Chapter One: Maxxie

Bruce Wayne; by day he was a normal guy, by night he was a crime fighting Batman. I wished that I was just like him. Who didn't? He was a billionaire, co-owner of a company, and always looked out for others. He was my hero, my idol.

I was far from achieving my goal of being like him, though. I was in the eleventh grade, with pale blonde hair and bright cornblue eyes framed by huge black glasses. I was pasty from always being cooped up indoors. While most guys are spending their time outside, I usually spend every minute of every day inside reading comic books or computer games. If I were to be like Bruce Wayne, a miracle would have to happen.

Suddenly, a loud high-pitched noise broke through my thoughts. I cringed as it sounded again. I turned my head in the direction of Coach Hendersen. He kept on blowing his little red whistle, causing his wrinkly bald head to look as if it were expanding.

"Come on you sissies!" he shouted. "Keep moving!"

I wheezed along the track, my feet slapping against the dirt. My best friend Brian panted beside me, his pudgy face turning red with every stride. I could see sweat threatening to drip down his round nose. Just looking at him made me feel as if I were about to pass out.

"One more lap, you girls!" Coach yelled.

I groaned and urged my legs to keep going. My feet felt like weights yet my knees were like Jell-O. I wished that I had a grappling hook or something so I could be swept away from here.

Brian and I finally finished our lap. The other kids in our P.E. class chuckled but didn't say anything. Coach gave Brian and me a sideways glance before turning to the entire class. His beady black eyes darted from face to face.

"Alright you guys," he shouted. "We're going to start our football unit. You all know how to play football and if you don't you're un-American! Does everyone know how to play football?"

We all nodded.

"Good! Now, I'm going to split you up into shirts and skins."

My stomach churned. Coach Hendersen always put Brian and I on the skins team. It was just another way to make the non-athletic kids feel bad about our body image.

"Alright! Listen up! On shirts I want Brody, Parker, Jace, Evan, and Sam! On skins I want Brian, Anthony, Dylan, Marco, and Max!"

The shirts team laughed. As we passed them, they shoved us with their shoulders. I sighed and ripped my shirt off, throwing it onto the sidelines. The rest of my team was absolutely terrible. We had Brian the chubby kid, Anthony the manorexic, Dylan the chess team leader, Marco the scrawny Italian boy and of course me the geeky in-the-closet-gay boy.

I squinted at the shirts team, looking at all the athletes on the team. I noticed Jace Storme peering at me, staring at my half naked body. My heart jumped a little but calmed down after a second. There was no way that Jace Storme was staring at me.

Jace Storme was the hottest guy in the world and possibly the entire universe. He had a slender athletic body, sparkly turquoise eyes as bright as the sun, shortly cropped brown hair that he enjoyed to spike and a smile that could light up even the darkest of nights. He was the captain of the soccer team, football team, dance team, and he was the lead in the school's musical. He was the most popular junior at Macintyre High, easy. He would never be caught dead talking to me, much less gazing at me. It was probably just the stupid glasses not working for me.

The coach blew his whistle and the game began. The September sun was beating on me as I looked at the brown leather ball being tossed around from player to player. I watched in horror as Dylan tried to tackle Brody Williams. The result was Dylan being thrown in the air, landing back on the ground hard. I cringed. The game continued.

The ball and the players began to approach the rest of my team. I looked at Brian, who looked scared out of his mind. I expected a big and beefy guy like him to take the other guys out with no problem. But he was just like me—unpopular and scared.

"Maxxie! Look out!" Marco shouted from behind me.

I quickly turned my head to see Jace storming towards me, football clutched against his chest. He had a slight smile on his face as he ran towards me. I had two choices. Option A was to run away like a little girl and let the other team score a touchdown. Option B was to try and tackle Jace with all my might, which might have resulted in my possible death. I was about to run but had no time. Jace's body was soon colliding with mine, sending my glasses flying off my face and through the fall air. They landed on the grass with a thud and a crackle. I was shoved back and I fell to the ground. I yelped as my head hit the ground. A heavy yet muscular mass was pinning me to the ground.

Coach Hendersen blew his whistle. I opened my eyes and blinked. Jace's face was only four inches away from mine. His eyes were bright and matching his lips, smiling. I could smell his cologne. It was a musky yet sweet fragrance. I could feel the sweat dripping from his shirt and onto my skin. I tried to steady my breath as I recognized the situation—Jace Storme was on top of me, sweating and smiling. Had I died and gone to heaven?

"You okay?" Jace asked, not moving off of me.

I went to nod but my mind started swirling. I shut my eyes and groaned. My head was suddenly throbbing. I soon felt Jace get off of me and Coach's beefy hand grabbed mine.

"You alright?" he asked, though he didn't seem like he cared.

I blinked a couple times as I tried to steady my sight. The light was hurting my head. I shook my head at Coach Hendersen and he exhaled through his nose. He grumbled.

"Brian, take him to the nurse's office," Coach grumbled. "The rest of you, avoid the glass. Let's play!"

Brian was soon by my side. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, trying to steady me, and guided me into the school. Once we were far enough away from the track, he smiled and patted my shoulder.

"Thanks buddy," he said. "I couldn't last another minute playing football."

I groaned again.

>>><<< 

Brian knocked on the nurse's office. Two seconds later, the sour looking nurse opened the pale green door. She glanced at Brian then at me. Her face was set in a scowl. She rolled her eyes before saying, "Which one is it?"

Brian pointed at me.

The nurse stepped aside and Brian shuffled us inside. The nurse guided me over to the cot and sat me down. She got a little flashlight out of her pocket and shined the bright into my delicate eyes. I shut them tightly.

"That hurts!" I exclaimed.

She exhaled sharply before turning the flashlight off. She shoved it back into her pocket and walked over to a little mini fridge. She grabbed an ice pack from one of the shelves and thrust it at me.

"Put this on your head," she instructed.

"Are you sure that's all he needs?" Brian piped. "I mean, I think he has a concussion."

I put the cool pack on my head. It numbed the pain a little bit but I still felt as if my brain was jumping.

The nurse narrowed her eyes at Brian and said, "Now, now, I think I know what I'm doing. Oh, and remind me to give you a healthy eating brochure on your way out, mmkay?"

I frowned at the nurse. She didn't have to be so mean to Brian. Sure, he was on the tubby side, but he made a wicked role playing guy for when we acted out scenes from our favourite comics.

The nurse looked at her wrist and said, "You boys might want to gather your things from the locker room. The bell is going to ring in—"

She didn't finish. The bell rang long and loudly. Brian helped me off the cot and I handed the nurse her ice pack. We rushed through the filling hallways and burst through the locker room doors. The locker room was cold and stuffed with people. Brian and I squeezed through the crowd, him leading the way. I was practically blind as a bat without my glasses. Brian fished our gym bags from the locker and handed mine towards me. I went to take my shirt off, but I remembered I'd left it at the field. No wonder the nurse had been scowling at Brian and I. I cussed under my breath.

I stripped my shorts off and shoved them into my red bag. I fished my Batman T-shirt out of my bag and slipped it over my scrawny body. I then pulled my jeans over my legs and slipped into my black Converse. I fished my extra pair of glasses out of my bag and slipped them on my face. I could see everything clearly again. I looked at Brian anxiously. We both began to snake our way out of the locker room. When we finally entered the emptying hallways, we began to walk swiftly to our lockers. I suddenly heard a familiar silky voice say, "You dropped these."

I stopped cold in my tracks. Panic washed over me. Slowly, very slowly, I looked at the red gym bag I was holding. In my furious escape from the locker room, I'd managed to forget about zipping the stupid thing closed. I sucked a sharp breath in.

I turned on my heels, coming face to face with a smirking Jace Storme, Mr. Popular. His stark blue eyes matched his lips--they were playful and daring. And in his left hand was a wad of gray and yellow that I knew too well. I cursed at myself for ever bringing those stupid things to school.

Jace took a step forward, dropping the fabric in my hand. I clenched my fist around it, not wanting it to fall again. I gave Jace a sheepish smile and turned around. I hadn't even taken two steps when Jace said, "And Max...."

I stopped again. I whirled around, bracing myself for what was to come. My heart was beating fast as Jace approached me. I knew what was coming; he was going to tell the entire school what kind of underwear I wore. I swallowed as he placed his lips a breath away from my ear.

He whispered, "I like your Batman underwear."