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#Post#: 30447--------------------------------------------------
All-American Boy Chapter Eleven
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 9:37 pm
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The weekend was good.
I slept in Saturday, ran my two kilometers, and got back in time
to help Linda with breakfast. I stretched more thoroughly than
usual, then headed up to the gym, taking my time to enjoy the
bike ride.
I got to the dojo early enough to do a fairly heavy warm up
before class started. Jake came in a few minutes after I
arrived and joined me. When we finished, we grabbed some water
and talked for a minute before Coach Hall called the class
together.
Coach started by running us through some basic drills for a
while, slowly getting more complex, which gave us all a chance
to warm up. After twenty minutes or so, he paired us up and had
us start practicing some different moves. I noticed he stood
pretty close to me for a bit, then he had me and Caleb - the guy
I was working with - help him watch and correct the other
people. I guess most of the people in our class were blue belts
or even still green belts. After a while, he had us pair up and
start doing some serious sparring.
I took a break after class. I was planning to stay for a while
and work the bags, especially if Coach Petersen was free. While
I was getting some water, Jake came back to me.
“I saw you at school the other day,” Jake commented.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“It was just in the hall, and you were going the other way.”
I already knew we didn’t have any classes together, but we also
had different lunch periods, and most of our classes were pretty
much on the far side of the campus from each other.
“Say, my mom is going to be late to pick me up. You wanna go
get a Jamba?”
I blinked.
“A what?”
He explained to me what Jamba Juice was, and I decided I could
use a break. To be honest, Jake was the only guy at the dojo
I’d really had a chance to talk to, and I probably would have
gone with him even if it hadn’t sounded so good.
The menu there sounded kind of crazy, but Jake recommended an
Electric Berry Lemonade, so I went with it and a light snack.
It was actually really good. They had outside tables there, so
we sat down where we could enjoy the weather, and he could watch
for his mom.
At first we talked about my move in general and what I thought
about Texas. Then we talked about my classes and some of the
teachers we both knew. I didn’t want to do all the talking, so
I asked him how he got into martial arts and how long he’d been
doing it.
“So,” he asked, as he was slurping the last of his drink, “you
made many friends yet?”
“No, not many. Been too busy, what with make up work and
everything. I’ve made a few though - mostly just this one group
of guys. Walker’s in my theater class, and Adam and I are in
history and conditioning together…”
I hadn’t noticed how he reacted when I said it, but I looked up
to see he was very still and a bit wide eyed.
“You okay?” I asked him.
“Adam Rowe?”
I nodded. “You know him?”
“Yeah, I used to hang out with him.. With that whole group I
guess.”
“Not any more?” I asked carefully, since I could tell he was a
bit uncomfortable.
He was quiet a long moment.
“Nah, I was never as much into role playing as they are, and I
have other stuff going on, and… I just don’t see them that
often anymore. I guess we’re still friends, just…”
He let it trail off, and I didn’t ask anything else. It sounded
kind of like there’d been a fight or someone’s feelings got
hurt, and I didn’t want to provoke anything.
We were both quiet for a couple of minutes while we finished our
drinks, and then he saw his mom pull up, so we tossed our trash
and went back to the gym.
I stayed at the gym about another hour, just working on the
bags. I was about ready to go, when Coach asked me if I could
help out with a class of younger kids who were all white belts.
I didn’t think I’d be any good at it, but it was actually pretty
easy and fun, and I ended up staying for that entire class,
before I headed home.
A hot shower when I got home, then a short nap, and I spent the
rest of the afternoon catching up on homework. It was a hateful
way to spend a nice afternoon, but by time for dinner, I had
almost all the make up work done, which felt really good.
Before my parents died, I’d only met Dillon and Linda twice.
Well, three times, but I was only three when we came to America
for their wedding, and I don’t remember anything about that trip
except my grandma taking me to the Fort Worth Zoo. Besides
that, we visited them and Grandma for Christmas the year they
found out Grandma had cancer, and they came to Norway for a
vacation visit when I was eleven. In other words, I knew who
they were, but I didn’t know them well.
Despite that, I have to admit they were doing really well for
me. Money wasn’t a problem because of insurance and stuff, I
had a trust fund set up that would see me through even if I had
to do something really expensive like go to college in the US.
No, I mean that they really did seem to be working to make me
feel like I was home. Of course, with all of us being really
busy and having different schedules, that wasn’t incredibly
easy.
They not only didn’t have a problem with me spending
Halloweekend with my new friends, they were glad, not only
because it freed them from guilt for going to their own
Halloween party, but simply because they were glad to learn I
was making friends. Of course, since we had separate plans for
the next weekend, they insisted that we spend the evening
together for a family movie night. I thought that was a great
idea, but I started to worry when they wanted to order pizza.
I knew we weren’t going to get the right cheese on an American
pizza, but I was willing to live with that, since they do use
mozzarella and I was okay with the cheddar Linda had talked me
into trying. However, Emil and I had loved Grandiosa’s Friday
Pizza, but Linda and Dee had never even heard of potato crisps
on pizza. Dillon and I were finally able to agree on hamburger
and pepperoni with peppers, jalapeños, and onions. Linda
threatened to make him sleep on the couch and ordered a cheese
pizza for herself.
I thought it was going to be hard to settle on a movie, but when
they learned I’d never seen the first two Wishmaster or
Dreamscape, they decided it was settled. I was willing to go
along.
I was excited when I woke up Sunday morning, but I made myself
wait. I did a full ten kilometer run. When I got back, Linda
was just waking, so I took a quick shower, then started
breakfast.
Once breakfast was over, I went back to my room, double checked
to be sure I looked okay, then turned on my laptop and connected
to Skype. Emil must have been sitting right next to his
computer awaiting me.
We talked. I lost track of time, but it was over an hour. I
can’t remember about what - everything, I guess: my new life,
school, was I making friends, what were they like, were any of
them cute, and then his turn, as he told me about our old
friends, all the gossip, the teachers, and how his parents were.
Eventually it died down to where we were both just sitting,
looking at each other. I couldn’t help but wonder if he felt as
lonely as I did. Finally, Hilde called him to kveldsmat -
supper, so he had to say goodbye . Hilde greeted me and called
Magnus to do the same, then they left us alone.
I’d run out of things to say, but saying goodbye was still
hard.
“I love you,” I told him. “I miss you.”
“I know,” he replied. “Me too.”
We were quiet another few minutes until Hilde called again.
“Love you, Sieger,” he said.
We each leaned forward to kiss the camera, then signed off.
#Post#: 30448--------------------------------------------------
All-American Boy Chapter Twelve
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 9:43 pm
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“Have you heard of Shivaree?”
Most of them shook their heads. Walker looked like he was
thinking.
“What’d they do?”
“A lot, but main one is probably Good Night Moon.”
“Oh,” Tanner said suddenly. “Wasn’t that at the end of Kill
Bill?”
“That’s the one.”
“Yeah, they’re great.”
I finished the last bite of my sandwich and put my fork down.
“So see, I like a lot of music. I just never got that much into
hip hop, and maybe the stuff I like isn’t brand new.”
“What’s some of the stuff you like that is newer?”
I shrugged.
“I dunno. The Killers? Panic! At the Disco? Foster the
People? Hot Celle Rae? Fun? Thirty Seconds to Mars? AJR?...”
“Oh,” Aiden interrupted. “You like alt rock. There’s really
not a good station for that around here. You need Sirius XM.”
“What about ALT103.7?”
Aiden gave John a VERY dirty look.
“There isn’t a GOOD station around here for alt rock,” he
repeated.
John wilted a bit.
“Oh,” I said, rushing to change the subject. “I guess I met
someone who knows you.”
“Who?” John asked, seeming glad for the subject change.
“Which one of us?” Walker added.
“All of you, I think. Jake Landon.”
The entire table went silent. After a second, I looked around
to see everyone was watching Adam, so I looked at him as well.
“Wh… where did you meet him?”
“We train at the same dojo. Is he the old friend you said did
MMA?”
Adam nodded.
“Yeah,” Walker said, drawing my attention to him, “Jake used to
play with us, but that’s been a while. What did he have to
say?”
“Not much really. We were just talking after our workout about
school and stuff, and he asked me if I’d made many friends here
yet. He said he’s not as much into role playing anymore, so he
doesn’t see you guys much anymore.”
At that, everyone seemed to turn back to their meals. Was it my
imagination that they seemed relieved? It seemed pretty
definite that there was more happening than they were saying,
but I guess it really wasn’t my business.
I decided to go for a coffee. Adam said he was still eating,
and Walker waited for him, but Devon and Aiden went with me.
When the bell rang for last period, Carrie called us to order
right away, which was a bit unusual for her.
“We have extra things to deal with today, so get to your spots
and settle down.”
As soon as she’d taken the roll, she went on.
“Sieger, everyone else should have heard this at least twice,
though some of them still haven’t done anything about it, but I
need you to pay extra attention, okay?”
I nodded my understanding.
“Great. As all of you should know, our fall play is Almost,
Maine. The play will be performed the Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday before Thanksgiving break starts, which gives us less
than four weeks to be ready. Anyone in this class is required
to work on the play as part of their grade. Of course, the cast
members are already covered, and we’ve already filled the major
jobs. What we need now are more stage hands and people to
prepare the props.
“If any of your parents are carpenters or just enjoy
woodworking, please ask if they can help us out. We have
several major props that still need to be built…”
“Carrie?”
She looked at me.
“Yes, Sieger?”
“I’ve had a woodworking class. I can’t do anything fancy, but I
can do good, basic work.”
“That’s wonderful. When I’m done here - Do you know Antonio?
Antonio is our technical director - Tony, wave please…”
A fellow at another table raised his hand and waved at me.
“You two get together when I’m through here, and see if you
think you can help us.”
“Now, we also have to be concerned with…”
After talking to Tony for a bit, I went back to my seat with
some notes.
“Well,” Walker asked, “do you think you’ll be able to help us?”
“Us?”
“I’m stage manager for this, so I’ll be coordinating with you.”
I nodded.
“It should be pretty simple. I need to look at the stage and at
what we have to work with.”
“Great,” he smiled, holding his hand out to me. “It’ll be a
pleasure to work with you.”
It’s a good thing I caught up on my homework. We weren’t going
to be starting work on the props until next week, but I had to
meet with Carrie, Tony, and Walker to confirm what I was
thinking of doing. Then Carrie and I had to go talk to Mr.
Heaton, who was in charge of the vocational classes, and find
out how much equipment and supplies he could help us with. He
was not only able to help us there, but he had some students who
needed extra credit or makeup work, so I ended up with some
helpers - most of whom were older than me and knew more about
woodwork. And then, Carrie actually told me what we had in our
budget, and to let her know if there was anything I thought we
should buy instead of build, or that we needed extra parts for.
The rest of the week was busy, but being busy working on props
and getting ready for Halloween was a lot better than being busy
with a lot of makeup homework. Not only that, but most of the
teachers seemed to realize not a lot of homework was going to
get done over the weekend, so I even had less of that.
Mostly I tried to get ahead on what remained of my make-up work,
so I wouldn’t have to worry about it while working on the
theater stuff, but I did make time to go shopping with Carrie
for some Halloween decorations for the house.
#Post#: 30449--------------------------------------------------
All-American Boy Chapter 13
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 9:47 pm
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Friday afternoon, the last bell had rung. I opened my locker,
thought about it two seconds, and stuck my entire backpack in
there. It’d been hard, but I’d finished my English homework in
homeroom, my bio and cal at lunch, and I could finish my history
Monday. For now, I had a full weekend to enjoy, and school work
was staying at school.
“You ready?”
I turned around to see Adam walking up to me.
“Definitely. You?”
He nodded and we headed off.
Since Adam had taken the bus into school, I walked my bike on
the way home, but it didn’t take us long to get there even so.
Since we were all meeting in town for the haunted house, it
didn’t make much sense for Adam to spend forty-five minutes
riding the bus home, which would have barely given him time to
grab a bite to eat before he had to head back out. Instead, I’d
just invited him to come home with me after school.
“Wow,” Adam said as we walked into my room.
My room was pretty nice, but not as nice as his. I turned
around, then realized it was the walls he was looking at.
He turned to look at me.
“You picked these out?”
“Sort of. Not really, I guess. I mean…”
I pointed at one wall, then waved to another.
“The Bowie posters are mine, and so are the Pink Floyd. The
Boulevard of Broken Dreams posters,” I said, pointing to where
the famous print that was placed in Phillies Dinner was
surrounded by prints of James Dean and Humphrey Bogart, “were my
Mom’s, and I wanted them up here. Those,” I said finally,
pointing to the two over my bed - one a picture of the Oslo
Harbour and the other just the Norwegian flag and a list of
facts with a few pictures, “I added when I moved here.”
“It looks really awesome,” he replied.
I think I blushed a bit, but I did agree with him.
“I’m going to change,” I said after a minute.
“Okay,” he replied, and headed over to look at my bookshelf.
I stripped down to my boxers. It was only twenty-two degrees
outside, and I hadn’t worked up a sweat on the way home, so I
just walked over to my dresser, pulled on a clean t-shirt, then
walked to the closet for a pair of jeans. Something caught my
attention, and I looked around, but the only thing moving was
Adam, and he was pulling a book from the case.
It was still more than an hour before we left, so I decided to
stay barefoot for a while. I zipped my jeans and turned around
to find Adam looking at me.
“Is this the kind of thing you really like to read?” he asked,
holding up one of Frank Miller’s Sin City graphic novels.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t see 100 Bullets here. You ever read Brian Azzarello?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
“You really should try it. I have it if you’d like to borrow it
sometime.”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
“Good. And maybe you’d let me borrow these Sleepers? I love
Brubaker, but I’ve never seen these.”
I nodded again. “I trust you. I do know where you live after
all.”
He laughed and put the two books aside, then we sat down to
decide what to have for supper.
“Say, you’re sixteen, aren’t you?”
I turned my head to look at Adam, who was lying next to me. We
were both lying sideways across my bed. Adam had never heard
Porcupine Tree, so we had been lying back, listening to In
Absentia.
“Yeah, why?”
“I was just wondering why you don’t drive.”
“You know I’ve only been here like three weeks, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, in Norway, you can’t drive until you’re eighteen.
Besides, there we have really great public transit, and I could
get everywhere I needed to go like that. I got a pass at the
start of the year, and all was good.”
“Huh. Are you going to get a driver’s license now?”
I thought about it a second.
“I dunno. I'm kind of hoping to go home for at least part of
the summer. To get a driver’s license, I have to take all those
classes, then do the practical, before I can take a test. I
guess I really just haven’t thought about it much yet.”
He was silent a moment.
“I’ve got my learner’s permit already, so I can get my license
on my birthday. I guess I could drive you around some, after I
get mine.”
I leaned up and smiled at him.
“You’re a real gentleman.”
Before he could answer, we were interrupted.
“You two thinking deep thoughts?”
“Hey, Dee. No, just listening to music.”
“Well, we need to leave in about ten minutes. You guys ready?”
“We will be,” Adam informed him.
I put on some shoes and pulled on my new Skeleton hoodie. Adam
put on some shoes and pulled on a University of Texas
sweatshirt, along with a black ball cap. Then he shoved a
couple of things, including the books he was borrowing into his
backpack. I made sure I had my wallet and house keys, and we
were ready to go.
Dillon dropped us off next to the parking lot, across from a big
sign advertising ‘Professor Phobia’s Spooktacular’. Adam looked
around for a moment, then nudged me and headed off, so I
followed him around the corner, to where I spotted Walker.
As we came closer, I saw that John and Tanner were already
there, along with some people I didn’t recognize… and someone I
did. Someone who, to my surprise, was kissing Walker.
“Dalton, hey!” I called out, but he ignored me.
As we came up to the group, Adam and I greeted everyone, then I
tapped Dalton on the arm. “Hey, man,” I said.
He turned around and gave me a confused look, then Walker
started giggling.
“Um, hey?” Dalton said, which confused me, since we sat at the
same table in biology and talked every day.
Before things could get any more confused, Walker held his hand
up between us.
“Babe, this is our new friend, Sieger, that we told you about.
Sieger, this is Landon,” he stressed the name. “I think his
twin brother, Dalton, is in your bio class.”
I may or may not have blushed a bit.
“Oh,” I said, showing off my quick wit.
“Don’t worry,” he replied, holding out his hand. “We’re both
used to it. I should have known.”
By the time Adam had introduced me to the other people I hadn’t
met, Dalton was coming up with a girl. I’m sure it was him this
time, since he actually greeted me by name.
Once everyone was there, we walked over, bought our tickets and
queued up. It was a pretty long line, but moving at a decent
clip, so it didn’t seem like it would take too long to get in.
At first, the people I’d not met before made a point of talking
to me, but then things devolved into several different
conversations. I responded if addressed, and spoke if I heard
something interesting, but mostly I just stood back and let the
conversations flow around me.
Apparently there were a couple of different groups here
together. Some of them were Walker’s role playing group. The
ones I didn’t know were those who had first lunch. The rest of
them were just random friends of his whom he’d invited to come
along, a couple of whom were in our Theater class.
I guess there were a lot of people from school there. I was
kind of surprised by the number of people who were queued up and
calling out greetings to me.
I was really just looking around when I heard someone mention
The Winter Soldier and Ed Brubaker, and I turned to find Walker
and Adam right behind me.
“Oh, good,” Adam said, “What was the name of those books you
loaned me: Sleepers?”
“Just Sleeper, I think,” I corrected.
We had some really good comic stores in Oslo, but they didn't
really specialize in American comics when there were so many
great Manga and European comics available. That means I’d
depended a lot more on shopping by author than category. Mamma
was happy to give me comics as presents, but she knew nothing
about them. Since our local comic shops didn’t know a ton about
them, I ended up having to do my own research, which means
reading everything from one author I liked was easier than
finding similar books from different authors.
“You know,” I finally said, as we’d discussed favorite authors
and favorite stories, “we should have a club at school for
comics fans, so we can do this kind of thing with people we
don’t know that well.”
I don’t know how to describe the look they gave each other, but
it was not happy.
Adam just sighed, and Walker looked at me, before saying, “We’d
love to. The problem is, that’s almost impossible.”
Landon came over, wrapped his hands around Walker’s waist, and
said, “What y’all talking about?”
“I was about to explain to Sieger how hard it is to start new
clubs at school.”
“Oh, Lord,” Landon said, rolling his eyes. “Bless their poor,
bigotted hearts. Seiger, the first thing you have to understand
is that a lot of people around here think it’s still 1956.”
I guess I looked confused, because Walker patted Landon’s hand
and said, “Let me tell it.”
“Sieger, I was in eighth grade when I came out. The first
person I actually told I was gay was my big brother, Chance -
he’s in college now, but you’ll get to meet him when he’s home
next month. Anyway, he was a junior in high school then. He
suggested I keep it to myself a couple of days while he thought
about it. Well, that weekend, he brought a friend home with
him. A guy I’d never met before, named Ben. Ben and Chance
knew each other, but they weren’t really close friends. The
thing is, Ben was gay and out.”
Walker paused and looked far away for a second, but then he
smiled at me.
“He was also gorgeous and so kind. I mean, he was a junior in
high school - tall and handsome - and I was just this scrawny
little pipsqueak. You might not believe it now, but back then,
I was barely taller than Tanner…”
“Hey!”
Walker smiled and shrugged.
“The point is, he was really kind to me, and he talked to me
about when he came out, how things had gone for him, and what I
could expect. He wasn’t trying to talk me into anything, but he
was making sure I knew what could happen.”
“I know this isn’t relevant, but I assume I’m the most
fascinating person you know, so I’ll just add that things really
did go great. I didn’t like make a public announcement at a
school assembly or anything, but my parents were cool with it,
and most of my friends were fine and supportive. Bullies gonna
bullshit, but they were pretty much the same ones who hassled me
anyway. The thing is, some people I’d never talked to before
started coming up to me. Some of them were on the rainbow
themselves, others knew people who were, but it was great, and
so many people were supportive. It didn’t make me feel better
about the friends who started being cold, or the bullying, but
it was good.
“A couple of weeks later, Ben stopped by to check on me. I told
him the part about people I’d never known coming up to me, and
he knew what I meant. He then told me -- and this is the
relevant part -- that they were working to get some kind of LGBT
student group going at the school - something where people could
go to ask for advice, something where people could support each
other, and somewhere people could reach out.
“I was really excited about it.
“The thing is, it never happened. The next year, when I started
high school, there was no such group. I finally talked to Ben.
Now, they couldn’t exactly just ban a gay student group. This
was during the Trump years, so it’s questionable as to whether
it was actually illegal for them to discriminate against us or
not, but they still didn’t want the hassle, and they sure didn’t
want the bad press. Instead, they just established new rules
for starting groups; rules that make it almost impossible to get
one going. Besides a long list of details you have to have
before you can even start an application, you have to put money
down - ‘usage fees’ and ‘security fees’ and I can’t think what
else. So, if you’re going to start a group, you pretty much
have to have a fundraiser, but you can only have a fundraiser if
you’re sponsored by a group. I believe the term is ‘catch-22’.”
That was enough to be depressing, but Walker didn’t let me dwell
on it. Instead, as we neared the front of the line, he turned
the conversation to what we planned on watching the next night.
The haunted house was great. I don’t know how they did it all,
but it must have taken a lot of work. The building that was
hosting it was pretty big, but they must have built a ton of
hallways inside. The halls were filled with colored lights, and
flashing lights, and black lights, and even a few places with no
lights. There were some with streamers hanging from the
ceiling, some with fog machines, some with fans blowing. All of
them had sound effects of some type.
The thing is, it was walk along, walk along, walk along, and
then - BAM! Something jumps out at you. Then walk along, walk
along, walk along, and you find a room. I can’t even remember
all the rooms. Some of them were just what you’d expect - a mad
scientist’s laboratory, a mummy’s tomb, a graveyard. Others
were pretty wild, like a nursery for baby vampires or a
schoolroom for young werewolves. Some weren’t even anything
particular. One was just a room decorated in black and white
checks. It just happened to have people hiding in it that were
dressed the same way the room was decorated, which gave a really
freaky effect when they moved.
The best thing about it was that they’d establish this pattern,
and get you used to either a room or someone jumping out at you,
and then they’d break the pattern. And you’d wait, and you’d
wait, and you’d know something was about to happen, but it
didn’t, then just as you started to relax, they’d get you, and
that made it even worse… Or maybe better, I guess.
None of it was really scary; not like when you’re home alone at
night and you start hearing sounds, but it was more than enough
to get the adrenaline flowing. I think all of us were laughing
as much as we were screaming, and it was a lot of fun. Seeing
someone else jump was as fun as jumping yourself.
At one point, Adam was just turning to look over his shoulder,
when this zombie jumped out at him. I think he went about five
feet straight up, and when he landed, it was with his arms
wrapped around me, hiding behind my back. He didn’t let go
until we got through the next room.
I paid him back a couple of rooms later when something moaned in
my ear. I’m pretty sure I left finger-shaped bruises around his
arm.
I have no idea how long we were in there, but it definitely
seemed worth the ticket cost. Getting out was almost as big a
relief as it was a disappointment, but we were all laughing. I
even asked if there was another one we could go to, but we would
have had to go out of town for another one, and not everyone had
enough time or money.
Instead, we packed into cars and drove over to Braum’s for food,
while we figured out how everyone was getting home.
#Post#: 30450--------------------------------------------------
All-American Boy Chapter Fourteen
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 9:57 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Coach Hall ran his class the same basic way he had before. We
started by stretching, then did some basic moves to warm up,
before he started drilling us on more advanced moves and some
combos. After fifteen or twenty minutes, he started drilling us
in new techniques. At least I assume they were new for most of
the students. I had already learned two of them, but that was
just the difference in schools, probably.
After about forty minutes, Coach had us pair up, and Jake and I
made a point of getting together. Then we spent about thirty
minutes practicing the new moves against our partners before he
told us to take a water break. When we came back, Coach told us
to get with someone we hadn’t sparred with recently, and do some
freestyle sparring. Probably a good idea. Jake was pretty
good, and he and I were fairly close in size, but you don’t want
to work out against the same person all the time. I paired up
with one of the other purple belts instead.
After we’d cooled down and Coach ended the class, I caught up
with Jake.
“Wanna go get a juice again?”
“No,” he said to me, toweling off his face. “Actually, Mom is
taking me to lunch in a few minutes. She said to ask if you
want to eat with us.”
“She did?”
I think he blushed a bit.
“Yeah, she asked who you were the other day, and she just wants
to see how the new kid’s getting along, I guess.”
It was my turn to blush a bit, but I ran my hands down my side.
“I’d love to, but I didn’t bring anything to clean up with or
any other clothes.”
“Neither did I. We’re just going for burgers,” he assured me.
We ended up eating at Whataburger. Linda and Dee had already
taken me there, so I knew it was good. The only thing that
confused me about it was everyone called it ‘Waterburger’. I
guess it must be a Texas thing. I hadn’t met one yet who
sounded like the cowboys in the movies, but some of them were
sure still hard to understand.
Jake’s Mom told me to order whatever I wanted, and even
chastised me a bit for ordering the junior burger. I assured
her that I wasn’t used to American portions, and that a small
would be more than enough for me. Of course, I did order it with
avacado, mushroom, and jalapeños, so it was small, but thick.
Then she insisted on paying for it. I started to argue, but
Jake shook his head, so I just thanked her.
Mrs. Landon was actually very polite and friendly. She asked a
lot of questions, but none of them were really intrusive. When
it came up that I knew Adam, she lamented that he and Jake
weren’t friends anymore. It seemed kind of obvious that Jake
was uncomfortable, but I don’t think his mom even noticed. I
believe the proper term would be ‘a formidable woman.’ Jake was
probably used to his mom taking things over, but he didn’t seem
one hundred percent comfortable with it, even so.
I ended up giving Jake most of my fries, and even so I had to
lean back and smile.
“What?” Jake asked.
“I ate too much. I don’t think I’m going to be in shape to do
anything when we get back to the dojo.”
“Oh, were you going to do something else today?” Mrs. Landon
inquired.
“He likes to work the bags for a while after practice,” Jake
explained. “He does kickboxing as well.”
Jake must have been starving, because he finished his food as
fast as I did mine. His mom was a bit slower, though, and he
and I ended up talking about movies while we waited for her to
finish. That ended up with us making tentative plans to see the
upcoming Marvel movie together.
When his mom finished, she headed to the ladies’ room. I waited
until she was gone and mentioned something I’d been thinking
about for a while.
“Oh, I mentioned you to Walker and Adam.”
Jake looked at me, then looked away.
“Oh?” he said, maybe a little too casually. “What did they have
to say?”
“Not much. About the same thing you did. That you didn’t do
role-playing so much anymore, and they just didn't see you
around a lot.”
He nodded, but seemed relieved.
There was definitely something there, but I had no clue what it
might be. Worse, I didn’t know if it mattered or was even any of
my business. I was curious, but they weren’t bad mouthing each
other, so, even though they were both my friends, I kind of had
to assume it just didn’t concern me or one of them would have
let me know.
I thought about heading home when Jake and his mom dropped me
off back at the dojo, but I decided to try a light workout.
When I got in, Coach Hall was with the beginners’ class, and he
asked me if I could help out with them again for a while. By
the time I was finished with that, I was feeling human again,
and decided I could do a moderate workout on the bags before
leaving. Coach Petersen even wandered over and commented on my
technique for a bit.
It was just after two o’clock when I got home. Linda and Dillon
didn’t have me doing a lot of chores around the house, and I’d
already done my laundry that morning, so I just took a hot
shower and laid down for a short nap. Jim and Adam were going
to pick me up about 6:45, but Walker had said it’d probably be
midnight before I got home, so I wanted to make sure I could
stay awake for the movies.
I checked my phone again. I still had plenty of time, but I
couldn’t decide what to wear. It was twenty outside, and the
overnight low was only supposed to be about thirteen. I didn’t
think we were going to be outside much, from what Walker had
said. I finally went with a pair of khakis, a light jacket, and
my ‘I’m Illuminati’ t-shirt. I hadn’t worn it since I’d moved
here, but I wanted to see if anyone got the joke.
I still had plenty of time, so I sat down to read for a bit.
Like Adam had warned me might happen, they showed up early to
pick me up. Jim was okay with it, but his mom, Debbie, insisted
that they should meet my guardians, since we were spending so
much time together.
Ugh.
If there was one good thing about living with relatives who’d
really only known me a few weeks, it was that they didn’t know
any embarrassing childhood stories to trot out for a laugh. I
did feel sorry for Adam, since he was obviously nervous about
something the entire time the four of them talked. It didn't
help that his parents were wearing what I think were disco
costumes, and Linda and Dillon were about two-thirds done
putting on vampire outfits. Finally, I cheated and reminded
Linda that she had to finish getting ready, and they let us
leave.
I knew Walker had two brothers and a sister, so I shouldn’t have
been surprised that his family had a big house. I was surprised
at how many Halloween decorations they were able to fit around
it. I think his house looked more like a Halloween attraction
than the one we’d been at last night.
Walker waved us in, and I could tell there was music playing
even before we entered - something I didn’t recognize. Walker
took our jackets and hung them up, and we stepped into a… not a
living room. I think it’s called a great room? It was a nice
room, and big, but the main thing that caught my attention was
Devon and Aiden dancing. No girls, but it looks like they’d
practiced a lot. They were actually doing a great job, when the
music stopped. Then everyone clapped, and the two of them
started laughing. Devon plopped down on the couch, and Aiden
collapsed over the arm, hanging his feet over the side, and
resting his head against Devon’s chest and shoulders.
I guess I looked a bit surprised, because Adam said, “They’re
straight, they’re just homiesexual.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, they got girlfriends, they’ve just been friends like
forever, and they’re not embarrassed to show they love each
other. They don’t even have to call out ‘no homo’ or nuthin.”
I nodded. Certainly no skin off my nose, though it was a bit
surprising that people acted like that, considering all the
stories you hear about homophobia and hate crimes in the U.S.
“Hey, guys, put the drinks over here, please.”
I looked over to see Dalton…. Or possibly Logan, waving at us
from the kitchen. We carried the drinks we’d brought over to
where he’d indicated. Considering he was wearing a lacy apron,
I would have guessed it was Logan a few minutes ago, but now I
was thinking I might have to re-evaluate my beliefs about
Texans. Then Walker came over and kissed him, which pretty much
identified him.
“I think you know everyone here so far, don’t you, Sieger?”
Walker asked.
I looked around to be sure, then nodded. Now that the dance
routine was over, people started saying hello.
“When’s the movie start, Walker?” Adam asked. “My parents
wouldn’t quit talking to his aunt and uncle, and I was afraid we
were going to be late.”
“We wouldn’t have started without y’all,” Rebecca called.
“Besides,” Aiden added, “Emma and Maddy are running a little
late. Maddy’s brother apparently raided the snacks, so they’re
having to stop to get more.”
As if the comment had summoned them, the doorbell rang. As
Walker headed that way, he called back over his shoulder,
“Thirteen Ghosts and an old one called The Legend of Hell
House.”
While Walker answered the door, I looked around. The first
thing I noticed was a huge TV on one side. I’m not sure how big
it was, but I’m pretty sure it was wider than I am tall. Across
from that was where most people were, in a big sitting group
that had what I think is called a sectional sofa, plus a love
seat and several big chairs - most of them arranged around a
huge coffee table.
I saw one big, deep armchair that faced the tv, was close to the
sofa, but no one was there yet, so I headed that way when Walker
came around the corner with two nice looking girls - Latinas, I
think, though their skin was lighter than John’s.
“C’mere, Sieger,” Walker waved at me, “I know you haven’t met
Emma or Madison yet. Emma, Maddy, this is…”
“Isak!” one girl - Maddy, I think - shrieked and jumped at me,
wrapping her arms around me.
“Whoa there, Sieg,” I heard Devon’s deep voice call out. “You
puttin’ the moves on my lady that fast?”
“Me?” I squeeked.
I wasn’t putting anything on her. I was busy trying to breathe
, when I realized what she’d called me.
“You recognize the shirt, huh?”
“Oh yes. Great Halloween costume. Where’d you get it?”
“Ummm.. I’m not sure. Helly Hansen’s, I think.”
“I don’t know that one. Is it a new store?”
I smiled.
“It’s back home.”
“Maddy, honey - he’s the new kid. The one from Norway.”
“Oh,” she said, finally unwrapping her arms from me, and
obviously disappointed. “I guess that’s too far to go
shopping.”
“Who’s Isaac anyway?” Adam asked, walking up beside us.
“Isak,” I said, correcting his pronunciation without thinking
about it. “Character from Skam. This was one of the more
distinct shirts he wore. I guess she’s a fan.”
“He’s dreamy,” Maddy agreed, heading towards the couch, where
Devon and Aiden were. “Not that you aren’t cute, Sieger,” she
assured me over her shoulder.
“Hey,” Aiden protested.
“Not as cute as you are, Mr. Insecure.”
Aiden and Devon had sat up, but not separated, and the two girls
sat down on either side of them, so the four of them were almost
cuddling together. I headed back to the chair I’d had an eye
on.
I guess Adam had noticed me watching them, because, when I sat
down, he was right there. He leaned down next to me, but was
looking at the four of them, when he asked, “Does that bother
you?”
He was quiet, so I was equally quiet.
“No, why should it? Looks comfortable.”
“Good,” he said, then dropped over the arm of my chair, landing
in my lap.
I was shocked, and maybe blushing a bit, but I also suddenly
realized that, except for the dojo, it had been about a month
since I’d really touched anyone, and I couldn’t believe how good
he felt. Without thinking about it, my right hand stole over
and brushed some hair away from his face where it was curling
over his ear.
“You need a haircut,” I said.
Adam was watching Walker mess with the television, but now he
looked at me, and I could tell he had been tense by the way he
suddenly relaxed. He smiled at me.
“You sound like my mom.”
I shrugged.
“When she’s right, she’s right.”
“I’ve got a problem, though,” he admitted.
I did as well, and I hoped my problem wasn’t causing his problem
by poking him in the hip.
“What’s that?” I asked, and I think I managed to sound
reasonably normal.
“Two really - I can’t see the tv well from here, and I don’t
think I can get up by myself. Help?”
I managed to get both hands under him and boost him enough he
could stand. He looked around for a second, then he walked in
front of me and sat on the floor, resting his shoulder against
my leg. He was stiff for just a second, maybe waiting for me to
say something. When I didn’t, he relaxed again.
Before the movie started, everyone got drinks and snacks. Logan
dimmed the lights, Walker started the movie, and the two of them
settled on a loveseat.
Thirteen Ghosts started really good, slowed down a bit, then
took off like a rocket. Walker’s family had a fantastic sound
system to go with the huge TV, and it made the movie really
immersive. The movie never really got scary, though there were
plenty of jump scares - enough that Adam was hugging my leg at
one point - more than one, actually.
After the first couple of scares, Adam got up and went to get
both of us a refill. Once the movie started moving though, it
really did keep moving, and if it wasn’t scary, it was certainly
exciting enough to have me pretty literally on the edge of my
seat by the climax.
The lights came up when the movie ended, and everyone got up to
stretch. Several of the guys were wrestling around. As an
only child, it seemed pretty rowdy to me, but I looked around
and realized that, while the furniture was nice, none of it was
particularly breakable. I guess the Wright parents knew how to
buy when they were raising three boys.
I was keeping half an eye on Adam, not sure if he’d consider a
sneak attack as an acceptable friendship movie, when suddenly I
was attacked from behind anyway. Austin and Tanner swarmed over
me, pulling me back into the armchair, and trying to discover
any spot where I happened to be ticklish. Much to their
chagrin, it turns out that they’re much more ticklish than I am.
Even though both of them were ticklish and much lighter than me,
there were two of them. Every time I started to get one pinned
down, the other one would climb on my back or something. I was
beginning to think they’d end up winning when there was a sudden
‘Pop!’ and Tanner reared up with an offended look on his face.
Then I noticed he was holding his rear and realized what the pop
must have been. As if to confirm it, Adam gave his hand a shake
like it was sore, before he started running fingers up and down
Tanner’s ribs, drawing a shriek.
“No fair!”
“And two against one is?”
“Y’all are bigger!”
“Everyone’s bigger than you, squirt,” Devon commented.
Tanner managed to escape from Adam and stuck his tongue out at
the tallest person there.
I glanced down at Austin, who was still bright red and panting
from the tickling he’d received, but he’d quit struggling as I
held him down.
“Peace?” he suggested.
I nodded.
“Okay with me.”
I stood up and gave him my hand. After a second, he took it and
let me pull him to his feet.
“I’m glad you quit when you did. I thought I was going to pee
my pants. I really gotta go.”
‘Me too, actually,” I replied. “Where’s the bathroom?”
I followed him down a hall and stood by the door so he could go
first. A few minutes later, I returned to the great room to
find that Adam had taken the chair. He just smiled at me.
“Get your refills and stuff, we’re ready to start the next
movie.”
They’d had a ton of snacks out when I first arrived, and I’d
practically made a meal out of hot, finger foods like cheese
sticks, egg rolls, and pizza bites. I wasn’t really hungry, but
after a bit of thought, I got some popcorn and a couple of
sweets. After all, if you can’t splurge on Halloween…
Thirteen Ghosts was fun and exciting, but once it got going,
Legend of Hell House was Jævlig creepy. It wasn’t too bad at
first - a little slow even, and I realized that, with him
sitting in that chair, Adam’s leg was the perfect height to rest
my head. But then, when it got going, it kept building and
building, and pretty soon, Adam ended up sitting on the floor
next to me. We weren’t quite holding hands, but if it had been
Emil, we would have been… and not just for fun.
When the movie finally ended, and the lights came up, everyone
was pretty worn out. Some of them found room for a few more
snacks. A lot of us discussed the movie. Mostly we helped
Walker clean up. It was after 11 p.m., and no one was ready to
call it a night, but no one wanted to watch another movie
either. Emma and Maddy decided they wanted to go get ice cream.
I wasn’t hungry, but I decided to go along. They had a bunch
of stuff from which to choose, but I ended up just having a
cherry limeade.
As it got close to midnight, I called Dillon and Adam called
Jim, but no one was answering. I was going to call an Uber, but
Walker had to get Tanner and Austin home, so he drove us as
well.
#Post#: 30451--------------------------------------------------
All-American Boy Chapter Fifteen
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 10:10 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
It was after 8 a.m. by the time I woke. The house was silent.
Linda and Dee hadn’t arrived home by the time I fell asleep.
After just a bit of thought, I decided a cheat day was in order
and crawled back into bed.
I woke again about an hour later. The house was still quiet, so
I scrolled through my social media and tried to catch up with
things. I think the worst thing about not having a good bus
system was never having a few minutes to just sit and mess
around.
After turning on the shower, I looked carefully in the mirror
and decided it was time for a shave. I hadn’t shaved since I’d
started school a couple of weeks ago, and I was really
disappointed that all I had was a bit of fuzz. Dad had grown a
good beard. Maybe I should ask Dillon if Mom’s side of the
family was face-bald or something.
In the kitchen, I found a note from Linda explaining they’d not
arrived home until after 2 a.m., and they were going to sleep
in, so I should just make breakfast for myself.
I was hungry but, after over-indulging last night, I didn’t want
anything fancy. I’d found that ‘steel-cut oats’ were very much
like the havregrøt Mamma would prepare at home on cold mornings.
One thing I’d discovered in America that I loved were English
muffins. Once toasted, they were perfect for preserves, and
they were different enough from bagels to make a nice change.
After lingering over a third cup of coffee and a few fresh
strawberries, I was getting antsy and starting to regret
skipping my run. I cleaned the kitchen, then my bathroom, and
finally gave up. I’d just do two kilometers again today,
instead of my regular Sunday ten.
After running my two kilometer route, I was still feeling
energetic, so I just ran in another direction, without bothering
with time or distance. I think I was just looking to see if
anyone was about, but I guess everyone was either in Church or
in bed.
That thought slowed me down. I’d never considered myself
religious, but I found I missed services. I know most people I
went to school with back home weren’t really religious, and I
had been a bit different, even though I didn’t go often. I
think Melissa - my mother - had transferred some of her American
religious fanaticism to me or something. Still, religious or
not, I have to admit that I did find the services and mass to be
koselig. There was just something relaxing and comforting about
them to me, even though I wasn’t a big believer.
I remembered my first Sunday in town. I’d attended Liturgy at
the only Lutheran Church in town, and I’d been shocked. I guess
I had known, intellectually, that there were different Synods
with different beliefs, but I couldn’t believe how different.
Emil and I had been in love, but we’d both known we were young
with a long way to go before we’d be ready to even think about
marriage. Still, we’d known it was there. Here, the local
church not only denied my right to wed, they condemned me for
who and how I loved - for being how God made me. I’d left, the
taste of the sacrament ashes on my tongue, knowing I’d never go
back to that church.
The sudden feeling of homesickness staggered me. I stopped
until I could get myself under control, then I looked around. I
was near a corner, and there were some businesses there, none of
which looked open. The homesickness hit me so suddenly, I felt
like I’d been gutpunched, like I could barely walk. Still, I
forced myself over to the sidewalk, then sat on the curb to call
Emil. It was a bit early, but he answered quickly.
“I was thinking about you,” was the first thing out of his
mouth.
“And I of you,” I told him. “Always.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I knew I couldn’t lie to him, so I assured him I was just
feeling lonely.
Emil knew me, and knew my moods, and how to deal with them. He
let me whine a bit and commiserated with me, but then he asked
me ‘is there nothing good there?’
I had to admit there were, so I told him about my new friends,
and our last two nights, and about Ms. Snow’s fascinating
history class, and about English muffins.
He laughed.
“I should have known your stomach would be included on the
list.”
After he’d calmed me, we just talked. He caught me up on our
friends and on school. I told him about the play and my other
classes. At times, we just sat and were quiet together. I
think I could have stayed there forever, but, after about thirty
minutes, I got a text from Linda asking if I’d be home for
lunch. I apologized, but I think he needed to go as well.
Talking to him was bliss, but also a bit painful, and I wondered
if it was the same for him.
Lunch was a traditional American brunch. I wasn’t too hungry,
but Linda made these wonderful, crisp, shredded potatoes she
called hash browns, and I had some of those, along with bacon,
while passing on any eggs. While she was cooking that, Dillon
prepared a bananas Foster sauce to top Belgian-style waffles.
Not what we ate at home, but so delicious. I chased it down
with a couple more cups of coffee, and wondered if I needed to
start tracking my calories before it was too late.
As we cleaned the dishes, Linda informed me that she and Dillon
would like to talk to me a bit, if I had time.
‘If I had time’ sounded good, since it suggested I wasn’t in
trouble. I was pretty sure I hadn’t done anything to be in
trouble for, but one can never be quite sure with adults. All
adults were strange, and these were American adults, so probably
very strange indeed.
Dee started by asking me about the night before. After I’d told
him what we’d done, Linda spoke up.
“I know our schedules don't mesh, and we don’t get to talk too
often, but you’ve talked quite a bit about your new friends -
especially Walker and Adam and those kids, but also some other
ones you’ve met at the dojo and school. Dillon and I were
thinking you should have a Christmas party, kind of as a way to
celebrate making all these new friends.”
I don’t know why, but I really didn’t want to. I was trying to
think of a good reason, but it must have been obvious, because
Dillon spoke up before I could think of anything.
“Let me say two things here, Buddy. First of all, your aunt
loves doing these kinds of things. She and I had one last year,
and agreed we weren’t going to do one this year, so you’ll be
doing her a huge favor if you let her do one for you. If you
don’t want to let her, she’ll probably harass you from now until
Christmas… Hey!” Dillon complained, as his wife nudged him in
the ribs.
“The second thing is, I promise we won’t embarrass you. We’ll
help get everything ready, then we can just go in the bedroom,
Netflix and chill.”
“Oh, gross!” I complained. “Don’t tell me that!”
Dillon looked confused, then looked at Linda for clarification.
She leaned over and whispered something to him. I guess Dillon
hadn’t known the true meaning of that phrase, since he suddenly
turned bright red.
I guess I’m not the only one in our family who regrets our fair
skin.
“Sorry,” Dee managed to choke out, while making sure not to look
at me. “I mean, we’ll just lock ourselves in the bedroom and
watch tv.”
“Excuse him,” Linda managed, obviously trying not to laugh. “He
does have a point, though. Why don’t you at least listen to my
ideas before you decide you’re against it?”
I don’t know why I was against the idea. Emil’s family had
already had plans for the holidays, and we’d decided me staying
here for my first Christmas with Dee and Linda was the best
idea. Maybe planning a Christmas party just made that seem too
real? I really didn’t have a good reason, so I agreed to
listen.
I have to admit, Linda was good at it. If she’d started with
her big idea first, I don’t think I would have ever resisted.
As it was, we ended up with our laptops both on the kitchen
table, Googling information and tossing ideas back and forth.
Once we had something hammered out that made us both happy, I
called Walker, thinking he’d have the best idea of what day
would work for the most people. I bounced the idea off him, and
he was enthusiastic. He gave me some e-mails, phone numbers,
and a couple of addresses, so we could get invitations going, to
make sure people would save the date. Linda even insisted on
doing the invitations right then. I made the guest list, while
she laid out the invitation, then we printed up one for
everyone, e-mailed a copy, and I worked the phone to get
addresses of both types. Before I knew it, I was committed to
host ‘Krampus’ Horror, Pajama and Pancake Christmas Party.’ I’m
pretty sure she did it that way on purpose, so I couldn’t back
out later.
The worst thing about it was, about ten minutes after we
finished, I suddenly realized that it was less than two months
until Christmas, and I didn’t even know who I was going to buy
gifts for this year.
By Monday afternoon, I was beginning to realize that life in
America was just going to be busier than I was used to. At
lunch, I actually told the guys I was growing accustomed to it.
After all, I’d moved in right as the Holiday season was
starting, even though I wasn’t used to a holiday between
Halloween and Christmas, which put a bit more of a crimp on
things, what with missing a week of school right before finals.
And the long days at school kind of explained why Americans ate
on a schedule that had seemed weird to me (and also kind of
explained why they ate big meals). But yeah, I was getting used
to it.
No one laughed at me, but I guess they should have.
I believe the American term is ‘jinx.’
After making that announcement in sixth period lunch, in seventh
period history, Ms. Snow was handing out novellas which detailed
the expectations for our major history project, which would be
one-sixth of our semester grade. That included a ten minute
summary which had to be presented in front of the class, so we
had to have everything ready to turn in by the start of class on
10 December.
I believe the American term is FML.
It really wasn’t that bad in some ways. We were working with
partners, and Adam and I were able to team up. Ms. Snow also
had a fairly broad but limited area of assignment, which made it
a lot easier to decide on a topic. We were supposed to document
a group of immigrants and how they affected America. We then
had to do some research and narrow it down to something more
specific. The example she gave was starting with Syrian
immigrants, then narrowing that down to how the recent changes
in political leadership had affected their immigration. She
used that as an example because she wasn’t allowing topics with
that much explosive potential as topics. It didn’t matter much
anyway, since the topic Adam and I chose was pretty obvious.
The class moved to the library. Once there, Adam and I went to
Ms. Snow to register as partners and claim our topic. Ms. Snow
laughed when we were waiting as soon as she sat down, and showed
us where Norway was already written down in her book with us as
partners.
Adam wasn’t able to take Theater this year, because of his
schedule. He was planning to take it next year, and had still
volunteered to work with the crew in getting things set up. He
was kind of floating, but he ended up working with me a lot,
which was nice.
What I needed to do really wasn’t hard. I’d spent some of
yesterday afternoon online, looking at videos from other
productions of Almost, Maine. Carrie and I sat down in class
and went over my notes, then we went to the property room to
double check on things she thought we already had. I didn’t get
to leave until after 6 p.m., but by the time I did, we had a
complete list of what we were going to do, and a lumber list to
give to Mr. Heaton.
The next two weeks flew by. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I
stayed until about 6 p.m. working on the sets, and helping with
the props. On Tuesday and Thursday, I got the projects started,
then left for the dojo. On Saturday, I went to the dojo in the
morning, then went back to school to work on things. In my
copious spare time, I did homework. The only good thing was,
with ten years of Norwegian history under my belt, I was able to
narrow our search down, and we were quickly able to turn in a
specific project that Ms. Snow was happy to approve. The second
week was even more fun than the first, since America finally
caught up to the rest of the world in time changes, and it was
getting dark before I left school each day. It almost seemed
like home.
Of course, they were doing rehearsals the entire time we were
working on sets and everything, but on Friday of the second
week, we were actually ready for a technical rehearsal. It
didn’t go great, but that’s actually good - catch your problems
when there’s not an audience to see them. After that
rehearsal, Walker, Carrie, and I had a meeting, then I got with
the stage hands, and we rearranged things a bit. By the time we
finished, it was nearly 7 p.m., and I was starving and beat, and
very glad I didn’t have any homework.
“All right,” Carrie announced, “We’re going to do one more
technical tomorrow, to make sure we fixed all the problems.
Monday and Tuesday are full dress rehearsals. We will take off
Wednesday if everything goes well, which will bring us to
opening night. Any questions?”
There were none, and Walker not only insisted on driving me
home, but on picking me up at the dojo tomorrow. For once, I
didn’t resist or complain.
Jake was disappointed the next day. He and Coach Hall were both
a little surprised that I was leaving right after class ended,
but Coach Hall understood school came first. Jake and I were
standing on the front sidewalk, and I assured him it was almost
definitely only this one week, before I’d be back on my normal
schedule.
“All right,” he said. “I guess if Coach isn’t going to make a
big deal about it, I can’t either. What about next week?”
“Play’s in the evening, so I should be free in the afternoon.
Don’t know that I’ll feel up to a lot right then.”
“Yeah, but school will be out then. Do you have any plans over
Thanksgiving?”
“Everyone keeps asking me that, but no, Thanksgiving isn’t real
big in Norway. Jan and Melissa - foreldre min… I mean, my
parents - had to do things at the embassy, but I still had
school, so we hardly ever did anything more than a family
dinner.”
Jake shrugged and nodded.
“Well, my mom and dad are both from around here. We’ll go to my
Grandma and Grandad’s - that’s my Mom’s parents - for the big
meal, then we’ll go see Granny and Pop - my dad’s parents - on
the way home. Besides that, I don’t have anything going on the
rest of the week. You wanna do something?”
Before I could ask what he had in mind, a car pulled up in front
of us.
“Hey, Sieger,” Walker called, leaning out of his car. “Jake?
Hey.”
Jake looked a bit startled as he answered, “Hey, Walker. Umm..
how’s it going?”
“Good. You?”
Jake nodded.
The two of them stood there quietly for what seemed like several
long seconds, before Walker looked back at me.
“You ready to go?”
I nodded.
“Nice seeing you, Jake,” he said.
“You too,” Jake replied.
Walker sat back in the car. I turned back to Jake.
“I’ll call you later. Maybe we can go to the mall and see a
movie or something. I need to do some Christmas shopping
anyway.”
“Great idea. I should start doing some myself. Talk to you
later.”
“Later,” I replied, bumping fists with him, as I picked up my
bag and walked to the car.
The rehearsal went really well this time. Most of the other
students were gone. Adam and I were backstage, fixing a wheel
that didn’t want to lock. Matthew and Ethan - the guys who
played Randy and Chad in the play - were out on the stage with
Carrie, Walker, and Tony, discussing how broadly they should
play the slapstick when they ‘fell’ in love with each other.
“I think that’s got it,” I said, as I leaned back.. “Give it a
try.”
Adam clicked the lock with his foot, and I heard it click this
time. He gave it a pull, then a shove. It actually stayed
still.
“Job done,” he agreed, then reached down to help me up.
I looked out on stage where the guys were confessing their love
for each other while flopping around on the floor.
Adam sighed.
“It must be nice.”
“What?” I asked.
“To have someone fall in love with you like that.”
“I guess.”
“You don’t think it would be great to have someone realize they
loved you like that?”
I shrugged.
“Yeah, but it makes me wonder about their relationship.”
“How so?”
“Well, the two of them started off dating women, so have they
been hiding all this time, or denying it even to themselves, or
are they really just heteroflexible for each other?”
Adam stared at me for a moment.
“Leave it to you to overcomplicate something.”
“Yes,” I said, not wanting to bring him down, “it would be nice.
“You’ve never had someone fall for you, Adam?”
“I thought so, once, but I guess not.”
I did not want Adam to get down over this, so I said the first
thing that came to my mind.
“It could be worse. At least no one is trying to get you to
kiss a dog.”
He turned to me, one eyebrow raised, and obviously confused.
“Is that another one of those Norway things I don’t get?”
“No, sorry. It’s this movie I saw two or three years ago, about
this blind kid at a party…”
“Oh, The Way He Looks?”
“Yes,” I agreed.
“I love that movie. I’ve never met anyone else who’s seen it.
It was so great the way they started as friends, and realized
they were in love.”
I nodded, but I also looked at him. After a second, I took his
arms in my hands and lightly pushed him so he backed up against
the wall. Then I stepped forward so our chests were nearly
touching.
Adam’s eyes were wide, but my hands were only lightly resting on
his upper arms, and he wasn’t moving at all. I learned forward
so our noses were almost touching, but he remained still. I
think his eyes got wider as I tilted my head to the right, but
that was the only way he reacted, so I leaned in, lightly
touching my lips against the corner of his mouth, so I was
gently kissing half lips and half cheek.
I pulled back and watched him open his eyes. Then his tongue
flicked out across his lips.
I stood still as his lips parted, and he began to lean towards
me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“That was… amazingly hot, you two,” Walker said, while clapping.
“But I thought the action was supposed to be on the stage.”
My heart was fluttering like a hummingbird, and I had to close
my eyes and take a few deep breaths to get myself under control.
“Thanks, Walker,” Adam finally managed to respond.
“Well, I hate to kill the moment, but Carrie’s waiting to lock
up, so if you two don’t want to walk home in the rain, we need
to go.”
I have no idea what I’d been thinking about, and I was already
feeling a little guilty. I put the tools away while Walker got
the lights, and we headed home.
#Post#: 30452--------------------------------------------------
All-American Boy Chapter Sixteen
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 10:23 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I let Adam go to voice mail a couple of times Saturday night
and Sunday. It was hard enough talking to Emil. I had no idea
what to say to Adam. Finally, Sunday afternoon, after a long
talk with Emil and not being able to concentrate on anything
else, I texted Adam to apologize for ghosting his calls. After
long enough to make me nervous that I’d screwed up, he texted
back asking if he could call.
“Hey.”
“Hei,” I replied.
I wasn’t sure what to say, so I wanted to let him guide the
conversation, but I didn’t want to leave dead air either. I was
just about to risk saying something when he finally spoke again.
“We need to get some work done on the project.”
Takk Gud.
“We need to have it finished by the 8th, so we can get
everything printed, right?” I asked aloud.
“Sounds good,” he replied.
“So… a little over three weeks? Melissa always told me the
first thing was to break a major project into small parts and
set a schedule.”
“I really prefer to wait until the night before it’s due , then
stay up all night in a state of panic, but I guess we can try it
your way.”
I was quiet a moment before he started laughing, and I realized
he was joking. I laughed as well, partly just from relief that
he was laughing.
Once we’d both settled down, I suggested, “I really wish you
could take coffee into the library, but I guess we can work on
it during lunch tomorrow?”
“You and your coffee. Do you have to be at play rehearsal
tomorrow?”
“I… don’t think so. Everything is finished building, so I
should be free.”
“How about we go to your house after school then?”
I was not sure the two of us being alone was a good idea, but I
knew I didn’t want to fu‍ck up our friendship, so I
agreed.
It actually went better than I expected.
Before we did anything else, we went straight to the kitchen. I
missed my traditional, afternoon snack, and I wasn't going to
pass up the opportunity to share it with one of my new friends.
I sat Adam at the table and told him to start getting the
supplies out. In the meantime, I put water on to boil, started
heating the waffle iron, then mixed some batter. I looked up to
see Adam watching intently as I started the waffles, then ground
the beans.
“Seriously?”
“What?” I asked.
“Your aunt and uncle have a coffee bean grinder?”
“Oh, no. They just had the Keurig machine. I had to buy the
bean grinder and the French press myself.”
“What is a French press?”
“Watch and learn.”
“You are such a coffee snob.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Yes, I am.”
I put sour cream and butter on the table, then broke into my
Bonne Maman jams and preserves. Some honey, and we were ready
to eat.
Adam was… a little hesitant, to be polite, but he tried it.
“Oh my God,” he said a moment later. “This is delicious!”
I made Adam try the coffee black, and he admitted it was better
than he expected, but he still insisted on ruining it with cream
and sugar. I forgave him though, since he at least appreciated
Norwegian waffles the right way, with sour cream and fruit
preserves. The blackberry is my favorite, but he fell in love
with the apricot.
Once we were finished eating, Adam helped me clean up, and we
actually got down to work. It really wasn’t too bad. There
were six parts to the project, and only one part was due before
the tenth. Besides handing in a copy of the rough draft, we had
the actual report, the ten minute summary to present in class,
the bibliography, and the visual aid to the presentation had to
be turned in on the tenth. The sixth part, of course, was the
actual research and being sure we had enough sources.
We decided we could do the school and public libraries together,
then do some online research by ourselves. If we could track
down enough sources that way, we decided to get together at his
house next Monday, after vacation started, to start putting the
actual report together. If not, we’d have to see about talking
Jim into taking us into one of the big libraries in town.
Still, after sacrificing most of three lunch periods in the
library, we had a solid outline and more than the required
number of sources. That means I was able to spend several hours
Saturday afternoon just reading for pleasure, before heading out
for the wrap party. Of course, we paid for the wrap party on
Sunday afternoon, when we all spent several hours breaking down
the sets, cleaning the stage, and getting everything in storage,
but it wasn’t horrible, and I still had several hours to enjoy
myself that evening.
Dillon dropped me off at Adam’s house Monday morning. Adam was
in their driveway, shooting baskets, when we pulled up. We
decided we had plenty of time, so I tried shooting a few, which
was something I hadn’t done much of before. Adam was bundled up
like it was cold out, and he was shocked that I was just wearing
shorts and a tee, but after being sure I wasn’t freezing, we
ended up staying out there for more than an hour, as he taught
me some of the basics. I might not know a lot about
basketball,but I am in decent shape and coordinated, so I like
to think I was giving him a decent game by the time we headed
inside.
“I don’t know how you do it,” Adam said.
“For one thing,” I replied, “I don’t treat fifteen degrees like
it’s cold.”
He smiled at me.
“I hate when you do that. Fifteen is like… sixty? That’s
cold.”
I smiled back.
“At home, it’s probably zero right now. That’s thirty-two for
you backwards Americans.”
He threw the sweatshirt he’d just pulled off at me. I caught it
out of the air.
“And childish, too,” I added.
“Anyway, I’m sweaty, and I really need a shower. Do you mind
getting the stuff for the report spread out?”
“No problem,” I told him, sitting at his desk chair and putting
my backpack next to me.
Adam started undressing, and I turned away from him to dig out
the books we needed.
A moment later, he called to me. “Sieger?”
I turned to find him standing there, completely naked.
“Do you want to join me?”
The front of my pants were suddenly way too tight. I’d seen
Adam in his boxers before, so I should have known what to
expect. I guess I actually did, but he was still beautiful.
Plus, it was the first time I’d seen a circumcised guy in real
life. It shouldn’t be possible for your mouth to be dry as
cotton while you’re nearly drooling, but I was both. Still,
while I couldn’t talk, I at least managed to force my head to
give a spastic shake back and forth.
Adam suddenly looked sad and scared. He grabbed a t-shirt and
held it in front of him.
“I’m… I”m sorry. I thought…”
I don’t know what he thought, because he ran to the bathroom,
not quite slamming the door behind him.
Faen i helvete, I could have handled that better. This had been
exactly what I’d been afraid of, but I thought we’d made it past
this when nothing happened last week.
I could hear the shower running, and I was willing to bet the
last thing Adam would really want when he finished was to come
out to see me. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t want that any more
than I wanted it to happen.
We didn’t actually have to start the project today anyway.
I packed everything back into my bag, leaving him the stuff I
didn’t need, and headed for the door. I wondered if I could get
Jim to drive me home without having to explain too much, or if I
should just call an Uber.
Then, as I passed the bathroom door, I heard something else over
the sound of the shower. The sound of crying.
I speak four languages, but I couldn’t think of a strong enough
way to describe how stupid I was.
It was about ten minutes later when the shower shut off, then
maybe another five minutes before I heard the bathroom door
open. Adam walked into the room, with a towel wrapped around
his waist. I had a moment to notice that his deep brown hair
was black with dampness, and smoothed back from his forehead.
You couldn’t tell it from his fresh scrubbed face, but his
bloodshot eyes confirmed what I’d heard.
“I… I figured you’d be gone,” he said, after an uncomfortable
silence stretched between us for a brief eternity.
“I nearly was,” I replied, “but I owe you more than that.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make everything weird.
You’ve been a great friend. It’s just that… Just that I
thought…”
I stood up and stepped towards him.
“It’s just that you thought I was gay?”
He nodded.
“And you thought maybe I was interested in you?”
He nodded again, though he still refused to look at me. I had to
take his chin in my hand and turn his head. He didn’t
cooperate, but he didn't resist either.
“I am,” I told him. “Both.”
“But…”
“Shhhh… You’ve been a good friend to me, too, Adam. The reason
I didn’t leave is, I knew we’d both be uncomfortable, but you
deserve to know the truth.”
I tried to think about how to start, but I couldn’t find the
words. Finally, I took the cross from around my neck and handed
it to him.
“Look at the back.”
“EMS?” he asked, “and some numbers?”
“The numbers are dates. We use day first in Europe.”
“So, that’s September 23rd…”
“Right. The EMS stands for Emil Marius Sandersen. The dates
are his birthday and the date of his confirmation. This cross
was a gift to him on his confirmation day, and he never took it
off. Not until he gave it to me, the day we found out I’d have
to move here.”
Adam had been looking down at the cross, but now he looked up at
me again.
“Remember I told you that I started upper secondary a year
early, because I’d done some homeschooling while Mom changed
jobs one time?”
He nodded.
“That’s where I met Emil - when school started last year. We
had several classes together, and we became good friends. Then,
in December, we started dating. In January, we realized we
wanted to be serious. We made a promise to each other, and for
three months, we dated, but stayed... “
I blushed a bit.
“We didn’t mess around. Not with each other or with anyone.
Both of us had been with someone else before, but nothing real
serious or high risk. Still, we stayed together for ninety
days, then we took HIV tests. We were both clean, and that
night we slept together for the first time.
“Two weeks later, my parents died.
“It took me a long time to get here after that. Because I am a
Norwegian citizen, they wanted to keep me there, but Momma’s
family was either American or Dutch, and Pappa came from a small
family. His parents were dead. They couldn’t find anyone else,
and my parents’ wills wanted me to come here, so here I am.
“But, while that happened, I lived with Emil’s family. They
treated me like their own. Hilde, Emil’s mother, called me her
son-in-law.
“The thing is, they knew what Emil and I had, and they didn’t
mind. Emil and I slept together every night. When I cried,
when I woke from nightmares, when I screamed with how unfair it
was… Emil held me. I loved him, and I want to be with him.”
There was a long silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable this time.
Adam handed me the necklace, and I put it back on.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I didn’t know.”
“How could you, if I never told you. You did nothing wrong,” I
assured him.
“Yeah, but if I’d known you had a boyfriend…”
“I don’t. Not really. Not right now.”
I didn’t have to look at his face to see his confusion, but I
checked anyway. Then I sighed.
“Emil wants us to see other people.”
Adam started to speak, but I held up my hand.
“I didn’t want to admit it, but he’s right. Maybe I’ll be able
to graduate here in two years, and maybe I’ll be accepted to the
University of Oslo then, and maybe we’ll be able to get back
together. In the meantime, we’re nearly eight thousand
kilometers apart - a ten hour plane flight - and we don’t know
when we’ll see each other again. It’s not fair to him to ask
him to put his entire life on hold for something that might
happen.”
“I’m sorry things have been so rough on you,” Adam said,
reaching out to pat my shoulder.
“I’m sorry I reacted like I did. You really did surprise me. I
guess it shouldn’t have surprised me, after I kissed you, but it
did.”
He smiled.
“I’m glad you did. It was at least a good surprise, I hope?”
“Oh, very good. Considering how long since I last saw my
boyfriend, I’ll probably dream of it tonight.”
He laughed.
“Still friends?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Friends get a hug?” he asked.
“Only after friends make sure their towels stay tied,” I replied
with a smile, but then I stepped forward and wrapped my arms
around him.
#Post#: 30454--------------------------------------------------
All-American Boy Chapter Seventeen
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 10:33 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
It’s amazing how many people don’t believe you when you tell
them something doesn’t matter to you, since you didn’t grow up
with it. Linda tried to insist that I go to her family's
Thanksgiving celebration with them, despite the fact that I
didn’t know anyone who was going to be there, and there wasn’t
really anyone else my age planning to be there. When I pointed
out that I had very little quiet time since the move, Dillon
took my side. That didn’t keep me from having invitations to
join Adam’s family, Walker’s family, and even Jake’s family. I
mean, it’s nice being wanted, but wow.
There were things I was actually anticipating though. Walker
had invited me to his house on Wednesday and Friday for some
tabletop gaming - Risk and one I’d not heard of before called
Talisman. And Tuesday morning, Jake’s mom dropped him off at my
house on her way to work.
Jake and I had a Continental breakfast that was more American
than I normally had. Then we just hung out for a couple of
hours, before taking an Uber to the mall. Jake ended up talking
me into playing some game he really liked on Dillon’s PS5.
I’d decided I was shopping for ten people this Christmas. Most
of them had been pretty easy. I’d ordered for Walker, Tanner
and Austin, Jake, Dillon, and Linda online; Magnus as well,
though his had taken a bit more thought. While Jake and I were
walking around the shops, I decided on the perfect gift for
Hilde. That only left Adam and Emil, and I spent at least an
hour just looking for inspiration, while Jake did his own
shopping.
After a while, we stopped into a Mexican restaurant, which might
have been the best thing I’d found about moving to Texas.
Afterwards, we waddled to the theater, where we took in a horror
movie Jake had been wanting to see.
I have to admit, I was being a little careful around Jake. I
guess there’s some prejudice against people on the rainbow no
matter where you are, but back home, people are pretty
accepting. Certainly Emil and I had never been scared to hold
hands at school. I mean, you just didn’t want to throw yourself
at anyone, but politely expressing interest wasn’t liable to get
you beat up, either.
If such a thing as gaydar really exists, I must have been in the
wrong line when it was handed out. Jake seemed to be more than
normally comfortable with physical contact between us, but our
friendship had started with the two of us rolling around getting
sweaty together. What does that make normal? All I really knew
is that I felt like I’d just navigated a minefield with Adam,
and I didn’t want to do it again. I didn’t want to send Jake
the wrong signals and make him think I was more interested than
I was, but I also didn’t want him to feel like I was
uncomfortable around him. I tried, but I don't think I relaxed
until the movie actually started getting scary.
After the movie, we went back to my house. I started getting
undressed to put on my gym clothes, and Jake grabbed his bag and
excused himself to the bathroom. That seemed a little unusual,
but at least he wasn’t stripping naked and trying to get in the
shower with me, so I guess we were in a good spot.
After class, his dad picked us up. I’d never met him before, and
I have to admit he seemed kind of… Not grumpy.. Stodgy, maybe?
He really gave me the feeling he’d be really strict and
unyielding. Or maybe his mustache just bothered me.
At home, I had a hot shower, then something to eat, before
sitting down at my computer. I opened a Google doc and typed up
the notes Adam and I had put together first of all, then used
another doc to expand them into a full outline with sources
noted. Then I typed up the bibliography, and sent the entire
mess to Adam. I texted him to let him know it was his turn,
then I went to bed.
The rest of the week went nicely. I woke Wednesday and just lay
in bed, taking my time to wake up. Then I read for a while
before finally getting up for my run. I took my time over
breakfast, then decided it was time to catch up on the chores
I’d been falling behind on because of the play. By the time I
was finished, I still had more than another hour before Dalton
picked me up for games, so I sat down to read a little more.
Risk is always fun, but those guys are cut throat!
Thursday was perfect. I had nothing to do. I think maybe for
the first time since I’d arrived in Texas, I had nothing to do.
I didn’t need to unpack, I didn’t have to get ready to start
school, no homework, no play, no practice, no plans. Walker had
told me about a TV show I’d never heard of called Wu Assassin
with Iko Uwais. I’d loved The Raid: Redemption, so I was
excited to check it out.
I ate breakfast with Linda and Dillon before they left, then did
a full ten kilometer run. As soon as I was back and cleaned up,
I sprawled out in the living room and turned on the TV. The
only reason the day wasn’t perfect was that, even if I couldn’t
have some ‘Netflix and chill’ of my own, I would have at least
liked a little cuddling.
By Sunday, I wasn’t quite ready to go back to school, but at
least I wasn’t feeling exhausted and overwhelmed anymore. Adam
had been at Walker’s game Friday. We’d been a bit nervous
around each other to start, but by the end of the game, we were
wrestling around and back to where we had been. I think it came
down to, we just had to figure out how to act since he was ready
and willing, and I was interested, but not ready.
We also had our report almost finished. The main problem was,
we couldn’t figure out the visual portion of it. We’d
brainstormed a couple of times, but hadn’t come up with a good
answer. I’d made a list of our better ideas, and I hoped Ms.
Snow would give us a bit of guidance.
As it always does, tempus fugitted. Going back to school was
much better. I had friends, I knew my schedule, I’d caught up
on all the homework, the play was out of the way, and we hadn’t
quite reached the grind of finals yet. The weather was finally
cooling off to something reasonable, I mean, seriously, except
for a couple of days, the November weather in Texas was about
the same as our summer weather back home. On the other hand, by
the start of December, when we’d only have about six hours of
sunlight at home, the sun was already up before I left for
school, and still up when I headed home - more than ten hours.
I have to admit that’s pretty great.
Coach Hall actually got permission from Dillon to go to school
so he could meet with Coach Taylor, and they talked about and
adjusted my workout routine a bit. Then Coach Hall mentioned
that he wanted to take me on an out-of-town trip for a couple of
days on the Christmas Vacation, so I could compete in a NAGA
event. Since the only Naga I knew was from Riki Tiki Tavi, he
had to explain that it stood for the North American Grappling
Association. That idea took a little negotiating with Linda,
but Dillon supported me, and she finally gave in.
With the fall play over, Carrie turned the theater class towards
the spring musical. She started by confessing that Almost,
Maine, with it’s innocent gay scene, had taken some manipulation
on her part to get approved, and had really ticked off Mr.
Keagan. There was no way we were going to get anything with
more than a hint of explicit language or on stage ‘naughtiness’
approved, as much as she’d love to do something like Rent or
Spring Awakening.
“What I was able to do,” she continued, obviously not happy but
not wanting to seem upset either, “was to look through some of
the newer shows that haven’t been done to death and that do seem
somewhat relevant to high school students. There were a few
that really floated to the top, and this year, we’re going to be
doing Loserville.”
She handed out a synopsis of the story, and then gave us the bad
news.
“By the way, for those of you with memory problems, this is a
class, and you do get a grade. Tomorrow, we start the section
on musical theater. The test will be a week from Friday. The
next Monday we’ll review the test, and I’ll hand out review
sheets for the final, which we’ll go over the next day. Any
questions?”
There were more than a few, but when they ran out, she took a
moment to explain how the audition process would work for the
musical, then brought out the TV, so we could watch videos from
different productions of Loserville and listen to the music.
Not great news, but not horrible, and not a bad day, all in all.
Of course, with Thanksgiving vacation behind us, we had less
than three weeks until finals began. I started getting a little
nervous about the time I’d missed while moving. I got along at
least okay with all my teachers, and none of them were worried
about it. I finally just decided to treat studying a little
more seriously than I normally did, and found partners to help
me stick to that idea.
I think the biggest shock to me was that first weekend in
December, when Dillon and Linda told me not to make any plans
and to come straight home from the gym on Saturday afteroon. I
did, and as soon as I’d showered and dressed, they practically
threw me in the car. As we pulled out of the driveway, they
informed me we were going to get a Christmas tree. That seemed
okay, until I realized they intended to put it up today.
As we drove to their first stop, I explained Lillejulaften, and
what our common celebrations were back home. It was hard for
them to believe we waited until Christmas Eve eve - Little
Christmas Eve, as a literal translation - to set everything up.
It was equally hard for me to believe that Americans would have
Christmas decorations up for weeks before the holiday, but I
actually kind of liked the idea. Honestly, even back home, some
people were doing it that way, but it was one point where Pappa
refused to bow to Mamma’s ‘American ways’.
Linda explained to me that they’d considered getting a new tree
last year, but that they’d kept their smaller one, since it was
only the two of them at home, and their main celebrations
happened with her family. This year, I was kind of the
deciding factor.
We pulled into a home improvement store and they had a HUGE
amount of Christmas stuff for sale.
“Now, our old tree is only about four feet tall…”
Dillon stopped as I was trying to translate that.
“About yay tall,” he gestured, “a bit over a meter… maybe 1.2?”
I nodded.
“We’re going to get one about… well, not twice that. I was
thinking seven feet - six and a half… so taller than you, but
not a whole lot taller.”
“Two meters would be good,” I agreed, smiling and not telling
him that I was starting to get pretty good with feet and inches,
at least when it came to how tall people are.
“We’ll need a lot of new ornaments, too,” Linda added.
“Could we…”
They both looked at me. I suddenly felt shy and rather
presumptuous, so I turned around to look at the trees.
“Sieger?’
I turned back to them.
“I know you don’t know us very well,” Dillon said, “but we’re
your family. You can say anything to us.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I replied. “I know you must already have
something for the top of the tree. You’ll want to use it.”
“Sieger, we have a star, but we’re not attached to it.” Linda
said. “Do you want to pick out something different?”
“Well, I was just thinking… Don’t we have the stuff from our old
house in storage here?”
They both nodded.
“I was just… Mamma said they bought our angel the year I was
born.”
Before I knew it, Linda had her arms wrapped around me, and
Dillon was patting me on the shoulder.
“Remember, Buddy. She was my sister.” Dillon said, as Linda
assured me they’d be honored to have that atop their tree. I
just wish they hadn’t done it right there in the store, because
I think they got something in my eye.
By the time we were ready to leave, we’d had someone take a tree
up front for us, and we still had a basket full of ornaments and
accessories.
“You hungry, Sieg?” Dee asked, as we finally finished checking
out and were leaving.
I suddenly was because something smelled delicious. I let him
know.
There was someone standing right outside the door grilling hot
dogs - all kinds of meat, actually, not just frankfurters.
“Pølse!” I said, suddenly nearly drooling.
I really wanted a plain hot dog, but when I looked at their
menu, I just couldn’t resist. I had one bratwurst and one hot
link. After all, it wouldn’t be a real pølse even with a frank,
since they didn’t have mashed potatoes or mushrooms. They did
at least have mustard and ketchup, but they also had sauerkraut
and grilled onions and pickle relish. I have to admit, there
are some things Americans did pretty well with.
“Slow down, Champ,” Dillon said, laughing at me. “No one’s
going to take it away from you.”
I smiled back, but didn’t slow down much.
“Hmm…” I said, as I finished the brat, “I should go to the store
with you next time, Linda. If I can find the right things, I’ll
make a currywurst sometime.”
Linda looked a little dubious, but Dillon looked delighted as I
explained the dish to him.
We stopped at the storage facility where my family’s stuff… My
stuff now, I guess, was being kept. The embassy had taken care
of packing up my parents' stuff and having it moved for me, with
some help by Magnus and Hilde, since I’d been very busy and not
in real good shape at the time. They’d done a really good job
of labelling everything, and it didn’t take us too long to find
the Christmas decorations. Linda and Dillon looked through it
and took the Angel, and asked permission for a few other things
they liked as well, which I happily granted. Then they carried
it out to the car, leaving me alone to look for a while.
I didn’t want to keep them waiting too long, but I saw a box
labeled ‘albums and photos’. I dug it out and took it with me.
After unloading the car, the three of us dug out the lights. I
couldn’t believe how many they had. We hung them on the front
eave of the house, and around the front door, and on the trees
and the front hedge. It was getting dark by the time we
finished, but that was good, since it meant we could turn it on
and really see how it looked.
Linda had gone inside for a while, once Dillon and I were done
with the ladder. I hadn’t thought about why, until we walked
inside after finishing the lights.
“Herregud!” I exclaimed. “That smells delicious.”
Linda smiled.
“Have you ever had Hungarian goulash before?” she asked.
I had to think. It didn't sound familiar. It certainly didn’t
smell familiar.
“I don’t think so,” I finally answered. “Hungarian would be
Ungarsk, and I don’t remember anything we ate from there.”
“I think you’re in for a treat, but it’s still got about an hour
to cook.”
Since Linda was cooking, she sat back and supervised while
Dillon and I moved some furniture, then unpacked, and started
setting up the new tree. I can honestly report that Dee and I
are smarter than a packaged Christmas tree, but maybe not by
much.
May I just take a moment to say that Hungarian goulash, at least
the way Linda makes it, is veldig deilig?
After dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, Linda put on a
Christmas playlist, and we finished decorating the tree and
living room. When we were finished, I looked around and sighed.
“Something wrong?”
“I wish we had a fireplace,” I answered.
“Sorry, Champ,” Dillon said, “but there’s just not much use for
those in Texas.”
“I guess not, but Mom loved decorating our mantel.”
Dillon smiled a little sadly.
“I can imagine she did.”
I spent a couple of hours Sunday reviewing my notes and noting
where I needed most to study. Linda made me sit down for a bit
to review the party. Everyone had already RSVPd, so we were
able to confirm the menu, agree on a couple of games, and
settled on the movie we wanted to watch and the one we could
watch in case someone (more likely some parent) threw a fit
about watching an R-rated movie.
The last week before finals was really good. Sure, teachers
were rushing to make sure they’d covered all the topics they had
been supposed to, and there were more tests than usual, but
people were mostly in good moods, and the weather was finally
getting down to weather I considered really nice - even if the
Texans were starting to bundle up in hoodies and complain of
freezing.
Coach asked me about more grappling tournaments and maybe a
junior MMA meet. I promised I’d think about it, but I also had
to make sure the meets didn’t interfere with the Spring Musical,
since I actually got graded on that.
I have to admit, finals were scarier in the approach than in the
taking. Maybe that was because of my extra studying, but at
least it felt good to have them behind me.
#Post#: 30455--------------------------------------------------
All-American Boy Chapter Eighteen
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 10:51 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
“Hva i helvete?”
I lifted the… item out of the box Linda had given me.
I really do like Linda. She has been incredibly kind to me. I
know she’s married to my mother’s brother, and she considers us
family, but she could not have expected to have a sixteen-year
old boy dropped into her life. I appreciated everything she’s
done for me.
That’s why I’m glad she couldn’t see my face.
I shook it out so I could see the entire thing, then turned it
around. At least I understood why she’d waited to give me the
box.
I don’t know the word for it, but they were my pajamas for the
party tonight - one piece with attached feets like for a small
child.
“Aren’t they cute?” Linda asked from my doorway.
“They’re… something, yes.”
“You don’t like them?”
“Linda. I’ve lived here for.. nearly three months now? Have
you seen me wear anything that would make you think I’d like
this?”
“But it’s so cute, Sieger. And it’s just for the party tonight,
like a costume.”
I didn’t want to offend Linda, so I tried to think of something
to say when my phone rang. A quick glance showed it was Adam.
“I have to get this.”
“Hello.”
“I’m going to kill you,” Adam replied.
“What did I do?”
“My mom just gave me my pajamas for tonight?”
“And you’re going to kill ME for that?”
“Mom said your aunt suggested them.”
I looked at Linda, who obviously understood what the
conversation was about, given the way she was trying to look
innocent and pouty at the same time.
I covered my phone.
“You owe me for this,” I said to her.
She nodded with excitement as I obviously gave in.
“Yeah, I probably got about the same thing. Live with it.”
“But Sieger…”
“Get Jim to drop you off a little early,” I interrupted him,
“and you can change over here.”
“Okay, great. That’s the other reason I was calling. Remember
I told you Dad has that big work party tonight?”
I nodded, realized he couldn’t see it, and replied, “Yes.”
“Well, Mom’s talked him into staying at a hotel, since it’s all
the way in Dallas. Can I stay with you tonight?”
“You mean sleepover?”
“Yeah.”
“You can, but I’m not sure where.”
“I’ll bring my sleeping bag.”
I shrugged and agreed. After he hung up, I realized I probably
should have okayed it first, but Linda didn't have a problem
with it. She actually got an extra pillow and blanket so we
wouldn’t have to worry about it later.
We’d scheduled the party to start at 6 p.m. to make sure we’d
have plenty of time to do everything, without keeping the
youngest kids out too late (Walker’s suggestion). Adam arrived
a bit after five.
“Man,” he said, when I answered the door. “Y’alls’ house is
lit.”
“Yes,” I agreed. It took us several hours to get them all up.”
Adam broke out laughing, leaving me somewhat confused, until he
explained that lit also was slang for ‘cool or exciting’. I
think it might be a while before puns are my favorite form of
American humor.
As I shut the door, I noticed Adam was looking around. Then he
looked up.
“Is that mistletoe?”
“Yes it is.”
“Do you think Emil would mind?”
“I think Emil would hit me if I didn’t,” I replied, stepping
into him.
I wrapped one arm around Adam’s shoulders and the other around
his waist. I’m guessing the sound I heard was him dropping the
backpack and sleeping bag he’d been carrying, because suddenly
he was hugging me tight. This time I kissed him straight on the
lips. We held there for a long moment, and I could feel him
growing hard against me as his tongue slid out and flicked
across my lower lip. I shivered. Then I pulled back.
“Wow,” he said, looking at me and giving a slow blink. “We’d
better not do that again.”
I tried to answer, but had to clear my throat before I could
agree with him.
My parents had had a great marriage, and I really wanted that
for myself, but I was starting to understand how polygamy was a
thing.
In my room, we laid out Adam’s sleeping bag and set it up with
the pillow and blanket, so he could go to sleep right away, if
we were tired enough. Then we both stripped down to our boxers.
He pulled his pajamas out of his backpack, and I thought they
weren’t too bad at first. They were one-piece as well, but they
didn’t have feet built in. They were a medium to dark blue,
with white Christmas trees and reindeer repeated across them.
He had a pair of navy blue house shoes to finish the outfit.
Since mine was green with Christmas lights all across them, I
thought he’d come out way better… until I realized his had a
hood with little red antlers.
We looked at each other and had to laugh.
“And what did we learn from this?” I asked.
“Never to let my mom or your aunt order clothes for us again.”
Linda and Dee were both wearing pajamas, but also robes that
were red like Santa’s clothes, with white ‘fur’ trim and black
belts, topped with Santa hats. They very much looked the part
of respectable hosts for a Christmas pajama party.
Adam helped us set out the drink stuff and a few light snacks,
then we started the Christmas playlist and sat back to await the
first guests.
I think people were waiting out front for the party to start,
because the doorbell rang right at 6 p.m., and there were
several people there. Dillon was standing by the door to the
small bedroom, and he took coats and packages (and shoes) as
each person came in. Everyone had brought their Dirty Santa
gifts in a plastic bag, so no one else would know which was
theirs.
The first people in the door were Walker and Logan. I noticed
Adam motion upwards at Walker, who actually squealed,
“Mistletoe!.” He and Logan paused for a kiss.
Austin and Tanner walked in right behind them. Tanner looked
up. Austin looked up, then looked at Tanner.
“No.”
“But it’s mistletoe,” Tanner insisted.
“Don’t be gay.”
“It’s not gay if you kiss the homies.”
Austin rolled his eyes.
“Fine,” he said, leaning over and pecking Tanner on the cheek.
Tanner just smiled.
I was smiling at the two of them even before the peck. After
all, even though Tanner had fair skin and bright orange hair,
compared to Austin’s dark hair and slightly darker complexion,
they were almost exactly the same height now, and they were
wearing matching pajamas - with feet, meaning I wouldn’t be the
only one - in a very Christmas-like red and green plaid. I’m
sure both of them would hit me for saying it, but they were
adorable.
“My cousin’s crazy,” Austin said, when he saw me watching them.
“Your cousin?”
“Yeah, me and Austin are cousins. You knew that.”
“No,” I replied. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”
“Yeah,” Austin said, picking up the conversation again, “his dad
and my dad are brothers, and our mom’s have been best friends
since they were like,” he gestured down to about his waist.
“Which is why we get stuck doing ridiculous things that they
think are ‘cute’”.
I gestured at what I was wearing, then at what Adam had on.
“My aunt and his mom didn’t even know each other three months
ago,” I reminded him, and they both laughed.
Rebecca came in next, and I had to laugh myself. She was
wearing what I think of as traditional men’s pajamas - trousers
and a jacket - but she’d definitely made it her own. The pants
and jacket were flannel, but in a pattern very much like what
Austin and Tanner were wearing, the pants had a couple of holes
in the legs, and she was wearing the jacket open, over a t-shirt
with Christmas decorations around a picture of Kurt Cobain that
said ‘Smells Like Christmas Spirit.’
By 6:20, everyone had arrived. Not only had everyone worn
Christmas Pajamas, but I was pretty surprised by how many people
had worn kind of ridiculous ones, either like Adam and I had, or
what looked like little kids' pajamas, with elastic around the
wrists and ankles. Over half of them wore Santa hats along with
everything else, so we were definitely in the mood.
Most of the people knew everyone that was there, but Linda had
made sure I knew my duties as host, so I circled around, making
sure everyone had a drink and had met everyone else. Austin and
Tanner were both still fourteen, and Eddy, another purple belt
from the gym, was a senior and had already turned 18, so we had
a pretty good mix, but we were all at the high school, so
everyone had something in common besides being one of my
friends.
At about seven o’clock, Linda took over for a minute.
“If I can have everyone’s attention? Sieger told me that about
half of y’all are in drama or theater, so I thought y’all might
like to try your hand at charades, but we are going to do it
just a bit different.”
She paused for a moment, and had everyone’s attention.
“Since this is a horror related Christmas party, we came up with
a list, and you have to draw what you’re going to act out.
Everything in here,” she said, holding up a bowl, “is the title
of either a horror movie, book, or tv show. Everyone else is
trying to guess. Sieger goes first.”
“I do?”
Oh well. My party, I guess I get to break the ice.
Of course, narrowing it down to only horror stuff did make it
easier to guess, but have you ever thought about how you’d act
out ‘Ouija’? No one ever did get American Werewolf in Paris.
It was actually more fun than I thought it’d be, and I lost
track of time. I realized Linda hadn’t, when I suddenly
smelled something cooking.
When Austin somehow managed to guess ‘Phantasm’, Dillon didn’t
do another draw.
“Good time for a break,” he told everyone. “Men’s room is that
way. Ladies is over here. It smells like time to eat, so go
ahead and wash up. If you go into the kitchen there and turn
left, you can get your plates, your pancakes, top them, then get
your drinks. Sieger thought we should eat outside, since it’s a
balmy forty-three degrees Fahrenheit, but Linda pointed out that
was actually cold to Texans, so we’ll just eat in here. Try not
to drip too much, please.”
Some might have figured out by now that a lot of Norwegian food
was not like it’s American counterparts, and pancakes and eggnog
were no exception. That’s not to say the American versions
weren’t good, and Linda actually made her pancake batter with
eggnog instead of milk - so rich and fluffy.
As host, I waited until last, but Linda had made plenty. The
hardest part was deciding how to prepare mine. I finally went
with apple butter and blueberry syrup, and chased it down with
some Grinch Punch. I finished it, moaned, promised myself an
extra workout tomorrow, and went back for pancakes with peanut
butter and maple syrup.
After everyone had finished and cleaned up, we moved the
furniture a bit and took seats around a circle. Dillon and I
had moved the gifts everyone brought to a table in the center of
the circle, and it was time for the Dirty Santa gift exchange.
It was hilarious when Walker picked a rainbow nail polish kit,
and he got so mad when Maddy stole it. Then he pulled a pretty
nice pair of sunglasses and Dalton stole those. He finally
ended up with a huge set of multi-color gaming dice, and he was
pretty happy with that. All the gifts were pretty nice, though,
but trying to decide if you were going to steal or pull was a
lot of the fun. I ended up with a half-meter tall teddy bear.
At least he was cute and cuddly, so it was kind of like me being
granted a wish.
“I will call him Julbamse,” I announced to no one.
“What’s that mean?” someone - I think Emma - asked.
“Well, we call stuffed bears kosebamse. Koselig is kind of hard
to translate, but it kind of means cozy, and kind of content.
Anyway, Jul is Christmas, so…”
“Julbamse is like Christmas bear?” Tanner finished for me.
“Ja.”
When the last gift had been claimed, we started moving the seats
around so everyone could see the screen. Linda and Dillon made
sure everyone had drinks before they retired to their room, and
we had some popcorn, chex mix, and chips available, but I don’t
think anyone had room to eat any more.
Just as we started moving the furniture, Adam came up to me.
“I need to talk to Jake,” he whispered. “Can we borrow your
room.”
I shrugged and nodded, and watched them head off that way.
Linda had decided it was a good time to replace her old… she
called them ‘back rest pillows’. I’d seen some before, but
never had an idea what they were called, but they had little
arms, and were made so you could kind of sit up and lean against
them, or recline some. I’d claimed one of those, and was lying
on a comforter we’d spread on the floor. Austin and Tanner were
sharing another of the pillows, right next to me.
Just as Dillon started the movie, Adam came up, nudged me with
his foot, and sprawled beside me to claim part of the pillow.
“Too close?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Everything okay?”
“I’ll tell you later,” he answered as the movie started.
Krampus was…. Interesting. It wasn’t really scary, and it
wasn’t really funny, but it had some laugh out loud moments, and
others that were really creepy. It wasn’t a great movie, but it
was good enough to keep us talking over drinks for a while after
it ended.
“Walker, we need to leave,” Austin announced about 11:45, which
pretty much brought the evening to a close.
I have to admit, I was a little down to hear it, and it made me
wonder why I’d ever resisted the idea. Stupid looking pajamas
aside.
Everyone gave a hand cleaning up a bit, then Adam helped get
everyone’s coat and shoes.
Jake was getting a ride home with Eddy, but he held back a
minute to talk to me.
“We still on for Tuesday?” he asked.
I realized that he’d been pretty quiet while we talked about the
movie, and he seemed a little down.
“Of course,” I assured him. “I think I figured out my last two
Christmas gifts, so we can do a little shopping, but do you like
ice skating?”
“Never tried it, but I can roller skate, so…?”
“Great, maybe we can do that then.”
When the last people had pulled away, Adam and I locked up,
turned off the lights, and headed back to my room. As soon as
we’d shut the door, I started stripping out of my pajamas. I
stopped when I realized Adam had sat down and wasn’t moving.
“Wait a bit to finish undressing. I need to tell you this, and
it’ll be easier if I’m not distracted.”
I wanted to smile at the implied compliment, but Adam did not
sound like this was a smiling moment. I sat down on the bed,
but not right next to him.
“I told you I’d tell you why Jake and I needed to borrow your
room?”
I nodded.
“I’m not sure if I’m right to tell you this, but I think you
have to know.”
I waited, then nodded again. Whatever this was about, it
obviously wasn’t easy for him.
“Jake and I used to be boyfriends.”
And the other shoe dropped.
“That’s why you two acted so weird when you found out I was
friends with both of you.”
And shoes kept dropping.
“And the other guys knew about it?”
“Walker did,” Adam admitted. “The other guys, probably figured
it out. All I’m sure they know is that Jake and I had been
really good friends, then we had a big fight over something.”
Adam was quiet for a long moment, and he looked miserable. Like
a little lost puppy. I reached over and took his hand.
He looked up at me.
“I’m glad you wanted to tell me, but you don’t have to.”
“No, you need to know. The reason… Have you met his parents?”
I nodded.
“Ja. His momma seems okay.”
“Yeah, you got it mostly right. His mom isn’t horrible and can
be nice, but his dad’s a grade A, deluxe douche wagon.”
I didn’t actually understand ‘douche wagon’, but I figured I
could ask later. It certainly didn't sound complimentary
anyway.
“The man is hateful. He’s a bigot. He’s one of those
conservative ‘Christians’ who thinks he’s right and everyone
else is wrong. He voted for Trump TWICE, for God’s sake.”
He paused and took a breath.
“Jake is gay. I mean, we did stuff together. The sex was good,
when we had the chance. But his dad is just so controlling.
Jake was scared to death his dad would find out. He was scared
anyone would find out. That’s why we broke up.”
Adam’s voice was quiet, and he was refusing to look at me. I
released his hand, scooted closer, and put my arm around his
shoulders. He looked up at me, then back away, but he also let
his head rest against my shoulder.
“I just… I wanted more than to get off occasionally. What
you’ve done tonight… “
Adam paused and grabbed my other hand, holding it tight.
“Jake was scared to do anything like this. He wouldn’t kiss me.
He wouldn’t hold hands at the movie theater. He wouldn’t let
me put my arm around him. I just.. I wanted more than that, and
he wouldn’t… He couldn’t give it to me, and when I got upset
that he couldn’t, he got upset that I wouldn’t understand, and…
Well, that’s pretty much it.”
“Oh, vennen, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. You
deserve someone that will love you without reservation. I feel
sorry for Jake, too. It must be horrible to live like that.”
“I know. I do too, but it just… It felt like he was rejecting
me, and I just couldn’t keep doing it.”
I wanted so badly to kiss the tears and loss out of his voice,
but I just couldn’t. Even if now had been the time, I just
couldn’t put Emil aside, and Adam really did deserve someone who
would commit to him.
All I could do was hold him.
After a few minutes, he spoke again.
“So tonight, when he asked to talk to me, and we came back here,
he wanted to get back together.”
He moved away and finally looked at me again.
“I couldn’t. I won’t say I wasn’t tempted, but nothing has
changed, and I just couldn’t go back to the same
disappointments, the same fights.”
I waited to see if he had more to say. When he didn’t, I just
nodded.
“Adam, I’m glad you trusted me with this, but why…”
“Why did I think you needed to know?”
I nodded.
“If I feel bad about anything, it’s not breaking up with him.
It’s that when he and I broke up, he basically broke up with our
entire group. I don’t think he makes friends easy. I don’t
think he has a lot of friends, but he really likes you, and it
seems like you like him. Just… Would you watch him? Please?”
“You’re my friend, Adam. I’d be happy to watch him for your
sake, except he’s my friend, too, and I’ll do my best to keep an
eye on him and watch him, because that’s what friends do.”
I was quiet until he nodded.
“Now, I’m really tired. You ready for bed?”
He nodded, so I started taking my pajamas off again. This time,
he did as well.
Soon enough, I was in bed, and he was in his sleeping bag. The
lights were off, the room was quiet, and I was glad there was
nothing to do in the morning.
“Sieger?”
“Hmmmm?”
“What’s a vennen?”
I thought about explaining how it literally means ‘my friend’,
but can actually mean someone much more than that. Then
something else occurred to me.
“I’ll tell you that, if you tell me, what is a douche wagon.”
#Post#: 30456--------------------------------------------------
All-American Boy Chapter Nineteen
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 11:06 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Adam’s more of a sprinter, so, when we finally woke Sunday
morning, I had to negotiate my usual run. He certainly didn’t
want to join me on my normal ten kilometers. We finally agreed
to double my normal daily two K run. Coach Hall had asked if
any of our conditioning class was interested in track or field
events this spring. I hadn’t thought about it much, but it
never hurts to push yourself a bit.
Plus, I did need to make sure I worked off those pancakes.
Everyone had actually done a good job of straightening up before
they’d left last night, but when Adam and I returned, Linda and
Dillon had started on the rather large stack of dishes.
Adam liked seafood, and I knew Dee and Linda had no trouble with
it, so I started some scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, right
after I put some biscuits in the oven. Mamma would sometimes
make American biscuits from scratch when she really missed them,
but it’s hard to believe how good Pillsbury Grands! are baked
straight out of the tin.
“I wish I could send some of these to Hilde,” I commented to no
one in particular, as I started the eggs.
“Eggs?”
“No, Pillsbury tinned biscuits.”
“He means canned,” Dee commented. “It took a while to realize
that he got American English from TV and movies, but British
English in school.”
“Oh,” Adam replied, “which explains why I had to research what
‘queueing up’ means.”
“Standing right here,” I reminded them.
“Hilde is… Emil’s mom?”
“He told you about Emil?” Linda asked.
“Yes,” I replied to Adam’s question. “Hilde is Emil’s Mamma.”
I looked at him, and put the question in my eyes. He shrugged,
then nodded.
“If it wasn’t for Emil, Adam and I would be dating, so I thought
he deserved to know.”
The room was quiet for a moment, then Linda said, “That’s nice.
Did you tell him what you are going to send her?”
“I’m not very good at gift shopping, but Hilde loves to cook.
When we found out I was going to have to move here, she’s the
one who taught me to prepare a lot of different foods, so I
would be able to have real food… I mean, food from home instead
of just…”
“You might as well stop there,” Dillon said with a laugh.
“You’ve already dug that hole.”
Adam was laughing so hard he nearly fell over.
“Et tu, Brute?” I mumbled, turning my attention back to the
eggs.
Linda came to stand beside me to prepare some hashed browns, as
I finished the eggs.
“Anyway, Hilde loves to cook,” I went on with as much dignity as
I could muster, “so I’m sending her some Miracle Whip and
American Ketchup and …”
“American ketchup?” Adam asked.
“American ketchup is sweeter, but also very thick,” I explained.
“Also, some tabasco sauce and picante sauce and some Sri Rachi
and grape jelly.”
“It sounds like she’ll be set for condiments.”
“I’m sure she’ll share with Magnus and Emil.”
“Why can’t you send biscuits?”
“Have to keep them refrigerated,” I replied.
While we were talking, Adam poured drinks, and Dillon set the
table, while I placed the Lazy Susans that held the various
sauces and condiments, and jams and preserves, then poured
coffee.
It was a wonderful breakfast. Too wonderful.
‘Ah, Emil, kjæresten min. I am faithful, but I’m afraid I am
cheating on you in my heart.’
By the time Adam’s mother called to say they were on the way,
we’d finished cleaning and straightening, and we were in my
room. Adam was sprawled across my bed, and I had kicked back in
the easy chair.
I waited until he hung up.
“About twenty minutes,” he informed me.
I nodded.
“So you don’t have any plans until Friday?” I asked.
He nodded.
“You?”
“Mostly the same. I have plans with Jake Tuesday, and I
promised Linda and Dillon I’d… Well, her family does this big,
um…”
I gestured widely with my hands, trying to think of the word.
“Extended family?”
“You mean like cousins and stuff,” Adam suggested.
I nodded, then he nodded.
“They do this big extended family thing on Julaften, and I
promised to go to that, and I have to… Don’t laugh at me.”
“Why would I laugh at you?”
“I have to watch Cinderella.”
I waited while he finished trying not to choke.
“Thank you,” I said, when he finally managed to catch his
breath.
“I’m sorry, but.. Why do you have to…”
“It’s tradisjon… traditional,” I explained. “We do it every
year on Julaften morning. We’ve done it as… as long as I….”
It was so stupid, but I was suddenly crying, and I couldn’t
stop.
“Sieger?”
I turned away and tried to be quiet, knowing it was pointless.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when Adam came up behind me and
wrapped his arms around me.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve never watched it without mamma og pappa,” I managed to
choke out.
I lost track of how long he held me, but when I turned around, I
realized that his face was as wet, his eyes as red, as mine
felt.
“I’m sorry,” I told him, feeling weak and stupid.
“Don’t be,” was all he said for a moment, then he hugged me
again. This time I held him back.
“My parents are here,” he said when I started to move away.
I’m not sure how he knew, but I believed him. I led him to my
bathroom where we cleaned up, then waited while he got his bags.
I headed for the front door, but he turned to the living room.
Confused, I followed him.
Linda and Dillon were sitting with Jim and Debbie, and they’d
been there long enough to get drinks. I guess I’d been a little
lost.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Linda asked.
I nodded.
“Sieger and I were talking about our plans for this week. He
told me about a traditional Norwegian TV show he watched every
year.”
“On Julaften,” I added. “Christmas Eve.”
The adults nodded.
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” Debbie said.
“Thank you,” I nodded.
“Anyway,” Adam went on. “We were discussing our plans for this
week when we got… distracted.”
“Oh, yeah. I was going to say I have plans for Tuesday, and I
was planning to spend today and tomorrow for R&R.”
“Rest and relaxation,” Jim said.
“Relaxation and reading,” I corrected and everyone laughed.
“I know Walker said he’ll be busy pretty much all week, so I
thought I could have some people over Wednesday afternoon to
play Risk?”
Dillon and Linda were happy to agree, and Adam suggested he
email me to help me put together a list of players we could
invite.
“Because of the NAGA tournament during Romjulen…”
“During what?”
I stopped and thought for a minute.
“There’s actually not a word for it in English. It means… ‘The
time after Christmas when no one knows what to do’ maybe?”
That brought a laugh.
“Definitely a word we need,” Jim said when he caught his breath.
“Anyway, they’re not having classes at the gym this week, but
they’ll be open, and Coach Hall will be there, so I’m meeting
some friends most of the week for some extra work outs in the
mornings. Besides that, I promised to make some risengrynsgrøt
for Linda’s family Christmas meal. Rice pudding,” I explained
at the confused looks.
“Why did we start talking about all that anyway?” Adam asked.
“Because… Because…”
“Maybe you were going to ask me about Risk?”
“No!” I exclaimed, suddenly remembering. “I was going to ask if
you like ice skating.”
“It’s okay,” Adam responded, while his father answered, “I love
it. Do you want to go?”
I nodded, not sure if he was asking me or Adam.
“I’m off all week. I have some things to do, but I could
certainly make time to take you boys, if you’d like.”
Adam was a bit unsure, but when his dad offered to take us to
the Galleria on Thursday afternoon and buy lunch, he gave in.
Monday was perfect. Linda and Dee both had to work the first
part of the week. Emil and I had a long talk about finals and
Jul plans. He also told me that he and our old friend, Håkon,
had gone together to do shopping at the Spikersuppa, as well as
ice skating, and going to a Christmas Concert.
“We had a good time, Sieger, and he asked me if I’d like to take
a weekend trip to Røros.”
Oslo to Røros was about five hours on the train, and it was
worth an overnight stay if you could manage it, since it was one
of our biggest Christmas attractions in the entire country. I
was pretty sure Håkon had cousins in the area.
Like a car wreck happening, I knew I didn’t want to see or hear
this, just like I knew I couldn’t look away.
“I went.”
I nodded, and forced myself to speak.
“I’m glad for you,” I told him.
“You’re mad.”
“I’m not,” I tried to assure him. “You were always honest about
what you wanted, and Håkon is a good man.”
“I still love you, kjæresten min.”
“And I will always love you, vennen.”
He smiled back at me.
I sighed and told him about Adam. More about Adam. All about
Adam.
“Do you love him?” Emil finally asked.
“Ja, I think so.”
“Then why don’t you at least date?”
I wanted to tell him that even just a kiss felt like cheating,
but I didn’t want to make him feel bad. Instead, I gave the
closest answer I could.
“I’m not ready yet. And we do go out together. We are going
skating this week.”
He smiled, and I knew he was really happy for me.
“Do you and Håkon have more plans this week?”
The talk quickly turned to happier topics, and we ended the
conversation with a promise from him not to let anyone open
their gifts if they arrived before Julaften, and me promising
the same with mine.
I wasn’t exactly down after the phone conversation, except I
was. It was my first Christmas without my family, and my
boyfriend was dating someone else, but I still couldn’t move on
from him. I knew exactly what I needed. I fired up the VPN and
put on Vikingane. I’d watched it in English the first time,
mostly for practice, but this time, I played the Norwegian
version, wanting to hear the sounds of home.
After three hours, I was sore from laughing, and starving as
well.
Was it Adam who had asked me about getting a driver’s license?
There were times I thought it might be a good idea, until I
remembered that, after I finished the driver’s education
courses, I would have to wait six months to be able to get my
actual license. Someone had said something about online
classes, so I decided maybe I should look into that again.
In the meantime, I knew exactly what I wanted, and I was willing
to go get it. I pulled on jeans and some trainers, along with
my favorite old Real Madrid hoodie. It wasn’t cold, but it was
overcast and pretty windy, so I added a light jacket and a watch
cap.
I really should have told Emil about Tex-Mex food and Texas
barbecue, but he would just have laughed at my stomach being in
charge of me.
It took about fifteen or twenty minutes to bike up to the
barbecue place, so I decided to eat there instead of trying to
take it home. They had these wonderful, big potatoes that
they’d baked, then they stuffed them with butter, sour cream,
chives, shredded cheese, and spicy chopped barbecued brisket.
Along with all that, they had spicy pinto beans and a pretty
good cole slaw.
They had all these desserts too, but it was already going to
take me a lot longer to get home than it had to get up there, so
I passed, then went back and bought a slice of pecan pie to eat
at home… Even if they did laugh at how I said ‘pecan.’
Linda was pulling up as I was putting my bike in the garage.
She laughed at me wearing a hoodie, which seemed a bit ironic,
since she was wearing what looked like a parka. She also
swatted me when she realized I’d brought home pecan pie for
myself, but none for her.
After all that, I was in a much better mood. In my room, I went
through my unread book shelf and got the next volume of 100
Bullets, then plopped down across my bed.
Tuesday morning, Jake and I met at the gym right as they were
opening. We started by stretching out and warming up, then
added a light weight work out. When we were both feeling good,
we mirrored each other with some basic drills, until Coach was
free, and then we climbed into the ring for some full speed
sparring. After about an hour of that, Eddy showed up, and he
and I sparred for a while, and Coach Hall took Jake aside to
work on some counters and breakaways. Eddy and I are about the
same size, but he was getting ready to advance to brown belt, so
he was more skilled than me, which made it a great practice.
After about an hour with Eddy, I was pretty tired, so it was a
good thing Coach called him aside to work with some younger
students. Jake was working with some other blue belts, so I
told him to let me know when he was ready to go, and I went over
to work the bags for a while.
Jake and I went back to my house to clean up. I guess, if he
was gay and afraid of being outed, it kind of made sense that he
might act pretty shy. Instead of changing like I normally
would, I got my street clothes and went to use Dillon and
Linda’s bathroom, and left him to use mine.
I splurged a bit to get us Ubered to the big mall outside of
town, but it was worth it. Not only did they have exactly what
I’d been looking for as my last two gifts, but they had several
really good places to eat lunch, and, as we were leaving, we
found a place called the Pepper Palace. Jake laughed, but he
went in with me.
I saw two people working in the store when we went in. There
was some lady behind the register, but when the door dinged,
this guy turned around, smiled, and said hello.
My knees went weak.
I explained I was just looking, since anything else I wanted to
do would probably cause trouble for us both. However, my
attention definitely shifted back to shopping as I looked
around. I ended up buying marinated mushrooms, jalapeño olives,
a t-shirt, and a hat for myself, and added a jar of mild black
bean and corn salsa that I thought Hilde and her family would
enjoy.
As I moved to check out, that same young man, who actually
didn’t look much older than me, explained that, if I bought five
items, I could get a free item of lesser price free. I
explained to him that I was sending a Christmas Gift to my dear
friend back home who’d taught me most of what I knew about
cooking. He thought that was delightful, and helped me pick out
a brisket rub that he assured me wasn’t too spicy, but was very
definitely authentic Texan.
After that, Jake and I finally made it out of the mall.
The great thing was, there were a couple of big Christmas events
going on nearby, and they actually had a Christmas shuttle
running, so we could get around.
We had some privacy on the shuttle ride, so I turned to him.
“Jake, you know you’re my friend, don’t you?”
He looked at me.
“Of course, I do. You’re mine, too.”
“I’m just… Sometimes you seem... sad. I just want you to know…”
I looked at him. If it had been anyone else, especially knowing
what I knew, I would have touched him, but I also knew enough
about him not to do that. Instead, I reached over, tapped his
leg with my fist, then returned my hand to my lap.
“If you ever need to talk about anything, I’m here. Even if I
can’t help you, I can at least listen.”
Jake looked at me, then looked out the window. After a minute,
he learned over and bumped my shoulder with his own. He stayed
leaning against me for just a moment, before he replied.
“I appreciate that, Sieger,” he told me. “A lot.”
Once at the hotel where the event was hosted, we got hot
chocolate and walked around the ice sculptures until time for
Linda to pick us up.
Linda and Dillon had shipped packages to us many times, and
they’d helped me with the paperwork for my Christmas gifts, so I
was all ready to go. Linda pulled up, and I took my package in.
They reviewed the paperwork, charged me enough to make me
worried about my allowance, and promised it would be there by
Julaften.
At home, Jake got his stuff ready for his dad to pick him up,
and I dipped into my closet, pulling out a medium sized box.
“Gledelig Jul,” I told him.
“I don’t have yours… Are those… Santa Clauses?” he asked with a
smile.
“They’re nisser,” I explained. “Christmas gnomes. I can’t
believe I found this paper. They are kind of like Santa, but
there isn’t just one of them.”
Jake laughed.
“I’ve never heard of Christmas gnomes before,” he said, shaking
his head. “I don’t have yours with me.”
“That’s fine.”
“I’ll see you again before then, won't I?”
“At the gym.”
“Oh. You don’t think we could…”
“I’d love to, Jake, but I have plans the rest of the week.”
He looked really disappointed, so I went on.
“Jake… You’re welcome to come, but Adam’s going to be there both
days.”
“Oh,” he repeated in a small voice.
“I don’t think he’d mind if you came. I don’t know if
tomorrow’s good, because we’re playing Risk, and I already have
six players, but Jim is taking us ice skating Thursday…”
“Thanks for asking,” he replied after a minute. “I’ll think
about it. Why don’t you keep my gift until I can give you
yours?”
I agreed and took it back.
Just in case, I called Adam and told him what had happened. He
agreed it would be fine, but checked with his dad just in case.
I told Jim I’d even pay for Jake. He told me not to be an
idiot.
Funny how having your intelligence insulted can give you kind of
a warm, fuzzy feeling. For a minute, he’d sounded just like
Jan.
Dillon still had to work the next day, but Linda was off. She
slept in, but when I got back from the gym, she and I ran to do
the grocery shopping. She and Dillon were used to their main
Christmas celebration being the evening before, with her family,
which was actually a pretty Norwegian way of doing things. The
three of us had decided that I would go with them for Julaften…
Christmas Eve, and we’d do our own gift exchange on Christmas
morning, which was more traditional for the U.S. I was also
going to prepare ribbe for Christmas lunch, and she would handle
the sides. I had intended to make risengrynsgrøt to take to her
family's dinner, but she also wanted to make marzipan, which is
something I’d done with Mamma every season for years.
I was waiting for the Risk players to start arriving when my
phone rang. Since it was Jake, I made time to take the call.
“Hey, Jake,” I answered.
“Hey. Adam just called me.”
“He did?”
“He asked if I wanted to go ice skating. Did you tell him to?”
“No. I did call to ask if it would be okay if you went with us,
in case you changed your mind.”
He was quiet a moment.
“Thank you.”
“Vær så god,” I replied.
“You know, I’m getting used to you doing that.”
“Unnskyld,” I answered with a smile.
Jake laughed.
“Anyway, Dad said I can go. Can I come home with you after gym
tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
“See you then.”
“See you then, Jake.”
#Post#: 30457--------------------------------------------------
Re: All-American Boy
By: Jack Date: February 24, 2025, 11:07 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I’m glad Dillon and Linda were both off work the next day,
because it was raining and only about eight degrees. As much as
I tease the Texans, that was just a little bit too chilly for
me.
“Dillon’s cleaning their bathroom and bedroom,” I explained to
Jake, “so we’ll both have to use mine. Do you want to shower
first?”
“You don’t mind?”
I’d been selecting the clothes I’d wear skating, and I turned
around to lay them on the bed, but I was a bit surprised to see
that Jake had already started undressing. It was only his shirt
he’d taken off, but I couldn’t remember ever seeing him even
that undressed, outside the locker room a couple of times. I’d
been working out with him long enough to know he must have a
good body, but he looked good. He had fair skin, nice pecs, and
enough definition to his smooth belly to suggest he could have a
six pack if he worked just a bit harder.
I turned back to the closet before he thought I was staring.
There was probably a metaphor in that someplace.
“Not at all, as long as you don’t take all day.”
“I’ll make it quick then,” he said, picking up his backpack and
heading off.
While Jake was in the shower, I laid his gift on my bed. When I
came back from my own shower, there was another package lying
beside it.
“Merry Christmas,” he said with a shy smile.
“Gledelig Jul,” I replied the same way.
He just watched, so I picked up my gift.
“Do you want to open them now?”
He nodded, so I unwrapped mine.
“It’s not much,” he warned me.
“It’s perfect,” I said, pulling it out of its box. It was a
medium-blue t-shirt that said, ‘Welcome to Texas’, with the
state’s outline - filled with red and white stripes and white
stars on a blue field - over the heart.
“You really like it?” he asked.
I had to smile.
“Yes, I really like it. It’s very thoughtful. Now, open
yours.”
It wasn’t as personal as what he’d gotten me, but it was the
first thing I thought of when I decided to get him a Christmas
gift.
“Thank you!” he exclaimed, as he pulled the gym bag out of the
box, and stretched it open.
Since I’d known him, Jake had been carrying his gym gear in a
ratty old backpack. I’d found this new one pretty cheap, but it
had a ton of room for everything he’d need, and he could
probably carry homework in it as well, when we were in school.
“You’re welcome,” I assured him.
“You even said it in English,” he laughed, and I joined him.
“Jake?”
He looked at me as I stood up.
“I know things are different in America, but may I hug you?”
He suddenly looked nervous, but he nodded, then stood.
It was totally chaste. I kept my hands on his upper back, our
cheeks weren’t even touching, and our waists were apart.
Despite that, it felt like he was clinging to me, and I held him
snuggly until I felt his arms relax around me.
Jake had finished dressing while I was in the shower, and we
made small talk as I finished getting ready, tying my shoes just
in time for the doorbell to ring.
It was wonderful to go skating. I stayed with Adam and Jake at
first. Once it was obvious they were getting along okay, I took
off and started pushing myself. After just a couple of minutes,
a couple of guys about my age came up to me, and we ended up
racing until an employee made us stop. It was a great time. As
hard as it is to believe, they actually have youth hockey teams
in Texas. Mike and David were there with a couple of girls, who
were kind of mad at them for taking off to race, and the girls
ended up spending time with Jake and Adam, while Mike, David,
and I were a bit more aggressive. I laughed to myself,
wondering if the girls were just trying to make their boyfriends
jealous, or if they were in for some disappointment.
I think I could have stayed all day, but the rest of them were
complaining about being hungry, so I reluctantly left. Jim
insisted on taking me to a place called Five Guys Burgers And
Fries, when he learned I’d never even heard of it. I have to
admit their food is awesome, but their ‘small bacon
cheeseburger’ was big enough to feed a family of four. The
small fries seemed like an overreaction to the potato famine. I
mean, I already knew American servings were huge, but that place
was just ridiculous. Delicious, but ridiculous.
On the way home, we spoke of the day, and winter sports, and
Christmas plans. We didn’t talk of the future, or of getting
together again, but I thought maybe we’d be able to. It had
certainly gone well, and Jake seemed to be really happy.
I didn’t think anything of it, when Jim dropped Jake off first.
However, as soon as Jake had gone inside, Adam turned to me.
“We’re leaving for my grandparents early in the morning.”
“I know,” I replied, a bit unsure why he was telling me again.
“The thing is, I’ve finished packing. If you want, I could hang
out at your house for a while and watch Cinderella with you.”
I laughed. Then I reached over, took his hand in mine, and
brought it to my lips for a quick kiss.
“I love you,” I told him.
I felt, more than saw, a surprised reaction from Jim.
“Fy Faen! Beklager, Adam.”
“It’s okay,” Adam rushed to assure me. “He knows.”
“Thank God.”
“I don’t make a big deal of it, but I’m not really in the closet
either.”
“Sorry to panic you,” Jim added. “I just didn’t realize this
was a date.”
“It’s not,” I replied. “Adam is my… vennen min. My.. very good
friend. However, when I had to move here, I had to leave my
boyfriend.”
Jim nodded, then glanced over his shoulder.
“I’m sorry about that,” he replied, meeting my eyes just a
second before glancing back at the road.
“Det går bra,” I assured him, then paused a second. “It is
okay?”
“So,” Jim asked, after a moment’s quiet, “why did you laugh
about Adam watching Cinderella with you?”
“It’s in Norwegian.”
“Your English is better than my Norwegian.”
I shrugged. I thought about mentioning Grevinnen og
Hovmesteren, another traditional film which was in English and
was also on YouTube, but the truth was, it was Lillejulaften,
and I kind of wanted to be alone.
“Thank you, though,” I told him. “It really is the thought that
counts. Which reminds me!”
I reached into the bag I’d taken for my skates, and pulled out a
box, this one wrapped in red foil paper, a green ribbon, and a
golden bow that Dillon had helped me with.
“Dad?”
“When I stop,” Jim answered. “Just open yours for now.”
Adam ripped the paper from the box without mercy, then lifted
the lid.
“It’s beautiful,” he said.
“Really? You like it?”
“I love it,” he assured me, holding up the bracelet.
“I thought it would bring out your eyes.”
He held it up beside his face. It was gunmetal grey with panels
of Koa wood, and it really did bring out the brown of his eyes.
“Here,” he said, holding it out to me. “Help me put it on.”
Jim must have noticed me struggling a bit, because he turned on
the overhead light. It went on easily after that.
“It is beautiful,” Jim said, making me realize we’d pulled up to
a traffic light. “And it looks great on you.”
Jim quickly handed a wrapped package, that was pretty obviously
a comic trade paperback, back to Adam, then started to drive
again.
“It’s nothing much,” Adam said shyly.
“You know me, Adam. I’m sure I’ll love it,” I told him as I
started unwrapping it.
The light was still on, so it was easy to see the cover once the
paper was undone.
“Frankenstein Mobster?” I asked incredulously. “It sounds
awesome.”
“It is,” he replied with a smile.
“It’ll go on the top of my reading stack,” I promised him.
We pulled into my house, and Jim put the car in park.
“Thank you for the ride, and dinner,and everything, Jim.”
“You’re welcome, Sieger. I had a great time.”
“Could you turn off the light and look forward for a minute
please.”
Jim sighed dramatically, turned off the light, then theatrically
covered his eyes.
“Merry Christmas, Adam,” I said, cupping my hand around the back
of his head and pulling him towards me.
“God Jul,” he replied as our lips came together.
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