KISS Kollege

Ch 9: Struggles and Smoothies (Eric C)

"You are the absolute worst," I grumbled, shutting the door to our room behind me. "What? What'd I do?" Gene asked, giving me a smug smile. "You're making it so obvious! You're going to give me away!" I cried. He laughed, shaking his head. "Nah, not even. He's got no clue how you feel about him, don't worry. I gotta admit, you're subtle about it." "Am I...am I too subtle?" I asked, wringing my hands together, and he frowned. "Hm. Well, maybe. Are you trying to get him to realize you like him?" he asked.

"Well duh! The end game is to date him, I can't really see that happening if he doesn't know I like him," I grumbled. "True, true. Then maybe make it more obvious. I don't know how much more obvious you'd want to make it though, because you don't want to be too obvious in case he doesn't like you, you know?" "Mm yeah I get that. Maybe just give it a few weeks then? Try and gauge the situation before telling him how you feel and all that." "Yeah, that's not a bad idea. How's catching up with Paul been?" I asked, and to my surprise his face went a bit pink. "Oh, um...it's good. It's really nice to see him again and catch up and stuff. It's been like four years since I've seen him, there's a lot to catch up on," he said, half to himself, and I nodded slowly.

"Right. Yeah. Well, glad you've been able to see him again!" I said, and a fond smile slipped across his face. "Me too." We hung out for a bit longer before I got showered, wringing out my hair and getting into my pajamas. Humming to myself, I brushed my teeth, flopping onto my bed. "Alright I've got a discussion section at 9 so I'm gonna head to bed, I'll see you tomorrow," I said, rolling over and snuggling deeper into my quilts. "Sounds good, sleep well. I'll see you in the morning," he said, looking at his phone with a smile as he kept texting someone. 

My alarm went off at 8 the next morning and I let out a sigh, fumbling for my phone and shutting it off. To no surprise, Gene was already awake, still texting someone. "Your discussion is at 9, right?" he said, and I nodded, starting to get dressed. "Mhm. 9 to 10:30. Why?" "Oh, just wondering," he said, smiling at his phone and sending another message. Shrugging, I grabbed my backpack and my wallet, heading for the door. "Alright I'll see you this afternoon," I said, and Gene gave me a surprised look. "Oh, you're leaving already?" "Yeah, I wanna get like a smoothie for breakfast." "Ah nice, catch you later then," he said, giving me a wave and sending another text. 

I headed down the stairs, walking a few buildings away to the restaurant that thankfully had a smoothie bar. The girl behind the counter gave me an almost nervous smile, cheeks going pink. "Hi what can I get for you today?" she asked. I returned her smile, scanning the menu. "Oh, hm...I'll have a strawberry and banana smoothie please!" She nodded, still smiling, and I kept returning her smile. "What um what size smoothie would you like?" I went back to squinting at the menu, comparing prices. "Hm, just a medium please." "Of course," she said, cheeks going pinker, and pushed a few buttons on the cash register. I swiped my ID to pay and she started to make my smoothie.

After about three minutes, she handed me the smoothie, which was definitely a large instead of the medium I had paid for, fingers brushing against mine. "Thanks so much!" I said cheerfully, and she nodded, face red at this point. "Of course," she mumbled. "Have a nice day!" I said, halfway out the door, and she nervously returned the farewell. I took a sip of the smoothie before doing a double take, looking at the number written on the cup along with 'text me ;)' "Oh...oh no," I mumbled, face burning. "Aw man should I...do I text her? Like just to tell her?" I asked myself, before all of a sudden remembering I most definitely hadn't grabbed the book I was supposed to be talking about in my discussion section today. 

I turned around, heading back to my dorm and immensely grateful that I had left early. It was a short walk back to the dorm and I headed up the stairs. Taking a sip of my smoothie, I swiped my card and pushed open the door to my room before doing an about face, slamming the door shut behind me, face crimson. It all of a sudden made sense why Gene had been so curious about when I'd be gone and why he'd been texting someone for so long, since he had a girl in our room and was currently having sex with her on his bed. "Well shit," I said, biting back a bitter sigh. "I still gotta get my stupid book for my discussion section."

I was absolutely not about to go back in there to get my book, but I had class in half an hour and I couldn't show up without the book because we needed it for the discussion. "Hm," I muttered, running a hand through my hair before my eyes lit up and I took another sip of my smoothie, pulling out my phone and dialing Bruce's number.

"Hey what's up?" Bruce asked. "Hey! Hey can I get your textbook from you for my discussion section?" "Lose yours already?" he teased, and I rolled my eyes. "No I have not. I know exactly where it is, I just can't get to it." "Why not? That doesn't make any sense," he said, laughter edging his voice. "Because it's in my room and my roommate is having sex in said room at the moment. Please?" "Yeah of course! I'll meet you outside the lecture hall."

Smiling, I skipped down the stairs, heading to the lecture hall. Bruce was waiting there by the time I finally made it, holding the needed book with a smile. "You owe me one," he said, handing it to me, and I gave him a hug. "Thanks man you're a lifesaver! I'll buy you a smoothie or something." "Mm, I see you got a little extra with yours," he said, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the cup. My face went red and I winced. "Oh shit yeah that reminds me. The girl behind the counter at the smoothie place wrote her number on my cup which was really sweet of her and all but like...I'm gay so I dunno what to do, you know?" I said with a shrug. 

His eyes widened as he stared at me. "Oh, you are?" he asked, and I nodded. "Y-yeah. You're--" "I'm okay with it, yeah! Yeah no I don't mind, I am too," he said with a chuckle, and I nearly melted in relief. "Oh okay thank goodness you don't care. Anyway I gotta run to class, you're smart so come up with some way I can let the girl down easy without being rude!" I said, giving him a parting wave and heading into the building. 

It was only as I reached the lecture hall that it finally clicked Bruce was gay, which meant I might actually have a chance at dating him.