Date: Thu, 21 May 2020 23:35:57 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Piano Forte  Chapter 9

Greetings and welcome back. The relationship between Austin and William
continues to evolve at the same time it confuses both boys.

Please donate to the Nifty Archive to help maintain the flow of stories.

I love your emails. thehakaanen@hotmail.com
Douglas

CHAPTER 9
FRIEND OR NOT FRIEND?

MONDAY, JUNE 16

<William>

The busy first day of camp activities had tired William out. The high point
of the morning for him had been watching the piano on the stage of the main
auditorium being tuned by Mr. Turner, who was the school's resident piano
tuner. He also taught math and percussion at the school. This was the first
time he had watched Mr. Turner give the demonstration. The really cool part
was Mr. Turner saying that during the course of the camp they would each
get a chance to try tuning one of the practice room pianos.

William kept his eyes on Austin, who seemed to be really interested in the
lesson. During the music history lesson by Miss Davis, he almost drifted
off to sleep a couple of times. One thing that kept him interested was that
Miss Davis was young and was really good looking and had nice tits. But
even that wasn't enough to keep her from being boring. The worst part was
that Austin was really interested in the class and was one of the students
who participated. William knew that he had to have piano classes with
Austin but wished he could have been in one of the other history classes.
He knew the lessons would become more interesting when they started doing
some variations.

That afternoon he would be auditioning with Christian to be the pianist in
Christian's and his roommate Benny's piano trio. He knew his audition was a
formality since there was no way he wouldn't be picked to play in the
trio. After all, he was, without question, the best pianist in the camp.

After the audition he would enjoy some swimming pool time. Now, if there
was only a way to float a piano in a swimming pool, I'd really be happy, he
thought. Even though he knew he should be looking at the girls in their
swimsuits, his eyes kept looking at Ned's roommate, John, whom William
thought had a fine-looking body. It was too bad that his board shorts were
hiding what he had between his legs, William thought.

He chatted a bit with John and they talked about possibly teaming up and
playing some violin and piano works. They held on to the edge of the pool
in the deep end and chatted about the possibilities, their legs often
stretched out in front of them. John kept moving so their shoulders or legs
or torsos would touch. William moved himself away a couple of times, but
John edged in the same direction and soon they would be touching
again. Since the touching was obviously intentional, William decided to
quit moving away and let John touch him. It's not as nice as one of the
girls trying to lean into me would be, William thought, but it's still
nice.

Just before dinner, William was surprised to be stopped in the courtyard by
Cindy Becker, one of the pianists in camp, who asked if she could eat
dinner with him. He thought she was kind of cute and said yes. He learned
that she was fourteen and from Spokane. She was attending her first big
summer music camp. Her other two experiences were week-long day camps in
Spokane and Sandpoint, Idaho.

After dinner, William had some private lesson time with Ms Zimmer after
which he went to the gym where he joined one of the ongoing volleyball
games.

When he went to his room for the night, Austin wasn't there. Oh, well, it's
still an hour until curfew, he thought. He stripped down to his boxers, his
cock semi-hard. He decided that having dinner with Cindy Becker had gotten
him horny and he pulled off his boxers. He flopped on his bed and quickly
got himself fully hard. He considered going into the bathroom to whack his
pud in case Austin came back while he was taking care of himself. Fuck that
shit, he thought. I don't care if the little brat catches me. It's about
time for him to watch somebody jerking off. What could be better than
watching a stud like me do it? he thought.

William started thinking about the dinner he had with Cindy Becker and his
thoughts about bringing her to his room, but his mind kept wandering to
John Irish and how he had constantly edged over to touch him in the
pool. John was having a bigger effect on William's hands-on sensual
feelings than Cindy, so he figured to go with what turned him on and
focused his erotic thoughts on John Irish.

Just as William got to where John was lowering his hand into his swimsuit,
he heard the keycard at the door and saw the door open. Austin walked in
carrying his satchel of scores and looked at him with big eyes.

Well, the brat caught me in the act, he thought calmly, now let's see if he
freaks out.

<Austin>

Austin woke up ahead of William. He was excited about his first full day at
camp. Austin showered and came out of the bathroom nude, carrying his towel
at his side.

"You look pretty good with nothing on, at least for a little boy," William
smirked as he headed for the bathroom.  He had been sitting on his bed
naked waiting for Austin to come out

"Good morning to you, too," Austin groused.

Austin had five t-shirts with piano quotes on them but decided to wear a
Fairhaven Middle School shirt instead. He knew that every camper was
allotted one free wash by the school laundry and decided to spread those
shirts out some. The shirts he had worn on days he hadn't been regularly
active would be good for two days of wear before washing.

Austin's morning schedule had him meeting with the piano campers to watch
Mr. Turner show how he tuned a piano and then attended his first session of
music history. He was scheduled to meet with Christian after lunch to
audition for the piano trio he was forming. The trio had its cellist
(Christian) and its violinist (Benny, Christian's roommate) but needed a
pianist. Christian had been impressed with Austin and had invited him to
audition. Five of the pianists at the camp were asked to try out, William
being one of them. Christian told Austin he would have some time to warm up
before auditioning. After his audition Austin had a practice room reserved
for Ned and himself.

The high point of the morning for Austin was the piano tuning. Having a
chance to learn even more about it by working with Mr. Turner to tune a
piano was going to be something special to look forward to.  The music
history class was fun, as well. Austin loved reading about the lives of the
great composers as well as other books about music. He had never been
self-conscious about participating in class and raising his hand
frequently. He was surprised that William, whose grandfather was one of the
all-time great pianists, never raised his hand. Austin thought that since
William's grandfather was a part of music history that William would show
more interest in it.

Austin had lunch with Ned and John Irish. John had an appointment with Luis
Sanchez, a concert violinist who was a guest instructor for the first two
weeks of camp. John would be playing for the violinist and receiving
instruction.

"I heard him doing it last night," Ned said after John left.

"Doing what?" Austin asked in unfeigned innocence.

"You know, IT. What we talked about yesterday."

A light bulb immediately flicked on in Austin's head. Austin leaned in
close to Ned's ear. "You mean he jerked off?" he asked conspiratorially.

"Yep. I could hear him and saw the covers move up and down right where his
pecker was. I want to learn how to do that."

"There's not much to learn," Austin said, although he knew that wasn't
really true. "You just take your hand and rub it on your dick and suddenly
you feel awesome."

"I've done that, and I heard my friends say how it feels really awesome. I
thought that was what I was feeling. I'm all confused."

"Trust me, Ned, just rubbing yourself doesn't do it. You gotta keep going
until you have what's called an orgasm or a climax or a cum. You're gonna
like that so much you'll want to do it as much as you can. It's like a
habit or something." Austin looked around him to see if anyone was
listening in on their conversation. He breathed a sigh of relief when it
looked like nobody was interested in it.

"Could you show me sometime?"

"Ned, you just do what it sounds like you've been doing only you don't stop
until you get this feeling where you think your cock just exploded or
something."

"Please," Ned asked plaintively.

Austin took a bite of his oatmeal-raisin cookie. He needed to find a way to
adjust his pants to make his now rock-hard dick feel more
comfortable. "Yeah, we'll just have to figure out a time when we'll be
alone in one of our rooms." He flashed Ned a mischievous smile and said,
"Unless John shows you, of course."

After lunch, Austin met Christian in the old auditorium. There were two
chairs set up on the small stage with a music stand at each one. A grand
piano was on the stage as well. Austin noticed a teenage boy sitting next
to Rene Zimmer, one of the piano teachers at camp. He had seen the boy
before and was certain he was Benny, Christian's roommate and the violinist
in the trio.

"There are a couple of practice rooms in back of the stage where you can
warm up," Christian said. "The pianos are crappy old uprights, but they're
playable.  Mr. Turner has them tuned and in top condition."

Austin thanked Christian and followed him into the first practice room. "By
the way, what do you plan on playing for us?" Christian asked.

"The last movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata 10," Austin told him. "It's one
of the three pieces I was supposed to have prepped if I needed to play
something right away."

"Those Mozart sonatas are supposed to be hard. Is that the one I heard you
play in the auditorium?"

"Yeah, and it is hard. But Mr. Fielding, my piano teacher, helped me a
lot. He said I was good enough to play it and play it good, or well, or
something like that."

They entered the room and Austin sat on the piano bench, placed his hands
on the keyboard, and then busily adjusted the bench. "I'll be back in about
twenty minutes," Christian told him.

Austin went through his scales and other warmups. He knew he didn't have a
chance of being chosen for the trio, especially since William would be
auditioning, too. Austin was quickly discovering how good the other
pianists at the camp were.

When Christian came for him, Austin felt warmed up and ready. He followed
Christian back to the old auditorium where he sat at the dowdy, but well
cared for, grand that was housed there. He didn't notice William, who had
the next audition, sitting in the back of the auditorium.

He adjusted the bench, played some scales to get a feel for the instrument,
and then said he was ready. He played the Mozart from memory, with three
little stumbles, but with excellent technique and, Ms Zimmer noted, a
remarkable touch considering he was playing that piano for the first
time. Benny escorted William to the practice room after Austin finished
playing the sonata.

"Very nice, Austin," Ms Zimmer said. She was at the auditions to help
Christian and Benny evaluate the pianists who were auditioning. While she
would have a lot of input in the decision, she knew that the two teens
would have the final word. Had Austin not been auditioning, she would have
met with him for a private session later in the afternoon. Listening to
Austin play, however, was giving her a lot of material for her tutoring.

Ms Zimmer then dropped a surprise on the little redhead. "Are you familiar
with Bach's Prelude Number 1 in C Major?" she asked.

"Yeah, Mr. Fielding had me playing it over a year ago. Why?" He knew the
reason why, but it was his obligation as a pubescent boy to ask the
question.

"Do you think you could play it now?"

"Not from memory, but if I had the score I probably could do okay." Austin
was not surprised that Ms Zimmer happened to have the score with her. From
what she'd heard so far at camp she felt the choice for the trio's pianist
would be either Austin or William. She wanted to listen to them play the
same work. Since most piano teachers had their promising beginners learn
the Prelude, she thought the chances were that both boys had played it at
some time.

Ms Zimmer set the score on the music desk and sat next to Austin so she
could turn the pages for him. Austin found himself feeling jumpy. It had
been almost two years since he'd learned the work. He felt he knew the work
well enough to do okay, but not well enough to play at his best. Austin had
played that Prelude in a recital a few months ago and had played it at home
on occasion, but this was different than being asked to play something
without having had a chance to run through it a few times.

The piano teacher could sense Austin's nervousness. "Before you get too
nervous, everybody who is auditioning will be playing a work they say they
know but will be playing it cold since we will determine what that work
will be. This Bach Prelude will be our first choice to play. Even your
roommate William will be playing it, since we have already determined that
he knows it."

That didn't help Austin's confidence much since William was, in his mind, a
pro at the keyboard. He stared at the open page of the scorebook, took a
deep breath, told himself he was good and that this would be all about his
brain, his fingers, and the instrument in front of him that he had gotten
to know as a friend while playing the Mozart piece.

The twelve-year-old placed his fingers in position, took one more deep
breath, blew the air out slowly, and then commenced to play. While he hit a
few wrong notes and had a couple of problems with his timing and tempo, he
performed remarkably well considering that he hadn't played the Prelude
since March.

Austin and Ms. Zimmer left the piano and walked into the seating area. Ms
Zimmer returned to her seat in the first row while Austin sat in a seat
five rows back. Austin had been the third of the five pianists auditioning
to play. William was slated to be the next one.

William played the Handel Keyboard Suite in A major. The work had been
written for harpsichord and transcribed for piano. He played an unblemished
rendition, adding a touch of showmanship to his flawless technique. William
was a master musician when he gave his complete effort to his performing.

When William was asked by Ms Zimmer if he had ever played the Bach Prelude
Number One, he had a fairly good idea that he was going to be asked to play
it for the audition. This was not the first audition he'd participated in
and he knew what the procedure was for many of them. Because he hadn't
played the Prelude since spring break, he decided to lie and say he'd never
played it at all. He knew that the result would be his being able to
suggest a work he'd played much more recently and knew better.

"No, ma'am, I have never played that particular Bach work," he replied with
an exaggerated formality that he felt would make him sound more truthful.

"Well, William, you and I both know that is not true. I believe you
performed that in a recital here at the school when you were in the seventh
grade," Ms Zimmer said.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that," William lied. "That was a long time ago
and I haven't played it since then."

"That's not what your father told me during a conversation he and I had not
long ago." Dr. Boardman, who knew William all too well, had suggested Ms
Zimmer have a discussion with William's father about his son's repertoire.

William's father told her that he had arranged a recital for friends and
supporters in April during the school's spring break. "I played the
featured works and gave William a chance to show off his talents as well,"
David Delacroix told her. "He played the Bach and a Beethoven
Bagatelle. Did a marvelous job, I must say."

"Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting about playing that," William said, a little
irritated over having been caught in his lies. Who does that fucking bitch
think she is, checking up on me with my dad? he thought. It's like she
fucking doesn't trust me or something. He recovered his poise somewhat and
said, "I guess it must mean I don't like it that much if I can't remember
playing it. Still, it's been a couple of months since I played it and no
way I can play it by heart, plus Bach is boring. Can I just play something
else instead?"

"I know you can sight read, especially something you've already played, and
I will be turning the pages for you. Since the other four who are
auditioning have played the work, it's the fairest way to do this."

"I thought you were looking for the best pianist, so why do we have to be
fair?"

"William, you can either play the selected work with grace or leave the
room to make it easier for us to make a selection for the trio by not
having to consider you."

Austin had been taking in the byplay between William and his teacher with
extreme interest. He had experienced his roommate's sassy behavior
personally and now he was seeing it in action with an adult. He found
himself secretly cheering for the adult instead of his peer as he waited to
see what William would choose to do.

"Fine, I'll play it, but I don't see what difference it makes since we all
know who the best pianist is."

Ms Zimmer ignored William's final outburst. Saying nothing, she sat next to
him at the piano and he proceeded to play an almost flawless
interpretation. Austin knew right away that the winner of the audition was
going to be William even if he had been acting like an ass waffle. His
roommate was, without question, the best pianist in the camp.

After finishing, William went back to the fifth row and sat next to
Austin. "How did I do?" William asked his roommate.

"You did really good," Austin replied. "I think you're going to be the one
who makes the trio."

"Of course I am, because I am the best." William could see from Austin's
face that he had just stuck a verbal knife into the ribs of his
roomie. "But, I bet you played that Prelude pretty good too." William
wondered for a moment if Austin actually played the Prelude even if Ms
Zimmer had hinted that he had. "I mean, you did play the Prelude, right?"

"Yeah, I played it, but I made some mistakes and my tempo sucked."

"Don't worry, you'll be playing with other kids your age most of the
camp. I bet you'll put together a really good trio," William said as he
tried to make Austin feel a little better. Once again, William surprised
himself by trying to make his roommate feel good about things instead of
putting him down.

The boys then listened to Cindy Becker, who was fourteen play a pedestrian
rendition of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" and then stumble her way through the
Bach. Even though she wasn't doing very well on the stage, William felt a
stirring in his groin as he thought about having dinner with the cute girl
in just a few hours.

"She's toast," William said after she finished.

Austin agreed with William but said nothing. He simply nodded and stared
ahead of him, focusing on the piano on the stage. Christian stood up and
talked to the five pianists who auditioned. "We'll let you know who our
pianist will be before dinner tomorrow," he told them. "You all played
really great and thanks for coming here to help Benny and me."

"See you tonight, roomie," William said as he got up to leave the
auditorium. For him, it was swimming time.

Austin followed William out and headed for the main music building where he
would be meeting with Ned who had reserved a practice room. As he
approached the music building, Austin saw Ned waiting outside of the main
entrance. He could tell that Ned hadn't seen him approach so he walked
quietly behind his new friend, standing behind his left shoulder. Austin
then proceeded to tap Ned on his right shoulder, causing him to almost jump
completely off the ground in surprise as he looked over his right
shoulder. Seeing nothing, Ned looked around to his left. Austin tried to
scoot over to Ned's right side, but Ned caught sight of him.

"Austin, I should tickle you to death for almost giving me a heart attack,"
Ned screeched.

"But if you did that then you'd have to find a new pianist to accompany
you."

"Okay, you're off the hook for now. But at the end of camp, you'd better be
sleeping with your eyes open."

"I have William to protect me."

"Hah! By then, William will be ready to help me tickle you to death. But
for now, it's nice to see you."

"Same here. Let's go practice."

Ned had secured practice room D and then he and Austin headed upstairs to
do some more practicing. "Tomorrow afternoon you and I are doing swimming
or basketball, or volleyball, or something instead of practicing," Austin
said as Ned started to remove his flute from its case.

"Sounds good to me," Austin said, "but practicing with you is fun,
too. Plus, I have to meet with Miss Z."

"And I like practicing with you, too. And besides we have to get practice
time in and scheduling our own time like today is supposed to get us less
assigned time."

"Or so they say. I bet it won't work like that; there are only so many
practice rooms."

Austin sat at the piano and started warming up. Ned sat in a chair and
warmed up as well. When they felt ready to go, Ned set his scorebook on the
piano's music desk and then stood behind Austin. The two tweens proceeded
to get almost twenty-five minutes of serious practicing in. When they
stopped for a rest they noted that they still had twenty minutes remaining
to use the room.

"Can I ask you something?" Ned said after they evaluated how their
practicing went.

"We've been asking each other all kinds of stuff," Austin pointed out.

"I mean something personal, not something about our music."

"Oh, sure. I mean if we're going to be best friends here at camp, we should
be able to ask each other any kind of stuff." Austin thought about Oliver
and how they could ask each other almost everything. But even he and Oliver
had secrets from each other. The only person Austin felt he could share
anything with was his brother James. "So, what do you want to know?"

"It's kind of embarrassing."

"Well, ask it and I promise I won't laugh or make you feel bad about what
it is or anything like that. But I might say I don't want to answer the
question, or I don't know that answer. Fair enough? What do you want to
know that's embarrassing?"

Ned said nothing for what seemed like ten minutes but was really ten
seconds. "It's about what we talked about earlier, you know, like when we
were going to the library."

Austin tried to remember what it was they were talking about. It has to be
something that was embarrassing, he thought, and then the light went
on. "You mean about jerking off?"

"Um...yeah, that."

"What about it?"

"I told you, I never did it and I want to know how to do it."

"I told you I'd show you when we were alone."

"We are alone right now," Ned pointed out.

"I know we are, but the door can't be locked and we only have about fifteen
minutes left, but it could be less since the next person might just walk in
even if we're supposed to knock first, so I guess the answer is I'll show
you later." Austin wanted to show Ned what to do and wanted to show him
right then. He had sped through his refusal because he was afraid he'd find
himself saying yes.

"Please, just real quick like. You don't have to finish it or anything,
just show me how to start."

"You said you already know how to start." For the first time since Austin
had met Ned, his new friend was starting to annoy him with his endless
questions. What Austin didn't understand, was that even though he was
annoyed by Ned's questions and pleading, his cock was rock hard and was
being crimped by his shorts.

"I just want to see if I'm starting it right." Ned was sincere in his
desire to learn from Austin, but he was also curious to see what Austin's
cock looked like. When he saw Austin adjust his crotch, Ned wondered if
Austin had a boner like he did.

Since Ned had seen him adjust himself, Austin decided to give Ned a quick
glimpse of his wares. He opened his shorts, unzipped, pulled them and his
briefs down and let his hard three-and-a-half inches leap to
attention. "Happy?"

"Yours is big," Ned marveled as he looked at the first boner that wasn't
his own.

"My brother's is almost twice as big."

"Wow. Um...so show me how you start."

As Austin put his left hand around his cock, Ned opened his shorts, pulled
them and his red briefs down, and displayed his almost two-and-a-half
inches. He watched as Austin adjusted his hold so that his thumb and next
two fingers were holding his cock and started stroking himself. "That's how
I start." Austin was right-handed but he jerked off using his left hand. He
didn't know why he did it that way, he just did. James was right-handed all
the way and Oliver was left-handed all the way.

Austin remained seated on the piano bench, but Ned stood up to make it
easier for him to drop his pants. Austin was able to get a good look and
his friend's junk and was fascinated by the foreskin. He'd seen uncut cocks
in public shower situations, but this was the first one he'd ever seen
erect.

Ned hesitatingly worked on his own cocklet. Doing so felt good, even better
than it usually did, and he wanted to know how to get that good feeling he
kept hearing about. He knew that wasn't going to happen then, especially
when he and Austin heard voices in the hallway as the next group of campers
started to gather to use the rooms they had reserved.

Wordlessly, Ned and Austin closed their pants. Since they still had five
minutes left, the boys agreed to play a quick run-through of the
transcription they had been practicing to make it sound like they had been
on task. Seconds after they finished, they heard a knock on the door
followed by the door being opened. The campers had been told that opening
the door without an invitation was proper etiquette once time had expired
for whoever had the room reserved

Austin and Ned were surprised to see Ned's sister Shannon enter with Ned's
roommate John. "Hey guys," John said brightly. "We saw your names on the
reservation sheet outside and decided to be sure to follow the rules
exactly."

"Thanks, I guess," Ned said. "Hi, sis."

Shannon set her violin case on the table next to the piano. "Hello, Ned and
hello, Austin."

"Don't sound too happy to see us."

"She was wondering if maybe you two were fiddling around without any
fiddles," John grinned.

"I did not say anything like that," Shannon protested. "All I said was..."

"It's cool sis," Ned said as he put away his flute. "Austin and me are on
our way out." Austin exited ahead of Ned. Ned stopped before walking out of
the room and said, "You two have fun fiddling around for real."

The last thing Ned and Austin heard was Shannon screeching to John. "Oh, I
could strangle that little brother of mine and you aren't any better."

Ned and Austin saw that four badminton nets had been set up in the
commons. Each court had four cones to mark the corners. They got in line to
get a court. Because the games were being played to seven points instead of
the usual fifteen the line moved quickly. The rule was the winners stayed
on the courts to play whomever the next challenger was.

Ned and Austin faced a mixed team consisting of Cameron Streit and Jill
Swayze. Cameron was fourteen and played the double bass while Jill was a
thirteen-year-old oboist. They were still on the court because they beat a
pair of fourteen-year-old brass players 8-6 (games had to be won by at
least two points) even though they bickered the entire game.  Ned and
Austin played shirtless. They were both good athletes, and though they were
younger, they won easily by a score of 7-3. That got Cameron and Jill
squabbling even more as they walked off the grass court.

Ned and Austin hung around long enough to play five games, winning three of
them. They were grateful they didn't have to play Cameron and Jill again,
especially after they quit in the middle of a game two courts over the next
time their turn came up to play.

"Damn, those two don't know anything about teamwork and having fun," Ned
said after he and Austin lost a point in a game they would later win
7-5. "You would think they were, like, married or something." Ned's comment
started Austin as well as their opponents laughing so hard they had to
pause until everybody got their breath back.

Austin walked Ned to his room after their last game, which they had
won. They wanted to get cleaned up for dinner, which was getting
close. Most of the players had left and only two of the four courts were in
use.

"We should have gone straight here, since we knew where John was," Ned said
when they got to his door. "You could have shown me everything."

"I don't know about everything, but we could have done it together," Austin
said. "We'll have another chance. And like I said, I bet John will show you
if you ask. I mean, he's gay and everything and I bet showing you will make
him super happy."

"I want you to show me," Ned said simply.

Austin didn't want to get into that issue again, so he said, "I'll see you
in a few for dinner," and walked to his room.

John joined Ned and Austin for dinner. They both found themselves liking
the outgoing teen a lot. The three boys spent the dinner getting to know
each other better. Ned and Austin were both curious about how John and his
boyfriend became boyfriends and asked John about it.

"Fuck, dudes, Grayson's not even my first boyfriend. That would be Ricky
McKinney in fifth and sixth grade. He moved away after sixth grade, but
Grayson had this crush on me and when he found out in September that Ricky
moved away, he moved right in. By our fourth overnight we were doing it all
and have had wild and crazy sex right up to when I left for camp. I almost
didn't want to go because of him, but here I am, and I miss him a
lot. We'll be talking on the phone tonight, so plug your ears and cover
your eyes, Neddy, because we may be doing some phone sex."

Austin was astounded by John's motormouth and how he could outtalk Ned. It
could be an interesting four weeks for them, he thought—motormouths in
stereo.

"Do what you want. I'm going to the recitals with Austin, so you can have
your fun while we're there." A dozen of the campers were going to play one
of the three pieces they had learned for camp. It couldn't be the piece
they had played the night before. Attending the recital and playing it were
both voluntary. The recital would be in the old auditorium.

After the recital, Austin and Ned went to the meal hall for snack time
where they met with Alejandro Lopez. Alejandro was a trumpet player and was
one of the two brass players who had lost to Cameron and Jill in badminton.

"How did you lose to those two?" Ned asked Alejandro.

"They were pretty good, but we should have won just because they were
fighting all the time," Alejandro replied. "I guess they've known each
other for a couple of years. Dennis and I just met yesterday, or we would
have played better together. We became better in our next games. You two
played like you were old friends."

"Ned and I just met yesterday, too," Austin said. "Does Dennis play the
trumpet?"

"I am surprised by that and no, he plays the trombone."

Ned asked Alejandro where he was from. "I live in Ellensburg where my
father is a music professor at Central Washington University. But I was
born in Madrid, Spain, and lived there until I was eight."

"Wow, you speak good English for being born in another country," Austin
noted.

"My mother is American, born in Los Angeles. My parents taught my brother
and me English and Spanish at home. My father wanted to come to America to
teach so they thought it would be good for us to know both languages."

"How old is your brother?"

"He became twelve two weeks ago. He plays the guitar. He did not want to
come to the camp. He said he was too busy playing baseball. This is true,
but he is also busy with Donna and Heather, his girlfriends. Do you have
girlfriends?"

Both boys shook their heads. "Your brother has two girlfriends?" Ned asked.

"Yes. My brother is what you call a stud even if he is just twelve."

"Do the girls know what he is doing?"

"Yes, and sometimes they all do it together. I don't know how he makes it
work." Alejandro didn't mention that he learned all the details of his
brother's sex life when they were doing sexual things together and had an
opportunity to watch his brother and his little harem go at it once.

The three had finished their cookies and ice cream and headed to the
dormitory. Alejandro waited for the elevator while Austin and Ned climbed
the stairs to the second floor and Ned's room.

"Sounds like John's on the phone," Ned grinned.

"Then you better get in there so you can jerk off while you watch him
jerking off," Austin said.

"I keep saying, the first time will be with you."

Austin climbed two more floors, walked to his room, tapped his keycard,
opened the door and stopped when he saw William naked on his bed with his
hand flying along his hard four-and-a-quarter inches of boy steel.

William stopped what he was doing and leered at Austin. "Fuck, roomie, quit
staring. Take a picture if you want it to last—in fact, I dare you to
take a fucking picture." He looked past Austin. "And shut the damned door
while you're standing there gaga eyed." After shutting the door, Austin sat
on his bed and went back to looking at William. "You're acting like you've
never seen anybody jerk off before."

Austin said nothing.

"I knew you'd freak out if you saw me whacking my pud."

Austin finally broke his silence. "I've seen guys jerk off before." Three
of them to be exact, he thought.

"I'm impressed. But now, I need to finish myself off, unless you want to do
it for me."

At this point, Austin knew he had to make a decision. What he decided would
probably determine his relationship with his roommate for the rest of the
camp. He couldn't deny that seeing William naked with a boner turned him
on. Nor could he deny that seeing him stroking himself had turned him on
even more.

As Austin saw it, there were three things he could do. One was to roll over
and stare at the wall while William whacked himself to a cum. The second
was to strip off his pants, if not more, and move from his bed to William's
bed and jerk him off. It wasn't like he had never jerked anyone off
before. He'd done his brother James countless times, his friend Oliver
about a couple of dozen times, and James's friend Frank five or six
times. And the third thing was to strip naked, flop on his bed, and beat
his meat while William finished himself off on the other bed.

"How about doing something other than just stare at me," William
groused. "Get a pair of balls and at least jerk off with me. It's not being
a fag or something. It's what friends do together when they're our
ages. So, it's time for you to decide if you're a friend or not a friend. I
mean shit, quit having all these fucking hang-ups and all these, like,
crises. Be a friend and jerk me off."

Austin kept staring at William. He wasn't doing it to get himself turned
on—just seeing William jerking off when he came in through the door had
done that. The reason he stared at William was to make him nervous.

"You gotta decide if you're a friend or not a friend, too," Austin said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Friends don't say somebody can be their friend only if they do sex stuff
with them. Friends do it because they're friends not because it's like
a...um...a...a condition of being a friend." Austin finished his statement
with confidence.

William looked down at his softening pecker. "Okay then, how about this?
Austin, would you please be my friend and do what best friends do with each
other. Would you please jerk off with me? You don't even have to touch me,
but if you jerk yourself and I jerk myself then it's like us bonding as
friends."

"And if I say no to jerking you off, would I still be your friend?"

William's long hesitation told Austin that William was debating with
himself whether he wanted Austin to be his friend. William's long
hesitation also gave Austin a few seconds to make up his mind. Austin knew
what he wanted to do.

Friend or not friend? What will my decision make William decide? What do I
really want from William? Austin thought. Friend or not friend? Do I really
want him to be my friend? Yeah, I guess I do want him to be my friend or
maybe I need him to be my friend for some reason.

Austin wanted his decision to be the exact right one, but as a somewhat
insecure pubescent boy, he was afraid that no matter what he decided he
would end up being wrong.

"Okay, William, here is what I am going to do," Austin announced, trying to
display a confidence that he knew he didn't feel.

Next: Controlling William