Author: Thinking Horndog
Title: Second Best
Part: 028
Universe: Second Best
Summary: A full-length novel that follows several young couples and their
families through the period immediately preceding their Senior Prom.
Keywords: nosex

Keywords for full story:  F-solo, Ff-inc, M+F Ffm MF mf oral anal bd D/s Mg-
inc Fm-inc mm mmf rom MF-reluc

Chapter 28
Tough times

	Monday afternoon found Terry offering Jackie a ride home.  His car
was a hand-me-down, a somewhat beat-up Subaru station wagon.  While things
might have been worse a couple of decades in the past when such things were
huge, it still wasn't exactly a status symbol.  'On the other hand,' thought
Terry ruefully, as Jackie settled into the other front bucket, 'those older
crates had bench seats...'  The couple had hit it off well together on the
previous Thursday, but had had precious little time together - and no
privacy.  Terry's parents took a benign interest in his activities, but
hadn't quite realized that he was no longer 12 - and therefore had not
relaxed various restrictions placed upon him at a younger age to keep him
from getting in trouble with bigger kids.  Terry hadn't chafed under those
restrictions - until now.  Jackie's mother, fearful of the kind of trouble
Jackie's undeserved reputation might land her in, was also pretty
restrictive.  Dating was to be in a group - preferably all girls.  Both had
(unnecessary, due to their level of academic achievement) restrictions on
school night activities - the previous Thursday had been an exception for
them both.

	"Well, this is it."  Terry announced, waving vaguely at the wagon's
interior. "Not much..."

	Jackie looked around.  The back seat held a small cluster of books
on computer programming languages and electronics, while the rear cargo area
held an untidy pile of scrap computer parts. Terry had put up sun filtering
film on the rear deck windows to keep the upholstery from fading.  "Well, it
has possibilities..."

	"Huh?"  Terry's head popped up. He spun and gave the vehicle's rear
areas another, more critical examination.  'Ditch the spare parts, fold down
the seat, camping mattress - yeah...'  "Guess it does, doesn't it?"  He
smiled at Jackie, who smiled back.  "Okay, so where to?"

	Jackie directed him to her address, where they parked out front,
holding hands and staring into each other's eyes.  Jackie's mother,
Jennifer, had not yet arrived home from her job at a local clothing
manufacturer; Jackie was used to doing her homework solo before her mother's
arrival.  Both entertained the idea of doing homework together, but both
feared Jennifer's reaction to finding Jackie at home alone with a boy for
ANY purpose.  Nothing much was said; oddly, verbal communication between
them was apparently almost unnecessary.  When Terry announced, "We need a
project!", Jackie knew immediately that what Terry meant was that if they
could engineer a collaborative science project or something that they were
partnering on, it would offer an excuse to provide either set of parents for
going to each other's homes.  And while neither of them had any compunction
about engineering a project, neither of them gave any thought to lying about
it.

	"What type?" Jackie asked.

	"I dunno.  Chemistry?  DP?"

	"DP."  Jackie picked Data Processing because they had different lab
partners in Chemistry, and Mr. Sloane might smell something fishy.   Ms.
Hazeltine, the Data Processing teacher, was likely to approve a
collaborative project for extra credit, and had no static partnership
structure in her class.  Besides, she was a kindred soul; even if she
detected the underlying reason, she would turn a blind eye - or maybe even
help!

	They communed a bit longer, then Jackie leaned over and gave Terry a
long kiss, cradling his face in her hands, then turned and exited the car.
Terry accepted the implied dismissal graciously, saying "I'll call you!" and
drove off.

	  When Terry arrived home 45 minutes late and unaccountably pleased
with himself, an alarm began to ring in Ellen Michaels' brain.  "You're
late.  Where were you?" she asked, studiedly casual.

	Terry sensed a trap.  "I took a friend home..." he replied, poker
faced.

	Ellen knew now that SOMETHING was up - and that she wasn't going to
be able to get it out of him.  So she responded with a noncommittal "Oh,
OK.", and allowed him to escape to his room.  Later, after he had finished
his homework, she watched him go out to the car and remove his 'spares',
storing them in his corner of the garage.  She managed to find an excuse to
go outside, arriving in time to officiate as he tested folding down the back
seat.  "Looking to carry something large?"

	Terry's face went blank, and his brain went into overdrive.  After a
moment, but not quite so long as a pregnant pause, he replied, "Not THAT big
- but somewhat delicate.  I need a flat surface, and I'll need to pad the
surface so the components won't be damaged.  Do we still have that old
camping mattress?"

	"It's in the garage attic."

	"Great!  I'll use an old Army blanket as a cover..."  He paused,
remembering that Army blankets were scratchy, "Or maybe a quilt..."

	Ellen, who had momentarily been mollified, again went on alert.  "So
what is this thing?"

	Terry, picturing Jackie, began dissembling.  "New mobile AI.  It's
long, but I should be able to articulate it for storage," he said, picturing
Jackie on her back on the load floor with her knees bent.   "I'm not sure
how sensitive the sensor array is, so I've got to be careful with it."  He
started grinning. 'I wonder what Jackie would think of THAT description?' he
wondered, picturing himself stroking her body.

	The grin actually threw his mother off the scent somewhat.  "Well,
okay - just don't chop up that mattress..." she warned, doubtfully.

	"Okay!"  Terry watched her retreat, not quite waiting long enough
for his sigh of relief to be inaudible.  He turned and continued with his
modifications.

	When Terry's father, Paul Michaels, came home from the corporate
data center where he worked, Ellen met him at the door. "Terry's up to
something," she announced.

	"Oh?" he responded.

	"I can't figure out what it is, but he's covering something.  He
wandered in late, telling me he took someone home; now he's out rearranging
his car!"

	Paul was no idiot.  Clues that Terry had managed to provide
misdirection for under the direct attacks by his mother made for an obvious
pattern on objective analysis.  Paul grinned, but said nothing, and went
outside to look in on his only son.  He found Terry folding the seat back
up, experimenting with what to do with the camping mattress with the seat in
its upright position.  "So, you've discovered girls, have you?" he asked.

	Terry blushed crimson.  There was absolutely no covering it.  "Hi,
Dad."

	"You almost pulled the wool over your mother's eyes, somehow -
but..."

	"C'mon Dad, I discovered girls a long time ago!"  Terry was gamely
trying.

	"Then a girl has discovered you!" his father responded.  "And you
have nowhere to go with her..." he continued, eyeing the car.  "I gather
that we need to adjust your working parameters?"

	Terry gave up.  "Probably.  I don't know if I can handle what Mom is
going to put us both through!"

	"Got a plan?" his father asked, grinning.

	"Yeah, but it's not ready.  I hope I won't have to rely on this..."
Terry responded.

	"Me, too.  Your mother will crater the ceiling when she figures it
out!  Let's hope you plan works!  In the meantime, what did you tell her?"

	"New mobile AI - very fragile.  Sensitive sensor array."  Terry
grinned.

	"Is she?"  Paul grinned back.

	"Could be...she's about my size."

	Paul reached out and plucked something off Terry's sweater - a nine
inch auburn hair, "Redhead, huh?"  Terry pinked again, and nodded.  "Okay -
you done?"  Terry nodded again, and the pair went inside for dinner.

	At dinner, Terry asked for a loosening of his current curfew.  Paul
allowed it, moving the time from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. on weekends, and
loosening weekday restrictions.  "After all, Ellen - he's a senior in high
school!  I've seen the group he runs with, and with Tim around, he's safe
from bullies."

      Ellen was less than pleased.  "What about the Prom?" she asked.

      Terry looked up from his asparagus, "I'm going."

      "Alone?" Ellen pressed, exasperated.

      "I'm working on something..." Terry replied.

      His mother's attitudes were puzzling to Terry.  She wanted him to
"meet nice girls", but was so overprotective of him that he had no social
life.  She feared for his safety, knowing that larger, less intelligent boys
sometimes became offended when their shortcomings were exposed and
retaliated by beating the offender.

      Ellen knew that she couldn't protect Terry forever - but it didn't
keep her from trying.  Terry didn't have a car because of the distance or
the convenience, but because it reduced the exposure to threats that he
might have had while walking home from school.  She was also aware that his
size, intelligence, and shy demeanor were going to make it difficult for him
to make himself noticeable to a girl - which was why she pushed him in
matters such as the Prom.  The irony was that they both knew that she would
give any girl he brought home the third degree. She couldn't help it; it
would take an uncommon girl to be good enough for Terry.

      Ellen also knew that Terry was more than ready to discover girls.  She
had discovered him masturbating three years ago - an incident that had
embarrassed them both quite a bit.  The picture of his erection had graven
itself on her brain - primarily because of its size!  Terry apparently
didn't take after Paul, whose 6 1/2" penis was clearly average; Terry had
sported at least 7" at age 13!  She knew that you don't have equipment like
that and ignore sex, and she was afraid that the temptation to scratch that
male itch would drive Terry to do something foolish.  The solution to THAT
problem had failed to present itself - and, frankly, probably wouldn't.  Any
young woman of loose enough morals to provide Terry with relief undoubtedly
wouldn't meet Ellen's other criteria...

      Paul worried, too, but he was much more sensible about it.  He knew
that sheltering Terry at this late date would not be to his benefit.  He
also knew that he was going to have an argument with Ellen over it.  He
sighed as he watched Terry head up to bed.  Ellen turned to him, "Well?"

      "It's a robotics project.  It's so delicate, it'll probably never
leave school, let alone work.  He thinks he's wasting his time, but is
making plans, anyway - that's why you got the mixed cues."

      "Hmmm."  Ellen replied, still unconvinced, "Why did you decide to let
him start running around at all hours?"

      "I didn't.  His rules are still more restrictive than any of his
friends'.  The boy is a high school senior - he needs to start operating on
his own!  How will he handle himself in college if he doesn't?  You KNOW we
can't tie him to the Podunk community college in THIS town.  He's going to
get a scholarship to a good school, and we're going to have to let him go!"
College was Paul's secret weapon.  Ellen's ambitions for the boy dictated
that he attend a high-end school.  Anything that supported that goal must be
considered.

      Ellen submitted with ill grace.  She knew Paul was right - but she
didn't have to admit it.  And she didn't have to reward him for it, either.
So Paul got the flannel nightie and the obdurate back (again!)


      Jennifer Hardesty came home to find Jackie hard at work on her
homework.  "More today than usual, Dear?" she asked.

      "No, Mama, I'm just a bit behind - I goofed off a bit on the way
home." Jackie returned, absently, stepping through the solution to a
calculus problem.

      Jennifer frowned, then went into the kitchen to toss the chicken
breasts into the microwave to thaw.  "Who were you with?  Anyone I know?"
she called.

      Jackie rolled her eyes, "Not really.  A friend I share a couple of
classes with.  This was the first time we ever got together."

      "Did you bring her home?"

      Jackie didn't care to correct THIS mistake. "We stayed outside."

      "Okay.  We need to talk before you let anyone in."

      "No problem, Mama." 'Please let Ms. Hazeltine approve the project!'

      Dinner time seemed to be a good time to bring up the Prom.  "Mama, I
want to go to the Prom."

      Jennifer produced a level stare.  "Alone?"

      "No, I'll have a date."

      "We haven't exactly had hot and cold running boys around here..."
Jennifer chided.

      "Where would I put them?" Jackie snarled.  "I couldn't bring one home
if I HAD one!"

      "Well, your reputation..."

      "...Is something I'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH!" Jackie was fire engine red.
She took a breath, calmed a bit, and went on, more reasonably, "Actually, it
makes things easier.  It divides the male half of the human race into 3
groups - jerks, sheep, and extremely nice boys.  Jerks want in my pants -
but I can detect a jerk.  Sheep won't have anything to do with me - and vice
versa.  Extremely nice boys can see past the 'legend' to the real me.  I
think that if I bring home a boy, you can pretty well bet he'll be in the
third group."

      "You can't be certain of filtering the jerks, Hon." Jennifer Hardesty
was, basically, scared to death of men.  She had never recovered from the
plunge she took after her smooth, fast-talking boyfriend dropped her like a
rock when she announced her pregnancy 17 years before.  Single motherhood
had offered her a retreat from social interaction and time to develop a hard
shell over some really tender unhealed wounds.  Jackie's run-in with the
football team 2 years before had mortified her, indicating that she had
failed to impart the lessons she had learned about men.

      "That may be so, Mama, but you're not much help.  In fact, I'm not
sure you could tell, either - you haven't had much practice!"

      That stung.  "Fine!  You drag your potentials around, and we'll place
bets!  Just be prepared to pay off!"  Jennifer got up from the table and
stomped to her room, fuming, ending the confrontation before she REALLY got
mad.

      Jackie cleaned up after supper.  This wasn't the first time her mother
had stomped off - it was a regular thing.  She seemed to be holding herself
in tight - all the time.  It was as if she was afraid that if she loosened
up at all she would explode!  It was clear to Jackie that her mother had
some kind of problem - but the nature of the beast escaped her.  Jackie felt
bad about triggering the confrontation - but not about the results.  She
would present Terry when the time was right, and collect on that bet!