Chapter Nine
Channing
I closed my eyes and started running. My thoughts drifted away, and I focused on nothing but the act of moving my feet. I rounded the bend and rested my eyes on the finish line. The coach was leaning over the track with his stopwatch in hand. I barely noticed him call out my time. I was already racing back to the locker room. I needed a shower.
I was waking up sore every morning. Running was the only thing I could do to ease my muscles, so I found myself jogging everywhere I went. I was beginning to work in a routine before practice. I needed it. Otherwise, I’d feel restless throughout the day.
The shower was the reward at the end of the workout. The water washed over all the right places and eased my muscles. It relaxed my shoulders and my thighs. I needed a shower like that every day, almost as much as I needed a workout.
When I turned off the water and started toweling off, I heard feet trampling past my shower. Someone turned the water on, and I could see steam the steam rising above the barrier to my right. I walked out and saw Jason jump into the shower. “Looks like I’m still in the game. You ain’t taking my place,” I yelled.
“You’ll fail. Everyone does,” he said.
I walked over to my locker and started getting dressed. Jason was the star quarterback when he was a freshman, but he failed most of his classes. Most of his academic career was patchy. He was a failure, taking whatever classes he could so he could hold onto the dream of graduating. He’d end up living in a ratty apartment complex scrambling to pay his electric, if he found work at all.
The rest of the team was already filing out of the locker room by the time I got out of the shower, so I dressed quickly. Just as I was about to leave, the coach called out. “Barker.” I got up and walked into his office.
“Yes, Coach.”
He motioned towards the chair in front of his desk. Then, once I sat down, he said, “Did you get your paper signed?”
“Yes, Coach.”
“Well, where is it?”
“It’s in my bag in my locker.”
“Fine, I’ll check it later. How is the tutoring going? Are you learning anything or are you staring at the tutor’s tits like the rest of them?”
“Both,” I said.
“Good, just get your grades up. Are you passing your classes?”
“I’ll pass, Coach.”
“Good, you’d better. I don’t want to have to take you off the field. We’ll lose.” He started to get up. “Are you ready for the game?”
“Yes, Coach.” I stood up and followed him out of his office. There was a yellow school bus waiting outside for us behind the locker room when I walked out. The rest of the men were on the bus waiting for me.
The other schools had oversized double-decker buses with flat screens and different seating areas. We got a school bus. The thing soaked up the sun, turning the interior into an oven.
Mike and I sat in the back. He was hunched over in the seat across from me, covered in sweat. “You need to push them to get us a bus,” he told me. “This is not okay.”
“I’ve been asking the coach all year, and he just keeps laughing me off. It’s never going to happen.”
“It’s not fair.” Mike said. “I have to get out of here.” He slumped back in his seat.
“It’s not that bad,” I said.
“To you it’s not. You’re the quarterback. You’re invincible.”
“Hey, screw you, boy. You’re the one that puts the ball in the hole.”
“Yeah, I guess I do, don’t I?” He beamed. “Are you passing your classes?”
“Yes,” I said, “and you don’t have to check up on me to make sure that I’m doing my work.”
“Yes, I do. You get easily distracted,” Mike declared.
“Easily distracted? What are you talking about?”
“Falling asleep in class, playing with your phone in class—you do it all. Make sure you’re paying attention.”
“Fine.” I leaned my head back in the seat. The walls of the bus were metal and white hot.
“So how’s it going with your tutor?”
“You mean have I done it yet? No, but I will.”
“You won’t do it,” Mike said. “She won’t give it up to anyone. She’s probably asexual or something.”
“She’s not asexual,” I said. “She’s definitely into men.”
“How can you tell? Does she look at you?”
“Not at my body, really. It’s different. I think there’s chemistry, but I can’t tell.”
“You’re probably reading too much into what she’s doing. She isn’t interested in anyone. She’s made that quite clear to all of us.”
“I’m not backing off. I’m going to be her first.” I said. “I’m doing it.”
“You’re kidding yourself, man. She’s going to see you coming.”
“That won’t matter if she can’t resist me,” I said.
“You’re a dog.”
“Hey,” I said, “I just like women. I’m not a man-whore.”
Mike turned to look out the window. I watched the highway pass by. There were small shops and trailer parks at first. Then the city gave way to desert, miles and miles of nothing but dirt and spiny bushes. It took hours for us to get back into the city again.