The Only Constant is Change Ch. 06

Author's Note:

Many thanks to the readers who've responded so positively to my story. With the exception of my Anonymous reader who's "looking for a mature man..." (i.e. spambot), I've been pleased to be free so far from the trolls that I've heard tell about. I've probably just jinxed myself, but it's worth the risk to express my gratitude.

With the preliminaries out of the way, it's time to advance the timeline in the Jeremy edition of "This is Your Life."

As always, any sexual activity takes place between people 18+.

MB

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The weeks between the charity event and graduation flew by faster than Jeremy ever would have imagined. There's a long time between the impatient excitement of the first day of kindergarten and the sweet release of the last day of high school. Most of those years in the middle seemed to pass at a glacial pace. Really, up until Spring Break, this year hadn't been much different. But the crush of wrapping up what for some would be the conclusion of an academic career meant the prom, chapter and final exams, graduation practice and, in just a few short days, graduation. It was a whirlwind that seemed to be passing in the blink of an eye.

Beyond all of the usual chaos that the other students were experiencing, Jeremy was also looking forward to turning 18. Being one of the youngest students in his grade hadn't ever really been an issue before, but this last year had been a little different. All of the people he was friends with at school had officially reached adulthood once Mark's birthday passed on February 2^nd. Granted, there isn't a whole lot a high school student can do at 18 that a 17-year old couldn't, but his friends made sure to remind him that he was "just a baby." He tried to keep a good sense of humor about it, but it still began to grate a little. He lost count of the jokes about him "understanding when he's older" and being "jailbait." They pointed out that he couldn't take a girl to any of the under-21 clubs in the area, which was a minor impediment to his dating life. Or, not that he wanted one yet, that he couldn't walk into a tattoo parlor and get some ink done either.

It had most definitely been tougher than most years, but there was one positive: in a quirk of the calendar, Jeremy's birthday fell the day before graduation. Thus, he was having two nights of partying this weekend instead of one.

Tonight, though, Jeremy was taking a breather from all the activity of the week. Relaxing in the gazebo, enjoying the scent of honeysuckle drifting on the evening breeze, he was pensive about his final year of high school. So much had changed in his life over the last 9 months. New school, new home, new friends, and not one, but two girls he was spending a lot of time with. Not to mention a couple of other girls who'd expressed an interest in seeing him. The last couple of months had been so fantastic that there was a part of him expecting to wake up from this dream and be the same old guy he'd always been. Still, Jeremy found himself musing on the happenings of the last several weeks like an old man recounting "the good old days."

Despite their best intentions, following the argument between Monica and her parents, Jeremy and Monica hadn't been able to come up with a plausible excuse to bring him around to meet her parents. They'd simply been too obstinate, and Jeremy secretly (but with no small amount of guilt) appreciated the excuse. He still liked Monica, but with other attractive options in his life, he simply didn't feel motivated enough to push the issue. He sincerely hoped that when she headed off to Howard University in the fall, she'd find someone who could appreciate her for who she was. It bothered him that she felt in even the smallest part like she didn't fit into either a black or white community. Hopefully, getting away from her parents and graduating from a prestigious institution like Howard would provide her some fulfillment and direction.

True to Serena's prediction, videos of the scuffle between Jeremy and Colby outside the movie theater spread like wildfire. Before two days had passed, some enterprising member of the AV club had spliced several videos together and edited them to look like a fight scene from the old Batman TV series, complete with "pow" and "bam" graphics. Colby's furious face added to the fun when they took the angry threats he'd made while storming away and autotuned them. Finally, they'd pulled an image of Jeremy where he was staring off into the sunset from his social page and overlaid that on a flag gently waving in the breeze, and then backed it with a stirring, patriotic song and ended the video there. It was hilarious, made Jeremy a cult hero to all the people Colby had bullied over the years, and did absolutely nothing to lessen the animosity between the two. Eventually, though, even Colby had to admit that there was nothing he could do to Jeremy that wouldn't make him look even worse. Thus, they'd settled into a kind of uneasy cease-fire. Like North and South Korea, but less friendly.

Jeremy had also forgiven Jess. He still didn't feel good about how things had gone down at the barn party. But he'd already concluded that it had more to do with Colby than Jess, since they hadn't really been clear on how their relationship would work when she'd first brought up the idea of being non-exclusive. He felt guilty for jumping on the idea of him dating other girls without expecting the reciprocal to be the case. Then, when she explained how she'd set up Colby to see Jeremy with Serena at the movies, well...it was hard not to give her something for that.

Of course, it was much easier to forgive her when he had no intention of being anything more than friends with her. He'd made it clear that he still didn't see the two of them as being especially compatible romantically, but he'd be happy to hang out with her sometimes as friends. Surprisingly, without the specter of romance hanging over their heads, they were becoming decent companions. Jess was still a high-energy, competitive young lady after all, which suited Jeremy just fine. So, they'd already made time to compete against each other in miniature golf and the dance game at the arcade, with plans for further adventures over the summer. The results of these matches yielded bragging rights until the next event, so it behooved each to try their best.

He was not completely free from the Harper girls, however. While Jess seemed to have accepted that there was nothing but friendship in her future with Jeremy, he was surprised to find that Lanie had not forgotten about the date he'd promised her the night he'd rescued her from Ryan Walters. At the time, Jeremy had been sure she was simply caught up in the moment, overcome by emotions following the attack. However, over the weekend she'd called him up.

"Hello?"

"Jeremy?"

"This is Jeremy. Who's this?"

"It's Lanie, Jess's sister."

"Oh, hi Lanie! I didn't recognize the number. Is everything okay? Ryan's not messing with you, is he?"

"No, thank goodness. I'm pretty sure he got the message after you were done with him."

"That's good."

"..."

"Sooo, what can I do for you?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten!"

"Forgotten? What'd I forget?"

"Our date! You promised me a date in a week. Ava said yes, right?"

"Actually, I haven't asked her yet. I didn't think you'd even remember it. You were pretty torn up that night."

"Of course I remember! You think I'd forget my hero? Hang up and call her right now, okay?"

And he did. He was not surprised when she'd encouraged him to make plans with Lanie. In fact, she'd reminded him that he was going to be on his own for a week after graduation anyway. Her parents were taking her on a road trip as a graduation present/campus tour, since she still hadn't decided between her top three choices of schools where she'd been accepted. Serena was scheduled to spend 3 weeks touring Europe with her father and stepmother, also departing on the Monday following graduation. So, that week would be a perfect time for him to catch up with Lanie and Hannah.

He still hadn't figured out exactly what Ava got out of this deal, and it was a mystery that he was dying to solve. Regardless, he wasn't going to turn down the chance to spend time with a bombshell like Lanie Harper. The only fly in that ointment, so to speak, was how Jess might respond. The longstanding history of playing second fiddle to Lanie might cause some difficulty for her when she saw her sister heading out with Jeremy. He was hopeful that they'd moved far enough past their own romantic interlude that it wouldn't be a problem, but it remained a bridge to be crossed.

The one mystery that had been solved to his satisfaction was how Ava and Serena seemed to know each other so well. As it happened, Ava's mother, Bonnie, was a 2^nd cousin through marriage of Serena's mother, Kara. They'd grown up in the same town and knew each other well. Attending the same college, they roomed together all four years. And it was Kara who introduced Bonnie to her future husband. Circumstance brought them back together after a few years' separation once Kara met and married her former husband, Montgomery.

Already a successful financier, he'd purchased controlling interest in a small bank in the area, and they'd settled nearby as he began building his empire. Kara and Bonnie reconnected, and through them, the husbands became good friends and business contacts. Bonnie already had her two boys, but the two friends commiserated throughout Kara's first and only pregnancy, since Bonnie was pregnant with Ava. It was a difficult one for Kara, and she'd been advised against attempting to conceive again. Ava and Serena were delivered within a few weeks of each other, healthy and beautiful. Thus, they'd essentially been friends from the womb. It wasn't until Serena's father left Kara six years ago that the families had begun to spend less time with each other, but by then, Ava and Serena were very good friends.

The reason that Jeremy didn't know how close they were previously was due to, you guessed it, Colby Walters. Ava couldn't stand Colby any more than Jeremy could. She'd once told him that being around Colby made her skin crawl. For some reason, though, she couldn't convince Serena to stay away from the guy, and the difference of opinions led to a falling out. They were still great friends, but Serena agreed not to bring Colby around Ava. Since it wasn't until early-spring that Serena finally called a halt to her relationship with Colby, and she felt embarrassed that she hadn't seen his true colors like Ava had, Jeremy hadn't seen the two of them together at school.

Now that they agreed on a guy, though, they were thick as thieves. The prom was a case in point. At the charity ball, Jeremy had realized he had a problem: there were only four weeks left before prom and he didn't know how to choose between the girls. He needn't have worried. The two girls got together and informed him that he would be escorting both to the prom. He was given strict instructions on the color he should dress to match, and the flowers and type each preferred for a corsage. They would handle dinner and transportation. Some guys might have bristled at the directions, but Jeremy was thankful. It really took a lot of pressure off him, and he was able to relax and enjoy the evening. Besides, who in their right mind would complain about anything that resulted in spending the evening with two beauties like Ava and Serena?

On prom night, they'd worn dresses that were the same color, but different styles. In Jeremy's opinion, they couldn't have been more beautiful, and the effect of having two hotties on his arms was almost overwhelming. Virtually no one was surprised when Serena was selected as Prom Queen. Jeremy hadn't been in the school long enough to garner votes to be the king, but he still got to dance with her quite a bit. They'd joined roving bands of classmates in visiting some house parties following the prom. By 2 am, they were meeting with many of their friends at a 24-hour diner. Finally, he was dropped, bleary-eyed, happy, and regretfully still virginal, at home by 6 am. It was an incredibly enjoyable experience, but he'd been hoping to be among those who lost their cherries on prom night. He surmised that if it'd just been Ava or Serena, things might have gone differently. With both there? Well, it was probably too much to hope for a fantasy threesome for his first time.

Since then, however, he'd been tantalizingly close on a couple of occasions. As much as he wanted to, Jeremy hadn't quite worked up the courage to try and push things all the way just yet. He was still getting to know each of the girls, after all. He'd been with Ava for just under two months, and it had been even less with Serena. Something told him that his patience would be rewarded if he didn't manage to screw the whole thing up. So, he enjoyed the progression that was happening with each of the girls the more times they went out.

If he were honest, Jeremy would have to admit that he was probably learning more about pleasing a woman by taking their time getting there, as opposed to jumping straight into intercourse. For one thing, the girls might have the same parts, but they were very different in how they used those parts, and how they responded to him. Serena enjoyed being kissed, and preferred aggression. It was fine to begin on the lips, but she really liked for him to kiss the side of her neck and collarbone, and to suck on her earlobe. Her favorite kissing position was to straddle him, which put his face just about at the right height to hit all her hot spots and allowed her to grind her pelvis against his while running her fingers through his hair as she pulled him closer. She had smaller breasts than Ava, probably a C cup, with flat nipples. It had taken Jeremy a little bit of searching to find exactly where to lick and rub. Unfortunately, her nipples were so sensitive that he had to be extremely cautious in handling them, which made him nervous and detracted from the experience.

On the flip side, he'd found her easy to bring off with his fingers, even causing her to squirt once. Learning that trick also taught him that he needed to have his mouth on hers if he didn't want the rest of the county to know she was orgasming; she was loud. They hadn't progressed to oral, but she was happy to reciprocate on him manually. He found that he especially liked the feel of her hand on his cock as she began to orgasm; it was as if someone flipped a switch and her motions became a blur.

Ava was a very different animal. If Serena was the rabbit, Ava was the tortoise. Despite their frenzied kissing early on, Jeremy now found that she was content to tenderly explore his mouth with her tongue, or vice versa, long past the time Jeremy was ready to move onto other things. She preferred it when he held her head between his hands, working his way towards her mouth with small kisses on her forehead, eyelids, and tip of her nose. Her larger breasts were tipped with fat nipples the size of small grapes. They were sensitive in a whole different way. Jeremy had found that he could make Ava orgasm simply by focusing on her breasts. Instead of screaming, Ava was a groaner. He was learning to distinguish her different groans, but as she got more excited, she was prone to grabbing his hands and causing him to pinch both nipples hard. Once, after he'd been working on her tits for a while, she was groaning a lot and he pinched her as she liked. She sucked in her breath and her body went rigid, and she'd buried her face in his neck until the shaking stopped.

He wasn't sure what to do and just held Ava in his arms. When she'd recovered, she thanked him and said, "My turn." What happened next was the stuff of dreams and nightmares. As she unbuckled his belt, she said, "I've only done this once before, so I hope it's alright." At that point, Jeremy was convinced that he was as big and hard as he'd ever been. The tent he had pitched in his underwear had certainly sparked Ava's interest. When she lowered the waistband of his shorts and exposed his circumcised cock, she'd groaned in appreciation. Jeremy wasn't the longest guy in the world at about seven inches, but he was thick, with a wide mushroom head roughly the size of a plum.

At this point, you might be thinking that the worst thing that could happen, from Jeremy's perspective, would be to cum at her first touch. That's a good answer, but our judges were looking for "Goes Soft." In Jeremy's defense, this was the first time someone had put their mouth on him. Still, whether it was nerves, or maybe not knowing what to expect, deflation happened. Ava couldn't believe it, and she took it personally. Jeremy apologized and explained that no one had ever done that for him before, and that he thought maybe he got nervous. That made her feel better, but did absolutely nothing to quell his embarrassment, and the mood was dead. He was really hoping to get another opportunity sometime over the weekend.

Just as she'd promised, Hannah faithfully emailed or texted him at least daily. Most of the messages were innocuous "How was your day? Mine was fine..." kinds of things. However, she definitely had a playful streak in her. She'd induced him on more than one occasion into replicating the conversation they'd had at her birthday party. AJ had said she was a flirt, but other than that one occasion, Jeremy hadn't really seen it. Maybe it was easier to get into the mood to tease when they had physical distance between them, because her teasing game was at pro level now.

Even better than the routine contact messages, she'd begun sending him provocative images fraught with innuendo. His favorite was a picture of her wearing short shorts and a tank top at least one size too small. Viewed from the side towards the back, she had her upper body twisted towards the camera, stretching the shirt over her breasts. She had a playful look on her face, and she'd captioned the image "Does this shirt make my butt look big?" He sent back a gif showing a cartoon wolf whistling while his eyes bugged out of his head.

Apparently, she was enjoying his torment quite a bit, because the next day she sent him a picture of a stuffed monkey with a sad look on his face and a caption that read "Please don't spank me." He wasn't sure who the monkey was in this case, but it was that much better since it worked both ways. Then there were the "Boobs of State U" images that started coming in the day after that. Jeremy could now look forward to waking up each morning to find a new pic on his phone showing an unknown girl from the waist to the neck, displaying her school pride by (barely) wearing their school's fan gear in the most imaginative and provocative way possible. As a result, while he didn't know a thing about the school, he was a huge fan. Hannah claimed that it hadn't taken a lot of convincing for her sorority sisters to get on board with that plan after she'd shown his picture to them. Some wanted to send topless shots instead, but she'd nixed that idea, much to Jeremy's chagrin, citing his "jailbait" status. Something about contributing to the delinquency of minors...

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Jeremy wasn't a huge fan of crowds, and while he was well-liked by those who knew him, he didn't really know that many of his classmates. So, he was planning on keeping things simple for his birthday. He'd invited AJ, Hank, and Mark over Friday evening, promising pizza, soda, video games, and requesting no presents. He'd informed Ava and Serena that they were welcome as well, but it wasn't really a big deal if they wanted to prepare for graduation weekend and their upcoming travel instead.