Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 20:47:21 -0700
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Puget Posse  Chapter 44

Welcome back. Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day bring fun to the
Posse. They also have some serious moments as they work to chip
away at Jeremiah's power. But the best thing that happened may
have been Mark slipping something into Ellis's hand.

Please remember to donate to the Nifty Archive.

Thanks to those of you who have emailed me. Emails are always
appreciated—they are the payment I receive for writing.

Douglas. thehakaanen@hotmail.com


CHAPTER 44
BE MY VALENTINE

Fifth graders are sometimes described as being in a dormant stage of
development, although some of them were tumbling headlong into
puberty. But for most the changes in their bodies are slowed, their
minds are somewhat concrete in their outlooks, and sex was a
curiosity, not a hormone-driven obsession. Quite often, however, the
nine, ten, and younger eleven year olds would leave the impression
they hadn't read the child development texts or, if they had, they
simply chose to ignore them. The minds and bodies of the five boys
in the Posse, as well as other fifth graders at the Puget Academy,
were often a far cry from dormant.

That said, the time from early January to early spring seemed to pass
quietly. As often happens when the weather is bad and the holidays
are gone, there are few outside distractions to school and the
happenings in the academic environment. Concentration levels were
higher, the quality of work was better, deportment was improved, and
life seemed to be routine and, at times, boring.

But even with the high drama on the shelf for awhile, the path for
Posse members and their peers was not a steady journey. It was still
a journey that had its highs and lows, even if these ups and downs
were less frequent and the peaks and valleys less pronounced. Some
of these crests and dips are worth exploring as the Posse makes its
way to spring and the launch of their Operation Bullfrog offensive.

<Friday, February 8>

Mark waited impatiently for Ellis to enter the classroom. He had
tucked the envelope inside his shirt and was anxious to present it to
his friend. The rest of the Posse, plus Posse deputies Will and Paul,
knew he had it. All five of the Posse members had their eyes trained
on the classroom door. With less than five minutes until the bell, they
needed Ellis to show his face soon.

After what seemed like forever, the petite blond came through the
door. Mark got out of his seat and dashed over to Ellis, herding him
back out into the hall. While the entire Posse wanted to see Ellis's
reaction, they agreed that it would be best if they didn't create a big
scene.

Mark grabbed Ellis's arm telling him to go to the boys' room with him.

"We might be late for class," Ellis protested, somewhat shocked by
Mark's aggressiveness.

"Then we'll do detention." Mark started to pull Ellis along.

"Okay, okay, you can let me go. I'm coming."

Mark dropped his hold and the two scooted into the bathroom. It was
empty as everyone was scurrying to get to class on time. Ellis said
nothing as they stood at the center of the room. Mark pulled up his
polo shirt, revealing the waistband of his boxers, his smooth belly,
and a long white envelope barely tucked under his belt. He yanked it
out and handed it to Ellis.

Ellis looked at what was in his hand as if it wasn't real. He was certain
that what was happening was a dream and he was deathly afraid he
would wake up.

"Well?" Mark asked.

His answer was a high pitched scream, accompanied by a mile-wide
smile and a hug that almost broke Mark's ribs. He had no idea the
skinny little blond was so strong.

"I'm free," Ellis whispered. Even though he didn't want them to, tears
of happiness came flooding out, running down his cheeks,
threatening to soak his shirt. Still holding on to Mark as tightly as he
could, he sobbed on his shoulder, finally soaking Mark's shirt. "I love
you, Mark. I'll do anything for you, I mean anything you want,
anything...anything...anything, forever and ever."

Mark gently moved Ellis's head back and looked straight into his
eyes. "You don't need to do anything for me. My name isn't Jeremiah.
You're my friend and don't you ever forget that," Mark told him as
seriously as he'd ever told anybody anything. His impish grin lit up his
face. "Now we can move Operation Bullfrog along and kick some
serious ass."

The bell rang but neither boy moved. Ellis didn't want to let Mark go,
and Mark didn't want him to let go. Their emotions flooded the cold
environs of the lavatory with warmth. The little blond finally let go of
the bigger boy. "We're going to get lunch detention," Ellis said.

"Do you care?" Mark asked.

Ellis ripped open the envelope, grabbed the memory card, and
stuffed it into his pocket. "Nope," he grinned.

When the duo entered the classroom, Mr. Jackson glared of them.
"Nice of you two to come back to class." He knew both of them had
been in the classroom just before the bell, even if Ellis had been there
for just a few seconds. "May I ask what the big emergency was?"

"Sure, go ahead and ask."

Mr. Jackson ignored Mark's impertinence. "Lunch detention for both
of you."

"We'll be there," Mark said as he and Ellis took their desks. Mr.
Jackson had a surprised look on his face. Neither of the twins
accepted detention without some kind of remark, no matter how at
fault they were.  But Mark didn't care because Ellis would be there
with him. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Ellis was
happy.

<Sunday, February 10>

Ryan and Lois asked their son, Misha, to sit with them for a talk after
dinner. Misha tended to be leery of serious talks. Even with all of the
things that were going right in his life, the fear of being rejected by his
parents and sent away still resided in him. After all, his biological
parents had abandoned him, and it could happen to him again.

When they finished eating dinner, he helped clear the table and fill
the dishwasher. Ryan and Lois took care of getting the kitchen
cleaned. When they were finished, the family sat on the couch with
Misha sitting between his parents.

"You've done very well in school, son," Ryan told him. "Your mother
and I are very proud of you."

Misha wondered if the praise was a prelude to bad news. He wanted
to feel good about it, but he wondered if there was some kind of trick
involved. "Thank you," he said demurely, deciding he had to say
something.

The chatter went on a bit longer until Lois dropped the bombshell
Misha had been waiting on. "Your father and I are going to go away
for a few days, again. We plan to visit Las Vegas this weekend. We
will be gone for three nights," she said as she stroked his short,
brown hair.

Misha's response was succinct. "No."

"No?" Ryan asked.

"You can't go."

"We've done it before."

"I didn't like it." While Misha could be extremely patient when dealing
with his friends, his patience often didn't extend to his own life.

"Dr. Barrett has told you often that it is good for you to learn some
independence by being away from us for a day or two," Lois said.

"Dr. Barrett is wrong. I don't want to be left alone."

Ryan and Lois were surprised at Misha's obstinacy. He usually took
things in a calm, patient fashion. But they were somewhat pleased to
see him standing up for himself.

"We aren't leaving you alone. You will be staying with a friend for the
weekend," Lois said.

"I don't want to stay at Ben's house." While Misha still liked Ben, he
and the older boy had drifted apart. Misha had bonded with his peers
at the Puget Academy, while at the same time the age difference
between him and Ben seemed more pronounced. Misha's parents
understood where he was coming from. His classmates had replaced
Ben when he talked about friends. They were certain, however, that
there was no animosity between the two boys.

"You will be spending the weekend at your friend Patrick's house,"
Lois told him. She immediately saw her son's gloomy face brighten
up. His sad eyes went from downcast to bright and shiny.

"Patrick? For all three nights?"

"All three," Ryan said. "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday."

"Oh, I can't wait. Patrick is my best friend."

To Ryan, it seemed his son was suffering from a case of puppy love.

"But you'll still call me, right?" Patrick was now his best friend, and
might even be more than a best friend. But his true attachment was
still with his parents.

"Of course we'll call you," Lois said.

"Why can't you just take me with you?"

"Because you need to be away from us sometimes to help you grow
up."

"And you need a vacation from me, right?" The question startled
Ryan and Lois until they saw a hint of his sly grin showing.

Scott ruffled his hair. "Which brings us to announcement number
two."

The grin vanished quickly and Misha's look of concern returned.
"Another announcement?"

"Yes, sir. We're going to the opening series of the Mariners in
Anaheim."

Misha mumbled something in Russian. Lois gave him her displeased
mother look. "Misha, remember everything you say is for all of us."

"I am sorry, but I am liking baseball and wonder why I can't go."

Ryan hugged Misha tightly to his chest. "Oh, Misha, my lovely son.
That trip is for all of us, for the entire week."

Another mood shift overtook the young boy as once again his eyes
glistened with delight. He reached up to his dad and kissed him on
both cheeks. "You are the best daddy ever." He scooted to the other
side of the couch and kissed his mother lightly on the lips. "You are
the best mommy ever." The family meeting was over, ending on a
positive note for everyone.

Misha slept soundly in his own bed on Sunday night. He needed his
bear, Nikki, to help him sleep on Monday. On Tuesday, he tossed
and turned, but he was determined to show his parents he could be
an independent boy. Nikki wasn't helping him to sleep, so he tried
masturbating, using an instinct that boys seemed to understand—
masturbation can relax the body and mind and can bring on sleep.
Patrick was the chief source of his fantasy. Wednesday night
surprised him as he fell asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow, his
thoughts on the red envelope in his backpack.

When he climbed into bed on Thursday, he knew what was going to
happen. He was so certain that he left his boxers on. After fifteen
minutes of staring wide-eyed at the dark ceiling, he tucked Nikki
under his arm and ambled to his parents' room. As if anticipating his
arrival they left a space between them on the bed. He set Nikki at the
foot of the bed and crawled under the covers. He kissed his mother's
cheek and then his father's cheek, closed his eyes and drifted off to
sleep, confident that on that night he was loved and cared for by his
mommy and daddy.

<Thursday, February 14>

"I can't wait until the student council isn't totally stupid and fifth
graders can really vote," Matthew said on the morning bus. "How
come everybody but fifth graders get to have a Valentine's Day dance
tomorrow night and we get a dumb after school party?"

The only business the student council had been allowed to carry out
had been helping with the planning for the Valentine's Day party. And
even then, the council itself did next to nothing as Jeremiah
appointed his own cronies to do the planning.

"We at least get out of class for most of the afternoon," Patrick said,
trying to look at the bright side.

"And girls will be there," Jeremiah kicked in. He was sitting in the seat
behind Will and Matthew.

Matthew shot down the urge to say, "Like anybody asked your
opinion," but it wasn't easy. They were only a couple of weeks into
this part of Operation Bullfrog, which meant treating Jeremiah, Alden,
and their buddies like they were human. The thought of it made
Matthew want to puke. Actually being nice to Jeremiah was almost a
fate worse than death.

"Girls will be nice," Will said, easing the tension some. Mark heard the
exchange and wanted to puke as badly as Matthew did. He was sorry
as well that the Posse was taking the patience route. Things would be
much simpler if he and Matthew simply kicked the shit out of
Jeremiah and Alden and ended all of the crap that was going on. He
knew that Ellis would appreciate it, even if he was free now.

"I wish girls weren't there," Patrick confided to Mark. "They scare me."

"Just remember you're smarter than they are, but if you don't let them
know that then everything is cool with them. If you're lucky, one of
them might let you kiss her." Patrick wanted to say that he'd rather
kiss Misha, but decided it was better to say nothing.

The subject of kissing had Mark thinking back to the previous
Saturday night. Michelle and Megan had their friends Sandy and
Violet over for a slumber party. The twins had gotten a couple of feels
in with Violet not long ago, but this was the first time they'd met
Sandy.

"Are you guys going to put makeup and panties on again?" Violet
asked the twins in the rec room.

"No way," Matthew said emphatically. "We never got to do anything
but watch all you dumb girls do nothing."

"You got to suck my boobs. And you...um...like, jerked off."

"We don't need lipstick and panties to jerk off," Mark said. "We just
need have a boner and be naked." He started to unbuckle his pants,
knowing it would get a rise out of one or both of his sisters.

"Mom, make the Things go to their room," Michelle yelled out.
"They're bugging us."

"We have every right to be here," Mark yelled. "We live here, too."

Kristy entered the room and asked everybody to settle down. "You
girls have televisions in your rooms. You can always go there."

"Yeah," Matthew said. "When we have somebody spend the night,
we'll go to our room and stay out of your way."

"Do you promise?" Michelle asked.

"Cross my heart and hope to turn into a fly," Mark replied.

"Turn into a fly?" Kristy asked.

"Yeah, who wants to hope to die? Flies like to buzz people, so if I'm a
fly I can still bug the M&Ms."

"Okay, if you promise we'll go upstairs this once. But you two better
do the same thing."

"We will, but just once like you."

Kristy walked away, amazed how easy that had been. She wished all
of their battles were settled as quickly. What she didn't understand is
that both sets of twins had given in because they wanted to mess
around sexually with their friends. She also didn't notice that Mark's
pants were unzipped, exposing his green boxers.

"If you take your thing out I'll scream for mom," Megan said.

"Take it out," Violet told him. Sandy, who was an immature twelve-
year-old girl with a flat chest and bald pussy, sat transfixed by the
sexual banter, not to mention a boy sitting in the room with his pants
open and his underwear showing.

Michelle, Megan, and Sandy left the rec room, but Violet hung back.
She walked over to the chair and squeezed into it next to Mark, who
scrunched up tightly. Two adults would never fit in that space, but the
eleven and twelve-year-olds just managed.

Violet put her hand on Mark's boxers and squeezed his preteen hard-
on. Mark let out an involuntary yelp that became an even louder one
when her hand went inside the slit in his boxers and squeezed his
cock skin-to-skin. She leaned into him and kissed him on the lips. He
knew exactly what to do and opened his mouth to let her in as she
rubbed his very excited erection. Matthew quickly became a lookout,
but he mostly kept his eyes on his brother and Violet. The two
exchanged tongue and spit, their lips locked tight, the tweens
moaning inside each other's mouth.

Mark's hand moved up under Violet's shirt to squeeze her right
breast, but he got hung-up on her bra. Before he could do anything
about the situation, Michelle came back to the room.

"Are you coming Vio...?" She stopped and surveyed the scene.
"Mark, what are you doing to my friend?"

"I'm not doing nothing," he protested. "She came over and sat next to
me."

"Like I'm supposed to believe that."

"Believe what you want to, but it's true. What do you think, I dragged
her into this chair like some caveman?"

"And put your penis away." His hard-on was now poking out of his
boxers and pants. "You can't let mom see it sticking up like that. You
really owe me now." She looked at Violet. "I wish I never had little
brothers."

"I knew we should have sold her and Megan on E-Bay," Mark told
Matthew.

Violet started to follow Michelle out and then stopped. "You really kiss
good. I mean really good. You've practiced."

"Yep," Mark said proudly.

"That was one of the best kisses I ever had...and your cock is nice,
too."

"Violet, come on," Michelle implored.

"I'll talk to her and help you out with your thing later," Violet said as
she left. Sadly for Mark, Michelle must have gotten her way, since he
and Violet were not able to continue making out that night.

The bus turning onto the tree-lined street to the school brought Mark
back to reality. He had a boner, but so what? Patrick had seen him
boned up lots of times. He'd adjust things getting off of the bus if he
was still hard. He was hoping that he could take the kissing skills that
Violet liked and use it on a girl at the party that afternoon. That would
at least make not having a Friday night dance almost worthwhile.

After lunch the girls were brought from the Annie Fuller Day School to
the Puget Academy. The party was held in the old gym. There was
food, music, games, along with shyness, intermingling, and, for some,
the wish that the teachers and chaperones weren't looking.

Madison and her clique of girls sought out the Posse boys. They'd
been talking about them ever since the Halloween party and had
vowed to link up with them. Their hope was that at least one of them
could sneak a kiss. Their fantasies had all of them getting kisses, but
they knew it would be difficult enough for just one of them to be
kissed.

Madison's clique consisted of Madison, Naomi, Page, Carla, and Zoe.
While Zoe had been at the Halloween party, she didn't become a part
of Madison's group until afterwards. Madison had flirted with the twins
at the party, while Naomi chased Misha, Paige had her eyes set on
Patrick, and Carla was taken by Neville and his British accent. Zoe
was excited to learn that one of the twins was available.

"They are so fine," Madison confided to Zoe. "I don't remember which
one is which, but we'll just each take one and see who we end up
with."

As for the Posse, the twins and Neville were interested in the girls
and were pleased to see the entire group approaching them. Misha
and Patrick had each hoped that the girls would ignore them. While
Neville was interested in Carla, he was also shy around girls, except
for the girl he would never see again, his old babysitter, Kathy.

Patrick and Misha were friendly to Paige and Naomi. They sat in a
circle of chairs with them, eating snacks and drinking punch. For the
most part, they let the girls chatter away and tried not to appear too
bored. Mark and Matthew seriously flirted with Madison and Zoe, with
Madison latching on to Mark, who she pegged as the alpha male of
the Posse—or she would have if she knew what an alpha male was.

"Have you ever kissed a girl?" Madison asked Mark, who was
pleased at her lack of shyness.

"Of course I have. I'm eleven, so I better have some experience,"
Mark said. "Have you kissed a boy?"

"I'm almost eleven," she said as if to show she was on even ground
with Mark. "I've kissed a couple of boys."

"Have you Frenched?"

"Maybe."

"Well, I have lots of times, and with a lot of different girls." Mark didn't
bother to mention that two of the girls he'd kissed were his sisters,
and that he had more experience kissing boys than he did kissing
girls.

"I wish they'd let us kiss here at the party," Madison sighed.

"I bet we can try."

"How?"

"Well, the bleachers are pulled out, which means there is space
under them." There were bleachers on only one side of the old gym.
They didn't have many rows, which left minimal headroom to anyone
going under them. "If you go around that way," he said pointing to the
west end of the bleachers, "you get to a hallway that goes to the
boys' locker room."

"I can't go in there."

"They only use the bathroom. Only the showers in the new gym work.
And there's a girl's bathroom on the left side of the hall."

"You can't go in there."

Mark decided that even for a girl she was dumb, but in the end she
was girl, which did give her a couple of bonus points. "We won't go
into the bathrooms. We just go in that direction to make people think
that's where we're going, but we sneak in under the bleachers."

"Won't we get caught?"

"Not if we're sneaky. And Matthew can watch out for teachers and
everybody, right Matthew?"

Matthew and Zoe had been listening to Mark with great interest.
"Whatever you say, bro. But then, you have to help me and Zoe, right
Zoe?"

"I've never kissed anybody before," Zoe whined.

"Well, you will today," Matthew grinned.

"For real?" Zoe grabbed onto his arm and gave Matthew a look that
was supposed to melt a man's heart, but made the preteen boy
wonder just what he was getting himself into.

"Wait for a minute or so, then follow me," Mark told Madison. He
hoped that Madison would just give him a kiss and skip the goofy
look.

Mark left the circle of chairs and walked around the end of the
bleachers. He checked to see if anybody was watching him. Feeling
safe, he ducked in under the bleachers and waited for Madison. He
barely had any headroom, and, as was often the case with girls and
boys of their age, Madison was a bit taller than he was.

He saw her legs come around the corner and the rest of her quickly
came into sight. "Madison, in here," he hissed. "Make sure nobody is
looking."

Madison looked over her shoulder and then ducked in under the
bleachers. Mark liked that she had to duck since that put her face
level with his. "We have to be quick," he told her. He liked that idea,
because he could just head right in and kiss her. Plus, he wouldn't
have to worry about her getting all dreamy looking like Zoe had been.

They had their faces right up against each other. Mark awkwardly put
his arms around her and placed his lips on hers. His cock
immediately shot to attention. He pressed his lips harder against hers
and tried pushing his tongue between her lips. He had no intention of
wasting his time with preliminaries.

When she stubbornly kept her lips closed he pulled back and said,
"You gotta open your mouth and let my tongue in. That's what
Frenching is all about."

"I was scared, and it's all dirty down here."

"Nothing to be scared of, I won't bite you. My mouth will keep the dirt
out."

He tried again and this time she opened her mouth and let his tongue
shoot in. She played with it some, but made no attempt to move hers
into Mark's mouth. So, he stopped again and instructed her on what
to do. She could get lessons from Patrick on kissing, he thought, and
he's only nine. He decided that what she really needed to do was
practice with some of her girlfriends.

This time they locked lips. He pulled her tightly to him and they traded
tongues, their teeth occasionally clashing. Madison was as flat
chested as Mark was, but he didn't care. She was a girl and he was
kissing her.

Mark let his right hand rest on her chest. He rubbed her, thinking that
feeling Madison up while kissing her felt really sexy. He wished she'd
touch his groin—his hard cocklet was begging to be touched. He let
go of the girl and started reaching up under her blouse, feeling her
soft, warm skin, pleased he didn't have to deal with a bra. He found
her right nipple and rubbed it with his finger as she emulated him,
untucking his shirt, reaching up under it.

Madison's hand moved up his torso. She was sexually turned on for
one of the few times in her young life and she loved the feeling. Mark
unzipped his pants. "You can put your hand inside there if you want,"
he told her.

She ignored his plea. Instead she had the thought that sucking on
Mark's lip sounded sexier than putting her hand in his pants, which
sounded gross. Her move turned out not to be sexy at all as she
ended up biting him. It was just a nip, but Mark decided to make it a
major injury. He brought his arm to his mouth and moaned, bringing
words of sympathy from Madison.

"Oh, Mark, I'm so sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean to. Are you okay?"

"I think I'm bleeding," Mark said through his hand. He could barely
taste a trickle of blood, but he had Madison thinking there was a
gusher of blood spouting in his mouth.

Before she could say anything, Matthew poked his head inside the
space. "You guys better leave. Mr. J looks like he's on the way.

The two children slipped out from under the bleachers, looking a bit
haggard. "Are you still bleeding?" Madison asked. Mark nodded and
grunted into his hand, which was still covering his mouth. "I'll go get
some paper towels." She took off through the entry way to the
corridor and the bathroom just as Mr. Jackson came around the
bleachers.

"Just what kind of mischief are the two of you up to?" he asked the
twins, knowing there was virtually no way the two of them were
standing next to the bleachers thinking about being good. In the
teacher's mind the brothers had to be plotting something.

"Nothing, Mr. J," Mark said, his hand now removed from his mouth. "I
was just coming back from the can."

"Yeah, and I was just heading there," Matthew said, putting on his
best air of innocence and purity, an act Mr. Jackson didn't buy for a
second, especially considering the disheveled state of Mark's polo
shirt.

"Just make sure you mind your manners around our guests," Mr.
Jackson said. "And you may want to zip up your pants."

Mark grinned without embarrassment and zipped up. "Guess I was in
a hurry to piss and run and forgot to zip," he said.

"Mr. Kirkwood!" the teacher yelled.  Mark giggled and hustled back to
the chairs where his friends were sitting.

Mark put his hand back to his mouth. "I'm bleeding. Madison bit me
when we kissed."

Before anybody could react, Madison appeared with a small bundle
of paper towels. "Are you still bleeding?" she asked with concern.
Mark grunted into his hand as he gave a positive shake to his head.
"Let me see it." Mark opened his mouth. "I don't see any blood," she
said.

Mark was about to say he swallowed most of it when Patrick piped in.
"It is a well-known fact that the tongue and the mouth are the fastest
healing parts of the body."

"Yep, Patrick is right," Mark said, thankful he had the ever-knowing
Patrick as his friend and fellow Posse member.

"Does it still hurt?" Madison asked.

"Yeah, it hurts a lot."

"I am really sorry. What we were doing was so fun. I'll make it up to
you, I promise."

Mark grinned and grabbed her hand. It looked like there could be a lot
of perks to be had when you got a girl to feel sorry for you.

The last hour of the party was a bit more routine. There were various
games going on that had been set up by some of the parents, with
help from a group of students appointed by the fifth grade president—
Jeremiah. The rest of the council, which consisted of Matthew,
Patrick, Ellis, and Misha, wanted to make up the committee, but
Jeremiah insisted on appointing his cronies.

"He wouldn't even let us vote on anything," Matthew told Mark after
Jeremiah's arbitrary decision the week before.

"Where was Mr. V? Couldn't he stop Jeremiah?"

"He wasn't in the room is all I know. Everybody is really mad about it,
but Jeremiah said because he was the president he could make his
own committee and that Mr. Vargas said he could."

"Did you guys check out the constitution?"

"Yep. I don't understand everything it said, but there was something
about an at the dock committee and how the president could put one
together."

"The term is ad hoc," Patrick told them.

"That is just wrong," Mark said. "He can't have his friends running
everything."

After the party ended, the cleanup committee went to work. Those in
the know didn't miss the fact that Jeremiah had put Matthew, his
sergeant-at-arms, in charge of that committee.

That night Mark enjoyed an exquisite blow job from his brother.
"You're really good at this. I got so horny with Madison I need to get
off bad. I wanted her to touch my dick, but she wouldn't do it." It didn't
take him long to unload two watery shots of cum into Matthew's
mouth.

"Zoe is nice, but she was afraid to even touch my hand," Matthew
said, enjoying the taste of his brother's immature load. He was
surprised by how much he'd grown to enjoy the flavor.

"If their moms didn't look at our texts, I'd tell Madison that her and
Zoe need to practice kissing...and other stuff...on each other." Mark
then rolled over and sucked Matthew to a fairly quick orgasm—still
dry.

The Kirkwood family would be leaving for their condo and a weekend
ski trip early the next morning. The twins were hoping to meet some
kids on the slopes—they didn't care what age they were. They were
sure they'd meet somebody during the time they spent at the ski
school. The social twins were always ready to meet new friends.

The brothers snuggled and were quickly asleep. The fact that they'd
enjoyed an afternoon flirting with girls, followed by an evening of
giving each other a blow job and sleeping naked together didn't seem
incongruous to them at all.

<Friday, February 15>

There were few things that could persuade Patrick to set his alarm on
a day off from school. Friday was the first day of the four day
President's Day weekend, but Patrick had dutifully set his alarm for
eight the next morning—after all, Misha would be arriving by nine. He
ended up not needing it; he was up eating breakfast with Grannana
and his father at seven.

"My, oh my, you are an early bird this morning," Maxine said as
Patrick started on his eggs. "Is there a worm in your future, perhaps?"
she asked, unaware of the double meaning of her question.

Maxine's question almost caused Patrick to spit out his mouthful of
eggs. "I am an early Wombat, Grannana, and there is a big juicy
worm in my future," he giggled once he was able to swallow.

Brian gave his son a knowing look. There wasn't much question that
Patrick had been influenced by the education he had received from
his Uncle Roy. Nor was there any doubt in his mind that he'd shown
Misha what he knew. There was also no question in Brian's mind that
his son was afflicted with a case of puppy love.

"I would certainly like to know what is so funny about what I said,"
Maxine said, which got both Brian and Patrick to roaring with
laughter.

By the time Misha was due to arrive, Patrick was showered and
dressed in sweats and a long Sounders t-shirt that stretched almost
to his knees. He sat in the living room, anticipating the arrival of his
friend. He saw an SUV turn into the driveway and had the front door
open before the vehicle had come to a stop. Patrick wished he had
put his slippers on; the sidewalk was wet with rain and he was in his
stocking feet.

Misha hopped out of the backseat and seemed to make it all the way
to the front door of the house in one bound. The two boys danced a
little jig around each other and exchanged a big hug. There was no
doubt they were overjoyed to be together, even though they had been
together in school the day before.

Ryan pulled Misha's bicycle out of the back of the SUV. He asked
Misha to help get the rest of his things. Patrick started to follow, but
Misha told him to keep his feet dry. Misha returned with Nikki and his
overnight bag, while Lois brought a pillow and a sleeping bag. Misha
had reminded her he didn't need those when he'd spent the night
there before, but she insisted, saying that spending three nights was
different than spending one. Ryan grabbed Misha's bicycle helmet
out of the back and followed his family to the house.

Maxine came from her room to join the throng. Deli followed her, his
sniffing, pawing, and barking adding to the chaos. "This is Maxine, my
great-grandmother," Patrick told Lois and Ryan. "We all call her
Grannana." Because they had helped Brian and Patrick when Maxine
had had her kidney stone attack, they were fully aware of who she
was.

The greetings and introductions were followed by good-bye hugs and
kisses, the usual parental reminders to behave, and a round of
thanks for taking Misha in for the weekend. When the SUV finally
pulled out of the driveway, Patrick could see that Misha was a little
sad. "Let's go to my room," he implored.

"Not until the two of you have a morning cup of hot chocolate,"
Maxine told the boys. "Master Misha looks a bit down, and hot
chocolate has been known to buoy the spirits."

They didn't argue and sat at the kitchen table, their legs swinging
back and forth as she set two steaming cups of cocoa in front of
them, along with a couple of chocolate chip cookies. Maxine was big
on snacks for little boys, especially in the form of cookies.

"You have the nicest Grannana in the world," Misha told Patrick, who
beamed because he knew it was true. "Where is T-Bone?" he asked,
referring to Patrick's other dog.

"I don't know. Sleeping somewhere, I guess. Deli is Grannana's pet,
that's why he came out with her. T-Bone belongs to dad and me and
is probably napping with Ramses." Ramses was the gray tomcat who
ran the household, at least in his own mind. "T-Bone and Ramses are
both pretty lazy sometimes." He giggled and added, "Or maybe all of
the time."

"I was surprised you are wearing sweats. I thought you did not dress
much at your house," Misha said.

"I wanted to go out to meet you, so I had to be dressed or Grannana
might end up brooming me."

"Do you think we can dress in just our underwear?"

"Grannana said it would be okay soon, but not now. We could even
be naked if we want, but just don't go running around with...um...you
know...um...erections." As soon as Patrick said the word erection the
boys burst into a fit of giggles. Misha knew the story of Matthew's
brooming when he made the mistake of running naked with an
erection.

"You have never been around the house with an erection?"

"Sure, but I live here, so nobody cares."

"That all sounds very strange and makes very little sense."

"They aren't my rules."

The boys finished their snacks, put their cups and plates away, and
finally made it to Patrick's bedroom. Patrick looked under his bed and
saw Ramses soundly asleep. He figured correctly that T-Bone was
probably asleep in his dad's room.

"I'm glad you brought Nikki," Patrick said as he stood back up.

"I thought you would think me baby since I am eleven," Misha said,
fracturing his syntax a bit because he felt a momentary flash of
embarrassment. Misha and Patrick had already discussed his bear;
as a result, its presence was not a complete surprise.

"No way. Nikki is a very cool bear. He can keep Wally company."
Wally was Patrick's stuffed wombat.

"I should find me a stuffed wolverine," Misha said.

"Or change your name to Bear."

"No, I think Wolverine is the right animal name for me."

"I think so, too."

The first things the boys did was strip to their underwear. "I have
another long shirt," Patrick told Misha. "If you wear it you can take
your underpants off and run around the house with a boner." That put
the boys into another fit of giggling. They were soon down to wearing
just a long t-shirt that covered their privates, and socks.

They could have just as easily worn nothing and sported boners
because, other than for taking a pee, they didn't leave Patrick's room
until lunch. The two boys came out for their toasted cheese
sandwiches and soup, wearing what little they'd worn all morning.
Maxine wasn't fooled by the long shirts; she knew there was nothing
but bare boy underneath them.

Since the rain had let up, the boys dressed and rode their bikes.
Patrick showed Misha around his neighborhood. They stayed within
the boundaries that Patrick's father had set for him. There were two
stops within those boundaries that Patrick wanted to make.

The first stop was the little mini-mart on the arterial to the east of his
house. Patrick told Misha to bring some money since the store had a
great selection of candies and other treats. Candy was not kept in
either household; the only way the boys could take care of the needs
of their sweet tooth was to buy candy on the sly. Misha agreed that
the selection was outstanding.

The other stop was to introduce Misha to his friend Ian. While the two
had seen each other at Wild Waves back in the fall, they'd never
really been introduced. Patrick called Grannana and told her where
he was after which the boys spent an hour playing with Ian's toy
soldiers. Misha didn't think it was as much fun as Risk; he wasn't
really into toys.

They rode directly to Patrick's house from Ian's. The rest of the day
was spent playing, eating, watching television with Brian and Maxine,
and being silly young boys.

One special thing happened just before dinner. The boys had been in
their underwear since they returned from Ian's house. Misha was
surprised how comfortable he felt around Brian and Grannana in just
his boxers and a t-shirt. Patrick was wearing briefs and one of his
long shirts. Patrick told Misha not to worry about Grannana's
grousing; it only meant something if she got the broom out.

Misha was sitting on Patrick's bed, his legs spread so that Patrick,
who was sitting on his desk chair, could look up his boxers and see
the bottom of his scrotum. He wanted to look up those smooth thighs
forever, but he also wanted to give Misha something he'd been
putting off all day. He reached into the top drawer of his desk, pulled
out a red envelope with "Wolverine" printed on it, and handed it to
Misha.

"I know it's a day late," Patrick said with unaccustomed shyness. "But
I wanted to give it to you here and not at school."

 Misha grinned and thanked Patrick. He set the envelope on the bed
and got up.

"Didn't you like it?" Patrick asked, somewhat mortified. "You haven't
even opened it."

Misha dug into his bag and pulled out a red envelope with "Wombat"
printed on it and set it on Patrick's lap. The use of their Posse animal
nicknames showed how much they had been thinking alike.  After
Misha sat on the bed, they ripped open their envelopes like they
revealed an Academy Award winner.

They each had a Valentine inside. Along with the usual drawings,
hearts, and sappy sayings they had written virtually the same thing.
"Be My Valentine" with a string of hearts and X's and O's drawn in.

Patrick looked at Misha with a look of worship and the look was
returned. He then sat next to Misha on the bed and gave him a kiss
on his lips. They both sat back and gazed at each other wonderingly,
not sure if there should be more at this point. They didn't get to press
the point because Grannana called them to dinner before they could
do more.

The evening seemed to fly by. The boys played Risk with Brian, who
won the game. He had to work hard to beat the rapidly improving
pair. After the game the boys hit a wall while watching TV. They were
out of gas. Patrick briefly fell asleep on the couch, his head leaning
up against Misha's shoulder. Brian thought the scene looked sweet,
but woke Patrick so he and Misha could get ready for bed.

Patrick was barely functional and Misha was close to conking out.
Brian helped the youngsters get ready. They undressed and climbed
into Patrick's bed, neither one caring that Brian was watching them.
Nor did they care that he knew they were going to sleep together in
the nude. They just wanted to sleep and were out before Brian could
turn off the light. Brian couldn't help but admire Misha's athletic body.
There was no doubt the boy was going to be real looker, if he wasn't
already.

The next day Brian took Patrick and Misha into Seattle for their first
visit to the Experience Music Project at the Seattle Center, with lunch
following. While the boys thought the design of the building was
funky, they enjoyed the exhibits and the music that came with them.
They had lunch at one of the seafood houses along the waterfront. It
was another long, fulfilling day.

This time Patrick and Misha headed for bed early, but it wasn't for the
purpose of sleeping. They told Brian to wait until they were under the
covers before he came into the room to tuck them in. They seemed to
think that if Patrick's father didn't actually see them get into the bed
naked, he wouldn't know they were naked. Brian couldn't help but
smile at their twisted logic.

As soon as Brian left, Misha and Patrick traded a short kiss, and then
went directly into a longer one, and finally just kept their lips and
tongues locked together as long as they could. They had traded a few
light kisses during the past two days, but this was the first time they'd
gotten serious. Had they been farther into puberty, or in Patrick's
case into puberty at all, the story might have been different. While
they liked the sexual feelings they had for each other, they weren't
driven by them—at least not yet.

Just as they placed their little boy cocks together they heard the
phone ring. Brian knocked on the door, telling Misha it was his
mother. His parents were calling a lot as promised; this was their fifth
phone call since they'd left for Las Vegas.

"Tell her that I am asleep," Misha said. He couldn't believe that he did
not want to talk to his parents on the phone. He'd been looking
forward to every phone call up until that moment.

"Since we both know you're not asleep you can talk to her for a
moment. Do you want to come out to answer it, or shall I bring the
handset in to you?"

"I'll come out." Misha rose out of bed, turned on the light, grabbed the
t-shirt he'd thrown on the desk chair, and left the room. Brian saw him
come out and noticed the tent in the shirt right where a boy's cock
should be. He smiled inwardly, wondering if his son was equally
excited.

Misha talked, listened, told his parents he loved them, wished them
good luck, hung up, and returned to Patrick's room. Brian had
observed Misha's tent vanish during the course of the phone call. He
wondered if Grannana had noticed anything.

Misha peeled off the shirt before he even got to Patrick's bedroom.
He walked in naked, threw the shirt back on the chair, and surprised
Patrick by going under the covers headfirst. He surprised his friend
even more by placing his lips around his still hard cock. Patrick
squealed in surprise and delight as Misha rubbed his small, hairless
scrotum while he sucked his cocklet.

"Misha, that feels so good," he whispered.

Misha didn't answer, he just kept sucking. Patrick pulled the
bedcovers away, exposing their smooth boy bodies to the dim light in
the room. He watched as his best friend gave him pleasure.

The overwhelming feelings going through his body and brain shut out
all rational thought—his young mind lost all focus as his body
trembled. It was then for the first time that he noticed how close
Misha's boner was to his mouth. It was close enough that if he moved
his head slightly he'd be able to lick it. He shifted just a bit and licked
the purple head that peered through Misha's foreskin.

Misha lifted his head, leaving a ribbon of salvia between his lips and
Patrick's erection. "Suck on it," he whispered. He once again
enveloped Patrick's three inches in his mouth. Patrick shifted some
again, and put his mouth around Misha's throbbing pubescent
erection.

They were now engaged in doing a sixty-nine. It all seemed so
natural and right to the young boys.

Patrick pushed his little cock into Misha's mouth, while Misha drove
his longer, thicker one into Patrick's, fucking the younger boy's mouth
as he sucked him off. Their moans, groans, squawks, and squeals
were muffled by what they had in their mouths, which was probably a
good thing. Even with the distance between the bedroom and the
living room, and even with the television on, the two young boys did
not yet have the self-control needed to keep them from crying out at a
loud, high-pitched, volume.

They lay quietly for over five minutes, neither letting go of the other's
penis. It was as if they wanted the image to be totally emblazoned
into their memory banks to make sure the moment lasted forever.

Finally, Misha stirred and turned himself around so that his head was
even with Patrick's. He kissed his friend lightly on the lips, a kiss that
soon became a frenzied one. Patrick and Misha clung to each other
and kissed until they felt sapped of all of their energy.

"That was so awesome, Misha."

"It was the best, the best ever," which is what he'd said the first time
the two of them had had sex. For Misha, that just meant sex with
Patrick would just keep getting better.

They were in bed with each other and wrapped around each other
and falling asleep with each other. Maybe it was puppy love, just as
their fathers thought. Maybe it was more—maybe it was less. It didn't
matter to the two of them. All they were sure of was that they each
had the best friend in the world in his arms.

The next morning, except for eating breakfast, Patrick and Misha
didn't bother wearing any clothes except for socks. It was winter, after
all, and even in the toasty warm house toes had a tendency to get
cold. While it wasn't a sexual day, it was a sexy day. Brian, of course,
loved watching the young boys strut around nude, and Maxine said,
"Boys will be boys," and left it at that.

"How about you two boys get showered," Maxine said a little after
noon. "Your Uncle Ted is going to fix us a nice supper and show us
his new apartment." Ted was a good cook, having learned the art
from his mother when he was a boy.

"We should shower together," Patrick said on the way to his bedroom.
Misha gave him no argument. All they had to do was peel off their
socks, set the water, and get wet and soapy. They washed each
other thoroughly enough to sprout erections. Like their nude morning,
the shower was erotic, but not sexual. Their first shower together was
relatively tame, but tame showers would not always be the case with
the two of them.

The dinner was delicious. Patrick told Misha that Ted and Rolando,
his boyfriend, would probably perv on them—especially Rolando.
That ended up being the case, and Rolando took advantage of the
small apartment to set up opportunities for contact with Misha and
Patrick. Misha didn't mind much, even the time Rolando slowly
brushed his crotch by "accident" and momentarily fondled his small
ball sac.

Patrick did mind. When Rolando's hand came to rest on his thigh
while they ate, Patrick whispered, "I'll tell," in his ear. Rolando backed
off quickly. Brian saw the little exchange and had a good idea of what
it was about. Good for you, Patrick, good for you, he thought when
Rolando's arm shifted away from his son. Brian was going to step in if
needed, but he was more than pleased to see Patrick stand up for
himself. He hadn't seen Rolando fondle Misha, or he would have
stepped in. Ted had seen it, wishing it was him fondling the
handsome young Russian boy.

That night the boys once again retired early. They talked about
Rolando and Misha mentioned being fondled. Patrick said that
Rolando would have touched his balls, too, if he hadn't stopped him.

The boys talked about the Valentine's Day party at school and how
Naomi had been flirting with Misha, and Paige had been flirting with
Patrick. They agreed both girls were dumb and they would much
rather have been sitting alone with each other.

They kissed some, petted each other some, and fondled each other.
But they were tired, Patrick in particular. And for nine-year-old
Patrick, hormonal drive of adolescence was not yet in full swing.
Misha was petting Patrick's smooth, taut belly when he noticed his
friend had fallen asleep.

Misha turned on his side to fall asleep, but he couldn't get
comfortable. He hadn't received a good-night call from his parents.
They'd last called around six. As much as he was perturbed by them
calling at bedtime the night before, he was even more disconcerted
about their not calling.

He saw Nikki and Wally next to each other on Patrick's dresser. He
left the bed and brought Nikki back with him, wrapping his arms
around the soft, stuffed bear. He made sure to keep body contact
with Patrick at the same time. He still couldn't fall asleep.

Finally he got up and wandered into the hall, carrying Nikki with him.
When he got to the end, he opened the door to Brian's bedroom and
walked in. Misha's abandonment issues were kicking in and he was
looking for the reassurance of an adult. His feelings for Patrick could
not yet take the place of the security the close presence of an adult
gave him when he felt this way. He hadn't bothered to put anything
on and was naked. In the dark, he saw where there was room for him
in Brian's bed. He set Nikki down on the foot of the bed and went
under the blankets close to Patrick's father.

Brian was a light sleeper and was awake even before Misha had
come into his bed. Like his son, Brian slept naked. Misha's parents
had told Brian about Misha's abandonment issues and that he might
come into Brian's bed after everyone had gone to sleep. Brian had
even worn boxers to bed the first two nights in case he should get a
visitor. But after two nights he thought Patrick had taken care of
whatever issues Misha had, not understanding the boy's desperate
need for the reassurances of an adult—even if that just meant being
in the presence of one.

He felt Misha's warm, naked body against him. He placed his arm
across the boy's smooth shoulder. Misha let out a little whimper. He
had exactly what he needed and fell instantly to sleep with Brian
following minutes later.

When Brian woke up in the morning, Misha was gone. He was
surprised the boy hadn't awakened him when he left. He was also
pleased that Patrick would be waking up with his friend still in his bed.

Misha's parents called at eight, apologetic about missing their phone
call the night before. They assured Misha it was not intentional. They
would be leaving for the airport in an hour and would be home soon.
Misha was happy and was eager to see his parents again.

The weekend had been a success on many levels. Misha and Patrick
learned something about each other sexually and bonded even closer
personally. Patrick learned he could fend off unwanted advances.
Misha met a new friend in Ian. And Brian learned that Misha trusted
him enough to come into his bed naked, knowing he was safe. That
also told Brian a lot about himself, considering his attraction to boys
of Misha's age. He took Misha's trust seriously and made sure to be
worthy of it. He also made a mental note to wear boxers to bed the
next time Misha stayed overnight.

<Thursday, February 28>

The time from the four-day Presidents' Day break until the end of the
month was a quiet one, which didn't mean nothing happened. The
boys of the Posse and their friends, not to mention their enemies,
were busy.

Neville was a bit upset when he finished second to Patrick for the
highest grades in the class. He was put out coming in behind not only
a scholarship boy, but a boy who was a year younger. The only
saving grace was that he genuinely liked Patrick.

His sex life during the two weeks was quiet, consisting of one session
of trading hand jobs with Dylan and some jerk off sessions. The jerk
off sessions were becoming more and more frequent as he
approached puberty. Some of his jerk off fantasies involved Dylan
and Evan. He'd seen Evan in sexual situations, but he hadn't messed
around with him. He thought about Cody as well, but Cody and Dylan
had drifted apart and Neville hadn't seen him around for awhile. Paul
popped into his head once when Neville focused on him and Curt
jerking off at the cock challenge.

While it bothered Neville some to be fantasizing about those boys, he
told himself it was because he'd messed around with them or
watched them mess around. Fantasizing about Mark, Matthew, Misha
and Patrick was something different. Maybe he thought about them in
his sexual fantasies because he saw so much of them every day.
When one of them popped into his head, he'd focus on Carla from the
Annie Fuller School, the teenaged Kathy, or even on his cousin Vicky.
As much as he tried to think about girls like that when he
masturbated, his mind kept returning to boys.

His biggest issue, however, was Ellis. Ellis entered his fantasies
completely uninvited. One time Neville jerked off with the image of
him and Ellis naked in his bedroom. They had boners. Ellis was on
the floor painting Neville's toenails bright red before giving Neville a
blow job. What really disturbed Neville was that he made no attempt
to replace Ellis with a new fantasy. He stayed with Ellis all of the way
to orgasm. Neville was so upset by his fantasy, he didn't jerk off for
two days.

One wonders what Neville would have thought if he knew Ellis
fantasized about him during his jerk off sessions. He even thought
about Neville the one night he spent with Barry and Dax at Dax's
house. Ellis watched as Barry and Dax got high on weed.  He then let
the older boys each fuck him twice as they moved on to Jack Daniels
and got wasted. Dax's parents left him alone for the weekend, and
Ellis lied to his mother about where he'd be spending the night. He
had no desire to get fucked up—all he wanted was to get fucked.

The twins had a great Presidents' Day weekend skiing. They met
some other kids on the beginner's slopes. They spent time with three
of them, two boys and a girl, in the ski lodge warming up on hot
cocoa and heated scones. They saw each other frequently. Their
relationship was one of passing friends, and nothing was said about
sex. They were all under age thirteen and not sure if the subject
should be broached. All but one of the boys was sexually active in
some way, however. That boy was ten and very naïve—masturbation
was still foreign to him.

The twins had an impossible time being sexual at the condo—there
simply wasn't the privacy. Of course they did some grabbing and
fondling of each other and carried on sexual banter with their sisters
about giving up some kisses, but nothing happened between
anybody. They made up for it after getting home with nightly shared
blow jobs. Michelle and Megan remained hard to get, but the two girls
were beginning to see their brothers as sexual creatures.

After the weekend, the players on the Bobcats, along with two pickup
players from the other intramural basketball teams, played two games
against other schools. The Bobcats had earned the privilege by
winning the fifth grade championship. They won both games and had
two more games left to play in March.

Patrick and Misha hadn't been able to spend another night together,
but they were inseparable at school and were able to spend some
after school time together. Mark and Matthew kidded them about
being the other set of twins on the Posse, something Neville took
umbrage at since it made him feel like an outsider. Misha jerked off
almost every day, always thinking about Patrick in his fantasies.

Patrick didn't jerk off nearly as much, but when he did, Misha was in
his fantasies. He did mess around with Ian the weekend after
President's Day, however. The two boys didn't do much since they
didn't have much time alone. They pulled down their pants and
undies and sat on Patrick's bed Saturday afternoon jerking each
other off.

Patrick told Misha about that later during a phone call. He was
worried Misha would be mad, but his friend was cool with it. The boys
at the orphanage had sex with many partners. Misha remembered
that even when he and Nikki were almost like boyfriends, they both
played around with other boys. Nikki never pretended like he owned
Misha's body, and Misha took the same attitude with Patrick.

Jeremiah got naked with a girl for the first time. His friend Allison was
allowed to spend the afternoon alone. The two didn't do anything but
look at each other and exchange some chaste kisses, but Jeremiah's
little penis had never been harder. He couldn't wait to do it again. He
wanted to ask Alden what else they could do other than kiss, but he
was afraid Alden would think he was stupid. It was bad enough that
Alden knew he had a little dick.

Will may have been the most sexually active boy outside of the twins.
He spent a great deal of time in bed with his brother Gary. But his
biggest moment was having Paul invite him to his house to discuss.
"school business". That ended up being business conducted naked in
bed with shared blow jobs. Will got himself coated in Paul's sperm
and managed to swallow his share as well. Paul brought up the
subject of fucking, but Will wasn't ready to talk about it yet. But,
between his brother, his brother's friends, and Paul, Will couldn't help
but think doing it wasn't far in the future.

After school started, the political side of the Posse got busy. Patrick,
as vice-president, chaired the fifth grade senate meetings. One of the
things discussed in the last senate session was whether Jeremiah
had the power to appoint a committee on his own like he had for the
Valentine's dance. The boys checked the constitution for help, not for
the first time.

"Whoever wrote that constitution doesn't know how to write," Mark
complained. "That thing is a bugger to read."

"Maybe it's easier for the eighth graders," Vic, the second
representative from Mr. Jackson's class said. "My father and I read it
together, and even he said that part was hard to figure out. I guess he
can do it, but he has to ask us guys in the senate first."

"Well, he never asked me," Mark complained.

"Yeah, but he hates you," Wayne Russell, a representative from Mr.
Nash's class said.

"Did he ask anybody else in here?" Mark asked.

Patrick finally banged his gavel like Mr. Vargas had told him to do if
the discussion started getting out of hand. "Mark has the floor," he
said in a high-pitched voice that didn't have an authoritative ring to it,
yet seemed to carry across the meeting room with authority.

"Thank you, Mr. President," Mark said as he had been instructed.

The discussion ended with Mark saying they should ask Mr. Vargas
why he let Jeremiah get away with violating the constitution. Mr.
Vargas got up from his chair in the back of the room.

"Did any of you actually read the part of the constitution when
Jeremiah formed his committee?"  Four hands went up, including
Patrick's. "So why didn't you say anything then?"

"Because I read the part that said he could do it," Patrick said.

"You only read the first part then, correct?"

The four all mumbled a yes.

"Perhaps what you have here is a lesson in being more thorough. I
would have stopped Jeremiah if he had done something in violation
of school rules or school policy. But in this case, I thought maybe this
would be a good lesson for you. If you're going to participate in
government you will need to be vigilant and meticulous. You may all
look up those words."

The last part of the meeting was taken up with the senate members
saying what they wanted on the agenda for their first official meeting.
Misha, the fifth grade secretary, wrote everything down diligently and
neatly. Miss Dawkins, one of the teacher assistants, would type up
his notes. Misha wanted to make sure they were neat and organized
so she wouldn't have to ask him about what he had written.

And so it is that children of fifth grade age are often considered to be
in a dormant stage, even if they can often be energetic and full of
surprises. They can be impulsive as well as patient.

The patience of The Puget Posse and its three deputies was in
evidence as they let Operation Bullfrog simmer. Their inquiry into
Jeremiah's methods in creating his party committee was a message
that they were watching Jeremiah and it wouldn't be as easy for him
to get away with his shenanigans in the future. It was a warning shot
across the bow, so to speak. The real war was still a couple of
months from being declared.

Next: Fifth Grade March