After the Beginning Bk. 01 Ch. 02

"No." I didn't get the joke. "Huh? Why?"

"Pinoochicock!" Laura purred. "Lie to me all day, baby."

"Joey, you might have to fuck Laura to save her academic career," Angie said with a laugh. The rest of the table noticed us again.

"She is right, Joey. You would really be doing the word a service. I can't concentrate. I need a dick, and I want yours." This was not the same Laura who almost came to blows with me in Chemistry trivia.

"Damn, guys, you are all friends with Abby," I implored. Laura shrugged. "And you and Billy will get back together," I pleaded.

"So." Laura turned her seat to the table.

I watched Laura study her textbook. She was not an ugly girl, and, if I am honest, she looked a little better now that I had seen her play with her pussy. Her homely face could never stand up against Abby or the girls at the other table. Her body was developing nicely though, and her pussy looked magnificent. "Ask Abby."

"Excuse me?" Laura arched her eyes at me.

"I am Abby's boyfriend, and I am not a cheater. The only way I wil fuck you is if Abby asks me to." That seemed the easiest and safest way to end this embarrassment.

Only a couple minutes remained in class so I returned to my table and gathered my things. Greg and Seth had won the game. Jess said Seth and Greg cheated, and, truth be known, they likely did.

When the bell rang, Jess grabbed me as the class emptied. "Hey, I'm sorry for-" she shook her head. "'Et tu Brute' really was funny. That is actually what pissed me off the most. I wanted to be so mad at you. No way could I let you see me laugh." She grasped my hand laughing. "I really am sorry. You didn't deserve that. Life is so weird. I used to be so sure of decisions and so in control, but over the past few months... I don't know, something is different. I feel like my thoughts are in a blender."

"All random and confusing?" I asked. We walked toward our lockers hand in hand like friends not like we were dating or anything. I looked around as we walked. I might look bad if Barry saw us.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Like one second everything is great, then the next I look at you and get pissed." She squeezed my hand. "Not like that. You don't piss me off. Well, you do, but that's not what I mean."

I knew what she meant. My emotions had been crazy of late, too. My hormones flurried ever since that morning with Beth. Hell, just ten minutes earlier I was fantasizing of eating Laura's pussy, and twenty minutes ago I had only ever thought of Laura as a nerdy girl.

"It is all so silly. Even if I were not dating Barry and you were not dating Laura, there is still Jennifer to worry about." Jess leaned her head into my arm.

"She's dating Greg. What does that have to do with anything?" I asked. This was all too much to keep up with."

"Joey, don't say anything, but Jennifer has been crushing on you since you went to the Camp with her last year." Jess voiced her reply like she told me Greg, the asthmatic, needed to lose weight or something else overwhelmingly obvious. The Camp was a Christian music event. The boyfriend, Greg, canceled on Jennifer last year, then her brother couldn't go either, so I went. We had fun, but nothing happened. Jess continued, "I think she crushed on you then already, but she was willing to admit it after that."

"She didn't admit it to me." I had been a little love-sick for Jennifer since I first saw her. I let go of Jess's hand. "Hey, baby!" I saw Abby walking ahead with Doxie. I let Jess leave to find Barry.

"You aren't riding with Timmy?" I asked Doxie. Timmy was the little fellow that followed Doxie around like a puppy dog. He had a nice Bronco that Doxie loved to ride in.

"He has a dermatologist appointment. I'm riding home with Abby." She spun on me and poked my chest. "So no kissing in the car before we leave."

Abby moved her sister to the side. "We won't have to kiss in the car." Abby stepped to me and tiptoed with her eyes closed and mouth agape. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her. I thought we were just making a joke so I tried to be extra flamboyant with the kiss, but Abby wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled my lips tight with hers. Last week Abby would have admonished me if I had tried to kiss her like this in the middle of the school with students everywhere. But, on that day, she licked my tonsils, ignoring spectators. I should not have been surprised considering what happened an hour ago before Physics. I didn't think I would ever get used to this, though.

"Why are you teasing him, Abby?" Doxie stood one foot away watching us make out. "You are never going to let him fuck you, are you? You just make his penis hard and leave. Such a bitch."

Abby pulled her mouth from mine and turned to her sister. "Maybe I will let him fuck me tonight in your bed!"

"He will be fucking me in my bed before you ever give him any, tease." Doxie stomped toward the door to leave school. "Come on."

Abby kissed me once more. "That's my cue, baby. Call me when you get off work. I love you." She ran toward Doxie. "Wait!"

"You're the one driving!" I yelled to Abby, but I couldn't tell if she heard me.

"Joey! Thank God I caught you." An angelic voice beckoned me from behind.

I knew who it was immediately, and I inhaled deeply before turning. "Hey, Charlsie," I said with a cheeky smile. Charlsie was a pure image of perfection. It was literally impossible for any girl to ever be more attractive than the divine specimen in front of me. She stood taller than most of the other girls in school, almost even with Abby. Most of the time girls my age had to sacrifice curves to gain height, but Charlsie had all the perfect ovals and circles in her form. If Misty's body were stretched and firmed, it would almost measure up to Charlsie.

She wore jeans and a yellow long-sleeved, low-necked tee. Her bra was evident under the shirt. I had no idea about bra design, but her bras must have titanium wiring. Her boobs were ginormous and her cleavage had hooks in my eyeballs. It took all my strength to focus on Charlsie's face. Her face elicited its own brand of lustful thoughts. Those lips! Every time she spoke a thin almost invisible line of spittle stretched between her lips to break and recoil at the peak of each word.

"So can I ride today?" She begged.

She rode home with me a lot last semester. She really just wanted to make fun of me a little, but no way could I ever turn Charlsie down no matter the ask. She stopped asking for rides when I started dating Abby. "Of course you can, Charlsie."

"Oh, thank you!" She hugged me tightly, mashing her goddess globes into my chest. "I had to go to the doctor this morning, and I missed English. I've been worried all day that I wouldn't be able to find you before you left."

"I've been around." It was never difficult to find an honor student during school hours.

Charlsie hooked her arm in mine. "I know, but you know," she said. I didn't know. We walked to the car.

The back way home took a little longer, but it was more scenic. Charlsie only lived a few minutes off the backway path, so Charlsie's house was almost on the way home. "I thought you decided I smelled too bad to share a car with me since you stopped asking." I fell into my car and shut the door. "I admit, though, it does smell a lot better with you in the car, too." That was true. I could smell Charlsie's strawberry cologne distinctly; I could also smell her womanhood faintly.

She laughed and swatted my arm. "You're sweet. You are entirely oblivious, but still sweet."

"So what is going on this week?" I asked.

"Remember last year when I was dating Lance?" She asked.

"Yes." I had never met Lance. He was like twenty-seven years old. I pulled out of the lot onto the highway.

"Well, he didn't-" she blew out a long, deep exhale. "Are we friends, Joey?"

"Only the best, Charlsie." I lightly punched her arm. "Let's do our nails when we get to your house."

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously."

"Yes, Charlsie, of course. You are Charlsie. If you say we are friends, we are friends." I laughed.

"Be real," she said. joining my laughter. We sat quietly for a moment. "Ok, listen, do not repeat what I tell you to anyone. Ok?"

I nodded.

"No, you have to say it."

This seemed weird suddenly. "Whatever it is you are scared to tell me, Charlsie, I will tell no one."

"Thank you." She sat sideways in the passenger seat facing me. It was hard to keep my eyes on the road. "I have told no one this, absolutely no one. Just Misty, Shelly, Shirley, and Molly.

"Why not Jenifer?" I thought it was odd to tell Misty and not Jennifer. Shelly was the only other girl in school on par with Charlsie. Well, Jennifer was, too, really. Shelly moved to Europe as an exchange student our Freshman year. She just returned last semester so it was easy to forget about her. She and Charlsie had been the duo all through middle school. Shirley was the cute blond I crushed on through Freshman Latin. Puberty had not been nice to her, and her status in the popular girls diminished. Molly I had forgotten about completely when I ranked all the hot girls. Molly looked like an American Bandstand dancer. Her long lean form actually contained the grace Jennifer's form should have contained. Molly had dated Hank since seventh grade. They were both absent from social circles outside of each other.

"Doesn't matter. Do you want to hear it?" Charlsie asked.

"Go for it," I answered.

"I was at the doctor this morning because I thought I was pregnant." Charlsie spoke the words rapidly. It took a moment for me to decipher what I had heard.

"What?" Imagining Charlsie pregnant caused a strange emotion similar to jealousy.

"I'm not. The disposable said I wasn't, but I wanted to be sure. I am a week late."

"Lance's?" I wanted to steer the discussion away from her periods.

"Yes," she said. "I have not been with anyone else, and sometimes he refuses to wear a condom."

"I'm sorry, Charlsie." The past week must have been torture for her.

"Know what is crazy, though?" She strummed her fingers on the dashboard. "Nevermind. Remember Mr. Taylor's class?" she asked. I sang the chorus for 'Strangers in the Night'. "Yes!" she exclaimed and slapped my leg three times. After the third slap she left her hand on my thigh. I felt myself thickening. "Strangers in the night / Exchanging glances," she sang.

"Wondering in the night," I sang.

"What were the chances," she finished. "God, that was so funny back then. I couldn't believe a boy at school knew that song."

"I thought everyone did." I looked down at her hand. It was so hot, like a campfire had started on my thigh. "It was Frank."

"Most don't know Frank," she said.

"Whatever," I said. I sensed she was making fun of me again.

We laughed and sighed then sat quietly. Her hand remained on my thigh, and I worried my cock would lower my zipper on its own. "Anyway, Joey, after the doctor told me I was not pregnant, I was disappointed."

"Really?" I could not imagine wanting to be pregnant at our age. "What about school?"

"School is almost over."

"College?" Charlsie wasn't an honor student, but she took several honors classes.

"A lot of parents go to college," Charlsie said. It was the first time I had heard a friend refer to themselves as a parent. I was too lost in thought at the oddness of it to reply. "My family has a lot of money, Joey. I'd be ok. My mom had to make the appointment this morning."

"Was she angry?" My mom would have killed me.

"No, that is just it. She was excited, too," Charlsie said. "She didn't say anything afterward, but I think she was disappointed this morning, too."

I turned into Charlsie's driveway. "If you need anything, Charlsie, you know I will help."

She laughed heartily. "I'm not pregnant."

"I know, just saying."

"If I need your help, and I might, I promise to let you know." She leaned over and hugged me when I parked the car next to her house. "Are you and Abby serious?"

"I guess." I stared back at her. She was waiting for more. "We haven't had sex."

"Are you a virgin?" She tilted her head.

"This is making me nervous, Charlsie." I could feel my heartbeat in my crotch. Thankfully, she removed the hand from my thigh when she hugged me.

"We are friends, Joey. Don't be nervous. Are you a virgin?" She demanded a confession.

"No."

"Who?"

"Over Christmas break. Beth Catsman."

Charlsie turned her head and stared through the windshield. "I think I am definitely going to need your help very soon. We will talk." She leaned over and kissed my cheek then exited the car. I left enroute to Raj's house to pick him up from work. I rubbed my cheek the entire trip.

"Charlsie kissed my cheek," I announced to Raj when I entered his front door. He was watching Gi Joe eating a sandwich.

"Of course she did." He shoved the remaining sandwich in his mouth and clicked the remote to turn off the TV. "Ew Weddy?" he asked with a mumble around the large bite of sandwich.

"Yeah, I'm ready. How is Eric?" I asked. Raj always rode home with his old buddy Eric. I didn't know Eric well; he was in and out of suspension.

"He's ok. He's thinking of dropping out and fixing mowers." Raj grabbed his RC cola and followed me out the door.

"I can't imagine making that decision." I laughed. The absurdity of choosing to leave school with a plan for a life of mower maintenance made as much sense as rain dancing.

"I'm sure you can't imagine it." Raj closed the door and put his RC in the cupholder. "Just like Eric could not imagine being kissed by Charlsie."

"What does that have to do with it?" I asked, a little offended.

"God doesn't make everyone the same, Joey. Now shut up, I am getting into the grocery bagger zone." Raj held his forefingers against his thumbs in front of his face like he was meditating.

"I don't think you never leave that zone." I turned onto the highway. "Who are the cashiers tonight?"

"Wendy and Tina," he said.

I nodded. Wendy always made me laugh in a really juvenile way. She was cute faced and a little heavy; her wit was sharp. She and Beth had been work buddies. Tina filled Beth's role when she quit. Tina was a skinny, mousy girl, but still pretty cute. Her voice was horrendous, though. She sounded like a drunk chipmunk talking through a fan.

"Could be worse," I said.

"Yeah, they could have rehired the bitch Beth." Raj shook his head. "Fucking whore." The Beth debacle pissed Raj off more than me, even when it happened.

"Beth's a lot cuter than those two," I said and Raj remained silent. "Hell, she's a lot cuter than any of the other girls."

"Beth is a bitch. Fuck her. Is she cuter than Charlsie?" he asked.

"Geez, no way, '' I answered.

"Well, there you go. Is she cuter than Abby?" he asked.

"Of course not." Abby really was cuter, but Beth was at least in Abby's league. The Charlsie comparison was crazy.

"Beth is a rotten slut, Joey," Raj said. "Just be thankful your dick didn't shrivel and fall off."

"I know." It did hurt, though, that I was just another hard penis to the first girl that wanted more than to make fun of me.

"Plenty of fish, yadda yadda yadda-" he paused to light a cigarette. "You can-"

"Give me one," I interrupted.

He held his cigarette between his teeth as he dug another cigarette out of the pack. It made him sound like an old detective movie. "You can have any girl you want, dude. I never knew why you put your dick in that slut."

"She's hot, dude," I defended.

"So is a steaming pile of manure." He finished the sentence with a long exhale of smoke like dropping the mic. I lit my cigarette and he continued. "Does thinking of Beth make you want to smoke?"

I used to hate cigarettes. My mom smoked my whole life, and just the smell made me want to vomit. Raj smoked since he was twelve so I built up my smoker tolerance working with him at the store. Beth hated cigarettes even more than me. When she dumped me, after our farewell fuck, I picked Raj up for school and bummed my first smoke, just to spite her. Since then I have bummed smokes from Raj daily. "I don't know. I just wanted one." I blew smoke out the window crack. "Good, no one's here," I said as I turned into the store.

"I hate slow nights." He blew smoke out his window crack. "Slow nights are just that, slow. I like to get busy working and let the time fly." He slapped the dashboard. "If it were busy every night Beth wouldn't have sucked you into her slut pussy blackhole."

"Slut pussy black hole?" I asked. "Impressive description." I put the car in park, and we entered the store.

Tina's back was to us as she rang up a customer. She wore a red top and jeans. I rarely noticed what anyone at work wore, at least from the front, because we all wore aprons. Tina's long strawberry hair was pulled up into two pigtails. I stared for a moment; I really liked her hair.

Tina went to school in a different county. None of the girls at my school ever wore their hair like that. For some reason it looked a little slutty, and that turned me on. Maybe that is why I crushed so hard on Beth, maybe I preferred sluts. Then why was I dating Abby? I dismissed that thought. Abby might be a virgin, but she had a naughty slut in her, too. I could just tell.

"You boys are late." Wendy faced us, leaning back on her register. In the early twentieth century Wendy would have been called fat. In the late twentieth century 'big boned' would be a better description. "Get your aprons on and get to work, dweebs." Wendy turned around as a customer entered her aisle.

Wendy was cute for a bigger girl with a soft round face and full lips. She had sex with Jordan in the back seat of my car last October. That had been my first date with Beth. I asked Jordan to go with me since it was my first date. We played miniature golf, and, on the way home, I watched Wendy ride Jordan in the rear-view mirror. I didn't even get a good night kiss that night.

"When is Jordan's last day?" I asked Raj as we made our way to the backroom donning our aprons.

"Tomorrow," Raj said. Jordan started the week after me. He was a little guy, only about 5'5" and 130 pounds. He looked Asian or Mexican or something, but had a country accent. Raj continued, "Frankie is starting next week."

"Cool." I did not know Frankie well, but Raj had some classes with him.

The large metal doors to the stockroom swung open and Kim strolled in. She had been working produce at the store for about five years. I couldn't guess her age, but her oldest kid was about ten. She was attractive in a trailer park skinny girl kind of way. Jordan always said she was the kind of girl who would be ok giving anything as long as you were ok with taking it. She put a fist on her hip. "I'm out boys. Keep your eyes on the lettuce and potatoes." Lettuce and potato displays needed to be refilled more often than the rest of the produce.

"We got it," Raj accepted. "Have a good night, Kim."

"If I do. I won't remember it. Later boys." She backed out the door while making peace signs with both hands, before she spun on her heels and vanished.

"Joey, come to the front, please." It was Tina's squeal.

"Come on, guys," I said. Usually if no one was busy all the stock boys would respond to any call. The girls said we traveled in a pack. It was Beth who coined the moniker Foodland Force. I am sure everyone else forgot where the name originated, or they'd stop using it. "Foodland Force assemble," I said.

"You can handle it," Raj said. He flicked his cigarette in the ashtray. "I just lit this."

I looked at Jordan.

"She said 'Joey'." He smirked at me. "Go on, champ. Tina wants that dick as bad as Beth did."

Raj laughed, blowing out a lung of smoke and a heave of cough. "She did take Beth's spot." Getting the words out between coughs had been a struggle.