They celebrated Lindsay's fourteenth birthday and he got even richer, thanks to generous grandparents and other rellies. Peter didn't come to his birthday dinner, he wasn't even invited, ("Peter who?"), but he had a few other friends there, including Mavis and Ollie.

Ollie was a friend now, sort of, but he still had that annoying knowing smile whenever they met. He was never going to forget, was he? But they never spoke about that day at the river. Not likely.

The following Tuesday, they went back to school. Lindsay was glad, he liked school and he was good at it. Alvin was excited about going to High School at last, but he was a bit nervous too. He was glad that he had his big brother there already, not that he would be much help if there was any trouble from the bullies. But he had mates there too.

Looking around, Lindsay was intrigued at how small the new entrants were this year. He knew that he'd grown, his mother was always complaining about having to buy larger clothes and shoes, but he didn't think he'd grown that much. He still felt much the same as he had this time last year.

Then he saw him. Wow. If he thought that Tony Southon was good-looking last year, well he was wrong. NOW he was looking good. He was looking great, like a teen-model movie star or something. Just fantastic really.

He'd grown taller, longer and leaner. His hair was much longer and more stylish than it used to be, his handsome face was still smooth and flawless, and he had a great golden tan. He must have been spending hours outside in the sunshine. (Lindsay really should have taken a good look at himself.)

One thing hadn't changed, he still had that glorious sunny smile. That soon switched off though, when he saw Lindsay looking at him, and he scowled. "What are you looking at, Reilly?"

He shrugged and turned his back on him. Okay, the attitude hadn't changed either, the kid was still a creep. A really good-looking creep. Dammit! He was not going to spend another year fixating on and drooling over Tony Bloody Southon. He needed to find someone else.

There were several new kids in the school this year - in the year tens, not the new entrants class - they were all new there. There was one boy who Lindsay thought looked promising, a potential new best friend for him.

Angelo Crestani, (called "Angel"), was a good-looking kid and really cool. His accent was - well, it was cute. He and his family were new immigrants, from Italy, his dad was the new chemist out at the cement works, and he was interesting. He was new, exotic, open and bright and eager to make some new friends in his new school.

The most amazing thing about Angel was that he looked so much like Lindsay that they could have been brothers. They weren't identical, Angel's skin was several shades darker and his dark, smoldering, eyes were brown where Lindsay's were emerald green, but they looked very much alike. Even their shy smiles were similar.

It was funny really, people kept asking Lindsay if his family was Italian. They weren't, the Reillys were from Ireland, but he thought that his grandmother's mother was from somewhere around Italy.

At first they were both intrigued, slightly amused, and interested in each other, but that soon passed when Angel became friends with Tony Bloody Southon. He was another all-rounder, good in the classroom and good at sports and they just clicked and quickly became inseparable.

Before long they went everywhere together and one was never seen without the other. They were even having sleepovers and spending weekends together. Lindsay suspected that they might have been boyfriends even, but that was probably just wishful thinking.

About the same time, Lindsay hooked up with a girl! He was as surprised as anyone, he never thought that that was going to happen. But, what a girl! She was the ultimate "trophy" girlfriend, everyone wanted to know her, even those already in stable relationships.

Connie, (Consuella), Crestani was a year and a half older than Lindsay, which was very flattering. She was tall, very blond and had an amazing figure - really well stacked. Her long, bronzed legs went on and on. She was incredible to look at and she was really cool, and nice.

Connie was Angel's sister of course, one of his sisters, which was how Lindsay came to know her in the first place. Year tens didn't normally have much to do with year twelves. She was everything that her brother was and more. Much more. And she didn't like Tony Southon either. She hated her brother's relationship with him, so that was a plus.

They dated for a couple of weeks, spent hours chatting on the phone every night, and were a constant item in and around the school. Every break and lunchtime was spent together. Even Peter took time out of his busy life to come and congratulate him and tell him that he was a lucky dog. Lindsay was the envy of many boys around the town.

Then Connie dropped a bombshell on him and redefined their relationship. On a Saturday morning they met at Carver's Beach where Connie had been playing netball at the Domain, and they went for a walk on the beach. The tide was well out, making the beach look immense, and they walked along, hand in hand, just above where the small waves were lapping on the gray sand.

"But. But," He looked around to make sure that they couldn't be overheard. There were people in the distance, but no-one anywhere near them. They were alone on the wide-open beach.

"I don't think, I know. I suspected it from the beginning, I've been checking you out, and now I'm certain of it. It's all right, Lindsay. I'm not going to "out" you or anything. I don't mind that you're gay, as a matter of fact, it suits me because, you see, I am too."

"You're what too? You're gay, Connie? For real? What are you doing dating a boy, dating me, for if you're gay?"

"For the same reason that you are dating me, it suits me. I come from a very conservative, catholic, family. One day, I guess, I'll have to tell them that I'm gay, but not yet. They're going to have kittens when I do. At this point in my life, I have no intentions of broadcasting my sexuality, and you make a good cover. Also, as long as everyone thinks that we are a couple, I haven't got every boy in Westpoint trying to get in my pants."

"Maybe not, but there are more than a few girls who would like to and who would wonder why they got no reaction if they did. Admit it, Lindsay my love, being with me suits you too."

"Yeah. Okay, Connie. You know me, and it does suit me too. Certainly does wonders for my popularity too. Everyone thinks that I must have something if I'm the one with you."

"Oh, you've got something all right," Connie laughed. "Whether you are with me or not, you are a very beautiful boy, Lindsay my love, and a top scholar and everything, and you're a nice guy. You'd be a good catch for anyone."

"You think? You're the best catch in town, everyone thinks so. You're so hot, you're almost enough to turn a gayboy straight."

"I could say the same about you. So, do we have an understanding? We can be friends, very good friends and we can cover each other's backs. As far as our families, the school and everyone else is concerned, we are a couple. But we know that we're not, and what goes on behind closed doors, stay there. Okay?"

"That's not a problem, just don't broadcast it, and if you look at any other girls, I'll kill you both."

"Not likely. So we're a couple, officially, but I'm free to do what I want with boys and you can with girls?"

"Angel? No way. Angel is SO not gay. If you've got your eye on him, then you're out of luck."

"I haven't got my eye on him. I was just wondering. He seems to be very thick with Southon."

The school year rolled on, the days were getting shorter and cooler with the change in the seasons.. Lindsay and Connie were still, almost, inseparable. He was really enjoying their relationship now. They were friends, best friends, and they were completely open and honest with each other.

It was great. There was no need for either of them to pretend that they were anything that they were not, and they had a lot in common. In some ways, their discussions reminded him of the talks that he'd had with his Uncle Bruce, but it was even better in a way. Bruce was an adult but Connie was Lindsay's age - well almost.

The holidays began and, much to Lindsay's disappointment, Connie was going away for the whole two weeks. Her mum was taking her to stay with relatives who were living in Auckland.

'That's the trouble with having one really close friend. When they're not there, it leaves a big hole. Such is life.'

Alvin was busy with his new girlfriend, so he didn't see a lot of him either. They were just kids anyway.

Then, two things happened which changed his life. First, Uncle Bruce arrived to stay for a few days, and he was bearing gifts. He'd been having a clean-out, and he brought these two really cool racing cycles. They were road machines, light and multi-geared.. They'd cost a fortune. Bruce and his ex-partner, Phil, used to race competitively, but now they were just gathering dust in his shed. Would the boys like them? - He'd better believe it.

Alvin wasn't that excited, well he was distracted, but Lindsay was instantly in love with his shiny new machine - it was Ace! It didn't hurt that it used to belong to his favorite uncle either.

The bicycle opened up and extended Lindsay's world. The boy and his bike were like one well oiled machine as he flew along for hours everyday, exploring the roads in every direction out from his hometown. Other kids on bikes were left eating his dust and sometimes he even overtook slower cars.

At last, Lindsay had found a sport that he was good at and he really enjoyed it too. He was going to join the Westpoint Cycle Racing Club, just as soon as he could, but for now he was just enjoying getting to know the machine and falling more in love with it everyday.

One sunny day he went for a ride up the Gorge Highway. He had no definite plans, but it was a great day and he was enjoying the ride. Before long he found himself out of the other end of the Gorge and approaching Isherwood.

Isherwood was Tony Bloody Southon's hometown, but, whatever. He didn't own it. Lindsay decided to carry on and check out his nemesis' home territory. He wasn't the only one who lived there anyway.

Along the main road, at the far side of the small settlement, he could see some kids on bikes, in the distance, he thought that he might know them from school. So he carried on and caught up to them.

He did know them, knew who they were anyway, and one of them was Tony Bloody Southon. There were four boys, teenagers, on three bikes. Southon was the one who was not pedalling, he was sitting on the bar of the bike being ridden by Dave Monopoly.

Lindsay didn't stop, he wasn't going to stop and talk to Him. He just changed gears, put on extra speed and shot past them like they were standing still.

Southon didn't say anything when he shot past them. The others all called out, "Hey, Reilly." Someone sang, "Go, speed racer." But Southon sat quietly watching him disappear around the corner.

He pedaled on for a couple of minutes, then decided that that was enough. He couldn't go on forever, so he turned around to head for home. This time the boys on the bikes all stopped and put their feet down as he approached, so he stopped to say hello and let them admire his great new toy.

He wasn't disappointed, and they were full of questions about the gears, the price, and what speeds he got up to. As they stood there straddling their bikes in the middle of the highway, Southon still sitting on Monopoly's bike-bar, didn't join the conversation.

When he saw Lindsay looking at him, he didn't say a word, just smiled and deliberately slid his hand along Dave Monopoly's leg and up inside the loose leg of his baggy shorts. He sat and quietly fondled his balls while staring at Lindsay. Monopoly didn't say anything. He did blush a bit, but he wasn't objecting.

('Wow. What the hell? Are they screwing?') Lindsay didn't know where to look, he seemed to be the most embarrassed one there. He just cleared his throat with a cough and left, (fled), for home.

The others all called out, "Bye," and "See you'" but not Southon and his hand stayed where it was.

Authors deserve your feedback. It's the only payment they get. If you go to the top of the page you will find the author's name. Click that and you can email the author easily.^* Please take a few moments, if you liked the story, to say so.

[For those who use webmail, or whose regular email client opens when they want to use webmail instead: Please right click the author's name. A menu will open in which you can copy the email address (it goes directly to your clipboard without having the courtesy of mentioning that to you) to paste into your webmail system (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc). Each browser is subtly different, each Webmail system is different, or we'd give fuller instructions here. We trust you to know how to use your own system. Note: If the email address pastes or arrives with %40 in the middle, replace that weird set of characters with an @ sign.]

^* Some browsers may require a right click instead

Westpoint Tales

by Kiwi

Lindsay & Tony Bloody Southon - Pt 5