by Peay, Dexx
“Well, Dylan, nice ta-meet-ya, I think we’ll get along just great this year, don't cha?”
“I think so, Gunner.” I shook my head and laughed to myself. “Have you guys by chance met my roommate yet?”
“Nope,” they both said.
I hoped that my roommate was as nice as my suitemates.
After everything was set up we walked back to the cars to tell our parents goodbye. I pulled my little brother to the side away from everyone else while Marcus spent his last minutes with his family.
“This is it, little brother, make sure you continue to do what you’ve been doing, OK.”
He nodded. “I will, Dylan.”
“Make good grades, take care of Mom and Dad, and if you need anything let me know. I’m only two hours away and I can be there as fast as you need. OK?” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out an old birthday candle from my sixth birthday. It still had dried up frosting crusted on the bottom.
“Here, keep this,” I said.
“What's this?”
“When I was younger, I wished for a brother. On my sixth birthday I found out Mom was having a baby. I thanked the candle for delivering what I had always wanted. You.”
“Thanks, Dylan.” He hugged me. Mom walked over and didn’t say anything. She hugged the both of us. She let go and walked to the car, sniffling.
“Stop getting beat by Mom in the video games,” I yelled as they drove off.
The rest of the day was spent walking around campus with Gunner, Chris, and Charlie. Gunner met some girls who told him about a frat party and suggested we go. I was all for it. Marcus took some convincing. I basically told him this was part of the college experience. Chris declined and went back to the room.
When we walked in I thought, Wow the parties really are like this. Girls were dancing everywhere and red plastic cups floated around the room. A few girls weaved through Marcus, Charlie, and myself and grabbed Gunner and sucked him into the vortex of the party as soon as we walked through the door. I made myself a drink from the punch bowl and downed it. It was like liquid fire against my chest.
I looked at the empty cup in disgust. They were all laughing at me.
“Party punch,” Cheered Charlie, pouring himself a cup and downing it.
Once Marcus found out it wasn’t “punch” he turned his back to the bowl while I enjoyed one more cup and Charlie relished two. As the party went on we found some other shy freshman and formed one big freshman gang enjoying the night until…
Gunner was near the stairs grinding on some girl when some guy came bulldozing his way towards him yelling, “Get off of my girl, dickface!”
She didn’t seem bothered but judging by her inability to stand up on her own, she could have easily mistaken Gunner for her boyfriend.
He pushed Gunner, which didn’t seem to do much except piss him off, and another guy ran up to gang up on Gunner. Charlie and I ran over and stood between Gunner and the two clowns. They were dressed in brightly colored polos and khakis with City accents.
“Hey — hey — hey, guys, no need for fighting. We’re all just here to have fun,” I said over the music as the party continued.
“Well, go have fun somewhere else, freshman, and stay out of my frat house,” Clown number two yelled, gesturing towards the door.
Gunner was red in the face, fist balled at his sides. He attempted to fight his way around Charlie as the chiseled clowns laughed mockingly at us. Charlie pushed Gunner towards the door and calmed him down.
When I got back to my room it was extremely late and my roommate still wasn’t there. It was a good thing that classes didn’t start for a few more days so I could sleep in.
The next morning I woke up to the sound of water running in the bathroom. I heard a knock at the door; it was Gunner and Chris. They wanted to grab a bite to eat so I grabbed my things and waited by the bathroom door, and when it opened, “YOU!” we both screamed.
Chapter 13
Birthday Cake
Gunner almost knocked me over in an attempt to attack my roommate once he made eye contact with him. My roommate turned out to be Clown number one. I calmed Gunner down as he cursed at my roommate with his southern accent I couldn’t understand.
“So let me get this straight,” my roommate said with a towel wrapped around him, “you are my roommate and these lame guys are my suitemates? You gotta be kidding me,” he laughed and strolled towards his bed.
I didn’t want to be living in an awkward situation for a whole year nor did I want my suitemates going at each other’s throats every time they saw one another, so I introduced myself.
“The name’s Dylan,” I said, reaching out my hand, which he smacked away. I tried to keep my cool so I wouldn’t get mad and turn him into a popsicle.
“Airez.” His eye bulged, his lips almost curving in a grin. “Let’s make this understood, you stay on your half of the room and I’ll stay on mine. We may, just may, get along. Oh, and when you see me in public, act like you don’t know me.”
I didn’t know if Airez was like a code name or if his actual name was Airez. I think that name got to his head because he seemed to think he was a god. We shall see how long that lasts.
“Come on, Gunner, just drop it and let’s go to breakfast,” I said.
“What’s his deal?” Gunner said as we put our trays onto the table.
“Dude, no clue. But he has no idea who he’s dealing with,” I said. I told myself before I came to school that I wasn’t going to use my powers on regular people no matter how badly I wanted to at times.
Gunner was a cool guy. He reminded me a lot of Marcus in some ways. They both had confidence oozing from the pores and yet were both very kind-hearted and humble people.
“Where’s your partner?” Gunner asked.
“Marcus? He stays in Goddard,” I said.
“So where you guys from?” He shoved a piece of toast topped with butter and jelly in his mouth.
I told him where we grew up and he informed me he was from Grapevine, a city near Dallas, Texas. He said he’s always wanted to live in New York so this was his chance.
Airez was on his bed, headphone in ears when I walked back in. I got back in the bed and tried to sleep until Airez got up and plugged his iPhone into his speakers and blasted hard rock. I didn’t say anything because actions speak louder than words, so I just changed the temperature in the room to freeze your balls off. The sound of his teeth chattering in his mouth made me smile.
“H-ha-how-did-it-get-s-s-so-cold?” he said.
I was under the covers fake snoring trying to hold in my laugh. I let it go on for a few minutes and called it quits. As long as he was going to keep up the games, I would too and was sure to win every time. A knock at the door broke my snoring and I got up to answer it while Airez recovered.
A very tall, good-looking, guy with intimidating eyes stood in the doorway. He barged right in like he lived here and snatched the blanket off the curled up Airez.
“Come on let’s go, little brother,” he said.
I thought he looked familiar. He was the same guy who threw us out of the party. He was also a member of Xi Beta Kappa fraternity, the same fraternity my father pledged.
He squinted my direction. “Hey, don’t I know you, freshman?” His voice was daunting and deeper than the Grand Canyon.
“Umm … I don’t think so. I’m Airez’s roommate,” I said.
“Yeah, I know you. You’re the guy from last night.” He turned to face his brother. “Wow, brother, this is what you’re stuck with as a roommate? And why the hell is it so cold in here?” He grabbed Airez and left out of the room. I rushed over and knocked on Gunner’s door.
“Dude, you’ll never believe this, not only was Airez the guy from last night but his brother is the other guy,” I said.
“Negative, partner. You gots to be pulling some kind of leg of mine.” Gunner peeped around me. “Where are our buddies now?”
“I don’t know. They took off.”
“This is fixin’ to be one jacked up living situation.”
I sighed. “Tell me about it. Least you don’t have to wake up to ‘the god of war’.”
“Looks like we made our first enemy, partner.”
I went out for a walk and ended up at Washington Square Park. I called Marcus and told him to come down and gave him the roommate update. As we walked, we ran into two female roommates from London who happened to best friends like Marcus and I. Delilah — the exotic looking long haired blonde who had the features and figure of a supermodel. Stacey — the tomboyish girl with the pixie cut and rich chocolate skin with a bit of vitiligo near her eye and forehead.
We walked them back to their dorm; my phone rang right as the girls walked off. It was Imani. After we laughed on the phone for a few minutes, I asked to see her. She couldn’t resist my charm and agreed.
“Sorry, my brother, duty calls,” I said, brightly.
“Who was that?” Marcus asked, nodding to my phone.
“Remember the girl I met in Albany? I told you she was starting here as well and—”
“No worries, I’ll catch you at dinner.”
I waited outside until she came out to greet me. I wanted to get to know her better and the day was so ripe that I wanted to enjoy them both. We walked the blocks of Manhattan getting a feel for each other as well as our new home.
“I still think that it’s crazy we go to the same school,” she said softly, catching my wide smile.
“Are you not hot?” I asked like an idiot. Here I have this beautiful girl who, by faith, goes to the same school as I do, and all I can focus on is the weather and why she’s wearing skinny jeans with a denim jacket on.
“Nope. I’m good,” she snarled.
Great, Dylan, kill the mood.
We found a spot in the park to chill and laughed for over an hour.
When asked about where she grew up she told me she moved around more than one child ever should due to her parents’ divorce and their jobs. She got a little distant after that and seemed to close herself off.
We took a seat on a bench. She pushed her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She turned away from me and said softly, “I’ve never been in one place long enough to actually get to know people on a personal level. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again and that’s why it was so easy to give you my number.”
“That’s completely understandable. I broke up with my girlfriend of three years on prom night and it was sort of a bittersweet moment.”
“Why bittersweet?”
“Well, she was my first girlfriend and I loved hanging out when it was the two of us, but the moment my friends were around, she would change into someone I didn’t know.”
“And the sweet?”
I had no idea where the urge came from, but I leaned over, lightly gripped her chin with my fingers, and pressed my lips onto her dimple. “You’re sweet,” I said.
She hid her face behind her hair and hands in this cute little shy manner, then laid her head on my arm.
“I'm sorry I shouldn’t have.” I was feeling light on the inside almost like I was floating away.
“No, it’s OK,” she whispered.
We stood and continued to walk when it hit me — I was next to a girl and not smelling cherry blossoms. It was weird and different but I guess different was good. We lost track of time and the day hours passed right by us. We stopped and grabbed some drinks on our way back before we caught in the rain.
Once I got back to my room, I quickly threw my drenched clothes off and hopped in the shower. Airez thought it would be a good idea to put rubber snakes in the shower. It scared me for a few seconds but that was it. I had the perfect idea for revenge. I got dressed then Gunner and I headed over to see Marcus.
“How was it with the new girlfriend?” Marcus asked, curiously.
“You had a date with a lassie already?” Gunner chimed in.
Shaking my head, I said, “No, I just went for a walk with a girl I met.”
“I hope she is more stable than Jessica,” Marcus grunted.
“Who’s Jessica?” Gunner asked.
“His craaazzyy ex-girlfriend,” Marcus said.
“Mind if I talk, Marc?” I interjected. “Yes, Jessica is my ex and she might have been a little crazy.”
“Ha! A little?” Marcus said.
“Yes, just a little bit. And Imani is not my new girlfriend. I don’t know if I'm completely ready for that just right now. But she’s cool.”
We spent the rest of the night hanging out in Founders lobby with Gunner, Delilah, and Stacey. I couldn’t tell if Delilah was really into Marcus or if she was just a big flirt. Marcus was so awkward when it came to females. Every time someone would say something funny, she would laugh and throw herself onto him and he would scoot away.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Marc, mind if I talk to you just for a quick second?” I said.
The girls stopped talking and Marcus jumped out of his seat without question and we walked away. I grabbed his shoulders and wanted to slap the awkwardness out of him.
“Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? Delilah is obviously diggin’ you. You look like a damn kindergarten student over there. Now, do you think she’s hot?”
“Yeah,” he said, shaking his head up and down.
“So just talk to her. I’m not asking you to marry the girl,” I laughed. It shouldn’t be this difficult.
“Dylan, man.” His head dropped. “You know how I am. I just can’t talk to her. And besides, what does she want with me? I’m a nobody.”
“Bro, look, you can shoot fire from your hands and fly. You have every guy on this campus beat by a long shot. You are the man, Marc, and Delilah can see that in you.”
“Are you saying I should show her that I can fly?”
“That — is — not, what I’m saying. Bottom line, you’re Marcus and there is nobody out there like you. Now, go talk to her.” I turned his body around so he could admire her in her candid moment.
We walked back over and he finally loosened up and started to relax a little bit. Gunner was a natural with the ladies, and attracted a flock of girls wherever we went. I think it was the country boy thing he had going on. Cowboy hats were not something you saw every day in the City, so ladies were intrigued.
“Marcus,” Delilah said. I loved the accent. “I hear you are very smart.”
“I'm no smarter than Dylan,” he said.
“Well, you graduated with a better GPA than I did,” I said.
“Do you think you can be my study partner this semester?” Delilah let down her high ponytail and gently shook her head to let her hair play in the air.
I gestured to him to say yes while she wasn’t looking. Marcus was looking at me like I was crazy until he caught on to what I was doing.
“Ugh … I guess I can.” The words stuttered slowly out his mouth, his eyes still on me. “I mean yes, yes I can be your study partner.” This time the words flowed and he actually glanced at her. His eyes may have looked as if they were about to pop out the socket, but he did look at her.
“Your grades are sure to be top notch. Marc is a whiz-kid,” I said.
He looked over to Delilah and smiled with his lips sealed.
“OK, guys, this was fun but it’s getting late and I have class first thing in the morning,” I said.
Airez was watching TV when I walked in and greeted me immediately with, “Hey loser.”
“Sorry, your brother isn’t here,” I replied.
“You better watch it.” He got in my face, nostrils flaring like he wanted to hit me. He didn’t scare me, but I didn’t want to go through this every time I walked into the room. His brother, on the other hand, for some reason scared me just a little bit.
I pushed past him and flopped on my bed. I put my headphones on and turned the music up to the max. I put on some rap and concentrated my energy onto some of his books he had on his desk. I pictured in my
head his books dancing around in the air. It felt like the veins in my neck and head were about to burst so I called it quits.
The next week was the same thing every day: wake up, argue with Airez, go to class, eat, argue with Airez, and sleep.
I was over it already.
When I woke up, I had to rush to class without even brushing my teeth. Somehow my phone had turned itself off in the middle of the night. I had on a pair of basketball shorts that I slept in and a jacket that I threw over a tank when I ran out the room.
When I finally got to class I was a half hour late and the whole class stopped to face me as the door slammed behind me. I was embarrassed and looked like a bum off the streets. The teacher made it known that I shouldn’t be late again to his Composition class again.
I had a break around noon before my last class. I went back to my room to grab my phone that I left. I turned it on and had a ton of missed calls from my parents, the Petersons, and some old classmates. All these bad thoughts ran through my head as to why they would all call me today. I called my dad first and I didn’t get an answer. I knew Mom was at work, so I didn’t think to call her, but then I thought that if there were an emergency she wouldn’t be at work. I called her.
“Mom, what is it?” I yelled at the phone as soon as she answered.
“Happy birthday, Dylan,” she cried.
I was confused. Did I get so wrapped up and busy already that I forgot my eighteenth birthday? “Wow,” I said to myself, “I'm eighteen today.”
“Please don’t tell me you forgot your own birthday, Dylan?” Mom asked. “You haven’t been studying too much already, have you?”
“No, Mom. I told you about my roommate, right? Well, he turned my phone off and I was late for class and my teacher chewed me out in front of everyone.”
“Welcome to the college life, son.”
“How’s Dalton doing?”
“He’s doing well. He misses you a lot.”
“Yeah, I know. How about Dad, does he miss me?”
“Your dad will be your dad. He did put some money into your account this morning and he told me to tell you to make sure you get an oil change.”