HUDSON -- They were two shy and awkward boys, best friends since kindergarten.

They lived a mile apart, rode the same school bus and tried to hide their budding sexual orientation, even from each other.

They took refuge in hanging out together and giving free rein to their quirky personalities.

When one of them "came out" as gay in eighth grade, it gave his friend the resolve to embrace his own homosexuality. The second boy came out to friends in ninth grade, but didn't tell his family until the following year.

On June 5, what began as a lark turned into a celebration of their courage to attend high school as openly gay young men. Seniors Charlie Ferrusi and Timmy Howard were crowned Hudson High School's prom king and queen in an open vote of their classmates.

"It was so cool when they called our names. Kids were screaming and cheering for us," recalled Ferrusi. "I gave Timmy the biggest hug ever. I was shaking with excitement. People were taking our picture. Everyone was going crazy."

"It was wonderful and totally surprising," said Howard. "It started as a kind of joke among our classmates. Instead of electing the typical king and queen, they voted for me and Charlie, these two gay guys."

The king and queen are best friends, but not a couple. Howard attended the prom with Sarah Cukerstein, a friend, and Ferrusi with his boyfriend, Ryan McDermott, a junior at Ichabod Crane High School, who, incidentally, was voted king at his prom recently.

The unorthodox victory for Ferrusi and Howard may have broken ground as the first openly gay high school students to be elected prom king and queen. In some parts of the country, school administrators have scuttled votes electing openly gay and lesbian students to head their homecoming or prom courts. Hudson High School was in the news two years ago when an openly gay senior, Augie Abatecola, lost the vote for prom queen by two votes in a disputed election. Some seniors walked out of the prom in protest. School officials insisted Abatecola had lost fair and square.

This time, Ferrusi and Howard won by such a wide margin that principal Steven Spicer and Superintendent John Howe could only salute the outcome. They also had more time to prepare since Ferrusi and Howard went through proper channels and announced their intentions beforehand while Abatecola's impromptu vote caught officials off-guard.

"The principal and I are in full support of the outcome of the prom vote," Howe said. "The students had a great time and they selected the prom king and queen they wanted. We are a diverse student body and we celebrate our diversity."

Their dual win touched off a small wave of media attention locally and on Huffington Post, Fox News and other national outlets.

Ferrusi and Howard were promptly named grand marshals for the first-ever Hudson Pride Parade on June 20. The inaugural event celebrates a large gay community in the river town that has become a haven for New York City weekenders who have gentrified downtown with antique shops, art galleries and boutique restaurants.

"We're so proud of Charlie and Timmy and the fact that their school elected them," said Victor Mendolia, an organizer of the Hudson Pride parade.

"We never expected this. It's been great," said Ferrusi, who is senior class secretary, a member of the mock trial and robotics teams and a varsity cheerleader. In the fall, he'll major in nutrition education at State University of New York at Plattsburgh, which his older brother, Elliot, also attends.

Their younger brother, Avery, is a sophomore and three-sport athlete at Hudson High. Elliot competes in bobsledding and winter sports in Lake Placid. "My brothers are both really straight, but they've been extremely supportive and so have my parents," Ferrusi said.

Some kids picked on Howard when he first came out, but his senior classmates and his parents have been supportive. Howard, who helped found a Save a Life, Save the World group at Hudson High, will attend the College of Saint Rose in the fall. He plans to major in biology and hopes to work in environmental protection.

Despite a few complaints about the outcome of the prom vote and some hateful comments posted on Ferrusi's Facebook page, senior Molly Koweek considers such criticism sour grapes.

"The reason why they won is because they're both well-liked and well-respected," said Koweek. "I think the school administration should be applauded," she said. "It's wonderful that we're in the news for something positive at Hudson High instead of for being a school in need of improvement."

"I heard a few negative comments after Charlie and Timmy won, but people with open minds think it's cool," said senior class valedictorian Mohammed Ariful Ghani. "There was a lot of clapping. I didn't hear any booing."

It was getting late and the 150 or so attendees were running out of steam after a buffet, picture-taking and dancing at Anthony's Banquet Hall in Leeds when the paper ballots were counted. There was such a buzz about the outcome that the two best friends never got their dance as king and queen. They held a long hug, instead, before rejoining their respective dates.

Ferrusi chose to wear the king's faux crown and Howard accepted the tiara and bouquet of flowers as queen. They posed for cellphone shots with ear-to-ear grins.

The jubilant winners joined 40 others who had hired a bus and paid $5 for a ride to the prom.

Laughter and hurrahs for the king and queen filled the big yellow bus on the way home. The driver happened to be Ferrusi's grandfather, Dick Tracy, a former mayor of Hudson. He may have been cheering the loudest.

Paul Grondahl can be reached at 454-5623 or by e-mail at pgrondahl@timesunion.com.