I hope this chapter will ease some fears and tie up some burning questions.
This chapter is a doozy! There's a lot of ground to cover so it's an extra-long addition this time. Longest one yet, by far. I hope you enjoy it!
There are still more chapters on the way...and a possibility of a side line extension once this main series comes to a close. Fingers crossed!
*****
Thus, the Serpent was Driven from the Garden
By D. A. Mackey
As a nerd, when you enter a place as complex and hierarchical as the American High School, you naturally take your spot towards the bottom of that hierarchy. The strata become readily apparent on day one, though the criteria of each level may still remain mysterious. By the end of your first week, you unconsciously assume all of the rules and regulations associated with whichever level you found yourself a part of, willingly or not. That may seem cruel at face value, but it was the way of the world I had lived in for the past three and a half years. It was social Darwinism at its most basic level: survival of the fittest. This was simply crucial to your survival in a place where the tiniest mistake could have drastic and far reaching consequences for the wrong type of person. It was also why it was imperative that you know if you WERE the wrong type of person in the first place before you did or said anything.
I hadn't spent much time mourning my lack of social standing or decrying the things that I had missed out on. I didn't lay awake at night and wallow in self-pity or wonder why things were the way they were. I saw the things portrayed on the popular T.V. shows and movies: the parties, games, and friends, and all the drama, laughter, and heartache that came with them. But I didn't pine for them. What would be the point? I was where I was. There was no conceivable way that one single person could change the structure of an entire institution that had operated this way for decades.
And then Daniel happened.
I had started climbing the ladder I had never even considered before. In truth, I didn't climb it; I was pushed up it rung by metaphorical rung. In a blink, I was forced to adjust my view on nearly everything that surrounded me. No longer was my world simply me, my mind, my books, and my futile fantasies about one day showing them all. Things had become intricate beyond my wildest imaginings from the moment Daniel and I had begun our pilgrimage of exploration in the frozen wasteland of Boston on the night of my 18th birthday.
One of those views I found myself suddenly concerned with was the prospect of Prom, now less than a week away. I'd always considered Proms and Formals and Debutante Balls as an outdated, outmoded, and semi-misogynistic spectacle. However, one cannot deny the rite of passage element that the late spring dance possesses.
From my new vantage point and somewhat to my horror, I found myself actually wanting to attend, curious to see what all the fuss was about. I worried that I might miss something if I stayed home like I'd always assumed I would from the day I was placed in the bottom tier of the social order. That I was even entertaining the idea of Prom was off-putting enough for me. Add to that the rising emotions Daniel elicited in me and the possibility of Ian revealing our relationship to the rest of the school,...my teenaged brain was rapidly approaching full capacity.
Thus, I found myself cleaning up the Varsity locker rooms after baseball practice on a late Spring afternoon, my normally ordered and logical mind in a dizzying whirl of contradictions in logic. I could barely concentrate on the equipment as I stored it on the proper shelves, (or what I hoped were the proper shelves.) For once, I paid absolutely no attention to the naked teammates showering just a few feet away. It's truly stunning what your brain can gloss over when your mind is otherwise occupied. Even a bevy of abdominal muscles, pecs, and flopping cocks in all shapes and sizes. The jovial back-and-forth of my teammates barely registered to my ears.
"Should I take Amanda or Katy, do you think?" Gordon slurred, still sounding stoned as usual. I had flashing images of his natural voice being the cause of many troubles with the police in his upcoming college days.
"You asked them both?" Daniel's sultry baritone voice asked. Even in my stupor, his voice always sounded clear as bell.
"I asked Katy; and THEN Amanda asked ME."
"Either way, you're gonna get laid. So just flip a coin, dude. They're both hot," Tall Paul offered his two cents on the matter.
I shook my head in disbelief.
Boys, am I right?
"Take 'em both and have a threesome," Ian joked.
The growls and grunts and teases of approval and mock surprise echoed from the tiled walls. I tried to concentrate on my menial tasks and headed to the exit to grab the final equipment bag, passing the showers on the way.
"David," Ian called to me, stopping me in my tracks Was he going to reveal everything right now? Naked in the showers in front of everyone? My mind began to postulate theories and strategies, various angles of avoidance and denial.
"Why don't you take one of these chicks off Gordon's hands, huh?" he continued, "I mean, with what you got hanging between your legs, either one of them would jump at the offer, gay or not."
The team burst into laughter, Daniel included, though when he looked at me standing in the doorway I could sense his tension, his protective nature ready to spring forward at the smallest indication of my distress. I smiled back at him, silently thanking him for always being my back up plan. Just in case. I readied my response as the words "hung," "huge," "crazy," "insane," and "lucky," bounced around me.
"Aww, but Ian, I was still holding out hope that you would ask me?" I said with mock sadness as I grabbed my crotch through my jeans, pushing it towards him.
That got the response I'd hoped: everyone turned from me and began to hassle and harass Ian instead.
"Oooo, he got you, dude."
I walked on and thanked my lucky stars that wit and intelligence still had power, even in this higher social strata. It was always a game of one-ups-manship. That was a game I could usually play to my advantage, if the medium was brains and not brawn.
It seemed that I could feel Daniel's eyes on my back as I walked past the showers. I imagined his gaze resting on the muscles of my back and ass as it moved silently beneath my jeans. I felt my cock start to grow, pushing down my leg. I played out the fantasy in my mind, a smile unconsciously creeping across my face.
To my surprise, my interactions and budding friendship with the Baseball team soon started to bleed into my daily routine at school as well. I hadn't stood alone against my favorite reading tree in the Annex for weeks. Instead, I was often included in the conversations of the "popular crowd."
True, I still stood on the outer edge of that crowd and only interjected or offered my own voice when asked. But I was there none the less. When I walked to my classes, I found that the other students all stepped aside to let me pass. Their stares and gazes no longer held the edge of contempt or distrust that I had grown so accustomed to. Now, they seemed to possess a bit of something I couldn't quite classify. Respect? I decided it served little purpose to think about it too much and just continued to go about my normal routine, with some slight adjustments.
