Liam's Journal, Chapter 2
September 10th:
Surprise! I'm back. I'd thought I might quit doing this now that school is in session, and I have a lot of other stuff to do. Remember how I didn't want to write it in the first place? I guess I'm hooked now.
Can you believe we've been in school for about two weeks? I wasn't thrilled to start in August, but since we'll finish in May of next year, I'm okay with it.
My weekend with Tony was everything I'd hoped it would be. He's really nice and considerate about my feelings (not a surprise). If we were in some of the erotic stories that are posted on the web these days, we'd have been screwing like rabbits. Not so in real life. We're taking it slowly and getting acquainted. Um, that doesn't mean we didn't have some fun! I'm not sure how much of that I want to put down in case my brother or someone else got into this. Actually, Colin isn't nosey, and I think he'd keep my secrets even if he were to get into my computer.
My laptop is a lot easier than writing things down in a paper-type diary. I'm glad Dad insisted that I learn to touch-type because I'm pretty fast. I wasn't happy at the time. He pushed me to do it because his dad made him learn it, so I guess I should thank Grandpa Fred.
September 13th:
Travis shared a secret with me today and it makes me feel like I'm really accepted! Actually, it's two secrets and I'm keeping both of them. Of course, his boyfriend knows.
Travis has a therapist, which is nobody's business. That's a biggie to share with someone unless you trust them a lot. And his therapist suggested he confide in his "future self" through journaling. So, now I have another reason to do this. He kinda let me know he records the things he does with Sawyer as well as his deepest thoughts. For sure, I'm gonna keep that secret, but it inspires me to do the same.
September 15th:
It's hotter than the inside hinges of the gates of hell! That's something Granda Fred likes to say. I mean it's not Death Valley-hot but for the Midwest it's a record. I don't know how people can say that the climate isn't changing. IMHO, the US should remain active in the Paris Accord!
September 23rd:
The weather has cooled off, but my love-life is heating up!!! I've discovered that I love oral sex! And, by oral, I don't mean just talking about it. I won't go into details right now.
The guys in marching band have been practicing a lot. We can't get together at Sawyer's pool as much as we did. The city pools closed right after Labor Day. Tony and I have gone to Lake McBride to swim a couple of times by ourselves. We're both helping teach beginners at the school pool, so we get some time there. Plus, it counts for gym credit!
I could go to the country club's indoor pool, but Tony's grandparents don't belong, though I think they have enough money that they could. I don't want it to look like I'm a rich kid.
September 30th:
Wow, a month of the fall term is gone, and it doesn't seem possible. I really love what we're doing in Mr. Fiala's AP class. I know my writing is getting better.
I love being in karate with him as our instructor, too. His husband, Mr. McVey is his assistant. Boy is he hot! Tony and I are both progressing well.
My next favorite teacher is Mr. Gibbs. That's advanced physics. He makes learning a lot of fun. This is a class I need to do well in if I'm going to major in some kind of engineering next year at the university.
Gibbs may not be gay, but he's nice to everyone and seems to remember what it was like being a teenager.
My other favorite class is calculus. Ms. Peterson is a lot of fun too, but her student teacher is weird.
October 18th:
Okay, I haven't written in a couple of weeks. There wasn't much going on except for making out with Tony and I'm not a guy who wants to share too much of that at this point, even with my diary.
Tonight, was the homecoming game and our team won. The band sounded awesome at halftime. I envy them sometimes because I wish I'd taken up something besides the guitar so I could be with them. Oh well, they said I might be able to join the jazz band. I'm not sure if I can work that in if I make the swim team. Most of these band-jocks aren't involved in sports, though some go out for track and tennis, oh, and swimming, I guess.
October 31st:
It's a Thursday night but there's no school tomorrow, so the Gay/Straight Alliance dance was held on the actual day of Halloween. We dressed in homemade costumes, so we didn't have to spend a lot of dough. I know I could have rented something, but I'm a bit cheap even if I am a privileged brat.
It started at 7:30 and ended a couple of hours later. I don't think the sponsors wanted to be up too late since they have in-service meetings tomorrow. At least they have the weekend free. We still had fun. I'm going to spend tonight, Friday night, and Saturday night with Tony, so we'll have quality time together. The more we're together, the more connected we've become. His grandparents are really nice to me!
November 1st:
This is All Saints Day. I hope the thought won't put a damper on the stuff Tony and I have planned. No, we're not doing anything drastic. We might actually attend a short Evensong after supper tonight. I love singing the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis and other stuff. It's very esthetic as well as spiritual! My family on my dad's side has been Episcopalian for years, and Anglican back in England. Tony was raised Catholic and likes the High-Church form. Get this, our local priest is married to another guy!!! Talk about a gay-friendly environment.
November 8th:
Travis and Sawyer have convinced Tony and me to try out for the swim team. I was on one in my former old and so was Tony at his. He didn't go out last year with his move and all. He felt kinda out of it for several months. I guess Benji and Gio helped him emotionally. Without them, I get the feeling he might not have survived it very well. I don't think he got low enough to consider taking his own life, but I'm not sure. He idolizes them, and no, I'm not jealous! I understand.
Next week, we boys get to start using the school pool, working around the girls' practice times. Fall is their season, so we have to give them first shot at it. They have to defer to us next term, but I hear that few of them are in it off-season. The coaching staff isn't allowed to work with us before our season starts. But the assistant coach loaded us videos of guys doing various strokes well. Some are highlights from the last Olympics. So, we can learn from them.
November 18th:
Hmm... Sharing the pool with the girls has been interesting. No, I haven't made a discovery that I'm just a confused heterosexual wanting to experiment. It's that a few of them have been staying after their practice time and hanging around the guys. There's a pair of twin sisters, Caty, and Caitlyn Moss, who've taken an interest in Tony and me. I think the Brits would say they're chatting us up. It gets a little uncomfortable sometimes. Tony and I wonder if we should come out officially at school, so they'll leave us alone. Um, Travis and Sawyer know about us, and I'm sure Benji and Gio suspect.
November 20th:
Tony and I told Gio and Benji that we're dating. They joked about being totally shocked. Guess, we're more obvious than we imagined! So, now that we're out to our closest buds, we decided to tell the girls. Their reaction wasn't at all what we expected. They want us to come over to their house after school to get better acquainted. We're not sure what it is they have in mind, but we might be curious enough to find out.
Well, we went to their house, and they were the only ones at home. Their parents were at work and their brother is in college a hundred miles away.
Learning we were gay made them feel more comfortable about inviting us to sit in the hot tub with them. We had our swimsuits in the car and were going to go out and get them. The girls had a different plan. They said we could all go in our birthday suits since we weren't interested in having sex with them. Imagine how many guys in our class would kill for this opportunity! We didn't want to look like wusses, so we took off our clothes in the house and wrapped up in the towels they provided.
Iowa in November isn't like California! I thought I'd freeze my butt off before we got into the hot water. The girls were already in the spa and fairly well submerged, so they got an eyeful when we stepped in, but we weren't given the same opportunity.
Caitlyn said they were curious about male anatomy and had seen their brother nude only once or twice when they were little. They wanted to check us out closeup.
I told them that if they would turn on one of their laptops, I could show them some sites with plenty of naked guys. So, that's what we did 20 minutes later, after we got out and dried off. But they still wanted to see the real thing at close range. We stalled and said we'd have to discuss it.
November 21st:
Tony and I are still reeling over yesterday's experience. We've admitted that it would be cool to see naked girls for real, and maybe touch their breasts, but we're concerned about their motives. Do they want to attempt to make us straight? There's no way that's gonna happen!
November 22nd:
Last day before Thanksgiving break. Next week we're free!
The twins hung around after their practice today and asked if we could give them a ride home because their car is in the shop for a factory recall. Hmm... It sounds like a setup to me, but we're going to do it.
Tony's okay with getting naked again with them, so I guess I am too. It's all kinda scary. We got hard in the showers just thinking about it! Not from the thrill of seeing the opposite sex nude, but from the prospect of being exposed in the company of people we don't know that well. I suppose anyone could become aroused their first time on a nude beach. What if the girls want this to be a regular thing? I hope this isn't a big mistake. I don't know how we're going to extricate ourselves.
For whatever reason, the hot tub wasn't working, and so the girls thought we could get naked in the family room and check each other out there. Tony and I were leery and hadn't taken off more than our shirts when we heard the girls' father coming in from the garage. We were in our shirts quicker than you can say, "panic!" The girls ran to their rooms because it would take them longer to put on their bras and tops and fix their hair.
When they came out, their dad said they had a lot of explaining to do.
As it turned out, he had come home to check on them after school because he'd seen some footage of us in the spa the week before. He rarely reviewed any of the security tapes but had done it recently because the police had asked people to do it to catch someone who was stealing Amazon deliveries from a house across the street. He found what the police were looking for and decided to check the stuff on the camera from the back of the house as well.
The images were kinda blurry and he might not have been able to ID us, but here we were again.
Tony and I were really nervous but kept our cool. I insisted that nothing sexual had gone on and he could tell that from the recording. He agreed. However, he wondered what went on in the house after we came in.
We told him we were gay and swore that we had no interest in girls. He wasn't convinced, so he asked if my parents would confirm it. I gave him my dad's cell number and said he was welcome to call him. That seemed to convince him. It would be awkward if he does phone Dad, but I don't think he will. I should give Dad a heads-up, so he won't be taken by surprise.
Something good could come out of this. I doubt that the girls are going to invite us over again. They're being grounded for a week for lying to their dad when they'd said they hadn't had any company.
November 25th:
Dad hasn't had a call from Mr. Moss, so I guess he believed me. Yeah, I told Dad about the predicament that Tony and I had gotten ourselves into. He laughed. He said something about curiosity killing the cat. I didn't get the point until he explained that it was an old saying. I was going to say, "Okay, Boomer," but thought better of it. Grandpa's the right age for that. However, he doesn't act like one. He says there's a teenager still alive inside his aging body. So, he's a sassy brat like I am!
Other news from the grand-rents. They're going on a bucket-list cruise which includes Egypt in late February. Evidently, they can afford it. I told Tony about it, and he said his grandparents are doing the same thing. Wouldn't it be just too much if they're on the same tour?
Tony's mom is trying to negotiate with her boss about taking time off from her job so she can come here when they're gone. Mom's going to talk to Adelade (Tony's grandma) about having him stay with us while they're on their trip! We spend lots of time together at one house or the other.
November 28th:
Thanksgiving dinner was awesome. My parents are both good cooks and they made the meal together. They invited Tony's grandparents over since his parents weren't going to be here. That was fine with Tony. His grandma brought the pies and his grandpa brought wine. It was a great time together. They're all on the same page about our relationship. Um, I think I can call it that now.
Yes, Tony will be living with us when they go to Egypt! And yes, his grandparents and mine are on the same tour. That kind of coincidence only happens in stories.
December 2nd:
Well, it's back to school again but only about three and a half weeks until Christmas break. That's both good and bad. The good part is having time off. The bad part, and this is really bad, Tony will in in Chicago, and I'll be in California. Damn! Two star-crossed lovers facing the prospect of being torn apart! Okay, that's too much drama even for a high school romance. It's not like this is the 13th century and one of us is a Montague and the other a Capulet. And we can text. But in the six months we've known each other, we've become inseparable. Well, I guess geography is about to refute that claim.
December 4th:
School is really in full swing. Teachers aren't going to let us coast till Christmas. I think they're afraid we'll forget everything by January and are trying to cram our heads full now.
Early morning swimming practice is another obligation. Oh well, I signed up for it. Actually, it's kind of a stress reliever to work out that hard before the day begins. And Tony and I get to eat breakfast afterwards with our buds. Another benefit of the early hour is that the girls don't hang around to distract us.
My major assignment for writing class is coming along well. It's all written and saved on my computer and backed up on a thumb-drive a couple of weeks before we turn it in. I'll be editing and polishing. My grammar is usually fine because of growing up in a household where parents speak correctly. I tend to be an auditory learner, so I spell by ear -- not a good plan with English! Thank God for the spellcheck program!
I chose to write about the joys and woes of being transplanted from one part of the country to another and compared it with others who are displaced. Here's where all the journaling is coming in handy. I have to hand it to Mr. Fiala; he knows what he's doing.
December 6th:
Tonight, I get to perform in the jazz band. I even have a section where I'm basically solo! I get to be with some of my buds. Tony will be in the front row to cheer us on.
December 7th:
Our jazz band got rave reviews in the local newspaper. I got my own private reward from Tony!
December 18th:
This was the last day for the student teacher in calculus. I'll miss her, like you miss snot when your cold clears up. Ms. Peterson had to take the class back at times to reteach something that this chick wasn't able to do. I don't know if she's incompetent or was just nervous. I'll bet she doesn't get certified without retaking some courses.
December 20th:
The last of the tests are over for the time being. I guess the teachers wanted to catch us before we forgot it all over vacation.
December 22nd
Tony and I slept together for two night. He leaves tomorrow for Chicago and I for California. (Sob!)
December 24th:
Our flight connections were good. It seems crazy to me that we had to fly east to Chicago to connect with a plane going to the West Coast, but I guess ORD is the hub for United. Going through Denver makes more sense to me. Anyway, everything was remarkably on time because the weather cooperated.
It's good to be with my grandparents again. I didn't realize how much they meant to me until we got separated by half a continent.
December 26th:
We had a big dinner yesterday. I need to burn off some of the calories. Collin and I are going to swim in the pool at the club my grandparents belong to. That will help me keep up my stamina for competing when we get back to school as well as keep me from gaining fat -- not that it's a problem for me.
Tony and I have texted a lot! His father is being civil at least. Tony doesn't know if they'll ever have a good relationship like they did before he came out of the closet. Didn't someone say that the devil gives us relatives? Not that I feel that way about mine.
I'm in that crazy spot where I don't want to have the time with family end, but I'm eager to get back to my boyfriend. I guess life is like that -- if you get something you want, you have to let go of something else. Hmm...
December 29th:
Back in Iowa. Tony's back too! I'd love to spend the next several days just cuddling with him. We don't have to get our rocks off all the time we're together. We enjoy just being close. I think this might be what love feels like.
We have an optional swimming practice tomorrow afternoon. Tony and I plan to opt for it. I got a text from Travis saying Sawyer and he would be there. I don't know about the rest.
December 31:
A bunch of us guys get to have our own New Year's Eve party at Gio's house. His parents will be home but promised to stay out of sight most of the time. So, we'll be basically unsupervised. It's cool that they'll do that. I'm sure they know we won't do anything wild. None of us is into controlled substances other than a beer now and then.
Benji's dad hosted last year, but he has a girlfriend now.... Hmm....
January 1st:
We had a lot of fun playing games and eating Pagliai's Pizza last night. Gio's family knows how to please a bunch of teenagers. This might be the friendliest town I've ever lived in.
Tomorrow will be back to school with an early swim practice. Coach Boysen is pushing us to improve. The district hired him hoping that the Little Hawks could remain competitive this year. I guess the former coach, Mr. Benson who took a university job, will be a hard act to follow. So far, we're looking good. We have new Speedos which are supposed to bolster our confidence. They're rather tight so we'll have less drag in the water. Tony and I will have to massage each other's boys to get the circulation back. If I suggest that before a meet, it will probably make us present more drag!
January 6th:
Got back my major paper in Mr. Fiala's class today. Wow! I aced it. He liked the way I compared my minor insecurities in relocation with those of people in war-torn countries where they have to leave everything they've owned or known in order to save their lives. My lot hasn't exactly amounted to a diaspora. He thinks I'm a woke person for knowing how trifling my worries are in the grand scheme of things. I'll admit that I am among a rather privileged group of teens.
Anyway, the grade should assure me of an A+ in his class for the term.
January 10th:
We had another test in physics today and I'm confident I did well. I'm pleased to say that I didn't lose a lot of knowledge over the break.
Tonight, is a big swim meet. I know I'm not the star of the team. I just hope to hold up my end of it.
January 11th:
Wow! I swam really well last night. I helped the team win! The year 2020 looks like it's gonna be the best one ever!
Author's notes: Thanks to Joe S, Charles G, GCD, Walter S, Tom K, Al N, Jim W (2), Tony C, Bill T, Mendy D, Paul R, John L, Geoff S, Marty H, Peter S, Paul, F, Gordon, Jim C, Zero M, Lance C, Ott H, and Frank K who sent encouraging emails!
Thanks to David for editing.
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David