Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 14:33:18 +1000
From: Mark Peters <mp_ponyboy@hotmail.com>
Subject: Song For Guy - Part 18

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Dear Reader:  Once again, thank you to everyone who has written
to me about this story, I hope that you all, both new and old
readers alike, continue to enjoy this tale.



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Legal Stuff: The following story contains descriptions of
graphic sexual acts. Don't read this story if: You are not 18
or over, OR, if it is illegal to read this type of material
where you live, OR, if you don't want to read about gay/bi
people in love or having sex.

The author retains copyright to this story. Placing this story
on a web site or reproducing this story for distribution without
the author's permission is a violation of that copyright.
If you would like to respond to the story, make suggestions
or other constructive comments or advice may be sent to:
mp_ponyboy@hotmail.com

All e-mails will be answered...


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A Song For Guy

by

Mark Peters



But first, let's remember where we left off in Part 17...


Looking into his eyes I could see something that had been
missing for the past few days. There was a mischievous glint
in there, but there was also love. My Guy was back.

"What are you grinning at?" he asked me, while somehow still
managing to suck on his straw, with our faces barely inches
from each other.

"Only you," I answered, with the straw still hanging from
the corner of my mouth.

All of a sudden, he gave a little snort, then started
coughing and spluttering and laughing all at the same time.
Amongst all this he must have managed to get some milkshake
up his nose and he burst out laughing, spitting the milkshake
right into my face.

I coughed and spluttered myself, and between us we managed
to drop the milkshake container onto the floor. It was almost
in slow motion as we both watched in horror at the container
falling. It hit the tile floor with a clang, splashing us
both with chocolate milk, and with the remaining contents
spilling out over the floor tiles.

Guy looked at me, and I looked at him, then we both burst
out laughing.

At exactly the same time we both leant down to pick up the
container, but managed only to bump our heads together in
the process, which was followed by more laughter, but then,
as we stepped back and started to straighten up, Guy slipped
on the wet floor.

Instinctively I reached out for him, but I was too late.
He overbalanced, grabbed my arm, and sent the pair of us
to the floor.

Luckily, I landed face down on top of him, looking into his
beautiful eyes. We were both giggling like a couple of
primary school kids. He started to struggle and try to get
up, but I had him pinned.

There we were, on the floor of his kitchen, drenched in
milkshake, and gazing into each other's eyes.

The giggling and the laughter quickly subsided though. This
whole scene felt so surreal. God, this felt crazy!

What else could I do? I leant down and kissed him. And he
kissed me back.

It wasn't our first kiss. But all of a sudden it felt like
it was. It felt like we were two young lovers discovering
each other for the very first time.

Slowly, he rolled me over onto my back and kissed me some
more, then with his nimble fingers he started to undo the
buttons of my shirt.

This was perhaps becoming one of the best, most amazing
moments of my life.

Yeah. My Guy was definitely back!


To be continued......



* * * * * * *





~ PART EIGHTEEN ~





They tell us that by the time we reach our final year of
schooling, that last year of our childhood before we step
out into the real world as young adults, that we should have
some idea of what it is that we want to do with our lives.

Yeah right! As if!

I know that in my case I had spent most of my high school
years filled with uncertainty about what the future may hold
for me and what it was exactly that I did want to do after I
had left school, but by the time we had reached our mid-year
exams however, which were a full-blown trial run of the real
thing that we would be facing later in the year, I had
pretty much made up my mind. Finally!

That taste of excitement from being on stage when we had
done the musical the previous year, and my hearing and seeing
and feeling the response from the audience on those couple
of amazing nights, had pretty much sealed it for me. I wanted
to sing and dance and act - or at least give it my best shot.

Who knows, I might surprise everyone and actually be good
at it!

The reactions of my family members were fairly predictable
though. My father, despite the fact that he had been completely
blown away by our efforts some months earlier, told me in no
uncertain terms that I was fucking crazy and that, "No son of
his was going to spend his adult life prancing around on a
stage."

My mother, while not entirely in love with the idea, was
supportive.

And Jason? Well, he was now convinced that I just HAD to be
gay! Although thankfully, those thoughts were shared only
between himself and me.

As for the rest of our little gang of friends, of which
Jonathon now seemed to have become a permanent part (much to
the consternation of the rest of our class), they were all
looking in different directions.

Guy looked like he wanted to head into the computer field,
but was being pretty laid back about it all. He said he'd be
happy doing anything really, just so long as I was somewhere
around.

Ben, who in some respects I had always looked upon as the
most serious and focused out of us all, even allowing for
the fact that he spent most of his waking moments goofing off
and acting like he belonged in kindergarten, looked like all
he wanted to do was head north and be with Samantha, and to
hell with everything else.

While Jonathon was definitely going to do Business Studies.
Somewhere or other.

I guess that as we were growing older we were all changing.
We were no longer the fucked up kids we had been a few years
earlier. Life was now starting to take on some meaning and
purpose, well, for some of us at least.

So far, Guy and I had also managed to keep the closeness of
our relationship a secret from everyone, including Jason,
but the further we went, the more difficult it was becoming.

We spoke often about what it would be like to be able to live
our lives however we wanted, without the need for all this
secrecy and subterfuge, and decided that once school was
finished we both wanted to get out of this town and go some
place together. Some place where it wouldn't matter what we
did or who knew about us. Some place where people could just
take us or leave us.

We both liked the idea of heading to Queensland and trying
to get into University up there if we could, but that was
still a long way away, so we hadn't done anything about
starting to make plans or whatever.

We knew that Ben would head off to be with Samantha, who was
studying at a new University up on the north coast, the first
chance he would get and so we also thought about checking
out that place as well, one day when we could manage to find
the time.


* * * * *


Autumn and spring were definitely my favourite times of year.
One, a season where the trees started turning, bathing the
town in a blanket of warm colours, and the other, a season
when new life starts emerging and the drabness of winter is
smothered with new colours and new sounds and the air is
fresh and alive.

By the time our mid-year exams rolled around, autumn had been
and gone and winter was now slowly spreading it's icy fingers
over the land. Spring was still an eternity away.

As always, Guy and I spent as much time together as we could,
but it's not what you are thinking, we actually did spend
most of our time studying. If you feel the need at all to
want to check up on us, just ask Ben and Jonathon, who I'm
sure would back us up. Maybe.

One night in May, about a month out from our mid-years, Guy
and I were sitting in his car up at the lookout and gazing out
at the city lights below us, just like we did on a regular
basis. It was one of the places we liked to escape to as often
as we could, where we knew we wouldn't be disturbed by anyone.

We were sitting in the dark, on the back seat of his car,
with Guy propped up against the door and me propped up against
Guy, my back snuggled into his chest and with his arms wrapped
snugly around me. I could hear him breathing softly beside my
ear, his warm breath sending a tingle through me each time it
touched the bare skin of my neck.

"Is it my imagination, or do you think Ben has changed over
the last couple of months?" he asked.

At first I didn't answer, as I started thinking about Ben,
about the once happy-go-lucky friend that he had been, compared
to the rather serious person he now seemed to be.

"Well?" Guy asked again.

"Yeah," I eventually replied. "I was just thinking about your
question. To be perfectly honest, I hadn't really noticed it or
thought about it until just now, but now that you've mentioned
it, yeah, I do think he has changed actually."

"Hmmmm."

"Do you think he's alright? I mean, we can both see it in him,
but how much do you think he has changed? And why?"

"Geez, so many questions! I'm almost sorry I brought it up now."

"No. I'm glad that you did. It's made we wake up to the fact
that we've been spending so much time together that I hadn't
thought much about Ben at all lately. I hope he's O.K.?"

"Yeah, me too," he replied.

"But I think I'd like to talk to Ben about it."

"Yeah, so do I," he replied, giving me a hug and kissing me
on the neck as he did so.

We stayed there for a while longer, neither saying much, but
both of us no doubt with our thoughts on Ben.

The more I thought about him, the more convinced I became that
I knew what his problem was, and I said as much to Guy.

"And what's that then?"

"Samantha."

"She's not a problem. Christ almighty, they love each other.
Don't they?"

"You don't get it do you? THAT is the problem. She's up there
on the north-coast. He's down here. And how often does he get
to see her?"

"Oh," Guy answered. "But he can't do much about that though,
can he? Unless he..."

"Unless he what?"

"I was going to say, unless he actually goes and visits her."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too."

"Do you think we should suggest it to him?"

"I'm not sure. We should at least talk to him though, don't
you think?"

"Yeah. I think we should. Or more to the point, I think that
YOU should."

"Me?"

"Well, you have been his best friend since the year dot,
haven't you? I think he'd listen more to you than he would
if it came from anyone else."

"Yeah. You're probably right," I replied.

We sat there for a while longer, content to just be together
and watch the city lights sparkling below us, or study the
occasional aeroplane taking off or landing at the airport
which sat atop the hills on the opposite side of town, their
landing lights passing directly over as they came and went,
almost close enough to touch.

Whenever I was in Guys' arms I felt safe and secure, and I
loved this feeling. I didn't want it to end. Not now.
Not ever.

Thinking about Ben though, I couldn't help but now be worried
about him. I was fairly sure that he was under a fair bit
of pressure from home, with this being the make or break year
for all of us as far as school was concerned, but I was just
as certain that missing Samantha so much wouldn't be helping
him any either.

I knew now that I had to try and talk to him. I had to see if
he was alright, and if he needed it, I had to see how we
could help him.

After a while, during which we both sat in silence, each to
our own thoughts, Guy asked, "Do you want to go home yet mate?"

"So soon?" I asked him, then taking one of his hands in mine
I brought it up to my lips, kissing him gently.

"Aaahhhh, I get the picture," he said, hugging me close to
him and burying his face into the base of my neck, while running
his hand down my stomach and finding it's way into the top of
the track pants and shorts that I was wearing.

He took a hold of me and instantly things started to happen.

"You always did catch on quick, didn't you?," I whispered
to him.

"Well, it helps that I had a good teacher," he answered,
giving me a firm squeeze.

Slowly I turned around in his arms, so that we were soon
laying stomach to stomach, and groin to groin.

"I love it when we come up here," I said to him, then leant
in and kissed him, before he could make any wisecracks about
the word I had used.

It was no use though, through lips that were working overtime
he managed to say, "Yeah, so do I. Especially when you do too."


* * * * *


Guy picked Ben and I up on the street the following morning,
just as he did most mornings these days, and we arrived in
time for class with just seconds to spare - just as we did
most mornings these days.

In the few minutes between when I caught up with him and when
Guy picked us up, I hadn't had a chance to say anything to Ben
about Samantha, or anything else for that matter, which was
something I really wanted to do as soon as possible.

When lunch time came around I figured it was now or never,
so as we were putting our books away after the end of the
previous lesson, I said to him, "Can we talk?"

He looked at me with that lop-sided, quizzical expression of
his, as if he were considering what it was that I would possibly
want to talk to him about, but before he could say anything
I added, "I want to talk to you about YOU!"

"What the fuck are you going on about?" he asked.

"Come on, let's go down onto the oval."

I had told Guy through the morning what it was I wanted to do,
and had deliberately asked him not to come down to the oval
with us. He was cool about it all, and conveniently made himself
scarce as soon as the lesson had finished, feigning some
excuse about having to go to the library and look something up.

We walked in silence down to the edge of the oval, where we
sat on a bench in the shade beneath some old pine trees.

"You wanna tell me what this is all about?" Ben asked, starting
to sound a little peeved.

"It's about you mate. We're both worried about you."

"Wha...," he started to say, then shut his mouth abruptly.

"You've looked out for me often enough over the years. Now it's
my turn to look out for you."

"And do what, exactly?"

"I know you're miserable mate. You've been like it nearly all
year. Only now, you're getting worse. And I think I know why."

Silence. He didn't say a word. He just stared off into the
distance, looking kind of sad.

"To be honest, I hadn't even noticed. It was Guy who asked me
last night if I thought you were a bit down. Then the more I
thought about it, the more I think I realised what the
problem was."

More silence. Although this time he did look up at me.

After a while he said, "You don't know how much I miss her
mate. I mean it's not just the fooling around and stuff that
I miss. It's HER! It's not having her around. It's not being
able to hear her voice, touch her face, listen to her laugh.
It's everything about her."

"Actually, I think I might know how you are feeling mate.
I felt the same way even just for those few weeks over
Christmas while Guy was away. Question is, what are we going
to do about it for you?"

"We?"

I nodded. "If you're miserable all the bloody time, chances
are we'll end up that way too," I said to him, with a laugh.
"And neither me or Guy want to end up as miserable as you."

"Very fuckin funny, wiseass!"

"Well, it's true ain't it?"

He looked down at his hands and started fidgeting.

"Yeah. I thought so," I said.

After a while, during which time I just sat studying him,
Ben said, "I miss her like crazy mate. But what can I do
about it though?"

"You could always go see her."

"Yeah, right!" he scoffed.

"I'm actually trying to be serious here bud!"

He thought about that for a minute and then said, "How could
I do that? The bloody mid-years start in the middle of next
week."

"Well, you could always hop on a bus or something. Just go up
for the weekend. I mean, a few days break from studying would
do you the world of good I reckon."

"For starters, my folks wouldn't let me."

"Yeah, I suppose that's fair enough."

"It is a good idea though," he said to me with a grin on his
face. "And thanks for caring."

"Hey mate. What are friends for? But we still haven't solved
your little problem though, have we?"

"It'll be alright mate. I think I feel better already, just
having talked about it. So thanks."

Just then we noticed Jonathon wandering down the path toward
us, with a curious expression etched on his face, as if he
were sizing us up, wondering what we were up to.

"If you need a root mate, I suppose you could always ask
Jonathon," I whispered to him, jokingly.

Bens head snapped back toward me with a look of total disgust
on his face.

"What?" I exclaimed. "I was actually joking mate! Really!"

Slowly a smile washed over his features and he said, "Bastard!"

"Sorry. I just couldn't help myself there."

"You'll keep."

"Probably."

I looked up just in time to see Jonathon reach us and sit down
on a nearby bench.

"Hi guys," he said. "What's happening?"

"Nothing much mate. We've just been discussing Bens' love
life - or the lack of."

WHUMP!

That was Bens' fist connecting with my arm.

"Hey! Watch it!" I said to him, while rubbing the now painful
spot on my arm.

"You were asking for that one," Jonathon added.

"Yeah, you were!" Ben chimed in, now laughing.

"Geez, you try to do a guy a favour.."



* * * * *



The rest of the week went by without incident, and by the
time Friday came around Ben was positively cheerful again,
so I figured that my little chat with him must have done some
good. His cheerful mood seemed to infect us all actually, and
by the time we finished school that afternoon it was as if we
were all recharged and ready for a big weekend.

"What are you blokes doing tomorrow?" Ben asked me as we walked
down towards the spot where Guy had parked his car this morning.

"Not sure yet," I replied, while looking across at Guy, who
just grinned back at me. "I guess we'll think of something
though. You want to call around and we'll all go down-town
or something?"

"Yeah, maybe. We'll see what happens, huh?"

"Sure."

"How about this afternoon? You want to go down to the milk
bar or something?"

"Errr... maybe some other time huh? I have a few things to do
this afternoon. Would you mind just giving me a lift home
Guy? Anyway, you blokes need some time together I reckon,"
he said with a grin.

"Whatever!" Guy replied.

We dropped Ben back at his place and listened to him whistling
to himself as he went trough the front gate.

"Later then guys," he called out to us, giving us a wave and
then shutting the gate.

We waved back and Guy pulled out onto the road.

"Well, he certainly seems happy," Guy commented. "Your little
pep-talk must have done some good then?"

"Yeah," I answered. "It looks like it."

"Where too then? And no, we can't go to my place, Kevin will
be there."

"Damn!"

"Any suggestions?"

"How about we just head downtown. I could do with a milk shake
I reckon."

"They're not as much fun down there as they are at home though,"
Guy replied.

"Ain't that the truth!"

"Still, we'll just do the best we can. Maybe we could make a
night of it, grab some take-away, and a movie or something?
Stay up all night and watch the sun come up?"

"Now we're talking. But if we're going to do that, how about
we head home to my place, we can have a shower and get changed,
then hit the town?"

"A shower? Your place? Hmmmm.... sounds nice"

"Just hold your horses loverboy. We'll have to see if anyone
is home first!"

"Fine by me babe."

Quickly, Guy did a u-turn and sped back up the hill toward my
house, with a grin etched on his face like you wouldn't believe.
As luck would have it, there was no one home when we got there,
so after doing a quick check of the house we stripped off and
headed for the bathroom at a run.

Jesus! If anyone had of walked in!!!

We made it quick and then dried each other off, which was
half of the fun I reckoned, then got dressed, ready for a
night on the town.

"Those clothes don't fit you all that well," I said to him,
admiring the way one of my favourite shirts and cargo pants
all hung loosely about him.

"It's alright mate, it's a new look, you know?" he replied,
doing a little whirl in front of me.

"Ah well, I'm going to rip them off you the first chance I
get anyway, you know?"

"Well, I certainly hope you are?"

I quickly scrawled a note out and left it on the kitchen table,
just telling my folks that I was going out with my friends,
and then we left and headed downtown. We started at the milk
bar, then afterwards caught a movie (gotta love that Spiderman...
and ain't Tobey so damn cute?), then when that was out we went
to a cosy little pizzeria, complete with red and white checked
table-cloths, where we sat and talked and ate until it we were
kicked out by the owners because they wanted to go home.

"So, what about the rest of the night?" Guy asked me as we
strolled to the car.

I glanced across at him and even in this light, I could see
the grin on his face.

"Well, just so long as I'm home before dawn...," I said to him.

"Hey, no problem," he replied.

When we reached the car we got in and Guy started it, and we
quickly pulled out onto the road.

"And just where are you taking me, sir?" I enquired.

"Out of town, to a quiet place we both know," he answered,
which I immediately assumed to be Georges Creek.

As we drove along, heading out of town on the road that I had
expected us to take, I looked across at Guy and started thinking
about how grateful I was that he had come into my life, and
about how much things had changed over these past months, for
both of us.

It hadn't quite been a year since that first day that Ben and
I had seen him downtown with his mother, but in that time we
had met, become friends and then fallen in love. If he were
to leave me today, I thought, I just didn't know how I
would cope.

"What are you staring at?" he asked me after glancing across
at me and catching me staring at him.

I smiled and said, "Only you. I was just thinking how lucky
I was."

"Lucky?"

"Yeah. Lucky that Ben and I spotted you down town that day
last year. How long ago was it now?"

"Ten months, thirteen days and..."

"What?" I exclaimed. "You actually know that?"

"Well, sort of," he answered. "It's something that I started
doing just after we met, you know, just keeping track of
things. I thought I would stop it after a while, but apparently
not..."

I just laughed at him.

"What's so funny?"

"Only you mate," I replied. "Man, that's so sweet."

"Well, hadn't you noticed, I'm a fairly sweet guy."

"Yeah, I had actually," I replied, then leant across and gave
him a kiss on the cheek.

Minutes later we slowed and turned off onto another road,
which led down to the picnic area on Georges Creek, and when
we finally pulled the car to a halt we found the place to
be deserted.

"Looks like a nice quiet night," I said to Guy as he cut
the engine.

"Yeah, just the way I like it," he said to me, as he slid his
hand along my thigh.

"Want to see if we can't liven this party up a little?" I
asked, leaning across and whispering it into his ear, then
teasing his ear lobe with my lips.

"Ohhhhh... I love it when you do that."



* * * * *



My head had barely hit the pillow it seemed, when I was
being forcefully shaken awake.

"What's wrong?" I cursed, without even knowing who it was that
was doing the shaking.

"It's for you," my father rather grumpily said, thrusting the
telephone into my hand. "It's Ben's mother."

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Seven o'clock," he replied, then stormed out of my room and,
presumably, back to his.

I just stared after him for a moment or three, as my mind
wrapped itself around the fact that I had only been back in
bed for about an hour and a half, then remembered the telephone
in my hand.

"Hello," I managed to eventually say.

"Is that you Tim?" the rather emotional sounding voice said.

"Yes Mrs. Walker. Are you alright?"

"Do you know where Ben is?" she asked, coming straight to
the point.

"I'm sorry, but no, I don't," I answered truthfully.

"You must do. You boys know everything there is to know about
the other. Surely he told you!"

"Look, I'm sorry Mrs. Walker, but I truly haven't seen Ben
since Guy and me dropped him home after school yesterday
afternoon. And he never said anything at all about what he
was doing."

There was an audible sigh from the other end of the line,
followed by what I though was a sniffle.

"Are you alright Mrs. W.?"

"He never came home last night Tim. He left a note saying he
was going out and would be home soon, much like he does any
other time, only this time he hasn't come home. And his bed
wasn't slept in last night either."

I refrained from saying that any time that I've been in Bens'
bedroom it was never possible to tell if it was last night or
last week that his bed was slept in last, it always had that
unmade look about it, but thought better of it.

Instead I just said, "I'm sure he's alright. If he'd have
gotten into trouble or anything he would have called someone,
wouldn't he?"

"Maybe," she replied.

I did have an idea about where it was that he might be,
but I decided that I wasn't going to mention it just at this
stage, not until I tried to confirm things first. Instead I
simply asked, "Have you tried anyone else yet?"

"Like who? I thought you and Guy, oh, and Jonathon, were his
closest friends?"

"Well, we are, but that doesn't mean he might not have
other friends."

"But surely you would know about them?"

"Well, maybe. I don't know. How about new girlfriends?"

"You would know more about them than me...," she said,
then paused. I could almost hear the cogs turning from here,
then she said, "Or old ones!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, while being extremely thankful
that she had come up with that conclusion all by herself and
that I hadn't let slip by telling her what my thoughts were.

"That Samantha girl. Where does she live?"

"Errr... Samantha left town at the start of the year. She's
away at University somewhere."

"Oh. Do you know where?"

"I'm sorry, but no, I don't."

O.K., so I lied once!

"Look, I'm really sorry Mrs. W., but I don't know where Ben is.
If I did, I would tell you. And if I do hear from him, I will.
I promise you that."

Another sigh.

"Mrs. Walker?"

"Yes, I'm still here," she answered.

"If I hear from him, I'll call you straight away. And I'll
tell him to call you. Alright?"

"Thank you Tim," she replied, then disconnected.

Despite that fact that I had only had about one hours sleep,
I was now wide awake. Somewhere deep in my brain I remembered
that I had a mobile telephone number for Samantha, but for
the life of me, I couldn't remember where I had written it.

It was while I was searching for it that my father came back
into the room, propping himself up against the door frame,
startling me.

"So, what's Ben gone and done now?" he asked.

"He didn't come home last night," I replied.

"Jesus, is that all," my father said. "Aren't you lucky I
don't worry about you when you stay out all night and don't
come back in until just before dawn?"

It was enough to make me stop what I was doing and look up
at him.

"Yeah. I heard you come in," he said. "Little wonder it took
so much to wake you up this morning. I almost felt guilty
doing it!"

Not wanting to tempt fate, I said nothing.

"It's alright thought, I won't tell your mother," he said,
in quiet conspiratorial tones. "I hope the girl knows how
lucky she is."

I think I managed a wry smile, but at the same time I thought
I could hear some muffled giggling coming from Jason's room,
which was next door to mine.

"So, what are you looking for then?"

"A telephone number. Bens' old girlfriend. It was something
his mother said, made me think that maybe he's been in touch
with her."

"So, you going to give the number over when you find it?"

"No," I answered. "I'm going to ring it, and see if she's
heard from him."

He just nodded and said, "Good thinking Ninety-Nine." Then
just turned and left me to my search.

Moments later Jason appeared at my door, wearing only his
boxers, and a grin from ear to ear.

"What's your problem?" I asked.

"Well, you've sure got the old man fooled at least," he said,
then he too turned and left me to my search, before I had
the chance to say anything.

I went back to my search, and a few minutes later I came
across the program for the musical that we had done last year.
Just seeing it brought a smile to my face, as it brought back
so many happy memories, so I opened it up and had a quick
flick through the pages.

And there it was. On the inside of the cover page I'd written
`Sam' and then directly underneath her name, I had written
her mobile number.

I went back over to my bed and sat down on the edge, then
picked up the phone and pressed the numbers.

It rang.

And it rang.

And it rang.

Then just about as I was ready to give up, it was answered.

"Hello. And do you know what bloody time it is?" she said.

"Well, it's nice to hear your voice too Sam," I replied.

"Who is this?" she asked, suddenly coming alive.

"Sam, it's Tim. Remember me?"

"Shit yeah!" she replied. "How are you? And hows that beautiful
boy of yours?"

"We're both fine thanks. How about you?"

"Never better, thanks. But I suppose you are looking for
Ben huh?"

"Is he there?"

"Yeah, he is actually. Just hang on a sec."

There were some muffled sounds while I waited, then finally
Ben came on the line, saying, "So, you tracked me down huh?"

"It was just a hunch," I answered. "Your mum misses you. She woke
me up about half an hour ago wanting to know if I knew where
you were."

"Fuck," he said quietly. "You didn't tell her did you?"

"No mate, I didn't. But she started asking about new girlfriends.
Then old ones. Then she asked if I knew where Samantha lived."

"What did you tell her?"

"Just that Sam went away to University at the start of the
year. But I never said where."

"O.K., thanks mate."

"You better get your ass back here bud. Otherwise your folks
will go ballistic."

"They'll do that anyway."

"True."

"I suppose I'd better ring them, before they send out a
search party or something."

"Might be a good idea mate."

"Yeah."

"How are you going to get home? And when are you coming home?
And what's it like up there?" I asked, which only caused him
to laugh.

"O.K., one at a time. Bus. This afternoon. Fuckin fantastic...
well what I've seen so far."

"Fair enough mate. Look, I better get going. But will you ring
your mother? Please? I don't want to slip up during my next
interrogation and let slip that I know where you are."

"Alright mate. Will do."

"Give same a hug for me."

"No, bugger off. She only gets my hugs," he answered, laughing.

We disconnected after that, and I breathed a little easier.



* * * * *



I can't believe that the rest of the year flew by so quickly
after we had finished our mid-year exams.

We all got better results than any of us had expected. Even Ben
did. So we all had cause for celebration. In the aftermath of
Ben's little trip away, which, for starters earned him a pretty
serious grounding from his folks, there was little chance of
actually doing any celebrating, so we decided that we would
save it for when we would all head north for Schoolies, once
our real exams were through with.

In the mean time however, we still managed to do alright,
given the circumstances, and partied as best we could.

A few months later, when it was all over and we had walked
out those gates for the last time, we vowed to make up for
it on the Gold Coast in the coming weeks, with Ben promising
us all that it would be a time that we would never forget.

He kept his promise.

One day though, while starting to grow tired of the endless
parties, Guy and I managed to slip away from our friends,
and we found ourselves on a scenic drive along the coast,
when we saw a sign that said the turn-off to Flynns Beach was
four hundred metres ahead.

"Check that one on the map will you?" Guy asked, so I fished
out the tourist map from the glove compartment and quickly
found it.

"It's a nudist beach," I said to him, which soon brought a
smile to his face.

"You game?" he asked me.

"Shit. Are you?"

"I'll try anything once," he answered.

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of."

Without any more words being spoken, he turned down that road
and we soon found ourselves parked in a car park that had
about a dozen cars in it.

"I'm not too sure about this mate," I said to him as we got
out of the car.

"Come on," he said. "You only live once."

Reluctantly I followed him away from the car, with both of us
wearing only our board shorts, and with towels draped over our
shoulders, and we took the path down to the beach, which
meandered down the hill from the point, through some trees
and scrub.

"Well, at least it's isolated," Guy said.

"Yeah, I suppose that is something."

When we emerged from the bushes we found ourselves on a sandy
white beach, with the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean rolling
in, and about twenty people, of all shapes sizes and ages
enjoying themselves.

"Like. Wow!" I said to Guy.

"Yeah, that's one way of describing it."

A couple of guys about our age, both naked, walked past us,
holding hands, and smiled and nodded.

We turned and watched as they disappeared into the bushes,
while following the path back up to the car park.

"Well, what do you reckon?" Guy asked me.

"We're going to have to take it all off you know?"

"No shit!"

"O.K. then. How about we strip off. Go for a swim, then come
back here and just sit for a while?"

"Fine by me mate," Guy said, then dropping his shorts straight
away and stepping out of them and his shoes.

"My turn now, huh?"

He just grinned at me.

I took a deep breath and did the same.

There was no clap of thunder. Nobody started laughing. Nothing
happened.

"See? It wasn't that bad was it?" Guy asked.

"Come on, let's hit the water before something does happen."

We found a spot for our towels and shorts and shoes, then
headed down toward the water, basically staying clear of most
of the other people for the time being, but still, we were on
the beach and we were naked and there were other people about.

Yeah. I'd say that was a major step forward for us both.

After a while we grew tired of swimming so we headed back up
onto the beach and layed ourselves out on out towels for a
while, until the sun had started to sink a little too low and
we became covered in shadow.

"What do you reckon mate?" Guy asked me as we pulled our shorts
back on and started back up the hill. "Will we come back?"

I looked at him and grinned and said, "Shit yeah!"



* * * * *



When we got back to the unit that we were sharing with Ben
and Samantha, we didn't tell our friends about our little
discovery that afternoon, although Ben did ask us where we
had gotten to.

"We just went for a drive," I told him, and he never asked
again. I could tell by the look on his face though that he
thought he knew what we had been up to. I didn't disappoint
him by telling him the truth.

The next day we did exactly the same thing, only this time I
told Ben we were heading off for a drive.

"Find a nice spot then did you?" he asked.

"Yeah, something like that," I answered.

We spent about two hours on the beach this time, seemingly now
free of the inhibitions that we had had the first time that
we had come here. We were letting the constant din of alcohol
fuelled parties be replaced by the gentle roar of the ocean,
which we found to be quite soothing.

And as strange as it seemed, considering that we were a couple
of country kids a long way from home, and who had never even
dreamed of doing anything like this before, we felt comfortable
here. We no longer attracted the curious stares of the locals
as we wandered hand in hand along their beach. We were now just
another couple of tourists who had discovered what the locals
had discovered years ago.

We swam for a while. We sun baked for a while. Then we decided
to go for a walk along the full length of the beach, which I
found to be quite an eye opener.

When we were almost back to the point where we had started,
just below the car park, Guy said to me, "Hey, aren't they the
two guys that we saw here yesterday?"

I looked up and noticed the two boys walking in our direction,
holding my hand up to shade my eyes and study them a little
better.

"Yeah," I answered. "It's a bit hard to mistake them isn't it?"

"Hmmmmm... especially the bigger one," Guy answered, with a
grin on his face from ear to ear, which soon earned him a belt
up the side of the head for his troubles.

The four of us kept walking towards each other, all still holding
hands with our partners and each pair following the border
between where the smooth wet sand, that had waves washing over
it endlessly, gave way to dry sand filled with dimples and foot
prints. We were set for a collision course, sooner or later,
and I noticed that they were talking amongst themselves, and
every now and then look directly at us.

"I think they're wondering if they should stop us and say
hi," Guy whispered to me.

"Yeah, well, aren't we wondering the same thing?" I replied.

He just grinned at me.

"Do you think we should say g'day to them, then?" I asked.

"Sure. Why not?" he answered. "They're heading in our direction
after all."

As they got closer to us, Guy and I both stopped and looked out
toward the sea, where a large oil tanker was anchored some way
off shore, but every now and then we glanced up to see if the
two boys were still coming. We gave them every chance to check
us out and maybe stop if they wanted to.

A couple of minutes later we found out that apparently they
wanted to!

"Hi," one of them said as they stopped next to us. It was the
shorter one of the two. Fairly cute, I thought, but nothing
like the other guy.

"G'day," I answered. "Nice day for a walk."

"Yeah. It sure is," the taller guy said. "Certainly feels a
bit different doing it like this though!"

"Yeah. We know what you mean," Guy answered. "But it is
fun though."

"Yeah, it is. So, are you guys here for schoolies too?" the
shorter guy asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, but we had to get away from our mates for
a bit. Things back at our unit are a bit too full on for us!"

They both laughed, then the taller guy said, "That sounds
pretty familiar. Booze, bands and busty babes... that's all
our mates seem to be after."

I laughed. "Sounds like you guys must be staying at the same
place as us then."

"Nah, I don't think so," the taller one said. "I think we'd
have probably noticed you."

We all just grinned at each other.

"I'm Tim, by the way," I said, stretching out my hand
toward them.

It was quickly taken by the shorter guy, who introduced himself
as Luke, followed by his friend, whose name was Matt.

Guy introduced himself and shook their hands as well.

We stood there chatting for a little while, and found out
that they were indeed a lot like us. A couple of guys who were
from a small country town and who were deeply in love with
each other.

It felt so good to see someone else like us. I think it gave
us the confirmation that we longed for, letting us know that
we weren't alone in this world and that it was alright to be
who we were.

We also found out that they were staying at one of the motels
just down the road from ours.

In the end we all knew that we had to get back to our friends,
but for some reason I didn't want to let go of this pair.
Somehow I wanted to keep in touch with them, but wasn't sure
how to bring it up. In the end it was Luke who saved the day.

"Ummm... we're having a bit of a bar-b-que with our friends
at our motel tonight. Would you guys would like to come along?"

I looked at Guy, but couldn't quiet read what it was he was
thinking, so in the end I just said, "We'd love to, thanks.
But we'll just have to see what our friends have got planned
for tonight first though. We'll see how we go. Is that alright?"

"Yeah. Of course. We hope you can make it though."

"Yeah, thanks. So do we," I replied.

We said our goodbyes and we watched as they wandered back
toward the path up to the car park on top of the point, still
holding hands.

"What do you think?" I asked Guy.

"Nice guys," he answered.

"I meant about tonight, dick head!"

"Sounds good to me. I'm game if you are."

"Yeah. I think it'll be good for us. I'm not sure exactly why,
but I like these dudes, and I hope we can get to know them
better."

"Yeah. Me too."

We started back up the hill ourselves then, heading toward
the car park, and noticed Matt and Luke just leaving the car
park as we got to the top of the hill.

"Wow. Nice car!" Guy said as we watched them drive past in a
black Commodore sedan.

We all waved to each other and they disappeared into the bush
as they followed the track back up to the main road. I was
already starting to look forward to the evening ahead. Who
could say where this meeting may lead us!



~ The End ~



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Please email me at mp_ponyboy@hotmail.com

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(c) Mark Peters 2002. All rights reserved