Wednesday, the fateful day, was a couple of million years long. It was another day when I didn't see Kenny all damn day, not even at lunch. This time, I was determined to make our plans work out. I still wasn't sure exactly how to arrange things. My mom had been in a foul mood the previous night, and I knew better than to ask her for a ride under those circumstances. I didn't know if Kenny had arranged anything with his mom - and the time to arrange it, one way or the other, was growing short as the day went on. So I had to find him at some point before practice was over.

This time, I headed for his locker room right after the last bell. I rarely did that, because it meant I'd probably be late for swim practice, and that was a big negative to our coach; but I wasn't going to let our plans slip away this time.

Luck happens. I saw Kenny on the way down the hill to the gym, walking way up ahead. I ran and caught up with him, and grabbed his shoulders from behind and jumped on his back. He promptly tried to buck me off. I held on, but then let go after a second, both of us laughing. We did that kind of stuff a lot. Adults can't. I miss that.

It turned out that Kenny had been making his own plans - and his plans were better than mine. After I got off him and we straightened our clothes and all that, I said, quietly: "Hey, did you talk to your mom about this evening?" He said, "Yeah... and I have an idea. I told her I might want to stay late at school, to study in the library with you, and then call her to pick us up when we're done and drop you off..." (One advantage of a boarding school, incidentally - late library hours. An advantage to those of us who wait until the last minute on school stuff, at any rate. :))

At first I thought this was a major dumb-ass move on his part. Do it at school? What was he thinking? I briefly thought, "Geez, maybe he thinks I really want to study, after all?" But Kenny was smarter than I was giving him credit for at that moment. :) He went on without pausing: "...And, I know a place we can go." Relief. Okay, he's got an idea here. He continued: "Have you ever been out to the stables?"

As a fancy-schmancy private institution, with a campus and everything, our school had some amenities, like a natatorium (indoor pool), and a dramatics playhouse... and horse stables, located in a wooded area out on the fringe of campus. I had been out there a few times, to sneak cigarettes or to hang out with friends who were smoking. The school never had much in the way of horses, as I recall - maybe three, maybe four... I wasn't into the equestrian scene, so it's hazy in memory. But I was aware of three relevant things about Kenny's idea: (a) the stables were remote from everything else on school property; (b) they were rarely visited; and (c) they were in a heated barn.

It was a genius plan. :) As the implications sank in, I punched Kenny in the arm, and said, "You are a smart guy, buddy - you know it?" He just grinned. :)

We talked about setting a specific time for the rendezvous, so neither of us would just be hanging out (and maybe caught) at the barn, but neither of us was wearing a watch. (That fact turned out to be a major problem, later - for our peace of mind, if nothing else, as you'll see.) We decided the risk of being spotted was small. It looked like a plan.

Inside the gym entrance, we turned right. Kenny's locker room was halfway down the hall on the right; mine was all the way down on the left. At the door to his locker room, we went our separate ways ("see ya later"), thinking our parallel thoughts. Kenny told me afterwards he didn't go inside right away - he looked down the hall for a second or two, at me walking to my locker room. He was looking at my butt, he said. Not long enough to be obvious. I don't know about that.

It was around 400 million years until swim practice was over. Fortunately, I have the ability to block off extraneous thoughts during sports-related events. I guess I was a competitor first and a sex-maniac second. :) When practice was over, though, my thoughts turned back to Kenny and me. I wouldn't let my thoughts surface until I'd finished showering and dressing. Getting a boner in the showers would be uncool. (It's never happened to me, luckily. Or more accurately, I always managed to stifle myself before the angle and swelling got too obvious. It didn't happen very often. Other kids weren't so lucky... but that's another story...)

I was excited by this time. It was partly "Oh, boy, something new!!" excitement. And sex was part of it, no question. I wasn't sure we'd be able to manage the anal thing, but we could probably suck each other off at least, and that was always good. But more than newness, more that sex, it was all about.........
I didn't let myself go there.

It was risky for anyone to be seen walking out toward the stables. That part of the school's campus was technically off-limits, unless you had a reason to go there, like equestrian stuff. And it was super-risky for more than one kid to go together - that was bound to attract attention. Hence, our plan to meet out there, instead of walking together.

Normally after practice, I'd walk out to the bus area with a bunch of swim- team friends. It wouldn't be possible, this time. So I told my friends I was going to go back up to the library, which was a place I knew they wouldn't follow me. :) (I felt guilty lying to them, but no choice, if I wanted to be with Kenny...) I walked up the hill (to lose anyone watching) by myself, and then cut back through the trees and headed out the path to the stables.

It was a typical Southern mostly-cloudy winter day, maybe about 50 degrees - a little chilly to expose your butt outdoors. I was walking along, hoping we'd be able to get into the barn, where it was warm... and then I was struck by an awful thought: Lubrication! I didn't have anything - hadn't realized it would be needed, since I was planning this event for his house or mine. Did Kenny bring something? If not, would it work with alot of saliva? My books said that wasn't recommended. I was kind of pissed, thinking downer thoughts: here's another stumbling-block, we're never gonna get to do it... stuff like that.

I got to the stables first. No sign of people - good. The barn door was locked with a padlock - not so good. Maybe Kenny knows another way in? Maybe he brought something for lube? I wasn't optimistic. (It turned out, of course, that Kenny, once again, was smarter than Danny. :))

After maybe five minutes, I heard a noise. Somebody coming up the hill. I hid behind the corner of the barn, just in case it wasn't him, and peeked around. It was Kenny. He came up the path, carrying his gym bag. I went out to meet him: "What's with the gym bag, dude?" He grinned. "You'll see."

I gestured at the door. "And how're we gonna get inside?" He said, "Oh that's always locked - come over here." And he led the way around to the opposite side of the barn. I'd never been back there. There was another big door, and another big padlock on it... but this one was unlocked. It was a most gratifying sight. :)

I said, "How'd you know about that?" I knew Kenny hadn't been out here with the smoking crowd; he hated cigarettes - and in any case the smokers stayed in the woods down by the path. He said, "I had to come out here to feed the horses one day. I was working in the office." [Office-worker was a position of privilege for those who didn't get detention, and Kenny was a better-behaved kid than I was.] "The Stable Lady was sick, so Mrs. Swafford [school secretary] asked me to come out here and do it."

The Stable Lady was kind of legendary at our school. I didn't know much about the equestrian stuff, but I knew about her - we all did. The Stable Lady was the granddaughter (or maybe great-granddaughter) of the guy who founded our school, way back when. She was rich, and owned a bunch of stock in the place, or was a director, or something (I never figured out how the finances of the institution worked.) At any rate, she had alot of say in how the place was run. She had three big concerns: (a) she insisted that the school uniforms not be too military-looking (which was fine with me for many reasons); (b) she insisted that the place be landscaped nicely (I worked on a landscaping crew several summers - not at our school, but it made me appreciate good landscaping when I saw it); and (c) she insisted that the school have a good- quality equestrian program.

I knew a few kids who went in for equestrian stuff - actually one of my best friends as a senior (long after I gave up boy-sex) was a good rider, and really into it. The horsey thing never attracted much attention among most boys, though. I have this vague sense that it was because riding - especially English riding - was considered a girl thing. (Hey, so was soccer, back then... didn't stop me. :)) I suspect the horses and the barn and the program stayed around only because the Stable Lady wanted them there. It must've cost the school some money (and she was paying, I'm sure - and could afford it.) I don't know breeds, but apparently these were good horses. And she cared alot about those horses. I guess that's why the barn was heated. I don't think heated horse barns are common down South. I doubt Kenny and I would've been very comfortable screwing each other in a cold barn. I guess I owe her a debt of gratitude. :)

(Incidentally, "Stable Lady" is a title I've made up - we didn't call her that; we called her "Miss _________". But for obvious reasons, I'm not using real names here. And besides, I think "Stable Lady" is a cool title... don't you? :))

Well, back at the barn: Kenny opened the door, and we went inside. Right away, you knew you were in a horse barn. No lights on, but windows let in the winter-gray light, and you could see stalls and splintery wooden beams, and straw on the dirt floor, and saddles and harnesses and brushes and stuff hanging on the walls. And you could hear the heat unit running. (At several points while we were in there, the heat kicked on - it made us both startle, every time.) Underneath the heat-unit sound, you could hear the horses, somewhere down the line, making those snort-noises that horses make - I don't know the term, but you can imagine it. The place smelled like... well, like a barn. Straw and horse poop and leather, and whatever else makes a barn smell that way. I haven't been in all that many barns, but I guess they're all similar, if they have animals inside.

The smell wasn't my favorite. But I've never been bothered much by odors. I can quit breathing through my nose, and breathe through my mouth only, and instantly make any smell go away. I guess not everyone can do that, but it seems to work for me. This time, I became an instant mouth-breather, as soon as I caught the odor, and it wasn't a factor for me thereafter. I guess the smell didn't bother Kenny; he never said a word about it. I know he wasn't mouth-breathing like me - later, when we got into it, he was breathing hard, and it wasn't through his mouth. Of course, maybe he was getting too carried away by then to care about smells... :)

We paused just inside the door. It wasn't real warm inside the barn, but it was warm enough - one problem solved. Nobody was around - two problems solved... maybe. Hearing the horses snorting made me think of feeding-time, and that made me wonder: when was feeding-time, anyway? And how often do horses get fed? I said, "What about the Stable Lady, anyway? When does she come out here?" Kenny just shrugged. I contemplated the possibility of getting caught for a second or two... and then desire won out over caution. It was a risk we'd have to take. (In retrospect, we weren't too smart, taking that risk. I don't know what the Stable Lady would've done if she'd shown up and found two 15 y/o boys from the school in her barn, fucking; but I doubt it would've been positive. She had the power to get us expelled, obviously. Actually, most of the time we were in there - and all of the time we had our clothes off - we were hidden from sight, and could've kept quiet and probably not been discovered. But yeah, we were dumb. :))

Thinking about risks reminded me. I said, "I hope you brought something slippery. 'Cause spit isn't enough, ya know." I was ready to be disappointed; I'd been thinking "Oh, well... at least we can 69 out here, and maybe next time..." But Kenny grinned again. Then he unzipped his gym bag, holding the opening toward me so I could see inside. The light wasn't great. All I could see in there was his wrestling stuff, and some other clothes, and the plastic box where he kept his soap. Soap? Well, better than nothing, assuming we could get it wet, I thought.

I looked back up at him. "Yeah? You want to use your soap?" He looked at me, puzzled, then looked inside the bag himself: "Oh. I guess it fell down in there somewhere. I had it on top." He fished around inside, and then brought out a long white round thing. It looked like a tube of toothpaste at first (toothpaste? He's nuts!) Then I read the side: "KY Jelly".

I'd seen KY in the drugstore, next to the condoms (which I'd bought on the rare occasions when I got to have sex with a girl, and on the less-rare occasions when I optimistically thought I might get to have sex with a girl. I also bought them for other kids, who, unlike me, were too embarrassed.) I knew KY said "personal lubricant" on the side, and I was old enough to know what that meant, of course. But I'd never bought any, never even thought about KY, until Kenny brought out that tube. I said, "Goddamn, Kenny, where'd you get that?" He said, "From my mom's bedside table." I said, "She'll kill you if she sees it's gone!" He said, "Well, we've gotta have something. And she probably won't look."

(Later, in talking about it, Kenny said that in actuality he had no idea how often his mom looked in there for her KY. We didn't talk about it further, beyond agreeing we were lucky she didn't discover it missing before Kenny could replace it - with a new tube, as it turned out, since we managed to lose the cap to the old one. We didn't even begin to talk about why she had it there in the first place. Kenny's mom was a divorced lady, and she dated several men while I knew him, so I imagine it served a purpose. But we didn't go there. Nobody wants to dwell on your mom's sex life.)

My initial surprise lasted a few seconds. But it wore off quickly - and I realized: He's come prepared. We're gonna do it! Yes! :) My lust and anticipation had dwindled during the walk over and the worries about whether we could figure out a way to make it work - but now I got excited. I said, "So, you want to try it, then?" He said, "I brought the damn lube, didn't I?"

This was a turning point. I was getting all flushed and warm. Wow! I'd been thinking about this, getting more excited evey day. It seemed to be impossibly distant in the future: we'd need to find a place; we'd need the lube... I knew we could work out the problems with time, but I'd had my hopes up since our bus-stop conversation aa week before. I wanted it to happen now. And now, it was gonna happen. It was the real thing. I was nervous; I knew it would probably hurt. But I was ready to try it.

Where to go? The main area we were standing in had a dirt floor with thin straw covering it - not too inviting. And it wasn't very discreet - we did have enough sense to know we needed to hide. I looked around: "Where do you want to go?" Kenny pointed: "That end is the stalls where the horses are. The other stalls are all empty... at least they were empty, when I was down here before. And there's alot of straw."

I thought about horse-poop again, and then dismissed it quickly. Surely they wouldn't leave the stalls all trashed. If I was wrong, we'd figure something else out. I grabbed Kenny's arm and pulled on it: "Let's check it out, then... come on!" He said, grinning big: "Kinda anxious, huh?" I didn't need to answer that one. :)

We went over, me in the lead, and looked inside the stalls. There were maybe 8-10 stalls altogether. The ones on the far left contained horses (two or three, judging from sounds - we never looked closely.) The others were empty. They looked clean enough in the dim light - straw all over the floor, as Kenny had said. We picked the far right one, as far away from the horses as possible, down in the corner of the barn. I opened the chest-high gate, letting in more light for a moment. It looked okay. We went inside, and I shut the gate.