Double Twist
Chapter 170
“Even when the world throws its worst and then turns its back, there is still always hope”
—Pittacus Lore, The Power of Six
MY PHONE BUZZED just as I turned in to the school parking lot Friday morning. I’d stopped to pick up Beca so she grabbed my phone and answered it so I didn’t take my hands off the steering wheel. She put it on speaker phone as soon as she said, ‘Hello.’
“Oh. Uh… Sorry, I was calling Jacob Hopkins,” the voice said.
“I’m here,” I called. “Just driving, Lacie. How are you this morning?”
“Oh. Good. I mean better. Sorry I was such a jerk after the race yesterday,” she said. “Is it okay to… I mean… I didn’t mean to call when you were with someone.”
“Do I need to leave the room?” Beca laughed. “We met once, Lacie. I’m Beca. It was probably a little overwhelming when the whole pod mobbed you after the race at North Huntington.”
“I remember. Yeah. Not in a bad way, you know.”
“I’m sorry about the race. Jacob told us all about what happened.”
“Well, I’ll just have to up the pace for regionals at Penn next week. I was calling to… well, I’m pretty bushed this morning, but I thought maybe you’d want to take a run tomorrow morning. With me. And um… you know… whatever,” she said.
“I’d like that,” I answered as I pulled into the parking space and shut off the truck. “I need to stay loose before my run on Sunday. I hope you’re okay with not running a race pace in the morning.”
“No, that’s great. I… uh… just want to run a few of the kinks out of my legs, you know?”
“Jacob’s really good at helping his running partners stretch out after a run,” Beca said with an evil glint in my direction.
“If I hadn’t been so pissed yesterday, I’d have been a good candidate,” she said. “Will I see you to run, Beca?”
“Oh, I only do a mile in the morning and am nowhere near Jacob’s easy jog pace. One or two others might join you, though.”
“Okay. Well, I didn’t have a place set for a run. Give me a call and let me know where to meet you, okay?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you come out to the farm where I’m living? Nanette and Em and I usually run about seven on Saturdays now that the sun is coming up later.” I gave her the address and she said she’d see us tomorrow.
“You’d better let Donna know,” Beca said. “Tell her I’ll come out and make breakfast for the runners.”
“Yeah. If we come inside at all. It might be better if we don’t run into Donna since she’s a teacher at Lacie’s school. We might just stay outside.”
Donna was fine with Lacie coming out to the farm and said she’d just stay out of sight if she came in for breakfast and any other recreation we had planned. I couldn’t really think about planning anything, though, because first I needed to meet with the kids in pod two. I’d called each of them individually and they said they had two newer members. I said to please invite them along. I just wanted to have dinner with all of them and check in to see how they were doing.
Of course, it wasn’t just me and their pod. Beca rode out to the farm with me after school and practice. She said she was helping cook tonight. I went to work putting things together. It wasn’t an elaborate dinner. We did a roast pork loin with potatoes and gravy and salad. Beca got a couple of blueberry pies in the oven, too.
At a few minutes before six, I set out to make a pick-up round. None of the kids were old enough for a driver’s license. I stopped to get Donnie and Barb. They directed me to Cindy’s house where she and her younger brother, Luke, came out to join us. Sophie and Brittany were bringing Joyce and Lisa and stopping to pick up another new member of their group, Kate. Finally, I swung by Rachel’s house and picked up Richard.
When we got back, the dining table had been extended to its full size and the eight from our pod and seven from theirs gathered around it.
“Things have been a little crazy around here this fall,” I said as we served the food. “I felt like I haven’t talked to any of you forever. How are you doing?”
“It’s okay,” Lisa said. “You haven’t really met Kate before. You know Luke.” We did introductions all the way around. You could tell the kids were a little nervous about being invited to dinner at Donna’s house. They were constantly glancing at each other to be sure they were using the right fork or something.
“We promised we’d keep an eye out for you,” Donna said. “I know Jacob said the words, but it goes for our whole pod. We need to make sure you are all okay before everything falls apart again next summer.”
“Are you really going to enter the service early, Cindy?” her brother asked.
“I think so. Assuming I can convince our parents.”
“I’ll miss you.”
“I miss my sister,” Richard said. “She’s only been back for a weekend since she left in July.”
“We saw Rachel in DC when we were out there. The camp she’s in is a college campus,” I said. “We’ve been working on some systems that we hope will keep our pod together when we start service.”
“That would be cool. What do we have to do?” Barb said. “I miss Liv as much as Richard misses Rachel. Will you be able to get them together, too?”
“Maybe. They’ll both be a year into their service before the rest of us start,” Beca said. “Jacob is working with the commission that’s rewriting the service law.”
“I don’t know if that will be enough to change the positions of people who are already in service. It looks likely that Rachel will stay in DC, though. We don’t know where Livy will get stationed since her track is so different than ours,” I said.
“That’s one of the things you all need to figure out,” Emily said. “One of the reasons they are able to keep our pod close is we’re all focused around our performers. Jacob and Cindy, obviously, but also Brittany and Desi. You know that Britt will have to volunteer before her eighteenth birthday in order to be with J, Cindy, Beca, and Desi.”
“They made offers for us, though,” Britt said. “We don’t have to actually start service and agree to volunteer until we’ve taken our tests and verified the aptitude they want. In fact, Cindy and I are both taking the PNSAT next week to confirm the offers.”
“Ugh. I don’t even want to think about taking that test,” Lisa said. “It’s like they ask a bunch of questions and from then on your life is determined for you.”
“That’s one of the things we’ll get you help with,” I said. “We have a testing training program that will help you test into the area you want. But that’s what makes it important that you figure out if there is a common area you all want to move into together. You’ll be in much different intake classes with the age spread in your group. Donnie’s the youngest now and is three years behind Lisa and Luke. That’s like it was with Em and me. She’s out of service and I’m just looking at going in.”
“I’ll have to volunteer to enter early to serve with… anyone else,” Donnie said. “Which is fine if they’ll keep us together.”
“Do you have any thoughts of what you like or want to do?” Nanette asked.
“Yeah,” Lisa said. “We aren’t artistic or athletic like your pod. But we entered a robotics competition this summer. That’s where we met Kate. She’s wicked smart when it comes to computers and robots. We think we might be able to do some cool things by the time we’re ready to finish high school and enter service.”
“That’s cool.”
We talked around the table, had pie and ice cream, and eventually, we took our young counterparts home. We didn’t really talk about Pey or how they were handling her being gone from the group. It was obvious that Barb and Luke were rising as the focus of the others. Maybe they were the newly discovered carbon elements. Kate was very smart but very bashful. For all that there was a two-year age difference, she kept hold of Donnie’s hand through most of the evening. We switched things around a little and I took her home so Donnie didn’t have to let go of her. Luke jumped in Sophie’s car with Lisa and Joyce. I noticed that neither Brittany nor Cindy left the farm.
I dropped Kate off and Donnie walked her to the door. I could see them hug each other and then she bolted into her house as Donnie ran for the truck. It was cute. He crawled into the front seat, leaving Barb in back with Richard.
“Jacob, you aren’t mad at me, are you?”
“Whatever for, Donnie?”
“For having Kate as a girlfriend,” he said. “I was supposed to be Peyton’s boyfriend.” That stung. I was supposed to be her brother and protector. I let her die. My breath sort of shuddered as I drew it in.
“Donnie, did Pey ever want anything for you other than your happiness?” I asked softly.
“Well, no, I guess not. We didn’t like do anything, you know. Other than dance. Pey loved to dance.”
“Yeah. She sure did. Teach Kate to dance. Don’t stop dancing because Pey is gone.”
“We were only ten, you know. I just turned eleven last week and Kate is almost thirteen—well, in four months.”
“Happy birthday,” I said.
“Yeah, thanks. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were okay with Kate and me hanging out. She’s shy but she’s really smart. She reminds me of Peyton that way,” Donnie said. “In a good way.”
“Then take good care of her, Donnie,” I said. I pulled up in front of Rachel’s—er Richard’s house. Barb jumped out of the truck with him and I saw her give him a sweet kiss at the door then run back to the truck. She made her brother slide over so she could sit in front, too. The twelve-year-olds were obviously getting along fine. I wondered a little about how their pod would shape up eventually. Donnie and Kate. Barb and Richard. Luke, apparently with both of Brittany’s sisters. Well, some things they had to figure out for themselves.
Nanette and Emily were both with me on the deck when Lacie came down the drive in a Ford Focus that looked like it was about to fall apart. I motioned her over beside my truck and the car kept bucking for a full minute after she’d shut it off and gotten out.
“Girl! You need some maintenance on that vehicle!” Em declared. “I’m Emily and I hereby appoint myself as your mechanic. That car is going up on blocks as soon as we’re back from our run.”
“I… uh… hi, Emily. I’m Lacie, but I suppose you know that already. You can fix my car?”
“Hey, two years in service and I know my way around an engine. Even one as old as this,” Emily laughed.
“I’m Nanette,” my other girlfriend said as she reached for Lacie’s hand. Once she had it she pulled the runner into a hug.
“You’re always at Jake’s races,” Lacie said. I cringed a little at the nickname, but it’s just a name. Why would I get upset over a beautiful girl using it?
“You are a tall one!” Nanette continued. “I loved it when you beat J at West Noble. Too bad about the results Thursday, but you can whip that dude next weekend.”
“I’m six-two. I plan to take his ass to the cleaners. Oh, Jake. Here’s your watch. Thank you for letting me borrow it.” I stepped up and gave her a hug. Shit! She’s an inch taller than me!
“Why don’t you keep it through your state championship runs. After all, I won’t be there to be your rabbit.”
“Really? Won’t you need it for your half marathon tomorrow?” she asked.
“I ran the Covered Bridge half without turning it on. I’ve figured out how to pace my runs with music.”
“They don’t let you run with a headset,” she said.
“They can’t take away the music that’s already in my head,” I said. “Everybody loose enough to start running?” I asked. We headed down the driveway toward the road at an easy jog to get warmed up. When we reached the road and turned left, I stretched out to a swing pace that wasn’t too strenuous for me and I knew Nanette and Em could keep pace with. We chatted a bit, moving to the berm of the road whenever we saw a car coming. I discovered Lacie had a hard time keeping to the pace. “If you outrun us, you’ll miss the turn-off,” I said. She dropped back and we made the turn off the road into the track that ran through the woods. It was an easy pace and we came through the driving range about half an hour after we started.
“Stretch ’em out,” Nanette commanded. We all had our stretching routines and dropped out in the middle of the green to do them. When Em and Nanette rolled together to stretch each other, I offered to press against Lacie’s legs.
Let me tell you something: I have a thing for tall athletic girls. I suspected Lacie’s height was part of her secret to speed. She was a good three inches taller than Livy and you know what stretching that girl led to. She had medium brown hair, and boobs that were significantly bigger than my other running partners. I held Lacie’s eyes as I pressed against her legs and pushed forward enough that I touched her crotch with my quickly forming erection. She had a quick intake of breath and raised her hips slightly to maximize the contact. When we switched places, she made sure I wasn’t the only one seeking that contact.
“Let’s go shower and get breakfast,” Em said, pulling us to our feet. We headed for the house and I pushed Lacie toward her car.
“You brought a change of clothes, didn’t you?” She grinned, reached in the back seat and brought out a sports bag. We stripped off our shoes and went inside.
“Hi, Lacie,” Beca called from the kitchen. “Don’t take too long in the shower or breakfast will be cold.”
“You have an option,” Em said, pulling Lacie along with her. “We can show you to a private shower upstairs or you can join us in the big shower down here. You know. Save water; shower with a friend. Let me just tell you, though, if you fuck Jacob, you’re going to find one or two extra tongues where you’re joined.”
Lacie followed us into Donna’s big shower.
There’s something about watching a girl take off her clothes for the first time. When she pulled off her sports bra, she showed a couple of high round breasts that made all three of us stop to stare.
“If I had breasts your size, I could cut fifteen seconds off my 10k without even trying,” Lacie said to Nanette. We all laughed but as soon as we were under the hot shower with all five shower heads spraying us, none of us hesitated to touch and squeeze her ample bosom. I was behind Lacie shampooing her hair with her butt rubbing insistently against my erection. “You guys are really okay with this?” she asked. Both Em and Nanette agreed. Lacie leaned forward a bit to rinse her hair but her hand snaked between her legs and grabbed my cock, positioning it in her hot wet center. I pushed forward and sank my full length into her. She moaned as I reached full depth. She moaned again when Nanette found where we were joined and started licking. And she moaned again into Em’s mouth as my sister and I competed to stimulate her nipples.
We were mostly dressed when we went into the breakfast room. None of us was wearing underwear. We met Beca, Britt, Sophie, and—to my surprise—Donna with a pile of pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs.
“Um… Ms. Levy?” Lacie squeaked.
“When you’re a guest of my pod, you can call me Donna,” she replied.
“Really? You’re a part of the pod?”
“Haven’t watched any of the videos, have you?” Donna laughed. “For obvious reasons, I can’t bury my face in your tits and start sucking, but welcome to our home.”
“I knew you were their producer, but I just never imagined…”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spread this around school,” Donna said, “but why don’t you tell us more about yourself as we eat.”
“I hope one day, you’ll feel free to… you know,” Lacie said. We all sat down and I introduced Beca, Brittany, and Cindy.
“Last year when I was in Ms. Levy’s—I mean Donna’s—creative writing class, she assigned us a paper to describe something we couldn’t imagine ourselves doing,” Lacie began. “I went out on a limb and wrote about having a relationship with multiple partners who were all into each other. Her comments were encouraging. I know that wasn’t unique to me. She encouraged each of us to explore the possibilities of what we had described. I guess that set me on my current path.”
“Do you think you want to be part of our pod?” Beca asked.
“No. I mean, so far, I like you all, but I’ve managed to create a pod of my own.”
“They know you’re with us?” I asked.
“Yeah. I told them where I was going and that I planned to have sex with you. They’re all fine with that. Dave and Jim are probably with Dee and Simone right now, imagining what I’m up to. There are five of us. We were all in that class and met to study together. It turned out we all had a similar fantasy. That grew into what I guess is known as a pod now. We’re pretty loose about sex. I mean, we don’t just go out and sleep around, but when one of us wants an adventure, we’ve all agreed to it. This is more of an adventure than any of us imagined, though.”
“We aren’t really loose about sex,” Nanette said. “But we recognize there is a difference between the mates we love and people we are sexually attracted to. With so many of us in or recently released from service, we realized we needed to allow for encounters that were outside the pod.”
“Well, if any of the women in your pod would like to try out a guy just for the heck of it, I’m sure Dave and Jim would be willing to help out,” Lacie said. “We decided the first time we were all together that we didn’t have the bandwidth for competition or jealousy. That first five-person orgy was an eye-opener,” Lacie said. “At first it was hard to watch the guy I’d just had sex with bury himself in one of my best friends. But we got past that. We’ve managed to enjoy others for the past year but still keep coming back to our little group. And neither Jim or Dave are interested in each other, but don’t have a problem with the three of us girls enjoying a little sapphic pleasure mixed with their good loving. We’ve had a couple of other girls join us but they didn’t fit in the long run. No one is interested in introducing a guy to our pod, but no one objects to us finding a little fun with someone else on occasion.”
“It sounds like you’ve found a good match in the ones you’ve joined with,” Donna said.
“Yeah. You have to know that either Dave or Jim would jump at the chance to be with you for a while. So would I,” Lacie said. “I understand the problems, but maybe when we graduate and before we start service, things will be different.”
“Do you see your pod as sustaining itself when you are all in service?” Emily asked.
“Yeah. It really took a huge amount of pressure off us when we started considering that we’d have each other to come back to.”
“What bothers you most about starting service?” I asked.
“Well, there’s all the usual angst about being separated from each other and sent to God-knows-where. But I think the biggest fear is that we’ll just get assigned to hard labor in the fields instead of anything meaningful,” Lacie said. “All except Dave. He’s a farm boy and thinks he could learn a lot about how to take over his father’s farm if he was assigned agricultural duty.”
“He doesn’t think of it as slave labor?” Em asked.
“Dave is a keeper,” Lacie said. “Whether we had the pod or not. He’s worked as slave labor on his dad’s farm all his life. He wants to come back from service ready to take over the operation and build a home for the five of us. That’s calmed a lot of our fears.”
“How about you?” I asked. “What do you want to do?”
“I’ve heard there are specializations available in the service for people with a special talent,” Lacie said. “I’d like to get into something running related. That’s why I want to win the state championship. I figure if I do well enough, they won’t waste me on picking lettuce for two years.”
“We can probably help some,” I said.
We talked around the table for a good two hours and then Beca and I took Lacie to a bedroom and kept her occupied for another hour before she said she needed to get home. Wow!
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