One Semester. - 5. Chapter 5

One Semester Chapter 5.

"Look at this. You look like a hog."

It did too. When they'd been eating their chips at Anglesea and Peter pointed the phone at him Joel stuffed his mouth full. The camera caught him with several of the chips dangling from his lips and a weird expression.

"Rub that one out. It looks gross."

"No way. I'm keeping it for proof."

Twenty minutes of looking and laughing had them both in a smiley mood.

"Hey, I'm in an apple cider mood. Want some?"

"Sure."

The goblets came out and after sipping and savoring and a couple of top ups the bottle was empty.

"You and Martin are both wimps."

"What? No we’re not."

Joel associated the word wimp with skinny-dipping. That was the context for its use on Friday and Saturday.

"You were going to see who's the strongest."

"Oh right. We were too. It was going to be this morning but we forgot. We were going to ham it up for you."

"Ham... Like how?"

"Like wrestling on TV, and then I was going to win by cheating."

"You cheating? Well you know I never would have believed that. So, when did you plan that?"

"On Saturday morning one time when you stayed in the waves longer than we did."

"Show me."

"Another time."

"Weak."

A couple of minutes later the scuffle ended with Peter triumphantly simply squishing his knee into Joel's stomach.

"See. I showed you my cheat. I let you win."

"All right, my turn for showing. Take your shirt off."

"My shirt? What for?"

"It is an experiment. …A proper one."

"On me? It's a trick isn't it?"

"No, it's a nerve test."

"What? Like a dare?"

"No, your real nerves. It's interesting."

"Does it hurt?"

"Not one bit."

"What do I have to do?"

"It's a touch test. You have to tell me how many fingers I'm pressing with."

"Is that all?"

"You won't get it right. That's why it's interesting."

Puzzled, and piqued with curiosity, Joel took off his shirt.

"Now your shorts, and lie on your stomach."

"My shorts? Is this your Hot-dog act again?"

"No, it really is an experiment."

Even more puzzled Jolt unzipped and quickly stretched on the dark sheet. A finger pressed at the top of his spine.

"How many fingers was that?"

"One?"

"No, it was two."

There was another press.

"Two."

"Yes, and you only knew because I didn't press them both at the same time."

Three more presses all felt like one finger but turned out to be two.

"See. It always feels like one. Tell me when you definitely know it’s two."

After three more presses it was obvious.

"My fingers are about an inch and a half apart. Now we'll try further down your back."

Each press set off a jolt like a little tickle and as the test area moved slowly down Joel’s spine the effect got stronger. At the base of his spine it was very, very distracting.

"How's that? Nearly two inches apart now. Okay, from the top to the bottom. See if you can tell this time?"

Top to bottom? A finger, or maybe two fingers, Joel really couldn't tell, started just below his neck and moved steadily down.

"How's that?"

"It feels like one but I suppose it's not."

Five more times the buzz traced its way down his spine and Joel stopped thinking about the experiment.

"Now we'll test your front."

"Um... Can we wait a while?"

"No, that will spoil the experiment. Come on. Turn over."

In one quick movement Joel rolled over, sat up and brought his knees to his chest.

"I'm embarrassed."

"No you're not."

Whatever did he mean? It sure felt like embarrassment. Joel searched for any visual clues then watched two hands grip his ankles. Oh God.

"Close your eyes."

Joel stared, then not sure why he was complying, blinked his eyelids shut. Oh God, his heart started pounding when a steady pressure slid his feet slowly down the bed. He jumped at the touch of a palm on his forehead and accepted the gentle push till his head was resting on the pillow. A finger touched his chest then slowly snaked its way down. It happened again, and then again, each time leaving a tight trail of goosebumps and quivering skin. Joel gasped in a breath when the touch moved even lower. Everything stopped and Joel knew Peter was looking at him. Fingers slipped under the sides of his jocks.

"Do you want to lift your hips?"

Why was he whispering? Joel lifted and as he did the jocks were tugged down, down, down, right passed his feet. Everything stopped again.

"Wow!"

Another whisper. There was a soft rustle and Joel's hypertuned senses registered the sound of a zip, another faint rustle and then an unbelievable shock as bare flesh lowered carefully against his front. His eyes flew open and Peter, ever so close was looking back at him.

"Do you want to put your arms round my back?"

Still catching up with the sensations and surprise of it all Joel moved his arms in place then, working out that Peter was asking if everything was all right, he gave a squeeze of affirmation. It caused a murmur.

"Wriggle a bit so we fit together."

Wriggle? It sounded funny and let Joel relax. One wriggle told him straight away that fitting together required more wriggling, definitely more, and then each new wriggle made the fitting together part more important. For a while the movements were tentative and exploring, nibbling away at the barriers of inhibition till they became confident and intent on giving and receiving sensation. Suddenly everything exploded into a storm of passion, impossibly demanding, and exciting beyond belief. When the storm subsided Joel lay quietly, his arms holding Peter close till there was another wriggle and a nudge against him.

"You're rude, Joel."

"You started it."

"No I didn't. You got horny with the experiment so I helped you out. …Let's have a shower."

"Together?"

"It saves water that way."

"Ah... Right."

No water was saved, not when they must have used up eight of the quotas recommended by the water restriction guidelines in one go, and the bar of soap could have proudly boasted about its rapid weight loss at any Jenny Craig Center. Wet, soapy hands and bodies led straight to experiments and touchings, steadily bolder and more direct till passion stormed for the second time.

Wrapped with their towels they had a drink and a couple of biscuits each in the kitchen. As soon as Joel stood up to rinse his mug there was a quick tug and his towel was captured. That meant immediate retaliation, which somehow led to a tussle on the bed. This ended with Joel sitting on Peter's stomach and claiming to be in control. Peter said he didn't care because of the interesting view.

"Why did you start the experiment?"

"I don't know.... Well, yes I do. I wanted to touch you and it was a good excuse. I was just going to do your back."

"So why did you keep going?"

"That's the bit I don't know. I got a shock when I heard myself tell you to turn over and when you did it was an even bigger shock."

For a moment Joel thought it was a tease but there was no tease tone.

"What do you mean?"

“That's when I thought you wanted something to happen. It was scary."

Joel did a replay in his mind.

"Scary?"

"Really scary. What if I was wrong and you got angry? And I knew you wouldn't start anything."

"I wanted to, for ages. I go all hard whenever you come near me."

"You do? I never noticed."

"Were you looking?"

"Sometimes."

"When you rubbed my lips with the cream was the first time. And then you gave me mouth-to-mouth."

"So that's why you rushed off before you knew it properly?"

"Yes, and it happened at the sauna rock. You even made it happen when you were asleep in the tent with your octopus act."

"Octopus? What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's what Martin calls it. You cuddle up close in your sleep."

"Martin? I cuddle up to him?"

"All the time. Anyhow last night I woke up and your hand was on my stomach."

"Wow!"

Joel laughed.

"What?"

"I like it when you say wow."

"Wow!"

"Crazy.... Now what are you doing?"

"Putting my hand on your stomach."

"I don't think so."

"Mmm. Give me a cuddle then. I want to feel what it's like when you're the one on top."

For quite a while the cuddling and touching and body games continued, filling the needs of curiosity and closeness. In the middle of one tight hug there was a soft pressure of lips against his own and Joel wasn't quite sure how to respond. Peter sensed the hesitation straight off.

"What?"

"Um... I've never kissed anyone like this."

"Neither have I."

"You haven't? But you . …Um. …I thought... You must be.. Experienced?"

"Me? ...Because of my act? Martin tells me that makes people think I sleep around, but I don't."

"No one?"

"No one at all. At High School I acted as macho as Martin."

"Wow!"

"Now you're the one saying it."

"You still have to show me how to kiss."

At midnight they'd hardly moved from the bed and Joel reluctantly suggested going back to 42 for some sleep. Peter started waving his arms around like a windmill with hinges. He looked ridiculous.

"All right, crazy. What's this for?"

"This is the octopus saying you have to sleep here so he can get his tentacles all over you."

In the morning Joel woke with a very exciting feeling and a giggle in his ear.

"I think you're going to burst."

"Your hand's meant to be on my stomach."

"That works, but this feels better."

"Stop. Stop."

"You want me to stop?"

"No, but I have to have a leak."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I don't know."

"I'm coming with you."

"You want to watch me pee?"

“No, I want to watch your flagpole.. And I need a leak too."

After a mixture of difficulty, merriment and quite a bit of relief, the two flagpoles were transported back to the bed and became involved in a different routine. It went gently for a while with Joel on top, reacting happily to Peter's controlling hand.

"Holy Shit!"

Joel nearly died of shock at the incredulous exclamation, then nearly died again from embarrassment at the sight of Martin staring goggle eyed and open mouthed from the doorway. He froze in place for a moment, went to roll away but realised that would reveal everything, looked frantically for some kind of covering, then froze again like a rabbit caught in a spotlight.

"What are you doing?"

After a brief but very pregnant moment of silence there was a kind of giggle from Peter.

"Morning exercises? …Flag raising ceremony for the Olympic Games?"

Martin looked blank and Joel was too flustered to laugh.

"You filthy dogs. How long’s this been going on for?"

Peter was suddenly in fine form.

"About twenty minutes."

Martin's face split into a huge grin and he moved closer. Joel looked at Peter. Wasn't he embarrassed? No, his grin was nearly as big as Martin's.

"You started last night. It must have been or you would have told me on Friday."

Joel had another shock. Peter's hand was moving.

"As if we'd tell you."

Peter's hand kept moving. Thank goodness it was slow and unobtrusive enough that Martin wouldn't know it was happening.

"You’d have been sneaking away from me all weekend if it wasn't last night."

Oh no. Joel had to hold back a gasp.

"You're the one who's sneaking, Martin. You’re here way earlier than you said."

Joel's whole body twitched and this time the gasp escaped. The excitement of the touch was so strong his groin moved with an involuntary shove of response.

"Gods, Joel, how horny are you?"

Before Joel had the chance to protest that it was Peter making it happen, his legs were grabbed and he was dragged off the bed and onto the floor. Well, the flagpoles were on full show now. Peter was dumped on the floor as well and then Martin went to the doorway.

"I'll bring your coffee in ten minutes. …So make the most of it."

Joel definitely was horny, very horny, and the indignities of the previous moments lost relevance instantly when Peter, so to speak, took the situation even more firmly in hand.

When the coffee arrived the top sheet was in place and it felt very strange to be sitting naked under the covers while Martin sat on the edge of the bed talking. They were both trying to embarrass him, carrying on about his horniness, Martin saying how rude he looked with his butt bouncing away and Peter agreeing with him. It made Joel laugh though, and he quickly became comfortable with Martin knowing everything. The talking didn’t last long as Martin's reason for being early was to visit the College bookshop, and it was a rush to manage showers and breakfast and organising for classes.

After the bookshop they went to the administrative office to get their timetables for the week.

Joel's had hardly changed but the comparison with Peter and Martin's was awful. Because of the clashes he’d only be able to have lunch with them on two days, and even worse there were only two days when he could have a swim with Peter. They parted ways in the corridor and Joel headed for logic and flowcharts with Ken Parker.

***

When the roll was called there were five people missing. Sam came in a few minutes late and he looked tired. Was he all right?

Joel was pleased with himself because the extra work he’d done made today’s work easy. At lunchtime he went with Sam and his four mates to the cafe for sandwiches and he sat listening. More parties, and Sam had been with them. Maybe that was why he looked tired? After HTML they went to the pool and Joel helped Sam practice floating and a couple of other things Peter had taught him last week, then they mucked around. Sam was wearing silver speedos today. They looked new and Joel wondered if he’d bought them to fit in. They looked great. Joel was still wearing Peter’s speedos because last night Peter told him he had to.

God it was still over two hours before he came out of classes. After swimming Sam dropped him off at the town center and after filling the day pack with food supplies and other things he needed, Joel walked back to 42. Still nearly an hour.

He’d bought a meatloaf for tea so he stuck that in the oven on low heat. It said thirty minutes on the packaging but he thought he remembered something about them cooking more evenly if they went for longer at a lower temperature. He had a quick shower so he'd smell different to the pool changing room soap and thought of last night's shower. Whoo! Martin would be stirring if he saw how horny he was now. Joel dried off then tried on three different pairs of jocks, laughing at the effect when they were stretched so much, and decided on the red ones. There was a knock on the door.

"Hot-dog"

It was Peter's voice so Joel rushed to the door.

"Holy cow! I'm leaving before I get jumped."

Joel almost slammed the door, but he couldn't do that so his face tried to match the color of his jocks.

"Um.. I was just getting dressed."

Martin walked away, laughing his head off and saying he'd see them tomorrow morning. The door closed and Peter dropped his day pack and books on the floor.

"Wow!"

Like two electromagnets they locked together. An hour later Joel leapt up and rushed to the kitchen.

My God. A faint whisper of almost smoke was rising from the top of the stove. He twisted the oven dial to the off position and reached for a tea towel to open the oven door, which must be too hot. A wave of more definite smoke billowed out, roiled towards the ceiling and with an ear piercing squeal the smoke alarm went off. Joel jumped back when the smoke seemingly leapt at him then leaned forward to peer inside.

"What's that?"

"Meatloaf."

"Is it cooked enough?"

Startled at the ridiculous questions, Joel couldn't think of a good answer.

"It's baked meatloaf."

"Kiln fired meatloaf. …How long has it been in there?"

"... Two hours. It's your fault. You distracted me."

"My fault? I didn't open the door with an Olympic flagpole up to my chin. That's what I call distracting."

The smoke had spread everywhere and to make it disperse involved opening the door, all the windows, and setting the ventilator fan running. While that was happening they went into 43 where Peter organised some food.

Joel managed three hours of study and just before 11 o'clock, left the door slightly ajar, turned all the lights off then stripped, climbed between the sheets and waited. Tonight his bed had to be christened, and according to Peter's rule that wasn't done properly till they'd shared it all night. An excellent rule.

"What happened today?

"Nothing much. Scripting was easy. And then Sam and I did two more of the Pre-requisites topics in 42 and most of another one in the lecture. You're right about Maurie though. He made us wait thirty-five minutes when we got stuck on one thing."

Maurie was the lecturer for Pre-requisites who had a reputation for helping the good looking girls while everyone else waited.

"What was it?"

"Um.. Relative addresses in Excel."

"That's easy. I’ll show you after tea."

"What are we eating? It smells good and I'm starving."

"Close your eyes."

"And you say I'm horny?"

"It's not that kind of surprise. I don't nuke my cooking, so just close them."

When Joel did open his eyes he had to laugh. There was a big platter with a meatloaf sitting in a kind of sauce with mushrooms, bacon and cheese.

"That is so insulting."

"I know. It was my good idea for the day."

The meatloaf was delicious. The Pre-requisites topic was on Joel's laptop and when they sat down his shoulder bumped against Peter's.

" …Do that again."

Another bump started a mini nudge war, then Joel felt a finger push softly into his side. It moved down to his thigh.

"Mmm."

"Mmm"

Half an hour later they were lying in a sideways hug, enjoying their closeness and playing a copy my touch game.

"Wow!"

"What?"

"Nothing. I just feel good."

"Me too."

"We didn't get far with the Excel."

"Will we do it now?"

"Soon. ...Martin’s driving us to the big Shopping Center tomorrow."

"What for?"

"You'll see."

"Being mysterious again?"

"Yes, because you love it."

"What did Martin say today?"

"He asked me if you came to the door in your jocks last night on purpose, so I said yes, and then I said you were so horny you set off the smoke alarm."

" Boofhead! You're just as horny as I am."

"Boofhead? That sounds weird."

"Good. I'll say it whenever you tell fibs about me."

"Fibs?... What's this then? It sure feels like you're horny."

"Ah.. Yeah, I am."

"Are you ready to do the Excel now?"

"... Soon."

Peter laughed and jumped off the bed.

"Now."

 

This attempt at the spreadsheet was successful and Joel finished another of his Pre-requisites topics. Only two more to do. Back in 42 he looked up the notes for the next day's Business Principles lecture, worked for half an hour on the VBScript exercises, then sent off a long email to his mum. Enders Game filled the gap till eleven o'clock and then it was back to 43 for the night.

***

Next day was Joel's easy day with only Business Principles which finished at eleven o'clock. Sam came in, looking tired once again but he picked up as time went on and they worked together well, searching the Internet for types of organisational hierarchy in big companies. When the lecture finished Sam was keen to go to the pool before doing some of the HTML and VBScript Joel had promised to help him with. Just before 12:30 Joel walked to the campus car park, saw Sam off, then found Martin's ute and waited.

"Hey, horny. Set any alarms off this morning? Peter says you tried."

"He’s a Boofhead. Where are we going?"

"Just to get some lunch."

"As if."

They did get lunch, but curiously enough, only a few doors away from the cafe there was a big surfwear shop which Martin said they had to check out.

"Look, Peter, it's those hot speedos you showed me on the Internet. Why don’t we get some for Joel so he doesn't have to borrow yours?"

"Good thinking. We can throw out the dork shorts."

Joel took one look at the display manikin wearing the rude red racers with black banding and laughed.

"You have to be joking. I'm not that game."

"Yes you are. Try them on."

Peter was nodding too and Joel couldn't refuse. The red color was too strong so Joel looked at the selection on the rack and took a silver grey pair a bit like Sam's into the changing room.

"Do they feel good?"

"Um.. Yes."

"So, are you going to get them?"

"I'm not sure. Would you wear them?"

"Of course I would."

"All right. Both of you get a pair then I will."

Martin gave Peter a nudge with his elbow as if to say they’d won. They hacked round the centre for a while, got supplies from the big supermarket, then headed for the pool back at College.

"Everyone will think we’re on a team or something."

It certainly felt like that when they walked out of the changing room to the poolside. Joel almost forgot about the speedos when Martin informed him he was now training to get his bronze medallion.

"I am?"

"Why not? You'll get bored with swimming if you just muck around and the hard exercise will keep you fit. See if you can do eight laps without stopping."

Joel was zonked after an hour of swimming and flopped on his bed for a rest when he got back to 42. He felt good though and managed a good six hours of study before Peter arrived for the night. He had his camera phone with him.

"Put your new speedos on."

"What about you. Have you got yours?"

"That's for you to find out."

Finding out meant taking his clothes off and Joel did that with alacrity.

"Wow, Peter! What a hot-dog."

"Stop staring and get your own on, and anyway that's my line."

Joel's hot-dog was prominent now in his new garment and he laughed when Peter pointed the phone at him.

"That's a bit rude."

"No it's not. It's private viewing. That's fun."

He pressed a button, then looked at the little screen.

"You're right. It’s rude."

"Let me see."

"Not yet. We'll put them on your laptop for a better look. Turn side on."

Peter took five or six more photos then Joel took a turn and couldn't help laughing because Peter started acting up.

"Now what are you doing?"

"We're famous porn stars practising for our next photo session. Drop the speedos so the gay world can drool."

"Nutter!"

Joel loved it when Peter got into one of his acting out moods and happily joined in as things got steadily ruder and ruder.

"The poster. Let's do the poster. Has the phone got a time delay?"

"Ten seconds or twenty seconds."

It took about a dozen tries before they were satisfied they had a good enough replica of the poster, and by then they were so worked up there was an interlude of action and cuddling before they got to load the final pictures onto the laptop.

"Sheba. Look at this one. If Martin sees this he’ll call you horny for ever."

They had great fun stirring each other and then Peter copied the pictures onto Joel's backup USB memory stick to transfer to his own desktop computer. In the morning Joel woke from an unbelievably erotic dream, gave Peter a big hug then disengaged his hand, raced to the bathroom and then zipped back into bed.

"You are so rude. Do you know what you were doing in my dream when you woke me up?"

"What?"

As if it was a big secret Joel whispered in Peter's ear.

"Wow, let's try it."

Half an hour later Joel was panicking about his talk for Presentation while Peter was insisting he had nothing to worry about.

"How many times did you practice last night?"

"Three."

"Well do it again now while I listen. It only takes five minutes."

"I don’t need practice. I nearly know it off by heart. It's talking in front of everyone that's scary."

"Let me listen anyway."

There was a knock on the door, and of course it was Martin.

"Hey, what's wrong? How come you've got clothes on?"

"Shoosh up. Joel’s practising his talk for Andrea."

Martin shooshed and listened attentively then said it was great.

"Do you know anyone really well in your class yet?"

"Not really. ...Except for Sam, and there's an old guy who's really friendly too."

"Talk to them and forget everyone else. That's what I do with Peter and it works for me."

It sounded like a good idea and since Peter was also nodding agreement Joel decided he'd try it that way.

HTML was first lecture and Joel spent most of the time helping Sam and the old guy, whose name was Phillip. It was quite strange when after talking about him only twenty minutes before, he came into the lecture room and politely asked if it was okay to sit in the spare seat next to Joel.

In the second lecture there was half an hour of coursework before the talks started and then Joel listened to four other people before it was his own turn. One girl was terrific but the other three were so nervous they made Joel feel like he mightn't be so bad after all. Standing in front of the class really was nerve racking but his opening sentence was burnt into his brain and once he got going he managed. Martin's idea worked and Joel found himself giving almost his whole talk to Phillip.

After the usual toasted sandwiches for lunch he headed to the pool with Sam. When he put his new speedos on there was a really strange moment.

"Crikey. Where did you get those?"

"Ah. ...At the surf shop."

"They show off your Hot-dog."

"What?"

"That's what Peter said last week. Remember?"

"Oh. Yeah... He stirs me all the time."

Joel didn't remember that particular conversation.

"Can you show me how to dive today?"

"Sure. Well, I'll try."

After ten minutes they gave up the diving and did other things because Sam just couldn't do it, no matter what ideas Joel came up with.

"Swim with us tomorrow, Sam. Martin's crash hot."

"What about Peter? He made the floating easy."

"He'll be here too but he learnt nearly everything from Martin."

***

The end of chapter 5.