The Kingswood Complication - Chapter 30 (Patreon)

Saturday 11 March 2023

Danny paced slowly through the locker room, looking to one side at his own Year 10 football team and the other to the Year 10 King Edwards team as he stated, “You all know why you’re here!”

“Orgy?” Adrian called out, getting laughs from both teams.

“Fist fight?” one of the King Edwards players called out, getting more laughs.

“Re-enactment of Westside Story?” Mark called out with a grin. The room remained silent aside from a single chuckle from a King Edwards boy that muted as soon as it realised it was alone. “It’s a… a musical. There are these two rival gangs and… never mind!” Mark said akwardly, blushing a little.

“I thought it was funny,” the King Edwards boy who had chuckled muttered quietly.

“Yeah, but only cos you fancy him!” the boy to his side teased.

“Well yeah, have you SEEN him?” the first boy replied.

Mark blushed as he got elbowed by a smirking Mikey, who stood beside him.

“Excuse me, are we interrupting you?” Charlie, captain of the King Edwards team, called out impatiently.

“A little. Yeah!” one of his teammates said, but immediately cringed and shrunk back a bit as he received an absolutely withering stare from his captain.

Danny nodded gratefully to Charlie and continued, “The reason we’re here is that, historically, our schools have… not always been on the best of terms!”

“And some of the older teams here today seem determined to let that continue,” Charlie said, frowning a little at the aggressive attitude his older peers were showing towards the weekend’s SCIPS tournament matches. “But we’re better than them!” he said, then smiled a little as he added, “Right?”

The two teams called out cheers of agreement, always keen to seem better than the elder students.

“So, we’re handling our rivalry in a more… mature manner!” Danny said, feeling a slight tingle in his pants at the thought of what might be ahead. Just as he was about to go on, he heard a fart. He wasn’t sure whether it was real or fake, but it sent rippled of laughter around the room. He sighed, shook his head and said assertively, “We ARE handling it in a more mature manner! We’re gonna have a good, CLEAN match on the pitch!”

“And some good DIRTY fun after!” Adrian called out, causing raucous laughter from both teams, even their captains.

Waiting for the noise to die back down, Charlie called out, “Well that’s really up to you guys! We’ve given you time to discuss and plan the forfeits at stake, so it’s time to hear them! Who wants to go first?”

Adrian, who had been chosen as spokesperson for the Kingswood team, and Tobias, a King Edwards boy who had been selected for his team both stared across at each other, neither volunteering.

“What if I say ours, and then those guys decide to come out with something WAY nastier once they’ve heard it?” Adrian asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at his counterpart.

“Fine, okay,” Danny said as he approached Tobias. “I’ll get Tobias to whisper theirs to me and that way they can’t change it once you’ve said yours,” he offered as a compromise. He smirked at his friend as he added, “And I’m treating that as you volunteering to go first!”

Adrian watched as Danny leaned in close and listened to the rival team’s chosen forfeit. The entire Kingswood team looked decidedly nervous as a grin spread over Danny’s face.

Chuckling wickedly, Danny looked to Adrian and said, “Okay, go on then, let’s hear it!”

Adrian groaned, wondering whether he and his teammates had gone too easy on the King Edwards team. He glanced down the line at his teammates, then back over at Tobias as he said, “If we win, we all get to pick one of you to do whatever we want you to for one hour!”

The King Edwards team immediately burst into chatter, some quietly to each other, but others calling things out. “Whadda you mean whatever you want?” “Will it be gay stuff?” “That’s a bit excessive!” “I kinda want to lose!”

“Okay, okay, okay!” Danny called out to get quiet. Once he had it, he said, “Okay, yes, it’ll probably be gay stuff cos… well, this is Kingswood, but let’s say that one hour must be spent in private, so nobody else will see anything, and a promise from my team that whatever happens, STAYS private. Sound fair?” It got reluctant murmurs of agreement, so Danny smiled and continued, “Great, then Toby, let’s hear yours!”

“It’s Tobias!” Tobias corrected him.

“Yes Toby, I know. That’s what I said!” Danny teased, getting smirks from everyone except Tobias. Waiting a moment for the laughter to die down, he said, “Go ahead!”

Tobias scowled, surprised Danny hadn’t called him Toby again just to get another laugh. Grinning as he cast his gaze down the opposing team, he stated, “If we win, you guys have to get a team photo taken, with ‘King Edwards is the best’ written on your chests.” He paused as the Kingswood boys immediately started muttering to each other, then called out loudly, “Oh… and you have to be naked too!”

The announcement triggered a wave of chatter across both teams for several moments before Danny and Charlie both started calling for quiet.

Charlie called out to address both teams, “So there we have it, those are the stakes, now… who’s up for a game of football?”

*****

“Alright Picasso, how’s it going?” Rob asked jokingly as he walked into the art room.

Josh tutted, rolled his eyes and said, “Picasso sucks. Noses don’t go on the side of your freakin’ head!”

“I think it’s meant to be…” Rob went to argue, but figured a discussion of art history was neither useful nor interesting to him. He shook his head and nodded to the easel Josh was working at as he asked, “How’s it going?”

“Great,” Josh said huffily, pouting immediately.

“Sooooo… still sulking then?” Rob asked as he pulled up a seat close to Josh while keeping the work in progress out of sight. He knew by now that Josh really didn’t like people seeing his art until it was finished.

“I’m not sulking. I’m pissed. There’s a difference!” Josh said, swiping his brush, though he stopped just short of touching the canvas, not wanting an angry stroke to ruin what he was working on.

Rob sighed gently. “Look, they didn’t say you CAN’T watch the match,” he started.

“No, they just want me to sit in a fucking bubble like some kinda freakshow!” Josh scowled.

“Come on, mate, you know it’s for your own good!” Rob insisted.

“They’re MY team. They’re playing a match I should be in, and I can’t even sit on the bench and cheer them on or join the crowd!” Josh explained moodily, placing down his brush.

Rob didn’t reply straight away, he just got up and sat on a table instead, patting the space beside him as he held out an arm towards Josh. The unhappy boy rolled his eyes but approached anyway and took a seat beside Rob, who draped the arm around his shoulders. “I know I can’t understand what it all feels like to be in your position, but lemme explain mine!” Rob suggested. It got another eye roll, but he continued anyway. “We gotta keep you safe, mate. Last time ya got an infection, things got really bad and with so many outside people at the school this weekend, we gotta play EXTRA safe. If you being pissed about missing a few things this year is what it takes to make sure I still got you here next year, then… fuck, I’ll make sure to piss you off every single day until then!”

Josh inhaled deeply, then puffed out his cheeks as he exhaled slowly, shaking his head. His eyes got a little teary and he struggled to start talking until he felt a gentle squeeze from his best friend. “I just… I’m so sick of it all,” he sniffled, “I’m sick of having it get in the way of my life, I’m sick of counting the days til they pump more poison into me that makes me feel worse than the cancer ever did, I’m sick of having to hide away from everything. I’m just… sick of being sick!”

“I know, bud,” Rob said, turning a little to pull Josh into a hug, “I hate it too, but… you’re doing it. You’re beating it and just… keep it up a little longer and we can put it ALL behind us, okay?”

“Mmm-huh,” Josh hummed, nodding gently as he gripped tightly onto his best friend. He remained in place for a few moments, then pulled back and wiped his cheeks with both hands. “Thanks,” he said a little sheepishly.

Rob smiled, then nodded over at the easel and asked, “What ya working on?”

“Something new,” Josh said, glad of the subject change.

Rob nodded silently, awaiting more. Josh had discovered his love of art (and a true talent for it) back in Year 7 and, as one of the few subjects Rob didn’t excel at, he was always amazed and intrigued by his best friend’s ability.

“A lotta people in my support group do art and they always seem to focus on making it about, like… how they feel about cancer and chemo and stuff like that and I tried that but…” Josh paused, frowning thoughtfully, thinking of the most tactful way to put it, “It wasn’t the right fit for me!” As he got another nod from Rob, he continued, “But one of the guys talked about using his art to, like… celebrate the good things and the other day I was in the dorm and I saw the picture I did for Chris’ birthday. I just remember how happy he was when he saw it, so… I decided to do more of that for, like, more of my friends!”

“That’s really cool!” Rob said, smiling sweetly, “So is it like a group thing, or are you doing one for someone specific?”

“Figured I’d do one for everyone,” Josh explained, “The doc says having a long-term project to think about and work on is probably good for me. This one’s for David!” He slid off the table and approached the easel as he asked, “Wanna see?”

“Oh, you’re actually willing to let me see it before it’s finished without having a full-on tantrum about it!” Rob exclaimed slightly teasingly.

Josh tutted and rolled his eyes as he said, “I’m not THAT bad!” He blushed a little as he added quietly, “Plus it’s… basically finished!”

Rob smirked but didn’t tease any further. Instead, he just followed Josh to look at the painting. “Wow!” he exclaimed as he looked at it, “That’s so cool… totally weird, but VERY cool!”

Josh grinned happily at the reaction and began to explain, “Y’see, I painted him as a robot because he’s like, all about the computers and stuff and the way he remembers things makes him seem a bit like a robot and stuff. But that’s not all he is, so that’s why his body’s opened up and showing all the other sides of him inside.” He was gesturing to various parts of the painting as he continued, “This part’s all of us, cos you know how much his friends mean to him, and this part’s all about him and James, and this part… that’s actually how I imagine David would look in drag, y’know, cos he loves watching that drag queen show with Mark!”

Rob listened as Josh finished explaining the painting and stood shaking his head. “You are SO talented!” he said, genuinely in awe. “I know last time I brought this up, you said you wanted to be a professional ninja…”

“Professional DANCE ninja!” Josh corrected Rob with a grin, giving a quick flurry of moves that were half dance and half martial art.

Rob chuckled and shook his head. “Oh yeah, that was it,” he said wryly, “But… I dunno, I think you could actually do THIS.” He gestured to the easel, then went on, “I mean… I don’t know how easy it is to make THIS into an actual paying job, but… you totally could!”

“I guess,” Josh said as his brow furrowed thoughtfully for a moment before he said, “Huh!”

“Sup?” Rob asked curiously.

“I dunno, I guess I spent a lot of time thinking I might not HAVE a future, but… it’s kinda starting to feel like I will!” Josh said wistfully.

“You will!” Rob said confidently, “I know that because I already know I have a long future full of being annoyed by you!”

“Yay, now there’s a life goal I can get on board with!” Josh said happily. As Rob laughed, Josh smiled and said, “Thanks for checking up on me. It’s okay if you wanna go back and watch the match!”

“Nah, it’s only football,” Rob said with a dismissive wave, “If it was rugby you’d be on your own, but for football… I’m okay here!” He took a seat and nodded to the easel as he said, “Carry on!”

“Thanks Rob,” Josh said happily as he picked his brush back up.

*****

The Kingswood and King Edwards Year 10 teams had just started making their way back into the locker rooms. It had been a hard-fought match, but thanks to a goal just a few minutes before the final whistle, the Kingswood team had won 4-3. It had triggered a few kerfuffles in the crowd, with the two schools still less-than-amicable rivals. The more friendly bond between the two Year 10 teams had not yet spread to the older boys who continued to cling onto old grudges.

“The team are NOT happy!” Charlie said with a smirk as he wandered along with Danny, the two captains the last to leave the pitch.

“Really? Mine are fucking ecstatic!” Danny chuckled.

“I can imagine,” Charlie sniggered, “The bet clearly worked though. That was a fuckin’ epic match!”

“Totally,” Danny agreed, “Should we step in to help ‘em pair up to pay the bet, or we just gonna leave them to it?”

“Meh, it’s their problem now,” Charlie shrugged, then looked at Danny curiously as he said, “So team bet aside, there’s still our little private bet to think about.”

Danny gulped slightly. He had agreed to let the team have a bet against King Edwards for the outcome of this match, but he had also agreed to a private bet with Charlie directly, about which of their teams would make it through to the final. “Oh!” he said as he thought about it, “Well we both tied in the first match, but now we’ve got a win and you’ve got a loss. Not looking good for ya!”

“I guess that depends on what we’re actually betting. Based on what I know about you, losing a bet to you is probably as fun as winning one against you,” Charlie said with a broad grin.

“Are you flirting with me?” Danny asked bluntly.

“Yeah, you wish, gayboy!” Charlie said, then immediately looked worried as he said, “I can… I mean… we’re THERE, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, chill straightie, we’re good,” Danny laughed, but the smile quickly dropped.

“Whassup?” Charlie asked curiously.

Danny hummed thoughtfully then shook his head and said, “Nah, it’s fine, it’s nothing!”

“Come on, captain to captain, dish it!” Charlie insisted, coming to a stop to lean on a wall of the corridor.

Danny sighed as he leaned on the wall beside Charlie and said, “This’ll probably sound totally lame, but… I dunno, you insult me and I feel fine, but…” He paused to look off in the direction of the locker room. He sighed again and said, “I’m just having this weird thing… it’s hard to explain… it’s like, my mates all insult me and, y’know, it’s just banter and stuff. They don’t say anything really harsh and they don’t really say anything that’s untrue, it just…”

“Builds up?” Charlie suggested with a nod. As he got a surprised look from Danny, he smiled and said, “That’s not lame. It’s… that’s actually kind of a big problem at my school, it’s one of the things we’ve been working on this year, actually.”

Danny stared for a moment and smiled as he said, “Wow, I know you said you guys are working on improving things over there, but… that’s pretty cool. That happens a lot there, does it?”

“Mmm-huh,” Charlie hummed, nodding again as his brow heavily furrowed, “There’s this, like… whole culture where people ONLY know how to be mean to each other. Even if they don’t really mean it or think it, they end up saying shit mostly cos they’re just scared of becoming a target themselves if they don’t keep everyone looking at someone else. It’s fuckin’ tough sometimes!” He paused for a second as Danny nodded silently, then cocked his head at the other boy as he said slightly leadingly, “Self-esteem is basically non-existent.”

“Yeah,” Danny said wistfully, “I keep getting told that’s one of my issues too!”

Charlie laughed, but immediately looked apologetic as he said, “Sorry, not laughing at that. Just… if you’d told me a couple of years ago that a King Edwards captain and a Kingswood captain would be standing together, chatting honestly about something like mental health, I would saida you were crazy!”

“Maybe not the best choice of words,” Danny sniggered, getting a chuckle in return, “But yeah, it’s… kinda cool actually!”

Charlie suddenly gasped gently and asked, “Hey, have you got, like… a supply room in here?”

Danny grinned as he nodded and said, “Yeah, but I use it for hook-ups more than actual supplies. If that’s what you’re after, you could at least wait til you lose the bet!”

“NOW who’s flirting?” Charlie teased, “But no, I need balls!” As he saw Danny go to speak again, he quickly added, “Tennis balls and ping-pong balls, ya dirty git!”

“Honestly, I’m still having dirty thoughts about you and ping-pong balls,” Danny joked, “But it’s this way. Should I ask why?”

Charlie suppressed another giggle and asked, “You got anyone I can speak to about anti-bullying stuff? This whole… SCIPS thing, it’s meant to be about school’s working together, so… I wanna share a lesson we had!”

“I think I know the perfect guys to help!” Danny said, already intrigued.

*****

For a boy with renowned control issues, restraining himself blindfolded to a chair and letting and unknown person do things to him SHOULD sound like a nightmare scenario. Yet somehow, for Nicky, the time he spent locked and at the mercy of his mysterious friend, ‘Locky’, was the most relaxing and enjoyable part of his week… usually.

His feelings on the arrangement, which had now been going on for almost six months, had changed several times. His initial fear turned to interest, which turned into pleasure, which gradually turned into a form of attraction. His brief stint of believing the mysterious boy was Chris had made him re-evaluate his feelings once again, only to find out he wasn’t Chris and return right back to a clueless mix of enjoyment, attraction and frustration.

“Who are you?” That was all he needed to ask. Admittedly he didn’t know if he would get an answer, but it was worth a try… or was it? The few times he had hinted at progressing things, Locky had basically run off and their arrangement had come close to ending. There was other things Nicky could do, dozens of ways he could probably find out Locky’s true identity, but doing that at this stage just felt… dishonest!

Nicky had been caught up in his racing thoughts so much that he hadn’t even heard Locky come in. It was only when he felt the familiar hand on his chest that he was shaken from his thoughts and brought back to reality, grinning massively. “Hi!” he said cheerfully. He got a casual stroke of his chest in return as a form of greeting.

“How you doing? Having a good weekend?” Nicky asked. Conversation was always difficult when he was mostly limited to closed questions, but it was still nice to try. He felt fingers on his right nipple to indicate a yes. “Excellent. Been enjoying the football?” Nicky asked, then without thinking, added, “Or maybe… playing in it?” While it could pass as a general question of interest, he realised immediately that it was potentially revealing information, which was probably why he felt no touch in return. “Right, sorry, yeah,” he said sheepishly, “I’ll… stop talking!”

Nicky immediately felt fingers grasp at his left nipple to indicate a, “No!” from Locky. Smiling, he said, “Okay, I’ll just… talk. You feel free to touch!”

Nicky began casually chattering, avoiding any direct questions this time, as he felt Locky’s hands and mouth begin to explore his body. Though a hand or mouth occasionally made its way to his throbbing erection, Locky was making no deliberate attempt to stimulate Nicky directly. For now, he just seemed content to be touching him.

“And that’s when Mikey said, ‘I may hear voices that aren’t there, but even I know that’s crazy!’ It was so funny, but… also kinda nice that Mikey feels like he can talk about that stuff more,” Nicky finished recounting a story. As he stopped talking, he realised the touching hadn’t stopped, but it had turned distinctly non-sexual. One of Locky’s hands was up at Nicky’s head, running through his hair. The other one was casually tracing random shapes and patterns around the centre of Nicky’s chest, amongst the gentle dark hairs. Nicky let out a happy mew as he rested silently for a moment, enjoying the feeling. “This is nice,” he said quietly.

Locky’s hands froze for a moment, then pulled away before one hand returned, grasping at Nicky’s dick.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it weird,” Nicky said awkwardly, followed by a gentle shudder as Locky had gotten to work rapidly stroking him. “I just… meant that… ahh fuck…” Nicky trailed off as he felt the pleasure of the eager masturbation. While the prolonged touching hadn’t been overtly sexual, it had definitely turned him on and he could now feel the dull ache in his balls from a growing need to cum.

Nicky let out a louder groan as he felt lips on his nipple. “That’s… unnh… oh god… fuck…” he panted, feeling himself close to the brink of release. “How do you… make me… feel like this?” he panted before finally teetering over the edge. Feeling his entire body tense, he showered himself with spunk, ejecting a massive load all over. “Ahh fuck… so good…” he gasped.

Locky’s hand finally slowed as the orgasm began to subside.

“Please don’t rush off,” Nicky pleaded weakly. “I know… I know our time… is probably almost up,” he panted, still catching his breath, “I just… please stay for a bit. Please!”

Nicky felt nothing for a moment and worried that Locky had ignored the pleas and left, or maybe even left quicker BECAUSE of them, so it was with a hefty dose of relief that he felt fingers in his hair again.

“Look, I… I’m not… asking who you are,” Nicky said, then paused to take a few deep breaths, “I just… I keep feeling these things… for you, and they’re weird because they’re things I shouldn’t feel about someone I don’t even know, but… but I do and I… don’t… I don’t know if they’re real or just in my head or whether I like YOU or just the things you do.” He paused, taking a few more deep breaths, trembling a little. “I just… I can’t explain all of this to anyone else because who, aside from you, would even begin to understand this shit. I’m just… really confused!” He was glad of the blindfold, as it both hid and absorbed the tear that leaked from one eye as he bared his feelings. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make this weird or… or into something that it’s not, I just… I love it, but… it’s really confusing me and I needed to say that!”

The hand pulled away again, though this time it wasn’t followed by rapid steps away. Nicky felt two hands grab at him, followed by a head pressing against his head and shoulder – Locky was… hugging him? Nicky sniffled slightly, and in doing so inhaled a lungful of Locky. He remained still, though considering he was restrained, that wasn’t really by choice, though had he been able to move, he wouldn’t have! He enjoyed the feel of the other boy holding him and let out a slight moan as he felt him pull away.

“Look, I’m really not asking who you are,” Nicky insisted, “I’m just saying… if… or when… you want to tell me, I… well… it doesn’t have to mean that this ends. I think I like you, but…I can’t know until… I know!”

Nicky heard a gentle sigh, followed by the feeling of a delicate caress to his cheek before Locky finally walked away.

A couple of minutes later, when the timer locks clicked free, Nicky sat up and pulled off his blindfold. He looked around, hoping in vain that Locky had stayed, but once again he was gone. As he climbed off the chair and headed for his clothes, he saw a hastily written note baring just four words – ‘I’ll think about it!’

Nicky couldn’t stop smiling at the note. He quickly dressed and then pulled out his phone as he headed for the door. “Huh!” he grunted gently as he saw a message that said, [All Year 10s, come to the gym at 2. Mandatory lesson!] He also had a message from Angel, the Year 9 boy he had worked with on the unfortunately-acronymed ABDL (‘Anti-Bullying Defence League’, not ‘Adult Baby Diaper Lovers’!).

[Wanna help me with a bullying thing? Come to the gym at 1.30 if you’re free!] the message stated.

Nicky glanced at the time and quickly typed back, [Just saw your message. On my way!]

*****

Mikey frowned as a Year 8 boy jumped aside to stand with his back to the wall as he passed by. Was that normal? Had they always done that? He knew he had previously instilled fear in some of the other students because of his infamous mood and temper, but it was hard to recall if that was a normal reaction, or the result of his now widely known schizophrenia diagnosis. He considered just straight-up asking the scared-looking younger boy, but he didn’t want to risk looking confrontational, so he just walked on by.

<<He thinks you’re gonna kill him!>>

Mikey rounded the corner and stopped, frowning to himself as he shook his head. Between a fun morning with his friends, a hard-fought football match and then a lively lunch, today had been a fairly good day for Mikey. Though he had heard the occasional faint noise that could have been in his head, it could have just as easily been someone in the distance, so he had not dwelled on it. This was an unmistakable voice though; one he knew well.

He had considered naming them at one point, but between advice from his therapist and his own preferences, he had opted against it. There were a lot of different voices, some kind while some were mean, some supportive while others were critical, some helpful while others… really were not! He knew this voice, it was one of the darker ones and it was quite jarring to hear it after so long without it.

Taking a deep breath, inhaling the slightly musty scent of the Home Building as he leaned on the wall and felt the cold stone beneath his fingers, he took a moment to ground himself. He opened his eyes to make sure nobody else was around. He always found what he was about to do worked better when spoken aloud rather than in his head, if only because spoken words were more ‘real’ to him, though he was always careful not to be overheard doing it, for fear of adding fuel to the ‘crazy’ reputation.

Seeing the coast was clear, he said quietly to himself, “He might think I’m gonna kill him, but he probably doesn’t. Most likely, he was just getting out of the way of a random older student. If not that, then maybe he just knows me and wanted to move clear cos I’m a dick. And if not that, then maybe he does know I’m schizo and he’s just poorly educated or doesn’t know how to react. Thinking I want to kill him is REALLY unlikely, so… shut up and leave me alone. You’re not helpful, you’re not real and you’re not ruining my day!”

He paused for a moment, allowing himself to listen to the distant voices coming from various rooms around the building. No other voices spoke back, so he smiled triumphantly and said, “Yeah, that’s what I thought, bitch!” Grinning to himself, he continued on his way. It was nearly time to head over to the gym for the meeting he had been summoned to, but he decided to look for any of his friends first to see if they wanted to walk over together.

“Hey, Mikey, right?” a voice suddenly called out.

Mikey looked round and saw a young man dressed in the uniform most non-teaching staff at the school wore. He looked to be in his early twenties, slightly on the shorter side of average height and the heavier side of average weight. His hair a shaggy mess of black, and though he wore the standard uniform, it was significantly less tidy than most of the staff wore it.

Mikey looked round curiously for a moment, then replied, “Umm… yeah, why? Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!”

The young man snorted with laughter at the defensive greeting. “Relax, do I LOOK like a teacher?” he asked with a wry grin.

“No, you look like a recently-fired staff member who now lives as a hobo!” Mikey replied without thinking, but quickly caught on to what he had said and offered, “Sorry, I… that was rude. I mean… true, but… rude, sorry!”

The young staff member laughed again and said, “Hey hobo chic was the look I was going for this week so… I’ll count that one as a win! I’m Todd!” Though he was smiling, he did discretely tidy himself up a little, tucking in his shirt.

“Oh, umm… why?” Mikey asked curiously.

“Because… that’s my name!” Todd said, a little bewildered by the question.

“Sorry, yeah, no, I get that. I’m familiar with how names work,” Mikey said, a little embarrassed, but mostly confused by the whole encounter so far. “What I mean is… why do you… know who I am and why are you talking to me?” As he saw Todd go to answer, he quickly added, “And I don’t mean that in a ‘you’re just a staff member and I’m some stuck-up kid at an expensive school and you shouldn’t be talking to me’ kind of way cos that ain’t how we do things round here. I just… whadda you want?”

“Well YOU are absolutely delightful,” Todd said with a sincere smile at the blunt but insightful rant. “And no, I’m not being sarcastic. That was funny!” he clarified.

Mikey grinned reluctantly and said, “Thanks!” before returning to his confused frown.

“Okay, so… the reason I’m saying hello, well… it might be a MASSIVE invasion of privacy and if it is, well… I’ll probably lose my job and become homeless where my look will finally be appropriate and die hungry on the street, so don’t let that affect how you react to this,” Todd stated with an impish smile.

Mikey sniggered and said, “Okay, you’re funny too!”

“Thanks,” Todd replied, “But yeah, sorry, getting to the point, I have schizophrenia!”

The smile dropped from Mikey’s face and he took a slight step back in surprise. “You… you… so you… know, and you’re…” he stuttered awkwardly.

“Ugh, sorry, this was a REALLY stupid way to do this and totally not how I was intending to meet you, I just saw you here and… and… reacted,” Todd said sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” Mikey said, taking a step closer. He was mildly confused about what the staff member was even doing there right now anyway, but he shook it off and said, “Just caught me by surprise, that’s all. It’s not a problem!”

“Good,” Todd said, visibly relieved. “I just… I’m fairly new here and I overheard someone mention you and your diagnosis and…” He paused, looking thoughtful before he went on, “I thought I’d say hi and just say… from one guy with schizophrenia to another, if you ever wanna talk about it with someone who maybe understands it in a way others don’t… I’m around, okay? That’s all, no pressure, no expectation. Y’know… you never mention it again and neither will I am hopefully no harm done, but… I’m here!”

Mikey stared at the young man for a few moments, clearly analysing him deeply. Eventually he nodded and said, “Yeah, okay, I appreciate that. Maybe we can talk some time!” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at it, then said, “Not now though. I got somewhere to be, but I’ll see you around, Todd!”

“Nice to meet you, Mikey,” Todd said, waving the boy off.

*****

Charlie smiled a little anxiously at the gathered students of Year 10 sitting in front of him. While he had intended to share his ‘lesson’ just with the Kingswood students and the team members from his King Edwards team, when he spoke to the teachers about doing it, they had quickly and eagerly suggested it would be a good opportunity for all of the Year 10 teams from all eight schools. As such, the crowd had grown significantly. “Thank you all for coming!” he called out a little nervously when he finally got quiet.

“Hey, that’s usually Danny’s line!” Steve Harris called out, getting a wave of laughter from the Kingswood boys.

Nicky, who was standing quite nervously at the front with Angel and the other volunteers, exchanged a slight frown with Danny who was doing his best to laugh it off.

At the back of the room, several teachers and chaperones stood, keeping an eye on their respective groups.

“Okay, that was funny,” Charlie said with a smile that quickly dropped as he added, “Who else thinks so?”

A lot of the Kingswood boys and a few of the others raised their hands, though a few hands got halfway up and dropped back down, seemingly catching on to a slight hint of what was happening.

Charlie gestured for them to lower their hands and asked, “So if I gave an even more obvious line, like…it takes a lot of balls to shout out something like that…” He trailed off, deliberately leaving it open for a follow-up line.

“Danny takes a lot of balls too!” Adrian shouted out, getting more laughs as he failed to resist the set-up.

“Mmm-huh,” Charlie hummed. As he looked round at Nicky, he got a nod back, then looked to Adrian and said, “You, stand up!”

“Ooooh!” several of the other boys chorused.

Adrian rolled his eyes at the others and stood, smirking a little.

“Up here,” Charlie said, gesturing for Adrian to come to the front.

Adrian made his way through the crowd and up to the front, stopping at the spot Charlie had indicated.

“What’s your name?” Charlie asked politely.

“Adrian,” Adrian replied, feeling a little self-conscious with 150 students and several adults staring over at him.

“Okay, not anymore,” Charlie said dismissively. Giving a quick gesture, one of the volunteers, a King Edwards boy threw a tennis ball at Adrian.

“Hey!” Adrian yelped as it hit him in the shoulder.

Charlie’s arm shot out and deftly caught the ball on the rebound, then held it up to the crowd to show the word, ‘Dickhead’ written on it. “There ya go, there’s your new name,” he said to Adrian, then looked out over the crowd and said, “Everyone, say hello to dickhead!”

“HELLO DICKHEAD!” the crowd chanted back, before giving a few laughs.

Arian looked absolutely bewildered and a little red-faced.

“Ah, chill, it’s only banter, right?” Charlie laughed, throwing an arm around Adrian, “You can handle a bit of banter, can’t you, dickhead?” It got more sniggers.

“Yeah,” Adrian said dismissively. “Oy!” he yelped as another tennis ball hit him, stopping the remaining sniggers from the audience.

The ball bounced away towards the crowd, where Harley Edwards caught it.

“Read it out,” Charlie called out loudly.

“You’re ugly!” Harley called out as he looked at the words written on the ball.

“Hey,” Adrian complained.

“Mate, chill,” Charlie said, shaking his head again, “It’s just a joke! Wow, can’t you take a joke?”

“It’s not a joke, it’s just an insult,” Adrian pouted quietly.

Charlie cocked his head curiously and asked, “What, now you can’t handle a tiny little insult?”

“I can handle an insult,” Adrian insisted.

“Well,” Charlie said, backing away from Adrian. He glanced around at the volunteers and said, “You heard him, fellas!”

The bombardment began. “Loser!” “Idiot!” “Slut!” “Moron!” “Everyone hates you!” “Wanker!” “Nobody likes you!” With each shout, a ball flew at Adrian bearing the insult. None of the balls were thrown hard, but with so many flying at him at once, he had no chance of deflecting them all. Even the gentle thud of them striking him began to hurt after a few moments as he was pelted from various directions.

“Stoppit!” Adrian yelped out, desperately trying to cover any sensitive parts from the flying balls.

“Okay, enough,” Charlie called out, giving a gentle nod to the adults at the back who were beginning to look concerned.

Silence returned, save for the gentle thud of tennis balls bouncing to a halt on the ground.

Charlie took a few moments to let the quiet really settle in before he approached Adrian and asked quietly, “You okay?”

“That was not fun!” Adrian whispered back, avoiding looking at the crowd.

“Yeah, kinda the point,” Charlie whispered, then nudged Adrian back towards the crowd and said loudly, “Thank you to our volunteer!” He waited a moment for Adrian to sit, then called out, “So who can tell me what the point of that was?”

Unsurprisingly, nobody shouted out anything funny, but a few hands raised.

As Charlie pointed to a boy from Moderna Academy with his hand raised, the boy answered, “To show words can hurt!” The suggestion earned a few murmurs from the boys around him, seemingly striking a nerve.

“Yep, very good,” Charlie nodded, then pointed to a boy from Fothergill.

“Just because it’s ‘banter’, that doesn’t mean it’s harmless!” the boy suggested, prompting some of the boys near him to glance round at some of their peers. Seemingly they had their own issues of this kind.

“That’s right,” Charlie said with another nod.

As Adrian raised his hand, Charlie looked at him and hesitated a moment before he said, “Adrian?”

“Was it to show that something that seems harmless… might not actually be!” Adrian said, looking utterly devastated. The message had not been a subtle one and he had quickly caught on to where it had likely come from, as well as his role in it.

Charlie hummed his agreement and said, “Very true. Any more?” He pointed to a Crestwood student.

“You don’t know how much something hurts unless you’re the one taking the hit?” the boy posited.

“Excellent, yeah, these are all true. There’s no one right answer, but definitely a lot of lessons here,” Charlie said, then continued, “We all live in similar environments, and we know what it’s like to be around the same people twenty-four hours a day. You joke, you mess around, you have a laugh and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s actually fun most of the time!” He reached down to pick up a tennis ball and held it up as he said, “Even the occasional insult DOES have its place, but… you keep hitting the same person in the same spot… eventually you’re gonna leave a bruise, so maybe… we should all take some time to think before we point all of our ‘jokes’ at the same target!”

The words resonated around the room, gradually disappearing into silence before someone at the back of the room started clapping. Everyone else soon joined in.

Charlie smiled proudly around the gym, glad that the lesson seemed to have landed effectively. As the applause died down, he called out, “Okay, we got one more exercise to do, but we’re gonna need you to split up. Make some groups of around ten, try and group up with people you don’t know and one of the volunteers will be round in a moment to show you what we’re doing.”

As the boys all got up and started milling around to form groups, Danny spotted Adrian standing motionless. As he approached and saw Adrian looked a little tearful, he could feel himself welling up too.

“Hey, if you two need to take a minute,” Charlie said, patting both boys on the back at once as he nodded over towards the door.

Danny and Adrian both hurried across and by the time they got out of the gym, both boys’ cheeks were streaked with tears.

“Danny, I’m so sorry, I… I… I…” Adrian whimpered frantically, shaking his head.

“No, it’s okay, it’s okay!” Danny sniffed back at him, grabbing him by both arms.

“I didn’t… I mean… I never meant…” Adrian panted, sniffling heavily as a hundred thoughts tried to come flowing out at once.

“Shhh,” Danny hushed him as he pulled him into a hug. They held together for a couple of minutes, each gripping on tightly until they finally began to regain a hint of composure.

“Danny, I’m sorry,” Adrian said, finally a little calmer, “I just… never thought of it as… as… hurting you! I swear, you know I love you, I’d never hurt you on purpose!”

“I do,” Danny said, nodding through a frown, “And I think that’s probably why I let it get so bad. I know you never mean any harm, neither do the others, but… after a while it’s just… started to hurt. A lot!”

“I’ll stop!” Adrian said with an emphatic nod. “We’ll all stop! I mean, even if they don’t take the hint from this stuff today, I’ll make them! Nobody’s ever gonna be mean to you again.”

“No, that’s not what I want!” Danny said firmly, “I don’t…” He stopped, sighing heavily as he turned away, then leaned on the wall and slid down it to sit on the floor. Watching as Adrian sat down beside him, he stated, “I don’t wanna stop people having fun! And honestly, those sorts of comments really are frickin’ hilarious. I guess all I really want is…” He paused again, thinking of the best way to put it. Finally venturing a smile, he thought back to Charlie’s lesson and suggested, “Every now and then, maybe toss your balls at someone else!”

“Ah, now I know you’re just trying to set me up!” Adrian said, chuckling a little awkwardly. “But… yeah, I guess… I guess it doesn’t ALL have to be about Danny!”

“Even though most things are!” Danny said with a wry grin. As Adrian gasped gently, Danny giggled and said, “What, can’t I toss myself? Wait, that didn’t come out right!” Getting a laugh out of Adrian, he reached out to the side and said, “Come here!” Pulling Adrian close, he kissed his forehead and said, “I love ya too, ya big bully!”

“Wow, too soon,” Adrian scoffed, “Totally fair, but still… too soon!”

*****

“We only make peace with our enemies. That’s why they call it making peace!” Chris stated smugly as he looked across the dorm to the sofa where David was talking to Rob.

“Ah, see, very wise words!” David said eagerly. He was in the process of trying to get any of the others to do something they didn’t want to do, and the comment from Chris was his first glimmer of hope.

“Wise words?” Rob scoffed, “He’s just quoting Game of Thrones!”

“Yes, and… he’s quoting a very wise character!” David said hopefully.

Chris smirked as he sat up and said, “He kinda got his throat cut for being a backstabbing little shit-sack, so… maybe not THAT wise!”

“Oh, a backstabbing little shit-sack,” Rob said as he looked at David. He cocked his head quickly, looked over at Chris and added a quick, “Great choice of words!” He looked back to David and finished, “Quite appropriate for the subject!”

“Hey!” David snapped firmly, “I get that Axel did something wrong, but do NOT call my mentee a shit-sack!” David looked furious, an unusual look on the diminutive boy.

“Okay, geez, sorry,” Rob said defensively, “But still, why the fuck would I wanna do ANYTHING to help YOU help HIM? Why would any of us?” He looked over at Chris who was nodding his agreement and then to Nicky who had remained silent in an attempt to stay out of it.

“Well… because it’s the right thing to do!” David attempted to appeal to their better natures.

“Pfft, no!” Rob scoffed.

“Because… we’re nice people?” David tried instead.

“Yeah, WE are. HE’S not!” Chris smirked.

David huffed, annoyed at every attempt to get help being so quickly shot down. “Okay, then… because The Lads have got to live together for the next seven years and we don’t want ‘em to be miserable!” David reasoned.

“Pfft,” Rob scoffed again, “The rest of ‘em are getting on great now. Perfectly happy!”

“Yeah, the only one still suffering is Axel and ain’t nobody losing sleep over that!” Chris agreed.

“That’s a double negative!” David pouted.

“You’re a double negative!” Chris said back petulantly, getting a slight snort of amusement from Rob.

“Oh come on, guys, pleeeeeease,” David pleaded pathetically. “I don’t know how to make this better!”

“Look, you can’t just FORCE our guys to forgive yours because YOU feel guilty about what he did,” Rob said bluntly. Even though he could see David was a little offended, he went on, “I get that you just want to help him. That’s great, it’s what we’re here for, but honestly… I have absolutely NO reason to try and push my mentee OR my little brother to be friends with someone who I don’t think belongs here!”

David stared at Rob, his mouth slightly agape for a moment. “You think… Axel doesn’t belong here?”

The silence that followed was rather uncomfortable as Chris and Nicky both awaited Rob’s response.

Eventually, Rob shrugged and said, “I don’t know. All I DO know is that he’s a kid who spent months making the people around him miserable for his own entertainment. That doesn’t sound like someone I’d want to be around!”

David stood up, looking quite upset as he glanced round at Chris and Nicky to ask, “Do you guys feel the same?”

“No!” Chris said awkwardly, then winced a little as he said sheepishly, “And by no, I mean… yes!”

Nicky just gave a silent shrug.

David huffed and hurried to the door, almost knocking into Gray as he dashed out.

“Hey, oh… okay then,” Gray said, confused at the sudden departure and lack of greeting from David. “Somewhere important to be?” he asked curiously.

Chris glared at Gray and growled, “Yoko!”

Gray shook his head and shrugged curiously as he looked at Nicky and asked, “Is this like a Groot thing? Is that all he can say?”

“YOU KNOW PERFECTLY WELL WHO YOKO ONO IS!” Chris snapped. As he got another shrug back, he said moodily, “She SEDUCED John Lennon and broke up THE BEATLES!”

“Who?” Gray asked, feigning ignorance. “Are they some obscure little indie band nobody’s ever heard of? You should really use references with a broader appeal!” he said teasingly.

“Oh my god, oh my god, I’m going to punch him!” Chris grumbled. He didn’t actually blame Gray for Stage Fright breaking up, but at this point arguing with him was becoming a very hard habit to break.

“No you’re not, now shut up!” Nicky said dismissively to Chris, then cocked his head curiously at Gray and asked, “What you doing here? I thought you football guys had some… big secret football thing!?”

Gray shrugged and said, “Yeah, it wasn’t for me. Really not my thing!” He flopped down onto one of the empty sofas. “Most the guys from my dorm are either at that, or off being a band that DIDN’T break up!” he said, referring to ‘Triple Jay’ the band made up of three of his dormmates. Holding back a smirk at the irate look on Chris’ face, he added, “Oh hey, maybe go find them. I bet they’ve heard of these BOOTLES you’re so obsessed with!”

“I… you… I…” Chris stuttered, verging on apoplectic. He jumped to his feet and snapped, “You are a VERY annoying person!” before disappearing into his room, slamming the door behind him.

“Yeah, I reckon I’m gonna go too,” Rob said as he looked from Gray to Nicky and back, “Nothing personal, Gray.” He headed for his room as he explained, “I’m just really invested in this book I’m reading. It’s all about how to make terrible excuses to avoid being the third wheel!”

“Ha, he’s funny,” Gray laughed as Rob’s door closed. “Well, now I’ve successfully scared off literally everybody else… whadda you wanna do?” When Nicky didn’t answer right away, he stared at him curiously and asked, “What’s up?”

Nicky pursed his lips thoughtfully for a second, then questioned, “If you ask someone to do something they clearly don’t wanna do and they say ‘maybe’ that’s basically a no, right?”

“What?” Gray replied, shaking his head in slight confusion.

“Ugh, never mind, I know it’s a no. I guess I should just accept that,” Nicky said sadly, his mind still stuck on Locky. He had been busy constantly since their meeting earlier and this was his first chance to really think about it. His mind had gone straight to assuming the worst.

“Look, whatever it is… and I’m guessing you ain’t gonna tell me,” Gray said, raising an incredulous eyebrow which earned a nod in response, “All I can say is… maybe is maybe, no is no. If ya read more into it than that then you’re only gonna confuse yourself with stuff that might not even happen.”

Nicky smiled sweetly at the comment. “I think we’ve spent WAY too much time together, cos you’re actually starting to sound smart,” he said jokingly. “I reckon you’re right though. So… forget that. Let’s go do something fun!”

“Yay!” Gray cheered happily.

*****

“I am SO glad you got to pick first!”

Mark smiled at the comment from the King Edwards boy. In order to pay up for the team bet that had been made, the two teams had needed to pair up. To keep it ‘fair’, Kingswood boys had been chosen at random, and subsequently allowed to choose a member of the losing team for their one-hour forfeit. While the two teams had gotten to know each other fairly well in the three years they had been competing against each other, Mark knew the opposition better than most, having been at King Edwards for Years 7 and 8. He suspected it was no accident that his name had come out first, something he made a mental note to thank Danny for later.

“Yeah, me too,” Mark said with a nod, “Some of the guys I… really wouldn’t have felt comfortable with!”

“But you felt comfortable with me?” the other boy asked. His name was Xavi Branson, a cheerful but quiet boy who stood about a foot shorter than Mark and substantially slimmer. In many ways, he was the ‘Josh’ of the King Edwards team – a diminutive-looking player who excelled at speed and agility rather than the sheer strength of his much larger peers.

“Well… less than the others,” Mark stated honestly, “I know Greg was always the ringleader, but most of those guys…” He trailed off, not really wanting to dwell on what his life had been like at the other school. “You were never a dick to me, so… here we are,” he said with a shrug.

“And here I was thinking you picked me cos I’m cute!” Xavi said with a grin.

“You remind me of someone who’s cute,” Mark said with a shrug. He blushed a little but tried not to let it show.

“Well… I guess I’m yours for an hour,” Xavi said, cocking his head as he looked at Mark expectantly. “What’s the plan?”

Mark shook his head and shrugged as he said, “Nothing really. I ain’t gonna make you do gay stuff just for a bet.”

“Oh,” Xavi said, sounding a little disappointed.

Mark frowned at him a little curiously as he asked, “What, you WANT to do stuff like that? Are you gay?”

Xavi looked thoroughly shocked to be asked the question so directly, or to even hear the word used so openly. “No, straight,” he said a little defensively, adding an unnecessary, “I have a massive collection of straight porn to prove it!”

“Good for you,” Mark smirked, “Then… what?”

“Well after you guys told us the bet, a bunch of us were talking and we mostly kinda said that whatever you guys wanted to do… we’d do. Y’know, we made a bet and we should pay up on it cos we KNOW that if you guys had lost, you’d have done what you had to!” Xavi explained. “We’re on your turf, we should follow your rules, right?”

“Seriously? They weren’t all just, like… ‘eww gays are disgusting, if you do gay stuff we’ll murder you’ then?” Mark asked, slightly bitterly.

Xavi looked a little sheepish as he shook his head and explained, “No. And that’s… kinda down to you!”

“Me?” Mark exclaimed in surprise, “Why?”

“Well… the way you left, and the stuff we found out after, and then… Greg acting the way he did last year, most of us just felt pretty shitty about it all and we know we can’t change your time at King Edwards, but… I dunno, we kinda thought we could make things better for the ones that come after us,” Xavi said with a meek smile.

“So… something good’s actually come from the me and Greg stuff?” Mark asked, though it was more pleasant observation than actual question.

“Yeah, and… well, like you said, maybe I was never a dick to you, but… I stayed silent when other people were and never tried to… like… support you or anything like that, so just from me personally, I’m sorry!” Xavi offered meekly.

“I…” Mark started, then paused to really think about it. He smiled and continued, “… genuinely appreciate that. Thanks Xavi!”

Xavi smiled back, then said, “We’ve got, like… fifty-five minutes left and I’m, basically at your command so… tell me what to do!”

Mark stared at the smaller boy for a few moments before he asked, “Could you… take your clothes off?”

“I could!” Xavi said, smiling cockily without moving.

Mark was mildly confused, then realised what he needed to do and said more firmly, “Take your clothes off!”

“That’s more like it,” Xavi said as he began to undress. His chest was completely flat, seemingly bereft of both muscle and fat, his stomach similarly slight. “Lemme guess,” Xavi said with a bemused smile as he saw Mark looking, “Eat a burger?”

“No, not thinking that. You look good!” Mark stated honestly. Contemplating what could have prompted Xavi’s expectation of mockery, he asked, “Not tackled the body-shaming yet, then?”

“I think that’s on the agenda for next term,” Xavi said with a slight snigger as he continued undressing. With everything except his underwear now removed, the rest of the boy was on full show. His arms were as slender as the rest of his upper body, and while his legs were slim, they bore at least a little muscle, the source of the boy’s impressive speed.

“Woah!” Mark stated as he looked at Xavi’s boxer shorts, then blushed as he said, “Sorry. It’s just… are you hard already?”

“No,” Xavi answered, “Just… my last growth spurt seemed to be focused… down THERE!” He gestured to the sizeable bulge in his underwear.

“Well… size… isn’t everything,” Mark said, trying to remain diplomatic.

Xavi rolled his eyes and said, “No need to be polite. I know it’s big and it’s okay to… to like it, I suppose!” He grinned as he grasped it and said, “I certainly do!”

Mark snorted with laughter as he nodded and said, “Fine, yeah, big dick. Who doesn’t like big dicks! So… let’s see it!”

Xavi reached down and pulled the front of his boxers down, letting the ample appendage dangle free. “So… when we went to school together, did you ever… y’know… think about me in this way?” he asked curiously as he casually reached down to grasp at the chunky cock.

Mark blushed a little and glanced at Xavi without replying.

Xavi chuckled and said, “Nice! That’s kinda hot!”

“Don’t get too full of yourself. I thought about most guys in our Year at some point!” Mark smirked, then nodded to Xavi’s stationery hand and instructed, “Stroke it!”

Xavi’s cheeks flushed slightly as he began masturbating slowly. “I’ve never… done this in front of anyone before,” he explained awkwardly.

“Well you seem pretty good at it!” Mark said reassuringly, resisting the urge to grasp at his own swollen cock.

“Can I… see you?” Xavi asked shyly, then quickly added, “Sorry, I know this is your time!”

“S’okay,” Mark shrugged, “I’m really not a ‘grr, argh, do what I say, slave’ kinda guy anyway. I’d rather we both have fun!” He frowned curiously for a moment and asked, “You wanna see me, do you?”

“Well… yeah. I mean, you’re hot… and I feel completely secure in my masculinity when I say that as a straight person,” Xavi said a little defensively.

Mark looked a little glum at the comment.

“Is… hot an insult around here?” Xavi asked curiously, “I know this place is different from King Edwards, but I thought that was pretty universal!”

“It is!” Mark insisted, “I just… never mind, doesn’t matter!” Mark still struggled with being admired for his looks, which always felt a little strange. Even though they were compliments, Mark couldn’t help feeling like that was ALL most people saw. ‘You’re hot’ is nice to hear, but ‘You’re funny’ or ‘You’re a great goalkeeper’, they felt like things he could be proud of, things he had achieved rather than just genetic good luck. Either way, now wasn’t the time to talk about it and Xavi certainly wasn’t the right person, so he forced a smile and said, “I can show you mine. It’s only fair after you showed me yours!”

“Sweet!” Xavi said happily as he pushed his underwear down and stepped out of them, stroking his slowly-engorging cock.

Mark reached down and pulled his own cock out, exaggeratedly slapping it down into one hand with the other.

“Wow, I think you’re bigger than me!” Xavi said in seemingly genuine admiration, “No wonder Greg was so into you!”

Mark winced slightly, not just at the mention of Greg, but from the comment itself. Maybe that WAS why Greg was so into him. Briefly sinking into distressing thoughts of his past relationship failure, he suddenly smiled as he thought about Chris! Chris had never judged him by appearance, and though he had enjoyed Mark’s big dick, it had never been the focus of the friendship or brief relationship. Making a quick mental note to hug Chris when he got back to the dorm, he smiled at Xavi and said, “Greg was into me for a lot of reasons, but clearly YOU’RE just into big dicks. You SURE you’re straight?”

Xavi took the question in good humour and replied, “Very, but if I wasn’t, you’d be top of my ‘guys I like who aren’t into me in return’ list!” It got a joyful chuckle from Mark. “Anyway, lemme just enjoy this. I don’t even get to LOOK at other guys back at school, let alone experiment!”

“Well in that case… what kind of experiment would you like to try?” Mark asked before casually peeling off his t-shirt.

“Fuck!” Xavi grunted at the sight of Mark’s body, “You actually got hotter! I wanna touch!”

Mark fought the urge to recoil. Being touched had been a challenge for him for a while. Having largely overcome it with the people he was closest to, the thought of doing it with someone from his own school felt like it might be more of a challenge… but he wasn’t repulsed by the idea. Between the frank, apologetic conversation and Xavi’s sincere interest in what they were doing, this felt like a really positive step forward, so Mark nodded and said, “Well I’ll stand here for now and you can just… touch where you like!”

Xavi stepped forward eagerly, but became a little more cautious as he got up close to the bigger teen. “God, what I wouldn’t give for muscles like this!” he said wistfully, then carefully reached out to poke one of Mark’s pectorals. “Oh, I thought it’d be… harder!?” he said curiously.

Mark flexed his chest and said, “Try again!”

Xavi poked again and chuckled as he nodded and said, “Oh yeah, more like that! This is fun!”

“Anywhere else you want to feel?” Mark asked, feeling a little more confident at the smaller boy’s amusement.

“Look, I really am straight,” Xavi insisted.

“Xavi, fuckin’ chill,” Mark said with a headshake. “It’s a bit of touching, and probably a bit more after that. It’s just messing around and it’s harmless, so stop being so… King Edwards about it and… be a little more Kingswood!”

“Oh, like this?” Xavi asked, suddenly grasping at Mark’s dick.

Mark gasped at the sudden touch and replied, “Yeah, that’ll do it! How does it feel?”

Xavi frowned thoughtfully for a moment before he answered, “Different! It’s… well, actually I suppose we’re pretty similar in size, but just… holding it from this angle is weird.”

“Mmm-huh,” Mark hummed, “Yeah, doing someone else can feel as weird as having someone else do you if you’re just used to wanking yourself!”

Xavi turned bright red as he heard the frank explanation. “Jesus, how can you just SAY that? Fuck!” he exclaimed in bemused shock.

“Kingswood!” Mark explained with a snigger, “Now… wanna see how different it feels?”

Xavi nodded emphatically.

“Great, here goes then,” Mark said as he reached out and grabbed Xavi’s solid erection.

“Ah, fuck, yeah… that’s… weird, cool, weird… kinda fun!” Xavi said, seemingly on an emotional rollercoaster from the intimate touch. “Bet it feels even better with a girl!” he stated bluntly.

“Really wouldn’t know,” Mark smirked.

Xavi nodded for a moment and said, “Yeah, fair point. Umm, could you… would you… umm…”

“Wow, if you were scared of the word ‘wank’, then you don’t stand a fucking chance of asking for what I think you’re asking for!” Mark teased, giving Xavi’s dick a quick stroke.

“Then maybe I don’t need to say it!” Xavi said hopefully.

Mark reached out with his free hand to tweak one of Xavi’s nipples, making him gasp and shudder for a moment. Sniggering, he said, “I think I need you to say it anyway. Y’know, consent is important and all that!”

“I consent to it!” Xavi said, squirming awkwardly.

“To what?” Mark asked, now grinning broadly as he teasingly tormented his former schoolmate.

“Okay, you’re a dick,” Xavi said, though his awkward smile and giggle made it clear he wasn’t being completely serious, “Fine, could… could you… suck… my… my… penis?”

Mark gasped dramatically and said, “That wasn’t what I was thinking at all! Oh my god, that’s so gay!”

Xavi looked mortified for a moment, but his expression turned to amused annoyance as Mark started laughing. “Yeah, you’re definitely a dick,” he said moodily, “But… it’s nice to see you’re so happy here!”

Mark tutted and rolled his eyes as he said, “Well now you’re just being too nice for me to keep being mean. You ruin all my fun!” Releasing Xavi’s dick, he stared at the shorter teen for a moment and said, “But yeah, happy to give it a suck. Feel free to tell me to stop or… go faster, or slower or… whatever you fancy. I’m still relatively new to doing this too, so… I guess we’re both experimenting!”

Xavi nodded with a content smile as he watched Mark squat down. Watching with increasingly wide eyes, he saw his dick begin to disappear into Mark’s mouth. “Oh fuck!” he gasped, his legs wobbling a little. “That’s… that feels… woah!” he said shakily.

Mark closed his lips around the thick shaft, letting them slide down as far as he could before he felt like he was going to gag, then pulled back. As his lips reached the base of Xavi’s glans, he playfully teased the head with his tongue, enjoying the pleasured moans he heard in response. He pushed back down and slid back once more.

“Ugh, that’s REALLY good. Oh my god,” Xavi panted happily as Mark pleasured him, “You’re really good at that!”

Mark opened his mouth to say a slightly muffled, “Thanks!” before he resumed sucking.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Xavi gasped.

Mark pulled away and stood, looking at Xavi curiously.

“Sorry, wasn’t bad, I just… don’t know if that’s how I wanna cum,” Xavi said shyly, “Is that weird?”

Mark shrugged and said, “Never weird to want what you want. Just glad you felt comfortable saying it!”

Xavi smiled as he leaned forward to let his head rest against Mark’s chest. “You’re so lucky going here. You’re like a completely different person… in a good way!” he said wistfully.

“Yeah, I feel like it too,” Mark agreed thoughtfully. “Here, let’s see if you like this!” he said as he raised his arms to wrap around the smaller boy, “Learned this from a friend!”

Xavi froze for a moment, surprised by the hug, then slipped his arms around Mark to hold on and sighed, “This is really nice!”

“Yeah!” Mark agreed, “Never underestimate the value of a hug!”

“I literally can’t remember the last time someone hugged me,” Xavi said a little sadly.

“Well I tell ya what. From now on, whenever we have matches, you come find me and you can have as many as you like!” Mark offered, then added a playful, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t make you any less straight!”

“Oh my god, you’re such a dick!” Xavi laughed, shoving Mark away.

“Yeah, learned that from a different friend,” Mark joked, “Now… do you… want to cum?”

Xavi’s cheeks flushed again, shocked by the very direct question, though he nodded back to it.

“Just wanna…” Mark didn’t say the word, if only to save Xavi more embarrassment. Instead, he just made a wanking gesture and got another nod.

They reached out and grabbed each other’s dicks. Xavi didn’t start his hand moving until he felt Mark’s start going, then kept pace perfectly, very clearly following his lead.

They stood together for several minutes, masturbating each other gradually closer and closer to release, though not quite achieving climax.

“Think you can cum like this?” Mark asked curiously.

“Sorry, I don’t think I can,” Xavi said a little awkwardly.

“That’s okay, switch to doing ourselves if you like. Think you’ll be able to make yourself cum?” Mark asked softly.

Xavi nodded, so they switched dicks, masturbating themselves. It didn’t take long for Xavi to gasp and whimper a little awkwardly. “I’m close!” Xavi said, red-faced and a little sweaty.

“Me too,” Mark smiled. He suddenly let out a low groan and began to shoot a hefty load, aiming away from Xavi.

Whether it was triggered by the sight of Mark cumming or just coincidental timing, he never specified, but Xavi began to cum too. His load sprayed out in the same direction as Mark’s spattering down onto the floor along with it.

For several moments the only sound between them was heavy breathing as they both came down from their orgasmic highs. Mark grinned impishly for a second as Xavi looked increasingly uncomfortable. Letting him squirm for just a few more seconds, he said, “It’s okay if you want to put your clothes back on!”

“Thank you!” Xavi yelped as he rushed to re-dress.

Several minutes later, Mark had bid a quick goodbye to Xavi, who happily rejoined his other teammates who had finished paying up for the bet. It was fun to hear the other team teasing each other about the things they had just done, especially as none of it actually seemed to be malicious, it was just playful.

Heading back to the Home Building, he found himself pleasantly cheerful thanks to the encounter. He really hadn’t been sure how it would go spending time with someone from his old school, so the positivity of it had been a pleasant surprise. Enjoying the warm buzz of happiness, he paused as he set foot inside the building.

He had intended to head straight up to the dorm, but he glanced over at the hallway leading to the medical wing and headed that way instead. When he reached the secure door to Josh’s area, he pressed the buzzer then immediately set to work sanitizing and donning the usual protective equipment that was mandatory during periods with visitors at the school.

A weary voice suddenly came over the intercom and said, “Would it make a difference if I told you visiting hours were over?”

“Hey Niall,” Mark answered back as he recognised the voice, “And no. No, it wouldn’t. Just a quick visit, I promise!”

“Fine, but you know the drill!” Niall replied.

“Already doing it!” Mark chuckled back before the door opened and he wandered in. He knocked on the door to Josh’s room and after hearing a brief shout to enter, wandered in.

“Mark!” Josh squealed happily.

“Hey bud,” Mark said, glad the mask he wore hid how dopily huge his smile was.

“What you doing here so late?” Josh asked curiously.

Mark froze for a moment as he got to the side of Josh’s bed. What WAS he doing here? He considered avoiding the question, but opted to be honest as he said, “I was just in a really good mood and… when I’m happy I think you!”

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Josh said, looking genuinely moved. He pouted a little as he apologised, “I’m sorry I missed the match, but congratulations for winning!”

“No, I get it,” Mark nodded as he took a seat, “I saw where they wanted to put you. I wouldn’t have wanted to sit there on my own like that either!”

“Even though it’s for my own good,” Josh said, rolling his eyes.

“I miss having you on the pitch,” Mark said wistfully.

Josh nodded and replied, “Yeah, Danny keeps saying he misses my speed. But I’ll be back before you know it!”

Mark sighed gently at the comment. It wasn’t Josh’s speed that he missed, or how his absence affected the team’s performance, he just liked seeing him. Not wanting to make things awkward by saying that aloud, he suggested, “Well why don’t you tell me what you’ve done with your day then! David said something about a picture you gave him!”

Mark curled up comfortably on the chair to listen to Josh. Something Xavi said suddenly popped into his head - it’s nice to see you’re so happy here. Mark realised just how true that really was. He settled in to contentedly listen to Josh as he eagerly recounted his day, smiling contentedly behind his mask.