chapter one

June

"I wish everyone good luck with their studies in the future and have a great summer." said Mr. Simon when he dismissed our last P.E. class in High School and I was pretty excited for this summer in particular. You see, me and my friends had plans for the upcoming three months.
"Hey Jani!" I heard my name being called as Dávid slapped my back while heading back to the locker room. "I can't believe I will be spending my last summer, before I join the olympic water polo team, at my cousin's with my best buds."
"This is gonna be so awesome!" Zsolt added with a thrill in his voice.
Zsolt was the hunk of the school. He had neat wavy dark brown hair with a nicely trimmed fade at the sides. Thick but not bushy eyebrows, green eyes, sharp jawline. You get the idea. At 18, unlike most of us, he already rocked a nice stubble which was not patchy at all. Lucky bastard.
Yeah, I was gay. I was pretty sure about it by now, but my friends didn't know that. I didn't feel like sharing this secret of mine with them just yet. Although I never looked at my friends that way, I couldn't help but find Zsolt attractive. Don't blame me, he was like a greek god. Thick but ripped. His muscles rippled with every movement he made while changing.
"Okay, so the train leaves at 9, I think we should meet in the terminal half an hour before that." I was brought back from my daydreams by Atis' voice. "Soldier boy here will bring beers for the ride, while the rest of us pack sandwiches." Zsolt nodded at that.
Yeah, Zsolt wanted to join the military at the end of summer. Each of us had wildly different plans for their future. Dávid trains for the olympic games, Zsolt joins the military, I plan to go to law school. Atis is the only one that plans to skip a year and work instead. That is why this summer is so important. Because while I knew that we will remain friends and meet from time to time, I was afraid that as time goes we will drift apart. None of us wanted that. This summer must be the best.

The train ride was pretty uneventful. We just chilled, drank beer and made sure to be the loudest pack in the coach. It wasn't hard having Atis around. He always told these wild stories with the funniest manner you could imagine. He was in the middle of telling us how he charmed a girl by beating up this really buff dude (Which was funny in itself, as he only worked out to look good not to actually be strong.) when he suddenly pulled of his shirt to flex, and grunt like a gorilla.
"...and she was like: Yeah take me Kong." he finished with the most seducing tone I have heard from him and we all laughed.
"So, Dávid, what is it exactly that we can do in this small town? You know I'm down to partying all summer long, but it would be nice to have some program options." Zsolt asked.
"Well, the town has this river bank which is kinda like a beach for the locals. It is a very nice place. There are a few clubs and pubs we can visit. Nothing too extravagant though.
"Oh, and here I was thinking we were to attend a soiree." Atis snickered
"Very funny." Dávid snorted "Anyway, my cousin, Csaba, plays for the football team here and they will have some sort of big game with a rivaling village's team a few weeks from now. We can go, see that. Oh, and he told me that the town built this fitness centre a few month back, we could check that out as well."
A few days back, Dávid actually showed a photo of him and Csaba from some Christmas pool party (Don't ask). Damn that man looked good. You would expect a football player to be sleek and elegant, but Csaba was a country guy. He was buff. Hairy chest and stomach, thick arms and he had this badass tattoo that covered half his chest. I couldn't wait to check him out in person.

When we arrived no one was waiting for us. Dávid said that his cousin was at practice so that is why he wasn't able to pick us up, which was fine by me. The temperature was still bearable for walking.
"Csaba is a great guy, he throws these huge parties from time to time as the nightlife here is pretty much non-existent. People know him around here and he is kinda famous despite being only 28. "
While we were walking Dávid kept telling us all these details and stories about his cousin and the time he spent here sometimes during his childhood. I have to admit, Csaba seemed cool and it was obvious that Dávid respected him, or even admired him.
"Okay so this is the house." he said as he opened the gate for us to this kinda big and modern looking house. It was odd to see a place like this here. The life in theses small towns, especially the Eastern-most region of the country, is pretty conservative and kinda slow going. They are good for relaxing and getting away from the bustling capital which we came from, but I wouldn't be able to live here. I guess being a football star, even if just locally, pays for such houses though.
"Welcome to my cousin's place!" Dávid said cheerfully as he swung the front door open "You don't have to be extra careful, but don't make too big of a mess please, Csaba is..." but he trailed off.
The house looked like a complete mess on the inside. Crumpled food wrappers scattered everywhere alongside with empty soda bottles and juice cartons. There was some sort of half finished pack of biscuits or wafers everywhere. Two empty, greasy pizza boxes on the coffee table and a whole lot more stacked high on the kitchen counter. And the whole house smelled as if a big meal was just cooked.
"Well," Zsolt started before popping a biscuit into his mouth "it seems we just missed one of those big parties."
"Maybe, but where are the beer cans or liquor bottles then?" I asked kicking one of the balls of greasy paper on the floor.
"He might have already picked those up, but didn't have time for the rest." Dávid said "Could you guys please help clean up a bit?"

After we threw everything out and unpacked in the two guest rooms we were sitting in the living room watching TV and chatting while we ate our lunch (which was our packed sandwiches from back home, there was absolutely no food in the house). We suddenly heard someone fiddling with keys at the door.
"It's open!" Dávid yelled as it was probably Csaba
He tried the handle about three times before he could push it down hard enough for the door to click open. After that he pushed the door open with his foot and Csaba stumbled into the room holding two boxes and about six packed plastic bags.
"Hey lads!" the voice came from behind all the stuff "Glad you made it here, can any of you help me maybe?"
"Sure thing!" Dávid said and was quickly on his feet to help his cousin. He took the boxes and bags and turned on his heels to put them in the kitchen.
"Thanks Dávid!" he said huffing.
I had to do a double take. He surely was Csaba, but the man now standing in front of us looked quite different from the Csaba I saw a photo of. This guy was overweight, in fact on the brink of obesity by the looks of it. His facial features softened coupled with a slight double chin, but it was the rest of him the truly shocked me. He was wearing a muscle shirt, but it was clearly a few sizes too small. Not only did it show where exactly his belly button was but it actually showed a good 10cm of hairy flesh bulging out from under it. Since my eyes were fixated on that area anyway, I noticed that his jeans were not buttoned, the button didn't even had a chance to meet the hole. And even then, the jeans seemed extremely uncomfortable and painted on.
Since Zsolt and Atis were just as stunned by what we saw as me, I decided not to mention it, but instead say hi.
"Hi, I'm Jani!" I said stepping closer and shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you, bud!"
At that moment I instantly felt that his hand was sticky. I tried to make it not obvious that I'm wiping mine into my shorts.
"Oh, sorry. Just had a snack on my way home." he added nonchalantly. "Thanks by the way for cleaning the place.
"No problem. Big party last night?"
"No, I just worked out really hard until the late hours yesterday and did not feel like tidying when I finished."
My greeting was enough for the guys to also put on an act and introduced themselves as if nothing happened. It turned out that Csaba knew us well from whatever Dávid told him.
"Okay, I put everything on the counter, but I don't really know where to put any of it." Dávid said arriving back to the living room.
"There's my favourite cousin!" Csaba laughed as he hugged him.
"Whoa hey! What...?" he wanted to ask something but stopped mid sentence "Nice to see you again." Dávid said instead with a half smile but obviously surprised by his cousin's development as they did a bro-hug.
Well this trip is off to an interesting start.