New Kid at City High, Chapter 11
At long last, spring break arrived and, with it, the band trip to Florida. Some of the parents thought Mr. Ramos and Ms. Conway were saints for taking a large number of teens on a bus trip of that many miles and days. Others thought they were crazy!
Fortunately, several parents and teachers were going along as chaperones to help keep the kids corralled. Since Ben could work from anywhere, he volunteered his services. He would be taking some time off but would be checking in regularly to keep up. It was expected that people might like a little vacation around Easter, so that was fine.
Of the teachers, both, Mr. McVey and Mr. Fiala were going to chaperone. They were planning to meet up with some friends when they got to Disney World.
They asked Travis's dad, Kyle, if he were willing to travel with the band kids as well. He thought it might be fun, and since they'd helped in turning his son around, he was pleased to accommodate them. He did ask to ride on a different bus from the one his son and boyfriend were on so they wouldn't feel like he was along to keep tabs on them.
A caravan consisting of four large coaches was waiting to be loaded up in front of the school early on the last Friday of school before spring break. The band kids were excused from classes so they'd have the extra day to get a jump-start on the long drive. It would take well over 24 hours to reach their first stop in Florida.
To say that band members were excited about the trip would be the understatement of spring term. A number of the kids had never traveled more than a couple of hundred miles from home. It wasn't surprising that they hadn't settled down the night before to get enough sleep.
Gio had slept over with Benji, and Sawyer had stayed with Travis. Since Ben and Kyle were chaperones, it was convenient for their sons' boyfriends to go with them to cut down on the number of vehicles involved. Sawyer's mom and Gio's mom chauffeured them so no one's car would be left in the school parking lot for the week they'd be gone.
The kids were required to leave their luggage in the auditorium to be screened for contraband by a small contingent of parents, teachers, and Paul Porter, the in-house security officer. Sgt. Orr came to help, bringing a dog to check for drugs. No one would go through anyone's bags unless the animal sensed the presence of a controlled substance. Most of the adults didn't want to snoop into the kids' personal stuff. No doubt some kids might be carrying contraceptives or naughty magazines, and no one wanted to deal with those.
All seemed on the up and up until the dog stopped and sniffed one boy's jacket. Sgt. Orr asked everyone to witness as he gloved up to check the pockets. Two parents used their phones to take videos of his actions.
From an inside pocket, Orr removed a plastic bag containing what looked like marijuana.
An announcement came over the PA a few minutes before first hour was to begin. It asked Jimmy Weld to report to the auditorium immediately. Jimmy knew he'd been caught. He had two choices, as he saw it. He could tough it out and claim the pot had been planted by someone, or he could get the hell out of there. He chose the latter.
As the rest of the students claimed their bags and headed for their assigned buses, some of Jimmy's buds figured out what was going on. They had been anticipating a little partying on the beach. It looked like that wasn't going to happen. They wondered where Jimmy was.
Jimmy had gone home, undressed, and climbed into bed. He called his mother to tell her he'd come down with the flu and wouldn't be going on the trip. He would try to figure out an excuse for leaving his luggage at school. His mother called the school to relay the message. No one in the attendance office had any idea that drugs had been found in Jimmy's jacket, so they didn't report his absence to Officer Porter.
The rest of the band and their chaperones left on schedule. Adrenaline and spirits were high. Someone on the first bus started singing, Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall and texted friends on the other buses to do the same. That lasted about five minutes before Mr. Ramos asked the drivers to pull into the parking lot of a warehouse just off the road leading to route 218/27 south. He told his students that there would be none of that, and then went to each of the other buses to personally deliver the same message.
Once they were on their way again, it was a quiet group of kids who were suddenly ready for a nap!
Benji had kept his large beach towel in his backpack. Travis had done likewise. They'd joked about how all savvy hitchhikers of the galaxy always had their towels so everyone would know they were "together" kinds of guys and would loan them anything else they needed. It was an inside joke among the Douglas Adams fans.
It proved to have a practical application as the two couples spread it over themselves and their boyfriends to keep them comfortable and hide where their hands were resting. They caught some shuteye as they snuggled together.
About two hours into the journey, the buses pulled into a rest area on the Interstate, and everyone got out to stretch their legs and use the restroom facilities. There was a small toilet on each coach, but most kids would avoid those unless it was absolutely necessary.
As the students from other buses got together, rumors began to circulate about Jimmy's absence. His closer buds had suspicions, but they didn't tell for fear they might be implicated in a drug deal if they did.
After 15 minutes or so, the caravan continued its journey.
Taking Route 27, the "Avenue of the Saints," toward St. Louis, much of the trip during daylight hours was through the prairie and rolling hills of Illinois and Missouri, scenery not appreciably different from Iowa. Most of the students entertained themselves with reading or playing games on with their electronic devices.
With potty stops and lunch to break up their day, it passed fairly quickly.
After about 10 hours, they had a longer stop which included dinner and the arrival of new drivers. With full tummies and fading daylight, most of the kids would sleep quite a few hours during the night.
Their breakfast stop was in Florida. At last, the weather felt warm, and the kids were ready for some fun.
Their first adventure was at the beach not far from Cape Canaveral. It was a welcome change. Having gone for 24 hours without a shower, some of the teens were beginning to be a bit ripe. Waves of saltwater soon took care of that.
Parents and teachers did their best to warn their charges to keep coated with sunblock. Most of the kids heeded their advice and no one got seriously burned.
The chaperones didn't ride herd on them, figuring that whatever went on wouldn't result in bringing civilization to an end. Therefore, some of the guys hiked up toward the north end of the beach where they'd heard that people went nude.
Few of the teens were brave enough to bare it all, but Travis, Sawyer, Benji, and Gio took off their suits and splashed in the waves naked.
In addition to being naked, they got to see quite a display of other nude bodies. Many of them were college-aged students on spring break. It was a real lesson in anatomy.
When it was time to round the kids up, Benji and Travis both had text messages from their dads letting them know a few minutes early.
Getting everyone changed back into clothes would result in a bit of flashing of skin despite designating two of the buses as male dressing rooms and the others as female. Band kids tended to be almost like siblings and no one got embarrassed or did anything inappropriate.
They had a late lunch before checking into their hotel.
Boys and girls were housed on different floors in an attempt to cut down on too much fraternizing between the genders. No chaperone wanted to feel responsible for an unwanted pregnancy. While the school tended to trust the kids to be on good behavior, they didn't want to leave anything to chance.
Of course, there wasn't any way to prevent activities between same-sex couples who roomed together other than to hope they would be hesitant to do anything intimate in the presence of their peers. That could have been a deterrent in cases where straight and gay boys were mixed.
Benji and Gio were rooming with Travis and Sawyer, so they weren't affected as much by peer pressure as they might have been in a different situation. Still, no one put on a sex show.
"Um, I'm assuming I'm not the only one who sleeps nude," Travis said. "We've all gone skinny dipping together, so I suggest we can be as casual as we want around each other in the room."
"Yup," Benji assured him. "I'm guessing no one is going to rat on anyone either, if boyfriends make out."
"For sure!" Sawyer grinned. "I think we can all do whatever we like after the lights are out. I know some of the chaperones are gonna patrol the halls to make sure we don't stay up and party all night. I overheard Mr. Ramos say they'd be checking the doors to see if light was shining under them. So, I have a suggestion too. Let's turn out the lights early, so we won't be disturbed for an official bed-check."
Everyone thought it was a great plan.
Since lunch had been late, dinner was also. After eating, the kids were allowed to use the hotel pool as long as they weren't rowdy. Some kids did change back into their damp suits, but others had had enough water fun at the beach and chose to lounge around chatting, reading, or resting.
The foursome in Benji's room chose the latter. They hung around watching some of their friends in the pool but feigned fatigue around 9:00 and went off to their accommodations.
Once in the room, they didn't seem tired but did go to bed. With the blackout shades drawn, it was almost totally dark. Thus, they used the Braille method to check out their boyfriends. While there wasn't any visual stimulation, there was a certain amount of auditory. Sounds of moaning and kissing probably made them all hornier than usual. Of course, with teen males, it's difficult to judge how much, since they often tend to be driven by their hormones.
"I want to turn around and do 69," Benji whispered to Gio.
Gio was fine with that, and it wasn't long before they went over the edge with whimpering noises.
Not more than three minutes later, their roomies began to make the same kind of sounds, signaling their orgasms.
"That was awesome!" Travis exclaimed. "Do you think we could do that with the lights on sometime?"
"I don't know," Benji responded, knowing how shy his lover was at times.
"We might work up to it," Gio said. "It was really sexy hearing you guys get off. The soundtrack on sex movies is always so fake. This was real!"
Being fully relaxed, the four went to sleep rather quickly.
The next day was an educational one, as they visited the Kennedy Space Center in the morning. Seeing the replica of the first space capsule made them realize how chancy early exploration was. Even this many years later, it still seemed scary.
After lunch, they went to the beach again.
Probably the biggest thrill for the band was their two days at Epcot Center and the theme park at Disney World. Mr. Ramos had arranged their tickets so they saw Epcot on the first day. It was more educational and less "fun" than the rollercoasters would be.
However, besides the botanical gardens and butterfly pavilion, there were some rides.
For the chaperones, this was a laid-back day. The pace was slower than it would be in the theme park, and so the kids were probably "tamer" than they would be in that setting.
It was a really pleasant time for Neil and Aidan. Their friends Syd Kushner and Pete Voorhees from southern Iowa were taking their spring break in Florida this year and worked it out to meet them.
They exchanged hugs when they met up.
When Travis saw the two teachers from his former school, he was excited.
"Mr. Voorhees, Mr. Kushner, do you remember me?
"Travis, is that really you?" Syd responded. "I think you've grown a foot since I saw you last. How's everything going?"
"I have grown about three inches. Um, I want you to meet my boyfriend. This is Sawyer. Yeah, I finally admitted I'm gay and everything is good. I'm sorry about how I acted before. I suppose you guys probably don't want to be around me," Travis babbled nervously.
"We love seeing you, Pete spoke up."
"But, how can that be? I was a nasty little homophobe!"
"Travis, we're all works in progress. I've taught high school long enough to watch students grow and change. If I were judged on what I did as a young teen, I'd be in deep doodoo!"
"Um, how come you guys are here and how do you know our karate instructors?"
"We're on spring break too, and we decided to spend in Florida this year to meet up with these two. We first met on break a few years ago in Texas when we were on our honeymoon, and we've kept in touch ever since. We also thought it would be fun to see your band perform. You guys have a good rep in the state of Iowa," Syd told him.
"Wow! I'm so glad you're here!" Travis enthused. "Well, I gotta go see some more stuff. Nice talking to you."
"You and Neil weren't kidding about how much Travis has changed," Syd remarked. "I suspect you guys had something to do with his transformation."
"We did have some input but being with his father instead of that crazy mother was the biggest factor. Karate, and the friends he made at City High, were definitely helpful." Aidan said.
On the second day at Disney, almost everyone was excited about doing Space Mountain and the other rollercoaster rides. It was going to be difficult rounding them all up for their performance in the light parade later. It was doubtful that any of them would intentionally miss the spectacle because they had practiced their medley of Disney tunes for many hours and were looking forward to being part of the show.
During the long day leading up to it, the kids took every opportunity to experience all the attractions. Since they were a large group, they were divided into smaller units and given particular time slots to keep them from having to stand in lines for long periods of time. Usually the service came at additional charges, but they got the perk free since they were participating in the evening parade.
Benji, Gio, Sawyer, and Travis managed to get included with a few others who were compatible, and everything went well. There was free time between 11:30 and 12:30 in which they could eat and do shopping if they wished. None of them was into souvenirs, so they had a leisurely lunch before going back to pack in as many rides as they could.
Another break in their schedule occurred around the dinner hour, but some of the kids grabbed a hotdog and kept on a mad pace to see everything.
Mr. Ramos sent out a group alert message to all the cell numbers he had about 45 minutes before the parade started. The kids had promised to hurry to the buses to change into their uniforms. To his relief, and amazement, all were present and accounted for with time to spare.
The attractions had been exciting, but it was their performance that would live in their memoires from that day forth. It was flawless! The trill was almost as great as if they'd marched in the Rose Bowl Parade.
At the end of their route, they were applauded by a lot of people – not only the chaperones but several townspeople who had chosen to drive down to support them.
The last day was spent at a waterpark. It was fun, but it was kinds of an anticlimax.
The following day, they boarded the buses for home again.
Author's notes: Thanks to all who emailed about the last chapter. I love hearing from you during our time of virtual lock-down. The list includes: Chandra B, Joe W (1), Ray M, Richie W, Allen, Bill T, Jamie L, Johnny R, Don Mac, Walter S, Mendy D, Tom A, Ott H, Bill K, Tim T, Tom K, John L, Paul R, Jim W, Tony C, Gordon, Dwayne, Craig, Doc H, Joe W (2), Hotrod, Wayne S, and Allen R.
Thanks to David for editing. Thanks to Nifty for providing this venue.
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If you enjoyed this tale, I'd love to hear from you. Please write to me at: dlee169@hotmail.com
Stay well!
David