Small Town Boy

Chapter 14

I was shaking in the passenger seat of Parker's car, and not because it was a freezing morning. It was Monday, still dark outside, and Parker and I were in the car on our way to school for our early morning football practice. Coach Hudson had told us to meet in the school gym, instead of on the football field. On the one hand, I was glad to be out of the cold, but on the other, I knew we were about to be punished. 

Neither of those two things, however, was at the front of my mind. I hadn't seen any of the guys since Friday, and it was only those who had messaged me directly that I'd heard from. Honestly, I didn't want to be there. I wanted nothing more than to jump out of Parker's car and go home. I wanted to lock myself in my room and go to bed. The last thing I wanted to do was face them all. 

Parker had insisted, however. He told me that if I didn't go, it would show them that they had won. He was probably right, although it didn't make the thought of being there any more pleasant. 

There were already around a dozen cars in the Parking lot when we arrived. Parker found a spot close to the entrance to the school and parked. My heart was pounding. In about a minute, I would have a much better picture of the state of the team. Parker had reminded me that everything could work out, but every time he said that I reminded him that there was an equal chance it wouldn't. 

"You ready?" Parker asked. 

"No." I sighed. "But what choice do I have?" 

"Come on." He said, giving me a small smile. "Let's go. If it gets bad, I promise we can leave." 

"Okay." I nodded. We didn't need our football gear, so I'd stuffed a change of clothes in my normal school bag. I picked it up, and followed Parker from the car, into the school, towards the rest of our team. 

My feet crunched over the frosted ground, each step reminding me of the fragility of my situation. I'd been nervous for the first practice, but not this nervous. I was trailing a few feet behind Parker in an obviously futile effort to remain unseen for as long as possible. Parker stopped a few feet from the entrance of the gym and turned around, waiting for me. 

He let me approach, then placed a hand on each of my shoulders. It was grounding. My heart which had been racing slowed a touch and my breathing smoothed out. I really was glad he was here, had he not been, there is no way I'd show my face here. 

"Just be normal. Like you always are." He said calmly. I didn't trust myself to answer so I simply nodded. 

"I love you, you've got this." He said, pulling me towards him and engulfing me in a hug. For a few seconds, I was able to forget the impending situation, knowing that I was completely safe with him. That ended the moment he let me go. The frigid air replaced his warm body. I shivered. 

Parker opened the door, holding it open for me. Hesitantly, I entered, sighing with relief at the empty corridor. Parker entered, letting to door swing shut behind him. 

"You lead." He instructed, ushering me forward. "It sends a message." 

I lead Parker down the corridor towards the gym. I didn't know what kept me taking steps forward, but it was voluntary. As we got closer, we began to hear the voices of our teammates, laughing, chatting, and shouting. It was now or never. I pushed open the door and walked in. 

I'd envisioned a thousand scenarios about how this would go down so I didn't really have a concrete expectation about how it might go down. A few of the guys closer to the door noticed my arrival, which in itself wasn't unusual, however, the time they spent staring at me was. It spread through the room, and there was a noticeable lull in the chatter. Suddenly, I was no longer cold, but burning from the attention.