Chapter 4: What Comes After the Blues

Thursday September 3

For me, this was the first day of school. I pulled up just as Mike did. I thought about sitting in my car until he went in, but decided I might as well tackle this now. He didn’t see me until I was right next to him.

“Oh, shit!” he said as he jumped when he saw me.

“Relax.”

We walked in without saying a word to each other. Mike kept glancing at me, as did half the people who hung around the front of the school. I think we disappointed them when we didn’t throw down right there. Pam saw us and rolled her eyes at me, but wasn’t willing to walk in with us. When we got inside Mike touched my arm, which caused me to stop and look at him.

“Thanks,” was all he said and we went to find our lockers.

I got out my information packet and found my locker and combination. I located it and my day got better when I saw Brook Davis had the locker next to mine. Then I remembered lockers were assigned alphabetically – Davis, Dawson. I checked her out. She had on jeans so tight she had to have had help putting them on, which highlighted the fact she was either going commando or had a thong on. She had on a man’s dress shirt she had tied so her butt wasn’t covered. I liked what I saw. I walked up behind her and put my arms on both sides of her head and my palms against the locker in front of her. I put my mouth near her ear.

“Did you wear that for me?” I whispered.

She squeaked and spun around and saw it was me looking down at her. I was amused when she blushed. I let my forehead drop down and touch hers. I wanted to kiss her, but not yet. If I fell for her this easily, I was a goner.

“What if I said yes?” she asked in her sexy raspy voice.

“I would say I’m jealous, because you’re not wearing my shirt.”

“Oh, my,” she said as she bit her lower lip.

Brook was saved when I was hip-checked. I looked to see who the culprit was, and saw a smiling Tracy.

“Pam sent me to tell you good job with Mike this morning. You might want to go and talk to Mona,” Tracy said, as she reminded me I had a girlfriend.

I set Brook free, but she wasn’t going anywhere. There was definitely an attraction between us. The first bell rang and I pulled my class list out of the folder I had gotten in the mail from the school. It had the usual stuff in it like the school rules, your locker assignment and combination, and of course your class schedule:

PE – (Coach) Diamond

AP Trigonometry – Ms. Lowden

AP English – Short Stories – Mrs. Hedge

Art – Life Drawings II – Ms. Saunders

Lunch

AP American History – Mr. (Coach) Zoon

Biology II – Mr. Dutton

World Geography – Mrs. Keller

I did a double take, because this wasn’t the class list I had signed up for last spring. I’d specifically decided not to take any AP classes. The way things were, I would miss a couple of weeks at the end of the semester for the new movie I was making with Halle. I didn’t need college-level classes to complicate my already busy schedule. The first person I thought of who would do something like this behind my back was Tami. I suspected her collaborator was Alan. I would need to have a talk with the two of them.

I went to PE and Mike was talking to Jim, Wolf and Ty. I found Coach Diamond and he assigned me a locker so I could store my street clothes. I hadn’t talked to Wolf or Jim since I punched them, so I was a little worried they might be pissed at me. My locker turned out to be right in the middle of where the guys were talking.

“You’re a dumbass,” Jim told me.

“Really, what makes you say that?” I asked.

“If you had let Wolf and me stop you from killing Mike, a girl might not have embarrassed you,” he said to the amusement of everyone else.

“Funny guy. I think that girl could have kicked all our asses combined. There’s no shame in having Cassidy Hope take you down.”

Jim and Wolf had dated Cassidy and knew what she could do.

“I still need to thank her for that. I could tell you were getting ready to give me a serious beatdown,” Mike said.

“David, just so we’re clear. I’m a lover, not a fighter,” Ty said.

We found Tim already in the weight room. Wolf and I paired up like we had last year. Tim and Jim decided to lift together, leaving Ty and Mike as a team. We had lifted all summer, so we knew our routines. It felt good to lift again after a three-day layoff.

By the end of the day, I wondered if the three new cheerleaders were stalking me. Zoe was in all my AP classes. Her mom had done a good job to prepare her for public school. Art and Biology I had with Halle. History and Geography I was joined by Brook.

Lunch was interesting. Alan and I found a table first. Mona sat next to me, and Halle, Zoe and Pam sat across from us. Brook came up and saw Alan sitting next to me.

“Move it,” she ordered.

Alan looked at me and just shook his head and moved over. When Gina got to the table, she saw me surrounded.

“Dead man walking,” she announced.

I had to agree.

I saw Phil enter the lunchroom and he was looking for somewhere to eat. I stood up and motioned him over. He was with Yuri, and I waved him over too. Tracy, Kelly and Kim joined us as we filled up our two tables. I introduced everyone to Alan, Phil and Yuri.

I noticed Phil had gotten his hair cut like mine. If he was going to be a mini-me I needed to start calling him and telling him what I was wearing the next day. I wasn’t sure if it amused or irritated me to have my half-brother try and copy me. I would never have done that with Greg. Then again, Greg wasn’t as cool as I was.

I thought I would give Gina a little payback for her earlier comment.

“Did Gina show you her pictures from her fashion shoot yesterday?” I asked.

“I, uh, didn’t bring them,” she answered.

“It’s a good thing I’m your friend,” I announced, and I brought up her pictures on my iPad and everyone gathered around so they could see.

I had created a slide show and put it to James Blunt’s song – You’re Beautiful. At first Gina wasn’t sure if I was making fun of her, but then she saw me get up and come to her to give her a hug.

“Don’t let things get you down. You’re a sexy woman,” I said as I held her.

I thought she was going to get choked-up, but she got it together and then told everyone about our day yesterday. She then told them about how I’d gotten her and Cassidy clothes. I was happy to give my friend a little boost since I knew she was hurting because Mike had cheated on her. I honestly hadn’t come to grips with it either. Mike and I were no longer friends. As far as Mona went, I needed to talk to her. I was almost certain that I was done with the faux girlfriend thing. But I’d made a commitment to help her achieve her dream to be Homecoming Queen.

At practice, Coach Hope announced we were going to have an Orange and Blue game, and Mike and I got to pick the teams. To make it more interesting, we would also get to choose our coaches. The only rule was you couldn’t take both the first and second string player at any position. They wanted the game to be as competitive as possible. Our first pick also had to be a coach to assist us, but we were allowed to take other coaches at any time.

Coach Zoon did the honors of the coin toss.

“Mike, you have the honors. Call it in the air.”

“Tails!”

“Tails, it is,” Coach Zoon called after he checked the coin.

“With my first pick, I select Coach Hope,” Mike said with a satisfied smile.

I had more devious plans and needed an accomplice, not a coach. I also wanted to stick it to Coach Zoon.

“I pick Coach Douglas,” I said.

Everyone looked at me, and Mike had a big smile on his face. I had just picked my best friend to coach us.

“I take Coach Diamond with my second pick.”

“Since the offense and defense all start with him, I pick Tim.”

Alan grabbed my arm.

“I need a moment to confer with my idiot friend,” he said.

He and Tim joined me on the side of the room.

“I can’t coach this alone,” Alan warned.

I smiled and pointed at Tim and then at me. Tim was the leader of our defensive team, and I could run things on offense.

“Coach Hope is going to flip out if you don’t at least take Coach Zoon,” Alan almost pleaded.

“We don’t need no stink’n coaches,” Tim said with a big smile. “Take Jim and Wolf next. Defense starts in the center.”

We came back and I bowed to Mike who had the next pick.

“I take Coach Zoon.”

“Jim.”

“Ty.”

“Wolf.”

“Kelly.”

“Bryan,” I picked.

“Ed.”

“Brock.”

“Bert,” Mike chose.

I now had the front four on defense and was only missing Neil for a full offensive line. My other choice could be Yuri to complete a front six of starters on defense. I called a time-out so we could discuss things. Mike was busy taking to all the skill players. I explained my dilemma.

“Coach only said you had to take the second stringers, he didn’t say you had to play them,” Alan said, and we all looked at him, confused. “David, you play linebacker.”

I liked how my new head coach thought. I should have staged a coup before this and put him in charge. We came back and I picked Neil.

Mike got smart and took Yuri. I again surprised everyone when I picked my half-brother, Phil, and then with the next pick I selected another freshman, Roc Pearson. I planned to use them as wide receivers. I also picked up Moose and Coach Stevens as my last two picks. When we were done, Coach Hope told us we had to use the playbook. I think he was worried I would try and change the offense. I would never do that.

When I got out to my car to go home, I found Halle had waited for me.

“Give a girl a ride home?” she asked.

“Of course,” I said, as I opened her door for her.

“Always the gentleman.”

“Where to?” I asked.

She gave me the address.

“Do you know where that is?” she asked.

“I do; a friend of mine used to live there. I hadn’t realized the Holidays had sold their mini-farm. It’s a beautiful piece of land. Do you have horses?” I asked.

“Mom has been talking about getting some if we stay.”

“I didn’t know that was possible. I figured you’d head back to California when Trip got better,” I said.

“We might, but my mom is looking for a place more laid back, and where I can go to school and be normal. I guess I talked about you a bit, and Mom decided to move us here. I hope that’s all right with you,” she said.

Her admission had me a little on guard. The last we had talked we were just going to be friends. There was no doubt I was attracted to her, and the more I had gotten to know her, the more I liked her. The last I had really talked to her was when she visited me in New York. I guess I wondered what had changed. I didn’t get a chance to ask her because we pulled up to the farm.

“Come in. I want you to meet my mom,” Halle said.

Rita James was an icon in the movie business. I would do just about anything to meet one of my favorite actresses. I was worried I would come across as a typical fanboy, so I took a deep breath and followed her to the front door. I was surprised it was locked. I knew I had left my parents’ home unlocked when I left this morning. It was probably a bad habit I needed to break. We just never had to worry about things like that. I was sure in Hollywood it was different.

When Halle got the door opened we were met by a man that I can only describe as dangerous. He was six feet tall and looked like he could crush rocks with his bare hands. I would guess he was in his late thirties. He had sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes that missed nothing. He moved like he had trained in some form of martial arts. I recognized it in Cassidy when she stalked me at the dojo. I hadn’t realized I’d gone into a defensive stance and placed myself between the man in the entry hall and Halle.

Halle went to go around me, but I put my hand out to stop her. She suddenly recognized what was going on and put her hand on my shoulder.

“David, this is Fritz. He’s responsible for Mother’s security,” she said and then addressed Fritz. “This is my overprotective friend David.”

“David Dawson?” Fritz asked in what I assumed was a German accent.

“Yes, sir.”

“May I see some ID?”

I relaxed when I saw him roll off the balls of his feet and stand flat-footed. I handed him my driver’s license. He nodded and handed it back.

“You are on the approved list. I would like to talk to you before you leave,” Fritz said, and then disappeared into the house.

I looked at Halle and she smiled. I followed her into the family room and found Rita James waiting on us. She was a vision. She wore cream-colored silk slacks and a white long-sleeved button-up blouse with mother-of-pearl buttons. Her hair was pulled back in a French braid and then put into a bun on the back of her head to show off her exquisite neck. I noted her makeup was perfect. I don’t think I have ever been in the presence of anyone more poised or put together while not on a set of some kind. I understood why she was compared with the old-time actress Grace Kelly. When she smiled at me, I would have done anything for her.

“Who’s your friend?” Rita asked, and I could see by the recognition in her eyes that she already knew who I was. She was just being polite and allowing her daughter to introduce us.

“Mother, may I introduce you to my close friend, David Dawson,” Halle said as a formal introduction.

Rita reached out and shook my hand.

“My son and daughter speak highly of you. I look forward to working with you,” she said.

I looked confused.

“Aw, my daughter didn’t tell you. I’m the financial backer, producer, and will be acting in Secret Circle,” Rita said.

The light bulb went on as I figured out why I hadn’t auditioned for the role.

“I want to thank you for taking a chance on me. I’ll work hard to show my appreciation,” I said.

Both Halle and Rita laughed. They laughed even harder when I was totally bewildered by their response.

“If we were in Hollywood, your offer to show quote-unquote appreciation would have meant something different,” Rita clued me in.

“Oh, OOOOHHH,” I said, late on getting it, and joined them in laughing. “I guess if that’s a job requirement...”

“David!” Halle complained.

“I’m sorry, I was just teasing. If I stepped over any lines... ,” I started.

“Are you sure he can play a stuck-up jock?” Rita asked.

“Hey, cheerleader-type, go get me a Coke while I hit on your mom,” I told Halle.

Halle’s eyes got big and then she realized I was playing along with her mom. I told them my parents were out of town, and they took pity on me and fed me. Rita turned out to be a lot of fun. She told me stories about the famous people she had met and worked with.

Halle gave me a quick kiss and sent me home. I was almost to my car when Fritz appeared out of nowhere. I mean literally, one minute he wasn’t there and the next he stood next to me. I almost hit him; he surprised me that much. He wanted to know where I worked out, so I told him about Shiggy’s Dojo. That reminded me I needed to get my butt back to training with Cassidy. It was like anything else; you only got out of it what you put into it.

When I got home, Mona was in my apartment. I was starting to wonder if I should just get a new lock, because every girl I knew must have the code to get in. I had to let Duke out and take him for a walk, or he would be up all night. I also needed to run off some of his adolescent energy. We decided to head to the park.

“Where were you?” Mona asked.

“Halle needed a ride home, and I got to meet her mother. I found out she’s involved in the next movie I’m doing.”

Mona looked nervous. I think we both knew how fragile our dating alliance was, especially after the Mike incident. I handed Mona the tennis ball I had grabbed before we left. She let Duke off his leash and threw the ball. Sucker! He, of course, came back with it and it was slimed with puppy mouth. Mona was a champ, though, and threw it again.

“Halle and I met during the shooting of Star Academy and became friends. We were the only ones the same age, so it made sense,” I said.

“Bullshit, you’re not fooling me. She’s hot, and I saw the tabloids. There was more there than just you two being friends.”

“Can I tell you something and it just stays between us?” I asked and she nodded. “Halle and I only kissed. I don’t think she has ever, you know.”

“Are you telling me I have two virgins on varsity?” Mona asked.

It took me a second, but then I knew she was talking about Zoe, which caused me to smile.

“Shhhhit! You’re going to be the death of me,” Mona said.

“Why, what did I do?”

“Oh, let’s see,” she said as she threw the ball for Duke and started listing off my problems. “You get your heart handed to you by probably the dumbest smart girl I know in Tami. You have my resident crazy girl in Tracy, who thinks you hung the moon and is secretly in love with you. I have a surfer girl in Pam, who thinks you two are just friends, but everyone knows there’s more. Zoe and Halle, my two virgins, would give it up to you. Then I have my problem child, Brook, who’s determined to steal you from me.

“When you finally get your head out of your ass and quit singing the blues, I might have actual bloodshed during a game. They’ll be clawing each other’s eyes out to see who gets first shot at you,” Mona explained.

I gave her a leer.

“You mean Brook wants to do naughty things to me?”

“If I hadn’t had a talk with her, she would have moved in with you by now.”

I smiled, and then got a serious look on my face.

“We need to talk,” I said.

I think Mona expected this, because she didn’t even flinch when I said it.

“We never agreed to be with just each other,” was her opening gambit. “Mike’s not a nice guy, but I’m not completely innocent in all this. I’ve been attracted to Mike for a long time. I could have said no.”

She had finally confirmed what I’d thought. There hadn’t been the outrage there was this summer when a similar thing had occurred. If Mona hadn’t been okay with what had happened, Mike would have had his balls handed to him. What pissed me off was his the personal attack by going after Mona. Mike knew what he did, and now I knew Mona was not averse to it happening.

The Alpha Male in me reared his ugly head and now I wanted to find Mike and tear his head off. Mike had been the Big Man on Campus since middle school. He could have had any girl he wanted. I’d heard from Tami that she thought he had a cute butt. Maybe if his cute butt had some dents in it, it wouldn’t be so cute. The other person hurt in all this was Gina. I considered her a much better friend than Mike ever was. At this moment I regretted agreeing to allow Mike to remain on the team. Deep inside I knew it was a mistake at the time.

Now I had to decide what to do with Mona. The obvious answer was that this faux-girlfriend thing was bullshit. I should never have done that. I didn’t need a false front to protect me. I was strong enough to say I wasn’t ready to be in a relationship right now. I also didn’t need to lie to my friends.

“I’m out as far as being your boyfriend. If you want to date Mike, feel free,” I said with a little more heat in my voice than I’d intended.

“Hang on. I never said I wanted to date Mike.”

“Sorry, I didn’t really mean that, but the fact is I don’t want to date you anymore.”

“What’s your deal? Peggy put up with you sleeping around, but if the shoe’s on the other foot you have a problem? What the fuck, David?”

“My fuck is you were my fake girlfriend. I no longer want a fake anything. Go fuck whoever you want and I’ll do the same. Let’s just be honest about it,” I said.

My words took the steam out of her.

“I still don’t get what I did that made you so mad,” she said.

“Take us out of the equation. There was another person who was hurt by what you two did,” I said.

“Gina.”

“Yes, Gina. The poor girl was happy dating Mike until you decided to, well, you know,” I said as I tried not to get too graphic. “Did you think it was okay to help him cheat on her?”

She wouldn’t look at me for a minute. Duke came back and she tossed his ball. Then she looked at me and nodded.

“I get it. It was a pretty shitty thing to do. Is she okay?” Mona asked.

“No, she is most definitely not okay. That’s why I have the rule about not dating anyone who’s with someone else. First, I’m not that guy. Second, it’s a sure way to ruin friendships.”

“So, no more faux relationship?” she asked.

“No more lies,” I said.

“Does that mean you want to be my real boyfriend?” she asked.

I will never understand women. My confused look caused Mona to laugh. It took me a moment to realize she had just pulled my leg, so to speak. We both laughed at that. I pulled Mona into my arms and gently kissed her. While I didn’t want to date Mona, Mr. Happy still liked her.

“My first time was on the little island. There’s an area where no one can see us. Want to help me recreate some memories?” I asked.

Mona looked around, nervous someone might see us. Before she could chicken out, I took her hand and led her through the bushes into the private area that had a picnic table. The only people that might be able to see us were any who happened to be on the other side of the lake, but there were no paths in that area, so I was fairly confident we wouldn’t be seen.

“I don’t know,” Mona started, but I kissed her to slow down her saying flat out no.

Duke came over and showed us he had his ball.

“Park it,” I said and pointed under the picnic table; he went and lay down.

Mona stopped kissing me and I spun her around so I was leaning against the picnic table and she was wrapped in my arms. I wanted her to see how secluded this spot really was. I leaned down and kissed her neck.

“I’ve never done it outside before,” she confessed.

I chuckled and reached up and tweaked her nipples, which made her jump.

“Stop!” she said, then reached back and found my hardening length.

I enjoyed what Mona and I did between the sheets. I even liked her as a friend, but I had no feelings beyond that. If she didn’t want to have sex with me, I was fine with that. Actually, this was probably a mistake.

“Tell me about your first time.”

I smiled as I remembered.

“I’d asked my brother to help me with girls. He was seeing Cindy at the time, and she agreed to help. I think she saw me as her very own Ken Doll to dress up. She went through all my clothes and threw out most of them, then we went shopping and she basically did a makeover on me.

“Then Greg sent me on my first practice date,” I said.

“Who was it?” Mona asked.

“She was a freshman, too, and still goes to Lincoln. We only had the one, ah, date. She told me afterwards she wasn’t allowed to date until she was older.”

“So tell me about the date.”

“Greg and Cindy told me what and what not to do on the date. Cindy even practiced with me on how to ask her out. If it hadn’t been for their help, I would never have had the confidence to ask her out,” I said.

“So, tell me how you asked her out.”

“I did it at lunch. You know how the freshmen hang out in the hall. I looked around and was checking out the girls who I could practice on and she made eye contact with me. I sucked it up and went and asked her. I was shocked when their plan for me worked,” I said.

“So what was the big plan for the date?”

“Since I didn’t have a car, I needed to do something where we could walk. Greg and Cindy told me to take her to the ice cream parlor by the park. If things were going well, I was to take her for a stroll through the park. Greg told me about this little area, but none of us thought things would get that far.

“I guess asking her out was a big deal, because I was the first one to ask out one of my fellow freshmen. She made a point to tell everyone we had a date. I almost skipped out when I saw the crowd gathered out front of the high school waiting to see me pick her up. Greg had warned me, though, that I had to be nice to her no matter what. He said my reputation would be shot and I wouldn’t ever date again.”

“So you thought having sex with her would cement your reputation,” Mona teased me.

I leaned down and nipped her ear. She gave Mr. Happy a warning squeeze.

“I’ve had no complaints,” I said in a cocky tone.

Mona twisted in my arms so she could face me. Her right hand came up and she played with my hair and gave me a sexy little smile.

“So tell me how you seduced her.”

“I followed Greg’s script and we ended up on the bridge. He said it would be a good spot for a first kiss. Neither one of us had done much, but Cindy said I was a good kisser.”

“What! You kissed your brother’s girlfriend?!”

“Uh, yeah, she sort of trained me, to do ... things,” I said.

“You’ll have to tell me about that later. So when you got her here, what were your slick moves?” Mona asked.

“I figured we’d just kiss, but she had other ideas. She basically,” I paused and looked down, “took advantage of me.”

I had mumbled the last part, but Mona caught it. She stepped back and started laughing at me.

“You’re telling me that the freshman stud who dated Tracy Dole, and then the three hottest senior girls, let a freshman girl have her way with him his first time? Holy Shit! This would be such good gossip, but no one would believe me,” Mona said.

She saw me smile, and thought I had just pulled her chain. I held up my hands to fend her off.

“No, no, no! It really happened that way,” I said. “Greg was floored when he found out. I just wished she could have dated. If I’d known, I would have rather had Suzanne be my first.”

“Wait! Suzanne was your second?”

“Come on, you were there when Tracy went after me. It was all because Suzanne showed an interest in me,” I said.

She thought back, and then I saw the light bulb go on.

“I remember,” she said, and then suddenly hit me. “You dawg! I never believed Tracy when she said the reason Suzanne was being so nice was because she got laid. Now that you’ve confirmed it, it all makes sense. If I’d known Suzanne and Cindy had trained you, I would have gone after you myself.”

“You didn’t stand a chance. Tracy had me wrapped around her little finger before I knew what happened,” I confessed.

Mona looked around again.

“I’m not getting undressed in public, but if you want... ,” she said as she cupped my balls.

I just nodded, and she undid my jeans and pushed both my jeans and underwear to mid-thigh. Mona pushed my length up against my stomach and squatted down and began to make love to my balls. I leaned my head back and saw the fading sunlight filtered through the canopy of trees protecting this little refuge from the rest of the world. Mona took her time and worked her way up my shaft with little licks and kisses. She about drove me crazy. The little minx was playing with me. I filed that away for future reference.

My cock started to leak with desire. I let a little moan escape when she finally took a couple of inches in her mouth and gently suckled on my member, almost causing me to erupt. She backed off when she felt me throb in her mouth, causing me to let my breath out, which I didn’t realize I’d been holding. I wanted to just grab her ears and face-fuck her, but I was content to let her lead.

She let her teeth touch my cock, which caused me to look down at her. She waited until our eyes locked and then she began to suck my cock in earnest. We stared into each other’s eyes. I think she wanted to see my expression when I came. It got hard to hold eye contact, because Mona was a superior little cocksucker, and I say that with great fondness. I appreciated her efforts, because to be frank, I was horny as hell. I think we both knew I wouldn’t last long. Not with what she was doing to me, as she seriously was trying to siphon the cum straight from my balls. I tried to reach for her breasts, but Mona swatted my hand away. I guess this was about me receiving pleasure. I was okay with that.

I debated if I should warn her or not. I decided to do the right thing.

“Fuuuuck!” I cried in warning.

She jerked me out of her mouth and pointed my cock away from her as she continued to jack me off. It was a good thing she pulled off, because even I was impressed at the deluge of bodily fluid that shot rope after rope onto the grass. It had been too long since I had done this.

We heard a whoop and clapping coming from across the lake, and we saw a college-age couple give us thumbs up. I looked down at my security system, and he just looked up and thumped his tail against the ground. If it had been a squirrel, I would have been alerted right away. Mona scampered into the bushes, leaving me with my dick hanging in the breeze. I quickly stuffed it back into my pants and went looking for her.