Breathing Room (Waiting Room #2)

Chapter 8: Rebound (Part 3)

Jacky awoke to the blaring of an alarm and let out a stream of choice curse words. He jumped out of bed and shoved his feet into his Converse, then grabbed his zip-up hoodie hung on the bedpost.

Someone pounded on his door. "Fire drill!" Steve called.

"Billy, get up," Jacky croaked, stumbling over to Billy's bed as he shrugged on his hoodie. In the dark he reached out and slapped at the middle of the bunched-up covers – no Billy. He lurched to his phone and pulled it off the charger, snagged his lanyard, and had to shove it all in the pocket of his hoodie before he could open the door into chaos.

Almost every door was open and everyone was shuffling down the hallway. Too late Jacky realized he was only wearing his boxers. "Fuck," he said, and turned to go back and put on pants.

But Brandon, clad in plaid pajama pants and a ripped t-shirt, grabbed Jacky's arm and hauled him into the swarm of students. "Come on, Steve said if our hall is cleared first we get a prize."

"Is the prize letting us go back to bed?" Jacky grumbled.

Braedyn appeared, rubbing his eyes. "Did someone pull the fire alarm?"

"If they did, they're a fucking asshole." Jacky glared around, as if the culprit was among them.

The crowd wore a wide variety of sleepwear. Lots of flannel and fleece pajama pants and sweatshirts, since the weather had started to turn chilly, but Jacky saw a girl wearing boxers and a lacy tank top under a puffy jacket with flip flops, a boy in jorts with a thermal top, and another guy in a full matching striped pajama set that made him look like he'd just walked out of the 1930s. The amount of bare legs he saw, both male and female, made him feel less self-conscious about the fact that he was about to walk outside in his underwear in front of everyone at school. The nightmare fuel of this scenario was tempered by how half-asleep everyone was.

Then the cool night air hit his legs, and he was a little less comfortable with all of this.

Jacky was too sleepy to do anything but follow the people he knew from his floor to an area on the sidewalk across from the dorm. Soon, however, the chill started to wake people up, if they had actually been asleep to begin with. Someone started playing party music on their phone, then Kayla and Alexis, who Jacky had sometimes seen hanging around in Brandon and Braedyn's room, jumped in front of them and yelled, "Fire drill selfie!"

Jacky winced as the flash went off.

Alexis and Kayla giggled and made sure they looked good before they went to post it on Instagram. "Hey, what's your Insta?" Kayla asked Jacky. After that first night, she had backed off, and Jacky figured her roommate Deja had probably filled her in.

"I don't have one," Jacky said, but Braedyn elbowed him.

"Yes you do. I've seen you on there."

Jacky sighed. It wouldn't exactly help his reputation if he said he was just lurking on there looking for a post from Ryan. Monica had tagged him in a few photos, mostly Throwback Thursday posts but apparently she and Ryan hung out in Boston. Jacky shook his head, disappointed that Braedyn had caught him stalking his ex. "It's jackoffjennings."

"Are you fucking serious?" Brandon laughed. "That's fucking awesome, dude!" He held up his hand for a high five and Jacky slapped it with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, which wasn't a lot.

Kayla's mouth twisted in an expression of disdain. "Why are guys so gross?"

Before he could respond, Steve started herding them more onto the sidewalk. Jacky backed up and into someone. "Sorry," he said, turning to see a familiar face. "What are you doing here?"

Fox somehow managed to look debonair, with a peacoat over a fisherman's sweater and his hair tousled. "You sound like you don't want to see me," he said with a little pout.

"Were you writing fanfiction in the laundry room again?" Jacky asked, eying Fox's leather laptop bag lung over his shoulder and the silver travel coffee mug in his hand.

"Shhh, that's secret!" Fox leaned in and said this in a whisper that tickled the hairs on Jacky's neck.

"So you were," Jacky said.

Fox twisted his lips into a playful smile and inclined his head.

For a long moment Jacky wasn't sure how to continue this flirting. He tried to remember how he flirted with Ryan, then he recalled that they hadn't really flirted. It had been more of a trying to do nice things for each other knowing the other person was going through a hard time. Jacky didn't know how to flirt with someone who was hot and knew it and didn't seem to need help with anything.

"Uh, so what's your life like outside of the laundry room?" Jacky asked.

"Not much to tell, I'm afraid," Fox said with a shrug. "Go home, sleep, go to class, eat dinner with my parents and hear about how I need to pick a major. Then go to the laundry room and write novels for my adoring fans."

"You're undecided?" Jacky exhaled in relief that he wasn't the only person who hadn't chosen a major. The last time he had called his mom she had asked about it, and he had a feeling when he went home for the long weekend he was going to hear a lot more. "I would have thought you were an English major."

"Alas, my father teaching Art History does not mean he sees the value in the literary arts. 'I've never met an English major who does anything with their degree,' that's what he says."

Jacky grimaced. He didn't even know what people did with an English major. "What about journalism?" he asked.

"Not for me." Fox sighed. "I don't know why I'm complaining. I'm getting a free college education."

"But it's a waste of time if it isn't what you want to do," Jacky said.

Fox looked at him; Jacky hadn't ever had someone look at him in the considering way Fox did, as if he was taking Jacky's measure. "This has been a great conversation. Would you be interested in giving me your number so we could continue it?"

Jacky's heart thumped hard in his chest. "Definitely."

Afterwards, as the RA's herded everyone back into the building, Braedyn found Jacky and asked, "Who was that guy you were talking to?"

"Oh, that's Fox. He hangs out in the laundry room a lot."

Braedyn looked confused. "Oh. It seemed like—"

He didn't finish before Billy showed up, dressed in a purple tank top and ripped jeans, holding a shiny silver button-down shirt in his hand like he was too hot to wear it. His skin sparkled with glitter. "What the fuck is going on?" he slurred. "Why are you outside in your underwear? Was there a rave I wasn't informed about?"

"Fire drill," Jacky said, leaning away from Billy's breath. It stank like Jagermeister.

That didn't stop Billy from sizing Jacky up. "Sexy."

"Gross." Jacky pushed Billy away. They squeezed through the door and continued up to their hall. Billy slipped behind, and Jacky yipped when he felt a hand squeeze his ass. "Hey!" He whirled around and stared Billy down, even as Billy gave him a sloppy grin. "Not cool."

Billy held his hands up. "Okay, okay. It won't happen again. Unless you tempt me."

"If you want your pretty face to stay that way, you'd better not do it even then," Jacky snarled.

He was sure he'd gotten his point across, but as he turned away, Billy said, "You think I have a pretty face?"

Braedyn had waited beyond the doorway for Jacky. In a low voice he asked, "Is he always like that?"

Jacky sighed. "Not always."

"Because if he's sexually harassing you, you can tell Steve. Or student services. You could get a new roommate."

For a brief moment Jacky imagined getting a new roommate. But the roommate looked like Ryan, and he ducked his head. "Thanks, but I'm fine," he gruffed out before they parted ways.