Chapter 3: So Heavy You Collapse

Morgan liked to joke she'd been friends with Elis since before birth. Their moms proudly showed anyone, who stood still too long, baby pictures of the two playing, bathing, and sleeping together. Morgan staying our friend after puberty was a something of a mystery. She had the goods in the looks department: tall, short hair more red than brown, pale skin, and flat-out pretty as hell. Her mother (a lot on the overweight side) loved shopping for Morgan and saw no issue with her daughter's attire being too edgy for high school. I was all about Morgan's boot collection! Elis didn't talk about Morgan as a girl, but I caught him looking plenty. Morgan could have fit in with Ahmo's crowd, probably challenged my sister for queenship of the school.

Morgan hated anything Thorne. I couldn't blame her; our freshman she was the preferred target of Billy's bullying. Elis would have done something very stupid if I hadn't stepped in. He agreed to wait a week before doing whatever he had in mind. It took three days for Thorne to get my message. For the better part of two years, Morgan began every conversation with me by asking how I managed it. Elis shrugged whenever she tried to get him to ask me. He drove Morgan crazy by telling her he didn't fuck with me after I knocked some sense into him in peewee football.

Elis was the boy I put in the hospital. Morgan had been in the room when my parents took me to visit him. She waited until the adults were not paying attention before trying to punch my lights out. Elis stopped her with a word--Morgan always did what Elis said. I apologized which he waved off, replying that he hated sports, especially football, and I did him the H-U-G-E favor of making sure he would never lose another argument on participating in anything more dangerous than speed chess.

I became their third wheel.

Freshman year, Celia balanced the wagon. Her father transferred across coasts so she didn't have any friends. Elis tried to warn her away from our little group, for her own good he explained, but the girls hit it off. Elis and I found out how well at the beginning of our junior year by walking in on them in a middle of a tryst. Morgan sat naked on the bed stunned, while Celia did a lot of babbling. Elis wouldn't talk to Morgan for a week. With a lot of advice from Candice, I stumbled us back into the normal high school clickiness, albeit with two girls who liked to get each other off after school and on weekends. I had Candice so I felt sorry for Elis, especially after the girls explained it was only a physical thing, like assisted masturbation. I really felt shitty for him when the girls decided since we knew about them they could be more open. Sometimes, I think Morgan and Celia only talked about the things they would do to Ahmo's naked body to torture us.

Unlike Morgan, Celia was ambivalent towards the Thorne family. Something changed, if anything, she hated William Thorne more rabidly than Morgan. Elis thought there might have been a confrontation. I was convinced we could mark the night the girls became lovers by Celia's sudden animosity towards Billy Thorne.

Like Morgan and Elis, Celia never touched me. I rarely had to lie about my 'condition' as most people were happy to run ahead and herald my misfortune. Elis did it to spare me the inevitable reactions; Morgan, being more territorial, got a charge out of protecting me from the tragedy whores. Celia watched Morgan and Elis until she learned how to properly circumspect contact with me.

Candice and I discussed altering the nature of my fictitious disease, but it was a shock when Celia made her move.

"So, do you think I've been around you long enough to neutralize your body's reaction to me?" Celia asked as she sat down for lunch.

"What?!?" For two months, I had become increasingly tense around Celia. I looked around the cafeteria. With Morgan and Elis out on one of their hooky days, the only possible shelter was Ahmo's crowd.

"I talked to Dr. Card about your condition," Celia said. Some habits my female friend acquired keyed my nervousness, like staring at me intensely. Her expression and focus demanded I match her eye contact. Habitually, my trio of friends kept objects, like cafeteria tables, between them and me. Celia closing the distance she stood or sat from me did not escape Elis or me. Neither of us believed Morgan acting like our seating arrangement had always been Elis and her on one side of the table with Celia and me on the other.

I wanted to shift over and get at least a cafeteria seat away from Celia. I also wanted to get closer, which was a surprise. I had more thoughts about knocking boots with Morgan than Celia.

"Candice -- she said I could call her Candice -- explained you developed an immunity to her." Celia's brown eyes darkened, probably an illusion created by the lack of oxygen to my brain. I looked away and took a deep breath. Celia waited until I turned back, "Candice says it might not be about her. Maybe you can develop a tolerance towards a person if you've been around them long enough. Or if they follow a strict regimen of increasing contact."

Celia's every word had been carefully rehearsed. I knew who helped Celia practice her lines!

My friends avoided contact with me to such a degree; I was unprepared for Celia's reaching out to touch the exposed skin between my glove and sleeve. I pulled my hand away. Celia's smile expressed immense satisfaction; I reacted surprised but not hurt by her touch.

"Cool!"

Even caught flat-footed, I could have salvaged the situation, except something else blindsided me. Celia's heart shone with an absence of darkness. Touching the murderer had been like staring into a black hole, touching Celia was staring into the noon sun. A feeling of warmth flowed from the spot Celia made contact. When I was completely immersed in her heat, a surge from inside me responded. I barely controlled the urge to wrap my arms protectively around her. I looked around the room, registering every person who might be a danger to her. William Thorne and his cronies were watching us. Noticing my stare, they looked away.

"Morgan isn't going to wait much longer." Celia took a bite from the sandwich on her tray. Her chewing gave me time to regain some balance. "We figure Elis will be more comfortable if you and I are already a couple."

"Huh?" A surprisingly adept response considering the circumstance.

Celia ate her lunch in silence. I was not going to say anything.

"Meet me after school," she said finally. I did not try to avoid her as she reached out to touch my wrist again.

For me to see a person's desire, it has to be consuming. The details depend on the person's imagination, which Celia had to spare. I flashed through what she wanted to happen between us. My dick got harder than the time Ahmo dropped the towel.

I grabbed the seat to prevent going after Celia as she walked out of the lunchroom. It was more than the desire to make what she imagined occur immediately; someone might try to hurt Celia!

Mentally, I felt no desire to meet with Celia when the 'Freedom' bell sounded. My body did not want to hear it! I could have won the battle against the cock, but the need to make sure Celia was all right carried the day easily. I pushed kids out of the way, threw books into my locker, and ran to the spot the Loser Tribunal met after school. Usually, we headed over to Elis or Morgan's house for a snack and a hangout session.

"Nobody's at your house, right?" Celia asked from behind me. I spun around. She smiled and leaned in to kiss my cheek. The scene that burned from her to me differed. She had been the seducer in the earlier vision, but in this one, I led.

"Is it mean if I hope you can't do this with Morgan?" Celia asked. "We're in high school so it's not for the rest of our lives or anything, but it'd be nice if I were special."

I didn't know what to say so I kept my mouth shut.

"On the other hand, when Morgan gets her thing taken care of, a foursome would be awesome!" Celia stared into my eyes and smiled mischievously. "You want to have sex with her, don't you?"

"Morgan?" I wondered if maybe Candice had given Celia tips on keeping me off balance. I could not keep up to her thoughts or actions.

"So can we get some privacy in your room?" Celia asked. "My house is out of the question. My mom would totally freak."

Right there, I should have said no! I needed time to absorb what Celia's touch did to me. Not the sex part, but the part of seeing only light in her heart. This time, the cock needed no assistance.

"My sister is at practice," I said. "My dad is working and Catherine said she was going shopping. Plus she never comes to my room except in the morning."

"Cool!"

I could have come to my senses if Celia kept up with the rehearsed scenario. Candice manipulated me; she did it for my own good. I did not like it when my family tried and I would have rejected Celia's attempts at some point, but her lips trembled when she kissed me.

She closed my bedroom door and looked at me. Before I could say anything, she rushed across the room, wrapped her arms around my neck, and kissed me. Celia's lips trembled as her courage ran out!