Gradual Change – Part 3

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Ryan walked through the hallway heading directly to Coach Damien’s office. Seeing that Ryan was so successful under his coaching, the school had decided to make an office just for coach Damien.

Reaching the coach's office, Ryan started knocking on the door. "Come in," the sound of coach Damien came from behind the door.

Opening the door, Ryan saw coach Damien, a well-built, 6’5" man in his early thirties, sitting at his desk.

"Ryan, just in time, I was about to call for you, my boy," coach Damien said, opening a drawer where he keeps Ryan's favorite chocolate.

Coach Damien was someone who coached the best swimmers. Swimmers who had the potential to join the Olympic Team. When the school offered him a job, he was going to refuse their offer immediately. He, however, was interested; why would a school offer him all this money to supervise and train a single student.

He was glad that he decided to take a look. Seeing Ryan swimming, he told himself he was going to take that boy to the Olympics, no matter what.

"Your parents will be picking you up in two hours, so we will need to get started with today's training immediately," coach Damien said, throwing a chocolate bar to Ryan, who caught it.

Even though he's Ryan's private coach, Ryan still trains with the swimming team too. If it was up to Coach Damien, he would rather take Ryan to his sports complex. There Ryan can be trained better and join a better team. The kids on the swimming team were not the problem. No, that was their coach.

Coach Vince was responsible for the swimming team, and he always got on Coach Damien's nerves. Seeing him wasting the kids' potential, especially Ryan, he can't hold it when he sees someone wasting Ryan's gifts.

"Will there be team training today?" Ryan asked, not looking forward to any confrontation between coach Vince and Coach Damien. They don't get along well at all.

"Fortunately, not today. That lazy ass of a coach didn't come in today; besides, we need you more in the individual races. Now hurry up; your parents want you before your brother's match," coach Damien said, leading Ryan out of his office.

He led Ryan to the locker room that was connected to the pool. "Alright, change quickly so we can get started," coach Damien said before walking to the pool.

It didn't take Ryan a lot of time to start changing. At first, he took out his uniform, folding it neatly before putting it in his locker. He then pulled out his competition swim trunks, goggles, and swim cap; he took his underwear off before pulling his swim trunks on. Ryan then pulled his swim cap on and walked out of the locker room with the goggles in his hand.

Walking out of the locker room, Ryan could see that the girls were still training. He could also see that coach Damien and coach Monica, who's responsible for the girls' team, were having a nice conversation with each other.

He wondered what they were talking about when he approached them.

"Why don't you start warming up, then we will start the training for today?" coach Damien suggested as Ryan approached.

"Yes, sir," Ryan replied before starting to warm up.

The moment Ryan walked away, coach Monica turned to coach Damien. "So, as I was saying, I am going to enjoy taking Ryan away from Vince; once the results come out, I would love to see his face," coach Monica said with a smirk. It was a known fact that she never liked Coach Vince. He doesn't know his job, is always lazy, and adding to it, he's a womanizer who tries to flirt with every woman he sees, even moms.

"You know that the test results will not come out until after Christmas, so let's assume he tested positive. You're not trying to fight me over Ryan, are you?”

“You can't win that, you know?" Coach Damien said teasingly. While they hadn't told anyone yet, both of them had started to date, and we're planning their marriage already. Talking casually with her was normal.

"Well, I stole your heart; I’m pretty sure I can steal your golden boy as well," coach Monica said with a wink blowing a kiss towards Coach Damien. He just shook his head and focused his gaze on Ryan, who was warming up. Eventually, the girls finished their training, and Ryan got into the water. His training was like it usually was, and he enjoyed every moment he spent in the water.

All in all, Ryan had 90 minutes of training which left him around 30 minutes to shower and get dressed again.

"Alright, my boy, that's it for today, go shower and get dressed," Coach Damien instructed Ryan, who complied immediately.

In less than 30 minutes, Ryan was done with the shower and was putting on his uniform in the locker room. As he was getting dressed, someone entered the locker room. Ryan looked up to see who it was and saw that it was Oliver with Ms. Mackenzie. "Ryan, your mom is waiting for you outside," Ms. Mackenzie declared to which Ryan nodded.

Putting on his shirt and tie, Ryan slipped on his shoes before walking out of the room with Ms. Mackenzie and Oliver.

"Your hair is damp; you will catch a cold like this," Ms. Mackenzie stated, looking at his wet hair.

"I didn't have the time to dry it," Ryan said, playing with the edge of his wet hair.

At home, he usually blow-dried his hair. He certainly couldn't do that here, and he didn't have the time to dry it. Ms. Mackenzie walked Ryan and Oliver to the front gate, where Ryan saw his mom's car. After saying goodbye to their teacher, both Ryan and Oliver walked to the car.

"Hi sweetie, how was your day?" Heather asked as Ryan and Oliver climbed into the back seat. Since Oliver's mom couldn't come because of her broken car, Heather decided to take Oliver with them.

"It was good," Ryan said, reaching over the front seat and kissing his mom before taking his seat and fastening his seatbelt.

"Your hair is wet; why didn't you dry it?" Heather commented, feeling his wet hair as he kissed her. Heather didn't mind him growing his hair, she liked it, but she had only one condition. If Ryan wanted longer hair, he should take care of it, which meant brushing his hair daily and washing it with shampoo and conditioner.

"Sorry, Mom, I didn't have the time to dry it," Ryan replied. He knew that Heather was always at him for not drying his hair properly after training or showering. He tried to do it, but it wasn’t easy at school, especially when he didn't have time for it.

Heather shook her head and let out a sigh. She's glad that she came prepared. It wasn't just about his hair being long; seeing how cold the weather is, Ryan might catch a cold. Seeing that the last thing Heather planned was for one of her sons to get sick, Heather always came prepared. From the glove compartment, Heather grabbed a clean towel and handed it over to Ryan. "Dry your hair before you catch a cold," Heather instructed before she started to drive. She turned on the vents to high heat to warm the car, so Ryan’s hair would dry quicker.

After a 20 minute drive, Heather pulled in front of New Heritage Academy. While the school education level was not as good as Talented Youth Academy, it was a good private school with a great environment. The school also served as an excellent tool for securing George's future.

"Alright, we're here," Heather said excitedly as she stopped the car.

She always felt excited about watching her son in matches. She was always behind her boys and always supporting them. Opening the door, Heather exited the car, followed closely by Ryan and Oliver. Entering the school, the three of them headed directly to the football field.

"If it's you or Dakota, who would run faster?" Oliver asked as they both headed to the football field. It was a question that kept playing on his mind for the past month. He had seen Dakota winning short distance races many times; he also had seen Ryan reaching almost the same distance in the pool in no time. It took Ryan a second to think about it before he answered Oliver.

"If it's on the ground, I would say she would win, I am sure of it. But if it's in the water, I would win," Ryan replied. The funny thing was the way he and Dakota became friends. When they started school, Ryan and Dakota were the fastest kids in kindergarten. Whenever they were racing with other kids, Dakota would be the first, and Ryan would come in second, leaving the other kids in the dust. Since the races were just for fun, both Ryan and Dakota became friends quickly. They were friends ever since.

Heather did hear Oliver's question as well as Ryan's answer. She was happy that Ryan was not over-confident and thought about the facts first. Heather, however, had another answer. "That's a good answer, sweetie, but there are facts that you need to consider first," Heather was about to explain when they entered the football field.

"Like what?" Ryan asked with curiosity. Heather took them to sit down on the benches before she started to explain.

"Dakota is indeed faster, that's for sure. But swimmers have better endurance,  and swimmers learn to control their breathing. In a long-distance race, Dakota will get tired while you as a swimmer can keep running faster for a longer time," Heather explained carefully about the difference between Ryan and Dakota while Oliver and Ryan listened carefully.

While Ryan mostly relies on coach Damien, his mom's advice always worked. She used to be a great swimmer and even made it to the Olympics once. In high school, she was both a swimmer and a cheerleader. She met Jeff in university when he was playing football; while Heather was a law student, Jeff was a computer engineering major. This was one of the reasons Heather's dad approved of Jeff; after all, her parents own a software and hardware designing company.

"Alright, you two stay here for a bit; George will come and get you; I will go check on the girls to see if everything is ok," Heather said, walking away, leaving Ryan and Oliver. Since Heather doesn't need to go to the firm, she only handles the hard cases, so she volunteered to be the Cheer Coach. The former Cheer Coach had to take time off due to health issues.  That's why Heather had stepped in.

Once Heather left, Ryan took out his tablet and started a quiz game to spend time with Oliver. A couple of minutes passed when they were approached by two boys. Both of them looked to be the same age as George. "Hi, Luke check this out, two fags sitting together," one of the boys said. He had green eyes and brown hair. The other boy had dark brown hair and brown eyes.

With a sigh, Ryan handed the tablet over to Oliver and stood up facing the boy. "What do you want, Oscar?" Ryan asked, annoyed. He understood clearly why Shelby and Connor hated Oscar so much.

"Dude, we shouldn't do that; if George saw us, he'll beat the crap out of us." the other boy whispered to Oscar. They both know that George wouldn't allow anyone to mess with his little brother. Especially Oscar. George had warned him many times to stay away from Ryan.

"Well, I don't see George here," Oscar said with a smirk. He always felt jealous of George; unlike him, George's dad was never ashamed of him; it also didn't help that he was kicked out of the team for bad behavior. He wanted to take this chance to satisfy his ego.

While George wouldn't allow anyone to mess with him, Ryan was by no means an easy target himself. He was in no way scared of Oscar.  He rather wanted to teach him a lesson for being mean to his friends. "Leave us alone, or you will wish George was here," Ryan threatened Oscar.

Ryan was not scared, and that made Oscar mad; he reached and grabbed Ryan's collar while Ryan still showed no sign of fear at all. Before Oscar could even say another word, Ryan kicked him right between his legs, making Oscar groan and hold his crotch in pain.

George came out of the locker room to get Ryan and Oliver. Ryan always helped the team before every match. He would analyze every team they played against by watching their matches over and over. Standing beside George was one of his best friends and teammate, named Jacob.  He had dark skin and strikingly bright green eyes.

George played both as an Offensive Guard and as a Defensive End.  He's one of the best utility players in high school. He plays wherever he's needed. Jacob is mainly a Defensive Tackle and liked to focus on one position. As they walked to the benches where Ryan and Oliver were sitting, they saw an unpleasant sight. It looked like Oscar was trying to bully them.

Jacob's first reaction was to run and stop Oscar, but George stopped him. "Wait, Ryan can handle him; let's just walk slowly in case Oscar tries anything," George stated confidently. He knew Ryan well enough to know that he will not back down in front of Oscar.

"Dude, that's Oscar, he's 15, and your brother is 10," Jacob said worriedly. He knows that Oscar would do anything to get attention, even if that means bullying 10-year-old kids.

"Relax, my little bro can handle himself," George said, making Jacob sigh and give up. It seems George was very confident in Ryan. Knowing that George would never put his little brother in danger, he decided to trust him.

It became clear that it was the right decision since a second later, Ryan kicked Oscar in the balls, making him groan and hold his crotch in pain. George turned to Jacob with a smirk. "See? I told you my little bro can handle himself just fine." George smirked as Jacob only nodded, his mind blown.

At that moment, the other boy that was with Oscar turned around to see George and Jacob approaching. "Dude, George is coming; let's get out of here," the other boy said, helping Oscar stand up. It was clear that Ryan's kick was still painful, seeing that Oscar couldn't walk properly.

"You better get out of here before I catch you," George yelled as Oscar, and his friend walked away. George walked to Ryan, giving him a side hug and ruffling his hair. "That was a nice kick, back there, bro," George said, ruffling Ryan's hair again.

"Thanks," Ryan said, smiling. He had wanted to do this so badly that he was really happy kicking Oscar.

"The coach told us to come and get you; we need a plan for today's match," George said, and Ryan nodded. He had already watched more than ten matches from the team his brother will play against. Seeing that they had already tried Ryan and he wasn’t wrong once, in his analysis of other teams, the coach decided to take his opinion before every match. He was not a normal 10-year-old kid, and the team used it to their advantage.