Ethan ran his fingers through his wet hair, pulled the equipment bag full of hockey gear over his shoulder, and headed for the locker room door. A twinge of pain shot up his leg from his knee. He paused a moment, wincing, and hoped none of the other guys noticed his limp.
"Hey Ethan, wait up," Darien shouted from behind.
Ethan stopped at the door. Darien slammed his locker and rushed to catch up, carrying his own equipment bag.
"You need a ride home?" Darien said. "Maria's gonna meet me here. We're going out tonight. We can drop you off if you want."
"Sure. That'd be great," Ethan said. "I got a lot of homework to do, anyway."
"That's cool."
They walked together down the hall. Maria was waiting in the parking lot by Darien's car with Iris and another guy. He sat behind the wheel of a hot looking '69 Mustang and Iris sat on the hood, kicking her legs.
Ethan felt himself stir instantly. She was wearing snug jeans and black leather boots with the really tall heels, and a tight white t-shirt with red bands around the collar and short sleeves. The print on the front of the t-shirt, a picture of some band he never heard of, was stretched out of shape over her big boobs.
"Oh great," Darien said. Maria waved and he waved back.
"What?"
"Iris' fag brother's here. I don't need to talk to him."
Ethan looked closer at the guy in the Mustang.
"That's her brother? Charlie, right?" Ethan said.
Maria walked toward them. She wore a short blouse with her midriff exposed and a pair of khaki shorts. Her hips swung side to side, her breasts bounced under the blouse, and the light, cool breeze blew her long, dark hair across her face.
"Hi baby," she said, smiling at Darien, and whisked the wild strands of hair from her face with her long fingernail. She rose on the balls of her feet and kissed him.
"What's the fag doing here?" Darien said.
Maria frowned. "Darien, you're so mean. He was nice to drop us off."
"He's still a disgusting fag and I ain't talking to him."
"He's got a nice car," Ethan said.
"You would say that," Darien said.
Ethan walked on. Iris was pulling on her bubblegum, twisting it like a string around her finger. She watched him, smiling.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi."
Ethan's mind blanked. He struggled to come up with something to say. Her big breasts seemed to beg to him to reach out and squeeze them. He realized he was staring and turned his eyes down to her feet.
"Nice shoes," he said.
Iris smirked. "Thanks." She hopped off the car and walked across the parking lot to join Maria and Darien.
The engine in the Mustang revved. Ethan looked at Charlie, sitting in the driver's seat with his hand on the top arc of the steering wheel. He put the car in gear and started to roll away, staring back. Ethan's eyes narrowed. Charlie looked normal, just like any other guy. Could he figure out if a guy was gay just by looking at him? What did it mean to be gay, anyway?
Ethan sat in the back of Darien's car with Iris. She hardly said a word to him the entire way, hardly even looked at him. His heart felt like it was crushed in his chest. They dropped him off in front of his house with his equipment bag and took off, the blaring radio echoing between houses.
He went inside and up the stairs. The door to Pam's room was open. He heard someone giggling from inside and peeked in. He stopped in his tracks. Pam was with that Debbie chick in her room. Pam was in her bikini, and she looked hot.
"Hi Ethan," Pam said, and waved.
Debbie turned around. Her eyes swept up from his feet to his face and she smiled.
"Hi," she said.
Ethan blushed. "Hi," he said with a quick wave, and ducked into his room.
He dumped his equipment bag on his bed. Debbie was pretty hot. He wouldn't mind going to bed with her. He peeled off his shirt, threw it in the corner, and rifled through his dresser. What he didn't understand was why Pam hung out with her. Everyone in school knew Debbie Holtz was just a slut. Pam wasn't a slut. She should hang out with someone nice, someone like herself. He slammed the dresser shut. Where the hell were his good jeans?
Mom called from downstairs. Ethan went to the head of the stairs and leaned on the railing, staying out of view of Pam's room.
"Yeah?" he said.
Mom held up his jeans. "Come down here, please."
Ethan plodded down the stairs.
"You found my jeans?" he said.
"I was washing your clothes." She reached into the pocket and pulled out a black piece of fabric. "Where did these come from?"
Ethan's eyes grew wide. It was Iris' lacy black panties. Mom dangled them in her fingers. He cleared his throat and tried to think of something to say, but all that came out was a nervous stammer. Mom sighed. Her arms dropped to her sides and she shook her head.
"I can't believe you're having sex, too. You're only nineteen." She touched his cheek. "I guess I should have expected it, though. You've grown up so fast and you're so handsome, just like your father."
"Mom ..." he said in a whiny tone.
She shoved his jeans into his hands.
"The last thing I need is for you to get a girl pregnant. Get dressed. We're going to the drug store to get you some condoms."
"Jeez, Mom ..."
"Do it."
He went back upstairs and got dressed. Mom was waiting for him by the front door with her keys in her hand. The car was quiet and tense for the short drive up to the drug store. She dragged him in and down the aisles to the back, where the boxes of condoms hung on hooks. Ethan's face burned. He kept his head down, hoping no one he knew saw him buying condoms with his Mom.
She put her hands on her hips and sighed.
"I know this makes you uncomfortable, Ethan, but I have to ask. How big are you?"
"Excuse me?"
"How big are you?" She lowered her voice. "I mean your ... penis. How long is it?"
He looked down at his crotch. "Uh, I don't know," he said. Mr. Thorn said it was twelve inches long. Should he tell that to his own Mom?
She selected a box from the rack. "I better get extra large for you. Your father was, well, pretty large himself. He once told me all the McCullen men were bigger than normal. I'm sure you'll be no different."
Ethan stayed a step behind her at the counter while she bought the condoms. The woman behind the cash register took Mom's money, put the box of condoms in a bag, and smiled at Ethan as they walked out. His face burned again. He walked in a hurry to the car. Mom dumped the bag in his lap, started the car, put it in gear, then put it back in park.
"Do you know how to use those?" she said, with a nod to the bag in his lap.
Ethan looked down at it. The paper bag crinkled. He stayed very still, afraid to move, as if it was some radioactive device.
"Uh, not really," he said.
Mom's hands held the steering wheel, her fingers drumming on the rim. She let out another deep sigh.
"Ok, I'm gonna show you, but you have to promise me you'll use them, ok?"
"Uh, ok, I guess," Ethan said.
Mom snatched the bag from his lap, removed the box and ripped it open.
"It's really pretty simple. You have to do this before you actually ... actually have sex, you understand?"
Ethan shook his head.
"Ok, well, let's say you're out with a girl and you like her and you both decide that ... that you're gonna have sex, ok?"
"Ok," Ethan said. He imagined himself with Iris, and in his mind saw her bare ass when she pulled up the back of her cheerleader uniform and bent over his lap. His penis stirred in his jeans and he put his hand over his lap.
Mom swallowed and cleared her throat. She held up a small red packet from the box.
