Battling the Invisible

After a rather interesting stay at Axi’s house and the constant grilling about his “boyfriend and meeting the other parents” from his own family, Drake was happy to be at Blueloch again. Even though there was still snow on the ground and the frigid air kept students from going outside, there was a sense of excitement and life on campus. Classes had started up again, which meant in a couple of weeks they would be finishing the tournament and naming a champion.

While he was at Axi’s place, Sarah had taken the time to explain to him that in order to make the tournaments go faster, they start out in pairs and if a team is good enough they can make it all the way to the finals without having to face each other. She explained that when she was still in school they had two champions because the final battle was supposed to be between a pair of boys that had been paired together, but they refused to the fight in the end making it a tie.

Drake really did not want to have to face Axi in the end. He figured this was his only chance. He just needed to convince his roommate that this was how they needed to do it. The only problem was that he wasn’t the only guy trying to convince the 18 year old to be his partner for the competition. Axi had gobs of letters and gifts from freshmen trying to convince, or in this case bribe, to partner up with him.

The 17 year old dropped yet another package on his roommate’s desk.

“That’s the second one from this kid,” Axi laughed.

“I think that’s considered flirting after the first.” Drake joked. He looked at the name on the bottom of the note attached to it. “Max is deffiently trying hard. What’s that kid do again?” He scratched his head. “Oh yeah, he’s a spirit caller. Sounds creepy.” Drake wiggled his fingers at Axi.

Axi moved the packages off his desk. “Yeah, I still don’t know who I’m going to partner with. At least I’ve got a few days to decided.” The raven haired boy picked up his jacket from the back of his chair. “Want to go grab some food?”

*

The cafeteria was loud as usual, every time the campus got into a large area with each other it was like the zoo had let the animals out for a gigantic party. Jackson was already sitting at their usual table talking to Argo. Axi and Drake had neglected to inform their short friend of the lacrosse player’s threats because of his tendency to go overboard with his “macho-ness.” The two boys decided it best to not tell anyone.

Axi was the first to sit down after grabbing a bowl of chili from the cafeteria line. Since his little run in with Argo and Jen, he had started to find things that the older boy did more annoying and irritating than he had originally.

“Hey dude!” The blonde patted his neighbor on the shoulder. “Argo was just telling me about the little mishap you had in the locker room the other day.”

A couple days before some of the team had decided to welcome Axi to the team by filling his locker with condoms and adding whip cream to his jock strap.

“Yeah?” Axi smiled, trying to hide his irritation. “Did he also tell you that he got replaced by a freshman?”

His teammate across the table glared, but said nothing on the subject. “Have you guys picked partners for the tournament yet?” He tried to change topics.

The raven haired boy stared at his plate and tried not to make eye contact with Jackson, who was one of the many suitors he had.

Argo grinned, “I didn’t think so. Doesn’t matter anyways. I’m going to win this year.”

The 18 year old rolled his eyes.

“You think you can beat me? If you’re so good then why don’t we make this interesting? You have to partner with Jackson here, and if you win I’ll be your personal slave for the next year. I’ll clean your room, do your homework, run errands, whatever you want. On the other hand if you lose you have to do the same for me. Deal?”

Jackson jumped in. “You got a deal dude! We’re gonna kick your ass!”

Drake finally made his way from the lunch line to the table. “That line is insane, bruh.” He sat his tray on the table. “What’s with the face? You look like you just got bitch slapped.”

*

For the next week, Drake and Axi didn’t see much of each other. The 18 year old trained with his new partner every day. Drake on the other hand hadn’t found someone to work with yet and didn’t care to search. He finally made the decision to put his name in the drawing and work with whoever they randomly assigned him to on the day of the first competition.

“Ok, I’m ready for a break.” The raven haired boy slumped in his chair. “We should go out and do something.”

“I was thinking about going to the Onyx. Wanna go?” Drake grabbed a button up from his closet.

The two roommates made their way out of the room and toward the club. The streets were dark except for the glow coming from the signs of the stores downtown. A crowd had gathered outside Onyx waiting to get through its black doors.

The brunette ran his fingers through his hair, trying to make it look right.. “Damn this is a long line.”

“Stop messing with your hair. You’re making it worse,” Axi laughed at his roommates accidental mohawk.

“I need a drink,” Drake said after they finally made it inside. He wandered to the bar, picked up a couple cups, and brought them back to his roommate.

They drank for hours and talked about the most random things. Surfing on the coast, the color blue brought on an interesting conversation, and the way the fans on the ceiling spun was of great amusement as well. By then they had made their way from the door, to the dance floor, and over to the bar where they were taking shots a green liquid together.

“Isn’t that Jen?” Axi slurred.

Sure enough the beautiful blonde was making her way through the crowd toward them. Trying to avoid being seen, Drake turns back toward his roommate and kisses him. Axi’s cheeks flushed. The blonde that the brunette was trying to avoid didn’t seem to notice them as she passed. She was making a beeline for the rest rooms.

After she passed by, Drake backed away. “Uhh… Sorry. I panicked.”