Triskaidekaphobia

By Aldric

Danny Boyd woke with a start. Today was the day. It should be a big day in his life, but he knew it wouldn’t be a happy one. Starting today, officially at 9:33 in the morning, he would become a teenager. An age he’d been dreading for some time, and with each passing month, each week, and each day, the fear that something would go wrong had grown.

His mom and dad ignored him, hoping he’d grow out of it. His best friend said he was weird and the idea that something bad would happen just because he turned 13 was ridiculous, pointing out that he and most of their other friends were already teens and nothing bad had happened to any of them. Danny had listened; yet still he brooded.

He sat up and looked at his phone. He’d slept later than he had thought, it was already well after 8 o’clock. He was sweaty from bad dreams, so he decided he’d start his day with a shower. He needed to pee, but he could do that as he washed the sweat from his body. He knew he needed to shower. His mom had told him, and so had his sister, Trisha. But when Cyn Harrison said he needed to wash himself more often, he listened. He’d had a crush on her since fourth grade and this year she’d openly accepted him as her boyfriend for the first time.

Cynthia hated being called by her given name, so she used Cyn, pronounced Sin. She was 22 days older than he was. He’d attended her thirteenth birthday party, even though her brothers had told him not to. But with her mom home, they were unable to do anything to prevent him from being there. And he clearly remembered her telling him she would give him a kiss on his birthday if he kissed her that day. He did, out of sight of her mother and brothers.

After his shower, he checked his phone, but there were no texts. Then he checked his tablet and saw he had an email from Cyn. Meet me at the post at 11. And I remember the promise I made for your birthday. He deleted the message.

He felt his dick stir as he thought of what that promise was. Sure, it was just a kiss. But it would be his second, and it would be with Cyn Harrison. He hurried down to get some breakfast and reminded himself to brush his teeth afterword.

“It’s about time you showed your face birthday boy,” Trisha greeted him. A year and a half older than him, she was still a mystery. Sometimes nice, sometimes not so. And he never knew if what she said was sincere or not. One thing he did know, she liked Carl Harrison, and therefore didn’t approve of his interest in Cyn.

“You be sure to be home at noon,” she said. “Mom’s throwing a party for you at 2, and you’ll probably need to shower and put on clean clothes. Plus, you can help me set it up, I’m not going to do it all myself. And stay away until then, I have your presents to wrap.”

“What’d ya get me,” he asked through a mouth full of oatmeal, knowing she hated it when he talked with his mouth full of food.

She made a face. That face, the one he hoped to see. The one that meant she was annoyed. “You are such a child!”

“I’m a teenager, just like you,” he said after rinsing the oatmeal down with a swallow of milk.

“Only by one hour,” she said, looking at the clock. “And besides, it’s just a number. Thirteen, right? The one you’re scared of. You aren’t a big boy until you grow some hair down there.” She pointed at his crotch.

She had a way to turn his simple pleasure against him, a skill he should have grown accustomed to. “I’ve got hair,” he said, hearing his own voice breaking, something else he was ashamed of. And he did have some, although not much. Five or six dark, curly hairs about a half an inch long.

“Prove it, little boy,” Trisha said with a smile.

He was up to the challenge. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” he said with confidence. There was no way she could come back from an open challenge like that.

But she did. She unfastened her shorts and pulled them down, staring at his open-mouthed astonishment. Then she pulled the top of her panties down to just above her slit. “Hair, see? Now you show me yours. If you really have any, little boy!”

He almost said it out loud. Fuck you. He had said it once, about six months ago, and got the first spanking he’d had in over six years. One that made him cry. And his dad told him if he ever said that to any one again, the next time he wouldn’t get off so easy. His sister told nearly everyone at school that her brother had been spanked like a little boy. He’d had to endure the laughter and taunts for weeks afterward.

“I hate you,” he said instead as he got up from the table, feeling his eyes filling with tears from the shame at being called by her favorite nickname for him.

“Take care of your dishes,” she said. “And remember, home at exactly noon or else.” She left, heading upstairs to her room.

He didn’t dare leave his dirty bowl, spoon, and glass on the table. It might be his birthday, but his mom had limited tolerance for things like that, and he didn’t want to get yelled at in front of his friends at his party. He rinsed them out and put them in the washer. Then he went back upstairs to brush his teeth before leaving.

It was simply known as ‘the post.’ It was all that remained of an old barn. It was ten feet tall and six inches to a side. One side had scorch marks that showed what had become of the rest of the barn. He hurried there, hoping that was where Cyn would give him the kiss he longed for. It would be embarrassing to be kissed in front of his mom and sister. Even his friends. But if that was where she wanted to kiss him, he’d endure it. He was thirteen now, and he knew it was unlucky, so that was probably where she’d do it. Unless-- What if she wanted to meet to break up with him? Would she do that? On his birthday? He wouldn’t know until he got to the post. With a new fear in his mind he hurried to get there.

He knew as soon as he saw them that he should run, but he couldn’t run away scared if Cyn were there. Besides, it was mostly her brothers, and she wouldn’t let them do anything to him.

“Come here little boy,” Carl said, emphasizing the nickname. So Trisha had told him the name she gave to her brother. And now Hank Harrison knew it too. He was twelve, and an even bigger threat than his older brother because he was younger. Getting beaten up by Carl wouldn’t get him a bad reputation; that boy was into several sports and was like 16 months older. But the younger boy was another matter.

“Step over there and stand in front of the post,” Carl ordered.

Danny looked around. Also there was Tyler ‘Double 0’ Bond. He’d come up with the stupid nickname based on his last name several years ago and now tried to stop anyone from using it. He was a friend of both of the Harrison boys, and a rival for Cyn’s attention. He was thirteen, and hated Danny because he had been there when she kissed him at her birthday party. Full on the lips, even a little bit of tongue. He was jealous, and therefore another threat.

And lastly, Shelia Brown was there. She was one of the more interesting girls in his grade. Not especially cute, but socially well connected. Everyone liked her, and if she said she didn’t like someone then nobody else did either. Danny had worked hard to ensure she never said that she didn’t like him.

“Where’s Cyn?” he asked without moving. He noticed that Hank and Tyler had moved to his sides, cutting off his path to escape.

“She regrets not being able to be here,” Carl said. “But I’m sure she wanted for us to make sure you have a birthday to remember. You only turn 13 once in your life. Stand in front of the post.”

“Or what?” Danny asked. There was no running now with two boys behind him. “What are you going to do?”

“Just have some birthday fun,” Carl said. “Nothing harmful, we even have a few birthday candles for you to blow out. Step over to the post, I’m not going to tell you again.”

Danny heard a noise from behind him and turned and looked at the younger brother. Hank had a short piece of thin chain in his hands. A glance in the other direction showed that Tyler did too.

“You’re going to chain me to the post?” Danny asked in total fear.

“No,” Carl said. “You’ll be free to leave at any time. You have my word, and if I’m lying your sister will be pissed at me.”

That much was true. While Trisha picked on him frequently, she did defend him, making sure the Harrison boys never went too far and never hurt him. Without that, his love interest in Cyn would never have been able to reach the point it was at. He stepped over to the post and stood in front of it.

Seconds later, he felt Hank and Tyler pull the sides of his shirt and lowered the chain they had been carrying inside it. Working together, they immediately pulled the back of his shorts and boxers out and passed the chain down inside of them too. The speed at which they had done it showed that they had practiced this. A moment later, he heard the sound of a padlock snapping closed and the two boys moved out to the front.

“See?” Carl said. You are free to go whenever you want.”

Danny tried to move away from the post, but the chains running down his clothing wouldn’t allow him to move more than an inch. He quickly realized that Carl was technically telling the truth. He was free to go. All he had to do to go was leave his clothing behind, still chained to the post.

“Now, let’s get this party started,” Carl said.

The instant he said it, Hank and Tyler bend over and grabbed each of Danny’s legs and moved them to the sides of the post, just far enough for them to tie his shoelaces together behind it.

“I promise, the moment you want to leave I will tell them to untie the laces and you can go,” Carl said. He stepped up and grabbed Danny’s right arm in one hand and shoved something into the boy’s fist with the other and then raised his arm up to right in front of his face.

Danny could see the fuse of a firecracker sticking out of the top of his fist. But with one of Carl’s hands holding the fist closed and the other holding his wrist, he was unable to move his hand.

“Here is your first birthday candle,” the older boy said. “Light it Shelia.”

As Danny struggled in vain to move his hand, the girl came over and used a lighter to light the fuse.

“Blow it out,” Carl said as he and the others all started singing happy birthday.

Unable to move his hand, Danny tried his best to blow out the fuse. As far as he knew, that was impossible, and his efforts were showing his belief to be true. With tears in his eyes, he blew as hard as he could as the flame went down into his fist.

And then nothing happened. Carl released him, and Danny opened his hand. The fuse had been glued to a stick, and it didn’t even make his skin turn red where it had entered his fist.

Danny was frightened, and very embarrassed when Hank pointed out two tear tracks on his face.

“What do you guys want?” he asked. “Please let me go, I need to be home soon.”

“Oh, yeah, the party,” Carl said. “But Trisha said that wasn’t until 2 p.m. We have plenty of time to have a party here now, and more candles to blow out. Why do you need to be home soon?”

“Trisha ordered me to be home at noon,” he said. “She’ll be pissed at you if I’m late.”

“Yes, she would be,” Carl responded. “You still have time for at least one more candle, but I did promise I would have them untie your laces if you wanted to leave now. Do you?”

“You’ll release the chains?” Danny asked, hoping to get the answer he wanted.

“Did you make a wish before blowing out the first candle?” Shelia asked. “If not, I think the chains remained locked until around two this afternoon.”

“Do you want to leave now?” Carl asked. “We know it will be difficult to get out of your clothes, so we’ll even help. But like Shelia said, the chains remain until Cyn brings the key. It’s her lock. Are you leaving? Or do you want to stay a bit longer?”

Leaving now would be going home naked. There was no doubt that Carl would do this to him, and of course Tyler and Hank would think it funny too. Shelia was showing she sided with them and wasn’t likely to help him. Would it end up like that? Was he going home naked? Or would he have to wait for Cyn to come and save him, meaning he would miss his party and piss off his mom.

“Just one more candle,” Shelia said. “If you can blow it out, I’ll text Cyn and have her bring the key. But if you can’t, then you have to leave and go home. And the next candle is a real one, not a fuse. All you have to do is manage to blow it out.”

Danny was pleased. They weren’t going to make him go home naked. There was some mystery about the candle, but it was the only chance he had. He hoped it wasn’t one of those candles that keep re-lighting. His mom, or perhaps his sister, had put one on his cake a few years ago.

“Okay, one more, and then you get Cyn,” he whined.

“Only if you blow it out,” Shelia said. She went to a tree and came back with a candle and a box. She lit the candle and blew it out. “See? It’s not a trick candle. Just tell us when you give up and are ready to leave.”

She set the box down between his legs and lit the candle. There was a candle holder glued to the top of the box, and she placed the candle in it and lit it. “Make a wish and blow it out,” she said with a laugh.

The candle was a good foot below the bottom of his shorts, but he could feel the heat rising from it. He tried to make wind by moving his legs, but he could only wiggle them.

“It’s going to start getting hot inside your pants,” Carl said. “The heat rises, but can’t escape. When you are ready to give up, let us know and we’ll help you to get free of the chains and you can leave.”

It went slowly from warm to hot and then to uncomfortable. His upper thighs were getting hot, but he was more worried about his dick and ball sack, which were getting most of the heat from the candle. There was no way he could blow it out, and the heat kept on rising. He guessed he’d lasted ten minutes before he’d had enough. As soon as he said he quit, the candle was removed.

His feet were untied, and Carl lifted his shirt up to his head. “Lift your arms,” he instructed.

There was no point in resisting. They were going to make him get naked. Perhaps if he cooperated, they wouldn’t really send him home that way, so he lifted his arms and was able to pull his head down and arms through the sleeves.

Meanwhile, Shelia was busy with his shorts. She unsnapped them and lowered the zipper. He could feel her fingers touch his dick through his boxers. He looked at her and saw she was smiling. She was enjoying this, and he was not.

“Okay,” she said when she’d pulled his shorts and boxers to the lowest extent permitted by the chains. “Put your arms on my shoulders and the boys will help lift you up.” She wanted a clear look at his privates, even though she didn’t expect much. But it would be a rare treat for any early teen girl to get a look at one of her peers naked, and she wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity.

She bent over to hold his clothing down as Danny was lifted up. She smiled as his dick came into view, happy to see the boy had an erection. It wasn’t big, but larger than she expected, easily as long as her middle finger, and bigger around than her thumb. As it came free of his boxers it sprang up, hitting the boy in his abdomen before almost hitting her chin.

He was hairless as far as she could tell, and as he was lifted higher she could see his round ball sack with its two little stones inside. She wanted to touch, but had to continue to hold his clothing down until his legs came free.

That lasted until his first leg was out and then she held his clothing down with her right hand and touched his dick with her left. It twitched away from her, and she heard a shocked gasp from Danny and laughter from Hank and Tyler. Then his left leg was out and he was set on the ground.

“As promised, you are free and can leave now,” Carl said.

Danny took off running, making it two steps before he tripped over his untied shoe laces. One of his sneakers came off, landing back in front of the others. Shelia picked it up and held it out to him as he rolled over.

“Damn, you are so pathetic,” Tyler said. “Even Shelia can’t be enjoying your tiny boner.”

She didn’t say anything, but she did continue to stare at the boy’s dick, which was now twitching up and down. He had to let her see it in order to take his shoe and put it on. He tied the laces and got up and started running towards home. Home, where Trisha would be waiting for him. And she would take one look at his nearly hairless groin and call him a little boy again.

But when he got home he thought that maybe his luck had changed. He opened the back door and saw all the lights were out.

“Trisha, are you home?” he yelled. He didn’t get an answer. Not willing to risk having her come in the front door when he was so close to getting past her, he ran into the living room.

Suddenly, the lights came on and people stood up everywhere yelling “Surprise!”

And he was surprised. So much so that he froze in place. He didn’t even cover up his nudity. It took five full seconds for the crowd of kids to realize he was naked, and then the laughter started. He couldn’t blame them, if he’d been a guest instead of the victim he probably would have laughed too. The laughter lasted for a few seconds, and then the room got quiet.

There was nowhere to run. Boys and girls his age plus a few a year or two younger and older were staring at him. The room was filled with them. As he started towards the steps, he spotted the one person he really didn’t want to see him like this. Cyn Harrison.

She stepped right in front of him. Her eyes darted down, taking in all of his previously hidden body. Then she looked up again. She kept her eyes focused on his face. Very quietly, she put her arm around him. He almost cried out. Then, trembling, her lips pressed against his and his hands moved to hold her. The silence was like an explosion. His erection pressed up against her jeans. And all she did was continue to kiss him as she pulled him towards the stairs.

The other kids spread out to let them pass. When she reached the steps, she pulled his arms down. “You are beautiful,” she said. “I like seeing you in your birthday suit. But go put some clothes on, please, and then come back down.” He ran to his room, allowing all below him a final view of his bare butt.

When he didn’t reappear, the kids began to talk. Andy Olsen went up to his room and knocked on the door. When he didn’t get an answer he opened it and went in.

Danny was sitting on his bed. He had dressed, but he didn’t even look up to see who’d come in. He suspected it was Trisha, thinking that she’d probably come to make fun of him, to call him a little boy again.

“I, uh, know you’re not okay,” Andy began. That made Danny look at him. “But most of the kids downstairs feel sorry for you. That was some kiss. The prettiest girl in school, and you got kissed by her.” Danny was staring at him, but didn’t say anything.

“I guess that stuff about Triskaidekaphobia was real,” Andy continued. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you about your fear of turning 13. But why were you naked in the first place?”

“Carl and Hank Harrison, and Double 0,” Danny said. “Shelia Brown helped them.”

“Crap,” Andy said. “I’ll help you get back at Tyler. Maybe Carl too, but, shit, he’s big.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Danny said. “They made me strip. All the kids downstairs saw me naked. My life is over.”

“Not true buddy. Not at all. Me and most of the other guys thought it was the fucking bravest thing we’ve ever seen. None of us would have the balls to kiss a girl while naked. Or even let one see us.” Andy paused. “Okay, so you didn’t plan it. You didn’t know about the surprise party. But Cyn said she sent you a text that she would be here at noon. Don’t tell the other kids the Harrison’s did it. Let them think you’re weird, but unbelievably brave. Or stupid. Either way. You’re a goddamn hero to them now. And the girls are all jealous of Cyn. Connie Blackstone told Gibbon’s that until he was willing to be as cool as you he was never going to get a kiss from her.”

Connie and Jason Gibbon were in a relationship. They had been for six months. And Jason had bragged about the number of times he’d been to ‘second base’ with her. Apparently, that was a lie.

“Connie really said that?” Danny asked.

“She sure did, and I think she meant it. The other girls backed her up. Man, I’m telling you, the girls thought it was the coolest thing any boy could ever do. If you play like you met it only for Cyn, they’ll believe you. And even with all them watching you, you hugged her and kissed her. You didn’t run away crying like I would have. So come on back downstairs and lets have some cake and ice cream.”

“You think they’ll believe it?” Danny asked. “That I was really brave enough to walk in on Cyn naked?”

“I’m telling you, they already believe it. Forget about Cyn’s brothers, I’ll get a group of guys and we’ll make sure they never get credit for doing it. If they say they did, we’ll threaten to tell our parents.” Andy paused again, seeing some color returning to his friend’s face. “I’m going to go down and tell everyone you are just upset that they all saw you. That you thought only Cyn would be here. Give it a minute or two and then come down. I’m sure it was embarrassing, but it happened. You were given the lemons of life. Now, make some lemonade.”

It took five minutes before Danny got up the courage to come downstairs. As soon as the kids saw him they cheered. Several kids expressed how he’d showed them all up. The girls all wanted to say hi, and apologize for seeing him. It was like Andy had said. He wasn’t the chump, someone to be laughed at, he was the hero, at least for the day. The surprise party got rolling, and they all had fun.

Danny’s mom came home just before 2 p.m. “I guess the surprise party was a success,” she said as she saw the kids having fun. “Happy birthday Danny,” she added, giving her boy a hug.

Once the party was over, Cyn stayed behind. “I’ve got something to tell you,” Danny said, leading her outside to the front porch. “What Andy said, about me planning this, isn’t the truth. Your brothers and Tyler Bond stripped me. I don’t think they knew about the surprise party. And I’d have never been brave enough to show up naked on my own.”

“Yeah, I thought it sounded very unlike you and not the boy I know and like,” she said. “I’ll tell my parents, and Carl won’t be able to play football next fall. I’ll have a few choice words for Tyler too.”

“No, let it go,” Danny said. “It happened, and the way it did worked in my favor. Just convince him to never tell anyone they did it. Make him keep it to himself. Same for Hank and Tyler.”

“Okay, that’s a good idea,” she said after thinking about it for a few seconds. Then she looked at Danny. “Are you okay? I mean, after all that happened?”

“It seems to be turning out okay. At least for now.” And then he had a thought. “If you really feel bad about seeing me, uh, you know, naked, you could uh...”

“That’s not going to happen Danny,” she said. “At least not for a while. I’m not that brave.” She saw the look on his face. “No, I’m not mad at you for thinking about it. I’m just not going to let you see me naked.” She paused. “If we’re still together in two years, on your fifteenth birthday, maybe then.”

He saw her blush. “I’ll do whatever it takes to first make sure you have reason to trust me, and second, to make sure we’re still together. Enjoy the memories of me. I guess I wasn’t really much to look at. Trisha calls me ‘little boy’ all the time, and now I guess you know why. Speaking of her, where is she? She should be gloating over seeing me naked.”

“She left shortly after I arrived,” Cyn said. “She must be off to get you your birthday present. She told me to bring a key to my bike’s padlock and took it with her.”

Danny had a good idea where she’d gone. She didn’t return until after Cyn had left. He had a quiet dinner home with just his parents and sister, and she didn’t say much of anything to him. But that night, as he went to bed, he found his clothes under the sheets. He had been right; she’d gone back to get them. He checked his phone for text messages and saw the one Cyn had sent him earlier. If he’d had his phone with him when he went to the post the day might have been completely different.

That night he enjoyed one of the best beat-off sessions he’d ever had. He didn’t fall asleep until late, and woke up the next morning with a start.

He’d slept later than he had thought, it was already well after 8 o’clock. He was sweaty from dreams of being naked, so he decided he’d start his day with a shower. He needed to pee, but he could do that as he washed the sweat from his body. And then he realized, this was the exact same way he’d started yesterday. Did it really happen? Had it all been a dream? Or was this something like the movie Groundhog Day?

He decided to follow a different path. He used the toilet to pee, and then returned to his room and checked his tablet for emails. He had one from his sister, and it had an attachment. He read the message first.

Cyn told me what happened yesterday, and that you wanted me to do nothing but make sure Carl and the others never talk about what they did to you. That has been accomplished. With Mom and Dad home, I never had a chance to talk to you after I got back. Then I thought of the front and back cameras. Attached is the one from the back. I’m glad Dad spent the money for the best camera he could get. It let me zoom in. And I see you do have some hairs down there. Not many, but some. You might remain a little boy in my mind, but from now on I’ll make a point to call you Danny. Or maybe it’s time to change that to Dan. After all, you’re not a little boy anymore big guy.

Next he launched the video in the attachment. It showed him coming across the backyard and up to the back door. He’d come home with the sun on his front, and he was clearly visible. All of him. He now saw what Cyn and 18 other kids had seen. But as horrible as it was at the time, it turned out okay. He decided to keep the video. Maybe 22 days before his fifteenth birthday he’d show it to Cyn. And remind her of her promise to him.

That summer, on a Friday the 13^th in July, he was there the day that Shelia Brown’s bikini top came off at the same time that Carl and Hank Harrison and Tyler ‘Double 0’ Bond somehow lost their suits in Bear Head lake on a day when fifty or sixty kids from school were there. How it happened was a total mystery; and no person ever claimed to be responsible for it. But somehow their clothing ended up under a blanket on the beach next to where Cyn and Trisha were working on their tans.

Danny no longer had any phobia about the number 13.