Team Manager: SPRINT!

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Design by Nathan Everett

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Storytime quotes from Old Mother West Wind by Thornton Burgess, 1910, courtesy of Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org

ISBN 978-1-955874-15-1

Cast

The Angelines

Dennis Enders (Team Manager). Primary protagonist, 16yo sophomore. 5'2" about 125#. Very near sighted with thick glasses. Runt geek, but has been working out hard with the team and is in very good condition. Ragged brown hair over his ears and blue eyes.

Natalie Armor (Number One). 16yo sophomore. 5'10" about 145#. Moderately large breasts. Straight brown hair below shoulder-length and brown eyes.

Amy Unger (Number Two). 15yo freshman. 5'6" about 120#. Smallish but developing breasts. Straight brown shoulder-length hair and brown eyes.

Leanne Vining (Number Three). 16yo sophomore. 5'7" about 135#. Dark complected, full breasts. Wavy brown below the shoulder hair and brown eyes.

Brenda Grant (Number Four). 18yo senior. 5'0" about 105#. Fair skinned, large breasts. Straight yellow blonde hair, nearly waist length, and blue eyes.

Diane Long (Number Five). 16yo sophomore. 5'8" about 155#. Huskily built with large breasts. Dirty blonde wavy hair below the shoulder and brown eyes.

Rosie Barnes (Number Six). 14yo freshman. 6'2" about 145#. Thin build with smallish breasts. Straight light brown hair below shoulders and brown eyes.

Judith Long (Number Seven). 15yo freshman. 5'7" 135#. Medium-sized breasts (might still be growing). Dirty blonde wavy hair breast length with brown eyes.

Daniella Armor (Number Eight or Nine). 17yo junior. 6'1" 160#. Powerfully built with prominent breasts. Straight, navel-length brown hair and brown eyes. Natalie and Roberta’s sister. Roberta’s twin.

Roberta Armor (Number Eight or Nine). 17yo junior. 6'1" 160#. Powerfully built with prominent breasts. Straight, navel-length brown hair and brown eyes. Natalie and Daniella’s sister. Daniella’s twin.

Lana Brown (Assistant Manager). 15yo freshman. 5'5" 125#. Stacked and athletic. Pale, almost white blonde breast-length hair and skin with pale blue eyes. Scandinavian heritage.

Coach Ardith Graves. 25yo girls’ basketball and track coach. Teaches Latin and PE.

Joining for Track

Tori McDonald. 16yo junior. 5'6" 130#. Full breasts on a trim frame. Some Latina features and skin tone. Straight dark (almost black) hair below shoulders with dark brown eyes.

Debbie Stackhouse. 16yo junior. 5'10" 130#. Thin build with noticeable breasts appropriate for frame. Straight blonde breast-length hair and blue eyes. Former goth girl.

Corrine Klinefelter. 17yo junior. 5'4" 160#. Heavily built. Brunette, brown eyes.

Derek Johnson. 18yo senior. 6'1" 215#. Strong mountain of a guy. Short-cropped brown hair, brown eyes.

Dave Overman. 16yo sophomore. 5'10" 140#. Lean. Ear-length black hair, brown eyes.

Rita Longfellow. 16yo sophomore. 5'8" 150#. Undefined shape. Light brown hair, brown eyes.

Becky Davis. 17yo junior

Laura Percy. 17yo junior.

Leah Davis. 18yo senior.

Denise McCaul. 17yo junior.

Janice Goodman. 15yo freshman.

Emily Wilson. 16yo sophomore

Coach Andy Anderson. 28yo boys track and JV basketball coach.

The Gang

Lee Smith. 18yo son of local moonshiner. Expelled for bullying. Deceased.

Jerry Unger. 19yo brother of Amy. Drug dealer. Expelled for bullying. Paralyzed.

Harry Conway. 19yo body builder. Expelled for bullying. Deceased.

Tom Perkins. 21yo college student. Drug middleman. At large.

Carol Reston. 18yo senior. 5'8" 140#. Medium breasts. Blonde below the shoulder wavy hair, green eyes. Tom’s girlfriend who left the basketball team.

Family

Dorothy ‘Dot’ ‘Ms. Dottie’ Enders. 37yo mother of Dennis.

Will Enders. 40yo father of Dennis.

Margaret ‘Peg’ Enders. 19yo Down Syndrome sister of Dennis.

Gransy. Amy’s grandmother/guardian.

John and Lily Armor. Natalie’s parents. John is a lawyer. Lily is on the school board. Five daughters. Mid-forties.

Renda and Mark Long. Diane and Judith’s mother. Renda is on the school board.

Randolph ‘Randy’ Brown. Lana’s farmer father.

Elsa Brown. Lana’s Swedish mother.

Drake and Naomi Vining. Leanne’s parents. Drake is a lawyer.

School

Phil Conway. Former principal of Bartley High.

Andrea Morris. Acting principal of Bartley High.

Coach Jim Byers. 45yo varsity basketball coach and athletic director.

Leslie Steinman. Freshman geek who wants some of the pussy.

Others

Agents Brisco, Reg, and Thomas. DEA agents from Des Moines.

Troopers Moran and Lenin. State Patrol.

Danny Perkins. Former Bartley County Sheriff. Arrested for corruption.

Dr. Milton Sachs. Eye surgeon.

Various other students, farmers, teachers, and parents.

Chapter 1

“ATTENTION STUDENTS and faculty. We have some announcements this morning and we’d like to make sure you get this information straight from the office. This is Vice Principal Andrea Morris. Some of you may have heard that Principal Conway is no longer with us. I don’t mean he died, but a serious family emergency has prompted him to resign his position here to tend to family business in Arizona. As a result, I will be the acting principal until the school board has an opportunity to launch a search for a permanent replacement. I’m certain we will have strong leadership for our school again by the start of school in the fall. This has nothing to do with the dismissal of Lori Sanders last week for failing to adequately supervise the Bartley cheer squad. The cheer squad itself has been disbanded for the remainder of this school year.”

There were gasps from many students and a few snorts from basketball players of both genders. None of the former cheerleaders were present.

“Now for some good news. Congratulations to the Bartley High School Angelines for capturing the Class 3A State Championship for girls’ basketball.”

This time, cheers rang out all over the school.

“Please try to contain yourselves. I have two more announcements to go. This afternoon, the Bartley High School Wolverines boys’ basketball varsity will meet the North Bend Shamrocks in their first game of this year’s region five championship tourney. I know you’ll all want to wish them good luck. Therefore, we will have a pep rally at two-fifteen this afternoon so you can wish them well. The fan bus will depart the school at three-thirty.”

There were a few half-hearted cheers in different classes, but nothing like the echoing yells for the Angelines.

“Finally, in the celebration of the return of women’s sports to Bartley High School, we’re happy to announce the formation of a girls’ track team. Girls wishing to participate should meet in the gym at 2:30 today to get details. If you can’t make today’s meeting, please come prepared to try out after school tomorrow. Try to pick up a permission slip today from Coach Graves. I am told there are at least twenty slots open on the team and more girls can join if there is interest. Let’s hope the Angelines show as strongly in track as they have in basketball.”

There was an instant buzz as girls in every class turned to each other to find out if someone else was going to try out and for what.

“That concludes today’s announcements and we return you to your regularly scheduled classroom activities. Study hard, students. We’re only a week and a half away from spring break.”

The speakers went silent and teachers in every classroom worked to bring their classes to order again.

Natalie and Dennis had walked to school, just so they could hold hands. At the entrance to the school grounds, they’d stopped and kissed, with several carloads of kids honking at them. Once inside the grounds, they’d simply walked together without touching in order to abide by the school’s no PDA rule. Once they all gathered at their lunch table, though, the conversation was all about their weekend.

“You really did it? Oh, Natalie, I’m so happy for you,” Leanne said, giving her friend a hug.

“I’m just as happy for Dennis,” Diane sighed. “Now you’ve got experience, so you can kind of teach the rest of us.”

“I’m not saying never,” Dennis replied. “But not right away. Give Natalie and me time to adjust to being lovers.” Some of the comments had Dennis blushing as they discussed size and fit of the various parts.

“Seven condoms?” Amy exclaimed. “In one weekend? Wow! Superman is my hero.”

“Hey, congratulations on the big win Saturday. You guys sure ran away from them in the last quarter,” a somewhat stocky girl in the junior class said as she approached their table.

“Thanks, Corrine,” Roberta said. “Going to join us for track?”

“Does this body look like it could run a hundred-meter dash?” the girl laughed. “Maybe there’s a pie-eating event I could enter.”

“Not pie-eating, but there are events I bet you’d be good at,” Dennis said.

“Who are you?” Corrine asked.

“I’m the team manager,” Dennis responded. “You might want to try the shot put.”

“What’s that?”

“You stand in a seven-foot circle and throw a nine-pound metal ball as far as you can. There’s a special way of throwing it that’s called a ‘put.’ It is like pushing the ball away from your neck.” Dennis did a seated representation of pushing the ball from his neck.

“Weird. You really think I could do that?”

“If you wanted to try, I’d make sure you had the right exercises to strengthen your arms and back so you could be successful. I’m not saying an Olympic champion, but being on a team like this can be a lot of fun.”

“Huh. Maybe I’ll come to the info meeting this afternoon. You’re kind of cute in a geeky sort of way.”

“He’s our boyfriend,” the table of girls chorused.

Corrine started a steady stream of kids who came by the table to congratulate the team and talk about track. The girls did their best to talk everyone into coming to the meeting that afternoon.

“Agent Brisco, it’s Amy from Bartley. You remember?”

“I sure do. The information you gave us helped us round up twenty traffickers and nearly forty kidnapped kids. Do you have new information for me?”

“Yes, sir. I was forced to visit my brother in the hospital yesterday. My parents want to bring him home, but so far, the hospital has insisted he be placed in a nursing home for rehab. But I overheard them talking about getting the lawyer who got my brother out on bail to get them to take him home instead of rehab,” Amy said. She was talking fast because she’d only paused to call after the pep rally and before the meeting in the gym.

“That doesn’t sound good. That lawyer is pulling out every trick in the book.”

“Yes, sir. What I found out was that the lawyer is being paid by Tom Perkins. He’s Sheriff Perkins’ son.”

“I wondered where the money was coming from.”

“Tom Perkins is at school in Ames, but he dates a senior at my school. We saw them one night and they chased us. The Gang of Three were in the backseat of the car. And when I talked to my brother, he claimed he still had friends who would get me so they could rape me in front of him. I’ll bet he meant Tom,” Amy finished.

“I’ll get some more information and call you, Amy.”

“I have to run. ’Bye.”

Ardith was amazed at the turnout of nearly thirty girls for the track organizing meeting. Dennis hurriedly passed out the permission and medical forms so the girls could participate. He had to run back to the coach’s office in order to print more forms.

“Wow! You all know this is the formation meeting for a girls’ track team and not a baking club, right?” There were a few hisses and boos. Good. Girls with some spunk. “Okay, let’s start right in with what the opportunity is. The Angelines suggested that they’d like to run track to keep in shape for basketball. When I heard the suggestion, I thought it was crazy because the season officially started a week ago with first practice. But I talked to Coach Byers, our athletic director, and he told me we weren’t as far behind as I thought. As you all know, the basketball team just left for regional competition and many of them who compete in track and field won’t be able to start practicing until they are eliminated from competition.”

“That won’t be long,” snickered one of the girls up front.

“Who knows? Miracles can happen,” Ardith said. “The big thing I found out, though, is that track and field is considered a co-educational sport. That means the boys and girls practice at the same time and most of the meets are combined boys and girls.”

“We have to compete against the boys?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. It’s just that we compete at the same time, but you will only compete against the girls from the other school or schools,” Ardith explained. “It also means that nearly everything we need in the way of equipment is already in the sports locker for use with the boys. We don’t need to go out and buy hurdles and jumping pits and starting blocks. We just have to take turns using them.”

“Cool! When do we start practice?” Brenda yelled.

“Tomorrow, but there are a couple more notes today, first. Since it is a co-educational team, I’ll officially be the girls’ coach but the head track coach is Coach Andy Anderson and all the coaches will be working with both boys and girls. Coach Andy, which is what he prefers, was also coach of the JV basketball team this year. Their season ended a week ago, in time for those who wanted to start the track training last Monday. I’ve asked Coach Andy to say a few words as well.”

The tall and lanky Coach Andy came out from beside the bleachers. The girls politely applauded, though some seemed more enthusiastic than others. Andy was definitely in the running for ‘dreamboat teacher of the year’ in some girls’ minds.

“Hey! Welcome, Angelines,” Andy started. There were cheers and a lot of girls patting the backs of the team members. “And yes, we’re keeping the name for the girls’ track and field team,” he continued. “I want to go through a little organizational stuff. We coaches kind of rotate around during the school year. I’m the head coach for track and Coach Byers and Coach Graves are both assistant coaches. We’ll be accompanied in practices by Coach Wilson and his junior high team. Yes, that means a lot of people will be out on our field. So, we coaches will be splitting up some of our responsibilities to keep practices moving and make sure no one is waiting forever. I’m into long runs and hurdles. Those will be my area of specialty. Coach Graves, on the other hand, will be working with you on sprints—that’s runs up to 400 meters—and we’ll work together on relays. Coach Byers—if you’ve all met him, you might have wondered how someone so beefy got into basketball—will focus on strength competition. That means shot put and discus. That leaves Coach Wilson. Believe me, that guy is a jumper. He’ll be coaching you on high jump and long jump.”

“We don’t like share locker rooms or anything, do we?” a senior girl with red pigtails asked.

“No, of course not,” Andy said. “However, that brings me to one other assignment. We already have three team managers for the track team. For the most part, they will be in charge of the field and equipment. But we’re also happy to have the Angelines’ team manager working with you. Since he’s used to dealing with girls, he’ll be your inside man, still responsible for towels and uniforms.”

There were a few giggles as girls in the know nudged Natalie and whispered, “Your inside man.” Eventually, Coach Andy got them settled so he could continue.

“He showed some interesting talents during basketball season and we want to use them as much as possible. Dennis, we’re going to ask you to be in charge of conditioning and our first aid. Coaches will work with you and be giving you advice and instruction, but when it comes to getting our team whipped into shape, we’re looking to you. The first half hour of every practice will be conditioning. Stretching, aerobics, and strength. In addition, we want you to help out in the weight room, when the girls are using it. Ladies, we’re scheduling your weight training so it doesn’t overlap with the boys. There’s just too much changing of weights and seat heights and tension to try to integrate the weight room.”

Dennis was taken aback as his Angelines hollered and patted him on the back. He figured he’d be working with the girls on warmups, like he had with Coach Graves, but he never expected to be in charge of conditioning for both boys and girls. It was almost like being a trainer. He couldn’t get the grin off his face.

“All right. Thank you, Coach Andy. Now for some more of the boring stuff.” Ardith moved into the schedule and equipment needs as Coach Andy left to go outside where the boys were practicing. It was still pretty chilly out, so a lot of early practices were held in the gym instead of outside. “Yes, we are going to run you all through the SPARQ assessment so we can see what kind of condition you’re in at the start of the season. SPARQ means Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, and Quickness. For basketball players, this will be your end of season assessment so we can see how far you progressed during the season. It will also be, as it is for the rest of you, the benchmark for your track season evaluation.”

“Do we like get a grade in this?” Laura Percy asked. She was a pretty cute junior, and like many of the girls in the gym wore her long hair in either a ponytail or pigtails.

“No, no. It’s not like that. The SPARQ evaluations tell us where you started and where you end the season. It’s strictly to help you see your progress and for us as coaches to evaluate our training techniques. Yes, there will be weights and measurements taken. Dennis will be ordering uniforms for you by the end of the week. You have a choice between the tight spandex short shorts so many of you like to wear and a fuller, less form-fitting shorts that some of you jumping or in other field events might prefer. You are responsible for your own practice outfits and for your shoes. Please keep separate shoes for indoors and outdoors. We’ll have an order form available if you’d like spikes for your running events. I’d suggest you include a tracksuit in your personal wardrobe because the weather is not always going to be nice. If you want to buy matching tracksuits, Dennis has a catalogue for you. He also has all the details regarding uniforms and what you can or can’t wear to an event. A couple of you have already asked if you can wear tights and T-shirts under your uniform and the answer is ‘yes.’ Please, though, check the items with Dennis and make sure you are following the rules.”

The instructions took well over the half-hour Ardith had allotted for it but when Dennis passed around a clipboard for each girl to fill out basic info like name, year, and event preference, only two of the girls passed it on, saying it wasn’t for her but she’d cheer for the others.

Natalie kissed Dennis at the school gate, but Rosie and Leanne walked him home. They all shouldered their backpacks so they could hold hands.

“Wow! Look at all those girls you can add to your harem!” Leanne said as they talked about the meeting.

“Huh-uh. Not going to happen. Please don’t try to make it happen. I have the greatest girlfriends any guy could ask for. I don’t need or want any others,” Dennis said firmly.

“Aw. Can’t we push a few your way?”

“No. Remember, no means no. No pressure and no persuading. You gotta promise me that. It’s in the rules.” They agreed and Dennis squeezed the girls’ hands. “You know, this is going to be a lot different than basketball was. I won’t be coming into the locker room. I’m pretty sure some of those new girls would totally freak out. And I expect that some of them will be as shy as Lana. She’ll dress in a corner where no one can see her and only shower at home. Please support them as much as you can.”

“We will. We want you to be proud of us,” Rosie said.

“Oh, sweetheart, I am so proud of you, I’m about to burst.” He kissed Rosie at her door and then walked Leanne home and kissed her at her door. Then he ran across the street and met his sister, who immediately wanted to know what track was like. By the time Dennis got to his homework, it was time for dinner. After Peg went to bed, Dennis finally got around to ironing the girls’ last basketball game uniforms and underwear. He thought of each one as he ironed her jersey and silently wished her goodnight.

Once Dennis got in bed, there was a flurry of text messages waiting on his phone wishing him goodnight and sweet dreams. He answered each of the girls with his own personal message and a wish for a good sleep. Then he settled down to sleep, himself.

Sleep wasn’t as fast coming as usual. He lay there remembering each and every one of the times he and Natalie had made love over the weekend. It was all just too wonderful. He was tempted to do some rubbing while he was remembering but thought maybe he should store some up if it was going to be like that every weekend. Eventually, though, thinking of Natalie brought him such a strong erection that he had to relieve the pressure. That was what he needed in order to fall into deep repose.

Miss Niedermeyer came to the gym on Tuesday to assist Ardith and Dennis with the testing and measurements. Most of the girls and many boys at Bartley had some form of Family and Consumer Sciences class from Miss Niedermeyer, so they were comfortable with her taking measurements. It was the only class other than gym that was still segregated between boys and girls. As soon as she’d tested and been measured, Brenda recorded the weights and measurements because the girls were not happy about Dennis writing them down. Dennis stuck to the athleticism portion of the testing.

It took a full two hours to get all thirty-two girls who showed up on Tuesday through the full test cycle. Dennis had pictures of the two types of uniform shorts the girls could choose attached to the measurements sheet. The girls checked which they wanted and whether they wanted to purchase a tracksuit in the school colors. Payment of $50 was needed by Friday if they wanted a tracksuit. Dennis managed to talk his mom out of $50 from their stash so he could get one, too. He wanted to match his team. The girls were advised to wait to order cleats until they had run in one meet. That way, they would know for sure if they were sticking with the team.

“Well, that was exciting, wasn’t it, ladies? Thank you, Miss Niedermeyer, for helping with the measurements. We managed it all in two hours instead of four,” Ardith said as the girls gathered for her dismissal. “Here’s the schedule for the rest of the week. Short practice tomorrow. We need to be out of the locker room by four. I know, we all expected the gym to be free, but by some miracle the boys pulled out a first round win yesterday and we’ll be hosting the regional semifinal here on Wednesday. Let’s all turn out and cheer for the Wolverines. However, there will be regular practice on both Thursday and Friday. Plan on two full hours plus your time in the locker room and showers. You should be out by five, so I don’t expect it will ruin any of your dates. All this week’s practices will be here in the gym and we will focus on conditioning. I want you to get used to following Dennis so when we join the full team on Monday, you’ll be ready to set an example. Monday, we’ll be focused on selecting events for each of you. Thursday is our first three-school meet. When we contacted them, they were very happy to get a third girls’ team to fill out the field. Let’s hit the locker room now and go home. If you plan on showering, pick up a towel from Dennis outside the locker room door. Who are we?”

“Angelines!” The shout was strong from the basketball players, but the rest of the team was caught off guard.

“You can do better than that. Who are we?”

“Angelines!” The second time was stronger and Ardith shooed them off to the locker room.

Only a few of the girls took towels. Dennis noticed that there were even fewer returned wet. Most had just been used as seat covers.

Chapter 2

BY THE END of Wednesday’s short track practice, most of the girls hated Dennis. The conditioning workout had been a lot tougher than the stretching exercises the basketball team had gotten used to. When they ended the practice with wind sprints—twenty times to the end of the court with a thirty second rest between them—a few of the girls had dropped out of the run and sat on the floor breathing in great long gasps. One girl had to run to the locker room for her inhaler.

“Gather up and we’ll get out of here,” Dennis called.

“Are you always going to be this hard on us?” one of the girls asked.

“No. This week is conditioning. Tomorrow we’ll be working partly on the gym floor and partly in the weight room. Friday will be the same.”

“What does this have to do with high jumping?” Lana whined.

“To excel in a sport, your whole body needs to be in good condition. You need a good oxygen supply, so you need to increase your lung capacity. You need strength in your legs to propel you over the bar. You need strength in your arms to lift you when you jump. Now, I know you’ll all be a little sore tomorrow. Just know that’s normal. I will be, too. By Friday night, your body will begin to adjust. Now hit the showers. I have to come into the locker room in exactly thirty minutes to get it ready for the visiting team to use. Please don’t dilly-dally. If you’re naked when I come in, that’s just too bad.”

“Ooh. Can we all be naked when you come in?” Leanne asked. There were a few accompanying hoots.

“Behave, girlfriend. We’re in public.”

“You can come in when I’m naked,” Debbie said. Dennis looked twice. Debbie was the school’s goth girl but looked nothing like her usual black clad self. “Scrub my back? And front?”

“Debbie! OMG! What did you do to your hair? I didn’t even recognize you.”

“I figured I needed to be a good clean-cut athlete girl for track season. You wouldn’t pay any attention to me otherwise. Like it?” She’d bleached the black out of her hair and colored it a honey blonde. She had makeup on that made it look like she wasn’t wearing makeup. Dennis had enough experience seeing the Angelines with and without their makeup to tell the difference. Her fingernails were painted fire engine red. There were some things she simply had to rebel with.

“Well, it’s nice to see you putting your all into getting ready for track. Please don’t delay your shower.”

“You lied to me,” Corrine said, snatching a towel from Dennis. “You said shot put wasn’t running.”

“You’re doing great, Corrine. I’m not trying to turn you into a runner. But I really think you have the makings for a great hurler. I want to make sure you have every advantage I can give you. Some of the weight training we do tomorrow will be focused on those pushing muscles I told you about. Don’t give up. There are hard parts, but they’ll be worth it.” He grinned at her and she grimaced back.

“You better be telling the truth,” she said. “I even spent most of my gym classes as a freshman sitting down to rest.” She went into the locker room and Dennis made a mental note to encourage the overweight girl often.

“Good job, Dennis,” Ardith said. She’d been in the gym with the team and did all the exercises the girls did. Even she had to admit it was a tough workout. She’d decided that Dennis’s method with the basketball team was a good one and the girls would be encouraged by having her do conditioning exercises as well. Usually, she had a good workout early in the morning. She’d skip that tomorrow.

“Thanks, Coach.”

“Use the male coaches’ shower room if you want to freshen up after a workout like that.”

“Um… It’s okay?”

“Yeah. I checked with Jim and Andy. Neither are using it because neither one works out that hard with the team.” She handed him the key and a towel, then disappeared into the female coaches’ shower room.

Dennis grabbed his bag from the equipment cage and dashed into the shower room. It definitely didn’t look like it had been used recently. He rushed through his shower, dressed, and was back outside the girls’ locker room with the laundry bag when they started filing out.

“I’ll help clean up the locker room,” Natalie said. “So will Daniella and Roberta. Then we’ll drop you off at home.”

“That’s great. I think I’ve been going through girlfriend withdrawal this week.”

“Well, we don’t have time to fool around in the locker room,” Nat said. “But maybe we can make out a little on the drive home.”

“Maybe we can all come in for milk and cookies,” Daniella said. “Nat said she and Mom baked with Peg on Sunday.”

They got the room straightened, the shower squeegeed out and the floor mopped. Dennis figured when the whole room smelled like janitor disinfectant that it was clean enough for the visiting team. The four left.

The ride home was scarcely long enough for his make-out session with Natalie to get their clothes messed up. Dot welcomed them in and Peg joined them for milk and cookies, bragging about how she and her sister had made them. Natalie grinned.

“Um… Dennis?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Ooh! That gives me shivers down my spine. Um… Would you like to go out Saturday night? I mean on a date? With me?”

“Sure! What’s going on?”

“Well, we’re both sixteen now and I figured we could stop pretend dating and go on a for real date. Maybe into Ames to see a movie.”

“Wow! That would be great! Anything with you.”

“Yeah, we’ll do that, too.”

The boys’ basketball team lived up to expectations and lost the regional semifinal. But the school still seemed upbeat as it was the first time in years they’d made it to the second game. Saturday, the school would host the class 2A regional final. The final was never held in the home gym of a school playing in it. It would be played at two o’clock in the afternoon and all basketball players from Bartley were encouraged to act as guides, ticket takers, concession sellers, and generally as hosts. The varsity team managers would take care of providing balls and running errands for the teams.

They all wore their basketball warmups to distinguish them and welcomed the teams to Bartley High School. Dennis was given the responsibility of greeting officials and scorers and seeing that they had anything they needed. He was able to demonstrate the scoring console to the timekeeper who had some questions because Bartley’s system was pretty old and still used a buzzer instead of an airhorn. He met Natalie and sat with her through the first half to watch the game. At halftime, they carried out their responsibilities, which were mostly directing fans to restrooms and the door out if they wanted to smoke. Then, instead of returning to the game, Natalie led Dennis back to the equipment locker. They settled onto a stack of tumbling mats for some serious making out. Dennis discovered Natalie had nothing on under her warmups and the tear-away seams allowed great access.

They didn’t fuck. Neither had thought to bring condoms. But they both got off orally before they had to return to the court for the end of the game to direct traffic and put away the timer and scoreboard controls.

It was a different experience to ride in the front seat with Natalie as she drove her sisters home. The twins demanded goodnight kisses from both Nat and Dennis before they’d let them continue on their way.

“Um… you taste like my sister,” Daniella said. “Were you two fooling around during the game?”

“Sort of,” Natalie said innocently as she kissed Roberta.

“I will never forget the flavor of a man’s come in a girl’s kiss,” Roberta said. “Are you sure you don’t want a little company tonight? We could make it a three-way date.”

“No!” both Natalie and Dennis replied. All four started laughing and the twins went to the door to wave as Dennis and Natalie pulled away from the curb.

The movie was fun and they actually watched most of it instead of making out all the way through. Even more fun, though, was simply walking through the mall holding hands and not being concerned if anyone saw them or if they were considered too young to date. Technically, of course, she was not supposed to have non-family passengers in her car with her. But she would just be careful.

“Let’s go parking,” she whispered when they got into the car to go home.

“You know I’d go anywhere with you,” he answered. She drove away from the mall and onto the country roads that would take them back to Bartley. They watched carefully for a possible place and turned down a lane that looked likely. They hadn’t seen anything for a while, so Natalie just stopped the car and put it in park.

“We’re parked,” she giggled. She leaned over the console to kiss him and they tangled for a while, fondling and groping each other. “Back seat,” she said.

They both piled out of the car and got into the back seat. In moments, they were hot and heavy and clothing was slipping off their bodies. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to try to make love and they were both glad it wasn’t their first time. For this time, though, it would be fine. Natalie was up against the door with one foot on the floor and one on the back of the seat. Dennis lined up over her and sank into her warm wetness with a sigh. Natalie’s moan matched his. She began rocking her hips and he slid back and forth in her welcoming channel. They kissed and tried not to knock their heads into the door, but the important part to both of them was the incredible sensations of being joined together. Both were panting when Dennis couldn’t hold back any longer and exploded inside her. That feeling was so intense that it brought Natalie the rest of the way with him and they moaned and cried into each other’s kiss.

“I could feel it,” Natalie said. “I felt your semen hitting my vagina and my cervix. It was so intense.”

“Oh, no!” Dennis said. “We didn’t use a condom.”

“Oh, geez. I forgot.”

“I don’t want you to get pregnant.”

“I probably won’t. I’m on the pill and took the last one in my cycle this morning. That means my period will start like tomorrow. So even if the pill wasn’t working, the timing would be all off. And I wanted to feel you, anyway.”

“But, what about STDs?” he asked.

“Has your dick been in anyone but me?” she asked.

“No!”

“Well, no other dicks have been in me either. We’re pretty pure when it comes to STDs. I don’t think we need to worry. Move some more so you stay hard. I want to feel it again.”

Whether their logic was sound or not, the two teens were too caught up in the feelings of raw sex to care any further. This time, though, they were both hyperaware of the fact that his bare cock was in her slippery vagina and when he sprayed his second load, it was going up inside her, not being caught in a rubber. Both nearly passed out from the intensity. And then they simply lay together, kissing and whispering until the car got too cold to stand. Before Dennis got his pants up, Natalie leaned over and sucked his cock into her mouth.

“I wanted to know what we tasted like together,” she said. “I liked it. I want more just like that.”

“I know that we all think we’re safe—except Rosie and Amy—but we really shouldn’t forget the condom again. You know, I’ll marry you without you getting pregnant.”

“Dennis! We’re not getting married. At least, not now. Maybe someday. It’s not like I don’t want to. I do, but we’re not ready for that yet.” They got out of the car, tucked themselves in and returned to the front seat. Natalie started the car and had to back down the lane all the way to the county road. For the first time, she tapped the screen on her GPS and entered Bartley, IA. They were both amazed to discover they were almost as far south as Des Moines. She followed the directions and they headed home. “What made you think about getting married?” she said.

“Um… Dad gave me the whole lecture about the birds and bees last year after the big bust at school. I guess he realized that sex was kind of a real thing in high school and it wasn’t all nice. He said Mom was a junior and Dad was a senior when they got married. We’ll be juniors next year. Dad said that once a person was old enough to have sex, he was old enough to take responsibility for the outcome. You know, something he said when I visited him in the hospital led me to believe he got Mom pregnant on purpose. He wanted to marry her and set up the situation so their parents would feel that they had to.”

“Wow. But, we’re not. Right? I mean going to get married while we’re in school. Um… next time we’re together, give me a box of those condoms. I’m going to put them here in the car in case we need one again.” They laughed at that and the conversation was lighter the rest of the way home.

Monday was a different experience at track practice. Ardith stopped Dennis before they went to the track.

“Do you remember the foul shot demonstration?” she asked. Dennis chuckled at that. “You may need to demonstrate again in order to get the guys in line.”

“We can’t shoot foul shots,” he said. “But I suppose you mean I need to show them I can do the events well and they should listen to me on conditioning.”

“Can you do that?”

“As long as I don’t have to pole vault. I’d never hit the box.”

“Pick your events carefully.”

“Okay, Coach. I can do this.”

The coaches stood by while Dennis led the sixty kids of the combined girls’ and boys’ track teams in their conditioning exercises. The guys were a little slow to pick up the system and probably only participated because they didn’t want to look bad in front of the girls. Not all the girls could keep up yet, but they all tried their hardest through the whole conditioning exercise.

“Guys, you keep giving fifty percent and the girls will all be beating you on the track,” Dennis yelled at them. He was a little intimidated by the boys on the team, all of whom were bigger than he was. But this was his part of the program and he wasn’t going to let them slack off. “You all need to be as strong and fit as I am if you want to beat these girls,” he jibed at them. The whole team laughed.

“Yeah, I definitely want to be big and strong like you. Woowoo!” one of the boys catcalled. Dennis squinted a little to figure out who it was. Derek Johnson, one of the biggest guys on the team. Well, this could be humiliating, but Dennis wasn’t about to back down.

“What’s you event, Derek?”

“Shot put.”

Dennis glanced over at the coaches and saw Ardith nod at him.

“Okay. Demonstration time. Follow me.” He turned and walked across the field to the shot put area. All throwing events were held in a separate part of the field from other events. The other team managers had set out the shot puts and Dennis immediately went over and picked up the girls’ shot. He motioned Derek to come and choose his favorite from the batch.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” he said. “Why should I humiliate you?”

“Go ahead. Give it your best shot. You’ve got a meet coming up on Thursday. You should be ready by now.”

Derek snorted and stepped into the ring. He took his stance and did the shuffle hop approach to the board in the seven-foot circle. He launched the shot for a pretty good throw. Dennis estimated about fifty or sixty feet. He stepped into the circle and did his own shot put dance. He had shorter legs and could move more steps in the seven feet. His shot landed almost even with Derek’s. The girls all applauded. The boys were still saying, “No way.” Only Dennis knew his shot was three pounds lighter than Derek’s.

“Power depends on conditioning,” Dennis lectured them. “And on the mechanics of putting your body in the right position and launching at the right angle. Coach Byers will work with you on that. I’ll work with you to get you in the best condition we can get you in.”

“Should have challenged you to a sprint instead of shot put,” a runner shouted, laughing. It was Dave Overman, a sophomore classmate of Dennis’s.

“Okay, Dave. Do I have to show you everything on the first day? Head for the starting line for the hundred-meter.”

“No. You can’t tell me… If you say so.” The two crossed to the starting line on the track where the boys’ managers had already placed starting blocks. The coaches were on the sideline and the teams gathered around them. Dennis and Dave settled into the blocks.

“Coach? If you’d give us a start, please.”

Coach Andy stepped up to the line.

“Runners take your mark. Set!” And then the whistle blew. Dennis had shorter legs than Dave so it took more steps to cover the same distance. But Dennis had been running with the basketball team all season, doing every drill he put the girls through, including running sprints. The two boys crossed the hundred-meter mark locked in step with each other. Dennis turned immediately and jogged back to the gathered team as Dave stood hunched over at the finish line gasping for air.

“I’m not as strong or as fast as most of you,” Dennis called out. “But I’m stronger and faster for my size than any of you. And good sports conditioning is how you get there. Follow my lead and you’ll be stronger and faster every week than you are now.”

Coach Andy blew his whistle again.

“Sprinters with Coach Graves. Shot put and discus with Coach Byers. Jumpers with Coach Wilson. Eight hundred meters and up and all hurdlers, come with me.” Dennis went over to sit on the bench while he caught his breath. The other team managers came up to him as well.

“Dude, why aren’t you on the team instead of managing and training?” Randy Peterson asked.

“I’m strong and fast for my size,” Dennis said. “But the athletes out there will beat me in any event in competition. Dave is just starting his season and conditioning. I’ve been working at it for six months with the Angelines. In a week or two, even the girls will be able to beat me at their events.”

“Man. Do you do all the events?” Dick Ledbetter asked.

“No. I can’t run hurdles or pole vault. I even have trouble with long jump for the same reason. The targets come at me too fast for me to be sure of where to place my foot. Besides, I can’t cheat at those,” Dennis laughed.

“Cheat? I watched you. There’s no way you could cheat.”

“I used the girls’ shot,” he confessed. “It’s three pounds lighter than what Derek threw.”

“That’s still the right size for you. You can’t cheat at a hundred-meter dash.”

“Well, not exactly. But I can never run faster than my opponent. Watching Dave was the only way I could tell where the finish line was.”

“Oh, dude. That is just so radical. Guys, I don’t think we should tell anyone about what we just heard. Agreed?”

The managers all nodded.

“You might also consider joining the conditioning exercises tomorrow,” Dennis added. The boys grimaced but eventually agreed.

Chapter 3

“GATHER ROUND, hurlers,” Coach Byers called. Twelve of the team, seven boys and five girls, came to stand around the circle. “I know you are all wondering how Dennis and Derek came so close to xthe same distance.”

“No kidding. How come he isn’t on the team?” Derek asked. Derek was definitely the biggest and beefiest member of the track team.

“Dennis has his own reasons. But did you notice Dennis and Derek used two very different throwing techniques? Which one was right?” Coach asked.

“If someone that small can throw that far, obviously he had the right technique,” Corrine said. She was feeling very encouraged about possibly being able to compete in this event after Dennis’s demonstration.

“For you, the answer is yes. But Derek’s technique was also correct. He just needs to work on optimizing it. You’ll all need to do that. There are two approaches to shot putting that are commonly in use: the glide and the spin. Derek’s been taught to use the glide, and for a guy his size, it’s the perfect approach. Dennis used a spin step. This is a great approach for smaller athletes, including you women,” Coach said. “I’m going to teach you all both techniques and you’ll be able to tell which is right for you. Remember, this circle is only seven feet in diameter, so you need to complete your moves without stepping out. Let’s start with the glide step.”

The boys had all been practicing for a week, but Coach Byers hadn’t been able to join them until the basketball team was eliminated from the tournament. None of the five girls—Corrine, Erin, Denise, Rita, and Jennifer—had ever held a shot. The instruction was basic, but took half an hour to get through. Then Coach Byers sent the girls to the weight room to work with Dennis as he took the boys to the discus event. They would switch out in half an hour.

“That ball is heavy,” Corrine accused when she saw Dennis. He grinned.

“You’ve got the power.”

“My first throw went five feet,” she complained.

“Don’t brag,” Rita said. “That’s at least a foot farther than either Jennifer or me.”

“I might have thrown farther, but I almost killed myself doing it,” Erin said. “I’m sticking with discus.”

“Me, too, I think,” Denise responded. “That’s more like throwing a frisbee, isn’t it?”

“Just think. That means that every foot is a new personal best. By the end of the season, you’ll be really working to set a better mark than your previous one,” Dennis said. “Now, you should be able to tell already which muscles we need to work on to build strength.”

“Arms.”

“Legs.”

“Back.” The girls recited the list Coach Byers had given them.

“Right. I’m going to start you on machines because I don’t want to risk you dropping a weight until you’ve built up your muscles a bit. Let’s start with the quads. Those are the big muscles in the front of your thighs that give you pushing power.”

“Are you calling my thighs big?” Corrine asked in mock affront.

“Not yet,” Dennis winked at her.

“Oh,” Leanne moaned in the locker room as she pulled off her shoes. “Why isn’t Dennis in here to rub our muscles?”

“He’s a boy, dummy,” Rita Longfellow sniped at her classmate.

“You’ll forget about that soon enough,” Amy said. “He’s like one of the girls.”

“You guys didn’t really have him in the locker room while you were dressing and showering, did you?” Debbie asked. The idea was definitely titillating, but of course, she’d never do that. She didn’t think.

“Not all the time,” Natalie sighed.

“We had a couple of all-night parties he was at,” Brenda said. “So, I guess you could say we all slept with him.” The basketball girls giggled, not mentioning they’d all slept with him in smaller groups, too.

“He’d have to dig through too much flab to get to my muscles,” Corrine said. Three of the five shot put and discus girls were a little on the heavy side, but Corrine was the biggest of them. “I did that spin approach in the circle. When I finished and launched the shot, my belly fat kept going like it was doing another rotation.”

“Nobody here is going to judge you for your weight,” Daniella said. “What Dennis is going to do, though, will give you the muscle to carry your body at any weight.”

“I admit I could use the help,” Corrine said. “I am going to be so sore tomorrow.”

“Did he really help change your body that much during basketball?” Debbie asked. “I mean, you were always beautiful, Brenda.”

“When we did the initial SPARQ test last September, I did that kneeling push throw with the three-pound medicine ball. I only got it like two feet. It was more like I dropped it and it rolled off my boobs. When we did it last week during testing, mine went eighteen feet.”

“I grew boobs!” Amy said.

“Me, too,” Judith joined in.

“You can’t give him credit for that!” Jennifer said.

“I don’t know about that,” Amy said. “You know. It’s like those pheromone things. Helps you mature.”

“I dunked a basketball,” Daniella said, cutting off speculation about how Dennis helped Amy’s boobs grow. “He helped me with the leg and ankle exercises and the positioning. I’ve got two sisters playing ball in college and neither one of them could dunk a basketball.”

“And the best part is he does everything with us that he wants us to do. All except, um… shower,” Leanne said as she went into the shower room. A lot of the girls just shook their heads, trying to decide how much of what the Angelines said they could believe.

Dennis waited outside the locker room for towels as the girls straggled out. Lana stopped and leaned against the wall beside him.

“Guess what,” she whispered.

“What?”

“I took a shower. With all the other girls. Naked.”

“Uh… Wow, Lana. Congratulations. Um… Why are you telling me that?”

“Because. Being with you and the Angelines has helped me be braver and more confident,” Lana said. “It’s not like I want to get naked and take a shower with you! Or around any boy. But I had the courage to be one of the girls today.”

“Then I’m really happy for you, Lana. Just don’t ever feel like you have to conform to what everyone else is doing. It’s always your choice,” Dennis said. For his part, he had no intention of getting naked in front of the guys in the locker room. Fortunately, he’d been able to grab his shower in the coaches’ shower room before anyone else even came in.

The attitude of the guys at practice was definitely different the next afternoon. They took the conditioning exercises seriously and the girls upped their performance to compete. He brought the girls in to the weight room in shifts to work on specific muscle groups. He’d set up machines for the throwing girls. He worked aerobic machines with the runners, climbing stairs, rowing, and running on the treadmill. In each case he worked on how their arms were moving as well as building strength in their legs. Most of the girls on the team were in running events. That was good as no athlete was allowed more than four events in a meet.

The jumpers were Dennis’s last group for weight conditioning. He focused on legs and the use of arms to propel the body. Ten girls were participating in the jumping events. They all participated in both high jump and long jump, trying to see what event they were best at. The first meet was to be a three-way and each team would be limited to two runners per event on the eight-lane track.

“There’s sure a lot to remember in track,” Lana sighed as she did squats with a forty-pound bar.

“Mostly, you just need to remember what affects your event. It will be tricky for you if the first event goes ridiculously long and they start the long jump before the high jump is concluded. That’s not common, though,” Dennis said. “That’s enough with the bar. I want to work on your lower legs.”

“I bet you do,” she giggled.

“Lana, you know I would never do something inappropriate with you,” he said.

“Yeah, I know. It’s just fun to think about. What are we doing now?”

“We’re going to do toe raises. Eventually, we’ll be doing them with weights, but I think you’ll find your body weight is enough to make these burn right now.” Dennis demonstrated the toe raises on a low step next to a barre. “Right now, you’ll need to use the barre to help you stay balanced. When you can do them without holding on, I’ll give you weights. Now, you’re going to go all the way from flex to extend. Toes on the step and sink your heels toward the floor. Now rise up on your tiptoes. We want maximum flex and extension. It’s easy to focus on the legs when you lift —especially the quads—and forget about what an important part your feet play in propelling you up and forward.”

“Um… These are hard after the first five or so. How many?”

“We’ll do them in sets of ten, go back to squats, and return for another ten toe raises,” Dennis said.

“I’m really going to hate you for this, aren’t I?”

“What’s the plan, Brisco?” Reg asked. “I’d rather not get in a shoot-out again so soon.”

“I’d rather we didn’t get in one at all.” Brisco looked at the map on the board in the conference room where he met with his team. “We’ve started tracking his contacts. He lives in a pretty expensive apartment just off campus. Better digs than you’d expect for a college student when the old man is depending on kickbacks to live on his sheriff’s salary.”

“Are they really going to let him out?” Thomas asked.

“Yes. But his days as a sheriff are over. The state patrol has taken over the county policing duties. It will stay that way until at least the next election.” He returned to the subject. “Now, we’re making progress in locating his other downstream dealers, but we don’t know yet where his supplies are coming from now that we wiped up the Chicago mess. And it’s obvious he’s looking for a new dealer in Bartley or a nearby town. You’d think these towns were too small to support a dealer at the level those punks were distributing. That tells us that the region he covers is pretty large. The demand is still there, but he can’t fill it right now.”

“Should we just let him keep the business and monitor it to keep it contained?” Reg asked. “The last thing we need is someone new moving in to fill the void.”

“I wouldn’t be concerned except this is such a crossroads for the traffic. We’ve got the Mexicans moving drugs from the south to Chicago and Minneapolis—and don’t go thinking we stopped it by busting one ring of traffickers. Then we’ve got traffic coming in from Canada through Minnesota. The pattern we’ve seen before is that it splits east and west on I-80 from there. Chicago in the east and Omaha and Salt Lake City in the west. The guys in Kansas City say they’re tracking similar movement and still seeing it flow both directions on I-35 and I-70.”

“Our damned interstates make it too easy to transport drugs and people across borders,” Thomas said in disgust. “I’m for closing Iowa’s borders and stopping all through traffic.”

“That’s a little extreme.”

“Of course it is! Damn it, Brisco, I shot a fucking kid in the head. Yes, he deserved to die. Yes, I saved lives. But I didn’t join this agency to kill people.” Thomas was more and more agitated lately. He’d held together pretty well through the inquest, but had become more upset as time went by.

“Nightmares?” Reg asked the younger agent. Thomas nodded.

“I wish we’d gotten to the still in the woods before they started destroying everything. I could have used a couple of those bottles.”

Brisco tried to prevent the mood from defocusing the meeting, but it was hard to get anything done when he had a member of his team who was this upset. He’d have to move Thomas strictly to surveillance and get the administration to send him more help. He was sure he could borrow a Fibbie or two, now that they’d shown kids were being trafficked as well as drugs. The faster they severed the connections completely, the better it would be.

Spring break began on Thursday. All three schools would meet at Treynor High School that day. That meant the meet could be held starting at noon on Thursday. The Bartley teams would travel on two buses for the two-hour ride to the meet. Boys and girls would travel separately, though Dennis was allowed on the girls’ bus as their team manager.

Wednesday after practice, Dennis had handed out the new uniforms and encouraged the girls to try them on before they went home. The uniforms looked good. Most of the girls had opted for the spandex shorts that were just long enough to cover the butt ledge. Other girls, like Corrine and the other shot putters, chose the fuller gym short style. “No one needs to see my ass wrapped in spandex. This is too exposed as it is,” she’d complained.

“Corrine,” Dennis had whispered to her, “don’t forget you can wear tights or yoga pants and a T-shirt under your uniform if you want. They just need to be plain, with no decorations.”

“Any color?”

“Technically, yes. Coach would prefer if they were plain white or black.”

“I think I need to get Mom to take me to the mall!” As it worked out, nearly all the girls wearing the fuller gym shorts had made a trip to the mall and bought matching undergarments. The teams were all to wear their uniforms and sweats to the meet because there would not be facilities available for changing and showering at Treynor.

The team gathered for the trip at nine-thirty and boarded the bus. Dennis made sure they had clearly marked bags for their lunches, tracksuits, and spikes for those who planned to wear them. They couldn’t wear spikes on the bus. Dennis handed out towels so the girls would each have a towel in their bags. He took his athletic kit with him and made sure he had a fresh supply of ice packs. Tape would be unnecessary unless there was an injury. And then there were the nine-pound shots for the shot put. The two shots were clearly marked with the school’s name so they wouldn’t get confused with others at the meet. Most meets required that athletes provided their own equipment, and it was carefully weighed before the event. His ever-present clipboard with event records completed his equipment list.

The bus ride was pretty quiet. Some of the girls just got on the bus and went to sleep. Dennis was nodding off against a window. Natalie leaned against him to get some extra sleep and a little contact with her boyfriend.

The performance of the new team was not stellar. None of Corrine’s, Jennifer’s, or Rita’s shots carried more than fifteen feet. One of Missouri Valley’s girls made a toss of nearly forty feet. That was the winning throw. Dennis assisted with measurements and retrieving the shots.

The first running event was the sprint medley relay. Brenda and Judith did well on the first two legs of 100 meters and were in the lead as Judith handed off to Debbie Stackhouse for the 200-meter leg. Debbie lost a few steps on the handoff of the baton to Tori McDonald for the 400-meter leg and even though Tori completed her circuit of the track in good time, she couldn’t close the gap with the other schools.

Lana was competing in high jump against two other girls from Treynor at 4'10". Nine competitors had been eliminated already. She made the jump, but missed at 4'11" to place third in the event. One of the girls made a five-foot jump. Rosie found her niche in the long jump and won the event with a jump of fifteen feet.

And then there were the running events. Brenda and Judith were the two Angeline entries in the 100-meter dash and Brenda outpaced the competition for the first track victory the Bartley girls got in the meet. It was only a few minutes later that Tori captured the 400-meter race. The school didn’t have much depth, even though it had a few very fast runners. Debbie anchored the 4x200-meter relay but the team didn’t fare well on the other three legs. When it came time for her to run the 200-meter dash, she was out of gas and placed fifth of six, with only her teammate Becky Davis behind her.

The last events of the day were the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x400-meter relay. Led by Brenda and Judith, the girls captured second in the 4x100. The big surprise of the day was Amy leading out on the first leg of the 4x400-meter relay. Tori brought it home for the Angelines’ first relay victory. With four first places and a number of miscellaneous places in other events, the Angelines still came out third best in the three-way meet. The boys fared slightly better and eked out a second place team finish. Combined, Bartley took the second place honors for the meet.

“Congratulations on the first Angelines’ performance of the new track season,” Ardith said as the bus pulled away. Two-and-a-half hours of a track meet and four hours riding the bus there and back were going to exhaust everyone. “Here are the ribbons you won today,” she continued. Dennis read out the names of the events and Ardith handed out the ribbons to the excited girls. They were much more excited and livelier on the ride home than they’d been on the way to the meet. Ardith spoke up to quiet them for a minute.

“With the long day and short events overall, I want you to simply pick up your gear and go home when we get back to school. No showers at school today. Don’t forget to wash your uniforms before you return to school Tuesday. We’ll have only two days of practice before next Thursday’s meet and we get the next meet after that on Saturday. Get some exercise in on your break. Dennis has given you all conditioning exercises. Do them every day. If not, you’ll go to Thursday’s meet as tired as you were today. We’re the home team Thursday. Remember, even though school is out for break, you can still use the track to run on. Do it! Who are we?”

“Angelines!” The girls fell back into their chatter as quickly as they’d ceased listening to the coach. Dennis was included in the jokes and jibes, like he was just one of the girls.

“Hey, big boy,” Brenda said when she latched onto his arm outside the locker room. “Want me to give you a ride?”

“Um… I thought I was going with Natalie,” he started. Then he saw Nat and she called out.

“See you for our date tomorrow night!” She turned and left with her sisters.

“Oh. I guess I could use that ride after all. It was just so sudden; you surprised me.”

“I’m a fast girl,” Brenda giggled. “And this is my fast girlfriend,” she said pulling Amy up beside them. “And we’re going to my house.”

Chapter 4

NATALIE STOOD wistfully looking after Brenda’s car as it drove away from the school. It was okay. They were all sharing together, right? She wasn’t sure why she felt like her stomach was in a knot.

“Come on, sister. No sad puppy-dog looks,” Roberta chided. “We’ve got company tonight.”

“I know,” Natalie sighed. “I just want to run after them. That does make me a puppy dog, doesn’t it?”

“It’s okay to have puppy dog moments. Just don’t become a bitch about them. Now get in the car and tell us all about what’s on your mind. We’re having Leanne over for dinner tonight,” Roberta said.

“That makes it sound like you’re planning to eat her,” Natalie laughed as they got in the car.

“Well, now that you mention it, she does look like a tasty morsel. Now tell big sisters what’s eating you, because it’s not me,” Daniella said.

“I don’t know. I know what they’re going to do. I talked to Brenda about it. And I know we all agreed to share. I just feel left out and… a little scared,” Natalie said.

“What are you scared of, sweetie?”

“Amy loves him so much, I’m afraid he’ll love her more than me. She’s so cute and absolutely fuckable!” Natalie said, letting her frustration get the best of her.

“Hmm. Do you think I could ever steal Dennis from you?” Daniella asked.

“No. Don’t be silly.”

“What? Why? Do you think I don’t love him? Or do you think I’m not fuckable?” she pressed.

“No. I just know that neither you nor he would ever do that to me.”

“Do you think Brenda and Amy would do that to you?” Roberta asked.

“Nooo. Not exactly. I trust them to do what they said they would. It just makes my pussy itchy. I guess I wanted to be his first at everything, but Brenda and Amy have done everything with him except fuck.”

“Which is the one thing you’ve done that none of the rest of us have,” Daniella said. “I want him to be my first. Guy, I mean. Do you know how that makes my pussy feel?”

“Yes. I’ll bet it feels all slippery and yummy,” Roberta said to her sister. “Come in the house and let me check to find out how you feel.”

The three girls all laughed and Natalie’s mood lightened some. And once they got in the house, they did check and discovered how the conversation had made all three feel.

“Where are your parents?” Dennis whispered as they went through the house toward Brenda’s room.

“They went to Las Vegas for the weekend. There’s some new show they want to see. They said they’d be back Sunday night late. We’ve got the place to ourselves,” Brenda said lightly. She pulled Dennis and Amy into her room. “Not that we’ll need any more of the house than that,” she said, pointing at her bed.

“Um… Brenda, I’m not… I don’t think…”

“Don’t worry, baby. We won’t go all the way. But we don’t want to not have the same fun we did have. Natalie understands that. There’s something new for all of us to enjoy.”

“I need a shower,” Amy said. “I’ve gone from stinking to stale. Dennis, help me get undressed. I ran a race today.”

“And you did great!” Dennis said, unzipping her jacket. He tilted his head back to kiss her, and felt Brenda’s hands unzipping his own jacket. “I didn’t get all sweaty today,” he said as she pulled it off his shoulders.

“Yes, but who will wash our backs?” Brenda asked. Dennis paused with Amy’s jersey at her arm pits, ready to come off.

“You want me…?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah. Come and wash all of me,” Amy said, encouraging him to finish taking off her shirt. Before long, the teens were all naked and Brenda was testing the water to be sure it was warm enough and not too hot. Dennis set his glasses on the sink. Amy took his hand and guided him into the shower where Brenda was waiting. It was a little crowded with three in the shower, but they didn’t mind touching.

“I can’t see anything with water and no glasses,” Dennis chuckled.

“Look with your fingers,” Brenda said. “Feel this?” She pulled his hand to her breast and ran his fingers around her nipples. “That’s Braille and says ‘touch me and kiss me.’ You’ll find messages like that all over my body.”

“And mine,” Amy said, pulling a hand to her own breast. Her breasts were smaller than Brenda’s but the nipples were just as hard. “It’s a slightly different accent, but it says the same thing.”

Brenda soaped Dennis’s hands, letting him begin rubbing the soap under Amy’s arms and down her front, as she soaped his cock until it was full and upright. Once he got started, Dennis wasn’t shy about making a thorough inspection of each girl with his soapy hands, indulging in frequent deep kisses as one or the other stroked his cock. He was locked in a deep kiss with Amy when his fingers strayed across her butt hole. Amy started gyrating against him and whining.

“Me, too,” Brenda said, but she moved her butt against his soapy cock as she rubbed up and down on it.

“I want that,” Amy said.

“You sure, baby?” Brenda asked. “I’ll be happy to have it if you don’t want it.”

“Let’s move to the bed,” Amy answered. They all rinsed off and then carefully stepped out of the shower to dry themselves on the big fluffy towels Brenda had in her bathroom. Dennis grabbed his glasses and followed the two naked beauties to Brenda’s bed. She threw back the duvet and top sheet. Amy bounced on the bed, pulling Dennis along with her.

“Are you still hard, Dennis?” Brenda asked. She explored downward and found his almost full erection. In a flash, she had her mouth over it and Dennis stiffened to full rigidity. Amy pulled his hand to her pussy.

“Am I wet, Dennis?” she husked. “I know we can’t go all the way, but you can make me come in so many ways.”

“Lick her, lover,” Brenda whispered. Amy wiggled herself into a position where Dennis could get to her, as he pulled his glasses off and Brenda put them on the table.

“I love to look at you from this close,” he whispered. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Look. Taste. Love,” Amy sighed. “Do it.”

Dennis dipped his head to feast on her pussy, licking around her hole and noting the hymen membrane was still mostly intact. He ran his tongue up to circle her clit a few times and then glide back down her slit all the way to her butt.

“Yesss,” she hissed. “I like it when you play with that. I must be really weird.”

“Not at all,” Brenda said. “I love it. Wait until you feel his cock there.”

“Yes! Do that to me, Dennis.” She lifted a foot to bring over his head while she rolled to her side.

“Don’t go all the way over on your stomach,” Brenda directed. “Get behind her, Dennis, and we’ll attack front and back with our tongues all at once.” With Brenda’s tongue on Amy’s clit and Dennis’s tongue on her butt hole, Amy rose quickly to the point of no return and gasped out her orgasm.

“I didn’t get to feel his cock there,” she complained.

“We wouldn’t leave you wanting,” Brenda laughed. “That was just a warmup.” She tugged on Dennis’s cock to get him up behind Amy. Before she let go, she sucked him into her mouth to make sure he was very wet and slippery. Dennis knew what he thought was expected and began sliding his cock through Amy’s slippery crack. The feeling was intense for both teens and they moaned in unison. Brenda held Amy’s leg up as she dipped her fingers in her girlfriend’s plentiful fluids and smeared them around her anus. Amy gasped as Dennis slid down and bumped his cock into the tight ring before sliding on up.

“Yeah! Oh, yeah. Yeah,” Amy said.

“I’m getting really close,” Dennis panted. Brenda reached through and gripped his cock, but not in the way that would delay his orgasm. She guided the tip to Amy’s butt hole and began rubbing it around to smear Dennis’s precome on it. Amy continued pressing back against him.

“Like that, little angel?” Brenda whispered as she kissed Amy.

“Oh God, yes. Keep doing that,” Amy choked out.

Brenda held the tip of Dennis’s cock right against Amy’s sphincter, expecting Dennis to blast right against her. She wasn’t expecting Amy’s hole to suddenly flare open and surround the tip of Dennis’s cock. Dennis moaned and his hips automatically thrust forward, sending the head of his cock into Amy’s rectum. Amy gasped and pushed back hard, burying an inch of cock in her backside. Brenda kept hold of his cock to keep it from going any farther.

“No more,” she whispered. “Don’t try to stretch her too much.”

“Oh, do it! Fuck my bottom!” Amy cried. Dennis pulled back until he was almost out of her and then pushed forward until Brenda’s hand stopped him. He clutched Amy’s breast in one hand as he bit her shoulder. Amy screamed an orgasm that sent her hole into flutters around Dennis’s spurting cock as he came.

Dennis saw stars and faded away slightly. Amy went limp. Brenda just held the two, connected together, as they gradually recovered. Dennis’s cock shrank and came out of Amy’s butt.

“That’s a weird feeling,” Amy sighed. “I think I need to go to the bathroom.” She climbed over Brenda and ran to the toilet where a huge glop of come dropped from her bottom into the basin.

“You’ll do that for me, too, won’t you, lover?” Brenda asked as she kissed Dennis passionately.

“Anything you want, Bren. You know that.”

“Come on, we need to wash this off so I can suck you back up hard.” They went into the bathroom, where Amy was still sitting.

“Just get him clean and I’ll do the sucking. That was so good. I’ve never felt anything like it. Your finger isn’t anywhere near that big,” Amy said.

“Your finger?” Dennis asked.

“Sometimes we get a little carried away,” Brenda explained as she washed his cock with soap and warm water. Dennis was still staring at Amy, sitting on the toilet. He wished he had his glasses on, though wasn’t sure there was anything to see. Brenda turned Dennis and Amy took his cock in her mouth as she slowly jacked him back to rigidity.

“You okay?” Brenda asked Amy.

“Yeah. He sure put a lot in me. I could feel every pulse and every spurt.”

“I want that, too,” Brenda said. “Come on. Back to bed.” She took Dennis’s hand and led him back to the bed. The toilet flushed and Amy washed her hands as Brenda lay back. “Eat me first and make sure I am all slippery down there.” Dennis knelt between Brenda’s legs and bent to the task of eating her. He’d gotten the message that this was all about butt play, so he used his fingers to smear her juices into her crack. He didn’t realize it was about butt play for him, too, when he felt Amy’s tongue parting his cheeks.

“Oh, shit!” he breathed.

“Please don’t,” Amy giggled. “Does it feel as good to you as it does to us?”

“I think so,” he answered around a mouthful of Brenda’s pussy. “I don’t think I want anything stuck up there, though.” Brenda pulled at him and he kissed his way up her body, spending time worshiping her magnificent breasts. As they kissed, Brenda took his cock and bathed it in her pussy juices. “Um… Bren… We aren’t going to do that, right?” he asked.

“No. I promised we wouldn’t. It’s so tempting, though, just to push my pussy onto your cock. We’ll wait until you have a little more time with Nat’s formerly virgin pussy, but I want you to know I’m next.” She brought her legs up and rolled her pelvis forward, positioning him right against her asshole. “Just bounce a little right there,” she moaned. “So good.”

Dennis understood what she wanted and did tiny thrusts with his cock against her butt. He felt Amy’s hand worm it’s way between them so she could play with Brenda’s clit. Brenda’s breath came in short gasps as the dual stimulation brought her to the brink and then tipped her over the edge into orgasm. When Brenda came, her whole pussy and butt pulsed open and closed, making Dennis slide farther through her sphincter. Suddenly, Brenda pushed her butt at Dennis and he popped through the tight muscle ring.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” she called as she spasmed again around his cock. Dennis had come in Amy’s butt just a few minutes before and was not quite as close. As Brenda continued her little thrusting motions, Dennis did, too, and gradually slid deeper into her rectum. “No farther, love. I can’t take any more. Just slide in and out to there. Please?”

“Anything, Bren. This is so unbelievable. Oh, I’m getting near.”

“Me, too. I can’t believe we can kiss while we’re doing this. Come in me, lover. Come in me.” That was all the encouragement it took for Dennis to start coming. He held still through the first two jets and then backed and filled as the third hit. On the fourth stroke, Brenda came and her muscles flared open. Dennis sank half his length into her butt as both screamed their release. Dennis dropped his full weight on Brenda, which pushed him out until only the head of his cock was still in her. He pushed himself up to relieve the pressure on her chest and she gasped in a lungful of air. He popped out of her.

“That was so cool,” Amy said. “We all need a shower again.”

That was quickly arranged and the three lovingly washed each other.

“Come back to bed, lovers. We’ll get some food in a little bit,” Brenda said. She led the two back to bed and they settled in for some serious kissing in their post-coital bliss.

“Should we even bother with pajamas?” Leanne asked when they’d gone to Natalie’s room after dinner. Roberta and Daniella promised to go choose a movie.

“Not if you don’t mind my dad wandering through the family room and seeing your cute titties and bubble butt,” Nat laughed. “Let me help with that.” She reached around Leanne and opened the clasp on her bra. She drew her hands around Leanne’s body and cupped her breasts as the bra slid down her arms. Natalie leaned forward and tugged at Leanne’s left nipple with her lips. Leanne made a little moaning noise and cradled Natalie’s head against her.

“We’ve never done this… I mean without Dennis. It feels really naughty.”

“Do you want me to touch you? Kiss you? Lick you?”

“Yes! Yes, I do. Is it okay? I mean, we’re not cheating on him, are we?”

“No. Of course not. You know he’d be all for it. He wouldn’t hold any of us away from each other,” Natalie said firmly.

“And we wouldn’t hold him away from any of us, would we?” Leanne asked.

“No. He’s with Brenda and Amy right now. We wouldn’t… Oh, damn it! You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Did what, Natalie?” Leanne asked innocently.

“Made me say we wouldn’t hold Dennis away from each other. Just when I was moaning about him being with Brenda and Amy and working up a fit of jealous affront. Oh, Leanne, you’re so good.”

“Let me get at yours. I want to play with your nipples and put my fingers in your pussy. I want to slide inside you and see if I can tell a difference in your pussy since you’re no longer a virgin. I wonder if mine will feel different afterward. You should check to see if you can tell the difference between now and after I make love to him,” Leanne said.

“You really plan to, don’t you?” Natalie nodded. They pushed each other’s panties down and embraced, rubbing their pubic mounds together as they kissed.

“Yeah. Maybe no time soon. I’m not quite as ready for a boy as you are. I know if I let myself do it, I’d love it, but not yet. Maybe next year. You’ll keep us all together, won’t you, Nat?” Leanne said.

“Yes, baby. I promise not to let my moments of jealousy get control of me. And we all have each other. You know I think you are the yummiest morsel on our team. I just want to eat you all up,” Natalie said.

“Who’d have thought when we were all embarrassed about our budding breasts and finding hair on our pussies in seventh grade gym class, that one day we’d enjoy undressing each other and touching each other as much as we do now? I love Dennis, but I love you, Natalie. I really do.”

“Let’s skip the movie and slip into bed,” Natalie giggled. “I just want to be with you.”

The girls made it onto the bed and were moving on each other’s body when Natalie’s phone rang.

Dennis woke up with a start. By the color of the hair in front of him and the shape of the breasts in his hands, these must be Brenda and Amy. And they’d had a great time. Dennis was still tingling all over. He held his watch up to his eyes and saw that it was after 7:30. He needed to get home so he could read to Peg.

It was really difficult to get out of bed with Brenda and Amy holding on. He put on his glasses and used the bathroom, taking a minute to wash his cock that had so recently been in Brenda’s bottom. Wow! That was intense. He pulled on his pants and shirt.

“Where you going, lover?” Brenda said sleepily.

“I need to get home and read to Peg,” he whispered. He kissed her forehead and then Amy’s.

“I’ll get up and take you,” Brenda said.

“Shh. It’s only four blocks. I think I can make it. You stay cuddled up with our girlfriend. I think she wants to make love with you some more.”

Amy rolled close to Brenda and began sucking on a nipple.

“Ohh,” Brenda moaned. “Okay. If you’re sure. I think someone wants to make me come. Mmm. She’s got her fingers in my pussy. I love you.”

“Love you both. Just watching you makes me hard. We’ll play more next time. ’Night.”

“Night, lover,” both girls mumbled. It was obvious they were already too wrapped up in each other to notice him leaving.

The snow was mostly all melted, but the nights were still pretty cold. It wasn’t that long after sundown and Dennis already wished he had a heavier jacket than his tracksuit. He started to jog toward his house, crossing on second to head from Maple up to Elm. Just as he was nearly to the corner, a car sped down Elm and a minute later, he heard the brakes squeal.

He ran to the corner just in time to see the car’s passenger door open a couple of blocks away and something shoved out of the car onto the ground. Then the car peeled out and turned at the next corner. Dennis started running toward his home, apparently where the car had stopped. The lump was just lying in the street and Dennis’s heart started thumping as he saw it must be a body. His first thought was that someone had hurt his sister and he poured on the speed.

It was a body, and it was a girl, but it wasn’t Peg. He dropped beside her and immediately took a hand to feel for a pulse. It wasn’t strong, but it was there. He fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed his first emergency number.

“Hello?”

“Nat, it’s Dennis. I need help right away. In front of my house. Please come. It’s Carol Reston.”

He disconnected and immediately dialed 9-1-1.

Chapter 5

“9 -1-1. STATE THE NATURE of your emergency.”

“There’s a naked girl lying in the street unconscious,” Dennis said as he held Carol’s hand, feeling her weak pulse.

“Where are you?”

“425 Elm Street in Bartley.”

“Help has been dispatched. An ambulance is on the way. I have a nurse on the line to talk to you,” the operator said. There was a click and a new voice came over his phone.

That was a preview of Team Manager: SPRINT!. To read the rest purchase the book.

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