Making Friends, the Hard Way

Stopping in his tracks, Nick turned, looking back at Scott. The blonde youth was only an inch or so shorter than Nick, not nearly as solid, but he was flanked by a couple of other male students, the spiky haired youth from Math, a big robust looking kid with a military style buzz cut, and another sandy blonde kid, Two of the four were sporting lettermen jackets with a crossed bats crest sewn onto the sleeve.

“So, I was telling my teammates here, I think it’s only proper we welcome our new friend from, geez where was it again?” he inquired, looking at Nick. “Where are you from?”

“Minnesota,” Nick replied, a casual smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Right, Minnesota, fuck that’s practically Canada for crying out loud,” he chuckled, looking at his friends.

“Practically,” Nick answered with a lopsided grin. He knew where this was going. There wasn’t a whole lot of fighting in baseball, hockey however, a different story.

“Anyway, now that you’re here, to help you assimilate, I think you need a Cali nickname, get it, Nick name. Now let me see,” Scott mused, face a mask of concentration as he contemplated just the right one. “It’s got to be something catchy, you know, something people can use.”

Shaking his head, Nick turned away and was about to leave, the line hadn’t been crossed yet.

“I think I’ve got it. It’s perfect, Needledick. Needledick Nick,” he offered, tone smug and laden with derision and he bobbed his head.

Nick stopped again. That did it. Turning back, he walked up close to Scott. “Needledick? I guess you’re calling me that because really, deep down, you’re hoping I’ll flop it and you can have a good look at it, but I’ll tell you what, if you really want to know how big my cock is, go ask your mom how well I filled her up last night,” he replied, grinning and giving Scott a capricious wink.

There was a collective gasp from the other students in the immediate vicinity, not just Scott’s entourage. This was a relative first, the rogue male was calling out the Alpha.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Scott challenged, face flushed, features contorted, unaccustomed to being challenged and surprised at the chutzpah of the newcomer.

Nick’s face grew serious, “Oh I’m pretty sure you heard me just now fuckstick,” he growled, feeling adrenalin coursing through his body. He was ready to go.

Scott stepped in close, nose almost touching Nick’s, “I think you got a big fucking mouth,” he snarled, spittle coming out.

Wiping his face, “And I think you got no balls,” Nick countered, waiting for the other boy to make the first move before he handed out a beating. He caught movement in his periphery,

“Not here man,” said the thick youth with the buzzed hair sternly, stepping in and sliding a big arm between the two boys and pulling Scott back, shaking his head.

Pushing the arm away, Scott sneered, but suddenly lurched forward, bringing his clenched fist up toward Nick’s face, stopping only inches away. “You’re lucky Tank was here to stop me,” he spat.

Nick didn’t flinch, eyes locked on Scott’s.

“We’ll settle this another time,” Scott threatened, lowering his fist and backing away again.

Nick grinned, “Anytime,” he replied.

“You better watch your back boy,” Scott warned.

Nick chuckled, “Why? You going to try and mount me from behind when I’m turned the other way?” he asked sarcastically.

There was some laughter and somebody in the crowd said, “Oh snap!”

Scott shook his head, lips pulled back as the others shuffled off, pulling him along and throwing menacing looks back toward Nick as they departed.

Nick just watched, remaining rooted to the spot, body still hardwired in fight mode. He hoped Scott would’ve had the rocks to throw a punch, just one. Letting out a long slow breath, a smile touched his lips.

“Well look at you, making friends already,” he heard the sultry voice of Asha say. He had been so focused on Scott, he hadn’t noticed her in the crowd.

Turning his head, he saw her standing a short distance away, leaning against a bank of lockers. There were a number of other students still loitering in the area as well. “That guy is a clown,” he commented, shaking his head, eyes narrowed.

Asha grinned, arching an eyebrow, “That guy is currently Mr. Popular here,” she said, moving in close beside him. That hint of perfume touched his nose again, alluring, seductive.

Snorting, he shook his head again and grinned broadly. “Go figure,” he chuckled.

“You could be cruising for a beat down,” she warned, half smile on her face.

He didn’t think so.

TJ walked up, “You coming along for lunch?” she asked, looking at Asha.

The dark haired girl nodded, “Sure, in a minute. You just missed my boy Nick here squaring off you’re your boy Scottie the Hottie Turcott,” she advised.

“Really?” TJ said, smile fading, turning to look at Nick as a concerned expression crossed over her face.

He shrugged dismissively as if the incident was trivial.

Asha nodded, “A regular testosterone showdown, it was all very thrilling,” she remarked, green eyes bright.

“You should be careful,” TJ cautioned, putting a hand on Nick’s muscular arm.

“I got to go,” he said, nodding to Asha, then TJ before turning away and heading down the hall toward his locker. He didn’t bother to look back to see if the girls left, or watched him go.

Putting his English books away, he grabbed an apple from his back pack and decided to head outside to eat it. He wanted to see whether or not the school had an exercise room available to students during lunch hours, so after he powered down the piece of fruit, he went to the gymnasium.

He was happy to find the school did possess a fairly extensive training area full of workout and cardio equipment, though priority was to be given to students engaged in the school’s athletics activities, but it was open to all.

Smiling, he returned to the main building.