Drabble - Prompt = Ego
Another old drabble from January 2010 that I thought might be good enough for a random person to read. Rating is probably PG-13 for language.
Fuck, Jeremy had such a huge ego. Tristan was just passing by the gymnasium when he heard Jeremy bragging about his speed. The day before, it had been his ability to dunk. Tristan wasn't an idiot; there were certain things he was naturally at a disadvantage at, considering his height of only 5'6". But speed was something Tristan knew well, so Tristan decided to accept this challenge, even if he hadn't technically been invited. It was ridiculous. Tristan was completely head-over-heels in love with Jeremy and believed there was no way that Jeremy would ever look at him in the same way. The only way to make himself worthy of Jeremy's notice was to beat him at something.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Tristan was hyperventilating because there was a group of guys all huddled around the 100 m line on the track. All of them were bigger and more muscular...more like Jeremy's build. Jeremy was in the center of the group, joking around, lightly punching some of them in the arm. Tristan didn't know what he had thought when he decided to come out here, dressed in his usual running clothes. He probably looked...no he definitely looked out of place here. What should he do? He wanted to watch them race, but he would look stupid just watching them when he was clearly dressed to do something else. Why else would he be wearing running tights? It certainly wasn't in style, not in that crowd at least... Maybe he could watch them secretly while he was jogging around the track. Besides, it would be a good warm up...
"Who's that running around?" one of the guys asked as Tristan jogged by them. "He looks serious."
"Dunno. He's too scrawny to be one of us," someone replied.
"Yeah. I could probably eat him for breakfast." For some reason that comment amused Tristan. He stopped to stretch nearby and continued to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"You could probably eat your girlfriend for breakfast.”
"He's probably skinnier than your girlfriend."
"He's probably hotter than your girlfriend."
"Damn!" Suddenly everyone was quiet. Tristan looked up and saw that the guys were looking at him. Tristan blushed.
"I think he's more flexible than my girlfriend."
"Holy fuck!"
"That's unnatural!"
"Hey, I bet he could beat Jeremy at gymnastics. We should enlist him for that challenge..."
"Hey! You guys wimping out already?" Jeremy sauntered over to the group of guys who were discussing Tristan. Tristan flushed as now Jeremy was looking at him as well. Jeremy licked his lips.
"You like him, Jeremy?" one of the guys teased.
"Yeah...as some real competition. Not like you pussies." Tristan's heart began to beat rapidly as Jeremy walked towards him. "Hey, I just bet my friends that I'd whoop their asses in a race. Since they are all so afraid of me, would you want to race instead? It'd just be for fun. I won't make fun of you or anything."
Tristan just nodded. He scrambled onto his feet and made his way to the starting line. He heard Jeremy next to him but pretended Jeremy was a competitor. It wasn't Jeremy but another competitor. Not that thinking of track races made him feel much better, but better than thinking...
"Ready, set, go!" As soon as Tristan saw a flash of movement near him he resolved to get ahead of it. His training took over and he was sprinting like he did for a school race, focusing on moving his arms and thinking only of running, breathing, moving forward, the finish line. Tristan ran through the line just like his coach always told him to. He heard applause and shouting and for a moment forgot it was just a race against Jeremy. He just looked for some water and blinked when he didn't see any. Suddenly his arm was grabbed and raised.
"Here's to the new champ!" There was a loud cheer as the group of guys shouted. Tristan, already red-faced from the race, probably looked like a tomato. He found his other arm grabbed as well, pulling him away from the crowd. Turning around, he came face to face with Jeremy. Tristan had never seen Jeremy's face up close and was surprised to see that he had very small spots under his eyes.
"You run a lot?" Jeremy asked.
"Yeah. Track team," Tristan muttered.
"Track team? Wow!"
Tristan blushed. No one besides other runners was excited about the track team, well except for Jeremy now. He might have just raised the profile for the track team. That thought brought a smile to his face.
"You're going to let me race you again someday, right?" Jeremy asked. "I gotta redeem myself."
Tristan blushed. "Maybe." He felt Jeremy release his arm. Jeremy's friends were talking about hanging out afterward and Tristan didn't know whether to stay or whether to go. He didn't hear any invitations so he decided to leave. He had only taken a few steps when he felt someone grab his hand.
"Wanna hang out with us?" Jeremy grinned. Tristan grinned back.
"Sure."
Fuck, Jeremy had such a huge ego. Tristan was just passing by the gymnasium when he heard Jeremy bragging about his speed. The day before, it had been his ability to dunk. Tristan wasn't an idiot; there were certain things he was naturally at a disadvantage at, considering his height of only 5'6". But speed was something Tristan knew well, so Tristan decided to accept this challenge, even if he hadn't technically been invited. It was ridiculous. Tristan was completely head-over-heels in love with Jeremy and believed there was no way that Jeremy would ever look at him in the same way. The only way to make himself worthy of Jeremy's notice was to beat him at something.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Tristan was hyperventilating because there was a group of guys all huddled around the 100 m line on the track. All of them were bigger and more muscular...more like Jeremy's build. Jeremy was in the center of the group, joking around, lightly punching some of them in the arm. Tristan didn't know what he had thought when he decided to come out here, dressed in his usual running clothes. He probably looked...no he definitely looked out of place here. What should he do? He wanted to watch them race, but he would look stupid just watching them when he was clearly dressed to do something else. Why else would he be wearing running tights? It certainly wasn't in style, not in that crowd at least... Maybe he could watch them secretly while he was jogging around the track. Besides, it would be a good warm up...
"Who's that running around?" one of the guys asked as Tristan jogged by them. "He looks serious."
"Dunno. He's too scrawny to be one of us," someone replied.
"Yeah. I could probably eat him for breakfast." For some reason that comment amused Tristan. He stopped to stretch nearby and continued to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"You could probably eat your girlfriend for breakfast.”
"He's probably skinnier than your girlfriend."
"He's probably hotter than your girlfriend."
"Damn!" Suddenly everyone was quiet. Tristan looked up and saw that the guys were looking at him. Tristan blushed.
"I think he's more flexible than my girlfriend."
"Holy fuck!"
"That's unnatural!"
"Hey, I bet he could beat Jeremy at gymnastics. We should enlist him for that challenge..."
"Hey! You guys wimping out already?" Jeremy sauntered over to the group of guys who were discussing Tristan. Tristan flushed as now Jeremy was looking at him as well. Jeremy licked his lips.
"You like him, Jeremy?" one of the guys teased.
"Yeah...as some real competition. Not like you pussies." Tristan's heart began to beat rapidly as Jeremy walked towards him. "Hey, I just bet my friends that I'd whoop their asses in a race. Since they are all so afraid of me, would you want to race instead? It'd just be for fun. I won't make fun of you or anything."
Tristan just nodded. He scrambled onto his feet and made his way to the starting line. He heard Jeremy next to him but pretended Jeremy was a competitor. It wasn't Jeremy but another competitor. Not that thinking of track races made him feel much better, but better than thinking...
"Ready, set, go!" As soon as Tristan saw a flash of movement near him he resolved to get ahead of it. His training took over and he was sprinting like he did for a school race, focusing on moving his arms and thinking only of running, breathing, moving forward, the finish line. Tristan ran through the line just like his coach always told him to. He heard applause and shouting and for a moment forgot it was just a race against Jeremy. He just looked for some water and blinked when he didn't see any. Suddenly his arm was grabbed and raised.
"Here's to the new champ!" There was a loud cheer as the group of guys shouted. Tristan, already red-faced from the race, probably looked like a tomato. He found his other arm grabbed as well, pulling him away from the crowd. Turning around, he came face to face with Jeremy. Tristan had never seen Jeremy's face up close and was surprised to see that he had very small spots under his eyes.
"You run a lot?" Jeremy asked.
"Yeah. Track team," Tristan muttered.
"Track team? Wow!"
Tristan blushed. No one besides other runners was excited about the track team, well except for Jeremy now. He might have just raised the profile for the track team. That thought brought a smile to his face.
"You're going to let me race you again someday, right?" Jeremy asked. "I gotta redeem myself."
Tristan blushed. "Maybe." He felt Jeremy release his arm. Jeremy's friends were talking about hanging out afterward and Tristan didn't know whether to stay or whether to go. He didn't hear any invitations so he decided to leave. He had only taken a few steps when he felt someone grab his hand.
"Wanna hang out with us?" Jeremy grinned. Tristan grinned back.
"Sure."