2

"Yeah?" I asked her encouragingly, forming a grin.

"This isn't one of those times." Nicole answered with a sparkle in her eye.

I needed no more encouragement. Immediately, I moved south and traced a line down her neck with my tongue, eventually landing at her perfect nipples. For now they were soft, but I was ready to change that. With hunger that surprised even myself, I give her right nipple a swift lick, followed by a sudden suck.

"Mm…" Nicole moaned softly. "No need to rush in, squirt. This isn't a competition. You have all the time in the world."

Taking her advice, I took the more subtle approach, slowly licking around her nipple, making her shudder. With my free hand I tired to mimic my tongue's actions on her other nipple as my tongue traced lines around her right areola. I could feel both of them get hard within seconds of my actions, and knew it was time to step up the game. I slowly closed my mouth around the one nipple and gave it a slow yet meaningful suck. Right after, I twisted her other nipple in my other hand, earning me a coo of encouragement from Nicole as she mashed her breasts into my face.

Laughing internally, I kept up the pace, licking and sucking away as my free hand travelled south to her pants, undoing the button slowly and meaningfully. Nicole giggled devilishly.

"Aren't we eager." She murmured as she broke away from me and stood up off the bed. She reached down to take her pants off, but before she did, she grinned, shuffled up next to me, and started to gyrate her hips.

I smiled as I realized what she was doing. She smiled back and turned around, striking a provocative pose as she stuck her ass out at me. Taking the bait, I reached forward and smacked her on the ass with some force.

"Ouch." She said playfully. "I think it would be much more effective if these pesky things weren't in the way, don't you?" She asked, teasingly bringing her pants down inch by inch. Driven impatient by her antics, I grabbed her pants at both sides and yanked them down. Laughing softly, Nicole kicked them away from her ankles and turned back to face me.

I could see that she didn't shave since we had our last encounter. Her legs sported a decent amount of hair that gathered at the top, as if to tell me where to go next. I didn't mind in the slightest – Nicole could look beautiful from any angle.

Clearly as impatient as I was, Nicole pounced again onto me, grinding her crotch into mine as her hand traced its way down from my neck all the way to my pants, undoing the button as effortlessly as I've come to expect from her. Without even waiting for me to stand up and do it myself, she pulled my pants down and off of me in one fell swoop that I swear wasn't possible for humans to perform.

Nicole looked down and grinned. "Looks like someone's already excited." She whispered coquettishly.

"It helps when I have a girl as beautiful as you give me a lap dance." I replied, kissing her on the cheek.

She giggled, and I swear I saw the beginning of a blush on her face. "Well then, hotshot, should we get to the main attraction?" She asked me sensuously.

"Just like that?" I asked.

Nicole shrugged and looked down between my legs. "I'm already as excited as I'm gonna get, and I want to save my orgasm for when I have this…" She grabbed my dick through my boxers and leaned in close. "Inside me." She finished, whispering.

Well, that sure as hell convinced me. With a grin I sat up on the bed, removing my boxers as fast as I could. She matched me, never taking her eyes off of mine as she removed her panties, revealing her beautiful pussy for me to see.

It had been too long. Her trademark erect clit was looking me straight in the eye, daring me to make a move. Like her legs, she hadn't shaved her vagina either, but I didn't care in the slightest about that. This moment wasn't about the details. It was just about Nicole and I, sharing this moment.

Nicole, sighing contentedly, lay down on the bed, fully naked, grabbing a breast in each hands and twisting her nipples. Biting down on her lower lip, she motioned with her eyes towards her crotch. "I'm yours, Adam. Take me." She all but whispered sweetly.

"And I'm yours, Nicole." I whispered back as I crawled forward, getting closer and closer until my fully erect dick with pulsing with anticipation and aimed right at her entrance. At the feeling of me pressed right up against her, Nicole instinctively moaned. "God, I've missed this." She breathed, eyes closed. Not waiting for her eyes to open, I leaned forward to give her a slow, full kiss on the lips as I guided myself into her.

I grabbed her waist and pulled, watching as inch by inch, I began to sink in to her. There was nothing like a familiar feeling – just the right amount of caressing tightness, a warmth that enveloped me as I sunk in deeper and deeper, and a beautiful poetic feeling of what we were sharing being so right.

"Oh, Nicole." I moaned without even realizing it.

"Mmmm…" Nicole responded, so focussed on what she was feeling she couldn't even give me a coherent response. Slowly, I began to pull on Nicole's hips, pulling myself out of her then pushing back in while remaining focussed on her angelic face. Over time, I couldn't help but kiss those full, beautiful lips, as I leaned forth, pushing myself in further than I have before, and met her at the lips. We stayed there, lip-locked, even as I continued where I left off, picking up speed, causing her to grab around my back and dig her nails into my back.

Out of reflex, I retracted from the kiss and emitted a sudden, "Agh!"

Nicole loosened her grasp on me. "Sorry," She softly said, still clearly in her own little world. "Still hurts?"

"Just aches." I gave her a reassuring smile, but once I realized it, I was actually still hurting. I was just distracted.

"I'll try to go easy on you." She quietly replied.

Smiling at her, I continued, slowly pumping myself in and out of her, enjoying the sensations that only being inside Nicole's pussy gave me.

"Ohhhh…" She moaned as I continued my efforts. "That's so nice, Adam…"

Feeling more in-the-spirit, I started to pick up the pace, feeling Nicole's body rhythm match mine as we shared a song in our body movements.

The feelings only enhanced as we continued and Nicole's moans got more constant. Eventually my mind went crazy with lust for her and I latched on to one of her boobs, throwing subtlety out of the window as I flicked and sucked on her nipple. Nicole responded by cradling my head, occasionally mashing my head into her boob when she hit a high spot.

Eventually, just as I was getting into a good rhythm, Nicole pushed my head away from her now swollen nipple and sat up, forcing me to pull out of her. "Hey!" I protested, caught in my own lust.

Nicole just smiled devilishly and flopped around, getting up on her knees and wiggling her butt provocatively at me. "I just wanted to change positions." She said with a mock innocence.

With my face turning from disappointment to excitement, I shuffled up behind her and ran my hand up and down her pussy lips, feeling both how wet she had become and her moans resonating through her body.

"D-don't tease," Nicole moaned, now fully anticipating my entrance. "Just go for it."

"Mmm, I dunno." I responded, teasing her. "I kind of like this." Slowly, I inserted one finger, then another, stroking her with my two fingers in an increasingly fast motion.

"A-Adam…" Nicole moaned. "This feels great, but I really wanna feel you inside me."

A third finger was inserted as I felt myself go in far enough to rub her g-spot. I stopped pumping and focussed on that, earning an audible 'ahh' from Nicole. Every time I flicked my fingertips over her g-spot, her body spasmed a little bit, and I enjoyed every second of my power over her.

"Adam…" Nicole moaned, more desperately this time.

Truth be told, I was aching to be inside her too, but there was no way I was giving up on the status quo I had acquired. "Not yet!" I all but sang, pushing my three fingers fully inside of her.

"You suck." She hissed. "When?"

"When you say the magic word." I replied, deciding then to go on a full-out assault, pumping my fingers back and forth with both speed and force, in and out of her.

"P… pl…" Nicole kept attempting, but failed every time. Each time she got close to saying it, I would surprise her, tweaking a nipple with my free hand or temporarily adding a fourth finger. "Please?" She finally squeaked.

Fair is fair, I thought. "Alright, if that's what you want." I replied back triumphantly. Sitting up, I grabbed around her, savoring the feel of her ass in my hands for a few seconds before I guided myself into her and pushed inside her in one fell swoop.

"Oh, god…" Nicole moaned as I pushed myself inside her to the hilt in one motion. Grabbing around her ass for support, I wasted no time, my goal now not to tease, but to give her the ride of her life.

As I thrust myself in and out of Nicole's hungry pussy, I reached around from her hips to grab a boob in each hand. It meant I had to bend over her back, but it was worth it. I was leaving kisses all down her back as I drilled her, earning a mix of moans and coos of appreciation from Nicole.

There was an open road to Nicole's climax quickly approaching, and I was fixing my miles between myself and there. "Oh, Adam, it's building, I can feel it!" Nicole nearly whined as I continued pushing myself into her over and over. Her breaths became shorter and shorter, each one turning more into an audible moan than the last.

"It's coming, I can feel it…" She managed. "It's gonna be a big one…" I kept up my efforts, trying to make even bigger motions inside her as I filled Nicole in the most intimate way. Hey body starting to quiver, I heard her manage to plead, "G-go faster!"

"Why?" I asked in between thrusts.

"I w-want us to come together." She managed to say. "Please, hurry and build it up! I w-want to feel you explode inside me, baby!"

Hearing Nicole make such a request certainly helped me on my way, and with a newfound effort, I grabbed onto her hips again and doubled my speed, focussing on my pleasure more than hers. After all, she was almost there and this what she wanted.

I could feel a spring being pushed down inside me, pressure gathering in between my legs, as if my whole body was sending its energy to one area. Almost on cue, Nicole groaned, "Please t-tell me you're close… Can't hold on much longer."

"I am, babe, I am." I moaned. I never had used the word babe before… It felt right. In the moment, I didn't concentrate on that – I was too overcome with the sensations I was feeling.

"Hurry, Adam, please." Nicole begged.

"A few seconds more…" I wheezed between thrusts. "Here it is…" I felt myself boiling just below the surface. It was here, and I knew it was going to be a big one – as I thrust a few more times, I felt myself erupt and I exploded inside Nicole.

"Oh, my, GOD," Nicole moaned in breaths as she felt me filling her up. Her body began to quiver and her arms failed her, leaving her upper half collapsed as I felt a second, then third, spurt fill her up.

"Ohhhhhhhh…" She moaned satisfactorily, lightly pressing her hips against mine, savoring the moment. She breathed a few times, then quietly managed to say, "That was incredible."

Gingerly, I pulled myself out of her, leaving a lot of my spoils still inside her, a trail of it slowly going down her leg. "You were incredible." I told her softly.

Nicole whisked her head around to look at me and broke into a heartwarmingly genuine grin. "C'mere, you." She growled cutely and flipped around, now on her back, pulling me in for a big hug. I could feel the wetness on her leg, but I didn't mind.

The hug rapidly turned into a cuddle, one which we remained in for what seemed like hours. Every so often, we would change positions to whatever felt more comfortable. I was big spoon, then little spoon, then we ended up facing each other. I kissed her softly on her forehead and she giggled softly, then sighed contentedly.

"I like this." She purred.

"What?" I asked her.

"This. Us." She answered.

I grinned to myself. "You keep saying you don't want one, but it looks more and more like we're in a relationship."

She playfully shoved me away and looked off to the distance. "Yeah, well, tough. No matter how much you want me as a girlfriend, you'll just have to deal with it." She said in a mock pretentious tone.

"I wouldn't complain, you know." I said seriously.

She looked back at me. "What? You and me?"

I nodded, heart in my throat. I didn't think anything would actually happen between Nicole and I, but I would have loved to take a chance with her.

"You'd have to give up sex with Megan. And whatever you may have left for May." She reasoned.

"I'd do it in a heartbeat." I promised her.

She chuckled aloud. "Aw, how sweet. You have a crush on me." She brushed her hair past her head dramatically. "Take a number."

"Oh yeah? That often, huh?" I asked her.

"It's the black hair, blue eyes girl thing. I got lucky in the genes department." She answered. "Plus, I'm sure you noticed, I'm fucking awesome."

"Yes, I did." I playfully answered, scooting up to her and kissing her cheek.

"Oh gosh, you can't do that now." Nicole joked. "You have a crush on me. It's weird."

"We've been having sex for months. Did you expect me not to get attached to you?" I asked her, half-seriously.

"Don't blame me if you can't hold back your emotions in a no-strings-attached fling." Nicole simply said, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, so all of your flings are like this then?" I challenged her, moving her head with my hands, daring her to look me in the eye.

"I didn't say that." Nicole softly answered, a gleam in her eye. She leaned forward and gave me a slow peck on the lips. "But yeah, no relationship, thanks. It's nothing personal, it's just not very me."

"Would you pick me if you were comfortable with relationships?" I asked boldly.

"Excuse me?" Nicole asked, caught off guard.

"Would you pick me if you were comfortable with relationships?" I asked again, word-for-word, with intent.

"Well, I mean…" Nicole began, flustered. "That's not fair. You're putting me on the spot. Like, I'm not comfortable with relationships in the first place, so there's no way I could even answer that, because it's not even in my thoughts."

I could tell the subject made her uneasy for whatever reason, so I let it be. "Okay, sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." I said.

"Don't worry, squirt." Nicole smiled, though this one was a lot less genuine. Her smile was lost immediately as she looked down and scanned her eyes around the sheets.

"Something on your mind?" I asked her.

She looked up at me slowly. "I…" She began, clearly not knowing how to say what was on her mind. She shook her head, looked down, and caught me off guard with a small smile. "I know about the conversation you had with Phil today."

"You saw?" I asked, turning a deathly pale as Phil's threats replayed in my mind's video projector.

She chuckled and shook her head. "Phil texted me, and wanted to talk, but made himself sound like the bad guy. I know him well enough to know if he's being that aware, he needed help. And you're the only one I've told about this, besides Mitch."

"Don't tell him you know I talked to him." I blurted out, the comment about Mitch not even registering.

Nicole gave another chuckle, this one more uneasy. "Uh, sure, but why?"

"I promised Phil I wouldn't tell anyone, even you." I said, fear evident on my face.

Nicole gave a reassuring smile. "Okay. Mum's the word, hotshot." She smiled again then turned away from me, hopping off the bed and picking up her clothes.

"Did I make a mistake?" I asked. "Will this help you and Phil work out your differences?"

"You did a good deed, dumbass." Nicole countered. "Maybe if Phil isn't as dumb as I think he is, we'll be able to co-exist." She stopped and pointed at me. "But this was volatile subject matter. Don't do this kind of shit again. This could have gone way south. Phil could have hurt you if he had a mind to. He could have hurt me." The cogs spun in Nicole's head and a thought hit her. "What happened this afternoon… That wasn't Phil's doing, was it?"

"No, no, don't worry." I reassured her.

"No, really, I need you to be deadly serious here." Nicole responded quickly, more serious than I had ever seen her in my life. She climbed on to bed and looked me in the eyes. "If he threatened you if you tell, we can arrange to have you protected. I just need to know the truth. Do NOT lie to me about this. Was this Phil's doing?"

"I promise, Nicole. This had nothing to do with Phil." I swore to her.

"Okay." She said uneasily, then leapt off the bed again, regaining her shirt.

"You know…" Nicole started as she put it back on. She gave a soft chuckle and turned to face me. "If you're willing to work that hard for me to stay on the council, I guess I don't really have a choice, do I?"

My neutral expression slowly turned into a huge grin.

"I'm really lucky I met a friend like you, Adam. You're a really special guy." She smiled warmly as she put her pants on.

"Well, I'm not exactly boyfriend material, but I'm still working on that." I countered.

"Fuck off." She gave me a wink. "Keep working on it for a few years, then maybe I'll entertain the thought." Now fully clothed, she tossed my clothing onto the bed. "And put a shirt on, you creep. This is my house."

"Gee, shirtless in the Baker residence. You'd know all about that." I retorted. In response, Nicole lifted her shirt, playfully flashing me before hopping onto the bed, joining me as I put my pants on.

"If I'm staying on Council next year, I guess I should shoot for the moon, huh?" Nicole asked, trying to generate conversation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked her, more out of curiosity.

"How's this for a headline: Nicole Baker, Council President." Nicole asked, before grinning at me.

"Yeah? I'd vote for you!" I grinned back.

Nicole laughed softly to herself. "Actually, you wouldn't be able to." She said simply.

"What? Why not?" I asked. As far as I knew, council members could still vote in elections.

"Well, pairings can't vote for themselves." Nicole murmured, looking up from the sheets into my eyes. "How'd you like to run as my Vice President, squirt?"

My heart fluttered. Vice President. In terms of high school, that was pretty much a telltale sign of making it, especially to a student who just a year ago was a bullied nobody. "In grade 10? Would they allow that?" I asked her.

"I'm Nicole Baker. They love me." Nicole winked at me. "If I asked them to run alongside a potato, they'd allow it."

"Gee, thanks." I sarcastically quipped.

"Oh, you know what I mean." Nicole shot back. "So how about it, huh?"

"It sounds like fun, Nicole. I'd love to work with you." I genuinely told her.

Our hug thereafter lasted a lifetime, as each of us held our future in our arms.

Chapter Twelve

"Why the hell did it have to be here and now?" I ranted. "I don't want him to be here. I wanted to get away from him. I feel like I'm no longer comfortable here with him around. Every time I try to leave my past behind it just comes back to haunt me in a different way."

Mr. Salvador sat up attentively. "Did you just say there was a fight?" he asked me.

I blinked twice. "Is that all you heard?" I asked him, anger building up. "I thought you invited me here so I could talk about my feelings, not so you could document what's going on around the school. I thought you were doing this to help, not so I could be your little spy."

Instantly I regretted saying that as Salvador leaned back and lowered one eyebrow. "Adam, remember that first and foremost, I am your teacher."

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry." I meekly interrupted.

"Like it or not, when you're in this school, teachers are the authority, not students. And students do not get to talk to their teachers that way." He continued.

"I get it. My bad." I continued weakly.

"Stop talking." He ordered. "Listen to me. I am doing this to help you. That doesn't change the fact that first and foremost, I am a teacher, and I have certain responsibilities. If you didn't want me to act like this, you shouldn't have told me that there was a fight. Now, unless you want me to take this further, I'm going to need the name of the person you were fighting with. If you don't know his name, I'll need his deion, and Mr. Scott will be notified. If need be, we can arrange some kind of protection."

"I don't want him to be in trouble." I feebly managed. "It's not that I'm afraid of him. Hell, I already told you I didn't throw a damn punch at him." As I recollected my previous rant to him, I thanked my lucky stars I didn't mention that it was Matt who fought me, or why. "I just… Can we just please forget that I mentioned that?"

"Adam, even if I wanted to I'm not allowed to." Mr. Salvador answered seriously. "I would be neglecting my responsibilities as a teacher in order to accommodate something I'm doing out of my own time to begin with."

"We don't have to continue doing this then." I said, deflating a little bit more each second.

Slightly, Mr. Salvador raised his eyebrows. "I can tell you want to keep doing this." he began. "Otherwise, you wouldn't keep coming here. Are you telling me you'd go that far against your own wishes to assist someone who wants you to feel pain?"

"Mhm." I hummed.

Mr. Salvador exhaled, loudly and lengthily. "Adam, it's always good to help others, but there comes a point when it becomes self-destructive. You can lose yourself if you become too obsessed with helping others. Sometimes you need to help yourself."

"And what if telling you his name won't help me?" I asked him. "What if I have a weird history with him that I want to keep secret so badly that I would clam up like… like this instead of telling you?" No one said anything for a giant pause. "If I was worried about my safety, I'd tell you. I just don't want this becoming the school's business." I continued, the silence making me uncomfortable.

Mr. Salvador sighed again loudly. "There's two ways we could do this." He concluded. "Number one, I tell your story to Mr. Scott and he takes this whole thing over. You're asked to comply and for both your safety and the safety of others, he'll find a way to get you to tell him." He then, uncharacteristically, took his eyes off of mine and looked at the ceiling. "Number two, you leave right now, considering we didn't just have a conversation and I haven't seen you since your exam."

Relief washed over me. "You mean it?" I asked incredulously.

"Don't make me think about it, just accept." He all but barked at me.

"I understand." I said, quickly standing up and getting my backpack. "Thank you. Thank you." I said, twice due to my overwhelming gratefulness. I didn't think he would have done that, considering how by-the-book he was.

As I neared the doorway of his office, I heard him call, "Adam." again.

"Yes?" I asked, turning around to see he was still facing the ceiling.

"I'm sorry to hear your past is bothering you." He commented. "I know what it's like to want to let go of something, but can't. In my experience, moving forward is the only cure."

I half-smiled. He listened more than I thought. "Noted." I replied. "Goodbye!"

I walked outside his room and into the main hallway to see Nicole on her phone. Upon presumably hearing my footsteps, she looked up, smiled, and almost ran over to me, greeting me with a smothering hug.

"Hey, hotshot." She sang as she broke off the hug. "I missed you."

"It's only been a day." I lamely commented.

"Don't ruin the moment." She commanded, then looked my face over. "How are you feeling, is it healing?"

I shrugged. "I feel like it's going away."

"It sure doesn't look like it." She remarked aloud, clearly staring at the gash on my lip.

I lowered one eyebrow and stared at her. "Thanks. I feel so much better now." I sarcastically replied.

"Good." She beamed. "Now, can we get out of here? I'm hungry." Not even needing a response from me, she began to walk down the hallway and I followed. "How does Burger King sound?" She asked me.

"If it's with you, it sounds like a great time." I said, half sarcastically, half sincerely.

She audibly groaned. "Easy there, Captain Cheesy." She joked.

"Don't ruin the moment." I ordered with a smile on my face.

***

As the end of winter turned into spring, a lot of my past melted away with the snow. The student council seemed to all but forget what had happened between myself and Megan, save for one particular member, and now I was known as student council's first ever Public Relations guy.

Matt never looked at me once during any of those meetings. Week after week would pass and every time I spoke or I was brought off, he'd suddenly become very interested in the wall. It became very clear why when during one particular meeting, after a fight had broken out between two freshmen, Phil went on a tangent about fights and how it lowers the school's reputation. Trying to be as subtle as I could, I looked in Matt's direction. Matt, his eyes somewhere else, no doubt noticed me, as was evident by the pink tone his skin had soon adopted.

I barely recognized what Megan had turned into when I stopped and thought about how she used to be. It wasn't a bad change, but all of the little things started to add up. Before, during a meeting, she would diligently keep her head forward, seemingly believing she wasn't worthy to chime in and be one of the gang whenever the council shared a joke. She would only speak when spoken to. Suddenly, she seemed a lot more loose, and a lot less lacking in confidence. I almost missed the days where she was shy and practically jumped when someone talked to her, but at the same, I was glad to have seen her grow. I never did put much thought into how her little get-together with Carson went, but I can imagine it went well, considering how confident she was.

The more school I experienced, the less classes meant to me as the weeks went on. I began to notice less and less what was happening in class, and noticing more and more what was happening outside of class. Training with Nicole in the weights room, karate, student council meetings, even just hanging out with friends… I began to see why some kids did this every day in junior high.

Weekends were no exception. I tried to fill up my schedule to the best of my ability. I had years to catch up on.

"So where are you off to this morning?" Dad asked as he got a coffee mug out of the cupboard.

"I'm going to hang out with Carson." I simply answered, taking a bite out of the toast mom had prepared for me that morning, looking past the table, through the window and outside, admiring the changes that came with April.

"Carson…" Dad repeated, filling his mug. "Did we meet him? Has he visited here before?"

"I don't think so." I answered. "He lives near the school, so our house is kind of out of the way for him."

"How are you going to get to his place then? You're not walking, are you?" Mom, ever the worrier, piped up.

"Don't worry, mom." I soothed her. "Nicole is going to be driving me."

"Aw, that Nicole." Mom said warmly, looking over at dad. "She is such a sweetheart."

"She's certainly something, that's for sure." Dad remarked, joining us at the table with his mug in one hand, opening up a newspaper with the other.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him.

"Well… She's…" Dad struggled with the words, then looked at me with his trademark serious expression. "She's kind of freaky."

Shocked that dad would say something like that, I turned to mom, who solemnly nodded. "Freaky?" I repeated.

"In a good way." Mom soothed me. "We've just never met someone like her."

"You barely know her." I retaliated, my tone starting to reflect how I felt towards someone calling her 'freaky.'

"Do you?" Dad asked. "You're really quick to tell me you're not dating her. Yet when she comes by, it's like you've known each other for years."

"My God, dad, you're right." I replied, my tone full of wonder, dropping my toast. "After all, friends couldn't possibly act like that. I guess the secret's out – I've been seeing Nicole since grade 2."

"Don't get sarcastic with me." Dad lightly ordered. "That's my thing. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but I really want you to be open with us, and your mother and I… We feel like you're hiding something from us."

I turned back to mom, who nodded with a completely serious look on her face. Half of me felt outraged, and the other half felt guilty. The two halves were separate entities – How dare they think I was keeping secrets from them?! I was, but still, why would they think I was? I was a good kid.

"Nicole is the most transparent girl on the planet." I lied. "You've met her, so you know her for who she is. There's nothing more than that to her."

"C'mon, Adam." Dad replied. "All people are at least kind of complicated. Even me." He put his newspaper away. "Besides, we've met Nicole all of three times. The first time, she knew our names before we could introduce ourselves, then you two spent a few hours in your room, alone."

"We kept the door open." I lied smoothly. "You guys were just never upstairs to see that. I promise, we didn't do anything."

Half acknowledging me, half ignoring me, dad continued. "The second time, she told us that she was visiting because she wanted to get you into video games. An hour later, she's with us at the kitchen table giving us tips on making quarterly payments for our taxes while you were upstairs playing Call of Portal or whatever it's called."

I grinned to myself. Around mid-March, Nicole and I were exhausted after a vigorous training day. We went to my place and skipped all foreplay – I had her bouncing up and down on top of me within minutes. I was so exhausted, I blacked out seconds after I came, and awoke to both her and myself, completely clothed, on my bed. When I asked her what she did while I was passed out, she said "Giving financial advice to your parents." I totally thought she was kidding.

"You don't even like video games." Dad pointed out, pointing an accusatory finger at me.

I shrugged. "Nicole has a way of making them fun." I lamely remarked. "She's very convincing."

"The third time, we barely saw you two before you disappeared upstairs. Then we didn't see you two at all." Concern filled his face. "Adam, it's okay if she's your girlfriend. Really, it's okay. And depending on what you two are doing up there, we'll accept whatever it is. But your mother and I would feel a lot more comfortable if we knew just what you two are up to."

"And what if we're just playing video games upstairs?" I asked him coldly. "Why do you think I'm lying to you?"

"Well, number one, you're dipping your toast in your orange juice." Dad dryly pointed out. My eyes drifted down to note that my hands had become really fidgety. "Number two, don't forget that I was young once. True, I didn't have the same experiences as you, but I know how to be a teen. I know you from the inside out."

"Oh, come on." I teased him. "You were a nerd."

"I was a better nerd than you." Dad fired back.

"Good one."

"Now don't change the topic." He ordered softly. "Your mom and I will be okay with it if you come clean, but we'd like to know what our son is doing. Is Nicole doing drugs with you? Drinking? Are you two having any kind of… Well, any kind of sex?"

I tried to keep my face as blank as possible. Dad shouldn't have revealed that he was reading me, because I was concentrating on making myself unreadable.

"Oh, now, Timothy." My mom softly scolded him. "He's only in grade nine. Maybe he's doing drugs, but I don't think he's having sex." She turned to me. "Although asking if he's kissing her isn't out of the question. We just want to know. For our own sake."

If only she knew, I thought to myself. Thinking at a mile a minute so my silence didn't give me away, I mulled it over in my head. 'Should I tell them?�� I asked myself. If I told them, it would totally be out in the open. Nicole's parents knew about it. My parents told me they'd try to accept it. Nicole and I could be ourselves around them. And it was true, my parents were the best. I didn't enjoy lying to them. It made everything needlessly complicated.

At the same time, I couldn't shake away the implications of my mom's comment. I'm only in grade nine, I thought to myself. To her, sex wasn't even a thing I should have been doing. It wasn't even a possibility to her that I could be having it, which made telling her all the harder to do. She couldn't even accept the idea that I was having sex, let alone the fact that it meant nothing to Nicole. If I told them she was my girlfriend, they'd bring it up around her and she would have some objections. Plus, we really would have to leave my bedroom door open. And if I told them we were having casual sex… Nope, not even an option.

I shook my head. "There's no kissing." I answered, and turned to dad. "And definitely no drugs. Or drinking. I thought you knew I'm not like that."

The guilt card didn't work on dad, as I should have known. He shrugged, putting on a soft face but still challenging me with his eyes. "I don't presume." He answered simply.

Just then, a lightbulb turned on above my head. Thinking on my feet, I swiftly added, "You know she had a boyfriend until recently, right? Phil Love. Head of student council. I'm not a homewrecker. And she's not into drugs." I pointed out.

"Alright, alright, take it easy." Dad soothed me. I didn't respond, but he sighed and continued. "Look, we're not dumb. You're our son and we love you, and we also know you. I know you're growing up so you think we couldn't possibly know you, but news flash, we do. And we know there's something happening that we don't know about. And as parents it's our duty to be nosy, because if you act as secretly as you do, we can't know for sure whether it's something we should know about."

I visibly shrunk in my chair.

"And lying about it doesn't make anything better." He added, a tone of slight annoyedness to his tone.

The familiar honk of a Ford Focus broke me out of my bubble of anxiety. Breathing a sigh of relief, I stood up and quickly swallowed the last of my toast. "She's here." I managed to say through my last mouthful. "I'll be back for supper, okay?"

Instead of dad letting me go, my heart sank as he shook his head meaningfully. He pointed to my chair. "Sit down." He ordered humorlessly. "She can wait."

My parents and I never fought. We never had any kind of serious arguments. I was downright scared. I could barely feel my limbs as I slunk back down into my chair. I could feel my breathing quicken as I felt my now unfamiliar anxiety coming back to me.

Looking into my dad's eyes, I attributed them to something I hadn't before: fear. It felt awful. Feeling like my parents weren't on my side was downright awful. I felt unsafe. Like my world became a lot less stable. Like the house was more unwelcoming.

Dad studied my face for a second. "Nicole really likes to get inside other people's heads, doesn't she?" He asked, not bothering to hide that it was leading up to something. I could only weakly nod. "Let's turn the tables then. She doesn't get along well with her parents, does she?"

"Why would you ask something l-" I started. Dad cut me off with a raised hand and a stern expression.

"Just answer the question." He calmly ordered.

"No." I weakly responded. "She doesn't."

"I can tell." Dad replied, leaning back into his chair. I glanced at mom. Her expression was noticeably sad. Dad was angry that I was hiding something, but mom was sad. Disappointed. Like me hiding something from her was a failure of hers and that I was making her sad just by how I acted. It tore me apart. The longer I looked at either of my two parents, the worse I felt.

Dad cleared his throat and continued. "In high school, you are who you hang out with. Ever since you started hanging out with Nicole, usually you've been happier and more confident. That's great and we're happy you are. And we mean that." He looked over at mom, who just nodded. "But you've also distanced yourself from us. You've become more secretive, and it's gotten to the point where… Where we miss you."

Miss me. They miss me. This was getting hard to listen to.

Dad opened his mouth to speak again, but noticed I was too busy thinking about what he had said. "Are you even paying attention to me?" He asked incredulously. He looked over at mom, who just looked down. "He's not, is he?" He asked her. She didn't respond. Dad looked back at me with a look that told me he couldn't believe me, couldn't believe what I was doing. "I guess I'm wasting my time then." He said, getting up. "When you're ready to be mature and talk to us, tell us. We'd love to talk to you. Until then, we're clearly getting nowhere." He walked over to the coffee machine, getting himself a second cup. After, he turned to look at me. "Have you seen Nicole and her parents in the same room? I'm sure it's very glamorous. Is it something you want? Because you're on the right track."

"Timothy, that's enough." Mom finally spoke up. Her voice was quivering. "Maybe that topic is sensitive to him. She obviously means a lot to him. No need to bring that into our house."

Dad blinked twice, looked at mom, then back at me. I couldn't any longer be unreadable – I'm sure my face was a projection of just how uncomfortable I was. "You're right." He admitted. "I'm sorry. That's no business of mine." He sighed and sat back down at the table again. "I just… I just want to say something that will make you talk. I'm trying everything I can here, because I want to know. We want to know."

I said nothing. Dad took a long swig from his cup, and cleared his throat. "Tell you what," He began, "Let's start with something small. I only will ask one question. One question, okay?"

I nodded weakly.

"Is there something going on that you're not telling us?" Dad asked.

I inhaled slowly my mouth, and swallowed hard. Closing my eyes, I slowly nodded.

"Okay." Dad simply said. "Thank you." He waited until I was looking him square in the face, and did something I had barely seen before – smiled. He was clearly making himself do it, especially since judging by the way his smile looked, he never did it unless he had to force it, but the feeling behind it was still there. "You can go." He added, gesturing to the front door with his mug.

I looked from dad to mom. Mom still had a sad expression painted on her face, looking down at the floor. I looked back to dad, whose gaze seemed fixated on the kitchen table. Taking it as a hint, I slowly got up, and, as if in a trance, put on my outdoor shoes. It felt like my body was moving on its own as I walked outside and got in Nicole's car.

"Holy shit, Yertle the Turtle." Nicole complained as I shut the door behind me. "Could you have been any slower? You're lucky I didn't reconsider and go back home."

"Sorry." I mumbled as she backed out of the driveway. Upon hearing my response, she glanced over at me and put the car into park, still in the driveway.

"You okay?" She asked me.

I felt stupid for having to hold back tears. This was stupid, this was small, this was nothing to cry about, I had told myself. I was crying way too much as it was. It seemed like anything anybody ever did in first year was cry, and I wanted to be the pillar of strength so badly. "Do… do you…" I asked, trying to keep my voice from cracking. "Do you ever wish your parents and you got along?" My voice was an octave higher by the time I had finished my sentence, and I was breathing heavily to stop the tears from flowing.

"Whoa-ho, new development." Nicole remarked, taking off her seatbelt, undoing mine and holding me in an embrace. I accepted it immediately, burying my head into her chest. "What's going on, hotshot?" She asked me softly. "Trouble with your parents?"

I was breathing deeply, but had succeeded in not crying. I just nodded, knowing the motion of my head would be enough of an indication.

"Well, welcome to my flippin' world." She remarked dryly, not knowing the sting the truth of her words caused.

"That's not helping." I managed to say into her shirt.

"Yeah, well, it's the truth." She replied. "When you get older, your parents just lose their touch. At first I thought it was because of family problems, but seriously, you'll see in a few years. My parents don't get me at all."

"My parents don't trust me anymore." I said, detaching myself from her.

She chuckled. Taking my detachment from her as a sign to continue driving, she put the car back into reverse and looked behind her. "Yup, that'll h-"

"It's because of you." I bluntly said, interrupting her.

I had never seen Nicole caught off guard so greatly. She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widened, and tried as her lips did to form new words, nothing was coming out of her mouth. She faced the front again and put the car back into park. Taking her hands off of the wheel, she placed them on her legs and turned to face me. "Excuse me?"

I still fought my emotions as I continued. "My parents and I are really close, and they noticed I've been getting distant, and… Dad knew. He asked me if you had a bad relationship with your parents. He thinks you're rubbing off on me."

Nicole stared at me as if I told her the school was bombed. "You get into a small fight with your shitty parents and your dad instantly blames me?" She asked incredulously. "Holy shit. Find me someone's dad that likes me. Find one. You can't do it. Fuckin'A."

"I'm scared, Nicole." I managed.

"Get used to it." Nicole replied, losing all emotion in her voice. "It's gonna get a lot fucking worse from here. I'm not going to stop hanging out with you just because your dad's on his fucking period."

"It's because we're hanging out." I explained. "Mom and dad noticed all the time we spent in my room and asked me if we're doing drugs or having sex or something. They equated having sex with being boyfriend and girlfriend, so I lied. I couldn't tell them we're having casual sex. They would never understand."

"So, your parents think you're hiding something from them." Nicole reasoned. I nodded. "And you are." She concluded. I nodded again. "So what's the problem? Other than daddy-o thinking it's cool to blame me for him being a shitty dad."

"Nicole, live in my world." I practically begged. "I trust my parents a lot. They trust me a lot. This isn't your fault, but I don't want to make them distrust me like this. We need to do something."

"Do something?" Nicole asked. "Like tell them about all the sex we're having?" She lowered an eyebrow. "Then they'll ask about when I became your girlfriend, then you'll tell them I'm not. Suddenly I'm not allowed over. I have to sneak through the window. We get caught." She pretended to make an explosion with her hands. "Yeah, you're right. It's the only way."

"I don't know what I want to do yet." I mumbled.

"You just want to do something?" Nicole offered. I nodded. She threw her head back and sighed. "Fine. I'll fucking think of something. But the running theme of you crying all the fucking time and me saving your ass is getting old, fast. What the hell would you do without me?"

"I wouldn't be in this situation if I was without you." I replied without thinking. "I also wouldn't have had sex with Megan." I nearly added, 'or May,' but had the common sense not to say it out loud.

Realizing what I had said, I suddenly whipped my head to look back at Nicole, who was staring straight at the wheel. "I mean…" I lamely started.

"No, you're right." Nicole responded softly, with an worrying calmness to her tone. "None of this shit would have happened if I didn't start it. I'm sorry." She turned to me and gave a small smile. "I'll do something to fix stuff up with your parents, squirt."

I was borderline horrified with myself. "Nicole, I didn't mean…"

"It's okay." She interrupted with a noticeably weak voice. "I started it. It's the least I can do. I'm sure you want that relationship with your parents back."

I bet she does too, I thought to myself as I looked down. I couldn't find the moral energy to do anything else. Silently, Nicole began the long drive to Carson's.

***

When Carson saw me again outside of school it was like no time had passed, and no awkward 'I fucked your girlfriend' events had transpired. So as we began to hang out more and more in the spring, I felt more and more comfortable around him, to the point where I could actually forgive myself enough to talk openly about our love lives. Carson, of course, didn't really have that problem to begin with.

"You, uh…" He began, eyes on the screen as he continued to dominate me in our Halo match, "You still close with Megan?"

"Yeah, I think so." I simply answered as I threw a plasma grenade in the wrong direction. "Oops. Yeah, we're still close. We still talk and stuff. Her brother is kind of sore that I broke things off with her, so we don't really hang out outside of school, but yeah."

He shot me in the back, signaling his victory, and gently put the controller down on the table. "I wanted to talk to you about her."

Here it comes, I thought to myself. I had to suppress my 'I know what's coming' smile as I followed suit and put the controller down. "Yeah? About what?"

"Well, uh… I mean, you haven't been together for a few months so I figure it's cool that…"

I feigned ignorance and smiled. "Oh man, are you two dating?"

"Oh, fuck no." Carson spat out. "I'm not fucking dating anymore. No chance in hell. I am kind of… Fucking her, though."

"Kind of?" I asked him humorously. "What, is it with the lights off?"

Carson breathed a noticeable sigh of relief that I was taking the news well. "I'm full-on fucking your ex. I just didn't want there to be any bad blood or anything."

"Nah, man, it's cool." I waved him off. "It's not like she's mine or anything. I hope you guys are having fun."

"Well, I figured since you're honest with shit, I should be too, you know." He pointed out. "You know what I'm talking about."

My shoulders hunched up a bit and Carson sat up a little more. "Nah man, don't be guilty." He protested. "What's past is past. What's in the now is a horny… and I mean horny… little girl. Why the fuck would you give her up?"

"There's more to a relationship than sex, you know." I quipped.

"Good thing I'm not in a relationship." He replied lazily. "I like this. She's so shy on the outside, but holy fuck, it's like she was built to be rammed. She gets off from blowing me, you know that?"

"Interesting." I sarcastically replied.

Carson grinned. "What's wrong? Was she never like that with you?" He stretched, not bothering to hide his muscles in the process. "Guess I can't help being such a sexy hunk, huh?"

I only laughed in response, but he continued. "No, I mean it. I don't mean to be full of myself, but I think I changed her. So like, she's normally really shy, right?"

I nodded.

"But that's the thing. You know how this whole thing started between us started?" He asked me.

I chuckled. "She sent you a text out of the blue after a few days eyeing you in science class, saying she wanted to have casual sex with you?"

The look on Carson's face was priceless. Shock, disbelief, then thought, then bashful acceptance. "She tells you a lot more than I thought." He mumbled.

"Not exactly." I said, not able to control my beaming smile at that point. "I sent that text. I set you two up."

"Say what, Jack?!" Carson replied in disbelief.

I chuckled again. "You aren't the only person she likes having casual sex with, dude." I began. "Megan and I have been going at it even since we broke up. Like, a lot. I was her first, but she got really kinky with me too. Hate to burst your bubble, but it's not just you."

"Well, shit." Carson replied dejectedly. "So why'd you play Cupid with her?"

I shrugged. "We were talking about casual sex and I encouraged her to pursue it, y'know, not feel tied down to me." Carson nodded. "So I asked her who she wanted to sleep with, and she said you."

"Damn right she did." Carson replied with a shit-eating grin.

"Shut up." I quipped. "But as we both know, she's really freaking shy. So I borrowed her phone and sent you the message."

"Oh, fuck. Gross." Carson winced. "I got turned on over your fucking offer, not hers."

I laughed. "You should be thanking me. Otherwise she never would have acted on her urges for you. She would have had to settle for just me."

"Oh, dude!" Carson said excitedly, sitting up attentively. "We should totally have a threesome with her."

"Woah, what?" I asked him. I did not expect that.

"Come on, it would be so awesome. I don't swing that way so it's up to you and her to get yourself off, but come on. Megan would make an awesome spitroast." He replied, keeping up his enthusiasm.

"You are twelve kinds of screwed up, Carson." I replied. "I think I'll pass. I'm not as kinky as you."

"It is a hard life…" Carson mock admitted.

"Plus, I don't think I'll ever be ready to see your dick." I jokingly added.

"Ah, right, you'd get too jealous. Gotcha." Carson replied, not missing a beat.

"Fuck you." I fired at him.

"Get in line." He fired right back.

From the corner of my eye, I could see movement. I turned my head to see Jenna, her face twisted into her usual look of disapproval (frankly, a blank face would be twisted for her), peering from around the kitchen wall. She'd been eavesdropping. With my eyes, I alerted Carson to the situation, who just annoyedly sighed loudly.

"Jenna, can you stop poking around?" Carson asked loudly. "In fact, can you fuck off?"

Jenna emerged from the kitchen and folded her arms. "I can't believe you." She told Carson condescendingly. "If I tell dad what I just heard…"

"…Then he'll put on a show for you, tell me not to do it again and nothing in this house will change?" Carson asked obnoxiously. "Just like the last… seventeen times?"

"Megan should mean more to you than a hookup. Did you even hear yourself? The way you asked to have a threesome like that, it was like Megan's a piece of meat to you." Jenna pointed out.

"Woah, woah. She's more than a piece of meat." Carson defended himself, throwing his hands up in defence. Breaking out into a grin, he added, "She's a prime cut."

"You fucking pig." Jenna yelled at him. "I can't believe I have to share a house with you."

"Hey, bark at me from your high horse all you want." Carson retaliated, picking up his controller and turning back to the screen. "But Megan never complains. Hell, she likes it when I treat her like that. She says it turns her on." Triumphantly, he turned to Jenna and grinned. "So it can't really be a problem if you're complaining for someone who's happy with the way things are."

"She isn't happy with it!" Jenna yelled again, her face turning red. Man, did I ever hate yelling. I shrank back into my chair as she continued. "She thinks she is, but-"

"But what? You think because you spend so much time on fucking Tumblr, you get to say you know people better than they know themselves?" Carson spat, standing up. "Grow the fuck up. The world isn't the politically correct wet dream you want it to be. If she says there's a problem, then there's a problem. If she doesn't, there isn't. It's that simple." He sat back down again, regaining his composure. "You don't get to speak on behalf of her. You don't even fucking know her. Just because you two both happen to be girls doesn't mean you know what she likes."

"And because you take advantage of her, you do?!" Jenna asked him furiously.

Carson blew a raspberry. "Take advantage. Sure. You think 'rape' is when guys stare at girls on the bus. You think 'sexual harassment' is a girl wanting to blow a guy then getting upset at him afterwards for not wanting to hold hands."

Oh, shit. Oh, god dammit. No fucking way, I thought to myself, as I buried my head into my chest, bending my neck as I did so. Maybe I was biased, but Carson just lost a lot of validity with that point. I don't know whether it was because I saw firsthand how that crushed Megan, or because Nicole had convinced me I was a monster, but I was entertaining the thought of being on Jenna's side at this point. Actually, no, I was on no one's side. At this point, I just wanted them to stop. There was so much yelling, and nobody was right. There was too much yelling. Today has just been a series of yelling, I thought to myself. I wanted to go home. Shit, no I didn't. My parents were there, and they didn't like me. Nicole was upset, all thanks to me. I didn't even know where I wanted to go. I just knew I wanted to go.

When I lifted my head again, it was clear that my thoughts were powerful enough to drown out a good portion of the argument.

"She just likes sex, sis. Accept it. If you can't accept that I sleep around, at least accept that she does. After all, she's a girl. According to you, you share a fucking telepathic link." Carson concluded. "I could be having this same conversation with her in the room. She wouldn't mind. I'm not the problem, you are."

Jenna snorted. "Pigs. That's what you are, Carson." She fired icily, then turned to me. "And you too. I thought you were better than this." With that, she huffed and left the room.

Carson said something after her, but it was muffled. Was I a pig? Did I treat Megan right? The more I thought about our history, the more smiling memories came to mind, but the more a resounding 'no' answered me. Ignoring her at the dance, having her blow me, cheating on her then never telling her the full story, treating her as a glorified sex toy… Shit, even my fucking nickname for her was 'fucktoy.' She smiled at the end of all of it, but… I was awful to her. I was awful. I made her like this. Maybe she wanted to feel used because that's how I made her feel. Like her only worth to me was for sex. After all, that's when we really connected. Matt was right. I turned Megan into a slut. Worse, I turned her into a slut who gets off on feeling used, because that's how her first boyfriend, me, made her feel right as I gave the sexually charged girl an orgasm. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

"Dude." Carson interrupted me from my thoughts.

I shook my head and looked at him. He was looking intently at me. "Yeah, I'm fine." I lied.

"Don't lie to me, dude." Carson told me. "You can't let her inside your head. She just gets off on making people feel like shit." He snorted and looked off to the direction where she left. "I dunno what her problem is, but don't think for a second what she said is true. Remember, she doesn't know you. Or Megan. Honestly, fuck Jenna. Fuck her. Yeah?" He looked at me expectantly.

"Yeah. Fuck her." I said with conviction, putting on enough of a show to seem convincing. On the inside, my feelings were in a warzone. Today was going on for way too long.