Heather
At around two in the afternoon, everyone had moved in on the third floor of Milnes-Chinnock, so both the RA's had made their rounds to introduce themselves to all their new freshman.
The girl's RA was named Olivia: a short, curvy, bubbly girl with shoulder length auburn hair a high bun, and decked out head-to-toe in UW-Stout apparel. She'd gathered all the girls to meet in their study lounge that divided their side from the boys.
Heather sat down at one of the worktables, and had been joined by Lindsay and another girl who'd she'd been introduced to as Ali Devereux. She was also blond, but Ali's more layered hair only went to the tips of her shoulders, and she'd seemed edgier that Heather would've expected. With cutoff denim shorts, an old concert tee she'd probably worn a thousand times, and leopard print ankle boots, Heather wondered how Ali and Lindsay were best friends.
"Hello girls, and welcome to our first-floor meeting for third floor Milnes!" Olivia gushed as she'd stood over their group. "Now, the point of this meeting is to start getting you all ready to be able to start off your year here at Stout with a bang!"
"Amen to that," Ali winked. A few girls snickered under their breath.
Olivia continued, undisturbed. "So, while I've gone around and met each of you individually, you guys have yet to meet each other, so I wanted to take the time to have us all sit together. That way there can be familiar faces to put names to in case you're lost around campus, or want to find someone to sit with in the commons."
Olivia turned towards Heather. "So, we'll start with Heather over here, and go around in a circle until we get back to me. Just tell us your name, hometown, major and what your favorite food is."
Heather flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and gave the room a casual smile as she introduced herself. "I'm from Prior Lake, Minnesota, my major is Entertainment Design concentrating in Digital Cinema, and my favorite food is pizza."
A couple of the girls smiled and nodded, but Heather noticed one girl in particular who'd narrowed her eyes across the circle. Heather's impression was that she was definitely one of those girls that knew how gorgeous she was, so she acted like she could say or do anything because of it. Her silky-smooth brunette hair cascaded in perfect waves halfway down her back, her nails looked freshly manicured, makeup contoured to perfection, and not a single wrinkle could've been found on her white sundress.
Heather immediately knew to be cautious of her, and decided to pay no more attention to the girl as she'd listened to the others go around when it was their turn.
"Hi everyone, my name is Lindsay Erickson! I'm from Edina, Minnesota, my major is going to be Professional Communications and Emerging Media, and I'd say veggie wraps or spring rolls for food; I made the decision to stop eating meat after watching these horrendous YouTube videos of poor little animals being tortured and, like, I believe that—"
"—My name is Allison Devereaux." Ali smirked as Lindsay pouted in her seat. "I'm also from Edina, and Linds and I have been tight since second grade. Our moms met at Stout, so we thought it'd be cool to continue that legacy. My major is Industrial Design, and I'm obsessed with anything sweet or chocolatey or both."
Some of these girls were more shy and introverted while others seemed pretty chill; Heather learned the one girl was named Mandy Reinhardt who was from Madison, her major was Interior Design, and her favorite food was a 12-ounce cut Wagyu steak from some restaurant she'd gone to in Manhattan, but her late-night craving was always grilled cheese on whole wheat.
Yeah, okay...Heather resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Was this girl for real?
She was way more interested in the artsy, bohemian chick who'd worn a rosy-pink maxi skirt with a floral short sleeve crochet top. Heather noticed a small circular tattoo on the girl's left wrist when she'd waved and introduced herself as Eden Harrington.
"I'm from St. Anthony, Minnesota, and my major is Entertainment Design." Eden winked at Heather in camaraderie. "I will be in the Animation program, and my favorite food is...oh god...so many things. I love sushi, pasta, coffee, fermented grape juice, and pomegranates."
A shorter girl with flawless porcelain skin, straightened dark hair, and eyes shaped like teardrops arched her back as she'd started next. She'd worn a blue pin with a bird on her blouse that'd looked fairly familiar.
"My name is Jenna Nguyen, and I am from Duluth, Minnesota. I'm going into Graphic Design, and I have to go with mozzarella sticks, and yes, this is a Ravenclaw pin." Jenna grinned down at her pin as she'd readjusted it to show off. "If anyone else is a fellow Potterhead, let's chat!"
Eden had squealed in her seat, and informed everyone she was a Hufflepuff. Heather remembered when she'd taken the Pottermore quiz back in the day and she'd been deemed a Gryffindor. Mandy was most likely a Slytherin, and definitely most likely to become a Death Eater, if anything.
They'd gotten to the final girl, and if Heather had to be completely honest, looked like she had a stick up her ass most of the time. Her raven-black hair was professionally straightened, her dark skin had been devoid of any imperfections, and her wardrobe was seriously on point, her expression was cold and indifferent, and she almost looked to be posing by how she sat primly in her chair.
"My name is Madison Parker, and I'm from Beverly, Chicago." She tossed a small smile that hadn't reached her eyes across the room. "I'm going into Industrial Design, and my favorite food is NOT fried chicken, or grape soda like I'm sure SOMEONE probably thought, but it's actually tacos and pancakes."
Shortly after, Olivia had led them all outside towards the quad, where a festival called the "Backyard Bash" had been set up with many booths. She explained how it was when all the student organizations on campus tried to recruit anyone who was interested in applying with a signup sheet at their booth, and how it was a great way to see all the different ways to get involved on campus.
The girls had all split up and searched to see what UW-Stout had to offer. Heather had pointedly ignored all the sorority booths, but was surprised at all the different clubs that were being offered: Anime Club, Comics Creators, Blue Devil Productions, Blue Devil Brewing, Fine Arts Association, and an art magazine called Prometheus. There were so many other choices, Heather had actually felt a little overwhelmed.
She'd felt someone tap her shoulder, and turned around to find Ali grinning back at her. "Hey, your Lindsay's roommate, right? She said you were cool, so we wondered if you'd want to join us and get some real food?"
"We?" Heather's brow rose as she'd looked over Ali's shoulder towards Lindsay, Mandy and Madison, who all stood about twenty paces away. Lindsay and Madison waved--Lindsay with much more enthusiasm--while Mandy had an unreadable smile on her lips that didn't feel welcoming in the slightest. Part of her had wanted to say no to avoid them, but Heather reminded herself how it was their freshman year too, and no one wanted to be alone during these first few weeks. Lindsay seemed like someone who couldn't even go to the bathroom alone; she was basically a blonde Gretchen Wieners, hair full of secrets and all.
Heather reluctantly joined Ali with the other girls and the five of them wandered over towards the Memorial Student Center--MSC for short--to grab a bite to eat.
Heather silently hoped she wouldn't have regretted it.
Eden
"Can I just say how relieved I am to meet someone who also loves Harry Potter?" Jenna gushed later that day when her and Eden had decided to go check out the UW-Stout Library, a large red-brick building with many windows facing the main entrance. The grounds on the front had beautiful gardens of freshly planted flowers just in time for the start of the new semester, and there was even an enormous "Welcome Back!" message on a row of windows.
"As soon as I saw your Ravenclaw pin, I knew we'd probably be friends," Eden admitted. "But I know the feeling, it feels like none of us actually read anymore."
Jenna snorted. "I know, right? I actually had a boyfriend break up with me because he thought I read too much."
The two of them entered through heavy glass doors, and followed a sign leading them where they were supposed to find their textbooks. The University of Wisconsin-Stout included its student's textbooks in the price of tuition--along with a laptop--and carried many copies for every course to be able to check out for the semester. It'd been a huge selling point that'd helped Eden decide that UW-Stout was the school she'd belonged at. Why pay hundreds of dollars for a textbook she'd only probably open a handful of times?
The two of them stayed together because it'd turned out since they were in the Art & Design program, they all had the same prerequisite classes. While the class hours and Instructors may change, the textbooks would still all be the same editions.
Eden was dreading her Art History course when Olivia informed them while it was a cool lecture-based course, it was at eight every other morning in the big projection room in the Applied Arts Building with the lights off while presented on slides from a powerpoint. Also known as: snooze central...
They'd found one of their textbooks on a shelf when two guys had grabbed their own copies. One of them was incredibly tall and slim while the other was much shorter. The tall guy had looked like he must've spent at least a half hour on his hair, and wore cutoff skinny jeans trimmed just above the knees, Birkenstocks, and a bright pink tank top. The shorter guy had cropped dark hair, glasses, and had worn a Captain America shirt with tan cargo shorts and sandals.
The tall guy eyed Jenna and Eden as they'd approached. "Can I just say, girl, you are working the skirt."
Tall guy was fabulously gay! Eden smiled. It was always a big compliment when a gay man appreciated your outfit; you knew you were killing it then. "Thank you, and can I say that shade of pink is absolutely fabulous!" She ran her finger over the material "Let me guess, Pac Sun?"
Tall guy nodded in approval. "Damn, you know your stuff. I'm Alex by the way. Alex Dumond, and with me is Zach Gunderson, my roommate." Alex gestured towards Zach, who'd casually waved back before he'd looked down at the floor as he'd put his hands in his pockets. "Its freakin' hilarious, but we've already had two people just assume we're together. Don't get me wrong Zach, you're cute, white, and nerdy, but not my type."
"Which is completely fine considering I'm not even gay," Zach glowered, his face turning red.
"So, I'm guessing both of you are also art students," Jenna gestured to the stacks both of the guys had rested on the nearby shelf. Eden's mood continued to improve; this meant maybe they'd all have classes together.
"Yep, I'm going to be a Studio Art major with a concentration in Painting," Alex informed them.
"Game Design for me." Zach said. "I'll probably minor in something too, but I want to see how it goes before I add anything."
Jenna and Eden told them their majors, and afterwards, the four of them all helped each other find the rest of the textbooks, and checked out at the front counter. Eden's heart soared; it was only the first day, and already she'd made a group of friends. It'd given her hope how being away at college was going to do so many great things for her.
"So, what are you two planning on doing after this?" Alex asked their newfound group as they walked outside together.
"Well actually, I had nothing planned." Jenna struggled with her heavy load of books. "I was just going to hangout in my room and keep unpacking." She'd looked around as if waiting for someone to offer something better to do.
Eden wanted to keep their dynamic going, and as an idea formed in her head, her grin had turned into a full-on smile. "How about we go back to my room? I've got some wine and vodka stashed in my closet, so we can play some drinking games and really start our freshman year right!"
"Honey, you just read my mind." Alex's entire face lit up. "I can tell already this is the start of a fabulous friendship!"
Matt
After the most awkward meet and greet with everyone on his floor, along with aimlessly wandering around the Backyard Bash, Matt had decided to wander over to the Merle Price Commons, a white building that was the main campus's dining hall, to grab something substantial to eat instead of waiting in the long line for just a plate of nachos and a single can of soda.
He thought back to some of the other guys on his floor. One guy in particular flashed in his mind: Jared Mikaelson. With his blond hair, good looks, physique, and abundance of confidence, Matt thought of him as the stereotypical "big man on campus" whom all the girls wanted to date, all the guys wanted to be friends with; it was like he was straight out of a cheesy eighties teen movie. Jared stood by his roommate, Brayden Nelson, who'd had shorter dark hair and the brightest blue eyes on anyone he'd ever seen. Matt had been a little resentful of them, but he'd also had what he'd called a "friend crush," which was that feeling someone got whenever they'd met someone and instantly just wanted to be friends with them. It's like a regular crush, but just purely platonic, he'd always had to add at the end.
Did they even given him a second thought when it'd been his turn to introduce himself?...Probably not. Matt could already tell they'd be too busy running around with girls to have ever even notice him.
There were quite a few other guys that'd stood out too. There'd been that skater guy, Rob, who'd showed up late. He would've missed the whole meeting if he hadn't just happened to have passed by on his longboard and had gotten recognized by Joe, their floor's RA. Rob's roommate, Luke, looked like the typical brooding, loner type. Matt had noticed his intense hazel eyes contrast against his unruly bronze hair along with the scruff running along his sharp jawline.
There's so many good-looking guys on our floor, no one's going to notice me, Matt inwardly groaned as he'd dragged his way into the dining hall. He passed by a couple offices that held the Housing Department, and noticed a sign that the dining hall was actually upstairs. There were many different food stations to choose from: pizza, burgers, fried or grilled chicken sandwiches and fries, a salad bar, a cereal bar, sub sandwiches, and a table just for small plates of fruit, veggies, muffins and bagels. Matt paid for his lunch at the register with a block from his meal plan, and went to the soda fountain directly past to fill his small plastic cup full of Mountain Dew.
As he'd glanced out upon the large room, Matt hadn't recognized anyone from his floor to sit with. A few people at a nearby table had begun to stare at him as he'd continued to just awkwardly stand there, and Matt felt the panic sink into the pit of his stomach, and pretended he'd seen someone with a head nod and small wave to absolutely no one, and walked way past that table.
Truly pathetic, but he couldn't sit by himself after that...
He was about to give up and go ask the employee at the register for a to-go container when he'd heard someone call out his name. Matt looked over at three guys from his floor in a booth that'd been hidden behind a pillar as they'd waved him to come over. Matt felt like he could finally breathe again as he'd walked over. He was about to thank them when he froze.
What were their names?!
Why could he never remember people's names?
"Hey buddy, you looked like you needed somewhere to sit." A guy with glasses greeted him. He was tall and slim with wild curls that stuck out everywhere, but his smile seemed friendly enough.
This guy didn't seem scared to meet new people, unlike himself...
"Actually yeah, thank you so much," Matt replied as he took the last available seat. He'd instantly begun to dig into his two slices of Hawaiian pizza before he'd glanced back up at each of them. Better get this humiliation over with..."So, I'm glad someone remembered mine, but I'm so very sorry, I can never remember people's names. What are yours again?"
The slim guy with glass chuckled. "The name's Peter Mathiason, it's a pleasure!" He offered his hand, to which Matt shook with a firm grip.
The guy on Matt's right waved. "Whassup, My name is Jack Turner." Jack was a husky guy who'd also wore glasses with a striped button-down shirt, but most notably had a tattoo of a pixelated form of some familiar video game character on his right wrist. Matt had always wanted to get a tattoo one day too, but he couldn't decide what it would've be; it had to be something meaningful, especially if it was going to be permanently etched onto his body.
There was one last guy on Peter's left, a bigger guy with blond hair with an even bigger smile on his face. "My name is Antonio Giovanni-Bianchi-Russo."
Matt's wide-eyed expression to his incredibly long name. The others chuckled while Antonio waved them off. "Call me Tony for short."
"So, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, Matt?" Peter inquired before he'd bitten into his sandwich. Matt wasn't sure what to say, but Peter's eyes lit up. "Oh wait, you're from Eagan, right?"
Matt nodded, a little impressed someone would remember that about him from the floor meeting earlier.
Peter continued, ignoring how his sandwich was falling apart in his hands. "That's crazy, because I'm from Bloomington, so we're practically neighbors!"
"Oh woah, yeah, that's right, small world," Matt laughed nervously, secretly so thankful for the connection.
The four of them continued to talk while they ate, wondering if they'd want to meet up to go see a live comedian later that night that has been viral on YouTube, then exchanged phone numbers and followed each other on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: all the basics. Just like that, Matt had made three new connections, much to his relief. He'd felt foolish for how worked up he'd gotten earlier before he'd sat down with the guys.
As they'd all walked back outside together, Matt's mood had dramatically lifted than when he'd first arrived. He was relieved someone else had been able to reach out to him and befriend him, because he'd always struggled to be the one to initiate a conversation, or to keep it going. He needed someone like Peter, who could talk for hours about anything, and Matt could chime in here and there. Despite his earlier fears, strangers had met him and wanted to keep him around, and sometimes that was just all someone needed to gain a newfound confidence in an entirely new and unfamiliar setting.
Luke
The next morning, Luke yawned and stretching out his arms as he rose from his bed, but coughed when he'd gotten a big whiff of Rob, who'd already reeked of the skunk-like stench of marijuana first thing in the morning.
Well, that explains where he was until two last night, Luke chuckled as he'd glanced over at his roommate's passed out form. Rob hadn't even tried to be subtle about it. He'd dealt it out himself to make a couple extra bucks back home, but so long as his roommate wasn't a dumbass and got himself caught, Luke was cool about the weed. That didn't mean he'd join in most of the time.
Luke quietly slipped out of bed to grab his shower caddie and head over to the communal bathroom. He'd snagged his cheap rubber flip flops from Old Navy, and chuckled at the memory of Brett explicitly warning him to pack a pair. Luke hadn't been able to take him seriously, because really, who actually wore flip flops into the shower? His brother continued to warn him:
"Dude, it's a communal shower with a bunch of college guys," Brett had said. "You have no clue what goes on in those stalls, or who goes into them. Trust me, you don't want to be barefoot on those tiles...If they could talk, they would be screaming louder than Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween."
Despite the early morning, steam laced through the air behind one of the curtains, and Luke smirked when he'd noticed they'd also worn a pair of flip flops. He turned on the water and as soon as it'd gotten hot enough, he'd hung his towel on a hook, and stepped under the hot spray. Water blasted down his face and chest and Luke felt all his stress and all his worries flow down the drain. His tense muscles loosened from the heat and he felt himself wake up as he ran his hands through his hair.
He'd reached for his bottle of body wash, but it'd slipped out from his grip, and Luke cursed himself as he'd watched it slide into the other occupied stall that had to be right next to his.
Who took the middle stall when they had a choice anyways?
"Oh shit, someone's already dropping the soap!" an amused deep voice laughed, but Luke paused when he'd heard a higher pitched laugh join in.
Was there a girl in there?
"Hey man, sorry about that," Luke replied, listening in and trying not to feel self-conscious. The higher pitched laughter had abruptly stopped after being shushed, and someone's hand had returned his bottle over the stall barrier.
"It's all good, bro. No worries," the guy responded.
It was too weird knowing there were two people hooking up in the next stall, so Luke quickly finished, grabbed his towel, and tried to escape without being seen, or possibly even asked if he'd wanted to join in. He froze when the next stall door opened too, and out walked that tall blond guy, Jared, completely bare-assed naked as he'd dried his hair off with his towel.
"Dude, seriously? What the fuck?" Luke raised his arm to shield his eyes, but it'd been too late. He'd gotten a full glimpse of the guy's junk since he hadn't even tried to be modest. Seriously, what was with all the fucking weirdos on this floor?
Thankfully, Jared wrapped his towel to hang low around his hips, and glanced over at Luke and winked as he'd grabbed a second towel off the hook, but kept it just out of reach while a slender, obviously female arm reached out to and snag it. They'd both laughed as she'd tried to whip him in retaliation.
Jared turned back to Luke and shrugged as if to say, Chicks...what're you going to do, am I right?
Luke barely regarded him as he'd practically flown out the door to get back inside his room. Great, we have a man-whore on our floor, he'd fumed as he'd closed his door behind him and walked in on his roommate smoking a bowl to start the day.
Avoiding any other guys on his floor the rest of that morning, Luke traveled down the stairwell to head over to his brother's house. His dad wouldn't be breathing down his neck about everything he'd done wrong, so it'd felt like he could've finally loosened up and enjoy himself.
As he'd rounded the corner to reach the main lobby, Luke bumped into someone and had immediately started to apologize, but the words were lost as he'd glanced up and saw her for the first time.
Even just in flip flops, the girl had legs that'd went on for days with long flowing waves of blond hair that'd cascaded down to her lower back. Golden, amber-brown eyes stared back up at him, and full lips spoke to him, but he'd been struck dumb and hadn't heard a word. Seriously Luke? Stop staring like a dumbass before she thinks you're a fucking creep!
"Sorry about that," Luke grinned. "Still waking up, I guess. What'd you say?"
The girl sighed. "Oh, you know...Just apologizing that I'd bumped into a guy with serious hearing problems when he may or may not be staring at my chest--" Luke's stomach dropped, and he'd looked back up into her bemused eyes, totally guilty. "—So, it's making me rethink that apology, but I figured I'd give him the benefit of the doubt to try and redeem himself."
Luke was once again at a loss for words. The girl had some spunk, and he kind of liked it. "Well, it's very much appreciated," Luke said before he'd officially apologized. "Not every girl is as forgiving about that sort of thing. Here, let me get the door for you." Ever the gentleman, he'd stepped aside to let the girl lead the way into the lobby.
The tall blonde wore short cutoff denim shorts, and a white tank top with a pair of aviators resting in her hair.
"Is there a beach somewhere nearby?" Luke asked.
The girl glanced back at him over her shoulder with a flip of her hair. "Actually, I was going to go start a game volleyball out on the court, you want in?"
Did he ever...
"I'm actually going somewhere, but next time for sure."
Wait, did I actually really just fucking say that?
The girl nodded. "Gotcha, no worries." She'd flashed him a dazzling smile. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of other times to join in."
"Definitely some other time," Luke nodded as he'd offered his hand. "I'm Luke by the way, Luke Mitchell."
She hesitated at first, probably internally deciphering if he'd seemed harmless or not. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, and Luke prayed she'd hadn't noticed how he'd almost squirmed under her scrutiny. Her expression cracked when those full lips of hers lifted along the edges, and her eyes had once again warmed to him.
"Heather Gracie." She shook his hand with a good grip. "I'll see you out there some other time, hopefully."
He would definitely make sure of that.
"For sure, have fun," Luke nodded as he'd walked through the glass doors before he'd said anything that'd make him look like an absolute moron. When he was out of sight, he'd let loose a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. He'd never been so terrible at talking to a girl before, and it wasn't like they'd even said all that much to each other. Luke cursed himself and convinced himself that beer was needed in order to forget his terrible morning.
Brett's house was already in full swing when Luke arrived about twenty-minutes later. It was all set up the same as the day before, but with twice as many people. Someone had set up two slip-n-slides parallel to each other on the grass, along two tables to play Flippy-Cup. Luke grinned as he'd watched the relay start. They'd first had to go down the slip-n-slide, and their teammates cheered them on as they'd chugged whatever amount of beer was in their solo cup before they'd tried to flip it onto the table, lip side down.
Brett was once again at the grill with hotdogs and burgers with melted cheese sizzled, and he'd had one arm wrapped around a curvy girl with darker tanned skin and hair in a messy bun—most likely his FWB—who'd grabbed an unopened bottle of Spotted Cow on the railing nearby.
Brett noticed Luke and grinned. "Hey bro, you made it!"
The girl whispered into Brett's ear, and happily took the spatula out of his hand. He'd kissed her on the check and walked down the wooden steps towards his younger brother. "I wanted to introduce you to some people. This here is my girl, Eve." Brett gestured towards the girl at the grill. She'd blown them both an air-kiss, and said a quick hello as she'd scooped the food onto a platter.
Next, Brett nodded towards a guy with short, wavy dark hair who was on his phone just behind her. "There's one of my roommates, Jackson."
Jumping at the mention of his name, Jackson looked up and his sky-blue eyes lit up. "Suh dude, Your brother had told me a lot about you."
"I'm sure what he said was only half true," Luke joked.
Jackson laughed. "Only the good stuff, right?"
"You know it, breh. Were you not here yesterday?"
Jackson shook his head. "Got short shafted to work a double since someone called in. Fucking adulting, you know?"
"Actually, that reminds me," Brett cut in. "Luke, I got something inside I wanted to show you."
Luke followed his brother inside his house, which was much cooler thanks to an AC unit in one of the windows. Luke thought to himself how he'd maybe have to sleep over there more often; maybe he wouldn't run into naked floor-mates getting more than just themselves wet, plus HKMC was sticky and disgusting with the heat that'd still infested every square inch of the dorm. Until fall came around, everyone would have to suffer unless they'd chipped in an extra hundred to have AC installed.
Three random people lounged on the couches watching TV, but Brett led Luke right past them up the stairs. It'd looked like they'd had the whole upper level to themselves, but Brett still closed the door once they were inside his room.
Brett turned to him with a serious expression on his face, and Luke had begun to worry if it was bad news on only his second day. "So, I just wanted to clear the air and make sure that we were both on the same page." Brett clasped his hands together. "Dad called me at some point before you'd arrived, and gave me strict orders to keep a close eye on you because he's convinced you're going to screw up."
Luke's shoulders sagged; he wasn't at all surprised.
Brett raised his hands. "But I just wanted you to know that I honestly don't give a damn what he wants."
Luke's remained silent, That was rich coming from the golden child...
"Seriously dude, you're smarter than both me and Jason. Hell, you practically saved me from flunking half my classes back at Whitefish Bay," Brett reminded him. "I know things have been kind of fucked, and how Jason and I haven't made it easy to live with dad and all..."
Luke looked down as he'd felt a sharp sting of guilt hit him right in the chest. "It's not entirely that...well, it's not like you guys purposely did it." He's been guilty of resenting them since they'd added to the pressure his dad put on him, but it's not like that was entirely how he'd felt about it. His dad was a complete asshole too; anyone high up in his line of work as a VP would be. His brothers always had his back no matter what, and Luke hated himself whenever he'd lost sight of that.
Brett waved it off. "Dude, like I said, don't sweat it. I just hope you know, and sorry for getting all mushy on you, but I love you." He rested a hand on Luke's shoulder. "I know Jason and mom do too, even dad does, he's just shitty at showing it. He'd pushed Jason and I until we couldn't stand him either, it's just the way he is. Hopefully with old age, he'll calm down."
Luke didn't believe that for a second. If anything, the inevitable retirement would've just made their dad even more unbearable, but Luke nodded along.
"Hey, you don't have to go all straight and narrow down the winding path, you can still have some fun around here," Brett reassured him. "Hell, I'd say you deserve it more than anyone else I know. Plenty of stuff goes down on weekends, and you can hang out here whenever you want. I'll make sure you enjoy yourself."
"Thanks Brett, maybe I can prove I'm more than just the shit I've done back home, and make dad proud of me again."
"You will buddy, I know you will."
Jared
He'd wondered what'd made him so lucky to have gotten such a cool roommate as Brayden Nelson. The guy was freakin' hilarious and seemed like an even bigger partier than Jared was; he'd already snuck in five 1.75's of Captain Morgan, to which he'd said they could both split.
Hell to the fucking yes! The guy was legit.
That first night at UW-Stout, the two of them had wandered around the neighborhood just off campus until they'd found a house that'd been throwing a welcome back kegger; the upperclassmen who'd lived in houses threw tons of parties before classes started that Wednesday and they'd have to go back to the real world. Jared and Brayden had snuck in and immediately found themselves doing keg stands, winning rounds of pong, and had girls all wanting a piece of some hot new freshman studs. Brayden hadn't done anything besides just chat them up because he'd admitted he had a girlfriend that'd gone to UW-Madison.
High school sweethearts...
Jared had scoffed, and wondered how long it'd take for either of them to figure out that long-distance relationship was never worth it, especially if they were both freshman in college.
I bet one of them would probably get too drunk one night and cheat on them with some rando, so why delay the inevitable? At least try and end it on good terms.
Jared shook his head as he'd remembered him and his girlfriend...well ex-girlfriend. The bitch had broken up with him on high school graduation day back in June; she'd bluntly and coldly laid it out for him that she didn't want to be tied down, and feel guilty if she'd hooked up with other guys at her university.
Whatever...her loss.
The next morning, Brayden and him strolled down into the HKMC lobby. Jared stopped in his tracks when he'd spotted an extremely hot blonde holding a volleyball at the front counter. Immediately interested, Jared nudged Brayden, and nodded at her as they'd gotten closer.
The hunt was on.
"Hey Brayden, weren't you just telling me how a game of volleyball sounded like fun?" Jared raised his voice, pointedly ignoring the girl who'd turned towards them.
Jared had to stop for a moment and just enjoy the view. The chick was seriously hot as hell: she had the all-American beauty of Carrie Underwood, but had tits that could rival Kate Upton's matched with long legs he'd imagined wrapped around his waist one night. He'd wondered how long it'd take to convince her to sneak away somewhere.
Brayden played along. "Yeah man, I was just saying how we should rent a volleyball from the desk, but it looks like someone beat us to it."
Jared pretended he'd finally notice the bombshell, even as she'd scowled, obviously not buying their bullshit. Even the larger guy with glasses and receding hairline behind the counter had looked skeptical.
Whatever, like Seth Rogen over there actually had a chance...
"It seems like great minds think alike, I hope we can join in," Jared nodded to the blonde girl in appreciation and had thrown in one of his panty-dropping smirks for added measure. "The name's Jared, and this is my roommate, Brayden. We're on third Chinnock."
The tall blonde eyed them both with bemused eyes.
"I'm Heather, and that's funny, because I live on third Milnes, so we're neighbors, much to my disdain." She'd flashed them a condescending smile. "That means "bad" in case you boys needed clarification."
Oh snap, the girl had a sharp tongue.
"Huh, what a small world...so if you don't mind, Brayden and I were going to go change and maybe grab my speaker, so we'll meet you out there?"
Heather flipped her hair and crossed her arms. "Oh. So, you just assume that you're in?"
"Well, we're still here, right? You haven't told us to fuck off yet."
"Very true. Drop the douche routine and maybe you can stick around."
"You got it, sweetheart."
"It's Heather, remember?"
"I don't know, my memory sucks and I don't know many words, remember?"
Her smirk widened. "Silly me for giving you too much credit, Jare-bear."
Jared clicked his tongue. "Awh, baby...you've already picked out a pet name, I dig it."
"Don't kid yourself, pretty boy." Heather's brown eyes flashed. "Tell you what, you guys go find some more people to join in, and I'll be on your team. Cool?"
Brayden nodded. "Sounds dope to me."
"Awesome, the more the merrier." Heather walked right between the two of them as she'd begun to walk away. "It was nice to meet you, Brayden."
"Hey! What about me?" Jared called out.
"I'm still deciding," Heather replied without even a glance over her shoulder.
Jared couldn't help but laugh. He'd liked girls who had some fire beneath the surface; they were more fun. He'd tilted his head towards Brayden while still watching the way Heather's hips swayed with every step as she'd walked away. "Bro, I don't know how you plan to have a girlfriend when there are some serious knockouts on this campus."
"Bro, I already told you." Brayden sighed. "Danielle and I want to try to make it work."
Jared shook his head as they'd walked away.
The guy behind the front counter with the receding hairline had waited until they were both out of earshot before he'd finally rolled his eyes and let out a huff of air. "I hope those fucktards peaked in high school."
Madison
After she'd walked out of the Johnson Fieldhouse on the southernmost part of campus, Madison had felt much better after having met with the head coach of the Track & Field team. Besides high test-scores, being on the speech team and yearbook committee, Madison was also a two-sport athlete, and running had always been her way to destress; just give her a pair of headphones and a playlist with her girls Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, and Ciara then she was ready to go.
Practice would officially begin in October, and Madison was relieved at how quickly she'd made friends at that Backyard Bash the day before. It hadn't even been one day, and she'd already had Lindsay, Ali and Mandy as her new inner circle. She'd hoped they hadn't just recruited her because she's black. She'd noticed how there'd only been a handful of other black students on campus, at least from what she'd seen.
Menomonie was way different from back home in Chicago...
Madison heard music playing from nearby as she'd walked around the back of HKMC to one of the side entrances. Movement on the sand volleyball court caught her eye, and she'd seen Heather Gracie with two seriously good-looking guys. Heather had seemed less than thrilled when she'd grabbed lunch with her and the girls the day before; she'd been all distant and acted like she couldn't have gotten away fast enough from them, to which Madison had been really put off by.
She had to admit Mandy did seem like a real piece of work, definitely not someone to double cross--not that Madison was intimidated by her--but she also didn't need any enemies before she'd barely even started her first year of college.
The two guys, one blond and one dark brunette, were practicing their sets on the court while Heather had laughed at something they'd said as she'd put her hair up into a high ponytail. The blond one was especially some serious eye candy, Madison thought as she'd watched him take his shirt off, fascinated by how the sun warmed his golden skin and made the muscles he'd obviously enjoyed showing off even more pronounced. The guy obviously has spent a lot of time outside keeping in shape. Madison looked away before they'd noticed her staring, and pretended she hadn't noticed them as she'd stepped inside the dorm.
It'd seemed like everyone was desperately trying to pair off and find their groups of friends to latch onto as soon as possible in the first few days at school. Maybe they'd formed meaningful relationships, or maybe it'd been more about convenience by latching onto the closest people whom they'd had anything in common with.
Up in her room, Madison had quickly set her purse on her desk, and left to head over to Mandy and Ali's room. Mandy was styling Lindsay's hair over by their window while Ali sat in their little red loveseat, watching "The Walking Dead" on Netflix. Madison smirked as she'd noticed Mandy's disgusted expression when zombies had begun to tear some poor victim open like a feeding frenzy, the room filled with their screams.
"Oh my gosh! Madison, how's it going?" Lindsay perked up when she'd seen her in the doorway. "We'd missed you at breakfast earlier."
"Sorry about that, I was in a meeting," Madison informed them while she'd waltzed in and sat down next to Ali. "I'm joining the Track team."
Mandy looked up from Lindsay's hair. "Oh, I didn't know you did sports."
"You Don't?"
"Oh god no, I hate physical exertion, well maybe except for certain cardio routines now and then." Mandy winked, and Lindsay laughed.
"No offense Mandy, but that is, like, so bad!" Lindsay gushed.
Okay then..."Well that's too bad, because on my way back, I saw Heather with some really cute guys getting a game of volleyball started," Madison said. "I was seeing if you wanted to join?"
Lindsay and Mandy acted like they hadn't heard her.
"Actually, count me in," Ali pipped up. "Plus, Heather seemed pretty legit."
"Yeah...totally." Mandy rolled her eyes.
Lindsay's baby blues darted back and forth from her to Madison to Ali, who'd begun to strip without any warning over by her closet, not caring one bit that she was down to nothing but her underwear with their door wide open. She'd decided on one of her faded black concert tees' with the sleeves that'd been cut out with a pair of cutoff denim shorts.
Ali turned to the other girls. "So, are you two coming or what?"
Lindsay still looked unsure, so she'd looked up at Mandy, who'd flashed a quick smile at both Madison and Ali. "Fine, let's go. At least there's no vile zombies in volleyball."
Matt
Almost completely absorbed into his fantasy novel out in the third-floor study lounge, Matt had almost jumped out of the armchair when someone's rap music had started to blare from a speaker somewhere. He'd peaked out the large window and saw a few people gathered on the sand volleyball court tucked inside all the surrounding dorms that'd made up HKMC.
Matt recognized Jared and Brayden from his floor, and watched as Brayen unsuccessfully attempted to spike the ball that'd been set to him by a girl with a long, blonde ponytail. She'd laughed as Brayden had fallen into the net, but then tried to walk it off afterwards. Jared joined in as Brayden flipped him off and pulled up his shorts that had started to fall down his hips, exposing his v-line a little bit more...
Newly determined to get to know more people, Matt had quickly risen out of the chair to go change and join them outside. He'd walked back into his room, and Thomas was still on his computer with their blinds lowered as to not let in too much sunlight.
"Seriously, dude?! What did I fucking tell you?!" Thomas screamed into his mouthpiece, which had caused Matt to jump back. His roommate barely nodded in greeting, then went right back to his game. "Dude, look behind you!"
Matt had taken the opportunity to quickly change into a pair of mesh shorts and a t-shirt, but before he'd gone down the stairwell, he'd decided to check if Peter, Tony, and Jack were around.
"Hey guys, what're you doing?" Matt asked as he'd cautiously walked into Peter and Tony's room, hoping he hadn't interrupted anything important, but the three of them all sat on the futon watching Scrubs.
Peter smiled. "Hey Matt, we're just watching one of the seriously best shows of all time, have you seen it?"
"I'm sorry to say I haven't, but I have heard its good," Matt cleared his throat. "Actually, I saw a game of volleyball starting with Jared and Brayden, and I was checking to see if you guys were interested?"
The guys looked at each other, and shrugged.
Tony rose first. "Yeah, Why not?"
"Are any girls playing?" Jack asked. Matt knew he'd only move depending on what the answer was.
Matt shrugged. "I saw one cute blonde down there, but I bet more might come."
Jack's interested piqued. "Well, I'm convinced!"
"Awesome, I'll see you guys down there!"
Matt wandered out onto the court, his heart rapidly beating when he'd seen the blonde girl notice him as he'd gotten closer, and had felt even more self-conscious when Jared and Brayden did too.
"Hi there! Did you want to join us?" She asked with a bright smile. "We're still looking for a ton of people."
Brayden nodded. "Hey, you're on our floor, right? Um...was it Matt?"
Matt nervously chuckled. "Yep... that's, uh...that's me."
The blonde girl smiled wider. "I'm Heather, and I guess you know Brayden and Jared." At the mention of his name, Jared had flashed a peace sign from the other side of the court. "Hopefully some more people come down so we can start soon."
"Awesome, sounds great!" Matt clapped his hands together, and inwardly cringed at his overeagerness.
Keep it cool...It's just volleyball.
To pass the time, the four of them played hot potato. Matt was excited to learn Heather was from Prior Lake, so their hometowns were actually incredibly close by—only twenty minutes away from each other. She was also a movie buff, and wanted to go into filmmaking as a career.
Brayden was what Matt would've categorized as a total bro: he'd played lacrosse, said the actual word "bro" more often than he probably should've, and admitted that he'd been mainly excited for the partying at UW-Stout. He'd seemed friendly enough, at least. Matt had found himself internally hoping Brayden would have him tag along to some of those parties he'd planned on going to.
Jared definitely had a superiority complex. He'd had that vibe of being the "cool" guy who was indifferent about everything, a total rich kid, and someone who may not look down on others, but certainly thought he was better than them. Matt felt nervous around him, like he'd been afraid to say or do the wrong thing and be judged by him for it. He wondered why a guy like Jared would've enrolled to such a small school like UW-Stout in the first place and not some private, expensive place like St. Thomas?
Does he use any excuse to take his shirt off? If he had a body like that, Matt guessed he would've wanted to show himself off too.
His mood continued to improve as Peter, Tony, Jack and some other people wandered outside and came to join in. They'd all made quick introductions and could finally start an actual game.
A small group of two girls, one petite with pale skin and dark and the other with light brown bangs and green eyes, walked other with two guys, but had sat on the nearby picnic bench and just watched. They'd passed a single water bottle around, and Matt chuckled to himself; it was quite obvious that it hadn't been water they'd been drinking based off the scrunched-up faces after each sip. The girls and the taller one with perfectly coiffed hair all shared the bottle, but the shorter guy with cropped hair and glasses smiled and skipped the bottle every time it'd been passed to him.
The green-eyed girl with the bangs noticed Matt staring at them, and waved. Matt blushed at getting caught, but considered going over to introduce himself when a patch of sand had exploded right beside him, and to his dismay, saw the volleyball roll away with his teammates all yelling at him for missing the spike.
Great, just great...Matt groaned.
"Bro, be sure to set me up for a spike whenever you get the chance," Jared nudged him.
Matt nodded, and watched Heather as she set up a perfect overhand serve over the net. Peter had awkwardly whacked the ball to set it towards Matt, and like he'd been told to, had given Jared the perfect set up for a vicious spike.
With a loud warrior cry, Jared leaped and absolutely wailed the ball, his arm bulged. The volleyball had shot down past the net in a white blur, and had splashed up more sand where it'd landed. His teammates all gave him woops of congratulations before they'd shifted over to their new positions.
It was Matt's turn to take a break on the sidelines, and as he'd taken the time to catch a few breaths, he'd noticed four girls walk over. One of them, a brunette in particular, had worn a small smile as she'd stepped ahead of the others to take lead. She'd turned her attention towards him, and Matt's heart stopped before he'd realized she'd actually looked at Jared, who'd paled and looked spooked as he'd noticed them too, his demeanor had completely changed.
"Wow Jared, it's nice to see you still love playing with balls," the brunette called out, and Jared actually blinked several times before he'd answered her.
"Mandy....what the fuck are you doing here?"
Heather jogged over and stood beside Jared, whose entire body had tensed up in a matter of seconds.
"Hey girls, glad you could make it," Heather waved, but she seemed less than enthused. "Did you want to play? Or a more interesting question is... how do you two know each other?"
Matt was curious too, but had tried to not look like he was eavesdropping.
The brunette named Mandy just continued to stand with her hands on her hips with a superior smile while the other girls with her had seemed just as confused as everyone else.
"Oh, we know each other alright," Mandy replied as she'd carelessly tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "Jared just happens to be my ex-boyfriend."