As the haze in his head cleared, Luca looked up at his face in the mirror and splashed some water on his face. It was his last period and he was supposed to be in study hall. Instead he was using the time to track down his teachers and get the assignments he had missed while he was competing in Barcelona. He had an agreement with his parents that as long as he kept his grades up and kept up with his homework, he could keep practicing and attending meets and competitions. He splashed some more water on his face and then used the towel in his gym bag to dry his face. He caught sight of the folded piece of paper sitting on top of everything in his bag.
He put the towel back in his bag and grabbed the folded piece of paper. He remembered when he first came to the school a few months ago. His family had moved here and he was not happy when his parents told him about his father's promotion that required him to transfer to an office on the other side of the country. His mom tried to comfort him telling him that she had found a gymnastics program even better than his current one. She had been right about that, the new trainers and gym had sent more gymnasts to the Olympics in recent years than any other, but he still missed his old teammates. But that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part...that part that felt like a dagger through his heart...had been when he had told his boyfriend. His boyfriend coldly said that they were only in high school and that high school relationships never lasted. He then said that distance aside, between Luca's practices and competitions they only saw each other maybe once or twice a week. It wasn't solely the breakup that had hurt him, it was how cold his ex had been, especially since they had been together for 2 years, since they were Freshmen. He tried to rationalize his ex's behavior as trying a coping mechanism for Luca's leaving. This wasn't the case.
When he had moved here, Luca poured everything into his studies, practice and getting to know his teammates. They quickly came around to recognizing Luca's raw, natural talent. Because he was the new kid, starting in the middle of the school year, he was naturally an outcast. That last about 4 or 5 periods. During lunch he was sitting in the corner by himself, doing some of his homework when this Asian hottie just down next to him without saying anything. He introduced himself as Jae and the two started talking from there. Shortly after Jae's boyfriend Park sat down followed by this Latino hottie, a pair of twin cuties, and a black guy who Luca kept stealing glances at. Jae then said that he hadn't seen him around before and from what he saw from the two morning classes, people were being just terrible to Luca. He then said that no one should be made to feel like an outcast and he saw Luca sitting alone, looking kind of sad so he decided they were going to get to know Luca. The ice was broke in less than 5 minutes and they were all talking like they had known each other for years. Sure he still missed his friends from back east but over the next few days, his new friends would help mend his heart and soul.
Jae and his crew were very supportive of each other. Luca learned most of them played soccer but would show up to Marco's surfing competitions and Ty's bodybuilding competitions. He had never known such a tightly knit group of friends. When he told them about how he was involved in gymnastics and shooting for the Tokyo Olympics, they were amazed and then Ty said "If you get to the Tokyo games, we'll find a way to get there to cheer him on and if they couldn't do that, they'd watch him on the TV while Skyping him often. Thinking about these memories of his first day, made him smile. He then took the folded piece of paper from his bag and read it "Catch up with you later! - Jae" They must have slipped in his bag when he had left in the locker room while getting his assignments. He glanced around and saw towels, shirts and sneakers strewn about the locker room and remembered they were probably at practice.
He made his way outside to the soccer field where he saw his friends and their team practicing on the field. He walked over and saw Ty, hunched over reading and occasionally glancing up to watch the practice. Luca walked up and sat down next to Ty, sitting closer than he needed to be.
"Hey Ty! How's things?"he said with a smile.
"Luca!! You're back! How was Barcelona? How did you do?" Ty said with genuine excitement and a smile that made Luca swoon a little. Before he could answer, Ty grabbed him and hugged him. Luca felt like his heart skipped a beat. The hug lasted a little longer than most, as Luca's head rested on Ty's pecs and arms felt his strong back. He closed his eyes for only a moment, enjoying the warmth and letting his imagination run just a little wild before breaking the embrace.
"I came in first on the rings and second on the pommel horse and floor routine. I literally missed first on those by three tenths of a point." he said humbly.
"Damn you are amazing sugah!" Ty said with that irresistible smile of his, making Luca blush. "One of these days we gonna surprise you and show up to one of your competitions and cheer so loud for you that everyone else will be drowned out. Or just wait 3 years and surprise you in Tokyo to see your sexy little booty leave your competitors in the dust." Luca turned away to hide the fact that his face was practically red.
Luca liked Ty...a lot. Ty was the opposite of everything his ex had been. Ty always had a smile and looked genuinely excited to see him. Unlike his ex, he wanted to see Ty compete. If Luca had problems getting through an assignment because he had missed class, Ty was always ready to help him. And when he hugged Luca, the embrace was always just a little longer than anyone else. It was an understatement to say that Luca had a crush on Ty but was afraid to do anything about it not just because he was 16 and Ty 18 but because of what had happened with his ex. Between all the time he spent at practice and competing and the fact that his ex's words "high school relationships never last" he didn't want to risk more heartbreak.
At Ty's insistence, they spent the rest of the practice talking about his competition in Barcelona. Ty was genuinely interested and his eyes never wavered from Luca, even when the ball hit the coach in the head, making Luca laugh. Ty remarked that he had an adorable laugh, Luca quietly thanked him. Jae had been keeping an eye on the two of them during practice and saw how the two interacted with each other and smiled to himself and Park...his plan was working perfectly. Ty needed someone to love, who complimented his sweet personality, and, after some time and some nudging from Jae, he may have found someone. Similarly, Jae knew that Ty would be the one to mend and strengthen Luca's heart from the wound his ex had left.
When practice ended, Jae, Park, Tristan and Silas ran over asking how things went at the competition went, while hugging him over his success. While he appreciated the love his friends had shown him, their embrace was nothing compared to Ty. The twins Tristan and Silas chatted with him briefly before running off to the locker room to get changed. They were off to meet Marco after. Jae wasn't sure if one or both brothers had a crush on the Latino stud. Those three were as inseparable as Jae, Park and Ty had been before Luca.
"Hey guys we're gonna shower and catch a movie and maybe grab a bite to eat?" Jae asked, hoping this would be the nudge those two needed. Ty and Luca only needed a second before responded "Sure!" in unison. They decided on the new super hero movie that just came out.
Ty and Luca gathered up their things and slowly walked to Ty's car, chatting and laughing along the way. When they got to Ty's car, Ty insisted Luca sit in the front with him. This was followed by a bit of awkward silence. Ty's phone rang and he talked to him mom for a bit. Meanwhile Luca got out his assignments to see what he had missed. Math was by far his weakest subject. He wasn't terrible at the subject, but he was having issues grasping parts of trigonometry. When Ty got off the phone, they sat there in Ty's 2007 Ford Mustang GT that he bought and kept in pristine condition that he had bought with some of the price money from his competitions, listening to and singing to Lady Gaga. They sat there singing and pretending like they were dancing, causing them both to laugh at how bad they were. Luca wondered what was taking Jae and Park so long because he wasn't sure what to do or how to handle things with Ty. One minute Ty acted like he was interested in Luca and the next he feigned, unbeknownst to Luca, disinterest. Maybe this was a good thing, after all his bf wanted to know everything, like checking his phone for texts or his Facebook page, to the point that it seemed like he didn't trust Luca.
Luca grabbed his math book and inched closer to Ty, "Umm Ty can you explain this to me, I'm have problems underst--"
Ty looked up from his phone, interrupting Luca, "You're gonna have to move closer, I can't see that far and I don't bite sugah."
Luca slid over, his arms pressed against Ty's. Because Ty was so tall, big and muscular, his frame was a little wider than the seat. As Ty sat and explained, Luca only half listened. He felt the warmth of Ty's body heat, causing his heart to race, and causing is cock to start to harden. He hadn't felt anything like this, even with his ex...
"You guys ready?" Park said, seemingly coming from no where as he leaned against Luca's side of the car, scaring the crap out of Luca causing him to jump back into his seat.