This story & those that follow are completely fictional. Any likeness is purely coincidental. More parts to come soon.
I'd love to know what you think & if you enjoyed it.
jasonsmith135@yahoo.com
Also, if you're interested in a true story of my college roommate, check out my other storyhere: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/college/new-college-roommate/
Graduating high school was everything I had hoped it to be. An end to a seemingly good 4 years, a big graduation party, goodbyes with people that I likely wouldn't see again soon, if ever. I had a good group of friends through school, a few that I had been friends with since elementary school, and a few guys that I considered to almost be brothers.
The core group of friends stayed together throughout all 4 years of high school with others coming in and out of the fold from time to time. We would welcome new guys and girls occasionally to hang out which would sometimes evolve into deeper friendships, some of the core group would start dating a girl which shaped the group differently as they would spend time with their girl and she would introduce some of her friends into the mix. Some hard breakups, arguments, and the occasional shouting match would rock the group from time to time, but in the end the core 4 would find their way back to each other.
The core 4 included me, William (but I go by Will), Benjamin, Ethan, and Logan. Me and Ben have been friends the longest. We first met in our 3rd grade class and soon realized we lived only 4 houses down from each other in our subdivision. That led to many backyard hangouts and sleepovers over the years. He's a great guy that I've been lucky to stay friends with. Ethan came into the group when he & Ben played on the same baseball team during the summer league when we were all 11 years old. He invited Ethan over to one of our sleepovers after they had hit off during practices. He fit in seamlessly. Logan didn't join until 2 years later. He transferred to our school from the next state over. Ben, being the most outgoing of us, invited him to sit with us at lunch and it was almost as if he had been part of the group the entire time, almost as if he picked up where we left off. From that moment, I knew our group was special and that our friendships ran deep.
From the outside looking in while in high school, it may have seemed like we didn't belong together as we were all pretty different.
Ben was the athlete, stocky and fit. He played both baseball & football (and was good at both), worked out religiously and everyone could tell. I think this is part of what gave him the confidence to be so outgoing. He was tall, about 6'1" with short brown hair, brown eyes, on the hairier side (he boasted about being the first in our group to have chest hair and needing to shave his small thin mustache in Jr. High.) Even though, he was a star jock, outgoing and well-liked, it didn't go to his head.
Ethan also played baseball for our HS team. He played in the outfield as he was fast, probably in part to the fact that he was thin as a board. He lifted weights regularly due to being on the team, but the muscles didn't stick to him the way they did to Ben. He was about the same height as Ben, maybe and inch or two taller, curly light-brown hair, and a sly smile. He enjoyed baseball, and probably would have have joined other sports too, but his parents made it clear that he had to have a job after school, so instead of trying out for other teams, he got a job at the local supermarket.
Logan didn't play any sports, even though he enjoyed throwing a football around the backyard. He was involved in the football games however, as he was the mascot and also played drums in the band. He would climb into the giant, furry Panther costume and dance around on the sidelines next to the cheerleaders, cheering on the team. But quickly before half-time, would strip out of it, sweat pouring down his shaggy black hair, and throw on his band uniform and march in perfect formation, banging on the drums. He was the shortest of us 4, measuring in at just 5'10". He used to be a little thicker in jr. high, but band camps with lengthy marching practices added with the constant sweaty dancing in the mascot uniform slimmed him down and was now in pretty good shape.
I focused more on my schoolwork than the other guys. I was known by other kids in school as the braniac of the group. My red hair & glasses fit into the preconceived notion that was smart. I'm about 5'11" (6' tall on a good day) and had started wearing contacts at the end of Jr. High, but occasionally still wore my glasses. Schoolwork was important to me, it had to be if I wanted to go to college. Scholarships were a must, unless I wanted to take a year off to save up some money, and I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to be left behind by my friends and be behind. So I studied hard, and I have a good memory, which put me into the top 5 of our class.
I didn't grow up playing sports. Even though I had the hand-eye-coordination for it, I was just never as strong, fast, or committed as the other kids. I instead used that certain coordination for video games. I loved being able to transport into another world with video games, and I was always pretty good at them. Better than the other 3 guys for sure. Sleepovers and hangouts often led to video games with the guys, especially if it was cold or raining outside. I also used them as a break from studying. I can study for 1 hour then play around on the xbox for 20 minutes, then it's back to studying.
Even though, we all had different interests, we all were interested in what each other did. I would go to all of the baseball games with Logan to cheer on Ben & Ethan. Then Ethan & I (As long as he didn't have to work) would go to the football games to watch Ben play and Logan make a fool of himself as the mascot. And during our junior & senior year I was in `Scholarship Bowl' which is a made up name for trivia team. We competed against other schools in our area and could win scholarship money for college. All 3 guys came to support me, and would often get in trouble for cheering loudly when I answered a question correctly. Like I said, we were the core 4, just really good friends.
It made sense that we would plan to all go to college together. We all applied to the local community college, and of course all got in. As incoming freshmen, you had to live in the dorms unless your parents signed a waiver which would allow you to live in an apartment off campus. This was what we wanted to do, so that we would all be together, wouldn't be split up, and put with random guys we didn't know & might not get along with. All of our parents agreed, as long as we could pay for half of the rent.
We started looking for an apartment about a month before classes started. We waited a little too late as a lot of the reasonably priced apartments had already been taken by returning upperclassmen. We took turns looking into different prospects. Some days we'd double up and go together in groups, but all of the places we looked at were either too small or too expensive. We had just about given up when Ben texted us one afternoon.
"So guys... How bad are we wanting to do this apartment thing?" Ben texted.
"Dude, I'd much rather live with you guys than some weirdo that the dorms are gonna put me with," Logan said.
Ethan responded, "Same here. Especially if we could all get our own rooms that would be awesome."
I agreed with them both, but it wasn't looking good for us to be able to find a 4 bedroom apartment or even a house to rent that was remotely in our budget.
"Well I have a proposition," Ben replied, "but I know it's not a perfect situation, but may be our best bet to living off campus together."
"Let's hear it!" I responded, hoping we could make it work. I really wanted to live off campus with the guys. We'd finally be on our own, so to speak, and could just hang out all the time.
"I found a place, good area, comes with a fridge, has 2 bathrooms, and is just under our budget." Ben said.
"Dude, that sounds perfect! Why would that be bad??" Ethan asked.
"Only 3 rooms," Ben texted.
My shoulders dropped, because that wasn't what we were looking for. We wanted a big enough place so that we all could have a room and have our own space with privacy. I doubted anyone would agree to that.
Ben texted again, "I know we all wanted our own room but I think this may be our only option. Everything is either already taken or way too damn expensive. 2 of the rooms are small-ish to normal size, and the third room is bigger -- I guess cause it's the master. 2 of us could share the master, if everyone is down for that.."
We all sat there, waiting for someone else to agree to sharing a room. It seemed like forever before I got another text, but this one was a separate text outside of the group, from Ben.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"I mean, kinda sucks that 2 of us would have to share a room. But, I'd probably rather do that than live in the dorms."
"Me too," was his short reply. Then another text, "Would you be down to share the master bedroom with me? With 2 beds, obviously."
I thought for a minute about it. Was it ideal? No. But out of the other 3 guys, I had known Ben for the longest and considered him to be my closest friend. We had spent countless nights at each other's house over the years, so it would feel like an extended sleepover, if you wanted to think about it like that.
"Because I don't think the other 2 are gonna budge. And I'd hate to miss out on this place because no one wants to share. So I'm down if you are." Ben texted as I was still thinking it over.
"Yeah dude, I'm down," I responded. "I'd rather share with you I guess if I need to," I sent with a thumbs up emoji.
Ben then texted the group, "Me & Will are gonna share the master bedroom. You guys down for that?"
Logan & Ethan both agreed (surely glad that they would have their own space) and we decided to look at the place tomorrow all together.
One Month Later
We all got moved in and settled and were getting used to living with each other over the past week. A couple of the guys' parents had an old sofa and an old recliner that they let us use to make the place more comfortable. Logan & Ethan had their own rooms across the hall from each other while mine and Ben's room was on the other side of the living room. One of the bathrooms was located in our room while the other was next-door to Logan's room. Since we were tight on space in our room, we agreed to set up my video game system in the living room. This worked out best anyways so that we all could play together frequently, especially as we stayed up late that first week. We enjoyed spending our time together right before classes started, and would grab some food from a drive-thru and head back to our place, to watch a movie, play video games, or just hang out.
Sharing a room wasn't bad, the only issue was I just didn't have anywhere that I could go to be just by myself. There were occasions where Ben would go to the gym and I'd be by myself in the room, but there was no telling when he would return. And I knew if I felt this way, that Ben was probably feeling the same. So if he ever was in the room, I would try not to bother him. I'd stay in the living room to watch tv or play games as long as I didn't need anything out of the room. Another thing was, what was I supposed to sleep in? Normally, growing up, I would just sleep in my underwear, sometimes with a shirt, sometimes not. But I wasn't as fit or muscle-y as the other guys, especially Ben, and was a little self conscious. I ended up sleeping in a short sleeve and an old loose basketball shorts. Ben didn't wear a shirt often, so that was to be expected when sleeping too. He also wore shorts, (either out of normalcy since this is what we did at sleepovers, or maybe he was following my lead?) but I knew that neither of us were very comfortable. Also when changing, one of us would head into the bathroom and change so as not to be seen, and the other would change by their bed. Another small downside of sharing a room.
One afternoon, Ben had been out to the gym lifting weights and had just gotten home. The other 2 guys were in their rooms, and I was hanging out in the living room. Ben said hi, asked if I wanted to play COD after he showered. I agreed and he went into our room. I looked for the game near the xbox and realized I had left it in my room, so I went in after it so I could load it up while waiting for Ben. I knocked and quickly pushed the door open and Ben was standing there in his underwear throwing his sweaty clothes to the corner of the room.
"Oh! Sorry!" I almost yelled, embarrassed, and quickly closed the door.
I started to walk back to the couch when Ben opened the door. "Dude, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Sorry. I didn't know you were changing right there. I was grabbing the game."
"You can come grab it, no worries." He nodded his head toward the room motioning for me to come in.
I walked in and looked for the game, my face a little red as he was still taking his socks off. As I grabbed the game and started to head back out, I whispered another 'Sorry' when Ben grabbed my arm.
"What are you sorry for?"
"I would've waited if I had know you were changing. I thought you would've changed in the bathroom."
"Will, look. We're gonna be living in the same room. We should be comfortable right?"
I slightly hesitated, but agreed, "Yeah, you're right."
"So look," Ben said, "I don't know about you, but I don't like sleeping in basketball shorts every night."
I chuckled, "Yeah, me neither."
"Exactly," he started, "so from now on, sleep however you like. I'm going to do the same. And if you need to change clothes, you don't have to hide in the bathroom. We're both guys, we're best friends, and we should feel comfortable in our own room. And you also don't have to knock when you walk into your own room."
I laughed again. I only knocked to be polite, but he was right. It was my room too, and I shouldn't have to knock to walk in. I was feeling more comfortable already.
"You're right, we should both just be comfortable" I agreed.
"Good! Glad we got that out of the way. And since we did, take a good look, because you'll be seeing me in my underwear a lot more often!" He patted my shoulder and laughed.
I laughed back cause I had forgotten that he was standing there, covered in sweat in just his underwear.
"Haha, yeah me too," I said almost nervously. "Anyways, I'll go set the game up," and began to walk out.
"I'll be out in just a minute & then it's finally time I beat your ass. I'm tired of losing!" he said.
"Yeah, we'll see about that!" and I headed back into the living room, closing the door behind me.
We played games for a few hours, Logan & Ethan joined us after a while. We enjoyed the rest of the day altogether, playing games, shooting the shit, talking about classes which were soon to start. Our schedules were all different, a couple of us having a class or two together. Once classes started I wasn't sure how much we would see of each other, especially since we were going to have to get jobs to continue paying our part of rent. So I took in the moments when we were together with no cares, other than who was going to get the last slice of pizza, who picked the next movie, and whose turn it was to play the next game.
After the night's movie and many hours of joking around, it was getting late and I was getting tired. I stood up and said goodnight to the guys and headed to the bedroom. They all said goodnight, agreeing that it was late and that they would follow suit soon. I walked into our room, and looked around at the pure mess it was already in. Clothes all over the floor and even piled on our beds. We were definitely going to have to clean up soon, but not now. I was too tired. I'm ready to climb into bed. After brushing my teeth I walked to my bed & stopped remembering what Ben had said earlier. I slipped my shorts off and brought my shirt over my head, and quickly slid under the covers before Ben could walk in. I sighed a sigh of relief feeling how good the comforter felt on top of my body. This was so much better than struggling to turn over in loose shorts.
Ben's lamp was on beside his bed & I left it on so he could see once he decided to come to bed. It didn't bother me, I often sleep with the tv on back at home. I looked at my phone for a while scrolling through social media before plugging it up to charge and close my eyes. Before I could doze off, I heard the door open and Ben walked in trying to be quiet. He looked over at me and saw I was still awake, gave a little wave.
"You already asleep?" he asked.
"Not yet, almost though. I'm beat."
"I feel you buddy, so am I."
As he said this, he pulled the back of the collar of his shirt sliding it off over his head and threw it into a pile of clothes. I watched and laughed to myself as I saw the pile growing. He slipped his shorts down, revealing his underwear, grey tight boxer briefs, and threw the shorts into the pile as well. I looked away so it didn't seem like I was staring. I could tell he sat on the edge of his bed, and starting pulling his socks off.
He stood up and as he tossed his socks to the side said, "Dude, we're gonna have to do laundry soon, I'm starting to run out of clean clothes."
As I looked back over to agree with him, he turned to face the wall away from me and grabbed the waistband of his boxer briefs and slid them all the way down to his feet. All I could see was his hairy, completely bare ass in front of me. The hair was brown and slightly curly like the rest of his body hair. His ass was fit and toned, again, like the rest of his body. He was completely bent over for maybe half a second, but it felt longer. He stepped out of the briefs and with his foot, flung them to the side with the rest of his dirty clothes.
He slid under his covers, turned to me, and said, "Night buddy," and switched his lamp off.
I quickly looked up at the ceiling and muttered, "Night."
In the darkness, I reached my hand up to my face, felt it growing hotter, and could tell it had gotten red. Hopefully, Ben didn't notice that I was blushing. And also hope that he didn't hear my arms move under my comforter to adjust myself in my underwear. What was going on? I repositioned myself and turned on my side facing the wall trying to attempt sleep. But closing my eyes, all I could see was the hairy ass that had been out within arms reach from me.