Chapter 2: Sixty Minutes of Hell

Monday January 13, 2014 – Freshman Year

I met Cassidy at our locker before school. I was still trying to figure some things out. First, why did she need her brother to kick my ass last week? She could obviously do it herself. Another was why did she set me up with April? I mean she was a nice girl and all, but I was starting to wonder if she was worth all the work.

I could be dating Peggy right now. Worst case would be my friends' network. Suzanne, Beth and Cindy would be more than happy to go out with me. If I really wanted to be a bad boy, there was Lisa Felton. Now that sounded like a plan.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" I asked.

"Sure, what's up, buddy?"

I was her buddy now...

"If you could handle your brother so easily Saturday night, why did you need him to kick my ass last week?"

She gave me one of those looks. Do girls go to classes to learn that look?

"Because of the rules, of course."

I just stared at her. Was it just me or was she a little whacky. She decided to help me out.

"When I learned self-defense, Dad made me promise to use it, only to protect myself or my friends."

I thought about it for a moment.

"So, Brad didn't make the same promise?" I asked.

"He did, but he can't follow the rules."

She said that as if it was an absolute given. She cocked her head.

"Would you like to learn self-defense, David?"

I knew that at some point I was going to get into a fight. Too much was going on in my life to not expect that someone would want a piece of me. I was a little surprised I had only been in two fights this year. The first fight was with Bill and the other with Luke and Ed.

"Yes, I think I would."

She gave me a big smile.

"Then meet me after school in the gym, and we will begin."

The first bell rang. I grabbed my books and headed to math class wondering what I had just gotten myself into.

Lunch was interesting. Cassidy caught me at our locker. She had plans.

"You are eating lunch with my friends, today."

I arched my eyebrows.

"What about my friends?"

"They can join us," she said in a matter-of-fact way. "I think that would be a good idea. Your friends need to meet April and her friends."

Hang on. April and I have had one date. I like her okay, but I was not sure I was at the point I wanted to subject her to my friends.

"Slow down, Speed Racer, April and I are just getting to know each other."

She waved her hand in dismissal.

"Exactly. You're just getting to know each other. She needs to meet your friends and find out that you aren't just on the make with her."

"Hey! I have not even made a move on her. Did she say something?"

"Tami is right. You are a 'stupid boy.'"

WTF! Tami amazed me at her ability to find things out. Cassidy was a handful. I didn't need her and Tami ganging up on me. I just followed Cassidy to lunch. She and Gina organized everyone. We ended up taking up three long tables. The freshmen girls were distributed randomly within my group. I about shit when Cassidy put April on one side of me, and Tracy on the other.

Cassidy leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"You make nice to Tracy. You two were very close, and you don't need to lose her friendship."

I just glared at her, but her look said she would kick my ass if I defied her. After watching Brad get choked out Saturday night, I had a new respect for little Cassidy.

I looked around and Luke was nowhere to be found.

"Where is your boyfriend?" I asked Tracy as I tried to make small talk.

She seemed shocked that I was talking to her after Friday night.

"We broke up."

"Sorry, I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it," Tracy said. Then she looked over at April. "Hi, I'm Tracy. I am David's ex. You must be April."

I sagged. I needed to kill Cassidy. The last person I needed being April's friend was Tracy.

"Hi, I'm glad to meet you. Are you okay with me dating David?"

"Yeah, I messed up. I need time to work on me. I know David loves me, but I have done some horrible things to him. I hope you can make him happy. He's a great guy."

I was a little taken back. I couldn't just turn off my emotions for Tracy. I also couldn't allow her to hurt me again. If there were not some feelings left, I would never have reacted the way I did Friday night. The girls continued to talk as if I wasn't there. Gina gave me a tight smile. She could see I was uncomfortable. She indicated with her head that I was to follow her. She got up and I excused myself.

Gina walked me out of the cafeteria into the hall.

"Are you okay?"

"Not really. Tracy still has a hold over me that I can't explain. I just can't seem to shake it, even though I know that I have to."

"Are you dating April?"

I knew that Gina took everything in absolute terms. I also knew this would get back to Kara.

"I am getting to know her. We went to Cassidy's party on Saturday night. I think I like her, but we are not dating."

She gave me a look that I couldn't read. She seemed to come to a decision.

"Do you want my advice?"

What? A woman asking before just giving it to you? Of course I needed advice. I was a guy.

"Yes."

"I personally think April is a good match for you. My only concern is whether she is ready for you?" she paused to let that sink in before she continued. "You have several close friends. You also jet off and spend time with my sister and other very good looking women. I'm afraid she'll not have the self-confidence to deal with all that, plus the media."

"I know, and that is why I'm taking it slow. Cassidy has it in her head that we are going out. She is like a bull in a china shop. I just hope she doesn't break April."

Gina snorted.

"You do attract the strange ones. Speaking of which, Lisa Felton has put the word out that she is going to rock your world."

I groaned. Gina gave me a whack on the arm.

"What is it with that girl? Alan shudders when I mention her name. What makes her so damned attractive?"

I raised my eyebrows. Little Alan had the balls to show interest in another girl with Gina around. I had been out of the loop too long.

"Do you think Alan could help me out with her?"

"DAVID!"

I held up my hands and made shushing noises.

"I don't think I can handle her alone. I think I need Alan to help me double team her," I explained to Gina as we walked back into the lunch room.

We got to the table and Gina announced.

"Alan, David needs your help."

His head snapped around and Jeff began to chuckle. I mouthed Lisa Felton, because I didn't need the whole lunch room hearing. Poor Alan, I think he had a stroke. Of course that got everyone's interest. Speak of the devil. Lisa came walking up. I winked at her so she came over to our table.

"Lisa, would you do both Alan and me?" I asked.

She looked at Alan and if you can believe this, he got even redder. The tables were all quiet. I glanced up at April and she was glaring at me. Oh, shit, I was truly a douche-bag. Before I could stop her, Lisa answered.

"If it means doing you, of course Alan can come along."

Before she finished, I had raised my hands and said, "STOP!"

I looked at April and she had tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. This was a joke that went too far," I said and then I turned to my best friend. "Alan, I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable."

I could tell Alan was not happy, but Gina grabbed his hand and led him out of the lunch room. I trusted she could fix this with him. I went to April and Tracy helped me out.

"David was just trying to be funny, April. He would never do that to Gina and Alan," Tracy said as she held April's hand. April was listening. "Joke about it, yes. He would also never be intentionally mean to Lisa."

I found Lisa standing next to April.

"David and I tease each other to see who will blink first. We push the sexual innuendos pretty far," she gave April a wink. "Someday I'm going to rock his world."

April gathered herself and looked me square in the eye.

"When are you going to rock my world?"

Suddenly the tension was broken. April had a big smile on her face and I felt a tremendous relief. Another lesson learned. This one would serve me well. I needed to be more careful about what I said if I didn't want to be truly hurtful to my friends.

By the time I got to my tutoring session, I was horny as hell. Suzanne took one look at me and smirked. We had not been together in almost a month. We put off tutoring the first week because there was no need. Well today I had a need.

My Ice Princess was as sexy as ever. The combination of her pure white hair, pale blue eyes and her smoking body always got my motor running. We didn't say a word. I pulled her into an embrace and kissed her. She pushed me back and reached under her skirt and removed her panties. She then undid my zipper and fished out my cock.

Suzanne turned around and bent over the desk. I slotted my cock and pushed forward. I pulled out and grabbed a condom. We had almost forgotten to use one. I guess someone was as randy as I was, because she was well lubricated. She just grunted as I finally was buried to the hilt in her quivering quim. There was no finesse or love in our act. It was simply a hard fuck. We clearly both needed it and, when I finally came, we were both satisfied.

"Thanks, I needed that," I told Suzanne.

"Me, too," she said as she smirked at me putting on her panties. "You need to call Cindy. She needs it as much as I did. You're slacking on your friends-with-benefits duties. I mean seriously, you go jet setting all over the country. Then you lounge around in a hospital for a week. We have needs. Get your act together, buster."

"You both have my number, and know where I live. It's not like I have been hiding from you."

She patted my cheek.

"Settle down, we were waiting for you to get better. Greg told us that you were still recovering."

Thanks big brother. Suzanne had me pull out my schedule and we went over the syllabuses for each class. We spent the rest of our time working. I gave her a kiss and a promise to call Cindy.

I met Cassidy in the gym after school. They have open gym for kids who can't go home right away. Some parents work, so this was a solution, instead of letting the kids go home alone. I was surprised to see Coach Hope waiting for me with his daughter.

"David, Cassidy told me what she intends to teach you. I wanted to make sure you understand that this is self-defense. You can't use this to hurt others."

"Yes, sir. Cassidy explained that to me. I'm hoping it will help me with coordination and stamina, also."

He nodded to me. Then he turned to his daughter.

"Before you start teaching him anything you need to get him in shape. Run him through Sixty Minutes of Hell. When you are done, I'll be back to assess his fitness."

He walked away, and Cassidy gave me an evil grin. In the months to come, I wish I had never heard of sixty minutes of hell.

"Line up, soldier."

I came to attention and gave her a salute. I was joking. Cassidy was not. Over the next hour, she really did try to kill me. She ran me through the Marine Personal Training program. The sad part, at least for me, was she was doing them right along with me. This is where the competitive side of me is not good. I couldn't stop and let it be known that a hundred pound girl was in better shape than I was.

When we were done, I gathered as much dignity as I could muster and staggered to the double door exit that led to outside. Coach Hope found me on my knees in a snow bank dry heaving. I could see the steam pouring off my overheated body in the frigid air. Coach helped me stand up, and raised an eyebrow.

"If you tell Cassidy, I will have to kill you."

That finally got him to laugh.

"Son, I'm impressed that you didn't collapse sooner. She only has one speed, and that is full out. I used to embarrass smart ass recruits by letting her lead drill exercises. She would bury them."

I knew I would be paying for this in the morning. He helped me back in the gym and then led me to his office. Cassidy was waiting for us. I gave her a weak smile and collapsed in a chair. Coach sat down behind his desk.

"Son, I got a call from Coach Harrington. He was not happy to hear my plans."

"Sir, I straightened him out. I told him I was a team player."

From his reaction, I could tell he was not expecting that. Cassidy just grinned at me. I must have passed some kind of test. Coach Hope visibly came to a decision.

"You confuse me. Next year's seniors told me that you were all about you. I'm getting the impression that I have been listening to the wrong people. The graduating class is firmly in your camp. Now I don't know what to do with you."

"May I make a suggestion?" I asked.

"Why not?"

"My goal is to be a college quarterback. If things work out, I want to go as far as my talent will take me. This spring, I plan on playing both baseball, and seven-on-seven football. Then, over the summer, I'll go to quarterback camps so that I can measure myself against my competition.

"I'm telling you this, so that you know that I plan on playing quarterback in the future. I feel that I'm a better quarterback, right now, than Brad. I say that not to boast, but as a fact. If you think the best way for me to contribute this season is to play fullback, I'll play fullback. All I ask is that you work with me to become the best I can be.

"I'll work harder than anyone on this team to become the best. I'll dedicate myself to helping others become the best they can be. I ask that you make the same commitment to me. Help me to become better."

If I confused him before, I think he was now really not sure what to do with me.

"It sounds like you have thought about this. What's your take on next year's team?"

If I was going to throw in with Coach Hope, I had to be all in. I decided to take the chance see what happened.

"The junior class is a bunch of ass-hats," I said realizing that this was probably not the best approach. "They think that things will just be handed to them next season. They were not happy that three freshmen played, last year. Without a serious attitude adjustment, we're in trouble.

"I'll win state my junior and senior years. I want to take the freshmen and sophomores and work with them to get them ready. After letting Cassidy almost kill me, today, I want her to work with us on conditioning. She'll weed out the ones that don't want it. She can help get us into the best shape of our lives. If you give us a fair shot in the fall, I think the underclassmen can be a good nucleus for a team."

"Why not win state this year? I plan on making it my number one priority this year."

"Coach, I'm on board with that. I would like to walk out of here with a legacy for excellence. Not just for me, but for this school."

Cassidy was grinning from ear-to-ear. Coach Hope smiled at me. He turned to his daughter.

"Are you willing to commit to helping David?"

"Yes, sir," she said as she sat a little straighter in her seat.

He then turned to me.

"I don't take leadership lightly. I can see that I have my work cut out for me this coming year. I feel a lot better finding that you will be working with me. I'll have Cassidy work with you. She can be a tremendous asset to you. Few have realized her true value. I think you might be one of the few, but you'll need to give her direction. Don't hesitate to come see me when you need help."

With that, we were dismissed. When we got out of the Coach's office, we spent a few minutes planning. We decided to start next Tuesday, Monday was a holiday, to give everyone a chance to prepare for the after school conditioning.

When I got home, I found Tracy and Mary Dole in my kitchen with Angie. I wasn't really happy to see Tracy, but I wasn't feeling up to another confrontation. Greg was in the living room giving a massage. The three of them were sitting around drinking coffee. Mary was waiting for me to make dinner.

I got out my iPad. I had a new recipe app that I wanted to try out. Mary pulled out her Dad's recipe cards. She allowed me to copy them into the program. The cool thing was that I could take short videos and pictures. I stored it all out on the cloud.

We made pork chops with corn bread dressing that had apples and onions in it. Mary and I made a slaw with broccoli and cabbage. We also had lima beans. For dessert, I made a chia pudding, with coconut milk and lemon zest. Chia seeds are small, somewhat like poppy seeds, that become plump and soft when soaked.

Tracy and I seemed to call a truce to our hostilities. By the time Tom arrived from work, everyone was getting along. There was still tension, but I was hopeful that I could eventually be in the same room as Tracy and still be okay.

I spent some time talking to Tom and Mary after dinner. I thanked them for coming over. This was why I love living in a small town in the Midwest: people look out for each other. I was sure a big part of Mary and Tom coming over was because of what was going on with Mom and Dad.

After dinner, I convinced Greg to give me a massage. I fell asleep on the table. They left me there and I woke up very confused at two in the morning. I finally figured it out, and went to bed.

Tuesday January 14, 2014 – Freshman Year

Before school, I got a text to call Kara. She was in Europe doing a commercial. She was several hours ahead so I needed to call her now. It would be too late after school.

"Hey, stranger, how is Europe?"

"Not the same without you here. I had to fight off another model today. I swear they think I'm easy or something. But I didn't have you call me to complain about jerks. I wanted to let you know that the two shoots are set up. We are doing them in New York. You'll be coming in late Friday, so you don't miss school. I'll be there Saturday morning."

"Can you email me everything?"

"I already sent it to Kendal. Ask her for a copy," she said and then changed the subject. "You know that Adrienne lives in New York. My publicist wants to do something to get us some PR. See if she has some ideas."

I snorted.

"We should call Sunny Day and have her come out and interview us all. That way we can clear up my three faux girlfriend relationships."

"You would like that wouldn't you?" Kara asked.

"Ah, it was fun, but we need to do something different. I'll think about it over the next few days, and let you know. I look forward to seeing you."

"How is Tracy doing?"

"She came to dinner at our house with her mom and dad last night. It was a little awkward. If I didn't know she was so messed up, I might strangle her."

I heard voices in the background.

"Hey, I have to get back to work. Hang in there, and I'll see you soon."

She hung up. I sat on the edge of my bed contemplating my life. I needed to see my Mom. I jumped online and made flight reservations for California. I sent Dad an email to get directions to where they were staying. I would fly out Friday and get back Sunday afternoon.

By lunch, all the football players had been told about my plans to have Cassidy help us get in shape. We were sitting at our three tables goofing off when Brad, and one of the junior ass-hats, Tommy Cox, walked up. Tommy thought he was heir apparent to the middle linebacker position. If that happened, Brad and Tommy would be the captains of the football team.

"I hear you pussies are getting a girl to help you work out. What's next, you'll have the model boy fag teach you how to take a shower? Don't drop your soap," Tommy crowed.

I hate cowards. Tommy Cox was the worst kind. He would do nothing unless he felt he had the upper hand. He thought he had Brad as backup so he was making an ass out of himself. His normal tactic was to get on social media and trash you. It takes a real man to say hurtful things on the internet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow behind me. I turned around to find Jim Ball standing there.

"You have a problem with that?" Jim asked.

The smile faded from Tommy's face. I hated to tell him, but I was more scared of Cassidy than of Jim. Cassidy got up and got into Tommy's face.

"If you think you are such a big man, then come to one of my workouts. You'll be crying like a little baby before it's done."

"Back off, bitch," Tommy said as he pushed Cassidy back.

Two things happened at the same time. Brad got an Oh Shit look on his face, and Cassidy put Tommy into an arm bar and had him face down on the floor, squealing. I copied her Dad.

"Release!" I yelled.

Cassidy let him go, and gave me a smirk. I crouched down next to Tommy so only he could hear me.

"You better get with the program, and become a team player."

He glared at me.

"This is my team," he hissed.

That pissed me off. We were not going to win with pig headed jerks like that. If that meant me playing middle linebacker, so be it.

I stood up and shook my head.

"No, it's not. You need to talk to Coach Hope. I think he'll straighten you out on whose team it is." I turned to Brad and said, "I don't know what your problem with me is, and I don't really care. Just know this. Next time your little sister is choking you out, no one is going to stop her."

He turned bright red, and walked away. Tommy scrambled up and followed him. That team building session could have gone better.

I sat back down next to April. She had a basketball game tonight that I promised to attend. She was looking at me funny again.

Out of nowhere ... I had gas. I cut a tremendous fart. I snapped my head around at April, and scooted my chair away from her.

She saw what I was doing, and gave me a look that said I was dead meat. Everyone was chuckling until the smell hit them.

"April, did a gerbil crawl up your ass and die?" Jeff asked her.

Of course we all knew who did it. Thankfully, April had a little brother, so she knew what total jerks boys could be. She just gave us all a superior look.

"You might want to check that, it smells pure," Alan advised.

"I have one. What's the definition of surprise?" Cassidy asked us. "A fart with a lump in it."

"Confucius say: Man who fart in church sit in own pew," Gina said. We all booed her.

"What did the maxi-pad say to the fart?" April asked. "You are the wind beneath my wings."

April was a good sport. I liked her a bit more after that. Of course, no one wanted to sit near me.

I finally got to see April in something other than a baggy sweatshirt and jeans. She had on her basketball uniform. I was surprised at how nice her body was. I had been imagining that she was on the thicker side. I was sitting next to Cassidy and Beth when she came out for the tip off. Up to that point she had been in her warm up. Cassidy nudged me when she saw the look on my face.

"I didn't steer you wrong. Wait till you find out her big surprise," Cassidy taunted me.

I could tell she was baiting me, but I was intrigued. Did that mean she had a large rack under her sports bra? Maybe that was why she wore baggy tops all the time.

"Come on, Cassidy, you can tell me," I said.

Beth giggled. She gave me a knowing look. I gave her a look that told her to quit teasing me.

"Yep, I have gym with her, and have seen her in the shower. You're in for a surprise," Beth teased.

"You both suck. Here I was going to be a good boy. Now I'm going to have to go to the dark side to find out her secret," I warned them. Then I blurted out, "She isn't deformed or mangled, is she?"