Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2021 00:34:28 -0400 From: Mark Arsenault Subject: I Woke Up 189 I Woke Up 189 by M.P. Arsent Copyright to this story remain strictly that of the author. No other publication or use of this story is allowed without the consent of the author. This story contains male on male sexual content both implied and explicit. If this offends you please do not continue. All characters and implied situations are strictly those of the author and are not based on any real life events or characters. If you are under 18 years of age please exit this story now. I welcome all responses to my stories. Please make sure that you list the name of the story in the email line. If your email is to alert me of misspelled words or improper punctuation or grammar save your time because it will be deleted. I hope you enjoy my vivid imagination. Please let me know what you think at mparsent@gmail.com and don't forget to donate to Nifty as they do an amazing job. The silence, as they say, was deafening. I bent and took my equipment bag and started for the locker room. Several voices were raised in protest. "Quiet! If this is what the coach wants, it is his team to build. Now everyone of you go out there and give it your best shot! If you can't do that, or you can't support the coach, than you might just as well join me." I saw several of the guys from last year bend to get their own bags without any hesitation. "I told you they wouldn't stand for it." The voice was a familiar one. It was coach Warren. I just stood there as I expected there was an explanation coming. "I'm sorry gentlemen, but there was some disbelief that you would all back Dennis. This is not coach Wheeler, but assistant coach Connors." "My apologies as well gentlemen. Now shall we get on with this? I'd like to see your best routine from your best discipline." For the next two hours everybody did their best to impress coach Connors. I did the high bar routine that had netted me the gold at the all states. Eventually we got finished. "Alright gentlemen, thank you all. We'll post the team tomorrow by 4 oclock." So we had to suffer for 24 hours. I hit the pool for a couple of laps and then the whirlpool. I called Karl before I left campus so he knew I was coming. I pulled in and went upstairs. "Well?" "Won't know until tomorrow." "Not what I meant lover." "Oh yeah. Well it was a hoax of some kind. Coach Warren had to prove to a new assistant that the guys would stand with me. Don't know what that is all about as Dana is still team captain as far as I know." "Dana may be team captain lover, but after last year I'm betting you are the 'face' of gymnastics as far as anybody is concerned." "Always a possibility I suppose. What's for supper?" "Pork chops and baked potatoes with corn. Should be ready in about 5." I set our small table while Karl finished cooking and got our meals plated up. After we finished it was getting things ready for tomorrow,which wasn't a hell of a lot for me. I set up a mock trading fund on my computer much as I had at work for Angelo. The rest of the evening was spent getting ahead on the reading. We eventually crashed and before we knew it 5:30 was here again. It was up and out and over to campus and the 5 of us did our laps. Then it was back to the apartment and Karl got himself ready and headed in to classes. I didn't need to be in until noontime so I spent the morning getting ahead on the reading once again. A little after 11 I headed into campus and found the room for the class. It was still being used so I found myself a place to wait. Soon enough the room emptied out and I went in and found myself a seat. The room started filling up and just about every face was a familiar one. Right at 12 an older gentleman walked in. "Good afternoon. I'm Mr Caruthers and this is the brokerage practicum. If you are in the wrong place now is the time." Nobody moved and we were on to a quick attendance. I had been right in what I had surmised the course to be and was already ahead of the game as I had set up my account. "We will meet as scheduled and any questions can be answered and accounts will be reviewed. You shall each have a 10 minute window over the course of the two days. The reviews are not mandatory but are recommened. All investment vehicles are open to you so take advantage. In order to pass this practicum you must have at least a 3% return on investment. The highest ROI will get the highest grade and I shall work down from there. Are there any questions?" There weren't any and we were soon out of there. I had time to kill until the team list was likely to be posted, so I started reviewing stocks and bonds and other investments to round out my new imaginary portfolio. I made my purchases and made my notes and was ready for my Thursday class. I made my way over to the rec center a little before 4 and it was easy to see the crowd of guys waiting for the list to be posted. Just before 4 coach Warren came out and posted the team list and had a handful of schedules to pass out to those who had been chosen. Almost everyone from last year who had tried out were on the team. The one name I didn't see was Dwaynes, matter of fact now that I thought about it I didn't remember seeing him at the tryouts. I went to get my schedule from coach Warren. "Any idea what happened to Dwayne coach?" "I'm in the dark Dennis. I haven't heard a word." "Strange I know he intended to keep up through the summer this year. Speaking of which, I now have a triple for the high bar,rings, vault and one in my floor routine. I need your opinion on when to unleash them." The coach kind of looked at me for a minute. "Hold them in reserve Dennis, except for the high bar. Everybody will be expecting that one. First closed practice though I want to see them. The room will be open from now on after 4. First scheduled practice is next Tuesday." "I'm sure I'll see you before then coach, or will it be asst coach Connors?" "We'll both be here Dennis. A full time extra pair of eyes is always good." "So it is coach. I'll catch you later." As with any college team we had to replace a couple of guys who had graduated. The two new members were standing there off to the side while I had been talking to coach. Now they approached me. "Mr Sawyer?" "Dennis, and what can I do for you?" "We're the two new members of the squad. What coach Connors said yesterday, about you being gay, is that true?" "It is." "And the rest of the squad is good with that?" "They are, at least as far as I know. Is it going to be a problem for you two?" "I......I don't think so." "If it means anything to you guys, I've just gotten married and I'm not about to go screwing that up by going looking for a random hookup or trying to seduce anybody if that is your concern." From the look on thier faces that was exactly what they had been worried about. "You mean you've never been tempted?" "I didn't say that. Like most other married man I can still look, but not touch. Having said that,if it's a problem for you guys mention it to coach and he'll be sure not to double us up on away meets." That one statement seemed to put them both a little more at ease. "What do you think of the schedule?" "Seems to be pretty much the same as last year and we did pretty good against almost all of them." "So you think it is going to be a rough season?" "Aren't any of them easy guys. Just do yourselves a favor and keep working at both the athletics and the schoolwork. I don't know how closely you followed last season, but two freshman flunked their finals over at Dresmire. The all state could have turned out a lot differently if those two guys had stayed in it." "Yeah we heard about that, and have every intention of staying on top of things." "Good luck to the both of you and I'll see you Tuesday if not before." "Thanks, later." The guys took off and my mind turned to Dwayne once again. It was early enough that the Registars office was still open. I made my way over to the admin building and made inquiries. "I'm sorry Mr Sawyer but we have no record of Mr Randal being registered this year." I wondered what the hell could have happened. I could always call coach Matthews but I was reluctant to do that. If something had happened over the course of the summer he surely would have said something when I was training with him. I looked at my watch and knew that Karl was still in class for a few more minutes, so I headed home. I got there first and checked to see if Karl had defrosted anything for supper. There wasn't anything in the fridge and then I spotted the canned ham sitting on the counter. There was a recipe card sitting right there as well, so I started getting things together. I had the ham in the oven by the time Karl got home. Potatoes had been wrapped in foil and added to the oven at the appropriate time and a can of green beans sat on the counter waiting to be warmed. "Well did you make the team?" "Yeah as did everybody from last year. Even at that we have two freshmen." "Well at least you know what to expect from most of them. So whose up first and when?" "Anderson Poly the 4th of next month, and it's an away meet." "Damn that doesn't give the team a whole lot of time to get ready." "From what I saw yesterday, everybody stayed on top of it this summer. We're pretty ready to go right now." "Well that bodes well for the season." "Yeah I hope so. Remind me to find out if the alumni assocoiation is kicking in for buses this year." "I hope so. That's a hassle you sure as hell don't need." "Ain't that the truth." I finished up getting supper ready and on the table and I must have been distracted thinking about Dwayne. "Dennis wake up! What's got you off in another dimension?" "Dwayne didn't show up for tryouts and he's not even registered for classes." "Any number of thngs could have happened over the summer lover." "Yeah and that's what concerns me. Coach Matthews didn't say anything over the summer, but then again now that I think about it he has no reason to confide in me about Dwayne." "So what are you going to do?" "What I always do first, hit the internet and see what I can find. But not until I get this cleaned up." Dishes went in to the washer,pots and pans done by hand and the leftovers into the fridge. There were a lot of ways to use the leftover ham. I did have my priorities straight, and I took care of my class work before I went to looking up Dwayne. I took me a while to narrow it down to the right Dwayne Randel, but there was the story plain as day.