Heroic Acts

Five

Darien made it through his classes up until lunch. He didn't have a car here, and he didn't know what kind of places they had around the school, so he decided to make his way back to his dorm to get something to eat.

He happily put together a classic PB&J, his stomach growling. He made three sandwiches eventually, and he hoped it would be enough to tame his massive appetite. He cut them in half, diagonally, just like his mother used to when he was little. It was like a sweet little comfort of home on one plate.

The door clicked open, and Seth made his way inside, surprised to see Darien on the floor with the little mess he made.

"You're here?" Seth asked. Darien licked the roof of his mouth free of peanut butter before answering.

"Well, it definitely looks like it, doesn't it?" he said.

"I thought you'd go out somewhere to eat, or at least the food court," Seth said.

"This room is the most familiar place, I thought I'd be comfortable," Darien replied. "Is that alright?"

"Yeah, I guess. I just normally spent my time in here, so I was surprised to see you in here," Seth explained.

"I'm sorry, I can leave your space to yourself from now on," Darien said, cramming another sticky bite into his mouth.

Seth didn't answer, he just shrugged and unwrapped his Subway sandwich. The two sat in awkward silence, the tension so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Darien looked over at Seth. He just couldn't figure him out..

"Seth?" He blurted out, without thinking.

"Hm?"

"Why.." he began. He hesitated for a moment. "Why are you so mean?"

Seth stopped eating his sandwich, and sat perfectly still for a moment. Finally, he replied, "I don't think I'm mean."

"Really?" Darien asked. "My first day here, you were incredibly rude to me. Today was the first day you showed me any kindness at all, and even then you were still sarcastic and snarky. I just want to know what I did wrong."Seth looked over at him, almost emotionless, but Darien swore he could see shock or surprise in his eyes.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Seth remarked. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Then why pick on me?"

"I can't really explain, Darien. I don't know. I'm just like that, I guess. I pick on people all the time, because it's all I know. I got picked on too," he said.

"Then you would know how it feels," Darien pointed out. "Why not stop now?"

"You act like I do it on purpose," Seth said.

"What else am I supposed to think?"

A silence fell between the two. Seth went back to eating his sandwich. Darien watched him for a minute, then picked up the last half of his own sandwich, happily finishing it off. Seth was so odd, so mysterious. He just wanted to understand him and his ways.

"Do you like your classes?" Seth asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Your classes," he repeated, pausing for a moment to chew and swallow a mouthful of sandwich. "Do you like them?"

"Oh, yeah, they're really great. I'm excited for the semester. I still can't believe I'm here," Darien said.

"That's good. It's funny that we're going for the same major."

"Yeah," Darien said quietly. That is what he didn't get. Was Seth just socially awkward? Bipolar, maybe? Such an interesting personality all bundled up into one person, really.

***

For the rest of the evening, Darien spent time wandering the campus and discovering new things and activities. His excitement for being enrolled in the college grew with every footstep. The beauty of it all, the history, (most of) the people, and the purpose of the school in general were positively breathtaking.

Darien couldn't help but wonder about Seth. It seemed that was all he thought about, really. He had been there for only a few short days and already he couldn't decide if his roommate was a friend or foe. For one thing, he always seemed to contradict himself, and that confused Darien the most. He wasn't even sure if Seth liked him at all. What was with the whole attitude thing, anyway? There were absolutely no manners towards him, the new guest. Was Seth raised in a barn? Etiquette wasn't necessarily a foreign concept. It was simply common courtesy to be kind to those you don't know. Clearly, Darien didn't know Seth at all, and it was the same the other way around.

Darien's watch beeped for 9:00 p.m. It was time to head back to the dorm and snuggle into the floor-nest that he called a bed and catch up with Teagan over text. He missed him an awful lot! He definitely would have made a better roommate. Darien walked across campus, admiring the stars and the lights of brightly lit rooms in all of the buildings.

Turning the key in the lock and stepping back in the dorm, he was greeted with a surprise. The room was spotless, and all of his things were neatly stacked onto the bed that had looked like a pig pen earlier in the day.

"You looked really uncomfortable on the floor," Seth said. "I figured it would be best if I cleaned up my awful mess and gave you an actual bed to sleep on."

"Wow, thank you, Seth," Darien said and smiled. He silently thanked the heavens too, because he'd kiss his back pain goodbye tonight. As a matter of fact, sleep sounded amazing right about then.