Rocketman sat on the bench, watching the game with interest. He had always loved basketball, ever since he was little. He dreamed of being on a team with Troy Bolton since he was first put on the team. Troy was his idol, although he never knew exactly why. He had always played basketball so well, Rocketman had always just put his obsession off to that. Lately, however, he had started to realize some other things about Troy. The way he walked, how he was always so positive and could encourage his team to do pretty much anything he wanted them to. There was also a certain feeling he got every time he saw Troy with Gabriella; he thought that some people called it jealousy, but that couldn't possibly be right. Troy was a guy. Guys didn't like other guys, it was just wrong. So why did he feel this way? Still, Rocketman couldn't help but stare at Troy as he ran up and down the court, getting sweatier and sweatier as time went on. Although he never went out on the court, Rocketman was perfectly content sitting there watching. He... he couldn't describe it, but he thought that Troy was really really... attractive. Yeah, that was the word. Attractive. But why did he think like this? Troy wasn't a girl! Not even in the slightest! So... ugh, his head hurt. Rocketman didn't want to think about this anymore.
The Wildcats were behind 32-57 with 10 seconds left in the second half. There was no way they could come back from this. Sure enough, as the buzzer rang out the end of the second half, they had only gotten to 38-57. The Wildcats had lost the game, and it was pretty obvious that Troy was mad, along with Chad. But then again, Troy was the only one that mattered. When the team went back into the locker room, no one was in the mood to talk about what had happened earlier. After the angry mood had died down a little bit, Rocketman noticed that the rest of the team members had left the locker room. Everyone, that is, except for Troy. So that's where the vibe was coming from. Though, Rocketman guessed that he should have known that in the first place. Basketball was taken very seriously by Troy and Coach Bolton, who was also Troy's dad.
Troy was sitting on the bench in the middle of the locker room with his head in his hands, jersey still on, but with a pair of jeans instead of basketball shorts. No matter what he wore, Rocketman thought to himself, Troy sure did know how to rock anything he wore. Oh my God, Jimmie thought to himself. I just thought about Troy. PHYSICALLY. This was bad, this was very bad. It wasn't really so much that he was thinking about Troy, but it was the fact that Rocketman knew that he had no chance with Troy whatsoever. He shook the confusing thought from his head and went over to sit by Troy. Even if he had no chance, he could at least be a friend and help Troy out.
Rocketman sat down next to Troy and put his hand on Troy's back in a comforting way. "Hey man," Rocketman said. "There's nothing left to do now but kick their butts the next time around."
Troy laughed half-heartedly and raised his head out of his hands. Staring at the lockers across from the bench he was sitting and said, "Yeah, I just thought we would put up a better fight than the one we did today. I guess it's partly my fault." He paused, then continued. "I guess I've just been preoccupied lately."
Rocketman's heart skipped a beat. Preoccupied? Preoccupied with what? What could Troy possibly be thinking about? The spring musical? Gabriella? Or... no, that was ridiculous. He had already accepted the fact that he had no chance. So... why did Rocketman feel the way he did? It was like all of his senses were heightened. He tried not to let it show, though. There was no way Troy felt the same way he did, so what was the point of showing feelings if it wasn't going to happen anyways?
"Yeah, a lot has happened lately. You're, like, the best player I know though. I'm sure you'll whoop them next time around," Rocketman said, trying to cover up his little falter of thought.
"Hey Jimmie?" Troy said.
That was weird. No one ever called Rocketman by his real name anymore. For some reason, a rush of adrenaline rushed through his veins.
"Y-yeah?" Rocketman stuttered. Crap, he thought to himself. Losing your cool isn't going to help anyone at this point. Just stay calm and we'll get through this without anything happening. Troy looked at Jimmie with clear, enticing blue eyes. Rocketman felt like he could get lost in those eyes. They stayed like that for a while, just looking into each other's eyes. In the back of his mind, Rocketman thought that he was in a scene from one of those corny romance movies. He also knew that this was the part where the two main characters shared a passionate and romantic kiss, or something like that. The thought of it excited him and also terrified him. Rocketman didn't know if he was ready for this or not.
Finally, Troy said, "You know, you have nice eyes." A look crossed his face as if he thought that that was the wrong thing to say. Rocketman blushed and looked away. Why would he say something like that? Not that he didn't like it, but still... was Troy having a lapse of his memory? Did he forget that he liked girls? That he had been dating Gabriella for the past three years? Jimmie didn't know if he could deal with everything that had happened so suddenly. Nevertheless, he smiled a little and said, "Thanks."
He suddenly felt Troy's hand on his cheek and turned his face back to him. Their gazes locked once again, but this time, Jimmie could see something in Troy's eyes that he had never seen before. He had caught a glimpse of it while Troy would talk to Gabriella, but nothing like this. He recognized it, though how he did, he would never figure out; love. Pure, unrefined love. But why would he be looking at him that way? It's...
Troy pulled their faces closer together until they were not even an inch apart. Then, their foreheads were touching. He could barely hear Troy whisper, "Such... nice... eyes..." before Rocketman's lips were captured by Troy. His hormones were raging, but frankly, Jimmie didn't care. He put one of his hands on Troy's cheek and the other on the back of his head. Troy took his hand off of Jimmie's cheek and wrapped both of his arms around his hips. He pulled them closer and leaned more into the kiss. Troy's tongue poked Jimmie's lips, asking for entry. That's when Rocketman had enough of his basic senses left to pull apart. He looked at Troy, so confused about what exactly just happened. Troy had a confused look on his face as well, and Rocketman was pretty sure Troy was just as confused as he was.
Without a word, Rocketman stood up and ran from the room. "Jimmie, wait!" Troy called after him. Rocketman just couldn't deal with emotions he had just felt. He hoped that Troy would forgive him... eventually...
The Next Day
Rocketman didn't sleep at all that night. He had bags under his eyes during the entirety of the next day, and he was uber tired. Rocketman had been up all night, thinking about what had happened the previous day. Did Troy really mean it when he kissed him? Does the one person Jimmie want really have feelings for him? It was very tiring to think about, yet it was everything that occupied him. The thing was, Rocketman had never really had someone love him or care about him. It was a new and weird thing to him, and he didn't know how he should feel about it.
He went through the motions for most of his classes; that is, until he got to lunchtime. He got the cafeteria special and went to go sit with his friends when he saw him. Troy was sitting at the same table he usually sat at, along with Chad and a few other people. One of them was Gabriella. Suddenly, Rocketman had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Had Troy told his friends? It was kind of obvious he hadn't told Gabriella, because she still looked as happy as ever. But what would the guys think of him when they knew?
With a now paler face, Rocketman sat down with Donny Dion, his freshman friend, at their lunch table. He and Donny had been friends for as long as either of them could remember. So, of course, right after it had happened, he called Donny. No matter what, he knew that he would be there for him. He had told him to just calm down, and that he was sure everything would be okay. Donny understood what Rocketman was going through, and thank God for that. Now, if he could only figure out what he was going through himself.
They both sat and ate their lunches silently. After all, what was there to say anymore? Donny knew that Rocketman felt like crap, and he couldn't really do much to help him. The rest of the day went on similarly. No matter what went on during the day, Rocketman was only focused on one thing: the upcoming basketball practice. He was dreading it, like nothing he had ever dreaded before.
The last bell rang, and Rocketman gathered his stuff as slowly as he possibly could. He didn't want to face what he knew he would have to. He walked to his locker, put his books away, and went down to the gym. Walking into the locker room, he found that everyone was pretty much changed and ready to go out there. Everyone joked with him about how late he was, then went out onto the court. Everyone except Troy, that is. He went up to Rocketman and paused. He then said, "Stay after practice. I need to talk to you."
What was going to happen? Was Troy going to beat him up? Rocketman became unfocused and paler than he was that morning as he walked out onto the basketball court. Somehow he made it through practice, but how was a mystery even to him. After the hour that was indeed hell itself, Rocketman went back into the locker room to change. He tried to get changed and get the heck out of there, but he knew he was going to have to face Troy at some point. It made his head hurt, and he really didn't want to be there. And yet, there was a yearning to stay. It was like his body was fighting with his brain. It was painful, and he didn't like it.
He sat on the bench and waited. After everyone that wasn't really of importance cleared out, he didn't see Troy anywhere. After about 10 minutes, he started to worry. What if he was just waiting here for nothing? Well, that would be stupid, he thought to himself. Why would you wait for something that you didn't even want to do in the first place? Just get up and—
Rocketman heard a noise off to the side and turned. There was Troy standing at the entrances to the showers, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. His perfectly sculpted body was hard to look away from, and Rocketman was no exception. His eyes immediately fell to the abs and they stayed there. Even when Troy started saying something about an apology and how he felt bad for forcing himself on Jimmie, Rocketman had no idea what he was ever talking about. Whenever Troy moved, his stomach rippled in such a way that made it impossible to tear your gaze away from him.
Suddenly, Jimmie felt a tug at his shirt and found himself pressed up against Troy's lips. He was surprised, but wasn't going to object. Rocketman finally realized that he really wanted Troy. With all his heart, he craved the star basketball player. Jimmie shut his eyes in pleasure and wrapped his arms around Troy's neck. Troy wrapped his around Jimmie's waist and pulled him in so their bodies were pressed against each other. Troy pulled Jimmie around and pushed him up against a locker. They stayed like that for a while longer, until both of them had to part for air.
When Troy caught his breath, he said, "You… you weren't listening… to a thing I said… were you?"
Rocketman smiled evilly and said, "Nope."
Troy grinned and pecked his lips again. "That's what I thought."
Troy picked up his shirt and walked out of the locker room. Jimmie watched him as he went. He finally decided that day that he would need to rethink this whole Troy Bolton thing. It was imperative to have that boy in his life. The question was, how? But that is another story. ;D
