Red-Hot Revenge

Aiden felt himself filling with rage. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The other members of the baseball team were oblivious; they couldn't know. He watched as they clapped while listening to Coach Kaplan speak.

Coach was standing at the front of a small stage. He was motioning to a small group of young men standing at his side.

"I hope you all had a good off-season, boys," he said. "It's nice to see so many returning faces. I'm looking forward to getting to work with you all again for another year. I would like you all to welcome your new teammates."

He waved his outstretched hand in front of the five students standing by his side. Aiden felt his stomach turn; he was beginning to accept that this was happening.

"First, we have Ricky," he said. The group clapped in unison -- except for Aiden. "He is a freshman who played with his high school team. Next is Logan. He's a junior transfer coming to us from Colorado. This is Edward. He's a sophomore who played basketball in high school before he realized he could be playing baseball instead." Coach chuckled at his own non-joke.

The three young men smiled and nodded upon introduction. The audience continued to clap after each name was announced. The occasional "Welcome" would interrupt Coach's remarks.

Coach continued going down the line. "We have a two-for-one here. This is Sam and Francis."

Francis interjected, "Actually, I go by Frank."

"Sam and Frank," Coach said, correcting himself. "They are both junior transfers coming to us from Eldridge Community College. They played together on the same team in high school."

Aiden watched as Sam and Frank smiled at the group. Frank nodded at a few of the guys in the crowd. Coach shifted into a motivational speech about his goals for the upcoming season.

Aiden could feel the heat rushing to his head. He began to get a little dizzy and could hear his heart beat rapidly in his chest. He started to feel like he was becoming disconnected from reality. Coach's voice slowly faded away.

Aiden could see himself walking down the hallway of his high school. Having just turned 18 years old, during senior year, he was only 5'7" and 135lbs. He was much smaller than the majority of his peers. He was dressed in a pair of pleated Khakis and a Polo shift that was tucked into his pants. He looked more like a scrawny businessman than a public-school student.

He watched as Sam and Frank walked up to his younger self. They were followed by three other young men from the school's baseball team. Frank pushed Aiden against the locker as he passed; the books in Aiden's arms fell to the ground.

"Assholes," whispered Aiden, as the they all continued to pass him by.

"What? What did I hear you say, fag?" asked Sam.

Frank and Sam walked back over to Aiden. He was on his knees, picking up his books. He looked up at them with mild disdain on his face.

"Nothing," he replied.

"That's what I thought. I knew a little pussy like you wouldn't be disrespecting me and my friend here."

Aiden avoided making eye contact. He looked back at the ground to focus on collecting his books. He felt an open palm make forceful contact with his forehead. He tumbled backwards, slamming his head against the locker behind him. He felt immense pain rush through his skull.

Aiden was suddenly jolted back to the present, where he was supposed to be listening to Coach talk. He felt the same throbbing in his head that had stayed with him for several days after Sam had slammed him into that locker four years ago. The same rage bubbled within him; he had worked so hard to let it go since graduating high school.

Aiden focused his attention on Sam. Sam looked the same as he had when Aiden last saw him at commencement. He was 6'2" with a muscular body. He had wavy brown hair and green eyes. His large smile took up a little too much room on his face. He had pale skin, with the exception of some rosy coloring on his cheeks.

Aiden shifted his gaze to Frank. He had changed quite a bit. He was 5'10" with a lean, toned body. He clearly worked out, but not to the same extent as Sam. He had shaved his head since high school; only a few buzzed centimeters of hair remained. Aiden thought that the red shade of Frank's cropped hair made his blue eyes appear incredibly vivid in contrast.

Aiden finally refocused on Coach; he was telling everyone to get to know one another over the weekend. He wanted them to make friends with the new guys. Aiden felt himself becoming more grounded in the room; he directed his attention away from his former tormentors.

Coach rapidly exited the room after concluding his comments. He had noted that he had another meeting he needed to attend across campus.

The twenty returning teammates started mingling with the newbies. Aiden didn't move. He curtly introduced himself to Edward when he came over; he was too distracted by his own anger. Luckily, another returning player was standing next to Aiden and he was far more engaged in making conversation.

Aiden spent the next ten minutes trying to keep tabs on Sam and Frank so that he could shift amongst the crowd when they started to move closer. Once he felt like he'd put in enough time to avoid being called rude, he left.

"I've got to run," he told Ricky and his returning teammate Quentin.

He hurried toward the exit; he realized he had left his duffel bag under his seat. He turned around and collided with someone. He stumbled backwards falling on his ass.

He shook his head from side to side as he tried to shake off having the wind knocked out of him. He looked up, seeing Sam standing in front of him. Aiden felt his heart begin to speed up in his chest. He stifled a silent scream as he stared blankly at his former tormentor.

"You okay, buddy?" Sam asked. He extended his hand down to Aiden. "Here, let me help you up. Guess we kind of collided there, huh?"

Aiden took Sam's hand and rose to his feet. He was still in a daze. He felt like a dense fog had overtaken his mind while his body was screaming at itself to stay on high alert.

"I'm Sam. I just transferred from Eldridge," Sam said.

Sam continued to state a few more banal pieces of information about himself. Aiden continued staring at him blankly. Then he noticed Frank walking over towards the two of them.

"Sam, we've got to go," Frank said. "We have to attend that mandatory thing for the transfer students."

"That's now?" Sam asked. "I was just telling our new teammate here a little bit about myself. I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" Sam inquired, looking into Aiden's eyes.

"Charles," Aiden blurted out.

"I was just telling Charles about how we were on the same team in high school," Sam said. "Coach said we should all get to know one another if we are going to be a cohesive team. Too bad we have to go. I hadn't told him about your killer curveball yet."

"Nice to meet you, Charles," Frank stated with a grin. "We do really have to leave. I'm sure we'll get to talk with Charles more at one of the parties this weekend, right?"

"Sure. I'll be around," Aiden replied.

Sam and Frank said a quick goodbye and exited. Aiden left through a different door and headed back to his apartment a few blocks away from campus.

Aiden couldn't believe what had just occurred. He had just spoken with two of the guys who had bullied him the most during high school, and they hadn't even recognized him. He was still not sure why he had said his name was Charles. He hadn't technically lied, though, since his full name was Aiden Charles.

After mulling it over some more, Aiden's shock and anger were replaced by relief. He thought that maybe, if Sam and Frank didn't recognize him, they would see him differently now. He wondered if they would see him as a friend instead of as a target.

Aiden had changed a lot since high school. He'd had a late growth spurt the summer after graduation -- two full inches of height. He'd decided in the first week of college that he wanted things to be different going forward. He'd taken a weightlifting class and had tried out for the school's baseball team. Even though he'd been a rubbish player, he'd still been allowed to join the team; the college was very small and not at all competitive when it came to athletics.

Aiden had been told by all his high school friends that he looked so different when he would return home for holidays. He was taller and much more muscular. He has also grown a thick, black beard; it wasn't unkempt, but it was definitely scruffy.

Aiden was feeling emotionally drained by everything that had happened that morning. He decided to take a nap. He was hopeful that the mental fogginess would be gone when he woke up.

Aiden could see his younger self alone at a table in his high school cafeteria. He knew that it was about two weeks before graduation. The scrawny businessman was writing in a notebook. Aiden, the observer, dreaded what was to come, but knew that he was powerless to stop it. He was tethered to his younger self, doomed to feel what he felt while also watching impotently from afar.

Sam and Frank walked up behind the poor kid. Sam grabbed his notebook and held it open in front of his face. He rubbed his chin like he was reading something intriguing.

"Give that back," Aiden cried.

Aiden started to stand so he could grab his notebook. Frank planted his hands on Aiden's shoulders, pushing him to a seated position. Aiden could feel his head pounding; it reminded him of being slammed into the locker a few weeks earlier.

"Hey everybody, listen to this," Sam shouted.

Most of the thirty other students in the cafeteria quieted and turned to see what was happening. Aiden felt himself blush; he hated being the center of attention.

"Dear Diary, it's me Gay-den," Sam pretended to read from the notebook. "I have to tell you a secret; I have a crush."

Sam paused for dramatic effect. A few of the other students started laughing.

"He turns me on so much that I can't help myself. I play with my teeny cock each night as I think about him," Sam said.

Aiden stared down at the table. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, as he listened to more students howling at Sam's joke.

"I stare at his package in gym class. I can't help but look at his hot fire-crotch," Sam proclaimed, smiling at Frank. Aiden could hear Frank chuckling from behind him.

"I'm in love with Frank Lehrman, and I want his fiery cock in my mouth so bad!" Sam chortled.

"Gay-den, you little fag!" yelled Frank. "I don't think you can handle my 'fire-crotch.'"

Frank reached around to the table holding condiments behind where he was standing. He grabbed a bottle of hot sauce and popped off the lid. He positioned it in front of his crotch and spun around so it was next to Aiden's face.

"Gay-den, all your hot talk has got me going," he said, holding the bottle like it was a firm erection. "My hot cock is going to erupt."

Aiden was crying. He looked up to see most of his peers cackling or giving him looks of pity. He wanted to disappear into the floor.

"I'm cumming," Frank groaned, as he started shaking the bottle in Aiden's face.

Aiden felt burning as the hot sauce made contact with his eyes. Frank managed to shake it three or four times before Aiden slapped the bottle away. Aiden twisted himself free of Frank's remaining hand on his shoulder. He started running towards the exit.

Aiden woke up breathing heavily. He could feel cold, damp sweat causing his shirt to cling to his chest. He knew in that moment that he would never be friends with Sam and Frank. He needed to get what he had been wanting for years: revenge.

Aiden spent the next few hours coming up with a plan. He treated it like he was creating the outline for a story he would have crafted in his creative writing class last year. He soon realized that it was 6 pm, and he needed to start shifting to action.

Aiden texted Coach to ask for the new players' numbers. He said that he wanted to send them all his number, in case they needed anything.

He sent Sam and Frank text messages reading: "Team meeting in the locker room tomorrow at noon. Newbies, come prepared to show your worth and that you can listen to your senior teammates!"

Aiden knew, through various rumors, that the baseball team in his high school was big on hazing players for the first week after they joined. He had heard stories of students being forced to drink to the point of blacking out, senior members physically beating new members, and lots of stories about guys having to get naked. He had heard that Sam and Frank were the most vehement supporters of this hazing since they viewed it as a rite of passage.

Aiden could feel a shift inside of himself as he was getting ready for bed. His heart rate had slowed. The fog that had overtaken his mind started to clear. He still felt rage, but not in the same way. It was focused -- driven by purpose. It was so different from what he'd felt in high school for so many years.

It felt good.

* * * * *

Aiden was positioned in a storage closet in the locker room; he was peering through the cracked door. He had arrived earlier to get things into place for the plan.

Aiden watched Sam and Frank enter the locker room at 11:58am. Sam was dressed in baggy, black athletic shorts, a white tank top, and sandals. Frank was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. Sam's hair was still a bit wet; it looked like he had showered shortly before coming.

"Where is everyone?" Frank asked. "You would think more of the guys would be here already."

"I am sure there's something going on," Sam replied. "You read that message. They are going to make us jump through some hoops before we are part of the team. I just hope it's not as bad as what we used to do to our newbies in high school."

Sam walked across the room. There was a white piece of paper taped to the locker. He pulled it off began to read the message inside: "'Open the locker and put on what you find inside. Take off everything else, except your underwear. And then, just wait.'"

Frank walked over and opened the locker. They both looked inside. Sam grabbed a piece of black fabric, as well as a small note that sat on top of it.

"'Put this over your head,'" Sam read.

"Great, they are having us strip to our underwear and are keeping us from seeing anything. I guess we are going to be taking a beating," Frank ventured.

"It is what it is," Sam replied. "They aren't going to do any real damage. We just have to pay our dues."

Aiden was pleased to hear that they weren't questioning anything, He had been a little worried that they would see through the ruse, or choose to wait to comply until other newbies arrived.

Sam pulled off his tank top and placed it on the bench. He had firm pecs and massive biceps. Aiden could see his muscles react to each of his movements. His abs had tensed as he'd pulled the tank top over his head. His torso was completely smooth. He kicked off his sandals and yanked down his shorts. He has wearing tight black briefs that were snug against his bulky thighs. Aiden could see his firm, defined ass when he bent over to pick up the shorts.

Frank was also disrobing, but Aiden had been paying less attention to him. He was still pulling off his tight jeans after Sam had finished. Frank took another few seconds to gather his clothes from the floor and place them in a loose ball next to Sam's items.

Frank was wearing blue boxer briefs. He was much leaner than Sam. He had a taut body that did not have too much excess muscle. Whereas Sam looked broad and massive, Frank looked streamlined, but dense. There was a red tuft of hair on his pecs. The skin of his chest and thighs were the same sun-kissed color as the rest of his body.

Sam held up the black hood. He let out a small, exasperated sigh.

"Okay. I just want to let you know; I am not doing any gay shit," said Sam. "I mean, I'm fine getting naked. We used to make guys do that all the time. But I'm not doing more than that."

"Same," replied Frank. "You don't think they'll ask us to do anything like that, do you?"

"I doubt it, but who knows?" Sam said. "I've rubbed my nuts on newbies' faces, and we made a few of them 'sword fight,' so it might not be off the table."

Sam and Frank both looked at the hoods. Sam slid his over his head first; Frank followed his lead. They both stood there in silence for a few moments.

"I guess we wait now, huh?" asked Frank.

Aiden listened as they stood there largely silently for a few minutes. They made a few comments about wondering what was going to happen, as well as talking about the parties they had attended the past few nights.

Aiden slowly opened the closet door and walked into the locker room. He moved over to where Sam and Frank were standing. He was sure they could hear his footsteps but neither of them moved or said anything.

"Hey there, guys. It's Charles from yesterday," Aiden said. "This is Sam and Frank from Eldridge, right? I was assigned by the captain to come fetch you two. Thought I should check since I can't see your faces."

"Yes, it's us," Sam responded, in a guarded tone.

"Okay, guys. I just want to reassure you that this is just some basic initiation stuff," Aiden told them. "I'll get in trouble if I tell you all the details, but you are all forced to walk to the storage shed and back like this. Then you'll put your clothes back on and we'll have you do some drunken drills on the field."

Aiden could hear a sigh of relief from both of them. He assumed that neither of them was too worried about being seen in their underwear, and he knew for a fact they were both looking forward to getting drunk.

"Thanks for being so cool," Frank said.

"No problem," Aiden replied. "So...I need you to face the lockers."

They both turned around without asking why. Aiden assumed that they were less resistant now that they had a sense of what was to come.

"I need you to put your hands behind your backs with the wrists crossed," Aiden stated.

Sam and Frank complied, though Sam did hesitate for a second. Aiden quickly fastened a zip tie around Sam's wrists. Then he did the same with Frank's.

"What's that?" Frank asked.

"Nothing. Some of the guys try to cover the bulges in their underwear so this keeps that from happening," he responded. "Okay. I am going to take you to meet with the other newbies now. Follow my lead."

Sam and Frank turned so their backs were to the lockers. Aiden reach back using each hand to hook his middle and index fingers into the front of their underwear to guide them forwards by pulling. He directed them towards to exit that led to the storage shed, which was about 50 feet away from the building.

"Wait a second. I'm getting a text from our captain," Aiden said. "Brett wants to up the ante this year. He figures nobody can tell who you are because of the hoods, right? I mean you are kind of like masked superheroes or something."

"I guess," Frank replied.

"The new plan is that you are supposed to strip completely. I'll guide you in a loop around the building into the weight room, where the other guys are waiting. Then you'll run to the shed and back here to change," Aiden said.

"I'm not sure," Frank squeaked.

"Dude, it will be fine," Sam reassured him. "Nobody can see through these hoods, and it only takes a minute to loop around the gym. It could be so much worse."

"Fine," Frank responded.

"Okay; take off your underwear," Aiden said. "Oh shit, you can't. I'll have to help, I guess." He tried to sound reluctant -- even disgusted.

Aiden reached toward Sam's underwear first. He rubbed his hand on Sam's cock through the fabric as he pretended to struggling gripping his finger into the waistband with the other hand. He gave it a firm squeeze, as he yanked down Sam's briefs.

Sam stood there naked. His cock was 6 inches flaccid, and it was of ample girth. He did not have any pubic hair. Aiden supposed that he shaved it all off. Sam's cock was sticking to his thigh. Aiden reached down and pulled Sam's cock away from his leg so it was hanging more freely.