Chapter 2

The first day of school my sophomore year was to be a truly unusual one. I was picked up at home by my cousin Bridgette who was also driving Marsha and Adrienne. Marsha was in the front passenger seat leaving me to slide into the back seat with Adrienne who immediately pulled me in close to her. Today would be the moment of truth, I was going to school with my mom/girlfriend. How would she fit in with the rest of the young kids? How would she deal with being an underclassman and the crap that the upperclassmen put us through? I was never really close enough to any of my school friends to have them over to the house or be introduced to my parents so those recognizing Mom shouldn't be an issue. But my teachers had. How would they react to seeing her in their class?

I didn't have any classes with Adrienne or Marsha until after lunch. But lunch would prove interesting. As I got my school lunch and sat down, I was soon joined by Marsha, Adrienne, Allison Gonzales and Tabitha Johnson another of Marsha's good friends. Adrienne of course sat as close to me as possible.

"Hi, Frank," Allison and Tabitha greeted in unison as they sat down.

"Hello ladies," I replied.

"Not wasting any time getting a girlfriend this year I see," Tabitha teased.

"Nope," I said smiling as I put my arm around Adrienne.

"So how did you two meet?" Allison asked.

"We met through Marsha at her grandparents' house."

"Don't you mean your..." she was cut off abruptly by a sharp elbow in her side curtesy of Marsha.

"My cousin is staying with us since she lost her parents in an auto accident. She was in the hospital with some memory loss and doesn't remember anything that happened. Grandma and Grandpa took her in," stated Marsha to make sure the story that we had decided on was put out there.

"Yeah, I don't remember much that has happened since before I woke up in the hospital," Adrienne said with a sad frown on her face. "I wish I could remember. But at least I have my grandparents to take care of me. And of course Frank and Marsha."

"Wow, that must be a trip," said Allison. "To basically have life just start over with a blank slate."

"Could we talk about something else?" I asked. "So, Adrienne, how has the first day in your new school been so far?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"It's been okay, I guess," she answered. "For some reason it's like I know everything that they are going over already, it's weird."

"Most of it is just review for the first couple of weeks. That's probably why," I said knowingly.

"That makes sense, to make sure we didn't forget anything over the summer. You're smart and handsome," she said giving me a kiss on the cheek. This of course had me blushing immediately which didn't get past the eyes of the other women at the table.

"He does fool you sometimes," said Tabitha, getting a jab in. "And I guess he is kind of good looking in a jar-head, Neanderthal way." Tabitha was the one friend of Marsha's that was always putting me down and giving me shit. I don't know why. I never did anything to her in the past. I decided I would have to ask Marsha about it sometime.

Our conversation then devolved into talking about what teachers we had and other gossip that I generally ignored. Then lunch was over and we headed back to class. This would be my first class with Adrienne, sophomore English with Ms. Johnston.

Legend had it that Ms. Johnston had been teaching at our school since the middle-ages and would still be around after we all passed away into dust. In reality she was just a 70-something year old woman who just refused to retire. This would be the first hiccup in Adrienne's return to high school.

"Good morning class," she began. "First off let's get the seating in the right order. Everyone should be seated in alphabetical order, front to back, left to right." As she called each person's name they took their assigned seat. When she got to Adrienne's name she paused and gave her a funny look.

"Haven't I had you in my class before?" she asked.

"No, Ma'am," Adrienne answered quite puzzled.

"I don't forget a name, or a face, Miss Dupree. I'm quite certain of this." I thought that the jig was up and our universe was going to implode, but Ms. Johnston recovered quite quickly. "Well take your seat, Dearie, and we'll get this figured out shortly."

She then went about getting everyone else seated and began class. The rest of class went by without incident. But at the end of the hour she asked Adrienne to stay after. As everyone filed out, I stayed behind with her. I went to stand by the teacher's desk while Adrienne was putting her books away in her backpack.

"There's no reason for you to stay. Mr. Branch. I just need to talk to Miss Dupree for a couple of moments," Ms. Johnston said to me motioning towards the door.

"Actually there is, Ms. Johnston," I said quietly so Adrienne couldn't overhear. "Could I speak to you privately before you speak to her? I can clear everything up very quickly."

Bemused, she acquiesced to my request and motioned me out the door. In the hall I quickly explained the situation to her in hushed tones so that other students wouldn't hear us. She had quite the disbelieving look on her face.

"Are you telling me, young man, that that is your 35 year old mother in there?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"And she's a sophomore in high school and in the same class as her own son? That is ludicrous. I want you and Miss Dupree to come with me to the principal's office right now so we can get this straightened out."

So off the three of us went to Principal McHenry's office. Adrienne and I sat quietly in the outer office while Ms. Johnston went in to talk to him first. She mustn't have liked what she was hearing because she was walking around the office waving her hands in the air like a madwoman. He must have asked her to calm down because she finally sat and they talked for a good thirty minutes or so. Mr. McHenry then came out and gave Adrienne and me each a hall pass and told us we were free to go.

"What was that all about?" she asked as we walked to our 5^th period classes. "Why did she want to talk to me after class? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Adrienne. You did nothing wrong. Ms. Johnston is just old and not used to being put off. I think you remind her of someone else is all. And in her old age she just refuses to be told she's wrong," I told her trying my best not to mention anything close to the truth.

"Well, I'm glad I have such a caring and knowledgeable boyfriend." By this time we were at her classroom so she gave me a quick peck on the lips and headed in. I breathed a sigh of relief at the miracle of avoiding a bad situation with Ms. Johnston and headed to my own classroom. Thankfully there weren't any more instances of trouble at school that day.

That evening at home I thought it best to tell Deanna about what happened. So after dinner she and I sat in the living room watching TV when I brought it up. She wasn't surprised. She told me I handled it quite well and she was impressed with my maturity on the matter. Then she told me about some things that she had learned over the past week. She had gone to an attorney with Grandma and gotten temporary guardianship of myself. She also had gotten power of attorney over Mom's finances so that she could pay the mortgage and utilities. Grandma said that she and Grandpa didn't need any of the money since they would be getting the insurance money from Bridgette and Marsh's parents deaths.

Deanna also told me more about some of the conversations she has had with Mom's doctors. They apparently were afraid that she was going to be this way until something else traumatic happened to reverse her mental shutdown. She told them about what was going on between Adrienne and me and that they didn't see any medical reason to stop it. They did warn about the legal ramifications though. They emphasized the same things that my sister had about boundaries and not taking things too far.

Deanna then asked me how I was handling keeping within those boundaries. I told her I was doing just fine. I told her that I enjoyed just holding hands and kissing with Adrienne. That's when she turned the subject to actual sex.

"I just want to make sure you aren't feeling any pressure to do more," Deanna said to me.

"There's no pressure. I wouldn't really know what to do if there was any," I replied.

"You mean you've never? So what do you call what you did to me that night?"

"Just instinct I guess. I've never even seen a naked girl before."

"Never?"

"Nope. I have to admit that I got glimpses when you would come out of the bathroom in just a towel," I said blushing.

The conversation was starting to get to me a little. But it was apparently getting to Deanna as well because I could see her face getting a light rosy tint that spread to her chest where it was visible at the top of her tank top that she was wearing. She was also fidgeting in her seat as well until she said that there were some things she needed to take care of and quickly went to her room.

This left me alone once again to try to figure out where my crazy life was headed. I had never really put much thought into doing anything other than kissing and holding hands with a girl until Deanna had put them into my mind. Now I found myself first wondering what Deanna would look like naked and that led me to think about Adrienne naked. This of course led to a massive erection forming in my shorts. I quickly headed to my room where I had to jackoff to relieve the pressure before doing my homework. By the time I finished it was time for bed.

The next two weeks went by fairly uneventfully. I had football practice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and a game on each Friday. Of course the girls had made the JV cheerleading squad so they had practice and games on the same days. It was the Saturday after the second week of school that things got awkward again. I was hanging out with Adrienne and Marsha at their house when Allison showed up just after lunch.

"Hi everyone," she greeted us as she came into the back yard where we were hanging out.

"Hi, Allison. What brings you by?" asked Marsha.

"Actually I came by to ask Frank if he wouldn't mind being my plus one for a family wedding next weekend," she replied. This got everyone's attention real quick. I was stunned, but Adrienne had a look on her face that could kill.

"You want to take my boyfriend to a wedding? Can't you get yourself a boyfriend that you could take?" Adrienne spat at the girl.

"I just wanted to take someone with me that I felt comfortable with. It's going to be so boring. Everyone else there is so much older," she said defensively trying her best to calm Adrienne down.

"I don't see any harm," said Marsha, putting her two cents in. "They're friends and it's not like you have to worry. There is no way Frank would do anything to hurt you." I just sat there shaking my head letting her know that what Marsha said was true.

"What do you think, Frank?" Adrienne asked as all three girls turned to look my way.

"As long as you're okay with it, I think it would be okay. You and Marsha can hang out and of course I'll see you the next day."

"And I'll expect a full report at that time," Adrienne said with conviction. At that moment she looked every bit like the mom that I so missed. I also knew how her temper was when I got in trouble growing up so I knew not to piss her off. So I answered the only way a man can when his woman gives him an order.

"Yes, Dear."

Allison left shortly thereafter with what I thought was a little too much spring in her step. I myself headed home after dinner.

The next Monday at school went okay until between second and third period when Tabitha asked if it was true that I was Allison's date for the wedding on Saturday. When I confirmed it she then asked if that meant I would be free to take her out to a movie sometime. When I told her that Adrienne probably wouldn't appreciate that she got huffy and stormed off.

Then at lunch I didn't know it but I was walking into a shit storm. Just after I sat down I was joined by Allison and Tabitha. They were both giggling and giving me sultry looks but I tried to ignore them and ate my lunch. Then Marsha and Adrienne joined us.

"So, Adrienne, you told Allison it was okay to take Frank as her date to a wedding?" Tabitha asked.

"Yes, I don't see a harm with two friends going together to a family gathering," Adrienne answered her.

"So, would you mind if I took him with me to the movies? I don't like going alone, and if you're loaning out your boyfriend, maybe I can borrow him?"

"What?" Adrienne asked incredulously. "What the hell do you mean loaning out my boyfriend?" Then she turned to me like I had something to do with this. "And I suppose you want to go with this slut to the movies?"

All I could think is "Oh, Shit!" But before I could respond Tabitha decided she needed to.

"Who are you calling a slut? You move in a couple of months ago and just swoop in and grab up one of the best looking guys in the school. Besides, maybe Frank would like to go out with someone who will do more than kiss him."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" retorted Adrienne. "Are you saying that you do more than kiss? Then you really are a slut."

"No, that doesn't make me a slut. It means I'm more than willing to take care of my man!"

This was getting out of hand rapidly and I felt I needed to step in before anyone got hurt. I had visions of Adrienne losing her temper and flying across the table to beat the crap out of Tabitha. And out of the corner of my eye I saw a proud look on Allison's face.

"Whoa, settle down ladies! First of all, don't I get a say in anything? I want to start by stating that I have no intention to go to the movies with anyone other than my girlfriend. I agreed to go to the wedding with Allison because she asked Adrienne for her permission. I happen to love Adrienne very much and do not intend to do anything to break her trust in me." With that I took Adrienne's hand in mine and gave it a firm squeeze. "And as far as taking care of her man, that is none of your business, Tabitha. We are quite happy with the pace of things. And if we weren't it wouldn't be anyone's business but our own." That last line got me a big kiss from my girlfriend.

Tabitha didn't like the way that things turned out and stormed off. Allison made some sort of apology for her friend and followed after her. Marsha, who was silent through the whole affair, finally spoke up.

"I guess I should have known that this might happen. I never told you before, Frank, but Tabitha has had a bit of a thing for you for a couple of years. You just never noticed."

"And you never mentioned it to me before?" I asked.

"Didn't see it as important as you had never really shown an interest in any of the girls we hung out with. And then with everything going on since the summer started I kinda put it out of mind. Plus she kinda has something against Adrienne because she feels that she's intruding on our little group."

"What about Allison?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.

"She doesn't resent Adrienne if that's what you're asking. But I think she may have some feelings for you as well."

"Well, then I guess I shouldn't go to the wedding with her then. I don't want to lead her on."

"No," said Adrienne. "We already committed to you being her plus one. But so help me, if she tries anything, I'll gouge her eyes out!"

This made me think. Adrienne was showing some of the maturity that I was used to with the way she said I should keep my commitment with Allison. But the territoriality she showed towards me with the other girls was kind of frightening. I'd never heard her get vicious like that with anyone. Something I would have to keep an eye one.

We then finished our lunch and headed to class. Later that day Tabitha apologized to Adrienne and they were at least on speaking terms. The rest of the week went uneventfully, until the weekend.

Friday evening after our football game, my teammates and I went to the local pizza place to blow off some steam and play video games. Of course the cheerleaders went as well, so the girls were there too. I was talking to Allison firming up the plans for the next day, things like when I needed to be at her house and what time we would be getting back. That was when I noticed one of my teammates talking with Adrienne. He had her backed against the side of a video game and was leaning into her really close. I had a bad feeling about this and excused myself from Allison and headed over. As I got closer I could hear part of the conversation and it didn't sound good.

"Come on, Adrienne," Chad, the team's quarterback was saying. "What does he have that I don't? I'm the star of the team and he's just a second string receiver. Let me show you how a real man takes charge." Then he started to move his right hand up to grab her left tit.

"For one thing, he's a gentleman," Adrienne said swatting his hand away.

"You know that's not what you really want," he said, moving his hand back and leaning his head in to kiss her. What happened next is what really made my inner monster come out. She lifted her arms around his neck and started kissing him back.