I Am Jack's Life Ch. 15

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A coming of age story.
9.3k words
4.78
17.8k
5

Part 15 of the 19 part series

Updated 10/31/2022
Created 01/30/2015
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Author's note and acknowledgements

This story has sat on my hard drive for four years now.

I wrote it, all twenty chapters and 95,000 words of it in eight days of a frenzied, near trance-like state, sitting on my couch with my wife's laptop. She would occasionally have to remind me to eat.

When the dust settled, and I looked up, I realized a couple of things: one, I had just written a fucking novel in a week, whoa. Two, it seemed to be pretty damn good, double whoa. And three, what the hell was I going to do with it?

I tried editing it, I even enlisted the help of a Lit-Editor, who was invaluable for early editing, and confirming it was in fact, pretty good, or readable at least. I spent several months then, editing, unashamedly forcing it on writer friends to read, regular friends to read, and total strangers on writer boards. Everyone had different opinions of course, as people do, but all of them seemed to think it was pretty good, and I should probably try to do something with it.

So I spent another year trying to sell it.

Well nothing happened.

And I can't blame them, agents and publishers. It's kind of a niche story, hard to market. It's got too much sex for a coming age story, too much teenage drama for adult fiction, and not a single word about vampires or bondage to make it work as erotic fiction.

So it's sat on my hard drive for four years. I'll occasionally open it up, tinker with a line, or try to figure out how to re-work it into something more marketable. I always end up wasting a weekend trying to figure out how to change it, without losing the essence of the thing which I, and several others, feel is, "pretty good."

So fuck it. Here you go Literotica. I just want people to read it. I want people to get to know Jack the way I did. Writing his life made me feel like I was a part of it. He's a pretty good guy, I wish I knew him in real life.

So NEXT, some disclaimers.

This is a coming of age story. Which means first it starts out when the characters are too young to have sex (on literotica.) So there's no sex for a couple chapters. I hope that's okay. Second, this is a novel length story, including the prologue and epilogue, there are twenty-one chapters in all. Some are longer than others, and there is not a sex scene in every one. (Though some have more than one.) More importantly, sex is a thing that happens, it's not written to be titillating, but rather just as events in Jack's life.

So there you go. It's a story with sex in it, not a story about sex. I think it's pretty good anyway.

If you have not read the first chapter, please click on my profile and pick the story up at the beginning, its better that way, trust me.

*****

My graduation from Stanford was great, but it was not the same as high school. I graduated magna cum laude, with a 3.8 GPA, and gave my dissertation on the lack of math training required of math teachers in schools today. Went over well I think. Commencement was hard without my Dad. My mother of course flew up and was there, as were a number of my aunts and uncles and my grandparents. But my dad wasn't.

I had decided to wait before going right into graduate school. I was tired of school.

Which is weird I guess, considering I was planning on making a career of being in a school. But after sixteen years of non-stop studying and maintaining a high GPA. I needed a break.

Abby graduated with a degree in photojournalism, which was pretty awesome really. Her parent's were still happy for her - even though she wasn't becoming a lawyer. Beth graduated from USC with Media Communications and Anna with a business degree from Stanford. We still hadn't spoke since our final break up though.

The question then, was what was I going to do now?

I could start looking for a teaching job of course, but I wasn't ready for that yet either. I still had battle fatigue in a major way from school. I wasn't exactly eager to jump into the work force and start the last train to adulthood. I was twenty-two years old. I had a great degree and a good chance at getting picked up on a substitute rotation for the LA School District; or anywhere really. But I was just tired. My body was tired, my brain was tired; I'd left it all out on the field to bring it home the last term.

I had a decent savings and I'd managed to make it through school with nothing in student loans thanks to the life insurance from my father, scholarships, and grants. So there was no immediate need to jump into working.

No, I was definitely going to take a break.

"No, I am definitely going to take a break," I said.

Abby, Beth, and I were having some post graduation drinks down at a pub we'd started going too. It was in LA, not far from Beth and her boyfriend's apartment and Abby and I had moved back from San Francisco last week.

"Jack Wallington, what are you going to do without school?" smirked Beth. She was wearing a light summer dress, as was typical for her, because of course it displayed her cleavage perfectly. Her brunette hair was still as long as it had been in high school, and she was as good looking as ever.

Better really, because a sixteen year old girl can be pretty dam cute, even stunningly beautiful. But a twenty-two year old woman can be sexy in a way that a teenage girl just can't.

I shrugged, "I don't know, and right now that's kind of the point."

Abby sipped her cocktail through a straw. "I'm going to travel," she announced.

Beth and I looked at her with raised eyebrows.

She set her drink down on the table we were sitting around, "Yeah, Europe probably. Maybe China and Korea."

I raised both my eyebrows.

"Wow, good for you!" Beth said, and then her face twisted into a wistful expression, "I wish I could go! But I've got a to get a job, my student loans kick in really soon and I'm going to be barely keeping my head above water."

Abby shrugged, "Tell that man of yours to hurry up and get signed, then you'll never have to work again."

Beth was still dating her football player. Or maybe it was a different one. I didn't keep track.

Beth looked down at the table and spun her glass in circles. She had a weird embarrassed look.

Abby looked at me, "What about you Jack, want to travel the world with me?" she said. Her green eyes locked onto mine.

I had been about to laugh it off. Seriously, I couldn't see myself just up and...

Actually.

I did have a good sized savings. My dad had plenty of foresight, so not only had the house been paid off, and most of my student debt erased; but my mom had sold the house and moved into a smaller condo. She hadn't been able to handle leaving in our old place by herself. She was a lot happier now. She'd given me a good chunk of the money from the sale, even though I'd told her not too. Also it wasn't like I'd stopped earning money in school. I'd made pretty good money as a tutor.

I didn't want to stay with my mom in her tiny condo, which is where I was currently crashing, but I didn't want to run out and get a job and a place either. I had no ties. There was no reason I couldn't do this.

Both of the girls were looking at me expectantly.

"You know, why the fuck not. I'm in," I said.

Abby broke into a broad grin and Beth just looked at me in shock.

I explained everything to them I just had gone over in my head.

Abby put her hands up and cheered, "Yay! I hadn't wanted to go alone and now my best friend is coming with me! This is going to be awesome!"

Her best friend. Not - 'one of'. Beth and Abby had been friends since kindergarten.

Beth had apparently noticed too, because her smile faded for just an instant, but she recovered quickly.

"So where first? I figured I was just going to get a backpack, put whatever I could fit on it, and catch a plane overseas; figure things out as I went. But I'm game if you want to plan things out a little better. I mean I know you have to plan everything, Mr. Organized." Abby started chattering excitedly.

I hadn't seen her this excited in a long time. She was normally the most reserved of all the girls when it came to expressing emotions. Maybe because she'd never been a cheerleader.

I laughed at her, "Well, first I need to get my passport, that'll take a few weeks, so we can talk about ideas while waiting on that. We don't have to plan every minute, but I'd like to have some idea where we are going, besides 'The World'," I chuckled.

Abby and I spent the rest of the night throwing ideas out, each one wilder than the next. We were closing the pub down when it started to hit me: I was really going to do this. I was going to just take off and travel the world. It was intensely exciting and scary at the same time.

The three of us stood around outside as they shut the place down behind us. Abby stuck out her hand for a cab, and it pulled up. It was one of those new hybrid Prius cabs that were starting to show up in LA. It looked like the car of the future and it sounded strange for a car, all whispers and whirs. It was cool. I was a bit tipsy.

"Share a cab?" Abby asked me she started to get in.

"Actually, Abby, I was hoping Jack could walk me home. It's only a couple of blocks, but this is still LA," Beth said.

Abby frowned a little, like she was suddenly suspicious, but then she shrugged, "Suit yourself. Call me tomorrow okay?" she said to me.

I nodded, "Will do. You can help me figure out what to pack."

Abby grinned again, and then got into the cab.

I wish I'd gotten in the cab with her.

The cab drove off and I offered my arm to Beth. She took it and smiled. We started walking back to her apartment. We went slow and didn't rush. It was a beautiful summer night in LA. Just like all nights in LA.

"So, you're really going to do this?" she asked after a moment. "Travel the world with Abby?"

I nodded, getting a twinge of something like butterflies in my stomach, "Yeah, yeah I think I am. I really do need a break, and this'll be a once in a life time opportunity."

She slipped her other arm around mine.

"I'm so jealous of Abby," she said after a few more steps.

I chucked, "Yeah, it must be nice to just not have to worry about money at all. I'm only getting to do this because of unique circumstances."

She shook her head, "No, of getting to do it with you." she said softly.

Ah hell.

I turned to look at her.

She didn't look at me.

"I've been thinking a lot since Kimmy's wedding,' she said, "I only have one regret from school."

This conversation was rapidly going someplace I wasn't ready for.

"You." She sighed, "I should have just swallowed my damn pride and asked you out from the beginning. When you kissed me before our eighteenth birthday party."

Disbelief. I was in disbelief.

"You ran away like I'd grown tentacles." I tried to laugh it off. This was not happening.

"I was scared. Terrified - and ashamed. I liked you a lot. I mean a lot. I thought about you all the time. But I was so conceited, so caught up in my self image. I was afraid what people would think..." she said.

I frowned.

"So I ran, I pushed you away. And I was so self-absorbed I was honestly shocked when you ended up with Kimmy. I think I figured you'd always be there. Then you and Kimmy stayed together the whole year. I'd wanted to go to prom with you so bad, but you and Kimmy just kept getting closer."

I stared at the ground. This conversation was eerily familiar, all that was missing was the sound of the surf.

She sighed, "And then fucking Anna. I wanted to punch that girl when she stole you away from Kimmy. Abby and I both knew the two of you were going behind Kimmy's back."

I winced. "That wasn't all Anna, I made bad choices there too," I said.

"And by the way, that was the only time in my life I've ever been disappointed in you, I couldn't believe you were cheating on your girlfriend. On Kimmy - who was your friend long before she was your girlfriend," Beth said. Guilt twisted me up once again. I don't think it ever won't.

I sighed, "I wish I'd never had. Anna was the biggest mistake of my life."

Beth just shook her head, "No, we need our mistakes to grow. That took me a long time to figure out. I guess I'm still figuring it out. I'm just glad she didn't drag you down with her. You know she's in rehab now right?"

I felt a stab of guilt. I hadn't known that.

"Not just alcohol. Pills too. I drove her to check in to a place just a few days ago," Beth finished.

Holy shit. God Anna, I should have been there. I should have...

"Stop it Jack, I can see plain as day on your face you're thinking you could have saved her. You couldn't have. Not without losing yourself," Beth said firmly.

I sighed and kick a piece of trash. She was right of course. But it didn't help with the guilt.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you, after all these years. I wish things had been different between you and I. I'm not confessing my unspoken love for you. But I wish, I desperately wish I'd given us a chance, you know?"

I closed my eyes a second. Beth Jenkins, the object of uncountable teenage fantasizes, both erotic and romantic, was saying she'd wanted us to have a chance.

We reached the door to her apartment building and we stopped, turning to face each other.

"I just wanted to say that before you left with Abby," she said and played with the collar of my shirt.

"I don't have to go..." I offered.

She shook her head, "God - yes you do. You're right, this is once in a lifetime, Jack. And I'm still with Kurt. I care about him a lot. Even love him. We don't know what you and I would have. I just wanted to say something, finally."

I sighed. I had nothing to say. I had a thousand things I wanted to say, but I said none of them. We can never measure the impact of choices not made, or the echoes of words not said.

Then she leaned up and kissed my cheek.

I stopped her as she pulled away and kissed her lips.

She didn't pull away.

Soon we were wrapping our arms around her and the world fell away. Stars were born around us and hung up in tapestry of the universe to shine.

And then I was roughly pulled away by a gigantic hand on my shoulder.

"Just what the fuck, are you doing with my girlfriend asshole?"

Oh right, Kurt Johnson. Starting halfback for UCLA. We'd been standing outside her apartment. Hey that was pretty dumb.

"Kurt don't!" Beth started to shout.

Then I saw some of those stars we'd just given birth too, even through the light haze that hung over LA at night.

Maybe it's just because he'd hit me hard enough to knock me flat on my ass.

"Get out of here motherfucker, before I beat your ass!" he said.

I struggled to stand up. There were still dots swimming in my eyes.

"Jack, I'm sorry! Please just go!" Beth said as the wall of meat drug her up the stairs and into the apartment door.

"Wait, Beth..." I coughed. I swayed to my feet.

The door slammed and then I was standing alone on the street.

What the fuck had just happened?

#

"That's a hell of a shiner," Abby said the next morning as she handed me a cup of coffee.

"I guess Kurt drew the wrong conclusion when she gave me a kiss on the cheek," I lied, "Guy's fists are the size of mac trucks," I said and blew on the steaming liquid. It was mostly true. His fists were approximately the size of small dump trucks. Probably helped with handling a football.

Abby just smirked. She sat down at the bar stool and one of her tanned legs slid out of her short robe and was exposed up to her thigh. She sipped her own coffee and pulled over a bunch of travel books and maps.

She was staying at the beach house. Her parents were off traveling somewhere and like me she was an only child. I guess she just preferred it here to her parent's closed estate track house. Not like I could blame her.

I sat down on the stool next to her.

Abby said nothing more about my black eye, or how I'd gotten it, and we spent the rest of the day looking at maps, travel books, and day dreaming. I managed to put the kiss with Beth out of my head. I was getting pretty good at doing that actually. I'd had some practice over the years.

It was a good day. We ate lunch on the deck - take out Chinese - and daydreamed about what we'd order if we were in Beijing right then. We played in the ocean and fantasied about splashing around in the Mediterranean along the south of France. We traveled the whole world in a day. To do everything we talked about would take years, but it didn't really matter, it was the talking about it that was fun.

I headed back to my mom's condo that night. I told her what Abby and I were planning. She acted both excited and worried for me, as moms can.

In less than week I had my passport. It was a lot easier back then. This was before 9-11. I sold off a lot of my stuff; finally got rid of the car I'd had since my junior year. Dad had bought it for me. I sold it to Mr. Allison for Kimmy's youngest sister, who was just graduating from high school. Girl had turned out to be a certified hottie, just like her sister. She asked me if Kimmy and I had ever 'gotten busy' in the car. I just smirked at her behind her dad's back. She laughed.

I went through the process of boiling down everything I was going to take into a single backpack. We had no idea what travel arrangements we were going to have to make on the road, so we kept things simple; which is actually pretty damn hard. I spent days trying to anticipate any needs I would have on the road and weigh them against what would actually fit.

Everything I didn't sell or wasn't taking with me got boxed up and put in storage. I paid for six months in advance. We got our plane tickets; as an early birthday gift to me, Abby bought mine. First Class non-stop to London. And that was it. We were set. All there was to do now was wait for our flight, which was in a week. We'd be arriving on the first of August, and the plan was to spend a few weeks in the UK, then hop over the channel to the continent; maybe spend another month to six weeks there, then fly out of whenever we were on or about the second week of September to either home, or China, depending on our level of travel fatigue and the state of our funds.

I had done some careful calculating and figured I could afford about 50-80 bucks a day. Abby promised me we'd be keeping things low-key and not spending a lot of time in expensive hotels or clubs. The idea was to stretch as far as we could and see as much as we could; not blow everything in a whirlwind jet-setter tour. I have no idea what Abby's budget was, but her parents were much happier about the trip once they knew I was going. Not only would Abby not be traveling alone, but I was the one all the parent's loved. I'm pretty sure her own budget was much higher than mine, but I didn't want to be leaning on her for money. I wanted to support myself.

The night before our flight, it was just the two of us and my mother. We'd decided not to have a big send off for a lot of reasons, but I had subtly waved off inviting Beth. I wasn't ready to see her again. Kimmy of course had called and gushed about how lucky we were and how jealous she was.

Oh, also, she was pregnant

That's what I was thinking about when my mother took away my and Abby's dishes from the small kitchen table in her new condo. I picked up my wine glass and finished off the last of the red. It really was pretty good, even at only fifteen bucks and not the two hundred bucks a bottle that was in Abby's parent's wine cellar.

"Penny for your thoughts, fellow traveler," Abby said, setting her own glass down.

Finis
Finis
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