Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 21:36:22 -0500 From: Douglas West Subject: Brawlin - Chapter 1 Disclaimer: All characters, events and places described in this story are completely fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations are completely coincidental. Please be aware that this is in fact a love story and my first go at any non-academic style of writing. I would love to hear any feedback but please be gentle. You can email me at brawlinauthor@gmail.com Also, please be aware that this is a story about a relationship, not just sex, while sex will certainly be a fair chunk it will not be the only focus. I'm going to try and submit every week. ________________________________________________________________________ Josh - "Stop worrying so much" The bus veered left as he stared aimlessly out the window pondering upon the words his mother had spoken as he had left this morning. What had she meant exactly? He wondered how he could possibly not be worried about starting his senior year at a brand new school. He knew in his heart that this was exactly what his mother needed, a new job, a new life. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder what things would be like if he were home right now, walking through a metal detector in the main lobby of his old school rather than the wrought iron gates he was passing through now. The bus continued along the main drive which rounded about the outskirts of the campus, passing a few parking lots and many athletic fields substantial enough to make some University's envious. He admited to himself that the campus certainly was easy on the eyes as he fiddled with the new student packet in his hands. "Rockshire Academy - Educating the Leaders of Tomorrow" it sounded so unbelieveably cheesy to him. The bus eventually made a sharp right leading into a small line of a few other identical buses. To the left, he could see out the window, were steps leading up to the only building which he had been in thus far, the administration building. To his right was a sprawling lawn with a few buildings encircling it. It was unbelievable to him that this was just a high school. As soon as the bus stopped kids began flooding out onto the sidewalk heading out in every direction. "Here we go" he said to himself as he made his way to the front of the bus and out into the brisk morning air. He was left in a trial of dust behind all the other students with nothing but a dumbfounded expression on his face and not a single clue as to how he was going to find his way to his first class. He hadn't really attempted to make friends on the bus for two reasons. The first being that everyone seemed to have their own cliques and he didn't want to seem like he was intruding. The second was that he seemed to be the oldest person on the bus and not by just a year or two. He could only assume that it wasn't the norm for a senior to be taking the bus based on all the odd looks he had got when he stepped on this morning. It hadn't bothered him in the slightest at the time, he'd just ignored them, but now faced with the daunting expanse of grass and buildings he was starting to regret not trying to make a friend or two. For the first time since his move here he began to feel intensely alone. Selfish thoughts of "why me, why now" which he had been so stoic in fending off throughout the summer creeped into his mind. Nothing sounded nicer than catching the earliest flight back to his home town of Gavington. He began to imagine the beach and the salty air of the gulf. His mind raced to the secluded spot on north beach where he and his friends had spent his last days in town soaking up the summer sun wishing that life could simply stay like that forever. Those days seemed so far away now. As his mind continued to spin with memories of Texas he felt something tap him ever so slightly against the shoulder, knocking him back into the reality of the surrounding mountain landscape and the smell of engine fumes escaping from the bus behind him. Michelle- "Hi, I'm Michelle" she said with a smile as she gave him a slight tap on the shoulder, "what's your name?" "Oh! I'm Josh" He replied, looking a little dazed and confused. "Nice to meet you Josh, so you're new here?" He grinned while placing a hand behind his head saying, "Is it that obvious?" "Well it isn't like it's that big of a school and I've never seen you before" Michelle said, trying to comfort him a bit "And you also look a little lost..." she added with a slight cringe. As they spoke she couldn't help but notice how cute he was. He was tall with broad shoulders and beautiful eyes. Literally, Michelle couldn't seem to stop staring at his eyes: a deep blue with swirls of dark grey. Those eyes graced a slightly roundish face topped by a mess of short, light brown hair with a trace of five o'clock shadow brushing his jaw line. Add his face to the filled out football-boy frame and you had a very handsome combination indeed. "He will move up the ranks here very easily" Michelle thought to herself as the new kid began to speak again. "A litte lost? I'm a lot lost!" Josh said, "This place is just so big I can't wrap my head around it... and this little map the guidance counselor gave me isn't really helping at all" He added with a laugh. "Hmmm, well let me see your schedule and I'll help you to your first class!" She replied, taking the paper as he handed it to her. "Oh, well we have the same first period so we can just walk together then!" Michelle said, trying not to sound too excited, not just because he was cute but because Rockshire never seemed to get new kids in her class and judging by his schedule he was a senior just like her. "That would be awesome... I'm not really sure how I'm ever going to get used to this place" He stated as they began walking across the main lawn towards their first class. "Oh its not really that big once you get a feel for it. It's just a little spread out is all, but most of the academic buildings all surround this lawn" "I guess, but where I come from we only had one building with everything in it... so this is still pretty new for me" Josh said, as she continued to notice how handsome he was, including how well his muscular frame seemed to fill out the uniform, a blue button down shirt and khakis, that all male students were required to wear at Rockshire. "Wow, how did you fit all of the classes into one building?" Michelle asked, seriously shocked. "Most highschools don't offer as many classes as Rockshire I guess" "Hmm I guess your right, I've been here since the 7th grade so it all just seems so routine now. Where is home if you don't mind me asking?" "Gavington, Texas... Its a little town on the gulf coast." "Oh wow, that must have been incredible to grow up down there!" "It was, I really miss it... Don't get me wrong North Carolina is great, I love the mountains, but it just doesn't compare to being able to go to the beach every day, y'know?" "I'm sure it doesn't" she said chuckling "Your going to lose that pretty tan of yours being up here in the cool mountain air" she added as they entered the front doors of their building. "This is Langly Hall, all of the History and English classes are housed here" Michelle informed him as they shuffled into the lobby. "Wow, are all the buildings like this?" He said turning circles. "Yes, they are all pretty much the same, an auditorium style classroom on the main floor, main classrooms on the second and offices on the third... we're in the auditorium this morning" She answered as they entered the large room to the right of the lobby. "I didn't catch your last name Josh" she said as she walked through the door he was holding for her. "It's Holt... Josh Holt" He replied as she began descending the stairs to the front row where she usually sat. "Will I see you later then?" He almost shouted down the stairs to her. "Maybe, if you're lucky" she replied without turning around to face him. Josh- Josh took his seat on the far upper right of the small auditorium near a window. He realized once he had taken his seat that he hadn't caught her full name either. "Oh well" he thought, "We'll have this class together every day for the rest of the year so it shouldn't be that big of a deal to ask later". As those thoughts finished running through his head the teacher simolutaneosly finished writing his name on the board. "Mr. Savage" Josh read as the teacher began to call roll, skipping over the names that he recognized. "Josh Holt" He called. "Present!" Josh spoke, raising from his seat, giving an awkward wave which seemed to amuse the other students. "How do you like our little establishment so far Mr. Holt?" Mr. Savage questioned while peering over his coke bottle glasses. "It is definitely different sir!" The student replied, glancing for a split second at Michelle. "I'm sure it is..." He spoke, looking back down at his roll sheet "Well I'm sure you will settle in nicely" He added before returning to the roll call. "Thank you sir" Josh said, finally taking his seat again. To Josh's utter suprise, Mr. Savage began lecturing immediately after the roll was called. Josh of course wasn't prepared at all to be taking notes on the first day, not to mention the fact that it was only supposed to be an orientation, so his attention inadvertently floated to the window to his right. Outside he could see the lawn which he and Michelle had crossed earlier; it reminded him of a football field. As he stared, memories of Friday night lights and daily practices began filling his head. He smiled, excited that at least that would be one thing that wouldn't be changing. He had missed summer practices but the coaches still allowed him to join the team considering his record. Football had been his life back in Texas and in fact it was one of the main reasons he was enrolled at Rockshire now. The school had offered him a subsidy on his tuition based on his athletic performance. He was glad they had, otherwise he and his mother wouldn't have been able to afford it even with his mothers new job. Not that it bothered him going to a public school, Josh had always attended public school before coming to Rockshire, but the school he was zoned for here simply didn't have the football program that Rockshire did. Rockshire wasn't amazing by any means but they did make it to the playoffs consistently. Making it to the playoffs here would at least keep him on the radar of some of the recruiters who had been interested in him last year... or at least he hoped it would. Thoughts of the moves impact on his college dreams began to freak him out a bit. "Don't worry so much" his mother had said. He decided to take her advice, turning his attention to something else... Of course, tuning in to the teachers lecture was out of the question, so his eyes naturally fell on Michelle. Michelle was gorgeous, long dark hair and a perfect olive complexion. She was obviously very popular considering the large number of people who congregated around her after she sat down. Though, he could have easily guessed that she was very popular just from the confidence she had shown in approaching him. Josh wondered if she was dating anyone. More than likely she was, someone as beautiful as she was couldn't possibly be single, besides there was also a vacant seat next to her that had to have been saved for someone special. "Pity" Josh thought, "she would be excellent to date". Of course for Josh 'dating' was a relative term. To most guys his age it meant going steady but for him it literally meant a single date or as he liked to call them 'cover up operations'. You see, dates for him were a means of keeping everyone from asking too many questions about why he didn't have a girlfriend. The answer was actually pretty simple... he wasn't interested in a girlfriend. To be precise he wasn't really interested in girls at all. Josh had always just been more attracted to guys and while not ashamed in the slightest of who he is, for him it had always just been easier not having to explain that he wasn't looking at his teammates dicks while they were showering. He'd grown out of that (mostly...). Though due to his little locker room predicament he had figured out a long time ago that the easiest way to keep people from talking about his lack of a lady friend was just to keep up a reputation of having multiple lady friends. It was always pretty simple for him really. Among the lady's he had a reputation of being a sweet and charming date, they always had a good time and he never pressured them which they thought was extremely gentleman-like. Thankfully he was attractive enough that they usually overlooked the fact that he wasn't interested in committing to anything more serious with any of them. Among the guys, on the other hand, he was known as a man-slut. It always amused him how his guy friends always just assumed things the way they did. The virgin man-slut. The thought made Josh grin. At that moment Josh heard the doors to the lecture hall open only to have a broad chested young blond waltz confidently into the room. As Josh watched him bounce down the stairs to the front row he couldn't help but stare at the young man. He quickly realized who Michelle had been saving the seat next to her for. Rob- "Fashionably late again I guess" He thought to himself as he walked into Mr. Savage's history class. Looking at the clock though he realized it was a quarter till nine "maybe more than fashionably actually..." "A bit late aren't we Mr. Tilton?" Mr. Savage said, as Rob took the empty seat next to Michelle. "I'm sorry sir, I guess I must have overslept... It won't happen again" "I doubt that Mr. Tilton... you forget this isn't the first time I've had you in one of my classes. Please make sure if it happens in the future that you take a seat in the back. I can't have you disrupting my class so that you may sit in the front" "Yes sir!" Rob replied with a smile while reaching his arm around Michelle at the same time "Hmmm, I guess I better be on time then if I want to keep sitting next to the hottest girl in school" He whispered into his girlfriends ear, though she seemed to ignore the compliment. "Almost a full period late Robert, why did you even bother coming to this class?" She replied, mockingly, though Rob knew she was actually more serious than she was letting on. "Well if I didn't show to this class how on earth would I ever make it till after lunch before seeing your pretty face?" He said, desperately trying to sound cute, though if he was honest with himself he really didn't give a damn if she was mad. "I'm sure you'd find a way to manage" She replied, returning to her pad and pen to continue taking notes. A few minutes later the bell began to ring signaling that it was time to change classes. Rob took his things and began the climb up the stairs towards the door. He was following closely after Michelle when he noticed him. The look made Rob pause abruptly. He was unsure of who the guy was but something about him intrigued Rob nonetheless. They glanced at each other only for a moment, a very strange moment. In fact, it was a downright awkward moment, but strangely, Rob wasn't anxious to turn away at first. The new kid looked again quickly as he neared the door and the strange feeling that had come over Rob quickly faded into a tormenting embarrassment. He looked away in a flash, replacing his featureless face with one of casual indifference, which tended to be his usual defense mechanism in situations he deemed awkward or unfavorable. "Aren't you coming?" Michelle said, looking down at him from the top of the steps. "Yeah... just spaced out for a sec" Rob replied, starting up the small set of steps again. As he neared the top a weighty realization set in on him. He'd thought the guy was beautiful. He resented the feeling almost immediately, pushing it away somewhere deep within his gut, attempting to deal with it the same way he'd dealt with similar feelings in the past: ignoring it. Michelle- "Who's the new kid?" Rob asked nonchalantly. "The one who walked out the door just now?" "Yeah, is he in our grade? I've never seen him before." "Yes he is, isn't it exciting that we finally have someone new in our grade? We haven't had a new kid since Cindy Harper and I came in seventh grade!" Michelle replied with excitment. "His name is Josh Holt and he's from Texas... not sure exactly why he moved here but I like him, we should invite him to your party tonight!" She added, trying not to sound too anxious. Rob sat there looking as if he were lost in thought, something which didn't happen very often. Typically Rob had a tendency to react immediately to situations rather than think through them. She couldn't help but think that Rob was schemeing something. Then again, it was almost time for recruitment wasn't it? He doesn't think I notice the bruise... Michelle wasn't worried that Rob was being bullied, nor was he a victim to some tragic home life... that is, at least abuse wasn't a part of it. No, Rob essentially had it all. He was the star of the wrestling and lacrosse teams. He had the car, money, looks and the family reputation to go anywhere in life. He threw the best parties and even the faculty seemed to be on edge whenever he was in their presence. Yes, Rob was certainly something. Yet despite all that Rob had a need for something she couldn't quite put her finger on. He tried to find it in fights, a fact that she hated, but he never seemed to walk away fully satisfied. His thinking pause prompted her to begin remincsing about when they had first met. It had been in Michelle's first semester at Rockshire near the middle of their seventh grade year. She and her family had moved from East Tennessee because her mother was offered an admin job at the Hospital in Rockshire. Michelle had absolutely hated it, the girls were cliquey and everyone seemed to have known each other all their lives. In fact over the course of that fall semester she had steadily convinced herself that it would be better to run away and join the circus or something. At least that was her plan up until the annual middle school winter formal dance. She had sat there, all alone, in the bleachers of that shabbily decorated gymnasium thinking to herself that she would rather be anywhere else on earth other than that dance. Looking down from where she was seated she thought about how funny it was to call the winter formal a dance when no one seemed to be dancing. Michelle imagined what a real dance would be like and how fun it might be when she got older, away from Rockshire. Yet something pulled her back to that gym and her white formal dress. An unfamiliar voice belonging to a boy whom she only faguely recognized. She couldn't have told you how long he had been standing there but it could have been hours for all she had known. "I'm Rob..." He said, beeming his braced teeth. "Um... I'm Mich... Michelle" she responded nervously "nic... nice to mee you." "I'm sorry Michelle, I just noticed you sitting here by yourself and thought that you might like to dance with me. Everyone else turned me down..." He said looking at his shoes for a split second but bursting his head up with confidence again as he added "And its pretty silly to call this a dance if no one is dancing, right?" She giggled at the fact that they were thinking the exact same thing. "I would love to Rob" Michelle had said, taking his hand as she stepped down from the bleachers. Looking back it was probably the most awkward dance she had ever experienced in her entire life. They had simply grabbed each others waists and swayed with the music. But at the time it was perfect. For the first time since she had moved to Rockshire she was happy with where she was at and she owed that all to Rob. They saw each other a good bit over the next year and half and Michelle slowly found herself becoming much more popular as Rob introduced her to his many friends within the school. Somehow she went from being shy and reserved to being outgoing and friendly, something which she attributed to Rob entirely. Something about him just seemed to rub off on her and it wasn't long before everyone just assumed they were dating. "Yeah... I think that is a good idea" He answered, shocking her back into reality with his too plain answer. She had been expecting something witty about how if Josh were invited then he might sweep her off her feet and away from Rob, which would be Rob's typical response, but that didn't seem to even cross his mind. She was certain now, Rob most definetly was plotting something... and she couldn't help but wonder what it was and what it had to do with Josh Holt.