Chapter I - #New Chapter
Ben:
I walked out of the campus cafe, my boba tea in hand, “So are you excited for the club fair?” I asked my best friend, Al. He was a tall man, his hair a long dark wavy mess. He had a strong chin with stubble on it from him not shaving that day. His skin was soft, and tanned, and his eyes were a dark chocolate brown. Wearing a graphic tee with cute animals, tight light blue jeans, and tennis shoes.
He took a sip of his caramel iced latte, then looked down at me. “Heck ya! I heard so much about how great the Bakers Club is! It’s like the whole reason I applied here!” He said with a soft chuckle. “What about you? What clubs are you excited to join?”
“Well obviously, I’m joining the Overwatch League! And I’m a shoe in!” I replied excitedly, drinking more of my fruity, creamy cup of goodness. “And who knows, might see some other clubs I’d want to join.”
“Oh! Join the Bakers Club with me!”
“Me? In the kitchen? Ahaha Please! You know the only thing I can make is a burnt egg.” Laughing and punching his arm. Starting to turn to the hall for my first class of the day. “Anyways! I’ll see you for the club fair!”
“Oh… Right, I’ll see you!” He gave me a small shy wave, and I gave him my usual three finger peace sign.
Rowan:
“Ash! Have you seen my Bio textbook!?”
Ash poked his head from the bathroom, his pastel pink hair a mess, “Uh, I think I left it under my bed?”
I walked over to his bed, and got down to check under there. Pulling out my textbook and getting up, flipping through the pages to make sure his notes weren’t in there. “Dude, you need to stop using condoms as bookmarks when we share textbooks! Like seriously dude!”
“Ya, well what if I need one? It’s always good to keep one on your person! Everyone knows that!”
I let out a sigh, tossing the condom on his bed. “Then keep one in your wallet like I do! Like what everyone does!”
He walked out in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, he had tan lines around his hips and on his feet from spending most of his summer in his home state of California where he taught surf lessons. His chest was a bit muscular, and he always had such a carefree smile that helped make his amber eyes shine. “You know how much I forget my wallet though! That’s why you always get the pizza! And I pay you baaack.”
“I wish I got Ashton as a roommate, at least he picks up after himself!”
“Well at least Ashton likes his roommate!”
“I never said I didn’t like you Ash!” I was packing up my heavy bag, not looking back to let Ash get dressed. “Oh by the way, Lysa wants to have a club meeting before the club fair!”
“Oh, probably just to decide the shift schedule. Sucks for you guys, but I’m busy the whole day with my other club!”
“How is AA going?” I said sarcastically.
“Oh you know, goin’ good… Your mom says hi by the way.” He said teasingly.
I just let out a laugh and turned around sitting on my bed. “Please, not even the authorities could get her into AA, even if they paid her in rum.”
“Anyways, I’ll see you later tonight then, I guess.” He scooped up his computer bag, running out of the dorm room.
I chuckled to myself, slipped on my brown leather jacket, grabbed my heavy backpack, and walked out of the room as well. Walking down the hall, waving to some of my friends, and to others walking down the halls. Outside was fairly warm, knowing I would regret wearing my leather jacket later on tonight. Making my way across the plaza, heading towards Kemp Hall for the meeting.
As I moved around the central fountain, I saw my old classmate Britney. She had soft blonde hair, pale skin and silver eyes. She wore a pale pink crop top, and light blue hoodie left open, along with a pair of black shorts and cute sandals. Her make-up was on point as usual, she never really needed a lot since she was always so naturally beautiful.
“Hey Brit!” I waved and stopped in front of her.
“Oh hey Rowan! I know it’s a weird request, but could you please just call me Britney? Doing that full name thing for my channel.” She was always such a sweet girl, you could hear it in her voice. And her channel was always so important to her, having it since middle school, though she never really made it big.
“Ahaha, sure thing! Say, I have to get going for a club thing, but why don’t you hit me up on snapchat!? We can go and get some pizza from the best place in all of Iowa! Maybe even the whole world!”
“Sounds fun, but I don’t really eat pizza anymore. I’m on a low carb diet.”
“Oh! Well we’ll figure something out! Anyways, Hopefully I’ll get ya to join the Creators Club! Just drop by our booth during the club fair!” I gave her another wave and ran for the Williamson Library to cut through. Checking my watch to make sure I had time, slowing down a bit.
After a while, I opened the club door panting, thankful I wasn’t out of shape. “Hey Lysa! Did I make it?!
“Made it just in time, Ro-Ro!” She said laughing. Taking my bag from me, and letting out a huff while falling forward a bit, giving me a, ‘how da fuck do you carry this thing,’ look. Her purple and blue hair was put up in a messy bun, with a paint brush sticking from it, her hazel green eyes peeking from under her fringe. On her was a plain black short sleeve shirt with paint splatters already on it, and black ripped skinny jeans and a pair of converse, also wearing cute moon earrings. Her skin was light, and on her right arm was a finished sleeve tattoo of a mermaid, with the tail moving down and around her arm, with a rainbow gradient.
I gave her a smile as I took a seat at the closest desk. While Alyssa began going on about how this club fair would probably be the most important in years. Putting up a photo of a cute blond boy on screen. “This is GameTimeWithBenji! He just graduated high school, and enrolled here! Our goal, get him to join the club. Now has anyone seen him?”
Ashton, Ash’s identical twin, though he wore more professional clothing, and kept his hair their natural black, combed neatly, adjusted his black glasses, and fixed the calico cat brooch on his vest. “I actually know him very well.” He said calm and collected.
“Oh? Hooking up with freshmen already? Way to go!”
“Oh no… He’s my roommate this year… He’s very loud.”
“WELL DID YOU TELL HIM TO JOIN US?”
“No, we haven’t really talked about clubs. I know he plans on trying out for the Overwatch League… He’s very loud on the phone.”
“Ashton, look at the booth map, are we close to the league booth?”
He pulled out a pamphlet they were handing to the freshmen, looking at the back and double checking. “Same area, though we might need to lead him there.”
“Can’t you just text or call him, and tell him to drop by?”
“I could… Just one problem though.”
“What would that be?”
“I don’t have his number.”
The room fell silent, he and Alyssa seemingly having a stare conversation. With her dumbfounded and annoyed expression, and his calmed poker face that no one could read.
“Sooo, is there a reason you don’t have his number?” She, breaking the first layer of ice.
“He never gave it to me.” He responded.
“Why wouldn’t he give his number to his roommate?” She swung the icepick again.
“I don’t know.” Everyone is on the edge of their seats.
“Well how did you ask for it?” The atmosphere is so thick.
“I didn’t.” Like a poorly made submarine heading far in the deepest depths of the ocean, the building pressure released with the sudden puncture of Ashton’s social ineptitude. Alyssa deflated as there was no point in arguing against the logic of Ashton… Ashton 500, everyone else 0.
After everyone reinflated, a plan was made to have one scout near the Overwatch League booth to lead Benji to the Creators booth after he finished up. I was set on duty for after lunch due to only having two classes in the morning on Tuesdays. And so, the plan was set, operation ‘Get GameTimeWithBenji.’
Ben:
I walked out of my class, checking my phone, seeing a text from Al. Smiling to myself, I texted back.
-------------
AL: Out of class?
BEN: Yuuuuuup! Wanna go get some launch?
BEN: Lunc*
BEN: Lunch**
BEN: Lol
BEN: I’m huuuuungy! :p
AL: Haha, ya I was probably gonna get some food as well!
AL: Seko’s?
BEN: Ya Seko’s! I want some boba!! X3
AL: When don’t you want Boba???
BEN: >^w^<
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I bounce-walked down the sidewalk over to the cafe. Not really paying too much of what was around me. Suddenly, I fell back after bumping into someone, before feeling them catch me.
“Watch where ya goin blondie!” I opened my eyes to a long, pink haired boy with golden like amber eyes. He pulled me up as I got a good view of his wardrobe, he wore a pink hoodie that loosely fell from his shoulders over a tight black tank top. On his lower half he had on a pair of shorts with a dragon fruit pattern that fell a bit lower than they should, showing off a pair of pink boxers, and finally, a pair of strapped sandals.
“Oh! Sorry about that, I wasn’t looking again ahaha. Name’s Ben, not blondie.” I laughed, holding my hand out for his.
He took it, giving me a boyish, charming smile, “Asher, though you can just call me Ash.” He lifted my hand up to kiss the back of it.
The familiar face clicked, as I blushed a bit from the kiss. “You’re Ashton’s brother right?”
“Oh? You know my shadow self?”
“I’m his roommate this year ahaha.” We let go, but started to walk and talk, bumping shoulders here and there.
“Oh so sorry for you. I’m the better one in bed.”
“Is that so? I might need a demonstration there.”
“I’m free right now if you are.”
I turned to him, and booped his nose, chuckling. “As cute as you are, I’m meeting a friend for lunch, then going to the club fair.”
He blushed slightly, looking as though his mind froze to register what I just did, before returning back to normal. “Well, would you mind if I joined you and your friend then? All my friends are probably busy right now.”
“Sure! Would love to get to know my roommate’s brother.” Getting my phone out, and opening a new contact before handing it to him. “Can I get your number by the way? Just in case an emergency with Ashton ever comes up.”
He did the same with his phone, handing it to me. “And for booty calls I hope!” He, saying this, caused me to laugh some as I put my name and number in his phone.
We put our phones away, and continued to walk and talk, back to ‘accidentally’ bumping into each other. I learned that he likes to dance and sing, and has played the piano since kindergarten. I also learned that he likes to make cover music videos, and even uploads his own music and music videos.
As we arrived at the cafe, I gave Al a wave, he gave a sheepish wave back. “Al-y!” Running ahead of Ash, giving Al a big hug. “Hope you don’t mind, I invited a new friend!”
“O-Oh… Sure… I don’t mind.” He looked a little sad, but he always gets a bit antsy around new friends.
Letting go, and stepping back to be by Ash a bit. “Al, this Ash! He’s my roommate’s brother. And Ash, this is my bestest best friend ever, Al!”
Ash stepped forward to shake Al’s hand, Al doing the same. “It’s nice to meet you! And those muscles of yours.” Ash said a bit flirtatiously.
“Oh! Thanks! I lift quite a bit of bulk flour and sugar back home!” He said blushing, giving us a slight smile.
“Not to mention you hit the gym like every day!” Adding into the conversation, while leading us into the cafe. “Remember how you used to use me for extra weight training?”
“Yup, it was quite fun.” Al let out a soft laugh. Stepping up to place mine and his orders, he, already having my lunch order already memorized.
After he paid for us, Ash stepped up and placed his order to go, before joining us at our table. “Awe, not eating in with us?” I asked, a bit bummed he wasn’t going to eat with us.
“Sorry cutie, but I am a busy boy. Hopefully I can see you tonight in my bed though?” As he winked, I felt his foot rub against my leg.
Feeling my face warm up as I blushed a bit. “Fingers crossed ahaha.” I then looked over to Al, who’s fists were clenched, and looked a bit uncomfortable. He always got uncomfortable when it came to sexual conversations, so I reached over and put my hand on his to help him relax.
His body loosened as he gave me a shy smile, and the three of us went back to talking about whatever before our orders were up, and Ash peaced out.
“Isn’t he cool?” I asked, eating my salad a bit.
“He’s… something.” He moved a bit closer to me, looking down into my eyes. “Are you sure he’s the type of company that you want to have around though?”
“What do you mean?” Looking up at him, slightly confused. “He’s really cool, and even invited me to some parties!”
“Well… You’re not going to go, are you?”
“I don’t know… I might go. Haven’t been to a good party since the end of high school. And you kept me busy all summer with a long packing list ahaha”
“Well parties can be dangerous… Why would you even want to go?”
“Because I like having fun and making lots of friends? Why are you acting like my dad suddenly?”
“I’m just trying to protect you Ben… I’d be so worried if you went to a party… you don’t want to worry me, do you?”
I could feel my blood pressure rising, my breaths deepening, and water starting to fill my eyes some. I had no idea why he was always like this, he usually loves hearing about the things I got up to, then why does he not like it when I do some of that stuff. Why is he so worried all the time? Just why?
So many things I wanted to ask, though I just grabbed my drink and my bag then stood up. “I’m going to the fair…” He moved to get up as well to join me. “Alone… please. I don’t wanna be talked out of any of the FUN clubs.” I saw his body drop a bit, his face showing his regret, but I didn’t care at that moment. “I’ll talk to you later, thanks for the boba.”
“I-I’m sorry Ben.” He sounded upset, but I still didn’t look back. “I’ll see ya. You’re welcome.” After that, I walked out of the Cafe.
Rowan:
Walking down the sidewalk when I spotted the target leaving the Cafe. He was so short and cute, messy pale blond hair with pastel purple undertones. He was wearing a short sleeved, gray-blue hooded tee-shirt, a lot of colorful bracelets, a pair of fairly short, gray shorts with high socks and a pair of black boots. A charm and pin covered messenger bag quickly tossed over his shoulder. As I got closer, he looked as though he was crying.
“Hey… Are you okay?” As he looked up, my heart felt as though it stopped for a bit, he hadn’t been crying though his eyes were watery. I was a bit star struck by his eyes, he had heterochromia, his left eye a sky-blue, and his right eye a forest-green.
Ben:
“Hey… Are you okay?” A calm voice said. I looked up, my eyes met a pair of light brown eyes. Looking over at the man who came up to me, he was handsome. He had a light tan, and short light brown hair, the top longer than the sides. He was really tall, had broad shoulders, and his face was strong, gentle and handsome, with some stubble on his chin. Wearing a brown leather jacket with a button up shirt underneath. With dark blue jeans and black hiking boots on, and black heavy looking bag on his back.
“Oh, ya… Just my friend being rude for some reason.” I looked away, and wiped my face a bit before looking back at him. “Thank you, but I’m gonna go to the club fair now.” I pointed in the direction I was going to go.
“Well I need to go there too. Would you mind if I walked with you?”
I thought a bit, then replied. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have some company right now.”
As I turned to start walking, he came up to walk by me. He fidgeted a bit like he wanted to talk about something, but we just walked in silence. There was this energy around him, it was calming, and made me start to feel better after the argument I had with Al.
Walking by the fountain, I stopped and looked up at him. “Is there something on your mind?”
He stopped as well, and looked down at me. “You’re GameTimeWithBenji, right?”
I let out a laugh, and moved for my bag to get a pen. “Fan huh? Had to build the courage to ask for an autograph?”
“Oh! Nonononono!” Couldn’t tell if he was sweating from the heat, or nerves… or both. “I’ve actually never seen any of your videos. It’s just you’ve been a bit of the hot topic in a club I’m in, and I was tasked to bring you to the booth for you to join?”
“Oh?” He was kinda cute the more I looked at him. “And what would this club be?”
“It’s the Creators Club! It’s for people like us! People who want to make careers from social media! We all do our own things, but also collab when and if we want to. Plus the club has its own channels and accounts to show off its members and post what the members like to do!” He started to go on and on, the club did sound interesting, but to be fair, that wasn’t the real reason I was listening. It was like his voice had this genuine charm, that just made him cuter.
“Guess I’ll have to give it a look. You’re quite the salesman, your sponsors must be glad.”
“Oh… I’m not big enough for sponsors ahaha.”
“Well, I hope you gain some soon.” Smiling up at him a bit. “Should we be off then?”
“Ya! To the Creators Booth!”
Laughing a bit, turning to go back to walking, “I have someplace to go first.” Starting to walk again, he caught up and walked by me, less nervous this time. “So, what do you do for YouTube?”
“Oh! I do urban exploration! Along with hiking and nature vlogs. Though out of season, I usually do campfire stories and help people get good discounts and deals on camping equipment!”
“So that’s how you got your tan?”
“Spent most of July hiking the Appalachian Trail, it was a lot of fun!” He, smiling down at me. “Maybe you could join next year.”
I bursted out laughing before punching his arm. “Do I look like the outdoorsy type?”
He laughed as well, opening the door for me, as we walked into Wayne Hall. “You know what, that is fair.”
I grabbed a pamphlet, looking at the map to find the Overwatch League’s booth, also looking for where the Creators Club Booth was located. “You can go hang out with your club if you want, I’ll make my way there!”
“Right, I’ll see you there then. Don’t keep me waiting.” He gave a wave, and walked off.
Rowan:
I waved to Alyssa and Ashton as I walked up to the booth. “Mission is complete, Lysa!”
“Oh? Yet I don’t see the target with you?”
“That’s because I walked with him to the fair! Though he wanted to do some stuff before dropping by, he did agree to drop by!”
“Really?! Go Rowan!” Alyssa greeted me with a hug as I moved behind the booth. “Did he say when he would drop by?”
I sat my bag down with a thump, before adjusting my jacket some. “Noo, but I’ll be here when he gets here.”
“Well we already got some sign ups! All thanks to the genius mind of Ashton.”
Ashton, just doing some work on his laptop, not even looking up. “People are easily convinced of things if you’re confident enough, like how I got Alyssa to believe British people call cell phones, Teleytallys.”
“WHAT!? They don’t call them that?”
“You believed me?”
Alyssa just stood there, defeated, while I pat her on the back, letting out a soft chuckle. “There there Lysa. Why don’t you get yourself something to eat? Think the food clubs are doing free samples.”
“Ya, that might be good.” She picked up her phone and walked off.
I took the seat by Ashton and began to organize the area a bit, while he continued to work. For some reason though, I just couldn’t get Ben out of my mind. Finally I looked over and asked Ashton, “So you’ve been living with Ben a bit, what do you think of him?”
He kept typing, finishing his sentence on his document, before looking up at me. “Well like I said in the meeting, he can be really loud. Though he at least does try to be quiet when asked. He also found a way to make video games fun for me. I guess you can say he is really attractive as well.”
“He sounds like a good person.”
“He is, shame he is oblivious to his friend’s crush.”
“What do you mean?”
“His childhood friend has this big crush on him, and it’s really obvious, but Ben doesn’t seem to notice.” He looked at me a bit, then went back to his typing. “Well welcome to bisexuality.”
“Wh-what!?” Standing up shocked, then sitting back down. “What do you mean by that… I only like girls.”
“Not any more… I can see it on your face.”
I blushed a bit more, laying my face in my arms. “Then… what should I do now?”
“Well, you can have fun with Ben, or some other cute guys. Or just do as you normally do. No need to do anything different.” I could hear him continue to type.
Suddenly I heard Ben’s voice. “Hey Ashton!! You’re a part of this club?”
I looked up, seeing Ben walking to the booth. He was holding some club brochures, while a sweet warm smile was on his face. Hearing Ashton speak so casually with him made me feel a bit jealous.
“Oh yes, it’s a nice pass time.”
“Hey Ben!” I yelled a bit, standing up, causing them both to look at me. “So glad you made it!”
“Oh! Hey… Don’t think I caught your name actually.”
Ashton laughed at this but I just ignored it. “The name’s Rowan, so are you thinking of joining?”
“Oh Rowan, I like that name!” His smile was so warm and welcoming, it felt like my heart melted a bit. “Ya, think I might join! What do I sign up with?”
Normally Ashton would step in, but he just seemed to want to continue his work. “Rowan can help you get signed up, isn’t that right, Rowan?”
“Oh ya! It’s really simple, do you have your phone with you?”
He laughed, getting his phone out, “Who doesn’t have their phone on them at all times nowadays?”
My face felt red as I motioned to the qr code for club applications. “Just scan this, and fill out the questionnaire and we’ll get back to you.”
“What do you mean ‘We’ll get back to you?’” Alyssa came up, putting an arm around and pulling him into her. “This is GameTimeWithBenji! He just needs to fill out the questionnaire and he is in!”
“Awe! Like me that much huh?” He laughed, and turned to give her a smile.
“Of course! I love watching your streams while I paint! I would love to have you be a part of my club!” She finally let go of him and helped him fill out the questionnaire.
I could’ve helped him too, she just beat me to it. She likes him more than me, so why do I feel like I’m choking every time I talk to him. What is this feeling?
Ben:
Alyssa was such a sweetheart, she walked me through what I needed to fill out, and then we exchanged numbers. She was also just so beautiful, from her split purple and blue hair, and hazel green eyes. She was covered in paint splatters and her finger tips had multi-colored stains. Plus the tattoo that coiled around her arm just looked so cool!
“It’s so nice to meet one of my longest fans!” I said laughing, giving Alyssa another hug. “Especially someone who’s been following me since the start of my Minecraft let’s play!”
“It made for nice background noise, and inspired some of my paintings!” Her smile was so cute, I didn’t meet a lot of fans, but when I did, it was always so nice. “I could send you pictures of some of them when I get home, if you wanted.”
“Are you kidding! I’d love that!” I practically yelled with excitement. I love looking at the little art and fanart people have made for me.
“Heh, well you’re welcome to hang around here if you would like to!” Alyssa offered as Ashton got up.
“I need to go to the library, so he can take my seat. Alyssa, mind joining me? I need to talk to you about something.” Ashton said, putting his computer in his bag, and walking away, pulling Alyssa with him.
I’ve never seen Ashton be so close to people, then again, I guess I really don’t know him much. I gave Rowan a smile as I set my stuff down, and took the seat by him. “Well they seem close! Everyone in this club seems so nice!”
“Oh! W-Well everyone is really nice. Lysa does her best to make the club as welcoming and accepting as it can be.” He looked so nervous, it was honestly just so sweet.
“Rowan!!” I turned to see a blonde girl walking over to the booth, her looks themselves were just a lot. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with a pair of rose gold sunglasses on her head. A cute pastel pink crop top, with a just as light blue acid wash hoodie falling from her shoulders a bit, with a pair of tacky black booty shorts, an outfit screaming, ‘look how hot and different I am!’ “You’re a part of this club too?”
“Brit!” He paused like he made a mistake, “Sorry sorry, Britney! Ya ha, thought I told you about it.”
“Oh! Right! You did!” She laughed and then looked at me, giving a smile. “Hi there! Are you a member as well? I’m Britney Valentine!”
“Oh, ya I just joined today. I’m Ben Asmus, it’s nice to meet you.” I replied looking up at her with my own smile.
“I just joined too! I came to ask Alyssa about when I should expect my approval notification, but I see that she’s gone.” She began to turn to walk away, before looking at me. “Did she tell you?”
I shook my head, still with a smile. “No, I was approved on the spot.”
She then slammed her hands down into the table, practically glaring down at me. “And what makes you so special?!”
There was a small, awkward moment of silence before Rowan spook up, putting his hand on my shoulder. “Well, he worked hard, and has a much larger channel than anyone else in the club.”
I was so grateful to Rowan for saving me, “My channel is GameTimeWithBenji! I’m sure you’ve maybe heard of me?”
She stepped back and seemed to look me up and down, “Ya I had, heard you were some up and coming gamer… but you aren’t quite what I imagined.”
“Well, I hope we can talk more in the club!”
“Ya, me too!” she said cheerfully, before turning and walking away from us.
We just sat there, before relaxing and laughing a bit together. “She’s an interesting woman ahaha.”
“Ahaha I swear, she’s so much nicer, just trust me.”
“Oh? Sounds like you two have a history.” I said teasingly elbowing his side, “You do seem like the type to like blondes anyways.”
“What can I say, I just know a lot of cute blondes.” He teased back, putting an arm around me and jokingly pulling me into his large, built body.
As we pulled and shoved at each other, just laughing and joking, we somehow got a crowd of people just watching us, some of them recognized me and asked me a barrage of questions I had to answer one after the other.
I pulled away from Rowan, and sat up just as my dad taught me, his words repeated in my mind. Benjamin, keep your cool, and answer one question at a time. When you’re on trial, everyone in that room will be looking at you, waiting for one slip up.
“No, he’s not my boyfriend, I just met him today.” I started as the crowd began asking me question after question, some even recording the encounter. “Yes I am a member of this club, though I just joined today so if you’re interested in joining or just learning more please check out their channel, and accounts. Yes I go to college here, why else would I be here. No this is not meant to be a meet and greet, though I will be doing one of those at Animate! I’ll be doing autographs and photos on Saturday, though I will be there the whole weekend so if you see me, just say hi!”
This continued until I was finally able to get the small crowd to disperse, finally relaxing again. I turned my head to look at Rowan, who just sat there staring at me amazed. “What?”
“You… how?!”
I laughed at him a bit before sitting back up, “My dad’s a lawyer, he’s been teaching me how to do that since I was like five.” I reached over and patted his shoulder, “If you want, I’d love to teach you!”
“Why not do lessons in the club?”
“That’s actually a good idea!” I gave him a nice smile as my phone buzzed, checking it and looking back up. “Question, do you know where Oliveira Hall is?”
“Oh ya, that’s where my dorm is, why?” Rowan answered, causally.
“My new friend invited me to join him and his roommate for pizza! Do you know Ash?”
“Pink hair, golden eyes?”
“Yup! That’s the dude.”
“I’m the roommate ahaha! Small campus huh?”
“Guess so! Wanna go over after cleaning up? Think it’s a shift change.” Motioning to Alyssa and Ashton returning.
“Maybe?” He got up, as they came over. “Welcome back! Just in time, actually, we were about to get some pizza with Ash.”
“Without us?!” Alyssa pouted, taking Rowan’s seat. “Well how slow was it?”
“It wasn’t too bad, we got a lot of people who dropped by to see me!” I said getting up, letting Ashton take my seat. Giving him my phone to add his number to my contacts. “It was a lot of fun! Got me excited for my upcoming appearance at Animate!”
“I thought that was just for like Anime stuff?” Rowan asked, a bit confused while collecting his stuff.
“Well there’s that too, but it’s mostly for all animation, and I just so happen to have a small part in a game a friend of mine made that got fairly popular. So I’m a part of a panel for it”
“You’re talking about ‘Hollowed Prince’, right?” Alyssa asked while handing me my bag. “What part did you have in it?”
“Ya! Hollowed Prince! I had a small voice part as one of the early game quests! Though in my play through of the game, I actually skipped that quest to not spoil my cameo in it for my fans.”
“Already moving past from just doing games? You are a good fit for this club!” Alyssa teased.
“Oh please, I was just helping a friend out! Like I’m helping him out with this panel.” I sighed as I got my phone out to check it, seeing a lot of texts from Al, but just clearing the notifications, not bothering to read them. “I owed him one.”
“Ohhh what does it take to get a favor from the great Benji?” Rowan teased as well, giving me a nervous yet confident wink.
“One night in bed with me, and you’ll find out.” I teased back, leaning up to him. Watching his face grow slightly flustered, a faint blush forming on his rugged face.
He stuttered a bit, our eyes meeting a bit before he backed up. “W-well, that sure does sound interesting, doesn’t it?”
“Oh come on Ro-Ro! Is that the best you got?” Alyssa shouted, causing me to pull back in a laugh.
I then grabbed his hand, giving Alyssa and Ashton a wave, “I’ll see you guys later! It’s pizza time!” I smiled wide as they waved back, Rowan waving bye as well as I dragged him off.
Rowan:
Being around him made me feel like I had just awoken. As we walked down the sidewalk, the campus just seemed brighter, and more colorful. He had this energy around him that found a way to draw me in more.
“So how did you and Ash meet?” I asked, while we walked through the plaza, this feeling of being watched coming over me, making me feel awkward again.
He turned to look up at me as we walked, “Well he ran into me, and we got to talking, then he joined Al and I for lunch! Well he got his food and left right after, but ya!”
“Ahaha that sounds like Ash. He always has something to do. I swear, the man doesn’t sleep, he’s just full of all this energy!” I laughed a bit as we reached Oliveira Hall.
I let him into the dorm part of the hall with my key card, and walked with him up as we just talked about stuff, getting to know each other.
Eventually we made it up to my room, the door was already open, and Ash was sitting on his bed, surprisingly only having taken his sandals off. “Hey Benny Benny bo Anny!” He said sitting up, already having gotten three pizzas for us. “And hey there Ro Ro! See you two are getting along!”
“Ya! Rowan’s a really cool dude!” Ben said, walking over, setting his stuff down and sitting on Ash’s bed, taking his shoes off.
I closed the door and took my shoes off, setting my stuff on my bed, taking my jacket off, and smiling over at them, “I’m gonna just get changed real quick, then maybe we should watch a movie?”
Ben smiled up at me, “Sure! I’d love to watch something scary!”
“A good scary movie to get the blood pumping? Smart foreplay there.” Ash commented, pulling Ben down to lay on top of him.
I just looked at the pair for a bit, feeling as though some of that color drained a bit. “Well, get that new scary movie started that I’ve been wanting you to watch! I’ll be back.” I grabbed some clothes and walked over to the restroom.
I closed the door and looked at myself in the mirror, thinking about what Ashton had said to me, Why do I like him? I began to think to myself as I started to get out of my sweaty clothes. Washing myself up a bit still thinking more. He’s probably like this with everyone he wants to be friends with, I shouldn’t read too much into it. I sighed as I slipped on a pair of regular loose shorts, a blank tank-top. Tossed my dirty clothes into my hamper and then walked out of the restroom.
Ben and Ash were still cuddled up with each other, and talking. Though as I walked out, Ben looked over and gave me a small wave, making me feel a bit warm. I waved back and walked over to my desk to pull my chair over to watch the movie with them.
“So should we get started?” I asked them, as I then got the pizza, and some soda from our mini fridge.
“Heck ya! Time for a movie with two cool dudes!” Ben cheered as he looked at his buzzing phone, but he just put his phone down and took his drink. “I actually have been meaning to watch this one! I have a friend who loves ghost movies, and he’s been wanting me to watch it.”
“Well shall we?” I smiled as we hit play, and began to watch the movie.
We spent a while, just watching the movie and enjoying our pizza. A while into the movie, Ash gave Ben one of his jackets, making him look even more adorable in the oversized hoodie. This night was just so fun, even though we were just watching a movie and eating pizza.
Ben:
When our movie ended, Ash went to use the restroom, so I decided to finally see what Al was messaging me about.
-----------
AL: Hey, I’m sorry about the cafe.
AL: Are you okay?
AL: Is your phone dead?
AL: I said I’m sorry!
AL: Who’s that guy you’re with?
AL: Are you guys friends, can I hang out with you?
AL: Come let me in so I can join you.
AL: I get it, you’re mad. Just come talk to me.
AL: Come on!
AL: Still here, just let me in!
AL: I’m sorry! I really am!
AL: Just talk to me already.
---------------
I couldn’t keep reading and just got off of the bed and adjusted Ash’s jacket, “Hey, I need to go handle something, I’ll be back okay?”
“Oh ya, is everything okay?” Rowan asked me, looking up to me. He looked so sweet and concerned.
“Ya…” I started giving him a smile. “Just need to handle something.” With that I turned and walked out, leaving the door open.
I walked down the hall, pulling Ash’s jacket around me some more. I then stepped out of the building, spotting Al who had been sitting on a bench, though he had gotten up.
“What are you doing here?” I asked calmly, just staring up at him.
He stepped closer to me, causing me to take a step back. “I’m here to take you back to your dorm. You shouldn’t be here.”
“And why’s that? Because I’m making friends, who aren’t you?” I had no idea why he always got like this when I started expanding my social circles, but I was getting so tired of it. “Go home Al, Ash will make sure I get home safe.”
“Why are you trusting him? I asked around and he’s just going to use you like Zane did. Do you want that again?”
“Zane was a complete dick and I was stupid back then. And if you actually got to know him, you’d see Ash is a sweet guy!” I could feel the crowd starting to form as our voices raised a bit.
“Back then? Think you’re acting stupid now! I mean you just met these guys today, and they already got you acting like a slut again!”
I felt my blood run cold as I moved toward him silently. The atmosphere felt so thick and no one dared to make a peep. Suddenly a loud clap echoed out as I had slapped him. “Alejandro Gracia… how dare you fucking say that to me! You’re not my boyfriend! You’re not my dad! So leave now before you say anything else if you want to keep me as a friend! And stop texting and calling me until I am ready to talk. Do you hear me!?”
I turned to see Ash and Rowan were a part of the crowd, Al said nothing as I walked away. I just felt like crying right now, Benny Baby, are you thinking about me again? How cute. I could hear his voice, and start to feel his grasp around my neck before I was suddenly pulled against a warm gentle body.
I opened my eyes to see Rowan’s shirt, and though I didn’t see his face, I could imagine it when he said, “I don’t know what relationship you two have, but I’d leave if I were you, before I make you leave, myself.” His grip tightened a bit, making me feel so safe, and warm.
I looked back for a bit, seeing Al just standing there for a bit. I just turned and walked in with Ash and Rowan leading me back into the building, only looking back once more to see him still just standing there, looking right at me. But I just couldn’t deal with him, he’s never brought Zane up like that before.
“I’m sorry you guys had to see that…” I said softly as we walked back into their room.
“Don’t apologize Ben, you were just standing up for yourself.” Ash said, pulling me into a warm hug. “How about I walk you back to your dorm? We can do movie night next week maybe.”
I wrapped my arms around him and sighed. “No, I don’t want to leave right now, and risk bumping into him.” I then let go and moved over to Ash’s bed and smiled. “Besides, your bed is more comfortable than mine.”
Ash and Rowan looked into eachothers eyes, before looking down at me, Ash speaking up. “Why don’t ya take my bed? I can just sleep on Rowan.”
“Oh no, I don’t want to be a burden! I just don’t want to leave right now.” I laughed a bit, and rubbed the back of my head.
“Nonsense! You’re not a burden, and we don’t mind you staying the night. Though you can just take my bed and I’ll sleep on the floor.” Rowan said to me.
“I don’t even have any pjs though! Or a change of clothes!”
“We can lend you some clothes and I can walk you to your dorm in the morning.” Ash said, pushing me onto the bed, before going to get me a pair of pj bottoms.
I then looked over to Rowan getting me a spare shirt that he muttered about being too small for him. They’re being so kind to me, and I can tell it’s not just because they want something from me. I smiled up at me, taking the clothes while standing up.
I still had memories of Zane echoing in my mind, memories of his grasp starting to go around my neck again as I looked up at Ash, “I’ll take your bed but um… would you mind if we shared it?”
He reached over and gave my head a small pat, “I don’t mind at all. In fact, I love a good cuddle buddy!”
We laughed with each other, as I walked to the bathroom to get changed into the clothing they brought me.
Rowan:
I was looking up at the ceiling just thinking about everything that had happened today. Before I turned and looked over to Ben and Ash sleeping on the other side of the room, the arms and legs intertwined. I felt a little bad about this gut wrenching jealousy I felt. I just tried to ignore it though, because I didn’t want to hurt Ben the way that Al guy did. I should be a better friend for him, I’ll just let Ash handle his romantic life.
“Night guys…” I whispered and rolled over to go to sleep, letting the jealous feeling start to fade.
