Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2022 13:52:35 +0000 (UTC)
From: austintc@aol.com
Subject: Carter and the Biker Boy, Chapter 32

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Carter and the biker boy

Chapter 32

It's been two weeks since the first swim practice took place, and I must
say that I've survived almost every aspect of the lap swims and the
workouts. I can honestly say that even though it's only been fourteen
days I already feel stronger from lifting weights and definitely feel
better in the pool when swimming laps.

I had hoped that Parker and I would be back together again, but that's
not the case. Since he replied to my text with the "Hmmm." text, I
haven't received any more texts from him. In all honesty I do really
miss him, but I've decided to just hope that one day soon he'll be like
he was before we parted for Christmas break.

So once again it is Friday, and as practice wrapped up in the pool, I was
happy with what I'd accomplished to this point. Spence and Angelo had
been making great strides in the pool as well. Out of all the freshmen
swimmers, all of us who had tried out were almost certain that we'd made
the team; however, one kid named Caleb was afraid that he wasn't going
to make the team.

Caleb is really quiet and for the most part a decent swimmer, but he is
having a hard time perfecting the backstroke, which is rather odd, but I
suppose we can't all be perfectionists in the strokes. Not much taller
than me, Caleb is quite thin, and is not at all muscular. Not that I have
a lot of muscles either, but I'm certain that he's skinnier and has
less muscles than me. I know when we are in the weight room doing our
strength training, he cannot lift as much as the rest of us. I have to
say that despite him being really thin and not as strong, he is, well,
you know, attractive in a skinny kid sort of way. And there is something
about him.

Coach had told us that in one more week he was going to make the final
cuts on the team. Those who could not keep up, or those who could not do
the strokes correctly were going to be cut from the team.  I thought that
seemed kind of odd, because it most other sports at this level, first
year, almost everyone made the team and at some point or another got a
chance to play unless they were really, really bad.

Practice was over, and as most of the team had left the locker room, I
was about the last one to leave. I gathered my towel and Speedo, put them
in my gym bag, grabbed my backpack and was on the way out of the locker
room when I saw Chase. He asked me how I was doing and all, and how Javy
was doing. We talked for a few minutes about Javy, and I asked him how
Noah was. Oddly enough he didn't ask me about Parker. It seemed like a
good time to ask him about the cuts coming up. So I asked Chase if that
indeed was going to happen.

"Don't worry Carter, you're going to be safe and have already made the
team. Like I told you that afternoon over at Dylan's party when you were
swimming laps in the pool, you'll make a great swimmer and if you grow a
little, put on some muscle, you'll have a chance at doing really well by
the time you're a senior.  In fact, I can see some of me in your work
ethic and swimming abilities. It's like you're a natural, buddy!"

"Thanks Chase. I'm not really too worried about me, Spence, or Angelo.
I am though, worried about Caleb. He's really nervous that he's not
going to make it." I tried to be as low key about it as possible, but I
was concerned. Caleb is a nice kid.

"You know I can't really say anything, Carter-man, but Caleb, he, um,
practices well, but he just needs to grow a bit. You know?  He's gotta
perfect that backstroke.  That's about all I can really say." He then
told me he had to get going, as his new girlfriend, Alicia was waiting
for him.

"Thanks, Chase. Have a great weekend and have fun with Alicia. She's a
lucky girl." I winked at him and then he smiled and winked back.

"You know it!" he proclaimed as he smiled and walked out of the
swimming locker room.

Talking with Chase had put me in a great frame of mind. Practice was
good, really good. In fact, I'd already gained a couple of pounds from
doing the weightlifting thing, and for once in my life, I felt like I'd
gained muscles in my arms and legs. And what made me feel even happier
was Chase calling me Carter-man. I hadn't been called that since one of
the last times I'd seen Dylan.

Dylan. I sighed, thinking about him and everything that surrounded his
demise. As I walked out of the locker room and down the hallway to the
exit of the school, I walked past the gym and looked up from the gray
tiled floor just in time to look through the door to where the wrestling
mats were, only to see Parker and some other guy about his size talking
to each other. I paused momentarily to see who he was talking with, and
it looked like this kid from my English class named Rhonin, but I wasn't
sure. They were standing close to each other and were both smiling. I
felt a twinge of jealousy course through me, but I quickly dismissed it
by seeing him smile, and recalled seeing Rhonin hanging out with several
hot girls during lunch.

As I got closer to the door, I noticed Caleb sitting on the cold tile
floor, his back against the black cement block wall beneath one of the
bulletin boards that had posters about upcoming school events. His full
burgundy Adidas backpack was next to him, as was his blue Adidas gym bag.
Combined they looked almost as big as him. He looked like he had been
crying. I couldn't help but sit on the floor next to him and ask him if
he was okay.

"Oh, you know, I'm, well, not doing good." His voice was wavering, and
he was on the verge of tears again.

"Sorry to hear that man. I'm a good listener if you..."

"Nah, it's okay. Thanks, but I don't think you'll understand." He
interrupted. "I'm pretty sure I won't be on the team after next
week." A tear began a stream that ran down his smooth cheek and dripped
onto his heavy winter coat. I had to say something to him, since I did
know how he felt.

"Hey man, look, I know you don't know me that well, but I'm not
exactly as muscular and big like Chase or some of the other guys on the
varsity team or even on our team. But if it is about swimming, like with
the strokes, I'd be happy to help you, if you give me a chance." I
quietly told him, and I meant it.

"Seriously, you'd do that?" he looked up into my eyes and as our eyes
met, I saw a glimmer of hope appear in those hazel green eyes of his.

"Yeah, and if you have a membership to the Y, we can go practice there
like tomorrow if you'd like, or even Sunday. I bet in an hour or so,
I'll help you get that backstroke right." I felt kind of bad saying the
backstroke, because I knew that was what he was having problems with.

"Well, cool. we do have a membership. I'll ask my mom if I can go
tomorrow, and I'll text you if I can have your number?" I nodded my
head and texted him with my name a smiley face, so he'd have my number.
We talked for a few more minutes and then within seconds we both got
texts that our moms were there to pick us up. As we both stood up and
turned to go to the door, we both nearly ran right into Parker and Rhonin
as they approached the double glass doors.

"Hey, watch it, Freshman!" Rhonin laughingly blurted out as he somewhat
forcefully bumped into me. Parker never looked over at me or Caleb, but
instead seemed to be focused on the door and just getting out of the
building.

"Sorry man, my mistake." I said, in an apologetic tone of voice.

"No worries, dude." Rhonin just laughed and continued on his way out of
the double doors into the cold early evening air.
Caleb and I walked out together. He seemed to be a bit happier now and
told me he'd text me later when he got the okay from his mom. He even
smiled at me and told me he'd see me tomorrow. I told him the same.

As I got in the warm car with Mom, I felt happier than I'd felt in the
weeks since Parker and I had last talked to each other.
"Hola mi amor, how was swim practice?" Mom greeted me as she always
does.

"It was good, mama!" Then before I gave her a chance to ask me more
questions about my day, I quickly asked her if I could meet Caleb at the
Y Saturday morning or Sunday to practice our strokes.

"Do I know this Caleb boy, and is he...?" I quickly interrupted her
before she could ask me embarrassing questions about Caleb.

"No mama, he is a new friend, a guy on the team who is struggling to
learn one of the strokes. He's in danger of getting cut from the team
and I'd like to help him. He seems like he'd be a cool straight (I put
emphasis on the word straight) friend."

"That is fine, mi amor. As long as you can find a ride with him, since I
have to work the weekend shift this weekend, and you know how that
goes."

The weekend shift meant she'd be working from six at night until six in
the morning starting tonight and ending Monday morning. It also meant
I'd have to spend another weekend alone at home. Since mom was already
dressed for work, I knew that as soon as we ate, she'd be on her way to
work.

And that's how my Friday night began. Mom left as soon as we ate a
simple dinner of macaroni and cheese with cottage cheese and tuna fish
sandwiches on fresh Italian bread. Just as many Friday nights like this
before, we talked briefly about our days, and I promised her I'd clean
up the kitchen. She then told me that John, er, Mr. Olsen and her were
planning to go out to dinner Sunday afternoon before she went to work. I
then jokingly asked her if their relationship was getting serious.

"So mama, soon he is going to ask you to marry him?"

"Carter Angel Michaels! No es cierto!" she smiled and blushed at the
same time, almost choking on the food in her mouth. "He is a nice man
and is very understanding, but we're just friends todavia, mi amor."

"I know mama, I was just joking. He's an awesome teacher and a great
listener. But I know it's not true and it's good that you're still
just friends.
 You can't go fast in these relationship things, you know!"

"And Senor Sabe Todo, just what makes you the expert on relationships?"
she shot back at me.

"I'm not Mr. Know Everything, mama!" I laughingly responded as she
quickly brought me back to earth and asked about Parker.

"Have you heard from Parker yet, mi amor?" I just nodded that I had not
as the smile left my face.

"I am sorry mi amor, cheer up. I have a feeling soon he will come
around. Necesites paciencia."

I told her thanks, and that I was being patient.

Moments later she finished getting ready for work, and after we said our
good nights and good byes, she left, and I was alone.

I finished my homework around nine pm and was about to start watching a
new anime show on Netflix when I got a text from Caleb.

< Hey Carter, it's me Caleb. Can we still do the Y thing tomorrow?

< Hey Caleb, yeah, as long as I can get a ride? My mom works nights at
the hospital and will be sleeping.

< Sure, my brother Brennan will be home tomorrow. He can take us.

< Okay, great. I checked the pool schedule, and we can get in the warm
pool at eleven. OK w/U?

< Perfecto. C U tomorrow. Thanks Carter. This means a lot to me.

< Sure. Have a good night amigo (smiley face emoji).

I decided to shower, even though I'd showered after practice. As I
kicked off my CK boxer briefs, I looked down at myself and liked what I
saw. My lean chest and abs kind of formed a bit of definition, which got
me excited. My pubes now formed a nice, dark bush. My dick sure looked
like it'd grown in the past couple of weeks, as did my balls. I now
backed up against the wall and put one of my books on my head, making it
as level as I could. As I backed away from the wall, turned around and
looked at the underside of the book, I noticed that the last mark on the
wall now appeared to be at least two inches down from the current line
that I drew under the book. I'd grown that much since last summer!
Stepping on the scale I noticed that I'd even gained a few pounds as
well. Wow! The shower felt good. Oddly enough though, I resisted the urge
to jack off in the shower. I'm not sure why -- but did realize that I'd
not had any release since swimming practice started, and hadn't done
anything since I was in Mexico, nearly a month ago. Maybe the break is
what I needed?

Either way, my shower finished without shooting my cum against the wall
in the tub. I threw a clean pair of boxer briefs, a pair of sweats, t
shirt, socks and my slippers and went back to my room. I put on some pop
music station on my phone which I blue toothed to my speaker, then sat
down on my bed to start reading.

Time went by quickly while I was reading and before I realized it, the
midnight hour was approaching. I read a few more chapters and must have
fallen asleep because I woke up to some very strange song playing, and it
was nearly two am. I used the bathroom, brushed my teeth, crawled in bed,
and fell back asleep right away.

Mom woke me up when she got home from work. She'd had a good night and
asked how my night went. She was fine with Caleb's brother picking me
up. We talked briefly before she showered and ate some breakfast. Shortly
after breakfast, she went to sleep.

What I failed to notice was that I'd received four texts around one am,
when I must have dozed off while reading. The first three were from
Caleb:

< Hey Carter, R U up?

< Um, do u want to sleep over?

< Only if u want to.

And the fourth one was from...

Parker.

< Hi.

First I quickly asked Mom if I could sleep over at Caleb's house. She
wasn't asleep yet, so she said that'd be fine, but they'd have to pick
me up and bring me home. She said to check in with her at some point
during the night, like before we went to bed. I promised I would. So I
texted Caleb back first.

< Hey Caleb, yeah, I can spend the night, as long as you can bring me
home too.

< Yay! So cool! (big smiley face emoji) My brother and I will pick you up
10:30, K?

< Cool! What should I bring to your house?

< just yourself and your clothes. Oh and video games?

I was excited, but a bit nervous as well. I really didn't know Caleb
that well, so hopefully he wouldn't turn out to be weird. Suddenly my
super quiet stay at home and be lonely weekend was going away and I'd
have fun.

My nerves started creeping in as I stared at the one word text from
Parker. Hi. A simple word of reaching out. Perhaps a peace offering; were
my prayers being answered? He sent it at 1:08 AM. Half awake, half
asleep, did he mistake me for someone else, or did he mean to reach out
to me and be ready to forgive me for what I'd done? Only one way to find
out. With my heart racing and my fingers desperately thinking what to
write back, I started writing a long sentence, something like "Hey babe,
finally my prayers have been answered! Thanks so much for texting me! I
just want this to be over and we can be together again..." I then
realized that was too much, so I backspaced over the entire sentence and
wrote the first thing that made the most sense:

< Hi.

Fifteen minutes passed and he still had not responded. It was now almost
nine o'clock. It then dawned on me that he was probably at his wrestling
meet, which I think was somewhere in by the suburbs of Chicago.

Crap.

Hopefully he'd text me later. So I got my clothes together, including my
swimsuit that wasn't the Speedo from school.

I laid back on my bed looking through the pictures of Parker and me on my
phone while I waited for Caleb and his brother to show up. There must
have been well over two hundred pictures of us being silly together,
being serious, kissing, hugging, selfies of us with the sun setting in
the background. Pictures of us on the Tower of the Americas in San
Antonio, which out of all the pictures on my phone had to be my favorite.
Then I found one of us with just our black CK briefs on, in his basement
on the wrestling mat. We'd been wrestling and were obviously hard. That
of course made my cock jump in my briefs and get hard as a rock
instantly.

Moments later I got a text from Caleb saying they'd be here in a few
minutes, so I got my coat on and sure enough, a Toyota Camry that eerily
looked just like Dylan's pulled into the driveway. His brother Brennan
was nice. He seemed genuinely interested in asking me about how I liked
Harlem and all, and how I knew I could help Caleb. Of course Caleb told
him to shut up and they began bantering back and forth like I've seen
other brothers do. I just smiled and listened to them. A few minutes
later we were at the Y that's located along the river just north of
downtown Rockford. It looked like it was busy, but Brennan dropped us off
by the entry and asked us when we wanted to be picked up. I shrugged my
shoulders and then both of us said maybe around two pm? Ultimately, Caleb
said he'd text him when we were done.

We quickly changed into our swimsuits and put our clothes in lockers next
to each other. It was then that Caleb realized he'd forgotten to bring a
lock with him. Fortunately for me, I'd used my gym bag from school,
which had my combination lock. So I told Caleb we could share the locker.
I watched as he put his pants, his plaid boxers, t shirt and sweatshirt
in the locker, along with his shoes and jacket. We both sort of laughed
and the headed to the pool after I locked the locker.

Nearly an hour later, I detected the problem with Caleb's backstroke,
and was able to show him what he needed to do to fix it. From the side of
the pool I watched him and made sure he didn't revert back to his old
ways. He swam nearly four laps perfectly and when I told him he was doing
great, he got a huge smile on his face. We gave each other high fives
with each hands and he quickly gave me a hug, patting my shoulders and
thanking me for helping him. For a brief moment our swimsuits touched. We
both knew it, but he did not apologize.

Just like at school, we took our suits off in the shower. As the warm
water cascaded down on us, I glanced over to see that Caleb's dick,
which looked to be smaller than mine, was plastered against his scant
dark patch of pubes. Neither of us thought much about it, as it happened
a lot in the shower at school. I felt mine starting to grow, so I shut
the water off, grabbed my suit and towel and dried off in the small room
that was connected to the shower area.  After drying off, we went to the
locker and while I was dialing in the combination, Caleb had already
dropped his towel and was standing naked in front of me, still hard. I
tried not to look, but when he looked to his right at some other kids
coming in to the locker room, I glanced down and got a good look at him.
Now under my towel that was wrapped around my waist, my cock was rock
hard too.
Daringly, I dropped my towel too, and waited for Caleb to get his clothes
out of the locker. It was just like at school, he kept talking about
finally learning the backstroke and we talked on about school and such.
Then he asked if I wanted to shoot some baskets or play racquetball
instead of going home to his house right away. Since I'd brought my gym
shorts I agreed to play racquetball. Honestly I needed to do something to
get my extremely hard cock to go down and make me forget how long it'd
been since I'd jacked off.

We played racquetball for nearly an hour and were then both tired,
sweaty, and hungry. He was actually a good racquetball player and beat me
three out of five games. We wound up showering again, but this time
neither of us was hard. The energy we'd expended took care of that I
suppose.

Brennan picked us up a few minutes later and then took us to one of the
sub shops for sub sandwiches, chips, a cookie, and something to drink.
Five years older than Caleb, he was studying business at Northern
Illinois University. He was hoping to open his own business someday doing
something in the social media world. Since he was nearly a foot and a
half taller than me, I suspected that Caleb would someday be as tall as
well. I thanked him for lunch, and he thanked me for helping Caleb. He
knew nothing about swimming, and it was actually his oldest brother
Andrew who was the swimmer in the family. Andrew was two years older than
Brennan and was studying Spanish in Spain for the winter semester. That
concept seemed so cool to me.

Brennan dropped us off at their house and then took off for his friend's
house. I met Caleb's parents, and they were nice to me as well. Caleb
had a pretty cool room. Like me, he had a queen sized bed. But he had
something like a fifty inch flat screen tv, and a lizard in an aquarium
near the window that faced the south, overlooking a huge backyard with a
trampoline, a small pool, and a shed in the back of the lot near the
trees.
The rest of the afternoon we just played video games. I was surprised to
know that we had a lot in common as far as like games that we played,
subjects at school and he also liked hiking and biking just like me.
Another surprise, he lived only a few blocks away from the bike path that
runs into Rock Cut State Park!

His parents bought us a big pepperoni pizza and told us to go ahead and
watch a movie or two while we ate or to do whatever we wanted. They were
going out to play cards with some of their friends and wouldn't be back
until after midnight. So first we watched a couple of movies, then we
raided the refrigerator for some of the leftover pepperoni pizza that we
didn't eat for dinner. We then went into Caleb's room, changed into
sweats, and decided to play Mario Kart and then some Minecraft.

The next thing we knew after playing for what seemed like only an hour
turned out to be close to three hours. During that time, Caleb's parents
came home, said good night to us, went into their room, shut the door,
and presumably fell asleep. Around two o'clock in the morning we began
to feel like zombies and decided that it was time to crawl into bed. We
brushed our teeth and said hello to Brennan when he came home just as we
were ready to crawl into bed.

Before crawling in bed, Caleb asked me if it was okay if I slept in his
bed with him. I told him I didn't have a problem with it, as Javy and I
had slept over at each other's house in that same manner, as did Parker
and me. My eyelids were getting quite heavy, and I felt like as soon as
my head would hit the pillow, I'd fall asleep. I watched as Caleb
removed his sweatpants and was dressed in only his plaid boxers. He did
the same as I took my sweats off and only had on my CK briefs.

"So you're a briefs guy, eh?" he asked as my sweats now on the floor
revealed my briefs. "And Calvin Klein briefs at that. Dang Carter, I
pictured you as being a boxer briefs guy." His remark kind of caught me
off guard, but I responded as a matter of fact type response as I could.

"Yeah, I change it up sometimes. I used to wear boxers, but then when I
was on vacation I bought these, and it turns out I really like them. And
it kind of keeps me `under control' if you know what I mean." And now
that we were talking about underwear, my little friend was being anything
but kept under control.

"Turn around so I can see your butt. Maybe I'll start wearing them too.
So you like the Calvin's, huh?" I turned around so he could see my
butt, for whatever reason as I was kind of confused now.

"Yes, they feel great." And as I said the word `great' I couldn't
help but feel a massive boner coming on. Before it got completely hard, I
crawled under the covers.

"Well I still like my boxers. I like the feel the freedom if you know
what I mean. My brothers both wear boxers too, so of course Mom thought
I'd like them too. And I do."

Yawning, I told him that it was all good, and we were now under the
covers in his bed, not saying much. I wasn't sure what to say. I mean in
one sense of the word, I liked what I saw in Caleb, He's definitely cute
and he is nice to me, but I doubt that he's like me, and the last thing
that I'd want to do is to make a move on him. Even if he made a move on
me, I'd refuse him, since I vowed to not do anything to ruin my chances
to get back with Parker. We began talking about some of the girls in our
classes and I could tell that he was getting tired. Sure enough a minute
or two later, Caleb told me goodnight and turned to face away from me.
Within moments he was asleep. I followed him and soon I was sound asleep
as well.

My sleep was dreamless, thankfully. I was worried that I'd probably have
a wet dream, which would have been really uncomfortable trying to explain
to my friend why it appeared that I wet his bed.

We both woke up at the same time, around ten-thirty in the morning.
Caleb's mom knocked on the door and asked us if we were hungry, and if
pancakes sounded good. We both told her that would be great, and fifteen
minutes later, we were looking at a stack of freshly made pancakes on the
table in front of us. Between the pancakes, syrup, bacon, and orange
juice, we had a great breakfast. After breakfast, we went back to his
room to play some more Minecraft and wait for his brother to get up so he
could take me home. Honestly, I was having so much fun hanging out with
Caleb that I forgot to check my phone until Brennan dropped me off at
home. At one thirty last night I had received one text, that I thought
was from my mom. But it wasn't.

< WYD?

< ?

Of course it was from Parker, and I missed it.  Damnit. He wanted to know
what I was doing. And that waited nearly a half an hour before sending me
the second text, just a simple question mark. So as soon as I realized
that I missed his text, I sent him a response.

< Sorry I missed your text. I was asleep.

Then I waited for his response. A half hour turned into an hour, and then
three hours. Three hours more passed, and soon after having dinner with
Mom, she left for work and I was so tired after getting my clothes and
lunch ready for school, I went to bed without getting a response back
from Parker.

The new week started and before I knew it, the week was almost over. I
never did hear back from Parker but did see him at school. I tried
talking to him before and after Mr. Olsen's class, but he just ignored
me. So I decided to just back off and give him space. I returned to
praying at night that God would let him come back in my life soon.

The cool thing is that Caleb and I were becoming really good friends. We
did have lunch at the same time, so I did invite him to sit with us at
lunch, and now that Parker wasn't eating with us, I thought I'd
introduce him to Big T and some of the other guys. Of course they
accepted him and when Parker did happen to glance across the lunch room
to see Caleb eating with us, he just glared at me and Caleb.

It did bother me a lot that Parker would not respond to me again. I began
to believe that he suspected that Caleb was like us and that he and I
were dating. Honestly, the last thing that I wanted to do was to make
Parker jealous of my new friend. I know that I'd hurt him enough by
doing what I did in Mexico with Cristian, and there was no way I would
make the same mistake with Caleb. I thought it would be obvious that
since we were on the swim team, that we wouldn't be interested in each
other even if Caleb was gay. The voice of reasoning in my head told me
that it wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that Parker and Rhonin were
dating, but the logical part of my brain didn't want me to believe that
notion for one instant. Either way, sooner or later Parker would have to
talk to me, and we'd have to deal our emotions for each other once and
for all.

As important as clearing the air between Parker and me was, getting
through the last two weeks of swim practice was more important. It felt
really great knowing that Caleb was gaining a lot more confidence with
the backstroke. In fact, even Chase had noticed that he was doing better,
which now improved his chances of making the team. Before the last week
of practice began prior to getting the final team roster set, Caleb and I
went to the Y again to work on our strokes. This time we just practiced
like we do at school, swimming the same number of laps of each stroke.
Once again Caleb invited me to spend the night at his house, and once
again his parents bought us pizza before they left to go to their
friends' house to play some trivia game. We did just about the same
things as we did last weekend, but we spent more time playing video games
than we did watching movies. This time too, Brennan was home, so he
played with us. He is a cool and kind of reminded me of Chase in the way
that he was a good `big brother' to both Caleb and me. We all went to
bed around the same time, two o' clock in the morning. Once again we
stripped down to our underwear, me in my CK's, Caleb in his boxers.

For some reason, even though we should have been tired, we were not.
After crawling under the covers of his queen sized bed, Caleb spoke.
"Carter, I just want to let you know how much I appreciate what you've
done for me, helping me with the backstroke and perfecting the other
strokes as well. I'm not sure what I'd do if I got cut from the swim
team. I really enjoy swimming with you and the other guys. So I just want
to say Thank You for helping me and all that you've done. I'm not sure
how I can repay you, and I just wanted to say that you're one of the
nicest guys I've known, and you're becoming my best friend too."

I was extremely flattered. Almost speechless! So I just said the first
thing that came to my mind, and no it was not to ask him for a hand or
blow job.

"Hey, you're welcome. It's been my pleasure helping you out. I just
hated to see you so down that day when we first started talking. And yes,
you're becoming one of my best friends too." Caleb then continued.

"I always thought that you were pretty cool before I met you. During
class I always wondered how you'd be as a friend and figured you were
pretty smart because you got good grades. And I was right. In fact, I
have a confession of sorts to make about myself, and I hope you don't
think of me any different." He paused shortly, as if he didn't want to
continue, or was afraid to talk, as if he was unsure if the ice was safe
to walk on, for fear of falling into the deep cold water and drowning. So
as my heart beat faster, unsure of what he was going to say, I calmly and
slowly told him it was okay, that he could tell me anything he wanted to
tell me and that I wouldn't judge him or not be his friend.

"Please don't think I'm weird, because it's just who I am, I guess.
I've tried to change and all, but it's not that easy." He paused
again, and I thought for sure he was going to tell me that he was like
me, into guys. I was almost so sure of it that I felt my dick start to
swell.

"It's just that, um, believe it or not, I have a hard time making and
keeping friends. I'm just different that way. Despite having my older
brothers around, I just really have a hard time making friends. I know
I'm different than other guys my age, and it is hard, especially being
my size, like you. I tend to be really shy sometimes and I guess I just
don't believe in myself. My brothers have tried to help but they make it
worse sometimes." He sat up in bed, almost turning away from me, almost
ashamed of what he had just told me.

He was almost in tears now, just like he was when he was afraid of
getting cut from the swim team. I didn't know what to do, so I sat up in
bed as well, and just reached out to his bare shoulder, and put my hand
there to calm him down. Then I just said the first words that came to my
mind.
"Look Caleb, I know where you're coming from. I've been where you've
been and it's not fun. I'm different than a lot of guys too, and I've
had trouble making friends before this school year. But I've found that
I just have to be myself and try to help others when I can. The thing is
man, is that we're all different, created to be who we are. That's not
a bad thing. Your uniqueness is what makes you a cool friend, okay? And
trust me if I didn't like you or thought that you're weird, then I
might not have been willing to help you. But you're not, you're a cool
guy, and I'm so excited that I could help you learn the backstroke and I
hope we're together on the swim team for all four years."

He turned to face me now, and in the ambient light in the room from the
light in his lizard aquarium, I could see a single tear trickle down from
his right eye. I then said the thing that made sense to say.

"Can I give you a hug?" He thought for a second, then smiled and nodded
his head. As we moved to each other and I wrapped my arms around his
shoulders, we embraced for a moment. He quickly broke the embrace, and
sheepishly turned to face the foot of the bed. With his head now down, he
thanked me again and then whispered that we should probably get some
sleep.

I laid down on my back, with my now fully erect dick poking at my briefs,
giving me a tent under the sheets. Once again, I repeated my sentiments
to him, in case he needed reassurance of me being there for him.

"Man, just remember, I'll be there for you whenever you need someone to
talk to, okay?"

He nodded his head and then in a half asleep voice he muttered, "Thanks
Carter. Good night."

Moments later we both fell asleep.

******
The last week of practice finally arrived. We put in a good week of
swimming and a good week of working out. Chase shared our beginning times
from when we initially started practice five weeks ago to now. I was
surprised to see that in all of my strokes, my times had gone down,
gaining at least a half a minute with each stroke. And the super cool
thing was that with the weight lifting part of practice also saw gains in
muscle and in weights used to work out. I'd gone from using ten pounds
for arm curls to fifteen. I went from barely bench pressing fifty pounds
to now pressing sixty.  Not big gains, but gains, nonetheless. Best of
all was the leg work. I'd jumped ten pounds in all of the leg lifting.
For once in my life I felt physically great and felt like I was quickly
getting in the best shape of my life.

Everyone on the team had made strides as well.  Spence and Angelo looked
like they were adding muscle, which was evident in the pool and when we
showered. Caleb looked like perhaps he'd made some gains, but not like
the rest of us. Needless to say, as Friday after school finally arrived,
I could tell that Caleb was super nervous. On the way to the locker room
after school we'd met up in the hallway outside of the gym locker room
where we dressed for gym. I reassured him that he'd be fine, to just
trust in the work he'd done and to just focus on making sure he did the
backstroke correctly and then all would be good. As we stopped outside of
the door to the swimming pool locker room, not really thinking, I gave
him a hug for good luck. Little did I know that just as I embraced him,
Parker and Rhonin walked past us on the way to the wrestling mats. Parker
just glared at us, while Rhonin made a snide remark under his breath that
surely sounded like he called us something like "fucking homos" or
"f'ing fags". All I heard was Parker making a sound like "heh" or
something like that. Caleb didn't think anything of it because he was so
nervous about making the team. I tried to blow it off, and for the most
part I did, but just put it in the back of mind to deal with later.

Finally we were in the water, doing our usual laps. Today's practice
would be abbreviated in the sense that there would be no weight training.
Once laps were done, the names of those of us making the team would be
posted outside of the coach's office.  Then of course, the best part
would be when Chase would come around the locker room and hand out the
black and orange team swimsuits with the Harlem Huskie logo on the side,
and no more would we have to wear Speedos in practice.

We got our laps out of the way quickly. One by one we got out of the
pool, grabbed our towels and started drying our faces as we walked
towards the coach's office, our swim goggles on our foreheads.

The moment of truth had arrived. Caleb was almost shaking. But as we
approached the bulletin board where the team roster was posted, his fears
and the fears of a couple other guys were all for nothing -- we'd all
made the team!!!

Caleb was so happy. Guys were giving him high fives, patting him on the
back, and doing the same to the other two guys: Reece and Riley. When the
group broke up and headed to their respective lockers, Caleb was all
smiles, and gave me a huge hug. He had a smile that stretched from ear to
ear. When Chase came around with our team swimsuits, we were all clapping
and cheering for each other's accomplishments. It was a tremendous
feeling, and for once in my young life, I was so happy with my own
accomplishments. The best feeling of all though, was knowing that I'd
helped Caleb make the team.

We all showered and got dressed quickly. Being a Friday night, we all
couldn't wait to get home and tell our parents. For some reason, I was
the last person to get in the shower, so of course I was the last one to
get dressed. Everyone else had left the locker room except Caleb and me.
Even though his brother Brennan was there waiting to pick him up, he
still waited to walk out with me. As we left the locker room and started
walking toward the exit door and were about halfway, I realized that I'd
left my cell phone in my locker. Caleb was already late, so he couldn't
walk back with me. But once again, he thanked me.

"Carter, I don't know how to thank you enough. I know I couldn't have
made the team without your help. So maybe we can like go out to get
dinner and catch a movie or something to kind a celebrate both of us
making the team. Does tomorrow work for you?"

"Aw, thanks man! Yeah, it should. Look it's the least thing I can do
for a friend. Sure I'd love to do that tomorrow. I'll just make sure
and check with my mom and let you know tonight or tomorrow morning,
okay?"

"Sure that'd be great. Thanks again, man."  He gave me another hug,
this time the embrace lasted like twenty seconds before he broke away and
started walking away. "See you tomorrow, Michaels!"

I couldn't erase the smile from my face. I was so happy. Quickly, I ran
back to the locker room to get my phone. There was no one else in the
locker room but me, or so I thought.

I didn't realize I had been followed into the locker room.

As I opened the door to the locker I'd used, I found my cell phone
sitting safely on the top shelf in the locker, I was just about to grab
my phone when seemingly out of nowhere a strong left hand grabbed my left
hand and quickly pinned it to my back.

At the same time, I let out a loud scream in fear of what was going to
happen next. The right hand of my captor quickly covered my mouth, muting
my scream instantly.

A stern, angry voice nearly shouted in my right ear, the words echoed
through the empty locker room.

"SO who's your new boyfriend?