Chapter 10

I couldn’t believe what my lover that just said. “You ... you want to...” I stammered. I couldn’t get the words out.

Julie said, “I think we should date other people while...”

I grabbed my robe off the chair beside my bed and put it on. “God damn it Julie. If you fucking want to break up with me just say so!” I hissed. I grabbed my sleeping bag as I stalked out of my bedroom.

I ignored her calls. “Kyle ... Please listen, Kyle ... Please?”

I slammed the bedroom door behind me. I went downstairs to the basement and tried to go to sleep on the couch. I laid on the couch trying to understand what was happening to Julie and me. About ten minutes later I heard someone open the door at the top of the steps.

Julie asked, “Kyle, I love you. Please listen to me. Can we talk?” At first I didn’t answer. “Kyle, please talk with me.”

I snapped, “What is there to say?”

“I didn’t explain myself well. Please listen to me for five minutes. Don’t yell and don’t walk off. We need to talk about this. Will you do that?”

“Talk,” I replied curtly.

Julie turned the light on and came downstairs. I made room on the couch for her. She sat down beside me. “God this is hard. I want us to stay committed to each other. I want to come back to spend time with you next summer. I want us to go to college together.”

“OK. Exactly how does dating other people fit into our plans?” I asked sharply.

“We are sixteen. We are going to try to maintain a long distance relationship for two years. How is it going to work? Do we skip going out to movies? No school dances? What about the prom. Are we going to skip that?”

Julie hit home. “I don’t know, Julie. I really don’t know,” I answered.

“Please come back to our bed, Kyle. I don’t want to fight with you.”

“I need time to think, Julie. I’m going to stay down here tonight. We’ll talk tomorrow after I get back from football practice.”

“OK. Just think about how we can stay a couple but try to live a normal lives for a kids our age,” Julie asked.

I woke in darkness in the basement. I put my robe on and trudged upstairs carrying my sleeping bag. I laid it in the hallway and waited my turn for the bathroom. Andy beat me to it this morning. When Andy was finished in the bathroom, he eyed my sleeping bag as he crossed the hall to his room. Andy whispered, “What’s that for?”

“Julie and I had a fight last night.”

“I’m sorry, man.”

“We’ll work it out,” I answered, wishing I had a clue how we would work it out.

I showered, snuck into my room and dressed. Julie was asleep in my bed. I stared at her a minute. God she is gorgeous! Even first thing in the morning she’s a knock out. I headed downstairs and had a couple bowls of cereal and some orange juice. Andy and I grabbed our gym bags and went outside to wait for our ride. We met Ed in front of his house. Jeremy had permission to use his family’s spare car for the duration of two-a-day practices. He was our ride to practice for the next week and a half.

Ed and I did a double take when Jeremy pulled up to the curb. Hal Long was sitting in the front seat, grinning at us. The three of us climbed in the back. As Jeremy pulled away from the curb I exclaimed, “What the hell are you doing here? I didn’t think soccer practices started as early as this.”

Hal laughed. “They don’t. You guys were wondering who the ‘soccer weenie’ who is going to be your kicker this season. I’m at your service.” Andy and Jeremy laughed along with Hal.

Ed looked at Hal in disbelief. “You? You’re our kicker this year?”

I asked, “Why all the secrecy? Why didn’t you just tell us this two weeks ago?”

Hal said, “I just wanted to see the looks on your faces when you found out.”

Ed said, “I take from the laughs, Jeremy, that you and Andy were in on this?”

Jeremy answered, “I’m Hal’s holder.”

Andy added, “I shag the balls when they practice kickoffs and field goals.”

“I guess the good thing is we don’t have to worry about having a flaky kicker like some teams.” I said. Jeremy drove us to school. Justin, er Coach Baer, met us at the door when we got to the boys locker room. He told us to dress in shorts and a T-shirt for now and to meet him in the back of the locker room.

Justin conducted the age-old ritual every football player knows. Weigh-in. I tipped the scales at 176 pounds and 6’-4 ½”. Andy beat me by ½” at 6’-5”. I’ll never hear the end of it now that he’s taller than me. He weighed 149 pounds. Ed was up to 6’-1” and 183 pounds. Jake was 5’-10” and 162 pounds. Hal was 5’-11” and 166 pounds. Jeremy was the surprise. He measured 6’-2” and 205 pounds. I knew Jeremy was built like a linebacker, but 205 pounds! He’s going to rock some people when he hits them this season.

We did the vertical leap in the gym next. I matched last year’s 39 inches. Andy came in at 38”. Coach Baer took us outside for the running. I was delighted when Coach Baer announced that I had a time of 4.38 seconds for 40 yards. Andy improved over last year to 4.43 seconds. Ed came in at 4.50 seconds. Hal managed a 4.42 seconds, just slightly faster than Andy. For what it’s worth, our soon-to-be kicker was third fastest person on the team, after Drew McCormick and me. Jeremy did a very respectable 4.52 seconds. Jake made the 40 in 4.55 seconds.

We finished off with the 400 meter run. Coach Baer recorded our times in the chart. He scanned them over and grinned at us. “Guys – Kyle, Andy, Ed and Jeremy have the fastest times on the team. Drew McCormick’s and Tim Showalter’s times come next. Hal and Jake beat the times of the other hundred or so people in the Wolverines Football Program. Good job, guys.”

Coach Baer had the six of us join the rest of our teammates. We spent the rest of the morning doing calisthenics, blocking drills, tackling drills and fumble drills. I felt comfortable training with my friends and teammates.

Just before lunch Coach Caffrey called Greg Harrison (starting tight end), George Reynolds (starting strong side linebacker), Ed, Jeremy and me over to talk. He planned to have a talk with the entire team after lunch to discuss our goals for this year. He wanted the five of us to lead the team in a cheer.

Everyone headed into the cafeteria for our lunch. I found a seat with Ed, Hal, Jeremy, Greg, Jake and Andy. Our conversation started out about our trip, but eventually turned to girlfriends.

Ed asked leeringly, “Did you enjoy sharing your bed with Julie last night?”

Jeremy stared at me. “You slept with Julie last night? Were your parents away?”

“No. My parents...” I replied.

Ed interrupted, “Didn’t you know? Kyle’s parents allow him and Julie to sleep together since his little sister found out he and his brothers have sex with their girlfriends. So, how was it last night?”

I frowned. “I had a fight with Julie last night. I slept on the couch in the basement.”

“No shit! That’s a bummer man,” Ed replied.

Jeremy asked, “What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I grumped.

Ed put his hand on my shoulder. “Kyle, talk to us. What happened between you and Julie?”

I thought for a few seconds. I was reluctant to discuss it, but finally decided it couldn’t hurt to talk about it. “You know how Julie and I planned to stay together and pick the same college so we can be together again?”

“Yes?” Ed asked.

“Julie suggested that we see other people,” I explained.

Jeremy asked, “She’s breaking up with you?”

“No, she says she isn’t. She thinks we should be able to date other people during the school year. You know, go to a movie, go to a dance and attend the prom. You know, those sorts of things,” I said.

Ed said, “Julie may have a good idea. I can’t see you sitting around home every Saturday night.”

“I can’t imagine what I would feel like if Kathy moved away. If the two of you dating until you get to college help keep you sane, maybe you should do it,” Jeremy added.

“You guys may be right. I don’t know. I love Julie and I can’t imagine going on a date with anyone else. It just doesn’t feel right.” I explained.

Ed asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I guess Julie and I will talk tonight. I hope we can figure out how to make this work for both of us.”

Thankfully the conversation turned to another topic than my love life. We were finishing lunch when Nathan Yuninger and Jerry Morton carried an eight foot banner into the cafeteria. It said “Drive for Excellence”

Coach Caffrey stood up and signaled for quiet. Coach gave a five minute pep talk. He challenged us to set our goals high. We shouldn’t settle for a winning record. We shouldn’t settle for making the playoffs. We should strive to be the best football team in the state. He said we had all the personnel and experience to accomplish this if we worked hard, studied our jobs and worked as a team.

On cue, Ed, Jeremy, George Greg and I stood up. I shouted, “Are we satisfied with making the playoffs?”

Ed, George, Jeremy and Greg replied, “No way!”

Ed shouted, “Are we satisfied with winning our league?”

George, Jeremy, Greg and I answered, “No way!” along with some of the hundred plus football players in the room.

Greg shouted, “Where are we going this year?”

My friends and I led the chant, “State Championship!” The rest of the team joined in with us. We repeated the chant three times, with increasing volume each time.

We sat down and Coach Caffrey concluded lunch with this challenge. “Today we begin our quest for a state championship. Work hard, study our responsibilities and help your teammates. Together we can achieve our goal. Hit the field. We start our drive for excellence right now.”

Our team took the practice field to the sound of cheers. We spent the afternoon walking through our base plays, making sure everyone knew their responsibilities on each play. We finished off with a half hour of special teams practice. Hal looked good kicking off. The ball went deep down field, almost to the end zone. Andy worked as the return man on a couple of the kickoffs. Hal made three straight 30 yard field goals. He only managed one of three when he moved to 40 yards from the goal.

We ended the day with our traditional run, with one small twist. Coach Caffrey upped the distance to three miles. More than a few of our teammates groused about the change. My crewmates from Algonquin led the team throughout the run. Hal, Ed, Andy and I piled in Jeremy’s car for the trip home.

Andy headed straight for the shower when we got home. I didn’t mind. I went to the kitchen to talk to Mom. I asked, “Where’s Julie?”

“She spent the day with her grandmother. She will be back after dinner this evening.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I said. I headed upstairs to wait for my turn in the shower.

After dinner I hung out in the family room watching TV until Julie came home from her grandmothers. It was nearly eight o’clock. I greeted Julie with a kiss. She returned it, but not quite as enthusiastically as I’d hoped. We went straight to my room for our talk.

We sat down on my bed facing each other. I said, “I’m sorry about last night, Julie. I shouldn’t have gotten so mad. Tell me about your plan.” I listened this time as Julie explained about what she had in mind. When she was finished explaining, it sounded like it made sense. I said, “I’ve had time to think. You’re probably right about us needing to be able to do these kinds of things. My friends agree with you.”

Julie asked, “You talked about our love life with your friends?”

“Just to Ed, Jeremy, Hal and Andy. They say you’re right and that I should agree to what you want.”

“So we will date other people during the school year?”

“I love you, Julie. If it makes you happy, I don’t mind if you date other people.”

“If we are going to stay boyfriend and girlfriend, you can’t shut me out like last night. We have to e-mail and IM regularly. Can you do that, Kyle?”

“Yes, I can. I want you to know, Julie, I love you completely. I’m not going to be dating other people. There isn’t anyone else I want to be with.”

“You don’t have to be a monk. Go out and have fun. Just remember that I’m your girlfriend.”

“I’ll never forget that, Julie.” I replied. We kissed. The passion was back. We kissed for what seemed like forever. Someone walked by and cleared their throat while we were kissing. I got up and shut my bedroom door and locked it. We didn’t want to put on a show for my family.

We stripped and made out some more. Julie pleasured me with her recently learned deep throat technique. It seemed I blew a year’s worth of cum down her throat. I used my tongue and fingers to slowly to excite Julie almost to climax. The scent of Julie’s pussy made my cock painfully hard. I strung out Julie’s arousal for maybe five minutes, bringing her close to orgasm and then letting her calm down a little.

Julie begged, “Jesus, Kyle! Get me off. Please...”

I circled Julie’s clit with my tongue, never quite touching it. My two fingers worked against her G-spot. Julie gasped, “Please???? Make me ... OH GOD ... Make me cum...”

I pressed my finger against her spot and finally sucked her clit into my mouth. Julie groaned and stuffed the corner of her pillow in her mouth to silence her impending scream. Julie mashed her hips up against my mouth while her pussy clenched and spasmed around my fingers. I lapped up the juices pouring out of her hole. Julie writhed and panted while she rode her climax to its finale.

I sat back and watched my girlfriend slowly descend from her ecstasy. Julie stared up and me and asked, “What am I going to do without you, Kyle?”

“Same thing as me, Julie. Remember tonight.”

“Put your big boy in me, Kyle,” Julie declared. “I need a good fucking. I want to feel you fill me.” She pulled her knees up to her chest to position herself for our favorite deep penetration position.

I sank my erection slowly into my lover. I wanted to savor every touch and sensation. It was going to be a very long time until either of us felt this again. We made love earnestly. I stroked my cock in and out of my girlfriend slowly for awhile and then built up speed. I tried my best to bring pleasure to Julie while we made love. I ground my pubic area against Julie’s clit until she orgasmed again. I continued thrusting while she climaxed. I managed to hold off my own climax until Julie came twice more. The sensation finally become more than I could take. I thrust my cock in until it pressed against Julie’s womb. I pumped gob after gob of sticky white semen into my lover.

I thought about what we were doing as I spurted my essence into Julie. Would we do this for real someday? I mean, would we marry and conceive our children? I certainly hoped we would. I collapsed on top of Julie, completely spent. Julie rolled us on our sides. She kissed me as I recovered my senses.

“I love you, Kyle,” Julie cooed. “I love you.”

I returned her kiss. “I want to remember tonight for the rest of my life, Julie. I love you too.” We cuddled together and fell asleep.

I didn’t wake again until my alarm rang. I knew it was 5 am, Julie’s wake up time. Julie carefully disentangled herself from me. Julie kissed me and quietly asked, “Are you awake, Kyle?”

“Mmm-hmmm.” I answered.

Julie said, “I love you, Kyle. I’m going to miss you so much. Write me.”

“I’ll write everyday Julie. I love you too. I hope you have a nice flight.” I answered. Julie got out of our bed and went to the bathroom. I dozed off. I woke up again when Julie came back to get dressed. She came over to the bed and kissed me one last time.

Julie declared, “I love you, Kyle. I always will. Until next summer.” She kissed me passionately. I returned the kiss. Our tongues tangled together.

Mom knocked on my door and said, “Julie, it’s time to go. I don’t want you to miss your flight.”

Julie pulled away. “I’m going to miss you so much, Kyle. I love you. Write me.”

“I love you, Julie. I’ll write everyday. Have a safe trip.” I declared.

“I set your alarm for 6:30 like you asked me. Good bye, Kyle.”

I said, “I love you, Julie.” as she walked out my door. I listened as Mom drove my lover away. I felt very alone. I glanced at my clock. It was 5:25. I had over an hour until I needed to get up. I rolled over and dozed off.

Jeremy picked up Ed, Andy and me in front of Ed’s house. Hal only practiced with the team on days when we were going to do special teams practice. Normally that would be Tuesdays and Thursdays. He had soccer practice later this morning. Coach Baer told everyone as they came in the locker room to put on pads today. We were going to start hitting.

The coaches split us up into four squads. I ended up with Ed’s squad. It was probably 60% of the expected starters on our team. The rest of the expected starters were on the squad with Jake Kring. Andy ended up with Ed and me.

We scrimmaged against a good portion of our starting defense. We practiced our base plays. We looked sharp on our passing plays. Adam Diem, our starting center had put on a lot of muscle over the winter. He was up to 205 pounds. He was a handful for Luke Stauffer and Joey Keller. Jamaal Green was playing right tackle for us. He hadn’t played football for a couple years. Jamaal went about 280 pounds. Ed didn’t have to worry about his blind side this year. Nobody in our league was going to move Jamaal.

Joey Keller, a soon-to-be sophomore, played right defensive tackle opposite Luke Stauffer, our third year varsity left defensive tackle. Joey had moved to our school in the middle of the football season last fall. He had played football for years at his old school outside Baltimore before he moved. Joey was a big guy too. Both Joey and Jamaal were recruited by Coach Caffrey to help beef up our lines. It should pay dividends when the playoffs come.

Coach Baer was observing us when we started working on our off-tackle play. We ran it twice and both times the defense stacked up our blockers, trapping Drew McCormick in the backfield. Drew was now our number 1 tailback since Stan Humphreys had graduated.

Coach Baer blew his whistle and called us over to huddle with him. He explained, “Drew. You’re going too fast. Slow down a little. The play will work better.”

“Um, I don’t get it,” Drew said. “How will the play work better if I go slower? Won’t the defense just catch me faster?”

“No. You aren’t letting your blocks develop,”” Coach Baer answered. “Let me show you. Give me your helmet Drew and watch.” Coach Baer talked to Ian Meyers, our fullback, Dustin Robbins, right guard, and Jerry Morton, right tackle, for a few seconds. They nodded as they walked to the line of scrimmage.

We lined up with him in our backfield. Ed snapped the ball, pivoted and stuffed the ball into Justin’s belly. Justin hesitated for a half second while Dustin blocked Luke Stauffer towards the center of the line. Jerry pushed Travis Hall towards the sideline. Ian led Justin through the hole as it opened up. Ian hit Jeremy, who was coming up to fill the hole. The instant Ian hit Jeremy, Justin burst forward, sprinting as fast as he could go. Justin sprinted through the linebacker’s zone and stiff armed our free safety Seth Vogel when he came up to try to tackle him. Justin slowed to a stop and turned back to look at the wreckage in our defense. He was grinning.

Justin, uh, Coach Baer I mean, whistled and called for everyone to huddle up. He looked at Drew. “You see what I did? Let the blockers open the hole for you. When it’s there, burst through at top speed. If you hit the hole too soon, all you do is run into the back of your blockers. Got it, Drew?” Drew nodded.

We ran the play four more times with Drew playing tailback. It went much better than it had before Coach’s demonstration. Coach Caffrey called for everyone to take five and hydrate.

We gathered around the water table. Pete Ellis, our back-up tight end exclaimed, “Can you believe what Coach Baer just did? I’ve only seen running backs play like that on TV. He looked like Tiki Barber or Brian Westbrook. Why is he coaching in high school? He should be playing major college ball or trying out for the NFL.”

I explained, “Justin, er, I mean Coach Baer, is a close friend of my brother. Will says that Justin was an outstanding at tailback when he was in high school.”

Pete asked, “What’s he doing here?”

“He got his girlfriend pregnant when they were sixteen,” I answered. “They got married. He is doing college through night courses. He doesn’t have time for football anymore.”

“Man, he must have been good,” Pete said.