Chapter XXV- The Homecoming Game
Wednesday, October 15th, 1998, was the date of Joshua L. Chamberlain High School's Homecoming football game, against George R. LeBay High from down in Portland itself. It was a big day for all of the newly-minted Varsity Football Team members, who would surely be receiving their baptism by fire here. The bigshots- Jason Morgan, John LaFleur, Henry and Mark Evans- they naturally led the charge, directed the team's moves on the field and took the glory when they won. Which was pretty much all the time. If- which not one of the Varsity team believed- they were ever to lose a game, the Evans brothers wouldn't just make the freshman run at the next practice till they puked, since that was normal already. No, if they lost- especially at Homecoming- the brothers would punish everyone. Winning meant parties, getting wasted, high, laid and damn near anything else the boys on the team wanted. Losing would mean a fate worse than death.
XX
Julie sighed, a quiet and happy sound as she stretched out on the couch in her living room. Mark Evans, lying on the couch under her, nuzzled her cheek, lightly kissing her as his lips brushed Julie's neck. That made Julie smile a little more; this felt great. Just great. Mark had his iron-muscled arms wrapped around her, "protecting the perfect woman," as he liked to say. Julie would have asked him to do it, had Mark not put his arms around her waist on his own. She felt safe when Mark held her, like nothing in the world- not even Doomsday itself- could ever scare or hurt her. That was a feeling, a sense of security, that Julie just could not have enough of.
"Thinking about anything?" Mark asked, his voice close to her ear. Shifting slightly so she could face him, Julie smiled, pecking the auburn-haired teen on the lips. "Just thinking about how much I love you."
Mark laughed. "You really ought to think about your classes, Julie."
"Why?" Julie asked with mock confusion. "You're getting A's, as usual."
"As always," Mark said, kissing her.
"So what's there to worry about with my classes?"
"You've got some experiments coming up in chemistry."
A little disappointed, Julie shifted back to lying flat on Mark's front, her soft, slender frame resting on Mark's hard-muscled, lumpy form. That was nowhere near as comfortable as the couch, or it should have been, but Julie just enjoyed it so much. Being with Mark, even simply letting him fill her couch and lying down on top of him, seemed to help Julie's thinking. Give her thoughts a focus they wouldn't otherwise. Julie had tried it when she found Mark resting on her couch this afternoon, after a long session upstairs. Julie had gone to take a shower and cool off, while Mark had gone downstairs to rest on the couch. Julie had come into the living room and laid down on top of him, and they'd been here ever since.
But Mark had a good point, and Julie was a little annoyed at herself for trying to flirt with Mark when she should have been thinking of upcoming highlights in her chemistry class. And that was hardly the only class she was teaching! It was lucky she had Mark to focus her thoughts like this, make sure she didn't forget the things she needed to pay attention to. Any other boyfriend- and Mark surely was that now, even if nobody could know about it- would have wanted to talk about his life, his interests, his stuff.
But Mark? He was always asking Julie about how she felt, what she needed, or wanted. If there was anything he could do. He had come by this afternoon in that Eagle Talon of his, the darkened windows making sure nobody saw him. He thought of everything, Mark. And he really, really did care about Julie. She had no doubt of that now, even just two days after she'd finally given in to the inevitable. Mark was just such a wonderful man.
"Well," Julie said, shifting again in Mark's arms- firmly but gently wrapped around her, of course- "I was thinking of doing something showy. You know, have a little excitement. You'd be surprised what combining the right chemicals can do."
"Safely, right?" Mark prompted, and Julie nodded. "Of course."
"Too bad."
Julie laughed, realising right away that she couldn't even pretend to be mad at him for that. Mark could have said he was going to go out and throw dummies off a bridge, and it would have sounded funny. Likewise if he pretended to be disappointed that they couldn't do anything dangerous in the classroom.
Why? Because Julie knew Mark didn't really mean it. He'd never do any of those terrible things teenagers- the bad ones- so often did. He'd never hurt somebody, anybody- and certainly not Julie.
"I'm not sure what I'll do for the demonstration just yet," Julie went on, "I need to figure out what chemicals to use. Pick out a good combination."
"Like us?" Mark asked, his voice warm and sweet. Julie shifted herself a little, giggling like a schoolgirl as she heard a happy groan from Mark- the seat of her khakis was resting just over his groin now.
"Oh, man," Mark gasped after a moment, his grip on Julie's waist tightening just a little. "Uh, hang on, there."
"What's the matter?" Julie asked coyly, like she didn't know. "I'm just trying to help you relax. You have a big game coming up tonight."
She shifted herself to face him, and Mark smiled at her. "I can think of a better way for me to relax."
"You know something, Mark?" Julie said, grinning at him. "I think you look a lot better without those jeans, that polo shirt. Clothes just never look that good on you."
"We'd better get upstairs," Mark said, a little apprehensive.
"Why?" Julie asked, frowning.
"I don't want us to sweat up your couch."
Julie laughed, and told Mark the truth. "I don't care."
XX
Cuddling with Mark on the couch afterwards, with both of them sweaty and cooling down from some frantic, passionate love-making, was even more fun than before. Julie's body was thanking her a hundred times over, and Mark continued to hold her in his gentle embrace. It was amazing, really; Julie knew that Mark's muscles wielded truly incredible power. If he chose to, the auburn-haired teen could have hurt her very badly.
But he didn't. He just kept his powerful arms around Julie's soft belly, his breathing steady and regular beneath her. The steady rise and fall of Mark's barrel-like chest was soothing, calming, and it wasn't long before Julie fell asleep.
It was nearly an hour before Mark woke her up, playfully nipping at Julie's ear to do it. Startled, she yelped and almost fell off the couch- but Mark gently caught her in his arms.
But Mark had to get going soon, and gently but firmly he pushed Julie off him and began putting on his clothes. Reluctantly- and that was a word she'd never expected to use at a time like this- Julie began to do the same. Briefly, she paused to think about what a stunning, thrilling change in her life Mark had made. She'd given in, surrendered to the truth- to Mark- just two days ago, on Monday. And somehow it seemed like ages ago. Like this really had been meant to be, all along.
And Julie was surprised at herself already, at how eager she was becoming to interact with Mark sexually. His teenage hormones, world-class athlete's build, and his own playboy personality gave Mark all the drive he needed, the ability to be a literally tireless lover. But Julie, normally a shy and reserved woman even in the bedroom, was finding herself disappointed whenever she and Mark were in a room together and couldn't make love- like at school- or when they did, and they eventually had to put their clothes back on.
Finally, after some healthy and exciting making out in the kitchen, Mark headed for his "Silver Talon" in the garage. Julie kissed him goodbye as he started the engine, leaning down to look at him in the driver's seat.
"Think you have enough energy left to come watch me at the game tonight?" Mark asked, a playful smile on his face.
"Sure," Julie said, returning his smile. "I wonder if you'll be too tired to play."
Mark just laughed. "Never."
"You gonna score a touchdown for me tonight?" Julie asked warmly, and the auburn-haired teen smiled in a way that made Julie thankful beyond words that she'd met him. Leaning out of his Talon to kiss his blonde chemistry teacher again, Mark looked Julie square in the eyes.
"Julie," he said, "They'll all be for you."
XX
Batting absentmindedly at his dyed-blonde, stylishly-cut hair, John LaFleur, the resident jock-prince of Chamberlain High- a title he enjoyed mentally bestowing on himself as often as possible- stretched out in the back seat of his 1972 Oldsmobile. It was a truly beautiful car, a pearl-white Cutlass 442 that had been professionally changed from coupe to convertible by a customizing firm in Florida. It had a gold-painted trunk lid and golden striping, and an all-white leather interior. The 442 spent many of its days on the road with the top up- this was Maine, after all- and more than a few people thought John was a fool for having spent so much time convincing his parents to acquire it.
But on those warm summer days, when even Northern states like Maine could encounter temperatures of 80-degrees Fahrenheit or more, or on balmy fall afternoons like this one, the 442 was golden. Completely worth what it had cost and then some.
John giggled, sounding almost exactly like a little kid. Cindy was gently playing with his balls again, giving him a blowjob while John leaned back with his pants around his ankles. The convertible's top was up for some privacy, but the windows were open. John found he really liked that cool autumn air blowing in, that crisp, cool scent reaching his nose while his gorgeous, jet-black haired girlfriend did something he liked a lot.
It tickled. It really did. John laughed again, groaning happily as he felt the climax coming. Cindy's head came up, and she looked at him curiously. "John?" she asked rhetorically, "Are you high?"
"As a motherf- as a kite, babe," John sighed, still staring up at the roof of the car. Shaking her head in good-natured reproof, Cindy ducked back down and in a moment, John felt the delicious thrill of her wet mouth on his member. He wasn't exactly sure how much pot he had in his system right now, but it was more than a little. Plenty more.
There was the big Homecoming game to get to, sure, but John still had a half-hour before he needed to be there. And after this long hanging out with the Evans brothers, John knew they were just gonna run the 11th-grade guys ragged tonight anyway; the seniors wouldn't have to do anything they didn't want to. But of course, as always, the seniors would get the glory, no matter how hard the juniors worked. They would wait until next year.
John wanted his bong back, wanted to light it up and send some more pot shooting through his system. This was the second time he'd tried getting Cindy to "show some affection" while he was high, and it was fucking amazing. John normally did well in English class, was known to be good with words, but he couldn't find any that fit how good this felt.
Where in the hell was the damn bong, anyway? John didn't know- maybe it was back in his room, where he stashed the marijuana he got on demand (for free, no less) from Martin Brodinsky. John soon decided he didn't care. Right now, he was sitting in the back of his custom V8, 442 convertible on a remote, border-of-the-county road, getting his dick sucked by one of the hottest girls in school. What more did he need?
"Are you gonna get in trouble?" Cindy asked, and John felt cool autumn air on his penis as her head came up again. Though a little annoyed, John was too relaxed- way too relaxed- to get mad at her. Instead, he laughed this off, shaking his head and smiling. "With who?" he asked, and Cindy said, "I don't know, like the cops or the coach or something."
Laughing again, John just shrugged. "Cindy, babe, you gotta stop worrying so much. I'm John-fuckin'-LaFleur. Nobody messes with me."
"Except me," Cindy said, a coy look on her face as she gave a gentle squeeze to John's balls.
"Ah," John said, gasping and looking up at the ceiling. Damn, did this feel good. "Continue, please."
Cindy must have finally been satisfied that John, a young man famous in Chamberlain High for his position of favour at the closest point in the Evans brothers' inner circle, was indeed untouchable, because she resumed a moment later, and John went right back to feeling like he'd died and gone to heaven. By the time she finished, he felt like he really had.
It took twenty minutes for John to come down from the unbelievable peak of ecstasy his mind had taken him to. When he finally- and very reluctantly- pulled up his boxers and zipped up his jeans, his crotch throbbing so hard he could barely walk, John stood up, attempted to climb out of the back seat of his car, and found he couldn't do it. Instead, he fell over halfway across the front seat with his legs still in the back.
"Ohh, damn," John moaned, feeling too good right now to even care, "Uh, Cindy?"
"Yes, John?" she asked, calmly combing her hair in the back seat.
"Keys."
"What?"
With considerable effort, John dug into his right pocket and threw them at her; they missed completely and jingled harmlessly against the leather-lined cushions.
"Keys!" John blurted, more insistently this time- as if that solved everything. His high was definitely getting to him. There was no fucking way he was gonna be able to drive…
"What," Cindy said, "You want me to drive you to the game now?"
"Yes," John said, "Good! Drive!"
"Why?"
"I can't get up!" John blurted, and burst out laughing.
It took Cindy another ten minutes- and the offer of a quick fuck in the back seat once they got to school- to get John to move from where he'd ended up, trying to get out of the back. The idea of getting to screw Cindy yet again was as appealing as ever, so John helpfully lumbered into the front passenger seat, leaned against the passenger door, and fell asleep like a child.
Cindy woke John up with some effort, and still John felt absolutely great. Did he want to go to the locker room and get ready, she asked? It looked like Jason, Paul and the other seniors were here, and Mark and Henry's SUV's were definitely in the parking lot already. No, John didn't want to go to the damn locker room.
"Why?" Cindy asked, a little worried now. "Shouldn't you be with them?" This might mean trouble, if it went wrong somehow. On the one hand, John was a sensitive, wonderful boy with a gorgeous body, a great sense of humour, and a sex drive that only the Evans brothers could top. He had deep pockets, and in the best imitation of Henry and Mark was always using that to get him- and Cindy- what he wanted.
And Cindy knew her boyfriend was right. Mark and Henry Evans did like him a lot, and he was as popular as anyone with them. And since the juniors who'd just made it onto the Varsity team had their trial-by-fire coming tonight, maybe the brothers wouldn't even care if John was late.
But what if they did?
"Babe," John said, looking at her with an attempt at sternness, "I'm gonna be fffine. M-Mark and Henry can handle shit without me for once." He kissed her, caressing Cindy gently- and even managing to do it well from the passenger's seat. "Come on," he whispered in her ear, seeing she was wavering. "We've got a few minutes."
It was a damn good couple of minutes, Cindy had to admit.
XX
"I'm gonna make this simple," Henry Evans barked to the assembled boys in the locker room, all decked out in their blue-and-white football uniforms. "I don't wanna hear shit about are we gonna win tonight."
"That's a given," his brother Mark said, his iron-muscled arms crossed over his massive chest. The dark look in his eyes as he surveyed the juniors- and seniors- promised what would happen if he and his brother were proved wrong.
"So what I want," Henry went on seamlessly, "Is real simple. Real fuckin' simple, guys." Jabbing a finger at the door that lead outside and towards the field, Henry barked, "One of them goes outta here on a stretcher! I don't care if it's a fractured knee, broken leg, or his goddamn back! I want that kid down on the grass, crying his eyes out on my and Mark's field, begging for his fuckin' mother."
"We'll tell Coach it was an accident," Mark added, anticipating that question as usual. "If anybody asks, you're sorry and you had no idea it would happen, all that happy shit. But Henry's right. That one kid on the other team better hit the grass hard tonight."
"What if there's two?" Jason Morgan asked, a malicious glint in his eye.
"Then the Homecoming party will have all the booze and pot you fuckers can take," Henry responded. After a moment's consideration, he added, "Actually, there might be more." This brought a laugh from many of the guys on the team; more than a few of them, clumsy and amateurish as they were, prided themselves on being able to smoke their share of pot or down their share of drinks and still stay on their feet.
"And how about if there's three?" Andre Cadiz said, his voice and expression cocky and arrogant, in spite of his paled face and churning stomach. He'd pushed himself beyond all reason to get this far. He wasn't about to betray the nervousness he felt.
Andrew's gamble paid off, too, because Mark and Henry just grinned, exchanging clearly-pleased looks. Gazing back at him, the Evans brothers spoke at the same time.
"Do it and find out."
XX
Following a rigorous warm-up, helpfully written for Coach Cressner by Henry and Mark, the boys of the Varsity football team at Chamberlain High were introduced to the packed stands. Being some of the wealthiest, best-looking, and most popular boys in the school as well as talented athletes, the many female students in the bleachers cheered them on wildly. Each had their own following, their own group of fans. Even girls who had no chance of ever catching their notice were here tonight, just hoping for a glimpse- a glance- from their crush.
And many boys were here tonight, too. Most of the male students at Chamberlain used football games as an excuse to ask a girl out on a date. As for the outcome of the game itself, most of the guys could have cared less. But more than a few guys who came out to Homecoming with a date were dismayed to learn their girlfriends, more often than they cared to admit, were busy watching Mark or Henry Evans.
They were incredible, truly stunning- high school athletes at their finest. Both Henry and Mark knew how to please a crowd, and they stepped forward as they were jointly introduced by the announcer, raising their fists high in a gesture of triumph. Their towering height and stunningly-handsome, muscular build was only surpassed by their ability as players and strategists on the football field. With the flawless record of victory after victory that they'd won for Chamberlain High, nobody at their school doubted what the outcome of the game tonight would be. It wasn't a question of would Chamberlain High win- it was a question of how badly LeBay High would lose.
However, a handful of people watching the game tonight noticed one prominent member of Chamberlain's Varsity team missing from the starting lineup. He was nowhere to be found, that handsome young man with the dyed-blond hair and the looks of a teenage pop-star. But Henry and Mark Evans noticed too, and were asking the question just the same.
Where in the hell was John LaFleur?
XX
Julie had only just arrived at Chamberlain High, this semester being her first at the school, so she had no previous attendance record at school sports events. That made it easier to show up at Homecoming tonight under the guise of getting to know the school, or school spirit or whatever. Julie made the excuses she needed to, greeted those colleagues of hers from the various departments who had appeared- voluntarily or otherwise- tonight. But as she watched the game from a special section of the stands reserved for teachers and staff, Julie kept her eyes on just one young man the whole game. Him, and nobody else, though when she glanced at #1, Henry Evans, it was easy to see where her lover's stunning good looks came from. No, Julie paid attention to just one member of Chamberlain's Varsity football team. #2, Mark Evans.
It was amazing, truly unbelievable, how intensely she had come to love the auburn-haired teenager, so fast. It seemed like only yesterday she had met him as a talented athlete and student, a boy even female teachers wished they could have a crush on. They had been living separate lives, then, part of two interconnected but completely different worlds. Then something had come along and changed all that. Mark called it destiny, wisely and rightly pointed out so many things that never would have happened, never could have… unless they really were meant for each other.
Julie knew, after all the boyfriends she'd had, that no relationship based on sex alone could last. She had never been in a relationship with a basis like that, but had known some friends who were. This, however, was different. As always, Mark was an exception to yet another rule that most would have said made a relationship like this impossible. It was only the first week, just two days after Julie had surrendered and given in to Mark's- and her own- desires for the first time. But already she could tell, knew for certain, that this relationship wasn't just going to be about sex. It would have that, yes, and great sex at that. Julie could tell that the first time she'd slept with Mark, on that wonderful, amazing Monday. Even today it was no different; she and Mark had begun caressing each other the minute he got inside the house, and they were upstairs in the bedroom in minutes. But it wasn't just the physical enjoyment, as great as it was- Julie and Mark were so deeply in love, so perfectly matched- they just couldn't keep their hands off each other.
The only downside of all this was the charade she and Mark had to maintain at school, in classes. Nobody- absolutely nobody- could ever know about this, and that meant acting like they were just teacher and student anytime that others could see them.
But that was up to the moment the bell rang at 3:45, and when Julie got home, followed closely by Mark, as early as 4:15 or 4:30 in the afternoon. And Mark's visit today had been even more thrilling than the first on Monday, intense and fulfilling as that night had been. He had worked out a brilliant plan for coming by, calling in advance and making sure she was home. Mark had installed tinted windows on his Eagle Talon, allowing him to enter and exit the garage of Julie's rented home unnoticed. Since Julie had her own Mercury parked in the street some days, neighbors- if they even noticed- had probably assumed Julie just had a visitor, or had gotten a second car.
Julie loved watching Mark out there on the field, his powerful muscles sustaining him with ease as he charged LeBay High's lines. Together with Henry, his brother, and Jason Morgan, they smashed through anything that got in their way, destroyed any opposition the other team could give them. Thrilling to watch this display of physical power, Julie thought back to the two times she and Mark had made love this afternoon. Mark was doing well out there tonight, energized and looking good. Maybe some time with Julie- and some good, satisfying sex- had played a part in how he was doing in the game. It wouldn't have surprised Julie; her teaching seemed to get easier every day now. Everything was becoming easier… now that she had Mark.