Nick tossed himself back on his bed, football in his hands, tossing it up in the air a few times. Mark crossed over to his own bed, looking at Nick.
"You got a problem?" Nick asked. "Quit staring, you're creeping me out."
Mark shook his head. "You know," he said. "I've stopped letting that bother me a while ago." He crossed the room, eyeing up the top of Nick's dresser. "You know..." he continued. "I meant what I said. I', going to figure out what's wrong with you. I'm going to figure it out sooner or later, Nick, so why don't you just tell me?"
"Because first of all, there's nothing to tell. And second of all, even if there was, I wouldn't say a word to you."
Mark took a deep breath, giving him a nod. "OK." he said "That's the story you're gonna go with, fine."
Good," Nick said. "Now leave me alone." He went back to tossing the football up in the air. Mark looked around. There was no way he was going to be able to find out what Nick was using. Not for a while at least. "Will you sit down, you're making me nervous."
"Afraid I'm gonna pounce, Nick?" he said. "Because I just can't wait to get my hands all over you, right? Afraid you're gonna wake up one night and find me staring over at you? Because you're some great gift?"
"Just shut the hell up, Mark."
"I didn't hit a nerve did I?" Mark said. "You're always making such a big deal about me being gay. You're always the one bringing it up. It's like you're fixated on it."
"I am not fixated on anything." Nick said "And don't you even suggest that I am."
Mark sighed. No use in getting Nick ready to kill him. Not in the condition he was in at least. Mark was still worried about him. If he was on drugs, he was still using. And if he was still using, there was still a chance that Nick could hurt himself again.
"Fine," Mark said. "It's over. I'm dropping it." He walked over to the shut door, blocked by Nick's gym bag. He leaned down to move it out of the way when Nick jumped.
"What the hell are you doing?" Nick said. "Don't touch my stuff."
"I'm just... moving it out of the way." Mark said gently.
"Yeah well... don't." Nick jumped up, grabbing the bag from his hands. "Keep your hands off."
Mark noticed his nervousness. It was then that he knew that what he was looking for was right under his nose. Literally. "Is that it?" Mark said. "Is that where it is... what you've been taking?"
"I told you..."
"I know what you told me," Mark said. "So why don't you prove it?" Nick didn't move. "Prove it, Nick." Mark said, grabbing the bag. Nick wouldn't let go, tugging it like they were two children fighting over a toy. Mark wasn't afraid of Nick, confident he could hold his own against the football player.
The struggle continued for a moment before the bag hit the floor, its contents spilling, Nick's stash coming into plain view. Mark took a look at the needle and then at Nick. He quickly swooped down to pick it up.
"Steroids?" Mark said. "You're shooting yourself up with steroids, Nick?"
"No," Nick said. "No. What are you crazy. I don't know what that's..." Mark eyed the needle, thinking quickly. He slowly removed the cap. "What are you doing?"
"Well you're telling me it's a clean needle." Mark hovered it over his fingertips. "Then it won't matter. It'll be like a pin prick. No big deal, right?" He slowly began to lower the needle.
"Mark, stop!" Nick said. "Just stop, I used that."
Mark held the needle up. "You're killing yourself!" he said. "You're killing yourself, Nick. For what? You're not gonna be doing anything if you keep pumping yourself with this stuff. You're not invincible."
"Don't tell me..."
"Don't, Nick," Mark said. "Stop using this stuff. Stop telling yourself that your a Superman. Even Superman had his Kryptonite." He tossed the needle to the ground. "And this is yours."
"I have everything under control. I don't so it a lot."
"You do it enough for it to make your heart stop beating. You could have died on that field, Nick. In front of all those people. In front of that scout."
"But I didn't." he said
"So you keep doing it?" he said. "You got lucky once."
"I don't get lucky. It had nothing to do with lucky."
"Oh," he said. "I see... you can't play without it. You need it to make All State, you need it to go Pro, you need it to be able to play. Because without shooting up, you're just as much of a football player as... Julie is."
Nick laughed. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You're so afraid of letting your Dad down that you pump yourself full of this stuff looking for an edge. What'd you find, Nick? You found yourself kissing goodbye to a chance at pro ball and you wound up in the hospital with tubes in your arms. Is getting an edge really worth that?" He paused. "I'll tell you what, you ask Marcie what using drugs to get an edge can lead to. You ask her what it's like to watch somebody you care about die because they made the decision to get that edge." Nick was silent, shaking his head. "You know what I think? I think you're selfish. You're so worried about moving yourself ahead, did you ever think once what would happen if Coach called one of those random tests? You'd be off the team completely. You'd get expelled, Nick and then all of us... me and Julie and Hudson and Riley and Jen and Shannon and Marcie, we'd lose this project. Because you can't work when you're expelled. And if one of us pulls out, we all fail. Remember that?" Mark paused again. "You're a coward. You can't face any of this and that's why you're using."
"I am not a coward!" Nick said.
"Then prove it!" Mark said. "Be a man and ask for help to get off this stuff. Prove to yourself that you don't need it. Prove to yourself that you can get that scout to come back to watch you play. Prove to yourself that you can go pro. Because I know you can, Nick. I know you can, if you would just ask for help."
Nick was silent as they simply looked at eachother. Neither moved for a moment before Nick turned and sat back down on his bed. Mark sighed, shaking his head. He reached for the door knob.
"Mark..." Nick said as Mark turned to face him. His words were simple, but the expression on his face spoke loudly. "Help. I need help."