Run Ch. 05

A nurse arrived to tell Keith that it was time to go. He kissed Pat on the forehead and the two exchanged a warm hug. Keith exchanged a few words with Dr. Martin and hospital personnel and, for the first time in several days, Pat was able to get some real sleep without restraints.

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Several weeks later . . .

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Pat was tentative in her first step out of Gail's PT Cruiser on her first day back to school. She held her book bag nervously, staring at the building that now seemed so ominous, rising from the immaculately groomed lawn above the "Springfield High School" sign and the statue of the bulldog that served as the team's mascot.

Gail was watching her friend. Pat had lived with her since being discharged from the hospital after Dr. Martin determined she was no long a danger to herself. She'd still have to go to counseling of course, but it didn't hurt that her psychiatrist worked in the same building where Pat went to school. To the best of Gail's knowledge, Pat hadn't spoken to her parents directly since she had them kicked out of her room at the hospital. She had kept in contact with Tobias, as well as her uncle. Unfortunately, Lyle had finally been forced to fly away on business but planned on returning as soon as he could. There wasn't much he felt he could do anyway. His brother and sister-in-law would have to deal with Pat themselves.

Pat had been getting better. She still got teary-eyed when she thought of her brother, but the pain was becoming bearable. She sought solace in getting back into some of her old routines, such as exercising in the morning and afternoon. She told Gail that a morning run made her feel that Buddy was still around, except now he was the one watching her instead of her watching him. Gail tried to join her once but quickly determined that five-thirty in the morning should be illegal in the state of California.

"You never cared what they thought about you before," Gail said.

"I know," Pat said, trying to force a smile. "It's just . . . I didn't care about a lot of things. They're going to know. They're going to stare at me and laugh or feel sorry for me and . . ." Pat couldn't finish. Feeling human while part of the general population was new to her.

"It's okay. Some may laugh and some may feel sorry for you. But there's nothing you can do about but not let them get to you and finish up the semester."

The two girls started walking towards the front door. "And then what?" Pat scoffed. "I have no idea what I'm going to do."

"Shame you're already eighteen," Gail said, rolling her eyes. "An old lady like you doesn't have enough time to figure something out."

"You're not helping," Pat said.

"Yes I am."

"Are not."

"Am too."

"And the six-year-olds have arrived," Todd said, waiting at the foot of the path that led to the main entrance. He and Keith had been discussing something boy-related.

"Is that six years total or each?" Keith asked.

"Good question."

Gail kicked Todd in the shin, but Keith was smart enough to step back. He knew Gail way too well.

"Ouch!"

"Don't tease the girlfriend, even if it's warranted. Dating rule number two."

"What was rule number one?"

"When I want some, you'd better put out."

Pat chuckled. She hadn't meant to. She wanted to be nervous and depressed. But her friends weren't going to make it easy on her.

The nervousness returned however as they entered the school. Pat couldn't tell if it was reality or her imagination, but it seemed like everyone tried not to stare or stared too long. She heard snickers as she approached her locker, dialing the combination with a slightly trembling hand. Keith placed an arm across her shoulders and it comforted her.

Pat survived her first couple of classes and had a quick meeting with Carolyn, but the doctor said she should spend a couple days getting back into the swing of school and they could start their appointments back up again then.

It was during lunch hour that things got interesting again. Gail was sitting on one side of the table while Keith and Pat sat next to each other on the other side. The two enjoyed being around each other but weren't sure what exactly their relationship was. So far, they had been only been on one date. Then life and death had interfered, and picking up the pieces is harder when you don't know what the puzzle is supposed to look like.

About then, Thomas Frazier and a couple of his cronies walked over. Thomas was one of those guys that to call him a narcissist would be a compliment, assuming he knew what it meant. Even his friends didn't really like him, but they liked his money. More specifically, they liked his family's money. The guy's parents were loaded. His father and mother both came from big money. They didn't need to work, but they did anyway. His dad owned a major California marketing firm and his mother . . . his stepmother really . . . was the trophy-wife extraordinaire. But her family had stake in major oil markets all over the world.

"Yo, Brooks!" he said, a greasy grin on his face.

"Frazier," Keith replied. He already had a bad feeling about this. Thomas wasn't the kind of guy who blew his nose if he didn't think it could screw with someone's life.

"I didn't realize you were into charity," he said, glancing at Pat. Pat's face turned to stone as she sought to control her emotions.

"Don't go there," Keith said, standing up. Suddenly, Thomas was flanked by a couple of big guys who came around his side.

"Just kinda curious as to why the guy who had an opportunity to lead the school baseball team to glory blew off playoff games. I mean, was Sleeping Beauty here worth it?"

"I said drop it," Keith said. Gail had stood up, but there wasn't much she was going to do. Not that it mattered. Pat was on her feet as well, which made Keith much more confident.

"What the fuck happened to you dude? I mean, you use to be the cock of the walk. I sure hope that your suicidal bitch girlfriend was a great fuck because . . ."

Thomas went quiet. Not because of anything Keith or Pat or Gail did. Unexpectedly, there was a very, very large presence in his face.

The "presence" in question was Benga Latu. The name, like the young man, was Samoan . . . a very big Samoan, in fact. He wasn't fat, but he was as thick as a bull. He had been the center of the Springfield High Bulldog football team through this last season and been named to both the state and national high school teams. There was a good reason for that. Once a play started, he protected his quarterback. The joke was that you could put a drunk and blind guy behind Benga and he'd STILL have plenty of time to complete a pass. He was powerful, fast and most importantly, he was disciplined. And at the moment, he was evening up the odds.

"The man said to drop it." Benga's big chest was moving calmly and his ham-like fists were clenched. "So why don't you just back away?"

Keith had no idea why the six-foot plus Samoan was getting involved. The two had rarely spoken over the last three years and hadn't even been in the same rung of the social hierarchy. Benga was known for standing a step behind the football jocks and keeping his mouth shut.

"Why do you have to be such an asshole?" came a smaller but still angry voice from the next table over. It was a thin but kind of pretty girl with long black hair. She was dressed all in black and was as pale as a sheet. And she was trembling.

"I don't know who the fuck YOU are," Thomas growled, glad there was someone he might actually be able to intimidate, "but if you don't shut up . . ."

"You'll what?" came a third voice. It was Arthur Hyatt, the school's token gay guy. He was no push-over though. He had been picked on a lot until he broke someone's nose. Bullies don't like it when they bleed. He was just sitting across from the girl who had spoken, though it didn't look like they knew each other. "You'll yuppie someone to death?"

One by one, a dozen or so people rose to their feet and stood, figuratively or literally, behind Keith and Pat. The two were almost as surprised as Thomas and company.

"This isn't over," said the man who was being forced by popular demand to back down.

"Whatever you say [i]tong kumong[/i]," Pat returned coldly.

"What the FUCK did you just call me?" Mr. Brazier said as he was "restrained" by his friends. They drug him outside, and the entire cafeteria started singing "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!"

"What the hell just happened?" Keith muttered. Then he smiled and looked down at Pat. "And what DID you call him?"

Pat blushed. "Not much. Just called him an asshole. I'm not good at swearing."

Keith offered a hand to big Benga, who took it. Keith was almost scared by how much power the young man displayed with that simple gesture. Gail invited Arthur, or Art, over to sit with them. Pat looked at the young woman who was slowly vanishing back into her table.

"Hey," Pat said, her voice breaking. She didn't know how to do this. "Did you want to sit over here? It's Sally, right?"

The young girl actually looked shocked. Pat went over and sat next to her. "You okay?"

The girl's reply was barely audible. "I . . . I didn't think anyone even knew my name."

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A little while later . . .

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Keith had gotten out of his final class, which was English Lit. Benga was in the same class, and the two wandered down the hall towards Keith's locker.

"Thanks, by the way," Keith said.

"S'all good," the big guy said. "Never could stand Thomas anyway."

"But that's not it, is it?" Keith asked. "Thomas has been an asshole for years, and you . . . hell, none of us did anything about it. Why now?"

Benga looked around. "Swear you won't say nothin'?"

"I promise."

He sighed. "I know what she's goin' through, ya know? Starting over again after . . . "

Keith was surprised. "You?"

"Yeah. My dad moved us out here and . . . it was different. Not like home. It's hard to explain."

"I think I get it," came a female voice. Pat was waiting by the locker. "I'm a little more familiar with island customs than some." She looked at Keith. "Islanders have a different sense of family than most of us do. They're communities or villages or whatever pretty much comprises a family environment. Take someone out of that and take them somewhere where you don't even see your neighbors and much less know who they are . . . it can be a tough transition."

Benga nodded his head. "I tried to make things here like they were back home, but it didn't work. I didn't want to change . . . thought it would be disgracing my heritage. So I figured I'd take the easy way out. Turns out it wasn't so easy." He showed them one of his wrists and, after staring for a moment, they could see the thin pale line of a healed razor cut. He had made the common mistake of cutting sideways rather than lengthwise. "I was in therapy for a while, but luckily my folks were really cool. We moved somewhere closer to where there was a higher Samoan population, and that helped a lot."

Pat sighed. She wished that SHE had that kind of support. "Thanks though," she said. "Though you know that it's your social standing that probably went critical for helping us."

"What're they gonna do? We graduate in a few months and then we're off to college. Besides, it was the right thing to do. People had my back when I went through it. Dr. Martin was a big help too."

"She counseled you?" Pat said. "I've been working with her too."

"Yeah. She was great. She never judged, but she didn't let me off the hook either. Helped everything feel . . . I dunno. Feel real again."

"I hope she can do that with me," Pat replied. Then, she found her hand seeking out Keith's. "By the way, I'm going to walk home with Sally today. If this Brazier guy decides to get revenge, she's the most vulnerable I suspect."

"And?" Keith thought Pat was holding something back.

"And because I see a little of myself in her. She was surprised that anyone even new she existed. I can relate to that."

Keith looked quizzical, then shook his head. Then he kissed her. It wasn't long, but it definitely did the trick, as Pat actually felt her knees buckle a little.

"Hey," she muttered, a little happier than she had been before. "Stop that." She almost walked into her locker. What was it about such a simple act that made her go goofy?

"No," he replied. He turned to Benga. "Hey, we were planning a big movie night on Friday. Wanna go?"

"That'd be cool," he said. "Who all is goin'?"

"Pat, me . . . Sally if she wants," he added, much to Pat's delight, "and Gail and Todd of course. Where the hell are they anyway?"

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In a supply closet . . .

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"What's gotten into you this time?" Todd asked. Gail's skirt was up around her waist, her legs were wrapped around his waist and her back was pressed up against a shelf full of printer paper while he hammered her pussy with his warm cock.

"I don't know!" she cooed, quite honestly in fact. "After almost getting into that fight today . . . I'm just so wired! I've been craving this all afternoon!"

"I'd suggest you get therapy, but I don't know if I WANT you cured," Todd said, his member enveloped in her velvet heaven.

"Hmm," she said, letting his veined member slide in and out of her body. "But I'd bet you'd love for me to be in therapy. Lying on Dr. Martin's office while she undressed me with her eyes and . . . oh, baby!"

Todd had once again turned it up a notch. She wondered what he would do if he could ever actually see another girl . . . another woman between her legs. Hell, everything that Gail herself thought of it, it sent twinges of possibilities up and down her spine. But she wasn't going to let Todd in on that . . . yet.

"I wish I brought some stuff so you could slick that monkey up and put it in my ass," she said. "But I guess we'll just have to live with you fucking my brains out and then spew in my mouth."

"Oh the humanity," he grunted. "Stick your hands over your head." After she did as asked, he grabbed her wrists with one strong hand, watching her being stretched out as he drilled her. "So hot," he muttered, planting his lips on hers and holding them there as he sank into her all the way up to the root and waiting for a moment.

Gail felt filled. It was her favorite feeling in the world . . . next to orgasm, of course. She spurred him back into action by kicking him in the ass with her heels. "C'mon baby," she whispered urgently. "We don't have much time."

"I'm going as fast as I can," he replied. He was going fast enough that he was seeing stars flying past his head.

"Really?" she retorted mischievously. "What if I told you that I wondered what it would be like to be with a woman?"

Todd froze for a second. "Are you serious?"

"Actually," she said, blushing just a little bit. "Yeah."

Gail didn't know exactly what happened after that. It was like Todd was driving a freight train between her thighs. The rapid thudding was making her teeth rattle and she was SURE they were going to get caught. She didn't care. She loved it!

"Any girl in particular?" Todd asked as he fucked her.

"No," she managed to reply. "Not Dr. Martin, Lola or Pat," she said grinning, "in case that's what you're thinking."

"Can I be there?"

"Who else would hold the camera?" she gasped, then felt her pussy tighten. She tightened her leg's grip on Todd's waist as she came onto his big dick. It felt like a wet load. At least it was happening in the utility closet. It'd be easier for a confused janitor to clean up.

"My turn," he growled, lowering her to her knees.

She didn't wait for him to do anything. She took his cock head into her mouth and stroked the shaft rigorously. Then she let it go. "Gimme gimme gimme," she said like a cheerful child on Christmas morning. Soon she got her present. She jacked him off until he came, strand after strand of spooge shooting through the air and into her mouth. Some splattered on her face, but she mostly caught it all on her tongue. She visibly swooshed it around before swallowing it all down, showing him her empty throat. She stood and kissed him surprised that he even licked his own cum from her face. Maybe she wasn't the only one interested in playing both sides of the plate? 'Something to keep in mind,' she thought.

About then, the bell rang. Class was about to start.

"Oh shit!" they said in unison, struggling to get dressed.

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During the final period . . .

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Pat was in Dr. Martin's office. She had gotten permission from her physics teacher to leave class a bit early so she could catch the doctor before she went home for the day. All her professors had been instructed to let her if there wasn't anything pressing going on and if she requested it. Not that her teacher minded. She was a good student that he, like many other many members of the faculty, were beginning to like more and more as her humanity started to show itself.

She had just finished telling Carolyn everything that had happened that day involving the lunch-time standoff. "It was so weird," she said.

"Why?"

"I mean, none of those people ever talked to me, and they didn't even know Keith or Gail that much. So why?"

"Why did they help you? You already know why Benga helped."

"True, but the others . . . I mean, it's not at all what I thought. I just figured they'd all laugh at me or feel sorry for me or something."

Carolyn smiled. "Guess what? Not everyone is bad. We always hear about the jerks and the bullies and the bad seeds because they're the ones that make the most noise. But a lot of kids, including some that can be mean sometimes, are really decent people. I remember how hard it is being a teenager. You want all the answers, you're afraid of all the responsibility, you don't want to live in the past but you don't know what the future holds. You're going through intellectual, social and physical changes, usually all at the same time and with interaction patterns that no one could predict." She leaned forward. "Give most people a chance to be good, and they will be. A lot of people just need to be given a chance and be pointed in the right direction."

"Like a certain woman we know?" Pat said with a grin.

"Like a certain woman we know," Carolyn reiterate, looking a little dreamy. "And given the opportunity, she wound up in my heart and in my home. You open yourself up, and someone will find yours."

"I'd like that," Pat said. "How will I know though?"

"You just will. If it's Keith, wonderful. If it's not, you'll find someone. But you probably won't know for absolute sure until you've found yourself." She stood up and gave Pat a warm, caring hug, which Pat returned. She was getting better at this.

"I'm gonna be okay," Pat said, a little weakly. And then more strongly, "I'm gonna be okay."

"I know," Dr. Martin replied.

What neither of them knew was that Thomas Brazier was just outside the door. He had seen Pat walking by his classroom and had snuck out. He had planned on accosting her, but was going to wait until she came out of Dr. Martin's office. He had heard them talking by pressing his ear to the door and had managed to open up the door just enough to get a peak of the two girls embracing.

'Dr. Martin is involved with another woman?' he thought gleefully. He wished that he had gotten the name, but he now had reason to suspect that the psychiatrist was a lesbian and he'd seen her "touching" a female student. A plan started to develop in his insidious brain.

"Embarrass me? I don't think so," he said, walking down the hall and back to his class. "I'll show YOU embarrassment."