"You can run faster than that!"
Bradley groaned and forced his legs to cover more space on the treadmill. His father, Anthony, wouldn't let up. Every morning he pushed his son for all he was worth and never quit. He rolled his eyes as his father clicked his stopwatch and he slowed to a walk. "You're slowing down." Anthony commented.
"Dad, this was longer than usual, can I just call it now?"
"No. But after you do fifty push-ups, I want to you to shower and be down for breakfast." Anthony James ordered his son. Bradley obediently got on the ground and the requested fifty push-ups. Groaning, he got up and made a show of limping up the stairs. "You're a football player, I expect to exaggerate!" His father called after him. "I'd be more disappointed if you didn't make a show of it!"
Rolling his eyes and sighing, Bradley shut his bedroom door behind him. He felt the sweat under his shirt and took it off accordingly. He stumbled his way into the attached bathroom. His dad made him run an extra two and a half miles that were completely unprecedented.
He undressed and stepped under the water. Boiling hot water poured down on him, and Bradley breathed a sigh of contentment. Nothing like a nice, hot shower.
While he was drying off, his phone rang. He recognized the ringtone. "Ah, Katie. What can I do for you?"
"Quit fooling around Bradley. I think something suspicious is going on. At school. According to my mother, they pulled my records."
"They?" He asked, confused.
"The school!" She whispered urgently. "They were going through my permanent record. Mine and over a dozen others. One of whom, I thought you should know, is a footballer named Bradley James."
"Bradley James. Me. What would they want with our records?"
"I don't know, Bradley! That's why I called you!"
"Katie, it's probably nothing. Maybe something happened and they were trying to make sure no files were tampered with or something."
"So they pulled our files? The footballers and the cheerleaders. Santana's name was brought up too you know!"
"Calm down, Katie. It's probably nothing."
"Maybe. But maybe not. Just meet me by my locker before homeroom. You know where it is."
"I'm not sure… maybe… is it in the history wing?" He asked jokingly.
"Shut up, Bradley. Be there." There was a click and a few beeps to tell him she had hung up. He smiled and laughed at Katie.
"She's paranoid." He said to himself. But it stuck in his mind. Why would the school pull my records? It's not like I do anything like vandalism or something. I've even told kids to stop making fun of teachers and other students! I'm an aid to that school, not a nuisance!
Bradley stood up and got dressed for the day ahead. He checked the three calendars on his wall. No football practice after school today, no family events to attend, and no-wait. I promised Katie and Santana I would go with them and Eoin to the Founding Fathers tonight. Damn it. I forgot. He made sure to shut his door completely when he left. His dad made a habit of going his room unannounced. What does he think I'm doing up here, drugs? As he walked down the stairs, he pulled a fake limp and a pained face.
"Suck it up, Bradley. Marie made pancakes today." Bradley looked at the maid.
"Thanks Marie! My favorite!" She nodded, smiled at Bradley, and said, "You're very welcome, prince."
"Marie. That was what you called me when I was seven. I'm seventeen now, you can stop. I'll eighteen in a month!"
"Bradley, I've called you 'prince' since the day I started working for you and your father. It's adorable. I can't wait until you bring a girl home and she hears…" Marie chuckled in amusement.
"But football and school come before girls, Bradley. But Marie, you've been good to us ever since you started working here, so you can keep calling him a prince." Anthony laughed.
"Dad!" Bradley protested. Marie placed a plate of pancakes with strawberries and blueberries on top in front of him a fork. They were gone in a matter of minutes. Picking up his bag, he said, "I've got to go, Katie asked me to meet her to discuss a project. I'll be home around 3:00."
"Alright, go show that school what you're worth." He rolled his eyes at his father's dramatics but hugged Marie quickly before leaving. She was a second mother to him after his own died.
A jog, with a lot of walking breaks, would give him enough time to truly think about the school pulling his permanent record. There's a lot of stuff in that file. Back in middle school, he had a few detentions for things like cheating, but he didn't know if the 'incident,' as it was referred, would be in the file. A kid had been making fun of a teacher, calling him a 'faggot' and other names just because he was gay. So, Bradley had punched the kid. And when the kid called him a faggot, he just walked away. Until said kid insulted his mother, and then that kid wound up with a three day stay in a hospital. Other problems included random violent incidents, all of which the kids deserved, and a lot of calls to his father.
High school was a different story. Late to class maybe once a semester, but he was clean otherwise. He was practically King of Dulman Academy, and his teachers all seemed to love him. He had to keep his nose clean in order to keep his as football captain.
Bradley arrived at the school and went to his locker. He was just inputting the code when Angel came up to her locker, one over from his left. "Hey, Angel." He smiled.
"Hey, Bradley." She smiled back, but this was more of a teasing smile. Like an 'I-know-what-you're-trying-to-do-and-it-won't-work-but-it's-sweet-that-you-still-try' kind of smile.
"So, you're not going to tell me about why Katie is freaking out about this permanent record thing?"
"No. But when she heard my name was mentioned she was relieved. I guess I'm just not capable of doing bad things." She laughed lightly as she started opening her locker. Bradley opened his locker and grabbed his books as Angel did the same. They bantered lightly, and Bradley flirted. Angel just shook her head through her laughter and said, "Katie's by her locker. She doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Bradley headed off as Angel went to homeroom. He passed Leon on the way, the two preceded to fist bump before heading in opposite directions. Leon and Angel are in the same homeroom. Katie, Eoin, and Santana are in the second homeroom, while he and Tom were in the third with a bunch of second team footballers.
He saw Katie pacing by her locker. "Hey Kat." He started.
"Katie, Bradley. You know that. Call me Katie. Now, this permanent record business. I'm worried." She whispered.
"Why? What's on there that you're so worried about?"
She looked at him with wide, panicked eyes. "Nothing." She said hurriedly.
Well, clearly it's something, Katie. I won't pressure her. "Okay then. We still on for Founding Fathers tonight?"
"Yeah." Katie relaxed. "Santana and I are getting a ride from her older sister. Any chance we can go home with you if we get too drunk?" Bradley chuckled. I forgot the three of them can drink. As if she read his mind, she commented, "Don't worry Brad. We'll buy you a drink or two."
"I turn eighteen next month!" He defended. "You all just rub it while you still can."
"You're the baby, Bradley. You always will be. But that ride?"
"When," he corrected, "you get drunk, I will drive you home. I was already planning to drive Eoin." The bell rang. The pair exchanged panicked looks and headed off towards trig. Sliding into their desks on opposite sides of the room, the teacher walked in and noticed the two taking out their books.
"Mr. James. Miss McGrath. I sincerely hope you were not displaying public affection in the halls of Dulman Academy." She said stuffily.
"No, Mrs. O'Neil." They chorused. The other members of the class stifled their laughter. Except for one boy, whom the teacher went ahead and yelled at, making him the center of attention.
Just before the fourth period began, Eoin, Tom, Santana, and Bradley were all talking, or rather, Tom and Bradley talked while Eoin and Santana plotted. And exchanged saliva. Just before the bell, the secretary's voice came over the loudspeaker system. "Could Santana Cabrera, Angel Coulby, Katie McGrath, Tom Hopper, Bradley James, Eoin Macken, and Rupert Young please report to the headmaster's office."
The four exchanged panicked expressions before calming down and walking down the hallway to the office in question. They met up with Leon and Tom walking through the history wing and Angel rushed up to them just before they turned the corner. The door sat there, slightly forbidding.
The bell rang, and in the silence that followed, Angel reached up her left arm and knocked once, twice, three times. Katie shot Bradley a pointed I-told-you-so expression, but everyone acted cool, calm, and collected. Mr. Lassiter, the headmaster, pulled open the door. "I will speak to each of you one by one, so if you would mind taking a seat," he gestured to the bench and chairs that typically sat outside his office, "I'll start with Miss McGrath." He waved his arm towards the doorway, and the green-eyed girl walked through. He shut the door behind them.
"Looks like we're here for a while. Better get comfortable." Eoin said, plopping down on a chair. Angel took the other one, Santana squeezed in with Eoin and the pair continued their activities. Bradley and Tom took the bench and talked with Leon, who remained standing and leaned against the wall.
Katie came out looking relieved with a manila envelope. "Mr. James." The headmaster requested. Bradley stood up and offered Katie his seat before walking into the office. "You are aware that you have outstanding academics?" He nodded. "And you are a model of what we expect from our students?" More nodding. "Well, you've been selected for a foreign exchange. You, and your classmates in the hallway if they accept, will be heading to America in December and won't be coming back until March. As you are aware, Mr. James, it is currently November 23rd, and the flight is scheduled for December 7th. This paperwork is due back by December 2nd. You will be able to return in December for the 23rd through to the 26th for the holidays, and all the other details like that will be in this envelope alongside the paperwork you need to fill out." Mr. Lassiter passed the blond student a manila envelope identical to Katie's.
"I will give you all notes of excusal after I've finished talking to all of you." He stood up and Bradley followed his lead. The door was opened, so he stepped through as the headmaster spoke, "Miss Cabrera and Mr. Macken- do not make out in this hallway or elsewhere on school grounds or I will give you detention!" The cheerleader and footballer in question snapped apart. "Now, Mr. Young." Leon stepped into the office while Bradley opened his envelope and noticed Katie had done the same. Mr. Lassiter hadn't lied, it was all paperwork and there was four paper print out calendars of December through March that lined out the basics of the trip.
I've always wanted to go to America, and I guess it would look amazing to the universities I'm applying to. My god, they need to know a lot of information for this. Blood type? I seriously hope they don't need that to come into play. Mr. Lassiter went through Leon, then Eoin, Santana, Tom, and finally Angel. He called the group back into his office and handed them all passes excusing their absence from class and warned them not to mention the exchange to other students until next week. They went back their separate ways, back to class.
