Chapter 77: Boys and Girls, Part II

June 28, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Birgit

Peter was obviously nervous, and it would have been better to just start kissing and stuff, but I absolutely had to follow Dad’s rules, as well as Bethany’s advice.

“Did you get your test?” I asked as soon as we were in my room with the door shut and locked.

Peter nodded and pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and showed me. I got my card from my desk and showed him, then took his hand and led him to the love seat. I gently encouraged him to sit down, then sat in his lap and put my arms around his neck, my forearms resting on his shoulders.

Peter looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, and I decided I’d scare him if I was too aggressive. I smiled at him, then rested my head on my arm with my lips near his ear.

“I don’t bite,” I whispered. “Unless you want me to!”

Peter laughed nervously, but he put his hands on my waist, which was a good start. I really wanted to rip his clothes off, but instead just kissed his neck softly, barely touching it with my lips. Peter shuddered, and I felt his reaction almost instantly, as, I almost giggled, Peter’s peter got hard. I planted another soft kiss and Peter’s breathing sped up and his heart began beating so hard I thought it might explode!

I kissed his neck one more time, then lifted my head and touched my lips to his. That was enough to change everything as he tightened his arms around me, we parted our lips, and our tongues began a battle for supremacy. Kissing Peter set my entire body on fire, and I felt damp between my legs. I wanted him to kiss me there, and a silly thought popped into my mind — if he did, that would make him Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater! That made me giggle, which ended our kiss.

“What?” Peter asked nervously.

“Just a silly thought,” I said. “I promise to tell you later, OK?”

“Uhm, OK.”

We started kissing again and once our tongues began dancing, I gently grasped Peter’s arm and he allowed me to move it. I slid my hand to his wrist and moved it so that his right palm rested on my polo shirt over my left boob. Peter began rubbing my boob with the palm of his hand and my nipples hardened immediately, trying to poke holes in my bra the same way Peter’s peter was trying to burst from his jeans.

I SO wanted to feel his hand on my skin, and his lips on my skin, and his dick inside me. I was positive he’d go for it, especially if I put my lips on his skin! I broke the kiss and moved my lips close to his ear.

“It’s OK to put your hand under my shirt,” I whispered.

Peter quickly moved his hand to my waist and tugged my polo from my jeans. I felt his fingers on my skin and moaned softly into his mouth. I felt as if I was on fire, when suddenly I heard the piercing beep of a smoke alarm. I groaned and got off Peter’s lap and hurried to the hallway. Albert was coming down the stairs from the attic and didn’t know what had happened, so we moved down the hallway, followed by Peter and the others coming from the attic room, and went downstairs.

“False alarm,” Chelsea declared. “I hit the wrong buttons on the microwave and set the popcorn on fire!”

I wanted to smack her because she’d messed up my make-out session!

“Turn on the stove exhaust fan,” Dad said. “It vents outside. And run some water on that burned bag and take it to the ash bin outside.”

Matthew got a pair of oven mitts and took the smoldering bag from the microwave and put it in the sink. He ran water over it, and once it stopped smoking, grabbed some paper towels, and used them to prevent the bag dripping on the floor, and took it to the backyard to dump in the metal can where we dumped fireplace ashes or ashes from the grill.

“How long before the smoke alarm stops?” Chelsea asked. “And why did all of them go off?”

“Probably five minutes,” Dad replied. “They’re all connected, so if one goes off, they all go off.”

“That’s a good idea!” Chelsea declared. “Ours at home didn’t do that.”

“If your house was built before the code changed, they don’t have to. The previous owners of this house did that when they replaced the ancient wiring a few years before we bought the house. It wasn’t required by code then, but the electricians obviously prevailed on them.”

I felt someone come up behind me and thought it might be Peter, but it wasn’t.

“Why is your shirt untucked, Sis?” Ashley asked quietly.

“Why do you think?” I groused. “Smoke alarms suck!”

“And so do you!” Ashley teased, again quietly. “Is THAT what was going on?”

“Oh, shut up!” I ordered.

“What’s wrong, Pumpkin?” Dad asked.

Nothing a good fucking wouldn’t solve! But I couldn’t say that out loud, at least not with everyone in the kitchen.

“Nothing,” I replied instead. “Ashley is just being a little sister!”

“And I’m VERY good at it!” Ashley giggled.

I rolled my eyes and suggested to everyone we go back upstairs. Everyone agreed, so we trooped up the steps. The rest of our group went to the attic room, but Peter and I went to my room. I closed and locked the door, and Peter went to sit down on the love seat. I walked over and instead of sitting on his lap, stood in front of him and pulled my polo shirt over my head, revealing my black lace bra. Peter inhaled sharply, and his eyes grew wide when I dropped the shirt and reached around and unhooked my bra. I crossed my arms, pushed the straps from my shoulders, and let it fall away onto the floor.

“Whoa!” he whispered.

“Do you want to kiss them?” I asked.

Peter sucked in his breath and nodded. I took a step forward so that my right nipple almost touched Peter’s lips. He leaned forward just enough to kiss it, which caused me to shiver. I almost jumped out of my skin when I felt his wet tongue on my nipple and moaned softly when he took it into his mouth and began sucking. I felt empty between my legs, even though I’d never had anything in there!

I heard a soft knock at the door and decided I was going to KILL whoever it was if they didn’t go away. I didn’t care if there was a nuclear bomb about to go off in the city! I was NOT going to die a virgin! In fact, if I was still a virgin in an hour, someone was going to die! There was another knock.

“GO AWAY!” I growled as Peter stopped sucking.

“Birgit, it’s Ashley! Open up!”

With raging thoughts of what method of sororicide I’d choose, I picked up my polo shirt, pulled it over my head, and went to the door. I unlocked it and opened it a small amount.

“WHAT?!” I demanded, making it clear I was annoyed.

“Peter’s dad is here,” she said. “I said I’d go up to the attic room to get him.”

“Seriously?!” I asked, wondering why Loki hated me so much.

“Yes,” Ashley replied.

“Peter, your dad is here,” I said.

“My dad? Why?”

“I don’t know. Ash?”

“No idea. He asked, and I said I’d get you from the attic room.”

“Go on, Peter,” I said, totally frustrated.

He got up and adjusted his jeans, which caused Ashley to smirk. He left, and I quickly pulled off my polo, put on my bra, then put on the polo again, making sure I tucked it in. I hurried downstairs where Peter was talking to his dad. He saw me and turned to me.

“My grandpa in Ohio had a heart attack,” he said. “Dad says we’re leaving for Ohio right away.”

If his grandpa didn’t die, he was going to WISH he was dead! But I couldn’t say that to Peter.

“OK,” I said.

“I’ll call you as soon as we get back,” Peter said.

“I hope everything is OK,” I replied.

“Dave,” Dad said, “if you need anything, let me know.”

“I will,” Dave replied. “Thanks.”

They left, and I went back to my room, wishing I had a statue of Loki that I could break into a million pieces.

“Sorry,” Ashley said, coming into the room.

“The world hates me!” I growled. “THREE times! THREE!”

“Three?”

“Twice in Vermont and now Peter!”

“You were planning on camping with Kjell, right?”

“On an island. It’ll sink or there will be a freak tsunami or Kjell will get poison ivy or Loki knows what!”

“Take a cold shower!” Ashley ordered. “You need it!”

“You’re no help!”

Ashley smirked, “I’m not supposed to be! I’m the bratty little sister!”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Not even close!”

“But I did get you to laugh!”

“Get out of here!” I said.

She laughed and left, and I went back up to the attic room and let everyone know about Peter’s grandfather.

June 29, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Jesse

“Are you going to church with me tomorrow?” I asked Scarlett when we woke up on Saturday morning.

“How will that work with my flight?” she asked, snuggling close, pressing her naked body against mine.

“We’ll be able to make it. It’s too bad you’re flying out of Midway instead of O’Hare, because O’Hare is maybe a mile from the church. What did you want to do for your last full day here?”

“Well, we have breakfast with Matthew, Chelsea, Pavel, and Larisa, but after that, just spend some time with you, if that’s OK.”

“Of course it is!” I replied.

“We’ve kind of danced around the issue all week, but what happens after tomorrow?”

“You go back to Rochester and finish college and I stay here and finish High School.”

“Obviously,” Scarlett said. “But I meant about us.”

“I actually think my answer still fits, because we can’t really see each other except maybe on breaks, and during the Christmas holidays, I usually play in a hockey tournament. We’re going to Canada this year.”

“And you plan to go to UW Madison, right?”

“That’s the most likely place, yes, but that’s two years from now. You’ll still have a year left at U of M at that point.”

“It sounds as if you don’t want to see me,” Scarlett said, sounding sad.

“That’s not even remotely true!” I protested. “I’m just pointing out the challenges to seeing each other. Honestly, I’m sixteen, and that really limits my options. My moms and my dad give me maximum freedom, but on a bunch of things, the government strongly disagrees. Just as an example, it was legal for us to fool around in Minnesota, but here, you are considered to be committing a felony, and because you came across state lines to commit a felony, there are probably federal charges which could be filed as well.”

“That is SO stupid!” Scarlett protested.

“TELL me about it!” I growled. “Did you know at one point simply taking your girlfriend across state lines and sleeping together was a federal crime? Even if you were both over eighteen?”

“No way!”

“It’s a law called the Mann Act, though it’s been changed now to require you to be doing something illegal in either state. In other words, if you paid for me to fly to Minnesota, you could be charged because what we’re doing is illegal in Illinois.”

“Can the government get any dumber?”

“Don’t ask that!” I chuckled. “It’ll only ensure they try harder!”

“So, when can I see you again?”

“Let’s discuss that when I come back from Sweden and Russia. For sure I’ll be in Rochester for four weeks next Summer because I’m going to help out with Mites and PeeWees, plus have my own session. Other than that, let’s just take things as they come. It really is the only way, at least until we’re both finished with college. And we should shower so we can meet the others for breakfast.”

“OK.”

🎤 Matthew

“What’s the plan for after Pavel and Larisa leave?” Chelsea asked as we dressed for breakfast.

“I didn’t really have one,” I said. “How about we just go back to the townhouse and have a nice afternoon and dinner together? Cuddling while we listen to music or watch TV?”

“I’d like that! Do I need to buy anything for the trip to Spain?”

I laughed, “I think the string bikini is all you need! And on some beaches, only the bottoms!”

“You are bad, Matt Clarke!”

“Honestly? Not that I can think of. You have your suitcase and plenty of Summer clothes. If it were me, I’d leave room in my suitcase to bring back stuff we buy there. I’m positive you’ll find cute clothes or souvenirs that you want to buy.”

“That’s not your thing at all. You basically wear the same limited set of clothes and the only stuff you display is either your speech trophies or play posters from your school.”

I shrugged, “Mom and Eduardo are like that, and Dad really only has one cabinet of stuff like that, and it’s mostly gifts he’s been given, or things purchased for a specific reason.”

“I love how this house is furnished and decorated — Scandinavian modern is really light and airy compared to my mom’s preference for Early American — heavy, dark wood and cluttered space.”

“I think it’s a combination of Dad’s tastes and the fact that he had ten people living in the house when he was in college and then ran his business from here. They needed the space!”

“When we come back, I need to buy my books. Mom deposited the money in my account.”

“Dad considers the prices they charge in the bookstore to be obscene!”

Chelsea laughed, “And the nude saunas to be just another day at the Adams’ house!”

“True, though we did make the concession to Pavel and Larisa.”

“Remember, they each had their own room!”

I chuckled, “Plausible deniability. But that’s not really all that different from what we’re doing, though obviously our parents are aware, and theirs are not.”

“True. If it’s OK, I’ll invite them to visit again, and Marcie, and maybe one or two others.”

“That’s fine with me. Were you thinking August for your other friends?”

“Yes.”

We finished dressing, packed our things, changed the sheets on the bed, and then went to meet Jesse, Scarlett, Pavel, and Larisa so we could walk to the diner for breakfast.

🎤 Steve

The dojo was full at 9:30am, with Molly and her students, Sensei Ichirou and some of his students, Sensei Sharon and some of her students, and Sensei Jim’s wife and eldest son, who had come up from Florida. As the senior black belt besides Sensei Jim, and having more time in grade than Sensei Ichirou, it fell to me to be master of ceremonies, both for the handover of the dojo, and for the banquet.

My first act was to invite Kaito, the Buddhist monk from the temple in Lincoln Park, to give a blessing. He signaled Birgit to light incense in a bowl in front of the shrine to «Shihan» Hiro, and once she’d done that, he prayed.

“If Sensei Molly, Sensei Ichirou, and Sensei Sharon would join me please,” I said.

They came forward to stand with me.

“Sensei Jim, please step forward.”

He did and bowed to the assembled black belts, even though he was a higher Dan, and we returned his bow.

“Sensei Will, please step forward.”

He did and bowed to us and we returned the bow. He and Sensei Jim then faced each other and bowed, Will bowing first, and slightly lower, as was the proper tradition. Marcia handed a new belt and uniform to Sensei Jim to hand to Will. His new uniform was black, and the belt, which had been hand-stitched by Sakurako, was red. I had agreed, going forward, that I would only wear my red gi at the dojo, leaving Will as the only one to wear black, and the only one with a red belt.

Once the gi and belt had been handed over, Sensei Jim made a deep bow, and Will returned the bow, signifying the change of command, as it were.

“Congratulations, «Shihan» Will,” Sensei Jim said.

“Thank you, Sensei!” Will replied.

We had a short break while Will went to the locker room to change, and when he returned, he bowed to the assembled black belts, and we returned his bow.

“The dojo is yours, «Shihan»,” I said to Will.

He turned, clapped his hands, and everyone moved to line up, with Sensei Jim being the first on the left-hand side of the first row, now as senior student to the new master of the dojo.

🎤 Birgit

“What has you so frustrated?” Tiffany asked when I arrived at her house after lunch.

“The universe hates me!” I growled. “I was this close,” I held my thumb and forefinger about a millimeter apart, “to having sex and was interrupted AGAIN!”

Tiffany giggled, “Now what happened?”

I explained about Peter and the smoke alarm, then his dad showing up.

“That’s like three times now!”

“I know! I’m going to hunt down Loki and have words with him!”

“You could just fuck him!” Tiffany teased. “That might get his attention!”

What I should have done was be smarter about not revealing how I felt about Dad and what I wanted. Then maybe I’d have had the same thing Tiffany’s mom had!

“Yeah, a mythical, non-existent god, just like my sex life!”

“Peter sucked on your boob!”

“Which only made it worse!” I groused. “What is it with the world?”

“Well, let’s head to Hannah’s house. There’s a new girl who just moved in across the street from her who’ll be there.”

“Another recruit for the Girl Gang!” I declared triumphantly. “What’s her name?”

“Lilibeth. She just moved here from Boston after her dad was transferred. Hannah says she’s super nice.”

“Cool.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Hope that Peter is back in time for the Fourth of July party, take him to my room, and make our own fireworks!”