Undismayed

Alan had a hot shower after the run, though he felt he was wet enough from the exercise not to need one. A light, spotty rain had started while the team was roughly at the halfway point. Xavion didn't stop; he kept going and even picked up the pace a bit. More than one team member slipped on the wet ground, grinding mud and grass into their knees or pants. Some of the runners wore warm-up pants, like Alan, but others, for reasons known only to themselves, wore shorts. At first, Alan thought they were idiots, but when he saw how sodden and muddy his own clothes were, he began to think they were onto something. Wish it was laundry day tomorrow, Alan thought ruefully. I'll have to hang these up in the bathroom so they don't get all musty before Friday.

He shoved his gym bag back in his locker, put in his wet athletic shoes as well, and hung the clothes on the hooks inside. They wouldn't dry very much there, but it would have to do. He was running late.

The bell rang a split second after Alan entered the classroom. He stopped at the teacher's desk long enough to deposit his homework into Mr. Graboski's "in" box, then slid into his seat and hurriedly removed his books from his backpack. He glanced over at Fermat, who pointed emphatically at the paper lying on his open math book. Alan craned his neck a little to see a note, written in Fermat's clear handwriting. It read, "Dom wants to talk." Alan nodded, giving Fermat a quick thumbs up, then the younger boy slipped the note beneath his book and the two boys focused their attention on their teacher.

When math was over, Alan and Fermat walked together for a few minutes on their way to their separate classes.

"So, what does Dom want to talk about?" Alan asked, settling his backpack on one shoulder.

"The r-r-rooming situation," Fermat replied. He sighed. "I'm n-not sure what he w-wants, but A-A-A... Andrew thought it sounded h-hopeful."

"Hmm. Okay. Thanks, Fermat," Alan said. "I'll try to catch him at lunch." He shrugged his laden shoulder again to move the straps up higher. "I'll see you in history."

"R-Right," the younger boy replied. "S-See you there."

The friends parted company. By now, Fermat was more used to carrying as much of his own gear as he could. He had pared things down to the bare minimum so the book bag was much lighter, and he had tucked some of his materials into his computer case. Still, he was glad to see Devdan at pre-engineering. The older boy held the door open for him.

"And how are you today, my young friend?" Dev asked, a bright smile on his face.

"I'm f-f-f... okay," Fermat replied, smiling back. "Looking forward to p-practice this afternoon."

"Ah yes," Dev nodded sagely. "We have practice today and tomorrow, then our first meet on Friday evening."

"Fr-Fr-Friday?" Fermat sputtered out. "S-So s-s-soon!"

"Yes, and it is an away meet. There will be more details forthcoming," Dev told him as he sat down at his desk. "But right now, we must concentrate on the materials before us."

Fermat dropped into his chair, a glassy-eyed look on his face. Friday! I can't believe it! It's so soon! When did Alan say Dad was coming? Was it a Friday? I'll have to ask him in history!

Before history class began, Fermat stopped by Alan's desk. "Wh-When are our d-dads coming again?"

"Next week. Friday, Dad said," Alan replied, looking perplexed.

"Y-You're sure it's not th-this F-Friday?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I think he'll be here for my first meet. Why?"

"M-My first m-m-m... quiz is this F-Friday!"

Alan took in his friend's wide-eyed shock and smiled in surprised delight. He wanted to say something more, but their teacher walked into the room just then and Fermat had to scurry over to his seat.

After class, the two boys caught up with each other and walked together; Alan heading for the gym and Fermat for the building next door. The intermittent rain was now a foggy drizzle that coated the boys' jackets with a damp mist.

"So your first quiz is this Friday?"

"Uh-huh," Fermat said, nodding. "We have p-practice today and t-tomorrow, then we're on."

Alan whistled. "Wow, they don't waste any time, do they? Hey, when's it going to be? I'd like to be there to cheer you on."

Fermat gave his friend a stricken glance, then looked down at his feet. "It's an a-away meet."

"Damn!" Alan muttered, scowling. "And I can't leave campus with anyone but family, your dad, or Lady Penelope." He watched his friend's face for a moment, then added, "I'm going to ask Dad if he'll let me go off-campus with someone else. Maybe I can talk Zave into going or something."

Fermat turned his head toward Alan, a serious expression on his face. "I'd be c-c-c... great if y-you could be th-there, but d-d'you think your dad would let you? And d'you th-think Zave would g-go for it?"

The older boy shrugged. "I dunno, but nothing ventured, nothing gained." He clapped Fermat on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll figure something out." He held out a fist, and the younger boy tapped it with his own, then Alan reciprocated. Looking up and ahead of them, he said, "Gotta run, or I'll be late for strength training." He broke into a jog, then called over his shoulder, "See you at lunch!"

"R-Right!" Fermat called as Alan broke into a run. He turned toward the building he was in front of and jogged quickly up the front steps.

In the locker room, Alan hurriedly changed out for his strength training class. The inside of his locker was damp from the sodden clothes he'd hung up there. He shook his head, muttering to himself. "There's got to be a better way."

The class was stretching when Alan finally got into the weight room. He joined in, stretching his muscles. Coach Beccara came up to him.

"Alan, get warmed up at the lateral bar. I want you to demonstrate the lat pull first. Then some bicep curls. I'm going to break the class up into smaller groups and have them work on one station at a time, moving around four different stations as they learn."

"Yes, sir," Alan said with a nod. He headed over to one of the strength training machines and examined it thoroughly. He then set the lateral bar to a much lighter weight than he was used to. Sitting on the bench and facing the machine, he grasped the bar above him, his two hands spread wider than his shoulders as they gripped it. He pulled it down smoothly to the base of his neck in the front, then raised it again. Ten quick repetitions of this, and he knew he was ready to demonstrate the exercise for his classmates. Getting up, he increased the weight to something more like what he would have used at home. While I'm demonstrating the exercise, I might as well do it for real.

After class, Alan took a few moments to run back to his dorm and deposit his wet track clothes in his bathroom, then headed out for the dining hall, wearing a hooded school jacket. It suddenly came to him that if he stayed on the track team, he'd be eligible for a letter jacket. The thought made him smile.

I am going to do my damnedest to get that letter, he silently vowed. That means making practice today, and setting aside some time for more strength training.

The lunch line was sparsely populated by the time he got there, so he was spared a repeat of the previous evening's fiasco. He found his friends sitting at a different table than usual, and saw that Erik had joined them.

"Erik said he knew you and asked if he could sit with us," A.J. explained. "I didn't think anyone would mind."

"Hey, it's okay with me," Alan said, as he set down his tray. "Why are you all over here?"

"A group of seniors and juniors took over the table we usually sit at," Qaeshon said sourly. "None of Sugi's crowd, but still..."

"It's n-not like our n-names are e-e-e... written on the t-table." Fermat took a swallow of milk. "It doesn't m-matter where we s-sit as long as we sit t-t-t... as a gr-group."

"The Brain is right," Jason said with a nod. He glanced up as someone approached the table. "Here comes Bertoli," he whispered.

Alan chewed hard at Jason's warning, trying to get his mouthful of meatball sub sandwich down. Dom came up behind him, and cleared his throat uncomfortably. Alan whirled, put up a finger to indicate that Dom should wait a moment, then gulped down half a carton of milk, and wiped his face with a napkin.

"Hey, Dom," he said, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible.

"Hey, Alan," Dom replied. He moistened his lower lip by sucking it slightly between his teeth. "Listen, can I talk to you about the rooming situation?"

"Yeah, sure," Alan replied. "Fermat, could you move for a couple of minutes so Dom can sit?"

Fermat blinked owlishly, startled. "O-Oh, sure, Alan." He started to pick up his tray, but Qaeshon, who sat across from him, moved in and lifted it for him. There was a seat available next to Kay, meant for Xavion when he came to lunch. But there was no sign of the senior yet, so Fermat moved around the table to give Dom the needed room.

"Thanks, Fermat, Kay," Dom said with a nod. He sat next to Alan, his body turned and oriented toward the younger teen, one forearm laying on the table.

Alan indicated his food, which was barely touched. "Do you mind if I...?"

Dom waved a hand. "No, go right ahead." As Alan took another bite of his hot sandwich, Dom took a deep breath and said, "Listen. I'm sorry about yesterday. It was kinda shocking to find out that one minute I have a roommate, and the next, he's gone. I wasn't ready to talk about you moving in, and to be frank, a few of my friends were pushing for me to put 'no' on the confirmation form." He tapped his fingertips lightly on the table. "I won't say that the possibility of having a room of my own wasn't tempting because it sure was. But... I had a talk with my folks last night, and my mom told me that if I said I'd do something, then – barring some real reason that I couldn't – I should follow up and do it. So, I've sent the confirmation form in to Mrs. Belvedere."

Alan's eyes lit up, and he worked hard again to clear his mouth. "Hey!" he said when he was finally able to. "That's great! I am sooo sick of Sugi and his attitude. When can I move in?" His brow furrowed a bit with a frown. "It can't be this afternoon; I have track practice."

"That's okay, Alan," Dom said. "Could you wait until Saturday? I want to clean things up a bit and move some stuff around. And do you mind taking the top bunk? Trey had the bottom one and with my asthma, I'd rather sleep nearer to the floor."

"Top bunk? No problem! I've got that now anyway." Alan grinned widely. "This is the best news I've had all week! I'd rather move in right away, but yeah, I can stand it until Saturday."

Dom's grin matched Alan's now. "Great! Thanks for being patient with me, and like I said, I'm sorry about yesterday. I think this arrangement can work out well for both of us."

"Me, too!" Alan held out his hand. Dom took it, and they shook hands once. "Now that this is all settled, want to join us for lunch?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I've already finished eating. I've got to run over to the yearbook office before next class. I'll talk to you later, though."

"Right."

Dom rose from the chair. "Saturday, then."

"Yeah, Saturday."

"See you all later, guys."

The members of the group each gave the departing teen a wave or a word, and he left them.

"Well, that was a surprise," Jason said, crumpling up his milk carton. "I thought for sure he wouldn't pass up the chance for his own room. I know I wouldn't... especially now."

"I'm glad he saw the light," Alan remarked. He raised his eyes to the ceiling and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Bertoli!"

His friends laughed. Alan turned his attention back to his food, finishing his lunch and listening to the conversations that the others were having.

"I wonder if the police have caught those guys yet," Qaeshon remarked.

"The ones that pushed you around?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. I haven't heard anything, and the police did say they'd keep me posted."

"I d-doubt they've g-got any good l-leads," Fermat remarked. "At l-least no one else has been a-a-a... beat up."

Qaeshon nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Maybe those creeps have decided it's not worth it."

Alan turned his attention to Erik. "So, what do you think we'll do this afternoon? It looks like the rain isn't letting up."

Erik shrugged. "I have no idea. It's not like we can practice in the gym." He chuckled. "I can just see a shot put taking out a window."

"Or leaving a hole in the concrete blocks," Alan said with a grin. "Hey, here comes Zave!"

Xavion settled into the seat next to Alan with a heavy sigh. "Don't talk to me until I've eaten half my lunch. I don't have much time," he told the rest of the group.

"Okay," Qaeshon replied.

A silence fell over the table as they waited for the senior to eat. He glanced around at the rest, and irritably asked, "Why are you all looking at me? Don't you have other things to talk about?"

That broke the ice, and the smaller conversations began again. Jason asked, "Hey, Pinky, need any help moving out on Saturday?"

"Yeah, I will," Alan said thoughtfully. "I guess waiting until then to move is a good thing. I can pack up what I don't need right now and have it ready."

"You moving, Pinky?" Zave asked thickly. He took a gulp of water to clear his mouth, then commented, "That'll be news to Sugi."

"Why?" Alan asked. "I told him my plans."

"Yeah, but he thought Dom had turned you down," Zave replied. He took another bite of sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. "In fact, the way he talked, he was sure of it."

"Well, we were all certain that Dom had turned Pinky down," Jason told the senior. "But he stopped by during lunch to tell Pinky that he had turned in the confirmation."

"Yeah," A.J. piped up. "He'd spoken with his parents and his mom told him to follow through."

Zave chuckled. "Good for his mom." Taking another bite, he chewed, swallowed, then glanced around the table, catching the eyes of all who sat there. "Just keep your eyes and ears open, huh, guys? Sugi... Sugi's not himself, and I don't know how he's going to react."

"That sounds like a pretty grave warning, Zave," Alan said, frowning. "What's got you spooked?"

"I'm not spooked, Pinky." The older teen finished off his sandwich. "I just have this feeling about him... like he'd do something stupid."

"B-But why?" Fermat asked. "H-He has so much to l-lose."

Zave shook his head, the short ends of his braids waving back and forth. "I don't know, Brain, and that's what concerns me. I don't know him anymore."

There was another silence, then Jason looked at the clock. "Sheesh! We'd better get going!"

The boys gathered their gear and their trays. Erik spoke to Fermat. "I'll take your tray for you," he offered.

"Th-Thanks," Fermat replied with a smile. "I a-appreciate it."

As the small group made its way to the tray return, Alan asked Xavion, "What will we be doing in practice today? I mean, the field's kinda wet."

"We'll have things to do, don't worry about that," Xavion said sourly.

"Okay." Alan glanced over at Erik, who nodded, indicating that he'd heard. They took care of their trays and met Fermat by the dining hall doors.

"S-See you guys later!" he called. The others said their own goodbyes as they went their separate ways to class.

When classes were over, Alan went back to his dorm room to drop off his books and dress for practice. His best pair of athletic shoes were still wet, so he opted to wear what he'd been wearing all day long. Sugi came in while he was getting dressed, gave him a contemptuous look, and sneered, "Don't you have anything better?"

"I wasn't prepared to play sports," Alan said blandly. "But I'll get some better gear once I have the time to do so."

Sugi was about to retort when there was a knock at the door. It was clear that Lee wasn't going to open it, so Alan did.

"Grocery order for Alan Tracy," said the young man standing in the hall. He was holding a damp box with the name of the local store where Alan had placed his order.

"Yes!" Alan exclaimed with pleasure. "I've been waiting for this!"

The delivery man put down the box, pulled a data pad from a holster on his belt, and touched the screen with a stylus. He handed both pad and stylus over to Alan. "I need your signature... here," he said, pointing out the box on the screen.

"Right!" Alan settled the pad in the palm of his hand and carefully wrote his name where he was supposed to. The delivery man looked anywhere but at him until Alan thrust the equipment back into his hands.

"Thanks." The pad and stylus were quickly holstered, and the box was lifted into Alan's waiting arms. "Be careful; it's a bit heavy."

"Got it," Alan replied. He indicated the pad. "I've authorized a tip."

This changed the man's demeanor. He smiled. "Thank you. Have a good day."

"You, too!" Alan called as he turned back into his room, closing the door behind him.

Sugi was in the bathroom. Alan quickly put away most of his grocery order, and tucked the box containing the remainder under his desk. He was acutely aware of the time, and the fact that he had to be at practice... no matter what.

His roommate came out of the bathroom, sliding a finger along his nostrils. Alan glanced at him quickly; there was no sign of a syringe and no time to see if there were any vials in the trash can. Not that he thought there would be; after being caught with the syringe once, Alan figured his roommate wouldn't make the same slip twice. Sugi watched as Alan put on a warm, hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants. "Where are you going?" he asked sarcastically, shaking his head. "For a run in the rain?"

"I'm going to track practice," Alan informed him coolly. He zipped up his sweatshirt, and leaned over to make sure his mildly damp shoes were properly tied. Standing, he glanced over at Sugi. "Aren't you?"

"Idiot." Sugi huffed. "There's no practice today. The field's too wet."

Alan's eyebrow went up and he gave Sugi a cautious look. "Really? When did you hear this?"

"Zave told me. On the way back to his dorm." Lee leaned up against the bunk bed and folded his arms. "Coach canceled practice."

The sophomore studied the senior for a long moment. It does sound feasible that Coach might cancel practice. The track is going to be too wet. But I don't trust this guy. I think... no, I know what I need to do.

"Y'know something? I don't trust you," Alan said bluntly. "So I hope you won't mind if I find out for myself." He made sure he had everything he needed, and headed out of his room. He could hear Sugi snorting a laugh as he left.

The air outside was still damp and cool, and he was glad of his sweatshirt. He slipped his hands into the pockets in front and walked briskly toward the gym. Even if there was no practice, the walk would do him good.

Lights were on in the gym when Alan arrived, and the huge room had been sectioned off into halves by a floor-to-ceiling curtain that was a heavy, solid vinyl near the floor, and switched over to a mesh material roughly halfway up. Some of the soccer team occupied one side, running passing drills, and Alan had to wonder why their captain wasn't there to guide them. Ralph stopped long enough to stare as Alan passed through the opening at one end of the curtain.

"Hey, Alan!" a familiar voice shouted. Alan grinned; it was Xavion. Most of the team was clustered around him, and he moved to join them.

"Glad to see you made it," Erik said quietly as Alan pulled up beside the freshman. "Xavion was afraid you wouldn't."

"Nothing short of a natural disaster was going to keep me away from practice today," Alan said with satisfaction. And I was right not to trust Sugi.

Fermat didn't put down his pencil when he'd finished figuring out his equation. He was being timed and had sixty seconds to come up with his answer. They were in the first round of their practice, and this was his second question. After answering this, he was out of the round. He had been instructed to wait for the entire sixty seconds before answering, and if he put down his pencil, he could not pick it up again to correct his work.

"Mr. Hackenbacker?" Mr. Feng was working as moderator, and Devdan was keeping score.

"Th-The Mach number of an a-aircraft going 1762 meters per s-second is, five point three three n-nine."

"That is correct," Mr. Feng replied with a nod. His teammates murmured their congratulations, and Fermat got up to join Atif, who had already "quizzed out" and was sitting in a chair behind their team's table. Mr. Feng then directed a similar, more difficult mathematics question to Wei, who was sitting in for Devdan.

"Two more questions to go," Atif whispered. "Then all of our team will have quizzed out."

"I h-hope they answer c-c-c... right," Fermat replied softly.

"As do I." Their concern was well-founded. Of all the players on their team, both Tom and Timothy had failed to answer their questions correctly. Robbie was sitting this round out, helping Dev with the score keeping and timer. And none of the upperclassmen had made any mistakes.

"Gentlemen!" Mr. Feng said in a warning tone, directing his attention to Fermat and Atif. When their startled eyes met his, he continued, "Please be quiet. You might break the other team's concentration and a penalty would be assessed." He paused, then added, "Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." "I u-understand, Mr. F-Feng."

"Good. No penalty is assessed at this time because it is a first offense and warning."

Fermat sighed lightly in relief. There's so much more to this than meets the eye. Will we be ready for Friday?

"This is going to be a short practice today," Coach Evans said. "Just some stretching and warm up exercises. Xavion will be watching you to make sure you're stretching correctly and aren't going to hurt yourselves. Sometimes an incorrect stretch can be as dangerous as no stretch at all. I know some of you are veterans at this, but everyone can use a refresher now and then.

"While you're doing that, I'll be calling you into the locker room one at a time for blood and urine samples." He let his eyes roam over all the gathered boys. "There's been a rumor that some of our athletes are using performance-enhancing drugs. This is unacceptable behavior. To satisfy the coaching staff and the school administration, we are taking these samples and will have them analyzed at a nearby lab. Anyone who is found to have these drugs in their system will be summarily banned from sports for the entire year. This is a mandatory test; no one is exempt."

He sighed and picked up his data pad, then turned to the tall team captain. "Xavion, you can start them off." Looking down at the pad's read out, he called, "Adams, Geoffrey."

One of the sprinters hesitated, looking around him uneasily, but the coach was waving him toward the locker room door, and he finally gave a small shrug and jogged over to Coach Evans.

"Okay, eyes up here!" Xavion called. "We're going to start with some lunges..."

Alan looked up every so often as a team member rejoined the rest of the group and the coach called another name. He noticed that there were other students entering the locker room at intervals, soccer players from the other side of the gym. As the coach called the names in alphabetical order, the butterflies in his stomach grew. Why are you nervous, Tracy, he asked himself. You know you're clean.

"Lewis, Xavion!"

At the coach's call, the senior turned to another team member and had him come up to continue with the drills. Alan kept his eyes on their new leader until Zave came out again.

"Okay," the team captain said. "We're at the halfway point. Those of you who have already give samples are to come with me to the track for a run. Not a long one, just six laps around the track itself. Steve Ulrich is last in line; when he's done, he'll bring the rest of you out for a run, then you'll be dismissed."

Erik turned to Alan. "This is one time I wish my name was in the first half of the alphabet," he said wryly.

"You and me both," Alan replied as they watched half of the team jog out of the gym.

"Murphy, Sean," called the coach.

Students came and went, until finally Coach Evans called out, "Sugimoto, Lee." Alan took a moment to stop his warm up and look around for his roommate. Lee was nowhere to be seen. Coach Beccara will probably catch him with the soccer players, he reasoned. When Sugi didn't appear, then the coach called out, "Tolbert, Erik."

"Good luck, man," Alan wished his teammate.

"Thanks," Erik returned as he hurried over to the locker room. Alan turned his attention back to Steve, who was leading them through a few more stretches. It seemed to take forever before Erik returned, looking a little white.

"Hey, are you okay?" Alan asked, frowning slightly.

"Yeah," Erik replied. "I just don't do needles very well."

"Tracy, Alan."

Alan nodded at Erik, then loped over to the locker room door. Once inside, he found himself face-to-face with Ralph Santiago, who gave him a quick glance, then pushed past him.

There was a woman he didn't know sitting at a school desk. "What's your name?" she asked in a voice that told him she was bored.

"Alan Tracy."

"Alan Shepard Tracy?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She crossed his name off the list, pulled two stickers from the page she was working on, and put one around a glass vial, and the other around a plastic cup with a lid. "Go pee in the cup and hand it to the attendant. Then see Lydia over there to give her a blood sample."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied as he took the cup she handed him.

He looked around and saw Sandy standing next to one of the toilet stalls. Ms. Bell's assistant waved him over. "Over here, Alan."

Alan sighed, and made his way to where Sandy waited. Somehow, I knew this would happen.