Chapter 134: No One Touches the Hair!

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 (Continued)

I wanted to go somewhere quiet. The library was my first thought, but then I thought of the car, so I walked Carol there. We talked, and Carol was very good. In truth, much of my little meltdown had been caused by my listening to all the crap talk, Savannah's crap being the last straw.

Carol asked what had happened, as she hadn't been involved enough in the planning about Chloe to know what I had to do when Chloe did something nice for me.

I told her, and she reassured me that Chloe had heard thousands of comments like mine over the years, and that it wouldn't hurt her nearly as much as I believed. I had no trouble believing the first part of that, having heard many of them being said to her during the last year myself. The second part I wasn't sure about, as this time had hurt her a lot more because she'd gotten hopeful about me.

Just before the end of lunch my phone rang. I flicked it off. Then Carol's rang.

Carol answered hers, "Hi, Julia."

"Yeah, we're fine. He didn't like hurting Chloe."

"I'll tell him." Carol turned to me. "Julia says she's very sorry that she did not appreciate how much doing that would hurt you, and for not recognizing it afterward either."

Partway into dictating my response to Carol, I realized I could tell Julia direct. I took Carol's phone, and said, "I didn't realize how much it'd affect me either. It was horrible to watch. She was so happy and proud until I ruined it."

Julia said, "Lily couldn't talk easily, but I understand that Lily's sitting in another cubicle in the same bathroom. Chloe cried a great deal initially, but she's calmed down now. The plan with Lily was that I'd relieve her rather than force her to miss a class, but she'll miss one if we need her to, if you want me to come to you?"

"No need. I'm okay. We're sitting in the car, and Carol's very comforting. I'll probably sit out of the next class, then be okay after that."

We chatted a bit more, Julia pointing out that she'd probably have to use text when she was with Chloe, and would prefer not to so Chloe wouldn't realize there was someone in the room with her. Julia had to go, "So I can get into a stall while there are still other girls coming and going."

I tried to send Carol to class.

She refused, saying, "It's only Math. It's no problem, I'll just make you do all my homework for me." I doubted it was Math, but that was fine.

By halfway through the next period, Carol had me describing the "Whole different level of niceness" thing Katelin had referred to. Carol thought it was very funny that it'd all come about because I didn't want to name which martial art I was an expert in, to avoid having my claim of being an expert exposed.

I can't say I was happy, but I was feeling a lot less tormented, which was a huge improvement. Carol insisted that Julia's plan was a good one, and Chloe would have years, if not decades, of good feelings because of what we were doing. It was a good point, although I didn't enjoy being reminded that the plan called for me to keep saying the same things to Chloe. They'd have a rapidly diminishing effect - the first being by far the worst - but it was still not pleasant to think about.

I knew things were better when I started feeling hungry.

We got out of the car in plenty of time for our getting to our next classes. I gave Carol a good hug and a heartfelt "Thank you."

She looked around, saw the coast was clear, and said, "I like being your wife." That gave me a flood of good feelings.

"Yeah. That's working out pretty good, isn't it?"

"More sex would be good." She was teasing me, but without doubt more sex would be good.

I didn't have any sex at all planned, now that Laila's clique had been canceled, so I said, "I'm free every night, even tonight. We should get together as soon as possible. Tonight or tomorrow night, I guess, depending on whether Ava wants to stay with me after the dinner party. Tonight's a very important night for her, so I should let her stay if she wants. It's too early to let her know about us - not until she's proved her ability to keep secrets - but we can almost certainly sleep together tomorrow. Would you like that?"

Carol said, "Ava will almost certainly spend tonight at her place. She'll need time to talk with her parents after the dinner. If she goes to her place, can we sleep together tonight?"

"Yes please. I'd love that." Remembering Vanessa's comment about needing private, one-on-one time, I asked, "Would you prefer to sleep with just me, or Julia too?"

"Julia too please. It's great having all three of us together. Besides Julia will need some comforting after hurting you so much today, and we can make a LOT more noise in her bedroom than ours."

The middle point was one that I had failed to think of. Julia hadn't hurt me, per se, but I knew what Carol meant, and Julia would need some comforting. There was going to be a lot of comforting going on tonight.

I gave Carol a brief kiss, telling her, "When we're alone I'll give you the kiss I'm really feeling," and we headed to our lockers.

I picked up my bag and books, and headed to my next class.

A couple of minutes before class was due to start I got a call from Julia, "Chloe would like to meet you after this class so she can suck your tonsils out of your throat." I heard giggling in the background. "How does that sound?"

I was in class. It hadn't started yet, but there were plenty of potential eavesdroppers, so I just said, "I was tired of them anyway."

"He says he was tired of them anyway." More background giggling. "Sounds like you've got a date for a tonsillectomy."

I suggested, "I'll meet you outside your classroom. Is that okay with her?"

"If she was any more okay, she'd have an accident." More giggles.

I'd meant to convey that outside the classroom might be insufficiently private, Chloe not being a very demonstrative person (that's not just a reference to her breasts, but to her entire personality. Remember how quiet she was in the pizza restaurant after bowling). Never mind; I'd meet her outside of class, and I'd let her set the tone for our behavior.

Class started. I alternated between paying attention to my schoolwork, daydreaming, and wondering why Chloe was so far ahead of schedule. Thank God that she was, as all the giggling indicated a considerably happier mood than I'd last seen her in.

I became aware that I was REALLY hungry, and I couldn't help wondering where my lunch was. I hoped wife#1 had saved it for her man. Naturally Julia would save Chloe's container, but would she save the contents? Maybe she'd eaten them after I left, as pizza is well-nigh irresistible. In which case, what became of my bagged lunch?

Given that I could have been fantasizing over Chloe's progress and where that would be lead to, you might think my focus on food indicates an extreme degree of hunger. While it was true that I was very hungry, as my last meal had been several hours ago and I'm still a growing boy (height, and Julia thinks, muscular definition too. She swears my body has gotten noticeably better in the few weeks she's known me), the main reason I wasn't daydreaming about Chloe was because nothing was going to happen for a while yet, no matter how much she fancied my little wobbly bit (tonsils). Nonetheless, I eagerly slipped out of class five minutes before it ended. It's great having that privilege, especially in times of medical emergency, as I was heading for a tonsillectomy.

I was standing outside their class when the bell rang. Julia and Chloe were among the first out of the room. Seeing me, Julia wisely stepped to the side. Chloe saw me moments later, and yelled, "I'm so..." as she launched herself at me. That conversation was so short because the corridor is not very wide, therefore our lips had not been very far apart when Chloe had spotted me. It didn't take her long to reduce that distance to zero.

I immediately feared that Julia's comment about Chloe's wanting my tonsils had been factual. What Chloe lacked in practical kissing experience, she more than made up for with suction. Nor did she need to breathe, no doubt because she'd sucked the contents out of my lungs.

After several seconds I managed to pull my head back a little, to get a look at her face. I also couldn't help noticing the crowd of incredulous classmates. Pretty much the entire class, and all incredulous. Chloe literally backs up in apprehension whenever any boy gets into her comfort zone, which is large enough to qualify for its own zip code - it needs to be, because her breasts occupy most of that space (sorry about that; I felt it was an obligatory macho joke) - so her passionately launching herself at a something containing a Y-chromosome was unprecedented.

"Sorry," finished Chloe.

#1: <And so she should be. She nearly suffocated us.>

#2: <"If in doubt, seek more information.">

#4: <Let's see if we can thin the crowd first, huh?>

I looked around, and said, "Can a guy get a little privacy when he kisses a pretty girl, please?"

No one moved, so I guess the answer is "No." I said to Chloe, "Shall we take it outside? To get a little more privacy." I was hoping to shame everyone into leaving, but that didn't work on anyone either.

Julia said, "I've got your bag, Chloe. You two head off; I'll follow."

I detached Chloe's hand from around my neck, held it in my hand, and we walked outside. After only a couple of steps Chloe said, "I'm sorry I doubted you. I hurt you a lot, didn't I?"

No short answer seemed fair, so I said, "We'll talk when we get outside." Hopefully after Julia has explained what's going on.

We left the throng, the girls muttering confused thoughts among themselves, the guys yelling what they seemed to consider were humorous comments.

Outside I used Essential Male Relationship Survival Technique Thing To Say #2: I said, "Sorry, I don't understand. Can you please explain?" (Survival Technique #1 is obviously, "Sorry, it's entirely my fault." Once a guy is in a relationship with a girl, most of the smart things he can say to her start with "Sorry.")

Julia answered, "Chloe realized that you'd never say something cruel like that - especially to her! - without a good reason. She missed one class, but when she came to the second, several of the girls asked her what was wrong..."

Chloe interrupted, "I told them I'd done something very stupid with you, and they said, 'Oh, you're the girl!' Then they told me all about how upset you'd been at lunch. I felt TERRIBLE! I'd made a horrible mistake thinking you were just like every other boy. I don't know how I could have been so stupid. I know you are..."

"Chloe, sweetie. I saw that you were also badly hurt by what I said. We could spend hours apologizing profusely to each other, and we'd probably both be right to do so." With obvious humor, I added, "Even though it was mostly my fault!" I poked my tongue out at her, to lighten the mood. "I'm prepared to call it even, and forget about it, except we're not quite even yet. You still owe me one thing."

"I do? What?"

"You've kissed me, but you haven't given me a chance to kiss you back. That's VERY NOT FAIR!"

"{Giggle}."

She didn't say anything else, so I assumed that giggle had been permission. I put my arm around her, and leaned in slowly to give her plenty of opportunity to object.

Unfortunately I also gave her plenty of opportunity to talk. "I don't think I'm very good at kissing. I haven't done it much."

#2: <Normally I have trouble knowing when I should agree with a female, but I'm pretty sure this isn't one of them.>

"What you lack in experience, you more than make up for with loveliness. Remember that you know I think you're a lovely person."

"I know. {Giggle}. I'm glad I heard you say that. It was one of the things that helped me stop crying."

#4: <Do you think we'll ever find a girl who is good at kissing, but not very good at talking?>

#1: <Be fair. She's had a hard day. It's not as if we particularly want to kiss her. It was only to distract her from going on and on about how terrible she'd been.>

#4: <Sure. I just find it amusing that every single girl knows how to talk, even though they often lack important skills, like Katelin's not knowing how to suck cocks.>

#2: <Haha. Savannah and modesty. Chloe and ANY experience at sex.>

Chloe asked, "You were testing me, weren't you?"

"That was one reason, yes."

"I did very badly, didn't I?"

"You eventually passed, which is what matters the most. The test had no time limit." I didn't want to outright accept her apology, because it was important that she remembered and learned to be open around me (by "open", I'm mostly referring to what she should do with her blouse).

Chloe hadn't finished telling herself off, "I caused you a lot of pain that I shouldn't have. I should have known right away that you'd normally never say anything like that."

"I don't know why you would expect to know that right away. After all, it was the truth, your left and right tits are very yummy."

There was moment of dismay, but easily less than a second. She said, "I'm not going to fail twice. I trust you now. Oh! - I just realized that I didn't trust you before - when I showed you my breasts in the bathroom. Or I wouldn't have reacted the way I did today. You knew that, didn't you?"

As it happened - thanks to Julia's explaining so much - I actually did know that, and for once wouldn't be pretending to be much more knowledgeable than I was, "Yes. I knew that Chloe." Some nice bullshit occurred to me (our plan for Chloe called for lots of bullshit, so I was on the lookout for opportunities). I added, "Remember I semi-agreed with you when you asked whether I was testing you today? I said that was one of the reasons?"

Chloe agreed, "Yes."

"My testing you was actually relatively unimportant, since I knew the answer already. I knew you'd initially fail, but that you'd eventually realize I wouldn't normally talk with anyone like that. What's more important than my seeing whether or not you passed the test, is YOU seeing whether or not you passed it. Now you know that the Chloe who stood topless in front of me, that insisted that she trusted me, actually didn't. Did she?"

Chloe looked down bashfully, "No, she didn't." After a moment to make the point, Chloe looked up to say, "I trust you now though. You taught me a very good lesson."

I said, "Changing the subject briefly Chloe. I don't like to be a liar, and I said something that I'd like to make true. I said your tits were yummy, so one day I am going to have to rub pizza all over your breasts, then lick it all off, and declare that you truly are yummy."

"{Giggle}. I'm not going to fail that test again Mark!"

"That wasn't a test, Chloe. I WILL rub pizza on your breasts and lick it off."

That gave her pause. I waited while she thought about it. She eventually said, "Really? You want to do that?"

"Yummy!"

"{Giggle}." After another couple of seconds' thought, "I've NEVER done anything like that before."

"I should hope NOT! Pizza should be treated with RESPECT! You can't go around rubbing it all over breasts willy-nilly! Some things are sacred!"

"Haha. You're funny."

All that talk about pizza prompted me to ask about another physical need of mine, "Ahh, Julia, I don't suppose you saved any of my lunch, did you? I'm very hungry."

Julia said, "I think there's a scrap or two left." She started looking in her bag. At this stage even "a scrap or two" would be welcome. Especially as I'd just realized that I was going running right after school. I would HAVE to raid the fridge(s) when I dropped the girls off, because I'd be SERIOUSLY hungry by then, but I wouldn't be able to eat nearly as much as I wanted. Running 26 miles on a full stomach wouldn't be a good idea.

Chloe asked, "You didn't eat any lunch? Not even my pizza?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I lost my appetite after hurting you. I'm fantastically impressed by what you did though. I'm just sorry I couldn't be the one to eat it."

Julia held Chloe's container out to me and removed the lid, showing me ALL the pizza, in all its glory. Untouched!

"Scraps?" I accused, as I grabbed the container.

"Sometimes it's better when you don't know in advance, haha."

I had been raised not to talk with my mouth full, so Julia escaped any comeback I might've had. It would have been weak anyway, because she was currently my absolute favorite human being: she'd saved my pizza!

It wasn't until I was working my way rapidly through the second piece that I realized Chloe was waiting on tenterhooks. So much for my being observant of social interactions. I'd been busy observing the pizza. It was too hard to stop mid-piece, so I finished that off, swallowed, then said to a very eagerly waiting Chloe. "Chloe, I was so hungry I didn't even taste those. Sorry, but I need a LOT of food, and it is well after lunchtime. I normally eat right at the beginning of lunchtime too. I'll savor the remaining pieces much better now my hunger's been eased." Rather than pause to let her express disappointment, I kept talking, "Let's try this piece. It looks good, and... , mmm. Mmm." When I'd swallowed, "This is VERY nice pizza! Well done! I'm impressed." It truly was good. How much of that opinion was due to my hunger I couldn't tell, but it seemed delicious and I was thoroughly enjoying eating it.

"Really? You like it? You're not just saying that?"

"Chloe, I have a hope - it's only a hope because there's a long way to go yet - but I have a hope that we might have a relationship that lasts a long time. Possibly a VERY long time."

It was a very good thing that we were all sitting down. In particular, that Chloe was sitting down, because she would have collapsed if she'd been standing. It seems silly to use the phrase, "Her legs turned to jelly" when someone is sitting down, but that's what would have happened had she been standing. What I'd said had knocked the air out of her. I'd hardly thought what I'd said was that dramatic, but she seemed to think it was. Maybe I'd overdone it with the last "VERY". Probably because of my guilt at hurting her so badly, my pleasure at eating this truly delicious pizza, and my general sympathy for her situation.

^-- I continued, pleased by the effect of what I'd said on her but ignoring it, "You've seen how much effort I have, and am, putting into helping you develop the correct attitude to your breasts, haven't you?" I'd probably worded that too accurately, but after I'd said it, I figured she wouldn't notice.

"Yes."

"Given how long we might know each other, don't you think I'd make an effort to correct you about something that was far more important than your breasts?"

"Ahh, umm. I don't understand?"

"You didn't seem to believe me when I said how much I liked your pizza. Believe me, if your pizza cooking needed correcting, I'd make that a much higher priority than worrying about your silly, old breasts. Pizza is IMPORTANT!"

"Haha, haha. You're so funny, and so nice. You're very good at finding funny ways to make my breasts seem unimportant."

"No, that's not right Chloe. You've made a mistake there. I wasn't trying to make your breasts seem unimportant by comparing them to pizza."

"You weren't?"

"No. Not at all. You've got lovely breasts." I was actually saying this too early in the plan, but I'd only say it once then move on, so no real harm, and planting the seed might help a little later on.

I continued, "You've heard me say several times that, 'I'd never let a girl's breasts influence my relationship with her', haven't you?"

"Yes. You've said lots of times."

"Have you ever heard me say, 'I'd never let how a girl cooks pizza influence my relationship with her'?"

"Haha. No, you've never said that. {Giggle}."

"There's a reason you haven't. I WOULD let it influence me."

"Haha."

I just looked at her steadily until she got it.

Eventually Chloe said, "Huh? You're not joking?"

"No I'm not. I WOULD let how a girl cooks pizza influence my relationship with her. If she noticed what toppings I like, got up early, cooked it for me, brought it to school, reheated it, and then gave it to me. In other words, cooked it with care and love. Then, 'Yes', I would let that influence me a great deal."

It wasn't easy extracting it from my tight pants, but I eventually managed to pass her my hanky. I figured that any of hers were probably drenched already.

We had very little time left, so I couldn't give her long. I added, "That's certainly more important than breasts, isn't it Chloe?"

I got a wet, broken, "Yes" from her, accompanied by some nods, just to make sure the message got through.

I added, "The fact that your pizza is truly delicious is a lovely bonus, but it's not as important as what you and I have learned about you today, is it Chloe?"

All this stuff was seat of the pants bullshit, as usual. Julia had given me a reasonably good understanding of the psychology of what we wanted to do with and for Chloe, which was pretty straightforward - as it needed to be for me to be able to operate without step-by-step instructions from Julia. It boiled down to Chloe's attitude about herself, which is why I'd included "you" in "what you and I have learned". Chloe's attitude to herself was far more important than her attitude to me. That she trusted me was very helpful, because it made it easier for me to keep working on her, but otherwise wasn't important in the grand scheme of her life. I had to admit that improving her life had to be our main goal, although my getting into her blouse made a damned good secondary goal!

I was out of time, and I hadn't judged it well as she was still crying too much for sensible conversation. I really needed a few more minutes for her to calm down enough to realize a couple of things, but she'd work them out herself okay.

I stood up, saying, "In the parking lot on Sunday, I tried to convince you that I valued you as a person. You wouldn't believe me then, but I hope you're starting to now." I felt guilty over using that line. I shouldn't have used it as it was very selfish of me. Being valued for herself was what Chloe most wanted a boy to do, and my 'reminding' her to think of me as doing so had been intended to increase her desire for me personally. That was selfish of me as I shouldn't really be trying to increase her desire for me, but it's hard to resist, especially as it was such a good line.

^-- I leaned over and kissed the top of her head, then said, "You owed me a kiss before we could call the hurt we did each other even today, so now it's even. Let's forget that hurt, and look forward from here. I know I am; very much."

Chloe's head was bowed, and she was crying happy tears this time, girls being very changeable. Julia was beaming with pride. I already knew I'd done good, but it still felt great to see Julia's pride in me.