Boyfriends

I was in the park with Timmy and Kyle, all of us venting contentedly on how unfair it was that we happened to be boys.

"Don't you wish you could pop, just once?" moaned Timmy.

"I get stiff in every single gym lesson now," Kyle complained.

"And these shorts are so getting on my bounceables," grumbled Timmy in addition, and stepped clumsily out of the tight hot things to stand there in his light yellow underwear. He'd gone perhaps a little pink in the face, but was obviously glad too to be rid of the annoyance.

"So what was it like, losing at gym to the girl you've got a crush on?" Kyle asked me, teasing.

Suddenly I was the one who'd gone more than a little pink! "I've so not got a crush on Isobel!" I flung back, heart pounding. "Have you smelled her knickers? She's like smelly cheese crackers!"

Both my friends snickered. "She so is!" agreed Timmy happily.

I hitched up my pants, wincing a bit. "I'd rather just not talk about that girl," I told my friends primly, "and no, that's not because I've got it bad!

"Leave your prissy panties alone for five minutes and maybe she won't think you're so easy to tease," smirked Kyle. "Isobel's white knickers versus yours, I so wish I'd been there to watch that!"

I couldn't stand being reminded most of my underwear was white, when my friends had moved on to more boyish colours. "His were red today but hers were white," chimed in Timmy. "He had white ones on yesterday though!"

"With friends like you...!" I cried, giving him an affectionate shove.

"Of course hers were white!" laughed Kyle, crinkling his little nose. "And Timmy, er, you do remember I can see yours right now?"

"Isobel's nowhere near as bad as our Class Monitor," Timmy declared, sounding keen to change the subject. "Once she made me wait like an hour for a wee when I was desperate. I kept pinging and pinging her but she wouldn't even reply!"

"But you saw that eye so you knew she'd read it?" I interjected fiercely, remembering. He nodded at once.

"Hey, it's Melissa's birthday today," said Kyle. "I heard at her last party she was walking round in just her underwear. Do either of you know if she's waiting?" he added, very hopefully.

"Oh, you're just dying to share first times with her," I scoffed, because he'd been teasing me and fair was fair. "Ooh, Melissa, I've waited longer than average too!"

"We've got so much in common!" slipped in Timmy, and we gigged again. Poor Kyle however wasn't amused, and kicked disconsolately at the turf with the toe of his scuffed sneaker.

I felt for him though, especially since Timmy and I had to admit we both drew blanks on Kyle's question. Melissa sure smelled enough to be waiting, but of course it was impossible for boys like us to know for sure unless the girl made a thing of being public about it. Just because she didn't flaunt it in front of us didn't necessarily mean a girl hadn't had her first time yet. For Kyle's sake I hoped Melissa hadn't, which was big of me considering what a pain he could be sometimes!

"Those vest-and-knickers parties like Melissa has would be too much for me though," affirmed Timmy, blushing. "Even if she is waiting like us!"

"I don't know, you'd fit right in, dressed like that," Kyle reminded him.

We all laughed and smiled. In fact, I was happier than I’d been for most of the day. Having fun with boys like me was nice. In a way, they were better than girls, because we were all going through more or less the same thing and you could talk to them about subjects like your underwear and how you felt with only a little embarrassment, far less anyway than you felt when you had to do the same with a girl. Maybe there were sweet and understanding girlfriends out there, because if there weren't you wouldn't hear about them, but for the moment I felt better off sticking with boys!