Chapter 7: Significant Other

Despite the seatbelt restraining me in an attempt to yank me back in the seat, I leaned face forward into Mike’s AC. Blindly, I welcomed the chill air blown across my face.

In a laugh, Mike asked, “Having fun?”

My sultry voice moaned out of nowhere, “You have no idea how good this feels.” I smiled, treating it as jokingly as possible.

He hummed for a moment, then noted, “Doesn’t sound like it beats last night.”

I didn’t expect that to be brought up. Mike’s AC couldn’t keep the cool on my hotly blushing face. I had drawn away from the vent and rested back in the passenger seat silently in an attempt to hide just how glowing bright my face had gone.

“Sorry. I remember you said it was a nightmare.” As the car was steered single-handedly, he confessed to what I’d hoped he hadn’t seen. “When I came in, looked more like you had a wet dream. It’s natural and happens.” 

There was nothing I could’ve told him that would’ve been believable. Since he knew the half of my humiliating incident, I remained silent about the assault. About it.

“Clint? I want to ask you a question about what Doctor Shrewsberry wrote.” I wasn’t sure what all he’d written down, considering how much he’d talked about before I was freed from his endless chatter. “A fire?”

“Oh shit…” Carefully, I shook my head. I turned to peek up at him and explained. “Look, he had assumed you were -- I don’t know. That I did something. Set something on fire, I guess.”

“Something big, from what he wrote.” He laughed a little as he continued, “Don’t worry. I know nothing was set ablaze around these parts.” In that moment, we pulled in and around the corner of a building. The Walgreens. Up ahead was a drive-thru. “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

A voice crackled over the circular speaker, “May I help you?” Mike just had to roll the window down and flash the nice blue notes for the person behind the drive-thru window to see. A drawer popped open and slid out for him to drop the prescriptions off. “Just a moment.”

“Sure thing.” With the car in park, Mike turned to look at me. “I haven’t had a good chance to think about this until after this doctor’s visit.” He lifted a pointing finger upwards. “Myself, the force, and even our investigator all thought your burns were old.”

For a second, I was confused and thought, ’Old?’ Not wanting to interrupt by asking what made him think my burns were not fresh, I listened to his conclusion.

“Now I’m not so sure.” Once that was said, that made me not have to inquire about his odd thought. “You could have had an accident with boiling water recently.”

To me, that was funny. I smiled and laughed, giving him a nod at that sounding reasonable. When he frowned, I knew I had made a mistake.

Quickly, I responded with the sincere truth, “I didn’t play with fire.”

“I didn’t say you did.” He dropped his pointing hand down and relaxed back in his seat to look at the drive-thru window. I suppose he was checking how they were coming along with those prescriptions. “Look. Our station has had many detailed reports. You’ve probably have seen plenty of cop shows. Cops too, am I right?” He looked back at me and I nodded. “You know what we do for most of the day? Paperwork. A simple folder for every twenty-four hours. We have to solve those within that amount of time before it turns into a cabinet full. Then it becomes groundwork for all of us to follow up on.”

I wasn’t understanding and thought, ‘What’s he getting at with this?’ “What does this have to do with me getting burned?”

Mike’s features softened as he looked at me curiously. “‘Getting burned.’" He glanced over me before directly asking: "Clint, did someone do this to you?”

I froze for a second and didn’t say anything. I wasn’t ready to explain this. If I lied, I thought, ’Wouldn’t Mike be trained to detect something like that more easily than the average Joe? Him being in my home for awhile also lead me to thinking, Telling him the unbelievable truth would make this whole search for my dad a complete mess too!’

Plain and simple, if I lied, I’d be mistrusted. But I tried to think of something to tell him.

Too much time not responding passed before the window’s speaker spoke, “We will have them ready in forty minutes.” The voice caused both of us to break from each other’s gaze. I looked back at the AC’s vent and I’m sure Mike had his eyes back on the road after giving the Walgreens an “Okay” before driving off.

While driving out of the parking lot, Mike stated, “You can tell me when you feel ready.” In some way, I felt that if I didn’t tell him something, he’d assume that my dad was abusing me. Even though I didn’t go to any classes at school today, Mike had inadvertently given me homework to do...

We had finished dropping the prescriptions off at the pharmacy and were headed to my recommendation for dinner. Of course, I’d mentioned the Italian restaurant by the school. Mike hadn’t tried them out and I felt like that was an opportunity to introduce someone new to my wonderful solitude before entering the gates of school every morning.

Before we pulled into the parking lot, Mike asked a curious question about my family. I had told the police, and I supposed he had heard or read about it, but I was completely unaware of any family beyond me and my dad.

When I had been about to repeat the same story I told the police, I’d been interrupted: “Jeter.” I quieted to silence and curiously looked back at him. He gave me an apologetic look before saying, “Sorry. This is… there’s no excuse for this oversight.”

“What?” Now I was confused.

He gave me a quick smile before explaining himself. “None of us knew you were only talking about Will Jeter’s family.”

That didn’t clarify anything for me, so I shook my head and asked: “What do you mean by that?”

With a grin, he said, “The significant other half of every relationship.” And here I thought Mike was a straightforward kind of guy. “Your mother has a family.”

Now I understood and said, “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” An instant flash of concern was shown, then he hid it away with a casual smile and a not-so-simple request. “Would you please tell me about them?”

“Sort of… Dad doesn’t talk about Mom or her family.” I shook my head and explained: “Mom died giving birth to me.”

“I’m sorry.” After I replied with a shrug, he asked: “Why hasn’t your mother’s family tried contacting you?”

For a moment, I didn’t want to answer that. But after that moment, I did. “They blame Dad for what happened.” When I told Mike that, I could see the disbelief on his face. “That’s right. Dad said they blamed him for killing her. Never met them, don’t want to either. To them, I’m a murder weapon”

This wasn’t something I wanted on my mind when going out to eat. I looked down and away from him to my lap. Fully shutting my eyes, I focused on nothing other than a goal in regaining my composure. If I didn’t, my memories would lead me someplace I didn’t want to revisit.

I didn’t want to remember Dad’s self-loathing.

“We don’t have to talk anymore about this. Let’s relax and have a good time stuffing our faces.” By the corner of my vision, he waved a hand to catch my attention and asked: “You okay with that, Sport?”

In pain, I still thought, ’What if I wasn’t --’

“Clint?”

A sigh of surrender exhaled from me and I stopped thinking about it. Even though this had really shaken me up, I simply nodded in response to being okay.

To reassure him, I said, “I’m okay,” and smiled at him. Then I shifted my thoughts back to our destination.

Last time I was in here was about a month ago with Dad. Parked out front, I thought that it would be nice to experience the food here again. Only issue I had was that I didn’t feel any kind of cravings for something to eat.

Not even thirsty. How I felt, that was perhaps the strangest lack of craving of them all. Hell, I was hot all over, bothered in a disturbed fashion, and both tired from the lack of sleep and yet stimulated beyond belief from why I was deprived of that sleep.

Once we went in, I might find my appetite after having taken in the baked aroma of their famous bread.

Ringing the bell stationed above the door had tipped off the family-run business. Both of the Rosalis brothers were throwing a large pizza into the oven when we entered. Their sister walked from the aisles of seats to take her position behind the counter with the cash register. I didn’t see their parents, but they might be out back or in the freezer.

I smiled, waved, and irrelevantly hoped that I wasn’t red in the face anymore.

Janie Rosalis, the sister, asked, “Just the two of you?” Technically, I think there were three of us here, but no one would believe that. “This way.”

We followed, but I had felt that familiar heat behind me try to pull -- or rather push -- another stunt like it did at the doctors. Before it could shove me into Janie’s delightfully inviting posterior, I snatched Mike’s arm to keep from stumbling into another awkward mess. He gave me a hand and assisted me back on my feet for us to take our seats across from each other in the booth.

Oblivious to what had nearly happened, Janie welcomed us at our table with the suggestion, “Would you two like anything to drink while you look?”

Mike was giving me a look over to be sure I was alright. He knew about the ear infection and I guess he assumed I’d lost my balance. I gave him a smile and gently nodded to him in a silent ’Thanks.’

With that out of the way, he had to open the menu up just to figure out what sort of drinks were available. “Water for now.” He grinned up at Janie standing ready with pen and paper. “Might change that a little later since we’re in walking distance.”

That surprised me. “You plan on drinking?”

“Not what you think. Some drinks are really great for the body. Gets the blood pumping. It really depends on how you toss down a glass.” I raised a brow at him in wonder. ’Is he just making excuses to drink?’ “A glass of fine red wine for breakfast could be better than hot coffee or frothy milk. Coffee gets me jittery and milk can cause cramping. Those don’t do me any good before warm-ups.”

Overall, I supposed that made sense, and I accepted his explanation.

But I had to inform him of one thing. “Mike, I’ve had a lecture on health and hygiene from the doctor. I really don’t want to be reminded of all the things he said before eating.” Although I think it was too late for me. Nothing on the menu was of interest. Glancing up at Janie, I said, “Just water.”

She gave both of us a glance and grinned before going to grab our water. My peeking gaze followed after Janie, then turned to Mike.

When she was out of earshot, Mike apologized and asked, “Sorry about this, but I completely neglected to ask what were your doctor’s orders? I saw the prescriptions.”

“He wants me to use ear drops and to take some pills. Keep clean. I guess scrubbed raw?” I shrugged, saying, “Not sure how much cleaner I can get. Wash and wash and whatever is in me still doesn’t wash away.”

Mike stared at me in silence for a few seconds before asking, “What was your dad like? What did he do for a living?”

’Did he really just ask that after what we talked about in the car?’ But after I thought about what he said, I realized he meant asking about Dad’s profession.

I thought about what to start with, but also had to suggest he hurry on his order. “He’s an inbetween at a telecommunications company called Vodafone. You might want to pick something from the menu soon. Doesn’t take long for her to pour water.”

He half held his hands up in the air. “I would, but this menu doesn’t exactly tell me what they are. What’s an Italian Stallion?”

“That’s a grinder with ham, provolone and a salami.” After I had just said that, I saw the hidden innuendo of the aptly named description of the sandwich. Grinder for boxer, ham for fists, provolone because it rhymes with Stallone, and a salami for the perverse masculinity. All tucked away between slices of deliciously crisp white bread.

Then again, maybe I was looking too deep into it being a character reference. If that were the case, it was a deviantly imaginative assumption too.

“I’ll go with that. Sounds good and simple.” Now that he had picked, it was my turn to figure out what to have.

Looking over the menu, I normally would go with a panini or some of their bread since it was an endless treat. I leaned back and waited. “Going to just go with the all you can eat bread. I’m sure they’ll let us take a few home.”

“Have you had breakfast at school?” I gave him a guilty look. “Not going to push you. Keep in mind that your body needs some ammo to fight off that infection. Don’t think bread will cut it.” He pulled my menu over to have a look at what I was going through. “What here is bland? Maybe that’ll be safe?”

I was a little confused. “Safe?”

“Your upset stomach. Last night --” I shook my head, getting dizzy, and slipped down to bury my shame a bit under the table until I was nearly shoulder-level with the edge. “Right... sorry. Didn’t mean to bring that back up.”

He turned the menu around and slid it back across to my side. I faced away from him and kept peeking at the window.

Students were on their walk from school to their homes. “It’s that time, huh?”

“Yeah, guess so. One day of school down. A couple months more to go.” Glancing at him, I figured he was talking about summer vacation. It was still spring. I had to get through one more season before relishing the break.

Something hot nuzzled into my thigh under the table.

Immediately, I sat upright and tightly clamped my legs together. I wondered: ’What the Hell is it doing now?’

Reaching under, I felt around for that creature before it did something humiliating. I still wasn’t sure I could actually touch the thing, but if it could touch me then I thought, ’Should be mutual, right?’

Either I couldn’t touch it or this thing was an elusive one.

The nuzzling stopped, but I felt its hands slide up behind my calves. I so very much wanted to ask it what it thought it was doing down there, but couldn’t do that in front of Mike. Plus, I still was unsure if it understood me.

Water was set down in front of us and Mike began to order, but my attention had sprung towards the ringing of the front doorbell. I was doing a little more than peeking out through my eyelids, once I saw Adam come in. He gave me a wave and walked down the aisle towards our table.

“I thought that was you. How are you feeling? Any better?” I heard him, I saw him, but my mind was a blur as I stared at Adam.

My mind was elsewhere.

Whatever it was doing down under the table, it went haywire. It tried to part my legs and wiggle its burning cheeks between my inner thighs while I was clamping hard on its head.

If I hadn’t had a red face when I entered the restaurant, that changed. From the feverish burst of heat making me all the more dizzy and funny in the head, I knew I was furiously blushing now.

Sheepishly, I smiled up at Adam. “Hi. Thanks, and yeah, a little better. I can see now.” I turned to face Mike, glanced up quickly at a patient Janie, and back to Adam to introduce the two. “That’s Mike. He’s my current -- Guardian?” I was going to say more, such as introducing Adam to Mike, but my hand felt something funny.

I suddenly realized I was touching it.

From how it felt, I was combing my fingers through the finest of hairs I’d ever felt. There was radiant heat, but not from the thick strands tangled between my fingers. At least that put to rest my image of it having fire for hair.

Curled around my digits, I brushed over its head and explored.

It actually stopped moving around. My guess was that it wanted to know what I would do. When all I did was take the shape of its top with my feeling fingers, it brushed up into my palm.

I almost spaced out from the shocking discovery and nearly missed Mike’s response. “Pretty much nails it until your father returns.” Or until time ran out and I was sent packing. “Who might this be? Friend of yours?”

“Adam.” As I said his name, I wondered, ’Is he a friend?’ Might as well try and find out. If not, then he’d end it after I made my mistake. “Uh… A friend from school.”

By now, this infernal nympho under the table was either nuzzling, kissing, or I had a finger or thumb being nipped on or sucked into its hot mouth. It was going crazy!

“Yeah, dude, we’re friends. Wasn’t always the case. Mind if I join you two?” Adam waved a hand down to sit by me.

I was a little worried about all the moving around going on under the table, but if I kept still, he wouldn’t know about it. So far, this thing hadn’t tried anything on others. Just me, but I thought, ’How much longer until this thing’s wild libido caused trouble?’

“I don’t see why not.” Mike held up three fingers, “Make that three of us now.”

As Adam took a seat next to me in the booth, Janie offered, “Drink?”

“Cran-grape?” She shook her head, “Cranberry juice?” Again, shake of her head. “Grape juice?”

Mike queried, “You need those for any reason?”

Adam shrugged, saying, “Just got the taste for it since my mom bought a bunch of Ocean Spray. She’s had something up with her bladder and this doc gave her ideas. I dun’ mind, but now I can’t kick the habit of drinking, eating, or whatever is the new trend with my parents.” He scooted in close to me as he made a last suggestive choice, “How about apple juice? That’s good?”

Grinning and shaking her head with a light laugh, Janie left us to go grab that juice for Adam.

Meanwhile, it laid its head and cheek down on my lap. I felt it gently brushing its warmth over my knee with its hand. Either it tired of the game or something calmed it down. I was just glad it had finally gotten itself under control.

Especially since it looked like Adam was close to invading my personal space.

I looked at him and saw he had an interest in looking at me close up. Not sure what was up, I asked. “What’s up?”

He had locked eyes with me for a second, then roamed his gaze over my cheeks and down before he shook his head. With a smile, he said, “It’s cool. Just remembering how you were.”

“How I was?”

“Yep. Back in elementary. Last time we ran into each other, it was recess and I was running in full tilt away from you.” He laughed a little at that. “That’s how I got my scar here.”

One tap on his bottom lip showed single-lined impression. Like a lip ring had been yanked out in a bad way and the lip had healed as well as it could. I tried to remember, but the image of me running after someone didn’t fit. I’d had an attitude, a behavior problem, but I wasn’t aggressive.

If someone got on my nerves, I’d tell them. Not beat them.

“Clint? This still goes on?” I looked over at Mike and shook my head with a bit of vertigo overwhelming me. “All in the past then.”

“Ever since someone framed you, right?” Glancing back at Adam, I nodded. Then he turned to address Mike. “He wasn’t bad, just had a real awful mouth on him. Said some mean things to everyone and hit a nerve with Roger. I think it might have been him.”

That was sick to think about. “You said he was Mrs. Pureview’s kid. He wouldn’t, would he?”

Adam faced me again. “He went after your girlfriend, don’t see why he wouldn’t stop there to bring you down.”

As I had in the Nurse’s office, and when the doctor shined a fine blinding light at me, I just stared at Adam with wide open eyes. That athletic jerk who always avoided me.

For a second, I got worked up. “That’s him! That’s Roger?” This made me wonder what else Roger might have done to undermine me. But only for a second. My thoughts shifted to Erin. With a sad sigh, I said her name, “Erin.”

Mike spoke and drew my attention away from Adam, “Never seen this kind of competition in school before. Roger, is it? Who’s Erin? Your girl?”

I did something that I’ve never really done before. In a poetic way, I told them who Erin was to me. I didn’t feel like seeing their expressions if they were to laugh, so I shut my eyes from them and pictured Erin in my mind. Softly under my breath, I told them, “Erin was my bright red horizon sky to greet me in the morning and catch before nightfall.”

“Heh, okay, Romeo. Food’s coming.” I peeked back out and looked over Mike’s shoulder to see Janie coming with a platter. It would have the bread I’d ordered, for sure.

Adam sat up and leaned towards Janie. “I didn’t get to order yet.”

When Adam spoke, I belatedly realized he didn’t react the same way everyone else had when I fully looked at them. I didn’t wonder about that, only felt glad he wasn’t harmed by me in any way.

“Sorry, I’ll get you taken care of. This is bread for everyone and one apple juice for you.” That perked Adam up a bit. “What can I get for you all?” Then that caused Adam’s shoulders to fall as he looked between us all.

He let out a surprised, “Oh.” I guess Adam just realized none of us had ordered yet. “That case, I’ll have the Calamari Linguini.”

“Italian Stallion.”

“Just keep the bread coming.”

Adam turned to face me. “That’s all?” I nodded carefully. 

My head was spinning from shaking it earlier and probably more. I don’t think bread would be going down very well anymore.

I reminded Adam, “Not feeling well.”

“I’ll get your orders in and it will be a little while for the Calamari to be cooked up. Your hoagie will be ready soon and, if you want, we can bag you some bread to go?” Mike nodded at Janie’s suggestion.

“I think we’ll do that. Thank you.” Mike gave her a smile as she left, then turned to me. “Just relax.”

That’s what I did. Leaned back, slipped under the table halfway, I relaxed with my eyes closed. The warmth of what laid in my lap kind of did help me with that. It was like having a heated blanket over my legs.

“Hey, Mike, I’m just curious, but are you allowing Clint to have any friends over?” I peeked a glance at Adam.

I couldn’t hide my surprise. “You want to come over?”

“I mean, yeah, sure.” In a silent response, I raised a blonde brow at him. “Figured you could use some company. I’ve got absolutely nothing on my plate today or tomorrow. The rest of this week actually is open for anything.”

Adam appeared to be interested, but I wasn’t. I wanted to go home and wait, sleep, and maybe get this thing to tell me where my dad was. In fact, having Adam over while this thing was around might not be a good idea.

Mike’s response surprised me. “Sure. Up to Clint.”

This dizziness was getting to be too much for me to shake my head. I was going to reason why I didn’t think it would be a good idea: Being sick, needing to rest, taking those drops, and following the doctor’s orders to keep clean as much as possible. I opened my mouth --

-- Just to shut right back up. I didn’t get the chance to tell them anything, because my lap demon decided to act nuts again.

What it was doing now was a huge distraction. When it started to nip at my pant leg, right on the thigh, I knew it was excited again. This thing either understood someone was potentially coming over or had some way of knowing what was going on.

Only I wasn’t sure why it was being this active. The other times were with women. I thought, ’Why now?’ There was a theory, and I knew this thing was a pervert, but these were guys. Then again, it hadn’t tried to throw me on Mike or Adam. I wondered, ’Maybe it’s trying to get me worked up?’

Sadly, I believed that was plausible. That was a scary theory too. If I landed on the wrong woman with a raging hardon, I’d be in deep trouble.

Adam broke my silent trance as the thing nuzzled my legs again. “Hey, if you aren’t feeling up to it tonight. I gotcha. We could try tomorrow after school?” I opened my mouth to say that sounded okay, but I felt a searing streak wetly run up my inner thigh.

Its fiery tongue had impressed a sizzling sensation as I was lashed by a lick of its tongue. And from the feel of it, a long tongue. In sinuous motions, it had nearly covered my crotch. I used both hands to clamp its head and shield myself from its purpose.

Under these conditions, I was having a hard time concentrating on Adam, Mike, and the sensations running through me.

In a bit of peril, I spoke hastily. “Adam, could you please move. Bathroom.”

“Ah, okay. Sorry.” He scooted out with me closely following his example.

Freed from it, I took a moment to orient myself before heading down to the far end of the aisle.

Men’s and Women’s, both placards on their designated doors. I gave the right one a shove and entered. One turn and I faced the lit mirrors, sinks, and soap dispensers. It looked like the towel roll was empty.

Didn’t matter, I could stay in here for a while. So far, that thing didn’t appear to have followed me. Besides, I just needed to splash some water in my face.

Turning the faucet on with a wave of my hand across the sensor, I instantly bent down to lean my face into the sink. Holding the edge of the sink with one hand, cupping water with the other to divert the stream in splashes right at me.

Panting hard, I did my best to cool off. Even tried drinking the cold water. Maybe not a good idea in a public restroom, but I was desperate to chill.

Catching my breath a moment, I thought about what had happened out there. “Fucking Hell. It licked me.” Since my one hand was now wet, I raised up from the sink enough to let go of the edge to use my other hand.

Reaching down, I was about to feel if there was a wet patch on my pants --

-- but stopped. I found myself looking in the mirror down at hips that had a wider grace, tapering upward to an appealingly slender waist. To be certain I hadn’t water in my eyes, I blinked, regrettably shook my head again, got real dizzy, and took a second to just breath.

Then I looked at myself with clarity. At least, as clearly as I thought I was.

When I didn’t trust what I was seeing, I resumed to feel to ensure I wasn’t delusional. My dry hand ran up the side of my pants, along the hip, to feel around my narrow side and slide my palm across my lean front, to the other side, underneath my other arm.

“Okay. I came back with burns, and that ash, but how --” There was a theory being thought over in my head, but spoken in whisper. “Was time passing differently there? How long was I gone?” Removing my gaze from the mirror, I focused on nothing other than my own thoughts. “Is that possible?” The more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

I’d journeyed for so long in that world. There was no way to keep track of time or the passing of days, but I knew at least hours had gone by. Many, and I was going on for as long as I could. That could have been days.

Doctor Shrewsberry had said, “Dehydration.” He’d said to drink plenty to recover from it.

I felt really faint and grabbed for the sink to hold myself up. It was too much. If not a single night had passed, but days in that world… a perilously important thought came to me: ’What about my dad? How long has he been missing?’

Another factor disturbed me. “Why am I not starving?” I saw how I had slimmed, but starvation and especially dehydration would have turned me into a skeleton. Like a holocaust survivor. 

If I hadn’t been in shock that first day back, and frightened of that creature on the second night, I would’ve paid more closely to attention on any irregularity to my body. As a priority, I should’ve tended to myself before anything else was considered.

“Now,” I said. Again, I told myself, “Do it now.”

This worried me, but I had to see myself. Fully see what had happened.

Entering one of the stalls, I closed it behind me and began to remove my pants for inspection. At first, I was a tad confused with what I saw in front of me. I tried to look around myself, but twisting this way and that was causing the ache in my back to be worse.

When I lifted my shirt, I did discover that the burns on my body were healing. Rather rapidly too. They almost appeared as nothing more than pink stains on my skin.

That explained why Mike initially thought these were old burns.

“Fuck --” Massaging my lower back, I decided against this location to investigate. “I could use the mirror…”

Hiking my pants up, I made my decision.

Not able to stand in the stall and not stubborn enough to deal with the pain, I went back out to the sink. Unbuttoning my pants, I pulled them down with a single dry hand just enough to modestly display a bare hip and cheek.

This was still a public restroom. If anyone came in, I’d act like I had just pulled out and redid my pants before going to wash my hands.

Inspecting myself, I choked a little at what I saw. Since this morning, my back had the slightest feminine arch with the vague lift of my hips and -- 

-- more.

“The -- They’re up.” Turning around, I lifted my stare up to the mirror to be sure. I noted how firmed up I’d become. Smooth -- with a glistening gleam -- tasteful flesh and subtle angles wrapped in an alluring skintight package.

Twisting my hips a bit to view my legs, I took a risk and lowered the pants farther down my thigh. Even my legs had a supple pip to them.

“No, not just --” I couldn’t find my voice. Trailing my gaze up from my attractive legs to the uplifted swell of my curved behind, my complexion was the same. The private regions of my body -- never to see the light of day -- were the same light blush as the rest of my feverishly hot body. “That doesn’t make sense.” 

I should have had a tan line -- at least around my hips where my dad’s pants had then been on me. Tracing my hand over the imaginary line between light and dark should’ve met, I just stared at myself disbelief.

Entirely everywhere. It was as if I’d been fully exposed in that Hell.

It was then that I noticed something that had become an adjustment. I’d been ignoring my constant erection.

Now my hand was slipping into my pants to feel the intense heat it gave off. The very tip of my manhood had become greasy from how much I wanted to do -- my thoughts were of acts I would never have considered before.

My legs spread out and I stared down. I lifted the bottom of my shirt higher. It helped me to see better, but lifting it was more to prevent the oily excitement from getting on the fabric. From the feel of it, a mark could accidentally being smeared off my member. That kind of wet mark that left noticeable stains on clothes.

Thinking about it, touching there, and feeling the alien sensation; I shuddered with a shiver of pleasure at what I desired to do to myself. Only for a second did I reach down further to cup my balls.

With clenched teeth and tight lips, I muffled a groan. It felt like I was holding hot coals in my hand.

After that second, I let go, but didn’t pull my hand away. My palm and wrist brushed past my scrotum to reach farther to touch -- with the tips of my fingers -- and practically tease the satin smooth patch of my perineum. I was so sensitive there that I gasped out loud enough to have my voice bounce off the walls.

I was amazed and thought, ‘This at the mere contact!?’

I didn’t want to know how tender anything else was and ended my experimentation between my legs quickly.

The hot breath of the unseen was in my face. I thought, ’So it finally decided to show up when I had my pants down?’

I lifted my gaze to glance through the invisible thing to see the mirror. I wanted to know what it looked like. At the same time, I didn’t. I whispered to myself, “What if I don’t like what I see?”

Nothing happened. Not that I wanted for something to occur, but I half expected this creature to be all over me by now. Instead, it restrained itself --

-- until I felt its fingers cup under my chin. It guided me to look past...

My eyelids opened further and I stiffened like I had been electrocuted. I saw the door cracked ajar. Just enough for someone to be peeking in. A split second later, the door silently and softly closed shut.

I went over this in my thoughts. ’If the door opened the whole way, I’d be okay. If they came in, I’d be fine. They would question me, I’d be quick witted about it like usual. But I had not anticipated an actual peeping Tom! Here, in my restaurant and, on top of that, into the men’s room!’The concept of having that happen here, let alone to me, literally left me stunned.

For once, those burning fingers that would normally be all over me did something that surprised me. They yanked up my pants. Once my pants were up, I was snapping them back on and racing to go out the bathroom door.

Adam was about to sit, but upon seeing me come out, he stood waiting for me to come back. I didn’t know what to do for a few seconds as I stood at the bathroom entrance. I had enough time to straighten my shirt back down --

-- then I got a hot shove from behind that had me stumble a step forward. I walked back.

There was food on the table. Adam was up a moment ago, but it was possible he went to grab condiments for Mike or something. I wondered, ’Was it possible that I had been spied on by someone else?’

Mike spoke up. “You were in there awhile. Everything okay?”

Gently, fully aware of how dizzy I’d been, I nodded. And after my silent response, I slipped down to sit carefully. I was fully aware of what a touch down there did to me.

How I managed to not be creaming my pants by simply sitting boggled my mind.

My voice came back as Adam sat down by me. “I’m fine.”

Mike gave me a nod and brought the halved grinder up for a bite, but said first, “Good to know. Let us know next time if you’re going to be taking a few minutes. That way, one of us doesn’t have to go check on you in the event you fell in.”

Glancing at Adam for a second, then at Mike, I asked, “Did anyone check?”

“Adam did, but you were coming out by the time he took a peek.” Mike took his bite, I glanced back at Adam, and the table fell silent.

Adam looked down at his meal as he ate from it casually. His eyes would dart at me, but I couldn’t read what he must be thinking. I worried, ’If he’d been there when I was touching myself --’ I didn’t know what to do.

He wasn’t talking about it. Not yet.

...Maybe not until he was in school tomorrow. Hell, he only needed to be on a cell and texting to his friends what he saw for this all to spread. I needed to know what he saw. It was making me wonder, ’Did he just catch me with my pants down or more?’

I had to make sure he wasn’t going to make my life any more difficult, so I asked, “Adam, you still want to come over?”

“Ah -- Ahmm, today might not be good after all.” As he said this -- still not facing me -- I saw how his ear had turned a shade of pink and was creeping over his freckled and high cheek.

By desperate impulse, I instantly utilized the little space between us to grab his side. That made him jump a little.

Then he smiled as he finally turned to face me. “Tomorrow. That way, you can get your rest and I’ll be more ready to come over. Planned rather than making it a last minute decision.”

Mike said, “That sounds like a good idea to me.”

At first, I thought that the thing had come back from under the table to grasp my hands. But it wasn’t nearly as hot, so I was about to look --

-- but Adam had set his utensils down and surprised me by gently holding my hand up on his side. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there tomorrow.” I saw him dart a look at Mike before leaning in to whisper, “I won’t tell anyone.” When he loosened his hold on my hand, I let go of his waist, and he gently dropped my hand.

In bewildering shock, I leaned back in my seat.

Paranoid thoughts entered my mind. ’What if he’s just saying that and tells everyone anyway? Then gloats about it tomorrow? What friend have I had that didn’t turn their backs or betray me? Yesterday, he was avoiding me because of how I used to be, and now he expects me to believe he’s my friend?’ I couldn’t relax.

And I think he saw that. He had yet to return to his plate.

Once again, he took a quick look at Mike before he leaned in to whisper, “Tonight? Midnight. Let me in and I’ll prove it.”

Shifting my gaze to Mike, who really was digging his sub, I whispered back to Adam one question that had been bothering me. “Why were you interested in coming over?”

In response, he gave me my answer. “There’s something different about you. I want to find out what that is and who you really are. Alone. Away from everyone watching you.”

I raised a brow at him and incredulously asked, “Are you -- Am I getting hit on here?”

Adam paused on what he was about to respond with when we both heard the muffled laugh. Looking across the table, Adam and I gazed at a nearly ready to burst with laughter Mike. He was shifting his own look between us.

With one pointed finger up, to express patience, we waited. Then he pointed at me, then Adam, and silently crossed his fingers together with a questioning expression on his face.

Quickly getting the hint of his silent message, I laid a hand on my chest and reminded him, “Girlfriend?”

One gulped down laugh later, Mike’s reply caused me to blush a brighter pink, “It doesn’t bother me what role you play in the relationship. Just wondered, was all.”

“No. I had a girlfriend.”

Adam picked up and followed with, “Erin.”

And a grinning Mike said to me, “So you are not into him,” with a finger gesture at Adam.

“He’s been avoiding me until today. What do you think?”

“Ah, yeah,” was Adam’s support.

Mike held up a hand to gesture at Adam. “So far, so good.”

“What?” I glanced at Adam, who shrugged at me, then back at Mike.

When I looked at him, I caught a funny twitch. A rapid spasm on the right side of his brow and eyelid. Sweat. He had a gleaming forehead with glistening sweat rolling down and off his lashes.

That was probably from this passionate hellion’s exposure under the table. So for the time, I ignored it.

In frustrated confusion, I asked, “What are you two -- Mike, what is this about?” 

Adam nearly stood up and spoke out, but to Mike. “Dude, keep a lid on it, please?” All he got in return was a waved gesture to sit his ass down.

“Alright. Here’s the scoop.” Mike flipped his gesture to Adam into a point-out towards him. “He took a look in the bathroom and didn’t go in.” He had to let a laugh pass before continuing. “Said, ‘There’s a chick in here.’ I told him to get back here. Had thought he went to the wrong bathroom.”

I was still listening, but I had to turn to face Adam as this all was being processed. He didn’t sit as Mike indicated he should. It looked as if he was about ready to leave.

But I believed he had stayed long enough to hear more. There was obviously more to be said to conclude what this was all about.

“Adam got back. He had the guts to ask me if you were a girl.” At this point, Mike was having trouble keeping a straight face during his recounting of what had happened before I was practically shoved out of the restroom. “You two have known each other longer than I have.” He looked at Adam and stated: “Now, there are no stupid questions, but you two go to school. Also, a name like Clint?” And he returned his attention back to me to say, “As I was saying, I suggested he ask you out and see how you react.”

“What in the fuck, Mike?” My bullying days were over, but I still recognized what Mike was doing. This wasn’t just unprofessional, but a downright uncalled reaction from Adam’s question.

If this had been just a mistake, fine. From what I saw in the restroom, I’d be easily making that mistake too if I’d walked in on me. Mike took this a cruel step further than it had to go.

And Adam quickly left our table to head out. Mike pointed him out and mentioned, “Rejection,” before going into more laughter.

“The Hell? Mike, what is wrong with -- Fuck this.” In a hurry, I slipped out of my seat to try and catch Adam --

-- and was yanked by my arm to almost fall into Mike’s booth. Luckily, I caught the table with my free hand.

Fueled by confusion, rage, and fear, I almost yelled at Mike… but I snapped my mouth shut.

By his seat, I felt an intense heat coming from the booth. One look and I saw the beads of sweat on Mike’s forehead run down the side of his face. And I saw both of his hands to himself.

It grabbed me.

As I pulled away, I had to wonder, ’Is this really what Mike is like or is that thing capable of influencing his behavior?’ Right now wasn’t the time to be wondering that.

I was completely pissed off at that thing. Especially if it had anything to do with having Mike treat Adam like that.

By the time I got outside, Adam must have ran off and out of sight. I didn’t want to find out how painful it would be to run on these sore feet or discover how long it would take for me to lose my balance.

To Hell with it. Adam would go back to treating me like I was a monster again. I wasn’t!

I’d been about to run, but that thing pulled me back. For a second, I jerked myself away from it to only be caught more securely. I struggled to take another step forward before this thing got up onto my back.

“Are you okay?” That was one of the Rosali brothers.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “Sick. Just needed some air.”

“Okay. Let us know if you need anything.” As soon as he had gone back in, I whirled around to throw this invisible fiend off of me.

Of all the crap I put up with this year, I amazed myself by never cracking under the pressure. But here and now, I did. I was so upset, I trembled.

And quietly cried. Hurting it wasn’t what I wanted. If I could, I’d wished for what happened back there to have never occurred. Just so Adam knew I wasn’t condoning what Mike had said.

...Of how horrible this thing had painted an image of me.

It didn’t try pulling me back into the restaurant again. Instead, I saw the glass steam up for a few seconds. I believed it was using the glass front of the restaurant for support to stand back up.

Just like in the bathroom, it had grabbed my chin and guided my gaze. Before I lashed out, or just brushed it off of me, I saw where Adam had ran off --

-- and disappeared behind the houses. No wonder he was capable of avoiding me on the way to school. He skirted my path and snuck behind the neighbors homes.

Those fingers under my chin slipped down to the dip of my throat and collar. It laid its hand there and rested its cheek on my shoulder. Its other hand was drying the tears off of my face.

Then there was this soothing sound coming from it. Like a hum.

And all I did was stand there and watched him go...