Running From The Past

CHAPTER 5: BOYS LOCKER ROOM

5.

The weekend passed by quickly and there was still no sign of Duncan. Lillian spent the days crying hysterically. She felt guilty about everything that happened; she had no idea how Duncan felt. She hadn't considered how much the move could've upset him. Conan was her main focus because of how much he was struggling. She felt like the worst mother in the entire world for neglecting him.

When Jon wasn't busy working at his new office job, he was comforting his wife. He was angry at Duncan for blowing up. If he had just been upfront about what he was thinking then things could've gone much smoother.

Conan cried himself to sleep the night of their fight but that was the end of it. He only let himself cry in small amounts because if he let go again, he'd never get back up, so he scrolled through his phone and stalked Owen's Instagram to pass time instead.

But now he was sitting in his economics class, trying not to panic again. It was seventh period and after was tryouts for track. Owen told him he didn't have to worry about his performance since he was the captain and already accepted him onto the list, but that didn't deter the nerves prodding at his skin.

"I want you all to read chapter four tonight and complete the worksheet I'm going to pass around," the teacher said as she walked down the row of desks to hand every student a piece of paper.

Conan's leg bounced up and down anxiously, staring at the clock and trying to remain neutral. It would be so embarrassing to show up looking like a scared little kid. They were just running around. There wasn't much that could go wrong.

He put the paper inside his folder and shoving it into his backpack right as the dismissal bell rang. All the students flooded out of the room at the sound, a few cheering on their way out. Conan was the opposite as he trudged out of the room, messing with the straps of his backpack while he walked toward the gym.

It was a bit of a walk since the school was ginormous so when he got there it was already full of kids. If Owen hadn't already assured him a spot on the team then he would've left already.

The gymnasium was huge and smelled like sweat. The ceiling was so high he had to crane his neck all the way up just to see the top. Lights were shining down brightly and made him wince.

He looked around at everyone stretching while chatting with their friends. Everyone was laughing and looked so confident.

Conan turned to leave but bumped into Owen who had a smile as bright as the lights on his handsome face.

"You made it!" he exclaimed, giving one of those cool bro handshakes to Conan who had no idea what he was doing. "I was worried you wouldn't show."

"I debated it but figured you'd come find me so it was useless," Conan half-joked.

Owen chuckled and slung an arm around the shorter boy's shoulder, leading him. "Smart thinking. Practice starts in a few minutes and I need to change clothes. Did you bring some with you?"

Conan realized Owen was bringing him to the locker room. The boys' locker room. He had never been in one before and the cogs in his brain were turning. The thought of going in made him scared, but he had Owen with him. No one would hurt him if he was there.

There was also the fact that he was an idiot and didn't bring different clothes so he didn't have to worry about changing in front of Owen anyway.

"I was just going to keep this on," he answered meekly and Owen furrowed his brows, inspecting his clothes. He was wearing jeans and a hoodie.

"You can't run in jeans." He laughed and held the locker room door open for him. "I've got some stuff you can change into. Give me a sec."

Conan paddled awkwardly inside and looked around. It smelled equally as gross but wasn't anything special. He stood in the center, swaying back and forth uncomfortably as Owen dug through his locker.