Uplifted Spirit

Lisa, no fish yet. The big fish is yet to come. I think I failed to make this clear. Thanks for the comment. I'll go back and look to see if I can make it clearer. Glad I have your curiosity. Thought it would be nice to add a little premonition. I'm posting chapter 13 right after I write you. I'll be anxious to hear what you think. What did you think of Andy's 12 step seduction. Did it make you look at the whole scene from Matt's point of of view differently. I remember you saying you thought Matt was mean.

Andy I planned the night carefully with a 12 step seduction plan. Just grabbing him and kissing him wasn’t going to work. He’d probably run off or say, “What the fuck?” My plan was what you might call foreplay. Step 1: Get him to sleep in my bed. I pulled the air mattress out of the closet and held onto it rather than give it to him. In a calm voice I said, “Why don’t we sleep together. I have plenty of room in my queen bed. I emphasized queen

Lisa, your comments are always thought provoking. I'd written these chapters differently and just rewrote them. I guess I always think life isn't as we'd like it to be. Matt walking out after savoring his feelings as he lay in bed with Matt just came to me out of the blue. The fact that life can be contradictory at times is why I stayed with it. I think I handled it pretty well in the next chapter. I'm sure you'll tell me, and I'll welcome it. You're right about his being a BMOC, but you know what they say in fiction, Deus ex machina. God in a machine. He has a hot bod, starting QB, and flashy. So the older girls are after him. It might have been better to have them sophomores. The thing is boys start looking at other boys early. It doesn't mean they're gay, although I think every boy thinks that we he finds himself looking at other guys. That's why I chose freshman. They both turn 15 in March of their freshman year so they're older 14 year olds. Could even make it January. Isn't it great having power over your story and characters? Here are some facts off the Internet that I checked when I first wrote the story last year. 1. Five percent of 12-year-olds, 10 percent of 13-year-olds and 20 percent of 14-year-olds are sexually active. 2. More than a quarter of sexually active 12- to 14-year-olds reported multiple sexual partners in the past 18 months. 3. Twelve percent of 12- to 14-year-olds involved in a romantic relationship are dating someone three or more years older. 4. About one-third of 14-year-old boys said they would have sex because of curiosity, and another third said they would do so to satisfy sexual desires. I guess one could always question the source, but I think these may be pretty accurate.

Thank you for making a comment. An author never quite knows how a story will be received, so it's great to get feedback. Thanks again.

Matt Andy’s parents were still up when we got to his house. We made some small talk just to be nice and then headed to Andy’s room. He grabbed the air mattress from his closet, held it against his chest, and said, “Why don’t we sleep together? I’ve got plenty of room in my queen bed.” I pulled the air mattress out of his hands. “That sounds a bit gay to me.” He pulled off his shirt. “I didn’t mean it that way. I meant it’d be more comforta

No, Edison is a school where I taught. It's not in New Jersey. I'm posting the next chapter now. I'm anxious to hear what you think.

Andy Pizza night was going to be the night. We were going out for pizza after the football game and Matt was going to sleep over. He usually sleeps on the floor on an air mattress, but I was thinking I’d ask him to sleep with me instead. I have a double bed. Thinking about it made my stomach jump and my heart feel full, if that’s possible. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if he called me a queer, punched me, walked out of my house, and never talked to me again. Ther

Maybe I didn't make it clear that they were on the Junior Varsity team. Thanks for the note. I'll check it out and and find the error. Your feedback is a great help.

Lisa, I really appreciate your reviews. Chapter 10 will have a little more action. I'm afraid some readers may lose interest if there isn't a little more happening between the boys. But then this story has some unusual twists to it.

Matt We went swimming with Gina and Emily at the swimming hole a couple times as the summer came to an end. We didn’t dare do anything but swim and swing from the rope because who knew when someone would come. Andy and I double dated two more times. He and Emily went out alone once. I couldn’t wait to hear what happened, but he didn’t want to talk about it. It seems Emily must have thought over what happened that night in the park and decided to play it cool. I tried making-out

Matt My parents seemed pleased when I told them the four of us were going to the community dance. Our family is religious so they’ve talked to me often about sex, so much so that I’m surprised I slipped the tip of my tongue into Gina’s mouth when I kissed her. They’re always talking about avoiding the near occasions of sin, which is defined as not putting yourself in a situation that would cause you to sin, and of course anything to do with sex is sinful in their eyes.

Lisa, as usual, you find things I missed. I read through each chapter many times and I guess the story is so familiar I miss things. I just finished chapter 8 and I noticed a place there I should have said Matt instead of Andy. I'll go back and edit it as soon as I post chapter 8. Thanks for letting me know about the errors.

Glad you're enjoying it.

Thanks for pointing out the errors. I really appreciate it. Do it any time. My general experience is that girls tend to be more aggressive than boys at that age because they mature sooner. But of course it depends on the guy and the girl in a particular situation. Glad you like the banter. It's fun to write. Again, thanks for pointing out the mistakes.

Gina Gina couldn’t get Matt out of her mind. A smile crossed her face when she thought of his kiss on the way to the mall. It felt good. He looked all strange and tongue tied after he kissed me. It was funny because he stepped back as if he thought I might slap him or something.. We held hands in the show. I let our hands rest on his thigh. Maybe that was too bold. I’d hate him to get the wrong impression. He surprised me when he kissed me again. I slipped the

Matt Andy called and wanted to head over to the football field to run sprints and pass the football around. Football started in less than a month. See, he asked me out just like that. “I’m ready. Meet you at the school in ten.” “I’ll be there.” Andy was dressed in blue shorts, a white and blue horizontal stripped shirt, and white football cleats. I came in old gray shorts, a gray t-shirt, and cleats. I looked him up and down.

You made me laugh. I'm trying my best to write from my experience from when I was a lot younger. I'm what I guess many would consider old, but I still feel young at heart and those experiences from you youth are still with me. Thanks for your comments.

Thanks for your input. Sometimes it's good to have people who demonstrate positive values. She's bold and in a way shamed them into doing what's right.

Your comments are greatly appreciated. I'm doing my best to make these guys seem like everyday teenagers with the doubts of 14 years olds as they try to find their way in the world.

Thank you.

Andy I nudged Matt on the way to our bikes. “That Emily's really hot, don’t you think?” “Yeah, but I like Gina. There’s something about her. Of course I’d rather look at your hot body,” Matt said. I don’t know why Matt said that. I wondered if he was serious. I’ve caught him looking me up and down a lot lately. Seems he likes my skinny body. It kinda builds my confidence. I don’t blame him for looking. I’d be upset if he didn’t look once in awhile.

Andy Matt looked pissed when I rode up late for our mowing job, but seemed to understand once I explained it to him. There was this big tangle of knots I tied when the hitch broke. I got so frustrated when I tried to untie it, that I just cut the rope which was kind of stupid because I didn’t have any rope to tie it back up. Yeah, it’s those damn knots again. Fortunately, the Hemsteads were glad to give me some rope. I took off my shirt before we started one engine,

Thanks for your comment Lisa. You summarized exactly what I'm trying to do.

Andy Matt asked if I’d write something about the things that happened in our freshman year in high school. I didn’t want to, but he used our long friendship, since second grade, to make me feel guilty. He listed different things we did that year and asked me to write what I remember about them. We agreed to be honest, and considering what happened, I don’t have any problem being honest with Matt. We mowed lawns together that summer. We’d take our shirts off and I constantly lo

Thanks Lisa. I'm glad you responded the way you did. Makes me think I made them human and not fictional characters.