The Young Life of an Inbetweener

The first thing that Hunter saw standing outside of his Mother's car was the enormous banner "Welcome All Students". He stood in front of the main administration building at USC, where all the incoming freshmen got their room assignments.

"Okay, his Mom said. "Remember, we are only a couple of hours away. I'm sorry that your Dad had to work; otherwise, he would be here to see you off."

He could see that tears were welling up in her eyes. "Is your phone charged?"

"Yes," he said, smiling, pulling it out of his pocket. "Fully charged."

"You know, maybe I should help you," she said, picking up a suitcase.

"Mom, please don't," he said, holding his hands up. "I'll just grab a cart."

Fortunately, a few empty carts were sitting outside, ready for any student who needed one. He ran up and snagged one, loading up his luggage and boxes onto a cart.

"See, I am all set."

"Alright, give me a hug."

She reached her arms out as he leaned in, hugging her back. He sighed after seeing her get in her car and drive away. Although he didn't want to admit it, he did feel like a small fish in a large ocean of people. He found the table where his last name fell and greeted the guy behind the table, where he was given a card and a campus map.

Seeing the door was closed, he managed to find his dorm room, so he felt the need to knock just in case his roommate was already there. He didn't hear anything and turned the knob, feeling it was unlocked. Once inside, he dropped his suitcases on the unmade bed and sat down, appreciating that his room had a good view of the outside.

Suddenly, he saw a tall, muscular guy just wrapped in a white towel, clearly all wet from just having taken a shower. He was tan, olive, with jet black hair slicked back off his chiseled face. It made Hunter quickly feel small in stature with his short curly brown hair, slender build, and long legs and arms. However, it did have its advantages in high school as part of his cross-country running team, where he won a few medals that he was proud to receive.

"Hey, I was wondering who I was going to get," the voice said with a thick Italian accent.

Hunter sat silent for a moment, staring before the words came out.

"Yeah, I'm Hunter Matthews," he said, quickly standing up and extending his hand.

"Petro Augustino," he replied, shaking Hunter's hand. "I'm here from Italy as a foreign student. I've been on a plane for hours. I was really in need of a warm shower."

He removed his towel, seeing he had no problems with modesty, and slid on a pair of his boxers he grabbed from a dresser drawer. Hunter was aware that Europeans were more open than Americans, so apparently, Petro didn't see it as a big deal after just meeting his college roommate for the first time. For a moment, Hunter felt a weird kind of stirring, but chose to attribute it to simply nerves being in a new place with a whole new set of people.