The Agreement
23 Fan Bus
OUR JV BASKETBALL SEASON ended and the next day the St. Joe Valley Trojans varsity had a definitive victory in the Sectionals. The IHSAA tournament—Hoosier Hysteria—was underway.
We all got tickets for the Regionals in Elkhart the next weekend and practically filled the fan bus with our dating group. In defiance of older students, the eighteen of us occupied the back of the bus with our picnic lunch and all. A couple guys got on the bus and zeroed right in on all the girls in the back, but Carl and Josh sat in the aisle seats in our front row and turned so their knees were in the aisle. The guys realized we were all together and backed off. Even Cassie got permission to come on the trip and asked if I’d hold her hand as soon as she got out of her father’s car before we boarded the bus. She didn’t let go of it all day unless one of us had to use the restroom.
Lionel and Lamar were incredible. It was like having two centers and I was sad that Lionel was going to lose most of his top teammates at graduation. Birdman was dominating under the boards. Jeff and Troy worked the ball in the backcourt like pros. Troy was pretty amazing and at least as a sophomore, he and Lionel would be playing together for another couple years. The afternoon game was great. Warsaw was trying to muscle us around, but they had three of their first team in foul trouble in the first half. Coach Hancock and Coach Mitchell both reminded us constantly that you can’t help win the game if you aren’t in the game. We won by only four points, but tonight we’d meet Elkhart High in the finals.
My favorite bus driver, Mr. Alex, was staying for all the games, so he let us leave our picnic basket on the bus and met us there after the game. We shared the lunch that we’d all contributed to with him. Nobody really cared about going into the arena to watch Warsaw and Goshen knock each other out for the consolation game, so we all just hung out together at the bus. We’d been holding hands all afternoon, so I wasn’t really that surprised when Cassie tugged at me and asked if we could go for a walk before we went back into the gym for the game. I told Brenda what we were doing and that we’d meet them all at our seats so no one would worry. She smiled at me and sighed.
“I never really got to thank you for taking me home that day and talking to my father,” Cassie said. “I was so broken-hearted when he tore up our agreement. I just knew I’d never get to see you all again because when I turned sixteen and Dad even considered letting me date, you’d all have your girlfriends and boyfriends and I’d be left out.”
“I hope we don’t leave anyone out but I understand what it looks like. Sometimes I think we should cut membership off because there’s already too many of us to really date everyone. And then, I think, well, maybe we should open the agreement to anyone at the school who wants to sign. Then we’d all simply know who was safe to date and who wasn’t so we wouldn’t really be a dating group at all anymore.”
“I’m fifteen now and even with what you said, Dad wouldn’t let me participate if it wasn’t a specific group. He was a little concerned when I told him we’d let Sora and Josh into the group. At least he’d met everyone else’s parents at the New Year’s Eve party. I kind of missed part of that. I went to sleep.”
“I know. You drooled on my arm.”
“I didn’t!” We laughed. It was a lot easier to talk and laugh with Cassie now than it had been that summer before junior high. I guess three years makes a big difference. “Brian? Could you… may I… I don’t know how to say it. Other than holding hands, I haven’t asked anyone for permission for anything. Oh, except that one little kiss you gave me. But I want to kiss you again, like we kissed that summer when I went all bat-shit crazy. Only, I just want to kiss. Can we do that without… um… touching my breasts or anything. I just know that if we kiss again I’m going to want all that stuff and I’d never stop you if you tried. I already proved that to myself when I kissed Geoff once last year. I let him… uh… do stuff just because we were kissing and it felt good. Can we just kiss? Is it okay?”
“Cassie, sweetie, I told you three years ago that I’d never do things you didn’t want to do. That’s really what our whole agreement is about—being able to set the limits before we get caught up in the moment and trusting each other to stop there. I’d love to kiss you Cassie. I still think about that first time every time I go riding in the woods.”
I turned her toward me and drew her in with my arms until our lips were almost touching. Her eyes were still wide open and staring into mine. I smiled and placed just a little kiss on her lips, then on her cheeks and at the corners of her mouth and as her eyes drifted closed, I kissed her eyelids. I thought a little thank you to Renee for the kissing lesson she’d provided after homecoming. When I got back to Cassie’s lips, they were soft and slightly parted. I didn’t hurry it and continued to kiss and pull back a little without pushing her. She relaxed in my arms and I felt her arms tighten around me. When I touched her lips with my tongue we both shuddered a little and I knew that my new erection was where she could feel it. I’d figured out, though, that if you weren’t trying to rub yourself off on a girl, most of them didn’t mind feeling that you were hard when you were kissing. Cassie certainly didn’t try to put more distance between us as she pushed her tongue toward me.
I was a good two inches taller than Cassie now. It felt really good to have her mold her body to mine as we continued to kiss unhurriedly. She tasted sweet and a little chocolaty from the cookies we’d had at the picnic. When our lips finally let go of each other, Cassie just stayed in the same position with her eyes closed and her lips open as she gradually relaxed and leaned her head on my shoulder. I just held her there, not wanting to let go.
“I know that we might not always be boyfriend and girlfriend,” Cassie sighed. “We might never have a ‘meaningful long-term relationship’ as my dad tried to lecture me.” I could almost hear Mr. Clinton when she said those words. “But Brian, you will always be the first boy I kissed and my seven minutes in heaven.”
The battle with Elkhart High was epic. The score was never more than five points apart during the entire game and we were tied at the final buzzer. That meant the game went into a four-minute overtime. Elkhart scored with five seconds remaining to put them up by one. Lamar grabbed the ball as it came down out of the net, stepped behind the bounds, and flung it down court almost to the basket. Unbelievably, Lionel out-raced it, snatched it out of the air, took one step and slam-dunked it as the final buzzer sounded. We won 87-86. We were in the sweet sixteen.
“I’ve been selfish all day. Thank you, Brian,” Cassie said as she hugged me. We got on the bus and she slid into a seat next to Sarah. I continued to the back seat and was motioned to a seat between Brenda and Denise.
“We’re sleepy,” Brenda announced. “As soon as the bus gets rolling, we each want a great big goodnight kiss and for you to hold us all the way home while we sleep.”
“How could I resist such beautiful temptations?” I asked. “I’d love to sleep with you both.”
“Ooh. I could hear that,” Denise said. “Brian wants to sleep with me. Sigh. What do you think, Brenda?”
“Well, I’ve always kind of wanted to sleep with him, too,” Brenda giggled.
“Since we’re all sleeping together and won’t know the difference anyway,” Denise cooed, “if your hands kind of stray across my boobs—in your sleep, of course—I guess I’d give you permission to hold them. As long as no one is like, watching us sleep together.”
“Yes, I think that’s okay. You’ve been such a good boy all day. I give you permission to fondle my boobs while I’m sleeping. As long as no one is looking,” Brenda agreed. I looked around. Hannah, Liz, and Samantha were already curled up with each other on the other side of the wide back seat of the bus and had fallen asleep before we even started to move. Usually, the back row is for five people, so Samantha’s butt was pushed right up against Brenda and the three of us were smashed low in the corner. Ahead of us, Rose had her head on Carl’s shoulder and his arm was around her as he leaned against the window. Across the aisle, Geoff had an arm around Sora. Sugar and Doug were in the front set of seats with Josh and Whitney playing some kind of game across from them. Cassie and Sarah sat across the aisle from Candace and Rhiannon behind Doug and Josh. Everyone was in their own world and as soon as we were out of the stadium traffic, the bus was pretty much dark and quiet. I bent to kiss Denise and discovered that when she said a “big” kiss, she meant one that would get me big in a hurry. Brenda giggled quietly and gave Denise a little push. “My turn,” she whispered.
Denise positioned herself so she could look up at Brenda and me while we kissed. She pulled my left hand over her shoulder and held it on her breast while I kissed Brenda. I couldn’t quite reach Brenda’s boob from this angle. When we finished a kiss that had me throbbing, Brenda turned away and slid up into my lap, leaning back against Denise. She pulled her jacket over her like a blanket and then tugged my right hand under her sweater.
“Inside, please?” she asked. I moved my hand up her soft tummy until I encountered her bra. “The hook’s in front,” she whispered. I’d never encountered that before and it took me a couple tries before it gave way and I had free access to Brenda’s bare breasts. My hips kind of involuntarily flexed and Brenda wiggled her butt against them. “I love a nice hard bed,” she giggled. “Goodnight, lovers.”
I don’t think any of us actually slept on the way back to school where our parents were waiting to pick us up.
Semi-Finals would be in Fort Wayne at the Coliseum. Our school probably had the farthest to travel. Because it was in such a big venue, it seemed that everyone who wanted one got a ticket. As a result, there were a lot of parents going, including mine. We set up the extra seat that faced backward and picked up Whitney and Rhiannon. Then we swung by the Gordons and picked up Hannah and Sarah since their dad had to work in the morning.
Candace was driving Sora, Doug, and Rose in her little car. Sora and Rose were both pretty small and would fit in the backseat while Doug rode shotgun. I was happy to hear that the Clintons were all coming to the game and would pick up Brenda and Samantha. I hoped those two weren’t too wild for the Clintons. Mr. Raymond was bringing Denise and Sugar and they were picking up Josh and Carl. I was surprised that Liz’s mom and dad had decided to come to the game because we seldom saw them. They were picking up Geoff.
We had a block of twenty-five tickets. The guys all wore blue shirts and the girls wore yellow shirts, except the JV cheerleaders who all wore their cheer sweaters. Whitney and Rhiannon held my hands in the back seat as we drove the almost two hours east to Fort Wayne. Half the time we were turned around talking to Sarah and Hannah who were trying to face forward in the back-facing seat. It wasn’t a comfortable ride for any of us, but we did have fun.
The only ones missing from our group were Renee and Lionel since they were on varsity and traveled with the team and Jennifer and Courtney. By some miracle, Kokomo had survived their regional and were playing in the sweet sixteen at the Purdue Fieldhouse in West Lafayette. We’d laughed that until next week we could all cheer for each other’s teams. Jennifer said there wasn’t much chance that Kokomo would be able to last against the teams in their Semi-State so we’d all be cheering for the same team next week. Well, it would take a miracle for us to pull one out against Fort Wayne Central, too.
It turned out the miracle came by way of tiny Churubusco. They were a Cinderella team and the smallest school in our Semi-State. Their players looked like they were half the size of Fort Wayne’s. Fort Wayne didn’t take them seriously until Churubusco had them by the short hairs. The little team never made a mistake during the entire game. Their shooting percentage from the floor was phenomenal and Fort Wayne didn’t dare foul them because they never missed a foul shot. Fort Wayne Central left the court with their tails between their legs and a 72-61 loss. We were all kind of open-mouthed.
We were the underdogs against Muncie in the second game and our guys were so charged up over Churubusco beating Fort Wayne that they just marched over Muncie. The two biggest teams in our quarter of the state were out of the tourney. The two teams everyone expected to be playing the consolation game were headed to the finals.
None of us could settle down between games. We were constantly jumping up and moving from one table to another at Don Hall’s Steakhouse where the parents took us for dinner. All the parents had chipped in so we could have dinner and Mr. Nowicki handled the money and payment. Dad, Mr. Clinton, and Mr. Raymond all checked in with him to make sure he had enough to cover everyone. We got back to the Coliseum in time to see the second half of the consolation game with Muncie and Fort Wayne Central both trying to kill each other to redeem their earlier losses. It was flat-out a dirty game and five players fouled out. Two more were ejected for throwing punches. I sure hoped the final game wouldn’t be like that.
It wasn’t. Our guys looked fresh and confident. I knew for a fact that their hearts all had to be beating in their throats, though. The guys from Churubusco looked a little dazed. They really didn’t expect to be here in the final game. You had to like them. The Trojans had their work cut out for them. These guys had pretty much dismantled the favorite team for the State Championship. That game was one for the record books.
They played well against us and it was a good game, but both teams made a lot of mistakes. You could just tell that by halftime both were pretty exhausted. We won the game, not with a bang, but a whimper as Troy sank a foul shot and broke the 53-53 tie just before the buzzer. We all just breathed a sigh of relief. We hung around the Coliseum for the award ceremony as Lamar stepped up on a ladder and cut the net to hang around the biggest trophy the St. Joe Valley trophy-case had ever seen.
“Mom, Whitney was awful cramped in the back seat.”
“You want me to ride in the back so she can sit up front?”
“No! I mean, that wasn’t what I was thinking.”
“Oh? And what were you thinking?”
“Remember how me and Betts used to ride in back with the seats down when we went on a long trip? Well, Sarah and Hannah are kinda cramped back there, too and I was thinking we could just lay all the seats flat and spread out a blanket and all just ride back there together and… you know, go to sleep.”
“Go to sleep. I see.”
“Mom…”
“Oh, just let me go talk it over with your father. I don’t think it would be a good idea to bring it up in front of John Clinton.”
“Right.”
Half an hour later, there were five of us stretched out on the floor in the back.
“Keep your heads down,” Dad admonished. “It’s not exactly legal for you not to be wearing seatbelts.”
We kept our heads down. I didn’t want Dad watching us in the rearview mirror either. Hannah cuddled up behind me and Whitney in front of me. Sarah and Rhiannon were on the other side of Whitney. We were packed, but somehow, we didn’t mind all being squished together. Hannah had her arms wrapped around me and I held Whitney close.
“You should kiss your girlfriend,” Hannah whispered in my ear. Her breath made me shiver.
“Do you want a kiss, honey?” I asked.
“Not this girlfriend. That one.” I looked at Whitney’s closed eyes and realized she was feigning sleep. “She’s so anxious she can hardly breathe. Ask her.” I still had trouble understanding how Hannah could push me to be so intimate with my other girlfriends, but she was always right.
“Whitney, love?” I whispered in her ear. “May I kiss you?”
“Yes, please,” she whispered back. Lately, well, really ever since the homecoming dance with Renee, I’d felt like I was becoming a better kisser. She’d taught me how to not just be passionate, but to be sensual. I really needed to ask her out as soon as basketball season was over. The Final Four. That was something, but it was nothing in comparison to the way Whitney was moving against me as I made love to her mouth with my lips. I could tell she was stifling moans that occasionally escaped into my mouth.
Hannah continued to hold me from behind and pet my arm and side, right down to my hip. At one point she pressed herself against me and kissed the back of my neck. Rhiannon turned toward Whitney’s back and cuddled up tight against her. She stroked my arm and pulled it down Whitney’s back enough that her breast was pressed against the back of my hand. Whitney’s hand pulled Rhiannon’s around her and I could feel Rhiannon caressing Whitney’s slight little breasts. Sarah reached across all of us and took her sister’s hand holding it against my moving hip.
That had to be the shortest hour ever as the next thing I knew I was giving Hannah and Sarah each a light kiss at their door and then standing back so Rhiannon and Whitney could give them hugs. When we got back to the car, the back seat was up and the three of us slid into it. Apparently, Mom and Dad had second thoughts about us lying down back there. It didn’t make any difference. I sat in the middle and Rhiannon and Whitney both hugged me all the way to Rhiannon’s house and kept kissing my neck and ears. Whitney was spending the night with Rhiannon so I walked the two of them to Rhiannon’s door. Her house had a closed porch, so we couldn’t be seen from the curb where my parents were parked. Whitney gave me a quick kiss and then turned me toward Rhiannon.
“I got mine in the car. Kiss our girlfriend, Brian.” I turned to Rhiannon.
“Rhiannon, may I…”
“Brian, please kiss me and touch my breasts like I was touching Whitney in the car,” Rhiannon got out before me. Okay. Rhiannon and I seldom fooled around much and caressing her breasts was a huge turn-on. Rhiannon and Whitney had been the first to take my fairy loops back in fifth grade, and Whitney still made a big production out of showing her collection to new members of our group, declaring herself the fairy queen. “If we had more time, I’d invite you… um… inside,” Rhiannon whispered. She pulled my hand down away from her breast and under her shirt far enough that I could feel her bare tummy. I had a feeling she didn’t mean inside her house.
“I don’t know what all your girlfriends are doing tonight, but these two are going to sleep together,” Whitney said, holding Rhiannon and me.
“And if my girlfriend will let me, I’m going to push my big boobs right up against her little ones and rub them together,” Rhiannon added.
“While we are each rubbing ourselves and thinking…” Whitney broke off.
“What will you be thinking of, love?” I asked.
“That last foul shot Troy made,” she sighed. That cracked us up. I kissed each of them one more time and then ran to the car.
Mom was sitting in the middle of the front seat with her head on Dad’s shoulder. Dad turned the defroster on to clear the windshield and drove us home. They got in the house and all the way through it before I was fully out of the kitchen.
“Be sure to turn out all the lights, honeybunch,” Mom called just before their bedroom door shut.
Sheesh! I wonder what that was all about.
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