Swim Coach: A Novel

by Sam E. Kraemer

  Chapter Two

  Benched

  Bryana saw me walk into the room and she shrieked, throwing herself at me. She was completely hammered as she leaped into my arms. "Oh, Colt. I didn't think you'd come. Girls, this is Colt, our best friend," she called over my shoulder as I held her aloft like I had a choice.

  I heard a lot of drunken chatter and while I didn't want to be there, it was better than my puke-covered dorm room.

  Amanda, thank God, peeled Bryana off me and pulled me over to her side of their room, shooing Bryana out into the hallway where the party was taking place. "Colton, what happened?" Amanda asked. At least someone had remained sober on that floor.

  "My roommate, who I don't even know, stumbled into our room and puked on the floor. He said he'd clean it up tomorrow. I couldn't stay there tonight, and the RA wasn't in his room when I knocked before I came over. I hoped I could maybe sleep here, but obviously, you're in for the same kind of night if she keeps drinking. I'm gonna go. I'll sleep on a couch in the common room. Can I borrow a blanket?" I asked.

  "Oh, Colt, you can have my bed. I'll try to contain her," Amanda offered.

  "It's fine. If I could borrow a blanket, I'll be fine," I told her.

  She went to a plastic tub and grabbed a quilt and a small pillow. "These are clean, I swear. Mom sterilized everything. Get 'em back to me when you can. Sorry about this," she offered as she walked me out with her hand rubbing up and down my back.

  I stood on the concrete sidewalk outside Haggerty Hall when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I walked over to a bench, seeing it was likely my best option considering Hansee Hall was probably just as rowdy as Haggerty had been, so sleeping in the common room was a lost cause. I laid out the blanket and pillow, reclining on my left side. Surely, campus security was used to finding students asleep on benches and not haul me in for loitering or something? I prayed as much.

  I retrieved my phone from my pocket to see a text from the number I assumed was Andre Dupree's, so I opened it.

  Hey Squid-How's party night treating you? Don't drink and drive. If u need a ride, call me. Andre

  Party night? So, apparently, it was a thing about which I wasn't made aware. I supposed it was a rite of passage, but it wasn't one in which I wanted to participate. Though, when I looked at the bench I was prepared to sleep on, I realized I'd been forced into it. I didn't like it in the least.

  Not really fond of it. Roommate barfed on the floor of dorm room. Best friend hammered. Had 2 find other accommodations of the outdoor variety, but I've been camping before. Hoping 2morrow is btr. Thx for asking. CW

  I pulled the blanket over me and settled my head on the pillow. I'd never anticipated being "homeless" at college on my fourth night on campus, but I'd guess it wouldn't be the only time I slept on a bench if the puker was my roommate. That fucking RA better be around tomorrow because I’m working for my fucking room and board. I’m not putting up with this bullshit.

  My phone buzzed again just as I was dozing off. I pulled it from my pocket and looked at it. It wasn't a text. It was a call.

  "Hell…hello?" I answered, not recognizing the number.

  "Colton? It's Andre Dupree. Where are you?"

  I looked around, trying to get my senses about me. "I'm, uh, oh. I'm on a bench outside of Haggerty Hall. It's not bad, actually. Mandy gave me a blanket and a pillow. It's not cold or anything," I responded, embarrassed I'd told him I was sleeping outside.

  "I'm on my way. Walk over to the north side parking lot." The phone went dead without a response from me, so I tried to call him back. I was just hitting the redial number when I saw campus police approach me.

  "Young man, you can't sleep here. Are you enrolled?" one of them asked me as he shined a flashlight in my eyes.

  "I am, but my roommate puked all over the room," I explained. Come on, nobody would want to sleep in that room.

  "Uh-huh. And you chose the girls' dorm to sleep in front of? Move along or we'll give you a place to sleep," the other guy threatened.

  I didn't hesitate to grab the blanket and pillow, heading to the north side parking lot. A black SUV pulled up, and the door opened on the passenger side. I felt like a fucking nickel hooker as I bent over, but when I saw Andre's smile, I let that shit go.

  I hopped into the SUV and closed the door, holding the blanket and pillow on my lap. "So, you were going to sleep on a bench?" Andre asked.

  "Like I said in my text, I've camped before so it’s no big deal. My roommate is a sloppy drunk, and one of my best friends is embracing college life more than I thought she would, considering her dad's the sheriff of Union County so I took matters into my own hands. If campus police hadn't shown up, I'd have been fine," I defended.

  He laughed. "If you find yourself in similar positions in the future, just call me, Squid. I've got a couch."

  I nodded and when we got to his place, I carried my blanket and pillow up the stairs behind him. He let me in and motioned toward the couch. "It's not great, but I'd bet it's better than that bench. Here's the remote. Help yourself. There's food in the kitchen."

  I nodded. "Thanks, Coach," I offered quietly as he ambled down the hallway.

  He turned around and walked back into the room. "Colton, I'm not your coach anymore, okay. Call me Andre or Dre." I nodded and he disappeared down the hallway. I lay down on the couch and tried to go to sleep but it was only ten o'clock, so I grabbed the remote and turned on the television, finding some fucking thing on the Discovery Channel about polar bears. I settled in to watch it, and I fell asleep. The couch wasn't bad at all.

  "Right here on the fucking couch." That was what I heard before I felt a large weight on my legs. Apparently, my legs didn't register under the guy's fat ass as I pulled them away, and there was a light on in the kitchen so they should have seen me lying there.

  It was Heidi and some hookup I was guessing, and she was taking off her top. His pants were already around his ankles and, well, he was more than ready to go when she straddled him. I leaped up and tried to pull the blanket from under his bare ass, reminding myself to wash it before I returned it to Amanda.

  "What the fuck?" the guy asked when I jerked it so hard they fell to the floor.

  "Who the fuck are you?" Heidi asked as she turned her bare torso to me, confirming my assumption the tits were fake.

  "I'm, uh, nobody. Coach…Andre offered I could sleep here, but I'll, um I'm fine," I responded as I finally freed the blanket from under the guy's bare ass and hurried down the hallway to the bathroom. There was a bathtub in there, and well, it was still better than a bench so I settled into it with the blanket under me to offer a little cushion from the hard, porcelain tub.

  My college career wasn't starting out very well. Though, if I was looking for a silver lining, it could only go up from there, right?

  I heard peeing, and I was actually glad I'd drawn the shower curtain to block out the night light. I had no idea what time it was, but I wasn't about to make a sound. I heard the flush and the sound of the water brought on the urge to pee as well. “Shit!” I gasped.

  The curtain was whipped back, and Andre was standing there with a look of surprise on his face. He sat down on the side of the bathtub and looked at me with a smile. "Colton, what in the name of hell are you doing sleeping in my bathtub?"

  "Um, your bathtub?"

  "Yeah. This is my bathroom. The other two have their own. This is mine. Last I knew you were on the couch."

  What to do…what to say? "Um, well, your roommate, Heidi, and her date came in and proceeded to begin to have sex on the couch. When I woke up, I vacated the premises. This was the next best place aside from the hallway or a bench outside. If I wasn't worried about campus police I'd have left," I responded, embarrassed beyond belief.

  "God, she's such a…okay, bring your things. You can sleep in my room. This has been a pretty shitty introduction to college life for you, hasn't it?"

  I hopped out of the bathtub and followed him down the hall, settling the b
lanket on a leather couch in his room. I laid down and decided to answer his question. "I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't really this. I really hope things get better."

  I huddled my arm under the shitty pillow actually grateful to have it, and I made a promise to myself to ensure I always had a bed to sleep in and a decent pillow to rest my head. I also needed to thank my host.

  "Co…Dre, thank you. I mean, you didn't have to come rescue me, but thanks."

  He settled into his bed. "Hey, anything for a fellow Squid."

  I fell asleep, and while it wasn't like my bed at home, it wasn't half bad. Of course, I fell asleep to the sound of his steady breaths in the bed not four feet from me, but I still fell asleep. The dreams, well, that wasn't anything I could control. It was my subconscious, and I had no power to stop my mind's eye from picturing him naked, right?

  Chapter Three

  One Squid to Another

  I woke the next morning to the smell of coffee. I turned over, mindful of the couch, but I wasn't on the couch. I was in a queen-sized bed, resting my head on a very comfortable, plush pillow with the blanket Amanda had loaned me clutched in my hands. There was a sheet covering me and when I pulled it up and looked down, I was still in my jeans though the button had been popped.

  Andre walked into the room in a pair of basketball shorts, no shirt, and wet hair which had my heart beating out of my chest. He turned to see me looking wide-eyed as I did up my jeans quickly, praying he didn’t think I was practicing self-abuse in his bed. I wasn't sure why I was there in the first place, and I wasn't sure what had happened the previous night that had me there.

  "I'm uh…did I get in bed with you?" I asked as I sat up praying to the heavens I hadn’t started sleepwalking again. I used to when I was a little kid, and I hoped to hell it wasn’t starting up again. I never remembered when I did it, but Mom and Dad used to tease me about it. It was fucking embarrassing to think I might have just climbed into bed with him and unbuttoned my jeans.

  He laughed as he pulled on a t-shirt. "Ha! I wi… No, you fell off that fucking couch and I picked you up and put you in bed with me. I unbuttoned your jeans because I can only imagine how uncomfortable they would have been for sleeping. I didn't take advantage of you if you're worried. It was truly a test of my integrity."

  "A, uh, a test? I…you should have just woken me and shoved me back on the couch. I'd have been fine. I'm a restless sleeper, so I'd imagine you didn't get much sleep," I offered for reasons completely foreign to me. Thankfully, I hadn't crawled into bed with him. Hell, if the campus police hadn't come around, I'd have slept on that fucking bench and avoided a lot of humiliation.

  He sat down on the bed and looked at me as I huddled against the headboard, still holding the blanket Amanda had loaned me like a little boy. I knew I looked scared as hell, but he was my crush. You don't wake up in your crush's bed and not freak out. I'd defy anyone to do it.

  "I'm fine. I didn't know how you liked your coffee, so I just left it black. I mean, maybe you don't like coffee? Shit, do you want tea or…oh, we have hot chocolate."

  He seemed nervous which was a surprise to me. "No, coffee's good. Black is fine." I took the mug from the nightstand and took a sip, tasting it. It was really good, not like the crappy coffee I was used to from the cafeteria on campus which was all that was open that early in the morning when I was going to work. The peripheral coffee shops and fast food places hadn’t started opening early yet, but they were getting ready for school to start again.

  "This, um, this is good. What is it?" I asked as I took another sip, wishing to hell I had something other than coffee to talk to him about. It was then I worried about the time. I needed to get to work, and I had no idea what time it was.

  I reached into my jeans, not finding my phone. "Shit. Did I leave my phone somewhere here? I need to get to work."

  "It's just after six, so you're fine. Seven, right?" he asked. I nodded.

  "I'll give you a shirt and you can shower here if you'd like," he offered. As much as I wanted to thank him and decline his offer of a shower, I certainly knew my roommate wasn't up yet so that mess in my room was still there. I needed to get to work, so I took him up on it.

  "I'd appreciate it. I'll, um, I'll wash your shirt and get it back to you as soon as possible," I responded nervously. Fuck, I wasn't sure I could get out of bed on steady legs.

  He gently placed his hand on my calf from his perch next to me. What the fuck does that mean? Obviously, he was being the big brother in the relationship. Okay, I could work with that.

  "Colton, I'm not sure what's going through your head right now, but things are fine, okay? What time do you get off work today? When do your classes start?"

  "I, uh, I'm working a double today. Classes start for freshman tomorrow. My first is English Lit. It's at eight," I volunteered.

  He smiled. "Classes start for everyone tomorrow. I have a seven-thirty seminar, which I really should have thought through, but I've had the professor before and I like her."

  "Oh, um, I don't know anything about my professors. Well, other than what I read on the internet. I guess some of them will be hard to get used to, but I tested out of some things. Do you think that was a mistake?" I asked.

  "Mistake? What kind of a mistake?"

  "I mean, the Comp classes teach you how to do research, and I'm not sure if I should have tested out of them," I responded.

  "You're worried about properly conducted research for writing papers?" he asked. I nodded.

  "Well, you've come to the right place. I'm a whiz at research. You need any pointers or help, you just call me. As one Squid to another," he responded with a friendly smile.

  I sighed, wishing it was more than just the connection of the swim team. God, I wish it was more.

  "Oh, thanks, but I'm sure you have better things to do with your time than deal with me. Anyway, that, um shower?" I really had to get away from him. My mind was becoming clouded with all kinds of images of things that would never happen, which consequently, was making my dick hard right there in front of him.

  "Towels are under the vanity. I'll leave you a shirt on the bed. What are you going to do with that?" he asked, pointing to the blanket I was still clutching like a three-year-old toddler.

  "It, uh, it belongs to my friend Amanda. I'll have to wash it and get it back to her, so I'll take it to work with me. I'll be out of your hair in a few minutes," I told him as I got up, tossing the blanket on the couch with the pillow.

  I started around the side of the bed and kicked something, seeing it was my phone. I picked it up and found there was a text from Amanda.

  Where'd u sleep? I went looking for u and couldn't find u. FYI – Bryana puked all over our room so I understand Y U didn't go back 2 yours. I'll see U later at work. Mandy

  I laughed and shoved it into my pocket. When I looked up, Andre was standing there looking at me with a cocked eyebrow. "Oh, that was Amanda. My friend, Bryana, puked in their room as well. I'll just, uh," I began, pointing toward the door.

  Just as I was about to leave, he said, "Is she your girlfriend?" Oh, fuck. How the hell do I answer that without turning bright red?

  I turned to look at him. "No. She's a great girl, but she's really not my type." That sounded vague enough…I hoped. It wasn't that I was embarrassed about my sexuality, but I didn't really know him and if he was as judgmental as some people, I really didn't want to find out and ruin my crush on him. I was also worried he'd freak out because we'd shared a bed. I doubted a lot of straight guys wanted to find themselves in bed with a gay guy.

  "So, what's your type?" he asked as he made the bed. Tall, muscular, reddish-brown hair, bright green eyes. Yeah, that wasn't going to go over well.

  "I, uh, I'm not sure what my type is; I just know it's not anyone I, uh, it's not Amanda." I hurried out of the room before he asked any more questions because I wasn't sure he wouldn't stop asking questions I didn't really want to answer.

  I was in the stockroom un
loading boxes because I didn't have on my official "Event Staff" t-shirt so I couldn't be out on the floor, but I really didn't care because I wasn't in the mood to deal with the general public. Too many things were clouding my ability to process the recent events of my life, and I wasn't really sure how to sort them out.

  After I'd showered and pulled on a black t-shirt Andre had left for me on his perfectly made bed, along with the pillow and blanket I'd shown up with, I took my empty coffee cup to the kitchen. Andre was there with Heidi the Whore. She looked pretty fucking rough, that was for sure.

  There were two other guys sitting there, neither of which was familiar to me. I stood in the entryway, not sure what to do. I dropped the blanket and pillow on a bench outside the kitchen, and the sound must have caught their attention because they all looked at me at the same time.

  "Well, who's the hottie?" a big guy asked as he shoved nearly an entire half a bagel into his mouth. He was pretty damn good looking, and I wondered if Andre had any ugly acquaintances.

  The other big guy, a Hispanic guy with curly, dark hair looked up and smiled a bright smile. "Cute."

  I felt my face turn bright red, but I walked over to the sink to rinse the cup and put it in the top drawer of the dishwasher. "At least he's house-trained," I heard the Whore assess sarcastically.

  "Fuck off, Heidi. Colton, this is my other roommate, Lance O’Day and this is Juan Ortiz. What exactly are you, Juan? I mean, besides a fucking mooch?" Andre introduced with a smirk at the guy with the wild hair.

  "You, sir, are an asshole. So, Colton, where are you from?" Juan asked as he smiled in my direction.

  "I'm, uh, from Unionville. It's about four…" I began.

  "No shit? Hell, I might need to make a trip that way. Seems like a good place to…" Lance began. Juan slapped him on the arm, and Andre shot him a dirty look.

  "Excuse them, Colton. They're all assholes. Anyway, I coached the intramural swim team while I was in high school, and Colton was a Squid for two years. We won all-county the last year I coached," Andre bragged.