Andrea's Story

by Christy Lake and Misty Dawn

 

Andrew Winslowe is two years younger than his sister Sharla Winslowe. Strange things happen around Sharla and Strange Forces are at play. Andrew got sick, and then Started getting a lot of Qualaity Time with a young lady who liked him in heels. Andrew gets a lot of quality time with Sylvia. Later Andrew gets nosey and messes roughly with an artifact on the wrong day, Summer Solstice. This is his story.

 

Chapter 1 Who is Andrew
Chapter 2 Curiosity Zapped the Andrew
Chapter 3 School, Swimming and Halloween
Chapter 4 Other Things, Winter Solstice, and Spring Equinox

 

Chapter 1: Who is Andrew

Andrew, her younger brother, was one of the brightest things in Sharla's home life. He had been so down all last semester, especially after loosing so much time to the pneumonia. Ghad, that was so unbelievable. Just after Final Exams in January, Andrew had a very complete physical and the report was that his lungs, surprising to everyone but Sharla, were in perfect shape; it was just the rest of him that was undersized and under exercised. The physical therapist had then recommended a serious regime of swimming exercises and provided a two-year development program. The first twelve months stressed control, precision, and flexibility. Then the program extended into endurance and speed.

Their family doctor had called the high school and eventually been referred to Jan Wyatt. Coach Wyatt was in charge of all the Bluff City School System's swimming pool activities. Since the pool was integrated into the community youth program, the only odd time that the pool would be supervised and not subject to classes or disorganized mayhem was when she had the "Gypsies, the school's nickname for the Girls Precision Synchronized Intramural Swim Team, in training. Coach Wyatt had finally agreed that, if Andrew would promise not to hassle or interrupt the girls in their drills, he was welcome to use the pool at the same time. Coach Wyatt even said that she would help with the exercise forms once she had the girls drilling.

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The first two weeks had been rough. All done in the shallow end of the pool, the tucks, twists, bends, and floating setups were difficult with out hitting the bottom. Initially he had had to stop every few minutes to rest. The boy proved him self with diligence and by adhering religiously to the proscribed regimes, had progressed rapidly. Coach Wyatt had evaluated his control and told him to move on to the next section of the exercises, two weeks ahead of his schedule.

The team members had been in one of the attached classrooms watching a film from several high school competitions. The Coach had come out and helped him work through the set of exercises before toweling off and going back to her team. Andrew had lost himself in the pleasure of doing the more complex exercises. He was flabbergasted when, after completing a complete set perfectly he shot up to the rim of the pool to rest and catch his breath and saw the entire 13 members of the team standing there watching him.

"Way to go, Andy, you are really a swimmer!" Sylvia, the team Captain and one of the sexiest looking girls in the school, said as she offered a hand to boost him out of the pool. He popped out, and after removing his nose clip, grabbed his towel and stood to join the rest. He blushed a little when he saw the girl's eyes lingering on the bulge in the front of his electric blue swimsuit.

"Swimmer! Girl, he is a FISH!" Cheryl, another classy lassie, offered.

"Coach said you were a swimmer. But I gotta agree with Cheryl," chirped another. He wasn't sure of her name, but was positive she had the only "D" cup swimsuit on the GPSIS team.

"She also said that you had been really sick and that you were just starting to get out of it.!"

"Wanna come to Marco's to unwind a bit?" Clair blurted with a smile.

"

Hell, they were all applauding his performance!Oh, please do, Andy," begged Sylvia.

It was Sylvia's stringent plea that convinced him. "Okay, I'll go. Just give me a minute to shower and dry my hair."

"Hehe, he's just like one of us, girls. Gotta take care of the hair before we do anything!"

That had set the pattern. Every day, the team had worked on their drills and Andy and worked on his therapy drills. Afterwards he had joined the girls in the big front corner booth at Marco's. At first Andy had been very quiet, too tired to even talk really. But as the weeks passed, he had joined in more and more on the discussions of the team's potential, and the different activities around town. Every session had a discussion of clothes. And the girls found that he had very definite opinions about the cut, color, and fit of different tops, pants, and skirts and he was not hesitant about chipping in his two cents worth. When the conversation switched to guys, they found that he also had strong opinions about the good the bad and the bums and that he was usually correct in his judgments.

There were no conflicts and as it turned out, because so many of his required exercises were so like many of the teams precision movements, Coach Wyatt simply had the boy perform the girl's graceful precision movements as his exercise routines.

The girls on the team all liked Andrew and came to admire is ability to perform the many difficult precision movements, and coach Wyatt, always the practical teacher, added Andrew's name to the team roster as an alternate. It had been, at first, an expedience, to "pad" the body count in the funding requests. As it turned out, once in the first week of April, and twice during the month of May, she found it necessary to draft Andrew and cajole him into performing with the team, as a girl during demonstrations that the regular performers were forced by illness to sit out.

With his longish hair swept up and held inside the swim cap they all wore and slender body encased in a modified version the girl's swimsuits, that she was able to convince Andrew was a boy's Olympic-style "trunk" suit, rather than a girl's triple-A swimsuit. The coach discovered that after the first time, Andrew was almost eager to participate again, even if it meant wearing the questionable bathing suit and cap.

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The day before final exams, across town, Sylvia MacFarland, the graduating Captain of the GPSIS team, infatuated with Andrew Winslowe, and more than a bit fascinated by the sizable bulge he sported in the front of his snug electric blue swimsuit on more than one occasion, asked, "Daddy, is the front office still going to need that second gofer for the summer?"

Daryl "The Scotsman" MacFarland replied, "Well, I am planning on your being the only official Office Assistant this summer."

"But Daddy, you said they'd need a couple of gofers for the summer!"

"I dunna know there's all that much need for two! You'er a big enough lass to handle it yerself this year, PRINCESS? There willny be enough work for two…That's a very big expense having two ye brats underfoot, ye know…"

"Scotty!" Gasped his wife in mock indignation. "Quit playing the penny-pinching Scot! If you think I am gonna let you work our daughter's fingers to the bone all by herself when you were gonna have two gofers, then you've another think coming and you'd better make up your bed on the sofa tonight"

"Why're ye asking, gel?" The man asked deliberately using the broadest brogue he was capable of. "Have ye somebody in mind, gel?"

Sylvia was blushing furiously now, but now that she had started, she was not about to back off. "Well, in our Swim Team practice class, there's this boy and …"

The Scotsman glanced across the dinner table at his wife Hypatia, who was suddenly grinning from ear to ear and winked. "And …"

"Well, he's a really nice guy and I'm trying to keep him swimming," she then related what she knew of Andy, as she called him, though she knew he preferred Andrew. She wound up telling them, "…he's kinda cute, too, in a way."

It was obvious to the two adults their daughter was infatuated. They exchanged a wink and Daryl chuckled. "Alright, alright!" He raised his hands in mock surrender. "I give up! Bring you boyfriend in and introduce him. I'll tell Mary to put you both to work the Monday following schools out, okay?"

The girl flew around the table, hugged her father, and kissed him on the forehead. "Thanks, Daddy! I owe you one!"

********************

Andrew was at the moment one very unhappy individual. "Life is just sooooo UNFAIR!" He mused as he lugged another box of his treasures from the basement bedroom he had ruled since he was five. "I mean," he continued his dismal tirade to himself as he headed back down the stairs with a box of Sharla's old clothes. "Like I'm five and a half feet tall, same as Dad, and up until last year, the same as Sharla!" He shrugged and continued his tasks. "Then, like overnight, almost, whoosh, she just shoots up to five-ten, same as mom!"

"Then she goes and gets this big deal Scholarship! And to top that, just because she's been accepted in TWO major programs at the U, she gets to move outa here and into one a the university dorms in two weeks!" He snarled and grabbed an armload of clothes out of his closet.

Struggling under the load, he made his way back upstairs and realized he'd have to dump them on the bed until he cleared some of the stuff out of Sharla's closet. Well, it was now his closet and Sharla had supposedly taken everything that would be useful, or that would fit. She had moved upstairs to share Janine's room yesterday. Then, and only because he was not working, Mom had decreed that he would be the one to have to take all of Sharla's old stuff downstairs and hang it in his old closet and move his stuff up to the ground level bedroom that Sharla had claimed as her domain for…well, just about forever!

He had suggested just sacking up all her old clothing and passing them on to goodwill. But no, Mom had had one of her HUNCHES that told her the clothing would come in handy soon -- as if--so now he was trapped carrying all this ol' girly stuff downstairs to the basement, hanging it up in his old closet. To top it off, he HAD to make sure that each garment was properly settled on a separate hangar. Additionally, Mom had told him to go through the shelves, drawers, and boxes, and then sort out the jeans, slacks shorts, and tops. Hell, he even had to sort and clean all the assorted heels, sandals, and fluffy mules and slippers. Finally, just to make matters even worse, Mom had pulled open the drawers in the closet and showed him the bras, panties, garter belts, and nightgowns. She had given him very specific instructions as to sorting by sets, by pattern, by fabric, and by color and then directed him to put them in boxes. Hell, he actually had to "handle" all that frilly girl's stuff! "Life is just sooooo UNFAIR!"

********************

While recovering from his bout with pneumonia in November and December, his swimming, at first just therapy, soon became Andrew's principle activity. Then, last week the school's principal had posted notice that the boy's swimming team activities had been cancelled for the summer and the next school year. Andrew had heard people say it was because of budget restrictions but he knew it was because of lack of interest. Coach Wyatt had kept the boy's and girl's teams strictly segregated. The coach had a peculiar talent for winning parental support and always had an over abundance of parents willing to chaperone the meets and tournaments away from home. A lot of the guys, who had been on the team, just to get close to the girls, but constantly thwarted in their efforts to do so, simply quit.

********************

Andrew had been quite surprised, even shocked, the first time Sylvia, "the prettiest girl in the whole darned school", he avowed silently again, and a senior to boot, had sat down beside him right there in the school cafeteria, and right there in front of God and everybody, began chatting with his as if they were old and dear friends. Though he now looked forward to her company, he had some trepidations concerning today. Yesterday she had told him she wanted to ask him some really serious stuff today. "What could she possibly want to know about me? And WHY?"

Today, just as he had from that first day a week ago, he stood as she approached the table, took her tray and held it a moment to allow her to sit down, smoothing her skirt under her sleek hips and saucy buns. "Thank you, Andy." Her smile was perky as she watched him reseat himself across from her. She read the dread and concern in his furrowed features. "Oh, Andy, you shouldn't frown so. Worry lines are so unbecoming."

"Oh!" he said, and blushed furiously. "Damn it! What's wrong with me? Guys aren't supposed to blush!" He admonished himself silently. "Sorry." He apologized even as he forced his features to smooth themselves. "It's just that you sounded so serious when we parted yesterday."

'Oh, Andy, I am so sorry. I do owe you an apology. I never intended you should worry. The thing is that there is an opening in Dad's main office for a summer "gofer" and I want you to take it and keep up your swimming practice. I just want to ask you a few questions to be sure you and the job are right for one another."

"A job? For the summer?" Andrew perked up. Jobs were scarce, and for a guy as small, and as, well, frail, as he, they were even fewer. "I think I can handle a gofer job, Sylvia, but ask anyway, we both know you will."

They shared a chuckle, and she agreed, "Yeah, I guess we do."

"So ask away, I will tell you anything you want to know."

"Anything?' she asked in serious tones. "The honest to Druid truth, Andy?"

Andrew stared at her a short moment. "They say honesty is the best policy. I just wonder if honesty is the way into her panties?" He nodded slightly making up his mind. "Yes."

"Okay, here goes, and remember, the truth, Andy. The honest truth." She smiled and flicked the tip of her tiny pink tongue over the fullness of her ruby-red lips. "What I really want to know is why you are always such a loner?" She chuckled silently and wondered if she could give this "loner" a "boner" just by flirting?

 

The boy stared at the girl a short moment, then shrugged, "The truth is, I guess I really don't fit in well with anybody, even with the other 'average' kids." He nibbled a bite of a tuna salad on toast he had purchased without conscious thought, even though it was not normally a "man's food" dish. He saw the expression in her eyes and knew the answer he had given was not enough. "Honest, Sylvia, I always feel like there's some barrier between me and everyone else in the world, like nobody sees the real me."

"Andrew, Andy," she reached for and cupped her hand over the back of his and squeezed lightly. "I see you and I hear you. You are my friend. Now, come on, tell me why you think that others do not see you, the real you, I mean?"

The blush returned and the back of his hand burned long after the hand was withdrawn from his. "Maybe part of it is that people, especially the other kids, seem to expect me to be more like Superman." The youth paused, shuddered, and then went on. "The truth is that I feel more like Clark Kent, meek, mild mannered, unassuming." Andrew felt "Li'l Andrew" begin to get restless and did his best to ignore the feelings he was getting.

"And you have no other reasons?" Sylvia asked, wiping at the corner of her mouth with the corner of her napkin where a drop of mayo clung.

"I think another reason was that I didn't feel very comfortable with trusting people." He chuckled again. "Our school isn't a good environment for that sort of thing." His forefinger moved to make motion to encompass the entire room without undue notice. A decidedly feminine gesture unnoticed by anyone but the girl across from him. A small smile curled her lovable lips and caused Andrew to tremble with pure male desire. "And about the only person I really trust is my Mom."

"You know, Andy, I think I know exactly what you mean." In an intentionally deliberate move meant to tease the boy, Sylvia whipped the tip of her tongue around the end of her straw before slipping the end between her crimsoned lips in a manner all too meaningful to the boy. "It's kind of hard to explain, but I think that it's because you can sense little things about people that seemed to make you very self-conscious around them, or make you distrust them."

"People are always expecting me to be macho, loud, brash, and confident." Ignoring was no longer an option and he could only hope it went down before they left.

"And you are none of those, are you, Andy?" she agreed softly. Once again she cupped her warm, soft hand over the back of his and squeezed gently. "So you crawled into a thick shell, especially since you've recovering from the illness you suffered last winter, and you're determined not to let anyone in there with you, right?"

"That was my general strategy in life--just kind of fade into the background and try not to be noticed." The youth smiled shyly from beneath extraordinarily long lashes. "And it's worked, most of the time."

The girl giggled. "Until I came along, determined to get to know you better, and being very surprised by the truly sensitive boy I found inside."

"People are always surprised when they finally got to know me." A thrill raced up his spine as he watched her move toward him across the table and right there in front of nearly everyone the whole darned school, touched her lips to his in a delightfully light, but definite KISS.

"Andy, you are going to be so fun to work with this summer." She stated in firm tones no one near them could miss hearing.

The boy carried both trays to the return center, carried them low and prayed no one would notice the large lump tenting the front of his jeans.

 

 

 

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© 2002 by Christy Lake. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.