Disturb
Reid couldn't help it, sometimes. He knew he worried Caleb, knew more instinctively or intimately that he worried Pogue, knew he drove Tyler nuts half the time. But he didn't understand, and it made him act in jerky, sudden ways.
He leaned over the pool table and took his shot, watching Aaron from beneath lowered lashes. Aaron would have known he was being watched, would have felt uncomfortable, but he wouldn't know why. Reid knew why. Pogue had let it slip somewhere in the last few weeks that Aaron was a raging homophobe. It explained all the outbursts in the locker room, especially around the four boys who were so comfortable with each other. And who, up until the last few weeks, hadn't actually been sleeping with each other. Mostly.
It was kind of funny. All those rumors swirling around them, normal for a boarding school and especially a boys' locker room, but the only ones that had even vaguely held any truth to them were the ones about Reid and Pogue. And they'd only actually done about a tenth of what they were supposed to have done. Tyler wasn't a part of it. Pogue going out with Kate didn't seem to slow the rumors, but no one put Caleb in the middle of the orgies. People really had no idea, and couldn't seem to grasp that four boys who had practically been raised in the same household could be close and comfortable with each other.
Aaron certainly couldn't. Reid grinned at him after he flubbed a complex shot, puckered up, which wiped the smirk from his face. The resulting anger made Aaron flub his shot too, which only pissed him off more.
He shouldn't be poking at him any more than he already was just by his existence. But he didn't understand Aaron, either.
Balls clacked. Reid was showing off, both his body and his pool skills, taking his time and taking a couple of shots purely to deny Aaron the easy ones. Winding him up more and more. It was a bad idea, he could hear Tyler's voice telling him to settle down, but Tyler was over by Pogue talking in whispers and he'd opted to play another game.
It wasn't that he didn't understand that people could be homophobic, that high school was full of cliques and grudges, that bullies were easily infuriated and sometimes you just had to keep your mouth shut. Reid wasn't stupid. Intellectually, he knew what he was doing. But it was like there were two Reids walking around, one inside the other. The inside one was self-aware, watching what he did as he did it and groaning at how bad of an idea it was. The outside one acted wild, acted out, did all this crazy stuff and overcompensated for everything that affected him.
Aaron glared. Aaron talked smack, so Aaron got smacked down. Never mind that he really did know that beating the other boy so obviously and badly at pool, and in public, would only piss him off more. Reid needed to do it for his own satisfaction and hadn't yet learned how to master his impulses.
He knew that prancing around naked in the locker rooms, snapping his towel at, really, whoever he wanted to, was just going to fuel the rumors. But he liked the attention, needed it, and he hadn't yet figured out that just by being good and being calm, poised, would get him just as much attention and probably a lot fewer of the crazy person kind of stares. Or, he had figured it out, but he couldn't make himself believe it.
Aaron just leaned against his pool cue and stared fear and hate and loathing at Reid, as the blonde boy sank the eight ball and leaned back casually on his heels, smiling. He slammed down his money on the green felt but didn't lift his hand when Reid reached for it, glaring.
"Rematch. Double or nothing."
Reid smirked. Tyler and Pogue were looking over at him now, but it would totally be worth it to kick Aaron's ass again. Never mind that it would probably start a fight. Reid was reacting now, not thinking, and it didn't connect in his mind that it was going to get him into trouble. He still didn't understand why Aaron didn't just give in and at least admit that he liked him.
Reid Garwin // The Covenant // 735 words
He leaned over the pool table and took his shot, watching Aaron from beneath lowered lashes. Aaron would have known he was being watched, would have felt uncomfortable, but he wouldn't know why. Reid knew why. Pogue had let it slip somewhere in the last few weeks that Aaron was a raging homophobe. It explained all the outbursts in the locker room, especially around the four boys who were so comfortable with each other. And who, up until the last few weeks, hadn't actually been sleeping with each other. Mostly.
It was kind of funny. All those rumors swirling around them, normal for a boarding school and especially a boys' locker room, but the only ones that had even vaguely held any truth to them were the ones about Reid and Pogue. And they'd only actually done about a tenth of what they were supposed to have done. Tyler wasn't a part of it. Pogue going out with Kate didn't seem to slow the rumors, but no one put Caleb in the middle of the orgies. People really had no idea, and couldn't seem to grasp that four boys who had practically been raised in the same household could be close and comfortable with each other.
Aaron certainly couldn't. Reid grinned at him after he flubbed a complex shot, puckered up, which wiped the smirk from his face. The resulting anger made Aaron flub his shot too, which only pissed him off more.
He shouldn't be poking at him any more than he already was just by his existence. But he didn't understand Aaron, either.
Balls clacked. Reid was showing off, both his body and his pool skills, taking his time and taking a couple of shots purely to deny Aaron the easy ones. Winding him up more and more. It was a bad idea, he could hear Tyler's voice telling him to settle down, but Tyler was over by Pogue talking in whispers and he'd opted to play another game.
It wasn't that he didn't understand that people could be homophobic, that high school was full of cliques and grudges, that bullies were easily infuriated and sometimes you just had to keep your mouth shut. Reid wasn't stupid. Intellectually, he knew what he was doing. But it was like there were two Reids walking around, one inside the other. The inside one was self-aware, watching what he did as he did it and groaning at how bad of an idea it was. The outside one acted wild, acted out, did all this crazy stuff and overcompensated for everything that affected him.
Aaron glared. Aaron talked smack, so Aaron got smacked down. Never mind that he really did know that beating the other boy so obviously and badly at pool, and in public, would only piss him off more. Reid needed to do it for his own satisfaction and hadn't yet learned how to master his impulses.
He knew that prancing around naked in the locker rooms, snapping his towel at, really, whoever he wanted to, was just going to fuel the rumors. But he liked the attention, needed it, and he hadn't yet figured out that just by being good and being calm, poised, would get him just as much attention and probably a lot fewer of the crazy person kind of stares. Or, he had figured it out, but he couldn't make himself believe it.
Aaron just leaned against his pool cue and stared fear and hate and loathing at Reid, as the blonde boy sank the eight ball and leaned back casually on his heels, smiling. He slammed down his money on the green felt but didn't lift his hand when Reid reached for it, glaring.
"Rematch. Double or nothing."
Reid smirked. Tyler and Pogue were looking over at him now, but it would totally be worth it to kick Aaron's ass again. Never mind that it would probably start a fight. Reid was reacting now, not thinking, and it didn't connect in his mind that it was going to get him into trouble. He still didn't understand why Aaron didn't just give in and at least admit that he liked him.
Reid Garwin // The Covenant // 735 words