First Appearance (Chapter 1)

For my part, I hadn't even thought about masturbation as being an issue while sharing a tent - like I said, I hadn't done much more than fiddled with my occasional erections up until then - but the prospect of being in such close confines with other boys and men had definitely been on my mind in the lead-up to the trip. So, even for me, it was nice to hear him talking so nonchalantly about the fact we were going to be so intimate together: yes, we're gonna see each other doing things friends aren't usually party to, but if our teacher could be cool with that, maybe we all could...

Vaughan reiterated, "But seriously, lads, don't stay out of the tent any longer than necessary... I don't want to find one of you frozen solid in the morning with your dick in your hand..."

No doubt as a result of Vaughan's directness, that night the guys in my tent proved to be a lot more relaxed about sharing a tent with other lads than they probably would have been otherwise. Undressing together in its close stuffy confines wasn't as embarrassing as it might have been and the inevitable poking of elbows and knees into each other's crotches and arses as we clambered into our sleeping bags was more funny than awkward.

Anderson lightened the mood further by telling us that his cock was so big that he'd need the space of a double sleeping bag if he was going to wank. That started a totally unserious comparison of the size of our bulges through our underwear, by the end of which our reservations were all but forgotten.

We talked until after around eleven, when Connell called over to us to get some rest, and then whispered for another hour or so after that. At about midnight, we giggled to hear sounds of masturbation coming from one of the other tents and then Palmer declared he might "need to do the same" before he could get some sleep.

But I don't think anything happened inside our tent on that first night, and if it did I must have fallen asleep before it had started. We'd walked a long way that day and I was pretty exhausted. The ground was hard and uncomfortable and the air was so cold that our breath condensed on every surface like dew, but sleep came easily nonetheless.

I woke up with Palmer's cock almost poking me in the face. The morning sun was shining in through the side of the tent that Josh and I were lying on. I squinted in the brightness to see what was going on. Palmer was pulling on a clean teeshirt, unaware that I was waking up and unaware that his semi-erect cock was swinging around in front of me like a fat, swollen pendulum.

Anderson was talking about a dream he'd had about a girl from the sixth form. Even in my state of semi-consciousness I was aware that he was probably making it up.

The sun had warmed the inside of the tent, and the air was heavy with the smell of sweat and that sharp, thick odour you find in male locker rooms. A lot of the latter, I realised, was probably due to my nose being so close to Palmer's exposed crotch.

I thought, "I don't want to even think about what we're all gonna smell like in ten days time!"

I looked over at Anderson who was pulling off the vest he'd worn overnight. His erection was full and proud: seven or eight inches of it curving upwards from his densely hairy balls. I figured that his talk of his supposed erotic dream was his way of making light of his state of arousal.

Just then the tent doors were pulled open, the ripping Velcro making the sound of tearing canvas.

Vaughan stuck his head in and said, "You guys up?"

Anderson didn't attempt to cover his erection, as I would have done, and Vaughan looked down at it and grinned. He said, "Ah yeah... looks like you definitely are..."

Anderson grinned back. "Looks like he wants to be your friend, sir. He's smiling up at you..."

Vaughan threw him a look of amused consternation. "Get something on, Rob. It's a bit chilly out here..."

Then he withdrew and refastened the Velcro strips on the doors.

Palmer said, "You know what we've gotta do next, don't you?"

Anderson pulled a clean pair of underwear from his rucksack. "I'm all too aware, Stephen."

Palmer went on, "Well I'd try and lose the woody if I were you. Guys are gonna start talking if you're flying at full mast while we're all sitting around taking a dump..."

Anderson laughed. "I reckon the sight we're about to see will be a sure-fire passion-killer if the cold air isn't enough..." Then he laughed louder. "Although, actually, the sight of you guys crapping might be kind of... interesting..."

Palmer looked horrified and Anderson punched him in the shoulder, "Hey, I'm just fucking joking, okay?"

Anderson manoeuvred himself into a position to pull his underwear over his feet. I got glimpses of his arse, the crack of which betrayed a generous sprouting of hair. His cock swayed around in front of him like a branch in the wind.

After a minute or so, Palmer broke the silence, pulling on a shirt. "Come to think of it," he said in a low, almost inaudible voice, "it makes sense to - you know - sort ourselves out last thing at night..."

Anderson pulled his boxer-briefs up his thighs, struggling to confine his large rod-like cock within their tight gusset. He asked, "How d'you mean?"

Palmer grinned and became a little coy. Almost in a whisper, he said, "You know... having a wank..."

Anderson grinned back. "Oh right. Why?"

Palmer started pulling his trousers on, finding it difficult to force his feet into the folds of the thick material. "Well... if we're gonna have to show just about everything to the other guys... it kinda makes sense to... you know... relieve ourselves so that we don't throw a stiffy at an embarrassing moment...?"

Anderson grinned. "Yeah. I guess."

Palmer went on, "I mean it's something guys need to do. You heard what Vaughan said. It's just like a biological function; like taking a piss."

I was intrigued by all this. I'd had friends to stay over with me loads of time, but those were boys of a similar age to myself and, like me, probably not in the habit of masturbating yet. But Palmer was a year older than me, Anderson two, and the idea of them needing to relieve themselves sexually belonged to an adult, and at that time alien, world.

They finished off dressing, pulling on their thick padded jackets, and, grabbing their soaps and towels and toilet rolls, headed out through the door.

After they'd left, I got out of my sleeping bag and felt an icy draught against my bare legs from where Palmer hadn't fastened the flaps of the door properly. It was obviously close to freezing point outside.

I closed the door more securely and pulled my briefs off to change for the day. As I did so, I nudged Josh to wake him up. "Hey Josh - it's morning, mate."

He was sleeping on his side, his face directed away from me. He grunted but I could see that he didn't open his eyes.

I realised his body was shaking slightly and thought there might be something wrong with him. Vaughan had told us a lot about hypothermia and how to spot the warning signs. Maybe Josh, being next to the side of the tent, had caught a chill.