Practice (AU)

Chapter 1

The day started like any other. The sky was grey and the air held a very somberly tone. He was exhausted from last night's party. He'd gotten so drunk to the point where he could barely remember it. He remembered the small flashes in between shots, Matt passing out, drawing mustaches on his face, and eventually, he woke up in his room. His head was banging so he got up from his bed. He reeked of booze and hormones. A cold shower could do wonders right now. He turned the water on as he stared in the mirror at himself. Another new pimple. He'd recently bought cream to treat some of his acne.

Soon enough he was in his dad's truck driving to school with a bagel in his mouth. Alex changed the radio station not interested in listening to jazz. He'd preferred older music some days, it's all his dad listened to when he was younger. He accelerated the car faster. Sheffield looked so miserable some days. He had to drive almost 25 minutes every day to school, it was custom. Matt and Nick did the same, sometimes they'd even carpool but today he'd be driving alone. He turned the music up as he rolled down his window. He grabbed the small white box placing the thin tobacco-filled paper to his lips. This was one hell of a way to start his morning. The buzz on his way to school was always the best, something about feeling tired before hitting it. He loved cigarettes almost too much.

When he got to his first class period he noticed his teacher Ms. Baldwin writing the lesson on the board. "Famous Inventors..." It lost his attention. He already wanted to go home and rest, he'd just gotten here. "Al." Nick patted his back and sat down beside him. "This was a fuckin' rager mate," Nick said giggling. "I don't remember half of it," Alex said smiling. "The mustaches were fokin' good." He added. Just then Matt came through the doorway, half a Sharpie mustache still etched on his face. They burst into a fit of giggles as he walked over. "Wha' are you two pansies laughin' abhat?" He asked scratching his face. "Y-you you've," Alex said in between chuckles. "You've got summat on yer upper lip." He said. "What is it?" Matt asked wiping it with his finger. "Mate you'd better go to the bathroom to get tha' off," Nick told him. Matt grumbled and sat down. "No way 'm fuckin' tired." He put his head down. "Class open your textbooks to page 115."

During his period after lunch, he noticed a boy sitting at the desk beside him. He'd never had to sit with anyone in this class, why'd they start now? He sat down adjusting his tie. The boy had his nose buried in a book, fucking lucky. Alex had forgotten his today. "Okay, I'm taking the attendance." He zoned out paying attention to the dove he'd just seen outside. "Alexander Turner." "Here." The boy looked over at him for a second. "Mariam Vincentio?" She called out. "'M present." A blonde girl with a rolled-up skirt raised her hand. She'd been applying her lipstick. Girls at his school always wore so much makeup, he'd made out with Mariam at Craig's party. There'd been that same lipstick all over his face after. It tasted of blueberry and oranges, not a great mix. He took out his notebook. "Today you'll work on the ionic compounds we studied yesterday." Fucking great.

After school let out he walked the long familiar halls to the gymnasium. He retrieved his wrestling bag from his locker. The light pattern his shoes created echoed through the halls. When he swung open the doors he soon found his team in the locker room. He pulled off his shirt slowly. A cold towel hit his back and he yelped moving away. He turned around to see Matt and a few lads now laughing. He glared at him. "That's payback for the mustache." He said grinning. Alex shook his head. "Tha' was all Nick! I jus' happened to be there." He said lying. "That's bull and ya know it." He walked off. Alex quickly got his wrestling uniform on and set out to the locker room. The boys were doing drills.

"Alex come here." He walked over to the coach. He saw a tall boy standing beside him messing with his hair. "This is Miles he jus' moved here." He said. Alex was confused, it showed on his face. "Tryouts have been over for mon-" Alex started to say. "Yes yes I know but he was high in his class in Liverpool. You two will be going against each other." "Coach with all respect is he even me size?" He asked looking Miles up and down. The other boy started to feel insecure under the firm gaze. "Yes, you're the same weight class. Now go do suicides with the rest of the lads."