School Activities

No Chance

Jack met up with Adam first thing the next morning. "How'd the test go?" he asked, leaning against the lockers beside Adam, who was rummaging around in his own. "Game tomorrow night?"

Adam grinned and looked over at Jack with a nod of his head. "Practice today, the game tomorrow," he said, pumping his fist in triumph before grabbing a textbook then closing the locker. He turned to Jack. "How was the park?"

"Insightful," Jack said. He glanced around and lowered his voice. "The guy writes poems." He shook his head. "And ENJOYS it."

"Yeah, well....everyone's not as sensitive as you, Jack," Adam said, sarcastically. "My brother writes poems for a living."

"And has no girlfriend," Jack said. "And probably hasn't even gotten laid."

"He's stickin' with no sex until marriage."

"Dumbass," Jack said with a shake of his head. "You sure he's not gay?"

"He's got porn to prove he's not."

"I bet you have some interesting times visitin' him."

"I gotta get to class," Adam said, shaking his head at Jack. "What's on the agenda for today with the shut-in?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders, pushing away from the lockers as he followed after Adam down the hall. "I gave him my number, so he'll either call or I'll see him at lunch. Maybe I'll bring him over to practice."

"Good idea," Adam said. "That way you can prove to the guys you actually DO have some balls."

"Then I'll be the only one," Jack said since the rest of the team hadn't been able to go through with the game-turned-bet. "If I don't catch ya at lunch, I'll see ya at practice." He turned and headed for class, leaving Adam behind.

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Jack sat down with Ennis at lunch. He didn't overlook the fact that Alma got up and left immediately. Jack looked over at Ennis, but Ennis didn't react to anything his girlfriend did. They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Got anything goin' on after school?" Jack asked, looking back at Ennis.

Ennis shrugged, providing no other answer than that. He talked more when there was no one around and even then it was frustrating trying to get something out of him.

"I usually meet up with the guys at football practice," Jack said. "Could be fun." Hopefully, the guys wouldn't say anything and keep their jokes to themselves. That would definitely fuck up the bet.

"I don't know," Ennis mumbled with a slight shake of his head. "I mean--"

"Might make ya popular."

Ennis looked at Jack then shook his head and stood up, picking up his tray. "No thanks," he said. "If I wanted popularity, I would've argued about my parents movin' us." He turned and walked off, offering only that little bit of insight about his life.

Jack watched him go, wondering if he should suggest someplace else only to find out what this guy was really like. He was a shut-in, but he had obviously been popular back in the day. He glanced around then got to his feet and headed off.

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After school, Jack sat on the bleachers at the field. Adam and the other guys were running around on the field. Jack thought about going down there to join them but just wasn't in the mood for that. All they would do was throw around jokes. He had never really paid attention, but why hadn't that got tiring after this long?