Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:02:02 +0000
From: David Lee <dlee169@hotmail.com>
Subject: Tommy and Tanner, Chapter 3

Tommy and Tanner, Chapter 3

Warning:

This story contains scenes of love and sexual interaction between males of
similar age.  If the reading or possessing this material is illegal in your
country, state, province, county, municipality, etc., please leave this
site immediately and do not proceed further.  If you are under the legal
age to read this, please do not do so.  It is not my intention to offend
anyone or to get you in trouble.

The author retains the copyright, and any other rights, to this original
story.  You may not publish it or any part of it without explicit
authorization from me.

This is not my first attempt at writing fiction.  My longer stories on
Nifty include: "Always and Forever" (March 25, 2004), "Jacob and Jacques"
(May 30, 2004), "Zeke" (August 29, 2005), "Tales from Bentonville"
(November 16, 2008), and "Second Chance" (September 24, 2010) under "High
School" and "Someone to Watch over Me" under "Beginnings" in the gay male
section.  There are a few short stories also: "Brad and Alan's Canoe Trip"
(April 22, 2004 under "Camping", "Of Angels and Dragons" (November 8, 2008)
under "Camping", "A Christmas Tale" (December 22, 2009) under "High
School", "Brazil Affair" (October 1, 2010) under "Beginnings" and "Seth's
Gift" (October 10, 2010) under the Science Fiction/Fantasy category.

I am now listed on Nifty under the category of "Prolific Net Authors" which
will make it easier for you to access earlier stories.  Some of these
stories are also posted at: www.storylover.us along with those of other
writers that may interest you.

My only reward for contributing to Nifty is your emails.  Please write if
you like the story.  Please include the name of the story in the title of
your email because my email service sometimes puts them in the "spam" file.

Finally, thanks and hugs to Tom and David (boxerdude) who edit for me so
that there are fewer mistakes!  They not only proof-read, but make other
valuable suggestions.

David (dlee169@hotmail.com)

---------------------------------------------------------------------



Tommy and Tanner 3

John started 9th grade in the fall as "Tanner Torrance."  It wasn't as
though his classmates from middle school didn't know about the
circumstances of his father's death, but it still made him feel better
going to school with a new name.  In time, he would move on to places where
most people didn't know about his dad, and the ones who did might forget
some of the details by then.

On official records, it was John Tanner Torrance, but everywhere else he
was called by his middle name.  So from that point on, the boys were known
as Tommy and Tanner.  Since three middle schools fed into the high school,
there were many new acquaintances who called Tanner by his new name.  It
wasn't long before John's old classmates had adapted to the change too.
(Terrance had always been "Tommy" to them anyway.)

Going to high school for the first time is a scary transition for lots of
kids.  Being the lowest in the pecking order after being the high and
mighty eighth-graders is a bit of a comedown.  But it helps if you appear
to be more grown up.  It is also an advantage to have an older brother or
sister in high school to tell you how to act cool, which kids to avoid, and
how to get along with various teachers.  Tommy and Tanner had these
advantages because of Tim.

Tark was a well-liked teacher so that helped the boys not to get picked on
by the older kids.  Some of them actually tried to befriend the two
ninth-graders hoping to gain points with their social studies teacher and
coach.  But Tark was not the kind who would let someone off easy for being
nice to his kids.  In fact, he had the reputation of being a tough teacher;
tough but fair.  All, but a few jerks, had respect for him.

----------

Tanner and Tommy both celebrated their 14th birthdays shortly after school
began – Tanner on the 8th of September and Tommy on the 12th.  As they'd
often done when Tanner's mother was alive, they celebrated together with
one cake between them.  Ralph had stopped the tradition after she died.
Tanner wasn't sure why his father had done that, but was happy to have the
custom revived again even though some people would consider them too old to
celebrate in the manner they had as little boys.  They might be in high
school, but they really didn't feel that grown up at times.

High school brought with it more expectations to date.  Probably most of
the ninth-grade boys were a bit intimidated by the whole ritual.  Sure,
there were a few who thought of themselves as Casanovas and were eager to
lose their virginity, but many of them were still little boys in lots of
ways despite their sprouting pubes and changing voices.

Tommy and Tanner were both inexperienced and rather shy where the opposite
sex was concerned.  The prospect of actually asking a girl out made the
palms of their hands sweat and gave them butterflies in their stomachs.
But homecoming would be happening in October, and a number of their friends
would be escorting girls to the big dance.  The Torrance boys would have to
come up with dates if they didn't want to look like dorks in the eyes of
their peers.  Or at least that was what they thought.

One possible source for dates was church.  Tanner had never balked at the
idea of going to church with his new family.  He had always gone when his
mother was alive and had attended sometimes with Tommy's family after her
death.  His father had not darkened the door of any religious institution
following his wife's demise.  It was as if he blamed God for taking her
before her time.  But, at least he didn't prevent Tanner from going if he
wanted to.

The church community provided the boys with a number of prospective girls
to ask to homecoming.  There were some sweet ones who wouldn't expect a boy
to make out with them or get too serious at too young an age.  That was
just fine!  They didn't want to get pressured into going steady for some
time to come.

----------

The more mature members of the freshman class loved the format of high
school.  They liked changing teachers each period and having more freedom.
There was more homework, but classes were also more interesting and
challenging.

Kids like Tommy and Tanner who had each other to study with were among the
lucky ones.  It wasn't that they gave each other all the answers, but they
did discuss what they were reading.  They always used their own words in
filling out the study sheets so they wouldn't be suspected of copying, but
their thoughts were similar.  Like most people, they had their own strong
points and idiosyncrasies.  These tended to complement each other.  It made
them both appear to be smarter than they probably would have by themselves.

The two boys went out for cross-country track in the fall.  Neither was a
star runner, but both benefited from the exercise and from the weight
training that went along with it.  Being part of a team didn't hurt either.
It helped them make friends and feel more at home in their new environment.
One kid that they hit it off with immediately was Andy Roberts.  He was
about their size and a bit on the shy side.

The guy who coached track, Mark Lewis, was the same one who coached boys'
swimming.  He was happy to have the kids keeping in shape so they would
have more stamina for that sport in the winter.

----------

Tim got his promised vehicle in September, about a month after his
birthday, but well ahead of homecoming.  It wasn't a new one and it wasn't
every boy's dream car.  It had belonged to an older lady, Ms Dorothy
Cranston, from church.  She couldn't get her license renewed because of her
eyesight, so when she got wind that Tim needed a car; she sold hers to Tark
for a price below market value.  She wanted to help them out for taking in
the good kid who was now their new son.  After all, she was the last living
remnant of her once large family and she had no one to leave anything to.
Tark was grateful for her generosity and told her so.

Tim was as pleased with the burgundy Buick Regal sedan as if it had been a
Porsche.  It was very well maintained and had low mileage.  Teri claimed it
would probably outlast her newer car.

As soon as he got it, Tim wanted to wash it and apply a new coat of wax to
protect its finish.  Tommy and Tanner helped.  Naturally the boys messed
around with the hose and all three got soaked to the skin in the process.
Luckily the day was a hot one and the boys were attired only in cutoffs and
flip-flops.  Despite the way the boys looked, the car could have been put
on display in a showroom when they finished.

----------

Tim had lined up a date for the homecoming dance well in advance. There was
no shortage of girls who would jump at the chance to date him.  He was
working on Chas to ask someone too so they could double.  Luckily, Tim's
date had a best friend who didn't think Chas was too big of a dork to be
seen with, so he got fixed up with a date as well.

The younger boys eventually got up the nerve to ask a couple of girls from
church who were also ninth graders.  They had discussed their prospective
dates many times in the privacy of their shared room before dropping off to
sleep.  Both were warming to the idea of holding hands with a girl and
possibly getting a goodnight kiss.  These thoughts were fueled by talk
among their peers in the locker room after gym classes.

When the big night arrived, Tark chauffeured Tommy and Tanner in the family
minivan to pick up their dates.  It wasn't exactly a cool ride, but at
least the boys would be able to sit with the girls instead of having to be
split up as they would have to in Teri's car.

Ava Carson looked very cute in the dress her mother had purchased for her
first "real" date.  She was as nervous as Tommy was, and blushed every few
minutes in the beginning.

Her best friend, Sibyl Wharton was not bashful, but equally pretty.  She
was very pleased to be going to homecoming with Tanner.  He was her idea of
a perfect boyfriend.  She was going to do her best to make sure he asked
her out again.  In this community there was an unwritten rule that a girl
could ask her homecoming date out to a movie or something within a couple
of weeks after their date.  She was going to honor the tradition.

The dance turned out to be more fun than the boys had imagined it would be.
Ava and Sibyl were good dancers, but didn't make the boys feel awkward when
they made a misstep.  Although Teri had given them several lessons, Tommy
and Tanner felt uncomfortable in the beginning.  However, before the night
was over, they were relaxed and actually looked pretty good on the dance
floor.

Tark was one of the faculty sponsors so he got to watch from the sidelines.
It made him proud, but nostalgic, that his ninth-grade boys were becoming
young men.  Ah well, he still had Tucker to be his little boy for another
year or so...

On the way home, Tanner and Sibyl were seated in the very back seat holding
hands in the dark.  Tommy was afraid to because it would be obvious since
he and Ava were sitting in separate seats in the middle row.

Sibyl was dropped off first and Tanner dutifully walked her to her front
door.  The porch light wasn't on, but Tommy could see that Sibyl lifted her
face expectantly for a kiss.  Tanner didn't let her down.

When it was Tommy's turn to escort his date to her door, the front light
seemed as bright as a lighthouse beacon.  He was dreading having his father
see him kiss a girl, but he gave Ava a quick, dry peck on her cheek before
saying goodnight.  Both of them giggled and turned bright crimson.

"So, did you get a woody kissing her?" Tanner teased Tommy after they were
alone in their room.

"No, I was too scared, I guess.  How about you?"

"Nah, I guess I was nervous too."

Tim came home over an hour later than the younger boys.  He and Chas had
taken their dates out for pizza and had spent a bit longer saying their
goodbyes.  Tim had glanced in the mirror when he heard moaning in the back
seat.  Chas had evidently learned a few things from the movies he loved to
watch because he was kissing his date like a "romantic lead".  Tim suddenly
developed a new respect for his "nerdy" friend.  He'd have to get some
pointers and possibly borrow a chick-flick video or two.

----------

The fall term moved along at a rather rapid rate.  Football games and track
meets helped to quicken the pace.  The teams didn't have outstanding
records, but had more wins than losses.  The coaching staff at Coolidge
High was pleased with their teams' efforts.  They had a rare attitude in
that they valued fair competition and sportsmanship above the concept of
winning at all costs.  They would rather keep an injured player on the
bench than risk a kid's having long-term health problems.  As a result, the
student athletes had a lot of fun and didn't end up broken-hearted when
they lost a game, though a few of the parents did.

----------

Halloween parties followed closely on the heels of homecoming activities.
There was a big one jointly sponsored by three of the larger churches.  The
incentive for it was to give high school students something fun to do and
at the same time keep them out of trouble.  An added benefit was that it
would be a large enough affair to attract socially active students and make
church events more acceptable for "cool" kids to attend.

Ava and Sibyl invited Tommy and Tanner to go with them.  It was a
convenient excuse for a "payback" date.  The boys accepted graciously, but
were a bit concerned that the girls might be getting attached too quickly.
Going steady wasn't on their agendas at this point.

Ava's mother drove the kids to the party in her SUV.  The seating
arrangement made it easier to hold hands in secret, but having Ava's mother
there in the same vehicle made Tommy more reticent to do anything more than
he had been when his dad was driving.  Tommy wasn't sure how Ava felt, but
she wasn't making any attempt to come in contact with his hand as it lay on
the seat next to hers.

Sibyl had no problem.  She reached for Tanner's hand as soon as they got
underway and let both of their hands rest on his leg very near to the bulge
in his pants.  That made him wonder just how serious she was going to get.
It was at the same time exciting and scary.

The party, itself, was a lot of fun.  There were games, plenty of food, and
a bit of dancing.  The kids all enjoyed the time socializing in a wholesome
atmosphere.

On the way home from the party, Sibyl actually rested her hand on Tanner's
package, which tended to grow bigger from the contact.  No hand but his own
had ever touched him there.  It was exciting,

----------

Every fall, all of the ninth graders got the annual sex lecture during one
of their language arts periods.  It was a time of embarrassment for many of
them, but it was also a time of learning more about the hormonal changes
their bodies were going through.  In addition, it gave them valuable
information about how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.

Tommy and Tanner listened carefully, but felt they hadn't learned much they
didn't already know.

Tark had "the talk" with Tommy and Tanner the day after the annual sex
lecture at school.  He spent a while with them in their room showing them,
with a banana, the proper way to put on a condom.  The boys were so curious
to learn about it that they didn't seem overly embarrassed.  Tommy had
always been able to talk about anything with his father and Tanner went
along with it easily too.  They both thought Tark's demonstration was more
to the point about the practical things they needed to know than the
discussion at school had been.

"I don't want you to take this as being a license to screw," Tark had said
after giving them a box of a dozen condoms.  "But, I feel it's better to be
safe than sorry.  You can hide these above one of the ceiling tiles in the
basement bathroom if you like.  Please let me know if and when you need
more.  I won't ask questions or judge you."

----------

In November, Tanner began sleeping alone in the top bunk instead of sharing
Tommy's bed.  There was no discussion about it; he simply chose to do it
one night and kept on.  Tommy felt hurt, but didn't mention it because he
thought it might sound "gay" if he said he wanted to continue sleeping
together.  However, he missed the physical contact.

Thanksgiving week was vacation for the students and teachers.  It was a
welcome break from the fast pace of the fall term.  Teri's parents came for
the big dinner, but Tark's parents declined because they had reservations
for a cruise in the Bahamas.

Floyd and Jeri arrived bearing lots of food.  Jeri was retired and had time
for baking goodies.  She knew her daughter did not have that leisure and
she should not have to prepare for company along with keeping up the house
and looking after her husband and four boys.  Jeri had been a working mom
and knew the stress.

Tanner was sincerely pleased to see his new grandparents again.  He got the
same hugs from them as his brothers did and each of the boys was treated to
a bag of goodies which included a $20 bill to spend any way they wanted.
Tommy and Tanner figured they might use the money see a movie.

Tucker got additional presents in honor of his 13th birthday which fell on
Thanksgiving Day that year.  He sometimes hated having it so close to
Christmas, but he enjoyed the idea of becoming a teenager!

----------

Author's notes: Thanks to all who emailed since last posting: Bob (Z), Jim
C, Rutabaga, JT, Bill T, Lawrence and Douglas, Matt F, Randal, Danny A,
Paul R, Ferd B, Walt S, Bill K, Jim W, Gary McC, Tom A, Jamie E, Trish R,
John McD, Edward L, Don R, and Geoff T (Always and Forever).

If your name doesn't appear, it's quite possible that I sent the chapter in
before you responded.  If so, I'll try to get you on the next one.

Two of your fellow readers have just posted stories of their own.  John has
"Justin and Alan" in the celebrity category and Trish has "A Voice from the
Past" in the beginnings category.

I also discovered a story by Etienne in beginnings called "Damaged Goods"
which looks like a good romantic one.  He has three chapters posted on
Nifty, but there's a new one on his own site.

Perhaps you've heard that the conservatives who have a majority in the Iowa
House are trying to make same-sex unions of any kind illegal in Iowa.  The
Democratic majority in the Senate is likely to thwart those plans.
However, it's scary!  Letters to the editor in our local paper have been
running heavily to the side of "give us a break and work on the important
things because the majority of Iowans know that same-sex marriage isn't
doing anything bad."  Perhaps there's hope!

David