A Good Year at Linwood High ©2020
By David Lee
Dear Readers, while this is a complete story within itself, it is a continuing look at the characters from Incognito and Havel House and will make more sense if you've read those first. So, I highly recommend doing that before starting this one. Peace, David.
Chapter 1
Griffin woke up early on the first day of the fall term at Linwood High. He was excited because today he was going to start his sophomore year and he'd decided that he was going to come out of the closet soon.
He looked himself squarely in the eye in his bathroom mirror on that Wednesday morning and said, "I'm gay, and I'm not ashamed!"
Well, he said it in his head the first time, but he repeated it aloud seconds later. Then, he smiled. Somewhere he'd heard the proverb that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. He'd taken that first step! Of course, he wasn't certain how soon he would take the next one. He should probably come out to his family before he came out to anyone at school. He didn't want them to find out from someone else, but he wasn't sure how it would all play out when he did.
His parents were divorced and he was living with his mother. His father lived in Arizona, halfway across the country, and it would be difficult coming out to him over the phone or by text.
After his family knew, he would try to feel out his closest friends before sharing it with others. Once out, it would be impossible to go back in.
After a quick shower, he dressed in the clothes he'd laid out the night before and spent a little extra time on getting his hair just right. Satisfied with his appearance, he headed for the stairs.
Before he'd taken the second step, his mother called up for him to roust his brother out of bed. Nolan was a sound sleeper and no one, including his parents, had ever looked forward to awakening him.
Griffin headed into Nolan's bedroom without knocking because he was certain it would take a nuclear explosion to rouse him. However, that wasn't the case this morning. Nolan blanched and pulled up the sheet hurriedly, cussing his brother in the process.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he yelled.
"I could ask the same thing, but I KNOW what you're doing. Chill, Man! We all do it. It's not a big deal. However, your "deal" looked a lot bigger than the last time I saw it."
"Seriously?" Nolan asked, his attitude mellowing at Griffin's comments.
"Yeah, I guess I can't call you my `little' brother much longer. Can you shoot cum?"
"Yup! You wanna watch me?"
"Um, I'm not sure I have time."
"C'mon, it'll only take a minute. I was almost there when you interrupted me."
"Okay, if you're sure you want to show off."
Nolan pulled down the sheet and his young dick sprang to life immediately. With the added excitement of being observed by someone else, it didn't take long for him to produce a couple of watery spurts. He grinned from ear to ear as Griffin complimented him.
"Don't forget to lick your fingers, Baby Bro," Griffin snickered.
Nolan looked aghast but did it the minute his brother left.
"As soon as you boys finish eating, I want to take your first-day-of-school photos. We'll do it on the patio as usual," Tiffany told them.
"Aw, Mom, do we have to?" Nolan whined. "We're too old for that!"
"As long as you can whine, you're not too old!" she laughed.
"C'mon, we better do what she wants or we'll never get to school," Griffin advised.
Tiffany took several shots with her phone. Probably the best picture was the one of the boys with their arms around each other's shoulders, grinning. Griffin had whispered something to Nolan about his morning activities and both had found it humorous.
Griffin rode his bike to school. He could have waited for his mother to take him after she dropped Nolan off at the middle school on the way, but the day was beautiful and he wanted the exercise. It would also give him the option of going somewhere for lunch, perhaps with other band members.
The first students he saw were Rhett Butler and Ashton Havel. They had just arrived and were securing their bicycles to the bike-stand when he pulled up beside them.
"Hey guys, do you wanna catch lunch somewhere after our short day?"
"Sounds good," Ashton replied. "Got anyplace in mind?"
"I was thinking of pizza at Zoey's," Griffin said.
"I'm up for it; how about you, Rhett?"
"Yeah."
Griffin was surprised at how quickly the other two agreed to eating with him. He'd felt like they'd been avoiding him sometimes in the summer.
As usual, the first day was an abbreviated one in which each period lasted about 20 minutes. Often, teachers filled the time with an overview of what the class would be like, including rules of behavior. It was a good way for kids to have a trial-run of their schedules and make sure they were in the appropriate sections before they'd invested a lot of time and effort, only to have to make changes.
Griffin was pleased to find that he shared several classes with Ashton, Rhett, and others from band. It made him feel more at home than he had the first term of his freshman year. This was going to be a good one!
In their creative writing class, third hour, they were surprised to get an assignment almost immediately. Ms. Batchelder didn't believe in wasting even a short period going over details of student behavior which she felt every kid should know already if they'd made it to their second year of high school. So, along with the syllabus, she passed out a sheet of paper listing the expectations for her class and told them to read them over in their spare time. There would be a brief quiz the next day to make sure they'd read it.
"Now, what I want you to do for the next several class periods is to write the rough draft of a short essay discussing something you would like to share with others but are afraid to. This can be as deep or as trivial as you want to make it. It could be about the zit you got on the morning of picture day or something more personal. I'm not insisting that you to bare your souls about anything that makes you uncomfortable. However, if you wish to, I promise that no one but me will read these. It's an exercise in getting to know yourself better so that, ultimately, you can express yourself better."
"So, if some girl has a secret desire to be a guy, she could write about that?" Rhett asked.
"Certainly. The same would apply to a boy who would like to be a girl."
Rhett blushed because he hoped no one would assume he wanted to change his sexual identity! But, when the subject was quickly changed, and no one giggled, he didn't feel like she'd meant anything by her comment.
"What if someone has a crush on Dr. Manson?" one of the girls sniggered, knowing the man was about 60, and a little soft around the middle.
"Nothing is off the table," Ms. Batchelder said. "I would like you to keep whatever you do `G-rated.' I think you understand what is and isn't classroom-appropriate, but if not, please read rule number five on the sheet of classroom guidelines before you begin.
"Are there any other questions?"
Student's went for the usual list, like the required length of the paper and how much the grade would weigh in terms of the whole semester. Her quick answers let them know that she'd anticipated their questions. She was a pro.
As the boys were walking out to their bikes at noon, Raymond Chandler and Luis Garcia passed them, heading for the parking lot. The two seniors nodded to them and smiled.
Griffin sighed as they passed. He'd had a crush on Ray as far back as middle school. Besides having beautiful muscles, the senior wrestler filled out his singlet very nicely in all the right places. Griffin had scarcely missed a home match last year, he and had taken a few pix with his phone to lust over later.
Ashton watched Griffin's expression and thought he'd assessed Griffin's orientation correctly. Ashton's developing gaydar didn't let him down often.
In Luis's car on the way to work, Raymo (his preferred nickname) and he continued a conversation they'd begun earlier. Luis was worried that his boyfriend was giving up too much for his sake.
"Raymo, you shouldn't be working so many hours to help support me. You need to enjoy your senior year."
"I wouldn't be having a great year without you. It doesn't hurt me to make an honest living while going to school. You've been doing that for years and I owe you big-time for befriending me this summer!"
"But, we may have to work at times when you could be going to homecoming or prom or whatever. You'll miss a lot of that."
"So, why would I want to do any of those things by myself or with a girl I have no interest in. We can go to a few of the big events, but only if you agree to be my date and not worry about what anyone else thinks."
"I'm not ashamed to do that. I don't care who knows that you're my boyfriend or how they feel about it. I'm talking about you working when you don't really need the money and are doing it to help me. And it's not only me, because you know I'm still putting money in that account for my parents in Oaxaca. I can't abandon them!"
"Your selfless love is part of what makes you attractive to me! We can continue to help your family and get you a good education to boot. If we take our core courses at Kirkwood and transfer them to the university, we can save a bundle. Our first two years won't cost as much for both of us as it would for one of us at a place like Iowa State."
"But you can't wrestle at Kirkwood, and you could have a scholarship to the University of Iowa or Iowa State."
"Wrestling isn't my whole life and it doesn't mean as much to me as you do! I've decided I'm not gonna wrestle after high school anyway. I've seen the condition many of the famous old wrestlers are in. Their bodies are wracked with arthritis and ailments which are made worse by the sport. It's not worth it to me!"
Ashton, Rhett, and Griffin spent the first 20 minutes of their lunch discussing the surprise assignment they'd been given in their language arts class.
"Do you think she was serious that we can write about ANYTHING?" Griffin exclaimed. "I mean that covers a lot of territory!"
"I've never had her before, but my sister did and she said the lady's a straight-shooter," Rhett answered. "Brianna claims you could tell her absolutely anything because the woman is as tight-lipped as a priest."
"Does that mean she doesn't tell about the altar boys she's messed with," Griffin grinned.
"Ooh, you're a dirty-minded boy! What are you gonna write about; how you jerk off while fantasizing about her?" Rhett teased.
"Not hardly!" Griffin rolled his eyes. "She's gotta be as old as my mother."
"Hey, I've heard that women their age know a lot more about pleasing a guy than a 16-year-old girl," Ashton said.
"Eew! That's disgusting! What are you guys writing about?"
"Probably something about the house that I live in," Ashton wrinkled his brow in thought.
"I was thinking about that subject too," Rhett nodded. "I don't want to steal your idea."
"I'm sure we can both use it as long as we do our own work and tell our story from different points of view. We both have ancestral secrets we might not want everyone to know."
"So, tell me about it," Griffin encouraged. "There was a rumor around town about a body in the basement or something."
"If more than two people know something, it's not a secret!" Ashton said.
"Oh, man! I'm sure a number of people know, and now I'm curious as hell!"
"I'll bet you'll hear a lot of false shit, so I might tell you sometime," Ashton cocked an eyebrow.
"So, you guys shared an adventure this summer. Is that why you're so close?"
"That's part of it," Rhett said with an enigmatic smile.
That night, each of the teens began to put his thoughts down on his laptop. Ashton and Rhett worked side by side in Ashton's large bedroom but didn't confer on what they were writing.
They had convinced their parents to let them study together, and both sets had agreed to the arrangement with the proviso that it would end if their grades suffered. That was the "stick." The carrot was that if they did well in their classes, they'd get to sleep together on Friday and Saturday nights. They were determined to make excellent grades.
In his room, by himself, Griffin began his essay. He had immediately known exactly what he needed to do, but it would take time to get the wording right. He had to start telling someone about his orientation. Who better than a teacher who had the reputation of keeping secrets?
Author's notes:
Dear Readers, my editor suggested adding this link in case anyone wanted to know more about where Luis's parents were living. Other than spending about 11 days in Puerto Escondido helping build a Habitat house, I'm not terribly familiar with the state. Where I was, there were lots of surfers, making for nice scenery when I wasn't on the job!
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g150801-Oaxaca_Southern_Mexico-Vacations.htm l
Thanks to David (Boxerdude) for editing this chapter.
Thanks to Nifty for providing this free venue.
http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html
If you enjoyed this tale, I'd love to hear from you. Please write to me at: dlee169@hotmail.com . Please put the title in the subject line in case your email ends up in my junk box!