Part 3 -- Kelly's Problem
Preamble:
This is a story based on real people in a situation which they were never in (Though I wish that they had ;)). The names have been changed to protect the innocent and not so innocent. This is purely a fantasy of the author and is not meant to be taken as fact.
The Story
From Part 2:
Here was a young, good-looking guy who was practically throwing himself at me. And I was questioning his motives? He had come to me with a problem, a problem he didn't know that I shared. He was willing to take me regardless of any physical limitations that I possessed. What had been, and in reality still was, his problem was also mine. We were two gay teenagers in a society that wasn't very tolerant of those like us. That we had found one another was somewhat remarkable when I thought about it.
Maybe it was fate. I grinned at the thought. Well, if I looked at it as fate, who was I to challenge it. Tomorrow, after practice, we'd talk some more. I think this time I should make the first move. Maybe a peck on the cheek. And afterwards, let nature take its course.
I glanced at the clock on my desk; 10 o'clock it said. Cheez, time flies! I took a quick look at my homework; it was done. It looks OK, but I'll check it before school tomorrow just to be sure. I yawned. I guess it's time for bed. I stripped down to my boxers and slipped under the covers. I was asleep before I knew it. I dreamed that night; dreams about Kelly.
Part 3
The morning came all too quickly. The alarm went off, and I crutched into the bathroom. I turned on the shower and hopped in. I took stock of what was on the agenda for the day. Let's see. A quiz in English Lit, a History test on the Civil War, homework due in Math and Chemistry. Maybe try and find Kelly at lunch. Study Hall after lunch; then German and Modified Gym to round out the school day. After Gym came practice.
Practice should be interesting tonight. It was the last practice before the game against Monroe, the unbeaten conference leader. The last practice before a game tended to be an intense one. Coach would make any adjustments he felt necessary based on scouting reports, the coaches' grapevine, etc. In the case of Monroe, this meant dealing with a front line of 6'5"-6'7"-6'7" and a quick little point guard who went 6'1. Our front line went 6'4"-6'4"-6'5"and our starting point guard was 5'11". Our only edge might be our guards coming off the bench. All this went through my mind in the couple of minutes it took to sit on the toilet, get in the shower and turn on the water. As I started to suds up, my thoughts returned to Kelly. Mistake!! The minute that happened, I started to get hard. If this was all it took, I was going to be in deep trouble just being around him during practice. With my luck, the other guys would notice and start asking questions I'd just assume not answer just yet. I tried to get it to go down by thinking of anything that would possibly do the job. Even picturing Nancy Reagan in the nude didn't work. Damn! Nothing to do but hope I could do a quick jack-off session. It certainly didn't take long. When I came, I almost lost my balance it was so strong. Sighing, I quickly rinsed off and stepped out of the shower.
Breakfast was the usual combination of Cheerios and milk. Out the door and onto the bus. The school day was fast and slow in turn. The English Lit was on the meaning of the Miller's Tale from The Canterbury Tales translated from Middle English. I think I did well on it. It's hard when you're trying to translate the text and your mind is taking a road trip of its own to other topics. The History test was easy enough. I mean, how could anybody not know who Robert E Lee was, or who gave the Gettysburg Address. Trig wasn't too bad. Chemistry was a surprise quiz. Apparently as a class, we had not done too well on the last exam.
Lunch was the usual school food; today's attempt at a hot meal was purportedly a casserole of some sort. It's amazing that when they don't want you to know what they're serving up as a meal, it's always a casserole of some sort. I think I identified peas, potato chunks and something that looked like chopped onions in a cream sauce all poured over pieces of chicken breast, or was it turkey? It was hard to tell. Tony and Jack were cracking jokes about the food, as well as trying to find out if Coach had told me how hard practice would be tonight.
" Listen, guys. How hard do you think practice will be tonight? This is Monroe we are playing tomorrow night. Besides being unbeaten in conference this year, they've kicked our butts the last seven times we've played them. Coach doesn't like to lose to anybody, especially Monroe. Add those things together and I think I can almost guarantee a hard practice tonight."
Do you think that Coach will make any changes in the lineup?" was Tony's next question.
"I'll probably find out at the same time you do. Why, do you know of any changes that he might make?"
"Well, ah, no. Not really. I just thought you might have heard something. You know, shake up the lineup a bit to try and get some added punch. Maybe start Kelly and Greg (one of our forwards) instead of me and Ken."
"Not that I've heard Tony." At that moment, I happened to catch sight of Kelly eating with a bunch of his former JV teammates. I must have looked in that direction a little too long. "Hey, John! What ya see? You seemed to zone out for a second." Jack said.
"Huh? Oh, uh, nothing. Just thought I saw one of the cheerleaders over there bending over. No such luck though. Why, did I miss something?"
"Tony and I wanted to know if you needed a ride to the party after the game tomorrow. It's at Ken's place. His folks are gone for the weekend. You didn't answer."
"We'll have to see what happens tomorrow night. I'm sure I'll need a ride one way or the other."
"All right, then. See ya later," Jack said. He and Tony got up and left the table. I waited for a few seconds, and got up on my crutches and walked towards the table where Kelly was seated.
"Hi, John. How's it going, bud?"
"Everything's fine, Kel. Just came over to visit for a second or two."
"Decided to come see how the other half lives, huh," quipped Ken, one of the players on the JV squad.
"No, not really, Ken. I already know how the other half lives. I just dropped by to say hi."
"Hey, John. Don't pay any attention to the little kid. He doesn't know any better. What he should know is that whatever Kelly and I tell you about him might make a difference next year if, and it's a big if, he makes varsity," quipped Tim, my counterpart on the JV.
"I could always use the help on the bench," I said with a grin.
"What do you mean?" Ken asked.
"Well if Tim doesn't want to do it next year, I'll need to train my successor for the varsity. It wouldn't hurt to have someone who might know something about the game." I winked at Tim. "But then again, I would want to take a player away from next year's JV squad, so lets just drop it."
Ken looked around for some assurance that we were just kidding. We all kept poker faces on. He muttered something about needing to go to the bathroom, got up, and left the table. By the time he left the cafeteria, Tim, Kelly and I just couldn't hold it in and started laughing.
Tim was the first of us to regain control. "That was good. The little runt needed to have his balloon burst. He was beginning to think he was God's gift to basketball."
"If that was the case, it would have been just as easy to let Kelly teach him a lesson on the court," I said.
"That's true. But why work up a sweat in the process. I'd rather concentrate on the games we got coming up. I saw you talking to Tony and Jack before. What's up?" Kelly asked.
"They just wanted to know if I knew what the Coach's plans were for practice and if there was anything I knew regarding tomorrow's game. I told them that I would probably find out at the same time they did."
"Oh, OK." Before Kelly could say anymore, the bell rang signally the end of lunch. "I'll see you at practice, then."
"See you later, Kelly." Tim and I said as we walked off in the opposite direction.
"Did you ever find out what was wrong with Kelly? I know that it was bothering you."
"Yes, I did. I'm helping him with it."
"Oh. He's told you that he thinks he may be gay then."
I stopped in my tracks, almost falling over. If it hadn't been for my crutches, I would have stumbled and fallen. I quickly leaned against the nearest wall and stared at my friend. Did Tim say what I think he said?? "Did you say what I think you said Tim?"
Tim's eyes looked worried. Maybe he had said more than he should have. "Ah, what do you think I said?"
"You said that Kelly thinks he may be gay."
"Shit! I wasn't supposed to say anything to anybody. Me and my big mouth! Please don't tell Kelly I said anything and forget I ever said anything to you about it." Tim looked like he was about to cry.
I looked around to see if anybody was looking and to try and find a place where Tim and I could have a brief chat. Fortunately all I had been doing was going to my locker to drop off my morning books and pick up my afternoon ones before heading to Study Hall. I had planned to go to the library, but with this coming up I couldn't just drag Tim there; he had a class to go to. Damn! Well, hopefully Tim didn't have anything important going on in his next class. "Tim, calm down guy. I tell you what, let's go to the library and find a corner that we can talk in."
We walked to the library. Fortunately, the librarian wasn't there guarding the sign in sheet. I signed my self in and told Tim to go to the far corner of the library and wait for me. I found him waiting for me. "Tim, we've got to talk for a second. First of all, yes Kelly did tell me that he's gay." Tim's eyes got that worried look again. "Don't worry. I'm not about to say anything to anybody about it. I don't dare." I looked down at my feet. This was not easy.
"Why don't you dare? Is there something that you don't want known?" I looked Tim in the eye. It was funny to watch, but a light bulb seemed to go off in Tim's head. Don't get me wrong, Tim's actually quite intelligent. (But then again, aren't all student managers?) "Are you gay, John?"
"Just don't tell anybody, Tim. OK?" I answered cryptically.
"OK, John. I won't say anything. But I have got a question. Are you and Kelly, you know?"
"That's Kelly's call, not mine. Besides, both of us are new at this. I think that I like him very much. Beyond that, I'm confused."
"Tell you what, if you or Kelly need somebody to talk to, come to me." I must have had a questioning look on my face. "Think about it, John. Who among your friends knows about you and Kelly? I know about both of you; and I like to think I know both of you well enough to offer advice on what each of you might be thinking in any situation."
I thought about it for a second. "OK. Just make sure you don't say anything to anybody."
"I promise, John."
After that, we sat back and talked about everything and anything but Kelly and I. Who was seeing who. About mutual friends. Which teachers know their jobs and which teachers stunk, in one case literally. By the end of the period, I think that Tim had moved from just being someone I worked with and knew as a friend to being a close and trusted friend.
The rest of the day went smoothly enough. Some homework from each class, but not so much as to be difficult. I should be able to finish it without too many problems after I got home.
Practice was another thing completely. Coach stirred up the team when he announced that he was changing the starting lineup for the game against Monroe. Kelly would start in place of Tony. Tony looked at me as if I should have known. I shook my head to try and indicate that I hadn't known. Although it would explain why Kelly had been talking to Coach the other night. Coach added a few changes to some of our basic plays; had the team run them a lot so that they would know them in the game and then sent the team to the showers.
That's where it got interesting. Tony immediately came looking for me. He was certainly upset. I didn't realize that it had meant that much to him to start.
"John, why the hell didn't you tell me about this??" He screamed.
"Tony, I didn't know. Until Coach mentioned it at practice, I had no idea that he was going to make he change."
"God damn it! How could you not have known? Surely Kelly must have known, with the time you've been spending with him, and he must have told you."
At that moment, Kelly walked into the locker room. He went to his locker, took off his practice uniform and headed towards the showers. Tony was waiting for him there. "Well, what have you to say about this? When did you find out about this switch?"
Kelly looked Tony in the eye and said, "Tony, I didn't find out for sure until just before practice. He told me a couple of days ago that he was thinking about it, but he asked me not to say anything until he told the rest of the team. I'm sorry if it's upset you, Tony, but there isn't much that I can do about it."
Tony stood there for a second with a look of disbelief on his face. Then he turned on his heel, went to his locker and got dressed. He left without saying a word to anybody else. That was a problem that I was going to have to deal with. Hopefully I would be able to get to him before the game tomorrow night and calm him down.
Kelly, after Tony left, went into the shower and washed up. With the other players still in the locker room, I could do little more than watch him out of the corner of my eye. Even that was enough to send the hormones to the jump circle. Fortunately, by the time he got out of the shower, everybody else was gone. I handed him a fresh towel and followed him back to his locker.
"Well, Kel, how does it feel to be the starter?"
"It feels great. I just wish that Tony would have taken it better though."
"He'll come around. I'll talk to him and see if I can get him to calm down a bit.
"Hey, Kelly, there's a party at Ken's tomorrow night. Do you want to go?"
He smiled, leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. "Of course, if you're going to go, I'll go. You need a ride?"
"Tony offered a ride yesterday. I think I'd better take him up on it, at least to the party. After that, I'm all yours," I chuckled.
"All mine, heh? If you don't let me get dressed, I'll be unable to resist the opportunity to be all yours right now." He kissed me again, this time right on the lips. My lips parted to allow his tongue complete access to my mouth. At the same time, my tongue returned the favor. After what seemed like an eternity, he broke our lip lock. "God, that's incredible. John, please go and wait for me by the laundry room," he whispered in a husky voice.
"I'd better, or I'm going to have to find out just what is causing that tent in your towel." And what a tent! He was lucky that when he had wrapped the towel around himself that the overlap was around his hip, otherwise I would have seen parts of his anatomy up close and personal that I hadn't yet seen that close. Not that my condition was any better. I swear that if I had been wearing just a towel around the waist, it would have been a mirror image of Kelly's.
I kissed Kelly lightly on the cheek, and went to start loading the laundry in the washer. About ten minutes later, Kelly stuck his head in the doorway and asked whether I was ready to go.
"I've been ready for a couple of minutes. What took you so long?"
Kelly blushed, which was all the answer I needed. He looked so good when he blushed, I was almost tempted to pick up where we had left off in the locker room. Fortunately, I was able to resist the temptation.
"Let's go. My folks are bound to wonder where I am," Kelly said. "Besides which, I have some homework to do if I'm going to go to the party tomorrow night."
We got to the car and drove home. For most of the drive, neither of us said much of anything. It wasn't until Kelly was about to turn into the drive of my house that I spoke up. "Kelly, do you think that you could stay at my place tomorrow night? I don't think that my folks would mind."
"I'd have to find out if my parents will let me first. If they give the OK, I'd love to."
"Call me tonight to let me know if you can. To tell the truth, I'd be disappointed if you couldn't. Well, here we are. Don't forget, call me tonight." I kissed him good night on the cheek, gather up my backpack and crutches, and walked into the house.
My parents were waiting for me in the front room, which was somewhat unusual, since supper was usually waiting to be had when I walked in the door. "John, could we talk to you for a minute?" Dad asked.
"Sure, Dad. What's up?"
"John, something's come up at work. They've asked if I could go to corporate headquarters in Chicago for a couple of days. I agreed to go; your mother will be going with me. Do you think you can handle everything for a few days on your own? We would be back on Tuesday at the latest."
"Yeh, Dad, I think so."
"Good. We'll be leaving your mother's car at home in case you need it. There's enough food in the house to last until next week. We'll be leaving in the morning. Just one rule: no parties. We're trusting you not to make too much of a mess while we're gone."
"No problem, Dad. You can count on me."
"I thought we could, John. Now let's go eat."
We had chili for supper that night, but I couldn't tell you if it was hot, mild or otherwise. I was too keyed up waiting for a certain phone call. I didn't have long to wait. As I was cleaning up the dishes, the phone rang. Mom answered it. "John! Phone!"
"All right, Mom. I'm coming." I don't think I ever moved faster than I did to get to the extension in the kitchen. "Hello??"
"Hey, John. It's Kelly."
"Hi. What's up? Did you talk to your parents yet?"
"Yeh, I talked to them. There's no problem with my staying over. Is it OK from your end?"
"No problem from here. Although, you should know that my Dad got called out of town on company business tomorrow and Mom's going with him. They won't be back until after the weekend. That doesn't make a difference to you, does it?"
"No, I'm cool with it if you are."
"Good, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"See you tomorrow, John. Bye."
"Bye, Kelly."
That was that. I stood in the kitchen for a moment to gather myself. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl who had just agreed to her first date. Come to think of it, it was my first date. Calm down, John! If you don't, your parents will wonder what's up. And you don't want to have to tell them. They know who called and would want to know why you are acting the way you are.
The rest of the evening was an exercise in extreme self-control on my part. When I finally headed up to bed around ten o'clock, I let go a sigh of relief. I had made it through the night. As I lay in bed, my last thoughts were of Kelly and what we might do tomorrow night.
Well that's it for Part 3. Sorry it took so long to get it out. I'm hoping that Part 4 won't take so long. As always, any comments are appreciated. Email me at tjw6195@aol.com. Flames will be ignored.