Age of Discovering

By: Rick Beck
(© 2017 by the author)
Editor: Jerry W.

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

beck@tickiestories.us

Chapter 2
Getting Dry 

I'd just come out of the showers. I toweled off before going to my locker to dress. Drying off wasn't that easy. What I'd seen of Eddie and Glenn in the showers had me sweating.

When I considered what I'd seen, it wasn't anything I hadn't seen boys do before, except Eddie and Glenn were naked. The question that came to mind, how many boys got hard while wrestling each other with their clothes on.

It was a hard question to answer. I'd heard that a sexual component came with competition. This seemed to be consistent with male hormones that came with physical encounters. My understanding was that sex by its nature was a physical encounter. 

What Eddie and Glenn were doing went beyond competition. 

Their activity aroused Glenn. Eddie spoke about the proximity of Glenn's erect penis to his butt. They didn't act like it was too serious a problem.   

I didn't know Glenn but I wanted to get to know him. There was little to go on that went beyond the few minutes I'd spent staring at him. He seemed to stay close to Eddie. Neither appeared to be at all troubled by their physical activity. They were both having fun. Glenn was having enough fun to get aroused. Eddie didn't, which left me with more questions than it answered.

Eddie liked girls. He'd been dating Bonnie since they became juniors. He talked about her every time we ran into each other. If they weren't going together they were giving a good impression of it.

As I dressed after gym, failing to see either Glenn or Eddie, I was putting on my pants when I realized I had my underwear in my hand. I had to take my pants off to put my underwear on.

What kind of idiot forgets to put on his underwear? I clearly wasn't thinking straight. I spent the entire period of gym trying to locate Glenn and Eddie. 

As I took my shirt out of my locker, someone stopped behind me. When I became aware it was Glenn, he was leaning casually against the locker next to mine.

Where'd he come from?

What is he doing here?

He grinned at me.

He was naked.

His towel was draped over his shoulder. He wasn't hard but he wasn't soft. It's the first thing I checked. What was wrong with me?

I knew better. I recovered quickly, looking instead into his blue eyes. His smirk told me it was too late to convince him I hadn't looked at his dick. He knew exactly where my eyes went.

At least he didn't tell me to stop staring.

My heart was pounding out what I recognized as the Anvil Chorus. I was sure he could hear it the same way he saw through me and I couldn't think of a single thing to say.

“Never know who you're going to run into while you're naked,” Glenn said, taking the towel off his shoulder to rub his hair vigorously.

He stopped at my locker to dry his hair. Give me a break. No matter what he did, I watched. He had a surprisingly muscular body. His bicep bulged nicely. He no doubt was strong. Eddie was several inches shorter and ten or more pounds lighter than Glenn, but he was nearly as muscular. Eddie's best muscular development was below his waist but his body had no fat on it. 

Glenn's arms and chest showed a lot of development. He looked muscular without being oversized. Boys who lifted weights tended to get too big. They didn't know when enough was too much. Glenn obviously did.

His stomach was fairly flat but most teenage boys burned off more calories than they could consume. Putting those pieces with his handsome looks, Glenn was quite a package. If he wasn't so cocky and rude, he'd be a prize. He might be a prize regardless.

I guess you can't have everything.

Once again my eyes worked there way back to his crotch.  The bulge there was more prominent than on most boys. Did he stop to give me a close up. He knew I could stop staring at him. I wasn't going to apologize. He wouldn't have stopped if he didn't want me to get a good look.

What did he want? 

How many erections had I seen?

I'd seen mine. Glenn had me beat by a ways. This was the kind of thing boys bragged about. If they compared erections to find out who was biggest, I wasn't invited to that competition. Boys loved competition and I had no trouble thinking there were boys who would need to prove their superiority in the dick department if they had the goods.

Glenn struck me as a boy who wouldn't hesitate to pull his penis out in front of other boys to prove his point.

I didn't know why I thought that way. What I'd seen him do always involved Eddie. Maybe they were an item. 

I let my eyes linger too long on the item in question again and I got caught for my trouble.  Being caught for the second time by this impertinent boy was a major mistake in my mind. This time he only smirked. No words were necessary as he fingered his penis for me and I watched the attention he gave himself.

Luckily my erection was under cover. His stood out. It made me nervous. My mouth went dry. What did he want? 

My self control needed some work. Everyone knew better than to get caught studying another boy's  anatomy. Being caught twice by the same boy was an invitation to ruin.

“It won't bite if you don't,” Glenn said, his smirk was permanent now. “It gets hard with anticipation if you keep looking at it.”

“I wasn't staring at it,” I lied in self defense. 

“It's not a problem, Gordo. You don't look like the kind of guy that would mind giving it a feel. I wouldn't mind and I'd never tell. You might like it. One never knows now do one?”

His hand went to the object in question. He pulled down in a lascivious motion to make it stiffen. A soft moan went with him handling himself. He squeezed to make the head swell. A drop of liquid appeared on the tip.

He was probably still turned on from wrestling with Eddie. He was a saucy boy. I could hear his breathing becoming heavy while he continued manipulating his penis.

I could feel the warmth coming from his body, or was the warmth coming from my body? I forgot why I was there and what I was doing, besides sweating.

I needed to get out of there.

The dizzy feeling returned.

I sat down so I wouldn't fall down. I remembered I needed to put on my socks and shoes. I reached into my locker and put my shoes beside my feet. I couldn't think of anything witty to say and he was still there. Why didn't he say something? 

I shifted my weight to put on one socks. He stood only a few inches from my face, once I sat up straight. He didn't move. He didn't say anything. The ball was in my court. Not to mention his package.

I couldn't find my other sock. I'd just had both of them in my hand. Where could it have gone? It was right here a minute ago. 

I shifted around feeling the bench under me. I was sitting on it. I put it on before slipping into my shoes. I shut the locker door and stood up.

I didn't want to be there. I felt trapped. I didn't want to leave. I couldn't get by him without touching him unless he moved. I could have gone the other way, but I didn't. I couldn't move. Our faces were inches apart. His lips were sensual.

He didn't move.

I wanted more of him. I felt in a way I'd never felt before. I liked it and loathed it at the same time. I needed to walk away, break the spell that held me fast.

What did he want? I wasn't touching him. Not in the boys locker room. I wasn't that far gone. Maybe a kiss would do the trick.

“You want to catch my back when you get done checking me out?” Glenn asked casually, holding out his towel. 

This time I wasn't looking at his dick. I was staring directly into his eyes, wondering if he'd notice if I put my lips on his.

Whatever he was thinking, he didn't move.

He made me feel guilty. If he wasn't standing so close, I'd have been guilty of looking at it again. He knew what I was looking at.

“What?” I said, realizing he'd spoken to me.

“My back! Please!” he said, handing me his towel.

I felt like he was taking all the oxygen out of the air.

“Sure thing,” I said.

He finally turned around.

Starting on his broad shoulders, I did one of his sides and then the other. I could feel the muscles in his upper body.

I worked my way down to his butt. He didn't move as I applied the towel to his well shaped bottom, letting my fingers curl over top of the towel so I could touch his skin. It was soft, smooth, and hot. I kept moving the towel long after he was dry.

“Go ahead. Cop a feel. It's for free this time. You're doing me a service after all. You should get a little something for your labor.  It doesn't bother me, Gordo. Getting into my clothes while I'm still wet, that bothers me.” 

He turned around once I sat down to give his butt the attention I thought it deserved.

He stood close, moving so the towel was against his erection. Speaking of extreme close ups.

Glenn looked down at where my hands were.

“See what you did,” he said with an evil grin. “You got good hands, Gordo. I might make this a regular stop, but you need to learn to relax.” 

“Sorry,” I said as the towel slipped out of my hands.

“I'd let you dry it for me but I don't want to push my luck on our first date. I'll get back to you on that when we have more time, Gordo,” he said. “You always this late leaving gym? In case I need your services again.”

“I have lunch fourth period. I take my time,” I said.

 “Yes, you do. I'll keep that in mind. I'm already late for class and I should get dressed before I go. Not everyone has the appreciation for my body you do.”

“See you later,” I said, not at all sure I would see him again.

Glenn laughed as he backed away. 

“There's plenty to go around, Gordo,” Glenn said, looking back toward me as he walked away. “Next time join the fun in the showers, or do you get off on watching boys fool around?”

'Yes, I do,' I thought. 'if one of the boys is you.'

*****

Two days passed and I was pondering what I might get for lunch. I hadn't seen either Eddie or Glenn in gym. It was the only place I knew to look for Glenn. I kept my eyes open in the halls between classes, hoping to see one of them, but I had no luck.

On the third day after the locker room scene with Glenn, I was just finishing up when Eddie appeared at the other end of the showers. He dodged under the first shower and Glenn was right behind him and took a shower across from Eddie.    

There was no grab-ass this time.

“Hey, Gordon. We're digging a volley ball pit behind the gym.”

“Your class is digging it?” I asked.

“I dig it,” Glenn said, vigorously soaping up his body.

He checked to see if I was watching him. I could see his movement in my peripheral vision as I spoke to Eddie.

“Only enough shovels for four of us. It'll take some time. Guys in different periods of gym work on it too,” Eddie said. “You can get on the project if you ask. They keep a list of boys. Only four can dig at a time.”

“Give the gym teacher your name. Tell them you'll help dig the pit. That's how I got to work on it with Eddie,” Glenn said, sounding almost friendly.

“Sounds simple enough,” I said.

“That way you can see us up close, Gordo. We look better close up, don't we Eddie? We can dig the pit together. We'll get to talk,” Glenn said.

“Will that make it our second date?” I asked. 

“I'm glad you remember the first one. Most boys that dare to get that close to me don't always remember. Do you think it's my breath?” Glenn asked.

“I make it a point not to be like most boys. I don't know about your breath.”

“You can give me an opinion the next time we meet up close like,” Glenn said. 

“But I see so much at a distance,” I said, trying to match wits with him.

“It's hard to have an appreciation for its size from there. It doesn't reach. It's not that big,” Glenn said.

“Size isn't everything,” I said.

“But it beats hell out of whatever is second,” Glenn replied. “If given the option, most guys would want to be bigger. I'm already bigger.”

“Someone so worried about size of his endowment doesn't have much on his mind,” I said.

Eddie laughed.

“Ouch!” Glenn said. “I think you drew blood.”

“Not my intention. I don't spend a lot of time on what if.”

“You got what you got, Glenn. You just got more than most of us. Believe me when I say, I don't want you to use it on me. Big can be too big,” Eddie said, like it might be an option if Glenn wasn't extra large.

 “If I don't think about the size of my dick, who will?” Glenn asked. 

“Not my problem,” I said. “Having a big package is only part of the picture if you want to get serious about someone.” 

“What if you knew me better, Gordo. What if I told you all my secrets?” Glenn asked. “Would you worry about it then?”

“Only if I was on my stomach and you were behind me with that thing,” I said.

“I'll keep that in mind. You might like it, Gordo. One never knows, now do one?”

“That's OK,” I said, wishing I lived in a world where I could say, 'Yes, I might, hot stuff.'

It was Friday. I didn't know when I'd see Glenn again. I was afraid to ask him to meet me for a chat. If he had an interest in me, it was purely sexual. It wasn't a road I wanted to go down until I could muster up some a future with me and not simply to make a horny boy like Glenn smile.

In spite of how I felt, I didn't know if I could walk away if Glenn pushed the issue.

***** 

Glenn was cocky in more ways than one. He was bold as brass and not at all bashful. Every time I saw him, my heart did a tap dance in my chest. I had to remind myself to take a breath. He's not the kind of boy I thought I'd like.

I imagined I knew what Glenn’s interest in Eddie was. Every time I saw Glenn, Eddie wasn't far away. If they'd paired off, and that's where it got tricky, because Eddie was crazy about Bonnie. Could a boy like another boy and still have a girlfriend?     

What did Eddie see in Glenn? They were nothing alike.

Glenn was a show off. The boys from the base were pretty sure of their selves. A lot of the boys at school, being farm boys, didn't know how to compete with more worldly boys.

Some girls liked that the farm boys didn't stray far from the farm. Then there were girls who were looking for adventure. The base boys were more than happy to oblige them. 

The rest of us moved here from town. Our parents decided to put distance between them and the rat race where they worked. The politicians, who were seeking to attract more people, built new schools to keep up with the migration.

Boys like Eddie and I grew up in the developments built to house the steady flow of new residents. We didn't remember much about living in the city. When we first went to school, we were the outsiders back then. There were way more farm boys in those days, far more farms.

Now the boys from the base were the outsiders and there were fewer and fewer farm boys each year. Farms were sold and new housing developments planned.

The area had gone from rural, when I moved there, to a thriving suburb twenty minutes from downtown.  

***** 

Saturday morning I went to the Five & Dime. It's when Mr. Crawford put the new comic books out. I went to check and see if my favorite comics had new issues.

The rack with the comics was next to the front door. As I turned it in search of my favorites, Glenn came through the front door. I knew I wasn't dreaming. He had his clothes on.

I watched the way he moved to the counter. He grabbed a Three Musketeer’s candy bar and paid Mr. Crawford. He turned around to leave, walking toward me and the door.

I averted my eyes back to the comic books. I couldn't think of anything to say. This was what I'd been dreaming about happening. I was paralyzed in place, trying to see over top of the rack as he passed.

I felt queasy. My heart was pounding. That's when Glenn decided to up the ante.

“Do I know you?” he asked, looking over top of his Aviator sunglasses. “It's hard to tell when you have your clothes on.”

I looked over top of the  comic book rack. My gaze became tangled in his. I suppressed a sigh. 

“Do you? Know does cover a lot of territory, Glenn.”

“Yes, but Eddie is a fountain of information about everyone at school,” Glenn said. “You're a dancer.”

“Oh!” I said. “I'm sorry. No one has told me about you.”

“Not much to tell. I'm Glenn about covers it,” he said. “you know all the good stuff already. Not many mysteries left, Gordo.”

I looked down at the comic book and when I looked back up, Glenn was gone.

I hesitated for a few seconds to give him time to get a few feet away. As I stretched to see out of the front window, I had no trouble locating Glenn. He stood right on the other side of the glass. He was smiling. No, he was smirking at me.

How’d he know I’d look? Was I that predictable? Could he really rad my mind?

He rubbed one index finger across the top of the other and mouthed the words, 'Shame, Shame, Shame on you.'

He knew I'd look to see where he went. Was he able to sense the way he affected me?

I was embarrassed. I felt like a jerk. The next time I looked, he'd disappeared.

I went outside without buying anything, after making sure the coast was clear this time. I'd lost interest in comic books. I was ready to walk home.

Glenn came flying up on his bike. He slammed on his brakes, sliding sideways up to the curb where I stood.

He was still smirking.

“You’re Gordon,” he said confidently. “I remember you. I was sure I left an impression on you,”

He grabbed his crotch for emphasis.

“Remember me now? You're so easy, Gordo. You always look.”

“You found me out,” I said.

I watched as he let the cross bar elevate the front of his expanding jeans.

“You come here often?” Glenn asked. “It's the only place that sells the big Three Musketeers bar. Cheap too. Don't ever try to find one in Germany.”

“Saturday morning Mr. Crawford puts the new issue of the comic books on the rack before he opens at ten.”

“Do you read classic comics and turn in a book report on it? I figure you for being smarter than that. A little Dickens, definitely Hemingway, with a dash of Snoopy for variety.”

“How'd you know that?” I asked, thinking he was too accurate to be guessing.

“Wendy Thomas? She works in the library. I asked her what kind of books you read. Nice girl. She looked and told me what books you've checked out.”

“I know Wendy,” I said. “How'd you know she'd tell you what I read?” I asked.

“Almost everything I know about that school came from Eddie. He says you two took dance classes together way back when. He also told me Wendy could tell me what any student checked out.”

“How lucky for you,” I said.

“When I was in there for study hall, she looked you up for me. Nice chick.”

“Why do you care about my taste in literature?” I asked.

“You know ...so much about me, I figured I should know something about you, Gordo. You know, see if I can match wits with you. When we run into each other, you don't  say much and inquiring minds want to know, you know?”

“You're so... so...”

“A big mouth would work. What can I say? Big is a theme with me,” Glenn said. “I've been told that I'm full of myself. I guess that's a little better than being full of shit.”

“You are overwhelming at times. I mean that in the nicest possible way,” I said. “You're different. Different can be good, I guess.”

“That's better than being a big mouth, isn't it?”

“I'd say so. You're different in a good way, I think. I know I've never met anyone as overpowering as you.”

“Says a lot about someone, if you know the literature they like. I'm far more into Steinbeck and Faulkner, but Hemingway is good. He's very good. I tried Heidegger when I was in Germany.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Martin Heidegger. Philosopher. He's big in Germany. If you can get past him being a Nazi, he's interesting.”

“A Nazi?”

“Hey, we've all got skeletons. I sure wouldn't want to be judged by mine. How about you?” Glenn asked. “Want to compare skeletons? I know a nice quiet place in the woods.”

“I bet you do. You read Steinbeck?” I asked.

“Grapes of Wrath is the quintessential book on Depression Era America.”

“The Depression Era?” I asked.

“Inquiring minds want to know, Gordo,” Glenn said. “What, you thought I lacked intellectual depth?” 

“And my reading habits tell you what?” I asked.

“I'm surprised at you. Isn't it obvious, Gordo? It tells me what you read,” he said, laughing loudly, riding into the parking lot and back. Someone blew his horn when Glenn darted in front of his car.

“You are crazy, you know,” I said.

“Probably,” he said. `“After I eat a candy bar, I'm hyper. Sugar high! You don't feel a little crazy sometimes? What kind of kid are you?”

“You know you come off as a bit of a flake,” I said. “I don't know what to believe.”

“I look at it like this. When a guy looks at my dick and says, 'I'm not looking at your dick,' isn't that a bit crazy?”

“Maybe it has something to do with where you put it,” I said.

“When you look at my dick, it says to me, you're interested. If you are interested, I want to know what you read.”

It was my turn to laugh.

“You're definitely crazy, Glenn. It's hard to miss. I looked at it because you put it in my face. Don't you look at things someone puts in your face?”

“And it was a little fun and you liked the thrill it gave you?” He said. “Come on! You did, didn't you? Tell the truth and I might let you look at it some more.”

“Yes, I suppose that's true. It's not like boys shove their dicks in my face on a regular basis. You're still crazy, you know.”

“You're making me think I misjudged you. This is where I expect you to say, 'Oh no, I'm not staring at it,' while you stare at it. Maybe you aren't as uptight as I thought you were. It does present some possibilities.”

“Like I said, 'It's hard to miss,” I said.

“Hard being the proper word. There is more to me than that, you know. I can admit that now that you came clean. See how much better it is when you tell the truth.”

I laughed at his logic.

“You shouldn’t stare at other boys, you know,” Glenn explained in a non-threatening tone. “A boy might get the wrong idea. Think you want to do him a favor. I thought that while you were feeling my ass. All kinds of possibilities there.”

“You definitely have assets. I never denied it. Since you made yourself so available to me, I took liberties. Like you said, I did you a service. You didn't say anything about not enjoying myself,” I said.

“Indeed,” he said.

“Curiosity isn't a proposition. I never denied you are handsome and you have a nice body, Glenn.”

“Ding! Ding! Ding! That was the right answer. Congratulations! See what asking questions about your reading habits can accomplish? You are a lucky boy.”

“What do I win,” I said, playing a long.

“A close up look at the real deal. It’s half hard already. No big thing. It gets bigger when there’s a reason. Want to come around the corner and we can look for a reason?”

I laughed.

“I'm sure if you rub it on your bicycle seat, you can do that without my help,” I said. “Or maybe rub it on Eddie's ass?”

“Not so much rubbing it on the seat,” he said with an evil grin. “Anyone who says they wouldn't like to rub against Eddie's ass may not be telling the whole truth, but alas, he doesn't swing that way. He's a tease, but he still has his cherry.”

“You still have your bike. Doesn't look like as much fun as Eddie, but I can't be sure what you like.”

“You’ve got a dirty mind, Gordo. Eddie’s a nice boy, even if I’m not. He likes that I like him. Would you like me to like you, Gordo? I might be able to arrange it.”

“You’re a bad boy, aren’t you, Glenno?” I said.

“Aren’t we all. I’m also honest, and it is only half hard. The thing about being a bad boy, I’m very good at being bad. You'll see.”

“You should be careful riding your bike. You might pass out if the blood rushes into your dick all at once,” I said.

He laughed, riding away so fast I had to search for him in the parking lot full of cars.

A car horn blew.

Brakes screeched.

A car slid on the gravel.

Bang! One car hit the rear of another car.

Someone yelled an obscenity in Glenn’s direction.

Glenn waved without looking back. He disappeared up the old highway.

He left chaos in his wake.

I stared in his direction, until he was out of sight.

God, he was hot.

He actually stopped to have a conversation. Maybe Glenn did notice me after all.

To be continued...

Posted: 12/22/17