answer.  Eve grabbed Sam's hips and lifted her
head up, covering Sam's dripping slit with her mouth.

Sam's eyes closed and her mouth opened.  I watched, fascinated, as her
head fell back and a keening wail escaped.  Her body was no longer
immobile either, slowly undulating her center into Eve's mouth.

Sam's hands found purchase on my shoulders as I began my thrusting
anew.  Her eyes sought out my own though I can't be sure she really
even saw them.  There was no focus to her eyes, just a hint of lust
shining within.

"Fuck," she murmured, her voice rising.  Her body's thrusts grew a
little faster and more desperate.  "That feels so fucking good.  Eat
me, Eve.  Show our boyfriend what we're going to do when he's too tired
to fuck us.  Eat my puss...OH MY GOD!  No...not...but that's....SHIT!"

I knew intuitively that her protests were not real, but I couldn't
figure out what was causing them.

"Yes, baby...do it...like that...oh god that feels so fucking good..."

"What's she doing?  Sam, what's going on?"  I whispered, my cock moving
in and out of Eve.  "Is everything okay?"

"Okay?" Sam whimpered, her breath tearing from her lips.  "It's
fucking...oh god...it's awesome...she's...she's....she's got her
tongue....it's in my butt.  She's fucking my butt with her....OH
GOD...her fucking tongue."

I was stunned and I looked down.  The angle though was wrong...I
couldn't see anything.

"You wanna...fuck, yea, eat it...you wanna see, Bri?  Huh?"  Sam
babbled.  "You wanna see your girlfriend eating your other girlfriend's
ass??  Huh??"

Sam leaned back until her back was pressed against the wall at the head
of Eve's bed.  "Look at it, Bri!  Look at her...OH FUCK...look at
her....TONGUE...pushing in and out of my butt..."

As I thrust within her, I moved my head lower trying to see Eve's
tongue.  I needed to see, needed to watch.  I moved myself as far as I
could, slowing my thrusts as I went.  At this angle, the leverage was
bad but finally I caught sight of Eve's tongue swiping at the soft
pucker of Sam's butt.  I watched, every nerve in my body on fire, as
Eve's tongue disappeared into Sam's cavern and pulled out.

The sight filled me with a towering lust and I thrust hard into Eve's
tight confines.  The lowering of my body, however, had another effect.
My face was mere inches from the pulsing wetness of Sam's pussy.

I had no will power left.  With a groan, I moved my face into Sam's
sweet center.  My tongue was a whirlwind trying desperately to suck
down every drop of her nectar.

"FUUUUUUUUUUCK!!" Sam screamed.  "EAT MY PUSSY!!!  EAT MY ASS!!!  OH
FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK...FUUUUUCK!!!"

As my tongue centered on her clit, she came.  Torrents poured from her
and I did my best to drain every drop.  I licked up her nether lips,
drinking in her tasty offering.  At each upward stroke I gently flicked
at Sam's erect clit, causing her to shudder on Eve's tongue.

Finally, Sam rolled to her side.  As her butt came free of Eve's face,
I looked down in wonder.

Eve's chin was coated with a thin sheen of Sam's juices and her tongue
was busy trying to lap up every drop.  I was fascinated with the
versatility of that tongue.  I thought I'd be a little turned off by
her tongue, because of where it had been.  Instead, I found myself
completely turned on.  With a groan, my lips found Eve's.

As our kiss ended and I continued to pound into her, Eve's eyes opened
and I saw the barest hint of fear within them.

"Brian?  Is it...is this...was that...okay?" she murmured, a tremor
touching every note of her words.

"I love you Eve," was all I could think to say...and it was enough.
With a happy little moan, Eve pressed her lips hard to my own and came
on my cock.  That was all it took to send me over the edge.


We lay there, the three of us, cuddling and murmuring endearments to
each other.  I admit I was satiated and hungry, peaceful and worried.
I looked from Eve on my left to Sam on my right and wondered what the
future had in store for us.  I worried about how this was going to
work...because I knew that I loved each of these young women and I
didn't know how I could possibly choose between them if I had to.

"How is...um...how is this going to work?" I wondered aloud,
hesitantly.

"Mmmm...wonderfully," was Sam's reply and I could hear the grin in her
voice.  Then she giggled.  "I looked it up...it's called a triad.  See?
We didn't just think this up on our own.

"We're partners, all three of us.  Think of it like you have two
girlfriends and Eve and I have a girlfriend and a boyfriend.  The best
of all worlds for us...and probably you as well."

"Sam's been kind of setting this up from the beginning, I think," Eve
whispered softly, the hint of a grin touching her words.  "She's very
caught up in her own cleverness sometimes."

"Hey, Ms. Glenn," Sam replied jauntily.  "It worked didn't it?  Are you
or are you not well-fucked?"

Eve turned to me with a grin.  "VERY well fucked, Ms. Kothari.  VERY
well-fucked."  Her giggle was infectious.

"Well, I'm not," Sam said in a mock-huff.  "Which reminds me..."  She
rose from the bed and picked up her purse from the floor next to the
chair she had been masturbating upon.  I could only gaze lustfully at
her perfect silhouette.

Her long, black hair hung in ringlets halfway down her back and that
soft expanse flowed gently to the soft orbs of her rear.  As I allowed
my eyes to travel further down, gently rejecting the call of her ass, I
watched as her legs tapered off and gently cascaded down to the floor.
I almost forgot to breathe as I drank in her undeniable beauty.

She turned back towards the bed, something held in her hand.  "We
started something a while ago," she murmured, her entire face breaking
into a soft grin.  "Something we didn't get to finish.

"You may have forgotten, but I didn't..."  She stopped at the side of
the bed, her hands covering the object in their grip.

"I'm extremely thirsty...so, I'm going to bury my face in your
red-haired girlfriend's pussy and try to get her to produce enough
juice to fill me.  While I'm eating her to an orgasm or three, I want
you to lube up that large monster between your legs with this..." she
tossed the item in her hands to me.  I wasn't too astonished to find
that it was a tube of KY jelly.  "And then, as my mouth is filled with
her, I want you to push that baseball bat of yours into your
black-haired girlfriend's tight ass.  You think you can handle that?"
I was sure that wouldn't be a problem.


--== FINI ==--

-- 
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reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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