Speech and Debate Pt. 14B

It's been weeks and weeks and weeks, I know. Please, don't lynch me. It's been a busy few months. Short story, my baby sister is now a PhD, and thus even more insufferable than I could ever portray here in this story world. But that meant a trip to the UK. And of course, work.

And then a scare with a possibility of losing EVERYTHING on my computer. Thankfully, that was mostly avoided, but it put a dent in my time.

Anyway, here is the next installment. It's transitional and brings to an end the 3rd quarter of the over-all story arch. 1st, Boston. 2nd Pre Prom, 3rd Post Prom to graduation and now...onto the 4th and final quarter. It's outlined. I just need to pound it out and get it to you as quickly as I can.

Bear with me. Enjoy.

!DAM!

DISCLAIMER: The following fictional story deals with sex among males. If you are offended by such material, are too young, or reside in an area where it is not allowed, depart. Though not observed in this story, care enough about yourself and humankind to practice safe sex.

The author retains all rights. No reproductions or links to other sites are allowed without the author's consent.

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Speeches, Invitations, Nervousness, Goodbyes, and Brunch at the Radisson: A Southern Nerd Graduates

B: D A Mackey

Hundreds upon hundreds of cultures around the globe have various rites of passage for young men and women who reach a certain age, meant to signify the movement from childhood into adulthood. Many of them seem barbaric to our rather sedate Western ways.

For those of us here in the United States, one such ritual would be learning how to drive a car and getting the little rectangular piece of plastic with your always horribly unattractive picture plastered on it that signified that ability. Or perhaps High School Prom. And the most recognizable: sweating to death in the summer heat while wearing a polyester gown and a funny square hat replete with tassels in order to walk 20 feet across a stage in front of family and friends to receive a rolled up piece of paper and a handshake from an administrator we very rarely saw over the past four years.

High School Graduation.

The ritual itself must seem absurd to those outside of our culture. Hell, just the description alone makes little logical sense. But it happens every May or June with surprising regularity and it brings with it crying parents and overwrought younger siblings.

There were plenty of both to be found at my own graduation on the morning it finally arrived.

Well dressed Southern ladies sweated profusely and seemed to constantly be checking their melting faces in small compact mirrors while they tried to fan themselves with the card stock Graduation programs.

It was a futile attempt, of course.

The weather could not have been more clear and bright. Not a cloud to be seen in a sky that seemed competing to defy the true definition of the word blue. In the shade, of which there was little to be seen (why they schedule these things for High Noon, I will never understand) the temperatures reached well into the upper 90's. On the vast open lawn of the Quad, it was an easy 103 degrees.

South Carolina in the summer: it is not to be fucked with.

Southern Mamma's are known for their control over their younger children. You rarely see a wild and out of control southern child running around a chain restaurant in the south. At least, not without getting a firm pop on the behind. It's not uncommon for them to be sent to the car to chill out should they get even a tiny bit restless. But in the heat of that day, every Mamma had given up all hope of keeping their younger kids at bay.

First came the fidgeting.

Then the whiny complaints in high pitched screeches.

And finally the release, as a veritable tourist of 5-10 year olds bolted from the rows of folding white chairs and did what children do best: ran around in a dizzying array of tiny suit jackets and easter dresses like a human model of electrons come to life.

A few Mammas tried in vain to contain them, but it was no use. They eventually shuffled back to their seats and just focused on surviving the afternoon. Literally, surviving it. The amount of moisture they sweated out made me worried that some might shrivel up and die of dehydration should they begin to weep when their child crossed the stage. They couldn't spare the moisture.

All in all, it was surreal.

I watched and observed it from my seat in the front row, doing my best to stare at the podium and rehearse my upcoming valedictorian speech in my head. By the time I'd actually delivered the thing, I had nearly picked apart the gold and blue chord that signified my rank as Valedictorian until it was a haphazard knot of barely recognizable glimmering threads.

Apparently, I have a few nervous ticks.

I'm not entirely sure I can recall the actual words I spoke. I mean, of course I have it on video. Several videos, to be more precise. But I don't quite recall actually speaking the words.

What I do recall from that blur of 5 minutes is Daniel.

He was in the front row simply beaming up at me. His knees bounced up and down as he struggled to contain the very obvious pride and joy he felt while I spoke. His smile was broad, wide, unassuming and utterly captivating. I half expected him to leap from his seat at any moment and crush me to his chest in a hug before I'd finished my greetings and salutations.

But thankfully, he controlled himself.

For the most part.

Behind him, seated in the first row not reserved for the graduates themselves were his Mother and Father, dressed to perfection and seeming not to sweat a drop. They didn't even fan themselves with their programs like everyone else. I wondered if they were somehow superhuman and that's how they'd produced such an immaculate specimen of a son.

In the same row, my parents sat in stark contrast.

My mother was a weeping, sweaty mess. She did her best to keep her sobbing to an acceptable decibel level, but from the depth of the eye rolling my sister was presenting for all the world to see, I could tell she was thoroughly mortified to be associated with the two parental figures on either side of her. My father was just looking highly uncomfortable seated on the other side of my sister. This was the first time since their separation that my parents had spent any significant length of time in the same room. Or in this case, open lawn.

On the aisle at the end of the row was Adam.

Though I could scarcely tear my eyes from my Daniel as I spoke, every now and then I would glance back to the row where our families sat and my gaze would fall on him. He sat with his legs spread so wide in his khaki dress pants that his right leg was fully in the middle of the center aisle.

And he stared.

I don't mean he watched me. Everyone was watching me, (something I was still not yet comfortable with) but Adam's eyes seemed to bore deeply into me. His right hand rested on his lap and he ever so slightly squeezed the outline of his stiffening prick as it snaked down his right thigh.

He wanted me to see it.

He was hoping I would see it.

Well, I saw it. I couldn't help but see it. Adam made very sure of that. And the small smirking grin he wore plastered on his face made it clear he enjoyed knowing that I saw him.

I made a note to talk to Daniel. He may have been the younger of the two brothers, but I had little doubt that he could easily outmatch Adam if push came to shove. In a physical confrontation or a cock measuring contest. Take your pick.

After all the normal bells and whistles, the walking across the stage and the hand shakes and the commencement speech by some distinguished former alumnus (of which there were several from which to pick), the Head Master of the Upper School gave the closing remarks and all at once...

...A sea of black satin caps flew into the air...

And Daniel pulled me to his chest and kissed me so hard it knocked the wind from my lungs until I thought I would just crumple into him like an empty soda can.

I melted into him. And it had nothing to do with the heat.

I felt my pulse rising, my body responding and every care and worry from the morning and previous night wiped from my mind.

What did it matter what the summer break may hold? Who cared about the coming separation as we went to different schools in the fall.

None of that mattered in the slightest when his lips were on mine. Where they belonged. Where mine belonged.

Daniel's hand on the small of my back pulled me into him. I felt the hardness of his uncut cock coming to life beneath the satin robes, pressing against my own waking member. I was hard pressed not to lift one foot from the ground like some couple in a Rom-Com movie poster.

There were a few shocked gasps from some uninformed underclassmen but they were put to an end with a quick and rather forceful punch in the arm from our giant body guard: the ever present Ian.

"Is there something interesting here? Go about your business little birdies," he chided them as he shooed them away.

When Daniel finally released me and our tongues rested in our own mouths, I let my head fall to his shoulder and laced my arm around his waist and his around mine. Thankfully, the big shapeless graduation robes hid the fact that I could feel a spot of precum already spreading from the tip of my throbbing cock.

The things Daniel did to me...

My mom and Daniel's chatted amiably a few yards away. They couldn't have been more different, but they seemed to be getting on like gang busters. Neither of them looked to be waiting for the other one to finish a sentence before beginning her own. If I wasn't mistaken, they would be pulling out the baby photo albums that mothers always seemed to have hidden just out of arms reach and start sharing embarrassing family stories within moments.

My father and Daniel's did what typical Southern fathers did: stood with their hands in their pockets about 3 feet from each other and rocked back and forth on their heels. Like they were discussing the stock market or something.

"Good lord, look at 'em go," Daniel whispered as he leaned over to kiss my cheek.

"I know," I replied. "Should we interrupt? If we just walk away now, I don't even think they will notice we are missing."

"What are they talking about, I wonder?"

"Us, most likely."

Daniel shivered dramatically.

"Well, should we go face the music?" he asked.

I sighed.

"I'd rather you face the locker room wall...but I suppose facing the music will have to do. For now," I teased, pulling him closer to my side.

He leaned in and bit my earlobe gently.

"Are you trying to make me cum in my robes, baby?"

"Maybe? Don't pretend you don't like it."

"Who's pretending? By all means, please continue."

I obliged him by lowering my hand from his waist to rest on the rounded mound of his perfect ass. I squeezed lightly and Daniel moaned gently under his breath and rose onto his toes.

I giggled, reveling in the power I had to manipulate his body and make him twinge and squirm with just a touch. It was still new to me after all our time together so far.

I smiled and placed one hand on his rock hard chest, stroking him lightly and feeling his warmth beneath my palm, the hard perky nubs of his dark nipples reacting to my touch.

"Let's give them a few minutes, okay?" I suggested. "They seem to be getting along just fine without us."

"Meet the parents time, huh?" came a booming voice from behind us. I had forgotten that Ian was nearby...

Ian was understandably excited.

When he was just his usual self, he ran at top speed in comparison to the rest of us. Today he was approaching Mach 2. He almost seemed to vibrate with the effort to control his excess energy.

"Well, meet the OTHER parents," Daniel corrected. "It's kinda surreal actually."

"They seem to be doing okay. Kinda like strange dogs sniffing around a new member of the pack," Ian said.

"Kindly refrain from comparing my parents to canines. Even obliquely," I sighed with a roll of my eyes.

Ian just chuckled, which from him was akin to a timpani drum at forte.

"Good speech, little D," Ian said changing the subject. It was disconcerting and becoming highly tiring to watch him.

Even though I knew he was speaking to me, his eyes darted back and forth, his head swiveling on his thick neck like some kind of small bird. If that bird was on steroids or had been bitten by a radioactive arachnid.

"Thanks," I replied cordially. "Dude, you are revved up on super high today. You okay?"

"What?" he asked, finally turning his attention back to me, even if only for a brief moment. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you look about ready to jump out of your skin, is why," Daniel offered, backing me up.

"Sorry. I'm just...I dunno...I can't really..." he stuttered and seemed to search for the correct words before finally sighing heavily. "Have you seen Justin? I can't find him anywhere?"

It took a moment for Daniel and me to adjust to the question.

Was that why Ian was so apparently on edge? So jacked up on adrenaline?

He was looking for Justin...

I hadn't realized until that moment how deeply the new addition to our little group had wormed his cute, nerdy way into the gigantic jock's heart.

"I think I saw him over by the Math and Science building taking pictures with his family," Daniel offered, pointing to the large, square, tan, stucco building some 100 yards distant.

The effect on Ian was immediate.

His skin flushed and his eyes flashed like crackling lightning. A smile crept up the corners of his mouth. He actually bounced. On the balls of his feet, like he was getting ready to dash off at a dead sprint at any moment.

"Thanks. I'm gonna go see if...I mean, maybe he,...I hope that...What if he?..."

His tongue couldn't seem to finish the thought his brain was so desperately trying to produce.

I couldn't help but smile at him.

I knew the feeling well.

It wasn't that long ago that everything that involved Daniel even in the slightest most tangental way would send me into a whirlwind of panic and

"What if's" that left my head a dizzy befuddled mess.

I placed my hand in the middle of Ian's big broad chest. His heart raced beneath my palm like hummingbird wings.

Jesus! The guy should be on the ground rapidly approaching a coronary.

"Breathe, big guy," I said in as soothing a tone as I could manage. "I'm sure whatever you have to ask Justin, he will be happy to hear. Okay?"

That seemed to assuage him a bit. At least, he dropped his eyes to his toes and nervously dug one point of his dress shoes into the verdant green lawn.

"Thanks," he whispered. "I don't know what it is about that boy, but every time I try to do anything...my whole body shuts down."

I giggled.

"It's fun isn't it?"

"FUN?!" Ian bellowed, raising his eyes to the heavens. "It's fucking torture is what it is! But fuck me if he isn't the cutest thing walking on two legs."

I put my hands up in mock surrender.

"It's not me who will be the one fucking you," I added with a wink. "I'll leave that to our donkey-dicked new friend over there."

Ian blushed bright red at that, but he couldn't hide his smile. Or the pulsing bulge in his pants, for that matter.

"Don't get me going, lil' D. No telling when I'd be able to stop."

"Go find him and then come back and find us. We'll be around," Daniel added, clapping Ian on the shoulder and pushing him in the direction of the Science and Math building. "Good luck, buddy."

Ian bounded off in that direction. Before he had gone 5 yards, he suddenly turned and rushed back.

"I almost forgot! My parents are letting me use our lake house tonight for a little get together afterwards. That's what I was going to tell Justin, I mean..."

Daniel and I eyed each other.

"Will your parents be there?" Daniel asked.

Ian shook his head.

"Nope. They are headed to the mountains for a church retreat. Just us. Well, my grandparents have a place across the lake, but that doesn't really count. They're like, a hundred and eighty years old. Even if they had their binoculars out, I doubt they could see us."

I chuckled at the mental image. I idly wondered if Ian's grandparents were just wizened versions of their muscle bound grandson. An octogenarian copy of Hercules.

"So?" Ian asked, still bouncing, waiting for our reply.

"We'll be there. Text me the address," Daniel replied.

Ian's face split into a wide toothy grin and he immediately turned on his toes and leaped away across the lawn to propose the same offer to little

Justin without another word to us.

Daniel and I just smiled at each other, laced our fingers together and reveled in the growing joy of our buddy.

He may have been a big, muscled lummox on the outside, but he came with a heart to match.

From our vantage point some distance away, we watched as Ian made contact with Justin and his family.

Like Justin himself, his clan was all tall lanky limbs and skinny frames, a collection of elbows and knees held together by strawberry blonde curls.

When Ian bounded into their midst, it was like watching a hunting dog scatter a flock of Mourning Doves. All of Justin's family recoiled and jumped back a step from the mountain that had suddenly decided to walk amongst them.

All of them, that is, except for Justin.

Justin grinned like the Cheshire Cat and did his best to fend off the cooing affections of a woman who could only be his mother as she attempted to wipe a non-existent smudge from his cheek with her saliva moistened thumb. I doubted the blush on Justin's cheeks had anything to do with the embarrassment his family may or may not have been causing him.

He couldn't take his big green eyes from Ian. And Ian returned the gesture.

As we watched, Ian's entire body seemed transformed.

His shoulders slumped forward, his chest lowered and he seemed to be caving in on himself. He actually appeared to shrink. His fingers twitched and moved on their own, as if he longed to reach forward and grab Justin right then and there but was doing all he could to control the impulse.

Justin's parents watched the conversation with guarded interest, trying to give their son the benefit of at least a small measure of privacy while intently listening to every word that came from Ian's trembling lips.

And then Justin...lit up like the Fourth of July.

As if someone had flipped a light switch inside him, his whole body straightened and his face seemed to glow. We were too far away to see, but I'd have been willing to wager that there were misty tears in the corners of his bright eyes.

Ian's body adjusted to match, lifting from his hunch like an inflating bouncy house until he once again towered and dominated.

Justin nodded with a wide toothy grin.

Justin's mother's mouth dropped open a bit.

And Ian's arms reached forward and crushed the smaller boy to his chest in a bear hug that lifted his feet from the ground and spun him around as if he weighed less than nothing.

Justin's ringing peals of laughter echoed across the lawn and reached Daniel and I.

"I guess he said yes," Daniel hazarded.

"You think?" I shot back with a gentle nudge to his ribs and a squeeze of his hand in mine.

As if watching Ian try to control his nervousness hadn't been funny enough, watching him very nearly skip back across the lawn towards us with an unassailable smile on his lips was something akin to seeing a cow climb a tree: it's just not something you ever think you would witness.

"Sorry he can't come," Daniel joked as Ian came to a bouncing halt before us.

I squeezed Daniel's hand and smiled up at our giant friend.