KISS: Casablanca High School

Ch 96: Swim Like a Fish (Ace)

Mom still hadn't said a word to me since I decided to take a stab in the dark and come out to her. But at least Dad didn't care. Dad still loved me. It hurt to hear them arguing about me all the time, acting like I couldn't hear it. It definitely got worse the night I asked for the $150 participation fee for swim. 

"I'm not going to pay money so he can go and stare at half-naked boys!" "He's doing swim because he likes the sport! Just accept that and accept him! He's your son, don't you love him?!" "Not like that!"

 I let out a sigh, burying my face in my pillow and trying to block out the sound of them arguing. Again. The door to my room creaked open and little feet shuffled in. "Ace? I had-had a nightmare and M-momma and Dad are fighting again and I'm scared," JoJo mumbled, yawning.

With a groan, I pushed myself upright, giving him a smile. "Hey, it's alright. They're not fighting, they just don't realize how loud they're talking."

"Are they fighting about you?" he whispered. My smile wavered and I rose to my feet, scooping him into my arms and hugging him tightly. "No, no, it's not that." "Are you gonna go away again? I don't want you to," he choked, starting to tremble.

"I'm not! Don't you worry about a thing, JoJo, I'm not going anywhere! Now come on, let's get you back in bed, alright? You and I both have school tomorrow," I said, stroking his hair as I carried him to his room. He fell asleep clinging to me so I had to pry his arms off my neck and lay him gently back in bed, tucking him under the covers.

A faint frown spread across his face even in his sleep and his arm moved around restlessly. Grinning, I lifted his teddy bear from the ground, setting it under his arm and kissing him on the forehead. "Night, JoJo. Sleep tight," I murmured, before rising to my feet and walking out of his room, closing the door softly behind me. 

I felt eyes staring at me and turned around to find Mom standing there, arms folded across her chest. She didn't say anything, just looked strangely at me, so I guess it was progress. I just kept on with the usual and ignored her, heading to my room and falling back into bed. 

She still hadn't said anything by the time I left for school, meeting up with a very excited Peter in the parking lot. "First day of swim! You excited?!" he cried, giving me a kiss. I laughed, squeezing his hand. "I mean as excited as I can be about a two and a half hour practice doing nothing but swimming laps," I said with a grin, taking a seat next to Gene and staring at his arm in surprise. He just sighed and handed me a sharpie. 

"Hey, I'd rather have to swim laps than run them," Eric grumbled, thumbing through whatever book they were reading in English. Hah, AP suckers. "I told you to join swim, it's gonna be more fun than track anyway," Bruce retorted, ruffling Eric's hair. "Sorry man, I'm a sprinter, not a swimmer." 

Gene let out a sigh and took back the sharpie as I finished signing my name. "I wish I could play a spring sport." "Well, you should've thought about that before breaking your arm, now shouldn't you?" Paul teased. It was always fun to watch Gene's ears turn red when he got mad. "For the last time, it wasn't my fault," he growled. 

I saw Bruce and Eric looking at each other, raising an eyebrow. "I mean well technically if you had just done what we had practiced, which was tripoding, which you said was stupid and you never needed to use it anyway, then it wouldn't have happened, sooo..." Bruce left the sentence hanging in the air as the rest of us burst into laughter before the bell sent us scrambling for class. 

I was still in a good mood by the time the last bell rang and I grabbed Peter's hand, heading toward his car. "Swim time!" I said gleefully, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "Swim time!" he replied, leaning back and resting his head against my shoulder, staring up at me with a smile. "Aw, you look even cuter from this angle," I said, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead and feeling my heart melt as he giggled. "And so do you, my darling! Now come on, let's go pick up Kulick and head to the locker rooms. I wanna be able to see you in a speedo for as long as possible." 

"Ooh, I forgot about that part of swim! Oh yeah we should definitely hit the lockers cutie, you need to change," I teased, slipping an arm around his waist and pulling him against my side as we walked to Bruce's car. Eric was sitting in the trunk, eating handfuls of cereal straight from the box. He waved when he saw us. "Hey guys! Bruce said he had to go make up a quiz and to go ahead and get changed without him, he'll meet you in the locker rooms. But I mean you don't necessarily have to follow that. I mean he did tell me not to eat his cereal, but oops." 

"Eric, not the cornflakes! He's gonna kill you!" Peter cried. Eric just shrugged, eating another handful. "Nah, he owes me one. But you guys probably should go, doesn't it start at 3?" "Uh-huh, it does. Come on sexy, I'm not gonna be late for my first practice!" I cried, grabbing Peter's hand and practically skipping to the locker rooms. "Okay now go get changed," I said, slapping Peter on the butt as he ducked into one of the stalls with a laugh. I followed suit, getting changed in the next stall over. The instant I had my speedo on I sat on one of the benches, waiting for him. "Peter come on hurry upppp!" I cried, kicking his stall door. "Shut up, I'm trying!" I grinned, kicking his door some more. "Do I need to come in there and help you?" I teased. "Ooh, maybe you should!" 

And I absolutely would've, if Bruce hadn't walked into the locker room looking like he wanted to die. Without a word and without even acknowledging us, he just pulled open his locker and started grabbing his stuff. "Hey curly, you feeling okay?" I asked, rising to my feet. 

He let out a huge sigh, staring into the depths of his locker, before shrugging. "Yeah I'll be fine, thanks though," he mumbled. "Come on Bruce, what's wrong?" He forced a smile, heading into a stall. "Just tired and not exactly ready for practice." Biting back a sigh, I sat back on the bench and waited. 

Once we were all changed we just kinda hung out in the locker room, Bruce sitting with a towel draped around him and Peter sitting with me draped around him. "Ooh, five minutes until we start!" I said cheerfully, kissing him on the cheek. "Mm, give me one sec then babe, I gotta do something." 

Peter went and stood half-hidden behind his locker door, but that wasn't enough to hide the snorting sound. "Peter, what the hell are you doing?" Bruce asked in a tired voice, not even bothering to look up from his phone. "Uh, you know, just having a bit of my special nose medication. You sound like you could use some yourself, you wanna try?" "No thanks. I just wanna get this over with and go home. Now come on, we're gonna be late," he said quietly, rising to his feet. Shaking my head, I slammed Peter's locker shut, wiping away the cocaine from his face and kissing him again. "Come on, you goof. Stop getting high and just come and swim." 

"Cutie you know if I want to swim like Bruce I gotta have a little extra in me!" Peter protested as I grabbed his hand and dragged him outside. "Nuh-uh, you just gotta swim like a fish."