Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:16:54 -0700
From: h.schreiber@hushmail.com
Subject: Val-n-Tyne chapter 4 posted in Gay Male High School

Warning!  This story is a work of fiction written by a legal age adult. Any
similarity between the fictional characters and any live person is purely
coincidental. This story contains fictional descriptions of sexual activity
between consenting minor youth. If you are under the age of 18, and/or if
you are offended by this content, and/or if it is illegal in your
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retrieval system without the written permission of the Author or Publisher,
except where permitted by law. Copyright (c) 2012 by Hans Schreiber and
Flip McHooter.

Special thanks to our editor, Pablo.

This work is a collaboration between Hans Schreiber and Flip
McHooter. Please send your comments to Hans at h.schreiber@hushmail.com and
to Flip at 1977.flip@gmail.com

				Val 'n Tyne

				 Chapter 4

Val sat down on the table with his name card on it and wondered if Tyne
would show up to fifth period. He guessed he was still busy messing with
the pictures for Noah to give to Lizzy. Ms. Harris took role when the
second bell rang and asked everyone to open their workbooks. They were
studying the social evolution of the acceptance of alternative lifestyles.
Val was shocked to learn that prior to the revolution, in a land that was
populated by people who had fled to America to escape tyranny and
persecution, anyone caught engaging in homosexual relations was punished by
death in all 13 colonies. The first statutes in English law against
homosexuality were written in 1533 by British parliament under Henry the
VIII, stating that anyone committing the abominable vice of buggery with
man or beast was to be punished with death. These laws were repealed and
reinstated over the next thirty years until they were solidified under
Queen Elizabeth and stayed in effect until 1861 when it was reduced from a
capital crime to life in prison. In France at this time period, the penalty
for homosexuality was to be burned at the stake along with the witches.

After the Revolution, the states reexamined the English laws and their
harsh nature. Pennsylvania was the first to change the punishment for
sodomy and buggery to ten years in prison and forfeit of all land and
goods. In New Jersey, the punishment was softened to 21 years of hard
labor. Delaware doled out three years solitary confinement and a public
lashing of sixty lashes on the bare back. The last two colonies to give up
the death penalty were North Carolina in 1855 and South Carolina in 1873.

A lively discussion ensued in the classroom and as it was beginning, Tyne
slipped into the empty chair beside Val. He smiled at him and said,
"Mission accomplished." Val wondered about the whole idea again.

Ms. Harris told several stories of modern day, young, gay people who chose
to invoke their own death penalty to escape the torment they suffered from
gay bashers. One of them, they all remembered from right there in Hartsdale
that happened just last year. A seventh grader had been repeatedly bullied,
and not able to take it anymore, he did a head first dive off the roof of
the middle school cafeteria during lunch, his head splitting open all over
the quad area right in front of his classmates. The idea was sobering and
left the entire class in thoughtful introspection. Val thought about how
carelessly he had called something 'gay' or teasingly referred to someone
as a 'queer' or a 'fag.' He wondered how many people he had wounded with
those words. He'd gotten a small taste of what kids who had come out
experienced and realized that those words had to be hurtful to ones like
Tyne who had not come out.

At the end of class, Ms. Harris asked everyone to fill out a short comment
sheet about the upcoming 'date.' She had the questions on the white board
and Val read through the five questions carefully before beginning to
answer them thoughtfully.

      What was your first reaction to this assignment?

       	I thought it was stupid and felt like I was being forced to do
something I didn't want to. I was also worried about what my parents'
reaction would be.

      Why do you think there was such a reaction to the assignment by the
student body and parents?

	People don't understand about gays and it scares them I think. And
sometimes parents aren't very tolerant, even if they say they are.

      Was it difficult to make contact with the person you were assigned to
go with?

	Yes. It felt really awkward.

      Have you found out that it was easier than you thought to talk with,
and find common ground with, a person of your same sex you didn't know very
well than you thought it would be?

	Yes. Tyne turned out to be a very cool guy, but I was worried we
didn't have anything in common or that we wouldn't find anything to talk
about. I found out he is a real person with real hopes for his future and
in lots of ways much more solid than I am.

      Do you have any fears about the upcoming date?

	Yes. I'm afraid that Tyne won't like me because I'm just a dumb
jock. I really think he's cool and smart and I wish we could become real
friends.

Val took his paper and tossed it in the pile on Ms. Harris' desk, waved to
Tyne and left for basketball, nervous about the whole picture plan. Tyne
took a few more minutes to fill his paper out and when he was about to toss
it in the pile, he saw Val's name sticking out on a paper in the middle of
the pile. He glanced around and making sure that no one was watching, he
pulled it out and set it on top. When he read the last answer, he got a
lump in his throat and tears stung in his eyes. He had no idea.

All the way over to the gym, Val started having doubts about what he was
about to do to Nick. Part of him felt like he deserved it, but knowing what
he'd been going through himself the past week, Val wondered if the
punishment was a bit too harsh. He thought about the severe and cruel
punishments he had just learned about and how unfair it was. He wondered
what kind of nightmare gays lived through in those times.

Nick and Val entered the Physical Education building together. The more
Nick thought about it, the more determined he was to fool around with Val
and get in his pants. Since Lizzy had brought this whole thing up, he kept
thinking that this might really be a great opportunity to get it on with
his hot friend. His dick had been in a state of chubbiness all day and more
than once he caught himself daydreaming in class about all of the hot and
sexy things he'd like to do to Val's muscular naked body. "So what are you
going to do about this gay thing?" Nick asked Val as they walked into the
locker room together to change for basketball practice.

"What the F are you talking about, Nick? I told you I'm not gay," Val said,
and looked at his friend with utter and complete frustration. "Why won't
you just drop it?  I'm really getting sick and tired of all this shit. Why
don't you just shut the F up? And stop talking shit about me behind my
back, too."

"Dude, I'm not. I wouldn't do that. I'm just trying to help you out."

"Well stop trying, because you're not helping."

"Because I really think you have doubts, and you need to make up your
mind. Test the waters out a little bit, you know? See what feels right."

"Don't go there man, I'm warning you," Val said, as he slammed his books
into his locker. "Just don't go there."

"All I'm saying is that everybody wonders about it sometimes, you know, to
see what it feels like, and maybe this is the time for you to try it
out. I've heard it's just a normal and natural kind of thing to do."

"Really? Why are you, of all people, saying this to me? Have you
'experimented' on the other side, maybe on the down low?"

"Look, I get how you could be kind of confused about all this sex shit. You
told me you're still a virgin, I mean that's saying something about you
right there. I'll tell you something about me, but you got to keep it a
secret, okay?" Val shrugged. He wasn't all that interested in Nick's
secrets. Nick continued in a hushed tone, "I did some gay stuff with my
cousin, Michael, before when we were younger. We jacked and sucked each
other. It kind of messed with my head some. I wanted to do it with him, to
try it out and all, but then I didn't want to do it because I was afraid
about the whole gay thing. You're probably thinking this date thing with
Tyne is a chance to experiment a little. After doing it with Michael, I
started getting a ton of girl sex. Maybe it will work that way for
you. Maybe you just need someone you can totally trust to satisfy your gay
curiosity."

"Stop! Just stop it right now. If you say one more word about me being gay,
or trying gay stuff out, I swear to God you'll be spending the next two
weeks trying to pull your head out of your ass. Because in a minute, I'm
going to shove it so far up there that you'll..."

"Okay, okay. I get it," Nick said, holding up his palms. "I'm just going to
say this one last thing. It's your problem and you're going to have to deal
with it, sooner rather than later. It's the only way you'll know for
sure. Val, you don't have to do this date thing with Tyne and ruin your
reputation just for a chance to try it out. As your best friend, I'm
willing to let you experiment with it together with me. It's a small
sacrifice for a good friend. You can drop the date with Tyne and you can
mess with me on the down low so nobody will know or suspect. Then, I'll
talk to Tyrell about you and Sheena. He says Sheena's totally hot for you
and when she found out you were a virgin, she got totally excited to be
your first experience."

'No, this is your problem and you're going to have to deal with it, sooner
than you think' Val thought. Val had just pulled off his boxers and fished
his jockstrap out of his bag. He stood up erect and glared down at
Nick. Fury rose from deep within and burned in his flushed face and
chest. Through clenched teeth, Val seethed, "You did what? You told Tyrell
to tell Sheena that I was a virgin so she'd be a pity fuck for me? What
makes you think for a minute that even if I wanted to do gay stuff, which I
don't, that I'd want anything to do with you? I'll tell you what you are
gonna experience with me - pain, because I'm gonna kick your ass!"

They spent the rest of the time suiting up in an uncomfortable
silence. After they got dressed and were out on the gym floor, Val became
increasingly more frustrated as the practice wore on. It was
uncharacteristically quiet and the team was moving around very slowly. The
guys on the team always played easily off each other in a coordinated
rhythm, passing the ball around to each other, instinctively anticipating
each other's moves to set up open scoring opportunities. But not
today. Then, about halfway through practice, it occurred to Val that all of
the guys were out to get him. Every time he was wide open for an easy pass,
they would hesitate and find someone else to pass to. The few times that he
was able to run down the court with the ball and try to make a shot, he got
fouled unnecessarily hard by someone. First it was by Lukas, which wasn't a
surprise since he never played fair, but then Dane started to elbow him and
got Val good up under his chin. When Val complained to the guys, they just
shrugged their shoulders. Even Coach Carlson just looked the other way,
pretending not to notice or care what was going on.

Val could only take so much, and later on when Evan tripped him and he did
a face-plant on the hardwood, he went nuts. He got up and marched over to
Evan, and without saying a word punched him hard, right in the gut. The
guys had to pull Val back before he did some serious damage to his
so-called friend.

"Val! Out. Right now," Coach screamed at him.

"But Coach..."

"Out. I don't want to hear it. Get out of my face. Go cool off in the
locker room. That's no way to react just because you're frustrated."

Dejectedly, Val left the court and headed towards the locker room. His life
was imploding all around him and all he wanted to do was get out of
there. But he couldn't. Now more than ever, he had to get Lukas to look at
Nick's phone so Nick would get what was coming to him and this shit would
finally stop. He just hoped that Tyne and Noah had pulled off the second
phase of their scheme, because all he could think about was revenge. He
just hoped that once Lizzy got hers, his life would go back to normal.

Val took his time changing out of his practice clothes. He pulled his
jersey off and sat on the bench for a long time fuming and then slowly got
dressed in his street clothes.

He looked up when he heard the door from the gym open and close. Tyrell
came around the edge of his locker bay and leaned up against the first
locker. "Hey Val, you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay. What's up with you fuckers? I thought we were teammates
and friends and you're all treating me like shit because of a bunch of
gossip and rumors about me being gay. It's just an F'n class
assignment. This is such bullshit."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Lukas and Evan and 'specially Nick are talking a lot of
shit about the gay thing. They're saying like what if you got AIDS and shit
and then we could catch it from you on the court. Plus, they are all like
being uncomfortable with you in the locker room checking them out and
stuff. Stupid shit. But, I just wanted you to know I think it's wrong. Nick
told me about your idea to get with Sheena, but that you're too shy and
all. I talked to her already and we can all go over to Latwanza's house on
Saturday and hang out. The place will be all ours and Sheena really thinks
you're hot and will totally go all the way with you. It'll totally fix your
rep if you lose your V-card instead of going on that dumbass assignment
with Tyne. Besides, when I told her your dick was bigger than mine, she was
like drooling."

"Wait. You did it with both Latwanza and Sheena?"

"Yeah. My brother Tyrone was with us. The four of us had a great
time. Sheena's really horny. You'll have fun," Tyrell boasted.

"You have two minutes to get the F out of my sight before I beat the shit
out of you. I don't need any pity fucks. It's nobody's business that I'm a
virgin. Maybe I'm a virgin because I choose for it to be something special
when I finally do it. And where the F do you get off telling anybody about
how big my dick is? Why the F are you noticing the size of my dick anyway?"

"Well dude, c'mon, it's right there. You're not very shy about showing it
off."

"Whatever." He had just finished tying up his huge Nike's when the rest of
the guys started to stream into the locker room. He thought about busting
Nick up good, but then he decided that would be pointless once everybody
saw the pics. Val grabbed his gym bag and his backpack and slammed his
locker shut. Totally ignoring Nick, he went around the locker room until he
spotted Lukas.

"Hey, man, there's something you need to see. Take a look at the pics on
Nick's phone. I downloaded a three point b-ball app for him and somehow a
picture of me came up on the screen. You need to check it out and find out
who the real gay guy is around here," Val said, trying not to lose it. He
was pissed, and he was no longer feeling guilty about setting Nick up.

"Shut up. He's a chick magnet. There's no way he's gay. There's no way he'd
take a picture of you - unless you made him. I guess that little brainiac
faggot you're dating is really fucking with your head, dude."

Val cringed at that word and grabbed Lukas' jersey and pulled him in
tight. "He doesn't have anything to do with this. Now go ask Nick to check
out the b-ball app and then thumb through the pics. It's a simple
request. Just do it! Now!"

"All right already. Fuck!" Lukas slammed his locker shut and walked over to
Nick, who was just stepping into his boxers. "Let me see that b-ball game
that Val downloaded to your phone. He said it was cool."

"It's freakin' lame, dude, just like his gay ass is. But if you want to
check it out, here," Nick said, and tossed the phone to Lukas.

Val was standing around the corner of the locker bay, and was able to hear
the conversation. He couldn't believe how easy it was for Lukas to get the
phone from Nick. He didn't even question Lukas' interest.

"Holy fuck! I can't believe it. You're queer too! That Tyne guy really is
turning everybody gay. I can't believe you have naked pics of Val on your
phone. And who the hell is this guy?" Lukas said as he clicked through the
pics on the phone. "Gawd, he looks like a girl. Shit! He's wearing
makeup. Is that what you're into now, Nick? Girly-men?" A crowd immediately
gathered around and soon groans and shocked comments were erupting.

"What the hell? What are you guys talking about? I don't have any pictures
of guys on my phone. Evan held it toward him and flipped through them. Val
looked on, feeling a little guilty as he watched the panic well up in
Nick's face. Then Evan flipped to another folder containing a picture of
Val standing completely naked followed by a close up of his dick and
balls. There were two additional ones that Tyne had not taken. Then, even
more shocking was a pic that had obviously been taken from the top of a
bathroom stall showing Dane stretched out on the toilet seat jacking
off. Nick began flailing toward the phone to grab it back.

"Give me that! I've been setup. This is total bullshit. I'd never take
those. C'mon, you guys know me. I've fucked more girls than any of you have
even kissed. Give me back my damn phone!" A lively game of keep away ensued
until Dane got hold of it. Nick lunged at him and Dane smashed Nick hard in
the face knocking him down. Dane straddled Nick and began pummeling him
with his fists, one of them still clutching Nick's phone. Nick curled up
and took it until Val grabbed Dane and threw him off. Val grabbed Dane's
arm and dug his fingers into the underside of Dane's wrist until he
released the phone. Nick lay on the floor wiping blood from his nose and
lip.

Val took the phone back to Nick and said, "Erase those off your phone,
right now." Nick took the phone and quickly started to do just that. He
remained curled up on the floor.

Lukas came up and kicked Nick in the ribs and said, "You disgust me. After
all the shit you were talking about Val, it turns out you're the faggot."
Lukas started a second kick when Val raised his leg and planted his size
fourteen Nike in the middle of Lukas' chest, propelling him hard backwards
into the lockers. There was a loud banging sound as Lukas' head dented the
locker door. "Ow, fuck! What was that for?"

"I'll tell you what that was for. That was for Nick. I've had it with all
the trash talk about gays and faggots. You've been treating me like shit
all week because you believed a bunch of stupid gossip about me being
gay. It hurt like hell even though I'm not gay. Imagine how it feels when
someone really is gay. I don't know if Nick's gay or not and I don't really
care. If he says he was setup, then I believe him. Whether he is or not,
it's none of our F'n business. He's a teammate. No one gives Tyrell shit
about being black or Carlos because he's Hispanic. And no one harasses you
because you're an ugly asshole, Lukas. This gay bashing bullshit ends
now. Everyone who agrees with me and is willing to give it a rest for good,
raise your hand."

Some hands quickly shot up, and some others slowly rose while they checked
who else was raising theirs. Only Lukas and Dane refused. "Fine," Val
said. "You don't have to raise your hands but the rest of us are done with
it. Let's get back to being a team. We sucked in practice today because
we're not united."

"Fuck you. I'll quit before I play ball with a bunch of fag lovers," Lukas
scowled.

"Anyone sad about Lukas quitting the team raise your hand." No one did. Not
even Dane raised his hand. Lukas stormed off to find Coach Carlson.

Val reached a hand to Nick. Nick looked at it and then looked away in
shame. Tyrell walked over and grabbed Nick's arm and pulled it up into
Val's grip. Evan, Carlos and David all gathered in and lifted Nick off the
floor. Slowly the crowd dispersed to get dressed. Val sat down next to Nick
on the bench as Nick tossed his sanitized phone into his gym bag.

"Are you all right? Anything broken? Val asked, not looking at Nick.

"No, I'm okay. I'll live. You set me up, didn't you? You put those pics on
my phone and then got Lukas to look them up, right?"

"Not all of them, but yeah, some of them. I was a little shocked to see the
others. I found out you were gay bashing me right along with Lukas and the
others then lying to me about it. I can't tell you how badly that hurt. We
were supposed to be best buds."

Nick stared down at his bare feet, suddenly intensely interested in his
toes. "Sorry," he finally mumbled.

"Yeah, I bet you are. Payback's a bitch, ain't it? Think about that next
time you start out to trash somebody's rep." Val stood and gathered his
backpack and gym bag to leave.

"Val, thanks."

"For what?"

"For not letting it get out of hand, and for saying what you did to Lukas."

"Sure. It's all so F'n stupid. I can't stand it. You need to make one more
apology by the way."

"To who?" Nick asked.

"Who do you think? Dane. That was a fucking shock. Imagine how he's feeling
right now having everyone see that pic?"

"Oh. Yeah. I will. Fuck, I'm so messed up."

"See ya later. And while you're apologizing, it wouldn't hurt to apologize
to Tyne and Noah too." Val exited quickly from the gym and was glad to fill
his lungs with the fresh February air and expel the stale, bigoted air from
the locker room.

                                            **##**

Noah had to hustle across campus after sixth period to get to the library
conference room where the dorks on the student council were having their
after school meeting. He wanted to be sure to catch Lizzy before she went
in, so he could hand her the photos that he and Tyne had Photoshopped and
printed out. Luck was with him because just as he rounded the corner, he
spotted Lizzy standing outside in the courtyard like she was waiting for
someone.

"Hey, Lizzy? Can I talk with you for a second?"

Lizzy turned around, and seeing who wanted her attention, rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Noah? I'm busy."

"I know you are, but this is something really, really important," Noah
said, putting his best acting skills to use. "Come over here. I don't want
anyone to see us talking. I have a big problem that I need to discuss with
you. It has to do with Val and Nick."

That got her sudden attention. "What about Val?"

"Well, I'm kind of scared about this, and you have to promise not to tell,
okay?"

"Spit it out, Noah. I don't have time for your swishy little games. What is
it?" she said, getting all snooty, but followed him over behind one of the
columns anyway.

"You see, Nick said that somehow you knew that I had pictures of him and
Val on my phone, and I don't know how you knew that, but I don't want to
get in any trouble over it. I only had one of each of them. Please tell me
who told you about it."

"Wait, you're saying that you really do have naked pictures of Nick and
even some of Val?"

"Not pictures, just one picture of each of them. I'm really sorry and I
can't figure out who told you, so I really need to find that out."

"Wait. I see what you're up to. You don't really have any pictures, you're
just trying to trip me up by getting me to tell you my sources. Well, Val
was my source, so there. He told me, only he told me that he only took the
pictures of Nick and gave them to you. So you messed up by saying you also
had pictures of Val."

"Now I'm confused," Noah lied convincingly. "Why would Val blab that to
you? I can't believe he told you about giving me the pictures. Look, I
printed them out so you'd see I wasn't lying about it and then I deleted
them off my phone. Please don't tell anybody else Val did this and whatever
you do, please don't tell my mom."

"Why would I tell your mom?" she asked, taking the folded up papers.

"I don't know, but remember last year when my brother got caught sexting
with his girlfriend and it went viral all around the school? His dick and
her boobs were everywhere! I don't want that to happen to Val since he's
your boyfriend. Well, and Nick too. For sure it would get traced back to me
and my mom would beat the holy shit out of me. I just don't want to get in
any trouble over a couple of pics," Noah said, looking down at the ground
and shuffling dirt around with his shiny green Doc Marten's. He really had
to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

Lizzy unfolded the papers and when she saw what they were, she made a
little gasp and her eyes bugged out. She looked from one to the other and
then back again. Then she looked up at Noah with a blank stare, and then
took another long look at the pictures.

"They like to pose like that for each other," Noah said.

"With BONERS?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so. It makes them happy. They are 'best friends' you
know."

"But why?"

"Duh, I thought Val told you he was gay. You just didn't know that Nick was
too, I guess. Why do you think Nick is so damn pissed about the date with
Tyne? Because he's jealous over him moving in on his BFF. Besides, they
just like being dangerous in the locker room, I guess. They do it in the
locker room after the rest of the team has left," Noah said, shyly.

"I don't believe it. Who takes the pictures like this with their penises
all hard?" Taking another look at the pictures, she said, "I knew Val was
big down there, but Nick, oh my god, it's so huge!" She studied Val's
picture up close and then said, "I didn't think his looked quite like
that."

"Whoa, sister, TMI. How would you know what Val's dick looks like? I
thought you weren't that kind of a girl and Val claims to be a virgin, at
least when it comes to vaginas," Noah said. He watched with pleasure as
Lizzy realized what she'd just given away. Noah filled in the blank air
time by answering her other question, "They obviously took the pics of each
other. Who else would do it?" As for Nick, "I know what you mean. It's like
a baseball bat, or a baby's leg. I'm really going to miss whipping my
noodle to that hot image. It's really something, huh?" Noah said, starting
to queen it up. Tyne had done a great job of importing a humungous dick
onto the Nick look-a-like's picture.

"No wonder Nick always has all those girls throwing themselves at
him. Well, never mind that. I'm keeping these pictures and I'll make sure
this stays between us as long as you don't say anything about me knowing
what Val's penis looks like.

"Thanks, Lizzy. I was hoping I could count on you. You have no idea how
much better this makes me feel to know it was Val you got your information
from and to be rid of those pics off my phone. Umm, could I just have one
last peek at the one of Nick?" Lizzy rolled her eyes and held it out toward
him.

Noah gave a big sigh and took off to meet Tyne in the parking lot. He
couldn't wait to tell him how well she fell for it. What a bitch, he
thought to himself.

Lizzy folded up the papers and stuck them in her notebook, and after taking
a quick look around, climbed up the stairs and into the library. Going into
the smaller board room, she looked around and noticed that Regina wasn't
there. That made her excited because Lizzy was the vice-president and that
meant she would get to chair the meeting for once.

"Hi everybody. Sorry I'm late. Where's Regina?"

"A volleyball crisis, I think," said Kerry.

"Okay, well let's get started. Do we have a quorum?" Lizzy asked. This was
her first time being chair, and she was super excited. She just had to make
sure she followed Robert's Rules of Order.

"Yes. We're all here, except for Regina," Sheena said. She was the
treasurer.

"Do we need to read the minutes of the last meeting or do we want to move
for approval as written?" Lizzy asked as she looked over to the
secretary. She was starting to get into her groove and she was thinking
that she really liked being in charge like this.

"I motion for approval as stated," Dexter said, pushing his thick glasses
up the bridge of his nose and looking at her.

"Seconded," Kerry said.

"All in favor?" Lizzy said, fumbling through her notebook looking for last
week's minutes. She needed to look at them because if anyone asked a
question, she wouldn't have a clue. She felt stupid for not taking the
council minutes home to review the night before. It's all Val's fault, she
thought, and that faggot Tyne.

"Aye," everyone said.

"Okay, so moved. Old business?" Lizzy looked around the room. It seemed
strange that everyone was quiet all of a sudden.

"Do we have any old business to discuss or not? Dexter?"

"Well, um, there seems to be a problem with the posters for the Valentines
Dance. Maybe Sheena can tell us about it since she's co-chair of the dance
committee," he said, throwing Sheena under the bus.

"Thanks, Dex, you asshole. I don't know how to say this, but the posters
you put up to out your boyfriend are going to get us all in trouble,"
Sheena said.

"What do you mean? In trouble with whom?" Lizzy asked.

"How about the principal and our faculty advisor, Mrs. Smith. I'm surprised
both of them aren't here," Sheena answered. "Ms. Harris, that weird
lifestyles teacher, is having a baby cow over it all because it's ruining
the point of her assignment."

"Well, Val tore all the posters down and I admitted to him that it was me,
so everyone should just forget about it," Lizzy said in a scolding manner.

"Well, it got the whole school talking about Val 'n Tyne and calling them
gay, so it's not going to blow over." Derek chimed in.  "Plus, Coach
Carlson is pissed because you got Nick and Lukas all riled up about Val
being gay and it's messing up the team. I was in there getting started with
the dance decorations during last period and Val started a fight over it
right in the middle of practice and Coach Carlson kicked him out,"

Caught off guard, Lizzy slammed her fist down and tipped the corner of her
notebook with her arm, sending all of her papers tumbling to the
ground. "Damn," she said.

Dexter and Kerry were the closest to her, and being gentlemen, they jumped
up to help her pickup the spilled papers. Dexter was making more of a mess
than actually helping, and Kerry was picking up as much as he could because
he wanted to get the hell out of there before the principal and Mrs. Smith
showed up. But suddenly something caught his eye. A couple of folded up
pieces of paper popped out, and they spread open just enough to be obvious
photos of some sort. He could just make out the face on a guy in one of the
pictures. Curious, he opened one up, looked at it for a second and then
quickly folded it back up. Making sure that Lizzy wasn't watching, he got
up and sat back down in his seat keeping the pictures hidden behind him.

"What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost," Sheena said
into his ear.

"Look at this. I think we have a bigger problem than just posters."

"Oh my God! I don't know what you're playing, Lizzy, but what's the idea of
this? Were you planning on passing these around?" Sheena took them from
Kerry and held them up for everyone to see.

"GIVE ME THOSE!" Lizzy screamed. She lunged after them and tripped, falling
flat on her face. Derek grabbed the one of Nick and started laughing his
head off. Somebody else plucked the one of Val out of Sheena's hands and
they both began making the rounds. Lizzy jumped up and tried to climb over
the boardroom table to get to the pictures but Sheena grabbed her and they
started scuffling. Just then, Mrs. Smith walked into the room demanding to
know what was going on. Lizzy's first day conducting the council meeting
turned out to be more like Robert's Rules of DIS-order.

                                               **##**

Noah found Tyne waiting by the car and he skipped up to him. "Tyne, you
should have seen it. She totally bought the whole deal. She thought I was
lying about the pictures and then I showed her the ones you Photoshopped
and I could totally tell that she was all pumped that something she'd made
up was actually true."

"Awesome. We'll have to call Val and tell him." Tyne and Noah did a high
five.

"Call me and tell me what?" Val asked. He'd seen them talking and walked up
behind them.

"How Lizzy took the bait on the pictures. How did it go with Nick?" Noah
asked.

"Kind of bad, really. I got in a fight during practice and got kicked
out. Coach Carlson is pissed. I won't be surprised if I don't get to play
in tomorrow's game. Then in the locker room, I got Lukas to get Nick's
phone like you suggested and he found the pics and it turned ugly. Dane had
Nick on the ground punching the crap out of him because there was a picture
secretly taken of Dane sitting on the john in a bathroom stall jacking off
on Nick's phone."

"WHAT?" Noah and Tyne asked in a shocked gasp.

"But that means..." Tyne started.

"Exactly, and he had some other pics of me fully naked with my junk showing
and everything that he'd actually taken on his own. It looks like he really
is gay. Well, maybe three-quarters gay at least. He even offered beforehand
to mess around with me if I'd drop the date with you, Tyne. He admitted he
jacked off and sucked with his cousin before and that he liked it."

"Holy shitkowski. That means he's as gay as I am," Noah said. "Damn. No
wonder he let me put my number in his phone. I wish he'd call me, I'd teach
him a few things his cousin never thought of. Is he packing anything close
to that monster of yours, Val?"

"Noah, don't be disgusting," Tyne said. "And trust me, Noah, no one's as
gay as you are. Val, don't feel bad, you did the right thing to expose
Nick."

"Thanks Tyne," Val said. "I need to go get started on my
homework. Although, I'm not sure why I bother. I don't get it anyway. I
don't know who the dumbass was who decided to mix the alphabet up with
numbers, but it sure is stupid."

"Don't look at them as letters. They're just place holders for unknowns
that you have to solve for. Close your eyes for a minute." Val shrugged and
closed his eyes. Tyne made Noah give him the bag of M&M's that was in his
pocket and poured three into one pile on a piece of paper and four into
another and set it on top of Noah's car. Then he covered the four with
another piece of paper and wrote "M" on it. Next, he laid out seven M&M's
in the shape of a seven with an equal sign drawn on the paper between
them. "Open your eyes."

"What are you doing?" Val asked.

"Math is all about balance. Math is the perfect allegory for life. It
always wants to be in balance. You want to solve the problem for M. Since
you know that in order for the problem to be balanced, both sides of the
equal sign have to contain seven M&M's. So to figure it out, you just have
to isolate the unknown part. To do that, we take away the known part on the
left side." Tyne took the three M&M's and gave one to Noah and one to Val.

Noah shouted, "Wait!" He grabbed Tyne's hand before he could eat his M&M,
plucked it from his fingers and handed it to Val. Then he took Val's and
gave it to Tyne. "Val should definitely get the green one."

They all chuckled and Tyne said, "Whatever, you freak."

Val tossed it into his mouth and then said seductively, "Oooo, Noah, you're
looking hot all of a sudden. Want to go to the Valentines dance with me?"

"Oh my God, back to math," Tyne said. "So since we took three away from the
left side to keep it equal, how many do we have to take away from the right
side?"

"Three," Val said.

"Exactly." Tyne took three away from the seven on the right side. He
quickly popped the green one in his mouth and said, "Mmm, Val you studly
hunk." Then he winked and broke out laughing while Noah nearly fell on the
ground and pissed himself. "All right, so how many M&M's are under the "M"
on the paper?"

"Four, obviously."

"Exactly! See you can do algebra. It's just a matter of balance. In math
and in life, you need balance. You need sports and culture. You need study
time and play time. You need work and you need rest. Balance."

"Wow. That's cool. I actually get it when you put it that way. Hey, any
chance you could come over to my house and help me with my math tonight? I
mean, I don't want to be a pain in the ass, but I really need the help
bad."

"Well, uhh ..." Tyne was so taken off guard at the invitation and request,
he couldn't formulate an answer.

"Of course he will," Noah chimed in. "He hasn't got anything else to
do. I'm sure he's already done all his homework, like a week in advance."

"Sure, I guess I can. I mean, I'd be glad to help you."

"Great. You just want to come home with me in my truck now?"

"Noah, do you mind?"

"Do I mind? Hell no I don't mind. You go tutor Val up. But listen, Val
baby, if you ever need help with human physiology, I'm your man for that."

"OH MY GOD. Goodbye Noah," Tyne said. Val just shook his head and
smiled. On the ride home, Tyne took control of the iPod and played bits and
pieces of two dozen songs, browsing through Val's extensive collection. He
was impressed with Val's broad range of taste. They chatted about their
favorite artists and why they liked them. The conversation flowed
remarkably easy and they found appreciation for each other's wit. Val's was
quick and Tyne's was dry.

Val introduced Tyne to his mom when they walked in the door and explained
they were going to study together. Val's mom was surprised and
thrilled. She invited Tyne to stay for dinner and he sent a text to his mom
at the hospital for her permission, which she granted quickly since she was
working late anyway. Val and Tyne spent two solid, uninterrupted hours on
Math and reviewing History. At the end, Val actually did the last three
math problems on his own correctly. When Val did the last one, which was
slightly different from the other two, he slid it cautiously over toward
Tyne. When Tyne announced he had done it right, Val shot an imaginary
basket and shouted, "YES!" Then he grabbed Tyne around the neck and hugged
him tight, pressing Tyne's face against the bare skin of his chest, exposed
by the low neck of Val's basketball style jersey. Tyne felt the flesh of
his soft cheek press into the firm chest muscles and he drank in Val's
manly scent. He held his breath and felt his dick stir in his pants until
Val released him.

"Glad I could help," Tyne stammered. "It wasn't that big of a deal. You're
really pretty quick to get things if you just get them explained in a
logical manner. That makes you easy to teach."

"That's what my coaches all say too, that I'm very coachable."

                                           **##**

"Get washed up, kids," Val's mom called up the stairs. "It's time for
dinner."

Val and Tyne slammed their books shut and headed into the bathroom, but
unfortunately Val's little sister Violet had beat them in there. "This
might take all night. Let's use the downstairs bathroom," Val suggested.

On the way through the big house, the boys ran into Val's dad. "Hi
Dad. This is Tyne. He is helping me study my algebra. He's staying for
dinner," Val said.

"Hello, Mr. Hardcastle. It's nice to meet you."

"You too, Tyne. Thanks for helping Val out with his studies. Were you able
to get through his thick head?"

"Yes sir. He caught on real fast. He seems to be getting the hang of it
now."

"Wonderful. Maybe there's hope for him yet. Thanks again for helping out."

"No problem. I enjoy doing it."

"Hello! I'm standing right here," Val whined.

"Go wash up before your mother gets mad, Val," his father said, chuckling.

"Okay. C'mon, Tyne, it's over here."

Once in the small powder room off the entry, the boys couldn't help
laughing as they both tried to wash their hands at the same time. They
pushed each other out of the way, trying to get the sink all to
themselves. Suddenly, Tyne turned to Val with a shocked expression on his
face. "Do your parents know that we're going on a date for class?"

"Oh yeah, they do. Violet does too. She thinks it's funny."

"Oh my god. You need to take me home. I don't think I can do this."

"Sure you can," Val said. "My mom is cool, and my dad gets weird sometimes,
but deep down he's a cool guy. Opinionated, but still cool."

Tyne let out a long sigh. "All right, if you say so. Let's get this over
with."

Tyne followed Val to the dining room where he was truly surprised that
Val's mom had pulled out all the stops. It looked like a feast! And the
table was set with candles and fresh flowers and everything. Tyne couldn't
ever remember eating like this, except maybe at Christmas.

"Tyne, you can sit here next to Val. Violet, scoot over honey,"
Mrs. Hardcastle said.

"Tyne? You mean you're that Tyne? Is this your date?" Violet asked, turning
smug as she figured out who this new friend of her brothers was. "You're
cute!"

"Shut up Vi! He was helping me with my homework," Val barked at his sister.

"Well, I want to know everything. If tonight's dinner isn't your date, then
what are Val and Tyne planning to do?"

"Violet, mind your manners. Tyne, help yourself to some pot roast. I hope
you like it," Mrs. Hardcastle said.

"Thank you. It smells delicious."

"It is. My mom's a great cook," Val said, scooping a large spoonful of
cheesy mashed potatoes on his plate.

"Does your mother cook, dear?"

"Well, no, not too much lately. She's a nurse down at Hartsdale General and
she's been pulling some extra shifts recently. Actually, I do most of the
cooking." Tyne was starting to get uncomfortable with this line of
questioning. He hated it when people started to pity him.

"And your father? What does he do, son?" Mr. Hardcastle asked.  Even though
Tyne knew this line of questioning was coming, he had never become
comfortable talking about it. "Well, he ..."

"Dad, Tyne's dad died last year. He got shot at that bank robbery
downtown."

"Oh dear! I'm so sorry, Tyne. We had no idea," Mrs. Hardcastle said,
dropping her fork.

An uncomfortable silence settled around the dining room table. Finally,
Violet had to ask, "How did it happen?"

Staring down at his plate and pushing his vegetables around for a minute,
he slowly and quietly revealed the details. "My dad was a hostage
negotiator for the Hartsdale PD. They got a call about a bank robbery and
when they got there the gunman had taken five hostages inside the
vault. Two women, two little kids and a man. From what the Chief told me
and my mom afterward, my dad was trying to get the guy to release the women
and kids first, but what they didn't know was that the man was the bank's
security guard. Well anyway, the security guard tried to be a hero and
pulled out his gun when the robber wasn't looking and shot him in the
leg. Instead of stopping him, it made the robber even angrier and he turned
around and killed the guard. I guess my dad was just about to fire on the
robber," Tyne said. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "But the robber was
faster and he let my dad have it. Even his bullet-proof jacket couldn't
save him since one of the bullets hit him in the neck. He bled to death."

"I remember reading about that. Your father was a hero, son - a real-life
hero. Those types of men are few and far between lately. I know it doesn't
make it any better for you to hear that, but your father's death wasn't in
vain. I respect real men like that." Val's dad looked choked up. "I'd like
to think that I'd be able to do that in that kind of situation, but I'm not
sure that I could. You can be proud of your father, son, and always hold
him close to your heart."

"Thank you sir. I do." Val reached over and gave his new friend a hug
around his shoulders. Nothing more was said for a few minutes.

"Tyne, this might seem out of place, but did you and your mother get any
support or counseling from the police department?" Mrs. Hardcastle
asked. Tyne shook his head no.

"The reason that I ask this is because I have a dear friend who is a
Psychologist who deals specifically with issues like this. Please don't
take this the wrong way, but sometimes talking to a professional might help
you come to terms and lessen the pain. I don't mean to forget about your
father, not at all - you could never do that, but maybe she could give you
some ideas and tips on how to deal with the emotions and make it a touch
easier. I don't think I could cope if that happened in our family."

"The police assistance league helped out some with the funeral and stuff,
but mostly we've just been on our own. My dad's friends on the force have
been by a lot, but that just brings it all back up. And to be truthful, I
think the single guys just want to go out with my mom. But I think I am
handling it okay, but I worry about my mom. She never talks about it and,
well, sometimes I just worry about her."

"How about if I do this, since you are helping Val with his studies, I'll
call your mother with the pretense of getting to know her. Well, I'd do
that anyway. I met Val's girlfriend's mother last week and I have to say I
wasn't thrilled with..."

"Mom! Don't go there."

"Well, how about I invite her for coffee and just get to know her. If it
comes up, I'll refer her to my friend. Does that sound all right? I'd
really like to help."

"Sure. I guess so," Tyne said noncommittally.

"Wonderful! Who has room for desert? I made lemon cheesecake," she said, as
she jumped up and headed for the kitchen. Mr. Hardcastle followed her in.

"So, what are you going to do on your date? You never told me," Violet
asked again in a sing-song voice once the parents were out of ear-shot.

"Why is it so important to you?" Val asked.

"Because I just want to know. I like to know things. Besides I might want
to come along now I know how cute Tyne is."

"What are you? A reporter for TMZ?" Tyne asked.

"God help us," Val said.

"That would be a great idea. Actually, I want to be a reporter for the
channel six news," she said, giving the guys a mock interview stance.

"You're a goof, you know that Vi?"

Violet grabbed a dinner knife and held it like a microphone, "So you're
going on a date with Tyne. So spill it. Where are you two going?"

"Your brother is taking me fishing. That's it," Tyne interjected.

"Really? That's all? That sounds lame. C'mon, tell me the truth."

"That's it, sis. Nothing to it. Just two guys hanging out up at the lake
fishing and talking."

"Well then I don't want to go after all. Fishing is yucky. I hate how slimy
they are and it's so gross when you slice their bellies open and dig out
the guts." Tyne looked over at Val with a disgusted expression. Val started
laughing.

"Don't worry Tyne, you only have to eat the guts from the first fish you
catch. It's a tradition for good luck." Tyne faked a gagging reaction. It
wasn't all that hard to fake though.

"You two are stupid! You deserve each other," Violet said.

"Here we go," Mrs. Hardcastle said, as she walked into the dining room with
a huge cheesecake. Mr. Hardcastle followed carrying a silver coffee pot.

As she started cutting slices and passing them out, she started thinking
out loud. "You know, boys, the dance is coming up tomorrow night. You two
should double date. Do you have a girlfriend, Tyne?"

"No, I don't. I wasn't really planning on going, anyway."

"Well, you should go. You have to do these things in high school because or
if you don't, you'll always regret that you didn't go. Isn't that right
Buford?"

"Honey, leave the boy alone."

"Posh. I have a brilliant idea. Tyne could take Becka. That's Val's
cousin. She's my sister's girl. We were pregnant together and Becka was
born just one week after Val. They've been kissing cousins ever since.

Val gagged. "Eww! Mom, please, I just ate."

Mrs. Hardcastle ignored him and kept talking, "The doctor predicted that
Val was going to be a girl and we already had Valerie picked out for his
name and his room was painted pink. We even had to bring him home from the
hospital in a pink dress since that was what we planned for."

"MOM! Stop it."

"Funny thing is that my sister wanted a boy."

"So you both got what you wanted," Violet joked, giggling.

"Not funny, Vi." Val said flicking her ear.

"Well, when Val popped out, my doctor said to us, 'Oops, looks like your
little girl has a tail, and a big one too. When we looked back at the
ultrasound pictures, you could see how Val had tucked his cute little penis
between his chubby little thighs making it look like he had a vagina
instead."

"Dad, make her stop!"

"Polly, for glory sake, you're embarrassing the boy and his friend and your
underage daughter is sitting right here."

"Oh posh. I'm just talking about him as a baby and it's not like any of you
never heard the word penis before. Val and Tyne both have one and I
certainly know you do too, Buford. You and Tyne do have penises, don't you
boys? As for Violet, we've had the mother daughter talk and she knows
perfectly well what a penis is. It's only a dirty word if you make it
dirty. Isn't that right, Violet?""Yes," she said giggling and looking at
her plate, "I even saw Val's before and it's BIG!"

"Okay, that's it! Shut up about my penis. Geez, Mom, you are so
embarrassing."

"Okay, Mr. Sensitive. Anyway, my point is that I'm sure Becka would love to
go to the dance with you, Tyne. She's a lovely girl! She has the sweetest
personality."

Tyne got a quick look at Violet, who was sitting there shaking her head and
rolling her eyes. "Mom, get real. Becka's a dork."

"Yeah mom. Stop playing matchmaker. Besides, I'm not sure I'm going
either."

"Why not, Val?"

"Because I broke up with Lizzy, that's why."

"What did you do to cause that to happen?" asked his mom.

"I didn't do anything. She's too controlling and I didn't like it. It's as
simple as that. End of story."

"Well, there'll be others. A handsome, talented boy like yourself should
have no problem getting a date."

"Especially if you show them your big penis," Violet mumbled, then burst
out giggling.

"Okay, enough already. Can we be excused? I need to take Tyne home."

"Yes dear. Tyne, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope you'll be back
soon. And thank you so much for helping our little Vallie out."

"You're welcome Mrs. Hardcastle. And thank you for the delicious dinner."
Tyne extended his hand and Mrs. Hardcastle took it and held it excessively
long. She actually stroked the back of his hand with her other hand.

"My goodness you have such wonderfully soft hands. Do you use some sort of
special hand lotion?"

"Umm, no." Tyne pulled free of her grasp, feeling kind of weird.

"Glory, Polly, what kind of a question is that to ask a boy? It was nice
meeting you son," Mr. Hardcastle said.

"You too, sir," Tyne said, and shook the older man's hand. Mr. Hardcastle
shot his wife a little grimace that communicated she was right about the
soft hands.

"Do you want me to call Becka before you leave?" Mrs. Hardcastle pressed.

"Nah, thanks. That's okay. I better go before my mom starts putting my
picture on milk cartons."

"Let's run upstairs and grab our books. I want to show you something before
we leave," Val said.

Up in Val's bedroom, Val got down a photo album filled with family
pictures. "I wanted you to see a picture of Becka. You might change your
mind after all and want to take her to the dance. This was taken last year,
but she still looks the same. That's her right there."

"Oh my god! She looks like Steven Tyler. Is that for real?"

Val was laughing so hard he couldn't answer. When he caught his breath he
said, "Yeah she does kind of, except she can't play the piano or sing."

"It's a good thing she has a sweet personality," Tyne said.

"That's just code for annoying. Plus, she's got a laugh like a hyena in
heat."

"I'm sorry dude. Your mom's nice and all, and she's a great cook, but she's
a little nuts." Then mimicking Val's mom's voice, Tyne said, "You and Tyne
do have penises, don't' you boys?" That made Val laugh even more, and he
doubled up and fell on the floor.

"Hey, Val-erie, get up and take me home. I gotta get going."

"Okay, okay, but don't you dare mention that Valerie thing to anyone
else. I mean it." "I won't. It's pretty funny though. I bet you'd look
really cute in a pink dress. You could wear it to the Val 'n Tyne dance. By
the way, are you really thinking about skipping the dance? I thought guys
like you always went to the dances."

"Guys like me? What do you mean by that? What about guys like you? Why
aren't you going?"

"Don't get offended, I just meant all the popular guys and jocks. I just
thought you guys always went to everything as a pack to hang out and be
seen and flirt and stuff."

"Well, I'm not really like that. If I don't have a date, I hardly ever go
stag. It's uncomfortable when the slow dances come and I'm too shy to ask
someone," Val confessed. "But why don't you ever go? I've never seen you at
one."

"Seriously? What would I do there? I'm not interested in finding a girl and
if I danced with a guy, I might as well pick out my headstone. I'm in no
hurry to join my father in the afterlife."

"So you don't have to hook up with a girl to have fun. You and Noah and
your other friends could just hang out and enjoy the music and the
refreshments and being together. It's a cool atmosphere. It's part of the
high school experience and you're missing it."

"Yeah, well, part of the cost of being gay, I guess."

"That's wrong. I'll tell you what, I'll go if you'll go. You can hang with
me and that way I won't feel as obvious about not having a date."

"Are you serious? You wouldn't ditch me?"

"Promise."

"Okay. What the hell. I'll go."

                                              ***

Hans and Flip would like to say a special thanks to everyone who has
e-mailed their comments and suggestions to us. We both enjoy the feedback
and are happy that you are enjoying Val 'n Tyne.