Page 9

9

Nick

U nknown number: What time will you be back?

Me: Who’s this?

Unknown number: Caleb.

Me: How’d you get my number?

Caleb: It was in that e-mail from the resident assistant when I moved in.

Caleb: Helloooo? What time will you be back???

Me: Late. Still with Rhys and his brother. Why, you want to hang out?

Caleb: Yes, Nicky, that’s exactly what I want to do.

I’d think he was serious, if not for rolling eyes emoji he tacks on the message. I snort and Rhys catches it from where he’s in the open kitchen pouring popcorn into a bowl. He cocks his head at me, and I shrug, putting my phone away before he accuses me of seeing somebody new.

Nope, sorry, Rhys. That was actually my roommate whom you hate.

Rhys plops down on the couch between me and his brother, Archer. He hands me a beer and grabs the remote, unpausing the action movie we were watching.

Archer digs his hand in Rhys’s bowl, earning him a scowl from his brother. Unperturbed, Archer says, “I heard you have a new roommate, Nick.”

“Yeah. Caleb. He’s also on the hockey team.”

“And he’s a dick,” Rhys says.

“He’s not bad.”

Rhys raises an eyebrow at me. “Are we talking about the same person?”

“Not everyone hates their roommate, Rhys,” Archer says. “Isaac is the best.”

“Where is Isaac, anyway?” I ask. Archer’s roommate and best friend usually enjoys staying in, but I haven’t seen him all night.

“Got dragged to a work thing.” Archer reaches for the bowl again.

Rhys yanks the bowl away from his brother, glaring at him. He had asked Archer earlier if he wanted his own, but Archer said he didn’t want any. The two of them are always bickering, which is maybe why Rhys chose to live in the dorm over living with him. After he slaps Archer’s hand away, Rhys says, “Caleb’s obnoxious, taunts everyone, and even said Nick was a fake-ass golden boy.”

Archer wheezes, and Rhys smacks him on the knee.

“He really isn’t that bad, though,” I say. “We’re getting along better lately. Actually, I think he wanted to hang out with me tonight.”

Caleb sounded sarcastic over text, but between him asking me last night where I’d be and him checking up on me again just now, that’s the only conclusion I can come up with.

“So why are you here?” Rhys asks. “I hope it’s not because I asked you first. I’m a grown man. It wouldn’t have hurt my feelings.”

“You wouldn’t mind if I ditched you to go play Mario Party with my roommate?”

“Kinda annoying because I hate the guy, but if that’s what you want to do, then go.” Rhys shoves popcorn into his mouth and fixes his stare at the screen. “I’d ask to come along, but I don’t want to be in a room with that ass. Also, Mario Party’s stupid.”

Rhys isn’t in the habit of lying, so I can tell he’s serious—if I wanted to go, he won’t care. Still, I give watching the movie a solid effort. It’s hard though, because I hate action movies, and the people on the screen have been fighting on a moving plane while it takes off the runway. For ten minutes now. This is the longest runway ever.

“Yeah, I’m going,” I say, deciding I can’t deal with this movie any longer.

“Wait!” Rhys suddenly exclaims. “I forgot you were my ride.”

“Relax, I’ll drive you back,” Archer tells him. “Let him hang out with his roommate, and you can hang out with me and Isaac. He’ll be back soon.”

Rhys chews on his lip, his eyes narrowed. He shifts uncomfortably and his brother glowers at him.

“Why are you always avoiding Isaac?” Archer asks in an accusing tone.

“I’m not.” Rhys flashes me a look that says, help me.

I nod at him and say, “Actually, Rhys, didn’t you say you had a paper due—”

Archer cuts me off. “Enough, Nick. You’re a terrible liar. Rhys, spend time with Isaac. I’m sick of you making up excuses to stay away from him. He’s a great guy.”

“Fine,” Rhys says, sounding defeated, and I give him an apologetic smile.

***

When I get to our room, it’s dark. My first thought is that Caleb’s not actually here, and my chest clenches in disappointment—what the hell’s that about? Sighing, I’m about to switch the lights on when a slight movement on Caleb’s bed startles me. I squint in the darkness, confused.

“Fuuuck,” says someone in a breathy and hoarse way, and I realize it’s Caleb. The reality of what’s going on shocks me, and I back up immediately, slamming loudly against the doorframe.

“Nick?” Caleb asks, baffled, and there’s the sound of blankets rustling around.

Another unfamiliar voice says, “Who’s that?”

“My roommate.”

Two shadowy figures get up from Caleb’s bed.

Fuck.

“Sorry!” I squeak. “I’ll go. My bad. Sorry.”

“Nah, stay, this is your room. I can go,” the unfamiliar guy says. There’s the sound of pants being zipped up and my face flares.

Caleb grumbles something under his breath and makes his way towards me, and for a moment I think he’s going to punch me in the gut. Instead, he switches the light on, and I’m met with the angriest glare I’ve ever seen on him. Caleb glowers at me, his hair tousled and his mouth bruised, and I don’t even want to think about what caused that. Even if it’s painfully obvious.

I’m just really, really relieved they both have their clothes on.

The guy he’s with grins at me from over Caleb’s shoulder. I think he’s a senior who plays for the baseball team. First, Jessie cheats on me with a baseball player, then I walk into Caleb hooking up with another one? That quickly, I decide I hate baseball with a passion.

The guy laughs. “Don’t worry about it, dude. Shit happens. I’ll go.”

Still horrified, I step away from Caleb and duck towards my side of the room. He tracks my movement, still glaring, and the guy approaches him. They talk in quiet voices, and I pretend to be busy, rearranging my bed as if it weren’t already perfectly arranged.

As soon as the guy leaves, Caleb rounds in on me. He shoves me back and, feeling incredibly dumb, I let him.

“In my defense,” I mutter, “how was I supposed to know you were hooking up with someone? We should have, like, a system or something. Let me know to stay away.”

“I asked you what time you were coming back! Why else would I ask? Small talk?”

Yeah, he did. I hang my head. “Sorry.”

Caleb seethes, and he jerks away from me. His hair falls over his face and I have to fight down the weirdly uncontrollable urge to tuck it behind his ear. I don’t like how he looks—with his messy hair and red cheeks. Not because I think he looks bad, but because I can’t push away the thought of him doing things. With someone. In our room.

I rub at my sternum. Huh. There’s a chance I might be lonelier than I thought.

Caleb curses and turns away from me, stomping over to his side and crashing down on it. He lies on his back and covers his eyes with his arms, his lips curved into a tight frown.

“I’m sorry,” I say again.

An exhale escapes him, and he slackens. He doesn’t uncover his eyes, though. “It’s whatever, I guess,” he says, surprising me. “Wasn’t feeling it all that much, anyway.”

Suddenly, I feel much lighter, and I fight back a smile.

He asks, “What are you even doing here? I thought you’d be late.”

“I thought—” I snap my mouth shut.

Caleb finally puts his arms down to peer at me. “You thought?”

“Nothing.”

“That stupid word again.”

“If I tell you, you might get angrier.”

“Spit it out, Nick.”

I take a deep breath and murmur, “I thought you’d want to play video games. Like we’ve been doing lately.”

Caleb's eyes widen, and he stares at me for an agonizingly long time. Finally, he splutters, “Y-you cockblocked me for Mario Party?”

My heart drops to my stomach. “I’m sorry.”

“Fuck, Nick,” he says with a laugh, though not unkindly. “Okay. Shit. My bad. I should have been more direct with you—like, hey, don’t come back yet because I’m getting dick.”

That weird, unpleasant sensation wraps around me again. “I don’t want to hear about that shit,” I blurt out without thinking.

He goes silent, and I wince at my own words.

Slowly, Caleb sits up and narrows his eyes at me. “Hear what?”

“I… um…”

A tense silence passes. Caleb, who was literally laughing a few seconds ago, looks furious. “Thought you weren’t homophobic, golden boy?”

“I’m not,” I insist, my mind scrambling for words. “Caleb, I didn’t mean—”

“So when all the other guys in the locker room go on and on about all the girls they’ve hooked up with, you’re fine with that, but I need to be quiet because I do it with guys?”

“Caleb—”

“Shut the fuck up, Sandoval.”

He gets up and flips me off. Caleb grabs his shoes, yanks the door open, and disappears before I can salvage this trainwreck of a night.