Jocks sauntered past Dave, pushing and shoving against him to get through the hall leading out of the pool area to the change-rooms. He maintained a straight face, but gritted his teeth in contempt, keeping his distance from the group. He tried his best to ignore them as they called back to him.
"What's up, Albino Faggot?"
"You're not fooling anyone with that poker-face of yours, you dweeb!"
"Where are those stupid, pretentious shades you love so much?"
Dave felt rage welling up inside of him. He wanted so badly to yell back at them, to tell them how stupid they all were, to point out that they're the pretentious ones. But instead, he just trudged along, stopping briefly at the showers to let the stream of water gently wash the chlorine from his pale, freckled white skin. He continued on to the changing area, trying his best to keep his lean frame from shivering like a leaf as he walked. Eyes locked on the cement tiles beneath his feet, his face remained blank, but the tips of his ears flushed red as he did his best to ignore the half-naked men surrounding him on all sides. The assholes from before snickered amongst themselves. He hated swim class so much. All he wanted to do was go home and mix some sick beats with Bro, maybe order pizza. He felt so alone, but he knew he couldn't show any sign of weakness. So he did his best to silently slip into the changing stall with his dry clothes in hand. To avoid drawing attention to himself, he brought his legs up and cradled his knees as he sat meekly on the changing stool.
He slowly slipped off his candy-red swim trunks, and, as quickly as he could, replaced them with matching boxer briefs. Those douchebags had bashed in the stall door while he was changing earlier that week, and though the chances they'd be amused by the same prank twice were low, he figured he'd be better safe than sorry. He barely managed to put on his trademark long-sleeved shirt before hearing a knock on the stall door. His heart sank. "Occupied," he muttered.
"Dave, it's me!" He recognized the nasally, unnaturally cheerful voice, and gave a silent sigh of relief. "Are you almost done in there? Can I come in?" Muttered pejorative slurs resonated throughout the entire room, followed by muffled laughter. Dave glanced uneasily at his exposed legs. "Sure, whatever," he said, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice. The door opened a crack and a short, slim figure slid in to the cramped stall. The door closed abruptly behind him.
His messy black hair came down over his sky-blue eyes in wet, stringy clumps. A white towel wrapped around his tiny neck and across his narrow shoulders. His square-framed glasses looked silly, fogged over so badly, he probably couldn't see a thing. The corners of his mouth were curled upward in a friendly smile, exposing his silly yet endearing overbite. He was wearing nothing but loose white boxers covered in a dorky slime ghost pattern. Shit! He came in wearing nothing but that? They're going to laugh at me for weeks! Fuck, they're going to be making gay jokes until the end of time at this rate. Not to mention, he looks like a total doofus! They're never going to let either of us live this down.
"Dave, are you ok? You look nervous about something." He looked quizzically at Dave. Holy fuck, how does he do that? Was I really that obvious? He covered his cheeks with his hands, hoping they hadn't turned beet red. "Fuck off, Egbert." Dave looked away, hoping he could recover from his slip-up. Nobody was allowed to see him for who he really was. Not even John. He bent down unwrapped the towel draped around his neck and stretched it out between his hands. Dave winced, expecting to be hit.
To his surprise, he felt a sudden warmth as John's body pressed itself against his, pulling him into his arms. John wrapped the towel over Dave's body and his own, gently resting his chin on Dave's shoulders.
"John, what the fuck." Dave reached down for the shades resting beside him on the stool, worried that his eyes might fill with tears. John was the only one who could break through his defenses like this. Even Bro couldn't phase him this much. John swatted his hand away pointedly. "Dave, you don't need those when you're with me. You can just be yourself," John whispered as he ran his hand up and down Dave's back soothingly. "No need to put on that coolkid act. I like you for who you really are."
He opened his mouth in protest, but, unable to think of a witty comeback, closed it again. He loved it when John held him. It made him feel safe. His skin felt soft and smooth against Dave's, his hands so gentle. Dave felt like such a wuss, letting Egbert see right through him like this. He wondered why he wasn't hearing laughter in the background anymore, when he suddenly realized the others had left already. Shit. He was going to miss out on lunch. But he didn't care anymore. He could stay like this forever.
He noticed that John was blushing slightly. "U-uhmm, hey there, dave," John stammered. Dave was confused for a moment, then looked down. He suddenly realized what John was talking about. His cheeks burned profusely.
"Oh, uhh.." Dave unlocked his arms from John's and backed away awkwardly. They both stared at the floor for a few seconds as they clumsily put on their jeans. It was Dave who finally broke the silence.
"Egbert, why don't you just ignore me or make fun of me like everyone else? Why don't you hate me?" Fuck. He'd let his guard down again. He cringed. John was silent for a moment as he slipped a baggy blue t-shirt over his un-tameable mess of hair. "Well," he began, choosing his words carefully.
"I don't want to make fun of you because there's nothing to make fun of. And I don't hate you, because…because I like you, Dave. I like you a lot!"
Dave looked up at him in surprise as John's eyes met his.
He immediately looked down again, and muttered a nearly inaudible "thanks".
John grinned at Dave. He stared blankly back, hoping he could hide how badly he wanted to jump back into his arms and never leave. He stuffed his wet swim trunks into his gym bag and abruptly placed his shades over his eyes.
They walked together until they reached the exit leading out of the school. Dave stood close to john, trying to hide the fact that they were holding hands behind his back. As they opened the doors, John turned to face Dave. "Oh, and one more thing.." He paused.
"Never forget. I'll always be there if you need me."