Hi there. Thanks for taking the time to read my first ever submission to the Nifty archives. I really appreciate it! I'm brand new at this, so if you have any comments or ways I could improve my work, please email me at:
jason96@inbox.com
If reading this is illegal in your jurisdiction, turn your computer off immediately and run far, far away from the keyboard.
I stepped out of the car and took a deep breath of September air as freshman bustled around me, tugging bedsheets and lamps out of completely stuffed hatch-backs. I stretched from the longest 20-hour, 2 day road trip of my entire life.
My dad suddenly clapped a hand on my bony shoulder and declared, "This is it. We're here." We both looked up at the sign which would regally announce the backdrop of the next 4 years of my life. I was a college boy now.
With full arms and backs, we trudged through halls and squeezed past other parents to my dorm room.
My name is Jason, and I was born into a wealthy family from a small town in frigid Minnesota. Small town life had treated me fine though, and I often played tennis in a nearby city in addition to excelling at school. I was tall and lanky, maybe the very definition of a "total goober" but I didn't care. Apparently, I had also spent the last 18 years of my life suppressing some gay feelings too.
Who'd have thought?
I was lucky to have great parents who supported me in everything, and as a result, I had just arrived to my first day on campus. At a university in Massachusetts that you've probably never heard of... Harvard. A full summer full of partying with my friends had been brought to a severe end. And here I was, kissing mom and dad goodbye and starting a whole new life here that I wasn't quite ready for.
I pushed the flimsy curtain aside and waved goodbye from the 3rd story dorm window with just the tiniest burning sensation as I watched them smile and pull away. I pictured it in my mind: Mom would probably break down crying on the long drive back to Minnesota as she flicked through baby photos of me on her iPhone, and Dad would stoically drive along, listening to NPR and holding back tears of his own. Maybe I knew my parents all too well - a few months later, they would confirm that sequence of events almost exactly.
But... my mind quickly wandered to the guy I had snagged in the corner of my eye a moment ago. My future roommate, whom I had briefly Facebook stalked a few months later when we were assigned together. Now, his name almost completely escaped me. Alec... Alan maybe? Aaron. It was definitely Aaron.
I swung around and suddenly he was there, grinning at me and pushing some loose sandy brown hair out of his eyes. "Hi, I'm Alex. C13, right?"
Damn, Alex. Of course. The great name debate had put me off my guard, coupled with his extreme confidence. "C13? Huh?" I responded, and finally looked up to meet his gaze. Powerfully green eyes left me nearly paralyzed.
I promise - this cannot, will not be another college roommate love story. It can't be... Well, it probably won't be? Please don't let it be another college roommate love story...
His next words brought me back to reality and away from the soap opera I was already writing in my head. "Our... room? This is C13 right?" He looked embarrassed, and suddenly, I was embarrassed to have embarrassed him. It was a really vicious cycle of awkward embarrassment. I had ruined my relationship with my roommate in near minutes, well.. maybe not.
I controlled my catastrophic thinking just long enough to stutter out: "Ah yeah, yeah, C13. I'm uh, Jason."
And with that, we were off to the races. My first day at Harvard.