The arrangement with his friend - his gym buddy - was scheduled at 10:30 but because of that trouble he had with Darcy earlier, he had to move the appointment.
Luckily his friend was easy-going and flexible, so he didn't mind moving the appointment a little further; now the appointment was set at 10:45, a time that was doable for the both of them, but Jake had to haste, because 10:45 was still a hard time for him to bridge over— he had purposely moved the time not too far ahead, out of good-willed considering for his new friend, whom he had met there, at the gym.
This new friend was a positive impulse in his new life. He was kind, enthusiast and bright— almost innocent. This blond-haired goodboy gave some serious good vibes, something Jake really needed right now; some nice distraction.
A positive distraction.
Jake had not wanted to ruin his friend's schedule too much, who knows what his plans were for today? Maybe he had to work in the afternoon, or maybe he had an important appointment around twelve o'clock or something.
Sports is something you should practice with concentration and patience, not something you should rush through, because the schedule got wrapped up.
Hopefully I did not completely ruin his day-schedule....
Even though the gym-appointment shifted just a quarter of an hour, Jake still felt sorry.
Maybe because he himself is someone who is a schedule and planning oriented person, having a high regard for discipline when it comes to sports, training and competition— his body and outside appearance being very important to him, like a holy temple of flesh and bones.
Sacred things must be well maintained!
At exactly 10:45 and after fourteen minutes of intense biking and many near-accidents, Jake could see the gym from hundred-meter distance. I still have a lot of steam to blow off. Here I can fully unstress myself and work off the last remnants of thoughts about her.
The gym was located at the outskirts on the north side of a small city named River Town, a suburb of the much bigger metropolis Ardenburg; the sweet little collection of small and medium sized houses of diverse and creative architecture - mainly built from bricks and wood - lay on a small, long river island, from which it got its name.
Approaching the old, scabby gym at twenty-five meters, Jake could see his friend; he waved at him and shouted: ''Selucas! I'm so sorry, stuff happened!''
''Yo, Jake,'' the blond-haired boy responded in enthusiastic, joyous manner, waving back vigorously, like a cute labrador wagging its tail cheerfully when seeing his beloved boss. ''Don't haste dude, mind your speed, otherwise you will get hit by a car at doorstep!'' He warned in good nature, as he saw Jake nearing the last crossing place before the entrance of the gym in careless speed.
When Jake eventually met with Selucas in front of the gym, the both of them gave each other an overjoyous fist bump and after that grasped their hands in a short dap up greeting.
Selucas said with a broad grin: ''Dude what's with your hair? Has a stray bomb exploded on it?!''
''Well, all sort of things got between me and doing my hair, you know....'' Jake said embarrassed while running both his hands desperately through his messy hair, vehemently trying to bring order in the chaos that was his abundant hair of silken flimsiness.
It was all to no avail; his hopeless morning hair was not to be tamed by mere sweeps of the hand; it needed a stronger offensive of misting, combing, brushing, flattening and gel bombing before being domesticated into a respectable, stylish haircut.
Jake was not happy with the state of his hair, in all drama and haste he had completely forgotten his so cherished hair, a young man as vain as him could not go outside the door of his house before standing at least five minutes in front of the bathroom mirror stylising his so important wreath of young male pride into a magnificent artwork of flowering youth of fertile glory.
How stupid I am! How could I forget about something so important! The young insecure male thought angrily at himself. I hope no one I know has seen me on the bike.
Jake would rather skip breakfast than not do his hair; his hair was the kind that made people take a second look— thin-fine and smooth like luminous high-quality silk, rich, and abundant; it possessed a mirthful colour of sparkling chestnut, catching warm hints of gold whenever he moved in broad sunlight.
His hair was his pride!
Truly it was a sight to behold, so powerful it appeared and such gravity its cornucopian evergreen of neverweary youthfulness bore. Almost all girls he met with and with whom he was close with, wanted to touch his hair and pet it, like he was some cute pony....
Well, now that cute pony had gone feral, seeing how his hair stood at all sides; his thousands of fine hair antennas each standing in their own direction.
Jake suddenly noted that he had for a few seconds only paid attention to his hair; being astray in thoughts he had forgotten Selucas' presence, who stared at him deeply, keeping a close eye on his behaviour and attitude— there was probably like five or six seconds of silence between them.
Is he observing me? Why did he remain silent and not comment further on my hair? Does he like seeing me being insecure with my hair?!
In a fit of bravado, Jake tried to regain his coolness, so he toughed-up his posture straight and firmed his stance— so as to not show too much of his insecurities about his poorly groomed hair.
''The state of my hair does not influence my gym performance,'' he said with a cool voice, nonchalantly adding: ''So, it had no priority.''
''Okey, okey,'' Selucas laughed. ''Normally your hair is really neat, you know.... so, it surprised me seeing you with this wild hairstyle. I must say Jake, even with messy hair you look good, so you should not worry too much about it.''
Was that a joke? Or was that serious? Jake was confused, as he could not believe him having messy hair would look good. In any case, he still felt fenceless and unassured; open and exposed by not having his hair - the cornerstone of his self-confidence - done neatly; his coolness was at a low and he really had a hard time pretending to be confident with swagger— without neat hair he felt like a wimpy flop; a deadbeat slacker!
Jake had to stay cool at all times, so he commented (jokingly) on Selucas kind words with: ''I know I always look good, like, I'm so sexy I don't even need to try....'' He tried to laugh swaggerly, but to his regret it totally sounded nervous; firstly, the pitch was way too high to be sincere and secondly the sound of his laughter sounded broken and stammering, almost like it was coughed out; dry and strained— not in the least a natural sound.
Well fuck. Now I seem insecure and immature to him, and that while I am his senior in age!
Selucas noticed his discomfort - that strange insecure demeanor of him that he had never witnessed before - very clearly. The fact that Jake acted so out of his usual self-confident behaviour and the fact that he came later than usual today made him concerned for the friend he just knew for three months and, had met just seven or eight times. It felt strange that a young male could be so insecure about his hair.... and not only that, but Jake also looked a bit stressed; mainly his red face wrapped in some kind of underlying after-fury, like it was just minutes ago in full flare.
Selucas laughed friendly (not trying to show his worries too much) and said: ''What actually happened this morning? You're always strict with your schedule, like you said to me last time, so what caused the small delay? Did you have a fight of life and death with your hair, and lost?''
''Ah.... well, you know Selucas.... It.... it was nothing big, just some trouble. Nothing big,'' Jake stuttered in an awkward mumble. Fuck! Why am I stuttering so badly?! Now he knows for sure that something bad happened!
''Okey.... well, you didn't have to haste so much for me. If something bad happened to you, I could have waited longer,'' Selucas said kindly. ''You seem worked-up, and stressed, you know....''
''I am worked up indeed, for gym! Like I always am!'' Jake said abrupt— totally unnatural.
Selucas looked at him with concerned eyes. ''If something is the matter and you need to steam off some things, you can always to talk to me.''
''Well, to be fair, I need to steam some stuff off, but no words.... I have already talked too much this morning.... Like really! Now, I only want to sport and make my head empty....''
''Oh, okey, that sounds good, nothing better for stress-relieve than some good, sweaty exercises at the gym.'' Selucas said jokingly— his face still looking concerned.
''Indeed! So, let's go into that sweathole! And let us sweat off all our troubles!'' Jake was quick to respond— relieved his friend did not go further on the subject of his well-being.
Selucas smiled. ''Sounds good,'' he remarked with an intrigued and tightened demeanor; he looked askance with his eyebrows a bit drawn, and his eyes narrowed sharply— like a cat watching his target on with fuelled attentiveness.
That intense glance made Jake feel anxious. Selucas should not be involved in my stupid troubles. He's too kind-hearted and pure to be exposed to that wrecking ball of a life of mine.
To fend off his anxiousness Jake walked up to his gym buddy and grabbed him cheerfully with his right hand, while messing up with his hair with his left hand. ''We are kindred spirits now.''
Selucas didn't mind it in the slightest. Appearance was not that important to him.