I Can Wait (ap ar musc)
by MS_alberta
Thank god. The end of another school year. Principal Rhodes thought to himself. He wasn’t really exhausted from the job, just all the events at the end of this year; prom, graduation, SAT’s, they all took a lot out of him these days, more than he wanted to admit. In fact, he was quiet proud of his High School, which had the highest graduation rates in his district as well as many other neighboring ones.
He had just finished with the graduation ceremony, and the crews were nearly done taking down the stage. He had a solid three day weekend to look forward to, assuming he could get out of school auditorium with out being cornered by a parent or teacher. He ducked behind the stage curtains and went looking for an exit behind all the old stage props and costumes. He knew he was close, he quickened his pace and turned a corner and came face to face with a boy. The boy leaned against a doorsill as his eyes began creeping up Principal Rhodes’ body. The boy was bare chested and wore jeans low and un-buttoned on his body; a tool belt around his slim waste threatened to rob him of his decency. Principal Rhodes knew the look the boy was giving him; he had seen it on dozens of his students, but never had it been directed at him by someone so young, and never in his life had he received that look from another male. “Are-Are you part of the stage crew?” he choked out. The boy just continued to smile and map Principal Rhodes’ body with his eyes, as if no one had said anything. The boy stepped closer, almost eliminating the distance between their bodies. Principal Rhodes could feel the heat emanating off the boy’s exposed skin, even through his own clothes. The boy wasn’t short, probably around 5’10, but compared to Principal Rhodes’ 6’3 body, few people ever meet him eye to eye. The boy closed the gap but left his hands at his side. Their bodies made contact; thighs, pelvis, stomach, chest. The boy leaned his head forward and to the left, with the Principal mirroring him. The boy leaned forward and caught Principal Rhodes’ mouth with his own. Principal Rhodes’ would have pulled away, but this kiss was entirely different from anything he had ever experienced. The moment contact was made, he felt the world open up to him; suddenly he knew the passion, the pressure, and the pleasure that each of his student’s must feel daily. He had forgotten what that torturous need was like, and how it pervaded every student he had ever known, and decades ago, even himself. Somewhere, he heard a voice; it was so soft, but clearer than anything ever said to him “I can wait”. The sentence echoed back and forth in his mind and never seemed to fade. It took a moment to realize there was nothing pressing back against his lips or his body. Principal Rhodes looked around and saw no one. He was out of breath and sweating. He quickly made his way to the back door. When he stepped outside, it wasn’t the cool evening that greeted him, but an overcast, gray morning. He checked his watch; he had just lost 12 hours to a kiss from a boy. He quickly got into his car and drove home.
He spent the weekend trying to push it out of his mind, and probably would have succeeded in convincing himself that the whole incident was just his tired old brain playing tricks on him, except that each time he thought about that kiss, he felt a glimmer of that powerful longing again.
The weekend passed, and Principal Rhodes went back to his school to oversee the summer school program and to begin preparations for the up coming school year. Everything seemed normal, except for the occasional intrusion of the memory of that boy and the feeling that came with it. The month ended and July began, promising to be a hot month, surpassed only by the August heat waiting on the horizon. Mid-July and Principal Rhodes’ students were almost glad to have summer school waiting for them, mostly because summer school meant climate controlled classrooms for at least half the day. It was noon on the second Friday of the month and Principal Rhodes was considering going for a run on the school track, now that the summer school day was over. He walked over to the Boy’s locker-room to ask one of the coaches if they had any spare running clothes. He barely got past the door when the memory hit him hard. He stumbled and made his way to the back of the locker-room away from prying eyes. The kiss overtook him again; he knew his body was responding to the phantom kiss as he felt sweat begin to form across his forehead and his slacks grow tight. He murmured “no, please… stop… not here…” as he felt it smash against his body again.
He woke up on his own bed, without a shred of clothing on him. The house was quiet, and no lights were on. He shifted the curtains and saw it was dusk outside. He dare not go outside. I’ve lost another day! He thought to himself, as he walked naked into his kitchen and turned on the small TV there. He pulled out a stool and sat with his head in his hands and tried to figure out what was going on. Why am I still naked? he thought to himself, and started back to his room to find something to wear. He could hear the news beginning from his darkened room, and it scared Principal Rhodes more than he thought it could. The anchorman announced his program as the Sunday evening news. Two days!?! How did I lose two days!?! He continued fumbling in the dark for something to wear when he felt a wrapper crunch and crinkle beneath him. He got up and finally turned on a light; on his bedroom floor were condom wrappers, and on his bed stand was a picture of a young man flexing, in what he recognized as his school’s weight room. He stepped closer to his nightstand and picked up the picture. He was positive, it was his school. He put the picture away in his night stand, and bent down to collect the condom wrappers. As he bent down, he saw a piece of clothes partially hidden beneath his mattress. It was a pair of shorts and a pair of socks. He recognized them instantly as the clothes the boy was wearing in the picture. He picked them up and he could smell them without bringing them to his face; they smelled of sweat and sex. His memory opened up to him, and forced images to his mind’s eye. He knew this boy’s body; he knew every curve, muscle, and hair. He knew the hands, and the arms, and the chest. He knew the boy’s legs and feet. He knew the boy’s taste, his smell, his sex. “Oh God! What’s happening to me?” He cried out, while clutching the clothes to his chest. The smell came at him again, but now other memories took shape. It wasn’t just this boy in the picture; it was the boy from the stage as well. He saw them, here, in his own bed. He was here, with the boy in the picture, and the boy from the stage, all three of them, in his bed… together. The smell, the memories had aroused him. Principal Rhodes began to cry as he saw his organ pulsing and throbbing. He cried even more as saw his hand move down to pleasure himself to the thought of those two boys with him.
He woke up the next morning, still naked, and still clutching the clothes to his body. He lifted them up and remembered that he had used them to wipe his belly clean after last night. He wanted to burn them, he wanted to burn the picture, but something kept him from it. He flipped the picture over; he had missed this last night. Scrawled on the back was the message, “I can wait”.
He got dressed and went to work. He didn’t know what was happening to him, but until he figured it out, he needed to get away before the school year began. He was afraid of what his actions, if they were ever revealed, might do to the school. He quietly began the process of finding a replacement for himself.
The rest of July and the beginning of August wore heavily on Principal Rhodes. He would catch himself thinking about the two boys often now. He could somewhat rationalize that the one in the picture looked over eighteen, but the boy from the stage was probably underage. He had searched the school’s records to see if there was any record of either boy, which there was none. He brought the photo of the older boy to the coaches to see if they recognized him. They did; they said they had recognized him. He had come to work out and told the coaches he was probably going to be a student here in the Fall. The coaches thought it was kind of strange; the kid looked like he was already done with school, but he told them he’d be here as a freshman.
This news tore at Principal Rhodes. Now he knew that the boy in the photo was underage, and on top of that, would be attending his school. Principal Rhodes stepped up his efforts to find a replacement. If the boy in the photo accused him of something, it would ruin the school.
By mid-August he had found a replacement, but that was the least of his worries. It was the second Friday of the month, and he was afraid of what that might mean for him if he was around anyone. He took the day off and went to the beach.
As soon as he parked his car he realized what an awful idea it was to go to the beach. There were cars everywhere, it was August now, no more summer school. There were people for as far as the eye could see. He stepped back into his car and was about to turn the ignition when his body shuddered at the sudden attack. NO! he pleaded, but it kept on; permeating every inch of his body, and every speck of his soul. His back arched in pleasure, and then all went black.
He woke up naked, in the back seat of his car, still parked at the beach. There was sand everywhere. He couldn’t find any clothes, but there was a towel. He wrapped it around his waist and got out of the back seat of his car. It was morning, but he knew better than to assume what morning. He climbed into the driver’s seat, and turned on the radio to see what day it really was. The radio said it was Saturday, and for a moment, Principal Rhodes felt hope, until the date followed. He had just lost an entire week. He leaned his head against the steering wheel. And then he saw it; another picture, in the window to his odometer. This boy was even younger. Blond hair, open shirt, and holding a boogie board on the beach; on this beach. He knew he must have been here, on this beach, with this boy. He knew they were in his car together; on the dash he saw the boy’s clothes. The trunks, the boxers, the shirt and the glasses. He realized he was wearing the boy’s necklace. He didn’t have to check, he knew the boogie board would be in his trunk. He didn’t fight the memories this time; he let them slowly drift into him. He was with this new boy, and the one from the stage. They were on this beach. They spent a week here; driving up and down the coast, so as not to get noticed by the lifeguards, and eventually they ended up back in the same place. They had been together, in the water, on the sand, and his car; the three of them. He started his car and drove home.
When he arrived home, he walked in, and listened to his messages. He only had one; it was from his secretary at the school. She said she was hoping he was having a good time on his vacation and that the new guy he had been training was working out great. His replacement wasn’t a surprise to him, it was the fact that the school thought he was on vacation. He must have called them sometime and told them that. He couldn’t be sure; there was so much he couldn’t remember.
He called the school back and asked his replacement to take on his responsibilities full time. Principal Rhodes moved up his schedule, he had sold most of his things already and his house had a buyer lined up. He had an account set up and was leaving the work to the realtors. Whenever the house finally sold, the money would be deposited. He spent the rest of August trying to remember what had happened; he had long since given up hope of stopping whatever was happening. He was told he’d need to be on hand to sign off his house; the appointment was for next month. He stayed longer than he wanted to in his town. It was September now, and school would be starting soon. He signed away his home, and was almost ready to leave when the school secretary left him a message saying that he still had numerous personal items left on the grounds. It was time again; it was the second Friday of the month. He tried to call back, to tell her just to throw it all away, but there was no answer. Just this last thing, and I’ll be done. He drove back to the school, quickly snuck back into his office and found a box waiting for him. He walked back outside and loaded it into his car; everything he owned was in that car.
“I’m done waiting!”
Rhodes looked up out of his car. The boy from the stage; he was here, in the parking lot. He saw the boy running. Rhodes left his car behind and took off after him on foot. Past house after house, through backyards, around the block. Until the boy had lead him right back to the school grounds.
“You’re tired, I know. I’m sorry it had to be done like this, but you kept resisting”, the boy said as he took off his own shirt and motioned for Rhodes to do the same. Rhodes complied and panted back, “What are you doing to me? Why me?”
“Because you’ve lead a good life, but a lonely one. You know the mistakes you made, but what makes you even more worthy is that you’ve actually learned from them.” He answered.
Rhodes shouted back, “Yes, I’m tired! I’m tired of chasing you! I’m tired of not knowing where I’m going to wake up! I’m tired of not knowing what I’ve done!”
“Then maybe it’s time to stop being tired; let it happen this time, welcome it.” The boy said cooly. Rhodes felt it again, he knew it was coming over him, but this time, his own mind charged forward to meet it, to find it and embrace it. To make that passion his own. He felt it shock his mind, his body tensed, his hairs stood on end, his blood boiled. He felt sweat dripping down his neck, along his back. With one final exhausted moan, he knew it was over. He was still here, time had not escaped him, he was still in control. He knew the boy was behind him now. The boy came up behind him, wrapped his arms around him, jumped, and planted a kiss on Rhodes neck. Rhodes caught him in mid-air and held on. “You resisted so much; the change was never complete, and never permanent. Each time we got a little closer. But I wanted you to remember, so I left you a picture and my note.”
“But I remember being with two other people…” said Rhodes.
“That was your mind fighting it, separating your memory into two parts; do you see why you knew those other boys so well. It was because they were you, the whole time, the other boy was you.” The boy explained.
“So this… this is me now, forever?”
“More than you know; you won’t age, you won’t get sick, you won’t die. And if you’re ever ready, or find someone who you think is deserving enough, you can share this gift, too.”
“Wow, this is a lot to take in.”
“It’s alright. You have all the time in the world now. Come, I want you to meet the others. They all have their own stories to tell you.”
END