A Prince and His Pauper

by Mark Peters

Chapter 3

There was a new poster on the drama room noticeboard when we arrived for our next class on Wednesday of the following week. It was a picture of a young Prince; handsome, a crown perched up on his unruly blond locks, blue eyes and giving the impression of an almost haughty character.

I had to look twice when I saw it there. This Prince was a dead-ringer for Charlie.

'When did you pose for that photo?' I asked him as we studied the poster. Some of our classmates were also looking at him sideways, not sure if the poster was real.

'I didn't,' he replied.

'Geez, it sure looks like you,' I heard Danny Southwell say from right behind us. I didn't know him that well, but he often sat nearby in our classes. I wasn't sure what to think of that, although he seemed an okay kind of guy. At least he never hassled us or gave us any grief.

'Nope. Not me,' Charlie tried to assure us, but I could see the doubt in the eyes of everyone nearby, who all seemed to do a double-take.

The rest of the information on the poster, not that there was much to it, was almost as interesting as the picture that adorned it. Auditions were now open.

The Boy Who Would Be King

Charlie looked at me and grinned. 'What do you think?' he asked.

'Looks to me like you were born to play that part . . . My Prince,' I replied, before stepping back slightly and offering him a rather poor attempt at a theatrical bow.

I heard Danny laugh, but then he did the same. I wasn't quite sure what to make of that at first, but when a few others joined in, leaving Charlie standing in the centre of a circle of students all bowing to him, it seemed the verdict was unanimous. He was now our Prince.

It was just at that moment when our drama teacher, Miss Carlton, chose to arrive, with the delight on her face obvious when she spotted what was happening.

'Auditioning already, Charlie?'

'We're just helping him get in character, miss,' Danny quickly offered.

There were a few laughs from those classmates close to us, but I also heard a few snide remarks from a little further away, which I soon realised came from Martin and his group of friends. They were never going to change, it seemed.

'Well, I'm certainly hoping that Charlie is going to give careful consideration to auditioning for this play, along with anyone else who may have an interest in participating, in whatever capacity. Anyone who is successful in landing a role can be assured of the full support of this class.'

As she said this, she dropped what looked to be a pile of papers onto the desk that was positioned along the rear wall and not far from the noticeboard. But then she picked up a bundle from the top, which we soon learned were copies of the play, one of which she handed to Charlie, who then showed it to us.

Still in her hands was another copy of the script, so she had us all gather around, sitting in a semi circle on the floor, just like we did at the beginning of most of our classes.

'As you can all see,' she began, 'the annual school production for this year has been decided upon. It is a play that has recently made its debut on London's West End, and to rave reviews, and it is set to challenge us all.'

'So why do you have Peanuts on the poster, miss?' asked one of Martin's buddies, the obvious spite in his voice unmistakable to everyone.

I glanced at Charlie and noticed him staring daggers at the goon.

'First of all, Mr Cameron, we will show all our fellow students some respect in this class and address them by their correct names,' Miss Carlton said sternly. 'Is that understood?'

Initially there was no response, which prompted another question from our teacher.

'Is that understood, Mr Cameron?'

'Yes, Miss,' he eventually replied, with a remorse that seemed forced and artificial.

'Very good. And now, secondly, the photo on the poster is not of our Charlie Brown. It is actually the image used on the posters for the London run of the play. I found it on the web and after reading the script I can assure you that it certainly seems to fit the character. The fact it seems to remind us all of Charlie is merely a coincidence. And speaking of Charlie, we all know that he has a particularly keen interest in drama,' Miss Carlton said, which prompted a few giggles from the rabble, 'so I am certainly hopeful that he will participate in the auditions when they take place. And should he be successful in securing a role in this production, I can assure you that you will all be assisting with the rehearsals. It will count towards your marks for the year. '

Glancing at Charlie I could see that he was embarrassed by all the attention, but I also knew that deep down this is exactly what he wanted. He wanted to be the star of the show, whether it was this one, or for some other play that might be staged in the future. I also knew that if given the chance he would throw everything he had into this role and be damned with what everyone else might think.

After that we all had a brief discussion about what this play was actually about – a teenage Prince, prematurely thrust into the role of King following the demise of his father – before we were then put to work for the remainder of the lesson, just as we did every week. We had some fun while working on improvisation, splitting into pairs as designated by Miss Carlton, after which she gave each of us piece of paper upon which was written a line we had to say. Our partner then had to respond to that line, totally off the cuff, and without any further input from the speaker.

I was paired with Alexis Miller, a frumpy-looking girl who was far from being one of the popular crowd, but she was friendly and had a likeable, bubbly personality all the same.

When we were handed our lines and had read them silently, we then looked at each other in surprise.

'This is crazy,' I said to Alexis.

'Well, that makes two of us who think that,' she replied. 'Somehow I doubt we can get out of it though.'

'Yeah. It's a shame about that,' I said, before looking over at Charlie and his partner, Tina Reilly. It actually looked like he was enjoying this. I guess that figured.

'You go first. What's my line? And remember you are supposed to be acting ' Alexis said.

'Alright then. If you insist. It's . . . "Seriously? That'll be the fourth time this week!" ' I said to her, with all the exasperation my thirteen-year-old voice could muster.

She frowned for a few moments, but then a huge grin came over her face, before she stood directly in front of me, with feet apart and hands on hips. I didn't like the look of this.

'Oh, honestly, Brayden! I thought you'd be happy! You're the one who agreed that we needed to start a family!'

My first reaction was simply, 'What the fuck?' but then some of our nearby classmates started cracking up and laughing, unable to control themselves; apparently at the thought of the two of us fucking.

Alexis was staring at me, with a mischievous grin on her face, almost daring me to respond, but then Martin just had to step in, saying, 'Don't worry about him, Alex. You just come and see me when you need a real man!'

More laughter followed, while I just glared at Martin. This guy really needed to get taken down a peg or two.

Just then Miss Carlton came by, obviously attracted by the laughter.

'And how are we going over here?' she asked. Alexis and I just grinned at each other. 'What were your lines?'

Alexis stepped in and said, 'Brayden's line to me was, "Seriously? That'll be the fourth time this week!", ' she replied.

'And your improv reply?'

I grinned at Alex some more. 'Go on,' I urged her.

'I said, "Oh, honestly, Brayden! I thought you'd be happy! You're the one who agreed that we needed to start a family!"' Alex replied.

The beginnings of a smile came over Miss Carlton's face, but in the end, she said, 'Well, that was quite clever, Alexis, but not entirely appropriate for this age group I wouldn't have thought.'

'It was the first thing that came to mind, Miss Carlton,' she replied, while giving me the eye.

Lord, save me, I thought. I had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before Alexis would be trying out that line in the real world.

'Okay. Let's move on, shall we? How about your prompt for Brayden? Have you done that one yet? If not, how about we try it now?'

Here goes, I thought.

'Well, it's, "What do you mean there's no Santa Claus?"' she just threw out there.

Going with the first thought that came into my head I blurted out, "What? You've got to be kidding me", ' but when I looked at both their faces, I could see they were wanting more, so I went on. ' "It's impossible. The guy must be like, five hundred years old, and nobody lives that long, don't you know that?" '

Okay. Not brilliant, I'll be the first to admit that . . . in fact I knew it was really quite lame, but it was the best I could do on short notice.

A wry smile came over Miss Carlton's face, but just then I was saved by the bell. It was time for lunch, so I figured I wouldn't have to face any more scrutiny. It didn't quite work out that way, however, as Miss Carlton started giving her assessment, despite my having already zoned out.

When she was done, she turned to Charlie, who had come over to us, while the remaining class members vanished.

'Oh, Charlie. Don't forget to take the script with you. We can discuss it next week if you like, or if you want to call into my office either one afternoon or a lunch time, I'd be happy to go over any part of it with you,' Miss Carlton said, as our classmates quickly disappeared.

'Thank you. I'll do that. In the meantime, do you think I should learn a scene from the play for the audition?'

'That is exactly what I would like you to do. But please make sure that you read the entire play . . . it is quite a complex work, on many different levels. We're going to have to take some liberties with the script and be selective with what scenes we will be allowed to end up using . . .' Miss Carlton replied. 'Some of the content may be beyond the ages of some of our students.'

'Oh?'

'Please just read the play, Charlie. It's not Shakespeare, if that's what you're worried about, but I think you will understand exactly what I mean once you do read it. I'm looking forward to seeing you audition, but just remember that you won't be the only student who will be auditioning, okay?'

'Alright, I can do that. And I'll get Brayden to help me rehearse.'

'I'm already looking forward to seeing what you can do with the main character,' Miss Carlton replied. 'Now you two had best head off for lunch. I don't want you missing out.'

After leaving Miss Carlton, Charlie hugged the precious script close to him while we made our way to our lockers for our lunch, before locking it away safely. There was something in his expression that I couldn't quite read, and I really wanted to ask him what was up, but just then Martin and company came up to us and stopped, surrounding us.

'Well, if it isn't the nancy boys,' said Martin. 'Looks like teach has a new favourite. What makes you think you've got what it takes to be the star of the show?'

'He has a brain, for starters,' I replied.

'Watch it, fag boy. I wasn't really talking to you anyhow.'

'Maybe not, but you were talking to my friend, and I didn't like the way you were doing it,' I shot back while stepping between him and Charlie.

Martin sneered at me, before forcefully pushing me sideways so that he was once again facing Charlie.

'You're not half as good as you think you are, runt,' Martin said as he leaned forward and tapped Charlie on the chest with his finger. Immediately seeing red, I stepped forward once more and pushed him back, forcing him into a collision with one of his goons.

'Be careful who you are calling a fag, you arsehole. We are not afraid of you and if you want to try spreading rumours about either of us you can expect to have some more of this,' I spat, while pushing him backwards once again. 'Hell, I might even start telling folks how much you like perving on Charlie in the gym showers!'

'Fuck you!'

'No thanks. We're not gay!'

'You keep dreaming, fags,' he replied before turning to his friends and saying, 'Come on, let's leave these losers to themselves.'

We watched as they headed down the hallway, laughing and jostling with each other, before heading outside into the quadrangle.

Turning to Charlie I could see he was upset. 'Don't worry about them,' I said to him. 'They're the losers and there is no way any of them would have the guts to step up on stage anyhow.'

'I know,' Charlie replied, 'but you heard what he said about us, and what he called us?'

'Yes, and any time he does that I'll push back at him. You know that I'm here to protect you as much as I can, don't you?'

'Yeah, I do, but you are not going to be there 24/7 are you?'

'Maybe not, but I promise I'll be there as much as I possibly can. Come on, we had best get something to eat,' I suggested.

'Okay. But I also need to go to the library before next period,' he said.

'Sure thing. What do you need to do there?'

'You'll see,' he replied, while giving me a wink as he did so. When I returned his wink with a quizzical expression he said, 'I just need to use a computer.'

As the day dragged on, we started seeing more and more posters for the play appear around the school. We spotted the first of these just as soon as we entered the library. Charlie was stopped several times and asked if it was true that he was to be the star of the show, but each time he just said what Miss Carlton had said earlier, which was that the poster had been found on the web and was from the London production of the play, and it wasn't him on it. I wasn't sure whether many people believed him or not, but at least we were trying to get the truth out there.

At the end of the day we retrieved our bags from our lockers, with Charlie making sure he safely locked the script in his bag, before we headed for Charlie's house, which we seemed to be doing more and more these days. There was no talk of Martin and the scene at lunch time. Instead, Charlie started talking about the play and the upcoming auditions.

The trip to the library had simply been a fact-finding mission; a Google search for information about the play, with Charlie printing off a number of news reports and clippings from the tabloids. We hadn't had time to read any of it as yet, so I suspected that would be what this afternoon's activities would entail.

I could tell that Charlie was getting excited about the prospect of being involved in the play, as he didn't stop talking about it all the way home. I didn't want to put a downer on his enthusiasm, but I did have a few concerns, such as whether he would even be considered for the role, given he was only thirteen. Surely there would be older kids who would be considered? And if he didn't get cast, then how would that affect him? Would he be able to handle the rejection, if it came to that?

I would keep my thoughts to myself, at least until I'd had time to think about it and possibly discuss it with my parents. In the meantime I couldn't help but be excited for Charlie.

As was often the case, the house was empty when we got there, but there was a plate of freshly made biscuits on the kitchen bench waiting for us.

'Don't you think it's weird that your nan is never home when we get here?' I asked him, as we helped ourselves to the treats.

'There's a reason for that,' Charlie answered. 'I asked her what she does every day and she said that they are giving us some time to ourselves. You watch, I bet she will walk in the door right on four-thirty. We get an hour just to hang, some time just to be kids, or so they say.'

'And do they know what we do in that time?'

'They know we fool around a little. Dad said that if we are going to do that it's better for us to do it here than some place sleazy. He said he trusts me . . . well, he trusts us, actually. Just so long as we are careful and respectful of each other.'

I thought about that for a moment, not quite sure what to think about somebody knowing we might be having sex. Especially a parent. Then another thought hit me.

'Holy shit. Do you think my parents know?'

'Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I know dad has spoken with your dad a couple of times. But you said your dad was cool with everything though, right?'

'Y-yeah, I'm pretty sure he is. He hasn't said anything more about us spending time together.'

'Then neither of us have anything to worry about. So how about we go and use this hour of free time wisely, before we start looking at the stuff we printed off about the play,' he suggested, while holding his hand out for mine.

I grinned at him and took hold of him, before he pulled me to him and kissed me.

'I love our afternoons together,' he said to me once our lips had parted, though we still had our arms wrapped around each other.

'Yeah. Me too,' I replied, breathless. 'At least we can do stuff here,' I added, knowing that it was almost impossible to have alone time at my house, with my mother not working full-time and being home almost every afternoon.

'Yeah,' Charlie whispered, before kissing me once more, while also beginning to undo the buttons of my shirt.

'It's almost four thirty,' I said to Charlie, as we leaned back against the headboard of his double bed, with a script and various printouts from the library all spread about in front of us.

We had just enjoyed a delightful sixty-nine on his bed, with each of us climaxing in the other's mouth, before kissing and mixing our nectar, then swallowing. We had no real idea what we were doing, but it was still fun, and exciting, and more than just a little naughty.

This past week we had enjoyed exploring each other's bodies, largely without any fear of being caught, which allowed us to take our time and not rush into anything we didn't feel we were ready for. With the help of some video clips we managed to find online, which really opened our eyes, we were discovering new ways to explore our blossoming sexuality, but we were still nervous about being caught and did our best to cover our tracks and clear our history. Whether we were doing it right, or not, I guess we would only find out in the fullness of time.

After this afternoon's session we had quickly showered and dried off, knowing that Charlie's Nan wouldn't be far away, though our dressing had been a bit haphazard, however. We were now sitting cross-legged on his bed, me back in my school uniform, with my shirt still undone and no shoes and socks, while Charlie had pulled on a loose tank top and some football shorts, which in my eyes made him look just as sexy as he ever has.

'Won't be long then,' he answered, while grinning at me. 'You just wait and see.'

'Oh, I believe you. I'm still just trying to get my head around the fact that we are allowed to fool around . . . or even that they might be expecting us to do that . . . not that I am complaining at all, I never knew it could be this wonderful.'

'No, I didn't think there were any complaints while my dick was in your mouth!'

'Well, I wouldn't have been able to say anything even if I'd wanted to, and . . .'

'And what?'

'And I sure as hell wasn't going to spit it out!' I said with a laugh.

He could only grin at me in reply, just as we heard the front door open and close.

'Right on time,' Charlie declared.

'Charlie, I'm home,' we heard his Nan call out.

'We're up here in my room, Nan,' he called back.

After that we heard some noises downstairs as his Nan did what she needed to do, which I guessed was packing away groceries or whatever, then a short time later the sound of footsteps on the stairs came to us.

As soon as we had heard the door close I had quickly grabbed my shoes and socks and pulled them on, then buttoned up a few of the buttons on my shirt, and just in time, as there soon came a knock on the bedroom door, which stood half-open anyhow.

'And how are my two favourite boys today? Hope you've had a fun afternoon?' she asked us after giving us the once over and looking towards the bathroom, where wet towels and Charlie's discarded school clothes could be seen scattered on the floor.

My heart sank, as Charlie and I glanced at each other, while his grandmother came to the end of the bed. Fuck. Did this mean we were busted?

'It's alright boys. You've got nothing to worry about here,' she reassured us. 'I had a teenager in my house once too, Charlie. I think it's inevitable that you might experiment, especially given your special friendship.'

I could feel the heat rising in my face. I could actually see it rising in Charlie's face, as his cheeks burned bright red. Had she been referring to Charlie's dad when she mentioned having a teenager in her house?

'Just remember that I'm not the old fuddy-duddy that a lot of grandparents are, Charlie. This is a safe house . . . for both of you. Okay?'

Charlie immediately jumped up and hugged his Nan, as I sat and watched and smiled at them both. It was a beautiful sight to see, and from the moisture that I could see was brimming in his eyes I could also tell that he loved her. But then they both turned to me, and each held out an arm, motioning for me to join them.

'Come on. Group hug,' his grandmother said. 'Looks like you're going to be around for a while, Brayden, so that's close enough to being a part of this family,' she added.

Somehow it felt slightly odd that I was being asked to be a part of this moment, but when Mrs Brown snapped her fingers at me, I felt I had no choice and moved to the end of the bed, only to be embraced by both of them.

Charlie planted a kiss on my cheek, which shocked me, then his grandmother kissed my forehead.

'We all know how good you have been for Charlie, and I want to thank you for that,' she said to me, before adding, 'I also won't mind if you call me, Nan.'

'Thank you,' I replied, now on the verge of tears myself.

The hug seemed to last for quite a long time, before eventually we parted.

'Now, what's all this mess you've got spread about here? I hope you're going to clean it all up eventually?' Nan said.

'Our school is doing an end-of-year play,' Charlie replied, quickly recovering from the emotional hug. 'Our Drama teacher, Miss Carlton, gave me the script and wants me to audition, and we printed off all these articles from when it was performed in London.'

He picked up the script and showed his grandmother. '

'' Hmmm . . . "The Boy Who Would Be King", ' she said aloud. 'Oh, I think I've read about this one. I would have thought it might have been a bit much for just a school play though. But I guess your teachers know what they are doing.'

'What do you mean?' asked Charlie.

'Oh, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough.'

We hadn't known what to expect from the play when we had sat side by side on Charlie's big, comfortable bed reading through it and all the articles and reports we had printed that afternoon. Starting with the printed material we soon found that there was more to this story than meets the eye, and the more we read, the more stunned we were both becoming.

Next, we turned to the script itself, which was actually in a screenplay format, just as it would be for the actors reading it for a movie or TV show. Not having seen one of these previously it took a little bit of getting used to, but once we had familiarised ourselves with the format and figured out just how to read and understand it, we took turns in reading the scenes to each other.

One by one the secrets of the Prince and his family and the land in which they lived began to emerge, and the picture that we were left with was far from the one we had been expecting. We had to stop and re-read several sections in order to fully understand what it was we were reading.

'I can't fucking believe this,' Charlie said over and over as we read through the more juicy parts, of which there were many.

'Maybe that's why Miss Carlton said that we would have to be selective about certain parts of the script,' I suggested. 'It seems to be a bit full-on compared to most school plays. Maybe your Nan was right?'

'Yeah, I mean, can you imagine this scene being allowed to be included?' he replied, as he jabbed his finger at the page that we had just finished reading, which had depicted the handsome young Prince kissing his male companion.

'I think it'd be safe to say that scene won't be included as it is . . . but I guess we could still rehearse it anyhow, I mean, that's if you wanted to . . .'

With a sly grin on his face Charlie leaned closer, as I also leaned forward, reaching up with my hand as I did so, which soon cupped his cheek, my fingers ever so gently grazing his skin, before moments later our lips met.

'I shall not abandon you, My Prince. I am yours for the taking, until my dying day, no matter the obstacles that will face us,' I whispered, assuming the role of the Prince's companion and repeating aloud the words I had just read.

'Be careful what vows you may pledge, my love. There are those who may wish to hold you to them, and use a steel blade to make their point,' the Prince replied. 'My father's health is failing and his death will be inevitable. One death for me to contend with right now is one death too many. Two would be nigh impossible.'

Turning now to the script that I held in my hand, I continued.

'If that is the will of the Gods, my Lord, then so be it,' I read. 'At least I shall die knowing that I have served you well and loved you like no other. But I suspect our Gods are more accepting than those of our enemies, and perhaps they will see our love in its purest form, as it really is, and offer us their protection. Your father has bestowed his blessing upon us, even if he has also reminded you of what else it is you must do in order to fulfil your destiny and ensure the Royal line, and in the event of his passing, I shall do my very best to ensure his wishes for you are fulfilled.'

'For certain, I have a duty to our kingdom, and I shall honour that duty and my father's wishes, but also, with my father's blessings I shall love you for as long as you shall have me,' Charlie responded.

Just at that moment I sensed a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. I quickly looked in the direction of the doorway, but there was nobody there. Moments later I heard the sound of footsteps descending the stairs.

'What's wrong?' Charlie asked, looking concerned.

'I think we just got busted declaring our love for each other,' I whispered.

'Come on, then. We better go straighten it out . . . we were only rehearsing after all,' he said, while grinning at me. 'I think we need to ask Nan if she knew what was in this play. She could have at least given us a heads up.'

'Sure, but before we go, can I ask you something?'

'Of course.'

'How do you feel about that? About what the play is about? And do you think you would be able to play a character who is gay?' I asked.

'I . . . I really hadn't thought about it,' he answered, after a few moments of thoughtful silence. 'Do you think people would assume, or just think that I was gay if I ended up with the part?'

We found Nan in the kitchen, where she was beginning to prepare their dinner for that night. When we stopped at the doorway, she looked our way and smiled.

'So, how was your rehearsal, boys?'

'It was good . . . but I am sure you already knew that, didn't you?' Charlie replied.

'Well, you looked like you were enjoying yourselves, so I didn't want to interrupt.'

I felt my face redden as she confirmed what I thought I already knew. It felt weird to know that she may have seen us kissing.

'And you also knew what the play was about, didn't you?' Charlie accused. 'You could have at least given us a heads up.'

The smile she gave in reply was all the confirmation that was needed.

'Oh, honey, sometimes it's best to just let people discover things for themselves. That way any impressions or thoughts about what they discover will be their own, and not tainted by what somebody else might think. I had no doubt that when the two of you discovered the subject of the play you would both approach it in a mature way.'

'So, you did know something about what this play was all about?' Charlie asked her directly. He was holding the script in front of him and held it out to show his grandmother.

'Of course, dear. And now that you also know what it's all about, what did you think of it?' she asked, with a smile.

'It's . . . I dunno, kind of scary. I mean, so far, it's an amazing story . . . but . . .'

'But what?'

'Well, what if I get the part of the Prince? What will people think about me?' he asked.

'You're worried they might assume that you are gay, simply because the Prince is gay?' Nan asked.

'I'm terrified that they might think that, or even worse, that they might find out it's actually true!' he confessed. 'My life would be over.'

'Oh, honey, surely it can't be that bad?' his grandmother asked, while turning to me, with her eyebrows raised.

'He's right,' I said to her. 'Coming out at school is almost the worst thing you can ever do. You would get picked on, teased, bullied for being different . . . that's just how school is.'

'So, let me get this straight . . . even if you are gay, it's best to stay in the closet? Is that the right term?'

'Yes, and yes,' Charlie answered. 'At least until you have finished school, or are old enough to be able to stand up for yourself. After that you can do whatever it is that you want, I guess.'

'And how do you feel about this, Brayden?'

They both looked at me expectantly.

'I don't want to hide out all my life. I want to be able to tell everyone who it is that I love . . . eventually. But Charlie is definitely right, we would be crazy to come out right now, especially at our school. I might be able to stand up for myself okay, but I'm sure Charlie would be bullied no end. Maybe one day we'll be able to tell the world who we are and how we feel, but it's not something we could do right now.' I replied, as I noticed Charlie nodding in agreement.

'Well boys, I can understand you feeling that way. You are still both so young, and a lot of things might change between now and when you are able to finally leave school, but ultimately it all comes down to what really matters in this world, and that is what is best for each of you. Just remember that if you say exactly who you are and say exactly what you feel, then those who mind won't matter, and those who matter won't mind.'

Charlie went to his grandmother and hugged her, then once more I was pulled into a group hug. I was starting to get used to this.

Walking home later that afternoon, as the sun was beginning to set and the light was growing darker, I couldn't help but think about all the changes that both of us were going through right now. For Charlie, with the fact his mother was currently out of the picture, it meant that he could truly be himself at home. He had the love and support of the family he did have around him, and I could see him blossoming under that love. In a way, I wondered if his mother coming home would even be for the best, though I quickly realised how selfish that thought was, and would never say anything to Charlie about that.

For me, I had only ever known fear when it came to thinking about my sexuality. A fear of being discovered. A fear of how people I knew might react. And while that remained true with most people I know, primarily those I went to school with, I can only say that I have been blown away by the kindness that has been shown to both Charlie and me by both of our families since our friendship had developed to become more than just friends. Charlie's Nan, along with his father, and also my own parents, have shown us nothing but love, so maybe what Charlie's Nan had said about what and who truly mattered might just have some merit.

Before I had left them, we had arranged to have our first sleepover this coming weekend, for Friday and Saturday nights, although I did still need to clear that with my parents. With a copy of the script for the upcoming play in our possession at least we had a good excuse, so I saw no reason to think we wouldn't be able to do that. Nan had asked me to get my parents to give her a call tonight, so as I went through the back door of my house I was buzzing at the thought of being able to spend two nights with my boyfriend.

'Is that you, Bray?' I heard my mother call out as I entered the house and dropped my school bag on the floor in the kitchen.

'Yes, mum. Sorry if I'm a bit late,' I called back, as I went to the refrigerator and pulled out the bottle of fruit juice.

'I guess you've been at Charlie's?' she asked, before moments later appearing at the doorway.

'Yeah. We've been reading the script for the school play that's going to be performed this year. It was just announced today.'

'So, what? He's going to audition?'

'Yes. It's about a young Prince. Miss Carlton, our drama teacher says he would be perfect. I'm going to help him with rehearsals.'

'That sounds nice, dear. And what about you? Are you going to audition as well?'

'What? Oh no, not me . . . but he did talk me into helping with the stage crew, whatever that means.'

'Well, all productions need workers to help build and move the sets around, so I'm sure that's something you would be able to help out with.'

'So . . . do you think it would be alright if I had a sleepover this Friday and Saturday night, so we can do that . . . rehearse I mean? His Nan says it's fine. She just wants you to call her to talk about it and make sure it's okay.'

'Well I, ummm . . .'

'Pleeeaassee?' I begged her, in the whiniest, pleading voice I could muster.

Mum just smiled at me, then said, 'I guess I don't see any problem with that, but how about we talk it over with your father when he gets home? Then we can give Charlie's Nan a call.'

'Cool. Thank you.'

'Now, first things first, though. Do you have homework to do?'

'Yessum.'

'Well, what are you waiting for? How about you get started on that, then in a while you can help me get dinner ready?' she asked, before roughing up my hair, then picking up the fruit juice container and returning it to the fridge.

I picked up my school bag and headed through to my bedroom, dropped the bag on my bed and then proceeded to strip off my school clothes and pull on something a little more comfortable, being shorts and a tank top.

I had some Maths and English homework I needed to do, so I made a start on that, then about an hour later my mother called me and asked for some help with dinner.

As I helped peel some vegetables mum asked, 'So, what's Charlie's grandmother like.'

'She's, errr . . . really nice. She's not like a normal grandmother . . . I mean, she doesn't look or act like Gran, put it that way. She doesn't even look old enough for starters.'

'Oh?'

'And she's a great cook. She has biscuits or brownies or stuff waiting for us nearly every day.'

'I see. And the two of you are still getting on well?'

'Of course! Better than ever! He . . . he means the world to me, mum. I know that probably sounds, I dunno, stupid, seeing as we are so young and all, but it's true.'

She smiled at me, then put an arm around my shoulders and hugged me close to her, while kissing the top of my head.

'I'm glad, honey. But just be careful, okay. Sometimes, well, relationships that start so young don't always work out, if you know what I mean.'

'But you and dad met in high school, didn't you?'

'Well, yes, but we were a bit older than you and Charlie are.'

'Same thing though, right?' I said, while giving her a cheeky grin.

Over dinner an hour or so later, once dad had arrived home and kissed us both, I brought up the subject of the school play and told dad how excited Charlie was about it. I also mentioned how I had started helping Charlie rehearse for the auditions.

'It sounds like he's already taking it seriously then,' dad said, before filling his mouth with mashed potato.

It was then that mum mentioned the idea of the sleepover and that Charlie's grandmother was okay with it, but had wanted to talk to my parents first.

'And where is Charlie's father? We did talk briefly last week. Is he away on business again?' dad asked.

'He does a lot of flying around apparently. He came back last week, but then he was off again,' I replied. 'I think Charlie said he would be home this weekend again though . . . but not sure which day.'

'Well, we did all say that we would be happy for you guys to have sleepovers, so I don't see any problems, but I think we would like to talk to Mrs Brown first though.'

'Of course.'

'And I guess it was going to happen sooner or later! How about mum gives her a call after dinner,' dad suggested.

Even before he had finished I was reaching out and hugging him. 'Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!' I said, hugging him once more, before then hugging my mother.

After my mother had spoken with Nan Brown, I was informed that apparently I was a lovely young man.

'Of course I am!' I confidently replied, which earned me a friendly swat with the tea towel that she had been holding, while my father rolled his eyes and chuckled quietly.

Afterwards I was able to speak with Charlie, and we began to make some more plans for our sleepover. Of course, we would see each other again at school tomorrow morning, and our plans could possibly change a hundred times between now and Friday night, but that was all a part of the excitement, wasn't it? I couldn't recall when the last sleepover that I'd had was, or even who it was with, but this one was going to be truly memorable, I was certain of that.

When I met Charlie the following morning, we were both buzzing at the prospect of what this coming weekend was going to bring. Tomorrow night couldn't come fast enough as far as I was concerned, and it was easy to see that Charlie was certainly feeling the same way. The thought of being together overnight, eating at the same table, sleeping in the same bed, doing the same things for more than just a few hours at a time was beyond what I had expected would possibly ever happen so soon in our relationship. Who would have thought that two thirteen-year-olds could feel this way about each other. I was damn sure that Martin and the rest of their pack weren't feeling this.

Thursday flew by and without any cataclysmic moments. We didn't have Drama today, but Miss Carlton made a point of stopping us in the playground at lunch time while she was on patrol, to ask Charlie what he thought of the play, and that was drama enough.

'You tricked us,' Charlie said to her. 'You didn't tell us what the play was about.'

'Oh . . . ummm . . . is it a problem? It is a quite mature work, I will give you that,' she responded.

'No, I guess it's fine. It's just not quite what I had expected, that's all,' Charlie replied.

'And our families asked questions about whether it was suitable,' I added.

'Yes . . . errr . . . well, it has been cleared by the school board, but with some conditions. We can discuss these once rehearsals commence. Have you started learning some lines for the rehearsals?'

'Oh, yes. Brayden started helping me yesterday afternoon,' Charlie added.

'I thought that might be the case.'

'What is that supposed to mean,' I asked, probably sounding more defensive than was warranted.

'It's just that the two of you are . . . quite close. It just seemed natural that you would help each other, that's all. I didn't mean anything else by it. Anyhow, keep up the good work boys,' she said, before moving on.

Charlie and I glanced at each other and while nothing was said, I'm sure that we were both thinking the same thing: 'She knows!'

My next thought then was: 'If she can see it, then who else can see it?'

I wasn't worried about me, but suddenly I was fearful for Charlie. And it was my job to keep him safe. I had promised him.

Afterwards we didn't really get to talk about what had happened at lunch time, but as we walked home after school that afternoon Charlie seemed deep in thought, so I asked him what was on his mind.

'Miss Carlton,' he said flatly.

'Yours too, huh?'

'Yeah. And what she said at lunch time.'

'Yeah, that part about the two of us being close?' I asked.

'She knows about us, doesn't she? But how?'

I figured he was right, but it wasn't going to do us any good if Charlie was constantly worrying about what other people thought. So I lied.

'I saw the look on your face when she said it,' I replied. 'I'm not sure it's what we first thought . . . you know, about us being together . I think she was just meaning us being such close friends. That's all.'

'Hmmm . . .' was all he said in reply.

'What? Don't you believe me?' I asked, as we turned into his street.

'It's just that, well, if she thinks that . . . and if Martin and his Merry Men think that as well, is that what everyone is going to think? Aren't you worried about people calling you a poof, or worse?'

As we kept walking I thought about it for a minute before I replied.

'Yes, I'm worried, but I'm not going to get all hung up on it. I'd love to just fight back, break their fucking noses, but that wouldn't do, would it?'

'Nah. Not here,' he said with a laugh. 'And you might get in real trouble if you broke Miss Carlton's nose!'

'Ha. I wouldn't do that, but if those other tossers tried anything I would defend myself though. And I'll defend you as well. You know that I'll stand up to anyone who tries it on with you . . . even if I'm not much of a fighter myself.'

'I don't want you getting hurt either,' Charlie said.

'So, maybe I'll get some lessons or something? Maybe I could learn some karate?' I replied, while waving my arms about like the Karate Kid and doing a jump and kick, which only seemed to send a jarring shock through my back and ended with me clutching at a spot just above my pelvis.

I think that was from where my school bag had swung around and hit me. At least it got Charlie laughing.

We continued the walk to Charlie's house in silence, both consumed by our own thoughts. And there was a lot to think about, that was for sure.

The remainder of the afternoon was a little more subdued than our previous afternoons. I'm not sure, I just think the mood had been spoiled. We found a carrot cake with frosted icing in the kitchen today, which was delicious, then we headed for Charlie's room.

Once more he pulled out the script for the play, only now there were some fluoro-coloured tabs of paper sticking out the side of it.

'What's all this?' I asked him.

'I read some more of it last night after you left,' he said, while looking somewhat guilty as he did so. 'Just marked a few sections I thought were important and that I wanted to show you.'

'Does it get better?'

'Fuck yeah!' was his simple reply, as we settled in, side-by-side on his bed, with our backs to the headboard of the bed and holding the script between us.

I soon discovered that there was a lot more to these medieval kingdoms than I had ever realised, with sex and murder and intrigue around every corner. The further we delved into the script the more I wanted to keep going. I didn't want to put this story down, but when Charlie and I soon found ourselves fidgeting and adjusting what was inside our school trousers, we both knew it was time to put the story aside, at least for a short while, otherwise we might run out of time to do anything else today.

When I took the script from him and placed a bookmark on the page we were up to, he went to protest, but then stopped himself. I placed the script on the bedside table then turned back to Charlie.

'That was getting me hot under the collar,' I whispered. 'And if we want to do anything else this afternoon . . .' I started to say, but before I could even finish the sentence Charlie grabbed hold of my shirt collar with two hands and dragged me to him, soon locking his lips on mine.

Just as I figured, it looked like I wasn't the only one who was getting hot under the collar.

The next day, Friday, simply flew by and before I knew it, we were leaving school and heading for my house, so that I could collect my overnight bag for my sleepover at Charlie's. Barely a day went by when the two of us wouldn't visit one house or the other, with Charlie's house the most commonly visited location, but with this to be the first time we would be having a sleepover we both knew the night ahead was to be something new.

Little had been said about what might happen tonight. With a copy of the script for the upcoming school play in our hands we would definitely be rehearsing, as the auditions would soon be upon us, but it was what was going unspoken between us that most held my interest.

Just where this night ahead was going to take our relationship I wasn't exactly sure, but I did know that this would be a night we would both remember for a long time to come.

When we arrived at my house we found that my mother was home and in the kitchen starting to prepare the meal for tonight. Apparently I was going to be missing out on her old-style meatloaf, but I suspected that we would be having something a little more current at Charlie's house.

'Hello, boys. I wasn't expecting to see you two this afternoon,' she said as we entered the kitchen.

'Had to come and pick up my overnight bag,' I replied, as I kissed her cheek, before grabbing two glasses from the sink and a bottle of juice from the refrigerator.

'So, do you have a fun night planned?' mum asked, as I handed a glass to Charlie and we both drank.

'Oh, yes,' Charlie answered. 'My Nan has pizza and movies planned for us for tonight, and we're going to do some rehearsing for my audition for the school play . . .'

'Yes, Brayden has told me about that. How exciting!'

'I don't know if I have much chance . . . I'm sure there are other, older kids who will be auditioning for all the parts as well, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway.'

'That's the spirit,' mum replied.

Before they could start talking about something else though, I decided it was time I dragged him away and down the hallway to my bedroom.

'Come on, let's get my stuff,' I urged, as I grabbed Charlie's hand and started pulling him away.

'Yes, you boys do that . . . then I'll give you a lift over to Charlie's house,' mum said.

I'd packed everything I would need last night, so I had my bag all ready and sitting on my bed when we reached my bedroom.

Charlie grinned at me as I closed my bedroom door as soon as we reached the room, then I started pulling off my clothes.

'Damn, boy. You're keen!' he exclaimed.

'Don't go getting excited, I'm just getting out of my school clothes,' I replied.

'That's a pity,' he said, as he looked me up and down and licked his lips. I guess that as I was now only wearing jocks and socks he had cause to do that.

'Let's save it for later, babe,' I said, before grabbing him around the waist and pulling him close, then kissing him.

'I'm going to hold you to that.'

'I hope so,' I said with a chuckle.

After quickly finding a decent t-shirt and some good jeans, I pulled them on, then found some joggers and added them also.

'That looks better,' Charlie said.

'Feels better too. Now we better get going.'

I picked up my overnight bag and slung it over my shoulder, then we went back out to the kitchen, where mum was just putting the meatloaf in the oven.

'All ready to go?' she asked.

'Yep. May the games begin,' I said.

'Save it for later, Bray,' mum suggested. 'Right, I have about twenty-five minutes, so let's hit the road.'

My parents had yet to visit Charlie's house, so mum was quite surprised when we pulled up out the front about five minutes later.

'You didn't tell me you lived in a palace, Charlie,' mum said as she looked up at the impressive house.

'It's just a house,' he replied.

Mum just offered him a smile.

As we started walking up the driveway the front door opened and Nan Brown stepped out to greet us.

The two women greeted each other like old friends, even though this was the first time that they had met, while Charlie and I stood back and watched.

We looked at each other and rolled our eyes, then Charlie said, 'How about we take your bag up to my room?'

'Good idea,' I replied.

Charlie nodded, then said, 'We'll be back in a minute,' then the two of us disappeared inside, leaving mum and Nan to talk.

We raced up the stairs to Charlie's room, where I tossed my bag onto his bed. At the same time he tackled me and I landed on the bed also, with him squirming on top of me, as he tried pinning my arms above my head and kissing me.

'Settle down, Tiger. We've got all night,' I said with a laugh.

'I know. It's just that I'm so fucking excited that you are actually staying this time.'

'Yeah. And I can feel just how excited you are,' I replied. And then we kissed.

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