I regret the day I welcomed him into my home. I never anticipated to being thrust into such a bizarre scenario.
Jack … I don’t know how he managed to reduce me in this state, but it happened.
It all started some months ago; Jack had recently moved to our school, and immediately proved to be an interesting guy: within days he was already talking to everyone, he easily entered the group of jocks in the class, and changed girlfriends almost every month; he was the typical street punk who spent the weekends partying.
I wasn’t even interested in knowing him. I had my friends to talk to, my girlfriend to hang out with, and my problems to think about. In fact, I initially ignored him, and apart from a greeting every now and then we didn’t exchange many words. But there was something about him that immediately attracted me.
The shoes.
As embarrassing as it may be to admit it, I’ve always had a fetish for shoes, but until then I only looked at those worn by girls. But Jack made me understand that I’m actually attracted to sports shoes in general, and the ones he wore were the best around: always clean, always shiny, and always on display since Jack rested his feet on the school desk every time he could; sometimes he did it even in the presence of the teachers.
Jack had recently moved to our city, so few knew him at the beginning. Over time he started to make a name for himself though, because he soon joined a rather well-known group of young thugs: they would go around doing street fighting and other bullshit, and he would always come out with some good story to tell.
At one point, a video circulated. It didn’t go viral, luckily for him, but everyone in the school had seen it except the teachers. In that video he beat up a man who was more than twice his age, a forty year old … he punched, kneed and kicked him, but only after he knocked him down the most … “interesting” part start.
Jack humiliated him in various ways: first he had his shoes kissed and licked, after which he forced the man to kiss his friends’ shoes too, and finally they all kicked and insulted him, even going so far as to urinate on him.
From what I know, the man deserved that and even more, but initially the video was horrible, it disgusted me… yet I hadn’t removed it from my phone, on the contrary, I had saved it on my computer and occasionally watched it again… for some strange reason. Thanks to that video I learned that he is a fan of combat sports: he wrestles in school, but outside of school he also practices boxing and MMA.
That video had a peculiar impact on his popularity. Instead of depicting him as a bully to be avoided, it unexpectedly elevated him to the status of the most popular boy in school. His social media profiles went from having an average of 200-300 followers to an average of 3,000, and the reason is simple: the man who was beaten up happened to be a forty-year-old who attempted to assault a little kid, so Jack became a sort of “superhero” in the eyes of the students.
That video had a weird effect on me too. Although he initially disgusted me, since I saw it my obsession with his shoes has increased. In that video he walked over his victim, kicked him, jumped on his back, and forced him to kiss and lick his shoes … and I enjoyed watching those scenes. One day I even dreamed about being beaten and kicked by him, and it was such an intense and pleasant dream that he made me cum … and that was my first time cuming for a man and not a woman.
I didn’t know what was going on in my head; as time went by, my interest in him kept growing.
After a few weeks I started talking to him. He is arrogant and a little annoying, but he is sociable. He likes to talk to everyone, even if not everyone likes to talk to him. So I started greeting him more frequently, spending a bit more time around him, and I even attempted to initiate arguments with him… but it was futile. Except for a greeting, he didn’t pay me the slightest attention, not even a glance.
He was sociable, yes, but he always had someone more interesting than me to talk to.
So one day a stupid idea came to my mind. I usually take the train to go home, while he takes the bus instead. But if I want, I too can take the bus; I would have made the road a lot longer, but it would have increased my chances of having an argument with him, and so I started taking the bus myself.
Unfortunately he was surrounded by his friends even up there, and when someone was missing they would occupy the free seats either with their backpack or putting their feet on it; they often left their feet there even in the presence of people who might have preferred to sit down.
That arrogant behavior, for some reason, made my belly boil … but not with anger, with something more like pleasure.
One day I was lucky anyway. Though perhaps I should say unfortunate, considering how it turned out.
It was a bit dark and cloudy day, almost everyone was missing from school, and on the way back the bus was almost completely empty, so I sat next to him for the first time since I’ve known him.
He had his head bent over his phone; he was reading his math notes.
<<Oh, hey, Jack. Math, huh?>> I said to start a conversation <<Do you…do you need a hand?>>
He gave me a quick look; I don’t even know if he recognized me <<Can you do these exercises?>>
<<Yes, no problem for me.>>
<<Okay, I’ll send them to you now. I need them done for tomorrow, so send them back to me tonight or tomorrow morning.>>
At those words I hesitated for a moment; he was literally asking me to do his homework … no, that wasn’t even a request, he was talking as if everything had already been decided.
<<S … sure, I can help you … if you want …>> was my unconvinced answer; I had no intention of actually doing his homework, but at the same time I didn’t want to appear unpleasant during our first real conversation.
<<Perfect.>> he replied <<Today I have to train, I don’t have time for this shit.>>
<<Okay…so…uhm…how many exercises …?>>
<<Thirty. But they are easy.>>
I let out a sigh. Thirty exercises… It would take me around 3 hours, maybe even more, to complete them all. Knowing this was quickly making me stop wanting to help him … but then I heard him exclaim: <<Shit!>>
<<What happened?>> I asked him.
<<I can’t send them to you. This app has … an anti-cheat system?>>
<<All school apps have anti-cheat systems. You can’t send your homeworks to other students … you can’t even do screenshots.>>
<<Really? Fuck.>>
I didn’t say anything but I felt relieved … the mere idea of spending three or more hours doing someone else’s homework disgusted me.
While Jack continued to complain, my attention shifted to his shoes. His feet were comfortably resting on the seat in front, and I observed his short white socks, sporty shoes, and his snug-fitting pants for minutes before I reluctantly made up my mind to discreetly capture a photo of them.
I picked up the phone, pretended I was watching a video by putting on headphones, and then snapped it.
However, the phone flashed due to the low light of that cloudy day.
It is said that those who are on the verge of death see their whole life before their eyes … and I think this rumor is false, because in the moments following the flash I felt like I was dying, but the only thing I thought about was the immensity of my idiocy.
I slowly shifted my gaze towards Jack expecting some aggressive or strange reaction, but he still had his head bent over his phone.
I held my breath in fear, anticipating some sort of reaction. However, in the end, nothing happened. It appeared that Jack hadn’t noticed the flash, although deep down, I couldn’t help but feel that he actually had. It was practically a sudden and unmistakable burst of light, impossible to miss … Yet, Jack seemed to have completely disregarded the event.
When it was finally my time to get off the bus I got up without even saying goodbye, too nervous and scared to do so, but he stopped me immediately.
<<Where are you going?>> he asked me, giving me an almost confused look.
<<Uhm … I have to take the train to go home.>> I explained.
<<What? You still have 30 fucking exercises to do. Sit down.>> was his answer.
<<B … but can’t send them to me.>>
<<Yeah … that’s why you will do them on my phone.>>
<<N-now?>>
<<Later.>>
<<L … later?>>
<<Yes. Now I eat, then I train. And while I train, you do my homework. Easy, right?>> having said that, he went back to looking at his phone screen, as if the discussion had ended there; I was so stunned that I stood for a few seconds not quite knowing what to say to him.
I could have simply left, but he was practically inviting me to his house…how could I refuse?
So I returned to the seat next to him, albeit with some uncertainty.
The rest of the journey was silent. He listened to music while I watched some videos. Occasionally I would glance up, fixing my gaze on his shoes. They were a captivating sight, proudly displayed on the bus seat for all to see.
Things went on like this until we both got off the bus.
<<Follow me.>> he told me once we got off the bus, and without saying anything else he led me to a sort of diner.
<<Do we eat here?>> I asked him while taking a seat.
<<I eat here.>> he replied, after which he ordered lunch, and I imitated him because I didn’t know what else to do.
Even there we didn’t talk at all. He continued to ignore me, always with the phone in his hand, while I sat there feeling perplexed and nervous. I couldn’t fathom why I was there or how I had ended up in such a weird situation.
After eating he let out a loud satisfied burp, whereupon he got my attention and nodded towards the cashier <<You pay.>> he informed me.
<<W … what?>>
<<I have no money with me.>>
<<M-Me neither!>>
<<Cap, you have the card. You always pay with that at the school bar.>> was his answer.
<<Yes but … I don’t have much money inside.>>
<<Just pay a let’s go dude, I have a lot to do today.>>
<<B-but>>
<<Weren’t you the one with the huge swimming pool in the house? Pay a couple of meals shouldn’t be that difficult.>>
I was furious, the very idea of being treated like this made my blood boil with rage. First he tells me to do his homework, then to pay for lunch… I was really thinking of walking away and leaving him there.
But I didn’t because I shifted my gaze to his shoes once again: he had one foot comfortably resting on the chair next to mine, and that vision made me reflect on the fact that going home to do his homework also meant having access to his collection of sports shoes. Why spoil this chance just for a stupid lunch? And, after all, he was right: I didn’t lack money so I didn’t care much about paying for him… it was his way of talking that annoyed me the most, but I decided to let it slide and go along with it.
That was the first time I paid him anything… and it wouldn’t be the last.
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This is one of the stories in the Red archive.
If you liked it, here is the complete list of stories based on the same concept:
- The Peeping Tom: the story of a voyeur, caught in the act and punished accordingly
- Little cousin: the story of a boy, whose life has been totally dominated by his cousin
- Guest: the story of a boy who was arguing with his sister; he didn’t know that her boyfriend was in the house
- Prodigy: the story of a young athlete so talented that he dominates his own master, physically and mentally
- Her boyfriend: the story of a boy, whose roommate is engaged to a rather dominant guy
- Trapped: the story of a poor weak man’s head that ended up in the grip of a young man’s muscular legs
- The friend: The story of a boy who befriends someone a little too dominant
- The step-brother: the story of a boy who found himself living with his half-brother, who was ten years younger than him