Right, here we go. A ton of main characters, in fact most of the rest of them, all get introduced all at once in one big locker room scene. And boy are you yiff hounds going to hate me for how misleading that sounds…
Now then I shall dispense with the standard annoying warning message: This story deals with sex between males, in graphic detail. If you're not over 18, this is illegal for you to even look at, so stop right now. If homosexual content is not your cup of tea, you can leave the tea party. The characters and story are copyright Teiran’s player 2002, do not redistribute without permission. Otherwise, enjoy!
-Teiran
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High School Days Chapter 5:
Locker Room Politics
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Coach Townson walked into the empty locker room and took a look around. Rows of blue lockers branched off the main hallway; benches were set agains the base of the lockers and a door at the other end led to the showers and the bathroom. The middle-aged wolf smiled slightly as he walked down the center aisle, sitting down in a chair at the end of the end of the room so he could see the entire locker room, showers and all. He smiled and crossed one leg other the other and waited. The scent of old sweat hung in the air, and for a moment, he marveled at how calm the room was.
Then the rumbling started, pounding feet and muffled voices, quiet at first but building louder and louder. It always reminded the wolf of a herd of cows stampeding towards him. The sound grew into a roar, and the football team came charging into the locker rooms. All the boys talked at once as they pushed their way past each other to their lockers. With their bulky pads on, it was impossible for them to move without pushing against each other. They were so used to it they thought nothing of it as they all stripped down and headed for the showers. Other groups of furs started to filter into the locker rooms, coming from soccer, gymnastics, or wrestling practice.
Coach Townson smiled and nodded to each of the boys as they passed by him on their way to the showers, saying things like "Good practice Keith, nice blocking you did today…" Some had towels wrapped around their waist; others just wore their jockstraps or briefs as they headed for the showers. A couple of the seniors were so brash as to walk by naked, ignoring the stares of their classmates. Coach Townson knew some of the boys rather enjoyed being stared at.
One guy who loved having people stare at him was a big mountain lion named Brian Newman, who walked up to Coach Townson wearing nothing but his fur. Coach Townson sat there, looking up at Brian and listened as the big cat complained about the wrestling meet that was coming up, how the team wasn’t ready for it and they needed some help. Brian even crossed his arms across his broad chest and flexed them as he said, "Come on coach, you gotta get Tony to join the wrestling team, he likes you. There’s got to be some way to force him to join. Coach Michaels is sure we can win if he does."
Coach Townson just smiled up at the mountain lion, "Brian, we’ve been over this before, I won’t force Tony to join the team. I’ll admit Tony would make a great wrestler, but there’s no way I could make him to join even if I would. He’s already fulfilled his physical requirements. He’s been lifting weights after school for two years now and he’s got credits from his old school. He doesn’t need to join a team to graduate. You know that, you worked out with him all last year."
The wolf smiled as Brian grumbled and shifted his bulk, intentionally showing off. The big cat knew he was right and Tony didn’t have to join the team, but Brian kept trying to convince him anyway. The coach’s gaze swept from side to side as he continued to listen to the big cat’s hundredth attempt to get him to force Tony to join the wrestling team.
The wolf kept his eyes on the whole room, making sure no body started a fight or stole something, his eyes sweeping across Brian’s well-built body with each pass. Coach Townson tried to concentrate on watching the room, but the reality was he was desperately trying to keep himself from just staring at Brian’s crotch. This was the third time the mountain lion had done this to him, and the coach was sure he was doing it on purpose now. Coach Townson promised he’d talk to Tony, and Brian went back to his locker. The wolf was silently amused by how many of Brian’s team mates paid close attention to the cat’s bare rump as Brian got his stuff and headed for the showers.
Coach Townson sighed as another guy, an otter still in his football pads, came up to him and complained about how Coach Riley was treating the second string football players. Coach Riley was a big grizzly bear and the head coach for the school. Coach Townson was the assistant head coach, his second in command as it were. That meant he was in charge of every sport but football because the older bear micromanaged the football players so much he paid no attention to sports like soccer, gymnastics, or wrestling.
The wolf turned his head and glanced back at Brian when the otter finished complaining about Coach Riley. Brian stood in the misty room waiting for a shower stall to open up, naked and sexy as hell. He was taller then the rest of the boys around him, and was one of what the Coach considered to be the Muscle Jocks of the school. In every school he’d worked in, there were half a dozen guys like Brian were so buff and tall they looked older then most the teachers did. Every year, one or two boys would join the ranks of the truly spectacular jocks, guys who excelled at whatever sport they played.
Coach Townson grinned and looked at the two guys changing right in front of him with a smile, because even in a group of muscle bound jocks like Brian there were a few exceptions that blew all the others away. Coach Townson watched as the tiger and wolf talked to each other, stripping out of the football clothes.
The wolf was Nick Thompson and the tiger was Kyle Perez and they were the football team’s star players. They could play any position, defense or offence, and were the best rushers and receivers that Coach Townson had ever had the pleasure of coaching.
They were also the hottest, most well built guys, much less high school kids, Coach Townson ever seen. The only way the wolf could describe them was as muscle gods. Some of the other jocks were in pretty good shape for their age, but Nick and Kyle topped them all.
Nick had inky black fur that was uncharacteristically short for a wolf, short enough to show off every muscle in his body. Kyle had the classical bright orange and white tiger fur, while his black stripes were as dark as Nick’s fur. They were both over seven feet tall, making them the tallest guys in the entire school. They were also the strongest. Most guys their age who worked out got bulging biceps or really strong legs, but Nick and Kyle were muscle bound giants.
They were barrel-chested with legs like tree trunks, their bodies covered in muscles from head to toe. Their fur did little to hide their muscled bodies, instead it was short and smooth, and they looked like they had been working out for years when in fact they were both only 18. Coach Townson was always struck by how similar they looked, even though they weren’t even the same species.
They were pinnacles of physical strength, and Coach Townson had never ceased to be amazed by them. By now they had stripped down to their jockstraps and were laughing about something that had happened in practice, punching each other in the shoulder. Coach Townson couldn’t keep his eyes off them; no one in the locker room could really. Coach Townson had picked out all the guys with tendencies towards other guys just by watching how looked at Nick and Kyle. He’d often wondered if they ever noticed the rather blatant stares their bodies attracted. The older wolf sighed and shook his head. Ah to be young again.
A large and very buff lion wearing nothing but a jock strap and his football pads walked past the Coach’s chair. He was only a few inches shorter then Nick and Kyle; and Coach Townson tried hard not to stare to at the lion’s finely sculpted ass as walked over to them and slugged Nick in the shoulder.
The lion’s name was Leon Davidson, and he was the quarterback for the football team. That made him one of the most popular kids in school. The other reason kids liked him was he threw parties all the time. His family was the richest in town, and that was saying something for a town where rich people came to be away from the big city.
Leon swaggered when he walked, and he wore muscle shirts because he liked showing off. He was a handsome rich kid who cared about nothing more them making himself feel good, which meant Coach Townson didn’t really like him much. But he was a good quarterback; which meant he was Coach Riley’s favorite student. Nick and Kyle laughed at one of Leon’s rather crude jokes, but Coach Townson looked away from them when a metallic clang reached his ears.
It was different then a guy closing his locker. In fact, it sounded distinctly like someone hitting a locker rather hard. The older wolf stood up and walked towards the sound, checking down each row of lockers as he went. Nobody slammed their lockers closed, it was an easy way to get yelled at by Coach Riley and get pushups or some other mindless excises, so there had to be something wrong. Down the third row he found the commotion.
A tall black bear named Tyler and a palomino horse named Rob, both guys on the football team, had a short Siberian husky named Nathan cornered at the end of the row. Tyler, who was dressed in only his football pads and jock strap, had the much smaller gymnast pushed against his locker, the front of Nathan’s gymnast uniform balled up in his fist. The shorter dog’s paws pin wheeled as the bear held him slightly off the ground.
Rob was standing a little behind Tyler, but a big grin was spread across his long face and his long horse tail swished as he nickered in amusement as the shorter dog struggled. "You know what we’re gonna do to you if we find you look at us like that again Nate?" Tyler said with a wicked grin, the bear’s fist lifting Nathan into the air a bit more as he balled his other fist, "We’re gonna beat you so hard…"
"You’ll do nothing Tyler." Coach Townson’s boomed off the walls, and Tyler cringed a little. The wolf hadn’t shouted, but it sure sounded like he had. Coach Townson smiled to himself. He knew how to project his voice without shouting. He stood at the end of the row, his shoulders squared, blocking the exit from the row of lockers. "Put him down." Tyler turned his head and the bear glared at the shorter coach.
"Stay outta this coach, the little queer was staring at me again…"
"Put him down Tyler." The bear continued to glare at Coach Townson, testing him with his eyes, but the wolf stared right back at him. Coach Townson could feel the crowd of guys forming behind him as Tyler stared at him.
"Now." The wolf said with a growl, his hackles rising. Tyler glared at him for a few more seconds and set the pup down and looked away. Nathan scrambled into the corner away from the bruin, and the crowd behind Coach Townson seemed to take a collective breath and go back to changing, now that the promise of a show was gone.
Coach Townson stalked up to the two boys, grabbing Rob’s arm as the horse tried to slip past him. "Now listen to me you two." The wolf growled, "This is the third time I’ve caught you trying to beat Nathan up over the flimsy excuse that he was looking at you while your changing." Tyler growled softly, and glared at the shorter wolf, "He was coach, the little faggot…" coach Townson’s finger stabbed the bruin’s nose and Tyler jumped backward in surprise.
"Now you two listen to me." Coach Townson could feel his hackles were up, and he knew he was growling a lot louder then he should, but Tyler had been testing him for a while now. "I don’t care what you think about gays; you will not bash or threaten anyone in my locker room. Do you hear me?"
The burin blinked in surprise and took a step back from the Coach, and Rob tried to make himself invisible against the lockers. They had never seen their coach so angry. Coach Townson was usually the ‘good coach people went to when they wanted something. He never got mad.
"If I Ever hear that you’ve gone gay bashing, call somebody a ‘faggot’, or beat somebody up because they ‘looked at you in the shower’, your football careers will be over, do you understand me?" Rob’s jaw dropped and Tyler narrowed his eyes, "Coach! That’s totally unfair! You can’t…"
Coach’s Townson’s voice was a lot calmer now as he crossed his arms over his chest, took a step back and stood up as straight as he could. "Yes, I can. I can suspend you for as long as I like for threatening another student. You’re lucky you didn’t hit him Tyler. If I ever see you hit somebody, I’d have criminal charges pressed against you. Understand?"
The bear’s eyes widened in shock, "Oh you wouldn’t, my parents…" "Would be have to pay a rather hefty legal bill to get the charges dropped." Coach Townson said in a quiet voice, "Which they’d probably take out of your hide if they don’t just disown you. Your family may be rich, but I’m sure your congressman father wouldn’t like the publicity."
Tyler shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "You wouldn’t really…" Coach Townson sighed softly, "Yes, Tyler, I would. I wouldn’t like it, because I think you’ve got a future, but yes I would." Couch Townson stared evenly at Tyler as the burin searched his face for some clue he was bluffing.
"You can’t protect a queer like him forever you know. Somebody’ll teach him not to look at other guys one day." Tyler muttered as he grabbed his bag, and slapped Rob’s shoulder, "See yeah Hoss." He muttered as he slipped past the wolf. Coach Townson sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.
It had not been smart to threaten Tyler like that, but the bruin needed to be taught a lesson. He could only hoped I sunk in before the bruin hurt somebody. The wolf’s eyes snapped open and he turned to face Rob as the horse swallowed nervously. "Look Coach," the horse muttered, putting up his hands, "I wasn’t involved, I was just standing here…"
"Waiting for the fight to start. I know Robert." The horse’s ears flattened as the coach used his full name. "But you’ve got to understand Rob I can’t have fighting, of any kind, going on in the locker room. You should really consider hanging with somebody else. Tyler’s been getting himself, and his ‘friends’ in a lot of trouble lately."
Rob rubbed one hand through his mane, looking away. "Yeah well… maybe you’re right. And you know I hate my name Coach, it’s my dad’s, not mine. Call me Hoss." Coach Townson smiled a little, wondering if the horse knew just where that nickname came from. "Can I go?" the horse muttered, shifting his hooves slightly. The older wolf nodded and Rob slipped by him, taking his gym bag to the showers. Coach Townson turned to Nathan, who was sitting in the back corner of the locker row, shaking.
"You okay Nathan?" The wolf asked as he held out a paw to help him up. The short dog nodded, still shaking as he sat on the bench. "Yeah… they didn’t…" the husky swallowed nervously, his eyes staring up at the taller wolf as he took his paw. "Thanks Coach."
Coach Townson just nodded and pulled the dog to his feet. "It’s why I’m here, to make sure nothing happens. Nathan," the wolf asked quietly, "Were you looking at them?" Nathan’s eyes turned into big blue circles, his ears flattened against his head he tucked his tail between his legs. "No! I wasn’t this time… I mean I didn’t… I’m not…" Nathan’s voice trailed off as he began to tremble all over.
"Shhh, its okay, forget I asked. Just, be more careful okay? I don’t want one of my best gymnasts to be put in a cast because some dumb jock thinks you looked at him the wrong way."
Nathan nodded, his paws still shaking. "I will Coach, but it’s the third time he’s threatened me. Tyler’s locker is right next to mine, he’s always…" Coach Townson patted the nervous dog’s shoulder, "I’ll move you to a locker on the other side of the room okay? One that’s more out in the open where I can keep an eye on you okay?"
Nathan nodded again, his paws going still. "Thanks Coach…" The wolf just smiled. "It’s no problem, just, next time, come get me before things get out of hand like this okay?" Nathan nodded, and Coach Townson walked back out into the main part of the locker room.
"Hey Coach!" a cheerful, deep voice called to him as he stepped out in the main hall. Townson turned his attention to the two boys walking up to him, looking them over. The one who’d called out was a leopard named Chris, and beside him was a kangaroo in a soccer uniform he’d never seen before. Chris was the forward for the soccer team and stood level with him, which meant he was about six-six, and despite his swimmer’s build, had packed on an impressive set of muscles on his lithe body in his senior year.
"Coach," the leopard said, "This is David Weathers, he just transferred here and joined the soccer team." The wolf smiled and reached out his paw to shake David’s. "Well it’s nice to meet you David. I’m sorry I haven’t seen your transfer papers but I’m glad to meet you. Where’d you transferred from?" The kangaroo seemed a little embarrassed being asked that and said, "Um, I used to go to Roosevelt Academy." The wolf raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Chris to see if the leopard had recognized the name.
Roosevelt Academy was a military school, and one of the toughest in the state. It had a reputation for being the place parents sent their kids to ‘straighten’ them out, but Chris didn’t seem to recognize the name. "I hear they’ve got a great soccer team." Coach Townson said, "What position did you play?" David rubbed his paws together, bouncing slightly on his heels and glancing at Chris as he spoke. "I played center, but Chris is better then I am so I’m probably gonna play forward." Chris grinned and slugged the kangaroo’s shoulder playfully, "Hey you could play center if you wanted to. You got four balls past Kevin on your first day, and he’s a pretty good goalie." The two slipped past the coach and headed for their lockers.
Coach Townson tuned out of the boy’s conversation, going back to watching the locker room while keeping an eye on the new kangaroo. Chris was starting to change as he talked to David, pulling off his shirt and revealing his sculpted chest. The wolf noticed David seemed to get more and more nervous by the minute. The kangaroo kept glancing at the other boys as he as he changed, and Coach Townson suspected he knew why.
The wolf made his way into his office. He sat down in his old swivel chair and looked through the papers on his desk for the letter telling him about David transferring. He turned to look out the window into the locker room and waited, reading the letter that confirmed his suspicions.
Coach Townson kept his eye on the locker room, and sure enough, after a few minutes David broke away from Chris as the leopard headed for the showers, though not before sneaking a glance at the leopard’s ass. Chris’s firm rump was easy to see because he only wore a jock strap, and afterward David slunk through the crowd to the door of his office. Coach Townson went back to reading the letter to make sure he’d gotten things right. Coach Townson said, "Come on in David." As the kangaroo reached the door frame, "Close the door would you?" David nervously stepped into the office, closing the door behind him.
David bounced on his heels slightly as Coach Townson read the letter; a habit the wolf knew most kangaroo’s did when they were nervous. The kangaroo started to speak, "Coach, look, about my former school…" "I know Roosevelt Academy’s reputation David," the wolf interrupted him smoothly, "I also know it’s very rare that someone transfers out of the Academy. What made your parent’s put you there in the first place?" Coach Townson looked up as David cringed and looked away, rubbing his paws together, "Well, they found something out about me that they didn’t like and they thought the instructors could, Cure me of it..." The wolf nodded slightly, glancing at the letter again. "It’s not easy being gay."
The kangaroo jumped, but then he saw the Roosevelt Academy seal on the letter Coach Townson was reading. David’s paws balled into fists, and he almost growled, "They told you that?" The wolf nodded, "Yes they did. It seems your former soccer coach didn’t support the court’s decision to pull you out of the academy. What made a court do that?" David squared his shoulders and tightened his jaw. "A friend of mine who graduated got the motion filed, and once the judge heard my story, got them to listen to me. I’m not in my dad’s care anymore." The wolf nodded slowly, setting down the letter. "Then he would have been the one to put you in Roosevelt in the first place." David nodded, and for a moment silence hung in the small room, broken only by the voices drifting through the door from the locker room.
"Well, I’m glad you’re out of there." Coach Townson said, shuffling papers on his desk. "Its not a pleasant place to go to school. Have they found the crawl space in the barracks where we used to hide from the teachers to make out?" David blinked in surprise, realizing what the wolf had just implied. "You went to Roosevelt?"
Coach Townson nodded slowly. "And I seriously doubt conditions have improved since I was there fifteen years ago. For the same reason, I might add, as you were." David blinked again, and trembled a bit, "You… you’re?" "Gay is the word David. And yes I am, though you are the first person at this school I’ve told. And I am telling you because I want to warn you."
The wolf gave David a very serious stare, "The jocks around here, especially the football players, are extremely popular. Most their families are extremely rich. If any of them decided to play ‘Bash the Fag’, even the police will turn a blind eye. I’ve tried to keep it from happening here in the locker room, but it’s only a matter of time before something bad happens. So be careful David; alright?"
The kangaroo nodded and smiled slightly. "Thanks Coach. Chris is right, you are the cool Coach." The wolf just smiled as the kangaroo bounced out of his office.
***
Coach Townson sorted through the other papers on his desk, filing some and grading others. Slowly, the noise from the locker room began to die down as most the boys finished their showers and left the locker room. David left while chatting to Nathan, and Nick and Kyle left together, book bags looked small slung across their wide backs, laughing at some private joke.
Leon left the locker room with a show, tripping Kevin as the dalmatian walked back from the showers. The other boys in the locker room only laughed half-heartedly, because they had all been on the receiving end of Leon’s cruel jokes at one time or another. Chris gave the dog his paw and helped his friend up, oblivious to Leon’s laughter. There were only a handful of guys in the locker room when the door opened and Tony peeked his head in the door and looked around.
Coach Townson watched the dog count the number of people and then slip inside when he decided it was empty enough. The coach smiled to himself. It was funny to watch someone taller and nearly twice your own size slip into a room, but that’s what the Jack Russell Terrier did. The dog was one of the Muscle jocks too, a senior the size of Nick or Kyle. It was odd to see a small breed of dog like him reach that size, but Coach Townson had seen a lot of people break the mold in his day.
Tony set his bag down as he opened his locker, glancing around nervously before slipped out of his large coat, revealing the tight t-shirt underneath. The terrier’s muscles ripple his shirt as he pulled some things out of his locker. Tony looked around once more before he went to the shower room, still fully dressed. Coach Townson shook his head and sighed at the injustice of a body like that being so covered up by clothes.
Tony always confused Coach Townson. Most guys like him had an ego to match the size of their body. But Tony, who was easily the strongest guy in the school, seemed completely afraid of his own body. The dog would probably have worn a loose t-shirts like he wore baggy jeans, but they didn’t make t-shirts in a size that would be loose on him. Tony was probably the only senior who didn’t take at least his shirt off before heading to the shower stalls, where he changed in private, and he always took such a long shower that everyone else would be gone by the time he came back out.
Coach Townson graded some papers as he waited for Tony to finish his shower. The wolf packed up the things he wanted to take home, picking up his keys when Tony came out of the shower room, already fully dressed. "Have a good day Tony?" The wolf asked cheerfully. Tony let out a hip pitched yelp and jumped rather badly. When he saw who it was, he smiling nervously and nodding, "Yeah, thanks Coach. Sorry I took so long, I didn’t expect you to still be here…"
The wolf chuckled as he followed the dog out of the locker room, turning the lights off after them. "Tony, you have been the last boy out of these locker rooms for nearly two years now. I’m long past the point of caring how long you take." The wolf smiled as the dog smiled weakly, ducking his head in embarrassment and trotting away, and the older wolf smiled after him.
When Tony was gone, the wolf whispered, "You’ve hiding from everyone, and I wish I could help but your secret is none of my business. We’ve all got our secrets right?" The wolf chuckles and smiled. None of the boys ever thought about the wolf that was always sitting there watching them change out of their sweaty sports jerseys, shower, and change back into their normal clothes.
He was their Coach, a good guy you went to when you needed help with one of the other coaches or a teacher, but he wasn’t someone important. But they trusted him, and that was something more important to Coach Townson then anything else. Someone had once told him that he was probably the biggest voyeur in history, but he’d laughed them off. He didn’t watch the boys in that way, not really. It didn’t matter that he watched them change; it was just his job. It was more important that they trusted him, and he would never do something to break that trust.
The wolf grinned as he walked away. A job he enjoyed quite a lot, but just a job.