I Woke Up 121 by M.P. Arsent
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"Damn it!"
I dropped back down beside Gordon as did Aiden.
"Breath Gordon. It was only firecrackers. Breath slow and deep."
"Listen to Denny Gordon. It was only firecrackers. Nobodies been hurt. It was just some kids trying to be funny."
Pete and Karl kept the curious away from us while Aiden and I talked to Gordon. Eventually Gordon must have heard us and processed the information as he slowly started to uncurl. We got him to his feet and got him moving towards campus.
I took a while as the closer we got to the dorm the slower Gordon wanted to move. Finally Gordon was in his room with Aiden and I had given Karl his good night kiss and sent him back to his own dorm. Pete and I were in our room and I had left the door open in case Gordon or Aiden needed to come in. I expected it to be a troublesome night for Gordon and I wanted to be easily available.
Dave, Gordons roomie, was being extremely understanding of the whole process. He didn't give a damn if they slept in the same bed as long as all they did was sleep.
Monday morning rolled around and I closed the door so I could change into my jogging stuff. When I came out of my room Aiden was on is way back and Gordon was standing there waiting on us.
We were quickly outside and started our laps and Karl soon joined us. Laps were completed without any incident and the three of us went into shower and get ready for the day.
Karl joined me and Pete in the cafeteria for breakfast and Gordon and Aiden were still nowhere to be found.
The day passed as I had expected it would and with the aparratus room closed there was little reason to go to the rec center. I headed back to my room and checked my email and again it was pretty much all spam. With the extra time I would have spent working out I finihsed about all of my reading for the week,and still had time to spare before Karl came over to supper.
It was down to the cafeteria for the two of us and then a walk about campus. We must have covered every inch of campus by now,several times. We found our little corner of shadow for our goodnight kiss and each headed inside for the evening. I was pretty well caught up until the end of the week as far as my studying was concerned. I did something I rarely did and went online and did a little gaming.
My nightly message came from Karl and I sent mine back to him and I crashed right after.
Tuesday morning looked like it was going to be another good day. We did our laps and then got ready for classes. Things went about as expected for a Tuesday and I eventually made my way over to the Rec Center for practice. The locker room was decidely quiet today as the squad got ready.
Dana caught my eye as we were getting ready to go take the floor. There was a question in his eyes and I shook my head no. I had thought he had been asking if I had said anything to anyone else.
When Coach Warren came out and asked them all to huddle up they weren't to enthusiastic about getting it together, and coach noticed.
"First things first. We've had to lock up the apparatus room when it's not in scheduled use. Somebody got hurt in here the other day. I will be here afternoons from 4 until 7 so that you guys can come in and practice on your own. We have a meet in a couple of weeks and I know that time is important to you.
Now I'm about to do something that is probably going to make me unpopular."
"Too late for that."
I didn't see who said it but there wasn't any dissent from the rest of the squad.
Coach looked up from his clipboard and looked at each of the guys.
"I see. Alright gentlemen,cards on the table. I suspect that it is no surprise to any of you that I have a......checkered past. I'm telling you right here and right now that I did not nor did I have any knowledge that my team was being doped. Do I want to win? Damn right I do, but I want to do it honestly. Do I expect you guys to believe me? Well I hope that you would. Questions?"
"If it wasn't you who was it?"
"The investigation never did find out who was responsible. Do I have my suspicions? Of course I do, but there is no proof, and without proof, I won't even make an accusation. Anybody else?"
There didn't seem to be.
"Let me just repeat myself. I want to win just a badly as you guys. I am NOT willing to compromise safety or circumvent the rules to do so. Now to that end,I'm promoteing Mr Sawyer to first string and as much as I don't like having to do it Mr Ames will now be our alternate."
I closed my eyes and waited for it. I wasn't dissappointed.
"This is what you've been aiming for all year you little faggot!"
"That will be quite enough Mr Ames! Look at the stats. Every time that Mr Sawyer has competed his stats have been better than yours Mr Ames. The numbers don't lie. This was totally my decision and Mr Sawyer even tried to talk me out of it. Now sir. It is up to you to either do this gracefully,or leave the team without any alternates."
Jack just shut his mouth and glared at me. This was going to be just what I needed, another monkey on my back.
I didn't try to justify it or anything. Likely anything I said right now would be dismissed without consideration.
Coach Warren having had his say got us to work. He took as much time as he could with each of us and even took a little extra with Jack. I didn't think this was going to be the end of it. When we were all done I made it a point to stay as far away from Jack as I could. I did notice that Dana made it a point to stop and talk to Jack.
I went and did my usual few laps in the pool and then to the whirlpool and finally showered up and headed for the dorm. When I got into the room Pete must have seen the storm clouds around my head.
"Shit, what's happened now Den?"
"I've been moved up to first string on the squad and one of the regulars got demoted to alternate."
"And?"
"And he wasn't happy about it and didn't have any trouble letting folks know."
"For which I am sure he got put in his place."
"Yeah basically the coach told him to either like it or lump it."
"What did the coach use for justification?"
"My stats were better overall."
"So what? You figure this guy is going to be on your case for the rest of the year?"
"Yeah that pretty much sums it up."
"Well I've been told the second half of the year is usually harder than the first half. Maybe he'll be to busy to give you any grief."
"I should be so lucky."
There was a knock at the door. I was closest so I opened it to see Jack standing there. I didn't tense, well not that I noticed anyway, and waited for Jack to make the first move.
"Can I have a couple of minutes Dennis?"
"Yeah come on in Jack. Pete can we have the room for a few?"
Pete looked at me as if to ask if I was sure about this and I nodded and he left the room and shut the door behind him.
"I just came by to apologize Dennis. I was wrong to lash out at you like that."
"Just a natural reaction I'd guess."
"Maybe, but I didn't have to throw that faggot comment in on top of it all. I just wanted you to know that I'm not going to give you any grief. It's no secret that you've had a hell of a year so far. I just need you to know that I'm not going to be doing anything stupid."
"Jack, you have no idea what a load that is off of my mind. My friends all think I'm paranoid. Hell I may be but there's no denying that shit seems to follow me like moths to a flame."
"Yeah well this moth isn't going to get burned. So take a deep breath and know that I'm not holding a grudge. See ya around the gym."
"Thanks Jack. I'll see ya around."
Jack left and Pete was right back into the room.
"Well?"
"He says everything is cool and I don't need to worry about him."
"Do you believe him?"
"Right up until something happens to prove otherwise."
There was another knock at the door and I opened it to find Gordon and Dana there,neither of them looked to happy. I realized it was Tuesday and they must have just come from Dr Garners office.
"Get in here and give it to me straight."
They entered the room and looked at Pete and I.
"Dennis, I'm going to need you guys help tonight and probably for the next few days as well. Garner wants me to get Gordy back into the cafeteria."
"You know you've got our support whatever you need Gordon."
"Yeah knowing that and KNOWING that are two different things."
"We'll do whatever you need Aiden, just tell us what it is."
"I just need you guys to be there for moral support. The more of you the better."
I looked at Pete and he just nodded.
"Not a problem. Just give me until Karl shows up and we can give this a try."
"Ok we'll be next door."
Gordon and Aiden left at that point and I just sat down and checked my email which was still all spam.
Eventually Karl showed up and I filled him in on all of the days happenings.
"Well damn. Guess this means I'll be seeing even less of you then?"
"Not going to change the way I do things that much lover. Suppers might be a little later as I won't be able to get into practice until 4, but otherwise things shouldn't be that much different."
"Yeah I suppose so,but we'll see."
At that point I just grabbed Karl and pulled him into a hug and a kiss that I'm sure had Pete looking away.
"Now, we have another task to perform. Dinner is going to be the Cafetria for a few nights regardless. Dr Garner wants to get Gordon back into the cafeteria and Aiden has asked us to be there for as much moral support as we can."
"Not a problem as far as I'm concerned lover. Gordon deserves all the help we can give him."
"Ok then let's do this."
We all got up and headed for next door to gather up Gordon and Aiden. I was a bit surprised to see Aidens roomie Angus there waiting as well. When Gordon and Aiden got up so did Angus and Dave.
The seven of us made quite the sight as we trooped down to the cafeteria. We got to the doors and Gordon froze for only a moment. We stepped inside and waited a moment.