Escaping the Current

12. Advice Over Leftover Pizza

Kaden's leg was shaking as he sat in the chair, waiting for the coach to come in and yell at him. His eyes were fixated on the poster on the wall. The whole team was printed on it, in their royal blue and gold uniform. Austin and Mo were standing beside the coach, who was standing in the middle of the poster. Besides their undeniable attractiveness making them stand out, they shared the same presence of seemingly equal importance. Their similar build gave them a matching stance of confidence. Their eyes harbored a look showing they knew exactly where they were going and how they would get there. He wondered if either of them noticed this about each other. Or did they see each other and only see a shadow in a fog that they could only think of as an enemy?

Before he could think about it more, his eyes shifted to the player at the end. Miles was quite attractive himself, but he stood differently from Austin and Mo. The stance was the same as the two guys but it didn't have the same effect. It was all in his eyes. That was what made him different from Austin and Mo, and the rest of the team too. To Kaden, his eyes might have been borrowed from a demon that was sent from hell, and his given mission was to take the souls of vulnerable people. They were dark brown. And as he looked harder at him, Kaden could see the greed behind them. So, even from the poster, his confident stance reeked of entitlement. Kaden was glad that he didn't really feel the presence of that entire school day. Although his day wasn't pleasant, regardless of Miles' presence at school.

In the morning, as soon as he and Austin got out of the car, all eyes were on them. It was as if the events of the day before were known by most of the student body. People whispered as they walked by and a few even gasped, which Kaden thought was stupid and unnecessary. Austin became noticeably uncomfortable, especially when they made their way inside the school. Austin had his head down and was almost hiding behind Kaden. Austin was barely the stoic, strong, confident guy that was on the poster that morning.

Kaden remembered desperately wanting to Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo them out of school. Sadly they had to endure the entire awkward day with their matching black eyes. Kaden's wasn't as noticeable as Austin's. But neither one of theirs matched Mauricio's. And half of his face was still swollen too. Kaden couldn't help but feel guilty every time he saw Mo walk into one of their shared classes.

It had seemed like the news had been spreading about the three of them. Wherever he went that day, people whispered Austin and Mauricio's names when he walked past. And if he stayed in the same spot for longer than a few seconds, he felt all the eyes fall on him. It all intensified during his study period when he was called to the coach's office.

What a crappy day, he thought. It could only get crappier.

As if he heard Kaden's thoughts, the coach opened the door and walked in. Kaden couldn't bear to look at him as he made his way to the desk and chair in front of him. He just kept staring at the poster.

'Mr. Jefferson, I bet you never thought you'd ever step foot in this room, did you?' the coach joked with a dry tone.

Kaden gritted his teeth and shook his head. 'The smell of sweat, dirty socks and farts down the corridor from your office kind of seals all thoughts of being here, sir.'

'Just call me coach, I can't stand being called sir. It makes me feel ancient,' the coach said, which caused Kaden to finally look at him and examine the man in front of him.

'There's absolutely no reason to feel ancient at all,' Kaden softly said admiring the coach. He was undeniably handsome with the perfect amount of facial hair on his face. The man seemed to be on the other side of 40 with beautifully placed small laugh lines. Kaden noticed how well kept his muscular body was comparing him to his high school photo in a frame on the wall. He had all of the ingredients that would make Kaden melt if he was into daddies. 'Doubt anyone that ever calls you sir thinks you're old. You should never feel old, coach.'