Locker Room Talk

I'm in the locker room, tying my shoes to get ready for my track session when Adam plops down on the bench next to me.

"Getting ready to run your laps around the field?" he asks while he tosses his sneakers on the floor and pulls a sock from inside one of them to put on his foot.

I turn to him wide eyed. I never expected to see him again after our talk in the infirmary, but here he is, making small talk before gym class.

To say I'm surprised is an understatement.

I think he's ignoring the fact that I'm gawking and just carries on shoving his sock on his foot. "Can you imagine going back in time and telling us that someday I was going to not suck at basketball, and you were going to be Mr. Athletic with the best record on the tracking team? We'd never believe it, am I right?"

"I'm the second best, actually. And 'athletic' is kind of a strong word to use." I point out and he chuckles at me.

My heart skips a beat at that.

"Hey, you know your friend Zack?" he asks, out of the blue.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind telling him to stop giving me death glares? He glares at me non-stop during basketball practice and it kind of throws me off my game a little."

"Oh. He is?" I say, confused. "Maybe he's trying to put pressure on you, so he can win the game?" I offer as explanation. "Zack is very competitive, he'll try just about anything to win."

"Yeah, but I'm on his team, so, he's kind of sabotaging himself with that one." Adam counters. "I think he might have some beef with me. Are you bad mouthing me by any chance?"

"No! Of course not! I'm so sorry. I'll tell him to stop, don't worry."

"Why do you think he's doing it?" he asks.

"Zack doesn't like it when people are rude, that's all. Not that you are, but he might've gotten that impression because of the way you talked to me. He doesn't know that you have every right to act this way with me, so… I'm really sorry, I'll speak to him." I babble on, mortified.

He chuckles, seeming amused by my flustered state. "Okay. How about that girl who's always hanging on your arm? Is she your girlfriend?"

I can barely focus on what he's asking. I'm trying so hard to not let him see how much I'm freaking out, because he's sitting here with me, and he's asking about my life and we're talking like we're friends again, and I don't know what is real anymore.

"W-what? You mean Julia?" I try to force myself to calm down for long enough to at least be able to sputter out an answer. "She's not my girlfriend. We're just friends."

"Are you sure about that? Everybody thinks you're dating."

"What? Really? Why?" I ask, baffled.

"Well, you carry her books and escort her to classes every day. You two eat together in the cafeteria and she's always hugging you. You act like you're together." He points out.

"Oh. No, we're not together like that. She's a bit high maintenance and always bosses me around, but she's just a friend." I explain.

"So… no girlfriends?" he asks, taking a curious glance at me.

"No. I don't have a girlfriend."

"That's hard to believe." He mutters while he laces his sneakers. "I hear girls talking about you at least twice a day. I can't believe none of them have snatched you up yet."

I stare at my shoes and pretend to fix something to avoid looking him in the eyes.

"I'm not into dating much..." I lie.

"Why?" he asks. "You got burned before and don't want to get burned again?"

I pause and try to think fast before I answer. I don't want to continue lying to him, but I can't tell him I can't date anyone in this homophobic school because I'm in the closet and scared shitless of being outed.

"I haven't found anyone yet who's worthy of sticking around, I guess." I compromise with this bit of truth.

I glance up at him and blink stunned, because the light coming from the window on the wall by our side makes his eyes this incredibly green hue with specks of gold, and I've never realized how fucking beautiful his eyes were until now.

It is kind of breathtaking.

"Come on," He teases without realizing the impact he has on me. "You're wasting your high school years, man. You used to be this snotty, scrawny kid, but now you're the school's heartthrob. You can have anyone you want!"

"That's not true!" I laugh at his absurd notion that I am some sort of sensation around here. "I hear girls talk about you at least a dozen times a day, so... you're kind of winning."

He smiles and his eyes twinkle a little, which makes him look younger and a little mischievous. "That's because I'm the new kid on the block. Well, kind of new," he says playfully. "People will stop talking about me when the novelty runs out, don't worry. Soon you'll get to be the reigning king again."

I pretend to wipe sweat off my brow as a joke. "Oh, pfew! Thanks for letting me know. I can stop worrying then."

"You haven't changed one bit." He muses, shaking his head and smiling at the ground. "I thought you'd be different, but you're still the same clueless idiot from before."

"Hey! How did I downgrade from 'reigning king' to 'the same idiot from before' so fast?" I object, feigning insult.

He slaps me playfully on the back. "Yep. Exactly the same idiot from before."

He stands up, all set to start gym class. "Well, I'm off. Would you mind talking to Zack before he goes to class? I'm hoping he can let go of whatever beef he has with me, for today's practice at least. We kind of need to pull it together for the next big game."

I nod and give him a shy smile. "Sure. No problem."

While I watch Adam leave, I almost have to pinch myself to believe he actually has stopped to talk to me. Even if it was only to ask me to talk to my friend to stop glaring at him but, still… He sat next to me and we joked and laughed, and for a moment, it felt as if we were back in time, goofing around and back to being best friends again.

This is when I start to believe I could maybe have Adam back.