Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 11:21:41 -0800 (PST)
From: Thomas Gaige <togaige@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Abandoned Boy - Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions
of sexual activities between men, teenage boys, and between men and
teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this
type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you
are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope
you enjoy it!

			     The Abandoned Boy

				 Chapter 8

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I was surprised when I got to my classroom, that Simon wasn't there yet.
A lot of the other kids were already there. A couple minutes later, he
flew in the door, just as the bell was ringing. Glancing at him, I could
tell there was a problem. I watched him as he sat down, but he avoided
my look.

I called the roll, and read several announcements. The bell rang a
couple minutes later. Everyone but the kids who had me for first period
filed out of the room. Simon was in my first class, so he stayed at his
desk. I stepped over to him and looked down at him. He hesitated, but
looked up at me. His eyes looked watery.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly.

"Nothing!" he said, quickly glancing away.

I could tell he was lying, but decided to let it go for the moment. I
figured he'd tell me about it when he needed to. I could tell as I
taught class, that he wasn't paying any attention to my lecture though.
When class ended, he got up and left before I could speak with him again.

Later, at the beginning of lunch, I saw Ethan enter the cafeteria, and I
walked over to him and asked if he'd seen Simon yet. He hadn't. I told
him something was wrong, and just wondered if he knew what. He didn't,
but promised to try and find out. I didn't get to see Simon, as I had a
lunch meeting with the other History Department teachers.

 * * *

I was busy with kids who came in for extra help during Study Hall, so I
never got to talk to Simon then either. I could tell though, that
whatever was bothering him, was even worse now. When the bell rang,
before I could approach him again to try and talk to him, he left the
classroom and disappeared. I had kids coming in for detention, and extra
help, so I couldn't leave the room to go looking for him.

About 15 minutes later, while some of my after school group was working
on homework, and I was explaining the difference between different forms
of government to a few others, Ethan burst into the room and yelled
"Greg! Simon needs us!"

I jumped up and ran out of the room, following Ethan, who was sprinting
down the hallway. I followed him, as he ran into the locker room. He
quickly ran down the aisle looking into each bay of lockers.

"Simon!" he exclaimed and turned down the second to last row.

When I got there, I saw Simon sitting on the floor at the back of the row
of lockers. He was crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked, squatting down next to Ethan, who was looking at
Simon with concern.

Simon looked miserably at us, as tears ran down his cheeks. He didn't
say anything.

"C'mon Simon, you can tell us, it'll be alright," Ethan said.

"It'll never be alright!" Simon said, as he rubbed his eyes with his
hands.

"Well, why don't you tell us what's wrong. Maybe we can come up with an
idea to try to fix it," I said.

Simon looked at us, and struggled for a minute to get his crying under
control. Finally he said, "Well, I know who was watching us out at that
f-farmhouse!"

"What?" Ethan asked, "Who?"

"Two s-seniors, one of them called the other one Dwayne, and Dwayne
called him Kel. They followed me to my locker this morning, and told me
they saw us out there. They also said they knew what I did to make
money. I told them I didn't do that anymore. They told me I better do
it for them yet, or they'd tell the whole school about us!....I'm so
sorry Ethan!" Simon said, and he started crying again.

Ethan stood up, clenching his fists. He had a look of fury on his face.
Suddenly he ran toward the door to the locker room.

"Ethan!" I called after him, to no avail. He kept on going. I'd have
followed him, but Simon needed me too.

I looked at Simon and said, "so that's what was bothering you all day?"

He nodded, and looked at the floor.

I heard the locker room door open again, and a couple seconds later, Tom
McGrath walked into view.

"What the...?" he asked, quickly coming over to us. "Someone said they
saw you running in here. What's going on?

I told him quickly what had happened. Then I said, "Could you go look
for Ethan? He may need some help!"

"I'm on my way," Tom said.

"Try the student parking lot first!" I called after him.

Turning back to Simon I said, "Listen, I gotta ask you this. If
something did happen, it's OK, I know it's not your fault. I need to
know. Did these guys force you to do anything with them?"

Simon was quiet a minute, but then he said, "They tried. I ran to my
locker after Study Hall, hoping they wouldn't catch me there, but they
did. They made me come to the locker room with them. They made me wait
till the football players would all be gone, out practicing, then they
made me come in here with them. They told me if I didn't do what they
wanted, they'd tell the whole school about me and Ethan. They both
wanted me to suck them off. Just as the bigger one, Dwayne, was opening
his jeans, another senior, Cody somebody, he's a friend of Ethan's, came
in and asked them what they were doing with me. They lied and said we
weren't doing anything. I guess Cody saw how upset I was, and he told
them to leave me alone. He threatened to get them into trouble. He
scared them I guess, because they took off. Cody asked me what was going
on, but all I could do was cry. He left then saying he was going to get
Ethan. He knows we're friends. Then you guys came in a few minutes
later."

"I'm so sorry Simon! Please! If anything like this ever happens again,
please tell me! And tell me right away!" I said.

"I'm sorry Greg. I will, I promise," Simon said.

We talked a few minutes longer, then I helped Simon get up, and wiped the
tears from his cheeks with my thumbs. Simon walked over to the sinks and
washed his face off then.

"C'mon, let's go see if Tom found Ethan," I said.

We walked out of the locker room and headed for the lobby.

 * * *

When we reached the lobby, we saw Tom's back disappearing in the office
door. It looked like he had some kids in front of him.

"That's them, and Ethan too!" Simon exclaimed, paling a little.

We headed over to the office, and followed Tom and the boys, all the way
back, into Tom's office.

When we got there, Tom was sitting behind his desk and Ethan and the
other two boys were sitting in front of the desk facing Tom, with their
backs to us.

"Ah Good!" Tom said. "C'mon in guys. Maybe we can get this taken care of
now."

Tom asked Simon to tell his story again. Simon looked really
uncomfortable and scared. Tom told him not to worry, that Dwayne and
Kelly wouldn't be bothering him again. Simon told his story then, while
Dwayne and Kelly both sat there red-faced, looking at the floor. When
Simon was finished, Tom asked Ethan to tell his version. Ethan
reiterated a lot of what Simon said, then went on to tell how after he'd
left the locker room, he ran to the parking lot looking for Dwayne and
Kelly. He'd found them, as they were getting into Dwayne's car. Ethan
stopped them and told them he knew what they'd tried to do, and to never
try it again. There had been an argument, and just as things were
getting ugly, Tom showed up.
Tom thanked us for coming and telling our stories, then told Ethan,
Simon, and I that we could leave, that he'd handle things.

I stood up and stepped over in front of Dwayne and Kelly. Looking down
at them, I said "If I ever hear of or see that you're bothering either of
these guys in any way again, you won't have to worry about what your
school punishment will be. I'll handle you myself, and I promise you'll
both regret it when I'm done!"

I spun around then, and saw Ethan's face for the first time. He had a
nasty looking black eye and a split lip.

"Aw Man!" I groaned, looking at Ethan.

"I got it covered Greg!" Tom said. "Could you take Ethan to the nurse
though?"

"Sure, and thanks!" I said, "C'mon Ethan."

"I'll see you guys later," Tom said.

"OK," I said, "we'll be in my classroom."

Ethan, Simon and I left then and trooped down to the nurse's office. She
examined Ethan and said he'd be OK. Then, she put a little triple
antibiotic on his lip, and gave him an icepack for his eye. We left then
and went back to my classroom, where anarchy was reigning. Everyone fell
silent as we walked in.

"You guys sit down and relax. Simon, start your homework. Ethan, keep
that icepack on your eye. Everyone else, get your homework started. If
you're here for extra help, I'm sorry I was gone for a while. It
couldn't be avoided. C'mon up and we'll see what we can do to help you
out."

"Greg?" Simon said, then blushed, and looked at me horror-stricken when
he realized he'd called me by my first name.

"How come you guys keep calling Mr. Winslow by his first name?" one of
the girls, whose name was Amy, asked, looking back and forth between
Simon, Ethan, and I.

Neither Simon nor Ethan said anything, so I finally I said, "Simon's my
foster son now, so at home he calls me Greg. And Ethan is a friend of
his. He's over at our apartment sometimes. He calls me Greg at home
too. So, I expect you'll hear both of them slip here at school
sometimes."

Suddenly the room was abuzz, with whispering, and everyone was looking
back and forth between Simon and myself.

Amy looked at Simon and said, "Wow! You're so lucky to have Mr. Winslow
for a foster father Simon, that's great!"

All of a sudden everyone was talking all at once, and congratulating
Simon, and asking him what it was like having me for a father, as well as
a teacher. I just sat smiling at Simon, while he blushed more and more.

After a couple minutes I said, "OK guys, how about we get back to our
school work OK? And Simon, what is it you needed anyway?"

"I never got to my locker earlier, can I please go get my books?" he
asked, sheepishly.

"Sure! Go on," I said.

Simon left to go get his books. Ethan surreptitiously slipped out of the
room and went with him. Everyone else got back to their studying then.
Simon and Ethan returned shortly and both hit their books as well.

 * * *

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully. When the last bell rang,
all the kids but Simon and Ethan left. The three of us were sitting
talking quietly about how everyone would know by sometime tomorrow that
Simon was living with me, when Tom walked in. He asked Ethan and Simon
how they were doing, and both said they were OK. We told him how Simon
and I had been "Outted". Tom chuckled and said he thought it was good
everyone knew. Tom told us then that he'd talked to Dwayne and Kelly and
given each of them a one week external suspension. They'd been told in
no uncertain terms to stay away from Simon and Ethan. He'd also called
and spoken to their parents. He said they were in a lot of trouble. He
also said that if they'd gone any further with what they were planning to
do, they could've faced criminal charges. He told Simon not to worry
about them anymore, he was sure they'd leave him alone.

Tom stepped over and sat down facing Ethan. He took Ethan's chin between
his thumb and forefinger and gently moved Ethan's head around a little,
looking carefully at Ethan's eye and lip.

"How's it feeling?" he asked Ethan.

"I'll live," Ethan said, smiling ruefully.

"Well, next time, don't try to handle something like this yourself. Get
help. Get me, or Greg or someone!" OK?" Tom said, patting Ethan gently
on the cheek.

"OK," Ethan said, quietly, tinging a little pink and avoiding Tom's look.

Tom looked at Ethan a minute yet. Finally Ethan said "um, Mr. McGrath,
did you call my mother too?"

"No, although I probably should have, because of your injuries," Tom
said.

"Please, can you not call? I don't want to have to explain to her why I
got my black eye." Ethan said, looking at Tom uncomfortably.

"So, your mom doesn't know then?" Tom asked.

"No," Ethan said, blushing and looking down.

"It's OK," Tom said, "I understand. I won't call her, and if she does
call me, I'll just say you got it for sticking up for a kid who was being
beaten up."

"Thanks Mr. McGrath," Ethan said, smiling, but still looking rather
embarrassed.

"You're welcome," Tom said, "like I said, I understand."

Ethan looked at Tom quizzically. It was Tom's turn to tinge pink now.

"OK, how about we blow this joint and all go back to our place for some
chicken and biscuits for supper?" I said, hoping to get everyone thinking
about something else.

Everyone smiled, and accepted my invitation, even Tom. I noticed that
Ethan was still glancing at Tom on and off, looking rather puzzled.

 * * *

I asked Ethan if he was OK to drive, and he assured me he was. Simon
rode home with him. They followed me. Tom arrived about 20 minutes
later. He had had to lock up the school.

Before Tom got there, the boys set the table, then joined me in the
kitchen, while I mixed up the biscuits. They sat at the table, while I
scooped the dough onto the cookie sheets.

"So Greg, you're pretty good friends with Mr. McGrath huh?" Ethan asked,
out of the blue.

"Yeah," I said, looking at him, as he seemed to be studying me carefully.

After a pause, Ethan said, "well, he seems like a nice guy, like you."

I chuckled and said, "Thanks Ethan!"

I got the impression he wanted to ask me some more questions, but he
didn't get a chance to, as Tom showed up then.

We had a nice meal together, and sat around talking for a little while.

I noticed that Tom seemed to be taking an interest in getting to know
Ethan better. He kept asking him questions about himself. At one point,
Tom asked Ethan all about his piano playing, and Simon and I told Tom how
great Ethan was, after Ethan had merely said "Yeah, I play." Ethan
blushed profusely while Simon and I gave a dissertation about how we'd
listened to Ethan's CD from his recital, and how good it was.

Eventually, Tom said he'd best get going. He had some things to take
care of at home. Ethan decided to leave at the same time, as he still
had some homework to do. Before they left, Tom, made Ethan stand still
while he took another look at his eye and lip. Ethan stood quietly while
Tom looked into his eye, and then gently touched and examined his face
all around his eye. I got a strange feeling that both of them were
enjoying the intimacy they were sharing. Finally, Tom stepped back and
pronounced Ethan's eye to be getting better already. Then the two of
them stood smiling at each other a minute yet, as Simon and I just looked
on.

We all said good-night then, and they took off. Simon and I picked up,
then watched some TV together.

 * * *

At 11:00 Simon went to bed. I stayed up a while though, as I had a stack
of tests to correct. At about 1:30, I had just finished correcting them
all, and was getting ready for bed. As I came out of the bathroom, I
heard Simon in his room thrashing about, yelling "No!" I strode quickly
into his room, and found him asleep, having a nightmare. I gently shook
him awake. As I sat down on the bed next to him, he looked up at me,
panting. His eyes still looked terrified.

"Wanta talk about it?" I asked, pushing a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"Not really!" he said.

I sat with him, stroking his hair, smiling down at him, as he finally
began to calm down.

"C-can I sleep with you for the rest of tonight?" he asked shyly a minute
later.

"I guess so, scootch over, we might as well sleep in your bed once," I
said.

"OK. You gonna get naked though?" he said, as I started to crawl under
the covers with my briefs on yet.

I looked at him, and was going to say something, but he looked so small
and vulnerable at that moment, that all I wanted to do was make him feel
better, so I quickly slipped off my briefs, turned off the light, and
crawled in naked, next to him. Immediately, he snuggled over to me,
pressing his own naked body up against mine. I wrapped my arm around him
and told him to go to sleep.

We laid together quietly for a minute or so, when Simon suddenly said
quietly "I love you Greg."

I smiled and kissed him on the forehead and said "I love you too Simon.
Try to go to sleep now son."

Within a few minutes, Simon's deep steady breathing told me the boy had
fallen back to sleep...

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The next chapter in this series will be published shortly.