"C'mon, George. Mom and dad will kill me if I go home without you again."
George sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He placed his book down in his lap and met Wilbur's pleading eyes.
"Wilbur, how many time do I have to say it; I'm not going home. There's a big test coming up and I won't be able to study back home. Mom and dad would leave me alone for more than a few minutes."
The two brothers were sat in the school's library. The library looked like something straight out of Hogwarts. Shelves decorating every part of the walls with windows placed just underneath the roof, allowing natural light to be let in.
The whole school had the same vibe. It could've easily been taken out of an old British movie. That might be the reason why George loved it so much. It felt homely despite being located across the world.
Both George and Wilbur chose to move away to study a few years ago. George was thankful to have Wilbur with him, but his brother was much fonder of England than he was and would constantly try and get George to follow him back there during the breaks.
Wilbur rose from his leather chair. "Fine, Gogy. But I'll tell them that you hate them and never wants to see them again when I get home." Wilbur said teasingly. George rolled his eyes and directed his attention back to the book again. Wilbur took it as a sign to leave his brother alone and left the library. George let out a breath, a quiet environment was a rarity at college. However, it didn't last long.
"Oh, George, great!" George lifted his eyes and saw the school's principal standing in front of him.
The sudden approached made George nervous. "Sir? How may I help you?"
"You've gotten assigned a new roommate. He will be in your classes as well. So, I've made it your job to make him feel welcome." The principal stated, leaving George speechless.
He wanted to laugh. Poor guy. George was a sucker for lone time and probably the least interesting person to share a dorm with.
"When will he be here, sir?" George questioned. Trying to hide his disappointment at the revelation that his private space would have to be shared with someone else.
The principal clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Actually, he's here already. So, I would appreciate it if you could go and meet him straight away." George wanted to object but knew that it wouldn't be appreciated. So, he closed his book and got up from his chair. "Sure, may I ask his name?"
"Clay, Clay Smith."
Smith? It sounded like the first name someone would choose as a cover name.
"Okay. Thank you, sir."
George left his comfort zone in the library and headed towards his dorm. He decided to knock as he got closer. It felt bizarre to knock on your own dorm, however George didn't want his first interaction with his roommate to be more awkward then necessary.
As he opened the door, his eyes were immediately drawn to the boy sitting on the usual empty bed opposite of George's own. The guy had dark blonde hair that nearly reached his shoulders, an athletic frame and as he turned towards George, he noticed the piercing green eyes.
Call him judgmental, but this guy sure didn't look like a biology major.
George realized that he was staring. "Uh sorry. My name's George and I've been informed that you're my new roommate." He cringed at the forced politeness in his voice. The blonde boy looked at George like he had seen a ghost, making George a little uncomfortable. Though, the newcomer's expression quickly changed as he got up from the bed and walked towards George.
"Glad to finally meet you, I'm Clay." The blonde said as he extended a hand, indicating for George to shake it. George took the other's hand and introduced himself. He couldn't help but notice how tall the guy was and how callused his hand was.
George retracted his arm and went to sit down on his bed. If what the principle had said was correct (which it must be), then both of them would soon have a lecture to attend.
George rested his back against the headboard and proceeded to empty out his bag to find the book that would be mentioned during the lecture. They were currently learning about DNA and genetics, which was quite fascinating. There was specifically one lesson on the subject that George recalled. The main focus had been genetic inheritance from parents to children. The teacher had focused on eye color. How brown is a dominant gene versus blue, which is a recessive gene. Therefore, children of are more likely to inherit brown eyes if one of the parents has blue and the other brown. It was apparently impossible for a child to develop brown eyes from parents who both had blue eyes. George himself had something called complete heterochromia, causing one brown and one blue eye. Their teacher had explained that the causes of this could be many, but claimed that complete heterochromia was rather unusual.
The not-so-subtle glances that he constantly received from his new roommate didn't go unnoticed. George finally caved and looked back.
Clay gave him an unsure smile before he spoke. "You're not from the US, right?" A seemingly innocent question but George skeptical nature found the other's behavior a bit... odd.
George looked back at the pile of books in his lap and finally found the right book. "Correct. What gave it away?" He answered jokingly.
Clay let out a quiet laugh. "So, how come you ended up here?" George turned his head to look at his companion who was now laying down with his arms behind his head.
He weighed his options; his paranoia was urging him to deflect the question. Still, he didn't want to sound rude. "Me and my brother chose to move. Wanting to see the world, I guess." He said and shrugged. Clay gave a subtle nod in response.
"What about you? How come you transferred in the middle of a semester?" Clay's body language stiffened for a second. George tried to tell himself the guy must be nervous.
George nearly thought that his question would remain unanswered. "I needed to move and happened to get accepted here." George resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at the vague response. He was about to continue the conversation when the door flung open.
A brunette with grey eyes and a big smile plastered across his face stood in the doorway. "George! You need to help – " The brunette began but stopped when he saw that George wasn't alone.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Is this the guy you've been talking about?" Karl said, while his eyes flickered between George and Clay. George placed the book over his face and wanted to sink into the bed. Karl was his best friend. But holy hell! He sure couldn't be discrete even if his life depended on it.
He had known Clay for less than an hour and was already outed. He prayed that his new roommate wasn't homophobic.
"No, it's not. What do you want, Karl?" George mumbled underneath the book, too afraid to look at anyone in the room at the moment. He felt how someone sat down at the end of his bed.
"My bad." Karl said. George dared to remove the book and glared at his friend, whose eyes were on Clay.
Karl quickly stood up and walked over to Clay, who sat up on the bed. "Hello stranger! Who are you?" George carefully glanced in Clay's direction and saw the amused expression.
They shook hands. "I'm Clay, George's new roommate." It didn't seem possible, but Karl's smile grew even wider.
"Oh perfect! Then both you and George can tag along to a party this weekend." George groaned in annoyance and covered his face with the book once more. Although he threw the book away as someone flung themselves over him, causing all the air to escape his lungs.
"Karl... get... off!" he managed to quack out with the last remaining bit of air. Karl didn't move and only gave him a pleading look. A wheezing laughter was heard in the background, only to be assumed to come from Clay.
George finally caved "Fine, I'll go, but I can't speak for Clay." He said while forcefully pushing Karl off his bed. Karl fell to the floor and redirected his attention towards Clay. The blonde looked like he was on the verge of bursting out laughing again. The earlier insecure demeanor was nowhere to be found.
"Yeah, I'll follow." Karl's eyes lit up as he sprung over and gave Clay a quick hug before running out and closing the door. George let out a breath before reluctantly facing Clay who seemed just as shocked by the situation.
"I'm sorry. Karl's a good person, but he's very energetic." George tried but Clay just shook his head with an amused expression.
"No worries, mate." He responded with an awful attempt of a British accent. George rose an eyebrow.
"Are you mocking me?" George replied and pretended to be offended. Clay just kept smiling. His roommate seemed to have grown a newfound confident during Karl's intrusion.
"Who would ever dare to mock one of you tea-drinkers?" Clay said with a teasing smile. George rolled his eyes. The atmosphere was light, and George hated how quickly he seemed to have grown accustomed to his new roommate. Clay then stood up and walked over to George's bed and extended his hand. George studied it in confusion for a moment.
"I thought you would be the one of us to keep a better track at our lectures." George's eyes widened at the realization when he checked the time on his phone. Shit. He grabbed Clay's hand without thinking more of it. It amazed him how easily Clay managed to pull him up from the bed.
George quickly gathered his stuff before the pair headed out.
George had always dreaded getting a roommate, but he had to admit that Clay didn't seem too bad.
If he had only knew the journey that would take place due to this new encounter.