Lucky
by Nico Grey
I
This is a stand-alone story, written for IOMFATS Writing Challenge #57, "It's Awful!". One of the two principal characters in "Lucky" appeared briefly in another story, "Strong Enough", that was published here last month. There are also a number of secondary characters in this story that appeared in "Strong Enough"
I don't believe that readers need any additional information to read and understand this story. The narrative contains everything that matters to its plot and theme.
But some of the action in this story refers back to events in "Strong Enough". If you do happen to find yourself wondering about some events in "Lucky", and want to learn more, reading "Strong Enough" might provide a more thorough understanding of events running concurrent to the main plot line of this story.
The nearly seven hundred souls that comprised the staff and student body at Silver River Union High School and Middle School were, in many ways, a microcosm of America. Although, located in southeastern Vermont, this group lacked perhaps the racial and ethnic diversity of the rest of the country.
Of course, being a combination middle school and high school, the demographics also skewed pretty heavily toward ages twelve through eighteen, with a modest number of adults also in evidence.
The individuals that worked or studied at the Silver River campus were otherwise diverse. They were fairly equally male and female. They came in all shapes and sizes. They included both those athletically gifted as well as the hopeless, socially adept or awkward, creative and concrete thinkers, optimists and pessimists, intelligent and. . . challenged. They were selfish, empathetic, greedy, generous, kind, cruel, straight, and even gay. . .although being located in a rural and rather conservative community, the gay didn't go out of their way to advertise their sexual interests.
The boys' locker room, after fifth period Physical Education class for middle school students, was also a microcosm of the rest of the school. The demographics were further limited to almost exclusively boys between twelve and fourteen— with a forty-two-year-old male teacher lurking just out of sight, attentive to sounds indicating a sudden need for adult supervision— but otherwise representing the characteristics of the school population rather proportionately. Although in this particular environment, gay individuals were even more careful to conceal their attractions from their peers.
How they chose to conceal those attractions varied widely from individual to individual.
Thirteen-year-old Alex Fortin paid close attention to the cacophony of noise surrounding him. But he kept his eyes scrupulously to himself.
It was a calculated strategy for surviving the locker room bedlam after an hour of strenuous physical activity. Paying too much attention to peers as they showered and changed could make oneself, in turn, the object of too much attention.
But it definitely paid to keep ears open and to have a strong sense of spatial awareness. Snapping towels could be the least of the dangers present in a room full of naked and nearly-naked boys in their early teens that still had energy to burn.
Alex was paying particular attention to the sounds of the activity around him. On the first day of a new semester, changing schedules had brought new faces and new personalities into the class. It made sense to focus on the new locker room dynamic from the beginning. That reduced the likelihood of a miscalculation that could make life a misery for the next nineteen weeks.
In Alex's opinion, the sudden change in class composition had been a mixed blessing. A few familiar faces were gone. He would miss some. But in some cases the result was addition by subtraction.
There were a couple of new boys in the class that Alex knew and liked, and a few that he didn't know but who seemed decent enough. But there was also a serious case of subtraction by addition.
Alex had never been fond of Theodore Frye. Eighteen month earlier, they had entered seventh grade together and had somehow never clicked. Theodore— "Thumper" to his friends and those who sought to ingratiate themselves with him— lived in Antioch, where the regional middle school and high school was located.
Thumper's father was a bit of a big deal in town. He owned a business that serviced and repaired tractor trailers and heavy equipment, and he was a member of the union district school board. The Fryes saw themselves as important and didn't tolerate those they saw as a challenge to their status.
Alex lived in the town of Judah, immediately south of Antioch, where his own family was fairly prominent in local affairs. His father owned a successful manufacturing business. He was a respected figure in Judah and in nearby communities.
Alex had the impression that his father and Thumper's father, Pete, knew and disliked each other, probably going all the way back to their time together at the high school. Thumper clearly sensed a rivalry. But he was careful to avoid antagonizing Alex without cause.
Alex thought himself fortunate that Thumper and his clique weren't located anywhere near him in the locker room. But he could hear them engaged in their usual horseplay at the far end of the room. There appeared to be lots of towel snapping going on. Alex appreciated, from what he could hear, that they would be using the shower room farthest from his own locker.
As he toweled off after his shower, Alex decided that it might be a good idea to make a quick pit stop before he left for his next class. One of the disadvantages of a phys ed class immediately after lunch period is that his body spent class processing what it had taken on during lunch. He ignored the increasing commotion from the far end of the room and made his way to the boys' restroom located between the locker room and the lobby area outside the gymnasium.
He was busy washing his hands when a swelling of sound from the direction of the locker room was followed by a door bursting open. A boy wearing only a towel around his waist dashed into the restroom. He pushed open the door leading out into the lobby, then ducked back into the bathroom. He dove into a toilet stall and shut the door behind him.
Just seconds later, the door to the bathroom burst open again and Thumper Frye and two members of his crew raced into the room. They didn't spare Alex a glance. Instead they noticed the door to the lobby settling slowly back into place.
Thumper's friends seemed uncertain about what to do next.
"Come on!" Thumper urged them. "We're going to get lucky!"
With anxious expressions, his friends accompanied Thumper out into the lobby.
Alex knew that the safest thing for him to do would be to follow them out into the lobby and continue on toward his next class. But he didn't like Thumper. He certainly didn't like three-on-one odds. And the poor kid hiding in the toilet stall had looked awfully frightened.
With a quick glance in the direction of the lobby door, Alex jumped into the toilet stall next to the kid. Without even bothering to knock, he dropped to the floor and rolled into the adjacent stall.
He was barely in time. As Alex placed a finger to his lips and motioned for the kid to stand on the toilet seat, the door to the bathroom burst open again.
"That little fucker must still be in here!" Thumper announced. "Come on out, Lucky! We aren't going to hurt you!"
"Much!" one of his friends snickered.
Alex began to worry when the banging started on the door to the toilet stall. He wasn't feeling confident, but he decided that the best course of action would be to brazen out the confrontation. He cracked open the stall door.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" he demanded when he saw Thumper and his friends standing outside the door. "Can't a guy use the toilet in peace?"
He slammed the door firmly behind him and set the latch. Then he backed up toward the toilet.
Alex heard noise in the stall next to him. When he noticed a shadow starting to appear under the divider, he kicked out in that direction.
"Perverts!" he shouted. "Get the hell away from me!"
Alex continued hollering until he heard the bathroom door being yanked open again. Then silence.
He could feel the other kid trembling behind him as they waited for whatever might happen next. When the silence dragged on for more than a minute, Alex again gestured for the boy to remain quiet. He gently cracked open the stall door and glanced outside.
"I'll get help," he whispered to the kid. "Lock the door behind me."
"No!" the boy look alarmed. "Don't tell anyone. Please just check to see if they went back into the locker room."
Alex wasn't sure it was a great idea, but the kid was insistent. So he briefly stuck his head out into the cafeteria lobby, then exited the bathroom in the opposite direction.
Inside the locker room, Alex was frustrated that Mr. Talbot was nowhere to be found. It explained the commotion with Thumper and his goons, he realized. But he wasn't sure where he could turn for help if more trouble erupted.
Fortunately, the locker room was emptying out and Alex couldn't see Thumper and his friends anywhere in sight.
"They must have run off," he explained to the kid after he returned to the bathroom. "They're probably already on the way to their next classes."
Alex decided to stay with the boy while he returned to his locker to finish changing. It wasn't a comfortable few minutes for him. Alex wasn't particularly small, but he had never considered himself a fighter.
As he dressed, the boy wasn't talkative. He looked ashamed, but grateful for Alex's presence. When they left the locker room, the kid stuck close to Alex until they had to separate for their next classes.
Alex wasn't sure whether or not it had been a good idea, but he decided that it appeared he had made a friend. He just had no idea who his new friend was.
Alex tried to make sense of the day during his bus ride home. He was used to keeping off people's radar and staying out of trouble. For a reason he still didn't understand, he had taken a risk to protect an anonymous kid from Thumper Frye and a couple of his goons.
Alex didn't mind frustrating Thumper. But he hoped it wouldn't lead to future confrontations.
He wasn't afraid of Thumper. Physically, they were fairly evenly matched. But Thumper was aggressive. He was usually accompanied by a few friends. And Thumper had no scruples about fair fights.
Intellectually, Alex understood that the worst thing likely to come from a fight was a few bruises and a bit of pain; possibly some damage to his pride. It was rare for middle school fights to result in serious injury. But he wasn't accustomed to fighting. He wasn't afraid so much of a little pain, he realized, as he was afraid of the unknown.
And he still wasn't sure why he had put himself at risk. He didn't know the boy he had protected. As far as he could recall, the kid had just arrived in town during the school year. Alex was pretty sure that he hadn't been around at the start of the year. He was anonymous, quiet, and Alex had just gone out on a limb for him without knowing anything about him.
The two of them hadn't shared any classes during the first half of the school year— at least none that Alex had noticed. But now they had phys ed together. He also discovered that they were sharing a computer skills class during the seventh and final period of the day. And as Alex thought about it, he seemed to recall that the kid had been in one of his classes during the morning.
Alex really wasn't sure what he should do next. He didn't have it in his character to shun the kid. But he wasn't sure about the consequences of trying to make a friend of the boy.
Alex decided that maybe the best thing to do would be to wait and see what the kid wanted to do. That was something that Alex did well. He wasn't great at making choices for himself and following through on them.
Alex survived the first week of the new semester, with anxiety his constant companion.
It didn't help when he ran into his new friend during their second period social studies class on Tuesday. The boy screwed up his courage and asked Alex if it would be okay for him to move his gym clothes and supplies to a vacant locker next to Alex's locker.
Alex could see it leading to trouble. But he hoped that the two of them together, along with the occasionally present Mr. Talbot, might prevent trouble from turning serious. So he agreed.
He still didn't know his new friend's name. But during roll call for their computer skills class, he thought that the boy had responded when the teacher called the name 'Finn O'Connor'.
The other thing that Alex noticed, once the kid started speaking in complete sentences, was that he had a bit of an accent. It sounded familiar, but Alex wasn't really good with accents. The only thing he was fairly sure of was that it didn't sound very American.
As the week had progressed, Alex found himself becoming intrigued by the boy. He didn't attempt to stand out in class. But when called on by teachers, he always seemed to have the correct answer ready. He spoke both confidently and with a tone of deference. Confident that he knew what he was talking about. Subservient, like he really wasn't sure he had a right to speak out in public.
Alex noticed that the boy seemed most reserved— and even submissive— during their phys ed class. He was a little shorter than average height for his age, and slightly built, but he seemed athletic enough. He just lacked any confidence in himself during physical activities, and especially while showering after class. He appeared to use Alex as a shield in the shower, while also trying to shield himself from Alex.
Despite himself, and somewhat against his better judgment, Alex was becoming interested in his new friend.
Fionn O'Connor spent his first almost-relaxed weekend since he and his family had moved to Vermont.
Arriving in Vermont in October, a month into a new school year, and attempting to adjust to his new environment, had been challenging. Once he began to make social connections, it had turned into an absolute horror.
Fionn had never been a confident boy, even as the eldest son of a financially comfortable and powerful man. Part of the reason, his therapist had advised his parents, was that as both an outsider to the community and physically slower to develop than most of his peers, he was tentative about asserting himself when dealing with boys who were part of the established social order and more physically capable of standing up for themselves. There was little more to be done beyond giving him opportunities to display abilities that would increase his confidence in himself, and then leave it to time to provide the rest of the answers.
So far, the therapist's advice had done little for Fionn himself. Perhaps it helped his parents sleep better at night. But when he lay down at the end of each day, Fionn nursed a knot of anxiety deep in his stomach. And the certainty that his life would never improve was a conviction he had carried in his heart for months.
But while he couldn't have put it into words, there was something about having a classmate stand up for him that gave Fionn a glimmer of hope that he might become worthy of the esteem of others. . . if not at that moment, then at least someday. It wasn't everything he was looking for. But it was a start.
Fionn still missed sharing a room with Liam and Aidan, his younger brothers. Lying in bed, alone in his room, he felt far from ready to leave his familiar nest and venture out into the adult world. But for the first time in his life, he heard a faint voice calling encouragement to him. He had a sense that there might be something in life waiting to welcome and accept Fionn outside the comforting arms of his own family.
The new school week began in a whirl of excitement. Both the Silver River High School and the Middle School would be celebrating Valentine's Day with a dance at the end of the week.
Of course, the high school event would be a much bigger deal. But the middle school boys and girls were also feeling the excitement. Their event would be held in a large assembly room in the middle school wing of the building— the school gymnasium and cafeteria being reserved for the 'old people'— but that didn't diminish their enthusiasm.
Alex supposed that he might attend the dance with a group of his friends, if any were interested, or if a girl asked him. He just didn't feel any particular enthusiasm to invite anyone.
Alex got along well enough with most of his peers, but no one would ever have described him as a social butterfly. Attending a dance might be interesting enough as a casual social activity. Attending an event with any pressure to conform to social expectations exceeded his emotional comfort level.
He was somewhat surprised to find his new friend waiting next to his usual seat when he arrived for the start of his second period Social Studies class.
"Is it okay if I sit here next to you?" Fionn inquired.
Alex was surprised at how much Fionn's tremulous delivery of the request affected him. He couldn't imagine that sitting next to him would matter so much to anyone. It was flattering. Even more, it felt nice to be able to do something that was apparently meaningful to another person.
Fortunately, Mr. Donnelly didn't have any rigid ideas about seating plans for his classes. So Alex was happy to welcome Fionn to the seat. On reflection, he couldn't even recall who usually sat next to him. But now he would be spending every class in the company of a friend.
By Wednesday, Alex had decided that he wouldn't be going to the Valentine's Day dance. He hadn't been asked to be anyone's date. None of his friends had expressed any interest in attending. He was pretty sure that an event like a dance wouldn't hold much interest for Fionn.
His weekend was free. Fortunately, he didn't make plans immediately.
When he boarded his school bus Wednesday morning, Alex could feel his anxiety level start to rise immediately. Ordinarily, he boarded the bus, kept his head down, found a seat, and spent the rest of the trip immersed in some activity on his phone. But when he finished climbing up into the bus, and before he could lower his eyes, he noticed that someone was observing him closely.
Alex had known Abby West his entire life. The Fortin and West families were close friends, even before Abby and Alex were born. In many ways, they had grown up together. They would probably have been extremely close friends had Abby not been two years older than Alex.
Since Abby was two years older, and possessed of a very dominant personality, she and Alex were friends. But she always determined the conditions of their friendship.
When Abby was five and Alex was three, he was a very compliant guest, along with the rest of her dolls and stuffed animals, at her tea parties. When Abby was eight, she was a princess and Alex the minor nobleman always eager to do her bidding. When Abby was twelve, and learning about the ways that boys and girls developed in her Life Education class, Alex was a convenient source of 'extra credit' explorations after school and on the weekends.
In short, Abby found Alex a very biddable friend and neighbor. And Alex didn't dare let Abby find him anything less than that.
But he still liked her. It was just that he never felt entirely certain about where he stood in her estimation.
Since the start of the school year, on the bus Abby usually sat with a boy who was in her sophomore class and newly arrived in Judah that year. Alex wondered casually if they were dating. He hadn't noticed the boy taking any liberties with Abby— or her with him, as had been her occasional wont while earning 'extra credit' with Alex— but they clearly were close.
Alex realized that he was a little surprised that Abby and the boy weren't dating. He was very nice looking. Alex certainly would have dated him.
'Where did that thought come from?!' Alex wondered. He wasn't sure. But he thought that he knew, so he didn't bother to consider it very carefully.
Alex became anxious when Abby smiled at him. But he smiled back. It gave him the opportunity to glance at that boy one more time.
Alex had put Abby's smile out of his mind during the day. But he hadn't forgotten about it. It didn't ease his anxiety at all when he boarded the bus for the ride home that afternoon and was caught in the searchlight of her smile again.
He couldn't help glancing at the boy next to Abby as he made his way nervously past where they were sitting, toward an open seat near the back of the bus.
Alex wasn't surprised at all when his phone rang a few minutes after he got home. He just hoped that Abby wasn't looking to earn more 'extra credit'. It had been more than a year since they last 'studied' together and those memories had grown awkward for Alex.
"How's my favorite almost-freshman?" Abby greeted him.
To most people, that may have sounded innocent enough. To Alex, it sounded like she might have suggested that he could soon be tried— or something— as an adult. Reflexively, he checked to make sure that his zipper wasn't open.
"I'm good, Abby," he replied timorously. "I was just getting ready to do my homework." He glanced around anxiously, hoping that he had remembered to bring his books home with him.
It felt like a pretty solid hint to Alex. On reflection, her possible interpretation sent his anxiety skyrocketing.
"I wouldn't want to interfere with that," Abby smirked. "But I was hoping that we could talk a bit now. It's been a while. And you've been on my mind lately."
Alex had to sit down.
"I don't think I can come over tonight," he objected. "I really have a lot to do."
"Don't worry about that," Abby assured him. "I'll come over there."
"Uh, I think my mom will be home soon," Alex was flailing to find a good excuse. "She'll expect me to have my homework started."
"Don't worry about Aunt Marie," Abby said. "She's always happy to see me. We'll just tell her that I'm helping you do homework."
That suggestion almost triggered a full-blown anxiety attack for Alex. He hoped that really wasn't what Abby had in mind.
"Maybe you should answer the door," Abby suggested.
Alex was glad that he was sitting down when the doorbell rang. But he still peed a little bit.
It had been an incredible week, Alex reflected as he boarded the school bus the following Monday morning.
It had all started with Abby coming out to Alex. . . or at least helping him come out to her. He still wasn't entirely certain about what had actually happened.
Abby opened the conversation by observing that he was almost fourteen and still hadn't shown interest in dating. He certainly hadn't made much effort to find a date for the Valentine's Day dance. And she observed that he had never demonstrated the sort of interest in sex play that might have been expected of an ordinary boy when they had conducted their 'extra credit' study sessions.
Alex was too stunned to defend himself. The obvious response, that she hadn't exactly taken the expected role of an ordinary girl in those sessions, didn't even occur to him. He just hung his head in shame. Busted!
Abby also noticed that Alex had paid particular attention to her friend on the bus, Caleb. And while she complimented his taste in boys, she pointed out indelicately that most thirteen-year-old boys wouldn't have been undressing Caleb with their eyes when there was a perfectly eligible— and attractive! — girl sitting right next to him.
By that point, Alex was so worked up that he was torn between running away from home and calling the suicide prevention hotline. Abby finally realized that perhaps she had been too heavy-handed and took pity on him.
Abby explained that she was more accustomed to counseling fifteen-year-old gay boys and needed to recalibrate her approach for him. That was a hint, but Alex was too stressed to pick up on it.
Eventually, Abby realized that she needed to spell things out for Alex. She explained that she had been helping two of her classmates who were gay. Now that they were in a relationship together— they were even planning to attend the Valentine's Day dance at the high school! — she was looking to help another boy become comfortable with his attractions and perhaps even help him find the boy of his dreams.
That was another hint. Again, Alex was a bit slow on the uptake. He probably should have started running.
Abby invited Alex to go to the Valentine's Day dance with her. She explained that they would have fun and it would be a perfect opportunity for him to observe a gay couple first-hand. That would be invaluable experience for him when he was ready to embark on his own journey of self-discovery.
Abby was nothing if not persuasive. But Alex was used to that. It was a familiar pattern in his life. And once he agreed to go to the dance with her, Alex was committed. There was probably no chance at all of backing out, he conceded. Abby knew where he lived.
The rest of the week went by in a blur for Alex. There were a lot of telephone conversations with Abby, mostly to 'help keep his courage up'. She discussed what she thought they should wear to the dance. She talked about her friends, the gay couple. She discussed some of the 'work' she had done to help bring them together. She nattered on about plans to start a counseling service for gay teens when she finished school. For some reason, she really pushed Alex to consider buying some pink bikini briefs.
Alex wondered if that was a gay thing. He made the mistake of wondering aloud. Abby assured him that it was and that he should. Once again, he found that he was committed without having played any role in the decision.
On Friday morning, when he climbed aboard the bus to go to school, Abby introduced Alex to her friend Caleb. Alex was rather in awe, but he hid it well enough. His only regret was that Abby had explained to him by that time that Caleb was one of her gay friends. He would be attending the Valentine's Day dance that evening with his boyfriend, Tyler.
In his own diffident way, Alex was really starting to dislike Tyler. He thought that Caleb was absolutely the bomb. He would have come out in an instant— even publicly! — if only Caleb were still available.
Less than twelve hours later, Alex discovered that he really didn't hate Tyler. Rather, he was attracted to him, too! He was just hoping that when he found the boy of his dreams it would be someone like Tyler or Caleb.
In addition to being hot enough to sear Alex's retinas, Caleb was also a genuinely nice guy! He was interested in Alex. He encouraged him when Alex admitted shyly that he was considering trying out for the track team. And he commiserated very supportively when Alex finally confessed that he wasn't really Abby's heterosexual date, he was her project.
Caleb was honest, too, when asked how he felt about Abby's plans to bring Alex to her weekend 'therapy' sessions for Caleb and Tyler as a masseur trainee. He acknowledged that it was an awkward situation. But he also observed that while Abby had often steered them in weird directions, she had never really steered them wrong. If Alex wanted to attend these sessions, Caleb could live with the idea.
Caleb promised that both he and Tyler would step in and protect Alex if any of Abby's enthusiasms started to make him too uncomfortable. That put Alex in mind of the pink bikini briefs that he was wearing. But he decided not to mention them.
The evening ended in fireworks. A touching and dramatic moment of romance led to a confrontation on the dance floor between Caleb and Tyler and one of the girls in their class. Then a school administrator got involved. Alex was amazed at how Caleb and Tyler confronted both threats and stood up for each other. It gave him a model for what he hoped his future relationship would look like once he found a boy for himself.
If Alex thought Friday night was a great experience, Saturday was astonishing!
Tyler and Caleb were cross-country skiers. Every Saturday afternoon, they stopped by Abby's house and let her massage the discomfort out of tired muscles. But as Abby had explained to Alex, it was much more than that. Her 'service' had helped them become more comfortable with their own bodies and with each other.
Alex was incredibly anxious when he arrived at Abby's home for lunch on Saturday. Abby had discussed her 'therapeutic approach' with him. Comments from Caleb and Tyler at the dance had suggested that he would take part in things he had never even thought about before. Their words didn't begin to prepare him for the actual experience.
When Tyler and Caleb arrived on their skis, hot and sweaty, Abby directed them upstairs to her bathroom. She directed Alex to serve as their bath attendant.
Alex was amazed. It was like being in the locker room with permission to peek! He tried to avoid making Caleb and Tyler uncomfortable. They also tried to keep him comfortable. He had the impression that they usually did more together in the bathtub than just was themselves. But they still showed him enough about erotic behavior between a loving, gay couple to fuel his fantasies for months.
"Are you okay with everything so far?" Caleb asked as he and Tyler stepped out of the bath.
Alex was sure that he was red enough to stand out in a parking lot full of antique fire engines, but he nodded as he handed towels to the pair. Half of him wanted to stay and watch them towel off. But he knew that he had duties awaiting him in Abby's bedroom.
Alex had never given anyone a massage before. Fortunately, Abby had time to demonstrate the basics— on him— before Caleb and Tyler arrived. Apparently that was the point of the pink bikini briefs; to get her in the mood.
It appeared that they were also about lowering inhibitions. When Alex joined her in the bedroom, Abby instructed him to strip down to those pink briefs. He almost panicked. Caleb and Tyler were about to join them. But long years of experience had taught Alex to comply with Abby's instructions.
There was little to distinguish between Alex's exposed skin and his briefs when Caleb and Tyler cautiously stuck their heads into the bedroom. When Abby stuck out her hand imperiously, Tyler slipped out of his briefs and handed them to her before he lay down on her bed.
Caleb gave Alex a questioning glance. When Alex blushed a deeper pink but didn't object, Caleb surrendered his own briefs and lay down next to Tyler. Alex was certain that he must be glowing a nuclear shade of red that would alarm neighbors, even through the drawn curtains of Abby's bedroom windows.
Alex didn't remember much of the massage he gave Caleb; only that Caleb didn't complain. There was some brief discussion about areas that needed additional attention, but little more was spoken.
Alex was starting to feel comfortable with his role as masseur when Abby instructed their 'clients' to roll over. That threw him into a panic again.
Both Caleb and Tyler appeared to be enjoying their massages. Caleb caught Alex's eye and shrugged apologetically. 'We're just guys,' his eyes appeared to say.
"I love Tyler," Caleb explained. He gestured toward his waist. "But it looks like he thinks that you're cute."
Alex did his best to ignore temptation. But he couldn't resist looking from time-to-time. It was a new experience for him. It didn't seem right to let the opportunity go entirely to waste. He still did his best to give the rest of Caleb a thorough but professional massage.
Alex was reluctant to stop when Abby announced that the massage portion of the 'therapy' was over. He had really enjoyed the physical contact, even though he barely knew Caleb. But he handed Caleb's briefs to him.
Abby reached out and snatched the briefs away before Caleb could do anything with them.
"Now we talk," she explained. "This is a very comprehensive therapeutic process."
Caleb and Tyler made room for Alex between them on the bed. Before he could sit down, Abby extended one hand toward him and pointed with the other at his briefs.
Alex blanched. He was finding it hard to breathe. It was even more difficult to remain upright on his feet.
Caleb stood and wrapped a protective arm around Alex's shoulder.
"One blink means 'yes', two blinks means 'no'," he reminded Alex.
Alex didn't blink. He summoned up his courage and stepped out of his briefs, then handed them to Abby.
It was humiliating. But it wasn't like his briefs had really been hiding it, Alex conceded. And he supposed that, after his past half hour of intense— and tactile— voyeurism, it really was only fair. He sat down on the bed between Caleb and Tyler. Caleb kept an arm wrapped around his shoulder and Tyler leaned into him supportively.
The conversation was mainly for Alex's benefit.
Abby directed a discussion about the difficulties facing a gay boy growing up in a community that wasn't particularly gay friendly. Being part of a community as an occasionally despised minority was often lonely. Nobody mentioned any details, but it sounded like it could even sometimes become abusive.
Abby did allude to a family member who was gay and had been sexually assaulted when he was in high school. That triggered real stress for Alex.
"I wish I could say that those sorts of things don't happen anymore." Abby glanced at Caleb and shrugged apologetically.
Caleb explained that it was important to stick together. People who were gay, and their friends, were a lot safer when they stood up for each other. Having friends gave him the confidence to be himself. And being comfortable in himself gave him the confidence to meet Tyler.
"For weeks, I noticed him. I really liked the way he looked," Caleb confessed. "And one day I just got up the nerve to ask if we could eat lunch together. I couldn't have done that if Abby hadn't helped me to believe in myself."
Abby preened.
"You complain about my unconventional methods," she observed. "But they work!"
"Eyes up!" Caleb directed her. "He's not a piece of meat!"
Alex was quite sure that Abby had bitten back a clever retort. He didn't fully understand the subtext of the conversation, but it felt like she was being generous.
Alex was disappointed when Tyler noticed that the light outside the house was just starting to fade.
It had started as an awkward conversation. Sitting naked between two naked guys while Abby gawked at them for more than an hour wouldn't have been on his bucket list just a day earlier. But as he reluctantly got dressed, he was hoping that he would be invited to another therapy session the following weekend.
It seemed likely. Caleb greeted him just as enthusiastically as Abby did when Alex boarded the school bus Monday morning. They discussed the Valentine's Day dance, but said nothing about Saturday. Still, Alex sensed that a bond of brotherhood had already been forged among them.
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