A Prince and His Pauper
by Mark Peters
Chapter 2
When Charlie and I spoke on the Sunday night we had arranged to meet at his place and walk to school together the next morning. When I rang their front doorbell that morning the heavy wooden door was answered by a woman who looked nothing like the grandmother I had expected to see. The woman looking out at me didn't even look old enough to be a grandmother. She had straight grey hair, but she looked more like an office worker; smartly dressed and with a neat hairdo.
Before she could even say a word, however, a cry came from somewhere behind her.
'Is that you, Bray?' which was followed by the thump-thump-thump of Charlie running down the stairs, skipping two or three steps at a time, before he landed at the doorway, right behind the woman. He was wearing only a pair of boxer briefs and looked like a drowned rat, his hair dripping everywhere, apparently having just come from the shower.
'Cutting it a bit fine, aren't you?' he said to me.
'Says the kid who is still all wet behind the ears and isn't even dressed yet!' I replied, raising a smile on the woman's lips.
'Gran, this is my mate, Brayden. Brayden, this is my Gran, Helen Brown.'
'It's nice to meet you, Mrs Brown,' I said, as I held out a hand for her, being sure to do what I had always been taught.
'Oh, such manners. And it's nice to meet you also, Brayden. Charlie has talked about nothing else but you since I arrived here.'
'Whatever he has said, please don't believe all of it,' I replied as I shot a look at Charlie.
'I think I've figured out what parts I need to believe,' she replied, before turning to Charlie. 'I certainly hope you're not going to school dressed like that, young man?'
There seemed to be a new spark in Charlie's eyes as he stared back at me, before saying, 'Come on up, while I finish getting ready. It won't take me long'.
Charlie raced up the stairs and I followed, delighting in the sight of his firm buns dancing in front of me as we went. The boy had no shame when it was just us, but it was a bit different amongst our classmates when changing before or after sport though. At those times he would become a real introvert it seemed.
This was the first time I had been this far inside their house, and it looked amazing. He led me down a short hallway to his bedroom, which proved to be enormous, as was the main feature in the room, a huge double bed.
'Is this your bed?' I exclaimed. 'It's massive.'
'Yep. All mine. Plenty of room for two, for when you come for a sleep over.'
'Really?'
'Yeah, really,' he replied, then giving me an almost bashful look, as if he wasn't sure if he had just crossed some dangerous, imaginary line.
'Nice,' I replied, while grinning at him.
He looked at me with a goofy kind of expression for moment, before he suddenly snapped out of it as he looked down at his almost naked body.
'Fuck! I need to get dressed!' he exclaimed.
'Don't let me stop you,' I said, as I sat down on the edge of his bed, admiring the view.
He flashed me a grin then headed for his walk-in robe, pulling out some school clothes and then tossing them on the bed beside me, before heading into his bathroom. Jesus, he even had his own bathroom!
After quickly brushing his teeth, he ran a comb through his still damp hair, flattening out the spikes that were shooting this way and that. After a quick squirt of deodorant under each arm he returned to the bedroom and picked up his shirt and pulled it on, then stepped into his pants. A few moments later everything was buttoned up and fastened, his shoes and socks were on, and he was slinging his school bag over his shoulder, ready to face the day.
'You finally ready then?' I asked.
'Of course I am!' he replied. 'Let's go!'
We headed down the stairs and found his grandmother in the kitchen.
'We're off then, Nan,' he said, before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
'You have a good day at school, and I'll see you tonight, she said to him, then turning to me she added, 'And it was nice to meet you, Brayden. You look after my grandson now, you hear.'
'Of course,' I replied, while flashing my best smile at her, just before I was forcefully dragged from the kitchen and then out the front door.
It was good to see Charlie in a good mood again, and not running scared. I hoped he stayed this way, but I think I was smart enough to realise that once we got to school things may change.
'So, do you think you're ready to face the Dementors at school?' I asked him as we passed Coogan's Supermarket, where we could see some kids from our school, who we didn't really know, hanging around out front.
'Dementors? That's a good one,' he replied, offering a grin as he did so.
'And?'
'I honestly don't know,' he answered.
'They'll want to know where you were, especially after that Friday afternoon and what happened . . . because they all know about the bruises. Martin has made sure of that.'
'Yeah, I figured,' he said quietly. 'Dad just said to try and ignore them if they pester me too much.'
'I'll be there for you. You know I'll help keep them away if I have to.'
'I know. And thank you,' he responded.
'I haven't done anything, yet.'
'I know. I'm just getting in early.'
We grinned at each other and kept walking, occasionally glancing at each other and smiling. I was feeling good about us, about our friendship, about what the future might hold.
'Did you mean what you said yesterday?' I asked him after we had walked in silence for a little while.
'Did you?' he shot back.
'Hell yes,' I answered. 'I've felt that way for a while now . . . and I think you already knew that, didn't you?'
'Yeah, I did. And I feel the same, it's just that I couldn't . . .'
'It's okay. You don't need to explain,' I said.
'Well, I do, I think. I feel the same way about you . . . I want you to know that . . . it's just that I can't, you know . . . say it out loud, at least, not to anyone else . . . and just the thought of anyone else knowing that . . .'
'It's okay. I don't think it would be smart for either of us to be out at school, at least not right now . . .'
'Are you sure you're okay with that? That it has to stay between us . . . at school I mean. Nobody there can know.'
'I'm fine with it, Charlie. Really. Things would be even worse, and for both of us, if anyone at school knew . . . fuck, could you just imagine it?'
'I can, actually . . . and that's why I wanted to talk to you about it before we got there.'
As he said this I looked ahead of us and I could see we were approaching the front gates of our school. I could see kids milling about out the front, cars and buses dropping kids off. It was a standard Monday morning.
Reaching out I put a hand on Charlie's chest and stopped, bringing him to a stop as well.
'What?' he asked, sounding surprised, as I held a hand up in front of him with my pinkie finger sticking out.
'Pinkie swear,' I said to him. 'No matter what, we keep each other's secrets,' I said to him.
Charlie smiled, his face lighting up the morning, as he reached up and hooked his pinkie finger around mine.
'Pinkie swear,' he replied. 'No matter what, we keep each other's secrets.'
Charlie's return to school went pretty much as expected, with some of our classmates curious about his absence, while others couldn't have cared less.
Then there was Martin and his buddies, who were convinced there was some cover up, or sinister plot, involved, and tried to bully some information out of Charlie at lunch time when I wasn't nearby, but when I returned and saw what was going on I stepped in. They backed off quite quickly then.
'Thanks for that,' Charlie said, as we watched them slinking away.
I grinned at him and said, 'That's what I'm here for, babe. To keep you safe.'
At my use of that word – 'babe' – Charlie glanced around nervously, as if he was worried someone might have heard me, but I already knew that the coast was clear, having quickly checked first.
'You don't have to worry, Charlie. I promise I'll be careful. I know what this means to you. To both of us really.'
'I know you will,' he replied, as we found a nearby seat.
'So, what now?' I asked.
'Life goes on, I guess,' Charlie offered, before seemingly being distracted by something and frowning, as he focused on something behind me.
I turned to see what it was and saw Mr Hogan walking our way. Apparently, he had playground duty today.
'Hello there, boys,' Mr Hogan said as he approached us. 'It's good to see you back at school, Charlie. I hope everything's going okay with you now?'
'Y-yes, sir. Thank you.'
'Very good,' he replied, before handing Charlie an envelope.
Charlie looked at it and turned it over in his hand.
'It's from the school counsellor, Miss Banks. She asked me to pass it on if I saw you out here,' Mr Hogan added. 'See you on Friday for sports then,' he said, before wandering off to annoy someone else.
I noticed Charlie was glaring at him as he walked away, and it didn't take a genius to know just what he was thinking.
'He was only doing his job, mate. It wasn't his fault,' I cautiously offered.
He looked at me and held my gaze for a few moments, before eventually offering the beginnings of a smile.
'Yeah. I know,' he replied.
'So, you going to open that?'
He looked down at the envelope for a moment, then quickly ripped it open, pulling from it a small piece of paper. He read it, then handed it to me, saying, 'Looks like I have to see Banksy last period', as he did so.
'I'm sure she only wants to help,' I said.
'Yeah, you're probably right . . .'
'But?'
'But it feels like they are sticking their nose in where it's not needed. Hogan might have just been doing his job, but look what's happened.'
'What do you mean? If anything it was probably for the best, wasn't it?'
Charlie frowned slightly, but said nothing, so I pressed on, knowing that sooner or later Charlie needed to talk to me about what was happening.
'Okay, let's look at it another way. If nothing had happened and you went home that Friday to the same old place, what would have happened the next time your mum heard you mention me, or something you did in drama class, and she had gone off at you again?'
Still he remained silent.
'What if she had done something even worse? She might have really hurt you this time. As it is, your mum is now getting the help she needs. Your dad knows exactly what has happened and is firmly on your side. You and me are together, and our families seem to be supportive, and things are looking up for everybody.'
Looking at his face I could see the pain and the hurt that he was feeling, and I felt so helpless. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to kiss away that pain that was filling his heart, but right here, right now, in plain view of everyone, that just couldn't be done.
So I told him exactly that.
Eventually Charlie used his shirt sleeve and wiped away a tear, then looked nervously around to see if anyone may have noticed. Thankfully there were no jeers, no laughter coming from anywhere close by, so it looked like the coast was clear.
When he looked my way again, I could see the pain still etched on his face.
'But she's my mum,' he finally said to me.
'I know, mate.'
'I know that what she was doing was wrong . . . but she's still my mum . . . and now, I don't even know what's going to happen to her. She hated me for the things I like, and for who I like . . . and I could see that hatred in her eyes. It just never went away.'
'She's going to get better, Charlie. That's all that matters, then after that happens, you'll all be able to work things out, as a family.'
'And if she doesn't get better? What then?'
'Don't think that way. You've just got to stay positive.'
'I'm trying, but . . .'
'I know, mate. But hey, maybe that's what the counsellor can help you with?'
'I . . . I don't know about that.'
'Just give it a chance. You never know what might come out of it.'
'Yeah, maybe,' he replied.
Just then the bell rang to mark the end of our lunch break and so we headed to class. There were some murmurs in the corridors as we retrieved our books from our lockers and then entered the room, but nothing that we needed to worry about. The lesson passed without incident, then afterwards Charlie said it was time to go see Miss Banks.
'Assuming I'm going to be with the shrink the whole period, meet me at the lockers afterwards?' he suggested.
'What? You think I'm going to run off and leave you for the Dementors or something?'
He managed a grin. 'Of course not. It's just I might need someone to straighten out my brain after the psycho-babble session. I have a pretty fair idea of what she's going to want to talk about, and I bet she'll be trying to get inside my head to find out all about what happened.'
'And how do you feel about that?'
'To be honest, I don't really know.'
'Just hear her out and see what she's got to say, and maybe don't answer too many questions if you don't feel comfortable.'
'That could be easier said than done.'
"Yeah, I know,' I agreed.
Before he left me, he held his closed fist up and towards me, which I quickly met with my own, and then he was gone.
Our class quickly settled in for our lesson, but I was finding it extremely difficult to concentrate. All I could think about was Charlie being grilled by Miss Banks, and about how he must be feeling right now. I wished I could be there to help him through this, but of course, it really had nothing to do with me, did it? All I could do would be to support him when needed.
As our Geography lesson dragged on I found myself becoming less and less interested in what was being taught and spending more and more time staring out the window; that was until I felt something stabbing me in the ribs.
Looking sideways, and feeling extremely annoyed, I saw the kid beside me but across the aisle staring at me while holding onto a ruler, which must have been what I felt.
'Dude, she's giving you the evil eye,' Danny Southwell said to me, while giving his head a nod towards the teacher at the front on the classroom, Mrs Wharton.
I looked towards the front, just as our teacher finished writing something on the blackboard, before turning and looking straight at me.
Fuck, what had she been talking about, I wondered. I could see she was about to ask me something.
'So, Brayden, can you give us the names of the five main oceans of the world please?' Mrs Wharton asked.
I looked from her to the blackboard, then back again.
'Errr . . . ummm . . . the Pacific,' I said, which I only knew because I had been swimming in it last school holidays.
'Go on,' the teacher urged.
'Ummm . . . the Indian?' I suggested, which truthfully only came to me when my eyes settled on a kid on the far side of the room, Raj, who I knew to be of Indian descent.
'Well, two out of five isn't bad so far.'
Some of my classmates had a chuckle at that one.
I glanced at Danny, and he just rolled his eyes at me, then whispered, 'Atlantic'. Thankfully I don't think anyone else heard.
'Atlantic,' I said to the teacher.
'Very good. We're on a roll now. Maybe you were listening after all. So how about the other two?'
There were more chuckles from my classmates, but my mind was blank.
I simply shook my head. I had nothing.
With a disappointed expression on her face Mrs Wharton glanced around the room, as a number of hands shot up.
'Yes, Jenny?' she said to a blonde girl with pigtails in the front row.
'Is one the Arctic Ocean?'
'Very good. And now for the last one?'
'Antarctic!' another kid called out.
'Correct, ' our teacher proclaimed. 'Although it's actually more commonly referred to as the Southern Ocean.'
Before anyone could say anything more, however, the door to the classroom opened and in stepped Charlie, looking rather sheepish at having to make such an entrance.
He walked straight over to Mrs Wharton and handed her a note, before taking a quick look around the classroom as she read it. His eyes settled on me, but there was nothing in his expression that gave anything away.
'Alright then, Charlie. Take a seat, please,' Mrs Wharton said to him.
He made his way down the aisle between the rows of desks and set himself down beside me.
'You okay?' I whispered.
'Later,' was all he said.
Twenty minutes later the lesson was over, and school was out for the day. No sooner had the bell rung than the corridors quickly began to fill with students, everyone keen to get away from the place just as quickly as we all could.
Charlie and I retrieved our bags from our lockers and then hit the streets, passing through the crowd at the front gates and setting off in the same direction we walked almost every day.
Not much was said, at least until we were clear of the school and the crowds around us had begun to thin out, as I didn't want to put him in a position where others might hear what he was saying. Once I was happy that we were in no danger of being overheard I asked him again if he was okay, and what had happened with Miss Banks.
He looked across at me and simply said, 'Not a lot.'
'What do you mean?'
'Well, she just wanted to know how I was feeling. She said she'd been given a copy of the report that said what had happened after the police got involved and she hoped I was doing okay. She also wanted to know what things were like at home now, and asked about my parents and what was happening, then I told her about Nan coming to stay while dad was away working. Then she said that if I wanted to talk about anything at all I should just come and see her.'
'And that's it?'
'Isn't that enough?' he asked, with his usual cheeky grin returning.
'Well, I guess . . .'
As we walked, he gave me a shoulder bump, while still grinning at me.
'So I guess you're doing okay, then?' I asked, grinning, as I returned the shoulder bump.
'Yeah. Better than I've felt in quite a while, actually.'
'I'm so glad,' I responded.
For the rest of the walk home we talked the usual kid crap that we always seemed to waffle on about, but I couldn't help but think about what the next thing would be for us to face, which I suspected would be just around the next corner.
When I stopped on the street corner where we often went our different ways home, Charlie kept going for a few steps, before realising that I had stopped.
We looked at each other. I was feeling a little unsure about the next step, as this was new territory we were approaching.
'It's okay, Bray. You're coming to my place today,' he said. 'You were allowed inside this morning, so why would this afternoon be any different?'
'I know. I guess it just feels . . . different.'
'Yeah. But in a good way, right?'
'Yeah,' I answered him.
'So come on. Let's go. I'm going to fire up my PlayStation and kick your arse at every game we play.'
'That won't be hard, seeing as I've never played anything on one of those things in my life.'
'First time for everything,' Charlie replied. 'First time for lots of things now.'
Grabbing my arm he dragged me after him, and soon I was once again in step beside him. Up until now I thought I had been the confident one out of the two of us. It seemed like things were now starting to change, however.
A short time later we were walking up the driveway of his house, and to be honest I was feeling a little nervous. Thinking back to that morning, when I had met his grandmother, it had all been such a whirlwind. She seemed so nice, but did she actually know how close Charlie and I were? Did she know we were both thinking we were gay? I wasn't sure what to think about having anyone else, other than our parents, knowing about us. And while she might be Charlie's grandmother, and she might even be okay with it all, it still felt weird, even a little scary, that anyone else might know that about me.
I knew that Charlie was paranoid about anyone knowing about us, but I guess close family, like parents and grandparents, were okay?
The other thing I was slightly confused about, after having been in Charlie's bedroom earlier, was what each of us did, or didn't, have; and why he never commented on anything like that when he was with me. I remembered looking around me at all his stuff while he was getting dressed this morning. I had nothing compared to him. It was like we came from two different worlds, and yet, whenever he had visited my house there was never any mention of what I didn't have. Didn't every teenage boy covet all the latest in belongings . . . I know I did, but I also knew that my family didn't have the money to give me anything like that, so I never asked for it. I had always dreaded being asked if I had such-and-such as a result of that, but somehow it just wasn't an issue for Charlie.
When we entered the house Charlie called out, 'Nan, I'm home. And I've got Bray with me!'
We went through to the kitchen, which was smelling richly of home cooking, but there was no answer. We soon found a note on the refrigerator, however, which Charlie picked up and read.
'She's downtown,' he said to me, before walking across the room to the oven and opening the door. 'But she left us something.'
Reaching into the oven he gently touched a metal tray, testing it for how hot it might be, then shortly pulled it out to show me.
'Brownies!' he exclaimed. 'And still warm!'
I grinned at him.
'You want a Milo milkshake to go with them? I'm buying,' he said, before setting the tray down on the counter. Before I could even answer him, he then pulled the milk and some ice cream from the refrigerator and freezer, then quickly set about making each of us a drink.
Two scoops of ice cream, then two heaped spoonfuls of Milo went into each milkshake container, followed by a generous amount of milk, before being put onto the milkshake maker to mix.
A minute later he handed me the first rich, chocolate flavoured milkshake.
'Sorry, no drinking straws here,' he said. I smiled, then took a sip of the shake.
'Mmmm . . . that's delicious,' I said, as he mixed up his own shake. 'You're just full of surprises, aren't you?'
'Oh, you really have no idea,' he teased.
Minutes later we were climbing the stairs to his bedroom, each of us carrying a plate with pieces of brownie cut up on it in one hand, and a milkshake in the other. Of course, our faces already had chocolate crumbs stuck to them.
We sat on the edge of his bed, before Charlie kicked off his shoes and climbed fully up onto it, then suggested I do the same. With our legs crossed under us and our plates sitting between us, we grinned at each other.
'I think I could get used to this,' I said to him.
'And I could get used to having you here, but . . .'
'But what?' I asked.
For a moment or two he bit his lip as he seemed to be thinking about something.
'Charlie?' I said.
'That's going to depend on something.'
'On what?'
'On mum,' he said quietly. 'On what happens to her.'
Oh, God. Had I just put my foot in it, or what?
'Shit! I'm sorry, I didn't mean . . .'
'Sshhh!' he said, quickly leaning forward as he did so and putting a finger up to my lips to stop me. 'It's okay.'
'But now I feel terrible.'
'Don't. It's not your fault. It's just we don't know what is going to happen. She might be away for a short time or a long time, and who knows what might happen when she does come back. While ever she's away it'll be okay for you to come over, but when she's back, it might be a problem . . . can you understand that?'
'Of course. But no matter what happens, you're always welcome at my place. You know that don't you?'
'Yeah, I know. And I just love going to your place. It's like, I dunno, a second home to me, and one that feels so much more real somehow.'
As I thought about that I sipped some more of my shake, trying to figure out just what he meant by it.
'You'll probably think I'm nuts,' he continued, 'but even though I live in a great house and I have all this . . . stuff . . . I've never really been able to share it with anyone. I've never been able to have friends over, because mum didn't like it, or didn't like them . . . not that I've really ever had many friends anyhow. At least when I go to your place it's . . . I dunno . . . real. More real than the family I've had, anyhow.'
'Wow,' was all I could really seem able to respond with, which I instantly knew was inadequate. 'And there I was thinking that guys like you, with the good looks, the fancy house and parents with money, and all the stuff you ever needed had it made.'
Charlie smiled, but it was a sad kind of smile, the type of smile that was covering some deeper feelings that had yet to be fully shared.
'It is all just stuff , Bray. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything that I have, but honestly, I never even use most of it . . . for years it's been like, I don't know, like I'm a Prince living in this big tower, where I have everything available to me, except the one thing that matters, and that's a real friend . . . at least, until now, that is.'
As he said this he reached out and placed a hand over mine. 'When I met you this year, I finally found someone who wanted to be my friend just because I was me. I like going to your house, where everyone and everything is just so . . . normal . . . not like this . . .' he said, while waving his other hand around the room. 'That's partly why I haven't invited you in here before . . . I needed to get out of this tower prison and see how everyone else lived, and I could do that at your place. And well, there's also mum's problems of course, which made it difficult to have friends over.'
'I . . . I don't know what to say.'
'You don't have to say anything. You just need to be my friend.'
'Oh, you can count on that, babe. I can't say that I've ever met anyone like you.'
'So, what do we do now?' he asked.
Slowly, I leaned in closer to him, and he began to do the same. I was staring into his eyes, glancing briefly at the luscious lips that were coming my way, before looking back up at those pale blue pools, which seemed to now be sparkling.
'I've never . . .' he whispered.
'Me neither,' I replied.
But then, just before we were about to make contact, the distant thud of a door closing echoed up the stairs and into Charlie's bedroom, followed by the sound of his grandmother's voice.
'Are you home, Charlie?'
With the spell broken Charlie closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine for just a moment, before letting out a sigh.
'Fuck!' he then whispered.
As he opened his eyes I grinned at him. He grinned back at me.
'Yes, Nan!' he then called back. 'Up here in my room, with Brayden!'
'Okay. Just let me know if you need anything! I see you found the brownies!'
We both giggled.
'We better go down and thank her,' I suggested. 'Got to keep in your Nan's good books!'
'You can be such a suck sometimes!'
'I know. Don't you know that there's a real art to keeping the 'rents happy? Stick with me and I'll teach you all I know.'
'Oh, you can count on that,' he replied.
As the week rolled on l ife quickly seemed to get back to normal, both at school and at home. The arseholes at school were still arseholes, but Charlie's week away from school seemed to have been quickly forgotten. Our teachers were keeping a close eye on Charlie, and therefore me also, which at first I found was a little stifling, but I figured it was a small price to pay.
Before the end of the week we had another drama class and this time Charlie was once again fully engaged. Any misgivings he'd had previously, after being ragged on by his mother, were gone and he was back to where he should be; being the star attraction. He seemed to come alive here, as he put his heart and soul into everything he did, leaving our teacher, Miss Carlton, beaming. He could have that effect on people.
At the end of the class Miss Carlton drew him aside and spoke with him out of earshot of the rest of us. I could see him listening and nodding and at one point he looked my way and smiled. I couldn't wait to find out what this was all about.
An hour or so later I got my chance to ask. It was now Thursday and it was getting towards the end of the school year. Our after school routine was now split between time being spent at both Charlie's place and mine.
'So, what was that all about with Miss Carlton?' I asked him, once we were clear of the school.
'Did you hear that there's going to be an end of year school play?' he asked.
'Where would I hear that from?' I chided him.
'Well, apparently they have one every year and she wants me to be in it,' he replied.
'Really? That's awesome,' I said to him.
'Yeah, it's about some young Prince. The script is going to be passed around soon apparently, and she wants me to try out for the lead. That's all she would tell me, but she promised me it's an amazing play.'
'Sounds perfect for you.'
'We'll see.'
'You want to do it, don't you?'
'Yeah, I think so. I'm not sure about the main part though. I mean, I've been in plays before, but nothing this . . . errr . . . big.'
'You'll be a hit, I'm sure.'
'But you've got to be there too . . . even if it's doing the stage settings or stuff in the background.'
'We'll see,' I replied.
'No. Not we'll see. You have to be there helping. I'll need to have you somewhere around, okay?'
'Okay. I promise I'll help out.'
Satisfied, he gave me a nod and we kept walking.
At least, later that afternoon, we finally did manage that first kiss. And it was wonderful. The gentle touch of his moist lips on mine, while his hand caressed my cheek, was the most beautiful moment I had ever shared with another human being, and I knew that in the fullness of time there would be more to come.
When our lips opened it seemed to suck the breath right out of me, which quickly had my head spinning, then Charlie's tongue tentatively began to probe the cavity of my mouth. It soon found my own tongue and gently wrestled with it, before finally we had to break away and catch our breath.
'God!' I uttered breathlessly. 'That was magical.'
'Yeah,' he whispered.
'Can we do that again?' I asked.
Without saying anything he leaned back in and our lips met once more.
There was nothing more than a kiss, or a series of kisses, but it was the start of things getting more serious between us, and we both knew it .
I t wouldn't be until the following week before we would have the opportunity to do anything else together, and I could only say that I was shocked when it transpired, or at least when it was initiated.
We were in our Art class on the Wednesday afternoon and our teacher, Mr Walsh, had us all surrounding a work table as he tried to explain the finer points of mixing paint colours. I was standing beside Mr Walsh, while Charlie was to my left, standing right on the corner of the work table.
At some point I put my left hand down and leaned on the table, placing my hand directly upon the corner, my fingers wrapped underneath the table top. A short time later I realised that something was rubbing against the back of my fingers. And that something seemed to be hard. When I glanced down at my hand I saw Charlie subtly rubbing himself against my hand . . . rubbing the front of his trousers slowly back and forth over my fingers; rubbing his hardening teenage cock, covered only by his grey school trousers, against my fingers. When I glanced at his face he was staring me down, almost daring me to do or say something.
This was the kid who was scared shitless about anyone finding out about him, or about us. What the fuck was he doing?
Other than our kiss, this was the first touch between us that had ever had any sexual overtones, and to be perfectly honest, having it happen in this way was scaring the shit out of me.
I frowned at him and gave a subtle shake of my head, then quickly pulled my hand back. Charlie grinned, his eyes almost lighting up as he did so, no doubt spurred on by the adrenaline rush and the thrill of living so dangerously, then moments later we both turned our attention back to the demonstration playing out in front of us, but not before glancing around the table to make sure nobody was looking our way.
Try as I might, however, my mind wouldn't concentrate on what it was supposed to be concentrating on. The touch of another boy's cock against my hand – even one still covered in cloth – was thrilling, yet scary, and kept niggling away at me.
What the fuck was he thinking? And why did it feel so damn good to touch him like that?
Nothing was said about what happened for the rest of the afternoon, I guess the opportunity just didn't arise, but it was there between us, just waiting to rear its ugly head. When we finally walked out of the school gates and turned for home I waited until we were clear of the school, as I so often did, before turning to him.
He looked back at me with that usual impish, mischievous grin etched upon his face. He knew exactly what was coming.
I was grinning myself, so he knew I wasn't mad at him. 'What the fuck were you thinking?' I asked.
'It was an accident,' he replied. 'Honest.'
'Right.'
'I'm serious. I didn't realise your hand was there when I leaned against the corner . . . but when it felt so good I didn't want it to stop. I . . . I liked it.'
'Yeah, I could tell,' I offered, with a chuckle. 'You sure took a risk though. What if someone has seen you hard and rubbing yourself up against my hand like you were? You could have been outed. We both could have been.'
'But that didn't happen. I wasn't caught. We weren't caught.'
'This time!' I said. 'I know you want, and need, to keep things private . . . we both want that, but we can't do that again . . . at least not out in the open.'
'Where then?'
'So, are you saying that now we've kissed, you want to go further?'
'Don't you?'
I simply grinned back at him.
'Yeah, that's what I thought. So, my place or yours?' he eventually asked.
'Your place is closest,' I answered. So that was where we went .
'Are you home, Nan?' Charlie called out just as soon as we were inside the front door. When silence was the only reply he turned to me and grinned.
'You're becoming a regular little horn-dog, aren't you?' I teased.
'Only for you, babe. C'mon, let's see if Nan has done any cooking today,' he replied.
I followed him through to the kitchen, where he found a note from his grandmother attached to the refrigerator, telling him she would be back late. Sadly there were no new treats for us, but Charlie poured us some drinks and found some chocolate cake in the fridge, so once we were stocked up we headed upstairs to his room.
Each time I visited Charlie's house I was growing more and more comfortable with the surrounds. At first, I was in awe of some of the stuff he had in his room, but after a little while I soon came to realise just what he had meant when he had said that it was just that . . . stuff . . . and that he never even touched most of it. I guess what's the point in having the latest and greatest when all you need is your old favourites?
The one thing that I quickly realised, however, was that whenever I had been in this room it was rare that we did anything other than just hang out together. Sure, we may have fired up the PlayStation a few times, but we always seem to cast it aside and just hang, and I loved that more than anything else.
The other thing about Charlie's room that I really loved, was his big double bed, so soft and comfortable. And did I mention it was big? I could hardly wait until the time we would have our first sleep over.
Once we finished our cake and drinks Charlie took the plate and glass from me and put them aside on his desk, before returning to where I sat on the edge of his bed and standing directly in front of me.
He was looking down at me and sucking on his bottom lip, looking slightly nervous. I looked up and smiled at him.
'So, this is it, hey?' I whispered.
Charlie said nothing, but held out a hand for me. I looked at it for a moment, then reached up and placed one of my hands in his.
'What now?' I asked him.
Once again he stayed silent, but he took my hand and moved it down in front of him, changing the grip slightly and then opening my hand out flat, before placing it directly over the zipper of his pants.
Our eyes stayed locked together as he moved my hand slightly from side to side and immediately I could feel something coming alive beneath the fabric. I gave Charlie a smile and he released the pressure on my hand, but I kept moving it, all of my own accord.
'Is . . . is that okay?' I whispered to him.
'Oh yeah,' he almost groaned.
His penis was hard now and his pants were tenting out. Suddenly I needed to see it, to touch it directly, not through layers of fabric.
Almost as if he had read my mind he moved his hands to the buckle on his belt and unfastened it.
'Are you okay if I do this?' he asked, his voice almost trembling.
I nodded, and in a couple of swift movements he had unfastened his pants and dropped the zipper. His trousers fell down around his knees, leaving only his underwear between my hand and its target. As Charlie began unbuttoning his shirt I slid a finger behind the elastic with one hand, then the other, before looking back up into his eyes once more.
He gave me a nod and I quickly pulled his boxer briefs down around his knees, allowing the most perfectly-formed, erect penis I have ever seen – not that I had ever actually seen very many of these – to spring forth and bounce up against his flat stomach.
I wrapped my hand around it and pulled it down slightly, so I was gazing directly at the almost purple-coloured head, at the end of which a slit eyed me with disdain, as a small amount of clear liquid leaked from the end of it. The shaft seemed smooth, with barely a wrinkle to the loose skin that covered it, and it felt like a steel rod in a case of soft velvet. It was larger than I had expected, having seen him soft on so many occasions, and was pale in comparison to the rest of his body, which was tanned and smooth and unblemished. A few wispy hairs had appeared around the base of his cock over this past year, though his balls were still as smooth as the day he had been born.
From the mop of blond on his head, to his perfectly formed toes, Charlie Brown was the most beautiful boy in the world to me. He was indeed my Prince.
I was sure that my own teen cock would be in that exact same turgid state, should it be released from the confines of my trousers, and so knowing exactly what I would do to my own cock if it were to be discovered in that condition, I just had to give Charlie that same feeling.
I allowed my thumb to slide over the slit and spread that sweet, precious fluid around. As soon as I did this, I felt Charlie shudder, and he placed a hand on my shoulder, as if to support himself.
'You liked that, huh?' I asked, to which he simply nodded in reply, before using his other hand to gently stroke the side of my face, then lovingly run his fingers back through my hair.
Not having ever been in this situation before I wasn't sure exactly what I should do next, but somewhere inside my brain a thought was forming. We were learning about this together. I already knew how sweet the taste my own boy juices were and suddenly I realised that I needed to taste Charlie, I needed to swallow that tempestuous and tantalising piece of meat that was presented to me and savour all my Prince had to offer, and so I gently leaned forward.
My tongue slipped between my lips and ever so gently licked the gleaming, moist head of his penis, collecting another drop of that sweet nectar. Once again, I felt Charlie shudder at my touch before his fingers then grabbed a handful of my hair.
His taste was exactly as I had expected, but I needed more.
I leaned in once again, only this time I opened my mouth. My moist lips slid over the head of his cock and part-way down his shaft. Oh. My. God. I was really doing this. I was sucking my best friend. I was sucking my boyfriend.
And I was loving it.
Unfortunately, however, my joy was short-lived, as Charlie pushed me backwards and off him.
'Wha . . .' I begin to say, as I rocked back and looked up at him, but he quickly placed a finger over my lips, shushing me.
'I need to see you too,' Charlie whispered, so I quickly stood and pulled my shirt over my head, then I dropped my trousers and briefs.
We both stepped out of our trousers and kicked them aside, leaving us naked, hard, and facing each other. We looked each other up and down, open-mouthed at first, then both breaking out into grins.
'What now?' Charlie asks.
Stepping closer to Charlie I reached out and took his cock in my hand and began to stroke him slowly. Charlie followed my lead and wrapped his hand around my shaft, then began to stroke me also. The feeling of having somebody I cared so much about touching me in this way was incredible. I knew it wasn't going to take long for me to start cumming, but before I could think any more about that Charlie leaned in closer to me and placed his lips over mine. Our lips parted and our tongues explored each other's mouths. There was nothing rushed about what we were doing, each of us living in the moment, before Charlie soon broke the kiss.
'I'm getting close,' he whispered.
'Me too,' I reply.
The stroking started to get faster. It's not difficult to see that the fire within each of us was building. We were both moaning, our foreheads still together as we leaned into each other, then almost without warning I felt myself at the edge of a climax. My balls were on fire. Charlie's cock in my hand was alive. I felt it pulse. He felt mine pulse. Then it happened.
We both looked down just as ropes of our juices flew from the end of our cocks, mine splattering against Charlie, just above that sparse patch of pubes at the base of his cock, before finally dribbling out over my hand and his member, which had also erupted and splattered against me.
As we came down from our high, our hearts still racing and our breath ragged, we collapsed against each other. Our sticky hands released what we were holding, but then we embraced, hugging each other as tightly as we could, as we both took in what had just happened. Our cocks were squashed against each other, with our fluids mixing. But we didn't care.
'God, that was so awesome,' Charlie whispered into my ear.
'Totally,' I reply.
We continued holding onto each other, neither of us wanting to let go of the other, but we knew that we couldn't stay this way.
'We better get cleaned up,' Charlie finally said. 'Better not let my Nan catch us like this.'
'Yeah,' I agree. 'She knows we're, like, more than friends, doesn't she?'
'Yeah. Dad explained it to her. She was a bit shocked, but she's cool with it.'
'Okay then.'
After that, Charlie took one of my hands in his and led me to his bathroom, where he turned on the shower and let the water run until it was warm.
'You ever had a shower with someone else?' he asked.
'Nope. Have you?'
'Nope. But we better do it together so we can save time and not get caught, don't you think?'
'I'm game if you are. Talk about a day of firsts.'
'Yeah. And already, I can't wait for the next one!'
I can't remember much of my walk home after that. It was like I was floating along on clouds, as memories of our afternoon came flooding back, over and over again.
As it turned out, we were lucky to get cleaned up when we did, as it was only a few minutes after we had finished dressing when we heard the sound of the front door being opened and closed, followed by, 'Honey, I'm home!'
If we hadn't just panicked at the sound of the door closing, that could have almost cracked us up. Quickly Charlie sprayed some air freshener around the room, to try and mask the smell of teen sex, then we ran downstairs to greet his grandmother.
'Hello boys. Have you been having fun?'
Charlie and I glanced at each other.
'Yes, Nan,' he answered. 'Just been playing some games.'
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