"Ugh, have you seen Mandy? She went from ultra nerdy Christian girl to a slut with more stds than a medical book in just one summer."
Those were the first words spoken by my best friend, Amber, on the first day of our high school freshman year.
"I think you're just grumpy." I said. I wasn't really paying attention to her random insults directed towards girls we had known our whole lives. I was more interested in looking around and checking out the adonises of high school that had been fabled about by Amber all summer long. I eventually started believing her.
"Ok, so Trent, if a really creepy looking guy starts hitting on me, you have to promise me you'll get me as far away from him as possible." Amber said in her high, chipper voice. Amber was what most people would call a "girly girl". Some even went as far as to call her a "bitch" but I thought the complete opposite. I had been Amber's friend forever, like, always. Most people thought we were intimately involved, but it's not true. I'm gay, and she knows that. Maybe we're intimately involved as friends. We've slept in the same bed before, and during that same night I guess I put my arms around her in my sleep, but trust me, it was extremely awkward when we woke up.
Nevertheless, she's always been there for me. It's kind of like a partnership; I make sure no creeps get near her, and she makes sure I don't fail as the "stud I'm supposed to be", as she says. She basically picked out my whole wardrobe, body spray, cologne.. you name it.
"Little brother!"
That was my sister, Hollie. She was just like Amber, just a little nicer to the general public. Maybe that's why I got on so well with Amber. Hollie and I were extremely close, and we always have been, but it's like my mother's death sealed the bond between us. However, despite her being two year older tha nme, I was still by far the bigger person. I guess that's a little unfair, since males are biologically 'bigger' than females. God, I sound so sexist.
I gave Hollie a full hug, then looked at the girl she was with.
"Oh, T, this is Ashlyn."
"Hi." Ashlyn said shyly. I guessed that they were just acquaintences, or she was a new friend, because I had never seen her around.
"I guess we'll let you guys wander about. Oh, and, don't worry about homeroom if you already have your schedules; nothing ever happens there." Hollie grinned and walked away with Ashlyn.
I walked close beside Amber, mainly because I wanted her to know I was looking out for her. "You're like an overprotective brother." she whispered.
"You'll thank me for it some day, I'm sure." I said, looking around at all the gruesome looking juniors and seniors eyeing the freshmen girls like candy. I wouldn't say I was intimidating, because as Amber told me once, "that'd sound arrogant". But I wasn't your average freshman.
I was about 5'10, which was average I guess, but I weighed 190 or 200 lbs. Let's just say I eat my veggies and leave it at that? Realistic? No. Typical? No. Real? Very. I guess that's why Amber felt so safe with me. You may be thinking that our relationship is a negotiating of sorts, such as, I keep her safe and she makes me fashionally appealing, but that isn't true at all. Amber's seen me depressed & crying, angry and breaking things, ecstatic and grinning like a moron.. well, you get my point.
And let's just say it's the same for her; shit, I was the one who ran and got her a tampon when she got her first period. Too much information? I'm sorry.
"I have to pee." she said suddenly, handing me her tan, over-the-shoulder school bag, which predictably matched mine. "I'll hurry! Don't worry." she said, running into a nearby bathroom. I waited near some water fountains as the last remaining students went into various homerooms. The bell was about to ring and I was sure we'd be late, but at least we'd be late together.
"Wow!" I heard a male whisper, with two other different guys whispering to each other as they walked by me, their eyes glued to my wide back.
"Hi." I said quietly. I was actually kind of shy, and I felt myself start to blush.
The guys, who I knew to be seniors due to their 'Class of 2012!' shirts, gave some quick giggles and went on by. I tried to figure out whether they were laughing at me, or just giggling like school girls, but I didn't have much time to ponder about it as Amber quickly came out.
"What's up-- Ohhhh." she nudged my bicep suggestively. "Got your eyes on someone already T? Well trust me," she said, looking in the trio's direction. "You can do a lot better than some nerdy seniors. Besides, do you really want the heartache of watching the guy you like go off to college? Ugh, and don't get me started on long-distance relationships-"
"Okay, okay, I get it. Let's get to homeroom." I snickered, handing her her bag.
The bell rang as we walked through the doors, and lo and behold, there were about four empty seats near the back.
"Ok, so which guy do you think would the best fit for me in this class?" Amber whispered to me through the chatter of the rest of the students.
"Based solely on looks?" I asked quizically.
"Duh. Unless you have some precognitive powers that I don't know about. That'd be awesome though. Do you?"
"No. Sec." I scanned the room and spotted a really sweet looking guy. I guess he is what modern day teenagers would call 'emo'. Whatever he was, I really would've liked to rock his world. Silently reprimanding myself, I said to Amber, "What about the guy over there?"
"Ugh. He probably wears more make up than I do." she rolled her eyes.
"You're so mean, oh my god." I giggled to myself.
"No, you're too nice. You look like a jock. You're the guy that should be pulverizing freshmen for their lunch money." We had had this conversation so many times before, and I knew she didn't really expect me to become such a person, because I wouldn't.
"Whatevs. What about that guy over there?"
"The one all alone in the corner?"
"Yeah."
"He looks like a possible candidate. Let me go work my magic." she winked. I stood up with her as to find a desk four or five spaces away from the guy, but she put a hand on my shoulder. "Noo, you'll intimidate him into silence you guy. Scope out a hottie for yourself. I'll meet up with you in 5."
I really didn't want to mess up Amber's high school experience, but I knew what 3/4s of these guys wanted, and they'd get their hands dirty if it meant getting it. Hollie had told me allll about it, and I'd do anything to prevent my bestie (god, how gay can I get?) from becoming the helpless girl who was taken advantage of by some upperclassman.
"Hi." A tiny voice said, presumably to me. I looked up from my phone, which I was using to text Hollie, and saw this gorgeous, super slim guy.
"Hey." I said, standing up slowly.
"So, you're new here?" he asked again, starting to turn red.
"Yeah."
"Senior, right?"
"Freshman." I said, suddenly feeling really embarassed. Sometimes being huge sucked. Majorly.
"Wow. You're bigger than any of the juniors I know." He said in amazement.
"Good genes, I guess." I gave a weak smile, and I could feel my dimples coming out of their hiding place, complementing my grey eyes. 'Good genes' may have been slightly right. My dad was a big guy, but I was actively involved in a lot of sports, like wrestling, football, tae kwan do, you name it. Speaking of my dad, Hollie and I detest him greatly. When we were young, we would be able to hear the cries of my mother through the darkness. It was the best day of our livse when my mom decided to leave the brute.
He had enough sense not to show up at my mom's funeral. As I reminisced, I felt veins popping out of my biceps and I could have sworn I felt a tear forming in my right eye. Oh god, not here in front of everyone.
"Dude, are you okay?" the little guy asked, looking kind of scared.
"Oh I'm sorry. I just get lost in my thoughts sometimes. You didn't say anything, did you?"
"Nothing." he said, still trembling a little. "But it's about time to go.. I think your friend is waiting for you. And damn look at that ass, you're one lucky guy." Bi maybe? Anyway it was all I could do not to crush his scrawny neck. I just smiled.
"It was nice meeting you." I walked off, realizing I didn't even get his name. I didn't really care then, either. I looked ahead and saw Amber's petite 5'3 frame waiting at the door.
"Slowpoke!" she grinned. "Okay, so you have weightlifting and I have cheerleading. Why do they always stick the sportsy classes first; and yes, cheerleading is a sport!"
"If you say so." I said, still lost in my thoughts.
"Ok, so, if I randomly start making out with you today, just go along with it and act as heterosexual as you can." she said.
"What!? Why?"
"Because I have to make that guy jealous, duh!" she winked as she walked down the opposite hallway I was going. As I entered the gym, I thought of how boring making out with Amber would be. Not that she isn't attractive; she's a firecracker. It's just she's more like a sister than a friend. Plus, there's the gay thing.
Ahh well, lifting always got my mind off of things. I recognized all of the freshmen in the gym, but naturally there were the upperclassmen who spotted me like I was wearing a flashing shirt or something.
"Alright men." the coach said grumpily as he walked onto the gym floor. "Today's going to be an easy day. We're just going to see what we all max out at so we can compare our progress at the end of the semester. Sound good? Great. I'm going to split you all into 3 groups of 10, and each group will be taking turns for these three exercises: squats, benchpress, and calf raises. Now get changed and meet out here to be sorted." he grunted before walking back into his office.
Most of the guys looked pumped and ready to show off, but I was one of the few who weren't. Unlike the other unwilling guys, it wasn't because I was afraid of embarassing myself; I was pretty sure I could show up most of the guys there. I just hate seeming arrogant. I'm always afraid I'll hurt someone's feelings or make them feel unmanly if I show off my power.
As I slid my ripped, dark blue jeans over my large legs and changed into some gym shorts, I tried to focus on changing, but that was kind of hard since it was such a simple task. The last thing I wanted to do was be caught checking out the weightlifting class, which was made up of mostly freshmen, who were surprisingly small and slender; my body type of preference. Shoving my shirt into the locker I had chosen, I quickly walked back into the gym.
"New here?" a rather large senior asked me. He was even bigger than I was, but his cheery smile was heartwarming. I could see sincerity in his eyes.
"I'm a freshman." I said sheepishly, as I had to the junior in homeroom.
"Haha, nice one. I'm Andy."
"No, really."
"You're bigger than everyone but me, though." He said bewildered.
"Alright ladies!" The coach barked in a totally non-threatening way. "Let's get this show on the road!"
He began to name off the students in group one, then group two, and group three. I ended up being in group three.
"Group one, start with the benchpress! Group two, start with squats, and group three, start with the calf raises."
The senior was in my group as well, and he came up and stood behind me while I was waiting. "Damn, dude, how do your parents keep a hold on you?" he asked.
"Oh, uh, you know how it is.." I grinned; if only he knew.
"No, really."
"My mom's not alive, and I don't want to see my dad ever again. Maybe you know Hollie Carter? She's my big sister, and she's actually my legal guardian." I said.
"Oh dude, shit, I am so sorry."
"It's fine, you couldn't've known. Besides, you should be more sorry for me that Hollie's my guardian." I grinned. "Not really. She's a sweetheart-"
"Trent, you're up." A freshman named Nicholas said.
"Good luck." The senior said. I easily topped the 150 lbs that the previous freshman had done, and gradually added on 50 lbs until I hit 600, which is where I started to struggle. I finally met my end at 612lbs, and gave a sigh of relief after getting off of the machine and rubbing my calves.
"Woah." Andy, which depicted everyone's facial expressions. After the shock wave was over, the next freshman went.
"Dude, I feel sorry for whoever pisses you off." He said, eyeing my calves which felt like they were bulging out of my legs.
"I'm a tranquil guy." I said, my face burning with embarassment.
Before I knew it, the three tests were over and our results were recorded. I had produced the same effect as with the calf presses on the benchpresses and squats.
"Hit the showers. After that, you're free to go." the coach said before retreating into his office.
I wasn't going to lie; my pits could probably make someone faint right now. I shuddered at what Amber would say if she knew what I smelt like right now, and took a fast shower. I borrowed some of Andy's axe deoderant and sprayed some of my 'emergency pocket body spray' as Amber had so preciously dubbed my portable body spray and took off, now back into my long jeans and small jeans. I had to admit, I looked pretty hot, especially with my hair weighed down with wetness. Man, I'm such an egotistical bastard when no one is around.
The bell eventually rang and I waited outside for Amber who was in the gym. It had actually surprised me that there was a separate gym for male sports only, and a gym for female sports only, but hey, that's high school, right? Never know what to expect.
"Hi T!" she said in her cheery voice. "Woah, did you get in a water balloon fight or something?" she giggled.
"No, I was super sweaty so I showered. Why are you so happy?" I asked.
"Because we're about to make the hottie from homeroom so jealous."
"I don't see him-"
"Shut up! He's coming! Quick, make out with me!"
"Tongue and all-"
"Just do it!" she whispered. This was sooo lame. Amber could be such a girl sometimes, and I was pretty sure I'd have to barf a few times after this, but I trusted her instincts. She put her arms around my shoulders and put my hands on her ass (god forbid; I could feel my gay instincts screaming at me right then) and lifted her up like a feather and made out with her. It was a very sensational kiss, except for there were no sensations. The fact that we knew it was just an act made it easier to well, act. I pushed her against the wall and held her up with one hand, putting my other hand against the wall beside her. My tongue easily overpowered hers, and we kept going at it till the guy from homeroom cleared his throat near us.
"Can I talk to you, Amber? Alone?"
"Sure." I said, letting her down slowly.
"I wasn't asking you." he snarled.
"Well you better start." I said rather intimidatingly. Ah, the things testosterone did to you. I wasn't riled up at all by my little skit with Amber; that would be totally sick. But I sure as hell liked demoralizing the guys trying to get with her.
"Actually why don't you just text me instead." she said, pulling out a piece of paper and writing her number on it. She swiftly gave it to him and put as much of her hand around my bicep as she could. "Let's go to class, babe."
If anyone actually knew me and Amber, they would have seen right through it and cracked up laughing. Good thing Amber hooked up with guys she didn't know!
Once we were inside the 'sanctuary' (ha ha) of our history class. As per usual, we took a seat at the end of the classroom and began slightly talking while kids filed into the room. "Did you see his face!? He was crushed!" she said.
"No, I was too busy making our scene realistic." I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah yeah. You're a good kisser and all, but I could taste the flamboyancy on your lips."
"I'm not flamboyant at all!" I stuck my chest out.
"Yeah, whatever. Did you really have to scare him like that though? I'll be lucky if he even texts." She groaned.
"At least you have a guy you're waiting on." I sighed.
"Please, in this high school, you'll have a date by the end of the school day. And I can't wait for that, because you acted like a real boyfriend back there. Whoever gets to date you will be one lucky guy." She winked.
"Oh, look everyone, Amber's being sentimental; Kodak moment." I said sarcastically.
"Shut up. We'll miss the introduction."
"Oh no." I said with faux fear.
Without any introduction or pre-orientation, the short, ancient man with wispy grey hair at the front began speaking in monotone, facing no one in particular.
"In prehistoric times, people hunted animals for their food. Such people, known collectively as 'hunters' would go out during the day while a separate, sometimes allied group, known as 'gatherers' would.." his voice droned on and on, and right as I was about to fall asleep, the guy in front of me passed a note to me. I hadn't noticed him till now, and like most freshmen from my point of view, he was a slim little guy, but with a little more meat on him than most guys I'd seen today.
I saw Amber look up from her well-hidden cell phone and glance at the note, which I unfolded and read.
"Hi. My name is Christopher, and I noticed you looked kind of, well, bored. What's up?" it read. I wish I could be so courageous as to pass random notes to random guys. -sigh-.
I replied, "Hey. My name is Trent, T for short. But you can call me Trent if you want. I'm bored as you observed. I'm trying not to fall asleep here."
He took a few seconds to reply, "That's a cool name. I've never been a fan for history. Wanna skip?"
"Me neither. Skipping sounds awesome. I mean, what could we possibly miss on our first day? How do you expect we go about doing that though?"
"Easy," he wrote back. "I'll say I have to go take a medication, and a few minutes later, just say you have to use the bathroom."
"Got it. You go first." I gave the note back to him. I pulled out my phone and quickly texted Amber, who was right beside me, but I felt like being funny.
"Gonna skip. See you at the end of the hour." I said.
"K." she replied.
I raised my hand after a few minutes had gone by. "Yes?" the man's excruciatingly borring voice asked.
"May I use the restroom?" I said in the most polite voice I could muster.
"In prehistoric times there were no facilities to..." his voice became an unintelligeable murmur again, so I just got up and walked out. He made no effort to halt me, as if he could.
"We're so lame." I said jokingly as we sat on the sinks in the nearest male bathroom we could find.
"Hah, totally." He said smiling. After a few minutes of awkward silence he said, "You know, this is the part where the big buff guy in question, ie you, would kick my ass for fun."
"Haha, why would I do that?" I asked genuinely concerned.
"Dunno, most guys your size do it for fun."
"That doesn't sound very nice." I said.
"It's not." he frowned. He looked so cute with his brown eyes sparkling in the light.
"Tell you what. Next time someone does that to you, tell me and I'll take care of them."
"Haha, you'd do that? We just met." he said.
"Let's just say I have a hero complex."
"Good, because I have a knack for getting my ass in trouble."
The door opened as a sophomore I recognized from weightlifting entered the bathroom.
"Damn, does this look like the GSA to you guys?" he muttered before turning around into a urinal.
"Wanna repeat that?" I said, grapping his shoulder with one hand and pushing him against a wall.
"Dude, god, arghhhh, you're hurting me so bad." I saw tears welch up in his eyes as I used all of the strength of that one arm to crush his shoulder.
"Man, nice 3 incher there." I said, smirking.
"Come on T, let's just go." Christopher muttered. I did what he wanted and released the asshole and walked out with him.
"You really humiliated that sophomore back there." Christopher said quietly.
"Sorry. Sometimes I start doing stuff when I'm angry and my wild side just takes over. It's such an adrenaline rush when you're stronger than an upperclassman. Man, now I feel like a dick. I think I should go back and apologize to that guy."
"Don't be silly! He deserved it. I was just afraid you were going to kill him or something."
"Man I could have. He had the body of a ten year old." I grinned.
"Ass." Christopher smirked. Before we knew it, the bell was crashing through the halls and students began to pour out. Maybe this school year wasn't going to be so bad after all.
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Author's note: I'm aware that my style and such sucked in this chapter. I'm super tired now and I just wanted to finish the chapter before I slept. Tell me waht you think via email :)