Ethan's POV
The blue-eyed boy's face continuously flickered in my mind as I made my way towards the Hostel office to get my luggage and key, evening after class. His teary eyes and nervous looks made me feel vexed. I slapped the poor boy in the face just for staring at me.
I can't get that expression of his out of my mind. His vulnerable state, the way he bit his bottom lip and squeezed his eyes shut. The way he stammered in lose of words. Everything is making me totally reprehensible. This is the first time I am feeling this much guilty for bullying someone.
I have bullied many people. Mostly girls. Every time I feel guilty. But that's nothing compared to the guilt I feel today. I was thinking about him the whole afternoon. It's rare I think about a person I bullied for that long.
There's of course something special about the boy, Nate. I feel like I have some kind of connection with him. Because when I stood so close to him, caging him in between my arms, I could get a sweet smell from his body and that fragrance felt so familiar.
And looking at his baby blue eyes made me think about my Mom. My mom has the same beautiful blue irises. Neither me nor Eve got it.
And then when he stammered uncontrollably and breathed heavily not able to say his name, I suddenly thought about Eve. Because my sister has a slight speech disability. She stammers while speaking. Once she cried over a dead rabbit and she couldn't say anything for quite some time. She stammered and breathed heavily just like him. I really suspect the boy has a stammering problem. I don't think he stammered just because he got nervous.
Oh! I didn't mention the important thing yet. Why was he staring at me? Does he have a crush on me? But does anyone suddenly feel interested in a person who comes and throws them out of the seat they were sitting in? That's ridiculous. Then why was he staring? And he wasn't just stealing glances but was directly staring at me the whole second hour.
And all the time he stared, I was praying in my mind for him to turn his head and stop looking at me. Because I clearly knew, I'd have to deal with him. Amelia and Kevin wouldn't let it slide if I let him go like that after staring at me for a whole hour. And I really didn't want to hurt him.
As expected both of them, especially Amelia was furious. I already mentioned that Amelia has something for me. That's true. She doesn't like other girls looking at me though she sleeps with new guys every single day. And now when it's a boy who is staring at me, she was beyond furious.
I had actually tried a lot to convince them to let it slide for once. But they wouldn't agree. If I don't do anything, they themselves would manhandle the boy. So it's better, I ended it with a slap. I don't understand why those creatures love hurting people so much. Whatever, that's their divertissement. They feed off of others' pain.
I was snapped out of my train of thoughts as I reached in front of the Dorm office. Miss Rose was still sitting there, now sipping on a cup of her special cardamom tea. She smiled looking up from her cup on seeing me. Then she placed the cup down and turned around on the chair, rummaging in a drawer nearby.
“Here's your key,” she handed me the key with a smug smile. I wonder why she is smiling like that now. But I understood the reason once I looked at the key.
Ah Great! 69!
“It's just a number,” Miss Rose chuckled, probably on seeing my expression.
“Hmm..,” I sighed. “Do I have a roommate?”
“Yeah. A senior itself, but a new admission. He arrived yesterday evening,” Miss Rose said and took her teacup back from the table.
“Okay then Bye. Let me go find my room. Thanks for keeping my bags safe, whole day,” I chirped and she smiled whilst gulping down her tea. I then took my luggage and walked in direction of my new dorm room.
75....73.....71
Here we go 69.
I quickly shrugged my bag off of my shoulder as my back was aching badly. I twisted the key in the hole and pushed open the door to see a guy sitting on the desk chair, resting his head on the table.
I couldn't see his face as he was facing the opposite direction from the door. He didn't sit up even after I took steps inside the room and closed the door behind after pulling my luggage inside. Seems like he is sleeping
I walked to him, excited to see my new roommate's face. Last year it was a girl called Sharon. I was in Dorm D last year and it was co-ed. But she lasted for only a week. Because Amelia and Sophia together bullied her demanding her to leave the room. She left and I remained single the whole year as no new admission came.
This year I strictly told Miss Rose to not put me in co-ed dorm. I hope my roommate is someone with a football scholarship or some other sports scholarship-except basketball, cause we are not on good terms with the basketballers- so that he can get along with my so called friends.
“Hey,” I called him tapping on his shoulder. He squirmed a little in discomfort before slowly sitting up and opening his eyes.
My mouth hung open on seeing his face. Great! There's nothing worse to happen. It’s him, Nate. He is dead. Fuck!
His expression revealed one of utter shock, so was mine. No, I wasn't as shocked as him. Because his face was scrunched up as if he was seeing a ghost and his lips were shivering. He rubbed his eyes and again looked at me with a half-open mouth.
“It's me itself,” I told him.
“E..Ethan?” he stammered in shock. “You..you are..my r..room mate?” he asked looking at my luggage.
“Yeah,” I sighed in disdain and rubbed on my forehead, not knowing what to do about this situation. Either I or he should change the room. Or it would become really really bad for him.
I turned and walked to one of the beds, ruffling my hair in frustration and sat down thinking what to do. He sat there itself, looking at me with wide terrified eyes. Okay, why the hell is he looking at me like that? I admit I slapped him but does he need to look this terrified? I stared back at him intently, thinking what to do with him. He quickly looked away. Maybe on remembering his promise to not look at me again. I sat up from the bed and stormed out of the room deciding something in my mind. I went straight to the hostel office. Miss Rose was now writing something carefully. “Miss Rose,” I called. “Oh Ethan,” she looked up. “Why are you here again?” “I need to change my room. Please put me in some other room,” “What happened?” She asked annoyed and confused. “I can't stay with that boy. He also doesn't
“Oh Woah! Ethan!” Amelia squealed looking at my half-naked body. “Damn! You look freaking hot,” she said seductively, her eyes on my tanned chest and abs, as she walked towards me. Sophia chuckled while Tony and Kevin smirked looking at me. My eyes then met Nate's red teary ones. He was breathing heavily, leaning against the wall. He was looking at me as if asking me silently to save him. I felt my heart throb in pain seeing him like that. By then Amelia reached me and touched on my wet biceps. I yanked her hands away and she furrowed her eyebrows. “It's not time for that, Amelia,” Kevin chirped. “What are you guys doing here?
I waited a few minutes to see if Nate comes out of the bathroom. But there was no sign he was going to come out anytime soon. My clothes were inside the bathroom. So I walked to the door and knocked on it. “Nate, come out. They all left. You can pack your things and leave now,” I said. I didn't get any reply. But then I heard a faint sob and my heart twitched inside my chest. He is badly hurt. Maybe I should let him cry now. I walked back to my suitcase and took another pair of shirt and shorts, quickly getting dressed in them. After that, I started unpacking my stuff. It was almost 8 Pm when I finished arranging everything and made my bed. Nate has still not come out of the bathroom. I guess he should come out by now. That's enough time now. Maybe he isn't coming out because he is afraid I would do something to him. Or what if he did some not so funny business inside there? If something happens to him, I would be
Nate's POV I blink my eyelids thrice before slowly opening them to the morning sun rays peeking in through the creamy white curtains in the room, tickling my eyes. As I try to move a little, a heavy weight locks me back into place. Soon arms curl tightly around me with a small groan. I smile and close my eyes once again, enjoying the warmth of Alex's body against my back and his arms curled tightly around my waist, his hip and legs curved in the same angle as mine, pressing them against mine. Alex always holds me like this, providing me all the warmth I need. Without opening my eyes, I squirm and try to turn around. Alex loosens his hands a little, letting me turn around and place my head in the crook of his neck. Once I stop squirming after finding a comfortable position for my head in between Alex's neck and shoulder, he again tightens his hug. Being warm, inhaling Alex's fam
I look at Ethan once more before slowly sitting up and crawling out of the bed. I walk to the table and take my phone which was lying there. I unlock it and quickly goes to the gallery, searching for one of Alex's pic. I find a close-up pic of Alex and walk back to the bed just to once again compare Ethan's face with Alex's though I know there's no point in comparing him with my dead brother. It's just a coincidence that he looks somewhat like Alex and I shouldn't be this bothered. But I can't help but compare them. After looking back and forth at Ethan's face and Alex's pic, I decide to snap a few pics of Ethan. He is still sleeping peacefully so he won't know. Maybe I will show it to Anna and tell her about him. She would be as shocked as me. I slowly crawl on the bed without making any sound. I tap the camera icon and quickly snap five or six pics of Ethan's sleeping face from different angles. Then I sit there for some more time obse
Ethan's P.O.V The hour before lunch, history rolls around. I take my seat in the center of the second last row as none of the four jerks are with me during this hour to my greatest relief. But history is not a subject of my interest. So again I can't relax during this hour. And during my hours of interest like English and science, any one of those bitches will be there to annoy me. Amelia is the one whom I dread the most and she shares three classes with me. While I'm getting my books out, I notice Nate rush in through the doors. His eyes lock with me for a moment as he scurries to the back of the classroom. He nervously looks around me, probably to see whether my friends are with me and when he figures out I am alone, he takes his seat behind me. I don't turn around or look at Nate. Because the people in this class would be secretly watching me, especially girls and if they see any interaction be
Nate had already sat down at that empty desk. I saw him biting down on his bottom lip as he kept his gaze on the table. Maybe he saw us coming to him through the corner of his eyes. Soon Amelia slams her fist on his table. He shivers a little but doesn't lookup. “Didn't you hear us?” Amelia asks. Nate again doesn't reply or lookup. “Are you deaf too?” Tony asks. “No he isn't. He could hear us properly yesterday,” Kevin says. “Or did he go deaf after getting those blows from us?” he laughs. “No chance for that,” Amelia says. “Hey stammer boy, go buy us lunch and bring it to our table.” Nate finally looks up. “I don't have m..money,” he says. Tony chuckles looking at him. “Well we knew a scrawny kid like you have barely enough money to buy lunch for yourself,” he takes his wallet out of his pocket and throws some
" can I come in ? ", I ask him." Uhmm..okay.", he nods and moves from the door, letting me walk in." You didn't go to class after noon ?", I ask as it is strange he already reached here and changed his clothes. The bell had only rung a few minutes ago." No, I didn't. It t..took me some time to w..wash out all that sauce. And then I didn't feel like g..going.", he replied." Nate, I am sorry.", I said feeling guilty all over again." Then I g..guess, you will've to tell me s..sorry everyday.", he said. He is right. Probably I will have to tell him sorry every day. And there's no point in saying sorry after not trying to help him. Not only that I didn’t help him but also I stood along with those people who bullied him and laughed at him. " You can sit.", he says pointing at the two chairs. I nod and take a seat on one of the chairs while he goes and sits on his bed." You don't h