Chapter Text
The smell of chlorine is overpowering as his classmate pushes the natatorium door open. It’s dark, but Callum can hear a soft click as Riley waltzes past metal doors that were supposed to be locked at night. He watches the adrenaline junkie downright whistle and skip as he slips past the outdated school security cameras; it was kind of funny- like watching a cheery convict leave their jail cell for the day.
Technically they both could become convicts for trespassing, but he shook the thought out of his head while following cautiously behind. Soft taps echoed off the walls as he slipped inside, stepping onto the white pool tile.
During the day, the natatorium was filled with the noise and cheering of the swim team, along with the bleached lighting, but this was different.
Much, much different.
The pool cast a hazy blue glow on the dark room, and the reflection of the water seemed to swim across the walls in waves. The only source of light in the room was the warm, ambient light under the water. Spread across the pool were a few lanes, but most of the pool was devoid of anything. Additionally, there were empty diving boards that he (admittedly) wouldn’t mind taking a sweet cannonball off of.
The night glow of the pool was alluring, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they would get caught.
“This is a bad idea,” Callum murmured, his eyes glazing over the water.
“Remember why you texted me? You said you wanted to chill, so here we are. Chilling,” Riley said with two clicks of his tongue, and Cal gave him a look.
“This doesn’t look like chilling to me,” he whispered, “this looks more like chilling in juvie after we get caught.”
“Scared?” Riley pokes, and Cal rolls his eyes.
“No, I just...”
“Then why’d you come?”
“Maybe… just to get my mind off things.”
The smaller boy hummed a wordless response back, and he nodded. That’s fair , he thought, as he looked back up at the taller of the two. Out in the hallways and surrounded by his football friends, he seemed nearly untouchable, the way that popular kids did to him back in middle school, but under the surface he was an open book.
The eyebags spoke for themselves and he felt himself soften a little as the ginger looked at the ground with something like apprehension.
“Relax, loverboy, I do this all the time.”
“Why do you call me that?”
“Oh. Should I not?” Riley winced at his own comment and cursed himself for always doing without thinking first, like his mom constantly told him not to do before he got into deeper shit.
He really just called him that just because he thought he was kinda…
Cute , he thought, eying him. But he didn’t bring him to a pool in the middle of the night to get into his pants.
Well…
He wasn’t being entirely honest with himself, but never hadn’t been bold.
But in truth, he had been given whiplash whenever this future division one boy pulled up and told him he thought he was ‘kinda, definitely, sort of gay’ and had just realized it because of a rough breakup.
He didn’t know him crazy well, but it just seemed like he had nobody else to turn to, and that any other guy in varsity would give him hell if they found out Callum ‘The Quarterback’ Gallagher was a sparkling bisexual, and the only ones who already knew were practically out of his life.
So messing around couldn’t hurt. Just a night to unwind. A bro being there for a bro, you know?
“No, whatever. It’s fine.” Cal trailed off, and scrunched up his nose in frustration, the freckles gathering on his face. The sudden remark snapped him out of Riley’s thoughts, and he decided not to push it.
Callum couldn’t read his facial expression as he watched him shoulder off his blue varsity jacket, letting it fall to the floor.
“On the other hand…” The now jacketless of the two grinned, like he was planning something. Cal raised an eyebrow, unsure on whether he should be worried. “...this is it! My one solace, “ Riley said, opening his arms, almost like he was in some sort of grand palace as he stood next to the pool’s surface.
“Do you break in here every time?”
“I think you already know the answer to that question,” Riley says, spinning to face him with a flourish. His locs bounce as he does, and he tops it all off with a wink.
“You’re goofy,” Callum said, examining the dead-silent area.
“And you’re a goody-two shoes. I think my goofiness is just another one of my many trademarks.”
“Mhm… I’d probably get booted off the football team if coach found out I was here.”
“You’re still worried about that?” Riley shook his head. “Come on, loosen up. Live a little,” he said, fidgeting with something on the belt of his pants. He flicked the button of his jeans through the hole, and he slid them halfway down before Cal yelped.
“Woah, woah, wait - what are you- oh.” Callum paused, composing himself so that he wouldn’t freak out over some guy taking off his clothes.
It was perfectly normal. Locker room things. Guy things. Maybe he was overthinking it, and he bit the inside of his mouth.
“Are we actually going to go swimming?”
“No, Callum, I’m just going to strip next to a swimming pool while you sit and watch,” Riley snickered until he realized Callum was being serious, which was even funnier. “I did text you to bring a towel, didn’t I?”
“Oh, yeah.” Callum blanked. He had completely forgotten that he was holding one, and nearly dropped it in all the sudden stripping business. The ginger glanced at the towel, staring down at the fabric and the water a few feet away.
It does look… tempting.
A soft yank on his sweatpant strings snapped him out of his thoughts, and his eyes flitted up again.
“What, are you gonna swim with your clothes on?”
The other boy grinned with the strings in his hands, and it almost seemed like he had pulled the two of them closer.
Cal opens his mouth, tries to mouth a response, but he’s like a lamb to the slaughter as he thumbs at the hem of his white shirt, flipping it inside out and sliding it off.
Live a little.
Riley’s eyes widen slightly as if he wasn’t expecting that, and he almost zones out. He knew Callum was on the football team, but he has to swat away the itch of impulse when he almost mouths wow . His gaze drops up and down for the slightest second, and he drags his eyes to the side, opting to ogle the pool instead.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he mumbled, just about ready to dive into the pool and wipe the sorry expression off his face with a rush of cold water. It would help the warmth on his cheeks.
“Really? Because I thought you didn’t swim with clothes on,” Callum grinned, throwing his shirt at the shorter boy.
“So impatient- yeah, yeah, the shirt is coming off.”
“Why’d you take your pants off first? It’s always shirt before pants, you know? Kinda like cereal before milk?”
“Eh,” Riley shrugged. “Besides, my pants seem to fly off all the time, if you catch my drift.”
Cal wolf-whistled, and the sound of laughter echoed off the white tile walls of the natatorium.
A jacket, shirt, and pants off later, the two of them knelt by the poolside. It was cool to the touch, and Cal shivered as he dipped a hand in, his back to the door. It was downright enchanting to just stare at the surface at night as the quiet hum of the generator played in the background.
“Okay, if you’re gonna stand there, I’m just gonna-”
There was no time to react as he felt a hand push his back, and he tumbled in headfirst, cursing all the way. Forget about getting caught, this was war.
The sensation was immense, and his limbs almost felt numb with how cold it was. The rush felt like it blew through his skull, spreading through his body. It was slightly uncomfortable, but he liked it. When was the last time he went swimming anyways?
With Yronica? With Aaaqil? The thought him want to just… close his eyes, sleep a little in the water.
“Hey, loverboy!”
His eyes opened in the water, and he turned himself over. If he pushed the strands of orange at the edge of his vision away, he could see the brown blorb of someone still standing on the surface, waiting for him.
Cal swam up and gasped for air, water falling from his lips. Self-consciously, he runs a hand through his hair.
His partner in crime sat smugly on the poolside. “Like that?”
“Come here, ” Cal laughed, jumping out of the water to drag him in. With a grin, Riley slid backward and made a mad dash for the opposite side of the pool. Typically you wouldn’t run by the pool, but who was there to tell them that?
“I’m gonna getcha,” he called out, catching himself and breaking into a sprint.
“Come on, I know you’re faster than that! You run after the football boys with your goofy-lookin’ ass?”
“I wouldn’t worry about me right now,” Callum breathed, and within a few seconds, he was on him.
There was a sudden connection, rolling and spinning as they caught themselves on the walls, and the taller of the two wrapped a hand around Riley’s waist. It was almost as if he had the wind knocked out of him, and he was flabbergasted, but still laughing his ass off as they fell backwards into the pool.
A splash shot up in an arc, and they tumbled around each other until they broke the surface.
“Told you,” Cal gasped, swimming over to the ledge to sit up. “Figure I’ll go to the diving boards next?”
“Someone’s excited,” Riley remarked, a smile playing on his lips Cal sat up on the pool’s edge, and then suddenly laid down, legs still halfway in the water.
“This is…”
“Wonderful? Superb? Magnificent?”
“Didn’t even know you knew those words.” Callum snorted, and he folded his hands behind his head. Before Riley could retort, he went on. “It’s… nice. Just sort of, messing around like this. I guess, ” he added.
“Can’t catch a break?”
Cal opened his mouth to say a snarky retort, but something made him swallow his pride and answer. Maybe it was the funny feeling he felt right now. Or the way Riley looked down at him with the most genuine expression since they’d arrived. Not that he wasn’t- it was just that he seemed a little more serious.
“Yeah.”
“Shiit, it’s okay. Better to unwind than just… die inside about it, or become a shut-in.” He leaned forward, the water catching his reflection, and he played with his hair.
“Yeah, I know, I just, ugh…”
“What’s up?”
“I can’t believe it,” he muttered, sitting up and bringing his knees to his chest. Cal looked smaller that way, and he almost cracked a joke, but the way the football player slid his hand down his face and looked at the ground let on more than he needed to know.
So he sat, and listened. Or as much as he could.
“I can’t believe I’m actually not… dating Yronica anymore, and I didn’t even realize all these things she did until she was just gone. I know she didn’t even like me, but I still stayed. And I guess it just built up until I just- I couldn’t take it anymore, you know? I just…”
Callum’s index finger traced the white tiles as he talked, making little squares on the floor.
“...I just… lashed out at them. And Aaaqil has a boyfriend now, and I feel like such a dick, and Eman probably doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore.”
The tracing stopped. He had his head in his knees, and the words came out muffled.
“I couldn’t even… couldn’t even properly tell Aaaqil how I felt. Because I’ve never felt like that about any fucking guy, and… I don’t know. I guess I was…”
“Afraid?” Riley mumbled, for the first time since Callum started spiraling. He was silent until he looked up. His eyes looked blurry, and he could see how awful his eyebags looked when he was just about to cry.
“It’s… alright. You’re gonna be alright. And, you know, maybe a talk to the counselor would help. Or a therapist. My mom knows a pretty good one, you know,” he said, sheepishly, not really knowing what to do with things like this. He always learned to ignore the pain by flying past it with the instantaneous rush of life, but to some people there was more than just thrill.
People needed time. And that was okay. We have all night , he thought, scooting up on his knees to give him a hug if it was all he could offer.
Girls come and go, but Callum seemed strangely empty as he stared at the water six feet below. It was unsettling, and slightly uncomfortable as he pondered what the hell Yronica Ayala had done.
He didn’t want to push, though; any more and the guy would break down.
“You good?” He rubbed Cal’s back, hopeful. “Cal… are you…?”
The silence was deafening. Riley hoped they didn’t both make things awkward, but as he dipped his head to see Callum’s face, there was something like… apprehension. As if he had noticed something Riley hadn’t.
“I- I hear something. Riley, I hear footsteps.”
Oh, shit.
“You get our stuff. Don’t forget anything,” Riley rambled, mind immediately going into overdrive. “We’ll dip into the closet until that guy leaves- there’s no way outta here.” The words fell out of his mouth before he could even process anything, and his body shot up like a rocket.
“What the fuck ?” Cal breathed in and out as he snatched up their jackets and phones, but there was water everywhere. Anyone walking in would definitely know something was up.
“Riley- the water. Water doesn't just get up and decide to take a walk around the pool.”
“Leave it, wipe down what you can as you run over here!”
Cal fumbles with their things, double checking, triple checking, but there’s no time as he hears someone prop up what sounded like a mop, and the jingle of keys from behind the double doors.
Thank god he doesn’t know no one keeps that thing closed, he thinks as he dries the entrance on all floors, then quickly makes a dash to the closet. Riley shut the door behind him, and the sudden absence of any light became apparent. And the smell of dust.
And how close they suddenly were. He shifts his arms around, but he brushes up against Riley without even trying.
Seriously. What had he gotten himself into?