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From: "Ryan Sylander" <ryansylander@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Looking Through The Lens Ch.02 Pt. 2/2 (rom, mf)
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Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:10:02 -0500
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A new long story.  Check out my asstr web page for the latest.

   Cheers, Ryan ----------------------

   Looking Through the Lens By Ryan Sylander
/~ryansylander/

   Chapter 2

   Part Two of Two

   When I came out to the kitchen, I hoped I didn't look as worked up as I
felt.  Sarah looked at me, and gave me a smile, asking me to help with
setting the table.  I was glad for something to do.

   Lara came in the kitchen and helped with the table.

   "Where's Julie?" she asked me.

   "What?  I don't know."

   "I thought she was with you," said Lara.

   I looked at her for a moment.

   "No, she must have gone home."

   "Is she eating dinner with us?" Melissa asked me.

   "How would I know, she's Lara's friend," I said, a bit annoyed now.

   "She was with you last I saw," said Lara, a smirk developing on her
face.

   I looked at her again, shooting daggers at her with my eyes.  'What the
hell?' I mouthed.  She just grinned back.

   "I think she was eating here, but I don't know," I said.

   "Better set her a place," Sarah said.

   I gave Lara one more dirty look before I returned to setting the table.

   A few minutes later the bell rang.  Beth opened the door and Julie came
in, greeting everyone cheerily.  I looked at Lara, noting with satisfaction
the surprised look on her face.  I think she was expecting to see Julie
come out from the hallway, pretending to have been in her room or
something. She looked at me.  I just looked back at her, only letting a
slight grin cross my face.

   Sometime during dinner, Melissa asked Julie about her forearm scrape.

   "Oh, that.  I scraped it on a window sill," she said matter-of-factly.

   I choked on a fish bone I had been working on in my mouth, coughing and
reaching for my water.

   "Are you alright, Matt?" asked Melissa.  I thought her voice carried
more mischief than concern.  I was probably just paranoid though.  Julie
was looking at me with a grin.

   "Yeah, just a fish bone," I said, holding it out.

   "I was trying to close the screen in my room at home and it was stuck,"
continued Julie.  "Then my hand slipped and I scraped it against the sill."

   "That's a shame," said Sarah.  "Windows can be dangerous," she added
cryptically, looking at me.  I studied my bowl of food.  There was an
uncomfortable silence for a minute.

   "You should get a tetanus shot," offered Hans.  He went on to tell a
lengthy story of his friend who didn't get one.  I silently thanked Hans
for the digression, though he probably didn't know what he had done.

   That night after dinner, Julie went home for the night, and I was out on
the porch playing my guitar while the adults played gin in the dining room.
Lara was reading a book in the living room.  It was getting late when the
game wrapped up and the adults started going to bed.  I was doodling on the
guitar, mostly reliving the day's events.  Melissa came out onto the porch.

   "Goodnight Matt," she said.

   "Goodnight Mom."

   She looked at me for a moment as I played.  I finally looked up at her
when she hadn't gone back inside.

   "You know," she said, "I can buy you a rope ladder."

   My guitar playing skipped a beat.  So did my heart, which suddenly was
in my throat.  She was standing with the light behind her, but even in the
darkness I could see the mischief in her eyes.

   "What?" I said, innocently.

   "We can get a rope ladder.  It's much better than jumping out of a
window," she said.

   I felt pretty foolish all of the sudden.  I looked up at Melissa.

   "What...  How...?" I mumbled, and then stayed quiet.

   Melissa sat down on the couch next to me.

   "Matt," she said, "clearly you and Julie have been, how should I put
it...  spending a lot of time together."

   "We're just hanging out, just friends," I said, somewhat lamely.

   "It's good to have friends.  It's good to hang out," she said.  "It's
good to be attracted to someone who is attracted to you."

   I was quiet for a few moments, vaguely strumming some chords.

   "Is it that obvious?" I asked, tentatively.

   Melissa laughed gently.  "Matt, you are still young.  Julie started
trying to get your attention last summer."

   I stopped playing altogether.  Was she serious?  Last summer?  I never
noticed anything until a few days ago.  I thought back to last summer,
trying to see what I had missed.  My Mom smiled gently at me as she saw the
gears turning.

   "Trust me," she said, putting her hand on my arm.

   "Does Mom know?" I asked quietly.

   "Well, she saw Julie jump out the window from the beach when she was
looking for Lara.  So I think she probably knows," she said with a grin. 
"But we knew before that anyways," she added.  I winced when I started
thinking of the moments where I thought my parents didn't know what was
going on.  I didn't feel so smart all of the sudden.

   "Is she mad?"

   "Mad?" said Melissa, with a chuckle.  "No, neither of us are mad.  We
were fourteen once too," she said, looking up and seeing an old memory for
a few moments.

   "But," she continued, "why did you feel the need to sneak around with
Julie?"

   I sat for a moment.  Why did I feel the need?

   "I don't know," I said.  It was the truth.

   "You can trust me, Matt."

   "I didn't know what you and Mom would say."

   "Well, we're more concerned about why you're trying to hide, rather than
what you're trying to hide.  You're not an adult yet, but if you want to
start having a more serious relationship with someone, you need to act more
serious as well."

   "I guess I know what you mean.  I felt childish when Julie went out the
window."

   Melissa gave me a warm, knowing smile.

   "I know you haven't had much experience with girls," she said, "so this
must all be very new and exciting.  And while it is important to you, and
to us, it's not a problem for me and your mother.  I am happy to see you
with Julie, someone who we care for a lot as well, and have known since she
was four.  Plus with Lara and James ...  hanging out together, the four of
you can have fun without it being awkward for the two of you."

   At that point Sarah came out to the porch.  I put my guitar down.  She
came over and sat next to me.

   "So serious out here," she said.  "What's going on?" she said knowingly.

   "Matt and I were talking about rope ladders," said Melissa.  The two
women shared a laugh.  I didn't think it was funny.

   "I'm sorry I lied, Mom," I said to Sarah.

   "Lied?  About what?"

   "When you asked if I had seen Julie.  She was in my room with me," I
said, forcing out the words.  "I was desperate not to get caught, I guess."

   "Why?"

   "I don't know.  It seems dumb now."

   "Sweetie, don't worry about it.  I think it's great that you and Julie
are spending time together."

   "You do?"

   "Yes, Julie is a great person.  She is almost like a daughter to us."
Melissa nodded in agreement.

   "I want you to promise me though," Sarah said seriously, "that you will
be responsible.  Having a relationship of any kind carries
responsibilities. While some exploration is okay, you and her are only
fourteen."

   I had a uncomfortable idea where this talk was going.

   "In the heat of the moment, you may want to, well, explore further with
Julie," said Melissa.  "But like your mother said, you have
responsibilities, to Julie and to yourself.  If you don't feel that you can
be responsible, then you need to keep things at a level where you can be."

   I couldn't believe I was suddenly having this talk with both of my
parents.  If I had been told a week ago I would be in this situation, I
would have laughed.  I stayed still and listened, staring at my guitar. 
When I didn't say anything, they went on.

   "Matt, what we are saying is that you have your whole life ahead of
you," continued Sarah.  "Take your time.  Don't rush things and do
something you will regret later.  Respect yourself and respect Julie."

   I thought about the window incident, and that didn't feel very
respectful to Julie.

   "I will, I promise," I said, as much to myself as to them.

   "We are going to bed," said Melissa, giving me a hug.  "Don't go to
sleep too late.  Julie won't tolerate a sleepyhead."

   "Okay," I said.

   "I love you."

   "I love you too, Mom."

   I turned and gave Sarah a hug.

   "I love you."

   "I love you too, Mom."

   They stood and walked to the door.

   "Do you still want me to get you a rope ladder?" asked Melissa, turning
to look at me.

   "No, next time she'll come out through the house with me," I said with
confidence.

   "Next time?" said Sarah questioningly, arching an eyebrow.

   "Well, I meant, if, well..." I stammered

   "I was just kidding, sweetie," she said.  "Goodnight."

   I breathed out a long breath.  I felt like I had been holding it for the
last ten minutes.  I lay down on the couch in silence for fifteen minutes,
absorbing everything I had heard.  Had Julie really liked me last summer? I
hadn't noticed, or paid much attention to her, I had to admit.  Then again,
there was a lot of things I didn't notice, as my parents had just proven to
me thoroughly just now.

   I woke up to a strange sound, in a strange place.  At first, I thought
(or hoped?) Julie was sneaking into my room.  But as I brushed the sleep
from my head, I realized I was still on the porch couch.  And someone was
trying to quietly enter the porch door.  At first I panicked, thinking it
was a thief.  But then the person caught a bit of the light from the living
room, and I saw that it was Lara.  She came in quietly and closed the porch
door.

   "Hey," I whispered.  Lara jumped back and grabbed at her chest.

   "Shit, Matt!  You scared the shit out of me!  What the hell are you
doing there?"

   "I fell asleep on the couch.  Sorry.  What are you doing though?  What
time is it?"

   "I don't know.  Late.  Don't tell our parents, OK?"

   "Of course not, you know I wouldn't."

   "Cool." Lara came over and sat on the couch, turning on a small light.
She let out a breath.

   "So what were you doing?" I asked again, though I had a suspicion when I
smelled alcohol on her breath.

   "Me and James were hanging out on the beach."

   "I thought you were reading," I said.

   "I was.  After they went to bed I snuck out to the beach to meet him.  I
didn't even see you when I went out."

   And I thought my deal with Julie was risky.

   "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

   "It's alright, I just thought you were Mom for a second."

   We sat in silence for a while.  Finally Lara spoke.

   "So, what's up with you and Julie?  I thought she was with you this
afternoon, and that you were in your room together."

   "She was," I confirmed.

   "But, she went home?  When?  I didn't see her leave.  She didn't grab
her beach stuff or anything."

   "Mom saw her leave."

   "What are you talking about?  She asked if Julie was coming to dinner.
I'm confused."

   I laughed quietly.

   "What's so funny!?" she said, hitting my arm.

   "She was pretending to not have seen Julie leave."

   "What, why?"

   "She was teasing me."

   "You're not making any sense.  Why would Mom tease you, if she saw
Julie..." Lara trailed off.  I waited.

   "Oh.  The window story was partly true, wasn't it?" she asked.

   "Yeah.  When Mom went out looking for you for dinner, she saw Julie jump
out of my window."

   "Why didn't you just walk out through the hallway, like normal people?"
she asked.

   "Because it would have been obvious what we were up to."

   "So what, it's not a big deal."

   "Then why are you sneaking out at night?" I asked pointedly.

   "Alright, alright.  So what happened?"

   I briefly recounted my conversation with our parents.

   "They seemed awfully cool about it, in retrospect," I said finally.

   "Yeah.  I hope their like that with me if they find out about me and
James."

   I laughed.

   "What now?" she asked.

   "Oh, nothing." I said.  Lara looked at me seriously, gripping my arm.

   "You don't think they suspect I've been sneaking out, do you?"

   I didn't know that, but I wasn't going to underestimate my parents,
right after being schooled by them on what they knew and didn't know.

   "I don't know, but they definitely know you and James are up to
something."

   "Really?  Are you sure?"

   "Yeah.  I wouldn't worry about it, although sneaking out at night might
not go over so well if they find out."

   "Yeah.  I better be more careful," she said thoughtfully.

   I was about to suggest stopping the practice, but that seemed like a
motherly thing to say, so I kept quiet.

   We sat in silence, as Lara absorbed what I had told her.  A light
turning on in the kitchen snapped us out of our trance.  We sat still,
wondering if whoever it was would see our porch light.

   "Matt?  Lara?" asked Melissa, peeking through the door.

   "Hi, Mom."

   "What's going on?  It's two in the morning!"

   "Lara and I were talking after you went to bed, and then we fell asleep
on the couch, and just woke up.  Everything's fine," I said.

   "OK, you two need to go to bed.  It's late.  Good night." She went back
to her room.

   "Thanks for covering for me," Lara said as we stood up.

   "No problem."

   She gave me a tight hug, and we went back into the house to sleep.


   ----------- End Chapter Two 

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