Piano Forte

 

CHAPTER 7

A NEW FRIEND

 

<Austin>

 

After Austin entered the auditorium, he looked around to see if he could find anybody who looked to be his age. It wasn’t hard for him to find anybody; he figured there were only a dozen or so campers in the room.  Almost all of the few campers looked to be close to the eleven to thirteen range. Austin knew that most of the campers would arrive the next morning. He figured they would be older campers like William. Since the recital was still fifteen minutes from starting, Austin looked for more kids to show up. 

 

Austin had washed his face off in the restroom before going into the auditorium. He’d cried as he crossed the quad and was glad he hadn’t run across anybody. Even after cleaning off his face, his eyes were still reddish.

 

During the walk to the auditorium, his mood had gone from feeling like the kind of dork William had called him to feeling furious at his roommate for all but bullying him. After their rough start earlier in the day, Aiden had started thinking William might not be a bad roommate. He’d been friendly and helpful, but he’d also seemed reluctant to stand up for Austin, which helped lead to their blow up a few minutes before.

 

Instead of seeking out someone to talk to, his mood and his sporadic shyness made him want to sit alone. Other than William, Leif, and Christian he didn’t know anyone at the camp. He knew William wasn’t coming and Leif was supposed to be seeing Michelle, but he didn’t know if Christian would be coming to the recital. He wondered how long it would take him to make new friends at camp. But what if everybody here will end up being a stuck-up snob like William. What will I do then? Austin thought.

His thoughts were interrupted by a boyish voice to his left asking if the seat next to him was saved. Austin turned to see who was asking. What he saw was a blond boy who was around his age. He had longish, unkempt hair, with bangs that hung down to his eyes, causing Austin to wonder how the boy could see anything. He was wearing a light blue polo shirt and brown shorts. With all the empty seats available, Austin thought it odd that the boy would ask if the seat was saved.

 

“No, nobody’s sitting there,” Austin stumbled, feeling flustered by the presence of a boy he thought was incredibly cute. Not for the first time in his life he wondered if thinking a boy was cute meant he was gay.

 

“Cool.” The boy sat next to Austin and flashed a wide grin. “My name’s Ned Walsh and I’m from Vancouver, Canada. I’m eleven years old but will be twelve just after camp is done.  Oh, and I play the flute. Now you don’t have to ask me all of the questions everybody’s been asking me.”

 

Austin took an instant liking to the boy and decided to give him his profile. “Well, so you won’t have to ask me, my name is Austin Richards, and I live in Bellingham, so we’re actually kind of close to each other. I turned twelve last month and will be going into seventh grade in the fall. I play         the piano and this is my first time at this camp or any camp.”

 

“I guess now it’s my turn. I’m going into seventh grade, too, and I have a sister who plays the violin. Shannon is thirteen and is at the camp for her second time. And, yeah, this is my first time here, too.”

 

“I’m happy to meet you, Ned.” Austin stuck out his hand for a handshake rather than present his fist for a fist bump. Ned grabbed Austin’s hand and gave it a firm shake.

 

“I’m glad to meet you, too, Austin. And I’m really glad to have a friend here at camp. Who’s your roommate?”

 

“An older kid named William Delacroix. He’s fourteen and a mean asswaffle and plays the piano, too.”

 

“Hmm. I haven’t met mine yet. But I know he’s thirteen, his name is John, and plays the violin like my sister. Shannon knows him from last year and said he’s nice but really quiet. She says since he hardly ever talks and I talk all the time, we’re going to be an interesting pair. And what’s an asswaffle?”

 

“Don’t they have asswaffles in Canada?”

 

“How would I know when I don’t know what an asswaffle is?”

 

“It’s kind of like an ass…well, an ass you-know-what, only not as bad and you can say it without sounding like a potty mouth.”

 

“An ass you know what? You talk weird, Austin. I mean I know an ass is a big animal that can carry stuff and you can ride, but why would you carry waffles on one? And what’s so potty mouth about a you-know-what?”

 

Austin looked at Ned with his mouth open wide. “Are you for real, dude?”

 

At that point Ned could no longer hold what had been building up in him and broke out laughing, which set Austin off into a fit of laughter as well. A glare from Mr. Shepard, the camp director, forced the boys to battle to regain control. That turned out not to be easy as they had to choke down intermittent fits of rising laughter for another couple of minutes.

 

Austin kept his eyes away from Ned. He knew from experience that he would quickly lose control if he looked Ned’s way. Just thinking about looking Ned’s way made things tough enough.

 

Mr. Shephard made a few opening remarks, thanking the campers in the audience for arriving to camp early and for attending the recital. He gave the usual lecture on what was required of good audience members, casting a couple of glances directly at Austin and Ned at the time. Getting the teacher stink eye cast at them caused both boys to let loose small hiccups of laughter.

 

Six faculty members played short works for the recital. Four played solo works, including Dr. Boardman, who played three Schubert Impromptus. Rene Zimmer and Mr. Shephard played a Mozart violin sonata as the finale.

 

“That was pretty good,” Austin said as he and Ned stood up after the applause ended. “I didn’t know Mr. Shepard played the violin, though.”

 

“I didn’t know he played anything,” Ned said.

 

“Christian said you have to be some kind of a musician to be on the faculty. Christian is my sponsor, by the way.”

 

“Hey, speaking of playing, I have a scorebook my parents gave me in my room. It has songs that this guy transcribed for flute and piano. I’ve got some transcriptions I wrote, too. If you want to play a couple of them with me, you can get us a practice room while I go to my room and get the book. What do you think?”

 

Austin thought there was no doubt that he had found himself a friend. He sure wasn’t going to mess up the budding friendship by saying he was tired, even though he was. It was only eight o’clock and curfew wasn’t until nine-thirty.

 

“I think it sounds like a great idea,” Austin grinned. He didn’t have a hard time finding an open practice room; only two of them were taken. He wished he’d gotten Ned’s phone number, so he could text him to come to Room 7.  I’ll be sure to get it as soon as he comes with his scorebook, he told himself.

 

Ned’s sister, Shannon, stopped him as he left the building. “Who’s that boy you were sitting with?”

 

“Why do you want to know?” Ned asked curtly. He was tired of his sister’s harping and acting like a know-it-all. She even went with him when he met with his sponsor. I’m surprised she didn’t come into the bathroom and make sure I wiped my butt right when I went earlier, he groused to himself.

 “I was curious. I just wanted to make sure he was a nice person. You guys got kind of rude with your laughing you know.”

 

I’ve heard of helicopter parents but having a helicopter sister is ridiculous, Ned chuckled to himself. “His name is Austin, he’s twelve and going into seventh grade, he plays the piano, he’s funny, and he’s not an asswaffle.”

 

“What’s an asswaffle?”

“Google it, sis. I gotta run and get my songbook—we’re going to play together in one of the practice rooms.”

 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s already kind of late and you might break curfew, plus you’re going to miss snack time in the dining hall. That ends at nine.”

 

“I know I won’t get to play a note with him if I don’t hurry and get my book. See ya later, sis.”

 

“Text me when you know which room you guys will be in. I want to make sure you get into the dorm before curfew.”

 

Ned ignored her and hustled away to the dorm. He needed to plan ways to ignore his sister before she drove him nuts. Ned got to his room, grabbed his two copies of the book out of his dresser, his flute from the closet, and jogged back to the auditorium. He passed Shannon talking to a boy. He was tempted to ask her who the boy was, but all he did was give her a little wave as he zipped by.

 

“Don’t forget to text me,” she called out. Once again, Ned ignored her.

 

Ned found Austin waiting in the corridor that connected the practice rooms. The two grinned, fist bumped, and went to Room 7. The first thing Austin did was trade phone numbers with his new friend. He sat at the piano while Ned pulled up a chair and sat in it. Austin couldn’t take his eyes off the blond whose hair said he was a few weeks past due for a haircut. Austin didn’t care, he thought Ned was cute. Oops, there’s that word again, he thought.  He was happy Ned had asked to sit next to him. He was more than ready to play with his new friend.

 

<William>

 

As soon as Austin left, William stripped naked and flopped on his bed. He was incredibly horny; it was jerkoff time. He stared at the tile ceiling while fondling his balls and cock to get hard. It didn’t take much effort—he was rock hard in thirty seconds. He reached into the drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a bottle of Lubriderm to make himself slick.

 

As he lubed his cock he wondered if his roommate knew anything about using lotion to make himself feel better when he jerked off. Then he remembered the last words he’s said as Austin rushed out the door. Of course he doesn’t know about lotion, William speculated. After all, the little dweeb doesn’t know anything about jerking off.

He thought about who or what to fantasize over while he did his thing. He wished he could access porn sites at the school the way he could at home. When he had turned thirteen, his father turned off the parental controls on his computer. “Son, I understand the urges of teen boys,” his father told him. “Just don’t tell your mother, because she will freak out.” After giving him an understanding of what was out there and a few rules to follow, David Delacroix told his son he was now on his own. William noted that at no time did his father forbid him from going to porn sites—in fact he all but told him how to access them and the dangers to look out for. As William saw it, that was one of the rare times his father made an attempt to understand what he was about.

 

William finally settled on Michelle as his fantasy. After all, it should be me and not that asshole Leif in her bed with her right now, he thought. He mentally undressed her as he moved his hand along his four plus inches of hard teen cock. Once he had her naked, he placed his naked body on top of her. He sucked her boobs, he kissed her lips, he licked her pussy, and was ready to enter her when the image in his mind changed from him being on top of Michelle to Leif being on top of her. His right hand immediately stopped its ministrations.

 

“Shit!” he called out. “Fucking cunt, bitch, slut, piece of shit faggot asshole,” he mumbled to himself as he cursed both Michelle and Leif. He changed his fantasy from the bitch Michelle to his school roommate, Kevin. He thought about what a fine cock Kevin had, both when he was flaccid and when he was boned up. He thought about Kevin’s tight ass which felt better wrapped around his cock than Michelle’s vagina.

 

But once again the object of his masturbation fantasy morphed into someone else. This time it was Austin. William imagined himself rubbing his roommate’s bare chest and belly before he unzipped the dweeb’s shorts and pushed his hand inside his underpants. William was close to orgasm and his fantasy flew by quickly until he came for real on his bed. He fantasized he was naked on top of Austin, rubbing his boner against Austin’s little hairless one shooting its imaginary seed on William’s belly while he shot his real seed across his own belly. William knew without question that Austin had a pencil thin cock that was hairless and shot blanks. After all, he was a little dweeb so how else would it be?

 

William felt much calmer after his cum. In fact, it was the best he’d felt all day, especially since Austin had come through the door of their room. What was that all about? he wondered. I start with a girl, go to my regular sexy teen roommate, and end up cumming on my camp roommate who’s probably never even jerked off let alone had any kind of sex with anybody. He’s never even kissed anybody.

 

Without bothering to clean up, William quickly dressed. He knew his cum would stick to his t-shirt and that until it dried, he would smell like sex. He didn’t care if he smelled since it would make everybody think he was a stud muffin. He left the room and headed for the auditorium to catch the end of the recital and then go to the dining hall to see what the evening snack was.

 

He entered the auditorium as the second Mozart violin sonata was being played. Taking a seat in the back row he listened attentively. While he admitted Ms Zimmer was a good teacher, William was certain he was a much better pianist than she was.

 

When the sonata finished, he applauded. He had enjoyed what he’d heard, causing him to wonder if he would have been better off coming to the recital rather than jerking off to images of his dorky roommate. He looked down to the front for Austin but couldn’t make him out since the house lights were turned down.

 

When the two faculty members finished, the campers applauded politely. With the house lights up, William could see that the campers were all seated in the lower section of the auditorium. He could make out the red hair of Austin in the fourth row. A blond boy was standing to Austin’s left as they got up to exit the row. William thought the shaggy blond was incredibly cute. The two boys were smiling and giggling as they walked up the steps to the landing.

The little dorks look like they’ve known each other forever, William thought as he watched them laugh and smile before they stopped and talked about something. He was surprised to feel a slight pang of jealousy when he saw how easy-going Austin’s rapport with the blond was. He turned and left out of the back door before he was seen. He then ran up the stairs to the practice room floor and slipped into Room 4. He sat at the piano and started his warmups. As long as I’m here I might as well get some practice in so I will still be the best.

 

<Austin>

 

Austin had done some warmups while he’d waited for Ned, so he watched patiently while Ned warmed up on his flute. “What are we going to play?” Austin asked.

 

“Well, we don’t have much time. I’ve played this with my mom.” He flipped to a place in the book and showed Austin the page with the title “Shenandoah”. “It doesn’t go real fast and it’s not real long. We should be able to do it. Can you sight read?”

 

“I’m not great at it, but I can do it. I know I can play this just by looking at it. I haven’t done much work on playing duets, just a couple of violin and piano works that my piano teacher worked with us on. The name of the violinist was with Bridgett.”

 

“A girl?”

 

“Well, Bridgett is usually a girl’s name.”

 

“Yeah, duh, I knew that. What I meant is why a girl and not a boy?”

 

“I didn’t know it mattered. Besides our teachers put us together. And she’s okay, not a friend, but we get along great. We played a small recital and we’re going to be in a bigger one after school starts. Anyway, let’s play and see what happens.” Austin was proving to be the more responsible of the two friends.

 

“Yeah, if we can play right away we might still make snack time before nine.”

 

Austin glanced up at the clock and said, “Um, Ned, that’s in twenty minutes.”

 

“Oh, yeah. Well, we’ll get snacks tomorrow then,” the unflappable blond grinned.

 

While their start was tentative, Ned and Austin were starting to get their timing down by the time they finished the tune.

 

“Wow, Austin, you play the piano great.”

 

“I hit a lot of wrong keys,” Austin replied shyly.

 

“I don’t mean hitting the notes, I mean the way you sound. It’s amazing and way, way better than my mom. But then, her instrument is the cello, not the piano, but she’s good enough to accompany me.”

 

“Is she a professional?”

 

“She and my dad both play for the Vancouver Symphony. My mom is also a full-time high school teacher while my dad teaches part-time at Simon Fraser University and also teaches private students.”

 

“Does he play the cello, too?”

 

Ned shook his head. “He plays the oboe in the orchestra, but he can play the flute, the bassoon, and the piccolo, too. The oboe is his best instrument, though. One more time through?”

 

They played with much more confidence the second time through, missing few notes, and keeping in time with each other. “Wow, we did really good,” Ned gushed. “If we keep working at it, or even another song, I bet we could play together in a student recital.”

 

“That would be fun. And you sounded really great this time.”

 

“Well, I’ve played this before, just not with you, so we both kind of got lost together and missed lots of notes. This time we were in time and I hit the right notes and, yeah, I think I sounded better. Oh, and I kept wanting to tell you that I really like your t-shirt. I wonder if I can find a flute t-shirt like that anywhere.”

 

“Check online. I’m sure they’ve got them somewhere. We better get going or we’ll miss curfew and the manual said that means we get restriction.”

 

Ned placed his flute in its case and then grabbed his books. Aiden closed the piano and the two friends headed for the dorm wishing there was a way they could room together while their older roommates roomed with each other.

 

Ned and Austin got on the elevator. Ned, who was in room 207, got off on the second floor while Austin rode up to the fourth floor.

 

<William>

 

After his session in the practice room, William hustled over to the dining hall, making it there just before the snack session closed. He grabbed a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies and went to his room. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to apologize to Austin for what he said when Austin had left the room earlier. It turned out he didn’t have to say anything since Austin surprised him by not being in the room.

 

William looked at the clock on his nightstand. It read 21:08. William liked using the 24-hour clock system. He found it easier for tracking the time when his father or grandfather were on the road doing a concert tour. Soon he wouldn’t be tracking his grandfather much since Eugene Delacroix had announced his retirement from full-time concert and recital work at the end of the calendar year.

 

He sat on his bed and removed his shoes. Damn, I wonder where the little shit is? William thought. A satisfied smile crossed his lips when it occurred to him that his roomie might get caught missing curfew. Oh, would I love seeing him get his fucking ass in trouble.

Before he could fully digest that scenario, the door opened and Austin entered. “Hi,” Austin said without enthusiasm.

 

“Where were you at?” William asked.

 

“What do you care?”

 

“Well, you are my roomie. It’s just something for us to talk about, you know, like roomies do.”

 

“You mean something to talk about when you can’t think of more shit to say to me when I walk out of the door?”

 

“Okay, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I guess I forgot I’m supposed to like you.” Damn, here I go again, apologizing to him.

“Oh, I get it; you like me because you’re supposed to like me, not because you really do like me.”

 

William saw right away that he’d stuck his foot into his mouth. “Look, Austin, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. That was like hitting more than a wrong note—I hit an entire wrong chord. I do like you.” He opened the napkin that he’d wrapped around his cookies. “Want a cookie? Oatmeal raisin.”  Fuck, what am I doing? I got both of those cookies for me. That thought didn’t stop him from getting up and handing a cookie to Austin.

 

“Is this one poisoned or something?” Austin asked as he grabbed the cookie.

 

“You must really think I’m an asshole.”

 

Austin nodded. “Yep, a big-time asshole.” He bit into the cookie. “You’re right, it’s really good.”

 

“Baked fresh at a bakery in Poulsbo.”

 

“Why are you being nice again?” Austin asked between chews.

 

William took the other cookie off his nightstand, sat down on Austin’s bed, and patted the space to his right. “Look, can we just talk?”

 

“Okay, but after I finish my cookie. And thanks for getting one for me.” Austin sat next to William and continued chewing.

 

William was about to say he had taken both cookies for himself, and then realized he’d just be sticking his foot even deeper into his mouth. Once again, his thinking was out of character; he normally had no qualms about sticking the knife deeper into the wound.

 

After Austin stuck the last piece of cookie into his mouth, he told William he was ready to “just talk.”

 

“Look, we have to live together for the next four weeks. You know I’d like a different roommate, one who’s more my age, and I know you’d like a different roommate, one who’s…”

 

“…not an asshole,” Austin interrupted.

 

“Dude, I’m supposed to be the rude one, not you.”

 

“I don’t like being rude, but I don’t like being lied to and bullied.”

 

“I never bullied you and when have I ever lied to you?”

 

“You lied when you said you liked me, and you bullied me when you called me a dork who doesn’t know how to jerk off and that kind of stuff.” Austin looked into William’s eyes. “I not only know how to jerk off, I do it,” he said emphatically.

 

“You do?” William asked with genuine surprise.

 

“Yes, I do and if you ask me to prove it then that’s just like bullying me, so you’ll have to believe me.”

 

William wondered what Austin would think if he told him who his fantasy was about when he jerked off a couple of hours earlier. William also wondered why sitting next to Austin on Austin’s bed had given him a boner. He decided to change the subject a little and asked Austin who the blond kid sitting next to him in the auditorium was.

 

“His name is Ned, he lives in Vancouver, Canada, and how do you know about him?”

 

“I watched the last part of the recital and saw him. You guys acted like you were old buddies or something.”

 

“Well, we just met, he plays the flute, and we played together in one of the practice rooms which was where I was after the recital, not that it’s any of your business.”

 

William’s cock jerked when the image of Austin playing the blond’s other flute, his skin flute, crossed his mind.

 

“I’m tired and I want to go to bed,” Austin said. He paused before saying, “And I mean go to bed to sleep not something else.”

 

“Did I say anything?”

 

“You didn’t have to. I can see that big bump in your shorts.”

 

William blushed crimson and quickly stood up, turning his back to his roommate. “Um, you know, that just happens when you’re fourteen.”

 

“I know, I have a brother who’s fifteen. He gets boners all the time.” He was about to say he often helped his brother take care of the problem, and then decided it was too much information to give to somebody he barely tolerated. He also hoped that William hadn’t noticed the boner that had formed in his own shorts. 

 

Well, if he sees it, he sees it, Austin finally concluded. He pulled off his shorts, folded them neatly, and placed them on one of the shelves in his closet. He grabbed his toilet kit from the top drawer of his chest of drawers and headed to the bathroom to wash and take care of his teeth. He was pleased that his erection started to go down while he took care of his evening routine.

 

William entered the bathroom just as Austin was finishing. “It looks like we’re the only ones in the suite,” Austin said. “I haven’t seen anybody else.”

 

“None of the suites had all the rooms taken at camp last year. Remember, most of the campers will be coming tomorrow morning. Eat a good breakfast because this place is going to be a zoo.”

 

William was stripped down to a pair of yellow boxers with black musical notes in no particular pattern. Austin took a quick glance at his half-naked roommate and saw from the tent in the front that his roommate was still erect and was making no attempt to hide the fact.

 

For his part, William admired Austin in his piano t-shirt, which covered all but the hem of a pair of tighty-whities. William wondered if the slender little tween still had the erection he had seen when Austin pulled off his shorts. He couldn’t tell because Austin’s t-shirt covered his crotch area. Austin returned to their room while William went into the toilet stall to take a dump.

 

“Oh man, that was a real stinkeroo,” William announced after he returned to the room. He stopped to once again admire his roommate. Austin was now stripped down to just his white briefs. William thought Austin’s bare torso was begging for him to rub it; it would certainly be better than doing it through his t-shirt. But it was his tight little ass that intrigued William the most. He wanted badly to pull down Austin’s briefs and rub his belly while he stuck his finger up his ass.

 

Shaking his head, William walked to his closet to put his toilet kit away as well as shake away his erotic thoughts. He realized that since he’d jerked off thinking of Austin he’d been obsessing on his roommate, like he was gay or something.

 

“How do you sleep?” William asked as he pulled back his bed covers.

 

“I sleep really good,” Austin replied wondering what the question was about.

 

“No, I mean what do you wear when you sleep?”

 

“I was going to wear my PJ bottoms, but usually I sleep in my undies (unless I’m sleeping naked, which is most of the time, and all the time when I sleep with Ollie or James, he thought).

 

“I guess you don’t need the screen then,” William observed. “If you did, I would have asked Christian about how to get one. I don’t have a problem getting naked in front of somebody. And don’t ask me to prove it, but I like to sleep naked.”

 

“Even when you have a boner like the one you’ve got now?”

 

“I don’t see what difference that makes. And I can tell you right now, if I’m gonna get to sleep I’m gonna have to whack my pud good and hard.” William pulled off his boxers, fully exposing the over four-inch erection that had been teasing Austin all evening. “And, while I don’t mind being naked in front of guys, being naked in front of a girl is way better. That’s guaranteed boner time.”

 

“It looks like you don’t need a guarantee for you to get a boner,” Austin giggled. Austin was getting turned on by William’s erection and his naked body.

 

William held up a washrag. “Cum rag to keep the pecker tracks off the sheets. A sock works too.” William lay on his bed and pulled the covers over himself.

 

Austin shrugged and pulled off his briefs, tossing them on the floor in front of his dresser; he was now naked as well. His bald little cock was starting to move to its three plus inches of hardness. William almost creamed himself right then when he saw his cute ginger roommate naked. He didn’t get much time to admire the scenery; Austin went under his covers and turned off the light on his nightstand. The room was now dark.

 

The boys could hear the increasing action under the covers as well as making out the rise and fall of the blankets in the ambient light. They each knew what his roommate was doing and they each knew that his roommate knew what his roommate was doing.

 

William came quickly and Austin followed a couple of minutes later. Austin had stopped when he heard his roomie’s stifled moans, embarrassed to be doing it by himself. But he was horny, he knew that William knew what he was doing, and he went back to work, if for no other reason than to prove to his roommate that he really did know how to jerk off.

 

Listening to Austin jerking off kept William from going completely soft. He wondered if he could have a third cum for the night, then started thinking about how he could rid himself of all the gay thoughts Austin was putting into his head. He hoped that when all the campers arrived the next morning that he would see a girl who would help him do just that.

 

Next: Camp Begins