Because You Suck: Chapter 4: Part 5

Read until the end or you'll miss something important ^_~!

The car pool gate slammed shut behind Carly. Gentry mutely walked beside him, the twilight fading to dusk and casting new shadows on his face.
“It must be an old rule.” Carly broke the silence, “What is it with that guy? Why does he want to be on the Senior Swim team so bad? No one freaking wants him. He’s so arrogant, and his form needs a LOT of work. He keeps crashing into the wall! You know what? We need to change the rules to keep people like that from joining the senior swim team---”
“I don’t care.” Gentry finally replied.
“But I do. The Senior Swim Team needs to stay Senior. If we let one sophomore in, more will follow.” Carly stopped at his red sports car.
Gentry rolled with eyes in annoyance as Carly rambled on.
“Whatever is going on between you guys, you have to win.” he paused, “But you have to win fairly, because even a hint of cheating will undermine morale.”
“Oh,” Gentry gazed at him with a barely hidden smirk, “so now you’re talking about fairness?”
“I don’t like underclassmen,” admitted Carly, “Seniority goes before skill, otherwise there’s too much competition in the lower grades. That competition wouldn’t only ruin freshman year, but it’d also force Seniors to compete against more people. Freshmen shouldn’t have to compete at a senior level, and seniors shouldn’t have to compete against freshmen. A sophomore on the team will ruin the class structure and undermine Senior authority.”
Gentry laughed, “You should hear yourself.”
“I’m serious, Gentry.”
“The difference between freshman and senior is only four years.”
“Don’t you respect any authority?”
Gentry gave a sneaky little smile.
“It will be a fair match, Carly, because we both know Zach doesn’t stand a chance. Besides, I’m too proud to lose for any other reason than luck.”
Carly smirked, “You really are something, Gentry. I don’t believe in your pride, because your pride lies in shitting on everyone and everything for your own gain. That’s the one sport you naturally excel at: BSing.” He lowered his voice, “But you won’t BS me. I still have that photo of you. And, ah, if you lose, I will give it to Zach.”
Gentry averted his eyes as Carly climbed into his car and started the engine.

Because You Suck: Chapter 4: Part 4

Carly fished a pair of goggles from the pool, shaking the water from it before hurling it into the trash. Tryouts had ended that day, and the pool was cleaned of freshmen and other garbage.
“Well, Gentry…” breathed Carly, “no sophomores made it to the Senior team. But you aren’t surprised at all, are you?”
Gentry didn’t reply, staring off onto the horizon. Hearing Carly talk was annoying to him.
“Zach got this close.” Carly put his fingers so close that they almost touched, then shook his head to hide a smirk. He turned to face the redhead, and asked, “Why were you late to judging today, and what happened to your face?”
“I was bored, so I felt like punching myself repeatedly.”
“Okay… whatever. You’re a weird kid, Gentry.”
“I know.”
“Anyway. It really is too bad no freshmen and sophomores made it to the team.” Carly rambled on.
“Don’t kid yourself.”
Carly ignored the remark, fishing a pair of goggles from the pool. The sun was setting in the distance, and Gentry pulled his swim parka over his shivering shoulders. He was shaking, but it wasn’t from the cold. When the remaining rays of sunlight were blocked up, Gentry lifted his head to discover Zach’s dark features and clear eyes in the distance. Carly looked up as well, a startled expression on his smug face. Before he could speak, Zach pushed a paper into his hands.
“I checked the rule book,” Zach drawled, “And there is a loophole. In case a person who is trying out feels cheated, he can gain admittance to the Senior swim team by beating the current leader.”
Carly read over the freshly printed paper, “Well.” He smirked, “That’s interesting. Do you think you can beat Gentry?”
Zach’s lips formed a thin line, and he refused to glance in Gentry’s direction. The redhead leaned back tiredly, “I’ll ask the coach to set it up for whenever you want.”
“Next month.”
“Good.”
“Done.” Said Carly, making a note on a clipboard.

Because You Suck: Chapter 4: Part 3

“I can’t believe the school lets that faggot share a pool with us. He’ll give the pool and everyone in it AIDS. I want to beat the fuck out of him---”
“Shhh, keep your voice down. He’s right over there.”
“Hm. He is. Hey! You! No sophomores are allowed in the senior locker rooms!”
Zach passed them warily. The sharks were in the locker room, not the water. For a moment, Zach felt like running. But instead, he firmly planted his feat on the ground, clenched his fists and replied, “The showers in the freshmen area are cold. You don’t officially own this part of the locker room, so if you have a problem with me being here, go run to your coach.”
The locker room was so silent now that you could hear the faucets squeak. Then, it rang out.
“HEY FAGGOT!”
Zach winced and glared in the direction from which the taunt came.
Sydney returned the glare with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. He was standing with his legs apart and arms crossed, like some demented locker room hero. Gentry was beside him, arms crossed and eyes averted. He glanced at Zach for a moment, and got a good hard look in return.
“Hey FAGGOT!” Sydney taunted again, “Why don’t you talk? Got cum in your mouth?”
“Fuck off, you BREEDER.” Zach replied.
Sydney’s nostrils flared, “Watch your mouth, faggot, or I’ll watch it for you.” His eyebrows arched further up his forehead.
Zach snorted, “What will you do, make out with me so I can’t talk?”
The locker room jeered in unison, and Sydney yelled, “I won’t make out with you, you faggot! I’ll beat the shit out of you for saying that.” He crouched like a bull before attack.
“I’m a faggot all right.” Zach countered, and let his gaze shift to Gentry, “But at least I’m not a coward.”
Sydney charged his 250-pound body at Zach, but Gentry jerked him back suddenly.
“Stop it. Nationals are a month away. We can’t afford to kill any of our members now. Zach, just go… you’re still a sophomore, and no sophomores are allowed here.”
That did it. Zach had had enough. It was one thing for Sydney and everyone else to bully him, another for Gentry to be nonchalant about it.
Without a word of warning, Zach slammed Gentry against a row of lockers, resulting in a sudden and shaky gasp from the redhead.
“Get the fuck off me.” he ordered in a low voice, trying unsuccessfully to shove Zach off him.
“Seriously, Zach, get off---” he ground out, only to be punched in the face as a reply. Gentry choked back his own blood, wincing at the metallic taste in his mouth. Zach watched him disaffectedly, and punched him again for good measure. Gentry dodged it by rolling away, falling with his arms spread and his back pressed against the adjoining locker. The locker room crowd circled around, gaping in awe at the sophomore that was beating the living hell out of their leader. Gentry curled away from Zach’s blows, trying to move away only to be cornered and beaten again.
“Zach, move off!” yelled Mike.
But the words were distant and meaningless to Zach. No one deserved to be hurt more than Gentry, because no one else had pretended to be his friend only to later betray him. He wanted to see Gentry suffer the way he had because there was nothing worse than the angry burning and stinging of betrayal. These were the thoughts that raced through Zach’s mind as he landed one punch after another. He arched his knee to kick Gentry, but missed when the other boy breathlessly pulled away from the lockers and defensively crossed his forearms over his face.
“Stop it--- I don’t want to fight you, Zach. Don’t make me.”
“You already are.” Zach spat, “You just don’t use your fists. You use Carly and manipulate everyone else, and that makes you the worst kind of person. But if you think you can fuck around with me, you’re wrong.”
Gentry tensed and Zach seized the opportunity to kick him behind his feet and throw him off balance. Gentry rolled away fast enough to avoid a vicious kick in the ribs, and stood up before Zach could push him down again. Zach readied himself to deliver another blow. However, before any of the Zach could hit, Gentry ended the fight by swiftly kicking him between the legs.
Zach let out a pained gasp and stumbled backwards, dazed by the shouts of the crowd. He fell onto his knees, looking up at Gentry who in turn stared down at him. The corner of Gentry’s mouth formed a sneer, and he wiped the blood from his split lip. Then, he roughly pulled back a fistful of Zach’s hair, resulting in a round of hollering from the locker room.
“YEAH!”
“Hurt that faggot!”
“Do it!”
“Punch him!”
Gentry’s shoulders dropped as the locker room egged him on, guffawing and jeering. Zach’s lips parted and his chest was quickly falling and rising, pressing his thin skin against his ribcage. His eyes looked to the floor, but he didn’t give as much as a whimper. His whole body was shaking, and his breath came out in gasps.
Gentry raised his hand to slap him, but then dropped it to his side. The locker room cried out at him as he turned walked away, then murmured in bewilderment as he walked out the door.

Because You Suck: Chapter 4: Part 2

The tiled locker room floor tingled under his hands, burning as his body was pushed forward. The shower head was aimed at his face.
“Say it!”
“No.” Zach choked out.
A heady burst of cold water hitting his eyes.
He never got the names of the Senior swim team straight, but he knew they were a pack to be avoided. He wanted to win against Gentry, but wasn’t sure he wanted the ‘prize.’
Zach grunted as his hair was pulled back, and a voice that sounded like Mike’s taunted him, “Say it!”
He shivered as he was kicked where it hurt most.
“Say it faggot! Say you’re a disgusting faggot.”
Zach recognized Sydney’s legs in front of his face. The senior’s foot nudged his cheek, “Come on, fag, say it.”
“I am …” Zach’s blue eyes were fixed on the floor, “I’m a disgusting faggot.”
Laughter rang through the shower room, and his hair was pulled back again, jerked back roughly.
“Why should we believe you, huh?”
“Oh, man,” a hyena-like laughing, “Make him say he wants to give Sydney head every night.”
“Say it!” barked a voice that sounded like Mike’s, “Come on faggot!”
Zach remained stubbornly silent, and received a swift kick for it.
“Say it faggot! Come on!”
“I w-will give… I’ll give… I’ll give…”
“Oh my God, man, he’s such a fag!” snickered one of the boys. Now Zach was unable to tell which was which. His head spun and his breath came in frightened gasps.
The water was turned off and a rough hand slapped Zach’s face, “Come on, you fairy, say it!”
“I’ll give him head every night.” the tears stung his eyes.
“Faggot!” Mike screeched, “Hey, Sydney, what are you doing? You’re actually going to let him do that?”
“No?” Sydney made a face as he pulled down his pants, “That’s disgusting.”
The foul odor of piss filled the air.

Because You Suck: Chapter 4: Part 1

I just want to thank everyone for the feedback ^_^! You are the only reason I continue this story at all.

Zach was not mad. He was furious.
The weeks that followed the incident were hellish. There was speculation over whether Carly fell into the water, whether Gentry pushed him, or whether Zach pulled him. Regardless, the facts stood. Zach had accused the honored Senior Swim team not only of cheating him a well-earned spot, but cheating the underclassmen as well. He had spoken an ugly and previously unspoken truth, and the results were disastrous.
The Senior Swim team threatened to beat him up once they had the chance. In response, Zach avoided them at every turn. Zach was many things, but maschochist wasn’t one of them. He spent his lunch hours in the GSA room, but did not pay attention to the table’s conversation.
“I could fight the team off,” he reasoned mentally, “But then Miss Nasty will suspend me and say I should have reported them earlier. But if report them she won’t do shit about them because she hates me and Gentry’s parents are influential.” He paused, “So it’s a lose-lose situation. But why do they need so many people just to attack one person?”
He wished he could take a gun and shoot them. One by one, wave it in their faces and let them be afraid for once. He wished he could run into the locker rooms and kill them all.
But, he reasoned, that wouldn’t solve anything either. His chance would come, though, and when it came it would be Carly’s turn to eat shit.
The lunch bell rang and Zach robotically headed toward his class, still entrenched in thought. His focus shifted onto Gentry.
“Carly was always an asshole. But, Gentry was supposed to be better.” Zach thought, “But he isn’t.”
But those were only facts. The one thing that still weighed on Zach’s mind was why Gentry did what he did. Was loyalty to Carly more important than a---
“FAGGOT!”
The cry sounded, and Zach gritted his teeth. A crumpled wet paper hit his shoulder.
Finally, his dark blue eyes looked up to see the bullies’ faces, only to see they were lost in the crowd. With a sigh, Zach pulled the hood over his head.
“What’s wrong, got cum in your mouth, cocksucker?”
This time, Zach didn’t even raise his head. The last few weeks had been hellish.
It started with the rumor that he looked over boys in the locker rooms, and that he asked them for sex. Students started returning his greetings with cold glares, while others pretended they didn’t see him. The most damaging was that in all his classes, students refused to work with him. He had once asked every person in all his classes (save for Gentry) if he could be in their group, only to be ignored or get a rude “no” in reply. Even those who were assigned slithered away when the teacher wasn’t looking. Zach was at a point where he didn’t even try to look for a group. He just automatically started projects on his own. Gays weren’t all hated in the school. As long as they were best friends with a hot girl, the boys would behave. But if you were alone, there was no reason to be kind.

Because You Suck: Chapter 3: Part 4

Zach blinked, wheezing as he blew water out of his mouth and tried to connect to the world around him again.
“498…” he repeated, his mind only beginning to register the words.
“Zach?” Gentry cocked his head, crouching by the edge of the pool,” Are you ok?”
The other’s blue eyes snapped open, the way a bird’s did before attack.
“498…”
“Yeah. You swam 498 laps.” Gentry repeated, looking at the clipboard.
Zach’s expression hardened, “Bullshit.”
Another boy leaned over Gentry’s shoulder, blocking out the sun. Zach’s eyes turned to slits when he recognized it was Carly.
“What are you doing here? Didn’t you graduate?”
“I’m the guest coach.” Came the smug reply, “The coach calls me to do it every summer.”
Gentry elaborated, “He times all the swimmers along with the team judges, and gives the final outcome if there are any problems.”
“That’s bull! You just don’t want any lower classmen on the team! Gentry…” Zach’s expression was pained, but Gentry looked away.
“You got a good time.” He said.
“I got 500 laps in five minutes, not 498!”
“Can you prove it?” Carly piped up.
“How the hell can I prove it if I was swimming it?!”
Carly raised both eyebrows, “You think the whole world revolves around you, don’t you? But you WILL accept that you lost, because that’s just what you did. My team loses too, but we accept it.”
“At least you lose fairly!” Zach moved to get out of the water, but Carly shoved him back and gripped onto one of his wrists.
“Let me go!” Zach yelled, trying in vain to pull out of Carly’s grip.
“Carly… let him go.” Gentry said softly.
Carly snorted in return, and Zach yelled, “You’re both fucking cheaters! You rigged the diving board for the freshman team last year! You de-motivated them at every shot, so that now they just don’t try anymore. So don’t you tell me about losing fairly when you are a dirty lying chea---”
Carly cut him off by pushing him under the water, letting the chlorine fill his lungs. He tried to struggle, but Carly firmly held him down. The chlorine stung his weakened senses and overwhelmed them.The other Seniors pretended not to see it, until a sudden loud splash forced them to look up. Carly had tumbled into the water, and Zach had narrowly escaped the former leader’s frantic grasps by pulling himself out of the water and fleeing to the girls’ locker room.

Because You Suck: Chapter 3: Part 3

Senior Swim Team tryouts were held on the hottest day of the semester break. The pool water steamed, and the air was ripe with the smell of chlorine and burning flesh.
For some, they offered the seniority-earned promotion of entering the prestigious Senior swim team. For others, they offered a chance at escaping the miserable Freshman swim team for something better.
Zach was there for just that reason.
Gentry sat in a white lounge chair, lazily eying a clipboard. The wet black Swim Team shorts clung to his hips, showing off a lean, muscled body hardened through countless swim meets. His hair flickered in the afternoon sunlight like a daunting red flame.
With a hint of contempt in his voice, he read from the clipboard:
“Next in line for tryouts… Zach Tyler.”
He looked up to see Zach, with his dark features and those unusual blue eyes. It was always strange to see him without his heavy clothes and thick-rimmed glasses.
Gentry glared at him, and Zach raised his eyebrows in a quiet declaration of war.
“Do I just go in the water and start?” he asked, peering into the unclouded depths of the pool.
“Yeah. Get comfortable.” Gentry peered down at his clipboard and tapped the rim with his pen, ”You need to swim a 500 yard freestyle in under 10 minutes.”
Zach returned the statement with a curt nod, “I know.”
He positioned himself at the rim of the pool, ignoring the noise of the other swimmers or the pounding fear in his head. If he didn’t make the team, he would be stuck in the lazy, constantly losing underclassman swim team for one more year. The moment he pushed off the wall, an almost primitive urge took over and the world outside was by the water ripping at his sides. His breath came in heavy gasps, and slowly his mind became clouded by the overpowering smell of chlorine and the sensation of his limbs hitting the water. The number 500 flashed behind his tightly closed eyes, but he didn’t register how lap each went by. He stopped intuitively when the whistle blew, crashing headfirst into the wall.
Gentry’s red hair blurred into view, and his voice followed soon after.“498.”