Chapter 11

"Do you think it's going to be weird living in the same house?" Mia asked me.

"I don't know, maybe. I know that I'll be glad when I can see you as I talk to you every day instead of just being able to hear your voice."

"You don't like my voice?"

"What?? No, of course not!"

"You don't?"

"That's not what I meant! I mean I DO like your voice, just not as much as your face," I blushed in anguish. "That's not what I meant either."

Damn. Even after nearly a year, the Mia Effect was alive and well. Mia giggled at my bumbling, and I knew that she knew what I meant.

"You get Ana's room," she said. "It's next to mine. I recommended to Dad that he just tear the wall out, but that led to a lengthy discussion on responsibility and discretion, and how we are teenagers, students, and members of the household first, second, and third, and lovers after that. We're supposed to be in separate beds, except for special circumstances, at the end of each day."

I thought about that. I wasn't sure what the big deal was about us sleeping together. I mean, we'd done it plenty, and Mom and I did it every night, but I still wasn't going to complain. Our parents had been extremely accommodating and open about our intimacy. They obviously felt that they had a good reason for this rule. Mia must have read my mind.

"They said we both need our own space; that we're still young, changing, and there was always the possibility that we might break up." She paused. "We won't, of course, but I understand. They said we'll always be family, but we may not always be together. We need to grow as individuals just as much as we need to grow as a couple."

I didn't want to think about breaking up; it made me uneasy. "So, who does Shay get to sleep with when she spends the night?"

Mia laughed. "Maybe we'll just alternate."

"OK, so if I get Ana's room, where's Ana going to go?"

"She's moving out to the guest house. She and Joseph are going to try to make a go of their relationship. Joseph will transfer to ASU after the spring term is over, and he's going to move in with Ana."

"Wow. That's crazy. I mean, they hardly know each other, and now they'll be living together."

"Yeah, I agree, but he has come to visit a few times, and they seem to get along pretty well. He's a sweetheart, actually, and he practically worships the ground Ana walks on. She floats on a cloud for days after he leaves."

"Well, it's nice of your parents to give them a place to live."

"Oh, they aren't getting a freebie. They have to pay rent and utilities, which means they'll both probably have to work. It'll be a challenge with him in school, a baby, and everything else. Mom's agreed to provide childcare during the day so they don't have to pay for it, but they have to hire a babysitter if they want to go out in the evening or on the weekend. I've offered, but Mom says they have to pay me too." She sighed. "Life is full of changes, huh?"

I thought back to where I was a year ago. "That's an understatement."

"I have to get off the phone," she sadly said.

I hated hanging up. I could talk to her for hours. "I love you, Mia."

"I love you, too, Brody." I heard a muffled voice on her end. "Um, Dad wants to talk to you for a sec. You have a good night."

"You, too. Talk to you in a few days."

There was some rustling, then John's booming voice came on the line. "Brody, my man!"

I smiled. "Hey, John."

"Well, you've really shaken things up here, Pal."

"I have?" I frowned. I wasn't sure what he was talking about, but I hoped it wasn't bad. His tone didn't sound like it was bad.

"You betcha. I just had a talk with some of the C-level execs, and the response to this idea you came up with has been HUGE. I don't think anyone was expecting such overwhelming support of the summer camp to build so quickly. I mean, it's been what, a little more than a week since you announced it in your speech? All the focus had been on managing the scholarships; the camp was just a last minute add-on, but it's the camp that has people buzzing."

"Really?"

"When word got out that Fender was sponsoring a music camp in Georgia, they were flooded by e-mails and calls from music educators, parents and media all clamoring for details and how they could get Fender to sponsor a camp in their area. It seems that we've also decided to hold a second camp this summer, up near Seattle. We've got a whole group of people dedicated to organizing these things as quickly as possible. They're trying to find artists to work the camp. They're focusing on rising or lesser known artists, with the hopes that they will be able to land a bigger headliner at each camp. Word leaked that the drummer of The Black Keys has signed on to work the Georgia camp since they are kind of on a hiatus." The Black Keys, huh? I'd heard some of their stuff, but didn't know them well. John's chuckle brought me back. "Yessir, you've shaken things up."

I was simultaneously pleased and embarrassed by the praise.

"I can't really take credit for it, at least not completely. Cassie was the one who said it would be great if we could somehow honor Fuzz with music, because he loved it so much. That got me thinking that maybe we could somehow raise some money in his name for his sister's college education, maybe through a concert of some local bands or something. Shay expanded it when she said we should raise money for more kids than her." I laughed. "You know, you can really blame Mia for shaking things up. She's the one who said we would need some big backers if we were going to do something big, somebody who also loved music, somebody like Fender."

John chuckled again. "A collaboration, huh? Fitting. Well, some of the folks involved here would like to meet you when you get here, maybe take you out to lunch or something. They said, and I quote, 'This idea is pure brilliance'. Truthfully, I'd have to agree."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything. I was just as surprised as they were. It was just some dreaming by a bunch of kids. I really had no idea it would blow up like this.

"Listen, Brody," John said, his voice suddenly serious. "I know this whole thing came about because you wanted to honor your good friend, and that you'd rather have him back than create a hundred camps or send a hundred kids to college. For one reason or another though, people can sometimes turn loss and pain into something grand. I can think of no better tribute to a friend. He must have been a pretty awesome person to earn this respect." He paused, and his voice was uneven when he spoke again. "But just so that you know, you're a pretty awesome person yourself."

The ringing phone threatened to pull my attention from my geometry textbook, like I needed help being distracted from polyhedrons. I'd let Mom pick it up.

The phone rang again, then a third time. I guess Mom was going to let me pick it up. I sighed and reached over to grab my cordless.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver.

"Brody?" asked a woman's voice.

"This is he."

"Hello, Brody. This is Connie Bartlett."

I smiled. "Hi, Connie! How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you. And you?"

"I'm studying for finals, so I'm not entirely sure," I replied, with a laugh. "I guess I'll know in a week or so."

She laughed as well. "Well, then I'll just make this call brief."

"That's OK. I could use a break."

"Actually, all I wanted to do was get the Behrs' phone number from you."

"The Behrs' number? As in their home number?" I was clarifying; this was a number she could probably have pulled from the phone book easier than calling me.

"Yes, please," she paused, "You have it, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." I gave it to her from memory.

"Wonderful, thank you."

"I'm guessing you either aren't near a phone book, or you actually do have something else you want to talk about."

"How very astute." I could hear the smile in her voice. "It was my understanding the Mrs. Behr is a stay-at-home mother."

"Yeah, she is." I didn't know where she was going with this. "Even though money was always tight for them, she and Mr. Behr felt it was more important that she be at home for her children, rather than working to try to add a few dollars on to their income. She has no education past high school, and almost no work experience, since they married and had Fuzz pretty quick after they got out of school."

"I see. Thank you for that bit of information."

"Sooo ... can I ask why you wanted to know?"

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you, though I don't want to mention it to too many people if she doesn't accept."

"Accept?"

"I have been asked and have agreed to be on the scholarship committee for the Behr Memorial Fund. We're the group that will decide who receives the scholarships each year. We're made up of a group of individuals who have some tie in with the foundation. Anyway, we wanted to invite Mrs. Behr to serve on the committee, as well."

I smiled. "Really? I think that's a great idea!"

She let out a sigh, like she was afraid that I would think it was a bad one. "It seems especially appropriate that she should have a say in how the money is distributed since it's named for her son. I've been impressed during my few interactions with her. She has a good head on her shoulders."

"Well, I think it's cool."

"Oh, good. I'll call her as soon as we hang up."

"I'll let you go then. Have a good evening."

"You, too ... wait, before you hang up, can I ask you one more question?"

"Sure."

"What is Mr. Behr's occupation?"

That question surprised me, too. "He works at a factory or something." I reached back into my memory to try to get more information. "Um, he's a shift manager. They make fabricated parts for office furniture, I think."

"I see." She slowly spoke those words, and I knew her brain was working on something. "I'll let you get back to studying, Brody. Thank you for the information."

"You have an awful lot of clothes for a boy."

Cassie's voice drifted out of my closet. She was bent over, with her head tucked way back inside, and her delectable ass wiggling in her tight shorts. I knew that she wasn't doing it on purpose, since she was focused on reaching for the articles of clothing at the very back of my closet that had fallen there years ago. She found what she was reaching for and stood up, taking my impromptu show away. I turned back to my bed and continued boxing the things that were piled there. I'd be on the road west in less than two weeks, and I still had a lot to pack. It didn't help that Cassie kept doing things to distract me. This very pile of stuff had been pushed to the floor so we could get freaky on the bed more than once in the last couple of days.

"And to think, I can't stand shopping," I responded to her comment. "What can I say? I have three girlfriends who like to buy me clothes for some reason."

"Yet you still insist on wearing that old ratty Linkin Park t-shirt all the time."

"Hey, it's my favorite shirt," I replied, in mock indignation.

"Well, you can't blame your full closet just on your girlfriends," she said with a laugh. I looked at her as she held an old Pokémon shirt up that I hadn't seen since I was in grade school. "Don't you throw anything away?"

"Hey! I've been looking for that!"

I stripped out of my LP shirt and snatched the other shirt from her hands. She made a show of admiring my bare chest until I tugged and yanked the waaaay-too-small t-shirt down. Thank goodness for stretchy cotton. The shirt barely covered my chest. It was stretched so tight the faded graphic on the front was distorted beyond recognition and the tiny sleeves rolled up into my armpits. I must have looked pretty funny; because Cassie started laughing so hard that she flopped down onto the bed, her whole body shaking. She then snorted, which made me start laughing, and her laugh even harder. She'd start to calm down to occasional giggles, then taking one look at me would set her off again. When it finally looked like she was all laughed out, I flexed.

"Nice fit, huh?" I was sure the fabric was going to rip.

She groaned after another round of body shaking laughter. "Please take it off. My cheeks hurt and I think I've pulled a stomach muscle."

I shimmied out of the tight shirt and tossed it towards the pile of stuff going to Goodwill. I purposely left my other shirt off since I knew that she liked to look at me bare-chested, which I could completely understand. I liked to look at her with her shirt off, too.

Cassie went back to the closet and pulled an old shoebox out on the floor. I had no idea what was in it, but I figured it was probably too small for me to wear now. I turned back to my work.

"Oh my God!" she squealed.

"What?" I asked, without looking.

"You were so adorable!"

Suddenly it hit me. The box contained old pictures. I quickly turned.

"Aw, come on. You don't want to look at those." I tried to grab the box from her, but she pulled it out of the way and glared at me. I dropped my arms with a sigh. "Fine, have your laugh; I'm throwing them away when you're done."

She sat back down onto the bed with the box in hand and gave me a horrified look. "You can't, your mom will have a fit if you throw them away!!"

"Nah. She always got two sets of pictures printed. These are the duplicates. She's already scrapbooked the first set."

Cassie's glare returned. "You mean to tell me we could have looked at these together a long time ago. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Um, you didn't ask," I feebly answered.

Cassie shook her head. "Going Steady Rule Number Thirty-eight..."

"Number thirty-eight?" I interrupted, "How many rules are there?"

"Rule number thirty-eight," she ignored me. "Ahem... 'Boyfriend must come clean with all photo albums prior to requesting nookie from girlfriend'."

I laughed. "Well, we blew that rule all to hell, didn't we?"

She grinned at me and started going through the pictures. "Look at you! You were the cutest little boy! All that wild blond hair, and those dimples. I bet you melted the heart of every mom and sister everywhere."

I sat next to her in spite of myself, and looked as she went from one picture to the next. Some were pretty embarrassing—I really was a dorky little kid—and I took a good teasing for those. But most were just normal stuff, and I found myself grinning as I reminisced. We eventually came to a picture of one of the Greenwall family reunions from way back. I must have been seven or eight at the time. It was a picture of me in the act of climbing to the top bunk of one of the old metal bunks beds. I was grinning at the camera. Peering over the top bunk railing was an impish little face surrounded by a mane of wavy brown hair. I laughed when I saw it. The look in Mia's eyes was so determined even back then. I wondered if I'd already started calling it the 'Mia Look' yet.

"Is that Mia?" Cassie asked, in wonder. "How old is she there? Five, six? What a beautiful little girl!" Then she laughed. "Look at her face! She was already working extra hard to get you into her bed."

I crinkled my nose. "Ew, gross. I mean, she's a little kid!"

Cassie pulled out another one of me and Mia. It looked to be the same year. I was the one with the serious face this time, as I was attempting to hand crank an old-fashioned cider press. Mia was watching me with the most adorable smile.

Cassie sighed. "Look at her, Brody. See the look of absolute adoration on her face? It's no wonder she was intent on hooking up with you last summer. She's had a crush on you since, like, forever." We stared at the picture in silence for a while. I glanced at Cassie and she was chewing on her lip.

"What?" I asked, because it was clear she was debating with herself about something.

"Can I ... can I keep these two pictures?" she quietly asked. "I mean, if your mom really does have other copies?"

"Sure," I shrugged, "Do you mind telling me why you want them?"

She looked up at me with shimmery eyes. "Looking at these makes me feel so close to you, like I'm getting to share in a part of your past. I don't know, there's just something about the way the two of you are interacting in them that makes me feel warm all over."

"They're yours, then," I said, "You can have the whole box if you want."

"I don't need the whole box, just these two." Then she frowned, "But you aren't throwing the rest away. I'm sending them with you and I'm calling Mia to make sure they arrive."

She set those two pictures on my nightstand, put the others back in the shoebox, then carefully placed it into the larger packing box. She picked up the other two pictures again, slipped them into her bag, then climbed onto my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck and resting her cheek on my shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispered.

I looked down at her to see her looking up at me. She was so beautiful, and she seemed so small and vulnerable right then. I wanted nothing more than to wrap myself around her and protect her from whatever might want to hurt her. She reached her lips up to me and we kissed.

Our sex was often hard and fast, something that she particularly enjoyed. We had moments of slow lovemaking, but they weren't often. This was one of those times. I gently laid her back on my bed, not bothering to push the piles of clothes out of the way. I then divested her of her clothing, kissing and caressing every inch of her body as it was exposed to my view. I made love to her nipples, gently kissing and sucking them, raising them to swollen hard peaks, and leaving her panting with need. I worked my way down between her supple legs, paying particular attention to her thighs' soft, smooth skin, and those sexy creases where her legs met her crotch. She moaned at the touches, then deliciously groaned as I ran my tongue through her tight, pink slit. A few more licks and those folds remained open to my gaze, revealing her moist, pink, inner flesh. I took it slow, wanting to savor the experience, knowing that this was one of the last times we'd be alone like this before I left. Shelly would be here to help with the final packing in four days, and John would be arriving in less than two weeks to help me drive our stuff across the country.

I intended to memorize everything that I could about making love to Cassie. Her taste, her scent, the sexy little sounds she made as I pleasured her, the intensity she exhibited as she pleasured me, and the sweet music she made as she achieved her soul-moving release.

She was particularly primed this day, coming within minutes of my mouth making contact with her pussy. She cried out in climax and trapped my head between those sexy thighs. I slid up to capture her lips with mine when her legs finally opened again, and buried my cock in the hot depths of her body. She held me tight, her large, soft breasts mashed between us. Her turgid nipples burned lines into my chest with each thrust of my hips,. She didn't come while I was inside her this time, but she was moving so wonderfully beneath me, and milking my shaft with her cunt's tight muscles, that I couldn't hold out for long. When I groaned as the first spasm rocked my body, she locked our open mouths together, sliding her tongue all around mine tasting the sounds of my orgasm., I soaked my spurting cock in the depths of her vagina, bathing it in my hot spunk.

I rolled off her with a groan when my body quit firing. She wasn't done, though. She quickly followed me, and captured my slowly deflating and very messy dick in her mouth, lovingly cleaning it and bringing it back to life. She then stood up on the bed, straddled me, and squatted, which obscenely opened her pussy. We watched as a thick pearly drop of my come oozed out of her and hung on her battered pussy lips. She wordlessly captured it on her finger. I expected her to lick it off, but she surprised me, reaching behind herself instead. She shuddered, and I knew what she was doing. She was lubing her back passage. She repeated pushing her fingers into her messy cunt and coating her butthole. I was speechless in anticipation of what this meant. She licked her fingers after her last trip from her pussy to her ass, then placed one hand on my chest, and the other on my thigh, as she positioned herself over my cock. I reached around and grabbed her ass before she could lower herself. She looked at me in surprise.

"You don't have to do this," I said, "I'll always love you, regardless."

Her eyes welled with tears. "That's why I WANT to do this," she said. She pleaded with her eyes for me to understand. Seeing her determination, I relaxed my arms, but kept them lightly on her ass, ready to stop her at the first sign things were going poorly. First-time anal sex seemed like one of those things that should be approached with caution.

I had imagined what it must be like to fuck a girl's ass, but I always figured it would be Mia I'd do it with first, given her penchant for butt play. To say that I wasn't beside myself with excitement at the thought of fucking Cassie's amazing ass would be a lie. But I wasn't going to hurt her to do it.

It took a second for her to get the aim right, and it wasn't until she reached down to hold me upright that she got it. The way she was leaning back, I could just see the crinkled entrance to her ass as my cock pressed against it. The pressure pushed down on my cock as she lowered herself, and I was afraid my cock was going to bend unnaturally for a second, but then I felt the pressure give way and the tip of my cock began to disappear into her ass. I looked up at her and the grimace on her face almost made me stop the whole thing. I hesitated, though, and I suddenly felt the whole head enveloped in delectable heat. She gasped and her expression became one of wonder. If it hadn't been for that look on her face, the tears coursing down her cheeks would have alarmed me.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she resumed her slow downward push, and more and more of my cock entered that heat. I glanced down and nearly shot off at the sight of half my dick embedded in my lover's ass for the first time. Inch by inch, her butt lowered down until it rested on my hips and I was fully buried in her tight, hot hole. Cassie slipped her feet out from underneath her and went down to her knees, burying my fat cock a little deeper and making both of us moan, then she leaned forward with her hands on my chest and her head hanging down between her shoulders. I could tell by the shaking of her shoulders when she really began to cry. I reached up and caressed her arms.

"Cassie..." I said, in concern.

She took a deep breath and looked into my eyes. The pain I saw there made me tear up. It wasn't physical pain, but rather some raw emotional pain that was coming from deep inside her. Her face was a mess of tears. She spoke after a few hitching breaths.

"You aren't the first guy inside my ass," she said, through her tears.

I almost stopped her. I didn't really want to hear about her past lovers, but I hesitated again. She closed her eyes and squeezed out more tears. Then her face scrunched up.

"But you're the first guy I've WANTED in there," she cried. She then collapsed on my chest amid great heartrending sobs.

It took a second for her words to register, but my blood turned to ice when they did, and so much about Cassie became clear.

I watched Cassie as she slept. Her expression seemed so peaceful, which was a huge difference from the anguish that was there less than an hour earlier.

For obvious reasons, I went completely limp at her revelation that she'd been coerced or forced, and just held her as she cried herself out. I couldn't believe it had happened to her, too. Mia and her teacher first; then Shay and the party; and now, Cassie. We didn't say anything for a good fifteen minutes after her cries abated, then she slowly shared a part of her past that I hadn't known.

It was one of her father's best friends, an old college buddy named Eric. Eric was married with a couple of sons who were close in age to Todd, Cassie's brother, who was six years older than her. He and his wife had been regular babysitters for Cassie and Todd during their childhoods; they were pretty close to the Joneses.

Cassie was ten when it started; the extra attention Eric showered her with, which nobody else ever really did. Cassie was a late bloomer, not beginning to blossom physically until just before she entered high school. She had no real friends and was painfully shy; but Eric treated her like she was a princess, like she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She soaked it up and loved going to their house. Her parents happily commented on more than one occasion that Eric treated her like the daughter he never had.

Cassie began to get a much different response from boys and men she came across when she began to blossom into womanhood at the end of eighth grade, and especially during that summer. Eric was no exception. His attention became much flirtier. The looks he gave her filled her with feelings she'd never experienced before, feelings that she loved. At the beginning of the summer break, Cassie's dad announced that he was taking a transfer to move the family near Todd's college, and Cassie used that announcement as an opportunity to spend more time at Eric's house. The families were close enough that no one thought it odd that Cassie would visit even when Eric's wife and sons weren't home.

Cassie said she seduced him, though most anyone would say that Eric was at fault for letting things go too far. Cassie learned how to tease and entice little by little, though she hadn't planned on having sex with him. She was just awed and consumed by this new body of hers and the power it seemed to hold over Eric. Her parents went to Florida to go house hunting for a weekend in early July. Todd was already in Florida, as was Eric's oldest son. The youngest was away at football camp, and Eric's wife was on a business trip or something. Cassie's parents felt no compunction about leaving her with him; he was closer to Mr. Jones than Cassie's own uncles. Cassie finally pushed Eric too far the first night, according to him, and they went from flirty touching, to kissing, to sex in a matter of hours. At the time, Cassie told herself this was what she wanted, what she had been working towards. But in hindsight, she never anticipated going as far as they did. She was only 13, and had no idea how to deal with her own raging hormones, let alone a grown man's.

They never left the house that weekend, and rarely left his bed. She learned about oral sex, both giving and receiving, that weekend. He fucked her in all kinds of positions and all over the house. They didn't try anal sex, however, at least not then. The thought had never even crossed her mind, even when they continued to have sex a couple of times a week throughout the rest of the summer.

She became more and more despondent about leaving Eric as the time for their move approached. She believed that she was in love with him and didn't want to leave him. She was also smart enough to know that she could never have him, not like she wanted. The evening before she left, Eric arranged to be alone with her at his house so they could be together one last time. For some reason even she couldn't explain, she lied to her parents, saying that she was spending the evening with friends. She'd never lied about visiting Eric before.

He seemed different that evening. He was more aggressive than normal, and seemed agitated and short-tempered. After their first round of sex, he asked for his parting gift: her final virgin hole. She thought he was teasing, but he demanded that she give it to him, and began preparing her for it. She begged him not to do it, but he got even angrier and more forceful, accusing her of leading him on and seducing him. He told her that her parents would be horrified at what she had done, that they'd probably send her away, and that it was all her fault. By the time he had her ready, she was telling herself she owed him this last gift and that she would willingly give it.

It was traumatic, needless to say. Even with the preparation, it hurt, and he was rough and unfeeling as he went. He was so racked with guilt afterwards that he practically threw her out of house. She went home; somehow avoiding her parents, and went to bed.

If her parents noticed the sudden overnight change in their daughter the next morning, from depression about the move, to almost frantic enthusiasm to leave Georgia, they didn't say anything.

Cassie's family had plans to visit Eric and his wife for spring break the next spring, which filled her with dread. Eric, however, was diagnosed with some aggressive form of cancer in the fall and was dead before Valentine's Day. She struggled with guilt over his death, because an irrational part of her felt that her desire to not see him somehow led to his death.

I held Cassie as she shared these things with me, stroking her hair and back as soothingly as possible. She never cried again, but seemed eerily detached, like she was recounting a story about someone else. She also didn't tell me if she ever said anything about it to anyone else. She just told me the story, then quietly lay in my arms, leaving me to my thoughts. I noticed she'd fallen asleep at some point, so I slipped her off me onto her back and just watched her. She was beautiful. The sheet only covered her from her belly button to mid-thigh. I couldn't remember a time she looked more radiant, even with swollen eyes, dried tears, blotchy face, and everything. It was like telling me this secret had removed a burden off her shoulders.