CHAPTER 13

LIVING IN AN AGE THAT LAUGHS

I had planned to head back to school with Eve after making sure she was okay, but after we got down from the roof she asked if I was interested in a Tekken rematch. By now the school day was half done anyway, so I agreed. She wanted to clean herself up first, so I waited in her room while she showered. Reclining on the bed, I passed the time with some games on my phone. Until the phone rang. Kevin's number showed up on the screen. I answered.

"Sorry about earlier," I said.

"Don't worry about it," came Kevin's voice over the line. "I've had worse. How's she doing?"

"How'd you know I was with her?", I asked.

"Because if I were in your position I wouldn't listen to me either," Kevin said. "Besides, the whole school heard you bitch out Annie during third period. Hell, they heard it in Antarctica."

"Yeah, well… that's not necessarily a good thing," I said. "I'm guessing Annie's still fuming?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about her," Kevin said with a lilt in his voice. "Lunchtime, the principal called her to the office over the P.A. She was seen walking out about twenty minutes later in tears and missing her hall monitor's badge."

"About time!", I said.

"I hear you," Kevin replied. "Apparently ripping a student's underwear off in the middle of the lunchroom was the last straw. But get this: word through the grapevine is, Annie was just a patsy. Somebody else put her up to it."

I remembered earlier this morning and put it together. "Roxy," I said. Not as a question.

"Yep," Kevin said. "Story goes, she had seen Eve's… ah… 'bulge' in the locker room a while back. Apparently a number of girls have, but nobody paid it much mind. They figured she just wore thick maxi pads, and girls have strict codes of confidence about those things. But somehow Roxy got the idea that Eve was actually smuggling a drug stash in her panties. So she puts that idea in Annie's head, and… well, we all saw the result. Roxy was as surprised as anybody else. Word is, she's absolutely disgusted with herself."

"Good," I said.

"You, uhhh… you two aren't going to go after her again, are you?", Kevin asked.

"Nah, Eve's done with revenge. Let Roxy's conscience punish her." I said. After a pause, I added: "So what are they saying about Eve?"

"Ah, well...", Kevin said, suddenly a lot less sunny. "The jury's still out on that. A lot of people are surprised, some shocked. A few are claiming they knew all along, but nobody believes them."

"Did you know?" I asked.

"No," Kevin answered. "I had a few suspicions- she reminded me a bit of a trans woman I knew in college- but I never asked her about it, and she never told me anything. But hey, you never answered my question. How is she doing?"

"Well," I said, "I wouldn't say it was a pleasant experience, but… well, she'll be in school tomorrow. Who knows what'll happen then."

"Who ever does?" Kevin said. "High school is high school..."

"Yeah, yeah," I replied. "Listen, I'll do what I can to support her, but she might need help from you too. Like you said, I have no idea what she's going through."

"She can count on me," Kevin said. "She's my brother's girl, that makes her practically family." Somberly, he added, "It won't be easy, you know."

"I'm sure it won't," I replied. "But I believe in her. She's a strong woman, she'll make it."

"I meant for you," Kevin said. "You're going to be hated for loving her, too."

I scoffed. "Kevin, I don't give a flying fuck if they hate me. I don't care if they burn me at the stake! I love her, and that love is worth it."

Kevin laughed. "Young love rushes in where angels fear to tread."

By now the shower had shut off and I heard the door open. Still ranting to Kevin, I sat up. "Man, the angels can kiss my ass! Why should I care..."

I stopped abruptly as I saw Eve. She was standing in the doorway, completely nude. It was not as last time, when she had been scared and naked and vulnerable. Today she stood proud and confident. Her hands were folded behind her back, and her hair- still wet from the shower- hung free to her shoulders. She had scrubbed the makeup from her face, and stood before me clean and undoctored, with an impish smile on her face. This was the true Eve, 100% pure, raw and uncut. Like a Greek statue, the lines of her body were smooth and delicate, and her penis blended right in with her slim figure, not disrupting the curves a bit. That penis was also- from appearances- not entirely soft.

"I'll call you back," I told Kevin, and hung up.

Eve crept closer, stepping so soft I couldn't hear her footfalls against the floor. "Would you mind getting the curtains?", she asked.

I didn't mind at all. I went to the window and closed them. When I turned back around, I found she'd snuck up behind me. I nearly jumped.

"Jeez, you are a cat at heart," I said.

She giggled. "I have a bit of a confession. See, the dress wasn't the gift, and it wasn't the preview. It was... well… wrapping paper." She traced a finger down my chest. I think I'm being seduced, I thought. "I had planned to offer you the present at prom, but… well, you're here now, so maybe you'd like to pick up where we left off last time?"

I smiled, trying not to let on how nervous I was. "Well, uh, as I recall, we left off with me..." I removed my hoodie and shirt and stood there bare-chested. "like this, and we were..."

Before I could finish, she lunged forward and kissed me. This was a deep, insistent kiss. A breathtaking kiss. I felt the soft warmth of her chest against mine, and the heat in my body rose quickly. Amongst other things.

When we broke, I looked at her and said, "...and I was about to ask you if I could touch it."

"Mmmm?" she said mischievously. "Touch what now?"

I brought my hands to her chest and rubbed those small but perfect mounds softly, making her giggle. I ran my thumbs across her nipples, finding them hard and engorged.

"Everything," I answered.

"Well, you better get started, then," Eve said.

This time I was the one who lunged for the kiss. It was a hard kiss, rougher than I had planned. I'm sure my teeth nipped her lips at least once. My passions, wild and feral, were in control right now. She moaned approvingly. Encouraged, I squeezed her breasts harder. One hand ventured down below her hips. My fingers curled around her hardness, and found it purposefully firm. My body goose pimpled with excitement, as if it was a lightning rod. Without breaking the kiss, I squeezed. Eve gasped and grunted. Again I squeezed, this time pinching her nipple at the same time…

"Ouch!", Eve yelped, and pulled away. Instantly I released her, embarrassed and ashamed.

"Sorry!", I said. "Uh… too rough?"

"Yeah," she said, "a little."

"Sorry," I repeated. Idiot, I thought. You have one yourself, you should know how to use it! "I uh… got a bit carried away," I laughed nervously. "Guess I have a few things to learn."

Eve laughed softly, then stepped close to me. "It's okay," she said.

She put her hands on my cheeks and kissed me. This kiss was cooler, at first, but it soon heated up again. She took my hand and placed it back on her hardness. I stroked it up and down with my fingertips. Eve gasped as I did. She broke the kiss. "I'm new to this myself," she said. "We'll learn together."

She took my hands in hers and walked backwards, leading me over to the bed. She sat down and leaned back, enticingly. "Show me," she said.

I forced my shoes off, not bothering with the laces, then the rest, piece by piece. I went slow, trying to be cool and not look too eager. (I probably failed.) Eve sat there, stroking herself in anticipation. When everything was off, she appraised it with here eyes, and smiled. She lifted her gaze to meet mine, and her shimmering blue eyes were positively giddy. I expected her to say something about it, but she didn't. Instead she reached forward, taking hold of it with the same hand that had just been touching hers. She jerked me slowly, with delicate feminine fingers. As low-key as it was, it still set my heart pounding.

I leaned forward, bring my head down until my lips again met hers. My arms encircled her and I laid her down on the bed. Her hand was still wrapped around my dick, and I took hold of hers again. She laid supine beneath me and we kissed while jerking each other. I'd love to say what I was thinking then, but I wasn't thinking. I was feeling, acting, obeying an instinct more ancient than thought. Eve was too. We were entranced with each other.

For a shortage of space, our dicks wound up bumping together, but that wasn't unpleasant. In fact, it was exciting. Enough that I wanted more of it. I brushed and nuzzled her tip against her shaft. Heavy breathing and a giggling smile told me she liked it. Emboldened, I took her hand and moved it away. She looked up at me questioningly, but I just smiled back. I laid my member against hers lengthwise, shaft on shaft and balls on balls. As she'd noted, hers were smaller than mine, but she didn't complain. I humped back and forth against her, and she gasped. The muscle was hard, but the skin itself was velvety-soft.

Impulsively, I reached down and gripped hers and mine at once, holding them against one another. I stroked my hand up and down, jerking us both at once. Eve sucked in a breath and let it out as a long shudder. Soon both of us were breathing fast and erratic. I stroked faster and harder, my hand moving almost on it's own. Eve moaned hard and deep. She turned her head to the side and bit her lip. My heart was pounding like a drum. Eve's cock was literally throbbing against mine, almost as if I could feel her heartbeat through the joining of our most private pieces. My pace quickened further, becoming almost frantic…

"Wait," Eve said suddenly. Immediately, I released her and withdrew, propping myself up on my arms over her. Eve was still breathing heavy, and clearly flushed. Had I done something wrong?

"You okay?" I asked, worried.

She snickered, still trying to catch her breath. "You're doing great, just…", gasping, she held up a finger. One minute.

When she had composed herself, she put her hands on my cheeks and looked right into my eyes. Her face filled my field of vision, and on it I saw an eager yearning mixed with a drop of anxiety.

"Aaron," she said, "will you be my first?"

I didn't get it. "Uh… isn't that… what we're doing now?"

Eve laughed, but stifled it quickly. "Yes, but I meant… umm..."

She bit her lip nervously, seemingly unable to find the words. "I want to go… further."

Taking my hand, she moved it to her balls, and then further down. "You get it?", she asked.

"Ah," I said, comprehending.

Her face was red from embarrassment. They don't teach you how to talk about this stuff in sex ed. Maybe they should. "I… I mean," she stammered. "We don't have to. If you think..."

I put a finger to her lips and she quieted. "It's okay," I said with a warm smile. "Hang on, let me get something."

I leaned over the edge of the bed and found my pants. I fished my wallet from the pocket, and a condom from the wallet. I checked the expiration date: still good. Rock on. Kneeling on the bed, I unwrapped it and… could not get it on. As a freshman, I had practiced this skill for the occasion when it would be useful. I thought I'd had it down. Maybe I'd grown since then? That would have been encouraging, in another context.

I looked at Eve and laughed nervously. She snickered back. "Hold on, I've got something too," she said. She rolled over and took a quick rummage through her nightstand drawer, coming up with a small squeeze bottle of clear liquid and, incidentally, a pocket-pack of tissues. She got to her knees and faced me, sidling close. A flick of her thumb opened the bottle with a snap.

"Just a few drops of this," she said, dripping three onto the tip of my dick, "and rub it around." She did exactly that. She had a giddy smile as she worked the lube all over. She didn't mention that you also needed to be fully hard, but with her anointing me, that wasn't a problem. "Try it now," she said. I did, and the condom slid right on.

Eve handed the bottle to me. "Will you… umm... do me?" she asked timidly.

I hesitated, but only a second. "Sure. Turn around," I said.

Eve did so. "It's, uhh…," she said nervously. "It's clean back there. I cleaned it..."

I kissed the side of her neck, which stopped her words. I held that kiss for a long second, careful not to bruise the flesh, before releasing. "There's not a single bit of you that's dirty," I told her. I picked that line up from an adult manga, I think.

I squeezed some of the slick liquid onto my fingertips and then touched them to Eve's ass. I planned to get this done fast, but when she squeaked out a moan as I made contact, I changed my mind and decided slow was the way to go. I rubbed up and down the crack, then around the hole itself. She ground against my hand like we were on a dance floor.

"Sensitive back there?", I asked.

She nodded, leaning back against me. Her supple back rubbed against my chest as I continued my ministrations.

"More," she said.

I squeezed more lube onto my fingers. "How much?," I asked.

"Twice as much as you think you need, and then some more." she answered. I was 98% sure she'd gotten advice from Odette. I rubbed all around the tight hole.

"Inside," she said.

I pushed a finger in and smeared the lube around. I saw what Eve meant; if it was this tight around a single finger, it would need a lot more treatment to take the real deal. But that was fine. The way she moaned as my finger penetrated her told me she had no problem with building the anticipation. As for me… it was a little gross, honestly, but seeing her react to my touch was a massive turn-on.

She held up her hand, palm up. "Give me some, I'll do you."

I squeezed some lube into her palm and she rubbed it up and down my dick. Even with the condom, I could feel the pressure and warmth of her fingers sliding back and forth. The preparation became part of the sex act itself, the two of us moaning and gasping as we smeared lubricant all over each other's naughty bits. When it got to the point that I could slide two fingers in and out without resistance, I withdrew, grabbing some tissues and wiping off my hand. "Ready?" I asked.

Eve bit her lip and nodded yes. She leaned forward, knees on the mattress and face resting on a pillow, then pushed her ass up towards me. My breath was heavy, my heart beating hard from the anticipation. "Do it," she said.

It was some effort to get in. At first I was reticent- I didn't want to hurt her. But she coaxed me into pushing harder, and the resisting orifice slowly relaxed and gave way. Once the tip was in, the slick lubrication made it easy. Eve's insides engulfed me, hot and tight and soft. She moaned a hot and breathless moan, and her passage quivered and clenched around my flesh.

"Is it okay?", I asked, suddenly short of breath.

She nodded. "Deeper," she said. ""As far as you can go."

I did so, eagerly. She gasped. "Oh, god!", she groaned. "Right there! Harder!" She steadied herself with her hands on the mattress, groaning into the pillow, back arched like a tiger looking to pounce. I thrust in and out, driven by a wild instinct that I could barely understand, let alone control. Our bodies were united, passion feeding off of passion, growing ever stronger, stronger. I leaned forward and practically fell on top of her, pinning her to the mattress. She squealed in alarm, then moaned in savage delight. Her fingers clawed at the bedsheets, and I put my hand over hers, curling my fingers through the spaces between hers until my fingernails nipped at her palms. All the while, I pounded, pounded away, like the pounding of my heart.

I said nothing, but I know she could feel it, as my body tensed, pressure building and blood rushing. My toes curled, and it felt like everything was squeezing. When the moment hit, it was like a lightning bolt through my brain, a blaze suddenly flaring up white-hot, a jump straight into the clouds like a rocket. I threw my free arm around Eve, and held her tight against my body, mashing my face into her neck, so close I could hear her ragged breathing. Everything tightened in a moment of sublime, intense release.

And then, in the space of a moment, it was over. Everything relaxed, fulfilled. The tension fled. All my muscles unclenched, and my body draped over Eve's like a warm comforter. I let out a long breath. Inhaled, and let that out too. Moaning with satisfaction, I nuzzled Eve's cheek and kissed her. "I love you," I whispered. She turned her head enough to kiss me back, on the lips. She didn't reply, but her smile said all I needed.

I withdrew from her body and sat up. Grabbing some more tissues, I removed the condom, careful not to spill any of the contents. I wrapped it in more tissue and wadded it all up. I then looked around for someplace to put it. The wastepaper basket was clear across the room.

"Oh, just toss it on the floor," Eve said. "It won't leak like that. Pick it up later."

I did so, then curled up against Eve's body. She had rolled over onto her back and gotten comfortable. I cuddled against her, all smiles. She smiled back at me, but the smile told me something was wrong.

"You good?", I asked.

"Fantastic," she said.

I reached down and ran my fingers across her dick. It was hard and relatively dry. "Liar," I said with a smile. The penis, for all its faults, is the most stringently honest part of the body. I kissed Eve on the lips. "Don't worry," I said, "I'm not going to leave you hanging."

I kissed her again, and rolled over almost on top of her. While my hand worked her dick, my lips traveled down, over her chin, into the valley of her neck, across her small but very sensitive bust- licking a nipple as I passed- down to her stomach... and that's when she realized where I was going. "Y-you don't have to…," she said.

"Shhhhh," I said. "Let me make you feel good."

I continued, and reached my destination.

I tasted. Her taste was incredible- musky and sexy and primally exciting. I tongued and teased all over while she shuddered. Then I took it. The moment I did, all the air rushed into her lungs and was held there, tremblingly. Breathing soon resumed, heavy and labored. I looked up and saw her neck arched back, her fingernails again clawing at the bedsheets, her stomach heaving with the excitement. What would people think if they saw me? I didn't care. Let them think whatever they wanted. I knew the truth. Whatever they might say, Eve was Eve, and that was all that mattered. And more than anything else right now, I wanted Eve to feel good.

Her excitement built quickly. She was hard and twitching nearly instantly. I worked carefully, trying very hard not to get my teeth in the way, and she responded with vigor. "Oh my god," she said. "Oh my god, Aaron!" Hearing my name cried in ecstasy only made me want to please her more. I went harder, took her deeper, pushed her higher and higher.

I didn't see. But I heard the deep breath and the slow moan afterwards. I felt her body tense and twitch. And I tasted.

She had a beautiful taste.

And when next I looked into her eyes, she smiled a joyful and honest smile, and kissed me a loving and satisfied kiss.

And then we laid there, side by side, holding each other, basking in the intimacy. We kissed, and caressed, and spoke words of love, but mostly we just laid together, skin warm and tender against skin, hearts beating beside each other. We were relaxed and purified, without cares or worries.

Our worries were waiting for us. Sooner or later, we'd have to leave this bed. Sooner or later, Grace would be home, or we'd get hungry, or a ringing phone would break the spell, or something, and then this moment would end and all the things that were a world away right now would matter again. And the clock would turn, and tomorrow would come around.

And indeed, there would be drama. The drama of high school, the drama of family, the drama of people unable to accept a woman who had a penis, the drama of love and life and a thousand different things, and nothing could stop it. I couldn't take away Eve's problems. I couldn't take them on myself. Couldn't live her life for her. But I could make sure she knew that here, with me, whenever she needed it, she could have a refuge. With me, for as long as I was able, she would always be safe. Comforted. Accepted.

Loved.

That was all I could do for her. Maybe it's all one human being can ever really do for another. It seems so little, such a small thing.

But maybe it's enough.

"Hi, Dad. It's been a while. Well no, I guess not. It's only been a few months. But so much has happened, it feels like a lot longer. I graduated last week. I'll be off to college in the fall. Still not sure what I'm going to do when I get there, but I'll figure something out. State university is not like a private college; I should be able to get through without too much debt."

"Mom's doing okay. She had it rough for a while, and she still does. Sometimes I walk into the living room and see her just sitting there, crying, or else just staring at the wall. But other times, she's smiling, and laughing. She has work, and she's holding it down. She'll be staying with Aunt Diane for the foreseeable future. She'll never have the life we once did, but between the two of them, they can pay the bills and chip away at the debt. It'll be a long road for her, but she'll be okay, I think."

"I've, uhh… I've been seeing someone lately. A girl named Eve, who I know from school. I don't think I ever mentioned her to you when you were alive. She's… she's awesome. Beautiful and smart and creative… she's one of a kind, Dad. I wish you could have met her. I think you would have liked her."

"Listen, Dad… Since you've died I've been… well, I've been trying to forget you. It just hurt so much to miss you, to think about the loss, and I didn't want to hurt, so I just tried to bury it all. To move on. But I think… if you try to forget the pain, you have to also forget the good stuff. The happy memories, the stuff you learned… and I learned a lot from you, Dad. From the things you did right, but also the mistakes you made. You were a good man, Dad. Since you've been gone, I've seen that you made a lot of mistakes, but you made them all for the right reasons. You did them because you wanted Mom and I to be happy. You always put that first. So I'm done trying to forget. Instead I'm going to remember. The failures most of all, because those will teach me what not to do. I'm going to build a life from what I learned from you, the good and the bad, and I'm going to do it better. Make less mistakes, or at least different ones."

"You don't get to spend forever with the people you love. At some point, there's always a goodbye. And you've got to go on with your life. But I think, if you don't remember them, if you don't hold to your heart how they taught you, inspired you, gave you joy and comfort and happiness, that's when they really die. I miss you, Dad. I miss you, and it hurts, and maybe it always will. But if missing you is the price of having known you, then I'm glad to have been your son."

"I have to go now. I don't know when I'll be back here, but I'll carry you with me, Dad. Always."

I laid the flowers I'd brought by the gravestone and walked away.