When Best Friends Kiss

Before the 2nd Kiss - Part 1

Words cannot describe my excitement upon moving into the college dorms. I was in my dream city, starting my life as an openly gay man. Total control over everything. My dorm roommate was already in the room when my family and I entered.

"Hi!" We both said at the same time.

"I'm Oladapo." He held out his dark walnut hand for me to shake. "It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Alex. Where are you from?" I asked, picking up on his accent.

"Nigeria. I'm an international student."

"Oh wow! That's awesome." I knew coming to Toronto was the right choice. First day here and I was already encountering new cultures. My mom cleared her throat. "Oh, this is my mother and my aunt," I introduced, gesturing.
Oladapo stared at my hands for a moment before smiling at my family.

"Nice to meet you," my mom said, shaking his hand and apparently using magical Mom vision to examine him for any signs of Bully™.

"Oh, so handsome!" Tía shouted. I shot her a look, baring my teeth in a grimace-like smile. So her technique was to flatter someone into treating me nicely? God, they were so embarrassing.

Oladapo chuckled, full cheeks flashing a dimple. "Thank you." He returned to straightening his desk and I moved to my side of the room.

"Oh, you two have your own bathroom," my tía observed. "I thought universities had communal bathrooms."

I shuddered at the thought. "God no." I'd made sure the universities I applied to didn't have those.

"It's good you have your own bathroom," my mom said then whispered, "There are muchachos desnudos walking around communal bathrooms, right?" She gave me a weird look.

"Oh my god!" She'd crossed the line talking about naked boys and I said through my teeth, "Mom, ew, stop." I glanced back to see if Oladapo had heard, but his back was turned. My family helped to bring in my things, and at some point, he disappeared from the room.

He was gone for a long time, even after my mom and tía left, but I didn't think anything of it. Then the Resident Assistant came knocking on the door.

"Hey, Alex." Robbie smiled. "Have you unpacked yet?" He peeked inside the room.

"Almost. I mean, I'm almost done."

He glanced at Oladapo's side of the room where the bed was made and desk already arranged. A frown flashed across his face before he stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Uh, so, we're going to set you up with a new roommate. But," he motioned, sticking up his thumbs and sweeping them from his chest to over his shoulder, "we've got to move your stuff. I personally think that Oladapo should move his stuff, but Chris, the RD, wants to do whatever's most efficient, so..."

"A new roommate? What happened?"

Darting his eyes, Robbie shrugged.

"Is... Oladapo okay?" I asked, still confused.

Robbie rolled his eyes. "He'll be fine."

My new roommate, Tobiath, was a shy, nervous kid who looked like Neville Longbottom with coke-bottle glasses. When I asked him, he said he didn't know what was behind the roommate change. My question had seemed to heighten his nerves, so I smiled at him kindly and went to unpack, lowering the volume of the music in my headphones.

The people in my hall were kind, except for Oladapo who was suddenly giving me the cold shoulder. I realized I had somehow offended him. But how was that possible when, after greeting each other, we hadn't said anything else before he disappeared never to return?