KISS Kollege

Ch 22: That's a Surprise (Eric C)

I frowned, skimming the library website to try and figure out if they had extended hours for midterms week, with no luck. Heaving a sigh, I took another bite of one of the delicious cookies Eric had dropped off earlier before rising to my feet and walking down the hall to ask Eric about the library hours. He had moved the pin on the corkboard outside his room to the sticky note labeled 'in' which thankfully meant he was in his room. I knocked on his door, taking a step back and waiting. 

There was a pause before the door opened and I took a step back, looking at Eric in shock. "Oh are...are you okay?" I asked. He blinked, running a hand through his hair. "Huh? Oh. Oh, yeah. I'm fine, don't worry about me," he said sadly. "So what's up?" I jumped, startled, having already forgotten I meant to ask him a question. "Oh um I was just wondering are there extended library hours during midterms? I can't find it on the website," I said. He nodded, still looking completely heartbroken, and it was clear that he had been crying for awhile, with the faint shine of tear tracks still visible on his cheeks. He wasn't even wearing a bandana, just clutching it in his hand, wringing the green cat-covered fabric.  "Yep. It's open from 8 to 8 instead of 11 to 6. That's from Monday of this week to Friday of next week, the same days as the 21 hour quiet hours," he said in a flat voice.

I nodded, unable to help myself from giving him a worried look. "Um...right. Okay, thanks. Are you sure you're--" "Yeah. Don't worry about me, I'm fine! Good luck on your midterms, if you have any more questions just ask," he said, forcing a smile. "I will, thank you," I said, trying to give him a reassuring smile before giving him a wave and heading back down the hall. I reached in my pocket for my ID before freezing. "Oh no," I whispered, checking all my pockets frantically before letting out a groan. "Dammit!" 

My ID was once again on my desk in my room, along with my phone, meaning I'd have to make the trip down to the area services desk to get a temporary key. Grumbling to myself, I walked down the stairs, walking across the lawn to the service desk next to the dining hall. I was about to ring the intercom to get myself buzzed in when an arm reached around me, swiping an ID so the door unlocked. I turned to find Bruce standing behind me, giving me a grin. "Forget your ID?" he teased. Face red, I rolled my eyes. "Maybeee. It's whatever, it's the first time this has happened and I haven't been able to just use Gene to let me in!" I snapped, walking into the building.

Bruce hung back, waiting for me to get my temporary ID. "Alright you have to wait 15 minutes to use it so come on, let's go find a place to hang out for a quarter of an hour. We can figure out what our study plan for midterms is gonna be!" he said cheerfully. Heart fluttering, I walked with him to the small grassy lawn outside my dorm, sitting next to him in the grass. "So what do we want to do to study?" he asked. "For music theory and then lit, of course. I don't know how much I'll be able to help you with the classes I'm not in," he said with a grin.

Frowning slightly, I flopped onto the grass, running a hand through my hair. "I dunno! Maybe we could head to the library to work on stuff?" He nodded, also frowning faintly. "Yeah. Or we could go to my dorm. I'm in a single so we won't be bothering my roommate since I don't have one." "Oh I don't care, it's up to you!" I said cheerfully, and he gave me a smile. "Then let's go to my room." We chatted for a bit more before my 15 minutes were up and I headed up to my room, grabbing my ID and phone and backpack before rejoining Bruce downstairs. "So! Off to your dorm then?" 

He nodded, slipping an arm around my shoulders and steering me down the sidewalk. "Off to my dorm!" he said with a smile. Heart fluttering, I leaned against him as he walked with me down the sidewalk to his dorm. I relished the feeling of being pulled against his side and the steady weight of his arm around my shoulders. Eventually we reached his dorm and I sat on his bed, folding my legs beneath me and grabbing my notebook. "Alright, let's study!" Grinning, he sat next to me, really close next to me, with his thigh pressing against mine. I nearly melted, giving him a smile which he returned. I wished I could've kissed him but I didn't have the guts so I just focused on the studying. 

After a few hours I shut my book with a sigh. "Alright do you want to take a break for dinner?" He shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "Uh, I wasn't in the mood for anything right now, you can run and go get something though! Then just like come back here or something." I nodded, giving him a smile. "Sounds like a plan! I'll just go grab something from my room and eat it in here, give me a few minutes," I said, jumping to my feet. "See you then!" he said. I walked out of his room, speed walking back to my own dorm. I practically ran up the stairs to my room, swiping my card in the lock. I pushed open the door, immediately slamming it shut again as I realized Gene was having sex with someone again, eyes wide. "Holy shit. That wasn't a girl," I whispered.

It was Paul.

I took a step back in the hall before letting out a stunned laugh. "Well damn," I said, running a hand through my hair. "Damn. Guess I'm going to the dining hall for dinner after all," I said, pulling out my phone and dialing Bruce's number, hoping he'd want to join me for dinner so I wouldn't have to eat alone.

After dinner and a bit more studying, I bade Bruce a reluctant farewell and headed up to my room again. I stood outside my door for awhile, staring at it before taking a deep breath and swiping my key card, very hesitantly pushing the door open. To my immense relief, Gene was the only one in our room. He looked up from his homework, face going red as he saw me. "Hey...Gene," I said slowly.

"Yeah. Hey," he said, going right back to his homework, face still burning. There was a long pause before I ran a hand through my hair. "Soooo...you and Paul are--" "Not a thing. You didn't see fucking anything." "Well I saw something fucking," I said under my breath. He stood up abruptly, walking over and grabbing me by the collar, shoving me against the wall. "You didn't see anything," he hissed. "You hear me? Nothing happened, no one was here. I'm not gay," he snarled, face red, so upset he was shaking.

Eyes wide, I nodded, holding up my hands. "Alright, okay, I'm not gonna say anything!" I said, but he shook his head, face getting redder. "No! There's nothing for you to say anything about because nothing happened because I'm not gay and because Paul and I didn't do anything!" he shouted. "It's okay if you were just trying it and you don't like him like--" I started, but he cut me off again, shaking his head. "No! There was nothing that happened! Stop talking about it!" he cried, finally letting go of my shirt. "Alright damn," I muttered. He just walked back to his desk, going back to doing his homework without saying anything else.

It was definitely really awkward between us and we didn't talk for the rest of the night. I wasn't going to push the subject, and Gene definitely didn't want to talk about it, because despite the fact I had literally walked in on him having sex with another guy, he wasn't attracted to men and he hadn't done anything and I hadn't seen anything. 

Which kinda meant apparently Gene was as deep in denial as he had been in Paul.