Hookup List

by J. S. Abilene

  “What?” I said idly as I watched Sadie escape with my target. “Wait, JV? I don’t think so.”

  “Come on,” Dylan said with a hint of frustration in his voice. “Don’t be a douche. Put in the work and you’ll earn your spot. Show up at the regular time, got it?”

  I looked at Dylan’s floppy hair and goofy face. The guy was just trying to impress my brother by showing he could manage me. Fine, I would go along for now, but only until I could prove to Coach Hayworth what a mistake he had made. “Alright,” I said. “I’ll be there.”

  A big grin spread across Dylan’s face. “Excellent,” he said. He smacked me on the shoulder playfully like we were old friends and walked away.

  The rest of the day passed with painful slowness. Soon the prospect of playing with the JV guys grew on me. At least I would get a chance to show off. By the time I got to the field after school I was raring to go.

  The JV coach, Coach Dayton, was nothing like Coach Hayworth. Dayton was young, mellow, and seemed to have a smile perpetually on his face. There was no endurance training with him. We went right to the game.

  I couldn’t have been happier. Of course, the JV guys offered no real competition. There were a few stellar freshmen who had been moved up from the freshman team who were pretty speedy and aggressive but they didn’t have the physical size to compete with me. It quickly became clear that I was the dominant force on the field.

  Coach Dayton watched me play with excitement. When he finally blew his whistle to give us a break he gave a mighty sigh. “You are the best player I have ever seen come through the program, which means you won’t be on my team for long,” he said.

  Unlike the varsity guys, the JV guys instantly seemed to understand that I wasn’t competition for them. I was too good. This put me in the realm of being worthy of hero worship. That was something I was used to and comfortable with. Soon I was socializing, generously clapping a guy on the back and giving him a moment of my attention before moving on to someone else. The guys couldn’t get enough of me. Young guys who look up to older guys are almost like girls who like a guy. By the time practice ended they were practically falling over themselves to talk with me, show me how cool they were, and be around me.

  My attention, however, was elsewhere. The girls’ varsity team was practicing on the field next to us and I had been glancing over at the girls from time to time. I picked out Morgan easily. She was a dynamic and aggressive player. I liked that. I also liked the way her legs looked in her small soccer shorts. They were long, tan, and perfectly smooth. I imagined shivers of pleasure going through her as I gently brushed my hand against the soft skin on her inner thigh. She would be lying down, of course, and I gently stroke her thigh as I pulled my body on top of hers. She would have her shirt off, naturally, and I would kiss her navel and then nuzzle my face against her neck as I reached behind to undo her bra and... well, why was I wasting time imagining it all when I could be doing it? I had noticed when the girls took a break that Morgan was using a pink athletic duffel bag. That gave me an idea to get some one-on-one time with her.

  “Okay, see you tomorrow boys,” I said to the JV guys and walked away from their disappointed faces. I headed directly towards the girls’ field just as they finished practices and were heading back to their bags. I made sure Morgan saw me and then, without breaking stride, I scooped up her duffel bag, slung it over my shoulder, and strolled back towards the school.

  “Hey!” someone yelled at me. I knew it was Morgan but I continued walking like I hadn’t heard anything. A second later she ran around in front of me and planted a hand firmly on my chest to stop me in my tracks. Score. She had touched me. Now I just had to change the nature of the encounter into a flirtatious one.

  “Can I help you?” I asked innocently.

  “Uh, yeah,” Morgan said angrily. “You can give me my bag back.”

  “Hmmm? Sorry? Your bag?”

  “Yeah, jerk,” she said as she grabbed the bag and wrenched it away from me. “This is mine.”

  I stared at the bag in confusion. “Oh I’m sorry,” I said. “I could have sworn that was my bag.”

  Morgan stared at me with incredulity. “Your bag? It’s hot pink. You have a hot pink bag?”

  “Maybe,” I said. I smiled at her. “I guess I must have left it back at my place. Do you want to come home with me and see it? I’m pretty sure it’s in my bedroom.”

  Morgan’s expression and posture changed ever so slightly. She pursed her lips a little more and her eyes flickered up and down as though she was looking me over. I had seen her give me that look earlier this morning, which meant she was giving me a second look. She shifted her body weight back on one foot and folded her arms. To another person the changes might have been overlooked. To a hunter like me, however, this was a clear signal that Morgan was interested in me. I had her attention. Now I needed to close.

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “You’re not my type.” She didn’t walk away, however.

  “How do you know?” I asked. “What’s your type?”

  “I like football players,” Morgan said. “You know, real men with actual muscles, not male lawn fairies like you soccer boys. My last boyfriend played football and my dad and brothers played. I love being around the sport. Can’t get enough of it. That includes my men.”

  “Oh, okay, well that’s good because you’re not my type either,” I said.

  Morgan’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?” she asked dangerously.

  “Well, no offense, but you seem a bit too... I don’t know, what’s the word? Innocent, I guess,” I said. “I like girls who are a little more experienced and who know what they want. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find some really nice football guy who is a virgin and wants to hold hands with you and maybe after a while he’ll let you kiss him and you can learn about all that kind of stuff. I just don’t want to waste time being the teacher, you know? Sorry.”

  “Hold the phone,” Morgan said. “Are you serious with me right now? You’re sorry? I don’t think so. I’ve been with plenty of guys, Mr. Pretty Boy.”

  “Seriously, it’s not a big deal,” I said. “I know I probably intimidate you. There’s nothing wrong with waiting for the right guy to come along. Find a nice football player – I’m guessing you’ll have to go for a heavy defensive lineman or a scrawny little wide receiver, but that’s fine – and learn how to kiss. By the time you get to college you might even be ready to do some over-the-pants grinding.”

  Morgan glared at me. “I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work,” she said. “The rest of the soccer girls might think you’re hot stuff but I see right through you. Sadie warned me about you. You can take those pretty blue eyes and try them out on another girl. And for the record, lots of football boys are interested in me. The quarterback and homecoming king was pretty interested in me last year when I was making out with him.”

  “Oh sure,” I pretended to scoff. “Now you’re just making up stories.”

  “I did,” Morgan said firmly. “I made out with Graham Knight, the team quarterback. All of us varsity girls did.”

  “Sure, sure,” I said. “And just what do you call making out? A quick peck on the cheek at some sort of school kissing booth? Lame.”

  That pushed Morgan over the edge. “Okay mister,” she said. “I’ll show you exactly what I did and we’ll see who the inexperienced one is.”

  Morgan grabbed the front of my tee-shirt and pulled me over to the woods that surrounded the soccer fields. I could hear some girls from the soccer team cat-calling and I smiled. It was clear to everyone what was going to happen. I hope those catcalls drove Sadie crazy.

  As soon as we were out of sight. Morgan pushed me up against the trunk of a tree. Then she hooked a finger inside the waistband of my shorts.

  “This is how I started with Graham,” Morgan said with a confident smile. She started to slip my shorts down. Then she leaned in and whispered in my ear, “This isn’t
making you uncomfortable, is it?”

  “Not at all,” I said.

  “Okay,” Morgan said. With that, she pushed my shorts down. They landed at my feet. She glanced down at the front of my spandex shorts. “Not bad,” she admitted grudgingly.

  “I know,” I said cockily.

  Morgan rolled her eyes. “Boys. The only way to get you to shut up is to kiss you.”

  “Damn straight,” I said.

  I leaned forward and met Morgan’s lips. She was a forceful and adventurous kisser. As soon as our lips touched she slipped her tongue inside my mouth. I enjoyed the sensation. Even better, she pressed her body firmly against mine. I loved the way her breasts brushed invitingly against my hard chest. I put my hand on her hips as we kissed. She was amazingly fit. I felt the hard ridges of hip bones with my thumbs. There was no extra padding there. I also loved the way she smelled. How could girls work out hard and still smell so nice and feminine? It was amazing.

  Ungettable girl number one was just checked off the hook up list. Sorry Sadie.

  “Last year with Graham I did this,” Morgan said between kisses. I felt her hand slide down between my legs. “You can handle this, right? I’m not going too fast for you, pretty boy?” She began to kiss my neck.

  “No problem at all,” I said, trying not to sound breathless. Morgan now had my undivided attention. I felt every part of her hand with distinct clarity as she familiarized herself intimately with my no-longer-private parts. Unlike a lot of girls, she definitely knew what she was doing, expertly teasing me.

  I rested back against the tree and let Morgan have her fun. Soon enough she would not be able to resist taking the next step beyond teasing. I imagined how the evening would progress. I was in no rush. There was plenty of fun to be had. Perhaps we could start with...

  Suddenly four decidedly masculine hands seized me. My eyes flew open in surprise as Morgan yelped and darted away. Dylan, Noah, and a handful of other varsity guys were staring back at me.

  “Nate,” Dylan said, sounding far too pleased with himself for comfort. “I just realized that you are a member of Lakeville men’s soccer now that you’re playing with the JV guys and we haven’t had a chance to give you a proper initiation. This seems like the perfect time.”

  “Perfect time? I was making out,” I protested.

  “Really? I didn’t notice,” Dylan said.

  ”I hate you,” I said.

  “Good,” Dylan replied. “Just make sure to tell your brother. Like I said, I owe him.”

  “Okay boys, you know the drill, let’s dye him and tie him,” Noah chirped happily. “Who’s got the duct tape?”

  Bryson London gave me evil look that sent chills down my spine. “Right here,” he said, holding up a full roll of duct tape. “Let’s do this.”

  Chapter 6 – Help From An Insolent Little Squirt

  Those monster piles of human excrement. Those asinine jerks of unimaginable idiocy. I wanted to punch every one of them in the face. Unfortunately, I couldn’t, for my arms were duct taped to my sides and my body was taped firmly to the goal post of the football field.

  Morgan had ditched me and was nowhere to be seen. The varsity guys had taken my shirt and coated my body in ridiculous red and black paint. Bryson in particular took pleasure from slapping my chest and back so that black hand prints were all over me. The guys then put duct tape across my mouth, taped me to the post, and left me. All the other after-school activities teams seemed to know the drill because no one else bothered to stop and let me free.

  I was hoping that the soccer girls would stay far away but it seemed that Sadie was not about to pass up this opportunity. She came marching over with her team and they spent nearly half an hour teasing me and helping the guys apply paint. I think they just liked having an excuse to touch my body but it still rankled that they saw me like this. I had hooked up with several of those girls and now they saw me tied up like some chump. All I could do was act like I was cool with it.

  Several of the girls wanted to let me go after all was said and done but Bryson was having none of that. He made sure I stayed taped up until all the girls had left. To my great annoyance, Dylan and Sadie backed him up.

  “This is good for you,” Sadie said once only she, Bryson, and Dylan were left. She held up her phone. “Your brother will want to see this,” she said and took a photo. “Cute. You look just like your brother in red.”

  “Well, I suppose we should let him go now,” Dylan said. “His parents are going to wonder where he is if we leave him taped up all night. It’s too bad, though. A little more time here might help change his attitude.”

  “I’m going to stay and practice for another half hour or so,” Bryson said. “I can let him go when I’m done.”

  “It’s settled then,” Sadie said happily. She walked up to me and kissed my cheek. “I’m glad we had a chance to have this talk. Stay away from the girls now and focus on school.” With that, she and Dylan left.

  Bryson watched them go with a smile on his face. That smile grew into an evil sneer as he turned back to me. “So, you thought you were pretty bad ass, didn’t you, kid?” he said. “You come from your private school and think you’re going to take over. I know how guys like your work. Well, I bet you’re not feeling so hot right now, are you? You know, you still owe me for screwing up at practice the other day. I tell you what. You can make it up to me by helping with my soccer shot. You just stay right there and I’ll see if I can hit you. It’ll be some good target practice.”

  Bryson took a few soccer balls that were lying around and backed up about twenty yards. Then he started shooting them at me as hard as he could. The first one missed altogether, which me chuckle behind the duct tape over my mouth. That only made him angrier. The second ball hit me directly in the stomach. I doubled over as the wind got knocked out of me and would have fallen if the tape had not held me up.

  “Score!” Bryson yelled happily.

  His third shot hit me in the face. My head snapped back and hit the pole behind my head. Stars danced across my line of vision.

  “Stomach, head... I’m pretty good,” Bryson said. “This is a lot of fun. How about we...”

  “Hey!” someone yelled. “Stop it!” Bryson looked past me. I couldn’t turn around to see what he was looking at but whatever it was caused him to snort.

  “Looks like you’ve got a champion,” Bryson said to me. “Don’t worry, we just having some fun,” he yelled back.

  A little girl suddenly materialized beside me. She placed herself directly in front of me. I could only see the back of her but I could tell that she had a thin, waif-like body, was just over five feet tall, and had long blond hair that was in a pony tail.

  Bryson started to laugh. “This is priceless,” he said. “It’s just a prank, girl. Take it easy.”

  “It’s time for you to go,” the girl said firmly.

  “This is too much,” Bryson said. “Okay, whatever, I’m out. Nate, have fun with your little friend.”

  Bryson left and the girl turned to face me. She was pretty but very young looking – too young for me to be interested. She barely looked old enough to be a freshman. I could not see any fat on her body at all. Her arms were so thin I thought I could encircle them by touching the tip of my index finger to my thumb. Her eyes were a pretty shade of blue, though, and she had a kind expression on her face.

  “This might hurt a little,” she said as she reached up and took hold of the tape across my mouth. She pulled it quickly off. I worked my lips back and forth a little to lessen the sting.

  “Thanks,” I said in my best nonchalant tone as the girl continued to untape me.

  “No problem,” she said. “I’m just sorry you had to go through that. Bullying can be extremely painful to endure.”

  “Oh, it wasn’t bullying, more of hazing really,” I said.

  “Uh-huh. Well, you’re red, but I guess whatever you want to call it is fine,” the girl said.

  She finished unwinding
the tape from around my body. I took a step forward and felt my chest, thankful that I didn’t have any hair there to rip off. I looked like a mess. The red and black paint had been smeared by the tape so that it looked like one hideous mixture.

  “What’s your name?” the girl asked.

  “Nate Cadwell,” I replied as I tried to wipe some of the paint off and then gave up. “Yours?”

  “Faith Reagan,” she said. “I would shake your hand but it’s got paint all over it. Nice to meet you, though.”

  “Yeah, likewise,” I said. “Well, thanks again.”

  I started walking up to the school. To my surprise and partial annoyance, Faith fell in step beside me.

  “It was lucky I found you,” she said. “I stayed late after cross-country practice ‘cause my brother wasn’t done with his run yet. Otherwise I never would have seen you.”

  My ears perked up a bit when she said that she was on the cross-country team. Trinity was on that team. “Are you a freshman?” I asked.

  The girl nodded. “I’m too young to drive so my brother gives me a ride after school,” she said.

  “So how are you liking high school so far?” I asked. “Is the cross-country team treating ya well? Some nice girls on it?”

  “Oh yes, I love it;” Faith said. “It seems a lot nicer than your soccer team, anyways.”

  I didn’t want to talk about that. “Trinity London is on your team, isn’t she?” I said as if the thought had suddenly occurred to me.

  Faith raised an eyebrow and gave me a sideways look. “Are you serious right now?” she asked.

  “What?” I said.

  “You’re red. Like, the color red. How am I the only one of us who sees this? You need to take a cold shower, sport. Trinity London is not happening for you. She’s way out of your league. Focus on the problems on hand, like how not to get taped to a pole again tomorrow.”

  I glanced at her. “You’re pretty bold for a pip-squeak,” I said.

  “Pip squeak? I’m one of the fastest girls on the team,” Faith said. “I bet you couldn’t keep up, fatty.”