Aiden felt himself filling with rage. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The other members of the baseball team were oblivious; they couldn't know. He watched as they clapped while listening to Coach Kaplan speak.
Coach was standing at the front of a small stage. He was motioning to a small group of young men standing at his side.
"I hope you all had a good off-season, boys," he said. "It's nice to see so many returning faces. I'm looking forward to getting to work with you all again for another year. I would like you all to welcome your new teammates."
He waved his outstretched hand in front of the five students standing by his side. Aiden felt his stomach turn; he was beginning to accept that this was happening.
"First, we have Ricky," he said. The group clapped in unison -- except for Aiden. "He is a freshman who played with his high school team. Next is Logan. He's a junior transfer coming to us from Colorado. This is Edward. He's a sophomore who played basketball in high school before he realized he could be playing baseball instead." Coach chuckled at his own non-joke.
The three young men smiled and nodded upon introduction. The audience continued to clap after each name was announced. The occasional "Welcome" would interrupt Coach's remarks.
Coach continued going down the line. "We have a two-for-one here. This is Sam and Francis."
Francis interjected, "Actually, I go by Frank."
"Sam and Frank," Coach said, correcting himself. "They are both junior transfers coming to us from Eldridge Community College. They played together on the same team in high school."
Aiden watched as Sam and Frank smiled at the group. Frank nodded at a few of the guys in the crowd. Coach shifted into a motivational speech about his goals for the upcoming season.
Aiden could feel the heat rushing to his head. He began to get a little dizzy and could hear his heart beat rapidly in his chest. He started to feel like he was becoming disconnected from reality. Coach's voice slowly faded away.
Aiden could see himself walking down the hallway of his high school. Having just turned 18 years old, during senior year, he was only 5'7" and 135lbs. He was much smaller than the majority of his peers. He was dressed in a pair of pleated Khakis and a Polo shift that was tucked into his pants. He looked more like a scrawny businessman than a public-school student.
He watched as Sam and Frank walked up to his younger self. They were followed by three other young men from the school's baseball team. Frank pushed Aiden against the locker as he passed; the books in Aiden's arms fell to the ground.
"Assholes," whispered Aiden, as the they all continued to pass him by.
"What? What did I hear you say, fag?" asked Sam.
Frank and Sam walked back over to Aiden. He was on his knees, picking up his books. He looked up at them with mild disdain on his face.
"Nothing," he replied.
"That's what I thought. I knew a little pussy like you wouldn't be disrespecting me and my friend here."
Aiden avoided making eye contact. He looked back at the ground to focus on collecting his books. He felt an open palm make forceful contact with his forehead. He tumbled backwards, slamming his head against the locker behind him. He felt immense pain rush through his skull.
Aiden was suddenly jolted back to the present, where he was supposed to be listening to Coach talk. He felt the same throbbing in his head that had stayed with him for several days after Sam had slammed him into that locker four years ago. The same rage bubbled within him; he had worked so hard to let it go since graduating high school.
Aiden focused his attention on Sam. Sam looked the same as he had when Aiden last saw him at commencement. He was 6'2" with a muscular body. He had wavy brown hair and green eyes. His large smile took up a little too much room on his face. He had pale skin, with the exception of some rosy coloring on his cheeks.
Aiden shifted his gaze to Frank. He had changed quite a bit. He was 5'10" with a lean, toned body. He clearly worked out, but not to the same extent as Sam. He had shaved his head since high school; only a few buzzed centimeters of hair remained. Aiden thought that the red shade of Frank's cropped hair made his blue eyes appear incredibly vivid in contrast.
Aiden finally refocused on Coach; he was telling everyone to get to know one another over the weekend. He wanted them to make friends with the new guys. Aiden felt himself becoming more grounded in the room; he directed his attention away from his former tormentors.
Coach rapidly exited the room after concluding his comments. He had noted that he had another meeting he needed to attend across campus.
The twenty returning teammates started mingling with the newbies. Aiden didn't move. He curtly introduced himself to Edward when he came over; he was too distracted by his own anger. Luckily, another returning player was standing next to Aiden and he was far more engaged in making conversation.
Aiden spent the next ten minutes trying to keep tabs on Sam and Frank so that he could shift amongst the crowd when they started to move closer. Once he felt like he'd put in enough time to avoid being called rude, he left.
"I've got to run," he told Ricky and his returning teammate Quentin.
He hurried toward the exit; he realized he had left his duffel bag under his seat. He turned around and collided with someone. He stumbled backwards falling on his ass.
He shook his head from side to side as he tried to shake off having the wind knocked out of him. He looked up, seeing Sam standing in front of him. Aiden felt his heart begin to speed up in his chest. He stifled a silent scream as he stared blankly at his former tormentor.
"You okay, buddy?" Sam asked. He extended his hand down to Aiden. "Here, let me help you up. Guess we kind of collided there, huh?"
Aiden took Sam's hand and rose to his feet. He was still in a daze. He felt like a dense fog had overtaken his mind while his body was screaming at itself to stay on high alert.
"I'm Sam. I just transferred from Eldridge," Sam said.
Sam continued to state a few more banal pieces of information about himself. Aiden continued staring at him blankly. Then he noticed Frank walking over towards the two of them.
"Sam, we've got to go," Frank said. "We have to attend that mandatory thing for the transfer students."
"That's now?" Sam asked. "I was just telling our new teammate here a little bit about myself. I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" Sam inquired, looking into Aiden's eyes.
"Charles," Aiden blurted out.
"I was just telling Charles about how we were on the same team in high school," Sam said. "Coach said we should all get to know one another if we are going to be a cohesive team. Too bad we have to go. I hadn't told him about your killer curveball yet."
"Nice to meet you, Charles," Frank stated with a grin. "We do really have to leave. I'm sure we'll get to talk with Charles more at one of the parties this weekend, right?"
"Sure. I'll be around," Aiden replied.
Sam and Frank said a quick goodbye and exited. Aiden left through a different door and headed back to his apartment a few blocks away from campus.
Aiden couldn't believe what had just occurred. He had just spoken with two of the guys who had bullied him the most during high school, and they hadn't even recognized him. He was still not sure why he had said his name was Charles. He hadn't technically lied, though, since his full name was Aiden Charles.
After mulling it over some more, Aiden's shock and anger were replaced by relief. He thought that maybe, if Sam and Frank didn't recognize him, they would see him differently now. He wondered if they would see him as a friend instead of as a target.
Aiden had changed a lot since high school. He'd had a late growth spurt the summer after graduation -- two full inches of height. He'd decided in the first week of college that he wanted things to be different going forward. He'd taken a weightlifting class and had tried out for the school's baseball team. Even though he'd been a rubbish player, he'd still been allowed to join the team; the college was very small and not at all competitive when it came to athletics.
Aiden had been told by all his high school friends that he looked so different when he would return home for holidays. He was taller and much more muscular. He has also grown a thick, black beard; it wasn't unkempt, but it was definitely scruffy.
Aiden was feeling emotionally drained by everything that had happened that morning. He decided to take a nap. He was hopeful that the mental fogginess would be gone when he woke up.
Aiden could see his younger self alone at a table in his high school cafeteria. He knew that it was about two weeks before graduation. The scrawny businessman was writing in a notebook. Aiden, the observer, dreaded what was to come, but knew that he was powerless to stop it. He was tethered to his younger self, doomed to feel what he felt while also watching impotently from afar.
Sam and Frank walked up behind the poor kid. Sam grabbed his notebook and held it open in front of his face. He rubbed his chin like he was reading something intriguing.
"Give that back," Aiden cried.
Aiden started to stand so he could grab his notebook. Frank planted his hands on Aiden's shoulders, pushing him to a seated position. Aiden could feel his head pounding; it reminded him of being slammed into the locker a few weeks earlier.
"Hey everybody, listen to this," Sam shouted.
Most of the thirty other students in the cafeteria quieted and turned to see what was happening. Aiden felt himself blush; he hated being the center of attention.
"Dear Diary, it's me Gay-den," Sam pretended to read from the notebook. "I have to tell you a secret; I have a crush."
Sam paused for dramatic effect. A few of the other students started laughing.
"He turns me on so much that I can't help myself. I play with my teeny cock each night as I think about him," Sam said.
Aiden stared down at the table. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, as he listened to more students howling at Sam's joke.
"I stare at his package in gym class. I can't help but look at his hot fire-crotch," Sam proclaimed, smiling at Frank. Aiden could hear Frank chuckling from behind him.
