Chapter 12
Bright sunlight came in through the big windows when Alex swam the fifty-meter lane from end to end. Finally, he slowed and pushed himself out of the pool. He sat on the edge and drank from his water bottle.
“That was fast!” Eric said. “You’ll get a scholarship to some college for sure.”
“Coach isn’t so optimistic,” Alex said, feeling disappointed. “There are plenty of good swimmers this year. A lot more than ever before.”
“Then you just need to swim faster,” Eric reasoned.
Alex looked out the window at the school’s main building on the hill. He wanted to go to a good college, and he was ready to do whatever it took.
He jumped back into the pool and swam as fast as he could. If he needed to beat his old record to get the scholarship, then that is what he would do. Again and again, he sprinted down the lane as Coach Hanson shouted readings from his stopwatch. Finally, the coach ordered the team to finish up and take a shower.
“What’s the problem, Mr. Wesley? That’s the slowest I can remember you swimming this year,” Coach Hanson said. He had a judgmental tone in his voice that Alex didn’t like.
“I don’t know. I’m trying my best, but I can’t swim faster,” Alex said quietly.
“Is everything okay?” the coach asked. His tone had changed completely, and he seemed to be worried.
“Yes, I think so,” Alex replied.
“Well, you should take it easy for the rest of the day. Let’s try again tomorrow,” the coach said. Alex sensed some dissatisfaction in his voice.
“To be honest, you’ll need to improve quite a bit to get a scholarship to the best colleges,” the coach called, walking toward the locker room. Alex sighed. For a long time, he sat on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water.
When he finally entered the locker room, he saw Rick sitting on the bench. “What the heck are you doing?” Rick asked as Alex stripped off his speedo. Rick had already showered and dressed, and the other boys had left the hall.
“What are you talking about? I’m about to take a shower,” Alex answered. He couldn’t understand why his taking a shower upset Rick.
“Don’t be dumb. Rosa told me that you and Sofia broke up,” Rick said.
“That’s correct,” Alex said, looking at this friend. He could date whomever he wanted, and it was nobody else’s business. He started to get irritated.
“Do you have somebody else?” Rick asked. Alex shook his head. “I don’t understand. You broke up with the hottest chick in the school,” Rick said.
“And I don’t understand why you are so interested in who I date,” Alex responded. “Sofia just isn’t my type. That’s all,” he said. He had no interest in continuing this discussion.
“Then who is? Liam?” Rick blurted out.
“What the fuck are you saying?” Alex yelled, glaring at Rick.
“Well, Rosa told me that you never had time for Sofia, but I can see that you’re still hanging out with Liam a lot. Of course, that raises questions,” Rick said.
“If having friends makes me gay, maybe I should start avoiding you, too,” Alex replied, mocking Rick’s logic—or his lack thereof.
“Don’t twist my words. You know what I mean—or, at least, what I thought when you and Sofia broke up,” Rick said. “You know that Sofia is Rosa’s best friend. Rosa asked me to talk to you,” he admitted.
“So, now you are playing a hero in your girlfriend’s eyes,” Alex said.
Rick could only agree. “Yes, but I was also worried about you. I don’t want a fag hanging in the locker room.”
“And then you decided to find me a chick so that I didn’t become gay and spoil your shower experience,” Alex snapped and marched to the shower.
“Sorry, Alex. I didn’t mean it that way!” Rick shouted from the locker room. He had just wanted to please Rosa, and the discussion had gone in a totally wrong direction.
“I think this conversation is over,” Alex replied, and he turned on the shower.
Rick’s attitude had pissed him off. He dressed and slammed his locker shut with unnecessary force. Then he left the swimming hall. He decided to check if Liam was home, no matter what Rick, Rosa, or Sofia thought about it.
“Hi, come in,” Liam said merrily when he opened the door. “How was your practice?” he asked. Alex rolled his eyes and sighed. Liam gave him a questioning look, and Alex decided that he had better explain.
“I don’t think I’ll get an athletic scholarship to any decent college,” he said sadly.
“How is that a problem?” Liam asked him. “You could easy apply for an academic scholarship. Besides, your parents seem to have plenty of money to pay for your education.”
Alex looked at him for a moment. “How are you so smart?” he said as if all his problems were over at once.
Liam smiled. “Some of us are super gorgeous. The rest of us need other skills to survive.” He saw Alex blush slightly.
Liam’s mother appeared at the kitchen door. “Hi, Alex. Would you like to eat with us? The lasagna will be ready in thirty minutes.”
“Thanks. I would be happy to,” Alex replied. Swim practice had made him hungry, and he enjoyed having dinner with Liam’s family. He liked Liam’s parents a lot, and they seemed to like him.
“Nice to have my son-in-law over for dinner,” Liam’s mother said with a wink.
“Mom!” Liam protested. Now it was his turn to blush. “We are not dating,” he shouted to his mother, who had returned to the kitchen. Alex couldn’t help laughing.
“Would my boyfriend like to play some video games?” he asked, grabbing Liam’s waist and pushing him toward his bedroom. They chose Call of Duty, their mutual favorite.
After Liam killed him for the third time straight, Alex looked at his friend. His discussion with Rick in the locker room came into his mind. He couldn’t understand why Rick had assumed he was gay—unless Sofia was behind it all and was spreading rumors about him.
He didn’t agree with Rick that a gay teammate would be a problem. It was the twenty-first century, and everybody had the right to love whomever they wanted. Besides, Liam was a cool guy and was fast becoming his best friend.
Why do some people behave like we still live in the Middle Ages? he asked himself.
“What are you staring at, so fascinated?” Rosa whispered to Liam, who was sitting next to her in music class.
“Um … nothing,” he replied, hoping that she hadn’t noticed him admiring Eric’s muscular body.
“Are you interested in Emily?” she asked, referring to the girl who sat behind Eric. He was happy that she hadn’t discovered whom he was really looking at, but still, her simple question left him stumbling. At that moment, the class ended.
Liam picked up his stuff and left the room with Rosa. They had become friends, which was a major source of irritation for Rick, who now had to be on good terms with Liam to please his girlfriend.
Their next class was geography. The class had moved temporarily to a smaller building on the other side of the schoolyard because their room in the main building was under renovation. They walked across the yard through a heavy wind. Liam smiled instinctively when saw Eric again in his tight-fitting jeans and Hollister sweater.
“Ouch! That hurt!” Liam said when Rosa jabbed his ribs with her elbow.
“So, it wasn’t Emily you were looking at,” she said, smiling widely.
Liam felt uncomfortable. She must have seen him checking out Eric. “Um … well, I didn’t … or, I-I mean…,” he stammered, not really knowing what to say.
“You mean you like boys, and Eric is hot,” Rosa blurted with a grin.
“I guess so,” he sighed. “I mean….”
“But even though Eric is hot, you are really interested in Alex,” she said, continuing to bring facts to the table.
Liam looked at her with his mouth open. “How do you…?” he started.
“How do I know? Well, it’s rat
her obvious. But don’t worry, I’m okay with it. It’s quite cute, actually. You would be a good couple. It’s a shame he’s straight,” she babbled.
Liam was so confused that he almost hit his head on the door of the building where their class was held. He pulled the door open with all his power while the heavy wind tried to keep it shut. They managed to get in. Meanwhile, he had just come out to Rosa, and the world was still in place. More accurately, Rosa had pulled him out of the closet.
“I really hope he won’t continue the boring lecture about air flows and sea powers,” she said as they walked to the classroom. Liam was trying to straighten his hair—the wind outside had given him a totally new hairstyle, and he didn’t like it.
“You just learned that I am gay, and you are talking about what Mr. Tinkham will teach us today,” Liam whispered, pretending to be hurt. Rosa assumed that, since he was whispering, Liam didn’t want to come out to the entire school.
“Don’t be such a drama queen! And if you want to surprise me, tell me something that I don’t already know,” she said. They entered the classroom. Mr. Tinkham was already there preparing for class, and he gave them a friendly smile.
“So, you’re really okay with this?” Liam asked again, keeping his voice low so that nobody else could hear them.
“Yes. I already told you that,” Rosa whispered.
“Does Alex know?” she asked. Liam nodded. “Is he, too? I wouldn’t have guessed that,” she asked hopefully.
“No, he isn’t,” Liam said and saw her hopefulness fade away.
Two class periods later, Liam bumped into Alex in the corridor. They were both on their way to history class. Alex smiled at him widely and looked handsome as always.
“Rosa knows that I’m gay,” Liam whispered when they walked together toward the classroom. Alex stopped and let Liam tell him the whole story. Liam didn’t notice his face getting more and more serious.
“Are you sure she won’t tell Sofia and Rick?” Alex asked, and Liam’s face went pale.
“God damn it!” he cursed, noticing how uncomfortable Alex had become. The corridor was crowded with students, and they had to keep walking.
Liam could sense that something was bothering Alex, but since there was no opportunity for a discussion, he followed Alex to the classroom. They sat together in their familiar places. From the corner of his eye, Liam could see Rosa and Sofia talking with each other at the back of the class. He tried not to think about it; he didn’t want to become paranoid.
“Everyone has given their presentations, so it’s time to reward the best performance,” Mr. Timothy said ceremonially. He took a couple of small trophies out of his bag.
“Holy shit,” Liam heard Rick snorting to Eric.
“Mr. Timothy is going to reward the worst ass lickers,” Eric whispered back.
Mr. Timothy cleared his throat. “First of all, I want to say that everyone did an amazing job, and I am very proud of you all,” he said. He paused dramatically, impressing nobody but himself.
“Liam and Alex, your presentation was the most structured and best prepared. Congratulations!” he said. He held up the trophies and waited for the boys to come and get claim them.
Liam was delighted and jumped up immediately. Then he looked at Alex, who rose from his seat slowly, looking very self-conscious and uncomfortable. Avoiding Liam’s eyes, he walked to the front of the class where the teacher gave them the trophies and shook their hands formally.
Mr. Timothy started clapping, and the whole class joined in the applause. Rick and Eric clapped their hands slowly once or twice and stared at Liam and Alex. Alex looked at his feet, and he sat silently behind his desk for the rest of the class.
When the class ended, he said to Liam, “I need to go. I have swimming practice. See you tomorrow.”
He left quickly before Liam could say anything. There was something strange in his behavior. Was it just the trophies? Or was there something else bothering him?
When Liam walked out of the room, Sofia pushed his shoulder. “Now you’ve infected my boyfriend. Are you happy?” she said angrily.
“I don’t understand,” Liam replied.
“Don’t play stupid. You can keep him. Have fun!” she said and left. Rosa followed her, looking regretful and embarrassed, barely glancing at him.
“What’s wrong with Sofia?” Jacob asked. He had apparently waited for Liam outside of the room, though they didn’t have chemistry class today.
“Uh … that’s a long story. I’ll explain later,” Liam told him. He wanted to avoid the topic, though he assumed that, by the next day, the whole school would know.
“I can hardly wait,” Jacob answered, and they walked together to their lockers.
They separated in the schoolyard, and Liam walked toward his house. He was thinking of Alex. He knew that his friend was worried about getting an athletic scholarship, but there must be something else as well. Then Liam realized what it was, and he had to sit down on the bench at a bus stop. How had he missed it earlier?
Alex must be afraid that the whole school would find out that Liam was gay. His teammates won’t be pleased when they hear that the captain of the swim team is hanging around with a queer. It would be social suicide for Alex to remain his friend.
The wave of despair that passed through Liam’s body was devastating. He realized that it was only a matter of time until he would lose his friend. High school was a cruel game, and Alex had to make his move to keep his position.