Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2020 03:18:20 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Piano Forte  Chapter 6

Greetings and welcome back. Austin and William continue their first day at
camp by getting to know each other better since they still weren't sure
what they thought of each other.

Please contribute to the Nifty Archive to keep the words flowing.

I love email. It's my story writing salary. thehakaanen@hotmail.com
Dougals

CHAPTER 6
CLASHES

"Did you just make that up?" William asked after Austin finished playing
his "Mary Had a Little Lamb" variations.

"No, me and my brother James worked on it together, but I wasn't planning
on playing it," Austin replied. "We were just doing it for fun."

"Does your brother play the piano?"

"He plays the guitar."

"Sometimes I wish I played the guitar," William said with a tinge of
sadness. "Having a father and a grandfather who are famous pianists can
really suck sometimes when you play the piano too. Nobody would probably
give a fuck who they were if I played the guitar. There are a couple of
guitarists who go to school here, but I don't know if there are any at the
camp. The best thing would be that I could carry my instrument with me."

Mr. Boardman walked up on the stage where the boys were talking. "That was
quite interesting, Austin. Where did you find those variations?"

"My brother and I made them up," Austin answered. He looked for Christian
on the floor and saw him with three other boys. "My brother and I made that
up before I left, Christian," he yelled out so he wouldn't have to answer
the same questions.

"Whatever you say, Austin." Christian was hoping that William's
contrariness wasn't rubbing off Austin. However, seeing William falling on
the floor laughing made him think that maybe Austin was having a positive
effect on William. Things seemed to be happening in a hurry since William
rudely greeted Austin at the door.

"Hey, now that we're talking to each other, let's go to our room and get
you unpacked," William suggested. Austin agreed that it was a good idea. He
thanked Mr. Boardman for letting him play the piano and thanked Christian
for being a good guide.

"Remember to meet me at eleven tomorrow morning," Christian said.

"Okay," Austin said quickly before running to catch up to William who was
already leaving the auditorium.

"Sorry to leave you behind, dude," William told Austin after he caught up,
"but around this place if you don't move your ass in a hurry some people
will talk you to death."

"He was just reminding me of our meeting to go over some of the rules
tomorrow morning."

"That's what the big meeting at two is supposed to be about. And I didn't
mean Christian as much as I meant Boardman."

"Christian said our meeting was going to be with Tucker Zemke, who was
supposed to arrive tomorrow morning at nine. And there's the kid who missed
meeting with me because I was with you. I don't know his name but he's a
second-year camper. We are supposed to talk about the unofficial rules."

"Oh yeah, the unofficial rules. Some sponsors make those a lot of fun and
some don't say anything about them. I've heard all those rules at school
and at camps. I might go with you just to make sure he's giving you the
straight shit." William checked his phone. "Let's unpack your stuff fast so
we have it done before dinner.

"Sounds good to me."

William stayed a few steps ahead of Austin as they walked to their room. He
was wondering what was happening to him. Why did he like playing the piano
keyboard on Austin's shirt so much? Why did his music have him down on the
floor laughing his ass off? Why did he talk so much to a kid he had planned
on hating? And why was he so eager to help the little shit unpack instead
of trying to figure out how to kick his ass out of the room? William was
very confused about the feelings roiling through him.

They reached their room and William opened the door.

It didn't take long to unpack Austin's luggage. William noted that he
rolled his clothes the same as he did. He wondered if Austin's mother
showed him tricks of packing more clothes just like his own mother
had. William could see that Austin's clothes were not like the expensive,
designer labels he wore, at least when he wasn't required to wear his
uniform. Still, his clothes were clean and looked new. He saw a lot of
t-shirts and wondered if they were anything like the keyboard shirt Austin
was currently wearing.

William unpacked the two suitcases and handed the clothes to Austin, who
unrolled them and put them into the bureau's drawers. He hung a couple of
button-down shirts and his long pants in the closet. The two boys worked
together to take Austin's books and personal items out of the box he
brought.

One of the items was a stuffed owl which Austin sat on top of his
dresser. Since Austin had packed it thinking William was going to think he
was a dork anyway, what did it matter that he had a stuffed animal to
confirm that thought.

When William saw the owl, he was ready to give Austin grief, but changed
his mind. After all, he had Wolf, his raggedy old teddy bear, sitting on
his piano at home. It made him feel more peaceful when he played the
instrument. There were times when he pounded on the keyboard of one of the
practice pianos that he wished he had Wolf at school to calm his spinning
brain down. So, for the time being he said nothing about Austin's stuffed
animal.

"I thought you didn't want me as your roommate and now you want to help me?
What gives with that?"

"I dunno. I guess I liked how you played `Mary Had a Little Lamb'."

"I thought I played Chopin better."

"Maybe, but with `Mary' you and your brother made up your own
variations. That's something that I could..." William was about to admit it
was something he couldn't do and stopped himself. "...it's something I
thought was cool to do." Austin wondered what William had started to say.

"Okay, dude, let's go take a look at the practice rooms and the
classrooms."

"Christian showed me where the classes are, and where the gym is, and where
the games room is, and the swimming pool. He was taking me to the practice
rooms but instead we ended up at the piano in the auditorium. I guess you
can be my guide and my roommate," Austin grinned.

"I can handle that, but Christian is still your sponsor."

"I agree he should be. I like him a lot. Did you have a sponsor your first
time at camp?"

"My first two times even though I was a regular student and didn't really
need one. That's just how things work here. One thing I learned is once
things are done a certain way changing anything takes an act of Congress,
as my dad would say."

The practice rooms were in the Delacroix Building on the third floor above
the lecture hall and classrooms. They occupied a different wing than the
auditorium. The two wings were separated by the auditorium lobby.

There were fifteen practice rooms which were virtually soundproof when the
door was closed. Eight of the fifteen rooms had grand pianos. Austin
noticed that the pianos weren't like the shiny instrument he had played in
the auditorium, but after sampling a couple of the pianos he noted they had
a good sound and were obviously kept in tune.

"The school has its own piano tuner," William said after Austin asked him
who tuned them. "His name is Mr. Turner and he is also a math teacher and
teaches percussion, not that we have very many percussion students. He
keeps the concert grand in the auditorium in tune, but twice a year or
before a big program, the school brings in a big-time pro tuner who lives
in Seattle. He's my dad's tuner and travels with dad when he is on the road
for a concert."

William explained that at camp everybody gets a weekly schedule for the
practice rooms and can schedule their own time if they want as
well. "Unless our teacher wants us working on something that needs a lot of
time, we're on our own for scheduling during the school year. The high
school dorms have some practice rooms too, so it's not as crowded as you
think. They are mostly for juniors and seniors. The pianos are uprights or
Spinets."

"Did Christian tell you about the old auditorium?" William asked Austin as
they left the Delacroix building.

"He did, but we never went to it," Austin answered.

"Did he tell you what was in it?"

"He said there was an organ is all."

"Yeah, a big pipe organ. Too bad the auditorium isn't that big, although
Mr. Boardman says that the place has great acoustics. It can hold maybe
forty percent of what the new auditorium can."

Austin was impressed with the old auditorium. It wasn't as large as the new
one, and the seats were wooden instead of cushioned like the new one, but
it had atmosphere. The big organ was the centerpiece of the room. "Is there
a piano in here?"

"Yeah, but it's kept locked up. It's the same as what we have in the
practice rooms. Sometimes there are recitals in here, but this is used
mostly for classes. You can see the fold away desktops for note taking. It
can seat all of the students, but barely. My grandfather helped give the
school a first-class place for concerts and recitals." William didn't think
he was bragging; he was simply stating a fact.

"Isn't it getting close to dinner?" Austin asked. "My stomach is growling."

William checked his phone. "We still have enough time to change, but you're
right—the time just flew by."

As they entered the dormitory courtyard, Michelle stopped William. Austin
stopped behind him, curious who the pretty girl was. Michelle gave Austin
the evil eye. "Who's this boy hiding behind you?" she asked William
snootily.

"This is Austin, my roomie."

"Wow, he really is little."

Austin, trying to maintain his temper, squeaked a greeting.

"This is Michelle," William told Austin. "She can be kind of bitchy at
times." Austin braced himself waiting for an explosion from the girl.

"Is he as bad a piano player as you thought he'd be?"

William was embarrassed to have his words being thrown back at him in front
of his new roommate. "He's actually kinda good, better than I expected," he
told Michelle lamely.

"That's not saying much since you thought he would be, like, beyond
terrible."

Austin was tired of listening to Michelle's insults. Not only that, he was
getting a pretty good idea of how William really felt about him. At that
moment all the nice things his roommate had been doing for him seemed
fake. "I gotta change for dinner," Austin announced. "Nice meeting you,
Michelle," he said insincerely.

"Whatever," Michelle said. As Austin turned to leave, he heard Michelle ask
William if he wanted to spend the night in her room. "My roomie is going to
sleep with Cindy Dowd, so you can stay all night." Lorrie McKinley,
Michelle's roommate, was thirteen and from Eugene, Oregon. Cindy Dowd was
fourteen and had just finished eighth grade at Bainbridge. "Cindy's a
lesbo, so you know what she wants to do with Lorrie."

Austin was intrigued by the path the conversation was going. He had never
thought of girls having sex with other girls.

"Did you warn your roommate what Cindy is like?" William asked.

"Why should I? She can find out for herself. It's not, like, I'm her
babysitter. Besides, if I don't tell her, it would mean that this time you
can spend the whole night because I bet Lorrie won't be coming back
tonight. Plus, if you've got, like, some weed, we can get high first."

Austin walked away and missed what William had to say. He knew that he
would be spending his first night at camp alone.

"I better not. I told Austin I'd help him with stuff tonight. I mean it is
his first night and everything."

"He's just a little boy. What are you going to do, play Go Fish with him or
something? You got a whole month with him. Besides, you can send him to
that lame faculty recital and then get away."

"Well, you weren't very nice to him."

"Who cares? You sure don't since you let me say whatever I wanted about
him. Anyway, everybody knows you hated him since you found out about him."

William knew she had a point. He turned and looked for Austin, but he was
no longer in the courtyard. "We're going to go to dinner together. I
already told him." William thought of the sex he'd had with Michelle before
and started to waffle. "Maybe after dinner I can call you and, you know,
come over to your room."

"No. Right now you're going to agree to eat dinner with me and go to my
room and have sex with me and sleep with me. If we can get high that's
cool, but if you can't, like, get anything, that's cool, too. But forget
that little kid. You know being with me is better than being with him."

Michelle was carrying things farther than even William could stand. He had
called her a bitch in front of Austin and she hadn't winced. She didn't say
anything because she knows I was right about here being a cunt and a bitch,
William thought.

William started for the door to the dorm. "I'll see you later," he said as
he walked away.

"Don't bother calling me. There's a boy I met who plays the cello like
me. He's going into eighth grade and he's, like, totally cute. His name is
Leif and I know he wants me unlike some...hey, I'm not done talking to
you." William ignored her and entered the dorm, wondering why he'd had sex
with her after she messed around with that high school kid. "Asshole," she
called out to the closed door, which gained her a couple of stares.

When William entered the room, Austin was unrolling a red polo shirt he had
just taken out of one of the bureau drawers. William could see the sadness
on his roommate's face, which made him feel guilty.

"I guess you're meeting her for dinner once you get the right shirt." The
camp dress code said that collared shirts had to be worn for dinner. During
the school year, uniform shirts with collars were required dinner wear.

"Camp doesn't officially start until tomorrow," William replied, "so we can
wear any kind of shirt we want tonight." Without understanding why, William
then said, "I kinda like that piano shirt you're wearing right now."

"You liked playing it, is what you mean." Since William hadn't commented on
what he had just said, Austin repeated himself. "Right shirt or not, you
are meeting her for dinner, right?"

"Her name is Michelle, and no I'm not meeting her for dinner."

"Why not? You two were having a lot of fun talking about what a dweeb I
am."

"Well, I'm not meeting her for dinner because of what she said and because
I should have told her to shut up, but I didn't tell her because I was
horny and forgot she's nothing but a cunt," William barked.

"Oh," Aiden remarked quietly. "I thought you really didn't like me even if
you said you did and that's why you never said anything."

"I said some things, like you could play the piano pretty good, but I
didn't say what I should have said and I'm sorry, okay. Fuck, for somebody
who doesn't like to apologize for shit, I seem to be apologizing to you a
lot."

Austin sat on his bed and stared at the older boy who, for better or for
worse, would be his roommate for four weeks. "You really do like me?"

"Yeah, I kinda do like you." Once again William wasn't definite about what
it was he thought, a fact Austin didn't fail to notice.

"Why do you like me?" Austin asked gloomily.

"Dammit dude, I like you, okay? I'm not like my grandfather or some of the
wacko teachers in this joint where I sit around and look for my inner
fucking self. I mean I knew why I hated you and spent too much time hating
you until well, until you touched that keyboard. I haven't had time to
figure out why the fuck I like you."

While Austin wasn't averse to using expletives, he was getting irritated by
William's spitting one out almost every time he opened his mouth. While he
never hated William but wasn't quite sure if he liked William. He needed
time to figure that out, just as William needed time to figure things out.

"But, okay, let me figure this shit out. First, you play the piano way
better than I ever thought you would. So far, you're almost as good as me,
and you're two years younger. And, well, second you're a nice kid. Plus,
you didn't take my bullshit, although I could tell you were ready to
cry. You would have been toast if you'd cried, because I would have tried
to make your life shitty." William paused for a moment, then quietly added,
"And on top of all that, you're kinda cute."

Before Austin could reply William plunked himself on the bed next to the
young redhead. "And last, you were right. I like playing the piano on your
chest." William placed his fingers on the keyboard along the chest of
Austin's t-shirt and let his fingers roam the keys, humming to himself as
he did so. Shit, this is giving me a boner, William thought.

Austin thought what William was doing felt better than when he played the
t-shirt in the auditorium. He thought it might be because he was doing it
longer.  What Austin didn't consider was that in the auditorium William
running his fingers along Austin's shirt was an impulsive act, and this
time it was a purposeful act done with forethought.

Austin could feel his little pecker harden in his shorts. "Your fingers
playing on my chest like that feels weird," Austin said scratchily.

"Now you know how a piano feels when you play its keyboard," William
giggled. "You're just lucky the keyboard is up by your chest and not at
your belly, because playing your belly would feel like this!" He sat on
Austin's legs and ran his fingers across the blank bottom of the t-shirt
like he was playing the scales. He was doing his best to make his fingers
tickle Austin and he knew his tickling was succeeding when Austin's loud
laughter filled the room. William wondered what was going on. He hadn't
done tickling games since he was ten and he thought they were boring even
then.

William kept the tickling session short. When he messed around with Kevin
or with Jonas or Chad, or even with Michelle, he didn't do stuff like
tickle or make out. It was jerk off, suck, or with Kevin and Michelle,
fuck. The only foreplay he did with any of them was feel up Michelle's
boobs. But what he did with Michelle wasn't messing around, it was serious
sex.

And now, he was straddling his new roommate, tickling him into hysterics,
and it was making his cock rock hard. William had only known Austin for a
few hours and here he was getting weird with a boy two years younger who he
was supposed to hate.

William wanted to slide his hand under Austin's t-shirt so badly he knew it
was time for the tickling to come to a stop. He hopped off the bed,
standing straight up and hoping Austin didn't notice the bulge in his
shorts. "It's about time we wash up for dinner and head for the cafeteria,"
William said, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.

They washed up and walked to the dining hall, which was what the cafeteria
was officially called. They went through the line, found a table, set their
trays down, and went to the drink dispensers.

When they sat back down Christian walked up with a boy Austin and William
didn't recognize. He was skinny with almost glowing blond hair, a spotless
face, and a gorgeous smile.

"Hey, guys," Christian said, "this is Leif Anderson. He's the second-year
camper I was late in meeting. And Leif, this is William and Austin."

Leif grinned and fist bumped William and Austin. "I know Austin is the
reason Christian had to meet with me later, but he said you have everything
worked out."

"Yeah, I guess it's okay," Austin said, not knowing how much Christian had
told Leif about his problem with William when they first met.

William had a moment of confusion as he wondered why Austin sounded unsure
about the status of their issues. "I think we got it all worked out," he
said, just to be certain Austin knew how he felt.

"Do you mind if we sit with you?" Christian asked. Since all the campers
had not yet arrived, there was plenty of space to sit in the dining
area. Even with a full complement of campers the tables wouldn't come close
to filling.

"No problem," Austin and William said in unison.

"Whoa, that was a perfect entry," William grinned.

"Time for a piano duet," Austin giggled.

"Thanks, and we'll be right back," Christian said. He and Leif headed to
the cafeteria line to get their dinners. William and Austin both thought
Leif was incredibly cute. When William thought a boy was cute, he tried to
imagine the boy was a girl who had similar looks since thinking a boy was
cute was, well, way too gay. That strategy didn't work when he looked at
Austin. The only image he could come up with was Austin's bright red hair,
his smooth, lightly freckled face, and the flat chest he enjoyed treating
as a keyboard.

Austin, on the other hand, thought the boy was cute, whatever that
meant. Austin often wondered if he was gay since the cute boys caught his
eye more than any girl did. He and James often kidded around about Austin's
outlook on boys and his feelings about Oliver. "He's just a friend I jerk
off with just like you're just a brother I jerk off with and Frank is a
friend you jerk off with," Austin would insist which would lead James to
grabbing his cock and making him hard. James was such a great big brother
that Austin wondered if maybe it was time for him to ask his brother if he
might be gay and what he should do about it.

Christian and Leif returned with their trays full of food. They set them
down and went over to the drink dispensers. Christian returned with a glass
of lemonade while Leif had a Coke.

The boys spent some time getting to know each other. William knew he had
heard the name Leif at some time during the day but couldn't quite place
where. Then an alarm bell went off in his head when Leif said he played the
cello. Michelle plays the cello, he thought, and didn't she say...

William's thoughts were interrupted by Leif saying, "...and then I met this
really cool girl who plays the cello and she said..."

That set a whole bevy of alarm bells ringing in William's brain. "Was her
name Michelle?" he said, interrupting Leif.

The discussion now had Austin's full attention.

"Um...yeah, do you know her?" Leif asked as he tried to pull his thoughts
back together.

"I know her," William said bitterly.

"It sounds like you're not friends."

"Not anymore."

"What did she do to you?" Christian asked. "I thought she was a nice girl
when I'd seen her around school." Not to mention she's a real looker, he
thought, but he didn't need to tell William and Leif that; they had eyes.

 "I thought she was nice, too, until she wasn't. And that's all I have to
say about her."

"Well, she invited me to meet her in the lounge on her floor of the dorm at
seven," Leif said. "I probably should see what she's like and make up my
own mind about her."

"Good idea," Christian said. "Judge her for yourself." He glared at
William, his eyes telling him to stay out of something that wasn't any of
his business.

William shrugged and said he was going to the dessert table. He had just
met Leif, and as far as he was concerned whatever happened between the cute
blond boy and the bitch Michelle was Leif's problem, not his. Whoa, why am
I thinking a boy is cute, William thought. He grabbed a slice of chocolate
cake and brought it back to the table, passing Austin on the way. Austin
returned with a slice of apple pie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice
cream.

"No chocolate cake? What kind of pianist are you?" William joked.

"One who loves pie ala mode," Austin replied trying unsuccessfully to sound
serious.

"I guess I'm going to have to teach you more than how to play the piano
properly."

"You guys sound like you've known each other for a while," Leif observed.

"They just met after lunch today," Christian told him. "And you should have
seen them when they first saw each other. They were fighting like a couple
of alley cats."

"You mean slugging it out?" Leif didn't think that sounded like something
serious musicians would do.

"Nope. It was just a bunch of snarling, hissing, and yowling with their
backs arched and their fur standing up." Christian yowled like a cat and
swiped the air with his right hand like it was a cat's paw.

Leif looked at the two and nodded his head. "I can see that—the tough
little cat making a lot of racket to let the big cat know how tough he is."

"I think it was more the other way around," Christian laughed.

"I don't know about you guys, but I've finished my dessert." Austin had
heard enough and was ready to bus his tray and go to his room. William, who
stood up at the same time as Austin, felt the same way.

"Hey, I hope we didn't make you guys mad," Leif said apologetically. "We
were just having some fun getting to know you."

"It's cool," William said without conviction. He found himself liking Leif,
but that didn't mean he wanted to be part of any more of the fun Leif and
Christian were having at his and Austin's expense.

"Nice meeting you, Leif," Austin said politely. Leif nodded but said
nothing.

"Remember eleven tomorrow," Christian reminded Austin.

"Okay," Austin said grumpily. He was tired of being treated like a little
kid.

Austin and William bused their trays and headed for their room. They said
nothing to each other until after entering the room.

"Are you going to the faculty recital?" William asked. The faculty members
were staging a recital for the students who arrived early.

"Yeah. Christian said it was a good idea to go and see who the teachers
are. What about you?"

"I've heard them all play." When it came to the keyboard, William felt he
could play better than any of them, even Dr. Boardman, who was considered
one of the best pianists in the state. If he's so good, what's he doing
teaching at this dump? William thought. "What they should do for
entertainment is play a movie instead of that dumb recital. The auditorium
is a great place for watching movies and making out."

"I didn't know they show movies in there."

"Yeah, they have one every Saturday during the school year. They'll show a
couple here at camp, too. They're old and dumb, but helps keep us quiet, I
guess."

Austin opened his closet and investigated the clothes rack. "Should I wear
a better shirt?"

"During the school year, yeah. They're strict about dumb shit like that,
but at camp they actually treat us like we're human. Besides, the teachers
will love that shirt."

"Did you really make out watching a movie in the auditorium?" Austin asked
as he sat on his bed.

William looked at Austin's shirt and fought off an urge to jump on him and
tickle him again. "Hey, I wasn't alone—it's make-out heaven in there. As
long as you keep your clothes on the proctors look the other way. I made
out with Michelle and one other girl whose name I forgot."

"How can you make out with a girl and forget her name?"

"I was in seventh grade. How am I supposed to remember that kind of shit?"

"I dunno. I mean, you kissed her and stuff, so you should at least remember
her name."

"How many girls have you made out with?"

Austin hesitated, wondering if he should tell the truth. After all, he had
made out with James and Oliver, so if he said two it wouldn't be a total
lie. And if he said two, William would probably like him more. But he still
wasn't sure how much he trusted his roommate, so he told the truth. "None."

"Not even a kiss?"

Austin shook his head, his face red with embarrassment. Maybe I should have
lied, he thought.

"And you're twelve, right?" Austin nodded. "Fuck dude, you are a dorky
nerd. I mean by twelve, you got to have kissed somebody and gotten at least
to second base."

I have. I've kissed James and Oliver, though I don't know if kissing your
brother counts, Austin thought. But what he said was, "Just because I've
never kissed a girl doesn't make me a dork." He decided to specify that he
hadn't kissed a girl instead of saying he hadn't kissed anyone at all.

"If I say it makes you a dorky nerd, then it makes you a dorky nerd,"
William said, his haughty attitude returning. "I thought because you play
the piano pretty good and you wear a cool t-shirt, that you were cool. But
now I can see I've been right about you all the time, you're a little dorky
nerd."

William hoped that by giving Austin a well-deserved hard time his desire to
jump him on his bed, run his hand under his cool t-shirt, and rub his belly
and chest would leave. That ended up not being the case. Even worse,
thinking about jumping his roomie had given him an unwanted erection.
Trying to be mean to him had not caused it to go down; it just ended up
making him feel bad. He decided to see what adding one last jab would do to
change the weird thoughts in his head.

"I bet you don't even jerk off. You're just a little boy who doesn't know
what his little pecker is really for. Now go and enjoy the dorky teachers
while I use my big cock for what it was made for."

Austin fought back tears as he glared at William. "You said you liked me
and I believed you, but you lied. You should have just stuck to being an
ass waffle like you were when I first came in the room." He got up from his
bed. "I'm gonna go get me a good seat and you can go find some girl you
don't know to make out with so you can be totally cool. See, ya." Austin
stomped out the door not knowing what he had done to make William's mood
change so quickly.

Next: A New Friend