"Could I go with you to football practice today?" I asked.
Ethan shrugged his wide shoulders. "I don't see why not."
Of course, I knew that was the answer as I had already written in my notebook that I could go. "Cool. I always wanted to watch you practice."
Ethan rolled his eyes. "It's not like it's the first time..."
It took me a second to realize what he meant. I had to focus a bit, but some memories of watching the guys running plays on the field from the empty stands started to fill my thoughts. It was strange at first as they felt almost dreamlike but at the same time completely real. Even though I had never gone I could still remember feeling the days when there was a cool breeze or the warm rays of the sun on my skin. The contradiction swirled around in my mind until Ethan got up out of the booth.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Uhh... Yeah," I nodded after shaking the confusing thoughts out. 'Later,' I thought to myself as I followed Ethan to the practice football field. 'Think about it later.' Besides I had to focus on keeping pace with the now 6'6" football stud walking next to me. Each of his steps felt like they were at least 1.5 of mine and I really had to think about quickening my pace to keep up with him. Though, it didn't feel like he was trying to lose me either.
That was until we got to the locker rooms. "Where are you going?" he asked as I almost followed him in.
I looked around just as confused as him. Consciously, I still hadn't ever gotten this close to the locker rooms. Some subtle memories of this part of the college were pushing through as I'd clearly gone and watched Ethan practice quite a few times in this new version of him. "Sorry," I apologized. "Wasn't thinking."
He gave me a sarcastic, "Mmmhmmm..." knowing full well that I wouldn't mind seeing all the players in nothing but their jocks. "Just wait in the stands like usual."
"S-sure," I nodded. The moment Ethan disappeared inside; I pulled out my notebook again. 'It's completely normal for me to go into the locker room whenever I want.' I watched the notebook glow and then return to its normal color. However, I still paused. Something about it was still bothering me. Even though I really wanted to go into the locker room, I felt an awkwardness about it. The two big changes I had made were overt and obvious, but this one was social. I had no way of knowing until I actually walked into the locker room and saw what everyone would say.
My hand held onto the door. I took a breath and pushed inside. Most of the guys kept on changing like normal. They barely even looked up over at me with their strong muscular bodies on full display. Each one was in a different amount of undress but casually putting on their jerseys, leggings and shoes. I tried not to stare to obviously, but my eyes kept lingering on different guys nude bodies.
"OH! Looks like Ethan's boyfriend came today!" Scotty Ontaro called out. Some of the guys looked up and covered up a bit more quickly, while others just ignored Scotty completely.
Ethan smacked Scotty on the back of the head. "Dude, shut up," he told the quarterback. Being a good 4 inches taller and almost 80 pounds heavier, Ethan had quite a bit more size on the leaner built player. Scotty looked like he was about to say something before Ethan added, "or do you need to have another conversation with Coach Hendrix?"
"Whatever man," Scotty ran his hand threw his coifed dirty blond hair and went to a locker that was completely out of my view.
Normal felt weird as Ethan just went back to what he was doing without so much of a thought of me. Sure, it was normal for me to be here, but clearly someone like Scotty still felt the need to point it out. But then there was Coach Hendrix and Coach Adams who barely even looked up from their clipboards as they passed me. I didn't know either of them too well, but it was obvious that they would have said something to me if I were out of place.
Coach Hendrix being nearing retirement still took his job seriously. Even if he wasn't in the same toned and fit shape he had been in his early 20's he clearly wasn't a guy to mess around with. He'd only gotten stronger with age as his arms, hands and belly were all far larger than they had ever been. Plus, his harsh shouts would put a fire under nearly anyone's ass.
Coach Adams was a bit different. Fairly fresh out of college, he didn't have the same authority or confidence that Hendrix had. He was still trying to be some of the players friends as he was only 6 or 7 years older than the seniors. It made practice a bit awkward as the players wouldn't listen to him all the time. It also didn't help that he was a bit lazy. He clearly expected this job to be easier than it was to play, he was still getting used to having to write all the stats down and keep them organized. Nor did it help his more slobbish tendencies to keep his hair trimmed, wear the correct polo and khaki pants or maintain at least somewhat of a healthy diet. He was still living in his twenties despite being in his thirties.
Hendrix was clearly upset with Adams but he was focusing more on retirement than his coworker's skills. Right now, Adams was the only one who could possibly replace him and he wasn't about to try to find someone else. They headed for the stairs leading towards the field and I followed them up, thinking about what I wanted to change.