String - 11. Phantom Menace

Summer is my favorite time of year. I was so glad to finish the school year and head into June. Those weeks would go by all too quickly, so I wanted to savor each and every day.

We had our first Alliance meeting before the end of the year. I was proud of Danny. He really had his stuff together. There were about ten kids who came to the meeting. Many of them, I knew they were gay or lesbian. Ryan was there, of course, and a junior from band named Kyle McHenry. There were a couple of kids who were straight too, including Britney, Danny’s former girlfriend. It was a good meeting and Danny explained well what he was hoping to see happen. Not only did we have Mr. Reilly attend the meeting, but Mr. Taylor attended too. Mr. Taylor even spoke to us during the meeting.

“I’m so proud of you kids for getting this group started. You probably know Mr. Reilly was part of the old Alliance. I never joined, and I’ve always regretted it. If you don’t know my story, you may know that my father has served as the president of the school board for almost twenty years. I lived in fear when I was in high school that if anyone ever found out about my sexuality that he would lose the next election. You may know that my father was the only person on the board to vote against starting this group. For that, I am sorry. All these years later, he still doesn’t get it. So I just wanted to be here and tell you that if I drop in from time to time, it’s just my way of showing you my support, and maybe making up for missing my opportunity to join when I went to school here all those years ago.”

Mr. Reilly spoke up too. “This is your Alliance, not mine. Don’t try to recreate something that died years ago. Make this your own club.”

And so we left school behind. When I returned, I would be a junior. Eleventh grade… Only two more years until I would graduate. Ryan and I enjoyed June, spending most days together. I grew more in love with him with each passing day. He made me want to write silly love songs and poetry. I loved his shy grins, his attempts to sound cool, his puppy dog brown eyes. Every time I saw him there was something else I found to love about him, like the way he would hold me after we made love, or the way he looked so studious and thoughtful in his glasses. I even loved the way he slept.

He taught me how to throw a football so we could practice in his backyard. It took me a while to get the feel for it. He told me to throw it to a certain place and not to try to throw it to him as he was running.

“Throw it to where I’m going to be, not where I am when you let it go,” he said. I got pretty good at it after a while. I also couldn’t move my arm the next day.

At the beginning of July, I was preparing to spend my two weeks with dad. This year, mom had given permission for the trip to Washington D.C.. No, my parents hadn’t suddenly made peace or anything, but some of the active hostility had ceased after what seemed like decades instead of years. I think what helped turn the tide was when I told mom about the way dad had stood up for Ryan and helped Mr. Finnegan. It showed mom a side of dad she’d forgotten was there. Mom also arranged with Amber some time for me to spend with my little half-brother. Unfortunately, dad had already broken up with his other girlfriend, and she showed no interest in having her child be in anyway connected with dad’s side of the family, so it looked like I’d never get the chance to even meet my brother or sister.

Before I left to spend my two weeks with dad, I received a letter from the school and Mr. Reilly about band. Unlike last year, this year’s letter came with more details about the upcoming year, including the theme for the field show, and the schedule included two marching band festivals and two parades. It also included the music for us to begin learning.

“Holy shit, we’re doing Phantom of the Opera!” I exclaimed excitedly to my mom.

“Mr. Reilly doesn’t play around, does he?” mom said, looking through the music I would have memorized by the time we went to band camp. “Your father took me to see Phantom years ago.”

“He did?” I asked, looking through the songs. “Think of Me,” “Masquerade,” “Point of No Return,” “Music of the Night,” I was so freaking stoked.

“We sat right under the chandelier,” mom said. “Best seats in the house, I’m still not sure how he got them.”

“Probably slept with the lady selling tickets,” I said.

“Jacob!” mom exclaimed.

“Thanks for letting him take me to D.C. this year, though,” I said.

“Well you’re almost sixteen now. I won’t worry as much as I did last year when he took you to Philly.”

I went to my room and texted Danny right away. “You get your letter from band?”

“PHANTOM!!!!!” Danny replied. A moment later he texted again. “I’m never going to be able to learn all this music.”

“That’s why he sent it early,” I replied. “You’re supposed to start now.”

“😨 I don’t even know where my trumpet is!” Danny replied.

“If you left it at school, you can pick it up,” I said. “We can practice together after dad week.”

“You think since Mr. Reilly knows I’m not a fuck-up anymore he’ll make me a captain?”

“Ummm…”

“What?”

I thought before I typed. “When was the last time you even practiced?”

It took Danny a minute to reply. “You don’t think I’m good enough, do you?”

I sighed. I was afraid he was going to ask that. I thought carefully before I replied. “Mr. Reilly said he wouldn’t show favoritism.”

Danny didn’t reply. I think I hurt his feelings. Danny had to understand how bad it would look if Mr. Reilly suddenly promoted him from last chair to section leader. And honestly, Danny wasn’t very good. Kyle McHenry, who would be a senior, could play circles around Danny and it was obvious to everyone that he’d be high brass captain. Everyone except Danny.

“Kyle is older and more experienced,” I texted after a while, trying to reason with him nicely without insulting his abilities.

“Kyle sux,” Danny replied. So much for that. I decided to drop it.

I took my trombone with me to my dad’s place. I’m sure the neighbors enjoyed that. He’d scheduled his vacation for those weeks, so just like the previous year, it was something different every day, including that trip to Washington. The best part of that time was discovering the fact that I was now taller than my dad. We saw all the sights on the mall, and he took me to Arlington to see the changing of the guard, which he knew I would enjoy.

“Ladies and gentlemen may I have your attention please. I am Sgt. Miller of the 3^rd Infantry Regiment, United States Army Guard of Honor, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The ceremony you are about to witness is the changing of the guard…”

Goosebumps formed all over my arms. It was amazing to watch the precision of every movement, every last detail practiced and executed flawlessly. I might have gotten some dirt in my eye that had to be wiped away.

That wasn’t the only fun we had. There was the usual trip to Kennywood and PNC Park for a baseball game, only this time we had an extra person to come along with us.

“How are things going with your dad, Ryan?” dad asked as we sat eating Potato Patch French fries at Kennywood.

“Better,” Ryan said. “He’s still a butt, but he’s getting better about things.”

“Glad to hear that. I’m glad you came with us today. It’s getting harder for me to ride all the roller coasters with Jake anymore.

It was about Wednesday of the second week of dad time that I realized I hadn’t texted Danny in a few days, so I reached out to him.

“How’s it going without me?” I asked.

It took a while before Danny got back to me. “Fine,” he replied. Uh oh… That wasn’t good.

“It’s been busy here. You know how dad weeks are.”

Again, it was quiet for a while, and then my phone buzzed.

“I hope Kennywood with RC was fun,” he texted.

Dammit! How did he find that out? I decided to play it cool. “It was,” I replied. “Missed you tho.”

“Sure,” Danny replied. That was it. I sighed.

“Are U mad?”

“Should I be?” he replied. “How was PNC Park? I saw they lost again.”

“It was fine,” I replied.

“How’d RC like it?” Danny asked.

“He thought it was fun,” I replied.

“Sounds like it,” Danny replied.

“U jealous?” I asked. Might as well just get it out there.

Danny didn’t reply. It was close to midnight when my phone buzzed again. I was tired, but I still checked it.

“Sorry I acted like a dick. I know RC is your BF, not me.”

“You’re still my BFF,” I replied.

When dad week ended, to my surprise mom didn’t just text me from the car, she showed up at the door of dad’s apartment.

“Well this is a surprise,” dad said as he answered the door.

“It’s been two years, Bob, it’s about time to stop being bitter.”

“You think I’m bitter, Karen?”

“Not what I said, Bob. I’m just not going to hate you anymore.”

“Well, forgive me if I’m not as willing to just forget everything that happened. Yes, I cheated on you, a lot. I know I hurt you more than I’ll ever know. But you not only tried to destroy my life but you tried to take away my son. So… I hope you understand if I’m not exactly thrilled to see you.”

“I’m willing to admit I was wrong. I was extremely angry with you, and rightly so, I think. Our marriage died long before the divorce came along to make it official. I’ve hated you for that. But I used Jake as a weapon against you, and I understand how that hurt you now, and him.”

Dad sighed. “Well, it’s a start, I guess. I’m not ready to get over things yet, but if you are then I’ll eventually come along too.”

“Are you guys going to get back together?” I asked.

“God no!” they both said.

“Whew! Thank god!” I replied. “No offense, but you guys are better off divorced.”

Mom and dad helped me get my stuff into the car and then mom and I went home.

“So what brought that on?” I asked.

“What?”

“Why’d you decide it was time to play nice with dad?”

“Just what I said, I’m tired of being bitter. I know the divorce hurt you. But you know now why it had to happen. Our marriage wasn’t a mistake, but the way we acted in that marriage was. And you were the one who got hurt most of all. I’m sorry for my part in that pain.”

I thought for a minute. “You get laid or something?” I asked.

“Jacob!” mom exclaimed.

“It’s alright if you did. Who am I to judge? I always feel better about things afterward. You just seem more mellow.”

“Not everything is about sex. Sometimes you are just like your father.”

“I don’t know if you’re complementing me or insulting me,” I said.

“A little of both,” mom replied.

First person I called on Monday morning was Danny. That’s right, called, not texted. He was still bummed about not being invited to some of the things we did, but we talked about it.

“Think about it from my side of things,” I said. “When you were going out with Lydia did you invite me to every fun thing you did? Would you have wanted me to have to tag along with you if you went somewhere with your girlfriend?”

“I know. But think of it from my point of view. Were you still upset when I didn’t invite you to come along?”

“Fair enough,” I said. “Tell you what, we’ll have a whole week at band camp, and Ryan will be at football camp at the same time. We’ll have lots of fun then. And maybe the two of us will have some fun on our own before school starts. Okay?”

“Sounds good,” Danny replied.

I hung up the phone and called Ryan. “Want to come hang out?” I asked.

“No, I just want to come,” he said.

“Can’t go a week without it, huh?”

“Can you?” he asked.

“Come over,” I said. Yeah, that was a good afternoon… It was a good week actually. We might have had sex every day that week. I had planned on finding some way to get Danny over for an afternoon, but the appeal of bare naked sex with my hot boyfriend was too much for my young mind and body to resist. Needless to say, I knew Danny wouldn’t be too happy when I saw him at our first day of band boot camp on Monday. Ryan started football practice the same day, so we rode together to the school. His practice started a half hour earlier than band practice, so I had some time to kill. I headed down to the band room and could hear music coming from the chorus room. There was Mr. Reilly, playing on the electric piano made to sound like a pipe organ. I recognized the tune right away, the theme from “Phantom of the Opera,” of course. The fact that Mr. Reilly was playing every note from memory amazed me. About halfway through the song, he noticed I was there watching him. He smiled.

“Sing for me, my angel of music!” he said.

I laughed. Mr. Reilly finished the tune and greeted me with a handshake. “Welcome back Finnegan,” he said. “Getting an early start?”

“My boyfriend is on the football team and we dropped him off for practice,” I said.

“Very good. So you and Danny aren’t…?”

“We’re friends, but that’s all. We maybe fooled around a little…”

Mr. Reilly stopped me. “None of my business, Finnegan.”

“Right. Sometimes I forget you’re my teacher,” I said.

“Never forget I’m your teacher,” Mr. Reilly said sternly. “If you don’t hate me by the end of band camp then I’m not doing my job.”

And so the week began. It was amazing to see new faces walking through the door. Even though we’d lost last year’s seniors, we had about ten more kids than we’d had the previous year. I guess word had gotten out about how great it was to be in the band. The freshmen class was bigger than the class which had graduated and moved on, but there were also some kids from the upper grades who had decided to join as well. People weren’t quite sure where to sit yet. We were all just milling around waiting to see where to go and what to do. You never quite knew what to expect with Mr. Reilly. When he walked in, the room fell silent.

“You can sit anywhere for now,” he said. “We’ll assign seats later. Ladies and gentlemen my name is Mr. Reilly and I couldn’t be happier to be here with you for another year of marching band. We have a lot of work to do. You saw the schedule. We’re adding a couple of parades to our schedule, and there may be some surprises for you along the way that I can’t get into right now. Did you all receive your music?”

Heads nodded.

“Did you practice it?”

Heads nodded a little less enthusiastically.

“Practice is the key to success in this band. Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. If you practice poor habits, then you will perform poorly. This is what I like to call ‘Hell Week.’ You won’t like me too much by Friday, and that’s fine with me. The door is always open if you want to leave. No one will think any less of you, least of all me. But if you work hard, and most importantly work together, you will learn and grow and become a real band, not just a bunch of kids playing music together. I cannot play for you. I cannot practice for you. And those of you who were here last year can testify that I certainly cannot march for you.”

There were a few chuckles.

“Some of you may be wondering what the situation with section leaders and captains will be. Let me just remind you that seniority is no guarantee of being named a captain. Some people are just natural leaders, and class rank is no measure of a person.”

Danny looked across the room and smiled at me.

“Also, a few of you were captains last year. I make no promises that your situation will remain the same this year.”

Boy that got a couple people stirred up, including me!

“Last year was last year. We’re all starting over in the same place this year. There is only one band, not last year’s band and some new kids. Now, find your places and get your instruments ready. We’re going to play scales.”

Oh god, not scales again! Those of us who remembered our first day last year knew what we were in for. Mr. Reilly started just like last year, having me play the first note to get all the low brass in tune. And then came the scales. And then after lunch came the marching practice in the parking lot, and of course some of the kids had to have their parents bring their sneakers in. No instruments, just marching in a box formation.

“LEFT… LEFT… ROSSI!!!”

Danny tripped over himself trying to get in step.

“Did you forget which foot is the left one again, Rossi?!?”

Danny held up his left hand and formed an ‘L’ with his finger and his thumb.

“Perfect little ‘L’ there to remind you! Left on one, people! And for the love of all that is good and holy, don’t look at your feet! I guarantee you they’re still there! Ready! Mark time mark!”

And so it went…

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! ROSSI!!!!! LEFT ON ONE!!!!!!!!!” Mr. Reilly crossed himself. “You’re single-handedly bringing prayer back into school!! My prayers that I don’t jump off the building!”

I couldn’t believe we did so much worse at marching than we had the year before. I think Mr. Reilly might have had a stroke. At the end of practice, he had us form our circle together.

Mr. Reilly pulled a necklace out from under his shirt and clutched it in his hand before tucking it back in. Then, after all that yelling and cajoling he spoke softly to us.

“Well, we need a lot of work,” he said. “Hell week, day one is in the books and no one had to be taken away by ambulance. Tonight, I want you to concentrate on your breathing. Pay attention to how you breathe, as you stand, as you sit, and you lay down to sleep. Draw your breath from down in here.” Mr. Reilly put his hands on his belly and breathed deeply to demonstrate. Your breath is where you get your power. If you can’t breathe, you can’t play, and you certainly can’t march. I want to see Finnegan and McHenry in my office. The rest of you, go home and get some rest and we’ll be back at it tomorrow.”

The exhausted kids scattered to go their separate ways. I looked at Danny. He looked devastated and I felt bad, but I knew why. Kyle had mopped the floor with him all day. Hell, Kyle had mopped the floor with me too! He was really good. Kyle and I followed Mr. Reilly into his office for the talk. He took off his knee brace and laid it on his desk.

“Glad I remembered that thing this year,” he said. “I might be able to walk tomorrow. So what did you think boys?”

“I thought we sucked, sir.” I said.

“McHenry, what’d you think?”

“Honestly, sir?” Kyle said.

“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise,” Mr. Reilly said.

“I thought we were okay for our first day. A lot of the new kids picked it up right away. It was the kids from last year who seemed to struggle the most. I think they thought they would walk right in and pick up where they left off without putting in the work they needed to.”

Mr. Reilly sat there at his desk looking at us. “You may be on to something there, McHenry. What do you suggest we do about it, Finnegan?”

“Well like you said, perfect practice makes perfect. If we got sloppy, it’s because we developed bad habits after last year ended. It’s easier to start with a blank slate than trying to fix what’s broken.”

“But we don’t have the luxury of starting over,” Kyle said. “Some people came in here with attitude. It showed. I think they expected you to go easy on them because of things outside of band.”

Mr. Reilly just soaked in what we were saying.

“It’s going to be harder this year than last year,” Mr. Reilly said. “You boys up to the challenge?”

“Yes, sir!” we replied.

“You’re going to have a real problem with Rossi,” Mr. Reilly said.

“I know, sir,” Kyle said.

“I was referring to both of you,” Mr. Reilly said.

“Yeah, I know…” I replied.

“What’s that again, Finnegan?”

“Oh! I mean… Yes, sir!” I replied.

“He’s a good kid, but there’s trouble brewing there,” Mr. Reilly warned. “Don’t let your guard down.”

Kyle and I left Mr. Reilly’s office and walked down the hall toward the exit.

“You deserve to be captain, Kyle,” I said. “Congratulations.”

“You too Jake,” he said. “Any advice on how to deal with Danny?’

“I hate to say it because he’s my best friend, but call him out on his bullshit. Not in front of everybody because that’ll just make things worse. Get him alone and tell him you’re not putting up with his crap.”

Kyle nodded. We left the building to find Danny waiting to drive me home in his car.

“Good luck…” Kyle whispered.

I joined Danny at his car and we got in.

“Think if I could get him with the car anyone would notice?”

“Daniel!”

“Fuck him!” Danny sneered as he drove through the parking lot. “Stupid red-headed Mr. Perfect. ‘Oh Kyle! You march so well!’ ‘Oh Kyle! Play that note again so everyone can hear how good you sound!’ ‘Oh Kyle! Have my fucking babies!’”

“Come on, Danny…”

“And I swear, Mr. Reilly called me out on purpose just to show he wasn’t going to play favorites. I was in step!”

I must have made a face because Danny noticed.

“What? You think I sucked too?”

“Not exactly…” I said.

“You realize you have the worst poker face ever, right?”

“Look, Mr. Reilly is tough on everybody. Even me. I think you’re a fine player, but not great. Kyle is great. Even you realize that, right? He’s a natural talent. You could practice all you want and not be as good as him. And that’s okay. There are other things that you’re better at than him. You’re a good leader. He’s just better at band.”

Danny thought about it for a minute as we drove on. “Nope, fuck him.”

I had to laugh. Danny did too.

“Look, I know Kyle’s good. I was just hoping Mr. Reilly would see how far I’ve come and acknowledge that.”

“He has. You’ve improved a lot, but Kyle is better and you’re just going to have to accept that you can’t always get what you want.”

“Maybe,” he replied.

The next day at band practice, Mr. Reilly had us tune up and we did scales for a while, and then he began to tell us about the Phantom of the Opera.

“It’s an age-old story of wanting someone you can’t have. See, the Phantom, he’s desperately in love with Christine, but he can never have her without lying to her and seducing her. And it’s not because of his face, it’s because his heart has become twisted in the darkness of loneliness. He doesn’t want to be with Christine, he wants Christine to belong only to him. So when Raoul comes into her life, the Phantom tries to take what he feels belongs to him, because he feels she was his before Raoul came along and stole her away from him. He lashes out and becomes angry, even though the Christine had no idea the Phantom felt that way about her. It’s not just a story about a guy in a mask, it’s a story you will probably experience yourselves at some point in your life. How will you react when someone else has what you want?”

Danny was literally on the edge of his seat listening to Mr. Reilly’s tale. He raised his hand.

“Have you ever been in a situation like that?” he asked.

“Who hasn’t? Except I was more like Raoul than the Phantom in my case.”

“What happened?” Danny asked.

“The Phantom beat the crap out of me,” Mr. Reilly replied. “But I got Christine. Now let’s get started, shall we?”

We worked through the music together. It was rough, of course, but by the end of the week we had worked it out and were beginning to sound like a band. Everything was coming along even better than the year before. The marching got better, and we even worked on marching around the school grounds to practice for parade performances. By Wednesday, Mr. Reilly had chosen the rest of the captains. Madison and Savannah were once again named woodwind captains, joining Kyle as the senior captains. I was joined in the junior class of captains by the new percussion captain, Steve. Mr. Reilly’s friend from the elementary school, Mrs. Thompson joined us once again to help with the auxiliary. And Britney was named field commander.

Just like last year, one day we were joined by Coach Rush, who again thanked us for supporting the team and promised us that the team was supporting us as well. I didn’t see Ryan much that week, but we talked every evening on Snap. We were both too exhausted to do much of anything besides talk. Ryan had impressed Coach Rush with his improvement, and it looked like he would get a lot more chance to play than he had in his freshman year.

“So while you’re enjoying band camp at Clarion with Danny, I get to spend a glorious week at Cal U with Shawn Spencer as my roommate,” Ryan said.

“Wow, how’d you swing that?”

“I think they just paired up the skinniest and the fattest guys together,” Ryan laughed.

“You’re not skinny. You’re slender,” I said.

“If you say so,” Ryan said. I think if I had a little more muscle I might have been a starter instead of second string. I’m actually faster than the guys ahead of me, but the corners just rip me apart. It’s hard for me to get going when someone’s in my way. I’ve been knocked on my ass more times in a week than I have been in my whole life.”

“Oh, we don’t want to mess that part of you up!” I said.

“It might be a bit bruised, but I assure you it still works.”

And so, the week of band camp arrived. It was grueling, that’s for sure. Mr. Reilly had a vision for what he wanted to see and it just wasn’t coming together. On Wednesday evening, after a terrible practice, he lost it.

“Get off my field and go to your dorms and don’t come out until breakfast tomorrow!” he shouted. “Lights out by eight. Captains, stay here. MOVE IT!!!!”

Everyone went running, some literally running for their dorms. I joined the other captains around Mr. Reilly. I saw Danny hanging back from the crowd, watching from afar.

“That was the worst practice I’ve ever taken part of in my life!” Mr. Reilly snapped. “Are you proud of what you guys just put on the field? Kyle? You proud of that?”

“No sir.”

“Madison? Finnegan? You think that was a good practice?”

“No sir!” we said.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph people! I can’t play every stinking instrument and march for you! That was total garbage out there tonight! You call that perfect practice? I call it perfect crap! You know what we just did? We just wasted a week and a half. Everyone’s time, the school’s money to come up here, all of it a great big waste. What was the tune Mr. Butler had you play every stinking year because you couldn’t play anything else? ‘Band on Parade,’ right? Well maybe we should just play that crap instead of something even remotely interesting because what we’re trying to do is obviously too difficult for you!”

“Not ‘Band on Parade!’” I said aloud. We’d played that damn song every year since fourth grade. It was so simple I could literally play it in my sleep.

“What’s that Finnegan?”

“Sir… ‘Band on Parade’ sucks.”

“SO DO YOU, FINNEGAN!!!” Mr. Reilly snapped.

Everyone gasped at that one.

“Get off my field,” Mr. Reilly said coldly.

Everyone left except for me. Mr. Reilly sat on the bench on the sideline with his head in his hands. I walked up to him.

“I didn’t deserve to be yelled at like that.”

“Well how would you like to be yelled at from now on?”

“Not like I’m a fucking two year old!”

“Watch your language there, Finnegan.”

“No! You suck, Mr. Reilly!”

I turned to leave.

“FINNEGAN!!!” Mr. Reilly shouted. I turned around.

“Ten laps tomorrow.”

“Fine!” I said.

“For everyone. The whole band in the morning, first thing. And you can tell them exactly why they’re doing it, before we learn how to play ‘Band on Parade!’ Now get out!”

I turned and slowly walked back to the dorm where we were staying. Man, I felt like I’d been run over by a horse shit truck. I’d never been so angry at a teacher before. I wanted to quit the band and go home before morning. I opened the door to the room I was sharing with Danny and slammed the door behind me, the noise echoed down the hall.

“Jesus! Scare the shit out of me!” Danny shouted at me.

“Shut the fuck up you fucking fuck fuck fuck!!!!!” I screamed, losing what was left of what was holding me together and bursting into tears. I flopped onto my bed and buried my face I my pillow. I punched the mattress a few times. After a minute or so, I swung my legs of the bed and sat up. I ripped my shirt off and flung it across the room and kicked off my shoes and socks, leaving me in just my shorts.

“Feel better now? Got all that out?” he said.

“Fuck you,” I replied.

“Look, I know you’re upset but you don’t have to take it out on me.”

“Why not? Mr. Reilly’s taking it out on everyone.”

“Dude, we sucked tonight. Everyone did. If I were Mr. Reilly, I’d be mad too.”

“So now you’re suddenly on his side?”

Danny got up from his bed and sat beside me.

“I’m always on your side, Jake. It sucks to get yelled at, I know, but you can’t take it so personally.”

“Yeah… Just wait until morning and you’ll see how personal it is.”

Danny returned to his bed. I slipped off my shorts and lay there in my underwear. We turned the lights out and lay there on our backs.

I sat up.

“What is it?” Danny asked.

“I can’t sleep.”

“Not if you’re sitting up like that.”

“This is going to sound weird, but… Can you sleep with me?”

“What do you mean by sleep?” he asked.

“Sleep,” I replied. “I just… I need you to hold me like you used to do, with your arm around me.”

Danny slipped off his bed and brought his pillow over to my bed. I lay back down and Danny slipped into bed behind me. I felt his arm slide over me and across my chest. I snuggled against him. He gently stroked from the middle of my chest and down to my belly button and back up. I shivered. We were breathing in rhythm together. He pressed his hips against my butt. I giggled a little.

“A little excited there, aren’t you?”

He didn’t reply. He just held me tighter. I felt his breath on my neck, and then I felt his lips.

“Danny…”

“Don’t do this to me Jake…” Danny said. “Why’d you ask me to sleep with you?”

“I just… need you…”

Danny slipped out from behind me and pushed me down on my back into the mattress. I felt his weight on me. I pulled him toward me and kissed him. We wrapped our arms around each other and made out.

“I needed this…” I whispered. “God I needed this…”

I reached up and grabbed hold of his shorts and yanked them down. He slid them off and then mine as well. Our embrace continued, this time with nothing between us, our naked bodies entangled together.

“I need you, Jake,” Danny said, more of a moan than a whisper. “I want you so bad…”

I loosened my grip around him and turned myself around onto my belly on the bed. Danny didn’t need to be told what I wanted. He reached into his suitcase in a flash and I felt him slather up his dick and then press against me. I spread my legs apart to give him what we both wanted. I felt him press against me, and then enter into me. I moaned in pleasure. Danny slid all the way inside, and then we made love.