Lyle was pissed. He was pissed at how little effort Ao'nung put into pretending like he could tolerate him. He was pissed at how he was forced to sit with the beginner swimmers, despite being one of the best ones out there. He was pissed that Tsireya wouldn't even look at him. He was pissed at how much adoration was in her eyes when she looked up at that stupid new kid and his stupid family. He heard the new girl, with the stupid choppy haircut, mutter something, followed by a soft laugh from the older brother. Lyle hated him, probably even more than Lo'ak. Something about him was so irritating - the jewelry he wore, the accent he had, the genuine kindness in his eyes. All of it felt like a slap to the face. Lo'ak mumbled something. Lyle watched the sister elbow him in the side gently. "Shut up," Lyle hissed. The older brother glanced up at him. His eyes were light brown, lighter than his brothers, and seemed to look permanently sleepy. Lyle found them to be extremely unsettling, despite the gentle expression on the boy's face. "Sorry," the boy whispered, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Don't apologize to him, Neteyam," Lo'ak muttered, grabbing his brother's arm. Neteyam blinked in confusion and turned to Lo'ak, whispering softly. Lo'ak responded. This time, when Neteyam turned his head to look at Lyle, his face had completely lost the soft grin that had been there before. His eyes shifted up and down Lyle, before locking eye contact one more time. He scoffed under his breath and whispered something back to his siblings. The girl laughed.
"I said shut up," Lyle hissed again, feeling his face start to heat. Neteyam glared at him. "I didn't even-" Ao'nung stepped in behind him, shoulders squared. Lyle blinked at him. He wasn't even supposed to be over here. What was he doing? "Everything okay?" he called, eyes flicking from the back of Neteyam's head to Lyle. Neteyam took a step away from him, glancing briefly up into Ao'nung's face and then back down to the floor. Lyle heard footsteps approach him as Rotxo made his way over. Someone must have said something funny because Ao'nung grinned, eyes darting to Lyle. "Rotxo, switch groups with me," he called. Rotxo shouldered his way past Lyle as he went. "Oh, sorry man, didn't see you there," the boy murmured, looking back over his shoulder. His mouth was smiling but his eyes were cold. Before Lyle could respond, he was gone. Ao'nung stepped around Neteyam and approached Lyle. He felt himself tense in anticipation of a fight, but Ao'nung stopped just in front of Neteyam's family. He held eye contact with Lyle and folded his arms across his chest. The corner of his lips lifted into a half smile, almost teasingly. His body language came across as a challenge, almost begging Lyle to say something.
He scoffed and turned away, facing determinedly towards the pool. He was sick of this. He didn't have to put up with this bullshit. He glanced over at his cousin. Spider was deep in conversation with some girl Lyle didn't recognize. Well, she was speaking, and he was listening. Lyle sighed to himself, rubbing his head with his hand. "Why do you wear a swim cap, Lyle?" asked a girl's voice. He turned and locked eyes with Serena. "Shut up," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "Well, I'm just wondering. I'm also wondering why you're even here." He shot her a sideways glare. "What? I'm on the yearbook staff, Lyle. It's my job to interview." Lyle folded his arms across his chest. "Is it also your job to be an annoying little bitch, Serena?" "Hey, man, please," Ao'nung shouted from across the row of people. His voice echoed around the large room. "I'm not allowed to kick you out of try-outs. The least you could do is shut up." Lyle wanted to snap back. He wanted to tell Serena how stupid she looked, playing the innocent like how she was now. He wanted to grab Ao'nung's head by the hair and throw him on the concrete. Instead, he took a deep breath and nodded, feeling his blood pressure rapidly increase with the effort of keeping his mouth shut. He really did want to make swim team. He knew he was good enough to. He just had to dodge Ao'nung and Rotxo until he was officially on the team.
When tryouts were finished, Lyle left the locker rooms in a hurry. He didn't want to be confronted by Lo'ak and Ao'nung at the same time, especially after how he handled today. He sat in Spider's car, waiting for him to get done so he could drive Lyle home. After about 20 minutes, most of the cars in the parking lot had cleared out, and he was nearly overheating inside of Spider's car. He groaned and decided to go see what was taking him so long. He didn't see anyone on the walk back into the pool. What was holding Spider up? He tried calling him, but it went straight to voicemail. Lyle decided to try the locker rooms. Inside, the sound of the showers filled the warm air. There were two duffel bags left out on the benches. He recognized one as Ao'nung's. Lyle reached to see if the other one had a name tag on it, but froze as he heard a laugh echo from the showers. He knew that laugh, that irritatingly deep laugh. Lyle crept to the doorway to the shower rooms and peeked around the edge. He immediately flinched backwards upon seeing Neteyam sitting at the far end of the room, on the floor, with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. Ao'nung's voice echoed from the shower, talking about something to do with surfing. Lyle looked back in, as quietly and as carefully as he could. Neteyam was standing now. Ao'nung's head poked out from behind the shower curtain, wet hair hanging down in front of his face. Lyle watched Neteyam gently tuck Ao'nung's hair behind his ear. Ao'nung grinned down at him, face flushing. Lyle blinked in surprise. What was going on? His curiosity died instantly as Ao'nung leaned forward and pulled Neteyam into the shower stall, making the boy drop his towel onto the floor. "Oh my god," Lyle whispered. The soft sounds of their conversation stopped abruptly. "Did you hear that?" Neteyam asked quietly. Lyle instantly turned and sprinted away, not stopping until he was inside Spider's car.
On the drive home, Lyle was silent. One thought echoed throughout his mind: he had found a way to ensure he made the swim team this year.
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i wish i hadn't decided to do the whole lyle thing bc at the time i thought it would be like a good way to keep the hate train going but now i'm so sick of typing that stupid ass name
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Awa'altu High: ATWOW highschool au!!
Fanfictionhighschool au!! swim captains ao'nung and rotxo, sully fam in their new school/city!!!!
