Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2000 17:21:34 EDT
From: Emrys Webman <antinoos_ad@hotmail.com>
Subject: Popular Boys: Harrison and Josh, part 9

Thanks to the fans who wrote and got me through part 9.  Check out
http://www.geocities.com/ukhunks in the near future to see more celeb
stories by myself and others.

This is the continuation of the first story I've ever posted.  Constructive
comments are welcomed.

The obligatory disclaimer:
All characters within this story are completely fictitious.  The author does
not mean to insinuate anything about the sexual preferences of the actors
who portray them.  Popular and its characters are owned by the WB and
tvplex.
Please do not proceed if you are under the legal age or are offended by
stories that portray same-sex relationships.
Unsafe sex is stupid and best left to fictional characters.  Gaybashing (or
bibashing) is also stupid and best left to Dr. Laura (bitch).
I hereby give permission for and completely free (no membership fee, no
costly AVS) gay/bi website to post this story as long as I am given credit
and no alterations are made without my express permission.


Popular Boys: Harrison and Josh, PART IX
By: antinoos_ad@hotmail.com
(t/t, celeb, fanfic, HS)


	*Note* 2 days have passed since part VIII, it is now Monday morning.

	"Good weekend, Harrison?" Sam asked, as she approached her friend.

The smile that had been playing at the corners of Harrison's mouth
disappeared, as he hastily closed his locker.  "It was . . . eventful.  Why
do you ask?"

"Don't give me that," Sam chided, "There's something going on with you, I
can tell.  What are you hiding in that locker of yours?"  Sam tried to move
around Harrison to get at the door.

"Nothing, why do you think I'm hiding something?"

"Well, for starters, you shut the locker so fast when you saw me that you
caught one of the straps of your backpack in the door," Sam answered,
indicating the strap.

"Damn," Harrison muttered as he tugged on the strap.  It didn't look like it
was going to budge until he opened the locker again.

"I can wait as long as you can Harrison," Sam said, crossing her arms.

Harrison sighed and, looking around to make sure no one else was close
enough to see into the locker, opened the door to free his pack.  As he did,
Sam got a look at its contents.  The usual stuff was all there, but there
was a letterman jacket hanging on a hook to one side of the locker.

"Harrison, what're you doing with . . . " Sam trailed off as she saw the
name stitched onto the breast of the jacket.  Recovering from her initial
surprise, she asked, "Is this one of Lily's weird protests?  Does she have
people out stealing jackets from the football team?"

"Keep your voice down, Sam," Harrison was still a little nervous about this
whole situation, "I didn't steal it.  Josh gave it to me."

Sam couldn't help it, she laughed, "Oh, right, Harrison.  Sure.  The star of
the football team gave his letterman jacket away to a person he hardly
notices most days.  At least come up with a plausible explanation, the only
time the players give away their jackets is when they're seriously dating
someone.  And then it's only a gesture, most of the girls are too fashion
conscious to wear them in public after the first day."  She was still
laughing.

"All right you caught me," Harrison smiled, "I'm making a fashion mistake."
He doubted if he could joke his way out of this, but maybe a bit of humor
would get rid of that nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Right," Sam giggled, "does this mean that you and Josh are an item?"

Harrison took a deep breath, "yes."

Sam continued laughing for a moment, until she realized that Harrison wasn't
laughing with her.  She looked up and saw his face was completely composed,
but his eyes held a bit of a worried/hunted look.  "Oh my god.  You mean you
two are . . . ."

"Yes, and take that horrified look off of your face.  We've decided to be
open about it, but I'm not really sure how I want to go about doing that.  I
mean, I don't really want to shout it out over the loudspeaker, but it might
be best if people had some idea what was going on before our first public
display of affection," Harrison sighed, "I'm just not sure what to do."

"Wow, Harrison, this is big.  I mean, Josh is  . . . .  He and Brooke seemed
so serious when they were dating.  This is front-page news.  No one is going
to believe that he's . . . ."

"What, Sam?  A fruit, queer, a puff, dodgy . . . ."

"I didn't mean anything, Harrison," Sam interrupted defensively, "I'm just
surprised, that's all."

Harrison relented, "I know.  It's just that when you were talking you were
in reporter mode.  I need a friend now Sam, not a blabber-mouthed
journalist."

"Oh, Harrison, I'm sorry.  I really do care about you, it's just that this
is such surprising news.  It's going to take me a little while to get used
to it.

"I know, Sam, but I really need you to be supportive now.  I don't expect
this to be easy, and I need to know that I can count on my closest friend."

Sam smiled, "Of course you can, Harrison.  Now, I want the details.  How did
all this happen?"

Harrison took another deep breath and prepared himself to give a selectively
edited account of his weekend with Josh.

*****

	Josh paid for his lunch, and headed across the cafeteria, towards the table
where Harrison was already seated.  "So," he began, as he sat down, "any
interesting encounters yet?"

	"The jacket's been in my locker since before homeroom, the only one who's
really noticed it so far is Sam."

	"What . . . ah . . . what did she say?"

	"She's still coming to terms, but I think we can count on her to be
supportive.  Although it might take a bit of work to keep her from putting
this into the school paper.  How 'bout you, Josh?  Told anyone yet."

	Josh sighed, "Not yet.   I don't really know how to start.  It's not
something I can just casually toss into a conversation.  I'm not sure what
to do here, Harrison."

	"It's ok, Josh.  I knew that this was going to be difficult.  If you need a
few days to come to terms with things, we can do that," there was a definite
note of disappointment in Harrison's voice.

	Josh grabbed Harrison's hand and looked into his eyes, "No.  Harrison, you
said that if we were going to have any shot at being happy we'd have to be
open.  You were right.  It's just . . . a bit awkward I guess.  I mean,
things went alright when we told your mother Sunday, but that was different,
she's gay herself.  By the way, do you think she knows we've been sleeping
together?"

	"She probably suspects, but I don't think there's any need to confirm it
for her right now.  She's worried about our coming out, if you need someone
to talk to your parents for you, you might think about her."

	"Shit, my parents.  I haven't even thought about what to tell them," Josh
hung his head for a moment.

	"You don't think they'll take it well, do you," Harrison's tone didn't make
that a question, "do you want me to be with you when you tell them?"

	"Maybe . . . with my mom.  She might take it ok, she knows what it's like
to have to pretend you're happy as something you're not.  It might take some
time to convince her, but I THINK I can talk her around.  I don't even want
to think about my dad.  He'll freak.  It's probably just as well they're
separated," Josh's voice was distant, but his face was worried, "God, just
how are you supposed to deliver that sort of news?

Seeing that Josh needed his spirits lifted, Harrison replied, "how about
'Mom, good news: I'll never make you think of yourself as a grandmother,' or
  'Dad, you remember how I've always liked to hang around the locker room,
well funny story . . . .'"  Harrison was relieved to see a smile twitching
at the corners of Josh's lips.

"Maybe we could just put you in a skirt and introduce you as my new
girlfriend," Josh laughed, "Just don't wear those awful earrings you used at
that PTA meeting for Ms. Debbie."

It was at this moment that Josh noticed Mary Cherry staring at him from an
adjacent table, her mouth hanging open with shock.  He realized that she
must have heard at least part of his conversation with Harrison.  Josh froze
for a moment, panicked, as he tried to decide what to do.

Harrison noticed Josh's sudden stiffening (of his back, get your minds out
of the bedroom . . . for the moment) and followed his gaze to Mary Cherry.
If she'd picked up on their conversation, and it seemed likely that she had,
then there was little chance of keeping it a secret anymore.  Since he and
Josh both wanted to be open with their relationship, this was probably all
for the best.

Harrison stood decisively, and offered his hand to Josh.  This motion woke
Josh from his hesitant stupor.  He looked at Harrison's hand for a moment,
and then rose and took hold of it.  The two teens calmly exited the
cafeteria hand-in-hand, heading for their lockers.

As they left, Mary Cherry reached into her purse, pulling out a cell-phone.

*****

	"Hey, yo, Josh.  Hold up a minute, man," Sugar called to Josh from across
the mostly empty locker room.  Sugar was one of Josh's best friends and a
fellow football player, so Josh stopped by the door without argument.  Sugar
waited until the remainder of the gym class had dressed and left the room
before he continued.  "The rumor mill has been spinning about you, Josh.
There's a lot of talk about you and Harrison eating lunch together," Sugar
seemed genuinely upset.

	"Yea, we did, so?  I've eaten lunch with lots of people from this school,"
Josh was curious to see exactly what Sugar had heard, before he continued.

	"They're saying that you two seemed real chummy.  Too chummy, if you catch
my meaning, man," Sugar couldn't seem to bring himself to say what he'd
really heard.  So much of his social standing was tied up in being on the
football team.  Josh was the captain of that team, its star player, and
Sugar's good friend.  He just couldn't believe the rumors.

	"Really?" Josh was worried, but some perverse part of him seemed to be
enjoying this game.  Which one of them would bring up the dreaded 'couple'
angle first?  "What are they saying exactly?"

	"Dude, it's just some sick stuff.  I don't really believe it, you know, but
I thought you'd want to know what they were saying about you."  Sugar took a
couple deep breaths and finished in a rush, "people are saying that you and
Harrison were, like, holding hands and kissing and stuff."  To Sugar's
surprise, Josh didn't explode in anger.  He seemed quite calm, in fact he
laughed.

	"That's rumors for you, they always get blown up.  I was not kissing
Harrison in the cafeteria, Sugar," Josh said smiling.

	Sugar sighed, "I knew it.  After class man, we'll find out who started this
rumor and pound 'em, set things straight."

	"Sug, we've been through a lot together, so I want to be honest with you,"
Josh was regretting his earlier play at ignorance, "it's true that I wasn't
kissing Harrison in the cafeteria, but I was holding his hand.  In fact,"
Josh hesitated, before plunging forward with his admission, "I kissed him
before school this morning (there was no need to bring up the other times,
yet)."  Josh waited for Sugar's reaction, uncomfortable with the silence
that held his friend for several moments.

	Sugar's voice, when he finally spoke, was flat, "Josh, this joke sucks,
man.  You shouldn't kid me about stuff like this."

	"I'm not kidding you, Sug.  I've known for a while now, I'm . . . I'm gay.
Harrison and I are dating."

This time there was no pause before Sugar responded, "You're lying!  I told
you man, this isn't funny!  What about you and Brooke?"

Josh had half expected Sugar to be angry, but it still hurt, "What about
Brooke?  We broke up, remember?  She and I were over before we really got
started.  I'm with Harrison now."

Sugar couldn't believe it, Josh wasn't making a joke, or if he was, he
wasn't going to admit it any time soon.   "Damn, Josh, this is just sick!"
Sugar's voice had risen considerably, "telling everyone you're a fairy!  How
can you do this to the team, to your friends, to me?!"  His face was turning
an alarming shade of red.

"Sug, calm down," Josh tried to clap his friend on the shoulder, but Sugar
pulled back, "I'm still the same guy.  But now I finally have a chance to be
the person I really am, a chance to be happy."

Sugar slammed a hand into one of the lockers behind him, putting a sizable
dent in its surface, "I can't even look at you right now," he growled,
storming out of the room.

Josh's legs couldn't seem to hold him up any more, he collapsed onto a
bench, holding his head in his hands.  This was not going well, what was
next?  He didn't notice the door to the coach' office opening, and the coach
of the football team stepping into the locker room, a disgusted look on his
face.

*****

	Harrison was worried, Josh hadn't shown up for chemistry class.  The
attitude of the other students in his class had made it clear that even if
they didn't know everything about him and Josh, they suspected and rumors
were probably flying.  He'd been getting some weird and uncomfortable looks
since then (and a few looks from some students, male and female, that might
be called inviting).  If it was this way for him, he suspected it was much
worse for Josh.  After all, Harrison had been something of a social outcast
for years.  People had (from their point of view) insulted him by calling
him gay, even before this weekend's revelations.  Then of course there were
the looks he'd had to endure after his mother came out.  No, he was used to
this sort of ostracism, Josh wasn't.

	Questioning a few students (and ignoring their own unspoken questions),
Harrison learned that no one had seen Josh since his gym class.  Where could
he be?  Harrison didn't like to think of his new boyfriend alone at a time
like this.  He had to find Josh.  Where would Josh go to be alone?  Harrison
found that Josh's car was still in the parking lot, so he probably hadn't
left the school.  The locker room was empty, so was the gym.  A quick peak
into the weight room did nothing but bring back memories of his first time
with Josh, firming Harrison's resolve to find his lover.

	Wandering the hallways, and wondering what to do, Harrison noticed a poster
on the wall across from him.  "Damn Yankees," it proclaimed in bold red
letters, the auditions for the next school play were this afternoon.  That
gave Harrison an idea, Josh had been in the last play, he knew his way
around the theatre.  In fact, he'd mentioned last night that he intended to
try out for this new play.  There was a chance he might go to one of the
small dressing rooms, they were likely to be empty until the auditions
started.

	Hurrying through the hallways, Harrison stopped briefly at his locker,
grabbed Josh's jacket, and headed towards the theatre.  Stumbling over props
and pieces of costumes, Harrison searched the dressing rooms (there weren't
many) one by one.  When he came to the last door, he heard muffled sounds
coming from the other side.

	He knocked softly, "Josh, are you in there?"  There was no answer.
Harrison realized that the sounds coming from behind the door were sobs.  He
tried the knob and, finding the door unlocked, pushed it open.  The sight
that greeted his eyes almost broke his heart.

	Josh was seated at the dressing table, his head down on the table on top of
crossed arms.  The young jock's hair was a tangled mess, as if he'd been
clenching his fingers through it.  His shoulders heaved convulsively with
each sob that tore itself from his throat.  Although his face was hidden,
Harrison had no doubts as to what its state was likely to be.

	This was horrible, Josh was a strong person, he'd had to be.  To see him in
such a state of emotional wreckage tore deeply into Harrison, especially
because he felt responsible for it.  If Josh hadn't fallen for him, this
would never have happened.  If he hadn't pushed Josh to come out, none of
this would have happened.  Why hadn't he seen that Josh might not be able to
take it?  Harrison had learned this weekend that underneath the typical
macho-guy, nothing-phases-me attitude that Josh displayed during a typical
school day, he was as sensitive and vulnerable as anyone else.

	"Josh," Harrison came up behind him, placing his hands on the teen's
shoulders, "what happened?"

	For several minutes, Josh didn't answer, as he struggled to bring his
weeping under control.  Harrison understood, and continued to hold him,
reminding Josh of his presence.  At last, the jock raised his head,
displaying a face swollen and streaked from crying, as he met Harrison's
eyes in the mirror.  He took a small measure of comfort from seeing Harrison
wearing his jacket.

	Josh sniffed and wiped his eyes before speaking, "I-I had a sort of a fight
with Su-Sugar, about us.  The coach . . . he overheard.  I got k-kicked off
of the team."

	"Oh shit, Josh.  I'm so sorry, this is all my fault.  I should never have
forced you to come out like this," Harrison hesitated a moment before he
finished with, "I'll understand if you want to tell everyone this was a big
joke or something.  I won't tell anyone, we can just go back to our lives
the way they were before."

	Josh was hurt and a bit angry by what he'd just heard.  "Harr, I was
miserable before.  I may have looked like I had a good life, but how can
anyone be happy with a life they KNOW is a lie?  I wanted to be able to tell
people, but I was never strong enough before.  You helped me to be strong,
if I'm disappointed in anyone it's my so-called friends on the team.  And
don't you DARE try to convince me to give up everything we built this
weekend!  We're not breaking up for anything as petty as what our friends
think!"

	Harrison smiled, both because of Josh's last statement and because in his
anger he'd stopped crying.  "Was the whole team really against you?" he
asked sympathetically.

	Josh heaved a sigh and calmed visibly, "I don't know, actually.  I only
talked to Sugar and the coach, but Sugar is my best friend on the team.  If
he doesn't support me, why would anyone else?"

	"Still, you can't give up hope Josh," Harrison reassured him, "give them a
couple days to get used to the idea of you and I, then we can try to talk
some of them around.  Brooke might even be able to get the cheerleaders
behind you, you two are still friends right?"

	"I guess," Josh hesitated, "but I don't know how she'll react to the fact
that the guy she dated for months didn't like women to begin with."

	"Still," Harrison was trying to sound cheerful, "it's worth a shot.
Lily'll help with any liberal cause, there's gay groups out their that can
help us protest this.  It's discrimination, pure and simple, Josh.  You're
the best player on the team, they'd damn well better come up with a better
excuse than, 'he's in love a guy,' to kick you off."  Of course, this area
wasn't always as tolerant as Harrison was making it sound, look what
happened to Mr. Don/ Miss Debbie, but Harrison ignored that in his attempt
to lift Josh's spirits.  "You remember what happened when my mom got fired
for coming-out, right?  Cherry Cherry made sure  that she was rehired and
the people responsible for sacking her in the first place lost their jobs."

	"That's true . . . but . . . oh, Harrison I don't know.  I just feel so
alone the way people are treating me."

	Harrison leaned down to hug his lover as hard as he could, "You're not
alone, Josh.  I promise you, whatever happens with all of this, you're not
alone."

	"But what am I going to do about all of this?  The team, and my parents?
I'm going to have to tell them soon, before the rumors reach them, it'll be
much better coming from me . . . I hope."

	Harrison moved one of his arms upwards, trying to comb Josh's hair back
into place with his fingers.  "Don't worry about that just now.  The team
can wait, your parents are at work, have them meet you somewhere for dinner
tomorrow, you can tell them then.  Let's worry about what we can do right at
this moment.  Right now what we need to do is get you ready for your
audition with Ms. Ross.  It's not for about an hour, but from the looks of
you it might take that long to get you ready."

	Josh looked at himself in the mirror and laughed, "damn, you're right.  I
look more like the Phantom of the Opera than Shoeless Joe."

	Harrison kissed him reassuringly, "but your power over me grows stronger
yet."  He followed that kiss with another, longer one, "poor Josh, such a
bad day," he mumbled.  Harrison wanted to make certain that Josh had his
mind off of his troubles before he took the stage.  On top of everything
else, Harrison didn't want Josh to lose the theatre too, he enjoyed acting
so much.

	For his part, Josh needed to feel loved after the horrid reactions he'd
gotten from others that day.  He leaned back and let Harrison do what he
would, just so long as it was done out of love (which it was).

	Harrison sat on a stool beside Josh's chair, and continued kissing him
gently, all over his face.  Licking away the marks of tears, and silently
cursing Sugar and the coach.  The stool was the perfect height, it must be
there for the makeup and hair people (on the rare instances when a high
school function would require such people) to use.  As his mouth worked its
magic, Harrison's hand slid along the jock's shoulder-blade to the collar of
his shirt.  His fingers worked deftly, popping the buttons of Josh's shirt
free, all the way down to the waistline of his jeans.

	Harrison leaned into Josh, his chest pressing against the hot-teen's
shoulder as their kisses grew more heated.  He ran the palm of his hand in
firm circular motions over Josh's naked pecs, bringing forth a gratifying
grunt of pleasure from his lover, and encouraging him to go on.

	When Harrison moved his lips lower, to lick along the pulse-points of
Josh's neck, the jock briefly found his voice again, "Harr, not that I don't
love this, but what if someone walks in?  I'm not the only one who's
supposed to audition today."

	Harrison lifted his head, working Josh's nipples over with light
finger-work, "I locked the door on my way in, no one's going to walk in on
us.  Besides, Nicole must do this kind of thing in school all the time, and
she's never been caught."  With that, Harrison once more claimed Josh's lips
for his own, silencing any further protest.  Harrison now rested one hand on
Josh's stomach, tracing along his six-pack with the tip of his thumbnail.
This action was tickling Josh ever so slightly, bringing the occasional
giggle to lips that were already quite busy.

	Knowing what Josh needed (and keeping a tight lid on his own need, THAT
could wait) Harrison finally opened the button on Josh's jeans and slid the
zipper down, pulling the flaps as far open as he could.  As his hand gently
caressed Josh's cotton-clad package, Harrison smiled to himself, Josh was
once more sheathed in a jockstrap like the one he'd worn their first time
together.  He glanced down at his lover's body, taking in the sight that
he'd dreamed of since that fateful Friday (alright, so maybe it wasn't many
dreams yet, but that doesn't mean it isn't sweet all the same).  Josh's
smooth muscles gleamed faintly with sweat, and were nicely framed by his
open plaid shirt.  The pale blue jeans clung to muscular thighs, and the
white bulge at his groin was just beginning to develop a small spot where
Josh's cock was leaking into the cotton.

	He ran his hand tenderly over Josh's dick, making slow trails down its
length and then back up again, pausing at the head to flick his finger just
beneath the rim.  Josh began to moan low in his throat, pressing his groin
into Harrison's slow-moving hand, urging him onward.  Taking the hint,
Harrison lifted the elastic waist of the jockstrap, and removed it from
Josh's cock, allowing the tool to spring free and stand on its own.
Harrison lowered the waistband so that it was caught just below Josh's
balls, freeing Josh's whole package to his lovingly-lusty gaze.

	As much as he wanted to at that moment, Harrison made no move to take
Josh's dick into his mouth.  Josh needed to be comforted and feel loved now,
Harrison wanted to make sure that Josh could see his face every moment until
his audition.  So, he continued to kiss his way around Josh's face and
mouth, keeping things tender and personal.  His hand caressed Josh's balls,
lovingly tickling the heavy sack, occasionally tugging them to their full
distance from the proud pillar of his penis.

	Finally, Josh couldn't take it anymore.  One of his hands, which until that
moment had been holding Harrison's head close to his own, moved down to
direct Harrison's hand.  Intently, he guided Harrison's hand away from its
current activities, and wrapped it around the urgent need that was Josh's
dick.

	Immediately, Harrison went to work satisfying Josh's need.  He slid Josh's
foreskin back, freeing the head entirely and revealing an area moist with
pre-cum.  Harrison slicked this gleaming liquid down the shaft of Josh's
cock, coating it as well as he could.  When he was satisfied that Josh was a
lubed as he was going to get, Harrison began a rhythmic pumping of the
throbbing love-organ.  His hand would slide up the length of the cock,
giving a slight twist of the foreskin at the head, then slide back down,
twisting again (in the opposite direction) at the base as the head was
uncovered.

	When he felt Josh's breathing grow heavier, and his kisses more passionate,
Harrison began altering his strokes.  He would give Josh ten fast strokes
along his dick, followed by ten (almost painfully) slow strokes.  This
continued for many minutes, although neither boy could have said how long it
was.  Josh's frustrated passion was causing him to thrust his groin into the
air to meet the passes of Harrison's hand, an effect that Harrison attempted
to compensate for, trying to give Josh every moment of pleasure that he
could.  Finally, when this animal behavior became almost violent in its
need, Harrison gave into Josh's urgency.

	Josh's orgasm caused his whole body to shudder in the chair, his breath
gasping from his lips.  Streams of cum shot up along his torso and ran down
his cock and Harrison's hand.  At length, he fell back into his chair,
Harrison's head resting against his broad shoulder.

	"Feeling better?" Harrison asked with a sexy smile playing along his lips.

	"Much, thanks," Josh laughed, kissing Harrison's forehead.  "Now," he said
glancing at the wet spot centered on the bulge in Harrison's pants, "what
about you?"

	Harrison sighed, "no time, love.  Your audition is in a few minutes, and
we've got to get you looking a bit less disreputable."  He glanced down at
the spot, "damn.  Oh well, your jacket hangs low enough to cover that, I'll
just have to change my pants as soon as I get home."

	Josh brought Harrison's hand to his lips, lapping the cum from his fingers,
"well then, I guess I'll have to stop by to help you change."

	Relieved that Josh was no longer distraught, Harrison helped to clean him
up, and prepare him for the audition.

*****

	The audition went well, although the results wouldn't be posted until the
next day.  Harrison and Josh were, therefore, in a light-hearted mood as
they exited the school.  They didn't know that as they passed the locker
rooms, the coach was in his office making a call.  He dialed the number from
his list, glancing at his watch.

	The phone on the other end of the line rang twice before someone picked up.
  "Hello, Mr. Ford?" he began, "This is your son's football coach . . . ."


END PART IX (Poor Josh, he just can't catch a break lately, can he?)

There's more to come.  Feel free to email comments to
antinoos_ad@hotmail.com, flames will be ignored.