Turnabout

Here is the fifth chapter of the second series of Turnabout. Of course, it will make very little sense unless you've read through the first series, all of which is on the Nifty Archive (to whom much thanks).

-Five-

Debbie stood there, hands on her hips, looking from the one of us to the other. Josh seemed visibly discomfited. I took the lead.

"Deborah! How nice to see you. Doing some shopping, are you?"

She paid not the slightest attention to me. "Well, Josh, I see you've managed to recover enough to get out, now that David here has found you." My name came out of her mouth with great emphasis.

Uh oh. Already this smelled like trouble. I'd been very insistent with Debbie after school on getting Josh's phone number, and she hadn't forgotten that. I certainly hadn't forgotten how she'd insisted on the fact that Josh had abandoned the clique in favor of me. I felt I knew exactly where she was heading with this.

And Josh was in trouble already. He was actually stammering as he tried to answer her. "Well, Debbie, you see... I... I... just had one of those... you know, one of those funny stomach things."

She examined him critically. "It certainly looks as though you've made a fast recovery. David must have really brought you around." There it was again. That insistence on my being with Josh. The whole time this was going on, she gave absolutely no sign that I was even standing there.

"So tell me, Josh, just what have you two been up to?" Now, the obvious interpretation of that question, to the casual bystander, would be that she was asking what we'd been doing that afternoon. But the way in which the question was delivered, with the emphasis on the words 'up to', left it open to a lot of other, far less innocent, interpretations.

Josh was still very flustered. It was obvious that this girl had him spooked. And I couldn't help him--Debbie wouldn't even recognize the fact that I had spoken. She had her claws into him good and tight, and she was obviously going to give him a good shaking. Then I realized how I could help. Don't talk to Debbie, talk to Josh. "Hey, Josh man, check the time!" I exclaimed, looking rather dramatically at my watch. "You know your mother wanted us back at six," I continued, lying by half an hour.

Josh looked over at me rather vaguely, then caught on. "Oh! Yeah! Right!" His acting wasn't going to get him any prizes any time soon, but it was good enough for the circumstances. I wasn't going to leave him with any more of the burden in this than I could help.

"Sorry, Deborah," I said. "We'd love to stay and chat, but we've got to motor or we're going to be late for dinner." And I actually grabbed Josh's arm to start us moving away. I saw Debbie's mouth open, obviously in an attempt to inflict some further damage, but by that time we'd picked up speed and were out of earshot of anything but a yell. Fortunately, she didn't try one. Of course, for her it wouldn't have been dignified.

We didn't speak until we were back in the car. "Fuck!" Josh exploded, and slammed the wheel with his fists. "Fucking useless idiot I must have looked like! How does she do that to me?"

"She really spooks you, doesn't she?"

Josh took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Yeah, she does," he admitted. "I'm pretty lame, aren't I?" he went on, looking over at me and smiling weakly.

"Yeah," I replied, reaching over and grasping his arm, "but I think I'll keep you anyway. Listen, let's get going. Knowing her, she'll probably follow us out here."

"Right," said Josh, and started the car. He made no unnecessary noises getting us out of the parking lot and onto the street. I kept silent, waiting for him to bring up the subject again if he wanted to. He did.

"I think it all comes from that party. Like I told you, she's been hanging around me ever since then, and although she's never been as open about it as she was just now, she's always said things that let me know she wasn't very happy about my lack of response that night. She's always been with that other crowd, but just because they were there too. She's never been part of them."

"Did it sound to you like she was making a pretty strong connection between the two of us?"

"Sure did. And that got me even more shook up than usual. I'm sorry, man. I should have been able to handle her better than I did."

"Hey, considering what's been going on the last few days, on top of the history with her, it's no wonder you couldn't."

"Yeah, but I've gotta get a grip. She isn't going to let this go. I've got to be ready. We've gotta be ready." He laid great emphasis on the 'we'.

I thought for a bit. "Look, Josh, if it would make things any easier, I could just kinda like, you know, make myself scarce for the next little while." I certainly didn't say it enthusiastically, but I said it.

Josh looked over at me, then back at the road in front of him. I could see his hands tighten on the wheel. He didn't speak for a while, but when he did, it was with great force. "No way, David. I've just found you. I need you. I'm not letting you go for all the Debbie Harkins in the world."

"Oooh, I just love it when you're macho!" I teased, and he broke out into a small grin.

"You're right, that did sound a little much, didn't it? But seriously, man, I'm not letting her dictate who my friends are. And if she thinks there's something wrong with it, well, tough shit. She doesn't know anything, and she's not going to know anything."

"That's my brave lad," I said teasingly again. I wanted to try to keep the mood light. Josh had been through enough already. "You can stand up to her. Whenever she gets in your face, just think of me."

"What, so I can throw up on her?"

I got hysterical. Good thing I had my seatbelt on, otherwise I would have smashed my head into the dash. If Josh could make jokes about the shower room incident, it showed how much he was accepting our new relationship. I really hoped he could use that strength to play Debbie's game back at her and win. She was obviously not going to accept me as a player, so it was all on Josh's shoulders.

We pulled in through the gates a little after six. As soon as we got in the house, Josh went into the dining room, holding the bag with the figurine behind him. No one was there, so Josh took it out of the bag, and set it in front of his mother's place on the table. It gleamed in the lights from the chandelier.

"Looks good, man," I said.

"Yeah. I think she'll really like it." And Josh put his arm over my shoulders. Just then, I heard a noise. His father was standing in the doorway.

"Well, Josh, what have you been up to?" he inquired. Josh flinched his arm away from me. The unfortunate echo of Debbie's question was relieved somewhat by the fact that he hadn't used 'Joshua' instead of 'Josh'.

Josh took an obvious grip on himself. "Oh, I've just been out buying mom a little present." And he pointed at the dog figurine.

His father went over and picked it up, turning it over in his hands and looking at it critically. "Not bad," he finally said, "not bad at all. And what is the occasion?"

"No occasion," said Josh. "I just felt like doing something nice for her."

"Admirable," was his father's only comment. "So, David, I see you're back with us."

I wasn't at all sure how to interpret that. But I moved quickly so that Josh wouldn't feel he had to answer for me. "Well, sir, I stopped by because I'd heard that Josh wasn't feeling well today, and Mrs. Barrett was so kind as to invite me to stay for dinner." My, I can put it on when I try.

Mr. Barrett seemed impressed by my answer. "Well, you're very welcome, David. I'll see you both in just a bit." He moved back out the door and went off somewhere.

Josh actually wiped his forehead. "God," he said, "If this keeps up, I think I'm going to become a wreck."

"What," I riposted, still trying to keep it light, "you're not now?"

This earned me a goofy grin and a fairly stiff shot to the shoulder. I groaned in fake agony and dropped to my knees on the floor, clutching the injured shoulder and moaning. "Oh, you big bully!" I whined. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"You are pretty much my own size, ya big wuss! Come on back to my room and we'll see if you can redeem your honor and take me out."

We raced each other down the hall and mooshed each other by trying to go through the door to Josh's room at the same time. We were both giggling insanely. As soon as the door was shut I tackled Josh and we fell in a heap, fortunately on top of the beanbag, which broke our fall. We lay together, me on top of Josh, our arms clasped around each other. The laughing stopped.

Josh's eyes gazed into mine, seeming to get bigger and bigger. "David, David, David," he murmured, and then his hand was behind my head, pulling me down onto his lips. They weren't just warm, they were sizzling. All the pent-up emotion of that day and the days past seemed to be concentrated into this moment. Josh's cock sprang to instant hardness as our mouths met, and mine was in the en garde position in an instant. The two of them dueled through our jeans as our tongues fought their own battle.

Josh's teeth came together on my lower lip and bit gently, then scraped across the flesh. "Oh man!" he breathed, pulling back just a bit, and slamming his hips up to mash our cocks together even harder. "I want you so much!"

I smiled down at him, and wiggled my hips back and forth, rubbing his cock with mine. "I guess you like this better than your adventure with Debbie, huh?"

With one great heave he pushed me over and off him. I landed on my back on the floor, and Josh followed me. He ended up straddling my hips, his crotch pushed firmly into mine, his hands holding my shoulders down. He grinned triumphantly at me and said, "Don't mention us and that cow in the same breath, or I'll..." and he paused significantly.

"Or you'll what?" I riposted with what I tried to make a macho growl.

He took one hand from my shoulder and slowly started unbuttoning my shirt. He kept going right down to my belt, then spread the shirt apart. I think he'd originally intended to tickle me, but he stopped all movement as soon as my bare chest was exposed. He sat gazing down at me and finally took both hands and put them inside the shirt panels, palms flat against my lower ribs. He stroked upwards firmly, and his thumbs circled over my nipples, caressing them softly.

A small groan broke from him, and he shoved his hips strongly forward, mashing our cocks together. I breathed, "Oh, Josh!" and brought my hands up to lightly grip his forearms. Josh started moving his hands over my sides and the surface of my chest. The sensations he was getting seemed to be blowing his circuits. His hips rocked back and forth, then picked up speed. I could feel what he was feeling. Things were getting really tense below the belt. I was sure I was going to blow if this kept on. I didn't want it to happen that way.

"Josh! Stop it, man!" And I pulled myself back from him. He looked as though he were coming back from a far-away place, and then a look of consternation came over his face.

"Oh, David! Man, I... I'm sorry! I didn't mean to push you that far. I..." and he suddenly pushed himself up and walked away over to the window. Shit. I'd done it again.

I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around him, resting my chin on his shoulder. "No, you didn't 'push' me. I was enjoying it every bit as much as you were. Thing is, I was getting too close and I didn't want our first time to be like that."

He turned around in my arms and rested his hands on my hips. "Yeah," he breathed, "our first time. Man, that's gotta be special. Really special. But it's going to be so hard to wait!" he whined, giving me a puppy-dog look that melted my heart. If I'd had any doubts left about being truly in love with Josh, this put an end to them.

His hands came up from my hips and once again ducked inside my still-open shirt. His soft, warm hands moved over my skin and my eyes closed as I swayed towards him. I breathed in his ear, "No fair! You're having all the fun!"

He pulled back a little and I opened my eyes to see him smiling as his thumbs flicked my nips. "Nothing stopping you, is there?" he said, arching his eyebrows at me.

I slowly unbuttoned him as he had done me. His firm, high pecs thrust out at me, crowned with those large, luscious, chocolate-brown nipples. "God," I sighed, "you have the most gorgeous nipples I've ever seen."

"Well, they're all yours, man," Josh whispered.

I couldn't help it. I bent forward and took one of them between my lips. The moment I touched it, Josh hissed and drew my head tightly against him. The temperature soared in an instant to a hundred and ten in the shade. I bit down, and a moan that seemed to come from his toes burst out of him. And the phone rang.

Josh tore himself away and grabbed it. "Ok, mom, be right there." He looked over at me, breathing heavily. "Dinner's ready."

I smiled back. "Saved by the bell, I think." I looked down at myself, then over to him. We were both strainingly hard. "I almost creamed myself again," I went on. "As it is, I feel pretty wet down there."

"Yeah. Let's get ourselves straightened around."

We didn't dare go into the bathroom together. No telling if we would ever make it back out. Josh waved me in first, and I got myself cleaned up. I waited for him by the door as he did the same. He came up to me as I started to open his door, and he leaned on it to close it again, and gave me a quick but firm kiss on the lips. Then he pulled the door back open, and we went off to the dining room.

The first person I saw at school next morning was Josh. He flashed me a big grin from inside the doors as I walked up to them, and then pantomimed looking around him carefully, hand shading his eyes, imitating a big-game hunter stalking his prey. Still moving up the steps, I followed his gaze as he turned from side to side. Odd. No toadies.

"To what do we owe the absence?" I said as we met inside.

"I told them to go fuck themselves," he said to me quietly.

"God! Really? How did they take that?"

"Not well."

"Josh, seriously, don't you think you're kinda setting yourself up here? I mean, with the way Debbie was carrying on yesterday..."

"David, I'm not going to pretend. I feel like a brand-new person. I feel free for the first time in two years. I feel I can be myself." He dropped his voice and looked at me directly. "I feel loved."

I felt the heat rising in my face, and dropped my head. "David, get used to it. You've set me free and there's no way I'm gonna go back to doing what I was doing before."

I looked back up. If he was brave enough, so was I. We moved off to our lockers to get ready for the day. We got our stuff sorted, then looked at each other. It was time to say goodbye until lunch. We agreed to meet then, and told each other to be good almost in the same breath. God, I was giddy again in an instant. How was I ever going to get through the morning without some teacher nailing me?

But actually, I felt reenergized as I got into my first class. Dinner had gone well the previous evening. Josh's mom was holding the dog figurine as we came into the dining room, and immediately set it down to rush over to Josh and fold him in a tight hug. He hugged her back with every bit as much intensity. It was obvious that there was a strong bond between them. There hadn't been too much commentary from his father. He wasn't totally silent, but he didn't have too much to say either. He seemed to be preoccupied by something.

After dinner, Josh's mom had steered us into the large living room. We sat and continued a desultory conversation which leaped from topic to topic without ever settling on any one thing for long. It was all kind of exploratory, I guess, and I could see her listening intently whenever I spoke up on something.

I figured it would be just too dangerous to go back to Josh's room with him, so I'd said after half an hour or so that I'd better get home as I had things to get ready for the next day. Josh went and got our coats, and I got back into the Trans Am with him. We held hands all the way to my place. This way, I was certainly learning how to handle a manual transmission. We drew up in front of my place. Josh took a look around, then looked around and leaned over to give me a long, lingering kiss goodnight.

These memories were with me as I sat down in my first class, but they were a sort of warm, glowing background to the activities in the room. They didn't preoccupy me; instead, they seemed to support me and propel me forward in what I was doing. I guess I was so relieved to have faced my problem and made a decision that I was ready to deal with the other aspects of my life again.

The morning sped by. I saw Josh off in the distance during one break, but that was it. There was no sign of Will, and that set up a small knot of worry in one corner of my mind. There was no way of knowing how he was dealing with our visit to him yesterday afternoon. I kept expecting to see him at any moment, but didn't. Our classes together were in the afternoon, so if I didn't see him at lunch, I'd have to wait until then to find out if he was even at school.

Lunch came. Josh and I met up at the lockers. I kept looking around for Will, but still without success. Josh asked what I was doing, and I told him what I was worried about.

"Yeah," was his comment, "I'd really like to know how he's dealing with this too. I'd bet..."

But he never got a chance to finish. Some guy came rushing up to him bleating, "Josh! Josh!" I recognized him as one of the toady group.

"Look, Stu," said Josh, "I told you this morning..."

"But, Josh, man," bleated Stu again. God, how much more sheep-like could a human being sound? "I mean, come on!"

"Stu. Look. Exactly what is it you want from me?"

That stopped Stu in his tracks. A puzzled look came over his face. Then he saw me, apparently for the first time, beside Josh.

"What's he doing here again?" Stu asked.

"Well, Stu, what is it you're doing here again?" Josh came back.

Once again Stu was at a loss for an answer. "Let me help you out, Stu," Josh went on. "David is here because I want him to be here. Now, are you here because I want you to be here?" No answer except some inarticulate sounds. "Stu, what did I tell you this morning?"

Evidence of hard thought appeared on Stu's face. "Uh, you said that it was nice of us to always be hanging around you, but now we had to find someone else because you had other things to do and didn't need us any more." It was the longest string of connected words I'd heard him say yet, and gave me a rather higher opinion of his mental capacity than I'd had before. But the words he spoke started me worrying again. If this was how Josh was treating the toadies, he could very well be setting himself up for some trouble.

"Stu," Josh said. "I don't want to hurt you too much, guy, but we've never really been friends, right? I mean, we never hung around after school or did anything together on weekends, did we?" Stu shook his head. "So the only place we've ever seen each other is here at school, right?" Josh was speaking slowly and deliberately, as if to make sure Stu didn't miss a step along the way. "So what I'm telling you, Stu, is that David here is my friend. I like to spend time with my friends. And if you and those other guys are always hanging around, I can't do that very well, now can I?"

Stu was slow, but stubborn. "But he wasn't your friend before!" he exclaimed.

"Well he is now, Stu."

Stu thought hard again. "So, if I wasn't your friend before, Josh, why can't I be your friend now, like David?" My estimation of Stu was starting to rise. I mean, this was evidence of a capacity to think logically.

Josh kept his cool. "Stu, you're the same guy now you always have been. Very loyal, but that's about it. I thought things about David, and found out I was wrong. He showed me he was different from what I thought. That's why he's become my friend now. Stu, I'm gonna be blunt with you. I think the only reason you've ever hung around me is because you think I'm some kind of VIP in this place, and it's important for you to be seen with me. If I was just some ordinary guy, just like everyone else, would you even be here now?"

Stu's eyes almost crossed as he thought this one over. Josh started to move away, saying over his shoulder, "You think about that, Stu. Think about it real hard." I followed Josh, not daring to look back to see what Stu was doing. I didn't want to have hysterics right in the middle of the hall.

"That was too cool," I said to Josh. "Now why can't you do that with Debbie?"

"She's another case altogether. Remember, she's not like them. She knows exactly what she's after, and she's determined to get it."

"Even so, I'm a little nervous about you blowing the toadies off like that. Stu was showing signs of rational thought there. Not a lot, but some. And if you start them thinking too hard about you and me, we could have some more trouble like we've already got with Debbie."

"Well, like I said before, David, I'm not going to worry too much about it. I just can't have them hanging around me, because it reminds me too much of what I was like before. I just can't stand the thought of you coming around a corner and seeing me with that crowd around me. It would be like I'd betrayed you or something."

We had been moving toward the cafeteria while this conversation had been going on. I had just opened my mouth to answer Josh when we came around the corner into the large, noisy room. My words never made it out. The first thing I saw as we entered was, off to one side, seated at a small table, Will. And right next to him, holding his gaze fixed to hers, her hand on his arm, her head bent close to him, sat Debbie Harkins.