"I gotta find a bathroom," Kim said, her voice echoing throughout the museum's marbled exhibition gallery.
"Oh, wait for me. I've been holding it in since lunch," Mika said.
The girls hurried away to locate a guard who could point them in the right direction, leaving their dates, Jack and Jerry respectively, to take in the artwork. The four of them lagged far behind the rest of their classmates, a transgression for which they would likely be reprimanded in the not too distant future. But for now, the two Wasabi Warrior boys were alone in a sea of strangers.
"It's so weird how girls go to the bathroom together," Jerry said.
"Yeah," Jack mumbled in reply, feigning interest in an abstract painting in front of him.
The truth was that he was struggling with his attraction to his best friend for the entire school trip and the alone time made him uncomfortable. He and Jerry were sharing a room, and, on the first morning, Jerry came out of the shower completely naked and began rummaging through his suitcase while Jack lied half-awake in bed. Jerry's fitness took Jack by surprise and the sight left him feeling strangely excited. Then, as they took a walking tour of the city, all Jack could think about was how good the Latino boy's butt looked in his skinny jeans. Only Kim's presence distracted him. And now she was gone.
"Dude, you have to help me out," Jerry began as he stood closer to Jack, "being with Mika is like, super stressful."
"Why?" Jack asked, turning to face his friend. A security guard motioned for them to be quieter. "Why?" Jack asked again, this time in a whisper, now leaving just a few inches between the two boys.
"Honestly? She's been talking all day about stuff I don't understand," Jerry answered. On accident, or maybe on purpose, his hand brushed against Jack's.
"Like what?" Jack asked.
"Girl stuff. Make-up, gossip, body image... I can't take it, Jack! It would be so much easier to be with someone like - " he stopped himself from completing the sentence. Someone like you, he thought, imagining he and Jack fooling around after a day of video games or skateboarding.
Jack's heart raced as he picked up on the hint. He placed a finger on Jerry's gray leopard print shirt and let it slide down his torso.
"Someone like me?" he whispered. Jerry, speechless, just nodded.
"We don't have much time," Jack said. He wrapped his arms around Jerry and planted a kiss on his cheek, then headed for his lips.
Making out was a risky move. Mika and Kim could return at any moment and find their boyfriends betraying them, or a teacher could wander in, or a schoolmate could see it and post proof on the web.
But their hormones got the better of them. The two muscular teens swapped tongue in the middle of the crowded museum, giving a steamy show to unsuspecting visitors. Jerry wanted to tear off Jack's shirt, which was already unbuttoned to his navel and had short sleeves that revealed the black belt's developed arms, but knew he had to let this suffice.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jerry saw the guard approaching. He broke the kiss and alerted Jack to the situation. They bolted for an adjoining gallery, red-faced and laughing hysterically all the way.
Jack texted Kim to let her know their new location, and soon the four had reunited. Kim noticed something was amiss.
"Okay guys, tell us what happened," she demanded. Jerry and Jack glanced at each other and started laughing again.
"You know what they say, Kim. Boys will be boys," concluded Mika.