the new roomie

The House

I walked up the stairs to the front door, minding every little thing about my posture. I've done this since I was a kid; I walk confidently to try and make myself feel more confident. The only problem is that it just makes me more self aware.
I raised my left hand and rang the doorbell

Loud groaning could be heard from inside of the house.
"I fuckin' hate that thing!" Said a low, whiney voice

The door opened, and in front of me there was a very tall, skinny man with curly hair.
"Connor?" he asked. I nodded, feeling my fake confidence waver like paper in the wind, I don't know what I expected from ringing the doorbell, but being faced with another human seemed to trigger something within me. I felt naked when he looked down at me with his big brown eyes.
"Glad you're here, man. I'm the one who talked to you on the phone" Bret said. His smile was as big in real life as it'd sounded over the phone.
"I'll show you to your room," he began, and, to my shock and discomfort, he slapped his big palm between my shoulder blades and began leading me out of the doorway, past the livingroom entrance and up the stairs.

Thankfully, he did not keep his hand on me the whole way up, and we made it to the empty room without further PDA.

"This is it." Bret said "I'm uh, sorry about the color." He chuckled nervously "You can paint it if you want to, but it's wallpapered, so it'd be a hassle"
Before me was a pretty large room with light hardwood floors and one of those little window nook things. My eyes scanned the walls. Cute little ducks lined the top and bottom of every wall. Other than that, the walls were a pleasant- and suprisingly clean- peachy beigh.

"Thank you." I said, putting on my best polite and normal face. "I can go help you get stuff from your car?" Offered Bret. Without thinking, I nodded and lead the way down the stairs.

Bret and I made the long walk down the driveway together in silence. I watched his legs at one point. Through his sweatpants, I thought I saw calves flexing under the pressure on the downward hill. Big calves, too. Maybe even to rival mine.

We made it to my minivan and I pulled open the side door "It's supposed to open automatically but it's broken" I grunted.
"Emmit could take a look at it!" Bret said excitedly "He's, like, a car guy."
"That'd be good." I sighed, dusting my hands on my shirt.

"Woah, looks like you left in a rush." Bret's comment made me remember that I had not packed my things neatly into boxes like I should have- or would have, if I'd been given the chance.

"I'm so sorry about that- here" I shoved a stack of folded clothes into Bret's arms because they were the most neatly put away things in my van, lifted straight from my drawers- which I'd left at the apartment. "I'm usually more organized than this" I explained as I scrambled to carry as much as I could (I do not want to make the trip down the hill again)
Something about Bret's silence told me to turn around, and when I did, I saw his face with an amused expression. "You taking all those in?" He asked, raising his eyebrows and gesturing at my armfull of things. I looked down and, to my horror, found many differnt stuffed animals, on top of my neatly stacked pile of books.

I didn't know what to say, which is why I'm glad this was Bret, who never seemed to make me do the talking.
"It's cool man!" He grinned his big smile. "We all have collections. Emmit collects vintage porno." He laughed to himself "Don't worry, I won't let any of the guys pick on you" He said. I didn't like the way he leaned down to me as he said it.