chapter two - i don't need help

chapter two — i don't need help

MY LEGS FELT LIKE THEY WERE ON FIRE. I had my hands on my head, chest heaving as I struggled to regulate my breathing. The entire basketball team was lined up at half court, eyes all trained on Lukas as he nervously approached the free-throw line. So far we'd gone through the entire roster, save Lukas and I, trying to make in five consecutive free-throws. The closest we'd gotten was Roger with three. DJ and Marco had both made two, still an admirable feat, especially considering how nobody could feel their arms anymore after Coach's conditioning exercises.

Lukas steadied his feet on the line, bending his knees low as Coach passed the ball to him. It was a sick practice method the Coach liked using. It was quite literally near the end of the school year, my sophomore year, and he was already starting intermittent off-season practices. We only met twice a month until the actual season started, so he tried to cram two weeks worth of practice into each one, hence this drill. We would run suicides until one person could successfully make all five free throws.

He saved me for last just to torture the team. I was the only one who could manage five, very rarely six just for fun. If none of us could make it, he made us run an extra suicide* before ending practice. Normally, I wouldn't care about the extra running, but we had a party to go to today. It would be nice if practice ended early. So I could go home and hopefully take a decent shower.

"Three"

Our voices rang out in the gym, half of them breathy with overexertion. Some of the other sophomores had joined us for Varsity practice, none of them really ready for it. The actual Varsity team was just seniors (none of whom were here since their last season ended), juniors like Lukas, DJ, Marco and Roger, and one sophomore: me. I would be a Junior next season though, and I dread to think of the kids in my grade who would somehow qualify for Varsity. I didn't trust anyone to be on the court with me, save my friends.

"Four"

My eyebrows quirked when the ball went into the net with a clean swish. Lukas wasn't the strongest shooter, but apparently, he'd been practicing outside of school during our break.

"Come on, Lukas, you got this"

I let my arms fall to my side, eyes trained on him. He didn't acknowledge me, but I knew he heard me. I held my breath as he shot.

The ball hit the rim, circling it before tilting towards the inside— and then falling out.

We all groaned in chorus, Lukas looking down dejectedly.

"One more!" Coach bellowed and we all took off, eager to finish the suicide lap.

I stretched out my neck when I finished, starting to walk up to the free-throw line.

"That won't be necessary, Mogan" Coach stopped me at the three-point line and I looked at him curiously.

"What?"

"You're all dismissed. Team on three. One, two, three. Team!"

Coach rushed through his post-practice speech, talking to the back of our practice jerseys as we filed into the locker room with an unenthusiastic 'Team!'

"Good work today, Lukas" Coach squeezed Lukas' shoulder as I impatiently waited for him, water bottle in hand. I huffed as Lukas flushed under the praise, smiling and nodding at Coach.

Δ      Δ      Δ      Δ      Δ      Δ      Δ

"What?"

I picked up the hem of my jersey and mopped my face with it, starting to peel it off as we passed through the doorway of the locker room. Lukas' face was still red from Coach's praise and he sat down next to me on the bench, pulling his shoes off, determinedly not meeting my eyes. His cheeks were flushed, hair awkwardly quiffed from all the sweat and him running his hands through it. I was sure I looked worse though. Lukas was the only one I knew who could pull off the 'I'm fucking tired as hell'-look decently.

"You're not mad that I made those shots right?"

He made to pull his shorts off before stalling as I looked at him incredulously.

"You serious dude? That was fucking great! Get us out of practice early any day!" I told him honestly, watching as his cheeks turned pink. He didn't take praise very well and I secretly found it hilarious how red he could get under attention. I knocked his knee with mine before getting up, hating how he got to his own head sometimes. Lukas was a fucking fantastic person, and I didn't say that about everyone.

"Why would you think I'd be mad?" I tilted my head to the side, struggling to open my locker. I banged on it with my fist, willing it to get unstuck.

"I dunno. I just..." Lukas trailed off, shirt bundled up tight in his hand as he looked over at me.

"Need help?"

"No, I'm good"

Lukas rolled his eyes, coming up behind me to tug on the locker door. He somehow managed to squeeze his ass into the small space between me and the bench, his chest uncomfortably close to my back. I could feel the heat radiating off of him, and I hesitantly leaned forward as he brushed by me, tugging at the locker door.

"There you go"

"I didn't need help, asshole" I muttered, scowling when Lukas just laughed at me, returning to his locker.

"You hear that DJ? Kieran is a strong independent woman" Marco simpered, magically appearing at the end of our row of lockers. DJ chuckled behind him, both of them changed into sweats. The lights made them look acidic, a weird yellow tinge to their skin.

"Fuck off Marco, you have a small dick" I slid into a pair of sweats, too tired to come up with a good enough comeback.

It seemed to work just fine though.

"Bite me" Marco's brows twisted together in anger and DJ rolled his eyes behind him, Lukas and him having some kind of mental conversation.

"Well, I already did your sister. Wouldn't mind completing the whole familia." I egged him on, knowing I would never in a hundred years put my mouth anywhere near Marco, or anyone in his family. If he was this dramatic, I could only imagine what his family would be like. Besides, he had a dick. Not my type, for sure.

Marco's eyes widened, then squinted in anger.

"Calm down, Marco, you don't even have a sister" Lukas held his hands up to diffuse the tension as I tried to fit my head through a shirt and sweatshirt at the same time.

Marco relaxed when DJ slung his arm around his shoulders, probably to weigh him down so he wouldn't lunge at me.

"Where's Roger?"

I could hear Lukas through my shirt, struggling to find the hole for my head.

That's the armhole, fuck.

"In the shower," DJ answered quite simply, his voice muffled by the fabric of my shirt.

"He actually uses the school's showers? Gross" Marco snorted, and I heard a thwack. I grinned to myself when I realized that DJ smacked him in the head.

Marco probably deserved it.

He always deserved it.

"Roger said he'd meet us at the party. He's gonna head straight there, so Marco and I are gonna get outta here so we can get ready" I heard DJ explain, his voice growing faint. I guessed he and Marco were leaving.I tried pushing my arms out to find the bench so I could sit down and properly take this shit on my head off. It was hard to breathe.

"You need help, Kieran?"

I felt myself flush with embarrassment. I could hear the smirk behind Lukas' words.

"Yeah, actually" I admitted, sticking my arms straight above my head so Lukas could pull the shirt and sweatshirt off of my head.

"What's that? You don't need help? Okay" Lukas pretended to mishear me, smugly.

I heard Lukas' footsteps fade, and a door slam as I was left in darkness and shock. The showers weren't even on and I flinched, realizing I was alone. Even Roger had left.

"Lukas?" I tried calling his name nervously.

"Lukas, I swear to fucking god you better not be shitting me"

I hesitantly stood up, my breath the only thing I could hear.

Maybe Coach is still here.

Which way was his office again?

"Lukas, you absolute fucking bitch, I hate you" I complained loudly, hating the silence.

My hands twitched at my side, heartbeat speeding up when I heard a noise to my left. I gnawed at my lip, eyes stinging when I remembered that I still couldn't breathe that great. I made my breathing shallow so I wouldn't pull the fabric of my shirt into my nose. It smelled like Axe and my nose crinkled at its pungency, my mouth tasting bitter like straight alcohol.

"Lukas? I swear..." my voice died off when I heard the sound again, this time closer.

Oh hell no.

I whipped around, running blindly in the locker room.

"Kieran! Wait"

"Lukas?"

I slammed into something hard—probably a locker—and the air got knocked out of my lungs, my head spinning. I grabbed at the air in front of me blindly, and my stomach dropped as I fell backward. My shoes made a squeaking sound against the floor as they skid, and I managed a weird half-gasp half-shout sound as I went down.

Well shit. Welcome to concussion season.

Instead of hard linoleum, I was met with knees; they stabbed my back and I groaned in pain, the upper part of my body never hitting the floor.

"Ow! What the hell?"

My head slammed into something soft and I heard Lukas curse above me, his hands catching my armpits. His fingers dug into my biceps and I tensed them on instinct, wincing when his short nails dug into my skin.

He actually fucking caught me?

"Fucking shit, Kieran! Your fat head hit me in the crotch"

I'm in his fucking crotch.

I straightened up like I'd been burned, hands jerking up as I accidentally touched Lukas' legs on either side of me. I gingerly put them down around his legs, hearing Lukas groan and curse my existence from behind.

"Karma, midgetdick bitch" I spat, salty. I still couldn't see anything, but I heard Lukas sigh heavily.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry"

"Fuck you" I scowled, adamant on not forgiving him.

"I'm sorry. I forgot how you get when you're alone"

I flushed, mouth dropping in horror.

"That was in elementary school! I'm fine now. You just kept making weird sounds," I let my head fall forward, my cheeks unbelievably warm, ''scared the shit outta me, fucker"

"Not literally I hope," Lukas sniggered and my lips quirked upwards. No, I'm still mad at that asscrack bastard.

"Let's get this off you. You look like you have a big ass turd for a head"

I stayed still, arms pointed towards the roof as Lukas wrestled my shirt and sweatshirt off my head. I hissed in pain as he grabbed some of my hairs, undoubtedly ripping them clean out of my scalp. I felt his concentrated breath behind me, body close enough that I could imagine his heartbeat. It was probably escalated since I'd headbutted him in the crotch, and I smiled smugly at the thought.

"Sorry!" He hissed, combing his fingers through my hair to soothe the burn. I shook my hair out of his grasp, briefly reminded of how Lukas could be such a fucking mom.

"Fuck you" I tried to sound serious, but my voice gave my smile away and I felt him relax behind me.

Finally, I saw the light, my sweatshirt off. I reached up to pull my shirt off myself, but he slapped at my hand and I grumbled to myself, letting him pull it off. I looked up at him, still sitting on my ass. He was on his knees, hands holding my shirt and sweatshirt. I tilted my head, hair falling back as he looked at me weirdly.

"What?" I snapped, crossing my arms.

He shook his head before looking at me normally.

"On second thought, you look better with this on" He shoved my clothes at me and I scowled, pushing up off the ground. He followed me up, dusting off his pant legs.

I slipped my shirt on, deciding to leave my sweatshirt off.

"You boys okay?"

Lukas and I whipped around, Coach standing by the entrance of the locker room looking thoroughly confused and uncomfortable. He shifted from one foot to the other, not meeting our gazes.

"Yeah, why?" Lukas asked. I frowned at the Coach, unsure as to why he looked so weirded out. I slung my practice bag over my shoulder, kicking Lukas' pink duffle just 'cause I could. It rolled off the bench, hitting the ground with a dull thump.

"I heard, um, noises" Coach stuttered as Lukas and I sidled up next to each other.

"What noises?" I frowned, my lips naturally making the shape. Lukas' eyebrows bunched together in confusion as Coach rubbed the back of his neck.

Coach sighed, "Listen, boys, I like you both, but if you're going to do anything, um, sexual, I have to ask you to do it off of school property"

My jaw dropped.

"What?"

Lukas and I chorused. His eyes were wide, face that had finally gone back to its normal color heating up to a vibrant red.

"We weren't—we didn't" Lukas stuttered as I stared at the Coach, still in shock.

He nodded, not meeting our eyes.

"Just, be careful. Alright?" Coach turned around and walked into his office, shutting the door behind him.

"I-um" Lukas looked at me, wide-eyed.

I shook my head, ignoring the weird feeling I had.

"What noises? Bro, we didn't make any noises" I frowned.

Lukas visibly relaxed, the tension leaving his shoulders. He picked up his duffle, body brushing by mine as I faltered with my words, not completely sure what the Coach had heard.

"Yeah, he actually thought we were doing something?" Lukas chuckled and I joined him.

"He actually thought we were gay?" I snorted, hearing Lukas' steep inhale behind me as he laughed on a delay. I shrugged it off as him still being embarrassed and made my way to the locker room exit, waiting for Lukas to grab his duffle. Lukas had never liked talking about gay shit, and I all too heavily agreed. I wasn't homophobic, or any thing like that, but I definitely didn't understand it. I didn't really want to understand it either.

Lukas opened the door for me, the late-spring evening still pretty warm as we stepped outside. I tried tripping him as he stepped out beside me, only to have him evade my foot and kick my shoe instead. I grumbled to myself, watching Lukas roll his eyes. He turned around and began to jog towards his mom's car. He waved at me and I smiled and ignored it, laughing when his smile dropped. I could see his pout from across the parking lot, and I laughed to myself.

"You need a ride?" He yelled across the empty parking lot.

"Nah, my Mum's like five seconds away"

He nodded, getting into the passenger seat. I saw Lukas' mom vaguely through the windshield. She waved at me too, and I returned the favor watching them pull out of the school. I made sure to wait a minute after they left before hoisting my bag up farther onto my shoulders.

I settled on a playlist before pushing my earbuds in, starting to walk home.

________________________________________________________________________________

*suicides refer to a conditioning exercise where one is made to run repeated laps.

2642 words

It's 12am here ... 😅 I hope I didn't make any terrible mistakes, but I wanted to get this chapter out ASAP. Hopefully, you got to see more of Kieran and Lukas' dynamic this week 😄

What do you think?

Have a lovely week ❤️<3 and Thank you for reading!