School Activities

Jack's Summer 2

The plane set down in California. Jack and the guys headed for the hotel, each of them getting their own room. Jack was surprised with how they had been able to pay for all of this. But, apparently, football stars got money. If they decided to stick with football, they'd definitely be rich.

Jack walked into his room, dropping his bags on the floor. He walked over to the window and looked out. Even at night, he had a great view.

"Would've been better with Ennis," Jack mumbled. Now he was going to be in a depressed mood all night.

He turned away from the window, pulling out his phone to call Ennis. He paused when he heard a knock at his door. He hesitated then put the phone away and walked over to the door and opened it.

"Pool party!" Adam said. "You in?"

"We don't get time to relax after the flight?"

"Come on, Jack! Don't be a party pooper," Adam said. "This is the last summer before graduation. Make it count." He turned and walked off, gesturing for Jack to follow.

Jack stood there. He didn't want to think about the fact he could have made this summer count by staying home. Of course, he would be without Ennis for a month, but at least it would have been just one instead of an entire summer.

Grumbling, Jack stepped out of the room, closing the door as he followed after Adam and the others as they all headed downstairs. He needed to have fun instead of sitting around his room alone, thinking about Ennis. He needed to stay busy. And, despite the fact that Adam wasn't the greatest guy to hang out with, he was just the type of person that could keep Jack busy. Adam was a big party guy.

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The pool party that night was only the start of a party-filled summer. Jack went out and partied with the guys then came back to the hotel too exhausted to think or do anything else. Mornings he would still wake up and wonder about calling Ennis, but every single time he tried, Adam called him off to go somewhere else. He had incredibly bad luck in that area. Jack always wondered why Ennis hadn't tried to call him. Unless there was no signal at the lake, which meant even if Jack was able to call, he might not be able to even talk to Ennis.

Because of that, he started his days without even thinking about trying to call him. But, he still checked his phone to make sure Ennis hadn't called him.

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Jack and Adam sat at the beach one afternoon. Adam was laying out on the sand, getting a tan. Jack thought about going for another swim, but his eyes just kept roaming around the beach. And every bikini-clad woman that looked his way, he thought about Ennis, destroying any temptation. How could he get laid now when all he wanted was Ennis?

And why was he thinking about Ennis now? He couldn't have any fun while depressed, constantly thinking of Ennis. Wanting his touch. NEEDING his touch.

Pretty soon, every guy that walked by was Ennis. Jack was subconsciously falling into his fantasy. He observed men's movements and then pictured Ennis moving the same way. It kept his mind occupied, certainly.

"Jack!"

Jack jumped, startled, and looked over at Adam, who was sitting up and just staring at him. "What?" he asked. "Wanna go for another swim? Or--"

"Is there a reason you've been checkin' out the last dozen guys that walked by?"

Jack cursed himself for doing that. "I wasn't...checkin' 'em out," he said. He was confident that he WASN'T a good liar right now. He looked forward, away from Adam. How could he have let this happen? Damn Ennis for making him come on this stupid trip!

'Ennis didn't make you,' Jack thought to himself.

There was silence for a really long time. Jack could practically feel the sounds around them muting. It was a strange feeling, but he felt like he had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. More like got caught jerking a guy off.

"Holy shit," Adam said. "All the strange behavior...Are you....GAY?!"

Jack found that he didn't want to lie to Adam even though he KNEW this wasn't going to turn around in his favor. He looked at Adam. "What do you want me to say?" he asked.

"You made fun of gay guys!"

"I know," Jack said with a nod. "And it wasn't a nice thing to do. Why make fun of the way they are? It's really offensive." Right now, he was offended only by thinking about it.

"Is it me?"

"What?!"

"Oh, fuck, it IS me!" Adam said. He got to his feet. He turned to Jack. "Not happening. See ya, homo." He turned and hurried off.

"Adam!" Jack called then got to his feet and hurried after him. He walked into the hotel after Adam, coming to an abrupt halt when he saw Adam going over to the rest of the guys. He mumbled a curse then stepped into the elevator that had just arrived. He went back to his room, knowing he wouldn't be able to step out of here in peace again. Except when the guys were gone and they wouldn't skip the chance to make fun of him. No matter what, he KNEW that that was going to happen.

"Always count on Adam," Jack said. He should have stopped hanging around with Adam and the guys a long time ago. Right now, he'd rather be invisible than popular. What good did popular do? None! The small guys got everything done while the popular guys were handed college by their choice of sport. The whole school system was ridiculous.

Jack walked over and grabbed his phone, calling Ennis. He put the phone to his ear then turned when there was a knock. He didn't move toward the door.

"Oh, Jacky-poo!" the voice on the other side of the door said. It was one of the guys on the football team. "Got the balls to be a homo's friend now?" There was laughter by a few more guys. Jack recognized Adam's laugh.

Jack walked into the bathroom and closed the door. He got Ennis' voicemail, so he just hung up. He dropped the phone then slid down the wall to sit on the floor. This vacation was going badly. And he couldn't leave. He didn't have the money to buy his own ticket. The return trip had already been paid for.

How could he last another day with this, let alone the rest of the summer?

Why couldn't his friends just shun him!

After a few more days, he got exactly that. Only because they got bored since all he did was hide out in his room all day every day. What more could he do? He could always try to avoid all of them, but that would mean keeping an eye out for when they left and he shouldn't have to do that! He shouldn't have to hide!

He was understanding the whole "in the closet" thing way too much.

He tried calling Ennis again, but, again, his voicemail. Jack didn't have the balls to leave a message, letting him know what was going on. Why wouldn't Ennis call him back?! He NEEDED to talk to him! Couldn't he see that?

'Of course not, dumbass, you never left a message!' Jack thought to himself.

He finally forced up enough courage to step out of his hotel room. He winced every single time he saw one of the teammates, but they all just ignored him, treating him the same way they treated everyone else at school. After being humiliated, you became a nobody, though not invisible. Sooner or later, those jokes that humiliated you would come up and bite you in the ass. Jack had been a witness to too many of those humiliations and now he was going to witness the other side of it.

He wanted to go home.