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Paul sits down on the locker room bench as he quickly ties up his laces in a neat bow. This was his freshman year in highschool and if anything, he was going to get on the football team.
He looked around the locker room at the boys who were scattered around, sitting on different parts of the benches. Just as Paul went to stand up another boy came shoving through the doors.
The boy had icey blue eyes that gleamed with passion and had messy brown hair that was slightly greased back. 'This boy must be a greaser.' Paul thought to himself as he looked the boy up and down.
His parents always told him to stay away from greasers as they caused alot of trouble. He didn't give a shit anyways, none of that matters on a team.
The boy must've caught Paul looking at him as he stared right back at Paul with his eyebrows raised and a confused expression plastered across his face. He quickly turned away to face his duffel bag so he could avoid the greasers gaze.
The boy ended up walking up to Paul and placing his bag right down beside him. He didn't say anything rather just quickly got changed into his gear and shoved his black t-shirt and worn out jeans into his bag.
By now Paul and the boy were the only ones in the room and tryouts were going to start any minute. "Hey man, what's your name." Paul finally spoke up as he never did good with awkward silence.
"Darrel, and you?" He stood up straight and faced Paul. Man this guy was massive, he must've been atleast 4 inches taller then Paul and packed way more muscle then Paul ever could.
"Its Paul." Darrel gave him a small nod and a grin flashes across Paul's face. He reached into his bag to grab the final things he needed but decided to wait for Darrel to find his things.
"Ah shit, I forgot my gloves." Darrel muttered to himself as he ran a hand through his hair. "Hey! I've got extras, why don't you borrow mine!" Paul perked up at the thought of lending this guy his stuff, he just didn't know why.
"Oh, thanks man." Darrel said as he took the gloves from Paul, who still had a dopey grin plastered across his face. Only this time Darrel smiled back.
"No problem Darry!" Paul laughed at the nickname he had gave him as Darry playfully rolled his eyes in response. Paul swings an arm across Darry's shoulder as they make their way out of the locker room and towards the field.
They quickly jog up to the big group of boys who were huddled around a coach, a teacher, and a girl who Paul thought was probably the manager.
Each boy had to go up and talk to the coach one at a time about specifics for the team and what position they wanted to try out for. Paul watched as Darry went up to the coach and tossed his helmet around in his hands.
'Man, he doesn't look anything like a greaser when we're like this.' Paul thought as he watched the boy hit another team member on the shoulder playfully before jogging back over by Paul.
"Goodluck man!" Darry said as he extended his fist out to Paul and flashed a big grin across his face. Paul brought his hand up and bumped his fist. "You too!"
The coach had set up a bunch of warm ups and drills to start off the tryouts. Paul couldn't help but notice that Darry happened to be really good at every single one of them.
He watched as Darry interacted with his teammates and how he made it seem so easy to strike up a conversation with people.
Paul wasent ever much of a talker. All of his report cards ever since he was in first grade had complained about him not talking if he wasn't with his friends.
The coach had eventually split the boys into two teams; shirts and skin. Paul was split apart from Darry by a random number system and had gotten on the shirts team. Meanwhile Darry had found himself on the skin team with a bunch of other big looking guys.
All of them were socs.
Darry knew that the only reason they were talking to him was because they hadn't realized he was a greaser yet. Even still he wanted to savior these moments because with being and greaser, these would never come again.
Greasers weren't supposed to play sports. They weren't supposed to show up for school, to do well in classes, to try to make it out of Tulsa. Greasers were supposed to be the rough ones in this city, the poor ones that were stuck on the east side while the west side was living in the comfort of their massive homes and fancy diners.
Paul knew it was wrong, that it was a crime he would be in great trouble for, but he couldn't help but find himself staring a bit to eagerly at Darry as he took off his shirt alongside the other boys. 'Man this guy was in really good shape for a freshman' was the only thing that had ran through Paul's mind for the first 2 minutes of the game.
Atleast the practice game had went smoothly and he didn't make any big errors. Paul still found himself giving the coach a worried glance when he so much as brought his pencil up to the clipboard he was grasping tightly in his left hand.
Darry was a strong player, way better then Paul and he knew that. It was obvious.
Very obvious.
Finally after what felt like hours, the coach blew the whistle and signaled for the boys to come to him, which they did. They all huddled in a big circle around the coach as they waiting for him to speak.
"Alright, great tryouts boys. The team will be announced on Monday." The words hung in the air as the boys whispered amoung themselves, trying to figure out who would make it.
Paul was absolutely positive that Darry would make it. Hell he was an amazing player. He scanned the crowd trying to find Darry but he wasn't there. 'Where the hell did he go?' Paul thought to himself as he hurried off to the changerooms, not wanting to talk to any of the boys on the field.
Something about Darry just made Paul want to talk to him, made Paul feel differently then when he talked to anybody else,
girl or guy.
He swung open the locker room door to find Darry, already changed and just shoving the last of his stuff in his beat up duffel bag.
Darry whipped his head around at the sound of Paul entering the room only to let out a big sign of relief when he realised who it was.
"Hey, Darry! Why'd you leave so fast didn't you want to hear what the coach had to say?" Paul walked in Darry's direction and placed his hand lightly on his shoulder. "I don't need anybody seeing me out of that uniform, now do I?" Darry turned to him and looked Paul in the eyes with a sort of saddened expression on his face.
'Oh fuck, is this because Darry is a greaser?' Paul thought even though he knew the answer to that question. "Okay, I don't want you to leave so early alone. How 'bout we go to a diner or something to celebrate maybe getting on the football team."
Paul only second guessed his words after they had come out of his mouth.
'Would this be a date?'
'Would it be a crime if I thought it as a date?'
'What if he thinks I'm weird and says no?'
The thoughts of dread circled Paul's head as Darry stood there infront of him, his mouth open a little with a shocked expression plastered across his face. "Oh, uhm.. sure man that'd be great!" Paul lit up as Darry happily excepted his offer.
He seemed a bit confused or like he was digging deep into Paul's words, like he didn't actually think that he wanted to hang out. "Great! Let me just get changed first. I'll be quick I promise!" Paul couldn't help but grin widely as he set his bottle and helmet on the bench beside Darry.
"Oh yeah, here are your gloves. I almost forgot to give them back!" Darry laughed as he handed the gloves to Paul, who was still grinning. He shoved them into a pocket in his bag and began to take off his jersey and replace it with the white, collared shirt that was in his bag.
He took off his pads and left them on the side, making sure to not get too much dirt on his clothes. He took out a yellow sweater from his bag and pulled it over his head, adjusting the collar of his shirt after. He slipped on his khaki pants before shoving his helmet, pads, and shoes into his bag.
He turns back to Darry and watched as he did up the black belt he had pulled from his bag. Paul turned away sort of flustered and finished shoving his junk into his duffel.
"What, did cupid hit you with an arrow or something?" Darry teased Paul as he nuged him with his elbow. Paul swatted his elbow away, refusing to look Darry in the eyes. "Shut it." Was all the could muster up to say.
"Alright princess, let's get out of here before the rest of the team comes piling in!" Darry laughed as he swung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the door. Paul couldn't help but softly chuckle at Darry's stupid nickname.
Paul quickly grabbed his bag and managed to catch up to Darry who was already halfway down the hallway and practically running out off the school. "Wait up man! It's not a race!" Paul said trying to catch his breath after having to chase the boy down in the halls.
"Oh but what if it is?" Darry said in a teasing voice. "What?" Paul's eyes went wide as he looked up to face the taller boy. "Last one out the door has to pay at the diner!" Darry grabbed his bag and ran, giving Paul no time to figure out what was going on.
Paul quickly hurried after him but to no surprise, didn't win their little 'race'. "Hey! That's not fair, We should've had a countdown!" Paul yelled jokingly as he smacked Darry on the backside of his head.
"I think it was totally fair!" Darry nugged Paul as he exaggerated every single word, just because he knew it would piss Paul off.
"Soo, where are we going to eat?" Darry had been the first to break the awkward silence as they walked down the nicely paved sidewalk that lead towards the West side.
"I don't know, I just wanted to invite you out..." Paul mutterd just loudly enough for Darry to hear him. "Hm, is this like a date or something?" Darry chuckled and rugged Paul's shoulder again.
"Maybe"
Paul darted his gaze down towards the sidewalk, not being able to look Darry in the eye. He watched as he saw Darry's beat up converse stop in the sidewalk.
Paul looked up at Darry, just barely meeting his eyes but he could tell one thing, they were wide open with shock. "Oh." Was the only thing that Darry could bring himself to say.
Was this boy into him?
'I mean it's not everyday a soc willingly hangs around a greaser.'
Paul just looked at Darry with a sad glint in his eyes as he held his head down a bit. Darry just stood there with his mouth open a bit like he was going to speak, yet no words could possibly form.
'Should I just accept the date?'
'Its not like I'm opposed to the offer.'
Darrys thoughts were interrupted by Paul quietly apologizing for the third time that minute. That was enough for Darry.
He walked up to Paul and grabbed his left hand before walking him down the street. "Well then, it's a date!" Darry smiled warmly at Paul. He lifted his head up to face the boy. His icey blue eyes were now a warm shade of blue, a pretty shade.
They continued down the street, not a care in the world. The whispers from the people around them echoed throughout Paul's mind. The points and stares and disapproving looks from people stood out to him more then usual.
'If it's bad enough for a greaser and a soc to hang out together, I bet it's even worse for them to be holding hands and going on a little date' Paul thought as he followed Darry through the crowd, squeezing his hand a bit harder.
They took a shortcut to the diner, around a small neighborhood that Paul and Darry hadn't seen before, somewhere they wouldn't be known. Paul stopped in his tracks and pulled on Darry's hand, making him stop too.
He turned around to face Paul. "You good?" His left eyebrow shot up and a confused expression crossed his face. Paul felt his cheeks burn up as Darry's eyes locked with his.
"I love you, Darry."
The silence rung in the air around them, a piercing sound yet no sound at all.
"Love you too."