This Beautiful World - Book #1 (BxB)

Chapter 1

There was a loud crash. When I looked over at my friend, I saw that he had thrown the controller against the wall. I glanced at the TV screen and saw the Game Over sign. Alex sat on the ground with his head in his hands. I wasn't a gamer like he was, so to me he was acting a little overdramatic. 

"You know, you should probably get ready for class. The professor will be pissed if you show up late again," I commented.

Alex often showed up late, usually because he stayed up so late and then didn't get any sleep. After sharing a dorm with him for so long, I was used to it. I tried my best to look out for him and make sure he was up on time, yet Alex would do what he wanted. At least today I didn't have to wake him up. He mostly likely stayed up all night playing his game. Somehow, I slept right through that.

He let out a groan. "Fuck, I know. College sucks."

With a sigh, Alex got up. He began to take off his shirt, which made me glance away from him quickly. Even though we've been sharing a dorm for months now and have been friends for much longer, I wasn't comfortable looking at him whenever he openly got changed in front of me. He didn't care, but it bothered me.

When Alex noticed me looking away, he let out a chuckle. "Seriously, Aiden? I still can't believe you refuse to look at me. Are you afraid that you'll catch feelings?"

His words made my face heat up. "Shut up. Just get ready. Riley is outside waiting for us. She texted me this morning that she wanted to walk together."

Riley was our friend and it was no secret that she liked Alex. But for some reason, most of the girls seemed to like him. He was handsome, I'd give him that. Yet, he didn't seem to take an interest in any of them. He was still Mr. Popular, though. He always has been since the first day that I met him. I couldn't stand him at that time.

Alex put an arm around my shoulder and smirked at me, which only made my face heat up again. I pushed him away from me. I wasn't in the mood for his teasing first thing in the morning. To be perfectly honest, girls weren't the only ones who liked Alex. I liked him, too, but that wasn't going to go anywhere. I didn't want to ruin a friendship like this, so I would pretend like there was nothing there. Besides, Alex already made it clear that he wasn't interested in other guys.

I didn't want to waste any more time. Riley was still outside waiting for us and if we didn't get moving, we would be late to class. Unlike Alex, I cared about being there on time and passing my courses. I left the dorm room with Alex following behind. Before long, we were leaving the building. Riley was waiting over by the gate for us. When she saw us walking up to her, a smile formed on her face. She was happy to see us, or more like happy to see Alex. I didn't know how he dealt with always seeming to be the center of attention. He always brushed it off and acted like he didn't notice. He didn't seem like he cared that much.

"I'm surprised to see you actually joining us today, Alex. You didn't oversleep," Riley commented. "And good morning to you, too, Aiden."

Alex shrugged. "It's only because I didn't sleep at all. I would have gone to sleep now if someone didn't make me come to class with him."

He poked my side and I scowled at him. "I didn't force you to do anything. Now let's get going, please. I don't wanna be late."

"Diligent as ever." Alex sighed, but he followed me regardless. Riley walked beside him.

It didn't take us long to get to our first class, but I was rushing a little bit. I didn't like being late. I was hoping that the professor would let it slide today since I always took class seriously. When we finally walked into the room, the professor wasn't even there yet, which took me by surprise.

"Fuck yeah, I'm not getting in trouble today." Alex's mood brightened when he also noticed that the professor wasn't here yet. I might have gotten away with not getting in trouble for being tardy, but Alex was a different story. He had done this too many times for it to be excused.

When the three of us went to take our seats, I overheard a conversation from the girls in the row in front of us. Well, it wasn't like they were exactly being quiet about it either. What the one girl said caught my attention.

"Did you hear about the strange man who was wandering around campus earlier? No one recognized him and he was acting weird."

"Weird how?" her friend asked.

"Well, he was walking funny, kind of like he was drunk, and then when one of the professors tried to approach him to make him leave, the man tried to bite them. Apparently, he already hurt another student. I think that might be why our professor is late today," she explained.

I guess that explained why our professor didn't show up yet. He wasn't the type to show up late. I did wonder how that man ended up on campus. There was a town nearby, but it still would have taken him a while to get here. Our college was kind of in a remote area.

We did get a scare when the classroom door slammed open, shortly followed by our professor stumbling inside. He fell to the ground, clutching his neck. There was blood.

One of the other students, Jonathan, quickly stood up from his seat and rushed over to our professor. Shortly after, my friends and I followed suit. Jonathan knelt beside our professor and asked him if he was okay.

Instead of responding to the question, he commanded, "Shut the door. Now!"

I did as we were told. Everything outside seemed quiet. Whoever that man was, he must have done this to the professor. The girls mentioned that the man tried to bite people. The man was insane, not just drunk.

The professor was breathing heavily and he looked very pale. Regardless of the state that he was in, he managed to say, "Don't go outside."

Those were the last words that he spoke.