Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:10:06 -0700
From: h.schreiber@hushmail.com
Subject: Chapter 5 of Val 'n Tyne by Hans Schreiber and Flip McHooter

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
jurisdiction to possess or read such material, please leave now and do not
read this story as neither the internet host nor the author can be
responsible for your actions. Please, always practice safe sex; no
momentary thrill is worth your life.

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be transmitted or reproduced
in whole or in part in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
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 5

Val was in the shower when a knock came at the door. He shut the water off
and called out "What?"

"Did something happen at school yesterday? I just got a call from a
secretary at school and they want you to report to the principal's office
instead of first period this morning. Do you know why?" His mom's voice had
a twinge of concern to it.

Val's stomach flopped. He started imagining all the possibilities. The
pictures, the fight at practice, or the problem with Nick in the locker
room were all potential bombs waiting to go off. He immediately wished he
hadn't gone along with Tyne's big scheme. "No, not really."

"Well, do you think I should go with you?" she asked.

Val definitely thought she should NOT go with him. The idea of that
happening really scared him. He could hear his mother's voice in his head
as the Photoshop enhanced picture of Nick was displayed, saying, "My, he
certainly has a large penis, doesn't he?"  He didn't need a repeat of last
night's dinner.

Val realized he'd left too long of a pause and tried to sound as casual and
convincing as he could by replying, "No, I think it has something to do
with basketball, something about practice. It's no big deal, I'm sure. I'll
handle it."

"All right, Vallie dear. I need to take Violet to school now but if you
need me, call my cell phone. I'll make sure I have it with me."

"Okay, I will, but I'm sure it's no big deal." He turned the shower back on
and washed his hair.  Val was a little bit sick to his stomach all the way
to school. He parked his big truck in his usual spot and hit the sidewalk
just as Noah did. Noah was dressed in tight purple jeans and a tight knit,
grey, crew neck with purple and black Vans. It looked like he might have a
couple new piercings in his eyebrow, but he couldn't really be sure. Val
thought how even though Noah was weird, he did have some style about him.
"Hey, Noah."

"Oh, hi Val-erie. I heard you had a fab dinner party last night." Noah
cocked his head and gave Val a wicked grin.

"Shut up."

"I also heard it was a GINORMOUS success," Noah said, stretching out his
hands in front of his crotch.

 "Tyne promised me he wasn't going to say that to anybody. And stop
that. You're in public, you freak." Val swatted Noah's hands away.

"Listen, honey, I ain't just "any-body" here. I'm Noah, and me and Tyne are
very tight - like two dicks in the same mouth. We tell each other
everything. And just so you know, I wouldn't let him off the phone last
night until he spilled his guts. He finally caved at midnight. Don't worry,
though, I won't tell anyone else."

"You better not, if you value your life." Val said it with a little more
venom than intended, but his nerves were already on edge over the meeting
in the office. "Where's Tyne? I thought you two were joined at the hip?"

"Ewww, you're cute when you're a little pissed. But then, you're cute when
you're not pissed too. Tyne has a dentist appointment this morning. Hey,
isn't your first period the other way?" Noah asked.

"I have to go meet with Mr. Andrews in the office," Val said nervously.

"Uh-oh. So do I. I bet I can guess the topic," Noah said. "I bet those
pictures fell into enemy hands."

"I knew it was a bad idea. I just had a feeling we shouldn't have done it."
Val pounded his fist into the palm of his other hand in frustration. "What
if we get expelled over this?"

"Stop!" Noah reached up and took Val's bulging bicep in his grip and turned
Val to face him.  "Listen, big boy, you can't go in there with that
attitude. We have to get our story straight and stick to it. You don't know
anything about any pictures except the ones that were on Nick's phone and
you only know about those because you accidentally saw them when you were
messing with it. We're throwing Lizzy under the fucking short bus here,
remember?"

"But you told her that I gave you those pictures," Val said. "We're
screwed."

"Nobody knows that besides you, me and Tyne, cowboy."

"Shit! I suck at lying. My mom 's the only one I can ever lie to and that's
just because she's so totally clueless."

"Well, just pretend you're talking to your mom in there. Let's assume they
accuse you of taking the pictures and giving them to me. You have to deny,
deny, deny. Get a little mad about it. Throw it in Lizzy's face that she's
been talking shit about you being gay all week ever since that
assignment. Tell them you broke up with her and that she's been spreading
it that you're gay to get even. Stick to that and leave the rest of the
lying to me. I am a freaking drama queen after all."

"I don't know. I'm really nervous."

"Listen, when you're in a basketball game and the game's on the line and
you got the ball, are you thinking about blowing it or you thinking about
scoring?"

"Scoring, but ..." Noah cut him off.

"But shit. Go in there and think about winning. Now, come on before we're
late. Walk this way." Noah placed one hand on his hip and started swiveling
his hips like a runway model.

That broke the tension and Val cracked up. "I don't think I can walk that
way.  I might break something. You're a freaking nutcase, but I see why
Tyne likes hanging around with you. You better be good at acting or we're
screwed."

"Oh honey, I'm good. Believe me."

The two entered the office and saw not only Lizzy but also Nick sitting
there. They both looked miserable. Val's nerves exploded and he thought he
might get physically sick. Noah walked in behind Val and purposely sat away
from everyone. He plugged his iPod into his ears, crossed his legs and
began swinging his leg and bobbing his head in time to the music. He acted
like he didn't have a care in the world. His antics broke the tension for
Val. Nick's face looked as if he'd just drank a pint of curdled milk and
Lizzy rolled her eyes in disgust at Noah. Val went to the desk and told the
clerk he had an appointment with Mr. Andrews. He preferred to stand at the
desk and wait rather than sit and be glared at.

Before long, Mr. Andrews came out and called them all into a small
conference room. He had a thin, manila envelope in his hands. Noah acted
both confused and annoyed about why he was being called in with the
others. It was truly worthy of an Emmy. Val became more confident that Noah
just might be able to pull this off, and he decided right there to take the
ball and drive to the basket himself.

"We have a problem, and before I involve anyone else, I wanted to sort this
out a little and hear all sides of the story. Yesterday, in the student
council meeting, Mrs. Smith intercepted a couple of disturbing photos of
Mr. Hardcastle and Mr. Wallace that were in Miss Borden's possession. The
story gets cloudy from there. Miss Borden, do you want to tell me how you
got those photos."

Nick shot Val a menacing glance, obviously assuming Val had somehow given
Lizzy pics from his phone. Noah continued to look confused and vaguely
disinterested. Before Lizzy found her voice, Noah jumped in and asked,
"Excuse me, Mr. Andrews, why am I here? I barely even know these people."
It was said with such confused innocence that Val struggled not to smile.

"Just let Miss Borden speak, Noah." Noah plopped back in his plastic chair
and folded his arms with an impatient air about him.

"Well, I was waiting by the library for Regina to show up, so we could walk
into the student council meeting together, when Noah here came up to me and
said he had to talk to me." Noah cocked his head back and wrinkled his
brow, looking from Lizzy to Mr. Andrews and back to Lizzy.

"Noah showed me these two pictures and said he heard that I had been
telling people that Val had given naked pictures of himself and of Nick
over to him."

"What? Girl, you are messed up," Noah blurted. "I heard all the rumors you
been spreading about Val and my best friend, Tyne, being gay because they
have to go on some stupid date thing for Ms. Harris' class, but this is
going too far, sister. Just because Val dumped your sorry ass, you got no
right to be trashing him and dragging me into it."

"Mr. Silverstein, watch your language."

"Sorry, Mr. Andrews," Noah said, "but lies like that just piss me off."

"Lies? I'm not lying. You know perfectly well you gave me those pictures,
you little fairy. You're the one lying," Lizzy fumed. Noah acted completely
offended and all wounded.

"Miss Borden! That is very inappropriate. You owe Mr. Silverstein an
apology."

"Apology? He needs to apologize to me. He's the one that's lying. Where
else would I have gotten those pictures?" Lizzy was starting to lose it.

"Maybe you took them yourself," Noah snipped.

"They were taken in the boys' locker room dorkface," Lizzy snapped back. "I
can't get in there."

"Well how would I have known that, since I don't have any idea what kind of
pictures you're even talking about?" Noah shot back.

"All right, All right, enough of this. Both of you stop it. So Noah, you're
saying you didn't meet with Lizzy and you didn't give her any pictures, is
that right?"

"That's right. I think she made it up because of Val dumping her and
because I'm Tyne's friend. I'm sure you've heard all the crap about Val 'n
Tyne because of Ms. Harris' assignment for two guys and two girls to go out
on a mock date. Well, that's what got all this started."

"Yes, I' m well aware. I intend to put an end to that today. Ms. Harris
needs to find another way to make her point. I was opposed to implementing
that whole class into the curriculum in the first place. It's been a source
of continuous controversy from the beginning," Mr. Andrews lamented.

Val suddenly realized that Mr. Andrews was planning to cancel the date
assignment for Ms. Harris' class. He realized how sad that would make Tyne
and that this whole picture thing might ruin it for him. Val felt bad over
it and was focused on those thoughts when Mr. Andrews addressed him.  "So,
Mr. Hardcastle, did you give inappropriate pictures of yourself and of Nick
to Noah."

"What? I'm sorry, what did you ask?"

"Did you and Mr. Wallace take inappropriate pictures of each other in the
locker room and did you give them to Mr. Silverstein here?" As the question
sunk in, Val realized he didn't even have to lie. He could honestly say no
to that question.

"No, of course not. I would never do something like that." He said it with
believable conviction.

"Well, how do you explain these pictures then?" Mr. Andrews pulled the
pictures out of the manila envelope and as he was doing so, Nick and Val
locked eyes and poor Nick looked like he was going to cry. He was expecting
to see one of the pictures he had actually taken of Val and worried the one
of Dane might be in there as well. Val already knew what to expect, so he
was more collected.

Mr. Andrews handed each boy their own picture and Nick suddenly exploded
with laughter. He was pounding his fist on the table and shaking with an
uncontrollable belly laugh.

"Mr. Wallace, I don't see anything funny in this situation. Laughter is
very inappropriate," Mr. Andrews chided.

"Are you kidding? Did you look at this? God, I wish this were me. I don't
know who this is, but it sure as hell isn't me. Val, look at this!" Val
looked and started to laugh along with Nick, acting like he'd never seen it
before.

"Mr. Andrews," Val said between chuckles, "I've shared a locker next to
Nick for basketball all season long and I've seen him naked a lot. I'm
pretty sure that little thing he's got dangling between his legs could
never grow that big."

"Yeah, if you want proof, send Lizzy out of the room and I can show you."
Nick said, rebounding to his old, overly confident self. "I don't know what
kind of bullshit Lizzy is trying to pull, but she called me right after Val
dumped her and told me she'd dumped Val. She claimed that Val told her he
was gay. Then she told me that Val told her that he had taken pictures of
me naked in the locker room and given them to Noah. I didn't believe her,
of course, and just kind of ignored it. This is hilarious. I really will
prove it to you, if you want me to." Nick grabbed his beige cloth-woven
belt and pulled the loose end free of the first loop.

"NO! Of course I don't want you to prove it." Mr. Andrews threw both of his
hands up in the 'stop' motion.

"And if you look closely at this one, you can see that it's not really me,
either," Val said.  "First of all, that's not our locker room and both
locker rooms are completely different. Someone obviously did some Photoshop
work on this to make it look like me. There's a part of a tattoo on this
guy's arm right there and I don't have any tattoos. Look, see?" Val pointed
to the spot on the arm where a part of the tattoo had not been covered over
and then he pulled up his shirt sleeve and flexed his massive bicep. Noah
nearly drooled on the table.

Noah leaned in to get a peek as Nick slid his picture across the table to
give it back to Mr. Andrews. Noah shrieked with delight like a little girl
at a Justin Bieber concert. "Whew, did it suddenly get hot in here or is it
just me?" He started rapidly waving both hands in front of his face. Val
had to suck both lips between his teeth and bite down hard to keep from
laughing.

Mr. Andrews shot Noah an irritated look, collected back the pictures, and
stuffed them back in the envelope. Nick was still wiping his eyes and
struggling not to break out laughing again. Part of his laughter was just
relief over the whole shit pile not falling on him like he had
expected. The other part was the ridiculousness of someone thinking that
was really his dick.

"Miss Borden, did you call Nick and tell him those things about Val being
gay and about him giving Noah pictures?" Mr. Andrews asked.

"Well yes, but ..." Mr. Andrews didn't let her finish her 'but'.

"And did you put up the Val 'n Tyne dance posters, making a joke out of the
assignment that Mr. Hardcastle and Mr., uhh what is Tyne's last name?"
Everyone just shrugged so he continued, "Making a joke out of Val and
Tyne's class assignment?"

"Well yes, I admitted that already to Mrs. Smith. I was just trying to get
at Val, but I didn't make up those pictures. Noah gave them to me, honest."

Mr. Andrews sat back and said, "I think you boys can go. Lizzy, I want you
to remain. Boys, get an admittance slip from the desk and then go to
class." None of them had to be told twice and they scrambled out the
door. Once they got their notices to give their teachers, they hustled
outside and as soon as they were clear of the office, Nick started cracking
up again.

"Can you believe that bitch tried to pass those pictures off as us? I'm
definitely flattered though," Nick said. And then giving Val a playful
shove, he said "What was with that comment about the 'little thing dangling
between my legs'? Hell, I'm no freak of nature like you and the guy in that
pic, but I'm not that little."

"Oh God, I was just praying Mr. Andrews was going to let you drop your
jeans and show us your junk. So disappointing." Noah said.

"Yeah, I bet you were wishing for that, you'd love to see what I'm packing,
wouldn't you?" Nick said, hiking up his sagging pants. Then he turned and
said to Val, "But it sounded like Mr. Andrews is gonna snap that date shit
with Ms. Harris, so you're gonna be off the hook with Tyne for
Saturday. Life can go back to normal and we can hang together this
weekend. That thing I told you about that we could do together still stands
anytime, if you want to. Just so you know. This will help settle shit down
with all the team issues too."

"Yeah, I guess." Val was downcast. That part about the date with Tyne
really troubled him. Then it sunk in what Nick was trying to tell him and
he got pissed. He didn't even care that Noah was standing right
there. "Dude, I told you already, I don't need to explore my gay side and I
don't want to do that shit with you. You're my friend for god's sake. If
you're so F'n determined about making out with another dude, Noah's right
here and I'm sure he'd love to go out with you!"

"Oh, hell yeah I would!" Noah practically screamed, and then he did a
little dance waving his arms in the air. When he came back to earth he
said, "We could go to the dance tonight, and I could come over early and
give you some fashion tips, not too much of course, and no pink, it doesn't
work with your skin tone but then maybe just enough to help you bring out
your ... "

"Shut the fuck up! Both of you." Nick turned and stormed off to his
class. It hurt so bad that he couldn't have Val the way he wanted. He tried
to think of some skank that he could take to the dance, but what he really
wanted was to curl up and die.

"Well, that didn't go very well, did it? Are you sure he's on my team?"
Noah asked.

"Yeah, I think he is. The problem is, he's all confused and I just can't
handle him coming on to me anymore. At first, I thought he was just F'n
with me. Then, when he confessed doing sex shit with his cousin, I realized
he was probably being serious. When I saw the pics he'd taken, I knew he
was into it. Or maybe he's just bisexual and does it with anybody he
can. I'm not really sure, but all I do know is that he's my friend and he's
got issues going on. He seems to think that since we're friends, we should
just do it together like it's no big deal. Even all the sex he has with
girls is just meaningless sex; he never has any friendship or emotion mixed
in with it. That's just messed up. He doesn't get that if I messed around
with him, it would ruin our friendship for me. Honestly, it makes me sad."

"Listen, tiger, I'm no Okra Winfried, but why don't you tell him what you
just told me? Tell him you're flattered but it's just not your thing. Tell
him you just want to be friends like you always were. Tell him you're Black
Angus and he's The Cheesecake Factory."

"What the F is that supposed to mean?" Val asked, totally confused.

"You know, Black Angus is just about one thing, big beefy steaks, but
Cheesecake Factory has a lot of options and variety."

Val stared at Noah, thinking what a deep guy he really could be underneath
all his weird exterior.  After a few seconds of difficult silence, Noah
asked Val quietly, "Does it bother you that he wants a bat instead of a
glove? I mean, do you really care that he likes guys that way?"

"No, I don't. I really don't give a shit. All I really want is for him to
lay off me," Val said, sadly. "He can screw whoever he wants. I just want
him to go back to being my friend."

"Well, then try to see it from his side. He's gone from a Kinsey zero to
God - I don't even know what, in like sixty seconds. And to be perfectly
honest, I might sound all that, but I've never, ever, been with a guy. It's
not an easy thing to do when you're gay and sixteen in a homophobic high
school. And right now, the fucking hormones are screaming at us to find a
way to get some action. He probably saw a shot at shutting those moaning
whores up by getting some with you and now you're shutting him down after
he took the risk."

"You know, Noah, you're pretty freakin' smart. Even though I only get about
half of what you say, I think you nailed it right on the head, so to
speak. He's after me because he thought I wouldn't shut him down. I guess
in a way, I was like a safe test for him. It must be really hard to stick
your toe out of the closet."

"Maybe for some boys, but baby, I broke the fucking door down, smashed it
to smithereens and never looked back!" Noah flexed his scrawny arms and
struck another of his famous poses, "And I still ain't got any. It's tough
out there."

"You crack me up, dude, I'll tell you that. But you know, have you ever
thought that if you toned it down a little, you might catch a guy? You're a
little intimidating."

"Oh, pumpkin. You just don't get it, do you? That would be like me asking
you to put on a cheerleading dress so you could cozy up to the
cheerleaders. It doesn't work that way. Me not wearing makeup would be like
you in that cheerleading outfit without panties."

Val started laughing at the thought of that. "I guess you're right. I'm
sorry. You're you and I'm me. I get it. C'mon, we better get to class. Wait
a second. What if you really did tone it down, just a little tiny bit? You
know, I'm not saying everything, but what if you lose most of the makeup
and maybe half of your piercings? Then maybe Nick wouldn't be so
intimidated?"

"Intimidated? Really? Well, I suppose I could give it a try if you think it
would help with Nick. I do have flawless skin, I shit you not. But I'm not
going to make a habit out of it."

"If you do that, I'll talk to Nick before the game and maybe push him in
your direction. We'll make this a little test, okay? If you get what you
want, and he gets what he needs, then maybe he'll leave me alone so that he
and I can go back to being friends again and I'll get what I want," Val
said.

"Done! But you have to do something for me. If this date thing gets
cancelled, please, please, please don't ditch Tyne. He is so looking
forward to going four-wheeling and fishing with you. I know he finds you
hot and all and that may creep you out a bit, but more important than that,
I think he likes you like a big brother."

"No man, Tyne doesn't creep me out. I know he likes my body and I probably
get him horny, but he's discreet about it, and for some reason it doesn't
bother me like it does with Nick. But I don't really think it's a big
brother thing, either. At least I don't think of it that way. You know how
sometimes there are certain people that you just connect with?"

"Yeah," Noah said with a nod and otherwise keeping his mouth shut, not
wanting to disrupt Val's flow.

"Tyne's like that for me. We just connect and I like hanging with him. I
was already thinking about the date after Mr. Andrews said he was going to
put his foot down. I like Tyne too - he's a good guy. He really helped me
out with my algebra last night and to tell you the truth, I'd really like
to be legit friends with him. So yeah, we're still on for Saturday."

"I could just kiss you, you big lug."

"Noah, puuuleese, not here!" Val said, as he rolled his eyes in mock
exaggeration and cocked his head to the side. "Save it for Nick. So Noah,
if your teenage hormones are moaning so much for some sex action, and you
and Tyne are on the same team, why haven't you two hooked up and done stuff
together?"

"Same reason you can't think about doing it with Nick. We know it would
fuck up the friendship and even sex isn't worth doing that. Besides, to be
honest, he's not my type and I'm definitely not his."

**##**

Just as Val expected, in fifth period Contemporary Lifestyles class,
Ms. Harris confirmed the bad news that the boy/boy, girl/girl date
experiment thing was off. She was upset, but tried not to let the class see
it. She told them to use this as a learning experience for the bigotry and
simple-mindedness that permeates the community. She went on to say that one
day none of this would matter and that, in fact, in the future there would
be no need for a class like this.

"Ms. Harris? I know the date part of this assignment has been booted, but
can we still go out with our 'dates' if we want to on our own? I think it
still has some merit and I want to see what happens," Regina said, looking
over at Blanca shyly.

"If you do, and just so you know this is totally off the record, I think
it's a great idea, I can't officially condone it. So if you do go, I don't
want to hear about it and it's something you did entirely on your own. I'm
not going to lose my job over something this silly. So, class, I'd like you
to spend the rest of the period talking to your 'dates' and see if you can
come to some consensus about how this cancellation just reaffirms the
communities notion of bigotry. You don't have to write a paper or
anything. Just discuss it among yourselves. I think you have already
learned the idea behind this assignment and I'm giving all of you a full A
for it." There were cheers all around. Val stood up and started a standing
ovation. Ms. Harris laughed, settled them down and asked them to talk
quietly with their partners.

There was a bit of awkward silence between Val and Tyne until Val asked,
"So how's your mouth?"

"What?" Tyne asked, confused.

"Your mouth? Noah said you went to the dentist."

"Oh, it's fine. It was just a checkup and cleaning. So I guess that's it,"
Tyne said, fighting hard to hide his disappointment. "Even though the date
is off, is it still okay if I come and hang with you guys at the dance
tonight?"

"You F'n better show up or I'll come find you and drag you there. And I'm
still planning on going fishing tomorrow with my new friend. You better not
be backing out on me or I won't have anything to eat. You're in charge of
the food, remember?" Tyne lit up like an eight year old who was just told
he was going to Disneyland after all.

"You really want to? You don't have to, you know." Tyne was secretly
jumping for joy.

"I know I don't have to. I want to. I appreciate the help you gave me last
night, and seriously, I think we'd have fun. It would be cool to show you
new stuff. You're really book smart, but I'm pretty smart about outdoors
nature stuff. Don't take this the wrong way, but maybe we can help each
other out in our own ways and be good for each other like real friends
should be."

"Deal." Tyne held out his fist for Val to bump, but Val was caught off
guard and stuck his hand out for a shake. "We're gonna have to work on
this," he said, and both boys started cracking up.

"I heard that Lizzy's parents pulled her out of school today. She wasn't in
third period. I guess she's going to Our Lady of Perpetual Indecision. It
sounds like they were really pissed," Tyne said. "And I heard about the big
meeting this morning. So tell me what went on in your meeting with the
principal. I want the details."

"Yeah, well, she deserves whatever she gets. She's a bitch to the core."
Then Val filled Tyne in on the details and Tyne loved hearing how well Noah
played it up.

Suddenly looking at the clock, Val raised his hand, "Ms. Harris, can I be
excused? I have to go get ready for the game."

"Certainly Val. Kick some Tiger butt tonight." Ms. Harris was a huge
basketball fan and never missed a Conquistadors game.

Val walked in and the locker room seemed back to normal. Most guys were
hanging in the aisle talking trash about the Ridgeview Tigers they were
playing. The pre-game buzz was back like normal and Val was glad for it. He
jumped into the fray of Tiger bashing and felt no reservations from anyone
about letting him in. Nick was in the locker bay that he shared with Val,
dressing out slowly by himself. He looked sullen. Val thought about pulling
him into the group but decided it was probably too soon and he should
probably just let him be for now. Surprisingly, Lukas wasn't there yet.

Coach Carlson walked in wearing the blue shirt with his lucky blue and red
tie that he wore for every game. "Val, come here for a minute, please." Val
didn't like the tone of his voice. It was strained.

When Val walked into the office, he saw Lukas looking fiery. Val sat in the
only empty chair and Coach sat behind his desk. His old wooden chair made
its familiar cracking sound as he sat down. Coach set his hands on the desk
and interlocked his fingers. "Lukas has a problem with some boys on the
team. I let this whole gay issue play out without getting involved and I
guess I should have intervened. I was hoping it would just sort itself
out. I was disappointed when you lost it yesterday in practice. I didn't
expect that of you. You're a natural leader and I figured you could handle
the crap you were getting and rise above it."

"I tried, but it just got so stupid. I know I lost it. I'm sorry I got in
the fight. It won't happen again," Val apologized.

"I know it won't. But Lukas here told me about what went down afterwards in
the locker room. It seems like Nick is a distraction. He violated your and
Dane's privacy and needs to be held responsible for that. Lukas wants him
off the team, but I don't think that's his place to decide that. I've
already talked to Dane and now I want your input. If you want him off for
what he did by taking pictures of you, then he's gone. What do you say?"

Val didn't answer right away. He glanced toward Lukas, who sneered, then
turned a questioning look back toward Coach.

"I want him here to hear what you have to say," Coach said, referring to
Lukas.

"Well," Val started, "I won't deny that it pissed me off seeing those
pictures on Nick's phone. I don't want him tossed over it, though. He's
sorry he did it and we're good again."

Lukas scoffed, "You would say that, you're just a big faggot lover." Lukas
jumped up and said, "Coach, I ain't playing with a bunch of fags and fag
lovers. If you want a center, you have to choose. Either the fag goes or I
do."

"You don't get to make the choice about Nick, Lukas. Dane and Val are the
ones who have a legitimate right to give input on that. It is your choice
whether you want to stay on the team or not. Make sure you really want to
leave because I'm not going to let you back on if you leave now."

"We'll see what happens when you start losing without me. This is so fucked
up."

"All right, I'm sorry that's your attitude. I hope you come to recognize
the foolishness of it."  When Lukas stormed out, Coach turned toward Val
and asked. "So, think you can play center?"

"Me? I'm not that big for a center. What about pulling Dante up from JV?"

"Val, he's never even practiced with us. Besides, you're the better
athlete. I'll trade athleticism for size any day. I need you to step up and
take a leadership role here. If you go out there wavering in your ability
to do this, the whole team will follow those signals and we've lost before
the first bucket is made. If you go out there pumped up and excited, the
team will feel it and rally behind you. So, again, do you think you can
play center?"

Val smiled, stood, and looked Coach in the eye. "Hell yeah, I can! We're
gonna kick some Tiger tail!"

"That's it. Now go get suited up while I figure out who takes your place at
starting forward."

"Coach," Val urged, "go with Nick. It will be the best thing to bring back
the team unity. Besides, Nick and I play in my backyard all the time and he
knows how to feed me the ball. He anticipates my moves and is a good
passer."

"Hmmm. I'll think about it. Now get."

By the time Val got in the locker room everyone else was dressed and
wondering where the coach and Lukas were. Usually, they would already be
out warming up. Val deflected their questions and rushed to his
locker. Everyone was ready. Everyone except for Nick, that is. He was
sitting there in his trunks and jersey, holding a sock in one hand and
staring at his toes.

"Dude, hurry up and get your shoes on," Val said as he pulled his shirt off
and tossed it in the locker. While Val quickly stripped down, Nick just sat
there staring down.

"I think I'm gonna quit the team. Everyone hates me now and Coach isn't
ever gonna play me. And I can't even look at Dane," Nick mumbled.

Val pulled his jockstrap over his junk, adjusted his balls into a
comfortable position and quickly slid his shorts on, then sat next to
Nick. "You're not F'n quitting. That's not who you are. That's just the
chicken shit way out. Coach asked Dane and me if we wanted you tossed off
the team just now. We both said no. Lukas walked off over you staying on
the team. So I'm the new center and I need you to feed me the ball inside
like we play around at my house. So F the self pity shit and get your damn
shoes on."

"Really? Dane didn't even want me tossed?"

"Really."

"Awesome! You're playing center? You freaked?"

Val looked around and whispered, "Shitless, but don't tell anyone. I've got
to act pumped about it so the team doesn't lose confidence."

"You'll do great. Don't sweat it. Let's go kick some ass." They both
quickly laced up and joined the team as Coach walked in and announced that
Lukas had walked. He paused and let the murmurs die off before announcing
the lineup changes. When he called out Val as starting center, there was
mild surprise.

"Yeah! Let's do this! We're gonna kick some Tiger tail!" Val threw a fist
in the air and his excitement was immediately contagious. Dane was the
first to chime in and then Tyrell and Evan. Soon, everyone was jumping up
and down in a big huddle pumping fists and cheering. They were a team
again.

"All right, All right, Coach called out. Here's the rest of the
starters. Dane, point guard. Evan at shooting guard. Tyrell at left
forward, and Matt will be right power forward in Val's spot." Val was
disappointed that Coach hadn't taken his advice. He glanced at Nick who was
still beaming. Then he realized Nick had no expectation of being a starter.

Out on the floor, they shot around a bit and then Coach had them run a
couple of offensive plays, something he would never do in front of the
opposing team under normal circumstances. Val had to struggle to stay in
the center's position. He was so programmed to be the power forward.

As Val and Nick stretched on the sidelines before the lineups were
announced, they glanced into the stands. Val saw his family and was happy
to see that Tyne had hooked up and sat by them. He looked for Noah
expecting him to be with Tyne. "Oh my God," Val said to Nick nudging
him. "Look at Noah." Nick turned away and laughed with Val. Noah had a
plastic gold Conquistador hat with a bright red plume on top of it, a
plastic sword and a gold plastic breast plate that he probably bought at
some toy store. He had no shirt on and had painted his body red from the
waist up to the neck. He was sitting right next to the girls pep squad and
was doing the cheers right along with them.  Val was relieved Noah hadn't
sit by Tyne. He could only imagine his father's questions if he had.

When they called out the players onto the floor and announced their
starting positions before the game, there was a gasp and pause before the
clapping started when Val's name was announced as the starting center. When
he took his place at center court for the opening tip, Val looked at his
opposing center and gulped. He was taller than Lukas, but he had no meat on
him. He was like a walking stick figure. When the referee tossed the ball
up, the Tiger center was a full foot above his hand when he swatted the
ball over to one of his teammates.

"Oh shit," Val muttered as he rushed back into defense. The Tigers fed the
ball around the perimeter and Val followed the center in and out across the
key. On the third trip through, Val ran headlong into a screen by their
forward and the tall, skinny center slipped by, caught a nice feed from
their point guard and scored effortlessly. Val took the ball out of bounds
and passed it in to Dane. He watched his skinny nemesis lumber down the
court and read his name on the back of his black jersey with orange
lettering. His name was Short. "God, it figures," Val grumbled.

On the offensive end, Dane held up two fingers to call the play. Val moved
to the top right of the key and took the pass, then dished it off quickly
to Tyrell in the corner who shot a nice three pointer. The crowd
erupted. On the defensive end, their shooting guard attempted a three and
Val boxed out the tall Short kid and pulled down the rebound. Val fed the
ball out to Evan and sprinted down on offense. Dane called for play number
three and Val struggled to remember where Lukas went for that. He saw
Matthew line up on the baseline like he would normally do and then
remembered he was supposed to be at the top of the key. By the time he got
there, the play fell apart and the Tigers stole a pass from Matthew and
executed a nice fast break to score easily.

"What were you doing?" Dane asked with an annoyed tone.

"I was confused at first. I've never played this position. Sorry." Dane
shrugged and moved out to take the pass over the center court line from
Evan, who brought the ball up. Dane called for the number one play and this
time Val got in place and executed the baseline drive and was actually wide
open for Matthew's pass which was way high and spun off Val's outstretched
hand, careening out of bounds.

Val and Matthew both continued playing decent defense but struggled on
offense. On play number three, Val set up at the top of the key, juked his
defender so bad that Val expected to see an empty pair of Nike's on the
floor and was wide open for a feed from Matthew. The problem was that
Matthew got faked out as badly as the Tiger defender did and unfortunately
passed the ball right to the Tiger's defender instead of to Val. The
shocked defender found the handle and then sprinted for an easy layup.

Time and again, the same thing happened with Matthew missing pass after
pass and at half time, the Tigers were winning 34 to 26. Not by a lot, but
the Tigers had been controlling the game especially on the defensive
side. If the momentum didn't shift, there was no hope. Only their outside
shooting by Dane, Evan, and Tyrell had kept the Conquistadors in the
game. In the locker room during half time, Nick skulked in the back of the
group. He'd gotten zero playing time. Even though he knew he wasn't going
to be a starter, he thought he'd at least get some game time. The bench
players who had come in only produced four points between them. Coach
prattled on about execution and anticipating the Tigers' plays. He drew up
several of their plays on the white board and explained how to change up
the defense to prevent them from scoring.

"But Coach, what are we going to do about offense? That's where we suck,"
Dane blurted out.

"Look, we're in transition with the lineup changes. That will come as we
get time to practice together," he said.

On the way back out for the second half, Val pulled Coach back and said,
"What about Nick?"

"I just don't think I should reward him with playing time after what he
did," Coach responded.

"Okay, I get that, but why punish the team along with him. Make him run
stairs at the next practice or hang him by his balls from the net or
something else that will be way obvious to everyone. Just put him in this
game and give us a shot. I need him to feed me at center." The Coach just
shrugged.

"Matthew, take a seat. Nick you're in at forward to start the second half,"
Coach said. Nick jumped up and pulled off his warm-ups. Matthew plopped
down in his chair and pulled a towel over his head. Nick stretched quickly
and then ran onto the court pumped and motivated.

"Just like in my backyard, dude. Feed the beast," Val said. Nick winked and
nodded.

Nick looked up to see Noah, who was sitting with the pep squad girls, jump
up and start dancing around and yelling, "Nick, Nick, he's our man. If he
can't do it, nobody can! Woo-hoo!" Nick spun away and ran out onto the
court, redder in the face than the numbers on his jersey.  Because the
Tigers won the opening tip, Val's Conquistadors brought the ball in to
start the second half. Dane called play number three again and Val moved
out of the key to take the pass which he immediately dished off to
Nick. Val juked right and spun left again and sent the defender falling off
balance in the wrong direction. Just as Val spun left, Nick delivered a
perfect pass back in and Val sprung off his pivot foot and dropped the rock
off the glass into the rim. The crowd went ballistic.

Running back to defense, Val heard the crowd go crazy again and he turned
to see Nick stealing the inbound pass and dribbling outside. Nick sprinted
past the only Tiger behind him and Nick lofted the ball toward the rim in
perfect timing. Val leapt mid-stride into the air and slammed a two-handed
dunk into the basket with authority. The gymnasium exploded with cheers and
clapping. The student body was stomping their feet on the bleachers
creating a deafening roar. On the next possession, Nick smothered the Tiger
he was guarding and the player nervously turned the ball over on a bad
pass.

At the opposite end, Dane called for play number two and Val ran to the top
of the key for the pass. He immediately dished it to Tyrell and spun into
position for a rebound. Tyrell's shot bounced high off the rim and because
Val had frontal position, he went up for the tip. The tall Tiger center
named Short went up over Val's back and fouled him hard, but Val's tip-in
scored anyway. Val landed hard and smacked his head on the floor with an
audible thud. He lay motionless for a few agonizing seconds that felt like
hours to everyone, as the entire crowd collectively held its breath. Val's
mom shrieked and clasped her hands over her mouth. Tyne gripped the railing
in front of him and bit on his upper lip in deep concern. Violet clutched
Tyne's leg and whimpered in fear for her brother.

Slowly, Val sat up. He repeated his name and address and was able to tell
the trainer how many fingers he was holding up. The crowd cheered and
clapped for him and Tyne released his grip on the railing while
Mrs. Hardcastle started to breathe again. Tyne looked down at the grip
Violet still had on his leg and then reached down and pulled her hands free
and placed them back in her lap. She just smiled up at him.

Val shook it off and stepped up to the free throw line and sunk the shot
for an old fashioned three point play. Working together like a machine, the
Conquistadors went on an 8/2 run to pull within a two point deficit. The
lead changed several times in a close game up to the last minute. During a
time-out, Nick drug Val aside and said, "Dude, that stupid Short guy is
just a beanpole. He hasn't got any game. Just put your body on him and take
control of the center. Push your way in and let me feed you on step away
jumpers."

When the ball came back into play, the Tigers went up five points on a
beautiful three point shot. At the other end, Val backed into Short and
drove him deep toward the baseline. Just as Nick freed up on the perimeter
and took a pass, Val stepped toward Nick and took a perfect bounce pass
from him and spun and shot for a quick two. Then, at the other end, the
Tiger's point guard was fouled by Evan but luckily only hit one of his foul
shots, putting them ahead by four.

Val inbounded it to Evan who sprinted down the floor and nailed a quick
three pointer and then it was a one point game. Coach Carlson called time
out with 30 seconds remaining. He set up two last plays in case the Tigers
failed to score and another one if they scored two points. He didn't bother
with a three point scenario since then they would just have to immediately
foul and hope for missed free throws.

As it turned out, the Tigers worked the ball around the perimeter trying
for an open shot inside by Short. Val stuck to him like glue, not allowing
a pass inside. On the third pass, Val recognized the screen that had
tricked him on the first possession and he stepped to the side where Short
came through. He got set and covered his package with both hands and took
the charge as Short came around the screen and plowed Val over. Val took
another major hit to the head as he dropped backwards to the floor. The
whistle blew and the ball turned over to the Conquistadors on the offensive
charging foul. The building shook with the roars of the crowd. Val grabbed
his head from the intense pain. Things went blurry for a second or two but
he forced himself to get up. He didn't want to risk getting taken out, so
he put his hands on his knees and pretended he was out of breath while his
vision cleared. Noah was standing up in the bleachers with the pep squad
girls and doing the arm motions right along with them screaming at the top
of his lungs, "Go, Fight, Win!"

Play started again as Evan dribbled the ball on the final possession, and
Val checked the clock. Only 18 seconds remained. Val easily pushed Short
out of the key and Evan passed the ball over to Nick, who passed it right
back to Evan, who threw up an off balance, bad decision shot that bounced
off the rim. Since Val had cleared Short out of the key, he easily got the
rebound and fearlessly dunked it to go up by one point. The roar was
deafening. Everyone was on their feet yelling "D-fence, D-fence." Val
looked up from the time-out huddle and saw Tyne sitting by his family. He
smiled and gave a little wave. His entire family waved back as did Tyne.

The Tigers brought the ball in at mid-court after their final time-out with
only five seconds left. The Conquistadors manned up and Nick ended up
guarding the Tiger's outside shooter. The shooter sprinted through a screen
and Nick had to slide around it just as the man he was supposed to be
guarding took the inbound pass and set up to take the final shot for the
win. Nick crouched and sprung seemingly higher than Blake Griffin on the
Clippers ever has to swat the ball out. The ball flew into the stands,
rejected with authority. Nick watched in awe of himself as the ball soared
over the team bench toward the pep squad section headed directly toward
Noah. Once again, the crowd went freaking wild. Nick landed on his feet
just out of bounds and looked up just in time to see the ball barreling
directly into Noah's head, who was oblivious to it. He had both hands in
the air, waving his little sword and doing his flamboyant victory dance
when the impact to his head sent his plastic, gold, Conquistador helmet
flying off with tufts of red plumage scattered everywhere. Poor Noah
dropped faster than Val dropped Lizzy behind the wood shop and the pep
squad girls screamed and clustered around. Nick cringed over it all and was
about to run up into the bleachers to check on him just as the team swept
Nick up and started hugging him. They boosted Nick on their shoulders and
carried him off the court.

Val's family and Tyne made their way down to the court and once he spotted
them, Val broke from the team celebration and grabbed Violet, spinning her
around. Val hugged his mom and traded back slaps with his dad. Then in the
excitement of it all, he grabbed Tyne and spun him around like he had
Violet. Tyne had no idea how to react and when he collected himself, he
just stepped back and laughed. "Thanks for coming, dude," Val said to Tyne.

"I'm sorry I haven't been to more of your games. It was great. I've been
totally missing out. You were fantastic, especially in the second half,"
Tyne said. Tyne stepped back again and observed as Val's dad heaped praise
on his son, recounting play after play where Val had come through. It left
Tyne happy for Val and a bit sad for himself. He suddenly felt the loss of
his father more intensely than he had in some time. Tyne sighed and then
began to take in the beauty of Val's body as he watched him interact with
his father. He was suddenly struck by how extraordinarily sexy Val was as
he stood there with his solid traps extending from his thick neck down to
his broad round shoulders ballooning out of his jersey. The white straps of
his basketball jersey crossing over his pronounced collar bone contrasted
nicely with his slightly flushed skin. A sheen of drying sweat glistened
off every muscle and crease. His perfectly formed biceps flexed and
expanded as he motioned with his hands in conversation with his father. The
most stunning and titillating sight, however was how the sweat soaked
jersey clung to Val's well formed pecs, punctuated by his large protruding
nipples at the base of each pec. Tyne squirmed a bit and then had to resort
to slipping a hand in his pocket to rearrange Tyne junior, who was also
enjoying the eye candy, into a more comfortable position. As he pulled his
hand free of his pocket his attention was drawn to Violet who'd just
snickered. She had been observing him and her look told him that she knew
exactly what had been going on in his head. He felt his face redden and he
turned away.

After several minutes of banter about the games and some of Val's more
memorable plays, Tyne interrupted and excused himself to go find Noah for a
ride home so they could get ready for the dance.

"Hey Tyne," Val said, stepping away from his parents. "I was thinking that
I should come pick you up for the dance tonight and you could put all your
stuff in my truck for the trip to the lake tomorrow. That way, you could
just ride home with me after the dance and spend the night. We could get an
earlier start that way. The fishing is best in the morning."

Tyne scarcely dared believe his ears. "Uh yeah. Okay. I'll ask my mom and
text you if it's okay. I actually got all packed up for the trip already
and I have everything laid out in the garage. I've got some great stuff for
us to eat that I just need to throw into a cooler."

Meanwhile, Nick found his way to Noah and apologized for hitting him with
the ball. "Don't be apologizing to me," Noah said, waving him off. "I am
super thrilled to be able to take one for the team. You were magnificent
out there. Oh my God, you're such a freaking stud."

"Okay, well I'm glad you're okay, umm I gotta go now."

"Oh yeah, you go. We'll chat later at the dance maybe."

"Umm, yeah, maybe. See ya later." Nick sprinted down the steps giving a few
high fives along the way. In the locker room, a whole new celebration
erupted as Nick walked in. The team was definitely back united and like it
should be. The future of the season looked promising, as did the friendship
of Val 'n Tyne.