Ripped - 1. PART 1--Chapter 1

Fucking rain.

Normal practice was, of course, ruined. Chris already had them running laps in the stuffy, humid gym. There was only so long they could run mind-numbing laps in one of the auxiliary gyms. The thunderstorm had relegated all the outdoor activities inside until at least 40 minutes with no lightning, which meant, for most of them, conditioning.

"Move it, Foster," Chris snapped at him.

Declan growled back. He was one of the bigger guys on the team, made for blocking and knocking guys on their ass. Sprinting was so not his forte. Give him some weights to bench press and then they were talking. But running around in this small freaking room, sharing it with the basketball pre-season training group as they did drills in the center—no.

Personally, he'd rather be out on the field. Racing across the turf, colliding and barreling into each other, was so much better than the sweat-sock stench inside, especially on a downpour of a day like today when all the teams were forced inside.

He supposed it could be worse. At least at Heritage Academy, the athletic department was well endowed. There were two full size gyms, plus two smaller auxiliary gyms—although one of those was useless with the stupid gymnastics equipment permanently taking up the space. The fully equipped weight room was awesome, and the full size pool was nice to relax in when the swim team wasn't using it. The locker rooms were huge, as every boy at Heritage participated in some sort of sport year round. Even if their team was in their off-season, the teams would hold 'voluntary' skill development sessions or the team captains might 'suggest' the team come to an 'open gym' time, with one or two guys sitting out so it didn't count as a real practice.

As it was part of the Academy's creed—strong body, strong mind—each student was expected to enroll in some sort of sport, even if that sport was golf or hell... gymnastics. Usually, his team didn't run into 'those guys' as they were off in their own part of the world. He wasn't sure how golf was really a sport anyway—since you just hit a little ball with a stick. You didn't even run afterwards like hockey or baseball. And that gymnastics shit... dancing and flipping all over the place... Actually, that was probably worse than golf.

"Come on, guys," Chris called a halt to the run, leading everyone down the hallway. The team followed Chris, the captain, who was in charge in absence of the coach, dutifully. Apparently, all of the coaches were in an Athletic Department meeting, leaving the team captains in charge of practice. "We'll hit the weight room for a while, then go back and do some drills."

"As long as it's not 'snakes' or bear crawls..." Eric muttered behind him.

"Isn't another team using the weight room right now?"

"If they are, I'm sure I can talk them into letting us use it instead." Chris shrugged.

Several of the other guys grunted their agreements. That was at least one good thing about being inside today, some of their most hated drills were near impossible to do indoors. Another crack of thunder echoed outside as they headed down the hall.

Forty more minutes in purgatory.

Declan sighed and stretched his arms behind his back, ready for some good heavy weights. They usually didn't do weights today, as today was supposed to be one of their scrimmages, but what could you do when the weather didn't cooperate?

He heard voices as they approached the weight room. Damn, some other team must have had the same idea. Well, they could move their asses right on along.

Chris stalked on into the room and the rest of the team followed. He scanned the room for Rodney, the guy who usually monitored the weight room, before his eyes narrowed on the group of guys near the door, three of whom were stretched out on the mats.

"Hey, Greene. Where's Rodney?" Chris asked cautiously as a tall, blond in some sort of silky shorts and tank top turned at their entrance.

Ahhh, Greene. Justin Greene. Declan knew he recognized the blond from one of his classes. It took him a minute to realize they'd had biology together last year.

"He had to take an emergency call," the blond said. "So we had to stop for a bit. Cell signal sucks in here, especially with the storm and all."

Chris just grinned wildly. "Time's up then. Get out," he announced.

Yeah, Chris could be a bit of an asshole, but he made a great quarterback and team captain.

"What the fuck?" Justin snapped back, his hands on his lean hips as he stepped toward Chris defiantly.

The rest of the guys in the room were dressed similarly, and they all seemed rather lean, like the swim team. But Declan knew some of the swim guys, and these weren't them. Scanning, he noticed some of them had some decent shoulder muscles, but really nothing like the bulk Declan and most of his teammates had. He heard a couple of his teammates jeering at how much these guys could probably lift. They were certain it wasn't near what they could do.

"Can you guys even pick up a twenty-pound barbell?" Eric laughed from where he stood next to Chris.

That had the rest of Justin's team glaring at them. Two of the three who'd been on the floor jumped up. The pitifully small team of six faced off with Chris, and Declan was wondering if most of their team had cut out for the day. It would be unusual, and none of the football team would consider it, but maybe this group wasn't as dedicated.

Declan felt his team puffing up a bit, as if they needed to show any more muscle over these guys. Hell, any one of his team probably had twice the muscle and bulk of two of them put together.

"We can do plenty," a red-head next to Justin said.

"Yeah, that one's so weak, he's still layin' on the floor," Chris added in a loud whisper to Eric.

Declan cut his hazel eyes over to the side, noticing one of the smaller guys still bent in half on the floor, his midnight bangs falling over his face. He was the only one who hadn't risen to face off with Chris. This one wore long pants and a t-shirt that buried his small frame. Geez, he must be one of the pity team members. Every team seemed to have one or two, some poor guy who had to do a sport but wasn't really good at any of them.

Declan suppressed a laugh as he noticed the kid pointedly ignoring them. He didn't recognize him and had the passing thought that maybe he was new this semester.

"Chris, what the hell are you doing here?" the tall blond demanded.

"Beat it, Greene. And take all your pansy-ass gym flippers with you," Chris snapped.

Ahhh, the gymnastics team, he realized. No wonder there weren't that many of them. Declan snickered along with the rest of his team. Chris wasn't the biggest of them, but he was certainly the loudest, and most obnoxious for that matter.

But Justin wasn't backing down. Declan knew Justin Greene well enough from their class together, and he was just as out-spoken and popular as Chris was, just in a different way.

"Bet you'd like to get a hold of my pansy ass, huh, Vasser?" Justin snapped back flirtatiously, throwing Chris off guard.

Chuckles rippled from both teams. Justin was out and proud, and everyone knew it. And he wasn't alone. Heritage Academy was known for its zero-tolerance for bigotry and had actually become a haven for several teens who'd been horribly bullied in public school. Declan knew several guys who were gay, two of them were on his team. Hell, his English teacher was gay too.

Nobody cared much. The homophobic shit that all gays were crushing on all the straight guys and wanted to jump them was crap. Even Chris, the ultimate asshole, knew better than to spout bigoted slander. They all knew someone, or several someones, who were gay and accepted them to some extent. They might not be best friends, but they were treated as equals. Hell, Ben was one of the biggest guys on their team, and you'd never look at him and think 'that guy is gay'. Of course, that was good. Because nobody would ever think that of Declan either.

And Declan wanted to keep it that way.

Knowing it probably wouldn't matter and putting himself out there for everyone to know were two different things. While his parents already knew, he didn't feel the need to advertise it at school. He'd told his roommate and suitemates, but since he'd decided to focus on his grades and football and not looking for a hook-up, he didn't think it was anyone else's business who he was attracted to.

While Declan admired his teammates physiques, he didn't find himself crushing on any of them either. Maybe because he saw them all as friends instead, they were his teammates, his buddies. He just didn't see them as anything else.

But Justin standing here blatantly taunting Chris was daunting. Declan wasn't sure how Chris would react to that.

"You wish," Chris retorted. "If I wanted some ass, I'd go for the little guy there," Chris said flippantly, waving at the kid still sprawled on the floor.

The teen stiffened at the words as all eyes fell on him.

Declan gaped at Chris, not sure if Chris was kidding or not.

However, Justin didn't take it as a joke, and neither did the rest of the gymnastics team. Suddenly, they were standing by Justin's shoulder glaring back. Declan glanced at the kid on the floor, who pointedly ignored them, before turning back to the team captain.

Declan was impressed by the defensive line the gym team put forth. While not big guys by any means, standing there together with their arms folded over their chests, they did create a formidable wall.

"Get your ass out of here, Chris, and take your Neanderthals with you," Justin growled. "We are on the schedule for the weight room until 4:30. You can come back then and bully the next team out of here."

Declan began to wish Chris knew when to back off because their coach wouldn't like what was going on here. And when Rodney came back, he wouldn't either. But apparently Chris didn't seem to remember that the weight room supervisor would be back soon. And he knew Chris wouldn't back down. Hell, Declan probably wouldn't either, not to these skinny-ass dudes. God, what if others found out they'd been run off by the gymnastics team?

"Leave, or we'll carry each of you out," Chris threatened.

"Feel free to try." Justin planted his feet and crossed his arms. The five other gymnasts mimicked their captain's stance, with the exception of the one on the floor.

Before Chris could step forward, Ben inserted himself between the two captains. "Whoa, wait a minute. You know our coaches will suspend anyone who gets into a fight. So knock it off. And Rodney will probably be back any time now."

"Yeah, Justin, let's just ignore them," the red-head next to Justin nudged him with an elbow.

"They don't get to come in here and threaten us or insult one of our teammates. No matter how popular or stupid they are." One of the other gymnasts, who Declan believed was Cameron from his English class, defended his captain.

"That's true," red-head agreed. "But you know Coach Richards will have our asses if you get into it with these guys."

Ben stared down at Chris. "You know Coach Reed will too, Chris. Maybe you should let it go this time."

"It's not like any of you wimps could stand up to any of us anyway," Chris conceded, apparently intending to walk out of the room, but not without throw one last barb over his shoulder. "We'd wipe the floor with you."

Declan rolled his eyes. Of course, Chris just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Immediately, the smaller team bristled at the jab. "You think you're all that, huh?" Cameron leaned forward, smirking.

"We know we are," Eric blurted out from next to Chris's shoulder. Ben threw out his hands in exasperation and backed up to the door. So much for walking away.

"You're nothing but a bunch of self-absorbed assholes," another gym rat blurted out. Matteo, Declan thought his name was.

"Not when it's the truth!" Chris shot back with a wide grin.

"You know we work just as hard as you assholes do," Justin countered.

Declan couldn't help but laugh with his team as Chris voiced their exact thoughts.

"You, work hard? Doing what? Swinging on a bar? Hanging on some rings? Bouncing around the floor?" Chris sneered.

"We use just as many, if not more, muscles than you pigheaded jerks do," Cameron snapped, pointing at each of the teammates standing next to him. "Anyone of us could beat you in a test of strength endurance."

"Prove it. Right here, right now," Chris challenged, causing a hushed silence to fall over the room.

Justin glanced at Cameron, the red-head, and Matteo, as well as the fourth guy next to him who hadn't said anything. Except now he was nodding, along with the others. The set of their jaws and the furrow of their brows proved their determination not to let Chris and the football team trample them.

Declan had a little bit of a grudging respect for the team at their show of courage. Too bad they would be stomped on shortly.

"Fine," Justin said definitively, "what do you suggest?"

"A contest. A show of strength and endurance. One of your guys against one of mine. Opposite team picks the player," Chris continued, and Declan almost closed his eyes at the train wreck he saw coming. That Justin guy had no idea what he'd just agreed to.

"Okay, what's the contest?"

"How about who can bench press the most?" Chris smirked.

"You know we can't touch the equipment without a supervisor in the room," Cameron said. Declan had to smile; of course, they would know they couldn't compete against a football player in a strength contest.

Justin rolled his eyes at Chris's suggestion. "How about how long they do a handstand?" he said tossing back an equally ridiculous idea.

This led to both team captains glaring at each other for several long seconds. Eric finally cut in with an alternative.

"How about push-ups? Both teams do them for conditioning, so it should be equal, right?"

"Yeah, sure." Chris grinned as he nodded his agreement.

Justin took a moment longer, but he finally nodded too.

"Fine, we'll let you pick first," Chris waved his arms wide at the rest of us.

"Luke, what do you think?" Justin leaned in to ask the red-head next to him.

"Him." Luke pointed at Eric. "He's been rather cocky about it all. It'd be nice to see him go down."

The team snickered as Eric glared at the taunt.

"Cam?" Justin turned to the muddy-haired guy on his left.

"Hmmm, I think... him. The big guy's been quietly glaring at us from the back there."

Declan glared as the little bastard pointed at him. He hadn't been 'glaring'. He'd just thought the whole thing was ridiculous. Whatever. He could do as many push-ups as anyone else on the team, usually more than most of them actually, especially Eric. He caught Chris smirking at him, knowing that was exactly what he was thinking as well.

"Okay, Declan, it is," Chris jumped in, clapping his hands together.

"Wait—"

"Nope, time's running out. Let's go. We pick... him." Chris pointed off to the side at the teen on the floor. The small, dark-haired guy stretching off to the side had been pointedly ignoring the whole showdown.

Justin glanced over at his teammate, before turning a glare on Chris. "He's new to the team..."

"So? He's still part of your team. We picked, that was the deal." Chris sounded even more smug than usual.

So it was odd when Justin smiled, casting a glance at his teammates who were now grinning as well.

Oh, fuck, this didn't look good. Declan turned back to the smaller teen. He didn't look any different than the rest of the gymnastics boys, smaller maybe, but he certainly didn't seem to be packing more muscles under those baggy sweats and t-shirt.

"Bailey!" Justin called. "Hey, buddy, come on over here for a minute."

The ebony-haired teen finally looked up, climbing gracefully to his feet. When he quietly stepped up next to Justin, eyeing the football team with merely a dismissive glance, Declan noticed he really was the smallest of the gymnasts. While Justin was certainly the tallest, this Bailey kid was about five inches shorter than the captain.

Justin looked like he was going to wrap an arm around his teammate's shoulders, but the kid shifted position and Justin only patted his back once. "Bailey, we need you to do a few pushups, so we can all get back to practice in peace, okay?"

The teen bit his lip as he glanced back at Chris looming over him through his longish bangs, but he just shrugged and nodded.

Bailey's teammates chuckled at his bored tone and single-minded focus on getting back to practice. They all watched in surprise as Bailey dropped down to a clear spot on the mat, pulling himself into plank position, and started his first push up.

"Wait!" Justin yelled, pointing at Chris then at Declan. "Get into position."

Chris jerked his chin at Declan to indicate for him to go on. Declan scanned the lithe body next to him as he settled into a plank position as well. The t-shirt hung in a huge gap to the floor, revealing the skinny, flat abs of the teen. Damn this was going to be too easy.

"Okay, go."

Bailey and Declan both lowered to the floor and pushed back up easily, the teams around them counting loudly.

"One... two... three..."

Declan allowed his muscle memory to take over, smoothly lowering and lifting his body in a comfortable cadence. His mind focused on breathing—in and out...

"...thirty-three..."

He took a peek at the teen next to him. The Bailey kid was just as focused and was still keeping pace with him. Hmmm... not bad... didn't think he'd last even that long.

"... forty-nine..."

Declan felt the sweat start to drip off his forehead, some drops slipping down his nose and chin and creating small puddles on the mat under him.

"...seventy-two..."

He huffed out his breaths now on the press up. His bulging arms were beginning to burn.

"...ninety-six..."

"What's going on?" Declan heard new voices floating in around his team's murmurings.

"The football team challenged the gymnastics team to a push-up contest." Declan couldn't afford to break his concentration, but it sounded like some guys he knew from the hockey and basketball teams were hanging around.

"... one-oh-two..."

Fuck. Declan grimaced at he felt his arms start to quiver. A quick glance to his left told him Bailey was still keeping up. What the—? Couldn't the guy just fucking quit now?

"...one-thirteen..."

No fucking way could he go much longer. How the hell was this little bastard still going? On those skinny ass arms?

But there was no way he could quit. He would never hear the end of if it he did.

"What the hell is going on here? Why are you all just standing around instead of practicing in the gym?" a deep voice yelled from outside in the hall.

"Oh, shit, it's Coach!" Several boys jumped, scurrying to the side to avoid his wrath.

"Come on, get moving!"

"Oh, hey, Coach," he heard Chris greet their mentor.

"Justin," another adult male intruded on their little contest, "what's going on?"

Oh, thank God it was over. Declan collapsed to the ground, relieved.

"Our teams were just having a little contest is all. Right, Justin?" Chris answered for him.

"And it looks like Bailey won," Justin announced triumphantly.

What? Declan rolled over to see the piss-ant gymnast still doing push-ups. Fuck. Declan scanned his teammates before his eyes landed on his coach.

"McIntyre!" the gymnastics coach called, "get up, son. This nonsense is over."

Declan watched as Bailey dropped to all fours before sitting back on his heels. He waiting for the smug smile of victory from the other teen, but one never appeared. Bailey just looked up at his coach with those same bored eyes.

"And where the hell is Rodney?" the gymnastics coach asked.

"He had to take an emergency phone call," Justin explained. "We were just waiting here, stretching, until he came back. But then they showed up—"

"Vasser!" Chris jerked when the football coach snapped his name. "Why the hell is the team not practicing drills in Gym 2 like I told you to do?"

"Uhhh, we thought we could do some weight training," Chris stammered, his face flushed bright red at being called out in front of everyone.

"You know our time slots, and this isn't one of them," Coach Reed growled. "Now, it looks like the rest of the team has to catch up to the conditioning that Declan has done without you. What was that... a hundred and twenty?"

Mr. Reed was looking at the gymnastics' coach for confirmation, both men nodding in agreement.

"Sounds about right," Coach Richards said, crossing his arms as he eyed his own team.

"Let's go, boys," Reed ordered the football team out of the room, most of them grumbling and shooting glares back at the gymnastics team, especially Bailey.

Footsteps thundered down the hall, and Rodney rushed back in through the retreating football team. "What's going on?" He frowned at the extra people.

"Apparently, there was debate over who's turn it was to use the room," Coach Richards said darkly.

"Damn." Poor Rodney looked a little pale. "Sorry about that. I should have kicked them out instead of letting them use the corner to stretch. I didn't think it would take that long."

"Yeah, you should have," Richards agreed. Declan felt a little sorry for getting the guy in trouble. Rodney was just working at Heritage part time as he took a year off college to save up.

"Well, Justin, Cam, Luke, Matteo, Owen," Declan heard Coach Richards begin as he started to crawl up from the floor, "You all want to tell me why Bailey here is the one doing a hundred plus push-ups while you all are standing around?"

"Coach, they started it," Justin explained. "They barreled in here demanding we leave, thinking they owned everything. We just stood up for ourselves."

Declan noticed the other boys nodding their agreement. When Richards looked over at him, Declan couldn't help but nod as well before he slunk towards the door.

"I see, so you let your brand new teammate defend your honor?"

Declan almost laughed. It did sound like a rather lame thing to do.

"I didn't mind."

Declan turned at the voice. Bailey.

"Coach, you know Bailey is the best of all of us; he can do a hundred push-ups in his sleep," Justin said.

What the fuck? Declan gaped at the other teen.

Justin was trying not to smile, especially in front of his coach. Hell, they'd been suckered. Justin knew exactly which team member Chris would pick, because Bailey looked the weakest. But apparently that lean body was nothing but muscle.

"Well, looks like you boys have some catching up to do."

Declan snickered as he ducked out of the weight room behind the rest of his team. At least, the flyboys were in trouble too.

Unfortunately, as he caught Chris's eye, it didn't look like Chris was going to let the slight against the team slide either.