Chapter 2: Run
I hated gym with every fiber in my being. Sure you'd probably think I'd enjoy it especially being in the locker room with all of the boys undressing but that's really just an afterthought. The fact of the matter is that I hated any all physical activity. Well that's not true, I was okay as long as I was with the girls. I never felt like belonged with the boys; I was never "one of the guys".
"Okay ladies, head to the locker room, dress out and meet me back here in the gym in five minutes," Coach Neff ordered.
As we all hurriedly shuffled in, I'm reminded of why I didn't really want to be here. The atmosphere wasn't inviting in the slightest. The locker room always felt like a war zone and somehow I was always drafted into something I didn't sign up for. Letting out an audible yet dragged out sigh, I decided it's best to get things over with and just dress out.
Our uniforms weren't anything special, short black mesh shorts that sit way above the knee with a gray cotton top that had our school's mascot, a hawk zipping through a white circle. I didn't exactly fill out my uniform, I had no shape. Maybe this is what Aunt Jackie meant when she said I needed more meat on my bones, I'm just a gangly mess. Sure not everyone had great, fit bodies like Geno Perretti. He was stubby, plump, and round; his pits were already soaking as there was an already visible pool of sweat but at least he didn't look like a walking mummified corpse.
Right across from me, I could see Carver bent over tying his laces. I wish I didn't look over cause his ass was nice and meaty. A part of me just wanted to walk right over and grab a chunk but obviously that would be inappropriate especially since he was the only guy friend I had and I certainly didn't want to ruin what seemed like something great.
I must have been staring for a while because a large, blocky mass blocked my view mid gaze. "You like what you see, faggot?"
I snapped back into reality and there he was, Brock Hampton. Oh great, the one person to to catch me in the act and it had to be him. "W-W-What?" I nervously asked trying to hide my obvious embarrassment.
"Who ya lookin' at?" he turns his gaze over to Carver and grimaced. "Oh so you like the new kid, do ya?"
"I-It's not what it looks like Brock. I-I was just look--"
"I was just looking," he started to mock me in a high pitched whiny tone. "Look I know what you were doing. You were checking out the new kid and let me tell you I'm not gonna have your pathetic, perverted ass checking out one of my boys."
"One of his boys?" I thought to myself. Was I missing something here? When did Carver and Brock become friends?
Brock inched closer to me, closing the already small gap. He then dug his enormous hands into my shirt, thrusted up, lifting me off the cold concrete, and pinned me against the lockers. The protruding prongs holding the padlocks stabbed me causing me to wince. "Okay I won't look, I promise. Just let me go. You're hurting me."
"What the fuck is wrong with you? Let go of him!" Carver said as he pried Brock's hands off.
Once my body hit the slab of concrete, I crawled out of the way until I hit the adjoining wall instantly curling into a tightly wound sack of flesh.
"Hey I'm just lookin' out for you. That pervert was checking you out!"
"Well I don't need your help. That's my friend."
"Your friend? That faggot is planning to fuck you. How am I the bad guy?"
"Yes, my friend. And if you touch him again, I'll break your face." Carver barked back.
"You don't know who you're messing with. My family doesn't take threats lightly." Brock jerked his head to the exit. He stomped out of the gym while the rest of the class followed suit.
Even though Brock was gone, I couldn't get back up. I was frozen in fear. This is my life. Isn't it grand? I could hear footsteps coming towards me. It had to be him but I didn't have the courage to look him in the eye, not after that blow up. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
I could feel the warmth in his touch again. The same warmth from earlier when I confided in him of my past struggles. But I couldn't risk it, I couldn't risk the danger letting someone that good in. "Don't touch me!" I cried pushing him away from me. "Don't you see? Brock was right. I was looking at you. I'm sorry, I-I wish I wasn't like this. I-I wish I could just be normal."
"Hey, hey it's okay." I could feel him warmth on my shoulders again. "You shouldn't blame yourself. I certainly don't. And so what if you were looking at me? I do it all the time. We all do it. I'm not gonna fault you for looking. That's stupid. And besides, he's probably insecure about himself and was jealous that you weren't checking him out."
"What's wrong with you?" I mumbled.
"What?"
"What's wrong with you? Any guy would have killed me just for admitting that I was looking at them. Why are you so nice to me? You don't even know me."
"You're right, I don't know you. But that shouldn't mean I should look the other way when someone is obviously being hurt for something they have no control over." Carver nestled his pointer finger just beneath my chin and gently raised it. "I will always be there for you. Think of me as your knight in shining armor."
"My knight in shining armor? And what does that make me?"
"I don't know. Don't they usually protect royalty? I guess you'd be my prince or princess. Whichever you prefer, not judging," he chuckled and shrugged.
"P-Princess?" I could feel the blood rushing to my face. I was flattered but was Carver flirting with me? There's no way. "Ha ha very funny. If you're gonna be a knight, I'll be the prince."
"Well then my Prince," Carver adopted a really bad British accent. He clutched my left hand with his and made a squinty face. "Come this way to our royal gymnasium."
"Okay I'm gonna need you to stop whatever you're doing like right now. It's getting a little creepy for me." I really had to stop it cause I could feel my face become stiff as my face continued to stay flushed.
"What are you ladies doing in here?" Coach Neff barked as he stomped into the locker room. "If you two are done with whatever this is, report to the track and run five laps. Now move out ladies!"
"Sorry Coach!" we said in unison.
Thank god for Coach, I don't know if I could handle any more of Carver's theatrics or that terrible accent but I didn't plan on running extra laps today either. As we walked out back to the field, Carver just kept speaking in his terrible British accent.
Right when I got to the field, I immediately started sprinting like my life depended on it. What seemed like a good idea at the time, quickly came back to bite me in my skinny, flat as a pancake ass. I wasn't exactly the little engine that could, I had little to no stamina and the manic sprinting had eaten away at what I had. I went from zero to sixty then right back to zero in a matter of seconds. I stopped to catch my breath, only for Carver to easily catch up to me. He stopped but only to run in place in front of me.
"Is that all you got?" Thankfully he had dropped that god awful accent. "We're only halfway done with our first lap."
I could practically see his flaccid dick flopping back and forth in those mesh shorts. Thank god for boxers right? If I wasn't so out of breath I probably would have taken a longer look to admire it. I instead tucked my head into my knees gasping for air.
"Why don't you go on ahead and finish? It's gonna take me forever to finish this. I think I'm gonna walk the rest of the way."
"How about this? We'll walk the rest of this lap. Then we'll run until you can't anymore and we'll walk again? That way we'll get done quicker than just walking the rest of the way."
"I don't think I can do that. I'm gonna be huffing and puffing the whole time. This isn't something I'm used to doing." "What? You mean exercise? It'll be faster my way."
"And? You probably have the stamina of the Energizer bunny. I'm like a wind up toy. I only go as far as I'm wound up." I could tell that he wasn't going to take no for an answer no matter how much I complained.
"Okay how about you let me run with you instead of against me like we're in some kind of race? If I see that you're struggling to keep up, I'll slow down. But we're not gonna walk this whole thing. I know you can go longer than that, you just have to push yourself. Believe that you can do more."
"Okay, okay I'll run. Anything that'll shut you up." I started to pick up the pace but this time with Carver running right next to me. The whole time he just kept encouraging me. "You can do it" or "Just a little more" and to my surprise I really could go the extra mile. We even ended our laps sooner than I would have ever thought I could. Maybe I should start believing in myself more.
"See! I knew you could do more!"
"I guess I am the little engine that could. But my legs! Oh god they feel like Jell-O, burning hot Jell-O."
"Doesn't it feel great?"
"It feels like death." I collapsed right there on the track. Hitting pavement never felt this good.
"Maybe I pushed you too hard?" Carver squatted down next to me, feet planted firmly onto the rosy red rubberized track.
"I don't think I've ever ran that well in my whole life and I don't want to ever again."
Suddenly, the screeching whistle alerted the class that gym was over and we were all being summoned back.
"Well I guess class is over." Carver bounced back up.
"I'm too tired to move. Can you carry me?"
He paused for a moment, almost like he was debating whether or not to do it. Then out of nowhere he squatted back down, scooped me into his arms, and started to walk back to the locker room. I was taken aback that he actually was carrying me off the track.
"Whoa whoa whoa, I wasn't being serious," I lied. "Put me down, I'll walk." I ended up jumping out of his arms only to fall face first on the football field.
"Are you okay?" he laughed.
"Just leave me here to die."
Carver squatted next to me again but this time pointed to his back. "Hop on."
"What?"
"Get on my back. I'll carry you the rest of the way."
"What, no? That's worse than the first one."
"Fang come on, quit being so stubborn."
Letting out a sharp exhale, I slithered my way onto his back wrapping my arms loosely around his neck. Carver hopped up, hooked my legs onto his arms, and started walking back to the locker room. I really was exhausted but never in a million years did I think I would be riding piggyback off of someone I just met. Not to mention someone this kind and gorgeous.
Now I know this sounds creepy, but couldn't get enough of his musk. We were out here sweating buckets but there was nothing off putting about his body odor. In fact, it was intoxicating. I couldn't get enough of it, I was in a trance. Deeply inhaling his scent, I felt as high as a cloud.
"Hey Carver?" I asked tentatively.
"Yeah what's up?"
"Thank you."