AHOY PEEPS! Hope you guys enjoy this one. I cried as I wrote this...I'm just a sucker for teen boy romance.
Feedback is always welcome! liciousryan@gmail.com
Love, Ryan
THAT SEXY DAMN FUCKER
"COME ON! FASTER! WE NEARLY GOT THIS!!"
Fifteen-year-old Tommy Fox nearly had a heart attack as he literally groaned seeing his best friend and teammate on their high school swimming team, Jason Tomkinson once again, completely mess up his turn at the end of the opposite lane and suddenly their high school, namely Freedom High were back in second position.
FUCK!
He knew that the round-about turns were Jason's weakest attribute and that's why Coach Jenkins had decided last week that he would go in third at the team relay, and therefore Tommy, being the fastest swimmer by a country mile, would end off things in style, bringing it home in the final lap.
But dear God in heaven, Jason had made it SO much worse than what it would have been.
The third lapped swimmer of the school that was currently in first place touched the wall next to where Tommy was not so patiently waiting for Jason to finally arrive, and he estimated that it was about between three or even four seconds behind, as he finally DIVED into the warm water, with Jason, finally, frantically splattered the wall, racing his heart out for that gold medal that he and his teammates had worked SO hard for.
Around the middle of the length of the pool, Tommy felt that he had caught up with the guy who was leading, but the turn worried him just a bit. He thought of his girlfriend Veronique who was in the stands, hopefully cheering him on as he got to the midway of his race, and swiftly turned around with that super-quick somersault movement, PUSHING his powerful legs from the podium to create more distance between him and the chasing opponent.
Uhm...yeah...he might have GROSSLY underestimated the dude he was swimming against.
Whatever his name was, Tommy knew at one point, because it wasn't the first time they had competed against these schools at the inter-regional championships, but he knew he was fast...just HOW fast, Tommy didn't realize until he was a whole-body length ahead of him and VASTLY swimming towards the end of the race.
Jesus.
Tommy gritted his teeth and swung his arms with meaning, his long, lanky, hairless, muscled legs plowing through the water as fast as he possibly could. Near the end, he realized it was neck and neck, and my God, he had given his all.
And he knew that if they came in second, it was poor Jason who was going to get the blame for his disastrous leg of the race...Jason had been his best friend ever since they were both seven years old...there as no way he was going to allow that.
He'll do it.
For Jason.
He blasted through the final couple of meters with complete and utter gusto, his body just a mere molecule in the heat of adversity until he SMACKED the palm of his hand against the cement wall where everything had kicked off.
He turned around, wiping the incessant droplets of steaming water off from his face, whilst he checked his time and more importantly...where he had finished up in the race.
SHIT!
BLOODY HELL, THEY WERE SECOND!
Turning around and seeing that he, had in fact swam a personal best time for his school, the best in Freedom High's entire history, suddenly meant less than nothing to him, as he angrily pulled off his swimming cup and violently PUNCHED the water with both his fists.
"Hey...dude! Well done, guy, you almost beat my ass out there!"
Tommy frowned and stared at the boy who had just defeated himself and his team by a fucking mere 0.02 seconds. A win was a win, unfortunately, and a loss was a loss, it didn't really matter it was by a minute or a damn millisecond.
"Yeah, whatever..." he muttered as he placed both of his hands flat on the cement surface and hawled himself out of the pool.
He immediately walked over towards Jason, who had his entire boyish face wrapped up in the palm of his hands, clearly as upset as he thought he would be.
"Jase...Jase, it's not your fault, you did your best out there..."
Jason sighed.
"My best wasn't fucking good enough! You heard Coach Jenkins the other day! One more slip up and I'm fucking OFF the team!" Jason groaned, opening his eyes through his fingers, trying his best to see just where their coach was, and more importantly, in what sort of MOOD he was, after his team just blew a lead, they had until HE had gotten to swim his bit of the team relay.
"I'll talk to Coach, okay? Buds for life, yeah?" Tommy promised as he turned around, to see just where Veronique was seated...God knows he needed some TLC after all of this, before he found himself coming face to face, once more, with the dude that had beaten him, yet again.
"Hey, man...just wanted to thank you again for a good race, and congrats on your personal best..." the guy started to say, before Tommy held up his hand and a matter of a "please, just stop" way of speaking.
"Dude...I don't even know you. I don't know why you're still talking to me? We're not friends, we're nothing. Enjoy your little victory, because you won't beat us again!" he hissed towards the dude, before he finally spotted Veronique, where she was sitting on the bleaches surrounding the pool, along with his parents, clapping energetically, as they laid eyes on him.
The dude frowned and shook his head in complete and utter disgust.
"Are you always such a fucking piece of shit? I just wanted to congratulate you!" he spat out, his eyes flashing as he did so.
Tommy grinned and looked back at his girlfriend, before he once more laid eyes on the equally tall, handsome boy before him.
"I would REALLY love to chat more, but you see, I've actually got a girlfriend, and you're really not worth my time...who ever you are..." he continued to taunt the young swimmer, before he jumped up and finally reached Veronique.
"It was so close, baby!" she cried out, as he carefully checked their parents for their reaction...he knew that they didn't like the fact that he and Veronique were as close as they were...hearing her call him "Baby" was just the cherry on the cake.
His father had told his repeatedly to give more girls a fighting chance, not to get serious about only ONE particular girl at a time, but right now, he didn't give a shit about that. He was a fifteen-year-old teenage boy, and the last thing they usually did, was listen to their parents.
In his heart, he loved Veronique, more than any other person on this planet.
If only in his heart of hearts, he would have known, where...and with WHOM he would be with romantically, a mere year from now.
And trust me...
...it wouldn't be Veronique.
**
ONE YEAR LATER
"Coach, you can't do this! If he goes, I go!"
Coach Jenkins took off his glasses and sighed, and turned towards the whiteboard he had up situated in the locker room, and pointed towards his new game plan for the season.
"Tommy, tell me...you like losing swim meets these days?"
Tommy rolled his eyes.
"Of course not, Coach, what kind of question is that?"
Coach Jenkins smiled sadly and sat back down on the bench, before he held up his hands as a sort of sign of peace.
"My boy, I know you and Jason are thick as thieves and after what happened last year, I did you a favour, and agreed not to look for a replacement for him, because of what he had meant to the team over the years, but COME ON, Tommy! You know what happened last week too! Everything was going fine, until he swam his leg of the race, and we faltered from leading the race to finishing THIRD! He had us fall so far behind that even you, with all your strength and speed couldn't catch us up!"
"BUT...Coach, we did eventually come in second, didn't we?"
"Second, Tommy, is NOT gonna get you guys scholarships to go to universities one day, is it? Have you once thought about that?"
Tommy opened his mouth to give his immediate reaction, but it was like he was suddenly and unquiveringly tongue-tied right then, as he sadly realized, to his regret, that Coach Jenkins was right.
Neither himself or Jason's family really had the money to send their kids to the best universities out there, and without a scholarship, they would most probably just end up going to the local community college, or even worse...they would be told by their parents, that they couldn't afford for their kids to get tertiary education and most likely would end up hitting the tills at the supermarket around the corner for decades to come.
God knows, he needed that scholarship when he would graduate in two years time.
Jesus, his life depended on it. His parents have given EVERYTHING they could to accommodate his swimming ambitions into their family funds and savings...there were times where both his parents had to each get a pay-day loan in order to fund a swimming meet taking place in another province...everything had to be paid...and they NEVER have let him down.
He couldn't let his parents down, now either.
He sighed and ran his fingers through his blond hair, allowing it to fall across his handsome face it always tended to do.
"Who...is even gonna replace Jason?" he asked through gritted teeth, both his hands slowly balling into solid fists with every syllable that he spoke.
Coach Jenkins took his papers from the file which was neatly placed inside of his bag, before he opened up said file and took a look at the names on the list.
"There is a new student that will join us here for the start of the swimming months...for some reason he had to change schools right in the middle of his Grade ten year. His name is...Levi Carter...perhaps you know of him? I can see that he has quite a record in competing in the exact same competitions that we have done in the past."
Tommy sat down and shook his head slowly...Levi Carter...Levi Carter...name did sound somewhat familiar, but he couldn't put a face to the name, either.
"No, can't say that I do...but Coach, what the hell do I tell Jason? I'm the team captain, so now I have to...and thanks for that," he said as sarcastically as he could.
If there was one teacher that he could do it to, and get away with it, it was Coach Jenkins.
The man had literally been like a second father to him these past few years, taking him under his wing, supporting him when Tommy had to reluctantly admit...that there was only enough money to his mother to attend his meet when they would tour across the country...
Coach NEVER judged him and he NEVER said anything to him about his home life, either. Where several teachers would have dugged deep for some juicy student gossip under the pretense of "helping".
Coach stood up and patted his star swimmer on the shoulder as he did so.
"You're his best friend, Tommy. You'll find a way. And please...if I had any other choice, I wouldn't remove Jason from the team, but I'm afraid the facts speak for themselves. That's my job, Tommy...to do what's RIGHT for the team. Okay?" he said quietly, ruffling Tommy's blond hair for good measure.
Tommy swallowed slowly and took his phone out from his sports bag, and opened up WhatsApp, before typing a message to Jason.
"Jase, meet me at home, we have to talk," was all that he said, before he placed his phone away. God knows, he literally couldn't afford for something to happen to the fucking thing.
He stood up, swinging his bag over his shoulder, with his semi-wet towel draped around his neck, looking every bit like the teenage swimmer that he was. Massive potential to one day, perhaps compete at the Olympic Games, some people were saying...he was THAT good an athlete.
"This...Levi Fucking Carter or whoever he is...he better hope that he's good enough to replace Jase...I fucking swear to God..." he murmured before he got the hell out of the locker-room.
**
Although Jason understood why Coach had done what he figured he had to, and although he said several times that he was fine being taken off the team, Tommy knew his best friend. He knew that it had come as a shock, and even more so now, because the whole school wouldn't stop talking about it.
Veronique told Tommy that several of the girls in her own school clique, basically consisting out of those plastic dolls who did nothing but flip their hair and talk about boys all day, have even said they wouldn't wanna date Jason anymore, as if he would ever give them the sheer time of day. But...that was what was going around the school right now, and it didn't seem to be stopping.
A week or so had passed, and it was finally Friday.
Tommy smiled as he looked across the classroom towards Veronique, who was making last minute notes for the upcoming exam with her pen...Jesus Christ, even the way that she held that pen in her hand, was making him as horny as hell...his teenage dick started to chub up to the point that he actually forgotten where the hell he was, and before he could help it, he had a fucking, full blown raging hard on...his sixteen year old dick totally trapped in his trousers, as hard as only a boy his age could get.
"Dude...DUDE!"
"What?" Tommy's head snapped to the front of him, where Jason was busy smirking straight at him.
"Stop staring at Veronique as if you wanna fucking eat her, it's creeping me out!" he hissed, winking at his best friend as he did so.
Tommy nervously looked around the rest of the classroom, but his fellow teenage peers had way more important things to do, in the final minutes of the final period of school, than check out another dude's hard junk. He diverted his eyes away from Veronique at last, before he signaled at Jason to come closer to him.
"Dude...listen up...I think...I think tonight, is gonna be...THE night!" he whispered to the boy before him.
Jason frowned, his gentle, kind natured face all up in arms, in sheer morbid confusion.
"...the night?" he asked, clearly having no fucking clue what Tommy was talking about.
Tommy rolled his eyes, as was so kin to his character, before he signaled at Jason to edge even closer towards him, so much so, that their lips were almost in the range of touching.
"Dude! Focus! Remember I told you about...me and Veronique and what we plan to DO together...at some point...?" he whispered in Jason's ear as softly as he could.
Jason obviously, finally received the message and understood, as his blue eyes widened extensively, almost as if Tommy had just told him that he was going to undergo a fucking sex change.
"You mean...you and her...are you...gonna...you know what...?" he asked, his eyes as big as saucers by now.
Tommy reached and playfully, yet full of irritation, flicked Jason's ear, eliciting a little yelp from the boy before him.
"Are you fucking sixteen or six years old? Dude, it's called SEX!" he exclaimed...
...a little louder than what he needed to.
Some of the kids sitting next to them, still lodged deep inside of their desks, had totally overheard them...saw how close they were sitting right then...and started to put two and two together and eventually ending up getting FIVE.
"What the hell? Are you two gay?" one of the boys across from Tommy and Jason sneered, loud enough for the whole entire class, including Veronique, to sit up and take notice of what was going on.
Tommy frantically looked around the front of the class, searching for their Maths teacher for some support, but she must have already left class way before this all happened...the kids were in stitches by now, playfully taunting the two best friends towards an inch of their fucking sanity.
Jason scoffed at the boy who had started all of this, before standing up and walking over to said boy's desk, giving him one of his supposed death stares...which alerted even more laughter from the rest of the class.
Jason was a lot of things, but he was totally not a fighter...he was one of the calmest dudes in the entire school. As he always tended to explain himself...he was a lover, not a fighter.
"Frankie...I swear to God..." he stared, but the boy was way too quick for him.
"Oh, you'll what? Give up your place on the swim team? Oh wait...you already LOST it!" Frankie continued his tirade of sorts, patting Jason on the shoulder for good measure.
"Veronique, did you know about this? That your boyfriend and his best friend are bum chums?"
Frankie then turned around to face Tommy's girlfriend, who sighed as her name was mentioned, getting upwards, as red in her face of sheer embarrassment as she had ever been.
"Jesus, Frankie...stop being such a fucking jackass, would you?" she hissed towards him, before Tommy actually realized that he did in fact, have a pulse, and stood up, walking quickly over to his girlfriend as he did so.
"Don't worry about him, he's a fucking asshole...you okay, baby?" he softly asked Veronique, taking her hand inside his own, and squeezing it tightly, warm feelings spreading across his chest like wildfire in excessive heat.
"Chill out, guys, I'm just fucking with you!" Frankie finally agreed to stop his actions, before he winked slyly at Veronique.
"All I'm saying is, when I saw those two besties a few minutes ago, your boyfriend almost had his tongue inside Jason's ear and I HEARD Tommy say the word SEX...whatever you wanna take from that!" he smiled triumphantly, as he packed up his bag, with the final school bell of the day, blasting through the school building like a fog horn in Denmark.
The kids all got out of the classroom as quick as they could, joining their various peers for what would be a glorious two days with no homework or school to actually look forward to, as Tommy kissed Veronique on her cheek and gently pulled her hand in the direction of the door.
"Tonight still on? Movies with the guys and then...home afterwards?" he whispered.
Before Veronique could even think of an answer, both their eyes swung towards a tall kid who had been sitting at the back of the class, who had waited for all the rest to actually get out, before he too, would swing his bag over his shoulder and smile warmly over at Veronique...
...Tommy frowned and a massive lump started to form in his throat as he realized that...WHO EVEN WAS HE...that this dude was openly now, flirting with his fucking girlfriend, right before his eyes.
"Hey...just wanted to let you know that...if your boyfriend over here decided that he wanted to bat for the other team...I'm always available right here for a beautiful girl like you..." he said, his voice loud and proud out into the quiet of the classroom.
"It's that new guy...joined us in Maths for the first time today," Jason whispered out loud.
Tommy's mouth literally fell open, before he eventually regained control over his senses.
"Dude...okay, just back the hell off here, okay? She's my fucking girlfriend and I swear to God, that I'm, not gay, so...just BACK OFF, okay?"
The dude continued to smile at Veronique, not taking his eyes off of her for even a second.
"Or what?" he murmured, directed straight at Tommy.
Tommy scoffed angrily, but he was kept back by Veronique.
"Don't...just let's go, okay?" she said, rolling her eyes at the new guy.
"SERIOUSLY THO, BABE...if you don't wanna be with muscle boy over here any more and want a REAL man instead...just let me know...cause I'll treat you like the princess that you are..."
A massive SWING towards the boy with his fist, didn't actually work, as the boy was way too fast for the angry as hell, Tommy, who groaned with pent-up emotion and pushed the kid right up against the wall of the classroom as he did so, his face as red and as furious as either Jason or Veronique had ever seen it.
"Just who the hell do you think you are? I told you to stop! She already has a boyfriend and that's ME!" he hissed towards the boy, who simply took hold of Tommy's clenched fingers and ripped them away from his person.
"You think I care? You might wanna remember back a year or so ago, when you were a fucking DICK to me for no apparent reason...so now I'm just returning the favour. And just so by the way...speaking about dick, your buddy Frankie thinks that you might be giving your friend over there some tonight..."
"OOOOHHHH, Jesus, Tommy, he just fucking OWNED you, dude!" Jason said, with sheer awe in his eyes, but Tommy clearly didn't see the funny side of it, as he LAUNCHED himself much like a cannon ball to a pool of water, at the new kid.
"I'm GONNA KILL HIM! LET ME GO!" he shouted, before it took both Jason and Veronique, with a momentous effort to drag Tommy away from the dude, kicking and screaming.
It was then, that the penny dropped, at least for poor Jason.
"Tommy...dude...now I know where I've seen this jerk before...remember at the meet last year? The regionals? He was the dude that beat your ass!" he confessed, looking nervously over at his best friend as he was finishing his sentence.
Tommy took a few deep breaths, still angry as hell over his manhood being so easily challenged, before his eyes focused on the dude before him.
FUCKING HELL...it WAS him...that...that guy from the meet, who wanted to waste his time with his stupid congratulations crap that he blew off so easily to...
...to see his girlfriend.
FUCK.
No wonder the dude was so raw...but wait...
...just what was HE doing HERE of all places?
The kid smiled and approached Jason, and stuck out his hand in greeting.
"See? I'm not a total monster...great to meet you bud, I'm Levi Carter."
Poor Jason's right hand was already half way upwards to meet Levi's, when he heard his name, and realized JUST who the hell he really was...
...and he dropped his arm in a literal second.
"YOU! YOU! Tommy...dude...it's HIM! HE...YOU stole my spot on the team, you fucker!" he hissed towards Levi, who stood back at once, with his hands up in the air.
"Oh...my fucking bad...didn't realize that you...okay, then you must be Jason, right? The one who got kicked off the team for fucking up too many times..."
Tommy's anger reached fever pitch. He was messing with the wrong dude, if he was going to mess with Jason.
He slowly walked up towards Levi and look him DEAD in the eyes.
"Look...let's get one thing clear, right here, right now."
"Oohhh, I'm shaking..."
"LISTEN here, you fucker, say what you fucking WANT to ME, but you leave my girlfriend and my best friend out of this! They did nothing to you! You clearly got a grudge against me and for what? Because I didn't wanna shake your hand? Give you a little kiss, read you a little bed time story? You take it out on me...you GOT THAT?" he spat out, giving his sixteen-year-old ass immense pleasure in seeing bits and splatters of his saliva cascade all over Levi's chin and bottom lip as he spoke.
"Tommy, let's just go!" Veronique hissed towards her boyfriend, not even caring to wait for him as she had literally had enough, storming out of the classroom, leaving a confused Jason behind, hesitating whether to follow her, to wait for his best friend.
"You stay away from me and from Veronique...you hear me, dude?" Tommy sneered towards Levi once more.
"Make me..." came the rancid reply.
Tommy shook his head and grabbed his own backpack, and signaled for Jason to follow him as they finally left the classroom, as well as Levi well behind them.
"Dude...what happened back there?" Jason asked as they approached the outside, and Tommy looked anxiously around for any sign of Veronique...fucking hell, her parents must have picked her up in the time it took to settle the score with that damn fucker back there.
"SHIT! There goes tonight, probably too, now!" Tommy groaned and sighed as he too realized his mother didn't come and fetch him...either she was stuck at work or the family car had run out of petrol again...what fucking else was new?
"Looks like we're walking, Jase...come on, man..." he said, his voice as dark as the sheer night sky.
They walked a couple of miles in total silence, before Tommy heard Jason clear his throat, carefully, as if he was too scared to even breathe.
"Tommy..."
"What?"
Jason placed his hand on Tommy's back, stopping his stride home, with his eyes as white as they had ever been.
"Dude, obviously you're not okay..."
Tommy rolled his eyes.
"Of course I'm not fucking okay? And get this...he's on the swim team as well now! How could Coach choose that...that fucker to replace you? And to make everything worse, he's a total jackass and now Veronique is probably angry at me for wanting to beat Levi's face so bad that he won't be able to eat for a fucking WEEK! IT'S NOT FAIR, JASE!"
Jason nodded, and signaled at Tommy to have them re-start the rest of the journey home.
"Tonight, still on then?"
"Jase, if you ask me that one more time..."
Tommy felt bad ranting and raving as his life-long friend but something inside his chest was heavy and had to GET out as soon as possible.
His head and mind were all over the place. His swimming meant EVERYTHING to him. His entire FUTURE fixated on getting that scholarship so that he could get to university and actually GET anywhere in life.
Now...with someone like Levi on the team...how the HELL were they even supposed to be teammates? How do they even BEGIN to work together, after what happened in class this afternoon?
He had to be very, very careful, he thought.
Because if Levi Carter was capable on making a move on his girlfriend with him RIGHT there...
...what else was he gonna be capable of?
**
"GREAT TIME SMITH, IN YOU GO, CARTER!"
Coach Jenkins's loud voice was screaming at the top of its vocal chords as the swimming team was at yet another meet, this time at home, in front of all of their rivals.
Freedom High was currently in a solid second place, when Levi swimming the third of the four heats, just the same as Jason had always done. Tommy stood aside waiting for the Coach to call him up when it was ready for him to do so, with Jason at his side. It couldn't have been easy for his best friend to be at his side to support him, even though he had lost his place on the team, but he wanted to, anyway.
"You gotta admit, Tommy...he's fucking fast..." Jason whispered in Tommy's ear, loud enough so that the latter boy could hear him over the incredible home crowd from the Freedom High students who had all stayed after school in order to show their support for the team.
Tommy clicked his teeth in sheer irritation.
"He's okay, I guess..." he reluctantly admitted, totally against his will, as his caramel-coloured eyes followed Levi as he travelled back towards where he dived in, ready for Tommy do swim the final lap.
Okay, he's quick. He would grant him that.
But I'm quicker...he thought with a smirk on his handsome face and pumped his chest a couple of times as the Coach placed his arm around him.
"Okay, Tommy...we should have this. Just give it your best as you always do, and we should be fine. Edgemead's last swimmer is usually super fast, but you got this, I believe in you!" he whispered in Tommy's ear, to which Tommy gave him a shit-eating grin and thumbs up.
The moment that Levi's hand touched the wall, Tommy was in the water quicker than a pre teen boy getting his nut.
He started off well, swimming as fast as his body would allow him, his usual technique and experience getting him to the opposite wall in sheer record time, he could faintly hear the Freedom High faithful going crazy, screaming themselves into a fucking oblivion as they realized that their school was going to, at last, bring this trophy home, after the horrors of the previous year.
As he turned at the end, Tommy's right foot didn't quite make clean enough contact with the cement wall, meaning that he only received a slight added speed push from his left foot...
...and meaning that the opponent next to him, immediately gained up some of the lost time as both boys glided underneath the surface of water, nearly neck and neck, before coming back up, heading for the home stretch.
Tommy swallowed some water, as he realized just what had happened...he fucked up his turn, and the dude from Edgemead was nearly caught up.
Like a fucking maniac, he used every single bit of his past experience in this pool to FORCE him to get his lanky body forward, once more powering through the waves and waves of water to actually WIN this for his team.
As he urgently touched the cement wall with a feverish roar from his throat, he hastily turned towards the screen which showed their times...
AND OMG...THEY WON.
The sheer glory and happiness literally only lasted for mere seconds.
Tommy realized that they had won...yes...
...but it could have been SO much different, if he hadn't nearly worn himself out the last few meters, all because of ONE simple mistake which had nearly costed them the race.
Coach and two of his teammates helped launch him out of the water, and hugged him in a matter of congratulations, before he turned to his left, and found sheer daggers being thrown at him, in the form of Levi Carter's totally, not impressed stare to his person.
"What? What? We fucking won!" he cried out as Levi smirked out loud and shook his head.
"Are you kidding me? We nearly lost...all because of you, dude! All you had to do was finish without any issues and you couldn't even do that! I didn't join this school to become a loser!" he hissed at Tommy as he furiously grabbed his towel and stormed off towards the exit of the pool.
"Coach?" Tommy turned towards the older man, and the rest of his teammates, sheer confusion and anger written all over his face.
Coach Jenkins sighed and shook his head.
"Just...don't worry about him, okay? He's got stuff going on in his life that I'm not at liberty to tell you about so...let's just enjoy this VICTORY, shall we? We worked HARD for this, COME ON!" he replied before he shook hands with some of the parents of Tommy's teammates in total congrats of what they had achieved.
Staring at the school bleachers, it was with a tiny ache in his young heart that Tommy once again realized that his parents hadn't been able to come...he knew his dad had work and couldn't get away...but he had so hoped his Mom would have been able to get the afternoon off...
...a sadness inside his entire teenage interior threatened to spill over to tears, and he fucking refused to CRY in front of his teammates.
He was fucking Tommy Fox, for God's sake.
He was loved, respected and even worshipped by some around here.
Levi's attitude had him solidly come back down to earth.
Okay, he was nearly the reason why they blew a lead in the race.
But seriously...they had won!
Just what the hell was Levi's problem with him?
**
The moment that Tommy walked into the locker room two days later, he knew that something was wrong.
Coach Jenkins didn't make direct eye contact with his star swimmer as he usually did, and on top of everything, he wanted to see Tommy alone.
Tommy breathed out nervously as he approached Coach's desk.
"You wanted to see me before practice, Coach?" he said, slowly as he ever did.
Coach Jenkins took off his glasses and sighed, before he placed them back on and looked up tiredly at Tommy.
"There is no easy way to say this and you are not going to like it...but as I told you months ago, when I took Jason off the team, I get paid to make this WORK...and right now...having you finish the relay course and having Levi do the third lap...doesn't quite work anymore."
A shudder as cold as the Antarctic blasted through Tommy's young body.
"What...what doesn't work? Wait...you mean...?"
Coach Jenkins nodded and pointed to his two stopwatches that he always carried with him, securely around his neck.
"Unfortunately, you aren't our fastest swimmer anymore, Tommy...it makes more sense to put Levi in the last lap and for you to start us off to begin with. With you in lap one, we can build up a lead, hold it steady between the other two, before Levi can bring things home on the final lap. You may not like it, Tommy, but it DOES makes sense!"
Tommy's hands clenched into fists. His mouth was as dry as the Kalahari Desert, his face was becoming more and more red by the passing second...
...he was done.
DONE!
Where the hell was this gonna end? Now even the Coach was bending backwards for that loser?
"Where is he?
"Where is who? Tommy, if you mean Levi..."
"Don't worry, I'll fucking find the bastard myself!"
Coach Jenkins frantically screamed something after him but Tommy never heard it. It was like his brain had shut down.
Levi Carter had been at Freedom High...for what...three months and he has already taken over the entire school?
He had more girls surrounding his each and every break than he knew what to do with, he never stopped taunting him or Jason...and he STILL...STILL made no effort to stop flirting with Veronique, even to this day.
This was it.
As God was his witness, he was going to teach that idiot a lesson that he would NEVER forget!
"HEY, LOSER! GET THE HELL OVER HERE!" he thundered over the entirety of the swimming area as he saw his teammates, as well as Jason, as ever waiting for him to start the practice.
He marched upwards towards Levi and got into the taller boy's face as much as he could.
He hated how muscled Levi was...he hated how toned and ripped his stomach was. He WISHED he could have biceps like Levi...he was angry at how the girls WORSHIPPED Levi and his fucking sexy ass face as much as they used to worship himself!
Levi smirked at Tommy, looking down on the former, in more ways than just the obvious.
"From all of...this...I take it Coach told you about the change in plans? Don't take it too personally, Tommy, the fastest guy on the team always swims in the last lap..."
"FUCK YOU, CARTER! You come up in here, and you totally mess with me and my girlfriend, having the whole school think that the sun shines out of your ass, but NOW you're messed with me for the last time...YOU ARE NOT TAKING MY SPOT IN THE RELAY! I don't give a shit what Coach says!" he blasted at the taller boy, the rest of their teammates standing back in sheer enjoyment at what they were seeing between the two star boys.
Levi reached out and gently pushed Tommy away from him, staring him in his eyes.
He too, was getting angrier by the minute, his powerful chest heaving slightly up and down as he tensed up even more.
"Look here...I had no fucking say about any of this, it was Coach who made the decision, alright? I didn't have ANY THING to do with this. Talk to Coach if you don't believe me..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Tommy had taken huge offence, clearly, in having Levi ever so casually PUSH him away from him...
...and before Levi properly knew what had hit him, he furiously PUSHED Levi right into the deep end of the pool.
Luckily for Levi, he realized what Tommy was doing at the very last millisecond, and grabbed the boy's hand as he fell head first into the pool, dragging Tommy with him as he did so.
As both boys came up for air, their anger continued to escalate as they grabbed each other and fought tooth and nail for their dominance and for the title of the so-called alpha male.
The water around them was lessening the blows to a extend, but that didn't stop Levi from giving Tommy a black eye in the process, and for Tommy himself, to get in a few good blows into Levi's rock-hard stomach, which was sure to leave a mark the following day.
A loud whistle blasting over the pool area got both boys back to their senses.
"BOTH OF YOU, OUT! NOW!" Coach Jenkins furiously barked at his two students, before he signaled their still-watching teammates to give them some privacy.
He sighed with his head in his hands as the two wet boys came to a stand still before him, both completely and utterly out of breath.
"I cannot believe what I'm seeing...from two boys who have the literal WORLD at their feet!"
Tommy and Levi both started to protest at exactly the same time...
"This fucking idiot nearly DROWNED me!" Levi shouted.
"I'm so gonna have a black eye tomorrow, I should report the fucker for assault!" came the shouts from Tommy.
"SILENCE!" Coach's voice came to immediate order as both boys did as they were told, each of them glaring at the other in the process.
Coach stood aside and hissed at them through his teeth.
"You two don't realize that we have the STRONGEST relay team that we had EVER had, right now! Because for some reason, you two can't stand the hell out of each other!"
Coach placed his hands on his hips and smirked at them, just like the naughty teenage boy that he himself once was.
"You know...if you only would forget all this childish banter and hatred, you would actually realize how much you have in common! Okay boys, who's your favourite soccer team?"
"Manchester United" came the double reply, as if from one united mouth.
"And what's your favourite food?" Coach continued.
"Piz..."
"Pizza..."
Once more...both boys eyes widened as they realized that in some way...Coach Jenkins had a point.
Coach walked over towards and gently placed a hand on each of the shaking boys' trembling shoulders.
"I suggest you get over whatever THIS is, and start focusing on the team...or else I would be forced to remove one of you...and I would HATE to do that...believe me!" Coach finished, before he signaled at their two remaining teammates to re-join them.
"So...are we gonna swim or what?" he asked, as Tommy and Levi still continued to glare daggers at the other.
**
"Wait...dude...you wanna tell me you're still a fucking virgin?"
Tommy showed Jason the finger.
"Like you aren't! You would have told me the minute you busted your nut inside a girl's pussy!"
Jason laughed slyly, pushing a few more fries into his mouth.
"Yeah, I totally would have, you fucking know me too well. On the positive side, there is one good time that came out of not being on the team no more...I CAN EAT WHAT I WANT..." he said as dramatically as he could, before taking another bite of his cheeseburger.
It was the moment that Tommy could actually SEE the contents of said burger all chewed up inside his bet friend's mouth that he decided he had enough for today.
"Dude...grow up!" he uttered as he patted Jason on the back.
He hadn't seen Veronique since this morning, and he desperately wanted to see her before the final period of the day. He finally located her where she always was, deep in conversation with her plastic friends, who Tommy just tolerated because of Veronique herself.
"Baby...I missed you!" Veronique happily said as she kissed his cheek, before giving him a hug.
"Tommy, did you hear what happened to your sexy teammate?" Chrissy, one of Veronique's closest frenemies, asked as she shamelessly checked Tommy out just as Veronique's back was turned.
And who could blame her...Tommy Fox was HOT!
Tommy shook his head, intending to return his full attention to his girlfriend, before Chrissy leaned forward and literally plunged herself in between them...so much so that he could actually smell the lip gloss that she had been using...
"I didn't wanna say anything and don't fucking tell a soul...but I overheard people saying that Levi Carter skipped school because he was getting sick all over the boy's toilet's earlier today...you really didn't know?" she asked, her eyes fluttering in his direction for a while, until Veronique cleared her throat, with FEELING.
"Don't you have a boyfriend if your own to get back to? I swear, you're such a slut!" Veronique nastily said towards Chrissy, before she took Tommy's arm and walked back to class with him.
"You think its true, though? What Chrissy said?" he asked Veronique as she leaned into him and placed her head on his chest as they shared one final hug before the bell would ring for the last class of the day.
Veronique shook her head.
"I dunno if it's true, but that's not the first time I've heard that he's gone home because he, like, vomited all over the fucking place. Why do you even care, Babe? You two can't stand each other?"
Tommy nodded and kissed Veronique's forehead.
What Coach said the other day...if nothing else, they are teammates on the swimming relay team. AND they had another meet coming up on Friday.
Fuck...he didn't WANT to, but he knew that he probably should go and check if Levi was okay, didn't he?
Or maybe he should ask Coach to go with him?
FUCK! DAMN, THAT FUCKER!
**
Luckily for him, Coach Jenkins vouched for him at the school office and allowed him to get Levi's address when he heard that Levi had gone home for feeling ill.
Surprisingly, he didn't live that far from the school in general, it was literally only about six-and-a-half-minute walk.
Coming up to the address that he had been given, Tommy was surprised to see that it was a run-down apartment building. Well, he didn't know what he had expected to find, but as cocky and as EGOTISTIC that Levi Carter always was, the LAST place that he expected him to be living was an apartment complex that was falling apart.
Sighing once more, he saw that Levi resided on the second floor and he swiftly told the security guard at the front gate who he was coming to see and why, before he was allowed inside. His eye as white as snow, he swallowed slowly as the inside of the building looked even WORSE than it did on the outside.
Hell, his family didn't have much money either, but they didn't live in a place that closely resembled a SWAMP!
Turning into the floor, walking as quickly as possible, seeing a couple of shady ass characters in the various corridors along the way, he constantly reached for his phone in his pocket to make sure it was still there, before he finally reached Levi's apartment and immediately knocked on the door.
He heard some hollow movements coming from inside the apartment, but no one came out and actually opened the door.
Tommy's heart reached the heights of panic as he realized a couple of those dodgy ass dudes he had seen as he had entered were on the move...not knowing perhaps if they just now realized that he was a school kid who probably had money and a cellphone on him to steal. He knocked again, this time more urgently.
Still nothing.
"Levi? Yo, Levi! It's me, it's Tommy! From school?"
His fingers were sweating...he literally couldn't see those men anywhere right now. For all he knew they were coming for him...
JESUS, this was a bad idea!
At last, the door finally opened, as Levi stood in the doorway, and stared at Tommy as if he had never seen him before...before there finally was a flicker of recognition in his misty eyes.
"Tommy Fucking Fox...WHAT...UP?" he belched out, the stale alcohol smell coming from his breath more than enough to make a grown man sick, let alone a sixteen-year-old boy.
Tommy sighed, before he hastily entered the small apartment, which quite honestly, smelled even worse than the rest of the outside in its totality, before he took the door from Levi and quickly closed it, just in case.
"What the hell, Levi? Are you drunk?" he asked the bleeding obvious, but this was SUCH a change from the usually together person that he knew Levi Carter to be...his brain couldn't believe what it was seeing!
This...this wasn't Levi Carter? This...who ever this person was, he was a total mess!
Levi's black hair was mattered across his head, he was unsteady on his feet and only now, Tommy could see that he still had a half-full bottle of Jack Daniels clutched in his hands.
That was definitely not diluted with water, by any means. He was stone cold drunk!
"Levi, what's going on? Why...what is all this? I just came to check if you are okay...?" he said softly.
Levi blinked his eyes and took a quick look at the bottle, before he sighed and sunk to his knees.
"You don't know anything..." he whispered, before reaching upwards and taking another swig of the potent fluid.
Tommy's fists shook in anger.
"Dude, we have a meet in three days time! What the hell is even going on? I don't know you like this!"
"Well, maybe you don't know me at all, okay? You obviously have this perfect little life, with your perfect little friends and PERFECT little girlfriend..."
"You fucking leave Veronique OUT of this!"
"OR WHAT?"
Levi was obviously still intoxicated but for the moment, he looked stone-cold sober, as his eyes met and clung onto those of Tommy.
"Or...what?" he whispered, getting closer and closer to his teammate.
Tommy swallowed...he wasn't sure what to do right now...of course there had been instances where his friends had gotten drunk at parties, but he never had to face it all on his own. He had no clue what even to say to someone in this position.
"Look, Levi...I seriously just wanted to check if you were okay, when I heard you got sick at school. I obviously shouldn't have. So, I'll just go..."
Levi smirked and took another sip of his drink. His eyes were warm and fuzzy.
"You...fucking hell, you were the only person today...who even asked if I was okay, you know that?" he slurred his words.
Tommy swallowed, carefully.
"I don't fucking believe that for a second, everyone at school God damn worships you..."
Levi giggled, manically so.
"You really think they would worship me if they knew the truth...if they knew who I really was? You've got a hope in hell, dude!" he shrieked, emptying the final contents of the bottle, having it drop onto the filthy carpet beneath his feet with a massive thud.
He tried to focus on Tommy's face, before he sighed and stepped back. It was like he was trying to form the words in his mind, before actually saying them.
"You even realize...how...how sexy you are?" he asked, his voice as quiet as a mouse.
Tommy's eyes fluttered upwards...he didn't mishear.
Wait, what?
"Levi...what..." he managed to croak out, before the latter took his hand and held it inside his sweaty own.
"You wonder why I drink, Tommy Fox? You wonder why I do all of this...it's because ever since I saw you...that first day at the swim meet long ago...ever since then..."
Levi swallowed, and closed his eyes as if he couldn't stand at the moment to even look at Tommy...
"...I can't fucking get you OUT of my mind and it's fucking KILLING me..." he whispered, finally letting go of Tommy's hand, sinking to his knees, with sudden tears streaming across both of his cheeks.
Tommy held his breath, and not just because of the fowl smell hanging around the apartment.
Obviously, his teammate was in a lot of pain...he was drunk as anything...because after EVERYTHING they had went through since they had first met, Levi Carter couldn't have POSSIBLY meant what he just said!
He knelt down and grabbed Levi's arm, and gently, carefully as he could, gripped it so that Levi could actually stand on his own two feet.
"Come on, dude...where's your room, you need to lie down..."
"Right there..."
"Where?"
Levi sighed.
"Are you blind and stupid? Look behind you!" he hissed, his words slurring once more.
For the first time since he entered, Tommy looked towards the back of the apartment, and saw a bony old mattress neatly laid in the corner, complete with a neatly folded blanket and a duvet, along with a cushion.
That quiet little corner put the entire apartment to shame, because in that little space where Levi obviously slept, had to be cleaner than this entire complex.
Tommy shook his head...what the hell did he walk in on?
He would admit he didn't know much about Levi...but GOD DAMN, he didn't expect THIS!
Coach Jenkins's words suddenly came flashing back to him...Levi had issues, which he couldn't discuss with them.
Fucking hell.
Levi suddenly tripped and fell right into Tommy, who luckily was strong and tall enough to stop them from crashing down towards the dirty carpet.
Levi's eyes were suddenly wide open, as he stared into those of Tommy.
He licked his lips...and shook his head, in sheer amazement.
"Why do you have to be so God damn beautiful..." he whispered, his right hand reaching upwards and cupping Tommy's cheek, before he leaned down...
...and placed his lips on those of his sworn enemy.
**
THANKS FOR READING!
Only the first chapter, so let me KNOW if you wanna read more about Tommy and Levi and WHAT I have in store for them LOL.
liciousryan@gmail.com