Black And White

Sixty Six

The Coach grabbed Alex's neck to pull him off the ground, and then shoved him toward the sink, Alex bent over it now.

Alex's tears fell into the sink, and he shook his head as the Coach roughly pulled his pants down.

Coach rolled his eyes. "Don't cry, you wuss. What kind of athlete are you?"

Alex just shook his head some more. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll try harder."

Coach then ran his hand down Alex's back, and as he raised his hand to smack him, Alex turned around quickly.

Alex held his hands out. "Wait. Wait, please--" The Coach pushed him back into the counter, Alex's head hitting the mirror.

Avi came rushing out of the stall finally, grabbing the coach and shoving him down. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

Scott hurried out, shoving his phone into his pocket and going to Alex's aid. He grabbed Alex's arm to help him stand, and quickly pulled Alex's shorts back into place. "Hey, are you okay?"

Alex's hand came up to the back of his head, tears still falling. "Mhmm." He whimpered.

Avi punched the coach once in the face. "I hope you know how fired you're going to be when this video goes out. And very possibly arrested."

"Video?!"

"Yeah a fuckin' video you numb skull."

Alex glanced over at them, and then hid his face with his hands, as Scott brought him into a hug.

Scott tried to be gentle, like he would with Mitch. "He won't touch you ever again, Lex. I promise."

Alex shook his head a little. "What am I gonna tell the team..? I'm so embarrassed..."

"It's--"

"Are they gonna think I'm a terrible player? Like... Like I've been doing favors for the coach just to be the captain? Like.. I didn't earn it."

"They're not gonna say that."

Alex pushed Scott away to wipe his eyes roughly. "Maybe I'll quit. Maybe... Maybe I'll go away."

Scott shook his head slowly. "Alex... Please."

Avi finally stood up from the Coach, who was now unconscious. "Alex come on. We're going home."

Alex slowly walked over to him, and Avi took his hand to pull him outside. "Dry your tears, babe. Don't let your team see you like this."

Alex nodded quickly, trying to dry them with his forearm.

Scott walked out behind them, offering his shirt sleeve for Alex to use instead.

Alex giggled a little, but the sound was sad. He used the sleeve offered to him.

He looked to Avi. "Well? How do I look?"

Avi shook his head slowly. "Broken... But I'm gonna put you back together, okay?"

Alex just shrugged. "You can try."

Scott put a hand on Alex's back to start walking. "Come on guys. We can go to Mitch's."

Alex was afraid to see his team outside, but when they neared Scott's car, he decided to walk over to them.

Scott got the car started, and Avi leaned on one side of the car to watch Alex do so, just in case he needed help of some kind.

Alex only had to stand beside where the team was practicing, before they all started gathering around him.

Alex didn't say anything at first, because he could feel all of their eyes on the bruises on his torso. "Hey guys."