Are You Scared Yet?

by J J Janicki

Chapter 21

We all have aggravations every once in awhile and I had some, and some of those were fairly interesting. Hopefully, though, this will explain the very long delay between the last chapter and the one just below.

And I'm also hoping not to be bothered with any further major aggravations... for at least awhile...

But wishful thinking or not, ten weeks ago, the five main characters in my story somehow stumbled across eleven more characters. Eleven skinny-dipping Boy Scouts, in the middle of the wilderness, apparently without adult supervision, so...

The following chapter will have several instances of nudity and based on what has happened in the previous chapters... even if by now, you've mostly forgotten exactly what...

Nudity doesn't always lead to further complications, but sometimes, it does.

We weren't introduced to all of the Scouts immediately, but to simplify things, I'll go ahead and introduce them now.

The youngest, at eleven, was Edwin. There were four twelve-year-olds: Brett, Jonathan, Bradley and David, and they all looked pretty much the way Stephan and I looked at that age, except for Bradley, who'd started. Not by very much, but at least he had some hair.

Well, it was important to Bradley, all right?

And by now it should also be a foregone conclusion that it's important to me. Getting some pubic hair is a benchmark. It means you'll soon have more of it, and before much longer people like your aunts (some of them) aren't going to always be gushing about how adorable you are. By the time I was nine, I was really getting tired of that.

But, returning to the Scouts, there were four thirteen-year-olds. One of them, (Todd) has already been introduced, but the other three were all uncircumcised!

Jaylen and Jayden - twins - had short foreskins, but didn't look like they were close to starting and the other, (Dalton), didn't have any hair yet, but his penis was fairly long. And skinny. And he had a long foreskin.

Then there was Chase, who was fourteen. There was a Chase at St. Ag's, but fortunately he moved with his family to Germany about halfway through the sixth grade. Me and Chase had a very big personality clash, so I was fully prepared to dislike the California version as well. He looked like he'd consider himself to be God's gift to the opposite sex just like the New York Chase did, but as it turned out, he wasn't that way at all.

And finally there was Dan. As he explained later, he was their de facto leader. It's not every day you hear a teenager earnestly using terms like "de facto", not even at sixteen, but in his case, I was a little on guard at first, mostly because he was an Eagle Scout. Eagle Scouts are supposed to be morally upright and all that good stuff, so my understanding was, they'd look down on us. Never, ever, would they engage in any sort of gay behavior, not even jerking off with other Scouts. Even if they we were only doing themselves and not even looking at another boy, they just wouldn't do it! So even though he'd apparently taken Todd's excitement in stride, and even though he didn't seem put off when Stephan said we'd just recently been too excited, I was still assuming that if pressed, he'd say that he was beyond that.

That's what I was thinking, but... let's go back to the end of the last chapter, all right? Then it started really getting weird! So much so, I think it deserves all of the next chapter, and after that...

More?

Probably so.

So okay. The situation was already a little weird. It seemed a nice enough situation, us happily (if somewhat guardedly), skinny-dipping with eleven Boy Scouts, but in no way would it qualify as being really weird and it also wouldn't seem to be a likely candidate for more than a chapter. Not that this has ever stopped me in the past, but even so, in light of what we'd been up to while bumping our way down that glorified goat path, it would seem that we road warriors were well beyond being excited just because others were showing some signs.

Unless maybe those others were Scouts assumed to be as straight as straight could be. At first none of us were showing any signs of becoming excited, but we were getting interested. We compared notes later, so that's how I can speak for Stephan, Carlie, Earl and Elliott, but speaking only for myself, one of the first things that happened was: I started thinking that Dan was a little more my type after all. As in, I wouldn't be unhappy if Stephan ends up looking a lot like him once he's sixteen. And for that matter, I wouldn't be disappointed if I end up looking that way either. Well, aside from the fact that Dan's hair was black while Stephan is a dirty blond and I'm a little more blond than that, but still, I was thinking that Dan looked nice. He was only about 5'-6'' but then Steve McQueen was 5'-9 ½'', so...

So I rest my case. As expected, he had some hair on his calves, but not too much. I wouldn't want to have too much. And of course, he had hair in other places, but again, not too much. In no way did he look like a weakling, but he wasn't massive. I have no idea what the big deal is supposed to be with massive thighs, or calves, or biceps... or whatever, but I think it looks grotesque. As in: "That is ug -ly! If I was a leopard, I'd kill him in two seconds." Not that I'm too hostile to mindless jerks who spend most of their days doing various high-impact exercises and gulping down high protein power drinks... and I wouldn't mind getting a little more definition - or a lot more - but once I'm grown, I'd like to be lithe and stronger than I look. Sort of like Steve McQueen. (Once in Seattle, me and Stephan are signing up for Taekwando. That'll be soo cool...) But I digress. Again.

So okay, I was thinking that Dan looked nice for being sixteen, almost to the point of being cute, but I also got the impression that he knew how to take care of himself and I didn't feel at all intimidated.

Although I might have been if I'd been in Elliott's place. It's one thing to quickly undress with no one else paying any attention, but the Scouts decided to come ashore while we were making our way down from the car. All of them. Squeak and Alexander enjoyed being the center of attraction, but at first, Elliott didn't, I'm sure of that much. He was blushing, for one thing, but everyone else was naked and apparently not bothered by it, so there wasn't an easy way out.

Everybody already knew he was without any secondary hair, though, so with that in mind, he managed with a decent amount of aplomb: he just shrugged and after mentioning that sooner or later, he was going to get even with his "friends" back in North Carolina, he was out of his clothes. Then he asked, "Different, huh?"

"Well... you look almost like I do, " said Edwin, the eleven-year-old.

But there was a difference in at least one area, so Jaylen scoffed, "Oh, sure you do, Edwin. In your dreams-"

"We don't have too much room to talk, " interrupted Jayden. He was trying to head off a put-down before it happened. Only, he was already too late.

"Yeah, well, when I'm your age, I bet I'll be bigger than either of you are, because I am now, and I'm only eleven! I'm almost bigger than both of you put together, so-"

"Hey, guys, " cut in Dan quickly, "hush! Much more of this, and our guests might be running off in horror!"

... "Oh... so far, we're not horribly horrified, " said Stephan.

"We're not any horrified, " corrected Carlie.

"Yeah, we're all fairly non-judgmental, " I added. Then I shrugged.

"You'll have to excuse Natty, " said Carlie, "he likes using big words."

Before I could ask why non-judgmental was such a big word, though, Dan said, "I think it's a very good word. There are far too many ready to pass judgment as it is, so we certainly don't mind, do we guys?" He sounded very sincere, and the other Scouts seemed almost equally so. Almost abnormally so. Not that it's a bad thing to be sincere, but most boys my age try to avoid sounding that way. Unless it's about sports of something that adults think is superficial, of course.

But before I could wonder where this non-judgmentalism was going, Dan changed the subject with: "So you're all from North Carolina?"

So after we said no we weren't, Dan was wondering how we met, and I had a fairly good time explaining how I ended up in North Dakota, then Stephan had an even better time explaining how he ended up there, and we managed to do all this without saying anything more than we were best friends. And then Carlie added that he and Earl were best friends as well, even if it was partly due to the fact that there wasn't hardly anyone else their age in Oxmar. And as for Elliott, well, he just had some car trouble on his way to British Columbia.

So I guessed it was a good time to add that Stephan and I were on our way to Seattle, me to live with my mom, him with his sister.

Only that led to Todd wondering how we ended up in California, so...

"My mom lives in Vegas, so we figured, well, what the hell, " said Carlie.

So unbeknownst to us, as far as the Scouts were concerned, we'd already passed two and a half very important tests. One: We were as naked as they were and two: we weren't from Bakersfield, which is where they were from. And the test half-passed was: they'd already noticed that we were going commando when we got out of our clothes. When we got dressed so we'd have a better excuse to get undressed, I would've worn some boxers, but I didn't know where they were packed, and then Carlie scoffed and said it wasn't a big deal anyway.

Well, it could be. Whether it's for appearance's sake or not, I'd never go without at school, so that's why I ventured, "Well, as hot as it is, it's more comfortable, you know?" Soon as those words came out of my mouth, though, I just had a feeling that my voice was once again sounding a little strange and I hoped no one picked up on it.

Only, it was obvious that Stephan had, because he shot a worried glance my way, and as it turned out, that's when we completed the third test because some others picked up on it as well. (Something else we discussed later.)

But trying to put us at ease, Chase cleared his throat and said, "We agree. In the middle of the wilderness, why bother? None of us even bothered packing any."

So, aha! now his voice was sounding a bit strained and I picked up on that.

And so did everyone else, I suppose, because Todd changed the subject with: "Well, speaking of hot, I think we've talked enough, so let's get our butts in the water!"

Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "We've got an even number now, so want to have a chicken fight?... It'll be awesome!"

So aha one more time, and not only that, his dick started straightening out again. By the time he returned to shore with the others, it was back to dormant, and everyone else's was, but just soon as this idea of a chicken fight was broached, there went Chase's and Edwin's to almost straight out... and Dan, the Eagle Scout's was stirring...

And the others were already in the water, so I don't know about them. Except they looked a little anxious.

But still sincere, because Jaylen said, "You're going to, right?"

And that, of course, was directed at us road warriors, but: "What's a chicken fight?" wondered Elliott.

"Oh, you know, that's when all the smaller ones get on the bigger one's backs out in the water and then they try to unhorse each other. It's fun, " enthused Todd. (His was holding at slightly below horizontal.)

"But Earl can just barely swim, " pointed out Carlie.

"Oh, that's no problem, we won't go out very far, " said Jayden. "Just three or four feet deep." And he sounded anxiously sincere as well.

Not more than half an hour had passed since what might have been my most intense orgasm ever, so based on experience, I shouldn't have felt even a twinge. I wasn't expecting anything more than some wet body-to-body contact, after all. But had it not been for that orgasm, I would've started getting stiff. I'm sure of it, because in spite of everything, I was already feeling a slight stirring. Not to the point of getting really hard, but at least it was possible.

So I guess one lesson to be learned from this is that when there seems to be a possibility of playing around with someone new - eleven someones in the case - even if it's only minor league, it's still pretty exciting.

Once in the water, though, my enthusiasm waned, because it was cold. The Kern River is fed by snow melt from the Sierra Nevadas, so with the air temperature at past a hundred, it was a shock! The water was about sixty degrees, so if I could've cannonballed back out of that water, I would've.

But I didn't want to look like a wuss and after some preliminary yelping, it felt... well, invigorating.

But then Jayden jumped on my shoulders with his thighs around my neck, and that's when Elliott's popping one while we were washing him in that creek in Montana didn't seem to defy logic nearly as much. Not to the point of orgasm, but I definitely got hard. I was already feeling a glow, but when I felt Jayden's getting stiff, I was glad mine was under water. You couldn't see much because we were churning the water up so much, and besides that, nobody wanted to get dunked. We weren't the only ones, though. To varying degrees, we all were affected.

But during a brief lull, while everybody was circling everybody else, Jayden said softly, (and a bit ruefully), "Sorry.... It just happens to me... sometimes."

I told him not to worry about it, at our age, it happened to all of us, whether it made any sense or not.

"Yeah, that's what Dan says, " he replied in a relieved tone of voice.

But it didn't go down any. So mine didn't go down any either. (And the water didn't feel nearly as cold as it did at first.)

Especially not when I felt Jayden's twitching. That was a first. He was trying to unhorse his twin brother, squirming around and... oops. Then Jayden fell off and I was getting a little closer. To having an orgasm, I mean. There were two reasons. There's the one I just mentioned and then there was the fact that Jaylen was riding Dan. I was very curious about Dan. Did he have a boner too? What would his pubic hair feel like? What would his dick feel like? What with Jayden and Jaylen unmindfully wrestling and squirming around, we were getting awfully close.

And then I slipped. I didn't mean to, but I slipped and fell forward. So instinctively, my hand went forward to cushion my fall, and I grabbed it. Honest, it came as a huge surprise. Well, it was just average, but when I discovered that I actually had my hand around his semi-erect penis... Oh my God! I mean, a mere OMG doesn't seem to do justice to the situation here, but my instincts... my urge to not give him the wrong impression... or the right impression...

That instinct was still strong and because of that, I almost drowned. Got water up my nose and everything.

Well, okay, I didn't really almost drown, but even so...

It was a shock.

His pubic hair felt coarse, but manly. I know, because Dan didn't know that I'd had life-saving classes, so he rescued me, and I had nothing against it.

But right after that he decided it was time to call a halt to our chicken fight, because I wasn't the only one who'd gone underwater. And even if I was a good swimmer, there's nothing great about getting water up your nose, so I didn't have anything against that either.

But what I didn't know was, it was about to get really really weird.

Dear Abby,

Not long ago, in the middle of a chicken fight, a boy my age had an orgasm right on the back of my neck. I'm sure he didn't mean to, but now that it's happened...

Right. It was weird already. Only, I was trying to pretend that I didn't know what had just happened, because it seemed to be a no-win situation. Those boys running around naked at that clothing optional beach in Spain had a chicken fight in the surf, and I'd often wondered how it was that none of them ended up with an erection. I would've gotten one, I'm almost sure of it. Only Carlos or whoever might have said, "Oh, don't worry about it", so okay, maybe then I would've been enjoying it, until...

That would have been soo embarrassing. Because if Carlos wasn't the least bit gay, then he could hardly say he didn't mind, and since I hadn't decided if I was or not, I sure wouldn't have wanted any of those boys thinking that I was. Even after accepting it, I wouldn't have, because I didn't even know them! So of course, I also would've been nonplussed to the nth degree if one of them had an orgasm on my neck.

And I'd also just latched onto Dan's penis, so I was about to stammer out that I hadn't meant to, but before I could, Jayden started, "Oh God. I'm sorry. I didn't know it was going to happen, I swear I didn't, but... oh shit, " and then I thought he was about to start crying, so I said...

Well, actually, I'm still not sure. I'm sure I was blushing, and I wasn't completely over coughing from having water up my nose, but I was trying to say that I knew it was an accident and I wasn't mad at him. Only, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say it was okay or not. So it was complicated, and right off I don't think I managed much more than "Um" or "Well..."

Whatever it was, it wasn't very complete, so thankfully, Dan asked, "What happened, Jayden?"

Jayden looked down, but managed, "I... um... it happened.... Just now."

"Well, if I'd been on your back, it might have happened to me too, so don't worry about it, " I blurted.

Only, then it occurred to me that it still hadn't come out quite the way I wanted it to, so I tried again. I looked entreatingly at Dan and started, "I mean... well, what I'm saying is... well, I'm thirteen too, so... it's like you said, we get excited, you know?... It doesn't take much."

"Well, guess what, I'm sixteen, and it still doesn't.... But you probably noticed that already."

Oh, that. "Um... I didn't mean to-"

"I know. You slipped, and I was in the way, " started Dan - and he was still sounding fairly sincere - but then Stephan and most of the others arrived, and several of them were wanting to know if we were okay, all at the same time.

So I assured anyone who was interested that it was nothing more than getting some water up my nose, but now Jayden was whispering something to his brother, and...

"You didn't!" exclaimed Jaylen. Then he started laughing. So of course Jonathan, Bradley, Dalton and Edwin all wanted to know what was so funny, so that led to some more whispering, which was pretty pointless. If the idea was to keep it a secret, then it was. So now Jayden and I were even more embarrassed than before, and of course Jayden was also glaring at his brother and almost everyone else. It was getting chaotic.

It was, because more and more, it seemed that we should only be embarrassed by the fact that we were. Most seemed to be fairly gleeful about their lack of embarrassment, in fact, Dalton reported that he'd just had an orgasm as well and Dan said he'd come fairly close to having one. Then he asked, "So you want to talk about it?"

"If it ends up like it did last night, sure!" blurted Bradley. "That was fun!" Then for the benefit of us newbies, he added, "We're working on another merit badge."

"Except John doesn't know about it, " added Dalton.

"And he never will know. Or, at least we hope not, " said Chase.

"Who's John?" wondered Carlie.

"He's our Scoutmaster, but we've rebelled!" said Brett, "Because-"

"Because we think he's turned into one of those stupid holy rollers, " finished Bradley.

"So we just decided we'd go without him, " added Todd, "and if they kick us out of the Scouts, well, screw 'em."

"Yeah, and I just got in. but I don't care, " said Edwin fiercely. Then he looked over at Stephan and asked, "Do you guys think it's wrong to mas... uh... mas..tur-"

"First, we need to talk about it, Edwin!" And that was Dan once again, only now I noticed that he was blushing a little.

So after a shrug, I ventured, "I'm pretty sure almost all boys do.... And we're boys and no, we don't think it's wrong."

Only Dan still thought we needed to talk about it first, so...

So after a short while, we did. At least briefly.

First, we got out of the water, and that was good, because my teeth were chattering and I wasn't alone. But in spite of that, everyone but Dalton seemed to be excited, some more than others. Even Jayden's was sticking out again. That's one advantage of not having started: as long as you don't totally overdo it, you don't have to worry too much about recovery time. That was my biggest disappointment after I first managed something other than a dry cum, the fact that now I couldn't do it all over soon as I'd caught my breath... although I did try...

But nothing came out. Not until I got back home that afternoon, then it was working again.

But the point I was trying to make before I went off in a different direction again was that in spite of everything, I was still surprised I was hard.

I was until in a conversational tone of voice Chase said, "Last night... when we first started, I was embarrassed, but I got over it.... So it's okay." Then he gave me a big grin, and at that point, I wasn't at all surprised.

He was almost always smiling. He was already as tall as Dan, but somehow, he didn't look any older than me. His face didn't look any older. Nice dick, though. Five inches easy, with a well-developed dark brown bush. But other than just barely having some hair starting on his legs, that was it.

Me and Stephan both liked him a lot. Even after he went into his tent and came back out with his cell phone. We were getting ourselves arranged in a circle, when without any warning: "Smile, you're on Candid Camera!"

But unlike some people I can think of, he wasn't sneaky about it and he assured us that the video would never be posted on-line, he wouldn't dream of it.

Dan said if he ever showed up on-line... it would be bad. For Chase.

We newbies didn't let it bother us, though. I said, "I'll be back in just a sec. I have to get something, all right?" And this time, it was my camcorder. So I have it all, including the slightly deflating start.

They were wondering how we managed to get the station wagon as far as we did. It wasn't supposed to be possible. Only, that wasn't the part that was so deflating: the bad part was being informed that about a mile and a half further on down, the trail ended, so our only option was to turn around and try going back up, but having just come down, we didn't think we could. Not even Carlie thought he could manage it, and the Scouts were in complete agreement.

So that was a bit deflating, but then Dan mentioned that he had a friend in Bakersfield who could probably winch us out. Only, that wouldn't until be until late Monday afternoon when they hiked out to meet their ride back. (His father in his van.)

So soon as that sank in... being stuck with those rebellious Scouts for two more days... and nights...

Well, that was in flating. Not that we were expecting them to become truly rebellious, but in light of what had just happened and what apparently was about to happen...

Sure. Why not? We'd try to make the best of it. Starting...

"But we still need to talk, " said Dan. Now???

"So I'll just come right out with it, " he continued. But... "This has nothing to do with what your sexual orientation is, or for that matter, ours..." (self-conscious laugh)... "beyond possibly undecided, but are any of you homophobic?"

And that was de flating. If I'd tried answering that question, by the time I was finished, it wouldn't have been just deflat(ing), it would have been deflat(ed). If ever there was a chance for paralysis by analysis, that was it. It would have been like navigating a mine field, trying to answer without giving away our sexual orientation or making any assumptions about theirs, while at the same time making it clear that we weren't homophobic... while wondering what brought the question up in the first place...

So it definitely would have been circuitous, but before I could get started, Elliott looked down at himself and then he drawled, "Under the circumstances, Dan, I think that is a dumb question."

..."Yeah... I guess it is... at that, " managed Dan before cracking up. So everybody else did, so...

So we had to wait just awhile longer, but still not nearly as long as it could have been.

But with him being the de facto leader, he still had to say something before we got started. "Well, all right, " he allowed, "Can we accept that we're all to a certain extent bisexual then?"

"We can if you can, " said Chase.

But not to be silenced quite yet, Dan continued, "We just proved it while we were in the water, didn't we? Some of us like the opposite sex a great deal, some of us haven't figured it all out - but we're still interested - and some of us might have given up on them completely, but there were no girls and I don't think anyone was thinking about them. Right?"

"Speak for yourself, Dan, but I was thinking about Megan, " said Todd.

"Well, I'm... like really crushed, Todd, " snickered Jonathan. (He'd been on Todd's back during the fight.)

"Well, okay, I like you too, " said Todd back. "A little."

"Oh, joy!" (Jonathan again.)

"Shut up and let's get on with it!" said Chase.

"Whoa! Just listen to Chase!" said at least three others. I think it was Bradley, David and Edwin. Bradley, I'm sure about because then he added that he was not sleeping in the same tent with Chase.

Although he quickly amended that to he might after Chase jumped on him. They were just playing, though.

And okay, there was some more name-calling and rough-housing, and during that time, we newbies were merely interested observers. After all, I still had my camcorder going.

But finally, after brushing himself off, Edwin said, "We ought to make it like a ceremony, " and when no one interrupted him, he rushed on, "We can say we're in the Order of the... um, Coyotes, but anyway, everybody has to go around and... touch... um... everybody else's... penis." Then still not sure how well this was going over, he added, "I mean, it's not really... well... it's not really -"

"Oh, it is too, " said Jaylen, "but if we're going that far, then we might as well just pull on them!"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Jayden, "We'll keep going around until everybody has one!"

So...

Only, Dan cleared his throat. Bad sign, that, because sure enough: "Uh... guys... Hmm."

That's an exact quote, complete with the "Hmm", followed by: "This might be getting out of hand." That remark seemed to be directed mostly to himself though, and after a nervous laugh, he added, "Possibly a poor choice of words, but don't you think we should ask our guests what they think about this?"

"We all stopped thinking several minutes ago, " said Earl.

"Or at least not thinking straight, " I added without really thinking, because...

"That might be a poor choice of words too, Natty, " said Elliott.

But he quickly amended himself with: "Just kidding, okay?... It looks like to me, we're all a little bent right now."

So that set off Jonathan and David, and soon enough, they were joined by all the other Scouts. Well, except for Dan. He still looked conflicted - as though things were getting out of hand - but with the rest gleefully chanting "We're all bent! We're all bent!" I didn't think he'd be able to hold out much longer.

And I was right. "Well, all right!... Damn it."

"Dan just cussed, " announced Edwin.

"Yes, Edwin, I did. You've driven me to it. All of you have. But as your de facto leader... let's go for it."

So...

Only, he still wasn't quite finished.

Not to worry too much, though, he simply pointed out that while Edwin's Order of the Coyotes idea had some merit, the twin's idea probably wasn't so great. "Orgasms, almost by definition, are unpredictable, " he said. "There's lots of factors involved. Level of excitement..."

Then noticing that several Scouts were rolling their eyes, he concluded, "So some of us could go off before everyone has had their turn pulling on it, you see?"

Brett shrugged. "So?"

"So then we don't feel so much like doing it for awhile, " explained Todd. "We have to recuperate."

"Oh, " said Brett.

"I think I'm almost recuperated, " said Dalton. So...

So we decided to do it the traditional way. At least, how we'd heard that it was done, because as it turned out, none of us had ever participated in a circle jerk before. Had it not been for Carlie and Earl going off on the deep end almost immediately after I got them together, I might've been involved in a few, but the way I understand it, it takes at least three to form a circle, so no, I hadn't.

We already were in a circle, and no one wanted to be show any favoritism, so we stayed as we were with everyone doing the person on his right. So under the circumstances, I was glad Chase was on my right. But how can I describe it? After all, a penis is a penis.

Unless it's someone else's, then it becomes something unique. And if the other person is squirming and gasping... and if you like him, because he's friendly and always smiling, then even if you're not in love with him, it's still special. He wasn't exactly smiling while I was getting him off, but he still looked awfully happy. Then once it was over...

He was smiling again. It slowly replaced that dazed look, but it kept slowly spreading, and then it was almost like his face lit up, and he breathed, "Awesome!"

But meanwhile, Brett was intently pulling on my mine, only he was squirming a lot too because Jonathan was pulling on his, so his right thigh ended up on top of mine. Nice.

But also, I was watching Stephan as he was being molested by Jaylen while he - Stephan - was pulling off David...

Story-wise, trying to reproduce all this is very complicated.

There was just so much to see. Dalton, for instance. But Carlie was pulling Dan off, so I wanted to see him go off too!

Only I didn't see either, because I finally could take no more and by the time my eyes cleared, Dalton was looking dazed and very happy and Dan was wiping himself off. He looked dazed but still conflicted. I wasn't going to pry - much - but I wanted to know why.

But it was intense for all of us. The Scouts were off into a new world, and whether they thought it was only a little wicked and or the most wicked thing they'd ever dreamed of, we were in it together.

When I was younger, I sometimes fantasized about doing something like that with my classmates. The ones I liked, of course, and at first it was only all of us being naked and wrestling, but maybe those fantasies never completely die, not even when you've moved on to more exciting things. I wasn't any less in love with Stephan, but now it was about us being part of a group, about sharing something with some really nice boys... who weren't so nice after all, and that pretty much matched my early fantasies. Because even from the start, being naked and wrestling could easily lead to having your penis touched and you touching theirs. It could happen easily enough, and even before I knew what happened if you kept playing with it, I was willing to learn. As long as I liked the boy and he was good-looking, no problem. I'd wash his, he'd wash mine, then I'd wash his again, just to make sure... and so on. That's how my first quiver happened, when I was washing it, so after that, I sometimes fantasized about washing some of my classmates. And this is interesting as well. I liked thinking that Cody or whoever didn't know what was about to happen. And I wouldn't tell them, either.

Stephan had fantasies like that too. Even if it started out with him being kidnapped and treated horribly, after he saved their lives or something - it would be all for one and one for all. And of course, they'd share secrets.

Elliott said he played imaginary strip poker games with boys he liked well into the ninth grade, and often, there would be penalties to be paid after he was naked. I have to kiss it! Oh, no, I have put it in my mouth! Gawd! He said it was more fun imagining having to pay the penalties than it was being on the other end, but that might have been because he'd never been on the other end. Vacuum cleaners do not count.

But it's nice when someone you like shares his secrets. I'll not bother denying that there's a prurient interest, but there's also the fact that he trusts me, and in the long run, that's the most important thing of all.

At first the Scouts didn't share any big secrets with us, but there were still things they wouldn't have wanted just anyone to know about. I could start with the circle jerk... even if that's fairly obvious... but beyond that, you'll probably never guess who started it all. Edwin. Or, at least, it was because of him.

After we cleaned up and got dressed again, Chase and Todd thought it was time for a hike and me and Stephan decided we'd go with them. So Chase told us how it started. He was doing most of the talking, Todd just rolled his eyes every now and then.

Until a week before, none of the Scouts had so much as jerked off in each other's presence, but then during a Scout meeting, John, the Scoutmaster, walked in on Edwin. So number one, Edwin was definitely horny. Edwin's explanation was that he was bored, but the problem was, he was doing it in the basement of the church while the Scout meeting was still in progress in the annex.

But after catching him in the act, what did John do? He over-reacted. Totally. I mean, it wasn't like he was doing it in the baptistery. but John was going on and on about how it was a dirty, disgusting habit, that it was the same thing as adultery and something no Boy Scout should ever do under any circumstances, so-

"How can you commit adultery when you're eleven years old?" I wondered.

Chase shrugged. "I have no idea. But anyway, then it started getting interesting like you would not believe.

"See, Dan's really cool, but he's been an Eagle Scout since he was twelve. His father was an Eagle. And his grandfather was an Eagle when he was a boy. They're a big-time Scout family, that's all you can say about it, so..." (big breath, then without taking another), "he's always been trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent."

Then after we stopped sniggering, Chase continued. "So he's not a party animal, but as it turns out, what he thinks is most important is being courteous and kind. He really hates discourteous people. And I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but when it comes to politics, you can forget about courtesy. My mom says it's a liability.... Trying to see the other side's point of view, I mean. And see, my mom... well, she tends to be on the liberal side and I mostly agree with her, but sometimes it's embarrassing. Like when there was some kind of a Restore Our Values rally, so she decided to join a counter-protest and it turned into a big shouting match. And there were a lot more of them than were of us... and I'm like 'Mom, mom, if you keep this up, they're going to start hitting us with their signs!'"

Then he stopped a moment, and that's when I mentioned that his mom sounded like mine.

So that got us off-subject briefly, but...

Finally returning to our original subject, Chase continued, "Dan's parents are both professors at Cal State-Bakersfield, and they're fairly liberal too. Well, until the start of Summer, his dad was our Scout Leader, but then he resigned, and Dan hasn't said much about it, but we think it has to do with politics.... See, on the national level, most of our higher-ups are more on the Restore Our Values side of things, and..." (deep breath)... "It's like Dan said, thinking that gays have rights just like the rest of us do doesn't make us gay just because we think that.... But there's a lot of controversy over letting gay boys into the Scouts, and then there's the deal about Prop 8... Ever hear of that?"

I ventured, "I think so. It's about gay marriage, right?"

"Well, yeah. Except Prop 8 overturned the California Supreme Court ruling. That was in the 2008 election. So gays had the right to get married, then after the election, they didn't. So what Dan's father said was something like: well, the majority in California aren't Mormon, but even if the majority wants them outlawed, it still wouldn't be right. So-"

"I think you ought to get back to John and Edwin, " interrupted Todd, and story-wise, that's probably the best idea, so...

"So okay, " continued Chase, "after the big scene over jerking off, Dan got in touch with all of us and said we were going to have a meeting at his house the next night. Turned out his parents were at a meeting at the school, so they weren't there. Not while we were having our meeting.

"But anyway, he was upset about the way John acted. He said it was totally uncalled for and that masturbation was a part of human sexuality. Especially when you're our age. It wasn't anything to feel guilty about.

"So we were shocked, because he'd always been so straight and he hadn't ever talked about sex, but some of us were picking at him. We didn't mean anything bad by it, but we were asking him how many times he did it. So you could tell he was embarrassed, and one thing led to another. Like, 'Well, if it's nothing to be embarrassed about, let's just do it now' and 'It's not like we haven't ever seen each other naked, so what's the big deal?', but when he actually agreed with us, we could not be lieve it!

... "But what's almost funny is: now it's like us jerking off together is a political statement, like stopping the war in Afghanistan or something."

So I couldn't resist. "Well, if all the combatants were to stop for a circle jerk-"

"They'd all be court-martialed, " finished Stephan.

"Or worse, " I corrected. "That's a fine way to have a war. Good God!"

But after we snickered a bit, Chase added, "But you know what just happened... our circle jerk... if the wrong people ever find out, we're in trouble. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, we know, " I said. "In New York, some prosecutors... district attorneys, whatever... well, most would probably ignore it, but if, say, two thirteen-year-olds were having sex together, they could be charged with molesting each other. It's actually happened. So don't worry, we're not telling. Not anything."

That's when Todd looked over at us slyly and remarked, "You know, some people would say us jerking off each other was gay.... You think so?"

Stephan grinned. "Do we think gay bashers would think it was? Yes. Do we care? No.... That answer your question?"

"I'd say so, " said Chase. "But you know, the circle jerk... that was the first time we ever did each other. Before, it was us doing ourselves and pretending we weren't interested in anything else. But I thought it was really cool.... The way we just did it."

"Yeah, we thought so too, " I admitted.

"Especially..." (Chase started blushing)... "I haven't noticed very many penises before, but... being uncircumcised is way cool.... I haven't seen many before, so... want to get naked again?... We'll keep hiking... for awhile, but... you want to?"

Chase and Todd were looking at us very intently. Meaningfully, in fact.

Stephan shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

So I wasn't objecting, but I thought we were going to keep our clothes on for awhile. If I'd known this was going to happen, then I would have worn my shades. As in my i-Kams, damn it. Because, somehow, I had a feeling that we were about to go further. It almost defied logic, but...

We were thirteen and fourteen and there were no girls. So...

Next chapter: We keep hiking. For awhile. (And the next chapter will be next week, by the way. And the chapter after that will be in two weeks)...

And after that, I'll do my best to stay on schedule, but I can't really promise.

Although, I would like to point out that it took Tolkien twelve years to finish Lord of the Rings. So even though this story isn't quite as epic... yet...

At least it'll be finished a lot sooner. That much, I'm fairly sure of.