Chapter 2

I woke to the voice of one of the news reporters on NPR. I don't enjoy being awakened by some kind of jarring music that frightens cats and dogs. OK, I guess that does make me some kind of geek. I just don't like some types of pop music. It doesn't do anything for me.

Listening to NPR, I missed Bob Edwards. He'd been like some sort of surrogate father for me during my morning wakeup sessions. I missed him while listening to those replacements that had taken over his show. Those idiots in charge of NPR had really screwed the pooch when they'd driven off their finest anchor. But hey! What do I know? I'm still in high school!

My attitude brightened up as I thought about Lori. I got up and performed the necessary ablutions of the bathroom routine. Once I had dressed I got myself down to the kitchen for some breakfast.

When I got there I found Mom and Katrin already seated at the table. They both smiled at me as I walked over to the fridge. "Mark, how are you doing this morning?"

"Hi Mom. I'm fine."

"Hey big brother - did you sleep OK?"

"Yeah Katrin, I slept fine."

I glanced at them and noticed them looking at each other with big grins spread across their faces.

"What?"

Mom spoke. "Oh, Mark - it's just that you've turned out to be such a fine young man. And you've got a beautiful, smart girlfriend." Her grin faded a bit before she continued. "I just wish your father had been here to see how you've turned out."

Katrin's smile had also faded with the mention of our father. He had died in a traffic accident when I was eleven and Katrin had been nine.

"Uh, thanks for saying what every guy would like to hear from his mother, Mom."

Mom smiled again. "So, Mark - what are you going to do after school today?"

"Oh, I'll probably go over to Lori's place to tutor her some more in math."

Katrin giggled. I looked at her. "What?"

"Aren't you going to study Biology, too?"

OK, I did it again. I blushed. I sputtered. I sat down.

I decided to confront the issue. "OK, what do you know?"

Mom smiled. "Enough."

Katrin added. "Lori told me about Monday afternoon and that night. I noticed you hadn't come home. When I saw you at school yesterday morning I called Mom and told her you looked fine. And I saw that you were with Lori when you came into the building, so I already had an idea of what was goin' on between you two.

Then, Lori told me everything last night. And I told Mom about all of what Lori said after you went to bed."

Mom had continued smiling. "And Jeanie Hutchinson pretty much has things figured out. She's certain that you and Lori are lovers. And don't worry - she's pleased if Lori is happy. And Lori is just exuding happiness. You won't ever be in trouble with Jeanie as long as you keep Lori happy. Their maid noticed some things and told her about them. And Lori must have confirmed Jeanie's suspicions when they spoke last night.

I had pretty much already figured out that you stayed with Lori Monday evening. I drove by after eight o'clock and saw you truck in their driveway. So, I was reasonably sure about where you were when you didn't come home for the evening."

Well, I managed not to let my mouth hang open.

I did eat whatever it was that I had for breakfast. I just don't know what it was that I ate.

I gathered up my stuff and Katrin followed me out the door. I went out to my pickup and drove to school. Katrin sat at the other end of the bench seat and she was grinning at me for most of the drive.

As I pulled into the student parking lot I looked around for Lori's Lexus and didn't see it. I drove down toward the end that was still mostly empty and parked there. My pickup would be clearly visible when Lori arrived, I hoped. I fidgeted a bit and Katrin stayed with me and continued grinning at me.

And it was only about two minutes later before Lori pulled up right beside us. I realized she had a passenger and then recognized that he was her cousin Tom.

Tom got out as Lori was grabbing her stuff. He looked at Katrin and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Hey Tom, this is my little sister Katrin."

"Oh, hi Katrin. Nice to meet you."

By now Lori had come around her car and she flung her arms around me. "Hey lover-boy!" Then her lips were pressed hard against mine and our tongues got all tied up in a long kiss. I did hear a giggle to one side of us. Katrin grabbed Tom's arm.

"Tom, let's leave the two lovers to themselves." They walked away while my eyes flicked between Lori's eyes and the sight of my sister walking away while tugging on an obviously confused Tom.

We continued with our French kiss for what had to be two or three minutes. It was hot and I was getting horny as hell from all of the building passion that it was causing for me. Lori broke our kiss slowly. She grinned as she looked me in the eyes. I'm pretty sure that I was grinning mighty foolishly while looking back into her eyes.

"Well, lover-boy... Are you going to come over to my place this afternoon and tutor me some more?"

"Lori, nothing could keep me away from tutoring you in Biology."

She laughed. It was nearly a gut-splitting laugh. Lori was acting out close to the times I had heard her howl in laughter. But this seemed to be a laugh that she directed to me, personally.

"Oh, Mark - I sure do hope that you're going to tutor me in Biology even more than you've tutored me in Algebra. I need so much more of your personal style of tutoring."

She had a shit-eating grin that I was beginning to really appreciate.

"Lori, I plan on tutoring you and tutoring you some more and then repeating the lesson again and again."

"That's what I wanted to hear, lover-boy!" She pressed her body hard against mine and ground her groin against the hardon I had gotten during our long French kiss. My left hand was resting on her right butt and my right hand had crept up under the back of her blouse. I was caressing the smooth skin of her back.

Another car had pulled up besides Lori's Lexus while we were kissing and now all four of its doors were being closed. I glanced up at the sound and over at the vehicle as four girls came around the Lexus.

"Lori! Is this your tutor?" This question came from an auburn haired girl who looked nearly as beautiful as Lori. The question was followed by giggles from the other three girls and big grin on the face of the questioner.

"Hey Gail! Yeah, this is Mark. He's my tutor in Algebra and Biology."

Now Gail had to be the auburn haired beauty, I figured. And she laughed really nicely in response to what Lori had said. Her laugh was a lot like Lori's - open and telling everyone that she was enjoying what she had just heard. The other three girls were giggling as before.

I freed my right hand from where I had let it wander up under Lori's blouse and extended it toward Gail.

"You must be Gail. I'm Mark Jacobs. Expert math tutor, at your service."

One of the other girls whispered loud enough for me to hear her. "Oh, I heard he's expert at other things, too!" More giggles ensued.

Gail grinned and took my hand to shake it. "Oh, he's smart, polite, and funny. Are there any more like you around?"

Lori laughed. "Yeah Gail. Mark's got several friends who all do the computer thing. And they're all about as nice as Mark, although I've only met them once."

I spoke up in defense of my pals. "Oh, they're all gentlemen. Although, you do have to watch out for Timothy's wit. He can be deadly with that warped sense of humor that he's developed."

Gail's eyebrow twitched upward. "Sounds like an interesting kind of guy. A funny computer geek."

"Uh, Timothy's not all that geeky. He's just really good with writing computer code. And he's also good on the soccer field and in the pool. He's on both the school's soccer and swim teams."

Now all four girls had stopped giggling and grinning and seemed to be considering what I had just said.

Lori laughed. "Oh wait until you meet him. He's very handsome in a totally different way."

"Yeah, his mother is really exotic looking. She's the most beautiful lady I've ever met. And Timothy inherited some of her exotic looks."

Lori pressed her body against mine - really, really hard. "Lover-boy - is Timothy's mother more beautiful than me?"

"Lori, no woman is more beautiful than my lover. But, his mother is just so exotic looking and beautiful for a lady her age that I can't deny the truth of her beauty."

Gail laughed. "Oh, he is smart and so smooth. Lori, don't you let this lover of yours get away from you. 'Cause if you do, some other girl's goin' to snap him up so, so fast!"

Lori grinned and hugged me even harder. "Oh, no - he's not getting away from me! He's mine and he's all of him mine!"

I thought it was time to change the topic before I had reason to blush yet again.

"Lori, you haven't introduced me to your other friends."

Lori spun about in my arms and pointed at the remaining three girls.

"Amy, Tammi, and Grace."

And she immediately spun back in my arms and planted her lips on mine and gave me a quick, intense kiss.

My eyes got wide yet again with what Lori was doing. She had turned into a wild woman in my arms.

She broke the kiss and spun around again. "Girls - he's mine! You need to check out his friends if want one like him!"

At this point I was beginning to feel like my head was spinning. Gail, Amy, Tammi, and Grace were laughing really hard, now. Lori's demonstration of lust-filled affection had really set them off!

And I was afraid that her spinning antics and the alternating pressure of her groin and ass cheeks against my hardon was going to cause me to have an accidental discharge that no one would be able to miss.

I whispered into her ear. "Lori - quit doing that. You're going to make me cum in my pants if you keep that up!"

She did it again! I groaned. She smiled wickedly. "Oh, my poor lover-boy. Am I making you ready to explode?" She actually leered at me!

Oh God! I've created a monster!

She slowly peeled her body away from me and kept that leering, wicked smile on her face. "There, is that better?"

"Yes - for now. But I'm going to get back at you for that. Payback is hell, don't you know?"

"Oh... I can't wait for my payback!"

The first bell of the day sounded at that point.

I looked over Lori's head to her grinning friends. "Saved by the bell, ladies!"

That got another round of laughs from them.

I pulled Lori along toward the main building and spoke to her friends.

"Let's talk at lunch. I'll sit with you guys and you can tell me about all of the dirt that you have on Lori."

Lori squealed. "What! No way! My friends aren't going to squeal on me!"

"Oh, so there is some dirt on you!" I'm sure my eyes were gleaming!

She squealed again and whacked me on the arm. "You're a beast."

"Yeah, but I'm your beast and you know you like my beastly behavior!"

Lori's friends had kept up with us and they were laughing again.

Lori pulled my head down and whispered. "If you're as beastly as you were on Monday, then I'll always love your beastly bad behavior."

We were at the doors leading into our building and I had to get to my Senior homeroom. I looked over to Lori's friends and raised a hand in a wave. "I'll see you guys at your table during lunch."

I leaned over and kissed Lori on the tip of her nose. "I'll see you at lunch."

With that I turned to head off.

I didn't get away without another little bit of Lori's playfulness being shown to her friends.

She smacked me on the ass as I turned away. "See yuh later lover-boy."

I turned back for a moment. "Remember... Payback!"

"I'm counting on it, lover-boy!"

Those four girls were laughing again. And Lori was too as she joined them.

It would be a really good idea if I could get some of my friends involved with some of those girls.

Homeroom was interesting. One of the guys from the shop program was in my homeroom. Matt had helped me with rebuilding my uncle's old pickup truck. He and his pals were interested in cars in the same way my group of friends was interested in computers.

We regularly exchanged skills, helping each other with projects of interest to both groups. Timothy and I had designed a database and set of spreadsheet applications for the auto guys. Greg had fixed up an inexpensive LINUX server and LAN for the shop area.

Besides my refurbished antique pickup truck, Timothy and Greg had their old, thirdhand, first cars fixed up so that they now almost looked like they were new and fresh from the showroom.

I had known Matt since we attended the same elementary school. He said hello to me as I sat down next to him. "Hey Mark, who's that hot-looking girl I saw you with this morning?"

"Oh, that's Lori. I've been tutoring her in Algebra for several weeks. We kinda got involved in more than mathematics after awhile." I smiled as I thought about what had happened on Monday.

Matt grinned back at me. "Jeeze, Mark. She's a real babe! How'd you manage to hook up with her?"

"Matt, I was just my usual shy, geeky self. And she really came to like that."

"Man o man, Mark! Who would have guessed that geekiness and shyness were chick magnets?" He was grinning like crazy.

I grinned back at him. "Yeah, well - maybe part of it was the circumstances. And Lori is really nice. She's a nice person. She gets along with my sister Katrin. Katrin really seems to like her."

"Your sister likes her?"

"Yeah."

"And she likes your sister?"

Like I mentioned, Matt had known me since elementary school and so he had experienced repeated encounters with Katrin.

"Yeah, they get along really well."

"Mark, man - I think you're a goner! I saw how the two of you were trading spit this morning. You looked like you were lost. And if your sister likes her she must be something else!"

"Yeah Matt. I'm sure that I'm lost. And Lori really is someone special to me."

The bell for the first period of classes interrupted our talk.

"See you later, Mark."

"Yeah, Matt - I'll see around."

I got through my first four class periods of the day without too many problems. Of course, I was daydreaming part of the time. I was thinking about what I expected would happen this afternoon when I went over to Lori's house.

I was talking to Timothy between periods when Gail walked by. She smiled and said "Hi Mark!"

I smiled and waved.

Timothy watched her receding figure and asked me. "Who is she?"

"That's Gail. She's one of Lori's friends."

"Man, she is hot!"

Usually, Timothy is cool and reserved about girls our age. However, it was clear that he thought that Gail was different.

"Yeah, she sure does look hot. I only met her this morning. But, she seemed nice."

"You only met her this morning?"

"Lori introduced some of her friends to me. Gail's one of 'em. I'm going to eat lunch with them, today."

"You'll introduce us, won't you?"

I looked at Timothy. There was something in his eyes that I interpreted as interest. And maybe more. Maybe something else.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be glad to have Lori introduce you."

"Oh, that would be great Mark!"

The warning bell sounded and we split up to go to our classes.

"See you later, Timothy."

"Yeah, Mark. See yuh later!"

I got close to the cafeteria doors and noticed my sister Katrin and Lori's cousin Tom standing outside the doors. I looked around and then saw Lori and several of her friends walking towards me. Lori rushed up to me and grabbed my arms. "Miss me, lover-boy?"

"Oh yeah! I've been daydreaming my way through all of my classes, so far."

"Are you going to tell me about what you've been daydreaming about?"

I whispered into her ear. "No. Instead, I'm going to demonstrate to you what I've been daydreaming about when we get to your house!"

Lori squealed in delight. I then noticed that she seemed to be twitching.

She was holding onto my shoulder and it seemed like she was repeating a mantra. "Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh YEAH!"

She shuddered a little with that last part and I suddenly realized that she had experienced a minor orgasm standing there in the hallway.

I looked up to see six or seven girls sucking up deep breaths. I grinned and caught Gail's glance. She grinned back and winked at me.

"Come on, Lori. Let's get in line for lunch."

With that I turned Lori around and started for the cafeteria. That's when I noticed the flushed faces of my sister Katrin and Lori's cousin Tom. They must have seen everything that had just happened.

I smiled at them. "Lori's a little bit excitable, don't you think?"

Katrin just jerked her head in a bobble of nodding.

Tom managed a slight smile. "Yeah. Please teach me that trick, why don't you?"

Katrin looked sharply at Tom. Then her expression cleared up a bit and she smiled at me. She glanced at Lori and then winked at me. Then she glanced at Tom and winked again.

I suddenly realized that Katrin was about to become an item with Tom. It came to me with such clarity that I looked around to check my surroundings. I had to wonder if I was daydreaming, again. We were still in the hall just outside the double doors leading into the cafeteria. Other kids were walking around us and none of them seemed to have noticed what had happened.

I got my act together. "Come on Lori, let's get lunch."

Lori's friends were talking amongst themselves and they split off to enter the left side cafeteria line. Katrin and Tom followed Lori and I into the right side line.

I was holding Lori as we went through the line. Once we got near the food service area she straightened up and smiled at me. "I'm OK."

"You sure? You kinda surprised me with what happened back in the hallway."

"Yeah, I'm just kinda excitable when I'm with you."

"Oh yeah! Well, the reciprocal is true, too!"

There were snickers from Katrin and Tom.

I looked at the two of them. "Wait'll it's your turn!"

They both quit their snickering in a heartbeat and looked at each other. Their eyes seemed to get a bit larger as they looked at each other. Whatever Katrin had thought she was signaling with her earlier winks now seemed to have been overtaken by something passing between the two of them. There was definitely something happening with the two of them.

I couldn't pass it up. "Well, it's good to see that I've established my ascendency over you two."

Both of them looked at me with puzzled expressions. Now it was Lori who was snickering. "Oh, I'm so glad I got myself a really smart boyfriend."

We got through the food service area and I turned to Katrin and Tom as they followed us out into the cafeteria.

"I'm going to eat with Lori and her friends. Why don't you two eat with my pals. Tom, they'll help protect you from my evil little sister."

I grinned at that parting shot and went with Lori over to the table where her friends were already starting to take their seats.

Lori and I sat down with Gail and Grace and two girls who I hadn't met.

Gail started our conversation right off with a very pointed question. "Mark, was that Timothy I saw you talking to in the hallway?"

"Yeah, Gail. Like I said - he's different."

"Oh, you're right about that! I've never seen a guy who looked so different and so nice. You said he plays soccer and swims, too?"

"Yeah, Timothy's a real athletic type of guy. But, he's not a jock. He doesn't swagger - if you know what I mean. And he's really smart. He writes code for webpages and databases that we use here in the school. He's actually paid by the school system as a consultant and part-time system administrator."

One of the girls I hadn't yet met spoke up. "You mean he's a computer geek and he's making money while still in high school!"

"Well yeah... I'm a computer geek and the school system has paid me for my services, too. That's how I managed to get my antique pickup truck rebuilt. If I wasn't paid what I earned then I'd still be using my bicycle to get to school."

Grace spoke up this time. "Oh, yeah. That's a really nice old truck you have! How did you manage to get it and fix it up?"

The rest of Lori's friends had arrived at the table and so I told them about my uncle's old pickup truck. I told them about how he had given it to me when I had worked for him over the past Summer. I explained about the guys in the shop who wanted to work on cars and about them trading their expertise with what my pals and I knew about computers. The shop guys knew how to fix things with their hands and my buddies and I knew how to fix things with our minds. I noted that when we worked together we could do all sorts of interesting, useful, and even money-making things.

When I finished I realized that most of the girls had stopped eating their lunches. Several of them had very odd expressions.

It was the girl I remembered as Tammi who first said it. "Damn! Why have I been dating dumb jocks for the last year?"

The whole table broke out into laughter. Lori was laughing along with all of her other friends.

She looked around the table. "I told you he was smart. And he's so good, too. That part about his using his mind to fix things. Well, let me tell you! He can use his hands and other parts to fix me up any day or night!"

OK, I had thought that those eight girls had laughed before. I was wrong. Now they laughed. They howled in glee. And, of course - I blushed.

Kids at the surrounding tables were looking at us. I noticed one of the football jocks looking. He noticed me and started glaring at me. I looked him straight back in the eyes and then glanced around the table. Then I shrugged. He seemed to be puzzled by my response to what was going on. That's when I noticed Gail seeing that I had been engaged in an exchange with whatever his name was. She leaned over and spoke to Grace and then did the same to Tammi. They all looked over at the football jock and purposefully glared at him. He scowled a bit and then looked away when he saw that he was attracting more attention from others who were staring at the girls who were glaring at him.

Lori had noticed what was going on. "Don't worry about him. He dated Gail a couple of times and she dropped him like a piece of roadkill."

"Oh, what did he do wrong?"

"Just about everything."

"Poor guy. Gail's a prize waiting for the right guy. Too bad for him he couldn't figure out how to treat her correctly."

Lori looked at me like I was crazy. That lasted for about one to two seconds. Then she just broke out into a huge smile.

"You're just too damned wonderful! You feel sympathy for that damned clueless bozo! You're smart and loving and you've got a big heart, too. How did I ever deserve to meet someone like you!?! How could I be so lucky?!?"

The other girls around the table had noticed this exchange and were watching the two of us.

Gail asked the question. "What was that about?"

Lori related our exchange.

Gail looked really surprised. "You feel sorry for that idiot?"

"Well, yeah. He obviously missed out when he couldn't figure how to treat a girl like you. I kinda feel sorry for him. I'm guessing that he really doesn't have a clue about what he's missing."

The entire table of girls was looking at me in the most odd way.

The sentiment of the group seemed to be expressed by Amy. "Lori, what planet did find this guy on? He's too unreal!"

Lori just beamed.

I blushed, again.

Grace came to my rescue. "Mark, you're some kind of computer whiz, right?"

"Well, yeah. That is, if it has to do with coding mathematical expressions in various computer languages."

"Oh, I was hoping you might be able to help fix my sick computer."

Lori broke in. "Mark, remember that I told you about one of my friends having a problem with her computer." She nodded her head towards Grace.

"Grace, I'm not the guy you need to talk to. My friend Greg is our hardware expert among my group of buddies. He can fix almost anything! I think he just might be able to build a computer out of tin cans! Why don't you come over to my friends' table with Lori and me, tomorrow. You can tell Greg about what seems to be wrong with your computer and he can tell you what might be broken or how to fix the problem."

Grace smiled. "Oh, OK. That sounds like a good plan."

Gail spoke up at that point. "I'll come along with you Grace." We don't want Mark's friend Greg to think that you're only there to meet him."

Lori smiled. "And Gail, none of us want Mark and Greg's friend Timothy to think that you're along just to meet him, do we?"

The whole damned table broke out in laughter, again.

And Gail blushed a shade of red that nearly matched her auburn hair.

And that's when the bell for the next period rang. Lori and I said our goodbyes to her friends and once we got rid of our trays and trash, we headed on to Algebra.

Algebra class turned out to be not too interesting until the end of the period. Mrs. Hargraves hit us with a pop quiz. We had fifteen minutes in which to deal with the several problems and questions. I finished in less than ten minutes. One of the girls in the class who I knew was another math wiz finished about the same time. She and I looked up and exchanged a smile as we got up to turn in our papers.

I had just sat back down at my desk when Lori looked up and smiled at me. She took another minute or so looking over her test paper and then got up to turn it in. She was the fourth student to turn in her paper. Mrs. Hargraves seemed to notice this. She took Lori's paper and appeared to go ahead and grade it. Several other students turned in their papers while she appeared to review Lori's test sheet.

The bell finally rang and Mrs. Hargraves asked that everyone still working on their tests turn them in. I looked over at Lori and used my hand to signal to her that she should remain seated.

We waited until most of the class had gotten up and left for their next class. I looked to Lori and twitched my head towards Mrs. Hargraves.

We both got up and walked towards the front of he classroom.

Mrs. Hargraves looked up at us and smiled. "Well, if it isn't my star tutor and his star student."

Lori seemed a bit startled by this. I knew Mrs. Hargraves and I thought I knew what she was saying.

"Mrs. Hargraves, did you already grade Lori's test?"

"Yes, Mark - I did."

Lori sucked in her breath.

"Lori - I'm very pleased with the results I see here. You scored a 95 on this test. And your one error seems more like a mistake of someone hurrying to complete the whole test rather than someone misunderstanding the question.

Mark, you have a 99. You missed one expression. I think that's more some sloppiness in your handwriting than your understanding of the problem.

Lori's handwriting is very clear. Maybe she should tutor you in how to write clearly."

She smiled at both of us. "You both need to get to your next classes, don't you?"

We both nodded.

"Thanks, Mrs. Hargraves!"

"Yes, M'am."

Once we got into the hallway Lori threw herself at me. "I got a 95! In Algebra! Mark, you're a genius!"

"OK, OK, OK! But I only got a 99! I think I need you to tutor me in how to write clearly!"

She laughed. It was a delightful sound. I looked around and there wasn't a teacher in sight. I quickly planted a kiss on her nose and pulled away from her. "Go to your next class. We'll meet up in the parking lot."

I got out of my last class and went by my locker to dump the books I didn't need to take with me. My bag was relatively light by the time I hit the exit and that's when I saw Lori.

She literally sauntered up to me, grabbed my head, and planted a searing kiss on my lips. She allowed it to last only a few seconds. Then she separated from me and backing up, she smiled at me.

There were calls and gasps from around us. On guy I knew from some of my classes called out. "Get a room, Mark!"

I grinned at him. "That's the next thing on my personal agenda for the remainder of the day."

He guffawed. Others laughed out loud.

Lori looked around and just grinned. "It's my room that's next on his agenda!"

That elicited a whole bunch of hoots and other calls. One guy who was on the soccer team and knew me through Timothy passed by and slapped me on the shoulder. "Mark, what's your secret?" He was looking at Lori and seemed like he might have been just a bit puzzled by how a geek like me had gotten a foxy babe like Lori.

"Hey, I'm just good at tutoring!"

Lori looked him right in his eyes. "Mark is the best tutor in the world. He's smart and he understands things and he's taught me things I never understood before we hooked up together."