Rainbow High (19 page)

“I don’t know.” Nelson lit up and tossed the match aside. “I know you want me to.”

“Wel . . . I just don’t want you to get infected.”

“Men are such twits,” Nelson groused, summarizing his current worldview. “Did Jason cal you?”

“No.” Kyle gave a sigh. “Quarterfinals started tonight. Oh, my gosh! I should check the news to see if we won. I’l cal you Sunday, when I get back from the swim meet.”

“Can I go with you?” Nelson asked, joking.

“I wish you could.”

“Break a leg or whatever,” Nelson told him.

After hanging up, he pul ed back his top sheets, uncovering the pair of briefs from Jeremy, neatly folded where Nelson had left them.

Snatching them up, he hurled them aside. “Jerk!”

He kicked off his shoes and removed his clothes. Every few moments he glanced over at the briefs in the corner, til final y he climbed into bed and turned off the light.

After Kyle hung up from Nelson’s cal , he let out a sigh. Although he liked Jeremy, the ongoing possibility of Nelson becoming infected was getting way too nerve-racking. Better to return his thoughts to their usual subject: Jason.

Kyle leaped out of bed and tiptoed past his parents’ bedroom, then he raced downstairs and turned the TV on just in time to catch the eleven o’clock sports recap.

He hoped there might be a shot of Jason but only glimpsed an elbow that looked vaguely familiar. Anyway, the important thing was Whitman had won their game, moving the team on toward semifinals.

Kyle stood to go upstairs but then . . . He returned to the TV and popped in the videotape he’d made of the school interview. Nestling into the sofa, Kyle hugged a cushion to his chest and for the mil ionth time watched Jason appear on the screen.

The lush curly hair, imploring brown eyes, and breathtaking lips made him look like the star of some TV teen drama. Even though Kyle wanted to hurl the remote at the tube each time Jason told the reporter he didn’t have a boyfriend, he couldn’t stop watching and rewatching.

He didn’t even hear his mom come downstairs in her robe and slippers, til she brushed her fingers through his hair. “Honey, don’t you have to get up early for your swim meet?”

“Oh, yeah.” Kyle blinked up at her. “I’l go to bed in a minute.”

But he didn’t. He fel asleep on the couch, dreaming of the dark-eyed boy on the TV screen.

“Hey, sleepyhead.” His dad jostled him awake. Sunlight was streaming in through the window slats. “You’re going to miss your bus.” Kyle hustled to gather his swimsuit and pack his stuff, then his dad drove him to the school parking lot, where the bus waited, idling.

“You’re the last one,” Coach Sweeney said, herding Kyle onto the crowded bus.

“Sorry.” Kyle bounced down the swaying aisle toward the back where the boys sat, and spotted an empty place beside Charlie Tuggs, the team’s champion ‘fly swimmer. He was one of the guys who had shaken Jason’s hand in the lunchroom. But when Kyle approached now, Charlie kicked his feet onto the seat.

“Don’t even think about it, fag.”

Kyle stopped and braced himself on the seat handle.
That’s a great start,
he thought, glancing around for another seat.

A girl cal ed, “Hi, Kyle!”

It was Cindy, Corey’s girlfriend. Even though Kyle had known her for years, they’d never had a conversation beyond “Hi.” Now, like a heaven-sent angel, she said, “Have a seat,” and moved her bag aside.

“I was late too,” she confided as Kyle slid in beside her. “Overslept.” Then she leaned over and whispered, “Jason told me about you and him dating.”

“He did?” Kyle whispered back.

“He said not to tel anyone.” Cindy glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “He’s a great guy. You are so lucky.”
Maybe Nelson’s right,
Kyle thought,
about Jason simply not wanting the whole school blabbing about us.
For the remainder of the morning’s drive, Kyle turned over in his mind Nelson’s comment about him wanting to be angry with Jason so he could make a decision for Princeton. Was Nelson right about that, too?

Halfway into the trip the bus stopped for a lunch break. While Kyle was in the restroom, Charlie and another boy made a big show of refusing to go in.

“Hurry up, pervert!” Charlie yel ed.

Coach Sweeney had to have heard him, but she did nothing.

For lunch Kyle sat at Cindy’s table, with a couple of other girls. During the last half of the bus trip, he fel asleep, waking to find Cindy and he had conked out on each other’s shoulders.

“Sorry,” he told her, blushing.

“Don’t worry.” She wiped her eyes. “I just hope I didn’t drool on you.”

Kyle laughed, wishing they’d become friends long before.

When the bus reached the motel, everyone piled out and gathered in the lobby. The chatter of the team rumbled through the room as Coach Sweeney started distributing keys.

“Room three-thirteen!” She held up a key and read from her clipboard. “Charlie, Vin, Frank, and Kyle.”

“I’m not sleeping in the same room with no fag,” Charlie hissed.

Immediately the entire lobby turned silent. Al eyes turned to Kyle. Blood surged into his face, burning with shame.

Charlie nudged an elbow at Vin, who shifted his glance from Kyle to Coach Sweeney. “Um, I’m not rooming with him either.” At that, everyone looked to see what Frank would say. He nervously glanced away from Kyle and echoed, “Um, me neither.” The team turned to Coach Sweeney. Her gaze skipped between Kyle and the other three boys, an irritated look on her face. “Al of you, stop being sil y.”

Kyle’s embarrassment turned to outrage. Coach Sweeney thought making him feel like a leper was “sil y”? Had she ever heard the word

“harassment”?

Doubtless trying to be helpful, Cindy said, “He can stay with us.” The other girls giggled.

“Yeah,” Charlie quickly chimed in. “He can stay with the
girls”

Kyle’s eyes began clouding. His chin started quivering. As the first tear trickled down his cheek, he whirled around. No way would he let Charlie and those creeps see him cry.

He stormed out the door to the parking lot, with no idea where he was heading. He’d walk al the way home if he had to.

“Kyle!” Coach Sweeney yel ed, running after him. “Where are you going?” She grabbed his sleeve.

“Let go of me!” He yanked his arm away, spinning around.

Coach Sweeney stepped back, startled. Now teammates were filing out of the motel, gathering in the parking lot to watch.

“Calm down!” Coach Sweeney’s voice shook, either out of fear, or anger, or both. “You’re being disrespectful.”

“No,
you
are!” Kyle snapped back, wiping his face with his sleeve.

She glowered at him. “Lower your voice and come inside. We’l discuss this after everyone’s in their rooms.”

“I’m not staying with those jerks.” Kyle glared across the lot at Charlie. “And I’m not staying with the girls, either.” Coach Sweeney rol ed her eyes. “Of course you’re not.”

“Then where am I going to stay?”

Her brow furrowed in thought. “You can have my room.
I’ll
stay with the girls.” She was caving in to them again. Couldn’t she see that?

From the crowd, Charlie sneered and said, “Now he’s getting his own special room.”

“Charlie!” Coach Sweeney spun around. “Everyone go back inside! I mean it. Now!” Slowly the team shuffled back into the lobby, only to stare out from behind the plateglass windows.

Coach Sweeney turned to Kyle, her eyes burning with anger. “I’ve had enough, Kyle. You brought this on yourself. If you hadn’t started this whole coming out business, none of this would’ve happened.”

True enough. When he’d been the quiet, shy kid, no one had picked on him. But why should he have to go through school invisible?

Things might never have come to this if she’d said something the times those jerks made stupid comments, and if she’d stood up to the dad who wrote that note about the shower.

“No,” he said.
“You’re
the one who brought this on. None of this would’ve happened if you’d stopped them in the first place. You’re the coach, aren’t you?”

“That’s enough!” Coach Sweeney snapped. “You’re barred from swimming tomorrow.” What? He’d come al this way, endured al this, only to be barred from swimming?

Kyle stared at her in disbelief then turned toward the roadway.

“Kyle!” Coach Sweeney shouted, running in front of him to block his path. “You do
not
have permission to leave. I’m phoning your father.” She pul ed her cel phone from her jacket. “What’s your number?”

Kyle considered stepping around her. It would’ve been funny if he weren’t so furious. Instead he told her his number.

She punched her keypad. “Hel o? Mr. Meeks? This is Coach Sweeney. Fine, thank you. I’m cal ing because Kyle tried to leave the group without permission. . . . No, he’s here with me. But he’s been extremely disrespectful. His attitude has been completely out of line.” She told Kyle’s dad her side of what had happened.

“I’l put him on,” she said when she’d finished.

Kyle took the phone and turned away. “Hi, Dad.”

“What happened, son?”

Kyle wasn’t sure where to start. Should he go back to the note about the showers? The taunts in the locker room? The bus ride? The restaurant? There was so much Sweeney had left out. He decided to begin with the hotel. “Those jerks said they weren’t going to room with me.”

That came out sounding whiny, not what he intended.

“What did Ms. Sweeney say?” his dad asked.

Kyle glanced over his shoulder. Coach Sweeney was peering at him hawklike, listening to his every word.

“She said they were being sil y. Now she says I can have her room and she’l sleep with the girls.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” his dad asked.

“Dad!” Kyle’s voice rose. “That’s not the point.”

“Kyle, what
is
the point?” His dad’s tone was sharp. “You can’t just take off in some strange town because some other boys are being jerks.

Where were you going?”

“I don’t know,” Kyle said, his mind spinning. Couldn’t his dad understand how it felt being made fun of in front of everyone? And Coach Sweeney not stopping it?

“You knew,” his dad continued, “you weren’t supposed to leave the group, didn’t you?” Kyle bit the inside of his cheek, exasperated. “I couldn’t stay, Dad.”

“In that case, you shouldn’t have gone in the first place. I’m very concerned about this, Kyle. Your mother and I gave our permission assuming we could trust you.”

“Can you come get me?” Kyle pleaded, cupping his hand around the mouthpiece. “I don’t want to stay.” His dad was silent, as though considering. “What about your swim meet?”

Kyle glanced at Coach Sweeney and gave a sputter. “She said I’m barred from swimming.” Over his shoulder he could see Coach Sweeney staring back at him, hands on her hips.

“I’l talk with her about that,” his dad said. “What time is your first event? I’l drive down in the morning and bring you back. It’l give us time to talk. For now I want you to apologize to Ms. Sweeney.”

“What for?” Kyle cried out.

“For leaving without permission. You knew better. Now tel me you’re not going to do anything else foolish. Can you promise me that?” Kyle gave a groan. “Yes.”

“If you have any other problem cal your mother and me col ect, okay? Put Ms. Sweeney back on the phone. We love you, son.” Kyle didn’t feel like echoing that, but forced himself. “I love you too,” he mumbled. Turning back to Coach Sweeney, he shoved the phone at her. “Here.”

“Yes?” she said, placing the receiver to her ear. “That’s correct. He’s barred from—” She became quiet, her expression shifting from anger to intimidation to capitulation. Kyle would’ve given anything to hear what his dad was saying.

“Only if he apologizes,” Coach Sweeney agreed. “We can set up a meeting next week, but he has to promise to behave. Yes, I’l do that. I have your number. Yes, you too. Good-bye.”

She flipped the phone closed and stared at Kyle. “You wish to tel me something?”
Quite a few things,
Kyle thought. But he restrained himself, taking a long, measured breath. “I’m sorry I walked out like that. I promise I won’t do it again.”

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he fol owed Coach Sweeney back inside.

“You okay?” Cindy asked.

“Yeah.” Kyle nodded. “Thanks.”

Nothing else terrible happened the rest of the day. Kyle stayed as far away from Charlie as possible. His other team members seemed like they actual y felt sorry for him. Even Vin and Frank looked guilt ridden and averted their eyes.

As it turned out, having his own room wasn’t so bad. In fact, it ruled. He’d never had a hotel room to himself before. After dinner with Cindy, Kyle sprawled across the king-size bed, watching TV. Almost immediately, he fel asleep.

After breakfast next morning, Kyle browsed through the hotel gift shop, then the team headed to the university pool.

As they warmed up, Kyle kept glancing at the crowd gathering in the stands. Where was his dad? It wasn’t usual y such a big deal for him when his dad came to meets. But for some reason, today it was.

The meet started—and stil no dad.

The team lined up for the 200 individual medley relay: Charlie first; Kyle behind him. The air between them almost crackled with tension.

One last time Kyle gazed up at the stands. A familiar face waved to him. His dad had made it.

The starting gun went off. As Charlie dove into the pool Kyle watched his powerful arms thrash the water. Charlie was a great ‘fly swimmer, but at everything else, Kyle could pummel him. And today, Kyle decided, he would do exactly that.

The instant Charlie touched the wal , Kyle flew into the water. The team placed first. But Kyle’s even bigger win was the 100-meter freestyle.

Not only did he win, he set a team record.

Afterward in the locker room, the other boys joked and laughed. Kyle yanked his suit’s drawstring, intending to towel dry.