Chapter 13: In the Limelight

By the time the doctor cleared me to play again, I had a new gray T-shirt to wear under my jersey and pads. I took a little ribbing from my teammates until I came in with a box of handmade T-Shirts and handed them out before a game. By halftime, they were all believers in my new base layer. I steadily refused to call it Under Armor, even though that is how I found myself thinking of it.

By the time homecoming rolled around, players were asking for a second shirt, some with longer sleeves to protect their arms. Running backs were wondering about something similar for their legs. If my teammates were any indication, there would be a strong demand for these shirts.

Our Tuesday night study group grew a little with the addition of Kay from Standard. Jeryl invited her after okaying it with me. Everyone seemed cool with it, and it gave Jeryl a way to bring Kay into my circle of friends. Heather and Kay seemed to hit it off particularly well and seemed to pair up frequently to work together. Janet was impressed by the results of our studying together and actually encouraged a couple of other students at Standard to join us. Ray Fillmore was the only one who did. He was a lanky kid, not a jock, but funny with a very dry sense of humor. Most nights, he would have us in stitches at least once. After several sessions, I saw Heather keeping a closer eye on him. That made me happy.

Jim and Candace were hoping to get new ventures for sports clothing going while trying to finish deals with the European automakers for my other inventions. Mom was a little disappointed that Jim went to Germany without her to finish our deal with Mercedes and BMW, but decided it was probably for the best once she saw his itinerary. Five cities in four days did not look like a fun trip. Instead, she stayed home with me and made cookies when my classmates and I got together to build our float. She got a good laugh seeing some of her students reacting to Jeryl showing up with her to bring the treats.

“Sweetie,” Jeryl said with a grin as she jumped and wrapped her legs around my waist.

I gave her a big kiss and resisted the urge to laugh as half a dozen girls from my class looked on. Jeryl was dressed impeccably in stylish jeans and a loose blouse. She had a glow to her from the cool air and her own natural beauty. I knew the guys that were helping were jealous of me, just as the girls were jealous of her.

She gave me another kiss, and then stood on her own feet again. “Your Mom and I thought you guys might enjoy a little break.” It was the Thursday before homecoming and we were in the bus garage at the school finishing our class float.

It was nothing special, much to the disappointment of several girls who thought I should fund the equivalent to a Rose Bowl Parade float. Instead, we stuck within our class budget and built a good float on a donated hayrack. The big “Roll over Roanoke” sign at the back was my personal contribution. I had outlined the letters with small white Christmas lights drilled through the backing plywood and wired them to flash in sequence. It looked pretty impressive compared to the other floats that just used paint.

I introduced Jeryl to my classmates as she handed out cookies and Mom poured hot chocolate. Jeryl was incredibly charming and gracious to everyone she met, and I thought I could not love her any more than I already did.

By the time they left, I could hear several of the girls who had been casually throwing themselves at me saying how lucky I was. Even Candice came up to me at the end of the night and commented on how nice Jeryl was and what a cute couple we made. I hoped this was the beginning of the end for some of the drama that had been playing out for the past three weeks.

The next night we did roll over Roanoke with a seventeen to three victory. I had three sacks and one blocked kick and could not feel better about my playing. There was no lack of intensity this year. Jeryl congratulated me enthusiastically at the end of the game. She did an even better job a while later on the drive home.

We parked at the pond near her house and easily shifted into the back seat. We had been fortunate to have enough alone time to at least park once a week and taken great advantage of it, becoming even more familiar with one another’s bodies and erogenous zones.

I took advantage of my knowledge to lightly lick her breasts and nipples and then gently blow across her now moist skin. She moaned and shivered and reached for my cock. “No gentle foreplay tonight, lover. I want you to fuck me hard. I got so excited watching you out on the field tonight.”

I kissed her and slid around and into her with ease. She gasped and then grabbed my ass and pulled me to her. “That’s it. Fuck me good, Paul.” I thrust into her and felt her spasm around my cock. She had not been kidding about being turned on. “Oh, shit, I’m coming already.” I continued to thrust, knowing she did not want me to stop. She rose up to meet me and grabbed my shoulders to lift herself off the seat and hold herself against me as I continued to pound into her. Soon, a second, much bigger orgasm ripped through her. As her pussy clenched me tightly, I felt my own release boil up from my balls.

Jeryl sensed my orgasm and moved faster than I could imagine, dropping off me and sliding down just as I started to come. She moaned beneath me as my hot sperm splashed against her naked chest and chin. “Oh baby, I feel your love all over me.” Another pulse flashed through me as her hand reached down to milk me dry.

She licked her fingers and smiled at me wickedly. “I may be a slut, but I love the feel of you shooting on me.”

“At your service, ma’am,” was all I could manage to say.

She laughed and gave me a quick kiss.

A flash of light lit the trees and she sat up quickly. “Shit, it’s another car.” She scrambled for the towel under the seat as she tried to see who it was. I felt her relax against me as I pulled my own boxers back on. “I think it’s Jyl and her date,” she said softly.

I looked out the window, not recognizing the car. I was happy it was not the cops, or her parents. “Who’s she dating?”

“Scott something. He’s from Tonica.”

Just then, the passenger door opened and Jyl hopped out of the other car and came traipsing over to mine. Jeryl slipped her panties back on before her sister opened my door and grinned at us in the back.

“Glad to see you two still have some clothes on.”

“Eat me,” Jeryl said with a little laugh.

“You wish, sis.” Jyl teased back. “I just wanted to let you know it was us. I won’t say anything as long as you don’t.”

“Like I would.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure you knew Scott’s car. I didn’t want you freaking out.”

“I didn’t know you were dating someone, let alone his car,” I said.

“Well, it’s only our second date. He was a gentleman so he’ll get a little reward, and I might get a little something-something too.”

Jeryl and I both laughed as she closed the door and headed back to her date. We watched her for a second and then slid back down in the back seat.

“That was close,” I said.

“No kidding. She would have freaked if she caught us actually fucking.”

“Really? I figured you had told her.”

“Not a chance. She would make some smart-assed comment when Mom was around, for sure. I haven’t told anyone, except Kelly. You haven’t been bragging, have you?”

“Not a chance, kitten. What we do with each other is private between the two of us. I love you too much to hurt you like that.”

“I love you too. Now why don’t you take those boxers off and show me how much you really love me.”

“With your sister parked ten yards away?”

Jeryl rolled over, pushed her panties down her legs, and wiggled her ass at me. “Why don’t we make the car shake enough that they really know what we’re doing,” she said with a grin. “After all, it’s been a while since you’ve had my ass. I’m sure you can rock the car taking me there.”

It was my pleasure to make her pleasure. If the rocking car did not get their attention, I’m sure Jeryl’s exaggerated yells of pleasure did.

One nice change in the PE lineup this year was the pool I had funded. Since it was indoors for year-round use, swimming was added to the PE rotation. It was nice to swim laps to supplement running and lifting and some of the team sports we typically played. I could have gotten out of the PE requirement pretty easily based on my participation in football and track, but I liked the idea of having a swim right before lunch which is where the junior PE class landed.

I was a decent swimmer. If I had to race, I’d rather run than swim, but it did not hurt to hang out in the pool with some of my classmates. We learned all the basic swimming strokes as well as a little diving. Toward the middle of the semester, we added water polo to the mix on Fridays. Aside from nearly drowning when two girls in the class thought they should dunk me, it was fun.

I was swimming laps the week after homecoming, letting my mind drift as I focused on breathing and keeping an even stroke, when the coach’s whistle blew shrilly. I cut under the lane marker and headed to the side as the coaches counted heads. We did not have a buddy like the scouting swimming system, but all of our names were on the board by the pool entrance.

“Taylor!”

“Here coach,” I said as I levered myself out of the pool. I grabbed my towel and headed to him by the entrance.

“They want you in the office. Hustle up and change.”

“Yes coach.” I headed into the locker room and was soon on my way to the office with a wet head and smelling of chlorine.

The office secretary, Mrs. Tanner waved me in and toward Mrs. Spitzer’s office. She was the guidance counselor. I knocked on the closed door and heard her answer to come in. Mrs. Spitzer looked and acted like everyone’s grandmother. She was a very kind lady who always had time for the students. A strange man was in her office. He stood and introduced himself.

“Hello, I’m Russell Cambridge from Stanford.” He was a jovial red headed man with a military build and dressed in a gray suit.

I shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. What can I do for you?”

“I understand from Mrs. Spitzer that you are interested in attending Stanford.”

“Yes, sir. It’s at the top of my list right now.”

He smiled and nodded. “Well, I’d like to tell you that you are on our list as well. We got your application for early acceptance. A couple of members on our review committee wanted me to come out and verify a few things.”

I had never heard of an admissions committee meeting in person with a student to verify information on the application. It intrigued me. “Verify what, specifically?”

He motioned me to the chair on the opposite side of Mrs. Spitzer’s table and pulled out a folder. “They wanted to have me follow up on your essay.”

I laughed and sat down. Mrs. Spitzer gave me her patented “what have you done now?” look, so I decided to explain. I had not asked her advice on the application and only told her I had applied.

“The application requested a one-page essay on why I thought I would be a good addition to the Stanford academic community. You can’t put many facts into a one page, double spaced essay. Instead I listed my patent numbers and titles.”

“These are real?” Mr. Cambridge asked as he held up the essay in question.

“All of them. There are six more now, but they would push me over the one page limit.”

“So what would I find out if I pulled a copy of ‘Methods for electro-hydraulic control of a vehicle via embedded microprocessors’ from the patent office?”

“Almost a hundred pages of schematics and descriptions of how to make a drive-by-wire system for a car that can almost parallel park itself.”

“Really?”

It was Mrs. Spitzer’s turn to laugh. “I’m sure Paul would love to take you for a drive in his car and show you. He’s justifiably proud of that car.”

He looked at both of us. “How so?”

Mrs. Spitzer looked at me. I stayed quiet since I suspected he would take the news better from an adult. She arched and eyebrow at me. I nodded slightly.

“My understanding is that having that car to demonstrate his patents pushed several auto makers into licensing his portfolio. He used some of his windfall to put the new pool in here at the school as well as some improvements around town.”

Cambridge sat back with a stunned look on his face. It looked like he was trying to find a way to convince himself that we were pulling his leg, so I jumped in. “I received a little over fifteen million dollars last year for these inventions and will probably increase that by a factor of four to six this year. All the major U.S. manufacturers have licenses and my lawyer is just finishing up discussions with several European firms. If you bought a Cadillac in the past year and a half, about half of that list was used in them.” I paused. “I’d appreciate you not spreading those numbers around. I don’t want to make a big deal out of my money.” He nodded and I was happy to see Mrs. Spitzer nod as well.

“So what made you list these for your essay? Bragging?”

“Hardly. If I wanted to brag, I would have put my company’s P&L in there. Stanford’s motto is ‘the wind of freedom blows’ and is supposed to be a call to research and discovery. I think these inventions demonstrate that I am an embodiment of that motto. How better to show what I can add to the university and its pursuit of academic and research excellence than demonstrating I am living the principles of the institution?”

He seemed to be impressed with my answer. I noticed him writing furiously in the margin of the letter. “That is an impressive answer, Paul. I’m glad I made the effort to meet with you.”

“What if you hadn’t? You said some member of the review committee had questions...” I let my voice trail off.

“Well, two professors in the School of Engineering felt that you could not have been the original author of the patents in question.”

I thought about it for a few minutes. “Was one of them Professor Pellerman?”

Cambridge seemed surprised that I knew the name. “It was. Why do you say that? Do you know him?”

I smiled and shook my head. “I’ve used some of my money to fund research in a few areas. He had a proposal submitted, but it was to develop control systems that were less advanced than what I had already built and sold. My attorney might have referenced one of these patents in her response declining his research request.”

“And you suspect this because?”

“I approve all of the research proposals. I remember his submission.”

“If that’s true, he should have recused himself from any discussion of your application.”

I shrugged.

“Okay. I can see that this is all legitimate, but Mrs. Spitzer indicates you were not planning on graduating early. Why did you apply this year instead of next year?”

“I’ll have all of the Illinois state requirements for graduation complete at the end of my junior year. I wanted to make sure I had options. I applied to my top three schools after I realized that all of them state that if you are admitted, you are guaranteed attendance, despite need or timing. I know that all three have history of deferring a student’s start date for extenuating circumstances. I doubted that a semester or two deferment would be difficult to arrange.”

“That’s not our policy, but there have been exceptions in the past,” he admitted. “If you don’t mind my asking, what are the other two schools?”

“MIT and Georgia Tech.”

He nodded again. “Both excellent schools, but I think Stanford would be a much better spot for you. Can I interest you in coming out for a visit?”

“I’d like that very much, but I don’t think I’ll be able to until this spring or over the summer. Things are pretty busy right now.”

“Oh?”

I smiled. “Football, school, and six new patents that we’re looking for partners to exploit.”

He smiled back at me. “Any chance you’d like to expand on that?”

I reached into my backpack and pulled out one of our latest demonstration models. “This is a new kind of protective sportswear that my girlfriend and I developed using some of my new materials patents. We’re looking for a production and distribution partner. Have some of your athletic department check it out. If you let me know your interest, I’ll ship a variety of sizes out to you.”

He fingered the material. “What makes it special?”

“It wicks moisture away from an athlete, to increase their comfort. It also provides about a 10 times reduction in impact injuries. That version has had the formula tweaked to make it a better insulator for use in cold weather.”

“And you think this is going to be desirable by football players?”

“Anyone in a contact sport, for sure.”

He put the shirt in his leather briefcase and stood to shake my hand. “Paul, it’s been a pleasure meeting you, and I hope I’ll see you out on campus soon. I’ll let the committee know that this is a factual essay and relay my own positive endorsement. Thank you very much for your time.”

I stood and shook his hand before thanking Mrs. Spitzer and taking my leave. It looked like I had my first choice of schools tied up.

“It’s no worse than the costume Jordan wore two years ago,” Jeryl said as her mother scowled at her. “It’s not like I’m naked under it or anything. I’ve got on as much as I do cheering.”

But no cheerleader ever looked as provocatively hot as she did in her naughty-witch outfit. Naturally, it was all black with a big pointy hat, but I could see why her mother would object. The black satiny bodice was tight and pushed her cleavage up for display in the v-cut neckline. The skirt flowed to below her knees, but had daring slits that added movement even when she stood still and gave tantalizing glimpses of her black seamed stocking. Black heels and a flowing three-quarter cape finished the outfit.

Her Mom looked from Jeryl to me and then shook her head. “I’m worried about whom besides Paul you’ll cast a spell over.”

Jeryl looked at me and I blushed. I knew my jaw was hanging open and I closed my mouth. “I have to agree with your Mom,” I admitted.

Jeryl’s face fell as her mother smiled.

“I guess we’ll just have to stay here, because I don’t want you to change, but you will definitely cast a spell on every red-blooded man who sees you.”

Jeryl’s frown transformed into a brilliant smile and she started for me before remembering her mother.

Janet laughed and shook her head again. “I guess it will be alright as long as Frankenstein is nearby to keep an eye on you.”

Obviously, I was dressed as the monster including greenish-grey face paint and bolts sticking out of my head.

Jeryl gave a little shriek and then grabbed me for a chaste, but tender kiss on the lips. “Don’t get any of your makeup on me,” she warned as I gave her a hug.

Janet laughed at us and then made us pose for a few pictures before letting us head out to our Halloween party. She, Lisa, Jim and I had spent most of our free time over the past week moving things in my shop to make room for a party. Mom and Jim had agreed to let us have thirty or so friends over with a promise of no alcohol. They even agreed to stay in the house rather than in the office, but would be checking up on us through the evening.

Jeryl was bouncing in the seat as we pulled out and headed over to my place. We had about an hour to finish getting set up. Jim and Lisa were already there. “I’m so glad your Mom and Jim agreed to let us throw this party. I love Halloween.”

“I know you do.” Personally, I could take it or leave it, but her enthusiasm was catching. I grinned and stroked her stocking clad thigh. “I love your costume, by the way.”

“Just wait until it’s closer to the witching hour, Frank. I’m planning on seeing how much of a man you are and if you can resist my spell.”

I laughed and we pulled into my yard. I parked behind the shop on the grass and we headed inside to finish setting up.

“Where are the apples?” Jim yelled as soon as he saw me. He had finished filling a large washtub with water and wanted the apples for bobbing.

“In my office. Do you really think people will want to bob for apples?”

Lisa laughed and held up a sign. It said:

Party Rules

1. No alcohol.

2. No drugs.

3. No costume, no entry.

4. The Barn and house are off limits.

5. Doors are locked for a reason; respect that.

Prizes

• Bob for an apple, dance with partner of your choice (can’t be your date).

• Winning team of Mummy Race gets $10

• Winner of pumpkin carving contest gets $20

• Winning female costume: $25

• Winning male costume: $25

• Candy crawl - keep all you find

“I know a bunch of girls will be bobbing for an apple so they can dance with you, Paul. Especially once they hear you and Jim are judging the female costumes.”

I groaned and Jeryl laughed. “As long as they know Lisa and I get to judge the boy’s costumes,” she said.

Jim came out with the apples and put a dozen in the tub. “We’ll put the dry ice in a bit later,” he said. I had rigged a weighted container to keep the ice safely at the bottom of the barrel where no one would be able to get it instead of an apple.

“Have you checked out the lights yet?”

“Not since last night. They should be fine, especially once we have the fake fog going.” I had rigged up a fog machines with some PVC piping packed with dry ice and warm water tubing. I had tested the fog machines, but not enough to see how the lights we rigged looked. “We told people to show up around seven, so we’ve got twenty minutes or so before we need to start making fog.”

“All the food and soda is in the break room. Do we want it in there on the counter or out here? If we put it out here, we need to get some more tables for it.”

“Let’s keep it on the counters. I figure some people will want to take a break from dancing and the games out here.”

“In that case, I think we’re ready.”

“Cool. Should we start some music?”

I went over to the stereo we had set up and put on Styx’s latest album, Paradise Theater. I put the volume at a quarter of what we had planned for the party. Jim brought me a can of coke and smiled at the music selection.

Jim was dressed as Dracula. Lisa had opted for being a very pretty Little Red Riding Hood. I joked with him about watching out for the big bad wolf and he laughed. By the time our first guest arrived, we had a decent layer of fog in the shop and moody red and orange lights glowing through it from along one wall.

Jeryl grabbed my hand about an hour after the party started and insisted we take a good look at every costume to judge it. Lisa and Jim did the same. I was disappointed that I couldn’t give Jeryl the prize, because I did like her costume the best. She hugged me and told me to look a little closer at a few of the others. Jyl was dressed as a very provocative Cleopatra, but Kay’s interpretation of the pirate wench probably beat her out for sexy looks. Holly had on some sort of short green elven outfit with pointed ears. She looked incredibly cute. Three other girls had dressed as the three little kittens that lost their mittens. They were cute a well. I finally jotted down my top three, just as Jim was supposed to do so we could compare notes.

Lisa and Jeryl ran the mummy race where each couple was given rolls of toilet paper. One of them had to wrap the other with as much as possible in two minutes. The crowd picked the best looking mummy by applause. Candice O’Sullivan actually won and gave me a kiss when I handed her the crisp new ten-dollar bill as her prize. Jeryl laughed at my look.

Mom and Jim picked out the winning pumpkin carver. We had dozens of pumpkins along with tables covered with paper and plenty of sharp objects for people to carve with. Dee Dee Collins, who was Bill Tanner’s date won with an incredible pair of carved pumpkins. One was scowling with teeth and the other, smaller pumpkin was frowning with big eyes. She set them side to side so it looked like they were reacting to each other. Everyone that saw them smiled, so Mom and Jim’s decision was easy.

Not many people were bobbing for apples before we announced the costume winners. Holly ended up being Jim and my choice to win for the ladies. Lisa and Jeryl chose Ray Martin, from Standard for his wolf man costume. The ladies made the winners dance together and then had to join them as several guys decided it was time to bob for apples. I was surprised when Kay came up to me with a wet head and an apple in her hand.

“Time for you to dance with me, stud,” she said with smile. I laughed and took her onto the fog filled dance floor as Journey’s “Who’s Crying Now” started up. She stayed close to me and wrapped her hands over my shoulders. “Thanks for letting me join the study group this fall. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know some of the kids from your school.”

“No problem. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you a bit better too.”

We danced for a few moments in silence. “You know, Jeryl is my best friend, right?” I nodded. “You know she is totally in love with you, right?” I nodded again. “If you hurt her, I will hunt you down and I don’t care how much money you have, Paul.”

I laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m with her as long as she’ll have me.”

As the song wound down, Kay stood on the tips of her toes and kissed me. “Be good to her, always.” Then she was heading off to find her date. Before I could think of leaving the dance floor, Candice O’Sullivan’s hands grabbed me for the next dance.

By the time the party wrapped up, I was worn out. Thankfully several couples stayed behind to help clean up. Jim and Lisa and Jeryl and I thanked them profusely and had the shop mostly back to normal by midnight. Jeryl and I waved goodbye to everyone as they headed out and carried the last dishes now empty of snacks back into the house. Mom told us to just stack them in the sink and that she and Jim were heading to bed. I cleaned off my makeup before heading back outside.

Jeryl gave me a little smile as we headed toward my car so I could take her home. She grabbed my hand and reminded me that it was the witching hour.

“Well, you’ve already bewitched me,” I said as I pulled her in for a hug.

“That’s only the first part of my spell.” We rounded the corner of the shop to where my car was parked and Jeryl stopped me. She gave me a kiss and then slipped her hands up and under her skirt to pull off her panties. “I want you so, bad, honey. I want you to have me right out here.” She grabbed my hand and rubbed it over her moist pussy.

I kissed her and pushed her back against the wall of the machine shed. She lifted a leg to hook around my thighs and pull me into her. Our kiss deepened and she moaned into my mouth. I stoked her slowly and moved to kiss along her neck. My fingers dipped lower and I was surprised to find a flat soft plastic flange where I expected her smooth ass.

“What’s this?” I asked as I pulled on the lightly.

Jeryl moaned again. “It’s the butt plug I’ve been wearing all night that has been giving me such naughty, witchy feelings.”

I started to pull on it, but she stopped me. “It’s staying right there while you fuck me, Paul. I want you in my pussy, and soon.” She undid my belt as she spoke. I tried to help as I kissed her again. Soon my cock was free and she was grabbing my shoulders and wrapping her legs around me. I bumped against her twice, and the found the right position and alignment and slid into her soaking snatch. She moaned as I slid home.

“Oh God, you feel good,” I said.

“You too. Now, shut up and fuck me.”

I did. The corrugated metal of the shed echoed as we banged against it until I shifted a few feet over to push against a section backed by the frame. Jeryl flexed her legs to pull herself against me and we continued furiously fucking until she came. She thrashed against me for a few minutes and then resumed her thrusting as my own orgasm approached. She came a second time, just as I let lose in her. Her hands grabbed my head and she kissed me hard as pulses shot from my dick into her clasping pussy.

“I love you so much,” she finally managed to say as we finished and let our bodies relax.

“I love you too, kitten.”

She slipped off me and stood on her own feet unsteadily. “You make me feel so wicked,” she said with another kiss. She remained unsteady but pulled me toward the car. “I need to get home, but I’ll enjoy feeling you leak out of me as I get ready for bed, lover.”

“Well, it looks like we’ll have plenty to be thankful for this year,” Jim said as he came into the office a few days later.

“What do you mean,” I ask as I looked up from my notebook.

“DuPont has agreed.”

Jeryl perked up from her own work at that news. She was working on typing something on the Apple II computer in the office. “What terms?” she asked as she pulled a floppy disk out of the cabinet and launched VisiCalc. I knew she had a spreadsheet already built for the deal so we could evaluate offers.

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