Aching Bones

Tom looked at his watch, "It's only ten, we can keep looking around if you like."

The boys had been exploring the campus for the best part of an hour, most of which was checking out the library and cafeteria, to see what sort of things they could expect in the future; though they also explored their respective blocks; the science building being a little more difficult to navigate.

"Yeah, sure. I could do with putting off unpacking for a while longer." The two headed into the main building again, deciding to look around the ground floor for a while having previously headed straight up for the humanities department.

"Oh my god." Ashley just turned away from Tom, heading down the corridor.

"What?"

"Look at the sign." Tom looked at the wall, a small green square with a white arrow pointing down the corridor, "Pool and Gym facilities".

"Oh my god." The two hurried down the corridor, nearing a jog, "I can't believe they have a pool. That's so awesome!"

"Fancy a dip?" Ashley turned, looking a little hopeful.

"Absolutely, I'll grab my shorts."

"Can you get mine too? There in the top right draw. I'm gonna just check it out."

"Yeah, sure."

Tom ran back to the dorm, bounding up the stairs with excitement. "They actually have a fucking pool, thank god." He swung the door open, realising they'd not actually locked it this morning, "Oops," and headed over to his drawers. He grabbed a pair of swim shorts, and skipped over to Ashley's chest. A wide smirk grew on Tom's face, as he pulled out a small speedo from the draw, "Oh yes," he glanced back in the draw, noticing a pair of swim shorts, "This is gonna be hilarious."

---

"Ashley!" Tom called out, causing Ashley to turn around; his face went bright red. Tom had a navy blue speedo hanging from the tip of his index finger and towels in his other arm. "I got our... shorts."

"You dick! I asked for my fucking shorts, not..." Ashley was almost crimson at this point, "Oh shit, I completely forgot those were in there. Why didn't you pick up the shorts?"

"Oh, sorry man. I didn't find any."

"Bullshit, you're such an asshole." Ashley punched Tom lightly on the arm, "I hate you."

Tom burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer; "Aw, that kind of hurt. C'mon, I wanna swim."

Ashley just grunted at that, holding the speedo out in front of him; his shoulders slumped, and he followed Tom to the changing rooms. "I'll never forgive you for this." Tom just chuckled, as he pushed the door open; holding it for Ashley to pass.

They each headed off into their own cubicle to get changed, Ashley taking a little longer; no doubt working up the courage to wear the speedo. Tom came out first, carrying a bundle of clothes in his arm; "Hey, I'm done, I'm just gonna chuck my stuff in a locker."

"Sure, be out in a sec." Ashley took this opportunity to exit the cubicle, and hurried around to the lockers. He opened up one next to Tom, shielding him from sight; he crammed his stuff into the locker. He paused before closing the door, strapping the key round his wrist.

Tom was still putting his stuff in the locker when Ashley turned round, he stood a little awestruck.

"Wow."

"What?" Tom looked at Ashley, noticing he was staring at him; "Oh yeah, I told you I swim all the time; I meant it."

"Yeah but," Ashley snapped out of it, reddening a little, "Ready?"

"Yeah. Nice speedo by the way." Ashley went crimson in an instant. He could tell Tom was smiling as he walked towards the pool. Thankfully it wasn't overflowing with people, there was only three others, excluding themselves, in the pool; so Ashley didn't have to embarrass himself in front of too many people. Tom dived in, surprisingly smoothly, and Ashley quickly followed.

"Wanna race?" Tom looked back at Ashley, "I'll go easy on you."

"What? That's not fair, you swim more."

"I said I'll go easy," Ashley reluctantly nodded, "On three. One, two, three!" They both bound off the wall, surfacing quickly. They stayed neck-and-neck for about 20 metres, but Tom slowly began to peel away. Ashley grabbed Tom's ankle, and pulled him back; speeding ahead. As he hit the wall, he bound from under the water; arms held high in the air.

"He takes the gold medal! Oh, a flawless performance by Ashley Morgan!"

Tom surfaced within moments, "You cheating little bugger," he laughed hard, "Oh man, I had that. I'm gonna kill you." Tom splashed Ashley hard, spraying him in an arc of water.

"Ah dude, don't. You'll get me wet," Ashley laughed as he splashed back. It quickly escalated into a small war between the two, which even had other swimmers chuckling at the sight of two near adults having a battle in the swimming pool. Tom quickly splashed Ashley, causing him to raise his arm, and jumped forwards, tackling Ashley under the water. He managed to escape from Tom's grasp, the two surfacing while laughing, "Oh man," Ashley gasped, trying to catch his breath, "We're so childish."

"Yeah, you started it."

"What? You little bugger," Ashley splashed him lightly, though not so much as to start another war.

"Hey," the two turned to see a girl approaching them in the pool, "Nice to see some others that know how to enjoy themselves." Both Tom and Ashley smiled, "Name's Jennifer, I'm a first year too; I'm still trying to get to know people, but it's harder without a roommate."

"I'm Tom, this is Ashley."

"Hey." Ashley chimed in.

"How come you don't have a roommate?"

"Well I would've, but she's ended up in hospital. I don't know if she'll be back soon, or whether she'll be replaced. For now, I'm just hitting it out solo. What about you two? Do you have roommates?"

They looked at each other, a little confused, "Uh, yeah. We are roommates."

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were, well, you know..." She sort of locked her fingers together in a strange shape, but they got the jist.

"What?! No, god, we're just roommates." Tom sort of chuckled at the idea.

"Yeah, we're just roommates." Ashley only mumbled this, barely loud enough for either of them to hear.

"Well, in that case, I feel less intrusive by asking: Is it alright if I hang around with you guys?" She glanced at the two of them, lingering a little longer on Ashley, "Unless you'd rather I didn't."

Tom spoke up, "No, no. Sure. Yeah, before we were just exploring; but we saw the pool and got overexcited about trying it out."

She laughed at that, "Yeah, same thing happened to me. It's so cool. Shame there's no diving board though."

Tom glanced at his watch, "Wow, it's twelve already. We should probably head back and get ready to go out for lunch. Why don't you meet us in the courtyard out front? Then we can all head out together."

"Yeah, sounds great. Thanks."

They each headed towards the edge of the pool, climbing out onto the side.

"Sexy speedo." Ashley went bright red once again, Jennifer simply giggled.

"Thanks." He was smiling, but mostly from embarrassment; but he was flattered by the comment.

Jennifer headed off for the girls changing rooms, as the boys headed for the showers. "This has been a good start," they both ducked under the shower spray, "We've already made a friend, and discovered the swimming pool." They both headed over to the lockers, grabbing their clothes and towels out.

"Oh, hey Ash. I found something." Tom tossed something in Ashley's direction. He caught it, a pair of swim shorts.

"I fucking hate you so much." Tom just burst out laughing as they headed to the cubicles.

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Thanks guys, I'm sorting out the length of the stories. If this was still too short, just say so in the comments. Once more, please criticize, it's the only way I get to know what you'd like. The next part shall be up soon.