Love's a Disease Chapter 1
I rubbed a palm against my eye, then through my hair, struggling to stay awake; last night was too wild for this shit. The image of Mark puking all over Brandi's tits couldn't leave my mind, and I chuckled at the hazy memory. The nerd on my right glanced over at me in annoyance, and I shrugged indifferently. The guy on my left let out a snore. I guess he wasn't as willing to stay awake as I was. Though I was envious, and tempted to lay my head in my arms and catch some z's too, I forced myself to stare ahead to the podium at the front of the lecture room, where the professor continued to drone on.
"...an antigenic shift occurs when there is a major change in the genome of the virus - which generally results from recombination or reassortment of a virion's DNA or RNA structure. These genetic mutations may lead to an increase in viral infectivity, or development of a certain genome that represses the host's defense system. Obviously this is of major interest to..."
I wished I was interested - I might have scored better on my next exam. Maybe Coach would have spoken with one or two of my professors - one of the perks of being a star athlete. However, most of them weren't very inclined to going easy on a dumb jock like me.
The professor continued to recite his lecture on microbiology, but it was just words as far as I - or the dude to my left - were concerned; nomenclature... capsid... latency... endocytosis. In one ear, out the other.
Absentmindedly, I doodled a circle in my blank notebook. I was thinking ahead to winter break, and driving down to Minneapolis to visit my hometown and see my family. My parents were pretty lame, but I couldn't help crack a nostalgic smile at 'em. Most of all, I was looking forward to the food; I bet my mom would make her famous sweet potatoes - my stomach was growling just thinking about them. Tracing a new circle, I wondered what my sis, Sammy, was up to; she would be in eighth grade now... My smile faded slightly as I thought about what boys were like at that age, and that she'd better not be hanging around with any of them. I remember what I was like: horny. Though, I guess that never stopped.
The best thing about heading back home, however, was being able to see Riley. My smile widened further at the memories of us together, all the way back to kindergarten. Since then, we've been best friends, inseparable - at least, until I came to Duluth for college, and he stayed in the Cities. That was hard for us; I never thought I could be so attached to someone.
I wondered if he'd changed at all in the past months, or if he was still the funny, chill guy that I could trust with my life. Sure, we were different in a lot of ways; Riley never had the patience for the dumb girls and dumb jocks that hung around me - which always made me wonder why he had any patience for ME. Though neither of us ever really got good grades, he was known for being incredibly clever; from his enemies to his teachers, I'd seen many people get completely tongue tied by his subtle ability to turn around an argument or slip in a comment that cut deep. I usually preferred to use my fist. Yet despite our differences, Riley was the only person in the world who could make me smile or laugh when I was pissed or upset. We were brothers, and I loved him like one, regardless of whether it was unlikely.
The sound of shuffling papers and bodies brought me out of my nostalgic daydream, and I looked around to see that class had ended. I woke my oblivious classmate from his nap with a bump on the arm, before I tossed my doodle-filled notebook into my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder, and headed out the door.
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"Jason!" Mark waved across the hall as he trotted over to me in his bulldogs hoodie and basketball shorts.
"Dude, are you fuckin' crazy?" I asked him. "There's a foot of snow on the ground, 'n you're walkin' around in shorts?"
Mark shrugged, "it's not like I gotta go outside since all the campus buildings are connected."
I laughed at him and shook my head, continuing to walk down the hallway. "So, you're gonna stay in here while I go get something to eat?"
"Okay, so I do gotta go outside once in a while," he admitted, shrugging. "Nothing that growing up in Minnesota hasn't prepared me for already."
"Fair enough. I'm hungry for some Chipotle today.. sound good?"
"Chipotle? Always."
We walked through the campus buildings to get to the door closest to my truck, as neither of us wanted to be out in the freezing air. It was early in December, and we'd finally been hit by a big snow storm over the weekend. I don't know why I even stayed in Minnesota, let alone Duluth for college - I hate winter. Mark and I pushed out of the doors and immediately shivered as the chilly winter air assaulted us.
"Glad I'm not wearing shorts," I chuckled at Mark, tugging tauntingly at my sweat pants. He gave me the finger, and followed me to my old Dodge in the parking lot.
Once we were out of the crappy weather, and I had the heat cranked up, Mark rubbed his temples. "I still got a fuckin' headache from last night," he said as I peeled out of the lot.
I laughed, "how's Brandi? She still smell like puke?"
He groaned, "she was so pissed... I'm not gettin' any for a while. But I guess I don't need to tell you what that's like, huh?"
"What's that s'posed to mean?"
"C'mon, Jase," he chuckled, "everyone knows you barely get any tail. When was the last time? High school?" he teased.
"What," I said defensively, "with all the chicks that want my attention? I get plenty."
"Yeah right, since you and Brittany split up, the only thing that's touched your dick is your hand."
I chuckled and took my right hand off the steering wheel and shoved it in Mark's face. "Ms. Righty wants a kiss dude, help get the cum off her face."
"Oh, fuckin' gross, man!" Mark yelled and yanked my hand away from his face, as I laughed.
"If you're so worried about me getting off, I'll let you suck my dick," I joked.
"Hell no," he chuckled. "Ask Bobby, he'll probably do it."
I shook my head with a smile, then said more seriously, "Naw, that wouldn't be cool.. especially after what happened to him last week."
Mark nodded, "I didn't even know people were that against gays anymore... I mean, Bobby's not even a flame."
Bobby was the small forward on the basketball team with Mark and me. He was openly gay, and naturally received a lot of conflict. Although it was initially awkward for a lot of the guys on the team, it was never a problem between him and me. Bobby was a pretty cool dude, and he and I always got along. He was also a pretty good basketball player - and easily took any jokes about his ability to 'handle balls'. Other people weren't so decent to him about his sexuality however; a week ago, some assholes had jumped him behind a bar and beat the shit out of him, calling him 'queer' and 'fag'. Though he didn't show up to practice for the following couple of days, I made sure to meet up with him and give him a little support. I did genuinely like the guy, and we were on the same team after all. While we were talking, I noticed his knuckles were pretty bruised up, and I knew he'd managed to at least put up a good fight.
"If I ever find out who beat him up, I'm seriously gonna kick their asses," I swore.
"I don't doubt it, man," Mark said as I pulled into the Chipotle parking lot.
We jogged up into the restaurant, and got in line. I rubbed my hands together to try and get some more heat into them, and chuckled at Mark's shivering bare legs. We each ordered two big burritos, and the guy at the register raised his eyebrows at us.
"We're hungry," I explained matter-of-factly, with a crooked smile. He shrugged and rang us up. He was kinda cute, and I gave him another smile before Mark and I grabbed our food and sat down at a table. I immediately tore away half the aluminum foil around my burrito and took a massive bite out of it. Soon after, I quickly inhaled the rest of the thick burrito, as well my second one. Mark did the same to his. I noticed other people giving us amused looks as we devoured our food, and I flashed them a smile despite my stuffed face.
I stood up and tossed my garbage in the trash, Mark close behind me, and we walked back towards the doors. I gave the cashier another flirtatious smile, earning a shy one from him,' before I stepped back out into the chilly air.
Once we were back on the snowy roads, and Mark let out a huge belch, he asked, "You ready for winter break?"
"Yeah, finally gonna get a nice home-cooked meal."
Mark laughed, "we just ate two huge burritos and you still can't stop thinkin' about food."
"Hey, you know as much as I do how much energy practice takes."
"Yeah, I'm just jokin'. You excited to see your sister? Aren't you her guardian angel?"
"I guess," I shrugged. "I just make sure she stays out of trouble.. Or, I did before I left."
"I don't get that. My little brother is such a fuckin' pest. He got on my nerves non-stop, and I'm glad I don't have to deal with that little shit any more."
"Naw, I'm sure deep down you love him.. you'll change your mind after a while," I smiled.
"Doubt it."
I dropped Mark off at the student apartment that we had rented together with two other friends I'd made at the U. Mark was a cool guy - a typical jock - and we'd hit it off right away Freshman year when we both tried out [try outs in college?] for the basketball team. It had only been over a year since then, but I felt like I'd known him for a lot longer.
I had a couple more classes left, so I drove back to the campus buildings. They weren't quite as boring as my biology class, and I managed to pay attention and write enough notes down to understand them.
When my school day was over, I returned to the on-campus student apartments. It was already pitch black out, yet not even six o'clock, which was another thing I hated about winter and daylight savings. I entered my apartment to find the guys - Mark, Trey, and Jared - filling the sofa in front of the TV. They were watching the football game, between the Giants and Saints. Stevie Brown had just made an interception for the Giants, then made seventy yards, and the three guys were shouting and cursing.
"The fuck is Brees doing?"
"Tackle his ass!"
"Jase, you're lucky you missed this shit."
I laughed at the three of them, and went over to the kitchen area to make a sandwich for myself; those burritos could only hold me over for so long. I took my food over to my desk and sat down at my computer. Checking my Facebook, I noticed that I had a message from Bobby.
"Hey, we're in the same anatomy class together right? Want to meet up and study together some time? It's cool if not."
I remembered that we did share that class together; he usually sat quietly in the back. I could have used some help in that class, and Bobby seemed like a smart guy. He also didn't seem like a bore or lame-ass to chill with.
"Sure man, you free to meet in the library tomorrow?" I sent.
I took a bite out of my sandwich and turned to watch the game behind my obnoxious roommates. I had surfed the web a little longer, while the Giants made yet another touchdown - the guys didn't even bother throwing a fit over it - when Facebook popped up with Bobby's message.
"Okay, does noon work for you?"
"Yes, but I might be a little late cuz I have to walk all the way from the science building," I answered.
"That's okay, I'll save a spot for us :)."
"Sure thing. See you tomorrow," I sent, before logging off.
I pulled off my bulldogs sweater, tossing it on the floor by my bed, followed by my shirt. My bed creaked under my weight as I fell down on it, and I sighed.
"What, you're already going to sleep?" Trey called from the couch.
"Dude, I barely got any sleep last night," I said sternly. "Let me some tonight."
"Yeah man," Mark said, "that party was kinda wild."
"I heard.. how're you and Brandi?" Jared chuckled.
"Fuck you," Mark shook his head.
I pushed my earphones in and turned the volume up on my iPod to drown out the noise from the tv and my friends. I quickly dozed off.