Swimming in Grey - Chapter 1
There was a cool breeze on the outside, trees were losing their leaves in the battle with mother nature, and the once bright blue sky became tinged with a grey. James sat at the table by the window, watching summer lose its battle. It's was nearly seven in the morning, his bags packed, ready to escape to school. Most furs his age seemed to detest school, though he saw it as an escape. Lately things at home hadn't been going so well.
James' parents, his father a common breed of Korean jindo and mother a husky, were continually arguing. Despite the quiet monotone setting outside, his parents seemed to find something to argue incessantly about even at seven in the morning. This had been going on for a while, at first it had really bothered James but now he just seemed to ignore it. He'd rather bottle up his emotions and push them back into a cave deep within his mind no one could find.
When James thought of his parents he always pictured the moment when they were happiest, when James was a small pup. The image of him sitting on his father's shoulders, arms wrapped around his head, and his mom laughing in the background played over and over in his head. His childhood was something he'd cling to, things just seemed to fall apart as he grew older.
Finally, after listening to loud screams about "another woman" and "lazy good for nothing," it was seven thirty, and James could hear the school bus hurling down the street. That familiar noise of an engine and the loud squeak of the breaks at the stop sign before his street sent him rushing out the door. He screamed at the top of his lungs, "Bye Mom! Bye Dad!" Though he knew they wouldn't be able to hear him. James' father used to drive him to school on his way to work, but recently the only thing that he could talk about was how right he was and how wrong his mother was in that morning's argument. Tired of the incessant grumbling, he told his father he'd rather take the bus from then on.
James' family seemed like the typical all American nuclear family, his father going to work and mom staying home to take care of James. James was an only pup, resembling much of his father. His fur was a fawn, with white running from under his muzzle to his abdomen. His eyes were a dark brown and his ears perky and fawn as well. He chose to keep his headfur short, the same length as the rest of his fur.
James ran across the frosted grass, the soft breeze wiping around his ears and muzzle. He was clad in a simple pair of blue jeans, tennis shoes, white tee shirt, and a black hooded jacket with red pull strings. A throng of furs was crowded around the bus, one by one they clamored in. James found his usual seat, six rows back with the emergency exit handle. With his head pressed against the foggy glass, he adjusted his bags so someone else could slip in the empty spot beside him. A rather attractive Doberman, whom he shared no classes with or had even seen before.
James had never told his parents he was gay, and they had no grounds to suspect it. He'd grown up an athlete, and even today he was still one. He was on his school's varsity swim team, and when he was younger his dad put him in just about every contact spot available at the local recreation center. Being gay was something he wasn't very proud of, something he felt would fuel his parent's problems even more, so like everything else he kept it bottled up inside.
As the bus made its way to school James found himself sitting there, thinking about the Doberman that was next him. He wondered who he was, where he had come from, or was he someone that he just never seen before. The bus made a sudden jerk; James peered out the window and saw that they had arrived at the school.
James prized his school, the swim team was one of the best in the state, and academics were top priority. He never considered himself a "smart pup," because most of those who did let it go their head. He was in some advance classes, and some average. Despite the semantics, he tried equally hard in every class to keep at least a B average if not an A. Then came swimming, something he devoted most of his time to.
Swimming to James was more than a sport. The swim team was like a family, everyone could trust each other through thick and thin, and everyone knew each other outside of school. Every coach, there being three, was like a parent. Everyone looked to them for advice, rather it be about swimming or something personal. Swimming was truly James' home away from home.
Though, there was one person he looked up to more than any other. Coach Rick, the varsity team coach and the head coach of the entire swim team. The other two where Coach Terra and Coach Brian, Terra taking control of Junior Varsity girls and Brian with the Junior Varsity boys. Maybe it was Coach Rick's good looks that hooked James to him at first, but James thought he seemed fit for the title of father rather than his own. Heck, James even admitted it to himself that he had a small crush on Coach Rick.
The school resembled a giant box, almost perfectly square. Some made jokes that it was designed after a prison, as the only windows on the building were on the front. Everyone on the bus stood up at once, causing the same congestion at the door that happened every day. The mysterious Doberman got up and walked away, James' eyes locked on him. Though, as hard as he tried to keep sight, he lost the battle. All the busses had come in, and every fur was pushed into a mass crowd making their way for the main entrance. James met the concrete path and made his way to the entrance, wondering if he'd see the Doberman again.
James made his way to this locker, shoved his swimming bag in bag in, and got the books he needed for the first half of the day. His locker, which was near the school pool, war far from the rest of his classes. This usually meant if he forgot something he'd end up being late for class, as most Junior classes were upstairs and near the front, whereas the pool downstairs in the back.
After grabbing his things he walked to his first class, English III with Mrs. White. Mrs. White was a very tall and lanky feline, who wore glasses and sundresses a lot. Ironically, her fur was a pitch black color. He made his way to his seat, got out the assignment from last night, and waited for the bell to ring. He was looking forward to getting through his first four periods, as fifth period was swimming and today Coach Rick would be working with them in the pool.
James sat there, reading over his worksheet on last night's reading. Checking his answers over in his head for one last time, he was content with what he had down. James was usually one of the first people in class, he chose to sit and enjoy the small moment of silence rather than be pushed around amongst the crowds and cliques in the hall ways.
The bell rang precisely at seven fifty five, though only a few furs straggled in at that time. The bell rang again at seven fifty nine, and would again at eight to begin the school day. Though, within that one minute at least fifteen furs had found their way to their seats, scrambling through their bags for their assignments.
James kept an eye out for the Doberman, thinking maybe he'd be in his class if he was a new student. The final bell rang, and Mrs. White shut her door. There was no one else coming in at that time. Class begin with a simple "Good morning class" from Mrs. White, her voice being distorted by sound of shuffling papers. "Everyone has their assignment I assume?" she added, eyes piercing through those who were too busy going through their bags to notice. "If you would please, pass it forward. I'll be grading these, and in the meantime spend the rest of your time with me reading up to chapter twenty five."
James handed his paper to the fur in front of him, a red fox that seemed to have gone a bit overboard with the goth outfit today. James noticed that as all of his classmates grew older they fell into cliques, pups that were once his close friends had seemed to grow distant and all fallen into different crowds. This left James with a sense of loneliness, his only close friends being those on the swim team. He hated the idea of being thought of as a "high school jock," though he knew everyone already did.
James spent the rest of first period trying to read, though continually thinking of the Doberman from the bus. Each time someone would walk past the classroom door he'd dart his eyes at them, just to see if it was him. First period ended rather slowly, as it always did. James gathered his things and made his way to second period, Advanced Trigonometry.
Slipping into his seat, he took notice of the amount of students already in class. James noticed there was a difference in students who were in advance classes and those that were not. The teacher of this class was a rather old and boring golden retriever by the name of Mr. Smith. He was not the kind of canine to head to authority; he felt his classroom was above school rules. He often scheduled tests on days that were not supposed to, and gave lengthy assignments over holidays. Most students resented his tactics, though could not speak a word against his teaching.
Trudging through a lecture, James kept his eye out for that Doberman. His mind racing back and forth over the small glance he did catch of him, and then back to fantasizing about Coach Rick. In between thoughts of the two James would write down what Mr. Smith was saying, drawing diagrams and circling words that he emphasized.
Second period ended rather quickly, though the whole class worked until the bell. James packed his things into his bag and headed out, fifth period coming closer and closer. His third period class was United States History, something he dreaded. It took all he had to not fall asleep while Ms. Altruit gave continual lectures in her drab monotone voice. Ms. Altruit was a middle age white rabbit, though she acted about twice her age. She slowly moved around her class room giving her boring lectures, smacking students who had fallen asleep. She wore her glasses down to the tip of her nose, her hair tied in a tight bun, was strict on school dress code.
After pinching himself a total of nine times to stay awake, the bell finally rung. It was onto fourth period, Advanced Physics. James actually looked forward to this class; he thought that it was one of the few things he learned in high school that he could apply to real life. More importantly, it helped him understand what he was doing when he was swimming. The teacher of this class was a rather small black bat, Mr. Finnis. No fur knew really knew much about him, as the only time they saw him was in class.
James paid very close attention to Mr. Finnis, though his mind wandered again and again to thought of the Doberman and Coach Rick. He hadn't once thought of his mother or father, because he knew no matter what happened that morning something different would be stirred up tomorrow morning.
Fourth period ended, it was now James' lunch period. He usually sat at the swimmer's table, whom were all caught eating healthy portions of strictly fruits and vegies. Before going to the cafeteria James went to his locker, he needed to stash his books and get his swimming bag. Swinging open his locker door, he noted in his planner of assignments due tomorrow and grabbed his swim bag. Putting his books down, he stared into the darkness of the locker for a moment. He took a long hard breathe, and then closed the locker door.
Walking down the crowded hall way he caught glimpses of cliques eating together along the lockers and couples sitting together cuddling and sharing their lunch. The thought of having a significant other stung in his mind, he knew that it would be taboo to have a boyfriend and the option of hiding his feeling behind a girlfriend sounded disgusting to him.
When James reached the lunch table he sat down in between two lithe otters, twins on the varsity team with him. Chris and Carl, they had been close friends with James since he started high school. In their sophomore they were only three out of five sophomores to make it onto the varsity team, the other two being a rabbit and Dalmatian.
James ate his lunch, a simple apple and a few celery sticks with water, and talked small talk with his two close friends. The both of them had no idea he was gay, and it was evident by the way they kept pushing girls onto him. In James mind everything was silent, still thinking of Coach Rick every now and then, despite the loud cafeteria. It was rather hard to hear the dismissal bell to fifth period.
Finally, it was time for fifth period. James quickly rushed to the swimmer's locker room on the other side of the school. He was one of the first few, he found an empty locker near the entrance and dropped his bag, quickly changing into his speedo and grabbing his goggles. He stuffed the rest of his stuff into the locker and shut it. He took his now empty water bottle to the fountain and filled it up, toting it by his side to the steamy pool doors.
James pushed on the heavy metal door, trying to get a glimpse of who was already out by the pool through the fogged glass. There was a quick rush of hot air as the door opened, the locker room was noticeably colder compared to the pool. James stepped out onto the hard white tile and looked around, only a few furs were already in the pool doing their warm up.
And there he was, Coach Rick, the one fur that James considered to be better than his own father. He was usually dressed in a pair of slacks with a polo stitched with the school's mascot, but today he was clad in swimmer's gear. The only thing on his body was a black speedo, hiding his precious package. He was a rather buff Rottweiler, a build you wouldn't think a swimmer would have. His arms were perfectly toned, his biceps pressed against his well-defined pecs. His fur was of any typical Rottweiler, black with light brown markings. He had light brown eyes that complemented his markings, and a little stub for a tail. It took everything within James to not run up to Coach Rick and pounce him on spot.
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I'm gonna end this chapter here!
I hope you enjoyed this read, as I haven't written in long time though this idea has been looming around my head for a while. Sorry to have this chapter so bland with no action, but I really prefer making sure I set up a plot before anything "special" happens. Who is this doberman? What's going on with James' parents? Just how good of a swimmer is Coach Rick? Find out in the next chapter. :3
Also, first upload on SoFurry! ^^