Unrequited love - 1
This is my first attempt at writing a story. Please do not hesitate to send me an email with any of your thoughts/comments. I hope you guys enjoy it. More chapters to come.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Chapter 1 - Orientation
David's arm quivered as he reached for his phone. As if in a trance, he turned off the last of three alarms and placed it back on the dresser. He had just turned 23, but the last two years had taken a toll on his body. As he lied there in bed, his body aching with pain, he slowly fell back asleep.
His heart jumped when he awoke two hours later to a phone call by his mom. Today was the first day of orientation for graduate school and he was late. As he answered his phone in a frenzy, his mom spoke sharply.
"I hope you are on your way to class" she said in a particularly harsh tone in an attempt to mask her pride. David had gotten into one of the top schools in the nation and she was elated.
"Mom! I overslept. I'm heading out now. I'll call you back later when I'm on the bus." But before he could hang up the phone, she began lecturing him. As her voice faded in the background, his soft brown eyes met a mirror across the room. "This is the year I'll come out," he thought to himself. "I'll let mom know finally and I'll start doing things that make me happy. I can't put her or my family's expectations in front of mine anymore. I deserve a way out of this depression."
He hung up the phone abruptly. He was now an hour late. He swiftly raced to the shower and began to get ready for the new school year. David was meticulous about his appearance. Everything had to be perfect. He had a medium brown beard that he groomed neurotically with precision, curly brown hair that matched his eyes, and freckles spread evenly over his skin. He put on a gray Henley shirt that was slightly unbuttoned to reveal some chest hair. And a fitted pair of blue jeans and clean converse. He added a spritz of expensive body spray and a dab of lotion to his face. He was now two hours late.
As he ran out the door, past his roommates in the living room, he got on the first bus he saw headed to campus. David lived in a college town, with 22,000 students at the university. His eyes glistened mischievously from the bus window as he ogled the hot men walking on foot to class. Each had a tighter ass than the last. Many had noticeable dick prints, and fit bodies characteristic of their youth. He was in a gay man's heaven as the bus drove past Greek row. He witnessed men of every color, height, and shape, each more different than the last.
When his bus arrived at the business school building, he began pacing towards class. His phone began vibrating in his pocket from another incoming call from his mom. Ignoring it, he walked through the large gray doors, and up the glass stairs to make his way to room 958. As he met the door to his orientation class, a whole 3 hours late, his arm quivered once more over the handle.
David had an enigma about him. A sensitivity he worked hard to mask, and a familiarity that followed him everywhere. He had been through a lot to get to this moment. And with his heart cautiously hopeful for what the future held, he firmly turned the handle.
Everyone looked up as he walked inside. The students in the classroom were seated in a half circle around the professor in the front of the room. David scurried to the far left corner, avoiding the judgmental glares of his peers. Once he sat down and glanced up, he looked at his first professor - Will. Immediately as their eyes met, David recognized a part of himself in Will. For some reason, his eyes also held an unspoken sadness. Will was in his early 40's and was well renowned for his brilliance. He was also widely known for being an alcoholic. David's eyes followed Will's during most of the orientation. In truth, he would not have taken his eyes off him if not for the last boy that snuck inside the room.
David's eyes shifted slowly as a boy named Ace sat down facing him across the classroom. Ace had soft supple lips, blonde hair, sun kissed tan skin, and hazel eyes. David's eyes seethed with envy, making sure not to linger in awe of Ace's beauty.
"Sorry I'm late," Ace said, with a noticeably shy demeanor. "I'm not from the city." As David's eyes froze back unto Will, his phone began buzzing once more. It was in that instant, that a memory hit him from six months ago.
He was drenched in tears. Almost as if he just emerged from a pool. He wanted to escape his loneliness, and the bitterness of his depression. Soon, the shadows swallowed him whole, and his exhaustion finally put him to sleep. It was his first night getting rest in over 4 days.
As the memory lingered in his mind, David flipped over the first page of his orientation packet and a shiver traveled up his spine.
Darker nights were ahead.