The Theatre Jock - Part 4

Imagine getting emotional on a Friday morning! Here's the second last instalment of The Theatre Jock!

All characters are consenting adults (18+)

“This is it, boys” Coach Reynolds said, as we trudged through the sludgy playing field. “One game stands between us and the championship”.

I took a heavy tackle, and ended up laying on my back groaning, until Coach stood over me. “You need to get your head in the game, son” he scowled, helping me up, “is this about that Adelaide woman again?”

“No” I groaned, wiping mud from my eyes, “I’m just tired”.

He shoved me back into the game and continued giving his droning speech. Another heavy tackle stopped him dead.

“For Christ’s sake, Brooks!” He snapped, and dragged me to my feet by my jersey, “you’re supposed to be my star player, what’s gotten into you?!”

“He misses his boyfriend” Butch sniggered, as he and Gary ran by. Coach’s face turned to stone.

“You’re not… You’re not one of those are you?” He asked, sounding utterly horrified. I yanked myself away from him.

“No”.

“I need all of you to give this everything you have!” He called out, as we continued training. “I don’t care if you’ve got to miss your grandma’s god damn funeral for this. I want focus!”

I wanted to shove an entire football down his throat, but I continued forcing myself through the gruelling practice, soaking wet, shivering and covered from head to toe in mud. Coach Reynolds remained under the warmth of his heavy rain jacket.

“Nothing else matters, boys!” He bellowed. “No sport, no club, no family commitments. This is what matters! Football is what matters, do I make myself clear?!”

“Yes Coach!” They all barked, but I remained silent.

“I’m gonna fucking smash someone on Saturday” Butch grinned as he stripped naked in the changing rooms. I sat on the bench, ignoring him and thinking only of Lucas Adler.

“Did you hear me?” He snapped, twisting his hips so that his dick slapped off his thighs. “I’m gonna fuck someone up in this game”.

I scoffed.

“Jesus, what happened to you?” He asked, drying his hair, “those theatre homos must have fucked with your brain or something”.

Gary appeared, also naked, and when I looked around, I realised that every guy in the place was butt ass naked. I almost laughed to myself when I thought about it. Here was Butch, giving me a lecture on ‘homos’ while a bunch of them stood around with their dicks out.

“I told you” I mumbled, “I’m just tired”.

“Well wake yourself up” he spat, “we have a fucking championship to win on Saturday!”.

With those words, Coach walked in, and I was beginning to think that he was timing his entrances. He looked around, and although the rest of the guys completely ignored him, I caught his eyes as they scanned the lower half of the players. Was he checking them out?!

He cleared his throat. “I um… I just wanted to let you guys know that the game starts at three on Saturday” he announced, “I want you all here at one to warm up”.

A few of the guys looked at each other and chuckled.

“Uh yeah, Coach” Butch said, “like every match we’ve ever played?”

I watched as the man swallowed nervously and took one last look around before hurrying from the changing rooms.

His lips tasted like mint. Maybe he’d been chewing gum before he stuck is tongue in my mouth, or maybe Lucas was just naturally delicious. My hand ran through his thick hair, pulling him closer as he shoved me against the wall.

“You’re getting better at this” he said breathlessly, breaking our kiss for just a second.

We stood in a clearing of trees in the park. Everything was wet, including the inside of my underwear, but we were safe here. Kissing out on the street was too dangerous for me, and thankfully, Lucas understood that.

“So” he said, his cold hand sliding up the inside of my shirt, making me gasp. “Can I tell Mrs. Adelaide that you’ll be back for the show?”

I didn’t answer him. His touch was giving me a hard on, and it was becoming increasingly obvious in my pants.

“When is it?” I asked, eager for him to finally touch me the way I’d fantasied about for the last month.

“Saturday”.

“Saturday?” My erection died instantly.

“Um… Yeah?” He said, cocking a brow, “is that a problem?”

Coach Reynolds’ words drilled through my brain as I stared at Lucas. Why did everything have to be so difficult?! I sighed and leaned back against the wall.

“I have a football game at three”.

Lucas dropped his hand from my shirt and scoffed.

“The show is at four”.

I closed my eyes and we stood in silence for a while.

“I’m not gonna ask you to sacrifice your game, Austin” he told me, but I could hear the disappointment in his voice. “But you need to decide what you want to do”.

He didn’t give me a chance to reply, but truthfully, I had nothing to say. Lucas walked away, and I wanted to bang my head off the wall behind me. For once, could life not just be easy?

“Big day tomorrow” Butch grinned as he shovelled two whole sandwiches into his mouth in one go. Gary tried to do the same, and choked.

“Yeah” I mumbled, ignoring my own sandwich.

“I hope someone tackles you so hard you become normal again” he said, gulping milk down, “what the fuck is wrong with you lately?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me” I snarled back, feeling the anger bubble. “But I don’t know why everyone has a fucking boner for this god damn football match!”

The two of them gawped at me.

“It’s the fucking final” Butch said, shock in his voice.

“Oh yeah, great!” I snapped, “and what then? We spend two hours busting our ass so Coach fucking Reynolds can go home and jerk off with his stupid fucking trophy?! Two guesses what he thinks about when he does it!”

I couldn’t help myself. I knew people around me had turned to watch my outburst, but I was exhausted. “I’ll see you guys later” I said, and dumped my tray before leaving the canteen. I needed air, and I needed it now.

“And why the fuck is it always raining lately!?” I shouted, once I’d gotten outside, and away from the other students.

“April showers, my dear”. The voice startled me, and I swung around to find Mrs. Adelaide smoking a cigarette at the wall. I’d never seen a teacher smoking before, especially not on school grounds. “I’d offer, but I fear the headmaster would disapprove” she smiled.

She looked up at me and something about her eyes made me calm slightly. It was like she was looking into me rather than at me.

“You’re troubled” she said, taking a long drag.

“I’m fine”.

“Are you?”

I didn’t answer.

Mrs. Adelaide cocked her head and I stood against the wall next to her. Part of me expected it to feel awkward, but it didn’t. We both looked out over the dreary grey yard in silence, until she spoke again.

“Life is full of choices, my dear” she said wisely, “small choices, like what to have for breakfast? What underwear to put on for luck? What cologne to wear to impress the special lady in our life?” she took a drag, “or special man”.

I felt my cheeks blush.

“And then there are the bigger, more important choices. Which parent do you give your time to? Which friend do you turn down? Which event do you miss? There are no instructions or shortcuts” she continued, blowing a neat line of smoke into the air, “you do what you feel is best”.

“And what is best?” I groaned.

“That, my dear, is life’s greatest mystery. Who do you upset in order to do the right thing? Who do you let down? Who do you make an enemy of?”

I dropped my head against the wall. Mrs. Adelaide was so full of questions, and so empty of answers.

She stubbed her cigarette out and stood in front of me. She really was tiny.

“All I can tell you, Austin” she said, watching me closely, “is that whoever it is that you decide to let down, make sure it’s not yourself”.

“Do you have everything? Linda, I’m not driving back if you’ve forgotten something, so are you sure?”

My mom was already halfway out the door.

“Yes, I’m sure!” She barked, as we all piled into the car.

Dad got into the driver’s seat and looked directly at me.

“Are you ready, son?” He beamed, and I could see the excitement in his eyes. I forced a nod, and we left.

I wasn’t ready. Despite the fact that I had made my decision, I wasn’t one bit ready. Football was a commitment. I’d spent years practising, and I’d spent the entire school year devoting everything to this. Coach depended on me. The rest of the team depended on me, and most importantly, my family depended on me.

“You’ve got this, Austin” dad said, squeezing the wheel, “these guys are a good bunch of players, but once you keep your eyes on the prize, you’ll knock it out of the park”.

“Thanks dad” I mumbled, watching rain pour down the windows.

When we arrived, half the team was already training. My stomach churned, but nobody noticed the defeat in my face. I felt sick. Although I’d thought about it endlessly, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was letting the theatre class down. Lucas would probably never speak to me again. Mrs. Adelaide surely hated me, too, but what could I do? I’d made my decision, right or wrong.

The first tackle winded me, and the crowd roared as thunder bellowed through the grey sky.

“Get up, Brooks!” Coach called, and I dragged myself to my feet as we continued.

The conditions were miserable. I could hardly see the players in front of me, and when the ball landed in my arms, I burst forward to a hail of cheers.

“Brooks!” Gary yelled, storming up beside me, and I passed to him, only to be intercepted by the other team, and suddenly the crowd turned.

“Damn it, Brooks!” Gary groaned, “open your fucking eyes!”

By half time, the scoreline wasn’t on our side.

“They’re fucking killing you out there” Coach Reynolds barked, as we stood, dripping wet in the changing rooms. “Fourteen points to six, that’s not a winning scoreline! Brooks, what the fuck is up with you?”.

“Nothing, Coach” I sighed, and he shook his head.

“Well whatever it is, sort your shit out before you get back out there!” The man bolted off, clearly furious, and I was left alone with the lions.

“Fucking wake up” one of the guys said to me as he passed.

“Yeah, come on man, you fucking suck today” Gary added.

Butch walked by in silence, but shook his head, and I took some more abuse before following them back out feeling more miserable than I ever had before.

It was almost four. I’d missed the show, and still had at least an hour left on the waterlogged, cold, gloomy football field. I rubbed my face, and the whistle blew.

Gary scored a touchdown after ten minutes, which was met by a wave of screaming and cheering from the crowd. Butch hit the conversion and it was all square with not long to go.

I couldn’t think about anything else. My mind was solely on Mrs. Adelaide and what she’d said to me outside the school. Had I made the right decision? As I jogged up the pitch, soaked to my underwear, I realised that I hadn’t. Not because Coach would be disappointed, or my mom or my dad. Not even because Lucas would be disappointed, or Mrs. Adelaide.

The ball landed in my arms once again, and I looked up through the cloud of rain in front of me and could see a clear gap.

It wasn’t because any of them would be disappointed in me. It was because I would be disappointed in myself.

Coach screamed at me.

“RUN YOU FUCKING IDIOT!”

I looked over at him. He looked ridiculous, waving his hands and pointing at the goal line. I looked down at the ball in my cold, wet hands, and then back at the clock on the scoreboard.

4:35.

I dropped the ball as the crowd rained insults down on me. I turned on my heel and walked across the soggy pitch, and everybody from both teams watched as Coach Reynolds called me every name under the sun.

“Where the fuck are you going?!” Butch barked, standing in my way.

“I have a show to go to” I told him, and shoved him onto his ass.

I caught sight of my dad in the crowd. He gawped at me like I was a stranger who’d just kicked a toddler. I ignored him and continued toward the school building. Yes, I was drenched. Yes, I was covered in mud, and yes, I’d missed the show, but I didn’t care. I pushed into the hall and watched as Lucas and my replacement stood on stage.

“I like to watch sunsets” Lucas said, his warm voice washing over the entire dark hallway, as everybody watched in silence. “But Soda says they’re not like real sunsets in the country”.

The other guy stumbled over his words. He looked around anxiously before taking a quick peak at the script in his pocket.

“Um… They’re not” he said, “I’ve um… I’ve been there”.

He was thinking about it too much. I watched closely and could see Lucas trying to will him on.

“I um… I uh…” The poor guy looked out over the sea of people, and turned green. “I can’t do this”.

There was a collective gasp from the crowd as the young man rushed off stage, and just as Lucas turned to follow him, the words poured from me.

“The colours aren’t the same” I called out, and every head turned toward me, including Lucas’. “There’s something about how the colours just blend together” I continued, and walked slowly toward the stage. “And how everything seems so peaceful, like beauty in the midst of chaos”.

Lucas watched me. For a moment, it seemed like he’d forgotten his own lines.

“I never thought about it like that” he eventually said, a slight smile on his perfect face.

“You should try it some time” I said, “it’s amazing what a little time spent watching the sky can do for your soul”.

I climbed up onto the stage, and suddenly it was just us. Nobody else existed. Lucas stood one side, and I stood the other, and only the beam of bright light mattered.

“Maybe I will” he replied, stepping toward me.

“Trust me” I whispered, “you won’t regret it”.

We stood inches apart now. His warm, fresh breath flowed over me with each exhale. Our eyes connected, and slowly, we leaned forward as the crowd watched in awe, and our lips touched once more, only this time, I wasn’t scared.

The explosion of cheering rattled the entire stage. The applause was almost deafening, and when the kiss finally ended, we turned to find every person in the room, on their feet.

“Glad you could make it” Lucas smiled, and took my hand in his as we bowed.

“Did you really think I’d let you look stupid all by yourself?” I grinned back, and he squeezed my hand as the light dimmed and my eyes found the entire football team gawping at me from the back of the hall.

Coach Reynolds looked violently ill. Butch and Gary had become frozen in place with their jaws hanging open. My dad simply stood there, and then I looked down at Mrs. Adelaide who simply winked at me.

“You know what?” I said to Lucas, “I don’t think that last kiss counted”.

“What?” He asked, as adrenaline rushed through my veins.

I turned back to him, grabbed him by the face and kissed him deeper and more passionately than I’d ever kissed him before. Fireworks erupted inside me, and I didn’t care who was there to witness it.

More applause, more cheering, and the crowd continued to go wild until at last, the curtain began to fall.

“That was unexpected” Lucas said, wiping his mouth as we took one last look at the crowd.

Coach Reynolds had turned and left, but Gary, Butch and some of the others remained, and as the curtain closed, I saw my mom and dad, both of them clapping with the rest of the crowd.

“I have the house to myself tonight, Austin” Lucas told me as we stood alone, “what do you say we get a pizza for old time’s sake?”

“I’d like that” I smiled, “but there’s something else I’d like to do, too”.

“You and me both, Brooks” he grinned, “you and me both”.