Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 16:06:07 +0100
From: Gymnopedies <gym@softhome.net>
Subject: Calvin - Too Cool For School -  Chapter 2

The usual disclaimers apply: don't read if you are prohibited by location,
are under legal age, or if you are likely to be offended by explicit
descriptions of gay sex. The story is pure fiction and is not based on any
actual events.

This is completely imaginary story and features Calvin Goldspink from the
group SClub. The story is in no way intended to reflect or imply anything
about the personality or the sexuality of Calvin or of any other real life
person. The story will be complete in four chapters.

Gymnopedies
gym@softhome.net


Calvin - Too Cool For School
----------------------------

Part 2 of 4

By the following morning the pain in Calvin's groin had eased to a slight
twinge and as long as he was careful how he sat down, it wasn't a
problem. His ribs, however, were another matter entirely. It seemed that
the bruised muscles had tightened overnight to the extent that even getting
out of bed was an ordeal. Though he put on a brave face, it wasn't possible
to completely hide his discomfort from his parents. He got around this by
explaining that he was a bit stiff after overdoing things in the gym the
previous day. His mother was only partially satisfied with this and as
Calvin left the house for school she was still telling him he should be
more careful and even making hints about him seeing a doctor.

As he approached the school gates the teenager gave a groan of
dismay. Crossing the road towards him was Tom Mallory. The bully was alone,
but that didn't make Calvin feel any better. He'd already discovered the
previous day that he was no match for the bigger boy, even one to one, and
in his current bruised and battered condition he stood no chance at all. He
tensed himself, hoping to escape with just a verbal battering and not a
physical one. However, to Calvin's surprise, Tom walked straight passed him
without even a word, his head down and a scowl on his face. Calvin was sure
he'd seen a dark bruise on the bully's cheek as he passed by. It looked
like Tom had taken some punishment of his own and the young singer
suppressed a smile as he wondered whether the boy had at last met someone
who could stand up to him.

The bell for the start of the day sounded just as he entered the classroom
and his smile was still on his face as he slid into his seat beside Dan
Murphy.

"What's put you in such a good mood?" asked Dan, pushing his glasses up
onto the bridge of his nose with his forefinger.

"Nothing much," Calvin replied. "Though I just saw Tom Mallory and it
looked like someone had given him a thump."

"Really? About time." Dan gave a smile of his own. He too had been an
occasional victim of Tom's attentions. "What happened?"

"No idea, but he had a real nasty bruise under one eye. Wish I could have
been there to see it happen."

"Me too," Dan agreed. "What's happening between you and Tom? Is he still
giving you a hard time?"

"Nothing I can't handle," Calvin lied, his arm supporting his sore chest.

A few minutes later the bell sounded again marking the end of the
registration period. Mrs. Taylor, their form tutor, sent the class off to
their first lesson of the day, but asked Calvin to stay behind.

"Is something wrong," Calvin asked, sitting on one of the desks in front of
the teacher's. All sorts of things were going through his mind. Had someone
seen his fight and with Tom yesterday and reported it? Had Rob said
something to one of the teachers?

"No, there's nothing wrong. Stop looking so worried," said the
teacher. "Unless of course you've got something to feel guilty about?" Her
eyes narrowed in mock seriousness. Mrs. Taylor was one of Calvin's
favourite teachers. She was always understanding about the special problems
he faced due to being away from school for extended periods. "I asked you
to stay behind because I have something to tell you."

"Oh, that's ok then. I thought it might be something I'd done," said
Calvin, feeling relieved.

Mrs. Taylor gave him a considering look. "Why do I get the impression that
you've been up to something?" She gave a sigh. "I suppose what I don't know
about I don't have to worry about. What I wanted you for was to tell you
about the school's knew mentoring scheme."

"Mentoring scheme? What's that?"

"It's one of these new ideas that comes down from above every so
often. Students who could do better in certain core subjects will be
assigned a 'mentor' from amongst the older, more capable students. It will
be the mentor's job to get together with his or her charge for a couple of
hours each week and help them with any problem areas in their schoolwork."

"What's that got to do with me?" Calvin asked, with a growing feeling of
unease.

"We both know that you aren't doing as well as you are able," said the
teacher. "I know it's not your fault that you miss so much schooling, but
it is a problem that we need to address."

"I have tutor when I'm away from school," Calvin pointed out.

"Yes, I know, and I'm sure that helps, but it doesn't change the fact that
you are not doing as well as you ought to be, especially in English and
Maths."

"Give me a chance and I promise to try harder."

Mrs. Taylor gave a smile. "This isn't a punishment, Calvin. We're just
trying to do what is best for you. Let's give the scheme a go for a few
weeks and if you feel it's not helping we can rethink the situation." She
opened a folder on her desk. "The mentor you've been assigned is called
Robert Dixon."

Calvin groaned aloud. Of all the students in the school, why did it have to
be him? Calvin remembered the lecture that Rob had given him the previous
evening about being 'pigheaded' and the memory caused his face to heat up.

"Is there a problem?" the teacher asked, seeing the boy's reaction.

"Can't I have someone else? Does it have to be him?"

"Do you know Rob?"

"Not really well," said Calvin. "I'd just rather it be someone else."

"Rob's one of the top students in the school," said the teacher. "He's also
one of the nicest people you're likely to meet." She looked thoughtful for
a second. "This doesn't have anything to do with those rumours that have
been going around recently, does it?"

"What rumours?"

Mrs. Taylor frowned. "If you haven't heard them, then it doesn't
matter. Calvin, I'll be honest with you. In most cases this scheme will
probably turn out to be a waste of time for all concerned. Most of the
underachieving students on the scheme are beyond hope, they don't want to
learn and there is nothing we can do to change that. You though are
different. You have a willingness to learn, but your circumstances have
been preventing you doing as well as you could. In my opinion, Rob is the
best mentor on the list, which is why I've put the two of you
together. Unless you can give me a very good reason why you shouldn't be
partnered with Rob then my decision is final."

Calvin slowly shook his head. He couldn't explain his reasons for not
wanting to be put with the older boy without going into his problems with
Tom. If he did that, his parents would probably get to know and he could
say goodbye to this school and all of his friends. He would just have to
make the best of a bad job.

"That's settled then," said the teacher. "I'll have a word with Rob and
he'll probably search you out later to arrange you first mentoring
session. As I said, we'll give it a few weeks to see how it goes and then
look at things again. Now you'd better get yourself off to your next
lesson."



Rob approached Calvin during the lunch break. "Look's like the powers that
be have decided we should spend some more time together," said the older
teen.

"Yeah, looks that way," Calvin replied, sulkily.

"You don't look especially pleased at the prospect."

"Should I be?"

Rob frowned. "I didn't think you'd be too keen. When Mrs. Taylor told me
she'd put us together I tried to get her to assign you to someone else, but
she wouldn't have it. I told her that you were stubborn, independent and
not good at accepting help or advice."

"You said that about me? What did she say."

"She just smiled and said she knew that all to well." Rob gave a grin. "She
also said she would use those very same words to describe me and so the two
of us should be perfectly matched."

In spite of himself, Calvin smiled. "Mrs. Taylor's cool. She didn't tell me
you were stubborn though, she said you were one of the nicest people I'm
likely to meet."

"She got that bit right then," laughed Rob. "How's the injuries today?"

"A bit sore, especially my ribs. I'll live though." He opened his schoolbag
and pulled out a polythene bag. "Can you give this to Leo for me, it's the
shirt he lent me. I've been looking for him but can't see him
anywhere. Tell him thanks a lot for lending it to me and I'm sorry I
haven't been able to get it washed."

"I don't think he'll mind that it isn't washed," said Rob. "In fact he'll
be delighted. Knowing Leo he'll fasten it straight up on his bedroom wall
or something and show it off to all his friends."

This didn't especially surprise Calvin. He knew that fans collected all
sorts of strange things; in fact anything at all that had been used by any
member of the group was collected and treasured as if it had enormous
value. Most of the fan mail he received had been carefully vetted before it
reached him, but occasionally a strange one would slip through. The
previous week when he'd got a letter asking him for a pair of his dirty
socks, the smellier the better. He really couldn't understand why anyone
would want a smelly pair of socks. He knew for a fact that all the members
of the group received frequent requests for used underwear.

"So when are we going to get together?" asked Rob. "We're supposed to have
at least a couple of one hour sessions a week where I help you with
homework and stuff. Tonight would be good for me."

Calvin shrugged. "I suppose tonight will be ok. Though it will have to be a
bit later, I can't do it straight after school. How about around six'ish?"

"Suits me. You want to come to my house or should I come to yours?"

"I'll come to you," said Calvin. "I don't want my parents to know anything
about this."

"No problem. I'll see you later then."



As the day wore on, Calvin managed to gradually come to terms with the idea
of the extra tuition. Having it imposed on him still rankled a little, but
he had to admit that sometimes he tended to struggle a little in some
subjects. Also, he decided that maybe Rob wasn't quite so bad; the older
boy was pleasant and friendly, even if he did have a tendency to be too
free with the truth. Calvin grinned to himself. Rob had been spot on;
stubborn, independent and poor at accepting advice summed him up pretty
well.

At the sound of the final bell, he grabbed his bag and headed for
exit. Today, again, Dan had some after school activity, so Calvin had once
more to walk home on his own. His mind was very much on the upcoming
session with Rob and so he wasn't really paying much attention to his
surroundings. It therefore came as a shock when his path was suddenly
blocked by Fat William, one of Tom's cohorts.

"Look who it is, boys," William sneered, his piggy eyes narrowing. "Guess
we're going to have some fun."

Calvin felt sick as he looked around. Two more of Tom's friends were behind
him, blocking his escape and the bully himself had stepped up next to
William. The young singer wondered what they had in store for him. His ribs
still hurt badly from yesterday and he knew he couldn't take any more
physical punishment. It wondered whether he should plead with boys to leave
him alone, but knew that such talk would only encourage them to torment him
further. He clenched his lips shut and hoped he didn't appear too
terrified. The gang's leader had a face like thunder and if anything looked
even meaner than Calvin had ever seen him before, his bruised faced adding
to his threatening appearance.

"Let him pass." Tom spoke through clenched teeth as if the words were being
forced out of him.

"But..." William's face contained a mixture of surprise and disappointment.

"I said let him pass," Tom repeated, viciously yanking at the fat boy's arm
to pull him out of the way. "Get out of my sight, 'Too Cool for School'
before I change my mind."

Calvin didn't need telling twice. He was just as amazed as William by Tom's
actions but he wasn't about to stand around and argue. He quickly stepped
around William and hurried on his way, glancing back frequently to make
sure this wasn't some sort of trick. He couldn't understand Tom's sudden
change in attitude; the bully had never missed opportunity to have a least
a verbal dig at the fourteen year old. Calvin wondered if maybe the purple
swelling under Tom's left eye had something to do with it. Whatever was
going on, Tom obviously hadn't told his gang about it judging by the
baffled looks they were still giving each other as the teen went around a
corner and lost sight of them.




It was just after six by the time Calvin rang the doorbell at Rob's
house. The fourteen year old had changed out of his school uniform and into
a much more casual, baggy, pale blue sweatshirt and a pair of worn
denims. As he waited at the door he lightly rubbed his chest through the
soft material of the sweatshirt. His ribs had eased a little as the day had
gone on, but they still grumbled every time he moved and had made changing
his clothes very hard work.

It was Leo who answered the door.

"Oh, hi Calvin," the youngster grinned, shyly dipping his head and looking
up at the singer through his long, brown eyelashes.

"Hi Leo. How's things?"

"Great. Come on in. Rob's upstairs, he'll be down in a minute." The younger
boy lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "I think he's in the
bathroom."

"That's ok," said Calvin. He held out a large envelope he was
carrying. "Here, these are for you. It's a thank you for the loan of the
shirt."

"Oh, wow! Thanks." Leo's eyes widened as he pulled out of the envelope a
selection of Calvin's autographed publicity photographs and a CD of SClub's
'Sundown' album, also autographed.

"Rob mentioned that you were a bit of fan so I thought you might like
them," said Calvin.

"They're are amazing," beamed Leo. "Mum, look at these pictures Calvin has
given me," he grinned as his mother appeared from the kitchen.

"Hello, Calvin. Pleased to meet you," smiled the woman. She put her arm
around Leo's shoulders and glanced down at the pictures.  "Very nice. Can I
get you a drink or anything, Calvin?"

"No, I'm fine thanks," the singer replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Maybe later."

Mrs. Dixon nodded. "I'll send Leo up with some drinks in a little while."

"Hi Calvin. Come on up." Rob had appeared at the top of the stairs. He
beckoned to the younger boy and waited for him to catch up before leading
the way into his bedroom, pushing the door closed behind them. "It'll be
quieter in here. If we'd stayed downstairs Leo would be wanting to watch TV
and Mum would be interrupting all the time asking if you wanted anything."

"In here will be fine," Calvin shrugged. There was a desk in the room big
enough that both boys could sit at it quite comfortably. He dropped his bag
containing some of his school books on Rob's bed. "I didn't know what I
should bring."

"Is there anything you're really having trouble with at the moment?" Rob
asked.

"Well I suppose I'm struggling a bit with my maths. I don't have a clue how
to start the homework Eddington has given us." He opened the bag and pulled
out some books.

"Ok then," said Rob. "Let's start with that."

The two boys sat down side by side at the desk and Calvin opened his books
to the relevant pages.

"This isn't really difficult once you know what you're doing" said Rob. He
pulled across some scrap paper and began explaining the calculations. A
couple of minutes in, he suddenly threw down his pencil and rubbed his
forehead. "Calvin, there's something I should tell you." His face had taken
on a sort of worried frown and his fingers nervously tapped on the desktop.

"What's the matter?" Calvin asked, disturbed by the sudden and dramatic
change in the older teen's manner.

Rob was quiet for a few seconds as if about to make a big announcement and
trying to decide on the right words. "I suppose you've heard the rumours
about me?"

Calvin shook his head. He remembered his form teacher's words from their
talk that morning. "Mrs. Taylor said something about some rumours, but she
didn't say what they were about."

Rob groaned. "Oh, terrific. Even the teachers have heard them." He gave a
sigh. "I don't suppose it really matters anyway since they'll know the
truth pretty soon."

"The truth about what? What are people saying?" Calvin's curiosity was
aroused.

After a slight pause, Rob gave the younger boy his answer. "There is a
rumour going around that I'm gay."

"You're gay?" Calvin blinked in surprise. He gave a short laugh as if the
was most the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard, but the laughter died
on his lips as he saw Rob's deadly serious expression. "Are you really
gay?"

Rob gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Yep. My family knows and my close
friends know. Now you know. Since it appears that most of the school has
heard about it anyway, I've decided not to hide it anymore. If anyone asks
me outright I'll tell them the truth."

"I see." Calvin suddenly realised how close the too of them were
sitting. In fact, his knee was actually touching Rob's. He automatically
moved his leg, breaking the contact.

"It's not catching you know," said Rob, with a shake of his head.

Instantly, Calvin felt guilty about his reaction. "I'm sorry. It's just a
bit of a shock. I've never known anyone who was gay before."

"What you mean is you've never known anyone who admitted they were gay
before. I'm still the same person I was a few minutes ago. I thought I'd
better tell you so that you could decide whether you wanted to do these
tutoring sessions with me. I know what with you being who you are it could
make things difficult for you when everyone finds out the truth about
me. If you'd rather switch to someone else I'll go see Mrs. Taylor in the
morning, explain it all to her and get her to reassign you."

Calvin's mind raced to think this through. Rob was gay. He knew what the
kids at school were like; if he spent time with someone who was gay then he
must be gay himself. Not that there was anything new there. He'd already
heard plenty of rumours that himself and Aaron, one of his fellow band
members, were an item. Did he really care what people who hardly knew him
might think? And in spite of certain reservations, he had to admit to
himself that he did like Rob. The older teen was caring in a big brother
sort of way, but also very down to earth,. There was something about Rob
that made him nice to be around. "It's not a problem," he said. "So you're
gay, why should that make a difference?"

"You sure? Rob asked. "I'd understand if you decided it would be better if
you had nothing else to do with me."

"I'm sure," Calvin nodded. A slightly uncomfortable silence descended as he
tried to think of something to say to lighten the atmosphere after the
bombshell. "So, you got a boyfriend?" He cringed with embarrassment the
moment the question had left his lips and cursed himself for not having his
brain connected to his mouth.

Rob, however, just laughed. "Not at the moment. Why? You offering?"

"Erm, no, I don't think so," Calvin said quickly, feeling his cheeks
flush. "I just wondered."

"I don't have a boyfriend," Rob repeated, his eyes twinkling. "So if you
get any fan mail from any gay guys you think might be suitable, you can
send them my way."

"Ok, I'll do that," said Calvin, now grinning himself.

"Now that we've cleared that up, perhaps we should get some work done,"
said Rob, returning his attention to the books on the table.

Over the next half hour or so the two boys worked their way through a
variety of problems similar to the ones that Calvin had been set as
homework. The youngster was starting to understand the calculations better,
but in truth his mind wasn't really on what they were doing. Bending
forwards over the desk was causing his sore ribs to ache and he kept
shifting around in an effort to ease the discomfort.

"You ok?" asked Rob, eventually. "You want the loo?"

"No nothing like that," Calvin replied. "It's just that sitting like this
is making my ribs hurt."

Rob looked concerned. "You should have said something sooner. We'll take a
break for a while if you like, give you chance to move about a bit. You're
bound to be stiff for a few days, that was a hell of a kick Tom gave you."
He looked thoughtful for a second. "I've just had an idea. Don't go away."
The older boy hurried out of the room.

Calvin got up and walked around, very cautiously stretching out his cramped
muscles and grimacing each time they told him he'd stretched far enough. In
spite of the aches and the pains he knew that he had been quite lucky. If
Tom had decided to hit him in the face, Calvin knew that he would have been
sunk, there would have been no hiding that from his parents.

"Found it," Rob reappeared. In his hand he was carrying a small plastic
bottle. "This is something the doctor gave me when I sprained my shoulder a
while back. It's for sports injuries, it relaxes the muscles and eases the
aching." He unscrewed the cap of the bottle. "It's a bit like sun oil, you
just gently rub it in. It works really fast, you'll feel better almost
straight away. Lift your shirt up and sit back on the bed and I'll put some
on for you."

"You'll put it on for me?" Calvin eyes widened at the suggestion. "Can't I
put it on myself?"

"I suppose you could, but it would be easier if I did it for you. I promise
I won't hurt you, I'll rub it in very gently."

"No, it's not that," said Calvin, uncomfortably.

"Well, what is it then?" Rob looked puzzled, then his eyes narrowed. "Is it
because of what I told you earlier about me being gay?"

Calvin shrugged. This was exactly what was on his mind. He could feel his
face starting to heat up.

"If you really don't want me to touch you then fine," said Rob. "You can
put it on yourself or if you prefer I'll give Leo a shout, I'm sure he'd be
happy to do it for you. I wasn't trying to take advantage of you if that's
what you think. I'm not about to rip your clothes off and rape you."

Rob's tone was mild, but Calvin's face was now flaming at the rebuke. He
told himself to stop being so stupid. "I'm sorry," he said. "Go ahead and
put it on for me." He sat on the edge of the bed and lifted his sweatshirt
up to his chin before laying back, his head on the pillow. He tried to
force himself to relax as Rob poured some of the oil onto his palm and
approached the bed.

"Just lie still," said Rob. He rubbed his hands together to coat both his
palms then gently placed his hands on the sides of Calvin's chest.

In spite of himself, Calvin sighed at the touch. Rob was as gentle as he'd
promised and the singer soon forgot all his reservations. He closed his
eyes and let the older teen massage the oil into his chest. Slowly Rob's
hands moved across the boy's entire upper torso and Calvin began to feel a
warm glow on his skin. He was surprised at how nice it felt, not just the
affects of the oil but also the gentle touch of Rob's hands. He couldn't
remember anyone touching him like this before. Gradually the warmth moved
deeper and he felt his tightened muscles begin to loosen and the nagging
ache begin to subside. He closed his eyes and let out another sigh.

"Feel good?" asked Rob, his voice soft.

"Uh huh," Calvin murmured.

"Told you it works quickly."

The teenager forced his eyes open, half afraid that if he kept them closed
he might drift off to sleep. "Tom Mallory was really strange today."

"How so?"

"He completely ignored me this morning, then later on he forced his gang to
leave me alone."

"Maybe he's got bored with tormenting you and has turned on someone else,"
said Rob, his eyes following the movement of his hands across the smooth
skin of Calvin's chest.

"Could be, though it's not likely. I think the bruise on one side of his
face might have something to do with it." Calvin stared straight at Rob's
face but the older boy refused to make eye contact.

"Could be," said Rob. "I suppose that it's possible that someone might have
warned him off."

"I wish I knew who it was," said Calvin, now feeling certain that he knew
exactly who had thumped Tom.

"Why?" asked Rob, at last raising his eyes and giving a half grin. "You
looking to shout at them and throw a sulk because they've interfered
without being asked?" His hands had stopped moving and now lay flat on the
younger boy's chest.

"Maybe." Calvin said, trying to look serious and being only partially
successful. "I expect it was someone who is always interfering and always
thinks they know best. Probably someone as 'stubborn and independent' as
me."

"That narrows things down a bit. There aren't many of us like that."

Before Calvin could respond, there was a light tap on the bedroom door and
Leo came in carrying a tray containing two steaming mugs and a plate of
biscuits.

"Mum sent you up some hot chocolate. She said..." The words tailed off as
the youngster took in the sight of his older brother with his hands on
Calvin's bare chest. "Erm, what are you guys doing?" he asked, his tone
uncertain and his eyes wide.

"Studying," said Rob, with a perfectly straight face.

Leo ignored the flippant answer. "Why has Calvin got his shirt up? Oh, God!
You weren't..." The boy looked horrified as his brain put two and two
together and came up with something approaching sixty-nine. He looked
around in a panic for somewhere to put the tray down, gave up and turned to
leave, the tray still in his hand.

Laughing, Rob leapt off the bed and pulled Leo back, relieving him of the
tray before pushing the door closed with his foot. At the same time Calvin
pulled his shirt down, covering himself up.

"No we weren't," Rob told his brother, still laughing. "Not what you were
thinking anyway. Calvin's chest hurt from where he was kicked and I was
just rubbing some of that oil on it that the doctor gave me for my
shoulder."

Leo looked sceptical. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Look." Rob put the tray down on the desk and held up the
bottle as evidence. "Here, smell my hands if you don't believe me."

"No, it's ok. I thought you were... well, you know... what with you
being..." Leo's face turned scarlet.


"I know what you thought," Rob smiled. "But it wasn't anything like
that. Calvin did ask if he could be my boyfriend but I turned him down."

"I didn't ask anything of the sort," said Calvin, getting off the bed and
coming over to the desk for his hot chocolate. "Take no notice of him,
Leo. He's winding you up."

"He does that all the time," said Leo, giving his big brother a reproachful
look.

"Maybe we should get together some time and find a way of getting him
back," Calvin suggested.

"Hey that's not fair," grinned Rob, "the two of you ganging up on me."

Calvin sipped his chocolate. It had been an interesting sort of
evening. Perhaps having Rob as his 'mentor' wouldn't be so bad after all.


End of part 2.


Feedback is encouraged and always much appreciated. I'm always open to
ideas and suggestions for new stories.  Email me at gym@softhome.net or
visit my website at http://storiesbygymnopedies.com for more stories, polls
and previews.