"Good Morning." I greeted Trev with full of morning cheer. It was only nine thirty and I had finished many of the long pending items from my to do list.
Like returning the library book.
I didn't waste a minute of my unplanned leave, while my guest was fast asleep.
He nodded as he descended the stairs with lazy limbs. He had changed into his own clothes and looked a little better than last night.
"Tea?" I offered.
He nodded, "if it's no bother."
I rolled my eyes. This guy. Last night he ordered me to stay home, now for a tea, he was being polite. I was no tea person, I liked to get caffeinated like all other overworked student body. Trev though, grew up drinking tea and mom had a stash at home just for him. I got my stash this morning. Who knew how long he wanted to stay?
"Thanks." He cradled the mug and inhaled the steam. "I apologise for the inconveniences I caused."
"Nevermind. It's better that it was me who visited."
"True. What caused your visit?"
I laughed at his word choice. As if my visit was a rash. "You were giving very bad vibes and my parents picked up on them. I wasn't expecting to see what I saw. Are you ready to talk?"
He nodded, taking a gulp of the tea.
I waited.
After a few minutes of silence, he looked up, "you should ask me questions. I can't possibly know what you are interested in."
"Riight... Okay. Why didn't you want to take shower in your dorms?"
He sighed. "I detest that place. Shared showers and the boys were so... crude."
"So did you stop taking showers?"
He shrugged but his body lost the lax pose. His gaze stuck to the mug in his hands.
"Who is Steven?"
"A friend."
"What does he do?" If he was Trev's friend, there was a good chance Steven wasn't a freshman.
"Dormitory security guard."
Oh, god.
"Why did he loan you his prescription tablets?"
His grip on the mug became deathly. "He thought it would aid me with sleeping."
I kept my voice soft and low, "he shouldn't have given you the pills. You know that right? Did you pay him?" There were lots of cases like this around the town. I had to ask.
The question changed his posture completely. He put the mug down on the table and glared at me.
"You don't get to belittle his kind act. He was the best guy in this whole darn place. My only friend in this cursed town. Don't you dare question his intentions!!!" His voice wavered and broke at the end.
"Only friend?" I whispered in shock. Trev having only one friend was like the sky having only one star. An alien concept. He thrived with people. No wonder he couldn't sleep.
"Yes." He breathed the word out as if he was ashamed of the admission and out of nowhere tears streamed down his cheeks. He made no sound, just hung his head and let the droplets fall on his pants.
I was lost. I didn't know what to do, on one hand I wanted to reach out and hug him, on the other hand I didn't want to upset him more. I wished mom was here.
I got up from the couch and found a tissue box and silently handed it over to him. His red streaked eyes flicked up and I could see the pain in them.
"I... I need...." He trailed, more tears pooling up. I let go of the box and wrapped him in a tight hug. I had to assume that was what he needed to justify my hug. I needed to have him in my arms.
Trev's bony arms went around my neck and he sobbed anew.
Oh my fucking god. I felt like crying too.
I gently rubbed his back like my mom used to do whenever I had migraines. The angle wasn't good for comforting someone taller than me. I slowly eased back with just one arm around and made him lean on my shoulder without straining his spinal cord.
"I have only one friend." He murmured. His voice still had the tremors from his sobbing.
"Why? No professor or teaching assistant to your liking? I thought by now you'd have the whole of your faculty in your friends list." I said in a teasing tone.
"They don't know me. I don't talk to them." He answered with bitter honesty.
"Why?"
"I don't have anything in particular to discuss with them. They are all interested in statistics and cash flow and accounting and deep learning."
"What's your degree in?"
"Business Administration."
"Oooh. Sounds fancy."
"It's hell." He said with a broken voice.
"Don't like it?"
He shook his head from the crook of my neck.
"Then change it."
"I tried. Mum isn't allowing it. Jesus, she's not willing to listen to anything that would spoil her MBA dream."
Right. Ambitious parents with perfectly chartered courses for their kids.
"You should be glad that her dream wasn't a medical doctor degree."
He gave a chuckle that was half hiccup. "I tried, I tried to adapt, find some interest in accounting, fake it... but this isn't like highschool. So many new concepts, so little guidance and... and I'm all alone, all the time, studying subjects I hate. The dorm was another kind of hell, loud boys, creating ruckus for no reason and making crude comments and thinking that's what fun is." He paused, "first it wasn't that bad, but everything got overwhelming... and I couldn't sleep, not even a wink. I begged mum. She wouldn't hear my pleas."
My heart ached for him. "Is that how you met Steven?"
"Yes, he usually comes in the night shift. He has three kids in a two bedroom house, if not he'd have taken me in for boarding." His voice had steadied, breathing went back to normal. So much better. I wanted to stop my interrogation and just sit there with him. I sighed.
"What about your dad?"
"He won't speak against mum." He stayed silent for a few seconds and said in a subdued voice, "I thought of calling you, numerous times in the past week, you were the closest thing I had from home and I missed home terribly. If I had money, I'd have taken a cab and came here myself."
My heart jumped to my throat. Trev thinking about me was really a bad sign, he must have been in a really bad place. "What happened to your allowance?"
"I used it all on hotel rooms."
"Hotel rooms?" I gaped at the idea of Trev alone in a hotel.
"For bathing."
"Right." I cleared my throat, "you are always welcome here, you can call me anytime, if I don't pick up just leave a message and I'll call you. Also I'll pay for the cab."
Fuck his parents. I can't watch a beautiful soul die like this.
"I can't do that. We're basically strangers." He whispered.
"We are not."
"How?" He left his perch on my shoulder and looked at my face. I fisted my fingers to stop from reaching out and brushing his wet cheeks.
"What's my favorite color?" I asked.
"Ink blue."
"Yours is dark emerald. Who is my favorite musician?"
"Bob Marley. And I suppose you know mine."
"Yes, I even know the track. My point is, we have known each other almost all of our lives. We're special kind of friends. We don't talk daily on phone, but we care for each other automatically."
"Because we have a pair of people who love both of us."
"Exactly. One of a kind of friends."
"Who kiss."
"Hey... now..." I gave an offended look. Feeling embarassed.
He smiled. "Thanks Jake, I'd like you to be my friend."
What a day.
I grinned. "Will I still have all my Jake-only privileges?"
His eyebrows scrunched, "what are those?"
"You mister, are an abhorrent being without any fundamental comprehension of what a good life you got." I said with a lofty voice.
"You're misquoting. I never said that."
"But you can. If you want, you should, in the future too. That's my privilege." I said, just looking at his dear face had me smiling.
A heart warming, answering smile brightened his face and he went back to the crook of my neck, sighing.
****
He simply watched me study most of the day.
I started worrying when he didn't ask for my wifi password. What kind of teenager didn't want to get glued to his phone?
He spent the whole afternoon sleeping on the couch. I racked my brain for what I could do to make him active.
I remembered the perfect thing. So, I convinced him to go out with me to the college party hosted by my professor. It would be right up his alley.
"It's your kind of party. I promise."
He scowled. "I just want to stay here. It feels free."
"But you will feel more like yourself there. If you don't like ot, we would be back right away."
"Fine." He sighed.
****
"I thought you were down with some new virus!" My professor raised an eyebrow.
"And here he is." I pointed at Trev, who gave his trademark polite smile he saved for adults whom he deemed worthy. Stephanie—my professor was my mentor, role model and a great person altogether.
She took an assessing look at Trev and tsked. "Anemic and insomniac. Quite a combo you have got going."
"Sandwiched in adjustment disorder." I supplied, impressed with her diagnosis. She was our resident neurology expert with forty years of practice behind her.
"It's highly impolite to impart your proffessional knowledge for personal gratification and entertainment." Trev said gritting his teeth.
Steph laughed.
"Who is this young man?" Joel joined us with his hawk eyes trained on Trev. Just the man I was hoping for.
"This is Stephanie, my proffessor and Joel, her husband. And guys, this is Trev, my friend." Trev gave a wide eyed look at my informal introduction. Steph and Joel were old yet cool couple.
"I heard you complaining about my wife." Joel winked at Trev, "repeat for me, I want to hear it. It's so boring to listen her students go on and on about her."
Trev bit his lip, embarrassed. "It's just that they were being indecorous, harmonizing over my health."
Joel stared dumbstruck at Trev and when he recovered, he threw an arm around Trev. "I'm stealing this boy. Good night guys."
I grinned at Trev. "Joel is the head of English Literature department in Heliot University."
His face took an astonished look, "how could you fail to mention this prominent piece of information, before now? I'm apalled!"
My grin widened, "Surprise."
He shook his head and turned to Joel. "We can go now."
"I whole heartedly agree, we shouldn't bestow our inestimable seconds on unemphatic company." Joel said and steered Trev towards the house.
Steph smiled fondly at the retreating pair. "Even after twenty years of marriage, I still find it very attractive when he talks English."
"Tell me about it."
"So adjustment disorder, huh?"
I filled her in.
"What's he going to do now?" She asked.
"For this weekend, he'd stay with me. Maybe every other weekend or so I could invite him over. I don't know what more I can do."
"Jake..." she sighed. "Let's discuss this after the party. Now I want to talk to Gary about his yesterday's surgery."
I tagged along to listen. If English was Trev's favorite, medicine was mine.
****
The party wound up around nine-thirty. I went inside the house following the voices. Steph joined me in the living room and together we walked to the front porch.
Joel and Trev were leaning over a table, reading from a book and beaming at each other every now and then.
"I'm sorry but the party is over." Steph sagged next to Joel. I took the chair.
"Can I borrow the book? It would give me immense joy to read it in leisure." Trev asked fingers tracing the book cover with adoration. There was finally some color in his cheeks. I mentally gave myself a pat for this wonderful idea.
"What's this I hear about you studying a course you don't want?" Steph cut in before Joel could answer him.
"Oh." Trev pulled his hand back, wrapping it around his middle.
"Aren't you studying literature?" Joel asked surprised.
"No, I'm doing Business Administration in Riso."
Joel scoffed. "Why in the world?"
"His mother wants him to do MBA, but six months in the kid is cracking like a glass bowl."
"Steph..." Joel started.
She waved him off. "I don't care if I'm impolite. Do you want to study literature? Just yes or no." I loved Steph for her directness. I wanted to live like her— core made of steel to fight for what I believed in and doing things that made me happy.
"Yes, but—"
"No buts. If the system doesn't work for you, work the system, Trev. How old are you?"
"Nineteen."
"You don't have to live your life by your mamma's rules."
"I don't want to hurt her." With every answer, a little color left his face.
"Hmm, which uni are you from?"
"Riso."
"You have got no business there." Joel said.
"Would you be able to get him a doctor's certificate that he isn't doing well due to stress?" I asked Steph. It was something I had been thinking about.
Steph nodded and looked at Trev. "That's doable. You should go to your uni doctor. They will write a recommendation to a counselor in a heartbeat. You don't even have to ask. One look and they'd know."
"Then?" Trev asked.
"Make your mom attend a session, the counselor will force her to see the problems."
"She doesn't want to see. Fake it, until you make it, is her principle." Trev's shoulders sagged.
"Go to Frank, then. He's very persuasive and has a reputation for standing up for his patients." Steph said, she had answers for everything.
Trev nodded perking up, "if she agrees, I can change my course."
Joel waved a hand in between Steph and Trev. "I'm repeating myself, but boy, you have no business in that university."
Trev turned to him apologetically, "Mum likes it. Their visiting professors are some kind of entrepreneurs or some such thing."
Joel scoffed. "Show off. Seriously, the English department there sucks."
"What Joel doesn't want to do, but still doing is self promotion." Steph said.
"I was hoping one of you would tell him my accolades and achievements." Joel shrugged.
"I would be honored to be your student. But mum..." Trev trailed off.
"What does your mom want? You to be an entrepreneur at the age of twenty-two?" Steph snapped.
Trev ducked his head, "something similar. In an industry where money is good. All my cousins are either doctors or engineers. I'm not good for both so she wants the next best. Something worth mentioning to her siblings. Studying literature, in her opinion, was all I did for twelve years in school."
The self deprecating tone was gut wrenching. Joel pulled him to his shoulder.
"The famous combination of sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." He muttered.
"I don't know what to do." Trev whispered.
Joel snapped his fingers. "You know what? There's a country level contest, for article writing, you should enter. It's sponsored by Nat Geo and Time magazine."
"He's one of the judges. He writes articles for both of them." Steph supplied.
Trev sat up, "mum has a Time subscription."
I watched on with growing hope as they formulated a plan.
"If your article is one of the chosen ones, you get a scholarship and internship with one of them. I think you'll easily get into the best ten. Would that appease your mother?" Joel asked.
"Even if he doesn't get the prize, you can invite him to study in your uni, you know, impressed by his article, while you were judging, something like that. Can't you?" I asked, it was a long shot and not the most important one. As long as Trev was not stressed with his studies, he would be good. But studying under Joel would make him blossom into something great.
"Yes, I can send a self advertising letter. It would be interesting to write one. Your mother would pack you up in a day and frame my letter." Joel smirked.
Trev smiled, he too, should be feeling the positivity bubbling up in the room.
"There, you are all set. Now eat well and get that appointment with the doc." Steph got up, "my eyes are so dry they are gonna crumble like cookies. Good night boys." She got up.
Trev got up too. "I'm grateful for this evening, thank you for having me."
"Aww... you remind me of myself. When I was a kid, this is how I used to butter up my relatives to let me stay with them. It always worked, now I can see why." Steph grinned.
"Stop teasing him, he's my student."
"Already territorial Jo?"
"Staking claim is in my blood."
She chuckled, "along with sugar and cholesterol."
I laughed at that. Trev glared at me.
He was new to Steph and her humor. If he got to go to Joel's uni, he would get more of her.
I prayed it would all work out, if it did, I would get more of Trev.
Heliot University campus was just three miles from my house.