I Wanna Hold Your Hand [BXB]

Fake Friends

    Stepping onto the football field, Malachai slowly ran his fingers through his golden hair, letting out a soft sigh as he joined his teammates, his legs stretching across the artificial grass. His teammates were scattered around the field, most in small huddles, talking about girls or what they had done over the summer, which had indeed most likely been girls. The senior guys seemed to be girl-crazy, which was befuddling to Malachai, as he could not care about any of them, let alone be charmed. Malachai was never one to obsess over people in a romantic way, therefore being crazy for anyone sounded like a farfetched stretch. As he met up with his group of so-called friends, they all fell silent; green, golden brown, and hazel eyes all fell on his figure. It was quite clear the crowd had been talking about Malachai's recent coming out.

      "Hey buddy, how's it goin'?" Damon asked, his newly bleach blonde curly hair falling against his forehead as another guy's hand slipped away from its hold. He pretended a half smile, the left side of his naturally pink lips twitching. None of them truly cared how he was, they were quite obviously all disgusted by the fact that the quarterback was a homosexual man. They were all playing for him, with him, and were led by him; a "faggot" as they would surely call him behind his back. To them, it was shameful to be seen below the ranking of Malachai. Running his tongue against his upper teeth, Malachai repositioned his weight onto his right leg, letting out a huff. He knew they were pretending to care, even with the immense amount of effort.

      "I am great, Damon. How are you?" Malachai kindly responded, holding back every inch of anger boiling up inside him. He wanted to pelt Damon and his fresh blonde hair across the field, but he decided to be the bigger man and keep it civil. Eyeing Damon up and down, his forest green irises met with Damon's golden brown ones, flecks of fear apparent in his eyes. Malachai nearly burst out laughing, knowing the fear was simply because he was attracted to men. If Damon or the others had not known about him being gay, then there would be no fear evident, as there would be nothing to fear. Keeping his head held high, he let his eyes graze over his other teammates.

     "Oh uh. I am fine." Damon responded hesitantly and shifted his feet, breaking eye contact with Malachai. Usually, Damon was quite talkative, but now that the news was out, he kept himself quiet. Sensing the growing tension, Malachai leaned forward, his lips inches away from Damon's ear.

     "One, I am not attracted to straight guys like you, so you do not have to worry. Second, please do not call me buddy. Got it?" Malachai whispered in his ear, his hot breath fanning Damon's clammy skin. He did not have to feel his skin to know how clammy he was; the sweat was building up fast, beading against his ivory skin. Malachai stood up straight and made eye contact with a couple of his teammates, noticing as worry was evident in their fear-stricken eyes. "Like I was just telling Damon, you guys have nothing to worry about, as I am not attracted to straight guys, especially homophobic ones. I would hate for you guys to feel uncomfortable around me because of my sexuality." As Malachai spoke, most of the tension was lessened, a few of the guys relaxing a little. He was not trying to be petty or demanding, he wanted his teammates to know the truth and he did not want any of them to feel uncomfortable around him, as it made him feel bad for being himself. As one of the quarterbacks, it was Malachai's job to make sure his teammates were feeling confident.

     A few moments after giving his little speech, Coach Rigby appeared on the field, whistle in hand. Placing the red whistle in between his lips, Rigby blew air through the whistle to catch all of the players' attention "Okay boys, time to warm up; start with your dynamic stretching and static stretching. After stretching, jog ten laps around the field. Then, I need my offensive linemen to practice against the defense to strengthen their offense techniques. Quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers, do your pat-and-go drills. Defensive linemen, I need you to practice your proper tackling form. Once you are done, wait at the bench and we shall start with drills." He commanded, taking a swig of his ice water.