Catching Fire

Chapter One

Moving out of the dorms and into my own apartment was one of the best things that I could do. I had complete privacy which was unheard of in the dorms. Sharing a room with somebody else for a whole year was a dumb idea, but doing it for two years was even dumber. Staying on campus for another year though wasn't a total disaster. Some of my closest friends and enemies were made in that year.

Nothing compared to having my own apartment though. Having complete privacy and the ability to invite whoever I wanted into my space was nothing but a dream come true. It also brought new responsibilities like walking to school and cleaning a whole apartment in hours when you had random company. My first semester in the apartment wasn't all that and a bag of chips. At some point I felt like I lived in the middle of the projects. Loud noises and sometimes gunfire rang loud in the parking lot of my complex late in night time. While everyone becomes accustomed with loud noises, not everyone loves the sound of pop pop. Soon enough everything becomes a familiar sound in a familiar setting.

By the time spring semester rolled around I was comfortable. Spring was the time to get it together. Campus life shifts and everything becomes competitive. If you're not ready, then you better get ready. Leading two organizations to success, working an office job, and being a teaching assistant was not an easy thing to manage, but success had my name on it and I knew it, so I stayed ready.

~*~

"Damn T, you ain't find what you needed yet?" Chance snapped at me with clear annoyance in his voice.

He was a member in one my organizations that I quickly found a friend within. We didn't start out that way though. He always tried to play the tough guy role, so I played it right back. Eventually it became clear we were better as friends than frenemies. Two bonding events later and that was my ace boon coon. After a while we chartered a trio that I would soon begin to love and hate. Julian was our third puzzle piece, but he was always at work or somewhere falling in love with someone new, so Chance and I naturally became closer. We only hung out at night and hardly ever saw each other on campus, but when we did it was like seeing your long lost cousin every single time. We didn't know what we had in common, but we clicked as if our friendship was heaven-made.

Snapping out of my stalking trance I gave Chance the attention he was craving, "Can I help you? Are you dying? Are you on fire?"

He rolled his eyes before letting his rude tough guy exterior fall, "Yes, I am dying because my friend is drooling over somebody else's social media page and not paying me any attention. "

I returned the eye roll and went back to my phone. I decided against going back on social media to avoid my fingers tapping on something that didn't need to be showcased to the public. Instead I went on YouTube and decided to catch up on the talk shows that I missed while I was in class for the morning.

"Oooh sir, you didn't tell me you watched Wendy! I love her!" Chance took my phone and positioned himself so that we could watch the video together, but it actually made me extremely uncomfortable. I always hated when he decided to do the most. I inched myself away and let him take control of my phone. I watched from a distance until I saw a text message notification pop up on my phone. I tried to grab my phone before he had time to read the message, but I didn't move fast enough. I couldn't make out who it was, but Chance made sure to tap on the notification and check it for me.

"Who is this on your line talking bout some can they come over?" He held my phone tighter in his grip as I tried to pry it from him.

"I don't know Chance. Maybe if I had my phone I could tell you." I was slowly running out of breath from trying to wrestle the phone out of his hand. I guess that spoke volumes about my stamina.

"They number not even saved bruh! Who is this?" Chance still held my phone with the strength of God Himself.

One thing that I would say about our trio is that we were nosy as hell! We were always up to date on everyone else's business, but when the foot was on the other foot and we had to discuss our own business the tea was almost nonexistent. We knew there was tea to discuss we just didn't want to spill it. One of the major cons to our trio. The only person who was open to spilling tea was Julian and he would tell anyone who had a working ear and he'd probably sign it if they didn't.

"Just give me the damn phone Chance!" I could feel my voice rising in volume and it was becoming nearly impossible to hide my frustration and lack of breath.

"So you just not gonna tell me who this is? It's really just that simple." He tried to convince to spill my own tea, but I knew better.

After a few minutes of wrestling I eventually gave up and decided to stop fighting for my phone. He was going to get tired of being annoying eventually. At some point I managed to lock my phone during our rumble, so that he wasn't able to get back in my messages. That also meant he couldn't finish his episode of Wendy, so it worked out for the best in my opinion. When he noticed he lost access to my business he didn't say anything. He just sat on my floor with a look of defeat plastered on his face until it turned into a look of suspicion.

"I guess that's what we do now. Lie and hide secrets? Okay Tarion." He threw up the okay sign and pulled out his phone. He started to finish watching the video on his phone before he paused it.

"So you really not gonna tell me who that is texting you at this hour?" His portrayal of hurt was becoming clear, but I knew it was all a facade. I started to laugh at his acting skills, but decided not to make the situation worse.

"It's really going to bother you isn't it?" I pretended to care about his feelings in that moment.

"Yes! I need to know who is texting you this late evening." He sat up straighter and folded his arms across his chest waiting for an answer.

"First of all, it's 8 at night, so it's not even that late," I tried to state my argument with a serious face, "secondly, I don't find it important to tell you who that is right now."

Chance clutched the area where his heart was and his mouth stood open. "I tell you everything and that's how you gonna do me?"

I gave him a shrug and prayed that he would just change the subject. He gave me a head nod to signify that he was hurt, but he wasn't going to press the issue any further. He played the video and turned his attention away from me, but not without having the final word.

"That's okay, because I will find out what you hiding Tarion, or should I say, who you're hiding?" He shot me a quick smirk before turning back to the video on his phone.

I returned back to my phone and decided to text the number back.

"Tonight probably isn't a good night, but we can definitely chill this weekend if you not working."

I hit the little send button and made sure to check that Chance didn't peep that I texted the number back. Today wasn't going to be the day my tea was spilled and he would just have to be okay with that.

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Thank you for reading chapter one! Stay tuned!