Tony rode back to Jeff's house in the back seat next to Jack his ballet buddy. There had always been two closer pairs of friends among them. One was Jeff and Eric. The other was Tony and Jack. Before refashioning his own body, Tony had been the smallest, not really any shorter then Jack but a good ten pounds lighter. Now Jack was the smallest, about an inch shorter than Tony and not lighter but certainly less athletic. He marveled at what Tony could do at ballet class. While Jack was handsome, with fair skin, a freckled face and red hair, his slender calves and modest rear didn't allow him to match Tony's athletic feats. But dealing with the reactions to their ballet dancing had brought the two friends even closer.
A few days later, they walked out of the studio and started for home and immediately sensed trouble at the basketball courts. Non-stop shouting from the courts was good. They knew they'd be called fags and homos and have fudge packing jokes made but when the courts were full the kids there just wanted to play basketball. If the courts were almost deserted or nearly silent nothing seemed to happen either. But when the courts were half full, conspiratorial mumbles would flourish and sometimes a group of kids would roun out after Tony and Jack with intent to beat them up.
Tony and Jack tried to just pass by on the other side of the street without even looking. As they passed the retaining wall front of the apartment buildings set high above the street on the side opposite the courts they heard the taunting start.
"Hey, pretty boys! Hey TWINK-le toes! Come on you swishy tutu wearing sissy boys! Look over here! Hey you faggots, look over here!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Tony could see a black boy mooning them while his friends chuckled. "You want some of this, don't you?"
Tony and Jack kept walking but after a moment they heard footsteps rushing their way. They bolted. They might have run better but Mrs. Klein had really made them work hard in class that day and their legs were tired. Also, Tony was wearing dress pants and shoes. They ran a hundred yards over the crest of the hill and turned to face whoever was close. The biggest pursuer, a six foot plus black kid was just a few steps behind when Tony turned and planted a karate kick right in the kid's solar plexus. He went down in a heap gasping for breath and clutching at his stomache. The closest two behind him went for tony, shouting epithets about fags but Jack punched one with a textbook right cross and the other turned to shouting and showing his mastery curses rather than trying to fight. Jack and Tony blew kisses at him and jogged off laughing triumphantly.
They walked the last quarter mile each with his near arm over the other's shoulders. Another threat dealt with, maybe they wouldn't even bother them anymore. Who knows? Tony gave Jack a hug of thanks before Jack started up the walk to his front door and Jack smiled at him from an inch away with a delighted look in his eye. Tony felt an impulse to express something but just stood there and gave Jack a pat on the rear as he turned and walked away.
Tony chalked up their even closer friendship to the shared experience. Over the next week or so, he and Jack always seemed to be smiling and laughing at each other and they spent even more time together. Whether it was leaning against his locker, sitting on the floor in the hall or walking down the hall, inches away from Tony, there was Jack. Tony lost track of other friendships and relationships. Jennifer, from the mall, left a series of messages on the St. Martins' answering machine that went unanswered.
Then, Tony had a wet dream. Only this wet dream was different. It started out as a dream of blond Jennifer but ended up as a dream of a redhead, of Jack. Tony vaguely recalled it as he woke and cleaned himself and was deeply concerned. He resolved to stay away from his buddy a bit to clear up such confusions but wondered how Jack would take it. To his surprise, Jack seemed to take the same moment to want to establish some distance from Tony.
But they were still everywhere together and after a week, a consciously chosen distance apart of a yard or more had shrunk again to the two often being joined at the hip.
It was the Friday ballet class that more kids missed than any other. Mrs. Klein again worked Tony and Jack very hard and was effusive in her praise for Jack's improvement in technique and the height of his leaps. The other boys in the class were gone when Tony and Jack went into the showers. They laughed and joked as they stripped out of their spandex and as Tony spun the dial for a hot spray, Jack flicked a punch at Tony. Tony caught Jack's wrist in mid-air and pulled him against the tile wall with the spray cascading over the two of them. He grabbed Jack's other wrist and pinned his arms up high. Just inches away, Tony grinned at Jack.
Again, he wanted to express something and this time he did. It was the same thing Jack wanted to express. They turned their heads and locked lips in a french kiss. Tony thrust his tongue between Jack's thin lips deep into his mouth. He let go of Jack's wrists and squeezed his square little shoulders then rubbed the dimpled sides of his buns and firmly grasped Jack's swelling penis in both hands. In a moment, Jack was rock hard. So was Tony who saw Jacks freckle specked hands pumping away furiously on his purple topped cock.
And then Tony felt physically dizzy. He leaned back and looked at Jack, blinking through the spray. What the fuck?!
That was the expression on Jack's face too and Jack let out a gasp of shock at the sight of Tony's erect penis in his hands. Tony yanked his hands away from Jack's organ and both took a step back in stunned gasping silence.
"I-I didn't meant to . . honest!"
"Neither did I! I . . "
Neither knew what to say. Both stammered out apologies and swore that they didn't understand how things had got to this point. But both felt decidedly guilty. Both felt ashamed. They quickly showered and changed unable to look at each other or anyone else. When they emerged from the boys' locker room only a few people were still in the studio. There was Mrs. Klein, two younger girls and Emma Chase.
One of the younger girls pleaded to Emma "Can we go now?" Emma could barely speak the word "okay" through her laughter. Tony and Jack pleaded with Mrs. Klein to give them a ride tonight. They couldn't face the kids at the basketball court, not tonight, not after that.