Gus and JR walked into St. James Academy with confidence, followed by Brian and Justin who seemed more nervous than they were. Of course, the teens could have no idea of the bad memories that the place brought to mind for DJ, and even DB didn't like the feelings the place invoked in him (JR loved nicknames and thought it only fitting that the dads have initials just like her). Both of the men were hoping that the teens would make a bunch of happy new memories for them to enjoy. Neither of the young ones had ever had a problem fitting in, wherever they ventured, so they were quite certain that St. James would just be another place for them to conquer.

Brian and Justin spent an hour getting acclimated to the school system and what was going to be expected of them as parents. While they chatted with the school counselor, a fussy looking assistant principal with hair piled thick in a unflattering bun at the nape of her neck had called two young people over to her and assigned them to Gus and JR. She gave instructions in an authoritative voice that brooked no argument. A pleasant looking youth of indeterminate age and a bothersome looking case of acne was assigned to show Gus where his classes were and introduce him to his new teachers. JR was the recipient of a bubbly blonde who looked and acted eerily like a light haired version of JR. The young teen with Gus stopped outside the office and thrust his hand out with a big ol' grin on his face. Gus gave the boys hand a hearty shake.

"Hey, Gus Marcus-Peterson. Good to meet ya. The name's Thomas G. Cockrell, but everyone just calls me Tommy... Oh, and the G stands for genius, but I can't help it. I was born that way." Tommy gave a huge chuckle that was truly infectious and Gus couldn't help sharing in the laugh. He felt extremely lucky to be paired with this kid on his first day. Tommy checked the note pad he carried and did a quick turn towards the right side of the main hallway. He pointed down the corridor. "This way, Kemo Sabe, to your first thrilling class of the day."

"Lead on, o guide of mine," Gus responded.

Meanwhile, JR's pretty young blonde guide introduced herself as Bridget Tyler, better known as Gidget to her friends. Gus and Tommy could hear the two girls giggling and chattering away in the time honored tradition of two thirteen year old girls who had formed an instant rapport. By the time Brian had his check book out and was handing over the first of the many huge checks the teens were going to need from him, both teens were entering their first period classrooms at their new school.

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Gus stepped into the large airy room filled with the usual row after row of desks with a much larger desk standing squarely in front of the center rows. Almost every desk was filled with a wide variety of faces, all looking up at the stranger who had just entered. Tommy stepped away from Gus and moved to the teacher's desk, where she sat with her head buried in an attendance sheet. The elderly-looking wisp of a woman was obviously near sighted, even with her glasses on. She stopped in the middle of calling a name and greeted Tommy.

Mrs. Bridges may have looked a little shaky, but she had a cheery disposition. "Well well, Mr. Cockrell, what have we here," she asked, pointing to Gus. Tommy motioned Gus over to him and then introduced him to his World Geography teacher. Mrs. Bridges was impressed with her new student's demeanor right away. The fresh faced lad had the look of intelligence about him and a smile that warmed the old girl's heart. She indicated an empty desk very close to the front and asked Gus to claim it. The young man walked confidently to his seat, taking in the faces of as many of his fellow students as he could while reaching it. The low level hum of curious voices came to an abrupt halt when their teacher spoke up. "Young ladies and gentlemen," Mrs. Bridges began, "we have the pleasure of a new student today. His name is…" She took a quick look at the slip of paper Tommy had handed her before seating himself..."Gustave Marcus-Peterson. He comes to us from Toronto, Canada and I'm sure you'll want to make him feel as welcome as you can."

There were a few nods and murmurs of assent and the class settled down. Mrs. Bridges continued her roll call and the next fifty minutes were spent exploring the names of countries with ever changing borders. Gus could feel the appreciative stares of girls behind him because he was quite used to it. He was wishing he'd been seated further back... not because he wanted to be inconspicuous, but so that he could study some of his fellow students a little better. When the first period bell rang, everyone hurriedly gathered up their things and headed for the door. Tommy joined Gus and the two were the last to leave the room, giving Mrs. Bridges their best smiles as they passed which warmed the old girl's heart quite a bit.

Once they were in the hall, the boys were surrounded by a group of students full of questions, such as where in the world did Gus get the name Gustave. He laughingly straightened them out on what to call him and was greeted by giggles and grins by the mostly female gathering. The second period warning bell brought an abrupt end to any more questions as the students scattered to their respective classes. Tommy grabbed Gus' arm and dragged him to his next class, English Lit. The same scenario happened for third period P.E. with Gus signing up for the school's swim team.

The rest of Gus' day went just as smoothly as it started... well, except for one slightly disturbing incident between third and fourth period. Tommy was dragging Gus along to his Business Economics class, which happened to be just past the entrance to the large well outfitted gym, when a group of five muscular looking boys burst through the double doors to the cavernous room. The lead boy ran smack into Gus, nearly knocking him to the ground. He stumbled into Tommy behind him which caused Gus to then bounce forward. Gus reached out to steady himself and ended up almost pulling the six footer down to the ground with him.

"Hey, jerk, let go!" the kid yelled.

The other boys behind the offended stranger had moved forward to keep both boys from falling. A red haired lad spoke up first.

"Whoa, Terry. Chill, man. It was an accident."

The big kid named Terry didn't look any calmer. He pushed his face close to Gus' and ordered him to watch where he was going next time. He then turned and strode purposefully down the hall, followed by the other boys in his group. Gus noticed that one particularly good looking dark haired boy, much smaller than the others, was the only one who turned around as if to check that the stranger was okay. Gus felt Tommy grab hold of his arm again and start to steer him onward. "Pay no attention to that bunch," he told Gus. "Those guys are part of our illustrious wrestling team. They think their shit doesn't stink ever since they won the regional championship for the school for the first time in decades. Most of them like to throw their weight around. That Terry White kid is the worst of the bunch, though. Likes to think he's a ladies man and all but most of the gals can't stand him. Anyway, we're here."

They had come to a stop in front of a classroom so the conversation ended. Gus made a mental note to avoid Terry White in the future. He had a feeling the two of them wouldn't make fast friends. Gus couldn't help but wonder who the dark haired kid with the movie star looks was. He didn't look as rough around the edges as the other guys in the group. Before he could think about it anymore, Tommy was introducing Gus to Mr. Baxter, his Business Ec. teacher. Mr. Baxter was all business and as fussy as an IRS agent on an audit. Gus tried hard to concentrate on his lesson, but the dark eyes of a certain black haired teen kept popping up in his mind. It was kind of weird to Gus because nothing like that had ever happened to him before. There had been a lot of people, both gals and guys, that Gus had admired and been good friends with, but nothing like this. Gus REALLY wanted to know the mysterious boy's name and get a chance to know him. Fourth period flew by and Gus found himself the center of attention after class again. The kids scattered once more when they heard the next period bell ringing. Gus was dragged off to his fifth period class by Tommy. They had just stepped into Mr. Ramone's Geometry class when Gus noticed the antagonistic wrestler, Terry, perched on the edge of his desk and talking to a group of several husky teen boys who seemed fascinated by whatever he was saying. Before Gus could reach the teacher's desk, he saw that Terry had spotted him entering the classroom.

Gus felt immediately uncomfortable by the hard stare the boy gave him but his attention was drawn to Mr. Ramone, who was indicating a seat near the rear for Gus to use. He had to go down the same aisle that Terry's desk was on and he couldn't help noticing the nasty glare the guy gave him as he passed by. He was very relieved that there were three desks between his and Terry's spots. The rest of the class was totally uneventful, even though there was a slight snicker from Terry and the boy next to him when the teacher was introducing Gus by his full name. No big deal, thought Gus, since it happened all the time.

Gus was very glad that Terry was long gone from the hallway when he exited the fifth period class. He was excited to get to his last class of the day. It was his elective which was Graphic Design. He had loved the class in Toronto and looked forward to it more than any other. This was where he and Tommy parted ways. Tommy went with Gus to the class, introduced him to Mr. Fred Hinkle, his teacher, and then headed off for his Drama class.

Gus noticed that every student had a computer in from of them. There was only one desk that was empty. As he scanned the room he noticed, much to his delight, that the student he had admired a while back was sitting in the seat right next to the empty one. Mr. Hinkle introduced Gus to the class and then indicated the empty desk as his. Gus moved down the row of desks and slid into his seat. He turned to his left and smiled at the teen next to him. The boy smiled back.

Somewhere during the next hour, the dark haired youth introduced himself to Gus as Jason Tyler. The rest of the class hour went by much too fast in Gus' opinion. Gus enjoyed the teacher, who was full of good ideas and was very good at expressing them. His fellow classmates seemed to enjoy the class a lot too, and the best part was knowing that Jason was in his class. Gus had no idea why this stranger had made such an impact on him, but he just knew that the two of them were going to be really good friends. He felt really lucky, because he had met two new fellows that he felt at ease with and sensed that he would be good friends with. This was shaping up into a great day.

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JR and Gidget had headed off to the opposite side of the massive campus of St. James where the middle school classrooms were located. JR had thrown a perfunctory wave to her brother's back as he was dragged away down the hall and then concentrated on where she was going. She had taken an instant liking to the petite girl beside her. If their hair coloring had been the same they could have passed as sisters easily. There was something infectious about both of them with their animated mannerisms and friendly smiles.

JR spent the whole day going from class to class with her new best friend and learning the names of her teachers and classmates. As she always did at home in Toronto, she made a great impression on almost everyone and soon found herself the center of attention in every class. Her favorite class was PFD (Personal Family Development). She had taken a similar class in Toronto but had to leave before they reached the stage of having an automated baby doll to care for. She was hoping that she hadn't missed it at St. James and was pleased to find out that they would reach that stage of the lessons by the end of the month. JR was definitely her father's daughter. She had the same nurturing attitude as Michael.

JR had made plans to meet Gidget at the front entrance of the main drive, where DB and DJ were supposed to pick the kids up. Gidget had told her new friend that she had a brother who was a Senior and that he always gave her a ride home, but she really wanted the chance to see JR's two dads again. They were kind of old but awfully good looking. Gidget was probably the only girl in town who could out flirt JR and she didn't want to miss this golden opportunity to make an impression on JR’s parents.

JR and Gidget were standing at the top of the concrete steps leading to the parking lot when they heard Gus calling to his sister from the grassy knoll, yards away from them. A few feet away from Gus, another voice was yelling out for Gidge. All three teens turned in the direction of the second voice and Gidget waved to the handsome boy who was waving wildly at her. Gus hurried over to where his sis was standing with the young girl who had been assigned to her for orientation. He noticed that the other boy was doing the same. The two boys pulled up beside the younger girls almost simultaneously. They were both a little out of breath from rushing over. JR stood on tippy-toes to plant a kiss on her brother's cheek.

"Hey Gus! So how'd it go?" she asked.

"Fine, kiddo," came the reply. "I see you still have your guide. I lost mine during final period."

Gus stuck out his hand to the blonde. "Hi, my name's Gus. You remember from earlier?"

Gidget was thinking, 'Who would forget,' but just took the older boy's hand and answered, "of course." She turned to the boy standing next to Gus and said, "and this is my brother, Jason. Say hi, Jason."

Jason gave a wide grin and pulled one of his sister's pig tails. "We've met, shrimp."

The next twenty minutes was spent with the four teens getting to know each other a little better while Gus and JR waited for their dads to pick them up. Gus was in no hurry to see the men arrive and it looked like JR shared his sentiments. She found Jason to be ultra cute and couldn't help flirting with him in her most coy manner possible. Gus was embarrassed by his little sister's behavior but was relieved to see that Jason was taking it well in stride. He rolled his eyes once over the heads of the shorter girls which brought a small laugh out of Gus. JR's head whipped around to see what was so amusing, but didn't catch the silent exchange between the boys.

By the time Brian and Justin drove up to the curb to pick the teens up, Gus and JR had invited the other pair of siblings to their house. When they spotted the jeep, Gus and JR ran over to it followed close behind by Jason and Gidget. Introductions were made all around and then JR started batting her eyes and pleading for the men to allow a visit from their new friends. Justin liked what he saw when he looked into the faces of the kids so he agreed readily after consulting Brian for his opinion. Brian deferred to Justin and a time was set for a get together on Friday after school, with the Tyler parent's approval of course.

Both of the older men noticed how animated the teens were all the way home. Over dinner, expertly prepared by Justin after a busy day working on a commissioned piece in his studio, the dads got an earful of the exciting adventures of the young one's first day at their new school. Justin got a tiny bit nostalgic when hearing some of the descriptions of classrooms and such, especially when Gus mentioned Mrs. Bridges. Justin remembered his World Geography teacher quite well and was amazed that she was still at St. James. She had looked retirement age in 2000, when Justin was in her class. This made Gus laugh and he told DJ how she still looked the same.

Justin would have been a bit less nostalgic and a little more unhappy if Gus had mentioned his little run in with the stocky wrestler, Terry, but he thought it wise to keep that to himself. After all, it was surely just a one time thing and he felt no need to worry the guys. Besides, he had better things to talk about... such as the other wrestler who was in the welter weight division of the wrestling team. Both Brian and Justin caught on to how enthusiastic their teens were while talking about the Tyler siblings and realized that they would probably be seeing a lot more of the duo.

That night, Brian and Justin snuggled closely together and expressed their relief that the teens had obviously enjoyed their first day at St. James and were already making good friends. Some of the fears that they had been secretly harboring over how well the kids would adjust to their new environment started to fade away and they kissed tenderly in their satisfaction with the day's events. As their kiss began to deepen, they each sent up thanks to whatever powers that be for the way things were progressing.

Gus and JR lay in their separate beds reflecting on the days events too. The last thought they both had of as they drifted off to sleep was of a dark eyed, dark haired, beautiful young man named Jason.

To be continued...........