unless you’re distinctive in some way, you’re just like everybody else.”
“And I’m distinctive?”
Jack snorted. “You’re apparently the new Declan Tyler.”
“No, I’m not,” Micah said with all honesty.
“You are, in that you’re out and proud.”
“Oh.” Micah tried not to sound too disappointed. He actually liked being compared to Dec. Everybody , regardless of what team they barracked for, knew he was an exceptional player. Micah wanted to be an exceptional player too.
But apparently he was only like Dec in the fact they both liked dick. At least, according to all the guys here. His new friend included.
As if realising his inability to return a compliment, Jack said hurriedly, “Oh, but you’re a good player! They know that.”
Again, the elusive they . A shadowy cabal of armchair critics who judged the performance of teenage boys before they had even reached the peak physicality they needed to play football.
“But you’re going to have to really compete against Boyd Davies.”
“Who?”
Jack pointed him out, and Micah should have seen it coming.
His new nemesis from earlier in the car park, who had refused to shake the hand of a fag, now had a name.
Chapter 7
BOYD DAVIES made sure everybody on the bus knew Micah was gay before he even stepped on it. Boyd knew all about Micah, or at least what he thought he knew, as his cousin was on the team whose player had the tryst with Micah after one of their games.
From the way Jack described it, Boyd seemed to have an almost cultlike influence over the other boys. They all came from the same district as Jack and Boyd and had been playing together for years. Boyd’s word was God.
“So how come you didn’t listen?” Micah asked, tactfully avoiding the fact that Jack had tried until he was forced to be Micah’s seat buddy.
It made him like Jack a lot more that he admitted it. “I did try, remember? Fate intervened.”
“So? You could ignore me now. Nobody would hold it against you that Marks made me sit next to you.”
Jack squinted into the sun streaming uncomfortably through the window as the landscape drifted by. “Ah, the damage is done now, isn’t it?”
The lilt in his voice let Micah know he wasn’t being serious.
“Lucky for me, I guess. I’m not going to be entirely shunned.”
“So, do you have a boyfriend?” Jack wasn’t even shy about asking the question that would make a lot of other guys stammer and blush.
“Why, do you want one?”
“Just making conversation, dude.”
“No,” Micah said. “No man is lucky enough to have snagged me.”
“I have a girlfriend.”
“You don’t have to convince me.”
Now Jack sounded exasperated. “I told you, I’m just making conversation. Fuck, you’re not very good at it, are you?”
He sure had Micah pegged already. “I’m actually not. But thanks for making the effort.”
“Here’s the bit where you try as well.”
“Oh.” Micah had forgotten how to relate to, or actually be comfortable in the presence of, straight boys. It had been a long time since they had accepted him as one of them without question. It would have been right before the time he got caught blowing an opposing team member in the change rooms, funnily enough. “Um, what’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“You’re catching on!” Jack was pleased. “Her name’s Soraya.”
“You have an Arabic girlfriend? I’m surprised you’re not shunned as well.”
“Wow, you’re the first person who’s known where her name comes from.”
“Us minorities get all the handbooks of the other minorities.”
Jack obviously didn’t know how to take Micah’s sense of humour yet, but after a few seconds he seemed to accept it for what it was. “I don’t remember her getting the gay handbook.”
“Trust me, it will be somewhere in her room if she didn’t chuck them all out. Along with Asexuals: A History and The Persecution of the Rangas . They send them all out to us just in
“And I’m distinctive?”
Jack snorted. “You’re apparently the new Declan Tyler.”
“No, I’m not,” Micah said with all honesty.
“You are, in that you’re out and proud.”
“Oh.” Micah tried not to sound too disappointed. He actually liked being compared to Dec. Everybody , regardless of what team they barracked for, knew he was an exceptional player. Micah wanted to be an exceptional player too.
But apparently he was only like Dec in the fact they both liked dick. At least, according to all the guys here. His new friend included.
As if realising his inability to return a compliment, Jack said hurriedly, “Oh, but you’re a good player! They know that.”
Again, the elusive they . A shadowy cabal of armchair critics who judged the performance of teenage boys before they had even reached the peak physicality they needed to play football.
“But you’re going to have to really compete against Boyd Davies.”
“Who?”
Jack pointed him out, and Micah should have seen it coming.
His new nemesis from earlier in the car park, who had refused to shake the hand of a fag, now had a name.
Chapter 7
BOYD DAVIES made sure everybody on the bus knew Micah was gay before he even stepped on it. Boyd knew all about Micah, or at least what he thought he knew, as his cousin was on the team whose player had the tryst with Micah after one of their games.
From the way Jack described it, Boyd seemed to have an almost cultlike influence over the other boys. They all came from the same district as Jack and Boyd and had been playing together for years. Boyd’s word was God.
“So how come you didn’t listen?” Micah asked, tactfully avoiding the fact that Jack had tried until he was forced to be Micah’s seat buddy.
It made him like Jack a lot more that he admitted it. “I did try, remember? Fate intervened.”
“So? You could ignore me now. Nobody would hold it against you that Marks made me sit next to you.”
Jack squinted into the sun streaming uncomfortably through the window as the landscape drifted by. “Ah, the damage is done now, isn’t it?”
The lilt in his voice let Micah know he wasn’t being serious.
“Lucky for me, I guess. I’m not going to be entirely shunned.”
“So, do you have a boyfriend?” Jack wasn’t even shy about asking the question that would make a lot of other guys stammer and blush.
“Why, do you want one?”
“Just making conversation, dude.”
“No,” Micah said. “No man is lucky enough to have snagged me.”
“I have a girlfriend.”
“You don’t have to convince me.”
Now Jack sounded exasperated. “I told you, I’m just making conversation. Fuck, you’re not very good at it, are you?”
He sure had Micah pegged already. “I’m actually not. But thanks for making the effort.”
“Here’s the bit where you try as well.”
“Oh.” Micah had forgotten how to relate to, or actually be comfortable in the presence of, straight boys. It had been a long time since they had accepted him as one of them without question. It would have been right before the time he got caught blowing an opposing team member in the change rooms, funnily enough. “Um, what’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“You’re catching on!” Jack was pleased. “Her name’s Soraya.”
“You have an Arabic girlfriend? I’m surprised you’re not shunned as well.”
“Wow, you’re the first person who’s known where her name comes from.”
“Us minorities get all the handbooks of the other minorities.”
Jack obviously didn’t know how to take Micah’s sense of humour yet, but after a few seconds he seemed to accept it for what it was. “I don’t remember her getting the gay handbook.”
“Trust me, it will be somewhere in her room if she didn’t chuck them all out. Along with Asexuals: A History and The Persecution of the Rangas . They send them all out to us just in
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