Under The Bleachers

Car Rides

"I had a really nice time tonight," Brad said, slowly taking Chad's hands into his own, scrupulously making sure nobody was around.
"I had an amazing time too, Brad, I loved practicing my throws with you"
Chad was a tall, dirty blond man. He had a lean athletic build, his muscles were carefully sculpted from years of playing football and working out. He had the body of a Greek statue. His skin was glistening in the afternoon sun, forming a halo of light around him. He had mossy green orbs, speckled with hints of gold. His eyes were deep and pensive, like an ancient pond in the middle of the woods. It seemed nothing could disturb them. He gazed longingly into Brad's icy blue orbs. Brad is a tall seventeen year old, standing at an impressive 6'9". His muscular body shimmered, his sweat shining in the twilight. He shivered at Chad's touch, the simple contact sending a jolt through his spine.
"Chad," Brad chuckled softly, "your hands are cold."
Chad snorted at the remark, then looked into Brad's eyes "You know, maybe�""
He suddenly cut himself off, his eyes widening. His gaze was fixed on something behind Brad's shoulders, but what it was, Brad couldn't tell. He turned around, and slightly frowned. Chad whispered to him under his breath "...It's my mom..." he quickly let go of Brad's hands. Brad took a step back, as not to draw suspicion. Chad's mom was much like his dad: bitter and homophobic. In the near distance, they could see the Honda Civic pulling up to park. As Chad let out a soft sigh, the window of the car rolled down.
His mother's shrill voice rang through the air "Chadwick!! My dear gosh, why are you still in your JERSEY!" She enunciated every word slowly, her voice progressively getting louder with each breath. "Get in! Urgh, you reek!"
Chad nodded and got in the car, letting out a huff as he sat down in the back seat, the front seat already being occupied by his mom's purse. As the car slowly backed away, Chad glanced at Brad, looking away after noticing Brad was looking too. Brad thought he saw Chad blushing, but obviously he was thinking about Brittney, the head cheerleader. They were really close, Chad and Brittney, Brad saw them talk after every game. As he was getting lost in thought, Brad almost got run over by his dad's car. He was never a good driver, one day he'll crash and he can kiss goodbye to his fancy Porsche.
"Get OUT of the way!! Bradley oh my God, why are you never paying attention!"
"DAD! This is the sidewalk for God's sake! Argh, whatever, unlock the car so I can get in." Brad said as he kept pulling on the car door handle.
"Keep up this attitude and you'll be walking home, mister." Brad's dad scoffed, and unlocked the car. Brad sat down in the front seat, and quickly dozed off in minutes. It wasn't until they pulled up to the driveway that he woke up, feeling slightly nauseated from all the twists and turns of the road home. Actually, now that he thought about it, the road to his house was fairly straightforward, did his dad really drive that badly? He was about to ask, but his dad was already home. Brad sighed and got up, his back sore from practice and from the unconventional position he slept in.
As he headed inside, Brad put his backpack and sports bag down on the kitchen table, exhausted from the day's events.
"So... how was practice?" Brad's dad asked, taking a large bite out of an apple.
Brad was the top linebacker on the team. "Good, I intercepted a pass and returned it to the house."
"That's my boy!" Brad's dad said, aggressively slapping him on the back. He pauses for a second, his brows furrowing.
"Bradley, do you have a girlfriend yet?"
"Daaaaaad!" He whined, trying to push the thought of Chad holding his hands to the back of his mind.
"Come on, every good football player needs a hot girlfriend! Tyler and Kyle have girlfriends."
"Well, Tyler and Kyle are assholes anyways. They're not even as good at football as me, in fact, they're actually just terrible at it."
"That may be true, but they show off by having two girls hanging off their arms."
"I thought you only cared about me doing well in sports anyways. Why do you suddenly care about me getting a girlfriend?"
"Well, I bet Chad has a girlfriend, doesn't he?"
"For your information, dad, he does not. Neither of us do."
"So you're just going to let Tyler and Kyle outshine you two?"
Brad ignored him. "I'm tired. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed." he said, trying to hide his frustration. "I'm heading upstairs."
"Hey now, no going to bed without a hearty dinner!" Brad's dad shouted from the kitchen, "We need you to stay nice and strong for football. When you're done showering food will be ready"
Brad let out a grunt and headed to his room, weariness starting to get the better of him.
Brad walked into his room and quickly peeled off his jersey and clothes, promptly tossing them into the laundry basket. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, walking to the bathroom. He turned on the hot water and let it run for a brief moment, letting out a sigh of relief once it was at the right temperature. He got in the shower and grabbed the shampoo, lathering his hair with it. He gently massaged his head, careful not to get any soap in his eyes. He pushed the strands of hair out of his face as the water ran over him and let it wash away his nerves. His mind kept wandering back to Chad, and how much fun he had with him tonight. His feelings towards Chad were totally platonic, of course. He swiftly finished showering, not wanting to dwell on the thought any further. He quickly toweled his hair dry, put on an oversized t-shirt and some sweatpants and headed downstairs where dinner was waiting for him. He ate quickly, shoveling mashed potatoes and steak in his mouth, not wanting to talk to his dad for any longer than he had to. When he was finished, he took his plate and put it in the dishwasher, frowning at how full it was getting. He knew mom had divorced his dad a long time ago, and didn't want anything to do with either of them, so you'd think after all this time his dad would have learned to do chores. In an attempt to avoid his father he quickly ran up the stairs, and headed back to his room. He shut the door and let out a sigh, collapsing from exhaustion. He slowly crawled his way into his bed, and that is when he noticed his phone lighting up. His dark blue rotary phone rang. It was a gift from his mom before she left.
"Hey Brad. It's Chad. My parents are out to dinner and left me a turkey sandwich on rye."
"Eww gross what did you do?"
"I got a c on my math test. Who even cares about Math when it comes to football."
Brad took a bite out of a piece of stale bread he had on his nightstand flopping onto his bed. "Yeah but we need good grades if we want that football scholarship. They only give it out to two students per school and I want it to be us."
Chad nodded even though Brad couldn't see him. "Yeah I get it. I'm getting tutoring by this guy. He's most definitely a fag." He said.
"What guy?" Brad said thankful it wasn't a girl. "Short with the glasses kinda fat. Jerry I think it was. Kimbell."
"Oh Jerry Kimble. Yeah he tutored me once too. I didn't like him. He talked about robots too much like dude who cares."
"Not me that's for sure." Chad said with a short chuckle. "So we still on for training tomorrow."
"Yeah of course. I'll see you then." Brad said. "Goodnight Chad."
"Goodnight Brad."
Brad listened to the line go dead just holding the phone in his hand awhile. After about fifteen minutes he but his phone back on the receiver, closed his eyes and went to sleep.