Haunted

∞ Chapter 5 ∞

At the beginning of junior year, when one Saturday me and the guys were sitting in my and Drew’s new dorm, no television to watch games yet and the fitness centre of the school closed, we had been bored to death and searched for something active to fill the day with. Not having anything better to do on a sunny day, we headed out to the forest in search for some action and spend the day swimming in a lake and playing soccer in a clearing. When we came back in the evening, we’d had so much fun we decided we would do this every once in a while. We agreed no girls were aloud, even athletic ones, just a full load of testosterone, sweating, bonding, laughing and nice weather, no restrictions.

Drew, Alec, Tyler, Logan and me were dressed in running shorts and a T-shirt, split up in two cars with everything we needed in the back of Tyler’s old pick-up. On our way to our first destination of the day; the woods south-east of our town.

When we arrived, Tyler and Drew got the mountain bikes out of the back, while Alec and Logan were discussing who would be the first one to reach the lake while waiting for the bikes to come down. Alec put his bet on Drew, while Logan was sure it would be Tyler. I was sure it would be a close call. Tyler and Drew were competitive to no end.

“Tyler practically lives in the gym, Alec. No one’s gonna beat him in sports,” Logan stated very manner-of-fact.

“Yeah, but Drew always safes some of his adrenaline for the last minute sprint. I’m telling you, Tyler is gonna be first the whole ride, but Drew’s gonna pass him right in front of the finish.” Alec was already radiating with energy just by thinking about the race.

“Was Brady disappointed she couldn’t come?” I asked Alec.

“Nah. As much of a sporty type she is, she knows she could never keep up with us and she doesn’t want to embarrass herself, so she wouldn’t come anyway,” Alec said. “And I’m not saying guys are better in sports in general, even though it is biologically proven the male gender has more muscles, but she wants to win and well… With Tyler looking like a soon-to-become- bodybuilder, we all know there is no way she could win.”

“You know what I heard?” Logan suddenly said, “Some people say Mike has signed up for some kind of cage fight. To show people he is serious about loving to fight.”

Alec laughed. “What? Are you serious?”

“Yeah, honestly, I don’t think it’s the best idea he has ever had, but maybe that’s just me.”

Alec was almost doubling over with laughter by now. “Oh my god, he isn’t even gonna survive one fight! The kid barely has any muscles.”

I frowned. “Have you taken a look in the mirror lately, Alec? I think you and I have less muscles than Mike does.”

“Yeah, but you don’t find you and me in a fighting cage,” he pointed out. “Come on, Noah, face it. People with bodies like Tyler go there. Heck, Tyler doesn’t even do that shit. Am I the only one who finds this amusing?” Point taken. And Tyler wasn’t a fighter, although his looks said something different.

“Yo ladies, are you done gossiping yet?” Drew called.

I laughed, Alec muttered something under his breath and Logan didn’t respond at all. We walked over to him and Tyler, all grabbed one bike and got on. We had already agreed where to go back at the dorms, so we stood in a straight line without another word, all five front wheels next to each other. At Tyler’s yell of “Go!” we all started cycling like maniacs.

As expected, Drew and Tyler were far ahead of us no time, but Logan was a strong third. One wouldn’t say that with his kind of lanky body. As much as he worked out, he never seemed to actually get very muscled.