Suddenly, I'm embarrassed at the thought of appearing naked before this boy, fearing the ridicule that is sure to come, that has always come from every one of his kind. But, I've come this far already and nothing horrible has happened yet�
I strip off my own clothes and hurriedly jump in, joining him in the shallow end.
"I'll race 'ya to the end and back!" he says, obviously thrilled at the opportunity for even the simplest challenge. "You do swim don't you?" he asks, suddenly realizing that he may be embarrassing me.
"Yeah, sure." I reply, wondering if my six weeks of YMCA tadpole swimming lessons have truly prepared me for this moment. I realize that this is possibly the first time that another boy has ever engaged me in a friendly challenge of strength.
"Ready, set, GO!"
We're both off at a furious pace, my intense desire to measure up to my new friend and the sudden realization that I enjoy the idea of competition, fueling my every stroke through the water. We both reach the deep end at the same time, but Mike perfectly executes a competition turn, which I try to imitate but fuck up royally since I've never done one before. I lose my edge and arrive at the shallow end to see Mike standing there, waiting for me with a big grin on his face. He stretches out his hand, grips mine, and pulls me in the last couple of feet.
"I win." He says simply. "Now be honest. You don't really swim that much, do you?"
"Not lately."
"You got good form but you need to streamline your strokes better." I'll show you.
He moves behind me and takes my wrists, guiding my arms to the proper arc, showing me how to better form my hands to slice the water cleaner. The whole time, I'm aware of the feel of his incredible body, lined up perfectly behind mine. His complete lack of self-consciousness, his openness and warmth make my head spin. I begin to wonder if this is what it feels like to fall in love.
"Now just remember to keep your body straight. You wanna go in clean. "Mike calls up to me from the side. After several practice swan dives off the low board, he thinks I'm ready to try one off the high board. At this point, I would walk in front of moving traffic to please him so, in spite of that voice in my head telling me 'this is NOT a good idea', here I am, the cool, rough surface of the diving board stabbing my feet like thousands of icy knives egging me on.
I breathe deeply, pausing to remember all the advice he has given me, visualizing myself performing the perfect dive. I take my two steps, push, jump and align my body into the proper form. The water comes zooming in faster than I expected, and the next thing I know, I'm in. I'm shocked to suddenly find myself at the very bottom.
It seems like a long way up, especially since it's so dark and for some reason, I find I'm not moving to the surface as quickly as I thought I could. Suddenly, I realize my left arm isn't working at all, instead, it's just dangling there, lower than usual for some reason. I continue to pull myself up with my right, my panic suddenly rising, then, finally surfacing just as my breath gives out.
"Mike." I manage to call weakly, but he is already in the pool heading towards me at breakneck speed. Just as I wonder how I'm going to keep myself afloat one second longer, he is behind me, one arm wrapped around me, leading me towards the shallow end. He pulls himself out then helps me out and I lie down on the cool concrete. Now I realize just how much pain I'm really in and start to holler. Mike puts his hand over my mouth and whispers in my ear.
"Shhhh! Someone will hear you. You opened your arms too soon and the impact dislocated your shoulder. I know how to fix it. Just relax buddy. You trust me don't you?"
"With my life." I think to myself. All I can manage however is a nod.
"Now, calm down, relax, O.K.? You're gonna be just fine." He continues whispering words of encouragement into my ear as he slowly manipulates my arm into a wide circle, the excruciating pain causing me to feel as though I could vomit any second. Just as I feel I'm ready to pass out, my arm suddenly slides back into its socket, and the pain recedes to a dull roar. I remain lying there, taking deep breaths, trying to will away the sick feeling. He helps me up to a sitting position against the wall and sits next to me. In spite of the trauma I've just been through, I'm still somehow able to find something erotic at the sight of this handsome naked guy sitting next to me, his big 'ol horse dick lying across his thigh, his feet playfully touching mine.
"Are you O.K. buddy? I'm really sorry."
"Why? It's not your fault."
"Yeah, but it seems like every time you hang around me, your life ends up in danger." he laughs loudly, immediately trying to stifle himself so as not to be heard. I can't help but laugh myself and soon, the two of us are hysterical with laughter, coming up with all sorts of creative scenarios for what other accidents will happen to me each time we meet. Our laughter bounces off the tiles and concrete, skips across the water and floats out into the late, late night�
"Aw man, do I remember that night. I caught holy hell from my parents the next morning when I finally got in."
"You're lucky that's all you caught big guy. Tina Amorosa made her way around three quarters of the football team.
"Only about half actually." Mike laughs playing with his lighter.
"Mike, when you became my friend, suddenly everybody looked at me like I was a real, normal person instead of some freak of nature. Then you got me to go out for swimming end hockey and O.K., I never won all state or anything but I did all right. Of course I got you to go to ballet class with me..."
