Chapter #4Maybe Life Won't Be So Bad by: citywalker   The halls of the southern wing bustled with the same energy and activity as the parking lot had been. It seemed like every other first year student had arrived before Eli and was already in the process of moving in, getting their boxes unloaded, and socializing with each other and with the other students who had all come down to see the newcomers. Everyone seemed super outgoing and talkative-- the polar opposite of Eli. How can you have an entire school be full of type-A personalities? he wondered.
Coming to the end of the hall, Matt stepped up to the second-to-last door that had a white plaque with black "G-9" letters printed in the middle of it. "Here you go, Eli," Matt said as he took out a small keyring with two keys on it from his pocket. "Your new home for the year!" He opened the dorm room door, and stepped inside.
As Eli followed him in, he had a momentary pang of hope when he saw that both beds, closets, and desks were completely empty. Only his own suitcases, delivered a few minutes ago by the luggage handler, sat on the floor. Could it be possible? Could the school have made a mistake, or perhaps there was an odd number of students in the incoming class and he was lucky enough to be living alone for the year? Maybe I'll be able to squeak by unnoticed and out of the way of everyone.
"Hm," Matt said as he looked around the barren room, "it looks like your roommate hasn't arrived yet."
Eli's heart sank. "Oh."
Matt flashed a reassuring smile, placing his hand on Eli's shoulder as the bottom button on his polo came loose, revealing the top of his firm chest. "Don't worry, he should be here anytime now. His name is Kai. He's already been on campus for the last week for football practice, but the team stays in a nearby hotel until the rooms are open and ready for everyone to move in."
Football. Great.
"Go ahead and get yourself unpacked and everything," Matt continued. "There's an all-first-years' meeting in an hour at 6 o'clock in the gymnasium. It'll be fun, they'll be bringing in a whole bunch of pizzas, and the teachers and staff all do these little sketch bits to introduce themselves. Dumb, but hokey fun. And," he reached his arm out towards Eli, holding the keychain he had opened the door a moment ago with, "These are yours. The small one is for the mailbox, the big one is for the room door."
Eli quickly grabbed them, avoiding eye contact with the senior, and uttering the bare minimum politeness allowed. "Thanks." He turned around and grabbed his suitcase, hoisted it up to the bed and then opened it, beginning to put away his clothes into the dresser.
Matt softly chuckled as he moved to the doorframe to leave, noticing that the bottom of his shirt had become untucked. "Don't worry, Eli," he said as he smoothly undid his belt and tucked the shirt back in, then refastened it. "You'll be a proud Lambda before you know it."
The older teen turned and left, leaving the door wide open. Eli quickly walked over and firmly shut it.
Not more than three minutes had passed before he heard the sound of a key being inserted into the lock of the door. Eli kept his eyes focused on his suitcase as he tried to look busy, praying this would be over as quick as possible.
"Here you go, Kai," an older boy's voice came in from the hall. "And I see Eli has already arrived. Eli, this is your roommate, Kai."
Eli picked up another stack of shirts out of his bag and moved them over to the dresser, not even turning his head. "Hi."
"Um, hey." The voice seemed wavering and unsure, without any of the confident bravado Eli had been expecting from a jock. Turning his head slightly, he saw a skinny, long-haired tan boy holding a single box standing in the doorway. The boy was around Eli's height, maybe even an inch shorter, and had a somewhat nervous look about him as he walked into the room.
Kai's senior mentor followed him in, as chipper and energetic as Matt had been. "Here's your keys, Kai," he said, handing him a keyring identical to the one Eli had received. "Remember, the intro session is at 6. I'll be seeing you too there! And," he said as he turned to leave, "try and leave the door open, guys. It'll help you get to know everyone better!"
The older teen left down the hall, leaving Kai standing near the door, still holding his box. After a few awkward silent seconds, he cleared his throat. "Um... do you mind if I close this for now?"
Eli shook his head, and Kai shut the door. He then walked over to the empty bed and set the box down, standing and staring at it for a moment, before he slowly and wordlessly began to unpack. Eli continued to put away the last of his clothes as well, until his suitcase was finally empty.
He then turned around and finally took a full look at his new roommate. Kai was definitely not what Eli had been expecting when Matt first mentioned him, seeming even more shy and awkward than himself. He also only seemed to have a few possessions in the box: a couple of sets of clean but plain-looking clothes, a single small picture frame that appeared to be of him with a large group of similar-looking people (his family, Eli guessed), and a laptop computer that looked to be several generations out-of-date. It didn't take long for Kai to put everything away too, and as he turned around and noticed Eli looking at him, he blushed slightly, avoiding eye contact.
"S-so," Kai finally stammered, "where do you come from?"
Eli blinked, feeling his defensiveness ebb a bit. "Jeffersonville, at the other end of the state. You?"
Kai leaned back against the bed. "Hawaii, actually. Hilo, on the big island."
"Hawaii? Really?" Eli had never met anyone from so far away before, or even been more than 100 miles outside of his state. The thought of someone coming from so far away seemed really exotic. "What made you come here?"
"I'm on a partial athletic scholarship," Kai responded. "And, you know, family saying it was the best opportunity, all that stuff."
Sounds familiar, Eli thought. "You play football, right?"
Kai nodded. "I'm the kicker for the team, at least primarily."
"Ah." Eli knew next to nothing about football (other than those who played it tended to like to take out a lot of their aggression on him). But kicker sounded like something that was a little different from the rough-and-tumble image he had of the sport.
He was about to say something else, but before he could open his mouth, the PA system in the dorm made a loud BEEP tone. "Attention all incoming students," a warm, inviting adult voice came on, "the Intro Session for First Year Students will begin in the gymnasium in five minutes. It will be a fun, informative meeting where you learn more about life at Lambda Academy, and pizza will be provided, so you don't want to miss it. And I remind everyone that attendance is MANDATORY. So we'll see you there!"
Eli sighed. "I guess we should go to this thing?"
"Yeah," Kai replied. "Go ahead, I'll be just a few more minutes."
"Oh, okay." Eli patted his pockets to make sure he had his keys and phone, and stepped over to the door. He still felt nervous as hell about being at this all-guys school with absolutely nobody he knew, but after the past few minutes, maybe, just maybe, he thought it wouldn't be 100% completely unbearable.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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