Alex bent over his hands on his knees, breathing heavily as he caught his breath. He was in high school and had just run a race in sports class. Even after he'd tried his hardest, as always, he still was only able to place second in the races; always losing to the same person.

"Hey Riley!" Alex looked up, knowing straight away who was calling out to him. The person who always won the races just loved rubbing it in.

"What?" Alex snapped at him, not in the mood.

""You should try a little harder in our races, you almost beat me…oh wait I was way ahead of you, never mind…"

"You were not! It was less than a metre!"

"Johnson! Get over here; I need a word with you!" The sport teacher called out to the tall blond.

"Huh, later Riley." He said to Alex, still calling him by his last name, as he always had done.

Alex just rolled his eyes and went to collect his stuff to head home, swinging his bag onto his shoulder as his younger brother caught up to him. Still annoyed from the encounter, Alex didn't say a word to him so they headed home in silence.

"Hey boys, how was school?" Their dad asked as they arrived home.

Alex sighed as he heard his brother over-excitedly told their dad about his day. When the younger Riley had left the room Alex was questioned next.

"What about you Alex?"

"Same problems as usual…"

"Girl troubles?" His dad asked, getting a small smile from him.

"Yeah…right" Alex rolled his eyes. "If only it were that simple." He put his school bag down on the floor and sat at the dining table with his dad.

"Still the new kid huh?"

Nodding, Alex answered "Yeah…Casey Johnson. He transferred from Canada about a month ago. I used to be the best at sports…"

"And now he's taken that spot?"

"Yeah…it was the only thing that made me stand out."

"Well you don't need to be the best son…"

"I know…it's just that he's so…so…perfect. At everything…" Alex mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"Alex, is there something you aren't telling me about this story…?"

"Uh…" Alex looked up about to answer, pausing when he heard footsteps.

"Hey honey," Alex's mother said as she came into the room, kissing his dad's cheek. "How was school Alex?"

"It was ok…" Alex said getting up off his chair and picking up his bag. "Alex? What's wrong?" She asked him.

Looking up at his mother, Alex answered "Nothing." Before looking at his dad and leaving the kitchen and heading to his bedroom.

Alex sat on his bed, pretending to do his homework, instead drawing on a spare sheet of paper. He heard a knock on the door and looked up as his dad entered.

"Hey dad." He sighed.

"How come you aren't sitting at your desk?" He asked Alex, pulling the desk chair towards the bed, before sitting on it.

"Bed's comfier."

After looking to make sure the door was closed, Alex's dad decided to bring up their conversation from the kitchen again. "So what's up with this Casey boy Alex?"

Alex continued drawing, blushing slightly. His dad was the only one in his family he'd told about how he was different.

"Alex?"

He looked down at his drawing finally realising what, or more accurately, who he'd been drawing and blushed even more. "Um…"

"Are you sure you actually dislike him Alex?" His dad asked, smiling after noticing Alex's red face.

"Well…he's…he's…" Alex stuttered.

Guessing what his son was going to say, Alex's dad tried to get him to spit it out. "So what does he look like?"

"Well…he has…blond hair that reaches his shoulders…and he's tall…and his smile…it's…" Alex looked towards the window, embarrassed. His dad may know he's different, but it was still awkward for Alex to talk about it with him.

It had taken Alex months to even consider telling his dad his feelings towards other boys most people, he figured, would tell their mums, but Alex's came from a strict religious background; while his father was from a very laid back family.

"What Alex?" He knew his son had a bad habit of stalling when it came to serious conversations, Alex quickly becoming a nervous wreck at times.

Still looking out the window, Alex ran a hand through his short brown hair and blushed again as he mumbled the words "…it's cute…"

His dad smiled and pulled him into a hug. "See, you don't hate him Alex, have you talked to him?"

"Only when he picks on me…I don't really know anything about him."

"Well you should get to know him; he'd stop picking on then right?"

"Maybe…" Alex sighed as his dad got up and left the room. He sat there and looked down at the picture he'd drawn of the blond transfer student.