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Entering the locker room for my last class of the day, I could already hear the murmurs of gossip going on between the undressing students. Robbie had already put out the seeds of his rumor: that Gregory and I were gay lovers, and had already gone as far as mutual masturbation and sixty-nines. It didn't matter that I hadn't even known Gregory for 24 hours; we were already balls-deep in each other according to him. Naturally, any residual benevolence that had come from my all-star performance the previous day was wiped clean.

"Hey, Nicky!" one of the boys shouted. "You gettin' a stiffy over there?"

I tuned him out and went on changing into my gym clothes.

"I'm just glad we don't have to shower when we're done," another classmate said loudly. "I don't want to have to see you guys jackin' each other off."

I rolled my eyes. I could have protested, saying that I wasn't gay, we're just friends, it's his choice to love who he wants, and so on, but I knew any attempt to argue with them would only compound their insults further. Gregory seemed just as aloof; he probably had to deal with this all the time at his old school.

We did our usual warm-up exercises and prepared for another day of basketball. As we got into the teams that we chose the day before, the coach announced the matchups. "On court one inside, Meyers will start with the ball against Gillespie. On court two, Reyes with the ball, versus Armstrong. On court three, outside, Brooks with the ball, versus Dorgan."

I glanced over at Robbie, who glared back at me with clearly evil intentions.

The game started out without any surprises: Gregory did most of the ball-handling, passing it off to open teammates for jump shots if the defense crowded in on him, driving to the hoop if not. I took a couple of shots myself, making most of them - and getting a more tepid reaction from the other players, as if they expected them to go in. Then, on defense, Robbie took the ball along the baseline with Gregory guarding him. He turned around to take a 15-foot jumper... and missed.

"Foul!" he shouted.

"No foul," Gregory replied as out team grabbed the rebound and started heading the other way. "I didn't even touch you."

"Bullshit! That was a foul!" Robbie whined.

Nothing else would have come of it, except that on the next play, Gregory passed the ball off to me while I had an open lane to the basket. Seizing the opportunity, I drove towards the goal - and suddenly felt someone shove me from behind. I tripped over someone's foot and was sent flying head-first into the metal pole supporting the basket. I crumpled onto the ground in a heap.

"Nick!" Gregory shouted, running to my side. The game stopped as I hauled myself into a sitting position. I checked my mouth and lips, and was horrified to see a red stripe along my finger where I had touched them. I cupped my hands over my face to shield the wound.

"I'll get the teacher," a teammate said, running off the court.

Gregory hunched over me. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I... I think my nose is bleeding," I answered.

"We'll get some ice - you should be all right, as long as he didn't knock any teeth loose." He then turned over to Robbie, who looked smug as ever.

"How dare you..."

It sounded as if his voice had dropped an octave. It was the same sinister tone I had heard from him at lunch when Robbie first threatened to "lay me out like a carpet".

"What are you gonna do about it, faggot?" Robbie sneered. "I'll do the same to you, too."

"You will do nothing of the sort."

"You wanna fight, then? Go ahead, hit me. I'll give you the first shot. Do it, fag. I'll pound your fa-"

In an instant, Gregory was behind Robbie, hands weaved around Robbie's arms and pressed behind his neck in a Full Nelson. I'd never seen anyone do so much as lay a finger on Robbie, and yet Gregory had him in a submission hold with ease. It was obvious that he was hurting Robbie, given the eyes clenched shut and mouth wide open, gasping in shock.

"Apologize," Gregory commanded.

Despite being so clearly dominated, Robbie tried to keep up appearances. "Fuck you."

Gregory pressed harder against Robbie. "I can snap your neck right now if you want. Apologize to Nick. Now."

I could only look in amazement as Gregory walked Robbie over to me, like a man in handcuffs. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the once invincible Robbie Brooks looked scared. "I... I'm..."

"What's going on over there?" Shouted someone in the distance. It was the gym teacher, running in with a cold pack. "Dorgan, get your hands off of him, now!"

"No," Gregory replied coldly. "Not until he apologizes."

"Do you want to be suspended, young man? Let go of him!"

Gregory sighed, and released his hold on Robbie. The taller boy winced as he felt his shoulders pop back into place, then walked away, wounded but not beaten.

"Dorgan, you can sit out the rest of class. Go back to the locker room with Donahue and get him cleaned up."

As we turned around and walked away, I could hear Robbie once again, back to his usual despicable self, yelling, "Don't forget the condom!"

I sat on the bench facing my locker, pressing the icy pouch of gel against my left nostril, and watching as Gregory peeled off his sweatshirt and shorts. Once my nose was sufficiently numbed, I started getting out of my own gym uniform. I guess I should've been more self-conscious about undressing in front of him, but it never crossed my mind.

"You won't have any more trouble from him, I don't believe," he said, leaning against his own locker.

"How do you figure?" I asked, pulling off the white shirt. "He didn't even say he was sorry before the teacher broke it up."

"No, but now he knows there's someone in the class who can challenge him. He's no longer the Alpha of the pack, so to speak."

"Alpha?" I asked, climbing out of my shorts.

"Within a pack of wolves," Gregory explained, "there is an Alpha. A leader. All other wolves submit to him - often by instinct - and so the Alpha usually rules over the pack unchallenged. Only when a rival wolf defeats the Alpha does the power change hands to the new wolf. I bested Robbie in a challenge of authority, and he's now lost his right to rule over the class the way he once did."

"Aren't you... reading a bit too much into this?" I asked, a bit puzzled. "I mean, you managed to stop him, but you didn't beat him up or anything. And if you ever did confront him again, you wouldn't be able to surprise him like you did this time."

Gregory chuckled. "What you don't know, Nick, is how much restraint I showed just now. If I really wanted to... I could've killed him."

I felt my face go pale.

"Not that I've ever killed anyone, of course. I just know how, if I ever have to. With any luck, I never will." As comforting as he wanted those words to be, I still felt mildly alarmed.

"You have a nice body, Nick."

That was when I realized that I was still in nothing but my socks and underwear. I looked up at him, embarrassed. When I felt his right hand touch my shoulder, it was like an electric shock.

"You truly are an attractive young man, Nick. If only you let down your guard long enough to realize that." He smiled, and walked out of the locker room.

I was only glad there was nobody else in the room, as someone would've certainly noticed the obvious outline of an erection tenting the front of my briefs.