Strong Enough
by Nico Grey
XIV
When Caleb removed the icepack from his eye, the first thing he noticed was a vice principal with a bad comb-over and a worse attitude.
He was pretty sure that he had lost consciousness for a while. His right eye and the back of his head throbbed when he first attempted to move. Staff dragged him to his feet— rather roughly, he thought— and hurried him off to the nurse's office. There was no sign of Abby or Tyler as he left the cafeteria.
Caleb didn't notice that very much was communicated to the nurse by school staff when they left him in her office. She inquired about his injuries, then encouraged him to relax while she checked his vital signs. She iced the lump on the back of his head and gave him an ice pack to apply to his eye. Then she seated him comfortably in a dimly lit room and left him to rest while she tended to other duties.
Ten or fifteen minutes later, Caleb heard a door open and sensed light enter the space around him. He pulled the icepack away from his eye and came face to face with Captain Comb-Over.
"Bradford! In my office. Right now!" the man barked.
Caleb was relieved to find Abby waiting in the administrative offices as he staggered in. He was confused, but aware enough to sit down next to her.
"In my office!" the vice principal repeated himself.
"My head hurts," Caleb groaned. He really wasn't over-acting. "I need to sit."
"Your head hurts?" Abby said. She turned on the vice principal. "And you're screaming at him?"
"I am not screaming!" the vice principal screamed.
" Abby. . ." Caleb reached toward her weakly, "Help me."
"Bradford!" the vice principal's attitude hadn't improved.
"Who is that man?" Caleb asked. "Why is he screaming at me?"
Abby noticed the subtle wink.
"That's Rogaine Callahan. He's the Dean of Discipline," she informed him. Loudly.
"His name is Rogaine?" Caleb wondered.
"His name is Regan Callahan. But everybody calls him Rogaine," Abby declaimed loudly again. She projected her voice away from Caleb.
" Miss West!" the vice principal fumed. "You're on very dangerous ground!"
"He suffered a head injury, Mr. Callahan," Abby explained, loudly. "He won't understand unless I speak up. And really, he needs medical attention."
"I don't have time for this nonsense," Callahan snarled. "In my office, Bradford!"
Caleb and Abby exchanged glances. He got up slowly and shuffled unsteadily toward the office that the vice principal had indicated. Abby supported him every step of the way.
"Now get out!" Callahan barked at Abby once Caleb was seated.
" Abby!" Caleb reached feebly in her direction.
"He needs me," Abby informed the vice principal as she occupied a chair next to Caleb. "He really should be on the way to the emergency room right now!"
She enjoyed watching the vice principal gnash his teeth in frustration. Carefully, she slid a hand inside her backpack.
"You should use your phone to record this conversation," she suggested to Caleb. "You probably won't remember it unless you do."
" Oh, no you don't!" Callahan interrupted. "Give me your telephone right now."
"You can't just take his telephone, Mr. Callahan," Abby objected. "You don't have any reason to do it."
"Telephone!" Callahan demanded.
Abby squeezed Caleb's hand gently as he reached into his pocket and handed over his phone. The principal checked it carefully, then set it on top of his desk.
" Now, Bradford," the vice principal announced, "we have a little problem. This is the first time you've ever been before me for discipline, but we take starting fights very seriously at Silver River Union High School!"
"Starting a fight?" Caleb was confused. "I didn't start anything. I just got hit in the eye!"
" So you admit to involvement in a fight!" Callahan interrupted triumphantly. "That's a violation of behavioral policy, as you well know. At least we won't have to go through a full disciplinary hearing now. You and you're little accomplice will be suspended from school for the next five days. You can be thankful that I'm going easy on you. But since it is a first offense. . ." He left the remainder of his observation unspoken.
"Caleb never fought with anyone!" Abby defended him, while Caleb looked around in confusion. "Benjamin Frye hit Caleb in the face without any warning. He knocked him to the floor. I think he was already unconscious when Benjer tried to kick him. That's when Tyler Neeson stopped him. Tyler was defending Caleb from a vicious attack while Caleb was completely defenseless."
" According to other witnesses, Mr. Bradford's personal attack started the fight," Callahan replied. "And Neeson's reckless actions could have caused serious bodily injury! As it is, Mr. Frye is fortunate that he'll be able to play with the basketball team tonight."
"He isn't being suspended?!" Abby's voice rose. "He started the fight and he isn't being punished?"
"He was seriously injured," the vice principal insisted. "He was defending himself. Now get out of my office and consider yourselves lucky!" He finished with a dramatic flourish.
" Oh, and Bradford," Callahan added, "You will not return to school property for any reason until Monday, February 2 nd . You'll be allowed back in school then for the start of the second semester. Hopefully you'll take the opportunity you've been given and adopt a better attitude before you start the second half of the year. Now go!"
"Hey!" Caleb realized as he was waiting with Abby for his mother to arrive at school, "He never gave me back my phone!"
" Don't worry about it," Abby assured him. She tapped her backpack. "I recorded everything. He's not going to get away with this."
"Abby!" Caleb was shocked. "Couldn't you get in a lot of trouble?"
"Vermont only requires one-party's consent for recording conversations," she smirked. "I know. My father's a lawyer. And he's going to love this case! I mean, if you want him to represent you."
Caleb responded with a dazed nod.
"Why would he help me?"
"Dad and Rogaine went to school together," Abby snickered. "Rogaine was already a bully then. They weren't friends. And today, my father likes him even less!"
Caleb was half relieved and half simply-eager-to-get-home as his mother piloted her car irritably south along Route 42.
"The nerve of that man," she fumed, "taking your phone from you without any cause, then trying to blame you when he failed to return it!"
Caleb was feeling a warm glow from the heat of his mother's anger toward the vice principal. He wasn't at all sure that he wouldn't enjoy a week off school— especially if Tyler was also suspended— but he had enjoyed watching his mother tear a wide strip off of Mr. Callahan's hide anyway. The injustice of the way he had been treated by the school rankled.
He was also feeling another warm glow over a comment Abby had whispered before Nicole had whisked him away from the school. Tyler had proudly asked her to pass on his excitement over pulling off his first standing kimura in live action.
Benjer Frye had no idea what hit him. One minute his arms were wrapped around Tyler from behind, with plans already forming slowly in his brain to pummel the interfering little twerp into submission. The next moment he was whimpering on the cafeteria floor, pleading for Tyler to release the pressure on his elbow.
Caleb was glad that Tyler had submitted Benjer. He was pretty sure that, had Tyler been attacked, he would have lacked Tyler's discipline and left Frye's elbow unusable for months, at least.
"If you want to appeal the suspension," Caleb told his mother, "Abby says that her father would like to help. His name is Jonathan West. He's an attorney."
Nicole's ears perked up.
"I'll call him," she decided. "Tonight, if you think he'll be home. A few solid whacks on his glitter dome might be just what that Callahan jackass really needs. But the threat of a lawsuit will get the school district's attention."
"About that, Mom," Caleb winced. "The guy that hit me. His father is on the school board."
"So maybe we'll have to follow through with the lawsuit then," Nicole shrugged. "Just tell me that you didn't give that thug any reason to hit you."
" I don't think so," Caleb hesitated. "I was talking to somebody else. He asked if I was gay. I asked if he was asking for himself. That's all I can remember."
"Oh, Caleb," Nicole sighed. "You didn't do anything wrong. But you do need to be more careful about who you antagonize. At least until you're a little bigger."
Tyler was disappointed that their Saturday ski adventure would be abbreviated. But he was already aware that Caleb might not be up to the exertion. He hadn't planned on meeting with Abby's father, along with his mother, Caleb, and Nicole.
Nicole had called Caleb's doctor as soon as they arrived home Friday afternoon. A quick examination had convinced everyone that Caleb wasn't at serious risk. A mild concussion, was the doctor's diagnosis.
Nicole encouraged Caleb to rest when they returned to their residence. She spent an hour on the telephone that evening. The result was their meeting with Jonathan West.
Aside from shooing Abby away after she had provided her telephone and her recollection of events, the rest of the meeting was anticlimactic. Jonathan explained that they had a slam-dunk case for violation of school discipline procedure and capricious enforcement of policy.
Jonathan was certain that Callahan's disciplinary action would be revoked just as soon as he could bring the case to the attention of school district administrators and the school board. He was hoping that the vice principal would challenge his efforts and might even present claims to his superiors that could be falsified by Abby's recording. Caleb had the sense that Mr. West's dislike of Callahan was deeply rooted in something very personal.
Jonathan advised the boys to be prepared to return to school on Tuesday. Caleb did his best to appear delighted.
Grace and Tyler followed Caleb and his mother to their home. Nicole was reluctant, concerned about Caleb' recent injury. But it was agreed that he and Tyler wouldn't cancel their plans for the weekend.
With an excess of cautions and warnings, Nicole helped load Caleb's ski equipment and backpack into Grace's car. Grace promised to keep a close eye on Caleb and to call his mother if she had any concerns. Caleb just rolled his eyes, but Tyler was watching him carefully, concern clearly in his eyes.
They spent the remainder of the morning at the Neeson home. Grace encouraged the boys to visit in the living room, where she could keep an eye and ear on them while she prepared lunch.
After lunch, Grace agreed that Caleb seemed to be doing well enough for skiing, as long as Tyler didn't plan anything too strenuous.
She plied them with cautions. She packed water, snacks, and a basic first aid kit for them. She made sure that both boys had fully charged cell phones. Then she plied them with more cautions. Several times, Caleb almost accidentally referred to Grace as 'Mom'.
Tyler would have kept the afternoon relaxed and easy out of his own concerns for Caleb. He really hadn't stopped stressing over the incident from the moment that Benjer threw his punch. They barely put in enough effort for Caleb to work up a sweat.
During one break, Tyler was willing— almost eager, really— to demonstrate how he had trapped Benjer in a kimura from a standing position. Caleb played the role of Benjer as Tyler instructed him to approach from behind and wrap his arms around Tyler's waist. He demonstrated the downward pressure he had applied to break Benjer's grip. But once he took 'Benjer' to the ground, he insisted on playing both roles.
Caleb watched with both pride and amusement as Tyler demonstrated how he had forced someone ten inches taller and seventy pounds heavier than himself to submit. He only wished that he could have seen it.
" I just hope that I don't have to do that too many times," Tyler admitted. "Some of the guys in our class will think that what I did to Benjer was a fluke. They'll want to prove they're better than him.
"I'm pretty sure I can win any fair fight, if I have to." Caleb recognized that it wasn't an idle boast. "But I really don't want to deal with Callahan again. There's something creepy about that guy," Tyler shuddered.
It was mid-afternoon when Caleb realized that they were skiing familiar trails along the north side of Judah.
" Are you really planning to do this?" he asked.
Tyler shrugged.
"She expects it. She's been a good friend. I don't think it will hurt," he explained. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you need a bath." Tyler grinned.
Abby almost shrieked her excitement when she saw Caleb and Tyler at her front door. Fortunately, just as she opened her mouth she remembered Caleb's concussion.
"I wasn't sure you guys were coming," she explained. "But you do look like you need these fingers," she hastened to add as she examined Caleb carefully.
Tyler feigned surprise that Abby didn't have bath oils and sponges ready and waiting.
"I thought you might prefer a shower this time," she said. "If only for the variety. You should practice getting naked with each other in as many positions as possible."
Caleb considered the suggestion dubiously.
"We've never done that before."
"Don't lie to me," Abby demanded. "I've seen you two naked together in lots of different positions in my dreams."
"In your dreams," Caleb pointed out. "They aren't even real!"
Abby made no effort to hide her disbelief.
"Your bathtub is the only place we've ever seen each other naked!" Caleb insisted.
"Well, there were four other times," Tyler corrected him.
Abby shrieked.
Caleb didn't try to hide his sense of betrayal.
"You're keeping track?!" His eyebrows climbed toward his hairline.
"Sorry," Tyler shrugged. "I'm just good at math."
Abby looked perplexed.
"Since when?" she examined her memory carefully.
"It's a recent development," Tyler blushed.
Abby made no attempt to hide her excitement when she noticed Tyler's pink briefs. It triggered a familiar pain between Caleb's ears.
"I couldn't believe it either," he admitted. "I thought my mother had lost them. But I guess Tyler grabbed them after his mother put them down."
'There's a story here that you'd better share!' Abby's expression insisted.
" So your mothers. . . get to play with your panties, and I can't?" she seemed hurt. "I want them right now!"
She advanced on Tyler like she was stalking prey.
He froze.
Caleb was tempted to leave Tyler to his fate. But his conscience reminded him that Tyler was wearing his pink briefs voluntarily, to distract Abby away from him. It didn't seem fair that he was about to pay a much higher price than he had ever anticipated.
Caleb dropped face-down on Abby's bed hurriedly. He took a deep breath. Then another. Without giving himself any more time to think, he slid his briefs down his legs and kicked them off.
"I'm ready for Dr. Fingers!" he announced.
Caleb was deeply grateful that Mr. and Mrs. West weren't home. . . and were apparently out of state until late evening. Otherwise, Abby's shriek would have brought them and the local fire department running.
Caleb covered his face. The light in Abby's eyes was menacing!
She advanced toward Caleb, then turned and pointed at where Tyler cowered against her closet door.
"I haven't forgotten you!" she threatened.
" That was disturbing," Caleb observed as he and Tyler prepared for bed. "But in a weird way, it almost feels like it's become a kind of foreplay for us."
Tyler wasn't so certain. Watching Dr. Fingers devour Caleb had been very unsettling. But not half as traumatizing as the certainty that it was about to happen to him next.
On the other hand, he couldn't deny that he was still a little turned on by the recollection of their visit with Abby. He rolled into bed and up against the wall.
" Is it okay if we do a little more tonight?" Tyler wondered. "It's just that, ever since I saw you lying on Abby's bed. . ."
Caleb smiled shyly. He was certainly eager for whatever Tyler had in mind. But the memory of his encounter with Dr. Fingers still made him blush.
"Maybe you could just leave those," Tyler indicated Caleb's briefs, "with these."
Tyler tossed the pink briefs out of bed and onto the floor.
"And could you just stand there for a minute?" Tyler couldn't take his eyes off Caleb.
It was a little embarrassing for Caleb. But even more, it really turned him on to know that Tyler enjoyed looking at him.
" Is it okay?" he wondered, gesturing toward the comforter.
Tyler turned a very appealing shade of crimson. He nodded and turned back the bedding. He lay there with his eyes squeezed shut until Caleb joined him in bed, settled his body against Tyler's, then drew the comforter up over them. Tyler sighed and pulled Caleb into his arms.
Somewhere in the night, elsewhere in Antioch, a would-be computer expert practiced his craft. It had been a week since he had last made much progress with his search. He needed a new lead.
It seemed like a safe time. It was the middle of the night. On a weekend. The few security measures protecting the server were lax. No one would be working in IT. He couldn't think of a better time.
The computer expert hacked into the Silver River Union High School system and began exploring the server.
Student records. They were buried from public view but security was laughable. He began poking around until he found the specific student he was searching for.
It was disappointing. There wasn't very much information available. A handful of administrative records. A first quarter report card. Sparse records from previous schools. And what appeared to be a draft of a discipline report.
The hacker scanned the discipline report. The story was familiar. He had heard about the incident, just the previous day. A five-day suspension? That was satisfying. But the hacker felt like the report needed a little more. . . embellishment.
It didn't serve his immediate purpose, but that updated discipline report might at least prove embarrassing for the student in the future.
Disappointed that he hadn't discovered more, the hacker logged off the school server.
In another dimly lit room in Antioch, an administrator logged back onto the high school server. He needed to attach a few more details to a discipline report he had entered into the system earlier that evening. As he considered the incident, he wanted to be sure that the description of the evidence in the report was both clear and damning.
As he edited the report, he recognized unfamiliar language. Try as he might to remember, he was certain that he had never entered those words in the report.
His first instinct was outrage that someone had tampered with his report. His second instinct was to make sure the report stated precisely what he needed it to say. The third instinct was amusement. Whoever had made the changes was certainly no friend of the student named in the discipline report.
Nonetheless, it was still a serious breach of security. The administrator made a note to contact the supervisory union's IT department on Monday to have the incident investigated. Then he made a second note to ensure that any information about the hacker was kept 'Eyes Only'. He couldn't articulate a precise reason why, but he had a feeling that the hacker might just be useful to him someday.
"Caleb?"
It was coming from a great distance.
"Caleb?!"
The voice sounded familiar. Caleb just couldn't understand why it was so far away.
"Caleb?!"
Caleb carefully peeled his eyes open. Oh! There it was! Not so far away after all! Tyler's warm hazel eyes were mere inches from his own.
He tried to smile, but he didn't think that he succeeded.
Tyler pressed soft lips against Caleb's and began to explore. Caleb discovered that he could smile after all.
"Is it all right?" Tyler asked hesitantly.
"It's always all right," Caleb assured him. "It's absolutely perfect!"
" No. I mean, is it all right if I do more?" Tyler continued to sound uncertain.
"More?" Caleb wondered. Why wouldn't that be all right?
Tyler apparently felt the need to explain.
Caleb almost levitated as Tyler gently ran a finger along the underside of his penis.
"Like we did last time," Tyler clarified.
Caleb nodded convulsively. He rolled over onto his back, opened his legs, and waited on Tyler's pleasure. . . and for his own.
Caleb chuckled as he untangled their briefs and handed the pink ones to Tyler.
" We should probably keep these in bed with us the next time we do this," he suggested. "If my mother ever walked in on this, she'd tie them in a knot. Then she'd call to us that breakfast is ready, or something, and threaten to come up and roust us out of bed if we didn't come down right away."
Tyler shivered.
"Why would she do that?" he wondered.
"I guess it's her idea of teasing me," Caleb rolled his eyes. "It's weird. It's frustrating, annoying, and maddening. But you know," he reflected, "I think I'd miss it if she stopped."
Tyler considered that.
"I guess," he acknowledged. "But I'd have a lot more heart attacks if my mom did stuff like that to me."
"Just wait until my mom becomes your mom, too," Caleb threatened. "Then she'll have two of us to abuse. And I don't expect her to use the power responsibly!"
Tyler chuckled nervously.
" I don't think I'll mind too much if your mom teases me," he decided. "It would be like her way of showing that she loves me, too. But I'm used to my mom protecting me. So maybe you'll also have to get used to that kind of mom."
Caleb was reminded of Grace's precautions before she sent him and Tyler out to ski. And of almost calling her 'Mom'. He decided that he could probably learn to adjust to that.
Caleb and Tyler spent most of Sunday on skis. But Grace insisted that they stay close to home and return frequently for breaks from their exertion. She had consulted with Nicole and decided between them that it was safer to keep Caleb from pushing himself too hard, no matter how much that frustrated him.
Caleb was certain that he was fully recovered from any injury. But faced with overprotective parents, and an equally overprotective Tyler, he grumbled but he obeyed.
By mid-afternoon, he was glad that he had. He and Tyler were resting in Tyler's room. When Caleb woke, it was already dark.
Faint lights from somewhere else in the house were just enough for limited vision. He could feel Tyler at his back with his arms around his waist. Through the open doorway he could hear voices. Female voices. Grace. And his mother!
"Jesus, Tyler!" he almost shrieked. "My mother! She might see us like this!"
"Relax," Tyler soothed gently, "They've already seen us. They thought it was 'cute'," he chuckled.
"Where did we put our underwear?" Caleb panicked.
He flailed about blindly in the low light. Panic turned to full-fledged terror.
"We're lying on top of the comforter! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Caleb moaned. "The only thing worse would be if Abby were here, too."
" I could call her," Tyler offered.
Then he took stock of Caleb's reaction.
"Um, Caleb?" Tyler sounded concerned. "You do know that we're fully clothed, don't you? We just took a break from skiing. We were sitting together on the bed. I guess you were worn out."
That halted Caleb's panic. But now he was embarrassed. Then he was ashamed.
"You had to stay here with me all this time?"
"Of course," Tyler confirmed. "I love watching you sleep."
It was an odd feeling for a fifteen-year-old guy. Tyler's declaration made Caleb feel like he was five years old again. But he felt five years old in a very nice way.
Tyler's words and tone of voice were reassuring. They were comforting in a way that made Caleb feel safe. That sensation had a flavor like the security he felt when he was five and his father had still loved him.
He was contemplating the way that Tyler filled an emotional need that he had, but hadn't really thought about since he was a child. Growing toward adulthood, he assumed that he needed to find strength inside himself to succeed as a man. But in the moment, he realized that some of that necessary strength could come from a partner. That together they could give each other what they both needed to become men.
Caleb was still considering that thought when Tyler decided that they were having a special occasion.
Authors deserve your feedback. It's the only payment they get. If you go to the top of the page you will find the author's name. Click that and you can email the author easily.* Please take a few moments, if you liked the story, to say so.
[For those who use webmail, or whose regular email client opens when they want to use webmail instead: Please right click the author's name. A menu will open in which you can copy the email address (it goes directly to your clipboard without having the courtesy of mentioning that to you) to paste into your webmail system (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc). Each browser is subtly different, each Webmail system is different, or we'd give fuller instructions here. We trust you to know how to use your own system. Note: If the email address pastes or arrives with %40 in the middle, replace that weird set of characters with an @ sign.]
* Some browsers may require a right click instead
