Complexes (LGBT) (boyxboy)

chapter 4

"You two bitches take longer to get ready than a couple of girls," Casey said. He leant against mine and Eddie's closed dorm room door. He had been bugging us to hurry up for a little while now.  

I ignored him as I finished tying my laces. I glanced over at Eddie. He wasn't really the most organized person in the world so he was still pulling on his soccer shirt. If he kept this up we were going to be late, not that it mattered anyway since Coach was always a little bit late. I couldn't risk it though. Being team captain had its responsibilities and I had to uphold them.

"Guess what I heard," Casey kept talking. He never shuts up. He was the type of friend you love, but half the time you feel like you're just tolerating him.  "What'd you hear?" Eddie asked.  "Well, a little birdy told me there'll be a scout at the first game," he said. I looked at him in confusion.  "Seriously? At the first match?" I asked. He nodded, looking so sure of himself. 

"Yeah. I mean, it kinda makes sense, doesn't it? They're looking for natural talent. That's easier to find on the first game when no-one's really prepared," he said.  That did make a lot of sense. I suddenly felt so worried. I wasn't expecting having to impress someone until later on in the season.

I didn't feel like I was prepared for it at all. The stress was turned on in an instant. This was basically the only thing I cared about. Soccer was almost always on my mind. There wasn't any other career that I wanted.

If a scout noticed me and wanted me then I'd drop out of college in heartbeat and leave everything behind. That's how much it meant to me. I wanted it so badly, and now I was in the position of team captain, meaning the scout's attention would definitely be on me.  "Where'd you hear that anyway?" I asked Casey.  "Ethan," he said with a bit of disdain in his voice. He wasn't that big of a fan of Ethan either.  "Ugh, how would he even know?" I asked. 

"He's usually right about these things, you know, with his contacts and bullshit," he muttered then sighed, "Anyway, you fuckers done yet or do you need to put your make-up on?"  "You need to get new material. Your insults are running a little flat," I told him. 

"Don't be a hater," he said.  I shook my head as I stood up and the three of us left the dorm.  "Oh, great," Casey muttered, "He's here,"  I glanced down the hall. Standing a few doors down was Lucas, violently scrubbing at the door. I looked at him with curiosity. What the hell was he doing?  "What's your problem with him now?" I asked, keeping my voice down so he wouldn't hear.  "Nothing...He's just...strange," Casey whispered. 

"Tell me about it," I mumbled, remembering our little run-in in the stairwell.  "He cries in his sleep, ya know," Casey said. My gaze shot to him. 

"He does?" I asked.  "Yeah. He cries, then disappears for a couple hours, comes back and goes to sleep again," he said.  I frowned. He really was a weird kid, and now he was being even weirder, angrily scrubbing at his door. I decided to go over and see what was wrong. I got to him and saw the whiteboard on the door.

At the top on the right hand side was Lucas' name, just as everyone's names were on their doors, but someone had written 'has a pussy' after his name.

Judging by how hard he was scrubbing, the ink was permanent. 

"That's not even creative," Casey said with a scoff. 

He nudged Lucas out of the way and went inside the room, to do what? I didn't know.

Lucas looked upset, but I was starting to find out that he bottled it up well, masking his emotions the best he could, but his eyes told a different story. I didn't really know what to say. Guys here could be assholes. Every guy here gets picked on in some way or another. This just seems worse.  "It won't come off," Lucas said through gritted teeth as he continued scrubbing with a tissue.  "Maybe after practice we can get some cleaning stuff that'll get it off," I said.