hfjONE: Back, But At What Cost? (College AU)

Chapter 8: Trust

⭐Chapter 8: Trust

No word was spoken about the event after that. Both boys carried on with their days and assignments, Liam now noticing his roommate wearing different colored hats on occasion. Today he had a blue one on, and yesterday he had a red one. Not that it mattered, but sometimes Liam found that the little things in life could really make people happy in their own ways. He needed it anyway, because he had a test grade coming up that he wasn't sure if he would like or not.

As he made his way into the classroom, he found himself being a few minutes late, the professor already starting to hand out the test results. Liam made his way to his seat, trying not to raise his anxiety levels by telling him it was okay and he wouldn't get a punishment for being less than 15 minutes late. As he sat down and unpacked his things, the professor made their way over to him, handing him his test back without a word. He took it with a nod before flipping it over to look at the grade he'd gotten.

A 60%.

Liam really did his best not to break then and there, repeatedly saying there was a mistake and that he would look at it after class. The class went on as usual, though a small portion of the beginning part was dedicated to answering test questions. Liam took notes on what he got wrong, though the thoughts of his grade still buzzed around in the back of his head. He swore he studied hard for this one, and yet the test managed to be all the questions he didn't study for. Soon class was over with no homework due for next time, and with it being his last class for the day, Liam was ready to go. As he left the classroom, Liam couldn't help but overhear a few people from the class talking about their grades.

"How'd you guys do on the test?"

"Oh, I got a 90. Wasn't all that hard, I prepared for it."

"I got an 80. Not my best, but...I'll still take it!

"I'm honestly surprised I got a 100, I hardly studied, haha!"

The pressure wasn't on him to state his grade, but it sure felt like it was. As he left the building, Liam practically sprinted all the way back to his dorm without another word, suppressing the urge to break down right then and there. He burst into the building and ran up the stairs, scrambling to unlock the door to his room as fast as he could once he reached it on the floor he was on. Once it was opened, Liam practically yanked the door behind him, ran into the room, and threw himself across his own bed...

Shortly before feeling himself change shape as cloud-like smoke briefly filled the room.

"Oh."

Liam, now in backpack form, looked up from his collapse only to see his roommate staring at him from his desk, a book open on one side and a notebook on the other.

"Sorry, I...had to remember that was a thing now. I thought I was dreaming," his roommate muttered.

"Oh, no. You were," Liam replied, half jokingly.

A snort came from his roommate in response, causing Liam to chuckle a little too.

"Yeah, well...I'm sure I can't be dreaming for two whole days now, can I?"

"I dunno, can you?"

"Oh stop it."

The two went quiet for a while after that, the only noise in the room being the ventilation system humming. Liam let his smile fade, though he supposed his little joke had helped him feel a little better already.

"You uh...you doing alright?" his roommate asked him after a few seconds.

"I just...got a bad grade on a test," Liam answered. "It's stupid, I know, but...I dunno."

"No, no, you should have a right to be upset about something like that," his roommate responded. "I'll leave if you want me t-"

"You're fine, it's not you," Liam interrupted. "I just need to...lay here for a while."

"...alright then."

The room went quiet again, Liam going back to laying face down on his bed. He let everything sink in, knowing that, even though he wasn't a failure for not getting a high grade on one (1) test, it still felt awful. But it was done and over with, he didn't get a re-take. He would simply have to do better on the next one, study harder and prepare more. Liam was about to roll over onto his side when he heard his roommate speak up again.

"I mean...I'm sure there's a reason, but...why don't you at least tell your friends about the curse, huh? I mean sure, outing it to the general public isn't ideal but like...you're not even gonna share it with people you trust?"

"Because..." Liam sighed, propping himself up a little, "I don't wanna...risk anything."

"What, you think they'll think you're weird or something?" his roommate asked. "Ditch you, even?"

".....yeah."

"Well at that point they're not even your real friends!"

"I know, but...I wouldn't want to invest in all that only to have them ditch me from that..." Liam replied. "Besides, what if they tell someone anyway?"

"You have no idea how many people wouldn't believe the statement of "my friend turns into a backpack with limbs and a face when they're stressed", y'know."

"Yeah, well. Better safe than sorry, I guess."

"I mean...I haven't told anyone. And I don't plan to."

"You said it was because you didn't have anything to gain out of it!" Liam exclaimed.

"I was joking," his roommate responded.

He sounded genuine.

"You better have been!" Liam said, toning his voice down a little.

"I was. And I'll keep it that way unless you want me to tell someone about it...which, I doubt you will, but. Y'know."

"Alright, alright...thanks, for...that," Liam sighed as he let himself slouch a little. "I'm glad I at least have someone to rely on."

"Of course."

Liam could feel things calming down, though he still couldn't help but feel a little uneased. He supposed it was better than it was before though, and let everything sink in as he remained on his bedside. Before Liam could say anything else however, a puff of cloud-like smoke filled vision. He heard his roommate yelp from across the room before swatting away at it all so he could see better. As the smoke cleared, Liam looked down at his body to see that he'd returned to being a human again. His roommate looked at him before blinking a few times and shaking his head.

"Oh. So that's how that...works."

Liam could only sigh with a shrug in response.

"Yup."