Luminosity - The Beginning - 2. Chapter 2

**
Tomas spoke, "Let yourself go. I am here if you get into trouble". So he did. It was easy. He realized that the trees and shrubs were slightly blurred if he looked to the sides. He thought, 'Can I be running that fast?'. Henry had dropped Tomas, and he was on his own. He began to feel nervous, fearing a trip or slip at one of the turns. Henry was sure he couldn't control a fall at this speed and realized he didn't know how to slow down safely. He began to wobble; he would fall and probably kill himself. Just as he began to tumble, he felt something engulf his body and smoothly slow him down until he found himself standing in the middle of the trail, staring at Tomas.

"That was excellent. It will become more comfortable in time."

Henry was stunned. After several seconds, He exclaimed," What do you mean? What just happened!"

Tomas explained," You are going through a change, and I am here to help you with the transition."
**
Henry was confused and thought, 'Who is this boy standing in front of me? What kind of transition is he telling me I'm going through? Am I some kind of freak? No one asked me if I wanted to change.'

"Leave me alone," Henry shouted. "I didn't ask for your help, and I don't want to change."

Tomas' expression saddened. After a minute, he replied, "You're going to change whether I'm here to help you or not. It never goes well for solo off-plainers. You will need help."

Henry began to panic. Tomas' words no longer made sense to Him. "I don't want anyone's help!"

After a pause, Tomas disconsolately replied, "I'll leave you alone if that's what you really want?"

"It is what I want. Just leave me alone."

Tomas slowly turned around and followed the trail back the way they had come.

Henry paused, turned, and then inexplicably began to follow Tomas down the trail, maintaining a safe distance. After several yards, Henry observed Tomas' body begin to glow, faintly at first but rapidly gaining in intensity until Henry shielded his eyes from the brightness of the light. A tangible burst of illumination followed by a rush of wind knocked Henry backward. As he regained his balance and his eyes adjusted to ordinary light, he discovered Tomas was gone.

Henry stood in amazement, staring down the empty trail at the trees and shrubs in the distance. Tomas' sudden disappearance was proof that something incomprehensible was happening, and Henry was part of it. He felt a strange hollowness, regret, and a sense of foreboding. This boy, for whatever reason, had offered to help him with a transition, and Henry had rejected him. He didn't know what was happening to him, but he now knew he was changing, and he did need help, and the only person who could help him was gone.

Henry decided to find Tomas and do whatever he could to regain Tomas' trust.

Finding himself only a mile and a half from the trailhead near the school campus, he walked to his dorm on wobbly legs, quickly showered, and rushed to the dining hall. He sat at his regular table with the other unpopular kids and intently watched the entrance to the building in hopes of seeing Tomas' arrival. The two-hour dinner period passed with no appearance. He still didn't know if Tomas was a boarding or a day student. The only people who seemed to know him well were the 'cool kids, and as uncomfortable as it was for him, he decided to approach one of the 'cool kids' and ask. Jake Packard was one of the 'cool kids' and was in Henry's History class.

Catching Jake at the door, Henry steeled himself for a snooty rebuke and asked, "I'm trying to find Tomas. Do you know where he is?"

"Haven't seen him since fourth period Algebra. Maybe he's back at the dorm. I'm heading that way if you want to come along". Henry observed that Jake seemed pretty relaxed.

"You and Tomas are on the cross-country team, aren't you?" asked Jake.

"Yeah, how do you know that?"

"Tomas has mentioned you a few times. He says you're a really good runner. I know we have History together, but I'm surprised I haven't seen you around more."

Henry was surprised that Tomas had mentioned him to any of the 'cool kids'. "We've only been on a couple of runs together, but they've been good workouts," replied Henry.

Arriving at the dorm, Jake and Henry proceeded to the second floor. Walking down the hallway, they passed another of the 'cool kids,' Jamie Thiele. As they passed, Jamie said, "Hey Jake, hey Henry." Jake and Henry returned the greeting. Henry was taken aback. He was surprised any of these guys knew his name. Maybe not all the 'cool kids' were as big of dicks as he thought.

"This is my room. Tomas is two doors down. After you're done, why don't you and Tomas come by and hang out for a while? "Besides," Jake joked, "I have a question about tomorrow's History assignment. My notes are terrible, and I have no idea what Dearborn is lecturing about most of the time."

"OK, I'll check on Tomas."

Henry found himself nervously standing in front of Tomas' door. 'What would he say to him? Should he act like nothing had happened or immediately fall on his knees and beg for forgiveness?' He decided something in between would probably be best.

He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer. Henry, apprehensively, turned the knob of the door. It was unlocked. The door swung open, and Henry timidly walked in, and as he somehow expected, the room was empty. There were no sheets on the bed, clothes in the closet, or towels in the bathroom. Henry's heart sank. No one lived here. Tomas was truly gone.

Returning to Josh's room, Henry said, "His room is empty. He's left the school."

Josh could tell that Henry was upset. He didn't know the relationship between the two boys, but he wanted to help if he could.

"That's strange. Maybe Tomas went home", said Josh.

Henry's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Do you know where he lives?"

"I think he's from SoCal, but I don't know why I think that. He doesn't talk about his family or friends."

"I need to find him. What should I do?"

"I don't know," replied Jake. "Maybe the admin office can give you his contact information."

The following day, Henry skipped breakfast and stationed himself in front of the Admin Building, intending to intercept the dean of admissions when she arrived that morning.

Once she arrived, she invited him into her office and logged into the administration database.

"Sorry, Henry, Tomas' contact information is marked confidential, and I can't share it with you," said Ms. Crawford.

Seeing his disappointment, she added, "I can tell you this. He was recommended to the school by a wealthy alumnus. We don't know a lot about him. He didn't have any academic records or even previous school records. We tested him, and his results were amazing. The aptitude tests weren't advanced enough to capture his true potential. Sorry, that's all I can tell you."

Dejected, Henry left the Administration Building and returned to his dorm room to sulk.

He stopped going to cross-country practice and only attended mandatory classes. A weekly physical education class was required at the school. It wasn't serious or at all rigorous. Most kids didn't need to return to their room for a shower. After a week, Coach O'Brien caught Henry after gym class.

"Adams, I haven't seen you at cross-country practice this week."

"I should have told you, Coach, that I've decided to quit the team."

"I know I was a little rough on you, but I wanted to let you know that I've been watching you, and I know you have potential. I rechecked your running log, and despite the crazy times you've logged recently, you're progression this term is impressive. I shouldn't have blamed you for a stupid watch fuck-up. I want to bump you up to the 'A' squad if you want to try it again."

"I'll think about coach," replied Henry. He missed his runs and felt a growing compulsion to get out on the trails. The only problem was he was afraid he might 'let himself go' again, and this time, he wouldn't have someone to get him out of trouble. He wondered if he let the rest of the 'A' group pace him, maybe he could control his urge to…to….to what? Go fast? Henry knew it was more than that.

He thought about it over the weekend. Monday morning after classes, he found himself at the oval track with the rest of the cross-country team, preparing for the afternoon run. The coach seemed genuinely happy to see him.

'A squads'! You're running the 'Scrub Trail' today. Adams is running with you", said Coach O'Brien.

The 'A Squad' was made up of mostly juniors and seniors. These boys were two or three years older than Henry and made joking, but still biting cracks like "You need help tying your shoes?; tighten your jock strap kid, you're running with the big boys today" and "Should we let your mom know where to pick you up when it's nap time."

Henry tried not to let it bother him.

The 'A Squad' started the run. Henry took a position in the back of the pack. Even in the warm-up, they were faster than the 'C's. At first, Henry enjoyed the moderately slow pace but soon wondered when they would pick it up and start the workout. After a few miles, he realized this was the workout pace. Although disappointed, he was happy to be outside and breathe the fresh air. The sun felt particularly good on his skin. Observing the older boys, he realized they were all breathing hard, with some gasping for air. He felt nothing. He could just as well be back at the dorm having a snooze. Henry was amazed to see some boys fall off the pace and drop from the main pack to form one of their own further back. As they fell behind, some of them would give him dirty looks. He realized that the team was pushing itself way beyond normal workout pace to keep up … with him. This time, it was Henry who 'wasn't even trying.'

At this point, only two other boys were in the main pack, and they were failing fast. Henry realized this wasn't working for anyone. He was tempted to pick up the pace and lose the remaining teammates. It would be so easy. He would be by them and out of sight before they realized he was gone if he wanted to. But he knew he'd have difficulty explaining his rapid acceleration to his teammates and the coach. He had already drawn too much attention to himself.

Henry slowed and stopped by the side of the trail, bending over and pretending he was out of breath and exhausted.

Within a minute, the rest of the 'A squad', caught up and uttered not-so-friendly jibes as they passed him. He didn't blame them. He'd unintentionally ruined the workout for everyone, including himself.

Henry had a dilemma. He was five miles from the school. Walking would take him close to an hour and a half to return. Running would take less than half that time … considerably less if he 'let himself go.' The thought of it made him shiver. He told himself he could slowly jog to the dorm.

He took off at an overly controlled slow jog. He thought to himself, 'boring but safe.' Checking his watch, he realized with a shock he was running a 5:39 pace. At this rate, he'd catch up with the 'A squad' in no time. Reducing his speed was a serious chore. His body wanted, needed to go faster. It wasn't easy to control himself. Fortunately, he was approaching the end of the trail. The 'A squad' was only ten yards ahead of him. He slowed to a stop and stepped off the trail and into the cover of the trees. After a few minutes, he cautiously approached the trailhead and peered down to the oval track.

The 'B' and 'C' squads had run the shorter 'Forest Loop' and joined the 'A squad' and the coach by the bleachers. Henry joined them as inconspicuously as he could. He received a couple of dirty looks from teammates, but they generally ignored him as usual.

Showering back at the dorm, he reflected on the run. He was pretty sure that his pacing plan wasn't going to work. It seemed impossible for him to maintain a speed as slow as the 'A squad' workout pace, but what was the alternative? He knew the answer, but it scared him. God, he wished Tomas was here to guide him!

Henry apprehensively geared up the next afternoon and headed to the oval for practice. A few teammates greeted him, probably thinking he'd learned his lesson the day before. He had learned a lesson. He decided to risk it and revert to his 'C squad' strategy by dropping off the back of the pack and running his own route. He prayed he could maintain a reasonably slow tempo.

Coach O'Brien seemed to know something had happened the previous day. He called Henry over out of earshot of the rest of the team. "Adams, I checked your running log from yesterday. You were running a little hot and ran most of the boys into the ground until you crashed out. You need to work a little on judging your exertion. Still, the team was getting a little complacent, and it was about time something the fuck, shook them up." Thinking aloud, the coach added, "funny thing is … your heart rate seemed to slow the faster you ran. I've never seen a watch screw up like that before. Anyway, good job yesterday. Just try to control things on these workouts. The first meet is in a couple of weeks, and you can blow yourself up then."

The 'A squad was assigned the 'Double Forest Loop Trail.' It was the same as the flat four-mile Forest Loop' only run twice. Many of the boys moaned objections, probably due to tired, sore muscles from the day before. Coach O'Brien was no pushover, being from 'the no pain, no gain' school of athletics achievement.

Off they went, Henry trailing the pack by five to ten yards. Reaching the trailhead leading to the 'ridge trail', Henry apprehensively began his solitary run.

He consciously changed his running mantra from 'enjoy the run' to 'control the run.'

'Control the run, control the run,' he knew his pace was increasing as though it had a life of its own. As hard as he tried, he couldn't 'control the run.' Realizing the sharp switchbacks of the 'Ridge Trail' was dangerous for him at this speed, he took the gentle downhill trail through the state park to the ocean he and Tomas had run together over a week earlier. He kept hoping to hear the light footfalls of Tomas catching up with him from behind, but it wasn't to be. He was alone.

'Control the run, control the run,' but it felt so good to run fast. Henry's body needed to go fast.

Faster and faster.

It felt better than sex. Of course, other than jerking off, he'd never had sex, but as he ran, he felt a similar build-up to … not an orgasm … but some sort of climax.

Faster and faster and faster and faster … it felt so good … faster and faster and faster.

Faster, faster, faster … something was happening to him.

Fast, fast, fast!!!