Survival Of The Fittest

Austin Spencer had been swimming laps around the pool with surprising ease, his athletic body being suited for most sports, including those involving water.  He had seen the Valero brothers but opted not to intrude upon their excursion to the Rec Center, a respectful gesture that he hoped would be reciprocated.  While he had many friends, Austin was notorious for being first and foremost a loner.  He couldn't even keep a girlfriend for more than a month, although that was a different story.

Although it was such a small part of him, the fact that he was gay had been a relatively large issue for Austin.  His father was always ranting about what was wrong with America, and homosexuality was a frequent burn topic at the Spencer family dinner table.  Although it was apparent that his mother and siblings did not quite feel the same way as their husband and father, no one dared disagree with him, ever. It was clear that to stray from what his father established as 'righteous' would be a very foolish move indeed.

He'd tried to be straight for years.  He'd dated as many girls as he could, he'd even had sex with several of them.  His first time he had been only thirteen and the girl, who was obviously more experienced than he was, sixteen. Luckily his awkwardness and inability to perform well was mistakenly attributed to the fact that he was a virgin.  He'd learned after that if he thought of a guy while going at it with a girl, he could get stiff enough to get off on it.  After a while it was apparent to Austin that no matter how hard he tried, he would never be straight.  Eventually he just began to use women as a front for his true sexuality.  In truth it probably wouldn't have made a difference if the people he dated were girls or guys.  His heart had long since belonged to another.

Austin had been watching Taylor Brennan now for a long time.  To the athletic boy it had been 'love' at first site.  Taylor was neither extremely effeminate, not overbearingly masculine, the latter of which category being the one Austin seemed to fit into.  Taylor possessed a sweet, congenial and friendly nature all the while avoiding classification as a sissy.  Perhaps it was all the hell the boy had been through with his surgeries, or maybe it was something more, regardless, Taylor Brennan was a natural born fighter.  Austin often imagined Taylor's body, slim and willowy, but perfectly toned, in his arms late at night, but there was always the guilt that came along with those fantasies.  His love for Taylor, who in Austin's words could only be described as beautiful, was forbidden.  He had given up praying to God to change him and now merely hoped that one day he would get over his borderline obsessive love for boys, Taylor in particular.  

As Austin swam the water cascaded over his fit and athletic body.  He enjoyed the stares he got from woman and girls alike, even if he knew the feelings they felt would never be returned.  It was good to be desired.  

Finishing his last lap he climbed the ladder out of the pool and walked towards his towel.  It was inconveniently located near the area that one of the Valero twins, Christian, now occupied… so much for avoiding detection.

"Hey Chris, buddy," Austin said grabbing his towel, "what's the good word?"  

He watched as a pretty and curvaceous blonde that Chris had been obviously flirting with disappeared into the women's locker room, "who's that?  I've never seen her before.  She's hot."

Mariavel obliged and quickly retreated toward the dressing rooms to change into something more suitable than the skimpy green bikini.  Christian, however, wasn't too concerned about it.  Using the towel he'd offered Mariavel earlier to dry off, he slipped the white t-shirt he'd had on earlier over his head and, after a moment, decided his black swim trunks could double as appropriate attire for the amusement park.

He grinned to himself just thinking about spending the afternoon with the curvaceous blonde who'd just gone to change, but was quickly thrusted from his reverie as a deep voice addressed him from nearby.  He cast Hobbsborough poster boy Austin Spencer a curt nod as he addressed him.  However, Christian's attention piqued when Austin inquired about the blonde that had just headed toward the dressing rooms.

"Her?" he reiterated confusedly, "She said her name was Mariavel, she's from Bathurst.  Figured you'd know her.  Yeah, she's..." he trailed off momentarily, "... she's definitely cute."

He quickly averted his gaze from the dressing rooms, which it had trailed off toward in the midst of his sentence.  He couldn't get his brother's condescending look out of his mind, though.  It seemed as though Colton were looking directly at her when he spoke, too.  Did he know something about her that Christian didn't?  He was a lot more extroverted than the younger twin, there was always that possibility, he supposed.

Regardless, it didn't matter what Colton knew about Mariavel.  Christian had learned long ago not to judge people by the acts they had committed in the past but by the way they presented themselves in the present.  From what he had come to learn about Mariavel, she was genuinely a good person.  Perhaps she was a bit misguided, but she was still just a child.  She had plenty of time.  Christian had no way of knowing just how strong his faith would have to be to contend with the devil-in-disguise he was spending the afternoon with.

"So man," he inquired to break the momentary awkward silence, "How've ya been?  You missed one hell of a basketball game earlier."

Running a hand through his wet, chlorine saturated hair, Austin addressed the twin, "I've been alright; baseball practice is hell these days though.  Coach wants us in shape for when we finally play against Callahan, Silvestedt and the other boys from Franklin.  They kicked our asses last year and Coach McAllister wasn't happy that game costing us our place in regional's and all."

Austin had always been involved with sports, his father having conditioned his three sons from an early age to be All-American Athletes.  This had helped Austin blend in well with his straight teammates.  Often the players would exchange jokes, sometimes about gays, and the punch line always involved something stereotypical, something extremely Queer Eye.  They never stopped to consider the possibility that one of their own could be a fag.  After all gay guys went antiquing and liked interior design and drank fruity cocktails.  Pansies most certainly didn't excel in sports.  And so, no one ever stopped to think that the star First Baseman from St. Andrews might be a queer, it was the last thought in their small meat headed brains.

Because it worked to his advantage Austin always played along.  

"Hey Silvestedt do you swing that bat like a girl because you're queer?"

"Fazoli were you born that gay or did they teach you that in Home Ec. over at Bathurst?"

It really had become quite easy after a while.  Austin had conditioned himself to be two different people.  The Austin Spencer that his friends and peers knew was an elitist bigot; a chauvinist pig who used women for his own "pleasure" and had little regard for the feelings of others.  The real Austin Spencer however, possessed a romantic side that no one ever saw.  Unfortunately for Austin this meant that Taylor Brennan most certainly viewed him in the light of the former.

***

Austin used a fresh towel to wipe his sweat drenched brow as he made his way through the empty hallways of Hobbsborough High School.  It was early winter, Christmas break in fact, and the Hobbsborough Baseball Team had long since begun strength training for the upcoming season.  These workout sessions, unlike school, did not break for winter vacation.  It seemed to Austin that between soccer and baseball he was always busy.  He hadn't really wanted to play baseball this year anyway, but his father would have never approved of that.  

Lifting was over finally and according to his wrist watch it was now 7:08 PM.  The sky was dark and snow was falling.  All of the other boys had left along with Coach McAllister but Austin had forgotten the materials for his English research paper on The Alamo.  Several of the teachers were lurking around grading semester exams but no one appeared to be in the Science Wing where Austin's locker and books were located.  

Collecting the books he needed Austin set off in the opposite direction, toward the entrance of the school.  Realizing he needed to pee he made a pit stop at the men's restroom on the first floor commons.

Instead of finding an empty bathroom like he had expected Austin walked in to find a freshman boy with a can of spray paint.  On the wall in crimson paint were the words, ‘PARIS PERSEPHONE IS A COCKSUCKING FAGGOT AND SO IS TAYLOR BRE-‘

The boy, who Austin recognized as one of the new additions to the baseball team, paused in shock of being caught.  However when he realized that it was only Austin he breathed a large sigh of relief and began to laugh.

"D-d-damn Spencer, you scared the shit out of me," the small underclassman squeaked.

In less than two seconds however, the student and teammate, whose name Austin hadn't even learned yet, was hardly laughing as the older, more muscular boy took him in a vice grip and angrily slammed him against the wall.

"You listen to me you little piece of shit," Austin fumed snatching the can of spray paint from the now obviously terrified boy, "if I ever catch you doing this-"

Before he could finish however a familiar voice sounded from the entrance of the lavatory, "what are you doing?"

Recognizing the unmistakable voice of Taylor Brennan, his heart sank.  He realized what this looked like and it wasn't good.  What was Taylor doing at school during break anyway?

'Damn...'

Loosening his hold on the boy Austin frantically began to explain himself, literally caught red handed with the can of paint, "Taylor, this isn't what it looks like-"

"Put him down Austin," Taylor interceded, "he's not going to tell anyone what you did, because I am."

"Taylor wait," Austin exclaimed releasing the boy and bolting out the bathroom after the Sophomore Class President.  Catching up with the gorgeous boy Austin made an attempt to grab Taylor's shoulder.  

Spinning around to face Austin, Taylor gave him a look of pure contempt, "you let go of me right now!  Don't you ever touch me!  Do you hear me?  Don't you ever touch me you filthy disgusting excuse for a human being.  Why can't you just leave people be?  Why Austin?  Why do you have to make everyone's life a living hell?  Answer that!  Why are you so evil?"

Shocked Austin slowly released his hand from Taylor's shoulder and stood speechless.  For a moment there was nothing but silence.  Anyone watching would have said that the scene bared a remarkable resemblance to a snow globe, with the two boys standing in front of the ceiling high window on the far wall of the commons as snow blew rapidly in the dark back round of the pitch black night.  Austin's heart sank as Taylor's look of pure anger changed to one of extreme hurt, the shorter, more delicate boy's eyes now brimming with tears.  After several seconds of eerie silence, Taylor turned and quickly ran away, stifling sobs as he went.  If Taylor had bothered to look back, he would have seen that Austin was crying too.

Austin never heard another word about that night.  The bathroom was already immaculate by the time classes started again and apparently Taylor hadn't told on Austin like he had promised.  It was the first and last time the two had ever even spoken to one another until several months later when Austin would begin dating Taylor's stepsister.  In the back of his mind however, Austin would always wonder what Taylor was doing in that abandoned school during the Christmas break of 2005.

***

Realizing that he had spaced off, Austin once again found himself at the Rec Center pool.  He turned to Christian who hadn't appeared to notice his temporary "absence" from reality and spoke once again, "so man what's been up with you?  Tell me about this game I missed."

OOC: content warning may be needed on this one.

Mariavel ran into the locker room at full speed, slamming the door behind her. She needed to get herself and Christian out of there as quickly as possible. If his brother caught up to thjem there was no telling what he may say. If she was right, then he was the boy who was with Graston at te dance. The first and last one she ever went to.No other Fist members were their. She had a date that, in her opinion, was only with her because of the rumors. She wasn't a slut. And an argument about that started the entire ordeal. Ali literally bashed her infront of everyone there. If the teacher hadn't broken it up, ali would be missing at least her 2 front teeth right about now.

She made her way over to the showers, and peeled off the bikini top. The bottom soon followed. She stepped under to cool water and let it wash all of her worrys away. She had always liked cold showers. She didn't bother soaping off, and just let the water tickle her skin from head to toe. she soon remembered her predicament however and turned the water off quickly. She dried off and ran to her locker. She donned her signature denim mini-skirt and Forest green top. The barrete was put in to compleate her ansamble. she slipped on her newly bought green flip-flops nd ran out of the loker room, her bag over her shoulder.

When she reached chris again however, he seemed to be in conversation with another boy. Not a vbery bad looking one at that. but, she had no interest in him. She smiled to christian and asked, "Are we going?"

A wide smile formed across Christian's features as Austin commented on how the Hobbsborough baseball coach had been running them ragged in an attempt to score a win against his own high school's all-star baseball team.  Chris wasn't exactly into the whole baseball scene, that was more up his brother's alley.  Chris was more known for his position on Franklyn Senior's football team.  His father had been a first-string player on the football team back in the day, and Chris had picked up the hobby from him.  When Austin inquired about himself, the younger twin simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Not a lot, really," he mused, "Been spending a lot of time down here shooting hoops and stuff since me and Kourtney split.  Bunch of the guys came down here today and played.  Turned out to be a pretty good game."

He paused for a moment as if something had just popped into his mind, then continued on to inquire about something else.

"Newton said he tried to call ya but didn't get an answer."

Then again, "Newton", more commonly known as Justin Newton of Hobbsborough High School, hadn't been on good terms with Austin Spencer for quite a while now.  Rumor had it that Justin's sister Stephanie Newton had been one of the girls Austin had "used for his own pleasure".  Whether or not that was what stemmed Newton's general dislike of Austin wasn't clear, as Fig (an unfortunate nickname Newton had received due to his last name) would never confirm it, but that was the general consensus among his friends.

Therefore, whether or not Fig had actually bothered to call Austin was debatable.  Perhaps he'd just said that because he didn't want Austin there.  Either way, Christian didn't really care.  He didn't have a problem with either of the two guys and tried to stay out of personal affairs like that as much as possible anyway.  As if it were an afterthought, Chris once again spoke up.

"By the way man, tomorrow night we're all heading down to the diamond down at Creekmore to hit a couple.  You coming?"

It had been almost common practice for as long as Chris could remember.  A lot of the boys -- baseballers and non -- from the nearby schools would all pick a night to head down to the basketball court for a game or down to the park to hit a couple from the diamond located within.  It had given several of the boys a chance to bond and become pretty good friends.

Chris was thrown from his thoughts again as Mariavel, who had returned only seconds prior, inquired as to whether or not they were leaving.  Chris shrugged his shoulders lightly and smiled before nodding.  He turned back to Austin momentarily, an apologetic smile gracing his features.

"Sorry man, the lady friend is calling.  I'll see ya around!"

With that, Chris left Austin in his current position by the pool and headed back over to Mariavel.  He didn't bother grabbing the few belongings he'd left in the pile, assuming that Colt would probably grab anything and cram it into one of the lockers before leaving anyway.  Colt had returned to chatting away with the Arabic lifeguard and didn't look as if he were going anywhere for a good while.

Christian couldn't help but smile to himself as he and Mariavel headed out of the rec center and toward the bright red Kawasaki motorcycle sitting in the parking lot.  Tonight would be the first night he'd gone out with anybody since he and Kourtney had split up.  Christian just hoped Mariavel wasn't another one of those psychos like Kourtney had been.  He never once stopped to think about the condescending look his brother had given the blonde.  It wasn't worth his time to think about negative things anyway, he was determined to make the evening a good one.

((Continued in: Battle in Paradise))

Mariavel was delighted at the prospect of leaving, and Chris' quick departure was like angel's singing to her. They NEEDED to get outta here. She jogged behind him to catch up after winking goodbye to the other guy. She followed him outside into the parking lot until they came across a motercycle beyond anything she had ever seen. She'd never ridden one before, so It was a bit scary to get on behind him, and a bit embarrasing to hold onto him too. But when they sped off, It felt like she was flying. Now they were off, to the CARNIVAL!!


Going to: Battle in paradise, when I make it