The Center

Frank:

“Frank, it’s one o’clock. Get up.”

I could faintly hear my mother, but I chose to ignore her unamused tone, and buried my head deeper into my pillow.

“You’re a grown man, Frank, now get up! It’s too late to still be in bed!” She said a little louder this time, most likely entering my room instead of just standing in my doorway. I protested with a groan and rolled over so my body faced the wall.

“Well then, fine. If you don’t get out of bed then I guess you’re too tired to have your little sleep over tonight!” She was even closer, and her tone had changed to a smart-assed one. I scrunched up my face and squeezed my eyes shut even tighter before I opened them up to be met with my Misfits poster. My fingers automatically found themselves tangled in my hair as I once again rolled over and looked up at mom, who was standing next to my bed.

“It’s not a sleepover; it’s a grown-up hang out party thing!” I whined pathetically, pouting. This time she laughed at me, and rolled her eyes. She shook her head a little and turned to walk out of my room but looked back and nodded her head in my direction.

“Well then you better get up, because you’ve got errands to run!” She matter-of-factly stated and closed the door behind her. I let out a tired groan while I stretched out my little legs and neck, thankful that there were no cramps and nothing was stiff.

I needed to head out to the book store and get a jump start on some summer reading for an English course, and then I have to go to the market to pick up some snacks and drinks for tonight. A run to the liquor store afterwards to pick up a six-pack would finish up my rounds, and it won’t take me six hours to complete, but I liked to take my time. Plus, I had to shower before I did anything.

Crawling out of bed, I practically fell onto my carpeted floor. Once stable, I went to my drawer and got myself out some clean boxers and a pair of socks. Then I pulled out an old Punisher t-shirt and some jean shorts. With everything jumbled up in my hands, I stumbled out of my room and into the hallway, where the family bathroom was open and waiting for me. I locked the door and turned on the fan, setting my clothing on the counter top next to the sink. Before I took a wiz, I turned on the hot water and hoped it would get steamy: just the way I liked it. I undressed when I was finished and stepped in, the hair on my legs standing up from the goosebumps I got. I smiled, and just stood under the water for a minute or two. The water pressure matted my hair to my forehead, and as I tilted my neck back I rotated my shoulders in a soothing motion. I circled my neck and then arched my back which caused my hip bones to jut out. Pressing my toes into the tiled floor I cracked them, trying to ease all of the tension out of my body usually finished my relaxation routine, but I didn’t feel done quite yet.

My fingernails dug into my scalp in a massaging manner, itching my head, before I smoothed it back so it wouldn’t be in my face. Skipping over my face, I trailed my fingertips over my chest. From my collar bones, to my nipples where I paused for a second or two, down to my undefined stomach and just below my belly button where I gently rubbed. My eyes slipped shut and a lazy smile spread across my face. My right hand made its way to my dick, which wasn’t exactly at attention yet, and my left went straight to my balls. My legs were parted and I supported my body against the cold wall that the water hadn’t reached. I not only shivered from the contact of the wall, but from my calloused thumb pressing into my slit, too. Instead of letting out a groan, I held my lips together so my mom wouldn’t hear me. That would just me horrible, but this is the only way I can get off. She’s never not home when I am, and I feel like just doing it in my room with her either right down the hall, or right down stairs is kind of creepy. At least when I'm in the bathroom I've got a lock on the door, and the shower to wash away all of my evidence. Plus, the noise of the shower drowns out any sound that I make. It’s a win/win situation for the both of us.

Finally, I wrapped my whole right hand around the base of my member, and gently squeezed before slipping it down and then back up again. Falling into a steady and subconscious rhythm, I decided to focus on my balls, which I had previously been cupping. I softly tugged at them, running my fingers over the sensitive skin. The breath in my throat hitched due to my massaging and my left leg twitched from the action I was giving myself. This was my cue to go faster. Faster and rougher. Little slips of whimpers and gasps creeped out of my mouth, my chest hammering uncontrollably. The feeling in the pit of my stomach told me I was close. Very close. If possible, I fondled even faster and I gripped even tighter. With only a couple more seconds I released, cum landing all over me and the shower’s floor. I milked myself until I was sure I was done and all but collapsed, slipping into a sitting position, letting the water wash my body off. And catch my breath.

It’s been two months since I last had sex. Two whole months without any tail. Well, two months and a couple of weeks to be specific. My ex-boyfriend Greg was the only guy I'd ever done it with and he left me after our six month relationship for a theater major who was pursuing a career in porn. Go figure, right? We’d only fucked once, and a week before he broke up with me, but he started cheating on me three months before that. I didn’t even know what was going on until he told me. He didn’t feel guilty or bad because he doesn’t have a conscious. Greg just wanted to get me the hell out of his life. I'd felt used and really shitty for a while, but we’ve all got to go through heart break at least once in a lifetime, right? I'm glad I got mine over with, because I know it’s never evergoing to happen to me again. I won’t let it. I refuse. I have no desire to invest myself in someone who could care less about me and I'm not about to risk my emotions again. No going to bars or clubs to get wasted only to find myself in some stranger’s bed with a massive hangover for me. No potential relationships and no friends with benefits. I was perfectly content flying solo, and using my hand anytime I needed a… personal pick-me-up.

Heaving myself off of the ground, I grabbed my body wash and lathered up, scrubbing every inch. The temperature of the water had grown a teensy bit colder, so I turned the knob and took my Head & Shoulders shampoo bottle so I could cover my whole mop of brown hair. Mixing everything in and washing it out took all of two minutes and then I was finished. I stood underneath the water for a few more seconds, loving the tingly feeling it still gave me, before I knew I had to shut it off and go back to the real world.

The rush of cool air hit me as I drew back the shower curtain so I quickly snatched up a towel and rubbed it over my arms, chest and back before I wrapped it tightly around my waist. After stepping out of the tub I took a smaller towel and bent over, somewhat helping my hair dry so I wouldn’t get my clean clothes all wet. When I was little I'd just shake my head like a dog, but that didn’t make mom too happy, so I stopped. In my usual fashion, I pulled on my socks after tugging my towel off, and then my boxers and my shorts on over them. I always pull my shirt on last, right after putting on some deodorant. The chilliness that I had felt a minute ago had worn off and I now felt as if I were trapped in a sauna, so I unlocked the door and swung it open to let me breathe a bit. I brushed my teeth and picked up my pajamas and towel to throw into the hamper, shutting the light switch off with my elbow, I exited the bathroom and trotted down the stairs to the laundry room. Glancing at the clock on the microwave told me that it was now one fifty eight, which basically told me I'd been in the bathroom for about an hour. I dropped my dirty laundry off so that I could go to the kitchen and find myself some breakfast - lunch.

“Look who decided to finally rise and shine!” Mom chirped, seated at the table in the middle of the room with her glasses perched at the tip of her nose. She had her laptop open which meant that she was ‘managing her account’, or more than likely trying to secretly make sure that Alicia wasn’t being irresponsible because my Aunt Mary didn’t believe in computers to check facebook for herself.

“Good morning to you, too,” I said, playfully sticking my tongue out. She shot me a look and I knew to pull my tongue back in immediately before going over to the snack closet to get myself a poptart. Lucky for me we had one left, strawberry, so I took the cardboard with me and folded it up to put into the recycling bin next to our trash can.

“ ‘S'not morning anymore,” Mom mumbled, making me look back over in her direction to find that she had pulled her glasses off of her face and was focused in on her screen. I laughed and rolled my eyes at her, peeling back the wrapper to I could take a bite out of both frosted pastry squares at once.

“You know what I meant! Now, I gotta head out. Will you be home when I get back?” I asked, my mouth still full. She eyed me for a second before she chuckled and shook her head.

“No, I told you that Aunt Mary and I would be going out. I wouldn’t want to intrude on your little… thing… you’ve got going on tonight!” She teased, full well knowing that nothing will get out of hand. And by ‘out’ with Mary, she means sipping herbal tea at the Simmons residence after attempting to do yoga. My aunt is a self proclaimed hippie.

“Right, right. Well, I'm sure the two of you will have a blast! Be careful, though, those pot brownies are a doozy!” I replied, winking at her and then took another chomp at my poptarts. I didn’t stay to hear her retort, darting up the stairs to grab the keys off of my desk and then back down, leaving the house all together. I could only assume that she was amused. Or, well, I hoped so…

I revved up my old, beat up Chevy Impala and cranked open all of the windows, thankfully not having to do it by hand, because I didn’t have working AC. Pressing play on my stereo system my ears were met with the sweet and fast paced music of my favorite band: The Bouncing Souls. I twisted up the volume and drove off into the day, minutes away from the city life. Reaching my destination of Barnes & Noble, I made sure to close all windows so they were only open a crack and then cut the engine, climbing out of my car and scurrying out of the June heat. The parking lot was basically full so I wasn’t surprised to find that the store was as well. I never thought books were as popular as I guess they are, judging by the amount of people in this place. I rarely ever ventured in here, and the last time I even read a book I checked it out of the college library. This felt a little foreign, making me feel like an idiot. By standing up on my tippy toes, spotting the Adult Fiction section, I could only assume that ‘The Turn of the Screw’ could be found there. I didn’t remember the author’s last name, but it didn’t matter because I couldn’t find the title of the book squashed in with all the rest of them anyway. Scanning over the whole section about eight times, I gave up and searched around for some help. Luckily for me, a help kiosk was right around the corner. When I emerged, though, I was met with a somewhat familiar face. And if it hadn’t have only been yesterday then I probably wouldn’t have remembered who he was at all.

“Hey,” I said casually, walking over. He had his head down, and with me being nosy and leaning over the counter a little, I could tell that he had been reading something. He jumped, a hand flying to his heart before he composed himself and doggy tagged his page, looking up.

“Uhm, how can I help you?” he asked quietly, the words slipping out of the right side of his mouth only. He was quiet, maybe almost shy.

“Yeah, I'm looking for ‘The Turn of the Screw’ but I couldn’t seem to find it…” I revealed, feeling a little awkward. There wasn’t reason to, that’s why they had help desks, right? I just couldn’t help it. I noticed that his lip twitched upward, almost as if he was trying to smile.

“That’s a really good book.” He whispered, averting his gaze to his computer screen as he began typing away. He didn’t even have to ask for the author, but I guess that’s because he probably knew it already. His twitch of a smile must have been contagious, because now I was grinning.

“I need to read it for school, good to know it won’t put me to sleep.” I laughed, resting my elbows on the counter top.

“It’ll keep you awake, if anything,” he quietly commented, before glancing up at me. “19th century or the adapted version?” He asked, catching me off guard. Which did I want? I'd be better off reading the real one, wouldn’t I? But what if I couldn’t understand the damn thing? I couldn’t go into my Critical Fiction class not knowing what I was doing the first day. He probably sensed my dilemma and let out one tiny burst of laughter. “We’ve got one with both included. C’mon, this way.” His head nodded towards the opposite direction I'd come from and he left his position to lead the way. For a brief second he and I were close enough so that it wasn’t awkward for me to take a glance at his name, which had slipped my mind from yesterday. Gerard. Not the most common, but not the most unusual, either. In fact, I went to high school with a Gerard. Though, he preferred to be called Jerry. He was a wrestler. And a dick. And an amazing kisser…

I followed Gerard as he guided us to the ‘Classics’ section, where I honestly probably never would have looked. As he checked each shelf carefully I stood there, feeling a little inept. I didn’t want to bend down and search with him, lord only knows I'd end up bumping into him and knocking him over making everything more uncomfortable!

Well, I shouldn’t necessarily say uncomfortable. I'd say the two us of were actually getting on rather nicely. He seemed like a good enough guy. I didn’t even hold not picking Sebastian up on time against him anymore… But that was the problem. I felt like I had to introduce myself or something. I hung out with his son all day, shouldn’t I at least say something? I mean, when it comes to becoming a teacher I'm going to need to meet and introduce myself to my student’s parents, right? How is this any different? It’s not, I guess. No, it’s perfectly normal. Expected, even.

“I work at The Center, in Sebastian’s room.” I blurted out. I immediately regretted it, though, because as soon as the words left my lips I could see that his whole body stiffened. He stopped what he was doing, and just sat there, on the ground, blankly staring at the bookshelf in front of him. “I, uhm… I saw you… I was there yesterday when you picked him up…” I tried to explain, lamely.

“Oh…” he murmured, and I wasn’t sure whether he was speaking to me or just voicing his thoughts. It sounded more like the latter. I shifted from foot to foot and my hand made its way to the back of my neck, rubbing it uneasily. I watched him as he slowly went back into ‘live’ mode, and like it was nothing he selected a book before hauling himself to his feet.

“He’s a really great kid,” I commented, softly. I didn’t know what else to say. I'd just made this whole meeting an awkward situation. If it weren’t for work it wouldn’t matter, but what if he comes to pick Sebastian up again? It’ll be ten times worse.

“Yeah,” his smile twitched in and for a split second his eyes gleamed. “He really is.” We stood there for a couple of seconds, his eyes fixed on the book in his hand while mine were on the floor. It felt sort of… weird. It was by no means relaxed, but we weren’t really on edge, either. No one passed by our area, so we were left undisturbed in the stillness we’d ended up in. But I was snapped back into reality when Gerard cleared his throat. “This is yours…” he told me, his voice sounding slightly hoarse. I blinked and found that he was holding out the novel for me to take. The half-smile on his face made me feel better about earlier, even if I could tell he didn’t mean it.

“Thanks, man, I appreciate it.” I said. Despite the awkward speed-bump, this wasn’t so bad at all. I smiled back at him, hoping mine was genuine, and took the book which was much bigger than I'd imagined it to be. Automatically, I turned it around to check the price and figured that eighteen bucks for a combined original and abridged version, then it wasn’t too bad at all. I looked up to find him watching me.

“You’re welcome.” He spoke softly.

I didn’t know where to go from there. We were merely acquaintances, never mind friends, so how do you go about saying goodbye to someone like that? He just wasn’t some random worker who helped me out in the book store, either, because his son went to the daycare I worked at. And I just had to go and say something about it, too. I didn’t want to be rude and just turn around and go, but I wasn’t about to invite him over tonight, either.

“So, uh, see you around?” I asked, whether or not I meant it didn’t matter. My fingers ran over the paper cover while his eyes squinted a little, seeming confused. The idea that the glossy finish on it could have made a squeaking noise if I pressed down with enough force as I dragged my fingers back and forth kept me entertained as I waited for a response.

A reluctant “Maybe,” was what I got before he turned himself around and left me alone in the aisle. Well then. I sighed heavily and went to find the check-out line. It wasn’t a big deal. I wasn’t going to let it ruin my day, or my night especially. You can’t win them all, right?

Once I paid for my book, I went to the market and picked up some Cheetos, Snack Mix and my own personal guilty pleasure: Funions. I grabbed myself a twelve pack of Coke and then some Mountain Dew for the guys and then a pack of Hi-C fruit punch juice boxes for Alicia because I know she’d throw a hissy fit if I didn’t. And, on top of all that, I decided that buying a little candy… or a lot… wouldn’t hurt any of us, either. I got some Skittles, some Starburst, a pack of Reece’s Pieces and some good old fashioned Jelly Beans! These were all a pain in the ass to clean up, but I didn’t expect anything too wild to happen tonight. After all, we are adults! Or, well, most of us at least.

Once I was sure I'd gotten all things to rot our teeth and would send my cousin home to her mother on a sugar high, I checked out so that I could head on over to Larry’s Liquors. I know that’s Ray’s a Coor’s Light kinda guy, but I didn’t know what Bob liked, so I figured I'd but some Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Nothing too strong, I didn’t want him to be trashed. After getting everything I needed and spending a butt-load of money, I felt spent –physically and mentally. I hadn’t remembered to bring my phone with me, but I could only guess that I'd been out for a good few hours. Three, at the most.

Mom’s car wasn’t in the driveway when I got home, as expected. I had to take a few trips to get everything inside, but once I'd managed to get that done and put everything out for tonight I saw that it was already five thirty. I'd been out longer than I thought. I jogged up stairs to my room to get my phone, stuffing it in my pocket, so I could go back down and make a quick grilled cheese for myself so I wouldn’t be completely filled with junk food. I took out a pan and a stick of butter along with multi-grain white bread and then I set to work, making myself some yumminess. I checked my phone in between flipping my sandwich and I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t have any new texts or messages. Ray and Alicia obviously knew where I lived, but I had to keep an eye out for any texts from Bob asking for directions. I made myself comfortable in the living room with my food on a paper plate and some soda, I relaxed while watching ‘King of Queens’ re-runs on TBS. I'd almost dozed off when I heard the doorbell ring.

Let the party begin!