“Wake up!” Paris’s voice boomed through the cabin. 

Ray groaned and rolled over in his sleeping bag, thinking about how nice it would be to have the power to fast-forward time past all this nonsense. He smacked his lips; his mouth felt drier than normal mornings, and his eyes heavier.

“Hey,” Paris said, jabbing Ray through his sleeping bag. “Hey!”

“What do you want?!” Ray exploded, whipping around to face him. His morning hair, matted and sticking out in funny directions, shook from the sudden movement. He hopped out of bed, balling his fists as he stepped menacingly towards Paris. The cold cabin air on his legs reminded him about his lack of pajamas.

Paris, startled at his outburst, took a step back and held his hands up defensively before regaining his composure. “Whoa, down boy! I just thought you maybe wanted to hear my idea of how we can avoid getting in trouble,” he said, pretending to examine his nails.

“Wait, really?” Jonah said, curiously peering over the side of his bed.

“Spill it, then!” Griffin said sleepily from inside Paris’s sleeping bag.

Paris smirked. “First of all, sorry about everything last night,” he said to Ray. “My idea is that if you and Jonah take the blame, nobody will get in trouble!”

“No!” they said in unison. Jonah flopped back down in his bed.

“That’s ridiculous,” Ray said.

“Come on, the counselors like you two!” he pleaded.

“No way,” Ray said, folding his arms as he sat on the edge of his bed.

“Well, fuck you both then!” he snapped.

Jonah scoffed. “I knew it. You don’t have an ounce of decency in you,” he said, rubbing his eyes before sliding his glasses on.

Paris groaned and slogged back over to his bunk, yanking his backpack out from underneath. Ray noticed Griffin looking back and forth between Paris’s boxer-clad butt and Ray’s underwear, and quickly retrieved some shorts.

Jonah poked his head down from the top bunk and frowned at Ray. “I hope Henry came through for us.”

“Yeah,” Ray sighed, pulling on a fresh pair of cargo shorts. “Maybe they can find us a new cabin,” he whispered.

Jonah tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Hey, that would be the perfect solution!”

The two peeked at the older boys from the corners of their eyes, but a rapping at the door promptly drew everyone’s attention. Ray was struck by a sudden wave of nausea as the door opened and Henry stepped inside, nicely dressed in his standard green camp counselor uniform. He stood there for a moment, all four sets of eyes staring at him. Finally, Paris stepped forward.

“You can’t do this to us!” Paris wailed at him.

“Pot, Paris? Really? Were you up to this last year, too?”

“We’re really sorry, sir,” Griffin said. “About everything. It won’t happen again. We’ll behave from now on!” Paris shushed him.

Henry shook his head and started forward. “I need to look through your backpacks, he said before bumping into Paris. “Especially yours, Paris.”

“No!” Paris cried, blocking Henry’s way with his hands. “That’s invasive, and… and there are laws against that!” he insisted.

“Paris, move out of the way.”

“Seriously, you can’t! I’ll tell my parents you were touching me!” he threatened.

Henry pushed past him and picked up his backpack. Paris ran and grabbed for it, but Henry turned around and shouted at him

“Paris! Stop it!” he demanded.

Paris huffily folded his arms and flopped onto the edge of his bed, where Griffin began massaging his back.

“Serves you right,” Jonah said to him from across the room.

“Shut up, Jonah! Ugly-ass baby-dick.” Jonah narrowed his eyes at him.

“Paris!” Henry snapped. Paris lowered his head.

Jared, the slightly more intimidating counselor, showed up at the door. “Morning, all.”

“Morning,” the boys all replied with the enthusiasm of a sack of potatoes.

“Find anything?” he asked Henry, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

“Let’s see,” Henry said.

Ray stood up to give him room as he dumped the contents of Paris’s backpack onto his empty bed. What came tumbling out was several pairs of underwear, the roll of toilet paper, an expensive-looking watch, his phone, sunscreen, lotion, and the lighter and plastic tube from the previous night. Paris covered his eyes and groaned. Henry popped open the tube and flipped it upside down, and three joints spilled onto the bed.

“Ohoho, busted!” Jonah teased.

“Henry, can you make him shut up?” Paris complained.

“Paris, you know this junk is absolutely not allowed.”

“Why not?” Paris asked, feigning surprise. “It’s totally legal.”

“No Paris, not for you. Not at all.” Henry sighed. “Listen, guys, I don’t know the full story of what went down last night, but frankly, it doesn’t matter. Sam says we find anything, you’re all out of here.”

“What?!” Jonah gasped, color draining from his face.

“I’m sorry, but you four need to pack your things and come to the office.”

“Bullshit! That’s bullshit!” Paris shouted at him. “Wait until I tell my dad what you planted on me!”

“Just leave it, Paris,” Griffin said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It’s over.”

“Fuck you, Griffin! Whose side are you on, anyway?” he screeched, tears forming in his eyes.

“Jonah and I didn’t have anything illegal,” Ray pointed out.

“Yeah, I know. Listen everyone, it sucks, but we have rules here, and if you break them, this is what happens,” Henry said, and started walking to the door, tucking the container of joints into his pocket.

“You can’t take those! Those aren’t yours!” Paris called after him.

Jared walked outside and held the door open for Henry.

“You are not getting these back,” Henry said and shut the door behind him.

Paris wailed and loudly stomped his foot. Ray backed away from him as he came over to his bed and started mopily gathering his belongings back into his backpack. Griffin wordlessly climbed out of bed and began dressing. Jonah popped his head down from his bed.

“Hey, Ray. Can I see our comic again? Real quick?” Jonah asked.

“Sure,” Ray said, and fetched his sketchbook from under the bed, once again feeling exposed by his lack of pajama bottoms. “Here,” he said, reaching up to hand Jonah the bulky pad.

“Aw man, this was so amazeballs!” he said, running his hand delicately along the edges of the page. “Think of all the cool stuff we could’a drawn if we had the whole week!”

“I know, right?!” Ray began searching through his backpack for a shirt when Jonah’s blue pen fell onto the ground. He picked it up and twirled it between his fingers. “Here’s your pen,” Ray said, handing it to him.

“Oh yeah, I would’ve forgot all about it. Thanks!” Jonah said and snatched it from him.

“Thank you for letting me borrow it,” Ray replied.

Jonah laughed, but the gloom still lingered on his face. “My pen and your paper—make a hell of a team.”

Ray nodded and slipped on a t-shirt and some red socks that were covered in illustrations of beavers. “By the way, you can keep the comic if you want.”

“Huh?” Jonah sounded genuinely surprised. “Really? You mean it?”

“Well, yeah. I still don’t really get it, anyways.”

“Score!” Jonah beamed, and carefully ripped out the page with a satisfying tear.

“Boys, you have no idea how disappointed we all are to be sitting here with you like this rather than out having fun this morning,” said Sam. She addressed the four boys from a standing position, in front of a semicircle of four chairs she had instructed them to sit upon in alphabetical order from left to right: Jonah, Paris, Ray, and Griffin. Ray was a little surprised to find that he was made to sit between Paris and Griffin until he remembered that Griffin’s real first name was Robin, and Griffin was just his nickname.

Jared and Henry stood to the side of the main desk. Sam nodded to Jared. He cleared his throat and rolled the evidence that Henry had collected from Paris’ bag onto the table.

“Drugs,” Sam said simply and pointedly, her eyes bulging intensely as she looked into the faces of the four boys before her. “Drugs! At summer camp!”

“They’re not even ours!” Paris dared to protest, staring Sam down with tears of indignation building in his eyes.

“Paris, I found them in your bag, with a  lighter,” Henry sighed, shaking his head. “You can’t keep denying it and expect it all just to go away.”

“Exactly, boys!” Sam interjected, bristling visibly as she pounced on the point. “Drugs! Found in your cabin!”

“This isn’t fair,” Jonah said quietly but boldly. “It’s Paris and Griffin’s weed, not ours.”

Sam stared at Jonah sharply, like he had just mooned her at a state funeral.

“I think it’s best if you boys remain quiet until we are done here,” Jared rumbled in his serious voice. “You must understand that you are in a lot of trouble already.”

“If they’re not your drugs, why were you all out of your cabin after hours last night, hm?” Sam replied, leaning into Jonah’s face at his eye level, causing Jonah to fully turn his head away. He tried to catch Henry’s eye, but it seemed that it was the exact moment Henry needed to re-straighten his shirt. “Seems like you all were getting up to something last night, seeing as we found two of you swimming in the lake, one completely naked with marijuana on his breath.”

Ray felt lightheaded. His neck prickled and his face burned deep crimson. To have the experience recounted to him so matter-of-factly by Sam in front of everyone in the office was beyond humiliating. Was this what they were going to tell his parents?

“I don’t think that’s fair on Ray,” Henry piped up. “He was distressed. He and Jonah said that the older pair had been picking on them.”

“That may be the case,” Sam replied. “But I doubt that anyone forced a joint into Ray’s mouth and made him partake, did they?”

Ray could feel everyone looking at him as if they expected him to say something. He kept his head down and closed his eyes. Crying would be the worst thing he could do right now, but it was all he wanted to do. One thing was for sure, there was no way he could tell the counselors about the strange smoke kisses. No way at all. That way led to telling them about all of the other things, and so that way madness lay.

“Exactly,” Sam smirked, folding her arms and leaning her butt against the table as if she was a lawyer who had just turned a witness in court.

“What about Jonah?” Henry asked.

“He was there the whole time too,” Sam responded, still looking from boy to boy before her rather than acknowledging Henry with her body language. “It's a joint enterprise between all four of them.”

“Joint enterprise?” Griffin scoffed under his breath, rolling his eyes at Sam’s dramatic phrasing and its unintentional wordplay. “We didn’t murder anyone,” he quickly added.

“Do you think this is a joke, Robin?” Sam erupted at him. “Is this funny to you?”

“No!” Griffin whined in return, being the next to turn his head away from Sam’s onslaught.

“Maybe we should just call the cops instead of your parents if it’s such a game to you spoiled brats?” Sam roared. “Maybe they’ll let you stay for a free summer camp at juvie, and see how you can sneak contraband into there!”

“Sam,” Jared interjected gently. “Don’t get wound up by their behavior. It’s not worth it.”

If Ray was lightheaded before, it now felt like the bottom had dropped out of his entire body. He could feel himself trembling. Juvenile Hall? His eyes searched desperately across the semicircle for Jonah, who returned a terrified look from his milky pale face.

Jared could sense his distress. “Boys, we aren’t going to be involving the police,” he confirmed, then added, “this time.”

“My dad would never have allowed that,” Paris muttered under his breath, seemingly mostly to himself.

“But we are calling your parents to come pick you up,” Sam added, regaining her composure. She was met with a round of collective groans from the kids, except Griffin. “We have a zero-tolerance policy towards substance abuse of any kind at this camp. All I can say to all of you is that you need to make better choices.”

“Is that it?” Griffin asked. “You’re calling our mums and dads?”

“They will be here to pick you up ASAP,” Sam nodded. “Each of you is suspended from camp for breach of our drugs policy and general disruptive and disrespectful behavior.” She paused to let her announcement sink in. “You are dismissed, boys. Wait outside with your things for your parents or adult guardians to arrive.”

The entirety of cabin 13 sat in shaded metal chairs placed outside the counselors’ office with expressions ranging from grumpy to worried. The sky, unusually overcast, leant the morning a rare coolness—a welcomed break from the typical fierce sunshine. Ray was just appeased not to have to be caked in sunscreen for once.

A group of jubilant campers walked by in the distance, laughing and carrying thin, colorful plastic bows. They were led by a peppy counselor with an arrow quiver flung over his back. Some of the kids noticed the glum group sitting in front of the office and began whispering to each other.

Paris snarled at them. “Great,” he said. “We’re missing archery day ‘cause nosy Ray couldn’t keep to himself.”

Ray frowned and looked off to the side. Archery was one of the few things he was actually looking forward to, and Paris was technically correct that if he hadn’t involved himself, none of this would be happening.

“Ray, it’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything,” Jonah assured him and turned to the other two. “I can’t believe you brought drugs to summer camp! Are you crazy? What did you think was gonna happen?”

“Cool, the narc wants to lecture us,” Paris said, kicking the leg of Jonah’s chair. “Jonah, you wouldn’t know fun if it squirted on your chest.”

Griffin raised an eyebrow while Jonah’s face contorted in anger. “Shut up you piece of shit, you don’t know anything about me!” he shouted.

Paris cupped a hand in front of his mouth. “Loser,” he whispered loudly.

The chair made an awful scraping sound as Jonah jumped to his feet and stormed away, disappearing behind the office building.

Paris burst out laughing. “Henry!” he called to Henry, who was just walking up from the other direction. “Jonah ran away! He’s escaping!”

Henry ignored him. “Paris, your ride’s here,” he said listlessly.

“What?” Paris shouted. “Already?” He turned to Griffin, his lip quivering. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Me neither,” Griffin agreed. “I’ll text you when we get to the house. I’m not going back to England without seeing you again. Maybe we can visit the island again.”

Paris smiled with a hint of doubt, and the two hugged it out. Griffin sucked in the scent of Paris’s hair through his nose.

“Pervert!” Paris accused, and they both laughed.

Griffin touched his nose to Paris’s. “I’ll miss your beautiful bum.”

“And I’ll miss your beautiful—” he looked over at Ray and blinked away a tear. “Asshole,” he muttered bitterly and pointedly, then went to gather his bags. Griffin followed him.

Ray watched the two talk quietly, never straying from a few inches apart and generally acting bizarre. Whatever their friendship was, Ray knew nothing like it. 

A large, black SUV pulled up near them on the dirt road, leaving a trail of dust in its path. As the dust settled, Ray read the black letters of the orange license plate: B4D0M3N. The driver door opened, and a man wearing a fancy red suit with a sharp haircut and sunglasses stepped out. To Ray, it seemed like something out of a movie. The man opened the back door, and Paris climbed inside, throwing one last angry glance in Ray’s direction before the car drove away.

“I gotta get back to the group. It’s archery day,” Henry said to the two remaining boys, putting on his wide-brimmed hat, then blinked and looked around. “Where did Jonah go, anyway?”

“Paris made him real mad,” Ray said. “I think he just left to cool off.”

Henry frowned. “Alright, well, you guys stay put. Sam’s in the office if you need anything.” He hesitated, then whispered, “Wish I could’ve saved your butts from that witch. Goodbye, you two.”

“Bye!” they both yelled as he walked off.

Griffin slumped back into his chair next to Ray, deflated. Ray, unsure what to say, smoothed out the crinkles in his shorts. Even while sitting and slouched, the older boy seemed to tower above him. After a minute or so, Ray worked up the courage to talk to him.

“Sorry,” Ray said, not looking at him. “I shouldn’t have followed you guys.”

“S’alright, Ray,” Griffin said in a mellow voice. “Everything would’ve been fine if Paris didn’t throw your clothes in the water. He can be so stupid sometimes,” he added, staring blankly into the distance.

“Yeah,” Ray agreed. Griffin seemed much more level-headed than Paris could ever hope to be.

“I hope you…” Griffin began, then paused and looked around. “I hope you enjoyed the other things we did.”

“Yeah, um, it was, um… cool,” Ray stammered, flushing red. “Um, I never felt anything that good before actually.” He bit his lip, as he formulated the question. “So, um… how do I do… that… again? I mean, can I do that again?” he asked hopefully.

Griffin chuckled, grinning awkwardly at him. “Just wank off again. Nothing special about it.”

Ray bit the nail of his thumb. “But, um, don’t I need one of the cigarettes?”

Griffin giggled again. “Oh, Ray, you’re such a cutie,” he said, and went to ruffle his hair, which Ray reluctantly allowed him to do.

“But I’m in the club now, right? So, can’t you tell me all the secrets?”

“Sorry, Ray, there’s no secret to it. Google it if you need more advice.”

“Google?” Ray squeaked. The only way Ray could get on Google was from his dad’s laptop, and he could easily foresee his dad having a meltdown if he ever discovered Ray searching ‘how do you make your dick feel really good?’

Another car pulled into view; this time a small, white sedan. Griffin sat up when he saw it. “Gotta go, Ray. It was cool meeting you,” he said, getting up from his chair to go grab his bag that was leaned up against the wall on the other side of the door. As he walked by Ray, he stopped and turned to him. “Listen, I know Paris can be a huge pain in the bum, but, well… I’m in love with him, and I wish we could have all gotten along. Maybe I’ll see you again next summer.”

Ray gawked at him. He’s in love with Paris? The idea was almost nonsensical, for a multitude of reasons.

“Right, well, see ya!” he said with a slightly confused wave and hurried off to his ride. After stuffing his bags in the trunk, he said something to the driver and ran back over to Ray, arriving utterly out of breath. “Look to the sea,” he said, huffing and puffing. “I wish I could say more.”

“What?” Ray replied, but Griffin was already halfway back to his ride. The car drove off, leaving him alone to fixate confusedly on the older boy’s final words to him. He felt as if he had even more questions than before talking to Griffin. What was it with him and Paris acting so mysterious all the time?

“Good, they’re gone,” Jonah said, appearing from around the corner. “I hate Paris.” He plopped down into a chair next to Ray and took off his cap to fidget with. “I hope he enjoys his eternity in Hell.” 

Images of fiery lakes and smokey ruins conjured in Ray’s mind. He thought back to when he and Paris were kissing, their tongues inexpertly yet passionately wrestling together, and the pleasure he felt when their private parts did the same.

“Am I going to hell?” he worriedly asked, not entirely to Jonah.

Jonah slipped his cap back on, twisting it into position. “Definitely not,” he said with certainty. “Just because those two forced you to do things you didn’t want to, doesn’t make it your fault, no matter what that annoying lady said.”

But… what if I liked it? Ray recalled the singular moment when the pleasure built to its peak—when the ecstasy finally pounded through his body in warm, exhilarating pulsations. If the four weren’t being kicked out, he could easily see himself returning to the lake for more, and more, every single night of camp.

Next to arrive was Ray’s parents’ car. As he spotted the old, ugly gray Volvo rolling down the dusty path, he silently prayed that it wasn’t his dad.

Jonah looked up when he heard the car approaching. “Aw man… is that yours?”

“Yeah. Hey, thanks for being my friend. Really wish we could’a had the whole week,” Ray said wistfully.

“I know!” Jonah replied, putting his glasses back on. “It stinks. But, I hope you enjoy your new life in Clearwater, and I’m sure I’ll be hearing from you again,” he said with a dramatic wink.

“Maybe. I mean, I hope so,” Ray said, but deep down he knew the chances of seeing Jonah again were, to put it lightly, very slim.

“I’m sure of it,” Jonah said, winking again.

Jonah stood up and held open his arms, and the two skinny boys embraced. After separating, Ray waved goodbye and lugged himself and his three heavy bags over to the car. Through the window, his mother frowned at him with tired, squinting eyes. She opened the door and stepped out, grabbing his luggage from him and tossing it in the back as he stood quietly beside her.

“I’m so disappointed,” she said, but pulled him into a hug.

The statement presented Ray with an entirely new fear. How much did she know? He would die if she knew he was found naked with another boy. Lowering his head, he slogged into the back seat, bringing his backpack with him. His mom jumped back into the driver seat without a word and started the car, the engine rumbling menacingly to life.

“Sorry,” he murmured and looked out the window. Jonah was watching and waved to him. Ray forced a meek smile and waved back.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” she asked after a period of silence.

Ray was still uncertain how much she knew, but if he was able to be the one to dictate the story, he might be able to lighten the blow. He decided to start safe. “What d’ya mean?”

“Well, this morning, on the way to work, I got a call saying there was an incident, with some older boys, and marijuana?” she said icily. “Ray, I am beyond furious that you would get involved in that stuff!”

“But, it wasn’t me! I followed the boys when they left the cabin and… I saw them doing that.”

“And you didn’t participate?” she asked doubtfully. “Then why am I driving you home right now?”

Ray thought quickly. “Well, they said they have a thing, where, um, they have to suspend everyone in our cabin if one person does something wrong. Even though me and my friend Jonah didn’t do anything.” When she didn’t reply, he added, “It was these two older boys, well, one of them was a bully, and he pushed me in the lake!”

Her eyes lit up as she looked back at him. “You… they pushed you into a lake?” she asked with a new, concerned tone. He nodded, pouting his lips to play up the sadness. “Honey… I’m so sorry, baby!”

“It’s fine, Mom. I’m fine.”

“It’s just—you know… you’re sure you’re fine?” she probed.

“Yeah.”

“Well, good. Oh gosh Ray, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. The house still isn’t ready, and your dad and I have to work all week. We don’t have anyone to watch you.”

“I don’t need anyone to watch me. I’m twelve!”

“But you’re still my baby, and I’m not leaving you home alone all day for the rest of the summer. Now, where am I going to find a babysitter on such short notice?” she deliberated to herself.

“Babysitter? Mom, I don’t need a babysitter!”

“It’s not up to you. I wonder if Cameron would be receptive—”

“Wait, Cameron?” Ray asked, his eyes popping out of their sockets. “Mom, can he do it? Please? Please?”

“I’ll have to talk to your dad. Oh, he’s going to be furious with this whole situation. You know, the camp hasn’t offered us a refund for this. We’ll see what your dad has to say about that,” she muttered, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

Ray leaned against the window and let his mind slip back to the events at the lake. Even though he was naked, he admitted to himself that it was kind of fun to be naked with other naked people. As he thought about how weirdly big Griffin’s dick was, he found himself getting a boner, and quickly covered his lap with his backpack and checked the rear-view mirror. His mom’s eyes were glued on the road, so he set the bag down beside him and took out his sketchbook. As he placed it on his lap, it rubbed against his crotch through his clothes. He desperately needed to get that feeling again.

“So, nobody’s gonna be home with me today?” Ray inquired as non-suspiciously as he could.

“I just started a new job, I can’t take a day off already. We’ll have to see if Cameron’s available, or someone local. Oh, but Cameron would be so easy… and inexpensive.”

“Please please please, I don’t want anyone else!”

“The decision is your dad’s. We can talk about it tonight.”

Ray frowned. Why were the most unreasonable people always the ones who got to make the decisions? He opened the sketchbook to the page with Mr. Strawberry Man and smiled, remembering Jonah’s excitement when he first shared it with him. The smile was short-lived as he remembered he’d never see Jonah again, that life sucked, and that he now lived in some weird place by the beach, which he hated! How was life so unfair that his friend—maybe his best friend ever—was so unceremoniously ripped out of his life, over something so stupid. He’d known Jonah for a grand total of two days, but Jonah was way cooler than any of his friends back in Canada. None of them cared about his drawings, they just wanted to play sports all the time.

As Ray absentmindedly turned the pages of his sketchbook, he did a double-take when he noticed writing on a page that should’ve been blank. There, written in glorious blue ink in the top-left corner, was a string of numbers; a phone number!

When did Jonah write this? Ray wondered, running his fingers across the pen scrawling. “Mom, can I get a cell phone?”

“Absolutely not, Ray, you know my feelings towards those things. You know, when I was a kid, I—”

Ray tuned her out, fishing around in the seat back pocket until he found a spare pencil, and started drawing a new angle of Mr. Strawberry Man. This time, though, he had a sidekick: Raspberry Boy. Raspberry Boy had cool glasses and acted as Mr. Strawberry Man’s sidekick. Ray wasn’t happy with the way Raspberry Boy ended up looking. He had no idea how to draw a raspberry, and it ended up looking more dorky than anything, but Ray imagined he could be the genius sidekick with all the cool gadgets. The pair were sneaking into a secret base—one which had their secret symbol plastered above the door: the broken circle with the dot in the middle.

Ray looked on with dismay as they pulled up to the new house on the corner of some parked car-packed street. Overgrown grass spilled out of the cracks of the driveway that led to a sullen one-story home that somehow looked even smaller than their last. The front lawn was hidden away behind a gritty stone fence, untended and crawling with weeds, and yet it was still the nicest-looking yard in the immediate area. The neighboring houses seemed to have completely given up on any lawn care. Distant palm trees were the only reminders that the home was in a quiet beach town and not some dreary city suburb.

“This is it!” Ray’s mom sang as she slowly pulled the car up the driveway, coming to a stop in front of the garage door. “The garage door isn’t working, but your dad’s been trying to get someone out here.”

“I thought you said it was by the beach,” Ray said. They both got out of the car, and Ray went to fetch his bags from the trunk.

“The beach is just a fifteen-minute walk that way,” she said, pointing down the street. “There’s a shopping center, too.” She turned and saw Ray’s disappointed frown, though he was secretly relieved to be further from the ocean than expected. “Let me show you inside,” she said, ushering him to the front door.

His mom pulled out a key ring which she fiddled with for a moment before finding the right one. The door swung open into a big, empty living room, with a kitchen tucked away in the back corner. There were boxes all over the place, and aside from a couple of bar stools by the counter, almost no furniture anywhere. Ray sniffed twice, his nose offended by the unusual combination of cabbages and paint.

“Welcome in!” his mom said cheerfully, setting her purse and keys on the counter. “How do you like it?”

“Um, it looks empty. And really small,” Ray replied flatly, dropping his backpack by the door with a thud.

“We’re still not unpacked, and we didn’t need such a big house,” she pointed out. “And look, we have a patio!” she said, walking over to some curtains and opening them to a sliding glass door.

Ray blinked uncaringly. “I have to go to the bathroom,” he said. Before his mom could reply, he turned to his left and began walking down a short hallway. He walked past several open doors until he found the bathroom and slipped inside. 

The living room may have been small, but the bathroom was basically a closet. He closed the door, twisting the lock, then waddled over to the toilet. Unbuttoning his cargo shorts, he let them fall to his ankles, then hooked his fingers in the waistband of his briefs and pulled them down, too. All morning, his misbehaving penis had been alternating between soft and stiff, but flopped out in its soft state.

He peeled his foreskin back before relieving his bladder into the toilet, and sighed with relief. When the stream died off, he tore off a square of toilet paper and dabbed his pee slit with it, then used the remaining dry area to wipe the head of his penis that had remained unwashed since he left for camp.

He then lowered the toilet seat, sat down, and grabbed the flabby worm with three fingers. With the skin peeled back, he couldn’t help but be reminded of Paris’s unusual acorn-shaped head. He noted that his head was much redder than Paris’. It made him feel naughty to expose the obscene pinkish-red knob that spent most of its time hiding away.

He extended his foreskin back over the end. Putting the beast back in its cage, he thought with a giggle. He allowed his fingers to linger on the loose skin and rubbed it between two fingers. The feeling was nice, but nowhere near as intense as it had been the previous night. Still, the stimulation was enough to bring the whole system to life. The worm became a rod, pulsing upward in unison with his heartbeat. He smiled proudly; it was his first time giving himself a boner. Before that, they were only ever an annoyance.

What was it that Griffin had said he needed to do? Wank off? Was that even a real expression, or was it just another one of his British idioms? He grasped his shaft, admiring how squishy it was, yet rock-solid underneath. It was so warm in his fingers—almost hot as it radiated with excited heat. A nearly invisible, subtle blue vein ran down the front, which he traced with the tip of his finger from bottom to top until he reached his pee slit. How strange it looked—like a mouth without any teeth.

“Ma ma ma ma ma,” he said, manipulating it so the ‘mouth’ looked like it was talking. “Hell-o, my name is Pe-nis, and I like to get hard for no rea-son.”

It felt good touching his tip like that, so he rolled down the foreskin a little more and placed his palm over the exposed tip. He tried rubbing it in a circular motion, but that proved overstimulating to the sensitive head, and he jerked his hand away.

Still, he felt closer to cracking the “wank off” code. He held his shaft and rubbed his other hand against the back of it. That felt okay, but the feelings weren’t nearly as strong as on his tender, crimson head. He gave up on the rubbing once it was clear it wasn’t going anywhere.

Sighing, he let go, and his dick bobbed up, pointing straight at his face. He pulled his foreskin back up and stared at his stupid-looking, useless privates, wondering how the heck to make the darn thing work. Maybe it had to do with his balls?

Sliding his hand across the underside of his balls, he felt each little orb through the soft and smooth bag of skin. What were balls even for, anyway? They seemed pointless, and he tried to picture how it would look if it were only his dick. He was giving them another squeeze, when—

KNOCK KNOCK! Ray nearly fell off the toilet from the sound and scrambled upright in a panic.

“Ray, did you see your room yet?” his mom’s voice came through the door.

He raced his underwear up his wobbly legs as he tried to remember if he’d locked the door or not. It caught on his erection, which he stuffed haphazardly into the briefs. “Not yet!” he shouted, trying to mask the fear in his voice. “In a second!”

“Okay, well, there’s a surprise waiting for you,” she said.

“Surprise?” He heard her footsteps becoming further away, and pulled his shorts up and buttoned them. Checking himself in the mirror, his face was a little redder than usual under his disheveled brown hair. He brushed a few sticky strands of hair from his forehead and exited the bathroom. His mom was standing in the room directly across from him.

“Well, you’re lucky your bed frame came in earlier today,” she said, “otherwise you’d be sleeping on a mattress on the floor.”

He joined her side in his new bedroom. Taking up nearly half the room was a full-size bed with white pillows and covers. The bed frame was old, wooden, and looked worn.

“It’s not a bunk bed…” he grumbled, remembering how nice it felt to have his best friend sleeping just above him.

His mom chuckled. “What do you need a bunk bed for?”

“This is just so… small.”

“It’s more than enough. There’s a great big closet for all your clothes, we’ll get you a desk in that corner, a nightstand for your bed, and—oh, your posters are somewhere in those boxes,” she said, pointing to a cluster of brown boxes tucked away in the corner. Scrawled onto each of them in Sharpie was the letter R.

“Where’s the beanbag chair?” Ray asked.

“Oh, Ray, we sold that. If you still want one by Christmas time, we’ll get you one.”

“Okay. What’s the surprise then?” Ray asked. “This all feels like the opposite of a surprise.”

She smiled at him, then motioned towards the bed. He looked at it confused, then curiously knelt and peeked underneath, but it was too dark to see anything. Feeling around under the bed, his hand brushed up against something, and he grabbed it.

“Hu—whaaa?” he gasped, pulling out a black pet carrier bag. He rotated it, coming face to face with a nervous-looking cat that meowed in surprise.

“It’s a kitty!” his mom exclaimed. “Now that we’ve moved, I thought it would be the perfect time to finally get a pet. I wanted to get him more acclimated before you got home, but since you’re here now you’ll just have to get used to his timidness.”

Ray kept on a blank expression. “This isn’t a kitty. How old is it?”

“He’s three,” she clarified. “From a shelter.”

“Oh,” Ray said dejectedly. “Well, what’s his name?”

“He doesn’t have one. In fact, the shelter didn’t have much of a backstory at all for him.”

“I’ll call him Ash, then. Hi, Ash!” he said, wiggling his finger against the mesh window. Ash shoved his face up against the finger.

“Ray, don’t you want to give him a name that isn’t—”

“C’mere, Ash!” he said, unzipping the bag. As the cat stepped out, he pulled him into his lap and pet him. His black fur felt silky and reassuring.

His mom frowned and left the room to let him spend some time with the cat. Ray hardly noticed her departure. He held Ash’s face in his hands, looking it in the eyes, then rolled onto his back and hugged the cat to his chest. Ash purred at the attention, falling onto his side. As he continued petting him, his penis twitched inside his underwear and started to stiffen again. It only took ten seconds before he had another full, insistent erection pressing against the soft fabric.

He groaned and lifted Ash off him, placing him gently on the floor. His whole body felt hot, and he could feel the drumming of his heart. He held open his waistband and stared at the unruly, eagerly twitching pole of flesh.

What the heck do I do about this? “Um, be right back,” he said to the cat, who simply stared at him, and then looked distractedly at a random spot on the wall. 

As soon as Ray stepped out of his room into the hall, headed towards the bathroom, his mom spotted him and called him over.

Frustrated, he diverted to the living room. “What?” he barked at her.

“Ray!” his mom shouted from behind the kitchen counter, putting her hands on her hips. “Do not use that tone with me!”

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“I know you’re upset about camp, but you will not take it out on your family.” She walked over to a box near the kitchen counter. “That cat is your pet. This,” she said, lifting a big crinkly yellow bag, “is his food. And these bowls,” she lifted two small plastic bowls, “are for the food and water.” She placed them on the counter.

Ray wearily rubbed his eyes. “Okay, food, water, got it.”

“I have to go into work. There’s no time to find a babysitter, so I need you to be good and get to know your new home.”

“Why can’t Cameron come over?”

She sighed. “We will talk about that tonight. Today, I need you to watch and take care of that cat.”

“Ash,” he asserted.

She ignored him. “Here is twenty dollars,” she said, counting some bills and placing the money on the counter. “I bought a few groceries, but unless you think you can cook, I need you to order some food for lunch.”

“Okay, Mom.”

“There’s a phonebook in this drawer, and my phone number is on this post-it note,” she told him, then walked over to him and kissed him on the head. “Bye, honey,” she said, then went over and opened the front door.

“Bye, Mom.”

“Please take care of yourself, and be good.”

“Okay, I will.”

She hesitated, then shut the door behind her. Moments later, he heard the car pull out of the driveway and disappear down the road and let out a relieved sigh. Finally, he was alone.

Time to take care of this dick stuff, he thought and headed to the hallway. Ash came strutting by, his tail swaying in the air. Right after I take care of you…

He grabbed the two bowls and set them on the ground near the hallway, then fetched the big bag from the kitchen and stumbled back over, inexpertly pouring far too much food.

As he was walking back to the kitchen, he noticed a cordless phone on the counter. Jonah’s number! he remembered, and sprinted back to his bedroom, nearly tripping over the tail of the hungry cat who was surprised by the sudden activity. He then realized that his backpack was by the front door, sprinted back, and grabbed the sketchbook, thumbing through the pages as he carried it to the counter.

Slamming the book down, he picked up the cordless phone and punched in the numbers that he prayed belonged to Jonah, and hopped onto one of the barstools, kicking his legs with restless energy. It rang once, twice, then stopped.

“Hello?” came a familiar boyish voice.

“Jonah?”

“Ray!” he cried. Ray could hear him smiling through the phone. “You found it! I was waiting for you to get home! I checked on my iPhone, and it said that from the camp, it would take you one hour and fifty-three minutes to get to Clearwater. But, I also got picked up about ten minutes after you did, so I subtracted that, and—well, who am I kidding? You don’t care! How’s your new home?”

“It’s fine. I mean, I think I liked our old one better,” he said. Ash had finished eating and wandered over to him, clawing at his swinging feet. Ray looked down and smiled at him. “My mom got me a cat, too.” He rubbed him gently with his shoe.

“No way! That’s awesome sauce! What’s its name?”

“I named him Ash,” Ray replied, getting up from the stool.

“Cool! Like he rose from the ashes or something,” he said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, kinda,” Ray said dismissively, then clutched the phone with his head and shoulder so he could walk around.

Ash followed him to the refrigerator, which he opened and searched for something to snack on. To his dismay, he couldn’t find any string cheese or Lunchables, but his eyes widened when he saw an unopened carton of milk, and he pulled it out.

“Ah, well, so…” Jonah stammered. “I was wanting to ask, since we never got to talk about it really without other people around. But, what really happened at the lake last night?”

Ray gulped and continued searching meticulously through the cabinets for glasses—not the Jonah kind, but the kind you can drink out of. “Um… I don’t know, really.”

“You don’t know?” Again, Ray could hear Jonah’s teasing grin through the phone. He found some glasses and put one on the counter. 

“It’s a long story,” he said, hoping that was enough to make Jonah drop it. Still, Jonah pressured him for an answer.

“Did they make you go with them? Or did you really just follow them?”

Ray hesitated, weighing if Jonah truly needed to know the full story. As if Jonah could hear his thoughts, he pressed him further.

“Come on Ray, I’m your friend. It’s not fair that everybody knows what happened except me.”

Ray sighed. “I snuck out because they were gone, but I didn’t know where they went. But then I heard them at the lake, so I went over there.”

“What were they doing there?” Jonah asked. It sounded like he put his mouth closer to the phone.

“Um… well, it was really weird.” He poured some milk into his glass, and a little extra into the cat’s water bowl.

“Like, what weird? Why is it such a secret? I’ve been wanting to know all night and morning—it’s been driving me crazy!”

Ray sat down and took a sip of milk. His face soured and he spat it out on the counter, narrowly avoiding dousing his entire sketchbook. 

“What was that?” Jonah asked.

“Crud, one second, Jonah!” he said, then put the phone down and grabbed some paper towels to wipe up the mess, and also swiped the bowl of milk from Ash who seemed irked to have his sipping interrupted, dumping the liquid into the sink.

After cleaning up, he grabbed the carton of milk and flipped it over. Fat-Free. Disgusting.

“Ray? Ray, you there?” Jonah squeaked from the idle phone.

Ray picked it back up. “Sorry, there was… well, it’s not important.”

“So what were they doing at the lake when you got there?” He sounded annoyed.

Ray sighed. The truth had to come out. “Promise you won’t tell anyone I told you?”

“Who am I gonna tell, Ray?”

He had a point. Ray looked around the kitchen, then cupped his hand around the receiver. “Well, they were doing stuff with their… dicks,” he whispered.

It was quiet for a moment before Jonah laughed. “So they were jerking it and you caught ‘em?”

“Jerking it?” Ray was tired of all this new nonsensical terminology.

“Masturbating,” he clarified, but Ray didn’t reply. “Fapping?” he tried, but still no response. “Okay, so you caught them playing with themselves, then what?”

“Well, they kinda only started doing it after I got there.”

“Huh. That’s weird. They are pretty weird guys, though.”

“Yeah,” Ray agreed, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. Alas, it wasn’t.

“Wait, is that why you were naked? Did they make you do it?”

“Kinda,” Ray admitted.

“No way!” Jonah’s voice fell to a hush. “Did you cum?”

Ray furrowed his eyebrows. “Come where?”

“I’m confused. Did you jerk off with them or not?”

“I don’t know what the heck you’re saying!” Ray shouted, exasperated and embarrassed at his lack of understanding.

“Didn’t you learn this stuff in sex ed?”

“Sex ed?”

“Ray… they didn’t teach you sex ed at your school?”

“I was homeschooled the last two years,” he admitted. “Is that a class for… sex things?”

“Holy crap,” Jonah said, exhaling into the phone. “Okay, no problem, let me ask another way. Did they make you do anything with your dick?”

Ray blushed. The last thing he wanted the conversation to be about was his privates, and yet here they were. “They did,” he admitted.

“Was it good or bad?”

“Promise you won’t laugh?”

“Of course!”

Ray took a deep breath. There’d be no returning from this if it damaged their friendship. “Paris was doing stuff to my thing, like touching it and stuff. I didn’t want him to, but then it started to feel good and then it felt really good and honestly crazy. I tried to ask Griffin what happened today, but the stuff he said made zero sense.”

“Um, wow. Alright. I know what to do. Professor Pitts is on the case! Wait, no, that’s the detective thing. Professor Pitts will instruct you on how to play with yourself,” he said in a low voice.

“Play with myself?” He genuinely hoped Jonah was on the same page as him, because the phrase sounded entirely irrelevant.

“Yup! When you play with your ding-dong, it gives you a really good feeling. But, you gotta make sure to prepare first.”

Ray’s stomach fluttered. Was he really about to get some answers? Jonah was the best! “Do you do it?” he asked.

“A professor never reveals his secrets. Listen, first, you gotta get some lotion,” Jonah instructed.

“Lotion?” Ray squeaked, deflating as his confusion returned. What did lotion have to do with anything?

“Yup! Any kind of hand or body lotion.”

“But, we didn’t have any lotion at the lake…”

“Doesn’t matter, you have to have lotion, it’s like the most importantest thing!”

“Um, okay, sure. One sec,” Ray said, getting up from the stool. 

He ran into the bathroom with the phone, opening up all the cabinets under the sink, but they were empty aside from some spare toilet paper. There was a clear bottle of something white on the sink, but upon further inspection, turned out to be hand soap. Maybe that would work?

“I found soap,” he said into the phone.

Jonah made a buzzer sound. “Nope!” 

Ray sighed. “That really won’t work?”

“It has to be lotion.”

Ray, frustrated, returned to the scavenge, pulling back the shower curtain to an empty bathtub. As if to taunt him, his penis started to stiffen again. He was looking for more spots to search when an unintelligible voice boomed in the background of the call.

“Dad, I’m on the phone!” Jonah shouted so loudly that Ray nearly dropped the phone. “Crap, I think I gotta go.”

“Wait!” Ray shrieked. “I’m still looking for it!”

“Get lotion!” Jonah replied. “I’ll call you back when I get home tonight.”

“Tonight?!” Ray shouted. He couldn’t believe it. “What do I do when I get the lotion?”

“Yeah, it’s my friend from camp!” he yelled, but his voice sounded distant. Ray gripped the phone, desperate as the father and son continued to converse. “He has a dry skin condition,” Jonah continued. “No, yeah, it was pretty bad.” 

“Jonah!” Ray cried.

“Talk to you later, Ray!”

“Jonah, I really—”

“Alright, I’m coming!” The phone clicked as Jonah hung up on him.

“Grrr!” Ray growled, slamming the phone down. Now what was he going to do? His boner was tenting out his shorts, and he reached into his briefs to push it aside.

Lotion, lotion... maybe he could figure this out on his own. He stepped out of the bathroom and peered around the hall. There were only four doors in the hallway: the bathroom, his bedroom, a closed door, and what looked like his parents’ bedroom. The closed door was black, unlike all the other white doors in the house, which Ray found a little foreboding. He tried opening it, but it was locked. Even though the house was empty, Ray still checked down the hall before tiptoeing into his parents’ bedroom.

The room was fairly bigger than his, but not by much, and also pretty barren aside from a nightstand and a wardrobe. He searched them both, but still no lotion anywhere. The connected master bathroom also yielded no results.

Grumbling to himself, he headed down the hall, passing by a concerned-looking Ash. There were tons of boxes in the kitchen, but there was no way he was looking through those. The garage was unexpectedly tidy, which Ray was not used to, but still proved to be a lotion-less place. He scoured every cabinet and cupboard in the kitchen, but only found kitchen stuff. Ash meowed at him, but he was so intensely focused that he didn’t even hear it. 

After ransacking the entire kitchen, his eyes turned to the money his mom had left on the counter, a tiny drop of sweat falling down his cheek.

That’s it! Money can be exchanged for goods and services!

He ran over and stuffed the bills into his pocket. He wandered out the door and, remembering the vague direction his mom said a shopping center was in, headed off on an epic quest for the fabled lotion to claim the ultimate reward.