Rich Boy: Growing Pains - 20. Chapter 20

The locker room brought back so many memories as its distinctive smell hit Worthington's nostrils. This was a fairly new school, but even in the few years it had been in existence, the locker room still smelled of sweat, mustiness, and all those other smells that were associated with active guys his age and younger. It was the last period of the day; his Sports P.E. class and Worthington didn't want to be there at all.

Josh and Tom were there already, and they had made room for him on one of the benches for the annual ritual of the coaches assigning lockers. Both of them were smiling, but there was a hint of sadness to all of them as they too remembered the person that wasn't there this year. Jeremy had been a friend to all of them, as well as Worthington's lover for several months, and they missed him – albeit not as much as Worthington did.

"Dude, glad you changed your mind," Josh said as Worthington sat down between them.

"I haven't," Worthington said softly. "Coach Vanderbilt convinced Mrs. Warren not to change my schedule, but I'm going to talk to him."

"They're right, you know," Tom said gently. "He'd not want you to quit wrestling just because he's…"

Wherever Tom was going with that statement, Worthington lost track of it as someone entered the gym. Neither of them showed any reaction, but a quick check with his mage senses showed why they had not noticed him earlier. Worthington had to blink twice after looking with mage sight at the young man that had walked into the gym, and interrupted Tom who was still talking about why he should join the wrestling team.

"Who is that?" Worthington asked sharply.

"Who?" Tom asked while Josh followed Worthington's gaze. The guy was about six foot even, with fairly narrow shoulders. He had on a tight green t-shirt that said "West Texas Baseball," and wore fairly tight-fitting jeans that showed he had a decent build on him. His brown hair was cut short, although not as short as their crew cuts, and he had soft, wavy bangs over nearly flawless skin, green eyes, and a narrow nose with just the slightest uplift at the end. The mouth was just beautiful too, but none of those physical features were what had grabbed Worthington's attention.

The stranger's body practically sang of mage potential that rivaled even Worthington's power. He dwarfed Colin's potential, and was maybe just a hair weaker than Worthington and Jamie, and might even match them or possibly exceed them, as scary as the thought was at the moment. Around him, Worthington could hear the gym going quiet as most of the sports team members in the gym turned to look at the stranger in their midst.

With that much raw, obviously untrained power, Worthington was not the slightest bit surprised that he was attracting that much attention. His shields were what you might expect from someone that powerful but untrained, and flared as the guy noticed everyone looking at him, and he grew nervous. Worthington could see even Josh and Tom start to look edgy, and they were shielded thanks to the magic anklets Worthington had made and given to each member of the MR.

"Oh, that's Kyle Norton," Josh said very quietly as a very slight buzz resumed in the locker room. Worthington kept his eye on Kyle as the football coach directed him to Coach Vanderbilt. That figured. Well, it looked like he was going to be wrestling after all.

"What do you know about him?" Worthington asked sharply.

"Caught your eye, did he?" Josh laughed softly. "Figured he might. He was in my last period class. From what I gather he just showed up in town a couple of days ago. The rumor mill hasn't really started on him yet, so there's not much I know. He's good looking though, and seems to draw attention no matter where he goes."

"Well duh." Worthington snorted softly as the coaches began to call out names for locker assignments. "He's a mage, and untrained."

"Why didn't we detect him?" Josh asked with a frown as he reached down like he was checking to make sure his anklet was there.

"One, he's only been here for a few days." Worthington sighed. "Two, he's untrained, so you wouldn't have really felt him use magic unless it was spontaneous. In a month and a half or so, you'd feel him because of the tag the wards place on all mages."

"Oh," Tom said as Coach Vanderbilt called Worthington's name. He got up and made his way over to the former Olympic wrestler, who had the new guy standing next to him. This close it was obvious how strong the guy was, and his physical looks were even better. Despite the grief he still carried for Jeremy, Worthington knew this guy was stirring his interests, at least his carnal ones.

"Sinclair, this here is Norton, first name Kyle," Vanderbilt said gruffly, and the guy held out his hand while gracing Worthington with a smile that could melt hearts.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The guy said in a Texas twang that only made his voice more perfect. He could probably sing too, with a voice like that.

"Likewise," Worthington said as he shook the firm grip twice and they dropped their hands.

"Sinclair, Norton here says he's a decent wrestler." Vanderbilt continued.

"I like wrestling, but I'm best at baseball." Kyle Norton said with that voice that was far too pleasurable for Worthington's comfort. "I'll be on this school's team, but during the off-season, I like to wrestle too. Coach here says your wrestling team did fairly well last year."

"We did, but we lost one of our better wrestlers in a car accident over the summer," Vanderbilt said without looking at Worthington who flinched. "Sinclair here was his best friend."

"Ah'm sorry for your loss," Kyle said with a much thicker Texas accent, and there was a flare of his magic with grief buried deep inside that almost brought tears to Worthington's eyes. The ungifted felt it too because the coach looked really sad before shaking it off. This guy was really untrained, and would quickly become a danger to everyone around him.

"Thank you," Worthington said gently, wondering what was behind the grief the guy seemed to get under a rough control a moment later. Did he even realize he was a mage?

"Norton, I was hoping you and Sinclair could work together this year," Vanderbilt said. "I know baseball is your main sport, but if you're good enough, we might have a shot at the championship again this year."

"We'll do our best, coach," Worthington said, and the man smiled at him.

"Let me get you two lockers," Vanderbilt said and looked down his clipboard, reading out locker numbers and giving them lockers that were right next to each other.

"C'mon, they're over here," Worthington said to his new teammate and led the way over to their lockers, which were actually around the corner and slightly apart from the rest of the wrestlers. Worthington frowned because this was the area normally used for the baseball team players next semester, so Worthington figured that was why they were there, away from the rest of the team members. At least this was going to give him a good opportunity.

"I appreciate you helping show me some tricks." Kyle Norton said with a smile as they both worked their lockers opened. "As I said, I can throw a mean curveball, but I'm not the best at wrestling. It's fun though. I like pittin' myself against another guy, knowing the best man is gonna win."

"We need to talk," Worthington said flatly and ignored the slight look of fear on the guy's handsome face as Worthington closed his eyes briefly and set a warn-off ward on their section of lockers. That would keep them from being interrupted. When he opened his eyes, the guy was frowning.

"That's weird," Kyle said. "It felt like something just happened…"

"I just set up a warn-off to keep us from being interrupted," Worthington explained.

"What?" He asked with a confused expression, and Worthington sighed while lifting his hand and forming a ball of light as green as Kyle's shirt in his hand.

"Didn't you hear a voice when you got into town telling you about the Mage Council and giving you the number to call?" Worthington asked with exasperation.

"Shit." Kyle's face was pasty white as he stared at the green light in Worthington's hand, and his body was shaking as his mind flared with several emotions. Worthington frowned and clamped a shield down over the guy's mind.

"You need to watch that," Worthington said sharply.

"Oh, Christ!" The handsome brown-haired young man groaned as he sank to the bench in front of the row of lockers, still staring at the ball of green light in Worthington's hand.

"Calm down," Worthington said softly as he banished the light and sat down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulders. "My god, with a gift like yours, you must have thought you were going crazy."

"You mean I'm not?" That was half-laugh, half-snort and set off a fit of coughing. "What's your name? I mean your first name."

"I'm Worthington," He answered the question with a smile and a gentle squeeze of Kyle's shoulder. "To answer your next couple of questions, yes magic really does exist. That is why you've probably been feeling people's emotions, hearing their thoughts, and maybe having unexplainable things happening around you."

"Oh God no," Kyle moaned, his elbows resting on his knees and his face buried in his hands as his shoulders shook with silent sobs. "I did it, didn't I?"

"What?" Worthington asked. "I could go in your mind and find out, but it'd be painful for you at this point, and dangerous for me. You're going to have to tell me until I've had time to get you trained on the basics."

"My parents, my little sister, I killed them." Kyle sobbed, and Worthington instinctively pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'm sure it was an accident," Worthington said gently. "I've barely met you, and I know you're a good guy who wouldn't have done it on purpose. It's going to be okay now."

"No, you don't understand." Kyle sobbed as his arms reached out and he tried to push Worthington away. Power slammed against the shield Worthington had placed over him, and it nearly failed, but the power dwindled. "Fuck, I almost did it again, didn't I? But you stopped me. I could feel it; something around me."

"It's a shield," Worthington said softly. "What happened that has you so upset?"

"I killed them," Kyle said as he sank against Worthington's chest again. "I killed them, my own blood. They're all dead because of me."

"Kyle, you need to calm down," Worthington said gently. "I'm going to do something to get you through the rest of class, and then we're going to go to my house where we can talk a lot more. You're going to feel me touching your mind, feel me inside of you for a moment. It's only going to be a moment. Don't push me out. You're very strong, and frankly, I'm not in the best of shape at the moment. You could hurt me if you pushed me out without any training."

"What are you going to do?" Kyle gulped nervously.

"I'm going to set some basic level controls on you," Worthington said. "Until you learn to do it yourself, it's going to let me tamp down your powers, help you set up some shields, so you're not reading people's thoughts and emotions, or making them feel whatever strong emotions are going through you at the moment."

"Can you just get rid of it for me?" Kyle asked in a miserable tone. "It's a curse, of the devil."

"No," Worthington said softly. "I couldn't do that here, and it takes a lot of preparation to do something like that. If you still want it after we've had a chance to talk and get to know each other better, we'll talk about it and the dangers involved."

"Okay," Kyle said, and Worthington nodded before carefully checking his own shields. Obviously the guy was emotionally unstable, and Worthington didn't want any of his own nightmares leaking into Kyle. They had enough problems to deal with, and while he checked his own shields, he took the purely carnal attraction he was feeling for Kyle and pushed them away. Those types of thoughts would only make this a lot more difficult. When he was ready, he slipped gently into the wild maelstrom that was Kyle's mind. Images flashed in front of him, and if what he saw and felt there were accurate, he was able to frame a reasonable impression of what had happened.

Gently he wrapped some basic controls around Kyle's mind, not taking advantage of this the way a Dark mage might. Someone of this much power would be a gold mine for a Dark mage, and they would seek to establish permanent control. At one time, Worthington might have done that too, but since then he'd come to appreciate some aspects of the Light, and this was one of them. As powerful a tool Kyle might have made, he'd be more powerful of an ally, no matter what road he walked. Shields sprang up at his touch, and he was forced gently from Kyle's mind by his own creations.

"There," Worthington said with a sigh as he felt a wave of dizziness come over him at the exertion of his magic. The combination of ward, shield and now this was almost too much for him in his weakened state, and he found he was leaning on Kyle instead of comforting him.

"Are you okay?" Kyle actually sounded concerned. "I feel… I feel better than I have since it happened."

"That's because at the moment you have a wall between yourself and people around you," Worthington said. "Coming here today was probably hell on you like you were being pushed at from all sides."

"It was," Kyle said with a sigh. "Are you okay though?"

"I'm still recovering from… well, I think we'll save that for later," Worthington said gently. No, telling the guy about demons right off the bat would only scare him worse.

"My Aunt and Uncle expect me home right after school." He said with a frown. "My cousin Ted, well he's not the nicest of guys, and he's a bit put out with having to share his room with me, so he's not my biggest fan right now. I'm supposed to ride home with him."

"Don't worry about that." Worthington smiled at him. "Let's go make sure Coach doesn't send someone looking for us, and then after class, we'll take care of your cousin and his parents."

"What do you mean take care of them?" Kyle's voice was sharp and edgy.

"Nothing that bad," Worthington said with a tired smile. "I'm just going to convince them that you're a good kid who doesn't need to be watched so closely as long as you get home at certain times and stuff like that."

"Oh," Kyle said with a frown. "You can do that?"

"Yes, I can," Worthington said.

"But is it right?" Kyle asked, and Worthington laughed.

"If you only knew how valid that question is right now," Worthington smiled. "Well, you will before too much longer. C'mon, let's go join the others for coach's little ‘first of the year' speech."

"Okay," Kyle nodded, and they headed back over to where the rest of the team was gathered around the coach for his usual speech. Worthington recognized Ted, the cousin almost immediately and frowned at the look the guy shot the two of them. After class was over, Ted went over to his cousin and leered at him.

"You better watch out, cuz." Ted sneered. "This guy's last boyfriend hasn't even been buried for more than a couple of months, and it looks like he's got his eyes set on you."

"What are y'all talking about?" Kyle asked with wide eyes.

"If I'd known coach was going to pair you up with him, I'd have warned you earlier." Ted sneered at Worthington. "This fag here is that fucking rich boy I told you about, the one that killed his parents just like you did. Hell, what am I thinking? You two probably fit together…"

"That's enough of that Ted," Worthington said softly, exerting his mind and stopping the boy from going any further with his hateful spiel. What he saw in there confirmed some of his fleeting impressions.

"What does he mean you killed your parents too?" Kyle's voice was almost inaudible, and Worthington sighed softly.

"I didn't kill them," Worthington said. "That's just the rumor. Now, Ted here is going to take you home, and not say another word for a little while. I've got the address from his mind so I'll be there in about a half-hour. Wait for me, and above all try to stay calm. The controls I put in you aren't strong enough if you really get upset."

"Okay," Kyle said and frowned at his cousin. "He's okay, right? I mean, whatever you did, it's not going to hurt him permanently, right?"

"He'll be fine, although he's a fucking jerk," Worthington said as he remembered the incident from last school year. No, he didn't like this jerk.

"Yo, boss man," Tom said as he walked up with Josh. Worthington felt a flicker of annoyance at the term. Dechaun, the twelve-year-old camper had called him that over the summer. How did Tom know about it? "What's up?"

"Is everything okay?" Josh asked in a much more reserved tone, looking at Kyle.

"Kyle, this is Josh Adams and Tom Reynolds, my friends," Worthington introduced them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Kyle said with polite manners, and then he frowned at Worthington. "Are they…"

"No, they're not mages, but they know about mages and about me," Worthington said while Josh and Tom looked at him with surprise, and then looked at Ted nervously. The junior was frowning while looking at his fingernails, paying no attention to the conversation and not hearing a word. "Don't worry about Ted; he's under control at the moment. Kyle here is a very strong, and absolutely untrained mage."

"Jeez, boss man, you sure do know how to find them," Tom laughed softly. "It's like they're attracted to you like a moth to the flame or something."

"Or you have unusual luck," Josh said more stoically. "What are you going to do?"

"I need to visit Kyle's house and take care of a few things there before he joins us at the house," Worthington said.

"Maybe you should talk with Jamie first," Josh advised. "He told us you still weren't fully recovered from that fight, and we've seen the scars on you."

"I can manage this," Worthington said as he felt a flash of anger and suffered a curious look from Kyle.

"Fight?" Kyle asked with a slow drawl.

"The boss man took out a whole nest of demons up north of here a couple of weeks ago," Tom said proudly. "He and a bunch of government guys went in there and had this big old brawl. Most of the soldiers didn't make it out alive, and neither did most of the mages that went with them, but they got the Demon Lord that was making all the fuss. I heard that it was really impressive, considering that they only had about twenty men and they faced at least three times that number of demons. My boyfriend said that wasn't even done back in the Demon Wars centuries ago."

"Your boyfriend?" Kyle gasped with wide eyes.

"You got a problem with that?" Tom snapped while Worthington closed his eyes briefly at the jumble of information that had come tumbling out of Tom. This was the downside to the limited nature of controls. He knew Kyle was a mage, and he knew that Ted was under control, so he could talk freely, and he did.

"Um, I guess not if you're all so fine with it," Kyle said with a suspicious look. "I mean, I guess y'all are just more liberal out here, but back home, a guy like you wouldn't dream of being honest about that stuff."

"Yeah, well, anyone gives me crap about it. I've got a lot of friends." Tom snapped.

"Okay," Kyle said with a slight nod, and then he frowned. "Demons?"

"There's a lot for us to talk about, Kyle," Worthington said with a sigh and a sharp look at Tom. "Yes, demons are as real as the magic we both possess. I was injured in the fight and still haven't fully recovered, but I am doing a lot better."

"Not fully recovered," Josh snorted. "He'd have you believe it was just a scratch, but you can see the top of the scar just below his neck. It runs all the way down to his pubic hair, and you can see the scratches on his arms. There are more on his legs too. The Demon Lord gave him those to remember him by, but he gave the Demon Lord more than he could digest and it killed the bastard."

"Christ on a stick, this is all a bit much," Kyle shook his head, and Worthington gave him a look of sympathy.

"I was going to wait until I tried to explain a few things to you," Worthington said with a gentle smile. "Why don't you take Ted and walk him out to his car. As soon as you get there, he'll kind of wake up, and you can head home with him. We'll be by in a bit, and then you can come to our house where we can talk and start working on your training."

"You said you could get rid of this…" Kyle said.

"You have to get some basic training first, and then we'll look at that possibility," Worthington frowned. "For now, just work with me, please. I promise I'll do right by you."

"You can trust his promises," Tom added in, and Worthington glared at him until he blushed. "Well, you can!"

"Okay," Kyle agreed. "I'll see you later, then."

"Tom, you need to curb your enthusiasm, and I need to tell Brandon not to tell you every god damn thing," Worthington snarled at his friend, who didn't look in the least bit repentant.

"Actually, Jamie told most of the MR that stuff," Josh said with a shrug. "You got a problem with us knowing, take it up with him. We're supposed to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't overdo things before you're fully recovered."

"Fine," Worthington said and then sighed. "Let's go find Jamie."

"He'll be at the bikes with everyone else," Josh said. "Most of the guys are waiting, but I've got practice, and so does Tom."

"Oh yeah, well you better get going," Worthington said and then smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, boss man," Tom said with a smile as he headed for the football area of the locker room. They were probably already late for practice but didn't seem to mind.

Who was that guy? Jamie asked mentally as soon as he joined up with the MR gang as they were hanging out near their bikes. He responded to a few of them verbally while filling Jamie in on everything. Go home, get some rest. I'll head to the guy's house and take care of his relatives for you, and bring him home. I think you'll need to be the one to deal with him from what you've seen so far. It sounds like he might have killed his parents for real, and you're better equipped to help him deal with that, plus you've already formed some sort of connection. He is cute.

I'm not even going there, bro. Worthington replied, knowing it was useless to argue with him about the trip to Kyle's house.

You're still recovering. Jamie said firmly and then turned to say something to one of the riders, who nodded and gave Worthington a firm look. Damn it! They were supposed to be his, but they listened to his brother more than him sometimes!

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't have gone off in a different direction as the riders moved around him while they rode towards the house at the top of the hill. Rob, with Colin on the back of his bike, took off up the hill, heading for Clairville. They had a lesson today with Matt Wilson and would come back down the mountain in the morning after spending the night there. When they pulled up in front of his house, the riders made a gap for him to head up to the garage that was already opening its door for him.

This house was almost sentient at times, with all the wards Jamie and he had put on it over the time it was being built. They would find lights going on or off automatically as they moved through the house, and other things, like the garage door opening when they arrived home. The rest of the riders managed to park their bikes in the driveway or along the side of the street, taking off their helmets in the late afternoon heat and smiling at Worthington.

"You guys are welcome to come inside, and enjoy the pool," Worthington said with a sigh.

"Thanks, boss man," Jerry, the shorter Chinese veteran of the fight with the demons in the trailer park said with a smile. He had been the one impersonating Carl with Rob impersonating Jamie at the end of the fight, coming in to fool the Demon Lord into thinking that both Adepts were in the trailer park. It had also been his guns that he and Rob had used against the demons with limited success.

As they entered the house, Worthington felt the wards closing around him even as the cool air greeted him after the heat of outside. They told him he had a visitor, a very welcome visitor at that, and he told Jerry to go ahead and use the changing room downstairs. All the MRs had lockers here they could use to change into swimsuits that they kept here, and Jerry led the group of riders down the stairs while Worthington stayed on the main level of the house and went into the living room where Martina was sitting and talking to Randall Smythe.

His father's attorney, and soul-bound Channel as he now understood the man to be looked better than he had a week ago when Worthington had last seen him. As soon as he'd heard that Worthington was severely injured, the man had gotten on a plane and flown out here, anxious to see for himself that Worthington was alive and recovering. Since then, he had been working out of the offices at the Clairville keep.

"How was your first day of school?" Randall asked as Worthington entered the room and both of the adults stood. Martina was short and plump, with close-cut iron-gray hair and a grandmotherly face. She wore a blue blouse with a beige skirt and had an apron on over everything. Randall was dressed in slacks and a white dress shirt and looked slightly less gaunt than he had a week ago. There was more color to his skin, and the white fringe around his bald head was neatly trimmed.

"Not bad," Worthington replied with a smile as he shook the man's hand. "I didn't know you were coming down today."

"I had some papers for your guardian to sign, and now that I'm nearby I thought it easier to have the driver bring me down instead of shipping them," Randall said with a smile.

"Martina, how are you doing?" Worthington asked the older woman who was their housekeeper and cook.

"Just fine, Mr. Sinclair," She smiled. "Can I bring you something to drink? Or maybe a snack? I made a good fruit compote that you might like."

"That would be nice," Worthington said with a smile. The truth was he was hungry. Lately, he'd been very hungry as his body tried to recover. She smiled and left after picking up the saucer with a bit of crumbs that had been in front of Randall.

"It really is a good dish," Randall said as they sat back down. "She is a surprisingly pleasant woman and didn't bat an eye at entertaining a Dark mage like me. Not that I've ever been much of a mage, per se."

"Phoenix is a lot different than most other places," Worthington said with a shrug. "I know it hasn't been all that long, but the people here really are trying to learn to get along, no matter what Path a person follows."

"Yes, it is quite… interesting what you've accomplished here." Randall said with a very slight frown on his face. "I'll be honest with you, Worthington. Your father would be having a fit over the techniques you've used to get where you are in one short year. But, at the same time, he'd be overjoyed at the results you have achieved. Don't get me wrong; I greatly admired your father, and still do. He was a good mage, and a good employer, as well as a close friend. Still, in all honesty, he was incapable of achieving his dreams for the Sinclair family."

"I am not my father," Worthington said in a flat voice.

"No, you're not," Randall laughed softly. "You are his son though, as much as you might wish to deny that. I cared a great deal for him, and in his memory, I will do what I can to assist you on this road you walk, even if he would not approve."

"I would appreciate your continued help, and support," Worthington said with a very slight nod of his head. That was truth, because Randall Smythe was a good attorney, and he knew many things that would be very helpful.

"Your points that I would be of more assistance here, rather than back in Ohio is also correct." Smythe continued. "In a few weeks, I will need to go back there and put things in order, as well as prepare a few things such as being admitted to the bar here in Arizona. It will be a few months before I can relocate here full time."

"It will be good to have you here," Worthington said with genuine feeling.

"One thing we have not discussed lately is marriage," Smythe said in an abrupt change of topic. "I have had several of the families that were closest to your father ask me if you were ready yet to look at prospective brides. I promised to broach the topic with you."

"I will not be getting married," Worthington said with a frown and looked away from the man.

"Are you so angry with your father that you will turn your back on all of your family's traditions?" Smythe asked in a hurt voice.

"No, it's not that," Worthington said with a deep breath. "When I fought with the Demon Lord this last time, I had to use Light magic to defeat him. You know how Light magic works. It requires sacrifice, a price, from the mage wielding it."

"Give me Dark anytime where someone else pays the price." Smythe snorted but then nodded at Worthington that he understood. "So, the Light made you give up marriage?"

"It required that I live a life honest to my innate nature," Worthington said with a slight frown on his face.

"What does that have to do with marriage?" Smythe asked with a little bit of confusion in his voice.

"I'm gay," Worthington shrugged. "I don't have to announce it from the rooftops, but I also can't get married to a woman because that would be against my innate nature."

"What about children?" Smythe asked.

"I can have children, through artificial insemination or other means," Worthington said with a shrug. "It just means that I cannot live a life that is a lie, basically."

"You'd be better sticking to Dark magic," Smythe said with a shrug and a sigh. "Ah, well what's done is done. We will deal with that as we may."

"Yes, we will," Worthington agreed as Martina returned with a plate of the fruit compote and bottled water for him. As he ate, Smythe began to update him on the status of different family-owned companies and asking his opinions on things. It was actually a decent conversation until Jamie came in with a murderous look on his face. Kyle was following behind him, frowning a little and Worthington looked up in surprise.

I want to kill our meddling Uncle! Jamie snarled mentally, and Worthington put the saucer down with the last bit of fruit on it and waited for the bombshell that his brother was about to drop.