[OwnMe8]

VII

"You haven't changed...best apple pie in town an you order cheese cake."
>>>A small smile danced on Ray's lips while he worked the metal tongs through the creamy cake in front of him. "But you have. You're a dominatrix and abusing Nata."
>>>The woman sighed. She slid down the booth seat further, her eyes darting around the empty diner. "You know I wanted to talk here so I wouldn't have to hear you say things like that." She shook her head. "Same Ray."
>>>Ray stared at the woman he knew since he was a first grader. He tried to wrap his mind around everything that he saw tonight. This couldn't be Jessica Guren. No, she was the little scared girl that no one played with on the playground. His mind drifted back to his elementary school days.
--"Hey, watcha doin' out here?" A small boy, Ray swung his arms freely back and forth. He rocked on his heels, staring at a small black haired girl sitting behind a large fur at the far end of the playground. She had her slender arms wrapped around her knees.
"I sit here during recess".
>>>The little Ray sat down, leaning his back against the tree. "Why's that?" His childish voice was high and sweet.
>>>Blowing some hair off her face, the little girl huphed. 'Why won't this jerk just leave me alone?' "I beat everyone, so noone wants to play with me. They're losers. Go back and play with your loser friends."
>>>Ray's light eyebrows crossed over a shining boyish face. "But I want to play with you."
>>>A visible shock ran through the small girl's frame. She looked at the boy incredulously. "What?"
>>>Smiling a bright beaming smile, Ray grabbed the girl's hand. "Come on. Let's go play. My best friend is over by the wall ball wall!" He tugged her behind him eagerly. "What's your name? I'm Ray and he's," Ray pointed a finger to the wall where a young boy was standing with a big red rubber ball in his arms, that's Nata."
>>>Her cheeks flushed. "My name's Jessica."
>>>Ray turned his flashing toothy smile at the girl he was tugging across the field. "Nice to meet you Jess!"--
>>>Coming back to reality, Ray looked at the full grown Jessica, who he couldn't help but see the small girl's face in. "Well it's true. I can't believe what you were doing to him."
>>>Jessica sighed again, leaning over her pie, and looking straight into Ray's eyes. "It's not what you think."
>>>"No!?" Ray's voice was steadily getting louder. "So is it normal that you're beating the shit out of him!? What I think it is!" He stared at his childhood friend flatly. "I think it's you blackmailing Nata, or just taking your sick kinks out on him."
>>>Jess kept quiet through Ray's ranting, confirming something she suspected for a long time. She stared at Ray until he finished. "Okay, listen. I'm not doing this to hurt Nata." Ray huphed. "It's true. I'm trying to help him gain back his confidence and win a damn race!"
"Bullshit."
"Look, this wasn't even my idea. An old friend asked me a favor and hey, well I thought it would be fun to hang out with Nata and you again. I thought it would be nice to help out a friend...even if he doesn't remember me."
>>>Ray sucked in a deep breath. He reached the tipping point of the argument in his mind. Quite frankly he didn't know what to think. How to respond. Everything was flying around his skull and crashing together with confusing collisions. Finally he managed to say, "Nata didn't remember you?"
>>>Jess shook her head. "Can you believe that? Only four years and he doesn't even recognise me!"
>>>Ray chuckled, forgetting his bad mood, if only for a few seconds. "That's Nata. The only thing that he cares about is the water. Heck, I doubt he'd even remember his name if it didn't mean 'swim'. It's a mystery how he's the top in my classes."
"Yeah, well he remembers you just fine."
>>>Ray flapped his hands through the air. "Maybe he thinks of me like a sting ray." Then, the memory of how she rubbed her foot on Nata's head filled his mind. He went silent, staring at his hands which were now clasped on the table.
>>>Jess sighed heavily, leaning her weight on the table as she stood. >>>"You've got to trust me, I won't hurt him. I admit, it's gotten a little out of hand. I was pissed at first that he didn't even know me, but now it's just kind of fun." She leaned in a little, dropping her voice to a whisper. "When did you fall in love with him?"
>>>Ray froze. Wide eyes slowly tracked up to Jess, who patted him on the shoulder as she left. "See you, Ray. Hope we can get together again soon." Then she was gone, leaving Ray alone in the booth where he slowly started to recover from his shock.

The next day...

>>>Ray slowly walked into his government class. Seeing Nata sitting there, Ray stopped in his tracks, a disturbing uneasiness settling in his stomach. He didn't say much. He didn't do much. He just slid into his seat and waited for the teacher to start. To Ray's displeasure, every time he looked at Nata, last night's disturbing scenes dried his tounge. The only thing that Ray did register, for who knows if Nata ever said anything to him - he was in his own confused world - was that Nata was almost constantly fidgeting in his seat. Ray managed through the day, existing in an odd world where everything seemed to be an opposite fighting with the true self, as if everything sheltered within it both itself and it's polar opposite.

Later that day...

>>>Ray was sitting by the practice pool, legs in the cool water. Walking into the room gave him a stomach ache. He just wanted this day to be over...but first was practice. It took some time for the others to get there. They all greeted Ray as a friend, their team a close family.
>>>One of Ray's better friends on the team, Kyle, sat next to him on the pool's edge. "You okay man? You don't look good."
>>>It took more than a normal silence before Ray finally managed, "I'm okay." Not very convincing to say the least.
"What's up? You sick? You get a bad te---- holy shit."
>>>Ray looked up slowly, "what?" His mouth dropped open. Nata had just taken off his clothes like normal, though instead of standing there in his normal swim suit, he had on the skin tight women's racing suit from Jessica last night.
>>>Nata turned a bright red as the entire group of boys turned with Kyle's outburst. He stood utterly still as the boys' eyes ran up and down his body. He felt painfully aware of his legs which were visible all the way up to where a sharp v aligned with the v of his abs. "I lost a bet. Shut up." Nata jumped into the water, away from the peering eyes as laughter erupted around the pool hall.
>>>Despite himself, Ray couldn't help but smile and laugh at Nata's unbelievable appearance. He approached the side of the pool where Nata was floating with a hand on the edge. "Hey, I need to talk to you."
>>>Nata frowned, 'what put Ray in such a solemn mood? The rest of the team are laughing their heads off.' "Okay. Shoot."
>>>Ray dry swallowed past a hard lump in his throat. He started to work his jaw, though no sound came out. "I..." He stammered, not able to form any words in his head. This went on as minutes ticked by.
>>>Nata waited patiently, though it was soon extremely apparent that Ray wasn't going to be able to say what he wanted to say. Instead, Nata interrupted the painful stammering, "hey, check this out. I've been improving my time!"
>>>With that, Nata kicked off the wall, arching his back, and slid through the water. Ray watched, bewildered, as Nata swam down the lane and was returning back toward him sooner than usual. He watched, slightly mesmorized, with one thought in his mind: 'he's swimming like he used to swim.'
>>>Nata smiled as he broke the water by Ray's feet, shaking water from his hair. Ray smiled back, "you're back."
>>>Running his hands through his wet hair to pin it back, Nata shrugged. "I guess it's the extra training I've been doing...now what did you want to tell me?"