Chapter 37: Changes, Part 1

I darted into the dingy men's locker room, carrying my backpack. Inside, young men were walking around in various stages of undress, preparing for gym class. Knowing Zac would recognize my backpack, I stashed it into the nearest locker, and I lucked out. There was a gym uniform lying at the bottom. I looked around and didn't see Zac. Quickly, I pulled the navy shorts and gray T-shirt over my muscular frame. The clothes were a bit tight, but would do for now. I looked over my shoulder to the right, still looking for Zac, when a big burly guy with blonde hair stepped out of the way, and there he was. Noticing the burly guy-dressed only in a towel-I realized that morphing into Steve probably wouldn't have been such a stretch.

My heart fluttered as I eyed Zac sitting on the end of the bench with his bare, tanned chest. He was dressing, but his eyebrows were drawn together with a forlorn look in his eyes. He was in his underwear and stood to pull up his shorts, when he spotted me looking his way.

I quickly averted my eyes. Great. Now he'll probably think I'm a perv. I held my breath as he walked casually toward me across the locker room. Young men ran from the room, fully dressed, up the stairs to the gym, while others were in their underwear, or less, finding their clothes and dressing for class. I stood and propped my foot up on the heavy wooden bench to tie my tennis shoes-appearing to be a brunette, muscular teenage boy-when a hand appeared before my face.

"Hey, man," Zac said in his beautiful, melodic voice. I looked up and he was holding out his hand in greeting. "Hi, my name's Zac Davis. Nice to meet you."

I took his hand and shook it heftily. "Brock Connors," I replied in a smooth baritone voice.

"You new around here?" Zac asked, his eyebrows pulling together. It was amazing. Even though he had just received a bomb shell, he was still willing to help someone else, putting his own worries aside.

"Yeah," I nodded, trying not to say much. I mainly wanted to lay low and watch out for Zac without attracting attention, unless it was necessary. "I just moved here today."

I started to walk off, but he grabbed my arm for the second time today. "Where're you from?"

I thought for a moment, then replied, "Florida."

Zac's eyebrows pulled together for a bit, then he smiled and asked, "What part?"

I just couldn't resist. "West Palm Beach."

"No way," Zac said incredulously. "That's where a friend of mine is from."

A friend. Oh, so I was just a friend. But I quickly shook it off. "You from here?" I asked, making small talk while I tied my other shoe.

"No, I'm from D.C." Zac replied, then added. "But I've been here for a while."

I nodded while Zac pulled on his T-shirt and sat down to tie his shoes. I turned my attention to my shoes, fiddling with them to waste time until Zac was ready to leave.

"My man, Zac! What's going on?" a well-built teenager with smooth mahogany skin and no shirt asked Zac, laughing. A few of his friends were standing nearby with their arms crossed, smirking. Zac nodded, but said nothing, not even looking up from his shoes. The guy didn't take the hint. My arms clenched.

"Have you been hittin' that?" the well-built guy asked Zac.

Zac froze, then slowly stood to his full height, looking the guy in the eye. "What are you talking about, Ray?" He clenched his arms, his muscles flexing. Zac wasn't laughing.

"You know, man!" Ray said, pushing Zac's arm, laughing. "That new chic! The brunette? Are you hittin' that?"

Zac's jaw clenched and his arms tensed. "What are you talking about?"

"Man, don't play dumb with me," Ray continued, not knowing when to quit. "I saw you leave with her in History class today! Come on, man! You can tell me." Then his voice grew low and conspiratorial. "Did you find an empty classroom for a little tae-ta-tae, or did you just do it in the car?"

Zac turned for a minute to look at me, then clenched his fist and hit Ray in the face so hard that blood splattered on the mirror over the sinks.

I was impressed.

Ray immediately held his hand to his mouth, and dug out a loose tooth. "Man, you just knocked out my tooth! What the hell?"

I stood by Zac's side, ready. Ray's friends immediately tensed for a fight, but, eyeing me by his side-seeing my heavy muscles and burly frame-decided not to act.

"Don't you ever talk about Lisa like that again!" Zac yelled, getting into Ray's face. "She's not like that! She's a lady and you will treat her like one! And don't ever say anything like that to me again!" And with that, he turned to me and said, "Sorry, man."

"Hey, don't apologize to me," I said in the baritone voice, holding up my hands in surrender. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

I held out a hand, then he slid his into mine and pulled away in an informal handshake, as guys do. "Come on," Zac said with a smile, then headed for the gym, leaving Ray in the care of his boys.

I was impressed. Zac was fearless, even though there were three of them and two of us. And he didn't know if I had his back, for that matter. It also warmed my heart that he stood up for me.

"Who's Lisa, anyway?" I asked, deciding to test the waters, as we both stood at the ready for basketball.

"She's my girlfriend," Zac replied, his eyebrows pulling together, "or at least, I think she is."

"Hey, don't worry, man," I said, slapping him on the back. "I'm sure whatever it is, it'll work out."

"Yeah," Zac said, still worried. "We'll see." Then he changed the subject. "You up for some b-ball?"

"Of course!" I said, excited, as my lips curled into a half smile. "Always."

Zac's eyebrows pulled together, giving me a weird look, and then brushed it off.