1 DAY LATER
CURRENT AGE = 21 YEARS 9 MONTHS
The harsh morning light shining through his curtains was the first thing to wake Bryan up. The second was his heavy hangover. He gripped his aching head and moaned. He had no idea how he ended up in his bedroom, he could barely recall anything from the night before. He remembered greeting his first guests, playing some games of beer pong, and oddly enough, arguing with James over the best way to slice a sandwich. Bits and pieces of a mostly forgotten night. Now all that was left was cleaning the house before his moms came home. Luckily he'd convinced Jeff to stay the night or he'd be stuffed.
Bryan slipped off his bed and padded out to the hallway. As he approached the bathroom, he heard an odd buzzing noise coming from inside. Living with two moms had trained him to fear any buzzing in the bathroom. Yet it was accompanied by someone humming a song so out of tune, it was unrecognisable. Bryan knew only one guy that tone deaf. He peeked through the partially open door and saw Jeff at the sink, electric razor in hand. He'd recently got out of the shower, judging by the towel wrapped around his waist and his messy, damp hair. Bryan couldn't help but stare.
Jeff had always been a lean and strong guy, keeping in shape for the wrestling team. But recently he'd been getting bulkier, gaining thickset muscles far beyond his years. His widespread back and lumbering arms left him with broad shoulders that made his stout waist look rather slim in comparison, giving his torso that enviable triangle shape. Even underneath his towel, you could tell Jeff possessed a pair of sturdy, rock-hard legs and a round, perky ass you could bounce a penny off. Jeff noticed Bryan in the mirror and turned around, treating Bryan to a beautiful view of his toned torso finely covered with curly, black hairs that clung to his damp body. It swirled around each of his globular pecs and trailed down his tight abs of steel. While he had caught glimpses in the locker room, Bryan had never seen Jeff in all his glory up to now. Yet there was a hazy memory of his bare torso he somehow recalled, running a hand through his thick chest hair as Jeff slept. Did that really happen? As he tried to grasp for more, it faded away until he was uncomfortably aware of the silence around him.
He didn't realise that the razor had been cut off, and Jeff was staring him down with a cocky expression. He snapped his fingers impatiently and said "Yo, Bry!" Bryan blinked a few times, then looked to Jeff's face which was half unshaven. "You alright dude? You've been gawping for a good minute or so. Can't say I blame you, though." He flexed his arms and chest, then gave a cheeky wink.
Bryan's cheeks reddened in humiliation. "Have I? Sorry... I'm not feeling too good, I've got a massive headache..."
Jeff grinned and said "I believe the common term is a hangover. I had one too earlier, there's some coffee downstairs that'll cure it." Jeff turned back to resume shaving. "So what happened after I passed out last night?"
"You're asking the wrong guy. It's all a blur in my memory. I think we played beer pong, and I lost... How come you're getting rid of the 'chops? You've only had them a day"
"Duh, I only grew them for the party. I don't think they suited me anyway. I'm starting fresh". He turned off the razor, then turned back to Bryan with a smile. "What do you think?"
Bryan frowned and said "You missed a spot right there". He pointed towards Jeff's upper lip, which had survived the shave and left him with a stubbly moustache.
"I thought that I'd give Movember a try. Maybe rocking a dad 'stache will stop the ladies from sticking their hands down my pants"
"Hah, what?" Jeff looked away, slightly embarrassed. Bryan stopped smiling. "Wait, seriously? Who? When!?"
Jeff scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Chloe, last night. I guess we were all drunk, I was showing off the gains I'd made recently, and she just slipped a hand down there. I jumped away before she touched anything, but I dunno... It was weird, man! I felt gross afterwards, then I thought about what if I let her get further, and I felt grosser... That's weird, right?"
"Of course it's not weird, you've barely said two words to her outside of the party. You want your first experience to be with someone you trust, right?"
Jeff mumbled something in agreement, which was followed by stoic silence. Bryan wanted to say more, but that memory of his came back stronger. He recalled dragging his drunk friend to bed, stroking his fuzzy cheeks with a mix of desire and envy, then a memory of yanking the tank-top off his comatose buddy and getting a good feel of his meaty, hairy pecs. He didn't go further than that, of course. Or did he...? As quick as the memory flashed in his mind, it disappeared again. Given how shook up Jeff was about this Chloe incident, he daren't bring it up. Not now...
Jeff eventually broke their silence by saying "Hey, you should do Movember with me! We could be Mo' Bros, huh?"
Bryan reached up and touched his upper lip, feeling his own sparse stubble. "Nah, it'd take at least a month for it to grow longer than stubble. I'd just look ridiculous, especially compared to you..."
Jeff felt his own densely packed stubble 'stache. "That's kinda the point of Movember. You think I want to look like Ned Flanders? You look ridiculous for a month and raise money for a good cause. Besides, you don't know how you'd look until you give it a try. I think you'd be surprised at how quickly it grows once you get started."
Bryan shrugged his shoulders and made a non-committal noise. He would love to but he knew his facial hair was sparse at best. It wasn't like there was some magic wand that could give him lustrous face fur for nothing. Seriously requiring a cup of coffee, Bryan said "Enough chat, my moms'll be home by sundown and we have a house to deep-clean. Chop chop." He patted Jeff on one of his hairy tiddies with the back of his hand, arousing some feelings inside, and left before Jeff could whack him back.
9 DAYS LATER
CURRENT AGE = 22 YEARS 6 MONTHS
"Happy birthday to Bryan, Happy Birthday to you!" the table of teens whooped loudly as they celebrated their friend's 18th birthday.
"The big 1-8! You're officially an adult! You know what that means?" James wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, then continued "You. Are. Legal...ly able to vote!" He cackled sharply and slapped Bryan on the back, while the others shared a pity laugh. "I can't believe you're the first of us to turn 18!"
"Yeah, I would have sworn it was Jeff." Shiro said.
Everyone turned their attention to the large man sharing the table with them. Jeff shrugged his shoulders and said "Your guess is as good as mine", cracking a knowing grin. If you didn't know better, you wouldn't be derided for not knowing he was in fact the youngest at the table. With the thick moustache adorning his upper lip combined with his burly demeanour, he looked more like a clueless undercover cop.
This was the first time Bryan had seen Jeff outside of school since the day after Halloween. He was hoping that persistent memory of his was only a dream, until he discovered several incriminating selfies he took on his phone. He'd been making up excuses not to hang out due to his overwhelming guilt. This, however, was something he couldn't avoid...
"Ignoring Mr. Selleck over here" Bryan said, gaining a mocking tongue poke from Jeff in response, "I can't believe it either. I mean, 18! Soon we'll be graduating and moving on to college. Maybe getting proper jobs. We'll have to be, ugh, responsible!". Bryan shuddered at the word, making his friends chuckle in the process. Although he joked, there was a part of him that felt unprepared for the future. If only he could have all the benefits of adulthood without any of the hang-ups. "At least we'll never be too old for gifts. Speaking of..."
The three amigos each had a different gift. Shiro went the generic route, with a birthday card stuffed with cash. James went the more fashionable route, with a fabulous pack of retro designed socks. It was Jeff, however, who came with something unexpected. He handed over a small box wrapped in neon paper emblazoned with HAPPY BIRTHDAY in eye-watering colors. He scratched at his stubbly cheeks and said "Happy birthday Bry. I hope you get some use out of it." Unwrapping the gaudy gift paper, Bryan was taken aback to find a beard grooming kit, complete with beard oil, comb, and a tiny pair of scissors. He looked up to his eager friend, who grinned. "It's always a good time to get a head-start, Mo' Bro!".
Bryan frowned at the nickname. Jeff was so adamant that he join him with Movember while they were cleaning up the party mess, that he eventually cracked. Only on the condition that he could grow a goatee with it. It was a little daunting at first, especially when he knew Jeff would blow everyone away with his quick-growing facial hair. But after 10 days of not shaving, he had managed to gain a decent, if thin, beard of his very own. And maybe it was his imagination, but it seemed to cover more of his face than he imagined based on his stubble pattern. Almost like it had sprouted overnight. But that's as unlikely as Jeff skipping out on chest day at the gym. Bryan put the box down, and smiled. "Thanks dude, I'm sure it'll come in handy when I grow that lumberjack beard"
Moments later, pizza arrived at the table with appreciative cheers. Yet Bryan felt a little empty. Would he ever achieve the manliness Jeff had attained in the last couple of months? He knew he shouldn't compare his body to anyone else, but he couldn't help but feel inferior to his ultra-manly friend. Jeff, with his Olympian body like a Greek statue. Jeff, with his perfect, manly jawline and acne-free skin. Jeff, with his steely permastubble and multitudes of body hair. Hell, he could even tell Jeff was packing heat thanks to the bulge stretching out his skinny jeans. And he was still 16 years old! Bryan rested a hand on Jeff's gift before grabbing a slice of pizza. Maybe someday...