Chapter 21

Simon practically danced his way out to from the barracks to the woods behind the main grounds of the school, eager to get going on his run. He was clad only in a pair of PT shorts, despite the brisk autumn weather, but it wasn't so bad once he got going, especially with the lengthy uphill grades he dealt with several times on his way out.

After two miles, Simon turned right and headed back toward the school, circled around the gymnasium and headed for the back door. He'd gotten hold of a key pawned off one of the school janitors; one of the older boys had showed him where it was kept by the 'members' of this little 'club' who wanted some privacy when they had a girlfriend visiting. The other boy, who didn't doubt Simon's claim to be 16 for a second, had advised that the wrestling practice room was best, "because of all the padding, you know."

Simon had told Arianna about his plan, let her know which door would be unlocked, how to get to the wrestling practice room. He made sure to knock out a few hundred pushups and situps while he waited, staying fit and getting himself nice and sweaty under the buzzing fluorescent lights.

"Ew," Arianna called out, heart-stopping in her short running shorts and green sweater, black hair running down past her shoulders. "It smells like sweaty boys in here."

"I helped with that," Simon announced, getting up to greet her.

"Do we really have to- meet in here?" Arianna asked, wrinkling her nose slightly.

"Your Dad's gonna catch us eventually," Simon reasoned, "and then he'll be more alert anyway after we tell him we're dating."

"I just wanna use my room."

"So do I. But it's warm in here, and the padding is nice."

"You look so hot," Arianna said in a hushed voice, eying Simon's buff torso under the lights.

"So do you," Simon replied, putting his arms around her waist.

"I guess we can try this," Arianna sighed. "Nobody's gonna know, right?"

"No. Some of the guys use this room sometimes, but I told 'em I had a girl I was meeting." Simon smiled. "I didn't say who. They think she's from off-campus, like in town."

"Well, what'll you tell them? I know they'll want 'details,'" Arianna said, her tone making it clear what she thought of that.

"I'll make up some stuff."

"You don't get to wear any clothes in here," Arianna decided. "Undress, Simon."

Simon grinned, instantly putting his hands to his waist and sliding down the elastic band of his shorts and underwear. "Yes, my lady."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Ralph got up early this Saturday, mostly out of habit, Monday to Friday no one at Bunker Hill got to sleep in much anyway. He wanted all the same things he'd wanted ever since the island, when he'd finally gotten his hands on those berries and reaped the benefits.

Of the three things he needed, only one- the need for exercise and physical exertion- could be satisfied right now. Ralph's insatiable hunger for food, especially meat, and his need to fuck as often as possible would have to wait. One just until the mess hall opened in a few hours, the other until the next trip to Desele's. Ralph wanted one tonight and was going to demand that Steve make the arrangements.

Determined to get some use out of the time, Ralph went outside in his summer PT's and started a long run around the campus, pushing himself harder every mile, relishing the difficulty, the way he began to sweat in spite of the cold. He was so busy thinking about that, just enjoying himself, that at first Ralph didn't notice Arianna Lovejoy, the Princess of Bunker Hill, out for a run herself, jogging on the slight uphill grade toward the gymnasium building that housed the basketball courts, wrestling rooms, athletics weight rooms and the pool.

Man, that's a nice piece of ass, Ralph thought instinctively, unknowingly echoing the very same opinion Jack Merridew had at one time enthusiastically shared with his friends. Damn, she looks good in that. I didn't know she went running. Shame she's a v- hey, what's she doing up right now, anyway?

His curiosity piqued, Ralph watched her from a distance, taking his time as he turned right and followed Arianna's path up Faculty Row towards the gym building. Arianna stopped at a back door and went inside like she'd known it would be unlocked for her, and doubtless that was just the case. Now Ralph's eyes narrowed in suspicion. What was she doing in there? No part of the gym would open until 9.

Since when does Princess Arianna get up this early and go to the gym?

Ralph continued his run, steadily drawing closer to the gymnasium building, growing more interested in the situation by the second. His fondest wish was that Arianna was just going there to try and work out, Ralph could 'help' teach her how to do that correctly since she probably wouldn't know a dumbbell from a bench press, and then they'd fuck until his balls hurt. Ralph wished for that but knew it probably wasn't happening. At least not today.

Maybe I should try my chances with her, Ralph thought. Maybe she'll want a man like me. Plenty of hot girls did this summer, you better believe that.

Dropping from a run to a walk, Ralph ran a hand through his short-cut hair and reached for the door Arianna had gone through. He paused to listen as he slowly opened it, and sure enough he could hear voices echoing faintly from further inside. A teenage boy, from the sound of it, Arianna… and the slap-slap-slap of skin against skin.

Oh, no way, Ralph thought with a surge of realization. No way! Holy shit, the Virgin Princess is fucking a guy who goes here? If so, he had to know who it was. Absolutely had to. Partly out of sheer curiosity as to who'd finally won over the Princess, partly out of sheer envy that it hadn't been him.

Ralph stepped inside the vast, darkened space of the main wrestling and boxing room, looking at the ring in one corner, the mats in another. The boy was talking again, saying something Ralph couldn't make out. Arianna was moaning, sighing in what could only be pleasure.

Still, Ralph couldn't tell who it was. But he could definitely hear the slapping more clearly now, like the boy had Arianna on all fours and was giving it to her from behind. Maybe the usual way, maybe right up her ass. It was funny to think of Arianna having sex at all, so famous was she for her disdain of sweaty, arrogant, muscular teenage boys- of which Bunker Hill had an abundance- but some lucky bastard had done it.

I don't know whether to congratulate the guy, or kill him with my bare hands, Ralph thought as he followed the sound and light under a door to a practice room off to the side. The door had been left slightly ajar, thankfully, and so Ralph only needed to kneel, give it the gentlest push, and peer around it ever so carefully to get a good, long look.

Arianna Lovejoy was naked, as stunning as all the cadets had speculated she was over the years, and she was indeed on all fours, palms splayed out on a blue mat. A well-muscled boy with a magnificent suntan and neat, short sandy-brown hair was on his knees behind her, hands caressing her hips, thrusting steadily, creating the slapping sound Ralph had noticed.

While Ralph watched, the boy let go of Arianna's waist and went for her tits. He said something and Arianna answered with something else Ralph couldn't hear. Then Arianna's hands tensed up, gripping the mat hard, her eyes still closed as the boy picked up speed. After maybe a minute he pulled out and came so hard some of it went far enough up her back to almost get her hair.

You lucky fucking bastard, Ralph thought, hard as a diamond himself and unable to help it. You lucky bastard. You lucky fucking bastard. Every cadet who has ever gone here would kill his own mother to be you right now.

The boy rubbed at himself for a few more seconds after he was done, still kneeling on his left knee, his right foot planted on the floor. He shifted, reached forward and embraced Arianna, gently putting his hands over her chest again, and kissed her on the cheek.

"That was amazing," Arianna sighed.

"I love you," the boy told her, kissing her again.

"I love you," Arianna replied. The boy picked up a paper towel off an unused pile, wiped off the mess he'd made on her back, then crumpled the towel and tossed it off to one side.

Then the young couple lay down to relax, side-by-side, their sweat glistening under the gym lights. The boy's penis stuck straight up like a one-foot rod for almost a minute, while the vacant, cluelessly blissful expression on the youth's face said all you needed to know about his mood right now.

As Ralph watched, steadily beginning to shake with rage, Arianna laid her head on Simon's broad, muscular chest, murmuring things back and forth with him as she slowly caressed his chiseled, stone-hard abs with one hand.

Simon smiled at her, talked effortlessly with her. And five or ten minutes later, he rolled over and had her again, missionary style, his buttocks clenching and unclenching in a steady rhythm. Ralph wanted to charge in there and kill him. He wanted to stop it, throw Simon aside, maybe even take Arianna himself.

Primal lusts and urges screamed that this was still the jungle, that Simon was mating with the girl of his dreams, of everyone's dreams, because he'd proven himself the alpha in her eyes. If Ralph beat Simon up and mated with her right this second, he'd prove he was stronger, better. She'd accept him as alpha instead. That was the law of the jungle, and Simon had used it to get Arianna all to himself. The son of a bitch.

Arianna was sleek and sexy, Simon was broad-shouldered, muscular. Arianna gazed up while they fucked, her beautiful face contorting with pleasure. They shared a kiss, then another. He put his hands on her chest and she smiled. She smiled.

Ralph wanted to interrupt. He wanted to ruin Simon's day right now, a small form of payback for all the things Simon had done and failed to do. But instead Ralph just watched. He just sat there and stared until Simon pulled out and finished again. When Simon and Arianna were on their backs again, happily gazing up at the ceiling, Ralph crept silently back the way he had come, hating Simon more than ever and unable to do a thing about it.

There was one thing he knew beyond any doubt, however. He was going to Desele's tonight. Steve would just have to figure it out if he wanted to stay in Ralph's good graces. And there was going to be hell to pay if Ralph didn't get his needs met every single time he wanted it. Steve was too busy sucking up to Simon anyway. Sooner or later, if he failed to supply what he'd promised to Ralph, he was going to learn what pain was really like.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

This is really something, Arianna reflected, staring up at the ceiling lights of the wrestling practice room, her head resting on muscular, hunky Simon's chest. Just lying here with my hunky boyfriend, cooling off on the padded floor in here. I've never felt so relaxed.

"Hey." Simon ran one hand through her shining black hair again.

"Yes, Prince Charming?" Arianna asked, smiling as she said it.

"I have to go to this thing today. In like an hour."

"What's the 'thing', Prince Simon?"

"Uh… just, like, this little party for me, you know, because I made it back from the island and I'm alive."

"Friends of yours?"

"Yeah. They really want me to be there."

"It's not your birthday, is it?"

"No, no," Simon said quickly. "I just- they told me they wanted me there for this thing. So I should go and be there."

Arianna slowly, calmly drew in a breath, let it out again. "You love me, don't you?"

"Of course."

"It's been a while since you proved it, Prince Charming. So it's my turn. Now I get to show you. Be a good boyfriend and get ready, Prince Simon."

"Already there," Simon replied, a hint of laughter in his voice, lying down on the floor.

Arianna got up, straddled his waist and started, up and down, nice and steady, one palm flat on each of Simon's magnificent pecs. He lay there, smiling, hands behind his head, and once again Arianna felt a great sense of pride for her choice for a boyfriend.

Her sources of advice said that boys loved it when a girl took charge, made it feel sexy and cool, and the bottom line for them was the pleasure. They thought they wanted to be in charge all the time, but not if you made it fun, and Simon, calm and stoic though he was, loved to have fun.

The best part, by far, was when Simon took her by the hand and led her to the locker room showers, where he turned on all the showerheads, rapidly steaming up the room. With his immensely powerful arms, he gently lifted Arianna up with one hand under each of her thighs. They made love like that, with Simon pressing Arianna against the tiled wall, with the steam wafting around and warm water raining down on their heads. It was romantic, just the way Arianna had imagined, but the tactile sensations were so, so much better. This was perfect.

Once it was over and each of them could think and speak again, Simon pulled out and gently set her down. Then he knelt and picked up something off the floor. As he brought it up, Arianna saw it was a heart-shaped rose gold locket, with two necklaces hanging from it. Simon gently broke it in two and reached over Arianna's head, letting one half of the heart sit between Arianna's breasts.

"I love you," Simon said, putting his forehead to hers, his hands around her neck. "I need you. I need to be with you more than I need air. I think about you. I think about us. I never feel alive except for… when we're together like this." He paused. "That's what the necklace means. I'm your Prince Charming… and I'm always with you. And you're always with me."

"Simon-" Arianna started to say, but she broke off, her eyes filling with tears.

"I wanted to be with you for so long. It's better than I ever imagined." He cupped her chin with one hand, stroked her cheek lovingly. "Open the lockets."

Arianna fumbled for the one she now wore, pressed a small button on top of her half of the heart, and was greeted by a half-naked Simon, mouth turned up in a clever smile, teeth flashing a brilliant white, eyes sparkling with fun, energy and romance.

When she looked up again, Simon pressed the button on his locket, revealing another small image- one of Arianna, regal and proud, wearing her most daring silk dress.

"This way," Simon said quietly, "we'll never be apart again."

"My Prince Charming," Arianna said tearfully, managing a smile.

"I'd like to take you to dinner tonight," Simon murmured, nuzzling his cheek against hers. His hands caressed her back, under her arms, then slid down to her ass. "I got reservations at The Capital Grille."

Loving the attention, loving the simple fact that the Hunky Prince, the one and only Prince Charming, was her boyfriend, Arianna sighed delightedly before replying. Simon kissed her neck, hugged her to him, gently planted more kisses on her chest, taking his time, making everything just right. The way he always did.

"That… sounds like fun," Arianna managed to say. Simon was dizzying, intoxicating. He made it tough to think about anything else. "Um- whenyourbirfday?"

"What?"

More kisses on her neck, two more to her collarbone, more to her chest. The strong, gentle hands were massaging her back again.

"I- ah- is it- oh, um, is it- your birthday?"

"Maybe." Simon kissed her neck again. "Let's talk about it later."

"I love you," Arianna said, looking at him as the steam billowed around them.

Simon gazed at her for a few moments before he replied in that quiet, calm, confident, romantic voice. The voice of a prince.

"You're everything to me."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Simon half-stumbled into his room some twenty minutes later, his nuts aching badly from that last "quick one" Arianna had insisted on. She was the boss, after all, and she'd wanted more; Simon could hardly argue. But he was just one guy! Winning Arianna's affections was one thing. Keeping her happy with gifts, dates, sex and passionate make-out sessions was something else entirely. She was high-maintenance, demanding, and loved playing her role as the bossy, ever-important Princess Arianna, the stunning beauty.

Ah, it was worth it. Simon knew it was. He needed the sex badly- his sanity practically depended on getting laid nice and regular ever since the island- and Arianna and that body of hers were straight out of his dreams. He'd idolized her as a kid. Now, having jumped ahead to physically being a teen on his twelfth birthday, Simon idolized her more than ever, but for some new and highly intimate reasons.

Simon had his suspicions that Arianna was getting advice from somewhere. She was getting better, more confident, and that bossy persona of hers was blending well with that. Being the Princess, though, she decided a lot of what happened and when. Simon didn't mind letting her be in charge, since it ensured he could never even think of pressuring or taking advantage of her. And besides, teen hormones had them fucking as often as they had time for. She might have been nervous, hesitant at first, but now she wanted the action as much as he did.

It was hard to believe Simon had convinced Arianna he was so experienced… he'd been a virgin until his time with Katie aboard the cruise ship. Then there'd been the weekend with Jennifer, and then one college girl or high school girl after another for the rest of the summer…

Simon laughed, amused by the thought. Okay. Maybe I am pretty experienced.

A few knocks at the door startled Simon, but he didn't have to wonder who it was; Steve opened the door and walked right in.

"Hey, man!" Steve said, looking for all the world like an eager, well-muscled puppy.

"Hey."

"So, you get any lately?"

"Is that how you start conversations now?"

Steve laughed. "Uh, well, it's just you look pretty relaxed, sitting there, not wearing a shirt-"

"Yeah, man. I did."

Steve gaped. "Wait, you serious?"

"Sure."

"Did she like it?"

"Yes."

"Damn," Steve sighed. "You're so lucky, man. You get the one girl we have at this school!" He went over and sat down on the spare bed, looking admiringly at Simon. "How did it feel?"

"Like sex," Simon shrugged.

"You guys do anything special this time?"

"Well, we fucked in the showers near the wrestling practice room."

"That sounds fucking romantic," Steve deadpanned. "But then I bet it really was for her, right? Did she like it?"

"She loved it."

"Awesome."

"And I gave her the locket, too, so we'll always be together." Simon sighed, thinking. "I'm glad I'm with her, man. I can't stop thinking about her. I don't want to, either."

"Has she sucked your dick yet?" Steve asked curiously.

"No, but she does this thing where she kind of rubs her thigh against me, and it feels pretty close when she does that."

"I didn't even know what getting head was until this summer. It's unbelievable."

"Katie gave me head on the cruise ship. And Jennifer did. Couple of other girls, too. But I'm not gonna make Arianna do that. She can if she wants to, but she has to ask me."

"How's she feel?" Steve asked. "I swear I won't tell anyone. I just wanna know."

"I mean, she's a girl, dude." Simon shrugged, but saw that wasn't enough for Steve, so he added, "She feels as good as she looks."

"You're so lucky."

"I know."

"How's it feel, seriously being in love?"

"Like I'm not myself. But in a good way. It's like I wasn't a whole person before." Simon paused. "She's everything I have. Everything. I never want to be with anyone else again."

Steve hesitated. "Uh… so… I wanted to ask you something else."

"Okay."

"Would you wanna do a threesome with me and one of the girls at Desele's sometime? Or even back home? I'll get it all set up. You could tell me what I'm doing right, and I could learn from-"

"Steve, I told you, don't just idolize me, man. Do your own thing."

"Can we do the threesome, though?" Steve persisted hopefully. "I'd- I've heard they're awesome."

"I can't cheat on my girl," Simon answered him.

"Oh." Steve sighed, looking crestfallen. "Well, I mean, I guess it would've been better if I'd thought of this back in the summer. I should've invited you over."

"Dude, just find two girls you like. You're a charming guy. It'll be more fun for you like that anyway."

Steve's suntanned face brightened as he considered that, and he laughed. "Yeah, I mean, I guess, like- I wouldn't wanna, you know, embarrass you anyway."

"Whatever works," Simon responded.

"You ready to go?" Steve asked. "Everybody's ready. I tried to get Ralph to come but he, uh, he doesn't like you. He's real mad today. I dunno why."

"It can't stay like this forever," Simon said, feeling more troubled than ever. Ralph's anger over Simon's increased popularity and leadership status, his paranoia of anything having to do with Simon… it would have to be resolved somehow.

"Well, uh, can we maybe do that sometime later? Like not today?"

"Sure, man."

Steve grinned. "Okay. Now let's go make a big deal about Big Chief Simon, huh? The hero of the island, the lady-killer, Arianna Lovejoy's Prince Charming-"

"Steve-"

"And my hero, no matter how much he tries to talk me out of it."

Simon got to his feet. Steve looked at him steadily, with a new confidence, an assurance he hadn't had in the past. He had said something he really wanted to. He had meant every word of that. Simon knew he had to respond the right way. He needed to honor this.

"Steve, if I marry Arianna-"

"When."

"When I marry Arianna, would you like to be my best man?"

"I'd kill for that, dude."

"So how about being my best friend in the meantime?"

Steve smiled broadly, looking happier, more content with himself than ever. "Sounds good, dude. You were already my best friend anyway."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The Little Ones had all shown up in their dress uniforms for Simon's birthday party, held in a private dining room near the main mess hall that was used for special occasions. Steve had begged, pleaded, called his parents, and gone to everybody except the Pope trying to get permission to use the room for Simon's 12th birthday party. At long last, a couple days ago, he'd gotten the green light and had immediately gone around reminding everyone about the plan and checking his attendance list.

Robert Patterson, handsome and towering in his dress gray uniform, brushed a piece of lint off his first sergeant's stripes and checked his pocket for the pair of brass pin-on sergeant's stripes he had meant to bring along. They were there, along with the general order approving Simon's promotion to the grade of C-5, recommended strongly by his cadet first sergeant, some handsome guy called Patterson.

Another charismatic, dutiful cadet commonly known as Steve was also getting promoted. He was going to be a team leader in Simon's new squad in Delta Company, the school's unit for those tiny little ankle-biters. Patterson had told Steve about Simon, but not that his idol was going to need a new team leader to assist him. The double surprise was going to be fun.

Nearby the Little Ones were chattering, bickering, and trying to figure out what a "choir" was anyway. Rusty was adamant that their job was to yell at Simon as loudly as possible to surprise him real good when the older boy came in. Billy was sure their job was to yell almost that loud. Peter kept saying they were just there to sing "Happy Birthday," but his attempts to convince the other small boys of that were undermined by Mikey's repeated attempts to escape.

As Patterson was thinking about that, Mikey wriggled out of Peter's arms and bumped into Patterson. Looking down, Patterson said, "Hey, dude."

"Hello." Mikey said it so quietly that Patterson barely heard him. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

"When Simon's comin'?"

"Pretty soon."

"He's nice."

"He is," Patterson agreed, trying not to give away his disbelief that Mikey was talking to anyone for this long. He generally spoke only to Peter.

"Kay. Bye." Mikey ducked as Peter tried to retrieve him, and giggled as he slipped between Patterson's legs and ran for the table that the big yellow cake, adorned with icing in the Bunker Hill colors, had at its center. The chase was amusing, sure, but Patterson didn't like the way Peter kept bumping into the table from underneath, making the cake, plates, cups, silverware, cookies and other assorted goodies jump with each impact.

"Hey. Hey! Guys! Come outta there!" Patterson called, putting on his 'authority voice'. He didn't relish doing so but you had to if you wanted to keep Delta Company's ranks from turning into Riot Central.

"Sorry," Peter said, looking shamefully down as he crawled out. Mikey immediately hid behind him.

Kneeling to speak more at their level, Patterson softened his voice. "It's all right, guys. You just need to be careful, all right? Simon's gonna be here any minute."

"Okay, First Sergeant," Peter said carefully. He turned to Mikey, adding, "He's not mad at us."

"Kay."

"So how about you two keep an eye on the hallway and let me know when he's coming?"

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Arianna knew what her boyfriend was hiding from her. He was being playful about it, trying to be clever and keep the secret until their date this evening, but she'd figured Prince Charming out.

It hadn't taken much work to uncover what Simon was up to. An innocent question to Dad had revealed that Simon's best friend Steve had been asking everybody he could for permission to use the private dining room close to the mess hall, because Simon's birthday was coming up, and he wanted to set up a party for him.

The whole thing was delightfully amusing to Arianna; she chuckled softly to herself as she headed out for the mess hall, dressed in slim-fitting khaki pants, her favorite silver shirt and emerald sweater, and, to Simon's later delight when she lured him out after the party, Arianna was wearing her most daring set of black silk lingerie undergarments ever.

Neither Dad nor Mr. Travis would have allowed Arianna to buy garments that left so little to the imagination, much less wear them. But she was allowed to make regular shopping trips to the King of Prussia Mall, where she and Simon went on so many wonderful dates. She'd seen the lingerie, knew Simon would love to see her in it, and with his birthday coming up, she was working up the nerve to really surprise him, make the day one he'd always remember.

And to think he'd thought he could keep such a secret from her! As Arianna enjoyed reminding him, Simon was just a sweaty, muscular boy. He wanted simple things and would do anything to get them. She could pin him against the wall of her bedroom, naked, arms over his head, and make him do anything, say anything, because they both knew he'd get what boys wanted if he behaved. It was so much fun.

I'm gonna make him sorry he tried to hide this from me, Arianna vowed, making her way inside the building and down the hall. When I get him alone in my room, and he strips, I'm gonna tease him for hours, make his dumb muscular boy mind go crazy until he admits he messed up. Keep secrets from the Princess, will he? Prince Charming should've known I could play that game.

Oh, but it was all in good fun. All just a game to the two royals of Bunker Hill. Arianna was going to make Simon smile tonight. He was going to end today happier than he'd ever been in his life.

Looking down the hall to the well-lit room, Arianna could hear boys laughing, carrying on, then one with a deeper voice speaking authoritatively. She'd timed her entrance perfectly; as Arianna got close, they started singing "Happy Birthday" to Simon. Peering around the corner through one of the French doorframes' glass panes, Arianna could see Prince Charming himself standing at the center of the room, close by a table that had all sorts of things laid out on it. Most important of all, of course, was a large cake decorated in the school colors.

Arianna's heart sang with pride and joy as she looked at Simon in his dress whites, the object of admiration from all the survivors of the island, whom Steve had surely gone around recruiting for a private, yet warm and welcoming, birthday party now that he'd made it back.

Just as she was about to move out into the doorway and announce herself, the singing ended, and Steve called out, "Twelve years old, man! One more and you're officially a teenager!"

"Happy twelfth, Simon!" the tall, well-muscled boy with the first sergeant's stripes added cheerfully.

"Hard to believe he's just twelve," a big, stocky boy added. "Well, don't rush it; you'll be fifteen anytime now."

"I can't wait," Simon grinned. "Thank you, guys. It's good to be twelve."

It's good to be twelve.

Twelve.

Simon. That was why he looked so young. His height and muscle made sense, sure, but he still looked oddly youthful, and Arianna had always wondered.

Twelve.

That meant that when Arianna had brought her boyfriend home after the race that day, she'd had sex with an 11-year-old boy. She'd lost her virginity to an 11-year-old. That shouldn't have even been possible, so far as Arianna knew, but that wasn't what mattered to her right now.

He lied. He lied to me. He said he was fifteen. He tricked me. I slept with him. I let him- he was my first. Ever. And he was eleven. And he lied. To me. To me.

Tears flooded her eyes suddenly, and Arianna got out of there as quick as she could. It was all she could do just to make it back to her house.

A/N: 12-29-2020.

I posted Chapter 20 of this story on 8-23-2020, four months and six days ago. I had plenty of material with which to finish the story then and I have only refined it by now. I really can't explain what took me so long, but I think that some life events, 2020 being what it has been, and me just getting distracted/acquiring some writer's block all contributed to my long period of not posting anything.

I'm also attempting to get truly engaged in unrelated but important historical research, and that means writing too. Writing will eat up a lot of your time, especially if you're trying to deal in fiction and non-fiction at once.

But thankfully I got some time set aside today and I just started writing, going off what I remembered and what I planned for the remainder of Chapter 21. And here we are.

Arianna now finally knows Simon's real age. She idolizes Simon and he has admirable qualities, but he lied to her about being fifteen instead of eleven, now twelve. There was no chance of him getting away with that indefinitely, and now that he's been found out, Simon will have to explain himself.

My sincere thanks to AM83220 for his regular feedback, serving as a sounding board, and for his general encouragement and support.