Liam was just not having a good day. Hell, he wasn't having a good year. He rode in the back of the bus with his teammates making idiots of themselves as they shouted and talked. He probably would have joined in to if not for the man at the front of the bus. Coach Patrick.
Ever since it had been discovered that Liam was gay he had been benched. It didn't matter that he was one of the best batters on the team. The coach was a man's man and anyone who didn't live up to his standards got benched, permanently. He couldn't quit the team, he had a scholarship paying for his school, but he'd never actually get to play with the coach in charge, at least until the man found a reason to kick Liam off the team completely.
He sighed and leaned back in his seat. He definitely didn't want to spend a whole weekend with a team that ostracized him just to make their coach happy.
"I hope he's not in our cabin. He's probably be staring at us the whole time. I don't need some weird guy checking out my junk." One of the others on the team said, purposefully loud enough that Liam would hear.
"Shut up, Malcolm. Just because coach is a dick doesn't mean you need to be." Liam blinked a few times and looked over. That was Zack defending him, the only one on the team that still treated him fairly. To bad he was straight, Zack was just Liam's type.
"Aw, Zack, coming to defend your boyfriend?" Malcolm sneered back at his teammate.
"You're just jealous, you can't get anyone to date your ugly ass." Zach shot back, the insult causing Malcolm to sink back into his seat.
"Psshh, whatever."
Zack met Liam's eyes and gave him a nod. The message was clear, don't let them bother you. But they did bother him. He couldn't pretend anymore that they didn't. He decided that after this trip he was going to quit the team. That meant his scholarship going down the hole, too. But he was going to leave on his terms.
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Liam bounced the basketball as he grinned at some of his cabinmates. He took the shot and sank the ball, putting his team in the lead. All the boys went chasing off after the basketball again. There he was again watching from the sidelines. It seemed every time Liam looked around he found the tabby cat watching him. It was beginning to make him self conscious.
His black and white tail gave a twitch as he heard his name called and the ball came soaring in his direction. He dribbled a bit down the court before passing it off to another teammate to sink the final points of the game.
After a round of high-fives and chest bumping, he went over to where he left his water bottle on the bench. Sitting next to it was the cat, grinning at him. "Hi!" It was cheery. He had to reassess his thought on the cat, he was a bit on the small side, so Liam had thought him younger, but the patch on the cat's shirt put him in the group closer to his own fourteen. He must have been in the other older boy cabin.
"Hi..?" Liam returned, unsure of the cat's friendly attitude. Something about it was endearing though.
"I'm Elliot." The cat stuck out a paw, still grinning from ear to ear.
"Liam." The skunk replied looking at the hand before taking it for a shake.
"You're cute." Elliot said as if that was the most normal thing in the world.
Liam dribbled water from his muzzle as he tried to talk and drink at the same time in shock. "I, um, thank you? You, too?" How did someone even respond to that. Sure. Liam had figured out he liked boys last year, not that there was anything wrong with that. He had two dads after all, they had supported him completely. The did ask if he was sure and not jus trying to be like them. Liam had to reassure them he was sure.
"I'll see you at dinner." The cat smiled and hopped off the bench. Like that was that. Liam found himself staring at the cat's fluffy tail as he walked off. Elliot thought he was cute? He found himself puffing out his chest a little, he was pretty proud of the muscle he had put on the last year since taking up sports.
"Wait up." Liam said before he could think about it more and ran to catch up with the cat.