Roommates // DNF

1

Sunlight poured in through the window above George's bed. He let out a groan as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, stretching his arms out above his head with a yawn. It was still early, too early for George to be awake.

He was tempted to let his eyes flutter closed, to drift off to sleep again. But even though it was a Saturday, he had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.

He pushed himself up while kicking off his blankets, groaning under his breath as he ran a hand through his messy brown hair.

His eyes scanned his small university dorm room, most of his stuff was already packed up, with just a few last minute items lingering. His roommate had already gone home for the holiday break, so the room was feeling especially empty.

Not that George minded; he didn't exactly get along with his roommate.

George had always envisioned college as a place where he could finally be open, be himself. All through high school, he had tried to hide the fact that he was gay, but he got bullied and made fun of nonetheless.

He had been so excited to start college in the fall, it was supposed to be his chance to start fresh. But he had been naive, his hopefulness only leading to disappointment. As soon as his roommate had found out that he was gay, the bullying and tormenting started up. He spread rumors about George across campus, making it almost impossible for George to navigate the social aspect of college normally.

It was a huge part of the reason that George was transferring to a new school. He had even requested a single room, not wanting his bad luck with roommates to continue.

George inhaled deeply, stretching his arms up over his head before swinging his legs over the edge of the mattress, feet coming to rest on the rough grey carpeting below him. He pushed up from the bed and made his way to his dresser, quickly pulling on a pair of jeans, a light blue sweater, and a pair of white converse.

He looked at himself in the mirror, running his hands through his hair to tame the messy locks before giving up and pulling on a beanie.

He spent the next couple of hours packing up the remainder of his belongings and dragging the boxes and bags outside to his waiting car.

Exhausted, he finally fell into the drivers seat, his head resting back for a moment as he turned the key in the ignition. He was nervous about starting at a new school, silently praying to himself that this time would be different.

"It's gunna be fine," he mumbled to himself as he pulled out of the parking spot, finally starting his drive to the new university.

~

The drive was about an hour long, but seemed to go much quicker to George. His hands had jittered with nervous energy the entire time, up until he finally had the key for his new dorm room.

He was now standing outside of the building he would call home for the remainder of the academic year; his eyes scanning over the old stone walls, ivy creeping up and over the towering windows. It was beautiful, if not completely intimidating.

His eyes drifted down to the front steps, where a tall, blonde boy clad all in black was leaning against one of the pillars, a cigarette dangling from his lips. It was freezing out, and this boy was the only person crazy enough to be outside, as far as George could see.

His eyes scanned over the boy; he was extremely handsome but he looked like trouble, and George made a mental note to stay away from him. He didn't need anyone causing problems for him, not when he was just trying to find a place where he could be happy and fit in.

George exhaled through his nose, the warm breath mixing with the cold air to create small white puffs that lingered for just a moment before fading. George felt a shiver run up his spine, shifting the box in his arms as the weight seemed to grow heavier.

He began making his way towards the front door, glancing at the boy on the stairs as he made his way up them. As soon as he got to the heavy wooden door, he realized that he had no way of opening it, both of his hands being occupied by the heavy box he was currently holding.

He glanced back at the blonde boy, who seemed to barely register that someone had even walked past him. George cleared his throat nervously before calling out, "excuse me, uhm, do you think you can help me with this door, please?"

The boy didn't even bother to turn, only took a long drag from the cigarette in his hand before blowing out a cloud of smoke. George huffed in annoyance before trying a little louder, "hello? Excuse me?"

Still getting no response, George rolled his eyes before turning back to the door and mumbling, "asshole."

He shifted the weight of the box into one arm, barely managing to grasp the cold brass handle with his free hand as he pulled the door open just enough to slip inside. The warmth washed over him immediately, soothing away the annoyance he was feeling, a small smile spreading on his face.

He made his way down a long winding hallway until he finally found the door to his room. He had a first floor room, and he couldn't wait to get inside and have the whole space to himself, to decorate and organize how ever he wanted.

He pushed the door open, the smile on his face quickly fading as his eyes scanned over the small room. There were two of everything; two beds, two desks, two dressers. A large black suitcase had been thrown carelessly onto one of the beds, but the room was otherwise empty.

George's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, this couldn't be right. He had made sure to request a single room, and this definitely wasn't a single room.

He entered anyway, placing the box down on the free bed before pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialing the number for the housing office.

A woman's voice sounded on the other end after only a couple of rings, "housing office, how can I help you?"

"Hi, my name's George Davidson, I was just in there to pick up my key for my dorm. I think there's been a mistake though. I was supposed to get a single room but I was put in a double."

He heard the sound of keys clicking as the woman searched his name and pulled up his information, humming quietly before responding, "ah yes, here we are. It looks like we were out of single rooms and you got one of the last available rooms we had. I do apologize, but there isn't anything we can do at this point in time."

George let out a defeated sigh before mumbling a thank you and hanging up the call. He slipped his phone back into his pocket, hoping to himself that at least this roommate would be nicer than the last.

He heard the door behind him creak open, turning to see who this new roommate could be. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the same tall, blonde male who had been smoking on the stairs, the very same one who had ignored him.

"Perfect," George grumbled in annoyance under his breath.

The blonde's bright green eyes locked onto George's, and he felt his heart rate quicken slightly from the nerves as he flashed George a near perfect smile.

"I'm assuming you're my new roommate? I'm Clay," the blonde said as he took a few steps closer to George, extending a hand for the brunette to shake.

George's eyes drifted down to Clay's hand, it was large, much larger than George's own hand. He swallowed back his nerves as he lifted his hand to meet to blonde's, his eyes flickering back up as he responded, "nice to meet you, I'm George."

Clay kept his eyes locked onto George's, the handshake lasting for just a moment too long as he confidently smirked at the brunette. George could feel the heat burning in his face, he was sure that his cheeks were flushed pink. But he couldn't help it because it felt like electricity was crackling in his hand, nerves coming to life at every point where Clay's skin met his.

George was the first to break the eye contact, dropping his eyes as he pulled his hand away from the blonde. Great, he thought to himself, he's rude and even better looking up close.

It seemed to George that he would be getting anything but a normal year.