"Right!" Chop yelled, slapping his hand on the table. "This calls for a round of base ten. We need to sort out the shaggables from the munters." Chop's announcement was met by a round of approval from the other boys at the table, all apart from Finn who, as usual, kept quiet. Archie joined in, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, a look of discomfort flashing across his features before he masked it with a long gulp of lager. All three of them, along with some of their friends from the lower sixth, Billy, Jonno and Chris, were enjoying a night down the pub without the company of the girls. They'd been drinking since 4, and it was now 7:30. They were suitably sozzled, but not quite at the 'rolling' stage.
"Let's see…" Chop slurred, ever the game master. "Stacy Crowler?"
There were a smattering of '6s' and 7s' thrown from different directions. "I prefer her sister." Billy supplied, the rest of the group agreeing. Archie, as usual, went with the general consensus, nodding at the right times, his eyes closing for a bit too long whenever he blinked.
"Emma Salisbury?" Chris supplied, his ginger eyebrows wiggling suggestively. The group contemplated for a few moments, this time providing '7s' and '8s'.
"I've heard she's got no gag reflex." Jonno added, making the entire group shout '10!' in unison before falling into hysterics.
"What about Chloe, then?" Archie said, wanting to be an active participant. "She's pretty hot." he added, in what he hoped was a convincing tone. The boys nodded in agreement.
"I'd give her an 8 in normal clothes and a 9 in a bikini." Chop said, punctuating his words by loosely shaking a beer mat in no direction in particular.
"Bet that's not all you'd give her." Finn laughed, Chop throwing back a devilish grin.
"Who's that short girl with the long red hair yous lot hang out with?" Billy asked Chop, Finn and Archie, all three of them responding at once: "Izzy." Chop's originally cheeky mood changed instantaneously. "Now lads, be careful what you say. She's like my sister, that one." Finn and Archie shared a withering look.
"You wouldn't wanna do her, then?" Jonno asked Chop.
"She looks a bit too angelic for my liking." Billy said.
"Ah, but it's the ones who look innocent that are the best in the sack. I bet she's a real firecracker once you get going…" Jonno said, thrusting his hips forward a few times to emphasise his point.
Finn could feel Chop tensing up beside him, and he thought he'd better change the subject before heads started to roll. He fuzzily navigated his brain, throwing in the name of the first girl who popped into his head…
"Rae?" He said, in what he realised was a mumble. "What was that?" Archie asked loudly. Only then did Finn realise who he just mentioned; out of all the girls he knew - and he knew his fair share - his one suggestion was Rae. Finn bit his lip, uncomfortably eyeing his pint. It seemed nobody had heard what he said, and luckily for him, Chris piped up: "What about Rae?" diverting the group's attention away from Finn and, to the relief of Chop, the subject of Izzy.
"Raemundo?" Chop asked, as if hearing her name for the first time. "I don't think she really counts."
"She's a girl, isn't she?" Chris added, shrugging. Suddenly it was Finn's turn to feel uncomfortable. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear his friends rate Rae out of 10, not that he had any right to protest. He'd only known her for a few weeks and they hadn't exactly hit it off, a fact that bothered Finn more and more as the days went by. She was unlike any girl he'd ever come across, downing snake-bites and not taking any bullshit from anyone. Rae had taken firm residence in the 'DOES NOT COMPUTE' part of Finn's brain, as well as some other areas he wasn't willing to analyse. He found himself holding his breath in anticipation.
"Archie should be able to give us an informed decision on that one." Billy smiled, and Finn found himself groaning internally. 'Here we go'. he thought, grimly. The rest of the boys began to coo, Chris shoving Archie's shoulder, making his glasses fall slightly out of place. Archie shrugged as he readjusted them, and Finn silently prayed that he wouldn't go into too much detail over…whatever they'd done. He clenched his jaw, trying to look uninterested.
"How far did you get with her, then?" Chris asked, grinning. Finn contemplated stuffing a nearby leaflet into Archie's mouth.
Archie swayed slightly in his seat, deep in thought. "We had a snog. She wasn't bad, actually…and I err…" He looked around at his friends, plastering on his faux bravado. "…I copped a feel, yaknow." Archie winked behind his glasses, making a slight 'honking' motion with his right hand. All the boys whooped and whistled, except for Finn, who just glowered at Archie unnoticed.
"I'd give her a 7. She's a great lady." Archie concluded, nodding.
"I'd say she was around a 4, myself." Jonno said, flatly. Finn found himself holding in a scoff, frowning as to why that didn't sit right with him. His stomach churned at the prospect of rating Rae. He hoped they didn't ask him.
"That's a bit harsh, Jonno - Raemundo's pure gold!" Chop yelled, falling back against the wall behind him.
"I know she's cool and that, but, I'm talkin' physically. I mean, could you imagine sleeping with her? She'd crush you to death!" Billy and Chris laughed at Jonno, Archie shouting "Oi!" over them in protest. Finn started feeling sicker, his throat tightening. He took a swig of his drink.
"I dunno…that might help things along if you know what I mean!" Billy said. "Think about it, all that weight on ya, you'd be so far up there you'd need a fuckin' skylift to get it out again!" This made the boys howl, all except for Finn, who suddenly felt a familiar warm rush to his groin. 'Oh fuck…not now, not now.' He thought, muddily, delicately shifting the sleeves of the flannel shirt tied around his waist to cover his persistently growing erection.
"She's got nice big knockers, as well. Something to grab onto." Chris winked.
'Not helping!' Finn thought, trying to think unsexy thoughts. 'Chop's hairy arse-crack, Chop's hairy arse-crack' he repeated to himself mentally.
"What do you think, Finn?" Jonno asked, still unconvinced.
"Now, I know you're not fond of her mate, but try'n'be kind, won't ya?" Chop tried to reason, looking at Finn, before following up with a "Y'alright?" when he noticed his pained expression and sweaty brow.
Finn tried to scramble a plan together in his head; if he just ran off now, it'd look suspicious. If he rated her high, they'd rib him mercilessly and he'd never be able to make his escape. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool.
"I think this game's a load of bollocks." He said, his newly adopted bored facade a good excuse to slouch further down in his seat, better hiding his unwelcome boner.
"You're a right boring fucker sometimes, you are." Chop said, shaking his head in mock disappointment.
Finn didn't wait much longer before making his excuses and heading home, ignoring his friends' loud protests as he walked (and occasionally stumbled) out of the pub. For the whole walk home he tried not to think about Rae - tried not to imagine her naked body looming over him, tried not to imagine burying his face in her ample cleavage, tried not to wonder what sound she'd make when she had an orgasm…
He was still annoyingly hard when he got to his bedroom, his parents still out with their friends. He tried to convince himself that the reason he left the pub at stupid o'clock had nothing to do with him desperately wanting to wank. He put on a record before speedily taking off his jeans and boxers, getting into his bed. The further he got into masturbating, the more his half hearted attempts to stop himself thinking about Rae failed, and he quickly surrendered himself to the images battling to enter his consciousness. He imagined her slowly stripping naked in front of him, kneeling on the bottom of the bed and crawling towards him, swinging her leg across his hips and straddling him. He liked the thought of her being in charge, of her taking complete control of the situation. He wanted her to take what she wanted, just like she did when she roughly stole that 20p off him when he was first getting to know her. He visualised lifting his hands and cupping her naked breasts as she rode him, imagined her screaming his name over and over. The amount he'd had to drink that evening ensured he didn't last long, and before he knew it he came, the groan he emitted bringing him back to reality, a lingering impression of Rae's face appearing behind his eyelids as he closed them. After wiping himself down, he thought briefly about rejoining his friends at the pub, but he feared a repeat occurrence should the conversation be in the same vein as before. He laid back on his bed, eyes drooping, wondering why he didn't feel confused or ashamed about masturbating over Rae Earl. She didn't even like him, had never shown an ounce of interest. Maybe he just had a thing for girls he couldn't have? He didn't know; he felt too tired and drunk to try to analyse it.
Finn's eyes lingered on the pile of boxes on top of his wardrobe before he fell asleep, and he dimly remembered how as a child he loved to sit alone on the kitchen table and assemble jigsaw puzzles when it was too wet to play outside. He'd never admit it to his friends, but he, much like his Dad, found the process completely fascinating. It wasn't long before Rae entered his thoughts yet again, pushing all his childhood memories aside and following him into his dreams.