Here's the first piece I wrote for my Open Uni course. This didn't have to be a self-contained story, since the word count was fairly low, but I made into one anyway. It's not quite as polished as the last piece as I'd barely even started the course.
‘Breathless’
Alex
never saw the assault coming. When it came, it knocked him off his feet.
Staring
into the cracked toilet mirror, Alex reflected on his afternoon. He’d kept to
the sidelines on the pitch, shuffling on the spot to keep warm. Out of the way
of the action, he watched the other boys running around the field. Alex hated getting
dirty, so he tried as much as possible to stay peripheral. He was happiest on
the sidelines of school life, being an observer. The PE master had given up
trying to get Alex to join in.
Alex was lost in a daydream when the
ball came sailing through the air towards him. Unsure what to do next, he gazed
up in wonder for a heartbeat before being pummelled forward into the mud.
Landing in an awkward sprawl, Alex struggled for air, the shock of the moment
winding him. His senses numbed from the cold liquid earth, he became aware of
his assailant scrabbling to his feet next to him.
‘Shit, mate, I’m sorry.’ The pain in
his wrist, and the embarrassment of the fall, in front of his classmates, was
made worse by the perpetrator turning out to be Scott Speedman, the subject of
Alex’s classroom daydreams. Star pupil and highly decorated athlete, Scott was
the envy of his peers, not least Alex’s clique of outsiders. He’d never
actually had anything beyond a cursory conversation with Scott, so Alex
nurtured his teenage crush from afar. Alex hesitated before grasping the sludge
flecked arm that was proffered.
In the changing room, Alex found
himself alone with Scott. The PE master had directed Alex to change before
seeing the school nurse. Scott had volunteered to go with him. The pair sat on
opposite benches. Scott unlaced his boots, rolled off his grubby socks, and
pulled his shirt off in one swift movement. Hampered by the pain and cold in
his hand, Alex fumbled with his own slippery laces.
‘I didn’t mean to run into you so
hard you know. I hope your hand’s not too fucked up, I mean, not fucked up at
all... you know what I mean. Let me help you’. Alex didn’t have chance to reply
before Scott was kneeling on the floor in front of him, attacking the double
knots. As Scott moved from his boots to his long socks, Alex studied the strong
shoulders in front of him, breathed in the heady aroma of Scott’s rugby-induced
musk. ‘Do you want a hand with your top too? Here, let me...’ And before he
knew it, Scott had grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt and tugged it over Alex’s
head.
Rocking back on his heels, Scott
took Alex’s hand in his own, turning it over to assess the damage. Alex
swallowed hard and took in Scott’s bare chest, observing the sheen of sweat
that glistened on the muscular torso. He noticed a few sprouts of chest hair,
and a darker trail that began just below Scott’s navel before disappearing into
the waistband of his shorts. The touch of a half-naked Scott Speedman was
proving to be too much for Alex. He felt a stirring in his shorts and began to
panic.
‘I’m going to jump in the shower,
I’m covered in crap. We both are, sorry about that. Come on, let’s go.’ Scott
stood up, whipped off his shorts and strode, nonchalant, into the showers.
Overcome with anxiety, Alex stuffed his uniform into his bag and made a dash
for the toilets. He couldn’t cope with this.
After a quick sink-bath to get most
of the dirt off, he dressed and took a moment in front of the mirror. Feeling a
little calmer, Alex took a deep breath and flung open the toilet door to find a
clothed Scott stood waiting for him.
‘Are you alright? I didn’t mean to
freak you out. I’ll just nip for a piss before we go, ok?’ Alex nodded and
turned aside to let Scott go by. It was then the assault came. As Scott moved
past, he leaned in and planted a confident kiss on Alex’s virgin lips. For the
second time that day, Alex felt the wind knocked out of him and he sat down
hard on the bench behind him. A warm feeling ran down his body from lips to
toe, a broad grin spread across his face. In the doorway, Scott looked unsure
of himself. ‘Erm, you alright?’ And for the first time since Scott Speedman
knocked him off his feet on the rugby pitch, Alex found his voice:
‘Awesome.’
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