Jess Stone had breasts. He had been like this his entire teen life not quite fitting in anywhere that he had lived and at the same time he hadn’t really had the chance to. His folks moved around a lot with his dad being a hydrological engineer but they were slightly afraid of what might happen to Jess if he attended school. Some people just didn’t get it or wanted too. Jess was now attending a new school when he decided to change things...

Only it was everyone else that was getting changed!

 

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Image Credit: anime couple

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Squires-23

*Danny………..

He pulled his phone and stepped back into the alley and pointed it at Keith and the two assholes with him.

Dammit he thought there had to be something here to fight with.

Then he saw Andy side step in front and he had his arms and his shoulders up like a boxer and then he stepped into their rush and started firing off punches.

Dan couldn’t help but to winch as Andy mushed Keith’s nose so hard he could hear it from where he was standing and Keith feet actually flew up off the ground as he hit the sidewalk.

Then he smashed the next guy three times in a row and the third had a shaft of what looked like it used to be a hockey stick and swung hard catching Andy in the side of his face and head.

It was another one of those loud hits you could hear really clearly.

“Oh Jeebus….What am I doing?”

Part of him contemplated taking off and leaving both sets of bullies.

Andy had been a major asshole, and one of those people than made school suck a whole lot when they had been in middle school together.

But it’d be three on one.

And he stepped in between Keith coming to kick his ass with his two buddies Jeffery and Mark.

And Jeffery had a weapon.

Sometimes you had to stand for what you believed in even if you knew it was coming with painful consequences.

Dan stowed the phone and he watched closely as he closed in on Jeffrey…he’s the guy with the cut off hockey stick and before he could take another swing on Andy he stepped in and kicked him hard behind the knee.

Jeffery dropped and cursed and Danny did what the called a curb stomp to the hand with the hockey stick and then dropped on top of him and started punching. It hurt, he’d never been really in a fight not like this and while he might have thrown a punch or two he’d never swung as many times in his life.

He certainly never connected this much before.

And it really turned out not to be a really sound plan since Jeffery had a good forty to fifty pounds on him which was soaking up the damage as much as his really hard head was.

Then Jeffrey hit him back.

He’d been hit a few times and actually most of those were from Andy but there was a lot of difference between getting hit by a bully that wants to hurt you in that bully way and being in a fight.

He felt Jeffrey grab his left arm in a really painfully bruising grip and he used that to hang onto Danny and drive his fist into Dan’s right side.

One, two, three…he hit something soft that made Dan cry out and gasp for air as the pain drove the wind from his lungs. He reeled back and saw Jeffrey reaching for the hockey stick again and swung.

Dan winced and closed his eyes waiting for the hit but it never landed.

There was a loud whack sound of wood hitting flesh again and Dan saw Andy’s hand a few inches from his face gripping the hockey stick and Andy was bleeding from a cut to the forehead and looked pretty bad but at the same time…scary…and pissed off.

“That’s cheating dillhole.”

Dan sort of fell off of Jeffrey as Jeff tried to run and he let go of the hockey stick and yelled in pain as Andy used it like a fly swatter to smack him hard in the thigh like a Charlie horse and he ran-limped to Keith’s car trying to catch up to Keith and Mark who were also in retreat.

Keith was yelling sort of too as he was in full on retreat. “I’ll get you for this you blue haired little faggot! I’ll get you and your gay assed tranny freak friends too!”

Dan yelled back from where he was sitting on the pavement. “And our little dog too? Who’s the tranny now Keith!?”

It was right sort of then that Keith sort of looked pretty closely to a real life version of Biff from the Back To The Future movies.

Keith squealed the tires on his ‘Stang as him and the other two took off and Danny watched them go grinning. “All that’s missing is the manure.”

Andy looked down at him and spit of some pretty red looking stuff and said. “You’re weird you know that right?”

“Yeah…trust me I know…being weird’s hazardous to your health.”

He just layed back on the pavement and looked up at Andy. Andy knelt in a sort of crouch beside him and used the cut off hockey stick to lean on. “Uh-huh that’s exactly one of the things that used to drive me nuts with you.”

“Oh that I’m weird?”

“Yeah, and you said stuff like that stuff just now and I never really get it usually so I felt stupid and I’d get pissed.”

Danny sat up and looked at him. Was he…?

“Are you actually admitting to being a dick because you felt stupid?”

“Looks like…” He shrugged.

“So you’re apologizing?”

“Fuck no.” Andy suddenly stood back up. “Reilly you and your little geek buddies were complete assholes, you sow what you reap.”

He started walking away and Danny got up and looked at him and well….he just looked since what Andy had said was…well it was pretty messed up considering how much Andy used to pound him.

Was he missing something?

He was definitely missing something.

“I’m sorry…”

Andy stopped and looked at him over his shoulder. “Everyone said it Danny, everyone…you the preps…the teachers…I even got it at home…Stupid…Dumbass…you’re a thug….”

“We…we were just saying what you were acting like.”

(Guy-sniffle.) “Yeah…ever since any one laid eyes on me when I got to our school Danny…I never touched anyone until you all started up with that stuff.”

It took Dan a few seconds to think back to the start of middle school…he actually couldn’t remember when Andy had turned into the thug. It was like something that just everyone knew?

Oh…dammit he could actually remember a couple of times that he said stuff about him being a bully and a thug to people. People that he still didn’t know…

“I didn’t know…I should’ve Andy jeeze…I mean it was just shit that was spread around and then you were beating people up….”

“Yeah whatever…”

“Andy…I mean it. I’m sorry.”

Andy turned and stared at him. It was a long hard stare too like he was weighing things in his head and things weren’t looking good with the frown that was there.

Dan tried a smile. “C’mon…..I’ll buy some ice cream to take the swelling down.”

Andy laughed a little and put his hand to his face. “Ow…okay…okay…”

“Okay? So we’re good?”

“No…but this, this is okay.”

Danny nodded and that made his side twitch in pain but he thought…good enough…good enough it’s a start.

He bit his lip sort of in that semi nervous I’m not sure what to talk about now thing and he walked to the car a bit awkwardly.

“Dan, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know…it’s just weird.”

“Weird?”

“I know that…okay looking back I was kind of a dick to you and stuff so all that self righteous stuff I had sort of had in my head all stored up about you over the years Andy is just…” He blew a razzberry sort of. “kaputz…I really don’t know what the heck to say to you?”

“Okay, I have a big mouth I can talk.”

Andy got in and popped the lock on the passenger side and pushed the door open. Danny got in and he sort of marveled at the car. There were guys that he knew all over school these days that were the Fast & The Useless types that kind of sort of souped up their cars but it was more like all cheap decorative running lights and mufflers to make a car sound like it had a big engine in it but Andy’s Camero was a work of art.

The console was tricked out a little bit but just a little bit not enough to mess with the classic interior and it smelled clean like good new car sort of clean but not at the same time. The scent’s of Armor All and leather sort of hung lightly in the air and blended oddly with the scent of Andy’s cologne?

“Are you wearing cologne?”

“Aftershave.”

“Oh.”

“That was a weird thing to ask me.”

“It was?”

“Uhm…yes.”

“Oh.”

Andy started up the car and started to drive and they headed to a more main strip part of the neighborhood where they pulled in eventually to a 24 hour convenience place and it was still sort of an awkward silence as they drove.

Danny wished he could’ve turned on something for music but it wasn’t his car and he was kind of relieved when they stopped and parked.

“This good?’

“Sure I’ll buy.”

“Okay…”

“Okay?”

“Not used to having someone buy for me.” Andy shrugged.

“Well you did show up and saved me y’know.”

“Yeah well it was just…” He shrugged his massive shoulders.

“It was something Andy. It means a lot.”

“So did you backing me up Danny, honestly surprised me.”

“Yeah well I guess I’m not the same kid from middle school either.”

“You kinda look the same…well except for the blue hair.”

“Yeah that’s new I kind of like it.”

“Yeah? Well if sort of suits you. Kinda girly though.”

“I thought it was kind of Max Sterling.”

“Who?”

“Veritech pilot.”

“A what?”

“He’s from a cartoon.”

“Oh…see another thing I don’t get.”

“Hey, don’t feel bad I’m a grandmaster level geek and it’s an old anime.”

“Ani-what?”

“Asian cartoon.”

“Oh…I just know stuff from Nickelodeon and Disney.”

“Me too there’s some cool stuff in all of that too.”

Andy smiled. “Actually yeah.”

“Really…see there’s something new about you that I didn’t know.”

Andy stopped and looked at him. “You make it sound like we’re on a date.”

Danny grinned. “I suppose that’d freak you out?”

“No….uhm…?”

“Uhm?”

“Danny? I…are you gay?”

Dan looked at him and he seriously thought about the answer and whether or not answering him honestly would get him in some kind of fight with Andy over it. The store was right there and if things went south he could just stay in there and call Jessie.

“Honestly?”

“I’d appreciate the honesty.”

“I don’t know. Andy I kind of don’t know just who I am sometimes or what I am even.”

Andy nodded and opened the door for him and held it open for him. Danny looked at him. “And you?”

“Honestly?”

“I’d appreciate the honesty Andy.” He smiled at him a little returning the comment.

“I’m into girls mostly but there’s been a few times and a few boys that I had a thing for.”

“Ouch, that’d mess with your head.”

“It did. My dad and my family are a proud upstanding branch of The Mullet Clan.”

“Was that a joke?”

Andy stopped and looked at him and he laughed or chuckled but he did it exactly like Patrick from Sponge-Bob Squarepants.

It made Danny snicker then groan and hold his side.

“You okay?’

“No…I really hurt.”

“Okay you just stay here and I’ll get the stuff.”

“No…I’m bruised not broken and I said that I’ll pay.”

“Danny…”

“Uh-uh you big lug just let me and you be the girl.”

“……………..Reilly!”

Dan gave him that Danny grin before heading inside the store and went looking for some ice cream bars but also some baby wipes and a bottle of water and one of peroxide and some generic brand band aids and paid for the stuff at the counter with Andy sort of there watching him at the front of the store still looking like after that last exchange he had this which way did he go George? on his face.

He walked up to him and then passed him a fudgecicle. “Here try this.”

“Oh I haven’t had one of these in a long time.”

He started to unwrap it and eat it. Danny walked backwards to the car. “It’s supposed to go on your face first y’know to take the swelling down?”

“It tastes too good, I’ll be fine.”

“Well I’ll be the judge of that okay come over here under the light okay?”

Dan had walked over to the urban strip of grass that was there to sort of separate the side walk from the parking lot and there were a couple of cheap old wooden picnic tables there and he had pulled it over to be under the closest streetlight.

“I’ll be okay, how about your side.”

“My side hurts like a bastard I’ll have bruises for a week.”

“Let me see.”

“You first.”

“Danny…”

Danny looked him in the eyes and then kind of did that purse his lips look thing that the girls did when they were outwaiting a guy for being stupid. He didn’t cross his arms like they did but her did shove his thumbs into his from pockets and stared at him.

Andy looked away a second this way and that and then at Dan. “Okay fine.”

Holy shit it worked? Dan thought.

He set the bag of stuff onto the table and he pulled some baby wipes and the peroxide and started to clean off Andy’s face and the blood from the cut there on his forehead. Andy didn’t wince or anything just sat there looking at Danny with these sort of questing grey eyes…yeah grey they were almost too light a shade of blue really.

It’s funny how he didn’t notice them like this before.

And he felt like…

Blink… “Andy…your fudgecicle’s melting.”

“That’s okay…here, have some.”

Andy offered it to him holding it and the innuendo was there and at the same time it wasn’t…it was almost like this offer?

He could…

Really could he?

He reached out and took it from Andy’s hand instead of the way, way too obvious thing. He’d actually had done it in school to get a rise out of people but here with just the two of them it was something entirely different.

How’d it even get here so fast and from the fight and Andy having been one of his childhood terrors and now…this?

Adrenaline it had to be adrenaline.

And Andy was staring at him as he was letting the rest of the fudgecicle melt away in his mouth and then Andy reached out and he lifted Dan’s shirt. There was this feeling like…he couldn’t explain it at all other than scary and sort of thrilling too.

He got the shivers as Andy’s hands touch his side. He winched a little too as fingers tightened and probed on his side. Andy moved his hands away and started rubbing them fast on his jeans and looked at Danny. “There’s nothing broken here and they just bruised your ribs a little.”

“It doesn’t feel like a little. What are you doing?’

“It’s a trick I learned.”

“A trick?”

“Yeah it’ll help.”

Andy stopped rubbing his palms on his jeans and instead he slapped his hands together three times and then he put his hands on the bruises.

Oh he could feel the heat from the friction and there was this almost sort of pulsing in Andy’s hands from him hitting them together so hard which felt really, really good and that warmth and him stoking over those bruises soothingly.

Oh this was so…and Andy’s hands had raw knuckles from the fighting earlier almost highlighting between the hard of him and this softness he had that was so surprising and so…sexy…?

Yes definitely sexy because as soon as Danny sorted the feeling out he realized his body had done the same thing a little bit ahead of him and he was hard.

And standing there while Andy was sitting…

“That’s…that so…it feels good…where did you learn that?”

“Boxing gym, one of the old dudes there showed me it it’s like a hot compress when you don’t have one.”

“Oh it’s definitely hot.”

“I noticed.”

“Sorry…” Danny looked at him and he blushed really deeply.

“I…I did that for you?”

“Yeah…don’t kick my ass.”

“Kicking it doesn’t come to mind Danny.”

“Uhm…what?”

Andy looked at him. “I don’t know…”

“Oh…”

Then Andy stood up some off the bench seat for the picnic table and suddenly kissed him.

Dan’s eyes went wide and he inhaled really fast and deep which almost set his asthma off and he tried to breathe and fought off coughing and it seemed like some of those forever-seconds and then he kissed him back.

Then Andy was sort of looming or towering over him and he felt kind of small but not in the way that he was used to as they broke the kiss for some air and kissed again.

Then there was people looking since the store was actually fairly busy and some just stared a few called them fags and fudgepackers and stuff but didn’t come close to them when they took a second look ay Andy.

Protected like that certainly had its attractions.

“We should get out of here before some one gets all bravely bent out of shape.”

“Danny…shit…I’m sorry…I just…we wwere and you’re so…”

Dan stopped. “I’m so what?”

“Cute….?” He had almost winced at that like he’d have said it would’ve been a bad thing.

“I’ll take cute….so how about a drive home?’

“Sure…okay…”

Andy was the nervous one this time as they got into the car and Danny just…he slipped into the front seat and he…he didn’t know exactly what was going on….

Actually he knew exactly what was going on he just was having trouble believing in it at the moment contrary to the way that his body felt and almost seemed to hum.

Like whatever this was, was making his heart sort of vibrate and him feel vulnerable in the worst way too really.

It was a fast drive out of there and after about five minutes he knew they were driving so that Andy could think.

And oddly as much as time dragged before it just seemed to go by far too fast now and before long they were pulling into his yard.

Andy knew where he lived.

Chilling or it would’ve been.

But now?

And Lindsey…

And what him and she had been talking about…

And Lindsey because he was actually attracted to het and liked her…

But Andy…The touch and the kissing and that touch and kissing him again…he leaned forward into it letting the minute or so just replay in his head and when he looked over to Andy he saw Andy looked frightened and kind of guilty.

“Danny look I’m sorry I didn’t mean to force that kiss on you it’s just you and…and you’ve always sort of made me feel…”

He put two fingers over Andy’s mouth.

“It’s okay….Andy I told you I’m so all over the place inside and everything but it wasn’t a bad thing. I have to think all of it over and stuff but I really want to think it over….not blow it off but think it over…”

Then he removed his fingers.

“Really…fuck Danny I’m kind of scared.”

“Sacred?”

“Yeah…”

“Of…?”

“I like you…a lot…and it’s not something that I thought that’d be…me…”

“Yeah I know…me too.”

“But…”

“But?”

“No one I’ve ever really liked has stuck around Danny…it’s like I’m…defective.”

Danny looked at him and there was this something broken in there. And it just sort of looked like there was something that there in him like a puppy with a broken paw. Life…life hadn’t been that good to Andy.

“Andy…I…I don’t know what the heck this is or how to deal with the stuff that you’re making me feel and it’s all mixed up with all these other feelings I’ve got but…but I want to see you again.”

“Again…like…?”

Danny bit his lip and looked at him.

“A date.”

“A date!?”

“Yes, a date okay…I’m not sure we’ll be in the whole just friends hanging out kind of thing do you?”

“I…I guess not.”

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? Nothing really…”

“There’s a BBQ I have to go to with friends you should come along two of my friends are going out afterwards maybe we can double or something.”

“It won’t freak them out?”

“Not likely they’re two guys.”

“Oh…are we..?”

“Oh Hell Andy I have no idea either I’m just winging it.”

“Okay…I’ll be there…where is it?”

“Here…”

Danny grabbed some paper from his bags and he jotted down the address and some other stuff.

“This is where the BBQ is going to be at okay, this is my phone number and my e-mail too okay?”

“Uhm…sure I don’t have a computer though.”

“You have a phone though right?”

“Yes…”

“Okay…I’ll see you tomorrow then okay?”

“Okay…”

Danny got his bags and got out of the car and he started towards the house and Andy called out.

“Danny?”

He turned around backwards and Andy looked a bit nervous still. “Yes?”

“You said that you weren’t sure who…or what you were right…?”

“Uhm…yeah…”

“Uhm…uh…if you want to…I mean if you want to…you…could.”

“I could?”

“You could wear a dress on our date if you wanted.”

“I…uhm…I…can I think about it?”

“Okay…”

Danny just waited until the quiet got a little strange and the Andy drove off slowly and waved as he left and Danny waved back then he headed inside.

His dad was up sort of in that watching golf on the TV having fallen asleep watching something else on the sports channel.

He gave him a shake and his dad opened his eyes a little.

“You’re home.”

“Yeah go to bed dad before you mess your back up for tomorrow.”

“Ughynn…yup..” he got up and he shambled in that tired forty something way up the stairs.

Danny took a few minutes and sighed and went and made a coffee, the hot tap water kind he did it all the time some Tasters choice and hot tap water and in the nuke for forty seconds. There was no way he was sleeping tonight…The night, the party so many kids actually there at least trying to be who they were inside or trying to find it.

He found the Advil and took three for his side and went and too a half dozen plastic grocery bags and used the ice maker in the fridge to fill and make a large ice pack.

He took his ice and his coffee and bags to his room and closed the door and shoved a towel at the base of it. You fill that gap and sound travels a lot less he found and as a long time night own he had a bunch of tricks like that.

He fired up his computer and put some music on then sat on his bed.

There was so much going through his head right now.

He looked at the clock.

She might be up.

He texted Jessie. [Got home safe, sore, I ran into Keith.]

[You okay?]

[Sore but messed up in the head, big stuff happened. Going to call Linds, I’ll fill you in tomorrow.]

[KK, if you need me I’m here.]

[Thanks. I will.]

He hung up and dialed Lindsey. It picked up on the first ring.

“Hey you got back alright?”

“Shit, were you waiting for me to call you?”

“Uhm…yes?”

He laughed then groaned.

“Danny, what happened!?”

*Lindsey…………

She had the oddest night really in her life she was pretty sure. She hadn’t really gotten the thought of boys liking her in her head in the same way a lot of other girls did. She’d been “dishwater” for so long it wasn’t something that was likely ever to happen.

And she might have gone with some of that teasing just so she wouldn’t have to get into the whole boy-girl thing. The trying to figure out how to be a girl was hard enough as it was. Female…not a problem but girl stuff…that was like her trying to figure out how to read something like Cantonese.

And guys…as a girl no chance.

But tonight it was like…all these girls, all these lesbian girls actually were all over her and dancing with her and it was actually just as bad as if they’d been guys.

Actually a little harder. She sort of socially knew how to say no to a guy. It took a lot of guts to say what she said to Penn.

She had the apartment pretty much to herself with everyone asleep and stuff and she went to her room and undressed taking time each time to look at herself in the mirror behind her door.

She didn’t get it.

She was skinny, okay her legs were long but they didn’t exactly do that tapering thing like a lot of the other girls did. She was pretty straight legged and actually if you asked her she’d have said that she was likely too lanky.

Long arms and long bodied and even her neck seemed too long and she had not a lot of bust to speak of.

Okay the lack of bust she didn’t mind. To Lindsey her breasts well…were just sort of there and not this whole erotic and erogenous thing that other girls seemed to find them to be.

So she was kind of glad that they weren’t bigger and thereby in her way all the time.

And other girls breasts…well they were just kind of..meh.

They were there.

Mind you given the night she had and the exposure to them and a bunch of other lesbian plays like getting brushed up against and bumped and grinded she was pretty sure that she didn’t really have an eww reflex reaction to the whole gay thing or the girl on girl thing.

She looked and looked and she still just couldn’t see it.

Though she was definitely enough of a girl that she still very much enjoyed that time when the bra came off and she rubbed a little freedom into the girls. Another bonus of being small busted was she slept in the nude. She’d heard that busty girls even had issues sleeping on their fronts which Lindsey would’ve hated since it was her best fall asleep position actually.

She went to the bathroom and took some time and she washed off the little make up she had on and then had to do some of it again since apparently just cool water made a mess. She used some cold cream the next time and a fresh wash cloth and some hot water before she was satisfied.

Her one sort of girl thing was she took some face lotion and wet her hands to dilute it and gave her face a very light lotioning. If she didn’t and just used soap or even the liquid stuff with the moisturizers she found that her face got tight and dried out really badly.

She had tossed her things into the wash and headed for bed when her phone started to vibrate on the bed.

She saw the name on the number and smiled, well she actually figured that she might hear from him a lot Danny had self confessed that he wasn’t a good sleeper.

But it was actually a little awesome that she had someone calling her late at night.

“Hey you got back alright?”

“Shit, were you waiting for me to call you?” He said like he was a bit oh no’s over the fact that he forgot.

“Uhm…yes?” Oh..was she…? Of course she was just it never really entered her head to be worried that he’d get home or not.

He laughed then he groaned.

“Danny, what happened!?”

“I…I was stupid and I ran into Keith and Heckle and Jeckle on the way home.”

“Are you okay you sound like you’re hurt?”

“I’m okay just bruises and a lot of them but I’m really not okay.”

There was an odd sound in his voice.

“Danny?”

“I…something really messed up happened Linds.”

She sat on the bed and pulled her knees up. “Okay…its okay just tell me what happened, what’d they do.”

“Nothing…well they were assholes it wasn’t that it was Andy.”

“Andy? Who the heck is Andy?”

“He’s this guy that used to bully a bunch of us back in middle school and got yanked out like halfway through.”

“Oh shit four on one?”

“No he stepped in to help.”

“Oh…so what’s the deal.”

And that’s kind of how it started with him telling her what had happened during the entire encounter and the things that had been said and what he had done to Andy when they were younger just because of rumors and stuff.

And then there was…

“Linds he did this thing where he heated up his hands and he touched me, set them on the bruises like he was like some kind of like cleric or paladin from the game and it felt good…it felt really good and…and intimate and then…”

“Then?”

“I was standing right there and he was sitting and it just happened…I popped bone.”

“Huh?....oh….oh…shit, like really?”

“Yeah…”

“Over a guy.”

“Yeah…”

“But you still like girls.”

“Yeah definitely…and me and Johnny was a guy and girl date.”

“Yeah I know, but that’s kind of fucked up right?”

“Really?”

“Yeah I mean like with what we were talking about and now you and this Andy guy have this whole moment?”

“More than that.”

“More!? Did you and he have sex!?”

“No! Shit Lindsey I’m not that kind of girl.”

“But you are a kind of girl…” She said sort of seriously into the phone.

“I don’t know? Do I give off that vibe?”

“No not really but sort of with the blue hair now.”

“Really?”

“Kinda gives you this really butchy geeky flat Sailor Mercury thing going on.”

“It does?”

“Yeah like if she was a skinny gamer geek.”

“Well shit…maybe that’s why he told me if I wanted to I could wear a dress on our date.”

“What!?”

“Yeah…I…I kind of made a date with him tomorrow night.”

“A date with a guy.”

“With Andy.”

“With Andy then…”

“Linds? Are you mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“I just thought…”

Oh shit what did he think? There was sort of this kind of vibe that they shared and it would’ve been nice if…

“Linds…?”

“I can loan you a dress, I have a lot of old clothes.”

“Okay….”

“Beside Danny who knows I might just like you in a dress.”

“Lindsey!..............................uhm…really?”

She though about it and she sort of had this odd little vision come up out of her imagination.

“I’m sort of picturing you in this sort of pin up looking outfit right now.”

“Really?”

“Like what?”

“Oh…you’ll see tomorrow night if you want to wear a dress on your date.”

“Oh…I…can I think about it?”

“Sure…Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“Nighters.”

“Okay nighters.”

Lindsey hung up but she sat there on her bed and she was still sort of in thought. She wasn’t good at the whole outfit girl thing but she had some definite ideas for what might work for Danny…Dani?

There was something about that that had her wide awake now.

*Jessie…………

He was stopped at the lights and the car idled as he looked at the text’s he just had with Danny on his phone. He chewed on his lip angry and then some about what had happened.

Donnie looked over at him. “Trouble?”

“Maybe, Danny ran into Keith.”

“Shit we should’ve stayed close. I knew those assholes would be looking for blood.”

“I know and I should’ve known it too.”

“Jess it happened though and he’s okay, he checked in.”

“I know, trouble came and he tilted.” Even as mad as he was there was a little smile there.

“Tilted?”

“Yeah, it’s an old thing…like knights, like Don Quixote.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s and old story but basically it’s this story about no matter what happens or the odds you don’t give up and you pick up your lance and charge into life’s bullshit no matter how hard.”

“Tilting…like in the Heath Ledger movie?”

“Yes, tilt when everyone else won’t.”

“Like those guys that gave up against the noble guy from England.”

“Exactly.”

“You think Dan’s alright?”

“I hope so his text was still odd, like Keith wasn’t the thing that was bugging him.”

“You want to stop over?”

“No, way too late plus we’ve got things to do.”

“Like?”

“Getting back to the others and letting them know what happened and help get people home safe and sound.”

“You think he’s not done?’

“If Keith was beaten then he might go looking for others and it wouldn’t be past him and his to shore up their getting a beating by finding even easier prey.”

“Yeah good point, worse if they get their hands on some booze or worse.”

Jessie nodded and pulled away from the lights and drove back to Kenyon’s neighborhood and made a once around a few blocks looking for the red mustang before pulling back into Kenyon’s place and both him and Donnie went inside.

There were still some people there and most of the gang was there still cleaning up and Jessie smiled at seeing everyone safe and sound and went over to Kenyon and slid close and wrapped a friendly arm around his waist.

“Hey you’d get the girls dropped off?”

“We dropped Yasmine off but Danny and Lindsey wanted out so they could walk.”

“You sure that was a good idea?”

“It wasn’t Keith and company ran into Dan.”

“He alright?”

“As far as he’d say but he definitely has something going on with him.”

“Should we try and find out?”

“No, he might need some breathing room. He said he’d talk to us tomorrow.”

“You sure?”

Jess leaned into Kenyon a little more. “No, I’m not and it sucks.”

“Okay then.” He took out his phone and dialed.

“Kenyon…”

“I’m allowed to.”

“Says who?”

“The guy without the boobs.” He grinned at Jessie.

“Asshole.” Jessie huffed and punched him in the side.

“Ooff…tight one too.” He grinned a bit at Jessie who didn’t expect him to go there and his eye’s widened a little.

Kenyon grinned and snuck in a lean over peck. “You’re cute when I surprise you.”

“Uhm….”

Kenyon backed off. “Danny hey it’s Kenyon I’m with Jessie and he was worried about you and was being too macho to ask you again if you’re alright. You are, good then maybe he’ll relax a bit before he messes up his bra.”

Jessie blinked and blushed and moved his hands.

Kenyon grinned and went on. “Yeah I said his bra he reaches up and fiddles with the strap when he’s nervous. I know it’s just cute as heck. You going to be alright? Okay good we’ll see you at the barbeque tomorrow. Oh and do the heat and cold but if you got Epsom slats that really helps with the sore and the bruises in a bath okay?

Kenyon got another look on his face. “Yes I am mothering you I’m allowed as I’m not trans like Johnny so I’m by default the reigning queen of our little group so take my advise and do what your fairy gayfather says okay? Love you too sweetie Bub-bye.”

Jessie chewed on his lower lip a little and fought the now obvious habit of playing with his bra-strap and looked at Kenyon.

Then he stepped up and hugged him. “Thanks…I guess I was being too macho or something…I should’ve called.”

“Yes you should’ve and you know Jess that you don’t have to take on so much, remember earlier.”

“Yeah, that was nice and so is this.”

“Good.” Jessie just leaned into Kenyon and relaxed a few minutes. He sighed and pulled back.

“This though isn’t getting things done.”

“Okay then we all do them then.”

It didn’t take too long while cleaning and gathering things to spread the word about what had happened to Danny from what they new and Nick bouncing it out there on his laptop and Johnny was reading stuff coming in getting shared on Facebook and stuff from other people.

She looked at Jessie. “You’re not saying it’s Keith?”

“No proof, and as far as I know it’s be just Danny saying it was them. But we can say that there is an older model red mustang with three large teens last seen wearing East Chicago high varsity jackets cruising around looking for trouble having already assaulted a junior from the same school tonight.”

She looked at him and then her phone. “Isn’t that saying just about the same thing?”

“Not in the eyes of the law it isn’t.”

“But shouldn’t we have proof?”

“Danny didn’t lie about it, he wouldn’t and they’re slippery enough to get away without getting the law on them with how things went down so they get to get tried where they live in their popularity.”

She nodded and so did a couple of other kids. They finished everything off for cleaning things up and Jessie and Brian and Kenyon and Kenyon’s dad all used their cars to drive the rest of the people home there at the party.

*Donnie…………

It was a long, long night…with everything that had happen like getting into it with his dad and leaving the house or kicked out more than likely after his dad edited the story…to a really good party and right back to the tense stuff when they had found out that Keith and his two asshole friends had tried to do a number on Danny.

That kind of really pissed him off too since Danny was a good guy and him and the gamer kids were a really decent bunch.

He kind of hated Keith pretty easy anyway. Varsity baseball he was one of those jock assholes that was right out of the armpit of town. Not really the slums but one of several you better be fairly pale and love America mobile home communities.

Keith was that guy in school that was good at sports and sort of kissed some teachers asses and when he wasn’t being watched he’d be shoving people around showing off just how tough he was.

Also he was pretty fond of the whole racial slurs too.

Very much the asshole.

The first day he’d met Keith he gotten called a Skater-Coon and asked where he stole the skateboard.

That had been in the last year of middle school when Keith had transferred in and Donnie hadn’t really been that thrilled to see him in the same highschool as he was in.

He shook off the memories of that stuff Keith had done and helped with getting everyone loaded into the cars and they headed out in a sort of convoy with all the leftover and hanger on kids from the party armed with their phones ready to make sure that anyone that messed with them got recorded.

It was kind of surreal actually like they were doing a protective detail and stuff and by the time they had gotten it all done and everyone home or at least in their car and him and Jessie pulled into The Stone house it was late at about a quarter past two.

He was a little nervous that Jessie’s parents were still up.

They went in and saw his folks sitting down in the living room watch TV on the couch together and they both waved sleepily or lazily from where they were at.

Jessie’s father looked over to them. “How’d the party go?”

Jessie said. “Good, we had a bit of a close call maybe with that guy I tussled with prowling around but we got everyone safely home.”

“He going to be a problem at school?”

Donnie took his sneakers off but said. “Oh yeah, Keith’s one of those guys that’s an entitled jock. He thinks that because he can play a sport that he’s special and the rest of us that aren’t in his little group of people aren’t as good as him. He’s going to be trouble simply because he can’t fight someone verbally and the last few times he threw his weight around to get (he does air-quote fingers) “respect” he had someone show him up and reminded him that real life isn’t on the playing field.”

He looked at Jessie who smirked and shrugged.

Jessie’s mom got up and grabbed the empty pizza box and a few glasses from the coffee table. “So he’ll get even more violent?”

Donnie. “Maybe, he’s one of the really overt thugs of the school really so it’s his first thought.”

Jessie nodded. “If he was older he’d go for a second amendment solution.”

She looked alarmed. “He’d do that?”

Donnie shrugged. “He might honestly he went to middle school with me and Danny for the last year we were in there and I’ve seen him in action. He’d definitely consider it if he could get away with it.”

Jessie’s mom. “Should we get a protection order or something? Call the school this kid sounds unhinged.”

Jessie. “No, and paper won’t work. No Keith needs to be shown no matter what he does he’s not going to scare some people and some of those people will get between him and the new victims that he’ll be cruising for.”

She looked at him. “Jessie, he sounds dangerous.”

Jessie looked at her and took the dishes and trash from her. “He is, especially unchecked but these guys need to be checked by our system.”

She followed him to the kitchen. “Your system?”

“You get the law directly involved it’s just papers and stuff from adults blathering at them and they’re sure that they can get away with it. He’s young and he’s an athlete, he’s a good boy that has no formal complaints against him and all of that despite him being a budding sociopath…we try him in the court of public opinion, we get in his way enough and show him and them that no…we don’t need the stuff he’d dodge any ways and whatever he does we’ll stop…he’ll have to find other feeding grounds for his ego or actually learn that he’ll have to change.”

“So the barbecue’s for?” She asked raising her eyebrows.

“We’ll all be a lot safer if you can get the cameras back in the halls and the school grounds.” Donnie said. “It’ll give them a whole lot of pause before doing something.”

She nodded. “And the barbecue will let us get organized too.”

Jessie grinned. “Exactly because we know they’re doing the same because they shifted to meeting already hoping that people wouldn’t show after the first weekend after the start of school and it being a Monday night.”

She frowned. “That, that was a dirty trick and school boards and school faculty should be better than that.”

Donnie shook his head. “It’s the money ma’am. Too many of these asses that are doing this are like team and school boosters. I’m not one of those people that says look at the good old days cause they weren’t but this…today’s that generation where the parents scream at the teachers for their brats having bad grades instead of yelling at their little darlings…and heaven forbid that those kids of theirs reflect badly on them.”

Jessie nodded. “And some of them definitely encourage this behavior.”

Donnie nodded and grinned. “Yup, like when Keith assaulted Nick and it got dragged into the office. Keith’s old man showed up screaming and shouting and causing all kinds of drama over Keith getting singled out and assaulted.”

Jessie washed out the glasses and dried them off. “Yes, like Nick being in front of him was doing him a lot of damage. More like he didn’t get out of the lord and master of baseball’s way.”

Donnie frowned. “Well that and Nick stutters so badly he makes a great target in a crowd. Rule by fear, respect me, fear me or I’ll do it to you.”

Jessie mother got a deeper scowl on her face. “I’m really; really glad I’m not in school anymore.”

She hugged them both which surprised Donnie. It had also been a long time since he had a mom kind of hug. “We’re off to bed its late and we’ve had a long night. Jessie we’ve set Donnie up in your dad’s office so you can show him where that is?’

“Sure.”

The parents went upstairs talking and sort of doing that touch thing two people that are still really close thing and Donnie had to admit that it was nice to see after being without it in his own life for so long.

They cleaned a few things up and locked up the house and killed the lights. It was also strange that Jessie hadn’t been called out on being out this late. And locking up too wasn’t a teen thing as far as he ever knew it.

Jessie led him to the hallway and down to the very end of it and there was a door to the right. “This is it. I didn’t see your bed in the garage so maybe they’d….”

The office door was repainted, spray paint and a stencil by the look of it and it was done like urban cammo. There was right there on the door in those adhesive letters you get from the hardware store… Donnie’s room.

He blinked. “Uhm Jess?”

Jessie shrugged. “I guess they did have a long night?” he moved though as if to let Donnie inside first.

Donnie opined the door and…

It was nice…wood paneling for the walls and stuff and some built in wall shelves but whatever had been there was now filled with some of his stuff. Even some of his posters and stuff were up on the walls and the bed had been put together and made and there were what looked like those stacked plastic shelving units in one corner with his clothes set out on then washed and folded and two baskets shoved in the bottom shelves for socks and underwear.

There was a large bag of things for the bathroom on his bed from Walgreens like shampoo to razors and all the basics.

It…it was all done…

“Jess…” Ow…there was this lump in his throat. “Jess…why…?”

Jessie leaned on the door frame careful to not get paint on himself. “Because they could Donnie, you needed a place and we had a place.”

“But all of this?”

Jessie shrugged then went over and hugged him. “Welcome home I guess then…night okay?”

He hugged Jessie back and nodded but still stayed kind of stunned and shocked in the middle of the room just looking at everything. They had even left the desk and the desktop computer there for him.

He hugged himself and sat on his bed and the smell caught him. New sheets, new mattress too.

Why?

Why would they even care about some strange black kid they barely know?