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You are here: Home > Story Shelf > All Authors > N Fourbois > N Fourbois | Nathan B...'s Schooldays, Year 8

Nathan B...'s Schooldays

by N Fourbois

Year 8

It was mid-September and Nathan had his thirteenth birthday behind him. It was now the first day back to school after nearly two months of summer holidays. He was in thoughtful mood as he was making his way to the bus stop and while travelling to the station. His blue house badge remained decidedly fixed to the right lapel of his school blazer. His first thought was how the feeling of apprehension of a year ago had changed to one of confidence. Now he had status, even though he was only in Year 8, and he was looking forward to seeing his schoolfriends after the long holidays. The past few weeks had been a lonely time, for his classmates were scattered widely over the countryside surrounding the school and he didn't live particularly close even to those he made the train journey with. But he had become used to this over the years since moving out into the country and he was accustomed to making his own entertainment. This may be the reason that he had no particular friends at school, though he got on well with nearly everybody. Nathan leant back in his seat on the bus. The motion and vibration of the vehicle had given him a boner which he was covering with his schoolbag. He thought back to his two weeks in Spain, not as boring as he thought it would be for he had met Raoul, a boy a few months older than himself from Switzerland, with whom he spent his free time, at first by the hotel pool and later in either of their air conditioned rooms. The lessons of the previous term he had received at the hands of Mike R... proved invaluable and Raoul had one or two things to teach him, and it wasn't just the French language. The drift of Nathan's thoughts were interrupted by the bus's arrival at the railway station. His boner was so hard it was almost hurting, but he kept his embarrassment covered by his schoolbag as he got off.

As usual the groups of boys from his school gathered at their appointed places on the station. Those at the top of the school the previous term had fallen off their perch and were no longer to be seen while there was a small gaggle of newbugs huddled together in their pristine school uniforms. Nathan joined his group along with the newly promoted Year 9s and he was immediately fascinated by the physical changes they had all undergone during the previous two months. A couple of his mates that he would just have given cursory glances at before had grown and lost puppy fat and he in fact found them quite attractive. After the introductory conversations about where they had been and what they had done over the holidays, his eyes strayed towards the new boys and one in particular stood out from the crowd and was occupying Nathan's attention when the train seemed to creep up upon them and they all had to get aboard. On the first day of term they managed to find an empty compartment, though it wasn't a 'horsebox'. Still horseboxes were more fun on the homeward journey when spirits were higher and there was a greater likelihood of horseplay. While all the others were chatting away merrily Nathan sat in the corner daydreaming. After all, wasn't it an adolescent's right to daydream? He was interested in that one newbug he had picked out of the group, the one with the tousled hair and the sparkle in his eyes. He thought back to the way he had been 'initiated' when he was new and had rejected such actions out of hand. Hadn't Mike R... taught him a different way of going about things and in his own case hadn't it been terribly effective? He made a mental note to chat him up at the earliest opportunity. Perhaps he could catch him on a Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon when they went home at varying times and the groups of travelling companions either merged or disintegrated all according to what activities were going on at school. And one firm decision had been take n. He wasn't going start off with the school chat-up line of 'Have you been wanked off yet?'

The train seemed to arrive at its destination more quickly than ever before. As he alighted with his group, Nathan unconsciously looked around for the newcomer that had smitten him so. Apparently he had already established himself as the 'leader' of his gang of four. While they looked around to get their bearings on the platform, Nathan overtook them and both deliberately and gently brushed against the object of his interest, if only to be able to say sorry, give him a sweet smile and gauge his reaction; and Nathan was not disappointed for they made eye contact and the new boy was gracious in a shy and self-effacing way. Grace is not normally a quality associated with adolescents, but certain situations can elicit it from them amidst all the accompanying gaucheness.

The first day of the school year passed as it normally does: school assembly, house meeting, admin, book issue. Once Nathan's class had got together in their form room, it became clear that they had lost one or two and gained one or two, academic adjustments after the previous year's examinations. A pleasant surprise awaited Nathan at lunch. The pupils sat at house tables and at the bottom end there would always sit a Year 11 boy in a supervisory capacity. And who should he be sitting next to, but Mike R...? So while their little liaison of the previous term had ended he had the pleasure of Mike's company, conversation and advice over lunch for the next term, if not the whole year. Naturally this lunchtime's conversation turned to the holidays, that is to say to Raoul for Nathan and in addition to the newbug who had so impressed him on the station that morning. Here Mike's advice would prove invaluable. In bed that night it occurred to Nathan that that was the first time he had sprung an erection while eating, but he knew that it was Mike's aura that had caused it.

The term soon got into its routine. Nathan was pleased that games lessons would be in the afternoon while PE was late morning. He still held bitter memories of freezing on the frosty fields the previous autumn and winter. Another thought struck him. He consistently continued to wear his blue house badge on the right lapel of his school blazer and whilst no one ever remarked upon it he did notice one or two other things happening. He was sure that older boys were regularly checking him out and found it embarrassing whenever he was sporting that inevitable and uncontrollable boner. Not only that. If he was standing in assembly or in the queues for lunch or the tuckshop, if he was in a throng of other boys, he found that someone might well brush up against him, not knock into him violently, but something much gentler. He might feel a hand sliding across his backside or even pat it. He always endeavoured to see who did it, but it was usually impossible which annoyed him for he was not unused to making a continual check on other boys, older definitely, his own year certainly, particularly in games and PE, and even on a younger boy, should he be pretty or handsome enough to merit his attention, and so he would be frustrated by not being able to identify the perpetrator. After the experiences of the past summer he might not be entirely against responding if accosted by the right person.

However, one incident did disgust him. One day he was standing at the urinals minding his own business. He always did there for he had an innate aversion to anything that connected sex to a lavatory. He thought it was irrational, but the concept was none the less revolting for its being irrational. As he was standing there, he felt a distinct pinch on his butt. Since he was in midstream there was very little he could do about it but turn and see who it was and when he turned his head to his utter horror he saw standing next to him Michael J... who turned and leered at him in a most unhealthy manner while giving an unwanted display of his large, ugly and urinating penis with its oversize foreskin fully retracted and caked in cheese. It was previously stated that things of a sexual nature never crossed the boundary between the lives of dayboys and boarders, but Michael J... was the exception that proved the rule. No one ever called him gay; he was queer, a faggot, a pervert, the schoolboy equivalent of a dirty old man, but never gay. He had no real friends and even those whom he persuaded to join in with his nefarious activities, all drawn from the lowest stratum of school society, would never admit to being a friend of his. He looked dirty; he was unkempt, scruffy, had a distinct odour about him and was renowned for avoiding showers by very largely avoiding games and PE. He was always pointed out to new arrivals at the school as someone to avoid and why. He was a pariah and yet he did manage to attract a certain clientele. With his new found confidence Nathan was capable of telling him to arrange into a well known phrase or saying the words 'off' and 'fuck', particularly strong from a boy who usually never found a need to swear.

Unfortunately the incident did eventually get to Nathan, namely that night at home in bed while he was giving his dick its routine work-out for suddenly he had a flashback to the afternoon at the urinals and he not only felt nauseous, but suddenly lost his erection. He fell into a restless sleep waking at various times during the night.
"Is everything all right, Nathan?" his mother enquired at breakfast the next morning.
"Yes. Why, Mum?"
"It's just that you seemed to be having a very restless night."
"Bad dream, that's all."
"Anything in particular?"
"No, just getting chased by a monster snake and not being able to get away. You know the thing," he said omitting to mention that the monster snake was attached to J...'s unwholesome body. Nathan was determined to bring up the subject of Michael J... with Mike R... over lunch. It was odd, but in the most public of places he could bring up the most private of matters with him. The general noise meant it that conversation was only possible with one's closest neighbours and those around him were usually having their own conversations anyway.
"He's probably the most hated boy in the school, Natt," said Mike R.... "If you have any more trouble from him, let me know. I'll sort him out. He's got his regulars. He doesn't need to start on the likes of you."
"Is it true what they say about him?"
"What's that?"
"That he's only interested in sticking his prick up small boys' bums?"
"Almost right. He'll go with anyone he can persuade to put up with his BO. How's your love life, Natt?"
"Very limited at the moment. How about you?"
"Not too bad. I've got someone in training at the moment."
"Are you going to name names?"
"Do you know that black haired, blue-eyed kid, the new one in Year 9?"
"I've seen him around, but I haven't been able to check him out yet... I mean talk to him yet, except..."
"Except what?"
"You know I've said I've been touched up in the crowd once or twice this term?"
"Yees?"
"Well, it's just occurred to me he's sometimes been around when it's happened..."
"You can keep your hands off, Master B..., because he's mine. My problem is he's not only in another boarding house, but he's in the same one as that odious J... and now the evenings are drawing in it's not so easy for us to meet. But we cope." Mike gave Natt a knowing look. "I've still got a key to the Corps hut. Hey, Natt. You never did get round to telling me about you and your Swiss friend Raoul in Spain." At that point a gavel was banged and the School stood to return grace. Lunch was over.
"Ask me tomorrow, Mike" said Natt as they filed out.
"Tomorrow's Saturday."
"Then Monday. Promise," and Natt cheekily blew him a kiss. In the throng Nathan felt a distinct pinch on his butt. Some wishful thinking, but the new Year 9 guy was a couple of yards in front of him. However, above the general smell of school dinners he could clearly detect the cheesy, sweaty BO of J.... Could it have been him? A glance behind and Natt quickly stamped his shoe down on the bridge of J...'s foot, then made a speedy exit before a prefect could intervene. Mike R... saw what was happening and tripped over, falling across the corridor and so holding up the crowd before anyone could get near to Nathan. He slept easier that night.

When he arrived at school the next day he was greeted as a hero. He received a scowl from the odious J... as he hobbled across the quadrangle. At break Nathan sought out Mike R..., whom he considered to be the real hero, in order to thank him.
"That was very brave of you to take a dive. You could have been trampled to death under that crowd."
"Oh, it was nothing," Mike replied modestly.
"I owe you, Mike."
"And you probably will, Natt," he replied, giving him a shrewd wink. "Monday, the Raoul story, and I mean the whole Raoul story."

When the School sat down to lunch the following Monday Nathan said to Mike R...
"What are you doing after lunch?"
"Why?"
"Well, I can't really tell you the Raoul story over lunch. Too much noise, too many distractions and too many flappy ears." Mike made a great to-do getting out his school calendar and searching through it.
"You're lucky, Natt. I have got a window after lunch today." When lunch was over they met outside and went and sat on a bench overlooking the 1st XV rugby pitch. It was one of those balmy autumn days that remind you of the summer just passed away and was conducive to Nathan's recollections of the one Spanish holiday he'd enjoyed above all others. He started his narrative and so involved did he become in it that for all intents and purposes he might as well have been talking to himself for he soon became oblivious to Mike's presence. He was reliving the experience.

"We went off to Spain as we always do the first two weeks of August when Dad's firm closes down for the summer. I confess I was bored with the idea from the start – it's always the same place, same hotel with its private beach, same food. Okay, it's a good resort for families. None of your lager louts looking to get peed out of their tiny minds on cheap booze, but I can't remember how many times we've been there now. Anyway, at the hotel for the first time this year they ran what they called an animation club. At first I thought it had something to do with cartoons, but basically it was there so that the parents could get some free time to themselves and know that their children are being looked after. I suppose it's what we would call an activities club. You book in and then join in the activities as much or as little as you want to or go swimming in the sea with lifeguards watching over you. Whatever. I joined on our second day there because Mum and Dad wanted to go and look at castles and museums. On the second day of their holiday. Can you imagine? Are we going to be like that when we're their age? Anyway, in the morning I was paired up with this boy from Switzerland for some games. He introduced himself as Raoul. We got on great from the start. His English was better than my French. He was dressed like me in tee shirt and shorts. I don't know what it is, but the Continentals always seem to have nicer clothes than us, brighter colours, better styled. Well, I found myself looking at him, checking him out, to be honest, and either he didn't notice or he didn't mind. We ate lunch together and decided we'd go swimming in the afternoon. 'Piscine ou la mer? En Suisse on nage dans les lacs,' he said. 'Let's go in the sea,' I answered. When he took off his tee shirt and shorts and I saw him in this yellow speedo, time just stood still. He was so... well... athletic... and the way he filled t hose speedos, front and back, I think I must have been standing there with my mouth open, drooling. And I was certainly beginning to wish for obvious reasons I had worn swimming shorts instead of a speedo.

"'Race you into the water,' he said. That brought me back to this planet, but gave him a head start. I charged after him, caught him up in the water, lifted him up and dropped him with a great splash. We had a wicked time. Every time he touched me I felt a shudder go through my body, a pleasant shudder."
"How old was he?" Mike asked. "Thirteen. Eventually we decided we'd go and sunbathe. He dried himself off and lay on his back on a sunbed, an inflatable mattress sort of thing they provide for the guests. I couldn't stop staring at him, his chest, his nipples, his belly button, his... 'We ought to put on some sun lotion,' he said 'before we burn. If you put some on me, I'll put some on you.' I grabbed my bottle of Piz Buin, poured some into my hand and started rubbing it into his chest. At first he just lay there with his eyes closed letting me do it, but after a couple of minutes he took hold of my hand and ran it over his nipples. I could feel them getting hard, still with his eyes closed. After that he opened his eyes, took the suntan oil bottle and poured some into his navel, a beautiful innie, and told me to do his stomach. I went down to the line of his speedo. 'You can go lower, Natt, if you want to.' I wanted to and I rubbed the lotion in under his speedo down to his pubic hair. 'Let me do you now.' There was no disguising my excitement. Lycra can be so cruel. He did my front and my back and then I did his back.

"We sunbathed for about an hour, I guess. Then Raoul said 'We must shower this salt off.' I started to walk towards the beach shower when he suggested 'Let's use the shower in the hotel. We can use the one in my room.' We picked up our belongings and walked up the beach towards the hotel. He had his own separate room. Mine, you see, was part of my parents' suite. When we went into his room, it was beautifully cool from the air conditioning. He went into the bathroom and started the shower running. 'Come on, Natt. It's ready.' It was the sort of shower that runs into a bathtub and so there was plenty of room for both of us. Seeing Raoul take down his speedo I automatically did the same with mine. He started washing me with shower gel and I washed him. We both grew hard and..." Just at that moment Nathan was interrupted by the first bell for afternoon lessons. "I think you can imagine, Mike, what happened next."
"Nope. You'll have to tell me, I'm afraid, Natt, with every graphic detail. You haven't even told me what he looks like"
"Perhaps when you've got a window in your diary. I'll try to remember to bring a photo tomorrow. Anyway, that was just the second day of a two week holiday. It did get better." Natt and Mike parted company and went to fetch their books for afternoon school.

It became one of those silly afternoons. They happen. Sometimes the explanation can be high winds. Sometimes there's no explanation. There was none this afternoon. Afternoon lessons passed without much being learnt and when it was time to go home the mood continued among Nathan's travelling companions. When the train drew into the station it had a coach of 'horseboxes'. Mood + horseboxes = mischief.
"Hey," piped up Graham N.... "we haven't caged any one for a long time." Brave of him considering he was the usual victim of caging. Racking was the other schoolboy train torture. Natt tried to make himself as small as possible in his window seat and that was his error. All eyes were directed towards him. The unspoken decision had been made. He could have fought back, but he knew it would only provide his friends and travelling companions, that is to say his tormentors, with even more fun. He made his body go limp so that it was more awkward to lift him, but lift him they did and he was dropped unceremoniously on the floor between the seats. They put their legs across the gangway, feet on the seats, and Nathan was effectively caged. Now potentially ten minutes of torture were to follow before the train drew into the next station. He was tickled, poked and prodded with fingers and rulers, nothing particular serious in itself except that it became a form ritual humiliation. The vibrations and motion of the train, added to what was for Nathan a perversely thrilling manhandling, led to his customary travelling erection.
"Hey, guys, look at this," shouted Stuart MacA..., as he prodded it with a ruler. "Natt's got a stiffy." At first it just suffered the prodding of rulers and pencils, no one having the guts to touch it with his finger until Roland B... unzipped his trousers and revealed the bulge in his slip. Nathan realised that perhaps he should have been resisting, but he felt so aroused by it all, not so aroused since his summer adventures in Spain with Raoul and he loved the way his boner was throbbing and pressing against his briefs. The train began to slow down for the sharp curve before the junction and a few yards beyond it the station. Nathan was allowed to get up and his friends helped to brush him down. He was the second to last to descend onto the platform. He turned and said to his companion behind him
"Roly, you realise that was only lent," gently slid his hand up between his legs and held his balls for a few seconds. He felt Roly stiffen. When he got home, his mother was not best pleased.
"Nathan B..., what on earth have you been doing? Go and change immediately and bring those school clothes down to me so that I can wash them and get them dried and ironed for the morning. I can't let you go to school like that."
"Sorry, Mum. I tripped over," he said rather lamely.

That evening when he had finished his homework Nathan made a reduced copy of his favourite picture of Raoul on the computer, printed it and slipped it under one of the clear plastic panels in his wallet. Next day, dressed in his smartly pressed clean school uniform he went off to school and let his mates know what a hard time he'd had from his mother over the state of his clothes. He couldn't wait for lunchtime so that he could show off the picture of his boyfriend to... Hold on a minute. Who had said that Raoul was his boyfriend? His own subconscious had surreptitiously slipped the word into his conscious thoughts. He was a little shocked at the thought processes that had been going on, but the more he thought about it, the more he secretly grew to like the idea – not of having a boyfriend as such, but of his relationship with Raoul being elevated to the level of 'boyfriend'. 'I wonder what Raoul would think of that. I know. I'll e-mail him tonight.' Over lunch Nathan pulled out his wallet and showed the picture to Mike R....
"You know, Natt," he said half-jokingly, "I think I'm suffering pangs of jealousy for the first time in my life."
"Let's see," shouted Nick P... sitting opposite, grabbing the wallet. "Listen up, everybody. Natt's got a girlfriend." Nearby heads turned. Nick pulled the picture out of the wallet to wave around. He hesitated, looked at it, looked at it again as out of the wallet the full length had been revealed and repeated with rather ironic intonation "Listen up, everybody." Nathan snatched the picture back and stuffed it into his trouser pocket before it could get passed round the dining-hall. He could soon print off a new one. "Natt's got a BOYfriend!" Nathan blushed. 'Why did I have to print it full-length?' he reproached himself.
"Jealous just because you haven't got one?" he riposted. "You wouldn't know what to do with him if you had."
"And from the size of that dick on him you obviously do, you great pervy faggot."
"Come on, lads, calm down. Give him back his wallet, Nick." Nathan took his wallet back and said thank you with rather bad grace. Then the gavel was banged. Nathan escaped as quickly as possible, walking out alone onto the vast school fields. He just wanted to think. He was confused. He wasn't ashamed of having a boyfriend, though officially Raoul wasn't. In fact he felt to some extent proud. It was just that he didn't want to get a load of stick and he was afraid he might well end up thumping somebody if he did. His mind floated back to those emotionally torrid days in the summer on holiday that he spent with Raoul when their feelings mingled as freely as their bodies had. 'Okay, I am gay. Let's face it.' This was not a revelation or even an admission, but rather an affirmation of what he had known all along, but had never externalised with the word 'gay'. 'I'm gay,' he repeated in his mind and what's more I have enjoyed and do enjoy being gay. I just don't want the hassle.'

At that moment he felt a tap on the shoulder. He shot round petulantly to find Mike R... standing behind him.
"I thought I might find you out here somewhere. Are you all right?"
"Yes," said Natt nodding and falling into Mike's arms promptly burst into tears. Gone were his father's words 'Now you're at the grammar school, you don't cry'. Fortunately no one else was in sight and Mike gently led him into the nearby fives court. Nathan was already feeling better.
"Don't worry. It'll be a nine minute wonder."
"Don't you mean nine day wonder?"
"Not with some of the numbskulls here. They'll have forgotten about it by period six. You've certainly got a hot friend. Can I have another look at his picture?" Nathan took it all scrumpled out of his pocket and handed it to Mike. "You'd better not introduce him to me. You'll have a fight on your hands." Nathan smiled, almost laughed. He was feeling better already. He felt safe being held by Mike and he hugged him tight. "Come on, Natt. It's time for lessons and you'll need to wash your face before you go into class." Natt took the photo of Raoul and tore off the bottom bit before stuffing both pieces back into his pocket. "You know, he's got quite a noble face. You're a lucky boy," said Mike.

Nathan arrived home glad that he had survived afternoon school. After saying 'hi' to his mother, he went upstairs to his room and changed. He played with the dog and watched TV for a bit before going back upstairs to get on with his homework. His mother had hung his school uniform up for him. By seven o'clock he had finished and his father had arrived home from work. He heard a call from his mother
"Nathan, tea's ready." He bounded downstairs as he was hungry, too hungry at first to notice that there was a bit of an atmosphere with all three of the family sitting round the table hardly talking. When most of the things were cleared away and they were having their second cup of tea his mother looked at him oddly and said "Nathan, when I was tidying up your stuff I found this in your trouser pocket." She showed him the two scrumpled halves of the photo of Raoul. The bottom fell out of Nathan's world. He wanted to dump and be sick at the same time, but managed to control himself. "That's Raoul, isn't it?" He barely managed a nod. "Is that the sort of thing you two got up to on holiday?" No way could he deny it. The photographic evidence was there, he had taken the picture and as if a naked figure of Raoul were not enough, there he stood with a smile on his face and a half-hard dick waving around in front of him. "Have you anything you'd like to tell us, Nathan?" Natt thought for a moment. 'Outed at school, now outed at home, and all on the same day. There's no use denying it. They'd be searching for signs and they'd find out sooner rather than later.'
"Only... only I like er... boys and I have these feelings for them and... and... I suppose that makes me gay... homosexual, I mean."
"Yes, we do know what gay means," continued his mother. A single tear was running down Nathan's cheek. His mother got up and went into the kitchen. Simultaneously Nathan got up and fled up to his room, leaving his father, who up to that point had not yet spoken, now with the tricky problem of should he go and comfort his wife or his son.

Nathan lay sobbing on his bed for a quarter of an hour before there was a knock on the door and his father walked in without waiting for an answer. He sat on the bed beside Nathan and put his arm round him.
"We're not cross or angry with you, Natt," he said. "It's just that it was a bit of a shock. You see, we never knew, we never even suspected, that you might be... um... different. Your mother and I just want you to know that we both love you and simply want the best for you."
"Does that mean that you don't mind the fact that I'm gay, Dad?"
"'Mind' doesn't come into it, Natt. We're shocked... surprised shall we say, but we created you in love and made you what you are and we're going to go on loving you. We're only sorry we didn't create more like you, brothers and sisters I mean, but it wasn't to be. Mum's asleep at the moment, but she's going to come in and have a word with you when she wakes up. Treat her gently because she feels awful about going through your pockets. Women are like that. It's in their nature. She goes through my pockets as well. It's part of caring for the family."
"I can still be friends with Raoul, can't I?"
"Of course, Natt, and if you'd like it we could even invite him to come and stay with us some time next year."
"That'd be great, Dad," and a slight smile appeared on his face. His father sat there comforting him for a quarter of an hour before there was another knock at the door and his mother came in.
"Can I come in?" she asked as she walked over to his bed, sat down and put her arm round him. "I'm so sorry. I never realised... When I saw that picture I didn't even recognise who it was at first. I just thought it was... well, you know... something you'd cut out of one of those magazines." Nathan wanted to say 'What sort of magazine is that, Mother?', but bit his tongue. The three of them sat in silence. His father finally broke it and said
"Margaret, I've told Natt that we love him and always will." His mother squeezed him and said
"I'm so worried for you, Nathan – all the things you read in the paper about... gay people..." She was still having difficulty saying the word. "...AIDS and getting beaten up and dressing in a funny way and..." There was no final 'and'.
"Mum, straight people get AIDS... And chlamydia, but they're not compulsory. Chris S... got mugged – beaten up for his mobile phone and you don't have to be gay to dress up funny. Look at half the people in the High Street on a Saturday. It's a matter of being switched on and streetwise and not taking risks."
"But you're only thirteen..."
"No, Mum. I'm thirteen. Grandad was out earning a living at fourteen, remember? We get told about this sort of thing in PSE at school."
"We never did," replied his mother.
"Natt," said his father "I suggest you get an early night and everything will look a lot brighter in the morning. If you can't get to sleep and you want to talk, we'll be here for you downstairs. It's not as if we have to make any decisions about anything or as if anything will change for you. We need to get used to the idea, of course, as we would if we found out you were terminally ill or permanently handicapped. And the great thing is that you're neither. You're our healthy loving son and life will go on. Good night, Natt," and he kissed his son on the forehead.
"Good night, Nathan," said his mother and kissed him on the cheek. "Sleep tight." Before closing the bedroom door his mother turned. "I'll be up with some cocoa and biscuits. I must admit. Raoul is a rather handsome young man."

Time is a healer. The next morning Mrs B... tried to act as normally as possible when Nathan came down to breakfast, and succeeded. When he got to school some other piece of village gossip had assumed importance and the only person who remembered he was gay was Mike R.... He searched him out before assembly to let him know he had come out to his parents the previous evening. When he got home after school he noticed in a prominent position on the sideboard among the other family photos a framed picture of himself and Raoul with their arms around each other's shoulders that his mother had taken while they were on holiday. No other tacit sign of acceptance could have been more significant.

The week moved inexorably towards its end. On Friday evening Nathan's parents wanted to know what he was intending to do over the weekend as they would be decorating the spare bedroom with all the disruption that entailed and the hint that things might be easier if he found something to do outside the house. In fact that fitted in with his own plans as he was badly in need of some time alone, some time to think.
"I know," he said. "I'll take the dog for a walk." Bruce, the black Heinz 57 breed asleep in his basket in the corner, pricked up an ear.
"When you get home from school," said his mother "you'll find a snack in the fridge. Help yourself and then we'll go out to eat in the evening. We can try that new carvery, the one where you can go and top up your plate at no extra charge. And then perhaps you'd like to give your father a hand on Sunday to finish off the decorating while I get on with the household chores."
"Okay, Mum." He knew the horrible jobs would be done on Saturday and he could do the nice ones like painting and pasting the paper, but more important he could get away and be alone on Saturday afternoon. He wanted to think through his life and get things clear in his own mind.

The following day Nathan arrived home as usual at about a quarter past one. He went upstairs to say hallo and made a speedy retreat from the spare bedroom which was filled with steam as frantic stripping of wallpaper was going on. He quickly changed into his ordinary clothes before going down into the kitchen to discover what snack had been left for him. It turned out to be a salad with cold beef and chicken which he devoured before finishing off with biscuits and a yoghourt. He took the dog lead out of the cupboard where the outdoor clothes were kept and the chink of the clasp on the chain was sufficient to bring Bruce bounding from some obscure part of the house ready to take his young master walkies. Nathan put on his jacket, stuffed a tennis ball in the pocket and the two of them left to climb up the road that led to the top of the local hill. All the way there Bruce ran on ahead sniffing out the territory and chasing either real or imaginary rabbits. Once they reached the top Nathan threw the ball which Bruce tirelessly chased and retrieved. Finally he was able to sit down on a rock with the faithful hound lying beside him ready for more fun and frolics should they be forthcoming. On a windy day there would have children young and old, some with their fathers, flying kites, but today the air was still and the sun hung wan and milky in a light grey sky. There was a nip in the air. Nathan's mind ran over the events of the week. He had been outed at school through his own naïveté. Why did he have to choose that moment to show the photo? Why did he have to choose that photo? Why did it have to be the full frontal nude version and why hadn't he cropped if he did want to take that particular one to school? In his mind he put his hand up to all those mistakes, but things went wrong when a third party intervened, an unwanted third party, and snatched the photo away. Immediately he was outed and although he thought it a disaster at the time, by the end of the afternoon it was all forgotten. In deed, was he outed at all? After all, it was nothing for boys to call each other poofs and faggots, gay and queer; it was all part of the normal banter, so the answer to that question might well be no, but in that case, would he have to go through the pain of being outed again? If yes, it didn't matter that he was gay, certainly not to his mates. Weren't they used to people like J... in their midst whom they didn't tolerate, or Phil E... or Mike R... whom they did? In a school of that size there could be as many as seventy-five boys who were gay, or at the very least thirty, depending on which statistic you believed and he already knew three, possibly four. So it wasn't whether you were gay or straight which determined your acceptability in school society. It was PQs – personal qualities. He was still going to wear his house badge on his right lapel – in solidarity and... you never knew where that might lead. He felt excited about the idea, excited in a way he had never felt before, to think that he might belong to a clandestine underclass with its own contacts, its own symbols of recognition, and its own rights and privileges. And if he ever were to be 'outed again', he now had the strength to turn round and say "Didn't you know? I thought everybody knew from that time in Year 8. You really must get out a bit more." Oddly enough Nathan suddenly realised that he was free, that he had gained the freedom to look at another boy if he fancied him, to check him out, to chat him up. He wasn't really looking for a regular boyfriend, but he had decided he enjoyed sex, though since the summer he had experienced very little of that, apart from what his own hand and imagination provided. He even believed it was out there waiting. Roly B... hadn't objected or said no when he felt him up. There was that boy in Year 7 who had caught his eye... and held it. The new boy in Year 9 that had drawn Mike R....

School, then, was good, he pronounced. Nathan's mind strayed towards the book 1066 and All That. 'School is a good thing. Being outed at home was a bad thing.' Or was it? He had been unable to get his mind round that situation. Again the catalyst, or perhaps the cause, had been that photo. Okay, the carelessness of leaving it in his pocket was his fault, but there was some inherent unfairness in the situation. His mother's going through his pockets, not even with the excuse of washing his trousers, was an invasion of his privacy and she was the one who had paid for it, not him. Thinking back he came to the conclusion that both his parents' reaction was odd. He relived the embarrassing scene over tea. Mum found a nude photo of a boy with a boner. She recognised the boy.
'"Is that the sort of thing you two got up to on holiday?" she said. It's as if I was going to be in trouble for taking porny pics. Then I told them I was gay and the reaction was almost «thank goodness he's not taking mucky photos, but we have a situation now that I hadn't even thought of – he's gay». Now the other strange thing about all this is that when I'm in big trouble, it's Dad that deals with it, but this time he just kept quiet. I don't think he spoke a word until he came to my bedroom, almost as if he wasn't in favour of discussing the photo, but had to back Mum up, and as pure luck would have it, it gave him somewhere to run to in those unexpected circumstances. Then after I went to bed Dad must have talked to Mum and brought her round somehow. I wonder.'
"If only you could talk, Bruce. You must've heard it all." The dog sprang up at the mention of his name and made it clear to his young master in one bark it was time to go home.

When Nathan arrived back home the moon was rising. He went to say 'hi' to his parents who were just clearing up for the day.
"You wouldn't like to make us a cup of tea, Nathan, would you, while we just finish off here?"
"Okay, Mum. I'm beginning to feel cold." It was lovely and warm in the kitchen.

A few minutes after seven the family climbed into the car and went off to the carvery. It wasn't as crowded as they expected for a Saturday night. The décor was clean and bright, the place well lit so that you could see what you were eating. Nathan put on his plate a bit of everything, meat and veg. It was hot and tasty. While they were eating, he said to his parents
"You don't mind me being gay, do you?" It was one of those odd moments when for some inexplicable reason everybody else in the room stops talking. They say it happens when an angel passes. The three stared out those other diners who were looking in their direction. Gradually the conversation picked up again.
"We wouldn't have exactly chosen it for you," said his father " but as we said the other night we accept you for what..."
"Who, dear," interrupted his mother.
"Eh?"
"Who you are, not what you are."
"Sorry, Natt. We accept you for who you are, but we're having a difficulty about whether to tell people, who to tell and how."
"I've got no problem with that. Tell whoever you like. It helps me because then I don't have to tell them. You see, I'm not ashamed of being gay." As he said it, Nathan stared straight at an old biddy on the next table who was too obviously trying to earwig their conversation. He put on a Welsh accent and mimicked with a misquote from the TV programme Little Britain: "I'm not the only gay in the village," and pouted.
"What about school?" asked his father, suppressing a laugh and trying to maintain the gravity of the conversation.
"They know. It was a bit of a shock being outed twice on one day."
"Outed, dear?" enquired his mother as if she were hard of hearing.
"Yes, Mum. It's a technical term. You come out... out of the closet when you tell people you're gay. It's American."
"Yes, dear, I know that bit. I just hadn't heard 'outed' before."
"And who was their reaction?" asked his father, taking the mickey.
"A bit of teasing, then an hour later they'd forgotten all about it. They were picking on some other poor bastard by then."
"Language, Nathan," said his mother.
"Sorry, Mum." Just at that moment the waitress turned up to see if they required any desserts.

* * *

Nathan had an interesting year at school as far as games and PE were concerned. His rugby lessons in the Autumn term still did very little for him. He was again put at lock because he'd always played at lock. Yet his classmates were growing while he wasn't and so he no longer even had the height qualification. He was grateful that the games lessons were in the afternoon so at least he rarely froze on the rugby pitch as he had done the year before. When the Spring term came it was the inevitable cross-country, but knowing what was to come he prepared himself mentally if not physically. He teamed up with his PE partner John P... who had roughly the same physique, ability and attitude towards things physical. One thing Nathan had discovered over the previous year was that if something was compulsory, try and gain as much enjoyment as possible from it despite. He applied that to the cross-country in so far as he was fighting against himself and that as running partners he and John P... would stick together round the course and in the end he helped not only himself, but John P... too. All Natt had to remember was not to eat too much at lunch which required personal discipline for it could never be denied that Natt liked his food. He had one other form of comfort on the games field and that was he was still wearing Mike R...'s cast off jockstrap which not only gave him some form of sexual stimulation, but an inner strength too.

However, it was the Spring term's PE lessons that brought both stimulation and embarrassment, for their PE master gave them an introductory course in wrestling. Now again Nathan was at the lower end of the ability range, but even if he was getting technically beaten grappling at close quarters with another boy provided him with one thing – sexual stimulation. He could not help it and no matter who his partner was he would spring a boner. Most times it would be controlled by his jockstrap, but once he made bodily contact with his opponent there could be no denying what was going on between his legs and there were certainly the odd bouts he won because his opponent shied away on contact, then lost concentration which allowed Nathan to claim an undeserved victory. It also strengthened for better or worse his reputation.

* * *

To Nathan at least the school year seemed to be passing at some pace when suddenly it was March, a March in one of those years when Easter came late, making it a long Spring term and one when coincidentally the warm weather came early – Spring: In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. [Locksley Hall, Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 -1892)] The furore, if ever there had indeed been any furore, over his coming out had long died down, both at home and at school. He had a constant mentor over lunch in Mike R... who regularly updated him about his own 'training sessions'. The new boy in Year 9 was no longer new, he was no longer under 'training', passed out with flying colours, and one or two others had also been 'trained' by then. Young Nathan's fancy was turning to thoughts of love, or more precisely to thoughts of sex. Over the winter there had been no shortage of eye candy, but now the sap was rising and with it his hormone count. His last satisfying experience with another boy had been the previous summer with Raoul. Wearing his house badge in the right lapel had gained him but fleeting attention in the form of being briefly touched up or the subject of flattering and not so flattering remarks, but now there was a tingling in his body, an itching in his blood for more hands-on experience. It may be true that what you've never had you never miss, but he had tasted the forbidden fruit, tasted the nectar of the gods, and now his body was yearning for more. It was a Tuesday towards the end of term. The clocks had gone forward making the days seem longer and the sun was warm. As it was an activity afternoon there were no regular going-home times and Nathan had that day to walk to the station by himself. He found but a single fellow pupil on the platform and who should it be? None other than the beautiful Year 7 boy he had singled out on his first day. Nathan sat on a bench admiring him from a distance: the curly brown h air, the dark blue eyes, the perfectly formed face, the slim, muscular body. He valued the light grey trousers of the school uniform, more revealing than the dark grey ones worn in the Sixth Form. He adored the graceful movements of his body as he wandered up and down the platform impatiently waiting for the train. Adolescence was supposed to be a time of clumsiness. Nathan knew that from his own experience, but here was a creature endowed with a natural grace. Here was an Adonis in the making. He thought back to the old children's rhyme: Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace. He must have been born on the dot of midnight between the two days. Why was he suddenly waxing lyrical today? His English lessons must have done some good, but even Nathan was astute enough to know that it was not love that was driving him, but lust.

The level crossing gates opened announcing the imminent arrival of the train. When it drew into the platform it was made up entirely of old stock – horseboxes! Nathan was on autopilot. He hung back to see which compartment his Adonis would climb into and with his timing making it impossible for any change of mind, he climbed in behind him. There was a look of apprehension on Adonis's face. He already knew from his own short experience that newbugs were not always treated so kindly by older boys and the mischief that could be instigated in a horsebox. The two boys' hearts were beating hard and fast, but from different causes. The train drew out.
"Hallo," said Nathan "I'm Natt, but I'm sorry I don't know your name," he lied in his friendliest and most outgoing manner. You must remember that Nathan was an incipient obsessive compulsive. He made lists. He made lists in his school calendar, he made lists on his computer. He had an encrypted database containing the name of every boy in the school and any information he had gleaned about them, mostly of a sexual nature. If he was going to be homosexual, then he was going to be homosexual properly and Adonis's record was flagged as of special interest. There was after all little to do in the country during the long nights and television was of rare comfort.
"Hi, I'm Tom, Thomas H...," the younger replied. Nathan liked the formality of his full name.
"How do you like being at a new school?"
"Great now that I've had time to settle in," he answered nervously. Nathan's dick was growing inside his trousers, but it wasn't one of his travelling erections; this one was caused by pure lust. He noticed Tom staring at it and he spread his legs.
"Do you like it, Tom?"
"What?" he replied embarrassed.
"My boner," said Nathan pressing home the point.
"Mmm, yes." answered Tom with disarming openness.
"Would you like to touch it?"
Tom hesitated. "Can I?"
"Go ahead. Don't be frightened."
"It's hot."
"Do you mean its temperature or to look at?"
"Its temperature, but both I suppose. Would you like to feel mine?"
"You don't have to let me."
"I'd like you to. Really." Nathan stretched his arm out and gently covered the growing bulge in Tom's trousers with his hand. Tom gave a quick intake of breath.

At that moment the train started to slow at a point in the journey where it would normally speed up. It came to a halt. Nathan leant out of the window with Tom behind him, peering over his shoulder. He could feel the heat and hardness of Tom's package grinding against his buttocks. They had stopped at a level crossing with the gates closed across the track. There was another train stopped on the other side and on the road over the crossing was a large cattle truck obviously unable to move one way or the other. A number of people were running around in headless chicken mode before they tried to push it clear of the crossing, but it wouldn't budge.
"We're going to be here a little while yet by the looks of it," said the older boy. They sat down again, this time side by side. Nathan's trousers had returned to normal. "Do you like boys, Tom? I mean like boys?" he repeated with emphasis. Tom blushed again. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Do you, Natt?" He nodded. "That's why I wear my house badge on the right lapel. Did you know that?" Tom shook his head. "Have you ever kissed a boy? Have you ever kissed a girl?" Tom shook his head again. "Would you like to try it? It's fun." Tom thought for a moment and nodded. Nathan put his arm tenderly round Tom's shoulder and pulled him in towards himself. He kissed him gently on the lips. "Okay?" Tom nodded and whispered yes. "Open you mouth this time and don't bite." Nathan kissed him again and their tongues met. When they broke Tom said
"It's funny. It's making my cock grow harder than ever before, and it feels damp." The two teenagers kissed for a third time and Nathan allowed his hand to roam. Time stood still. Suddenly Tom's body stiffened and shook in paroxysms. He broke the kiss. "Natt, I'm sorry. I've never done this before... I think I've come in my trousers. You won't tell anyone, will you?" Nathan felt deflated at the sudden interruption to their passion.
"It's me that should say sorry, Tom. I didn't mean to..." and he offered him his handkerchief.
"It's okay. I think my pants have soaked it all up. Phew! That was intense. I've never felt anything as strong as that before." Nathan's boner was subsiding and he could feel a certain dampness in his underwear as well.
"God, you're hot, Tom."

There was shout from outside. A breakdown lorry had finally pulled the cattle truck free of the crossing and within a couple of minutes the gates were open and the train could continue on its journey. It passed three others stacked on the up track. Nathan looked at his watch. Nearly three quarters of an hour late. Tom and Nathan sat looking at each other, giggling and with silly grins on their faces just like adolescent boys. Natt leaned over, took Tom's blue house badge out of the left lapel and firmly pinned it on the right. When they arrived at the station there was another surprise in store for Nathan. Tom in fact lived very close to him. He was taken to and from the station in the car by his mother and that's why he had never seen him on the bus. That day Natt got a lift home, the first of many. 'I wonder if Mrs H... would have given me a lift so willingly if she'd known I'd just ravished her son.' He fantasised about walking in through the backdoor and saying '«Hi, Mum». «Hallo, Nathan. Good day at school?» «Yeah, great.» «What did you do?» «Oh, I made Tom H... come off in his trousers.»' Later that evening, although he didn't yet have the ultimate proof, he recorded on his database he believed that Tom must be a show-er rather than a grower. He then thought back to that unpleasant episode on the train in Year 7 with Michael S... and his little gang and compared his and their methods. 'I think mine was rather more successful.' He was feeling terribly self-satisfied.

Thus began a very close friendship despite the fact that it contravened an unwritten school rule about friendships crossing year groups. From now on Tom travelled regularly with Nathan's group on the train. Finally he had a friend out of school. Not that they ever considered themselves boyfriends, but certainly best friends, and they certainly found time to do stuff together. As summer approached and the weather improved, Bruce suddenly found that he was being taken for walkies far more frequently, but then Bruce knew how to keep a secret.

The Easter holidays came at just the right time for Nathan and Tom. After school had broken up there was amongst their group of travelling companions an atmosphere of celebration as they came home on the train – in ordinary compartments and so a measure of decorum as far as their behaviour was concerned had to reign because of their high visibility to the general public. Since Mrs H... was having her car serviced that day our two had to catch the bus home.
"What are you doing over the holidays, Tom?" Nathan asked.
"Not a lot."
"Would you like to come over to my house tomorrow and hang out?"
"I've got a better idea. Come over to mine. My mother works part time in the mornings and my sister's still at school. So we'll have the house to ourselves. There's some advantage in having to do Saturday morning school. We can play computer games or listen to CDs or..."
"Or what?"
"Or do stuff, if you'd like to..." At that moment they arrived at their stop and just as they parted Nathan said
"See you about nine, Tom."
"Great. See ya, Natt." Over the three week holiday the boys became virtually inseparable apart from the actual Easter weekend when they had family commitments.

The next day Nathan rang the doorbell at Tom's a few minutes before nine, anxious as he was to get to see him. Tom answered the door in his dressing gown.
"I haven't got you out of bed, you lazy dollop, have I?"
"No. I had a bit of a lie-in, but I had to get up for breakfast before Mum and Dad went to work, or make it myself, and I haven't had time to have a shower yet." 'He's had time to clean his teeth,' thought Nathan as he caught the sweetness of his breath, something which immediately reminded him of that day when the train was held up, something which immediately gave him a bulge in his 501s. "Come and see my room, Natt," said Tom and he led him up the stairs to a room that overlooked the back garden. Nathan looked around the room. The first thing he noticed was scores of pictures of different kinds of sportsmen, soccer players, rugby players, swimmers, athletes, gymnasts.
"I didn't know you were a soccer fan."
"I'm not. I just like the pictures." His room was quite large and roughly divided into two areas, a study with a large desk and bookshelves and a sleeping and relaxation area with a large bed, a sofa, television set and sound system.
"I see you've got and iMac like me."
"Yeah, it was a present for getting into the grammar school. There's a family PC downstairs in the study if I need one, but I find these better for what I want to do and I was taught on them at my last school. Also I've got my own independent broadband internet connection. That was a Christmas present from Grandma." Nathan took a look at the books on the shelves.
"Have you read all these?"
"All except three and I'm keeping them back for my holiday reading." Natt was impressed. "So what do you want to do?"
"I dunno. What have you got?"
"Let's try a game. I've got these, but my sister's not interested and up to now I've had no one to play with." Tom took off his dressing gown and you could almost hear the clunk of Nathan's chin as it hit the floor. Tom was wearing a pair of Tommy Hilfiger boxers and that was it. Natt had never seen his body before with its well developed pecs, flat stomach with sixpack and smooth legs that reached up to his armpits. "I gather you like it?" Tom grinned.
"Wow, that'd look good on a fourteen or fifteen year old, but on a twelve year old wicked."
"Ah, but I'm not twelve. I'm thirteen like you."
"But you're in Year 7."
"Yeah, long story, but basically it's because my Dad worked in Australia for a couple of years. The long summer holidays are at Christmas and so the school year begins in the new year and is out of phase with Britain." Because he was talking about Australia his speech had reverted and his intonation went up at the end of his sentences. "When we came back to England a decision had to be made as to which year group I was to go into and as I had missed the qualifying time and tests for the grammar school I was kept down a year. Was that a drag! So you see I'm thirteen like you." The obsessive compulsive Nathan was cross with himself. How could he have missed that when he was checking ages in the school calendar? He remained silent for a few moments. "Something the matter, Natt?"
"No, it's okay. It just occurred to me that I'd missed out on a year of getting see a bod like that and could have missed out for longer."

Tom started fixing up the stuff for the games, plugging it into the TV set when all of a sudden his cock fell out of his boxers' fly. He made no attempt to tuck it away and just grinned. Definitely a show-er, thought Nathan. They sat down together on the settee in front of the TV .
"Which joystick do you want?" asked Tom.
"That one," joked Natt, pointing at Tom's dick.
"Fine by me," answered Tom.
"We'll play these games later," and he wasn't bluffing. "But it's on equal terms. So you'll have to get your kit off."
"I can hack that, but you'll have to help me with it." Within a minute Natt was down to his slip.

The two boys were woken by the sound of the telephone ringing downstairs. Tom went to answer it naked. After a bit of fooling around on the settee they had stripped off their undies and ended up at first on, then in Tom's unmade bed. Nathan looked at his watch – just gone eleven. Tom came back waving all before him.
"You're definitely a show-er, Tom."
"And you're definitely a grower, and how, Natt! It was just Mum to say she'd forgotten to say she'd left us a snack in the pantry. Hey, I'm a bit sticky. I'm going to get a shower. How about you? There's room for two, you know." When they'd finished in the bathroom, they dressed, went downstairs and tucked into the food that had been prepared for them. After that they went upstairs and sat on the sofa watching television until Nathan said
"Sugar, is that the time? I'd better get home for lunch or I'll be in trouble."
"Mum'll be home in a minute."
"Do you want to come and help give the dog a walk this afternoon? I know some wicked places we can go."
"Cool. I'll check with Mum and give you a ring if I can't."
"Right. See ya at my place about half past two. I won't have to be back until six."

Tom turned up at Nathan's ten minutes early. He was invited in and introduced to Mrs B... who prior to that had only seen him as a vague image behind a car window. She was pleased that Nathan had found himself a friend and for that reason made him welcome. The sex thing had never entered her head and for Nathan that was 'a good thing'. After all, no one else in the world had ever had a gay son. Next Tom was introduced to Bruce. Bruce was made to sit and shake paws and Tom instructed to tickle him behind the ears. He then gave him a dog biscuit. Now he had a friend for life, a friendship cemented by the act of the dog's sniffing his crotch and giving it a nuzzle with his nose. Fortunately Mrs B... didn't see that part of the introduction.
"I can see who trained that dog," said Tom. Nathan giggled. With the formalities over two boys and one dog set out for the woods.

Natt felt more at ease with himself that afternoon, if only for knowing that he was the same age as his new friend. Of course in the big outside world a year's difference in age mattered not one jot, but in the context of school it could become an insurmountable problem and yet he'd travelled on the train with boys a year above him, but of course he was painfully conscious of the 'sex thing'. Still, it was not only the holidays, but the beginning of the holidays and school was some three weeks and fourteen miles away. Naturally the two boys were still 'discovering' each other and since at this early stage their friendship was more founded on their sexuality they both wanted to find out more about the other's history.
"So when did you find out you were gay, Tom?"
"That's easy. When we were in Australia. Where we lived you had swimming at the beach all the year round. I think it's all the swimming I did there that helped me develop my upper body so."
"Your lower body's not exactly underdeveloped," replied Natt with a lascivious grin. Tom smiled.
"Anyway, when you go on the beach every day and see all these heavenly bodies in speedos and boardies, and that's as important to you as the swimming, and you don't take much notice of the swimmers in bikinis either, you realise that you might be different. How about you?"
"It was when I first started at senior school," and Nathan recounted the discoveries he had made during his first fortnight there, how his interest had grown over the year to the point when he met Mike R... at the athletics practices and how he had taken him under his wing and told him lots of things, and shown him lots of things. They arrived at the footpath that led across the fields to the woods and could finally let Bruce off the lead.
"Do your parents know you're gay, Natt?" He told Tom what had happened. "Wow! They must be really cool."
"What about yours?"
"I don't think so, or at least I've never had any grief from them about it. But my sister does."
"How did she find out?"
"Basically I told her. After all we did spend a lot of time on the beach together and we were both attracted by the same guys. She would talk some rot about them having nice personalities, when she hadn't even met them, while I talk good sense about them having nice packages and how I'd like to meet them."
"And she hasn't shopped you?"
"She's not so stupid as to do that because I know she's on the pill and that she's not a virgin anymore. Again I don't whether Mum and Dad know or not, but I doubt it. She'd have told me if she'd been in trouble for that." Nathan suddenly gave out a piercing whistle. Bruce had disappeared into the undergrowth of the wood and was nowhere to be seen. Within seconds the dog appeared again.

They came upon the clearing Nathan had been aiming for. Since they had entered the woods they hadn't seen another person although they hadn't strayed from the beaten track. He called Bruce and made him lie down and the two boys sat down on the grass which had been warmed by the sun.
"And did you have any sexual experiences in Australia, Tom?"
"Apart from the eye candy, no. I was too young. I guess the laws out there are just as strict as they are here and the equipment hadn't arrived anyway. That's what made me so interested in the other guys, 'cos they were different. You were the one that did it, Natt."
"Did what?"
"Stole my cherry."
"I wouldn't call it that. I haven't lost my cherry, not even to Mike R... and I don't think I'm ready to yet anyway. This might sound like those soppy romance films in TV, but I want to lose mine to someone I'm in love with."
"That sounds like to a challenge to me."
"Not to me. I think we're going to be best mates – I just feel that – but I don't think I'm in love with you, in fact I know I'm not." Tom tried to look offended, but just looked serious. He knew Natt was talking sense. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to snog you," and he turned and kissed Tom, forcing his mouth open and battling with his tongue. That was too much for Bruce. He didn't know whether his young master was being attacked or not and started to bark. It was a good thing he did for just at that moment a couple of ramblers had appeared at the edge of the clearing. Nathan re-assured Bruce and it became a rough and tumble between two boys and a dog. The ramblers nodded good afternoon as they walked past.

It was time for two boys and a dog to make their way home, by a different route in case they should be held up by bandits. Unfortunately the route passed by the local brook and immediately Bruce was in it. Unless he was on the lead it was impossible to keep him out of water, fresh or salt. Luckily the brook ran fast with clean unmuddied water and so they only had to make sure he was dry before they got him home. Meanwhile the two boys continued with their intense, typically adolescent conversation.
"So have you had sex with anybody else?"
"Well, there was Raoul," answered Nathan.
"Tell me about it... I mean him." He told Tom about the family holiday in Spain and the Swiss boy he'd met and some of the things they got up to.
"It was my first chance to put into practice all those things Mike taught me at school. I hope I'm going to see him in the summer holidays, but it's not sorted out yet."
"And are you going to have sex again?"
"I'll be very disappointed if we don't. You'd like him, or rather you'd fancy him even if you didn't like him, but I'm sure you would like him."
"What would you say if I did stuff with another boy?" Nathan could see that Tom was having a little battle with himself. He could understand why. He was the first boy Tom had had; Tom was his third.
"It wouldn't worry me in the least. Look at it this way. We're best mates. Supposing we were str8 and I fell in love with, or even just snogged a g-i-r-l..." Nathan pretended to spit and put two fingers down his throat making exaggerated vomiting noises. "Would you mind in that case?"
Tom pondered. "I suppose not," he said eventually.
"Anyway, I'm not in love with Raoul or anybody else unless..." He paused. "...unless I fall in love with you." Tom looked nonplussed. After a pause he continued "But I'm not. I'm not saying it won't or it couldn't happen..." He smiled and wriggled his eyebrows. "However, I cannot deny there are one or two little Q-Ts at school whose trousers I wouldn't mind getting my hand into."

The mood lightened and the two boys started pushing each other around and giggling, as boys do. Bruce thought it was great fun and started barking and joining in. He was dry by the time the boys got him home. When they arrived Mrs B... had the tea brewed and cakes on the kitchen table for two hungry lads.

That was the beginning of a memorable break from school for Nathan. For a start he got up off his backside and did things and with Tom he could do the few physical activities he did enjoy – tennis and swimming in particular. Also there are so many things you can do with someone else that you wouldn't do alone and as previously said, Bruce was main one to benefit with all those extra walkies as our two boys explored the surrounding countryside, sometimes undertaking whole day expeditions even, or going for a short bus ride to the beach, although admittedly not during the Easter holidays. On the other hand school started far too soon, but it was with a strengthened friendship on a solid basis of shared activities which had improved both boys' confidence when they met up with their peers again. Slowly Nathan's father was realising what the true foundation of their friendship was from the looks in their eyes and the way they looked at each other, but he had no intention of enlightening his wife all the time she appeared oblivious of the true situation. But then he was the one that had been understanding all along. In the H... family it took longer, but eventually Tom's situation began to unravel and open out until one Sunday lunch when his sister was out for the day with friends.

The meal itself proceeded unremarkably.
"What are you doing this afternoon, Tom?" asked his mother.
"Oh, I'm going over to Nathan's and we're taking the dog for a walk." His mother cleared the table and got on with doing the washing up. Normally on Sundays that was a chore carried out by the two children, or Father and one child if, like today, one sibling was not there for some reason.
"Your mother tells me that you've made a good friend at last with this Nathan?"
"What with Natt? Yeah, that's right, Dad. I met him at school, but he's the only one of my school mates that lives round here."
"All right is he?"
"Yeah, great."
"So he's in your class as well?"
"No. He's in Year 8, I travel with his friends on the train, but we're the same age. I'm not sure when his birthday is, but it's around the same time of year as mine."
"So he's all right?" repeated Mr H....
"Yeah, great as I said. We've decided to become best mates." Tom started to smell a rat. "Why do you keep on asking if he's all right?"
"It's just that your mother thinks there's something, well, er... odd about him." Tom decided to go on the offensive.
"Oh? What does she mean by odd?" His father was obviously struggling with coming out with what he wanted to say. "He's gay, if that's what you mean." Tom realised he had gained the upper hand.
"Ooh..." Tom and his father had exchanged rôles in that his father had become the inarticulate adolescent and Tom the articulate adult in their discussion. "Er... yees... I was trying to choose my words."
"Well, there are plenty to choose from," said Tom pressing home his psychological advantage. He was really thinking on his feet. "There's gay – that's the one we use most – homosexual, quee..."
"Yes, thank you, Tom," his father said testily realising he had been wrong footed by his son "I do know those words." Tom guessed he might have overstepped the mark and backtracked, but not far. There was a moment's silence. Tom was thinking fast. "Doesn't it worry you at all?"
"No, Dad, should it?"
"It would have worried me at your age."
"Why's that?" Tom knew he was in the driving seat.
"In case he er... molested you." Tom tried to suppress a smile as he thought back to all the mutual molesting that had gone on over the past couple of weeks and how enjoyable it had been.
"He couldn't molest me if he tried."
"What makes you so confident?" 'Go for it,' said a little voice inside Tom.
"Because I'd molest him back."
"Why, you're gay too, are you?" Tom's father had reacted automatically, without thinking, in making that last remark and wished he could have taken the words back.
"Of course, Dad. I thought Big Sis told you that ages ago when we were still in Australia. She said she was going to." His father felt defeated and that masked his surprise and any other emotion or thought he might have had.

"I'm not sure I want to go home this afternoon," said Tom as he and Nathan were halfway through their walk with Bruce. They were walking by the local lake. Bruce was walking in the lake.
"Why's that?" asked Nathan.
"I came out."
"You what?"
"I came out – over lunch."
"What, just like that?"
"Almost."
"How?"
"It was only Mum, Dad and me. Angela's out with her friends doing something today and when Mum went off into the kitchen Dad started asking about you and me. Then he started hinting that Mum thought you were gay and so to cut short the embarrassment I told him you were and that I was too."
"Oh my god, what happened next?"
"That was the odd thing. Nothing really, just silence and then I got out quick and went across to your house. I expect Mum and Dad are spending the afternoon talking about me now."
"You can always stop over at our place. There's a bed for you."
"Yours, I hope."
"No, Tom, I think not. Knowing my mum she'd insist on your staying in the spare room. If it helps we'll go back to your place first. They can't very well say anything in front of me and that'll break the ice. I can always tie the mutt up outside." From the lake Bruce gave Nathan a resentful look. He was a dog, not a mutt.

They eventually made it back to Tom's house, after dawdling, and were invited in, even Bruce. They sat round the table drinking tea and consuming Mrs H...'s home made scones with clotted cream and jam. Despite Tom's fears the conversation was normal. When they were finished Mr H... had to pop out to taxi Angela back from her friends', so Nathan stayed ten more minutes or so and then made his way home. When he got there, his mother was obviously a state of some agitation.
"Nice afternoon, dear?"
"Yeah, all right, Mum. Why? No thanks, I've just had scones and cream at Tom's house. By the way, he told his parents over lunch today that he was gay."
"Yes, I know, dear. I had his mother on the phone for a good half an hour this afternoon just as that detective was going to reveal who dunnit on the Sunday matinée film, and of course your father had fallen asleep just at the wrong moment."
"What did she say?"
"What didn't she say? Anyway, I told her how we'd coped with you..."
"That's nice, Mum. I'm something to be coped with."
"No, I didn't mean it that way. I think I convinced her in the end that the worst thing she could do was make a big fuss about it."
"His parents certainly seemed to over-normal when we were drinking tea there. I'll ring him tonight and find out how he got on. I told him he could sleep here if they threw him out."
"I don't think it will come to that, dear."

Nathan was enjoying his Summer term in Year 8. For one thing he could do the sports that he enjoyed – tennis and swimming – and he found a ready tennis partner in Tom. They would often stay on after school whenever there was a court free and it reminded Nathan of his tennis sessions the previous year, except that this year much more tennis was played, and even he felt that he was making some improvement in the sport. From June it was warm enough for them to go to the beach and swim in the sea, and of course Bruce always wanted to join in. Naturally there was the little inconvenience of school examinations to be overcome and while neither boy needed to worry or had any difficulty, they did get pangs of conscience if they didn't put in a reasonable amount of time revising. PE consisted of athletics and later swimming, the games lessons of cricket, and because the required kit was either speedos or whites Nathan spent much of those lessons in a state of semi-erection. Once exams were over, and both boys could be well satisfied with their performance, term began to wind down with the customary activities, one of which you will remember was the mass athletics practices and heats where the whole school took part. Being in the same house Nathan and Tom could spend that time together. As he was more of a natural sportsman Tom could give his friend some motivation and more encouragement and Nathan found he was liking these events more for their own sake. Inbetween events they could sit down together and while doing so would point out to one another the various bits of eye candy they spotted as they waited. Only one thing spoilt the end of term for Nathan and that happened about ten days before the end of term.

They were in the middle of lunch – the usual seating arrangement with Mike R... guarding the end of the table flanked by his two of his most ardent admirers. He had been entertaining them with stories of his latest trainee, a boy who had been scared out of his wits when he arrived in the boarding house as a newbug the previous September, but whom Mike had taken under his wing and slowly encouraged until he became a confident, fully integrated member of society. The summer sun had brought on the hormone storm of puberty and he was helping him in another way already familiar to Nathan. Then the boys asked Mike what subjects he was going to take in the sixth form. The atmosphere changed palpably as he announced with great regret what he had been reluctantly holding back from his young friends. As his parents' work had become more and more centred on the United States, the family were going to move to America permanently and Mike would be leaving to go to school there. Nathan was devastated and almost in tears until he remembered his father's words at the start of Year 7. That night in bed he couldn't stop worrying about losing Mike, so much so that he didn't even want to jerk off before going to sleep. Next day he asked Mike if he might take some photos for souvenirs and he suggested Natt brought his camera along to the next school athletics practice. They could disappear in the same way they had the previous year and Mike made it very clear Tom would be welcome to join them and perhaps he might be the photographer.

Nathan, however, finished Year 8 on a high. He received an excellent end of term report, but the interesting thing for him were not the remarks on his academic progress, but the small figures at the top of the report indicating that he was not only a little bit taller, but that he hadn't put on any weight. He was growing upwards and losing his puppy fat. As already said he had played a lot of tennis and swum a great deal. He was even finding the PE lessons easier; and cricket, well, that was just cricket. For the second year running he had made the dizzy heights of the house junior second XI. Unfortunately, when you are on a high, there is only one way to go, and that's downwards. Firstly his and Tom's family holidays didn't coincide which meant four weeks when they couldn't see one another. Raoul's family didn't come to Spain while the B...s were there and because of the difference in school holiday dates there was no way they could fix up a visit. Nathan was determined to sort something out for the following year. While he was in Spain he attended the hotel's activities club once, but found that the other children were too young for him. Neither were there any cuties to watch on the beach nor at the pool side. Consequently that fortnight was spent predominantly with his parents. Yes, he enjoyed it, he was determined to, but under different circumstances he could have enjoyed it so much more. Although he didn't complain to his parents for fear of appearing ungrateful, they were sensible and sensitive enough to pick up the vibes that their only son was growing up and perhaps a change would be in order for the following year. In short Nathan's sex life was non-existent for about a month and after his experiences of the past twelve months or so, masturbation was scarcely either satisfactory or satisfying. When he and Tom did meet up again, after the initial hugs they lost no time in arranging a sleep-over at Tom's house. It was better there for Nathan's mother insisted on making up a bed in the spare room whereas Mrs H... was from experience with her daughter's friends more into the culture of the sleep-over and allowed the sleeping bag on the floor of Tom's bedroom. The fact that the sleeping bag Nathan faithfully brought along was never used was a secret which remained between the two boys.

Pets get into a routine and Bruce was no different. What had started as an innovation and a treat, his afternoon walkies whenever Nathan was at home, had become what was to be expected in his limited canine life, particularly on Sundays. How dogs can tell the time, and even which day of the week it is, remains a mystery, even budgerigars can, and once Sunday lunch was over and cleared away Bruce would start agitating as if afraid his human might have forgotten. There was no need for him to fret for as August was drawing to a close Nathan and Tom were reunited and they had planned to head for a quiet little hideaway in the country, where scarcely another person walked, to make up for what had been missing from on earlier in the holidays. When Nathan saw Tom, he gasped for he was wearing just sandals, a white polo shirt with navy-blue trim and white almost see-through shorts, short shorts of a cut which meant only one thing – he must have bought them while on holiday in France. It struck Nathan immediately that Tom was in a state of unusual excitement, but if he was going to reveal anything it would first require patience on Nathan's part. Bruce gave Tom his normal greeting – a lot of tail-wagging and a cold wet nose shoved into the crotch of his shorts, making Tom start and give a sharp intake of breath. It was not until all three were lying down in the sheltered sun of their hideaway in Dingley Dell that Tom began to talk about what was behind his agitated behaviour.
"You know, Natt, I'm almost too scared to go home."
"Oh again? Why's that then?" said Mr Cool Natt, thinking Tom might have broken his mother's favourite vase.
"You don't want to know."
"Then if I don't want to know, why did you bring up the topic?"
"You really do not want to know," emphasised Tom completely ignoring the question.
"I do now."
"Promise me you won't freak out if I tell you?" That just increased Natt's curiosity.
"When have you ever known me to freak out?"
"Oh, never, Natt. At least not since the last time."
"Are you ever going to tell me, or not?"
"You haven't promised."
"Okay, I promise," said Nathan completely exasperated.
"Cross your heart and hope to die?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die."
"You didn't cross your heart when you said it."
"Tom, just get on with it."
"Are you ready?"
"Get – on – with – it!" screamed Nathan, not freaked out in the slightest. He even startled Bruce.
"I seduced Angela's boyfriend."
"What?" shouted Nathan again.
"I gave Angela's strictly heterosexual and str8 boyfriend a blowjob."
"When?"
"This morning."
"Does she know?"
"Well, I haven't told her, you prat, and if he's got any sense he won't have told her either, but..."
"But what?"
"They've got the house to themselves this afternoon. Mum and Dad have gone out and if I've affected his performance, well..."
"How did it happen?"
"You don't mind?"
"I'll tell you that when I know all the details. But why should I? You know what we agreed. We're best mates, not boyfriends."
"I know, but..."
"Get on with it. You've got me all aroused."
"Nothing new there then."
"You're such a PT." "PT?"
"Prick-teaser."
"I'll put my hand up to that, but you've never complained."
"Get on."
"Weell..."
"Get on."

"Angela invited her new boyfriend over for lunch. He's not that new, but it's the first time I'd met him. When I met him I quickly realised that Angela was not the only one who found him attractive. I did as well. Drop dead gorgeous with a cherry on top, as they say. I just looked at him – simply dressed in a plain white tee shirt that was so tight against his chest that it showed his nipples – and they were hard – and 501s that didn't touch his body at the waist, but hung on his hips and were stopped from falling down by his package. When he arrived and we were introduced, I looked at him and he looked at me in that special way – call it gaydar, I suppose – and I thought 'Mmm, here's someone that might be up for it.' I don't know why. Perhaps it was his eyes with the enlarged pupils, the flushed cheeks, I don't know. Anyway, Big Sis was out to impress. She was going to cook Sunday lunch. What that meant was she was going to help Mum in the kitchen. Would I look after Tod while she slaved away over a hot stove. There again Tod. I've never come across a str8 Tod in my life. Tods have always been studs in queer stories I've read on the net. I didn't have to be asked twice to entertain him and I took him up to my room to play games. And when I say play games, I mean play games. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. We were sitting on the sofa playing Moon Invaders 3 when we got all giggly and kept touching one another. Okay, I was hard, but I didn't expect him to get hard. To cut a long story short I didn't realise how easy it was to undo the buttons on a pair of 501s with one hand, provided of course they're well washed and soft. And it was him who asked me to suck him. I just wondered whether Angela had told him about me beforehand and I daren't even ask at that moment."
"Was he good"
"Let's put it this way. I don't think it was his first time and it might have gone on further if we hadn't been called down to lunch. I'll tell you what. His spunk tastes different from yours and he produced flood of precum."
"You must introduce me some time."
"It could be a bit like that Graham Greene short story I gave you to read."
"Which one?"
"May we Borrow your Husband?" Excited by what he had just heard Natt rolled over and gave Tom a long penetrating kiss on the lips.
"If you got interrupted at half time, I should think you're feeling quite randy this afternoon?"
"Am I!" replied Tom.

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