Freshman: Spring Semester - Volume Three

f r e s h m a n

Spring Semester

Volume Three

Michael

S.

Booker

Copyright © 2018 by Michael S. Booker

1984 Press

Cover Image and Design by Michael S. Booker

All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, in any form or by any other means, without the written permission of the author.

E-Book edition

other titles by Michael S. Booker

the shadow series

Shadow

Anomaly

Echo

Whisper

Lullaby

freshman

Freshman: Fall Semester – Volume 1

Freshman: Fall Semester – Volume 2

nsfw series

Not Safe for Work

Busy with Work

part one

back to school

1

chris

Usually, Jeff’s snoring woke me out of my sleep and pissed me off. Somehow, I must’ve forgotten to turn on my alarm, `cause I didn’t wake up at seven-thirty, like I normally did, on Monday mornings. Now, Jeff’s loud-ass snores woke me up, at a quarter before eight in the morning. That was good, since my first class of the new semester started at eight-thirty, sharp.

First day of class for the spring semester.

Shit

I didn’t want to go to class.

I wanted to keep my ass in bed, and stay in a heavy sleep, just like Jeff. I didn’t know what time he had to wake up for class…or even if he gave a damn about goin’ to class. Knowin’ Jeff, he’d probably just conveniently forget that he had class, wake up around noon, and spend the whole day smokin’ weed.

Me, on the other hand, I had to get up and get ready for Sociology 101, with Dr. Alan Balzac. Seriously, the dude’s name was Balzac. How was I would be able to take this class seriously? The only reason I was takin’ this stupid class, was `cause I took so damned long to sign up for classes, that it was one of the few open ones left. After last semester, I told myself I wasn’t taking these early-ass mornin’ classes, since I wasn’t a mornin’ person to begin with…but I would have to deal with it.

After about another ten minutes of just lyin’ around in bed, bein’ lazy, I finally got my ass up and started to get ready. I figured I would just swear a pair of basketball shorts and a regular T-shirt. Nothin’ fancy. I wasn’t tryin’ to impress anybody with my fashion sense. I needed to take a quick shower, though, since I was funky, as all hell.

I was dressed in my boxer briefs and nothin’ else. I glanced over at Jeff, to see if he was awake. No, he wasn’t awake. He was still asleep, layin’ flat on his stomach, with his head facin’ the wall, away from me. I pulled off my boxer shorts, walkin’ around our room, naked, until I found my shower towel. I wrapped it around my waist, checkin’ again to see if Jeff was awake. Not a change from the dude. He was out like a light.

After three months of livin’ together, I didn’t know why I was still so hung-up on bein’ naked in front of Jeff; He’d seen me naked before, and I’ve seen him naked before, plenty of times. If Jeff wasn’t wearin’ his surfer shorts, the dude loved to just strut around our room, butt-ass-naked. I didn’t mind. Jeff had a nice body, and it wasn’t like he was tryin’ to turn me on, or some shit like that. In fact, I knew he had to be naked, underneath the thin little sheet that he was usin’ as a blanket. The white sheet was just a little below his lower back, givin’ me a chance to see the rounded arch of where his ass began. Jeff had one of those naturally smooth, tanned bodies. He didn’t work out much, but he was toned and in good shape…and his ass wasn’t bad to see.

I grabbed my shower supplies and headed for the bathroom. The hallway was empty, which surprised me, since it was the first week back at school and it was still early. I figured that I wasn’t the only one who had woken up late and had to hurry up to get to class. As I thought about it, I hoped there would be an available shower stall in the bathroom. I didn’t want to wait around, otherwise I might’ve used it as an excuse to skip class and go back to sleep.

As soon as I pushed open the door to the men’s bathroom, I had to check the Men symbol, on the front of the door, more than once, to make sure I had the right bathroom. I was confused, when I saw Jayne Thomas, the chick who lived in the room across from mine, dressed in only a towel, brushing her teeth, at the sinks. She saw me and didn’t seem as confused as me. For a second, I felt all shy and shit, since I was dressed only in my towel, too. Then I remembered that she’d basically seen me naked before, so it really didn’t matter much.

Yo, Jay, I said. "You know this is the men’s bathroom, right?"

Hey Chris, Jayne replied, after spittin’ her toothpaste into the sink. She rinsed her mouth. Good morning. How’s it going? You look sexy-as-hell this morning. But then again, you always do…

I placed my toiletries bag on the sink next to Jayne and just looked at her for a few moments. She was a short chick: maybe no taller than five-foot-five or so. The top of her head came right below my chest. She had short, curly black hair, and a cute, little body. The best part about Jayne, besides her adorable looks, was her I don’t give a fuck personality, which personally, I found attractive. Jayne had no problem tellin’ me that she thought I was one of the hottest dudes that she’d ever seen, to my face. She also had made it clear, that it was up to me, when and where I wanted to fuck her. Jayne also clearly had no problem takin’ a shower in the dudes’ bathroom.

If you’re wondering what I’m doing in the boys’ bathroom, Jayne said, "which I’m sure you probably are…the reason is…only like, one of the showers in the girls’ bathroom works, and like, some stupid bitch has been in there, for like, the last thirty minutes or something. And she’s like, singing Celine Dion…like, old-school Titanic Celine Dion…and I’m thinking to myself: ‘Just stop right now’…it’s too early in the morning for that, you know? And she sounds horrible. So…I came in here, because it was empty. It makes me wonder if guys even think about taking showers…or flushing the fucking toilet."

I’ve been in here for thirty minutes and you’re the first guy to come in here, Jayne continued. Trust me, I’ve been checking. But before you take a shower, it must be something wrong with the plumbing or something, `cause a lot of the water just runs cold. If you need to use a shower, which I’m sure you probably do, since you’re dressed in a towel, it’s best to use the last one on the left. That’s the one I just finished using. The hot water should still be working.

That was a whole lot of information to take into my brain. No worries, it’s all good, I said. I picked up my little bag and slowly walked over to the first stall.

How was your Christmas Break? Jayne asked. Her high-pitched voice echoed through the bathroom.

After closing the shower stall behind me, I draped my towel over the top of the shower door and turned on the nozzle. A blast of cold water hit my chest immediately, makin’ me jump back. I had to wait nearly ten seconds for the water to get warmer.

It was cool, I guess, I responded. Nothin’ special.

Did you go home, or did you stay here?

I stayed here in Diego, with a friend.

Who’s the friend? Tommy O’Brien?

The fuck? How does she know him? I was rubbin’ liquid soap on my chest, but when Jayne asked me that, I stopped in my tracks.

Huh? I asked.

Sorry, if I’m getting too personal, Jayne said. Someone just told me you were staying with Tommy O’Brien over the break.

I didn’t know how to respond. I could kinda see where the line of this conversation was goin’. Soon, Jayne was gonna be askin’ me if Tommy and I were boning. It was already an adjustment, havin’ to deal with her bein’ in the dudes’ bathroom and all…I really wasn’t tryin’ to tell her all of my sexual business.

Yeah, I finally said, havin’ to lift my voice so she could hear me, over the rush of the runnin’ water. I stayed with him, for a minute or two. I didn’t feel like goin’ back up to the Bay.

That’s cool, Jayne said. She was quiet for a few minutes, before she asked her next question… which, I felt, was really the question she’d been wantin’ to ask me for a while: So, you’re not dating that cute guy anymore?

The roar of the shower water was loud, so I didn’t want to answer a question that I might’ve misheard. Although somethin’ told me that I hadn’t misheard anything at all.

What did you say?

Jeffy told me you were datin’ some guy from Chappy, but that the two of you broke up. I forgot his name…is it Brian? Brendan?

I had a feelin’ that Jayne knew Brandon’s name but wanted me to admit it aloud. My body was warm, from all the hot water, sprayin’ all over my body, but I was startin’ to become hot, from the inside out…not from the burnin’ water, but from my anger. It pissed me off that Jeff had told Jayne somethin’ about my personal life that I never intended to tell. Most people didn’t know I was gay. It wasn’t necessarily I was tryin’ to hide or somethin’ I felt like I needed to be ashamed of, but at the same time, it wasn’t somethin’ I needed broadcasted to the whole fuckin’ dorm building…especially the name of my ex-boyfriend.

Chris…are you still in there? Jayne asked.

After a minute or two of tryin’ to collect myself, I responded, Yeah. I’m still here.

Did I get a little bit too personal? Jayne asked. I have a tendency to do that sometimes.

"Yeah, to be honest, it is a bit personal, I responded. But you’re cool, no worries."

I’m about to leave, Jayne said, a bit nervously. "Don’t get mad at Jeff, Chris. I wrangled some information out of him. By the way…nobody here cares that you’re gay. Some people are surprised…even I’m kind of surprised, I admit. But nobody cares. Jeff even said your boyfriend is really cute."

Since all my business was out there for public knowledge, I figured that I might as well tell her directly from my mouth and not someone else’s mouth. I hated bein’ the subject of anybody’s petty gossip.

"Jeff told you the truth: Brandon isn’t my boyfriend, anymore. He was my boyfriend. We broke up, right before Christmas break."

Oh, that’s too bad. And what about Tommy O’Brien?

That’s over too, Katie Couric. No more questions, okay? Let me wash my balls in peace.

Jayne burst out in loud laughter. Okay, see you later, gorgeous. Thanks for talking to me.

Peace, pretty girl.

Jayne giggled and left the bathroom, leaving me alone to ponder about what I was gonna say to Jeff, when I got back to the room. I knew Jeff didn’t mean anything by it, but flashin’ my personal info out there to the world was a no-go for me. If Jeff were anyone else, I’d be ready to beat his ass. This was my life we were talkin about here. As a college football player, with possible dreams of gettin’ into the NFL one day, there was a certain image I had to uphold, rather I liked it or not. Most of the time, I didn’t like it, but I didn’t make the rules in the sports world or the real world, for that matter.

People nowadays might’ve been a little bit more tolerant, when it came to the whole gay issue, but the sports world was different. Football was still a hyper-macho world, where bein’ gay was still one of the worst things you could be in the world. With all the competition out there—meaning all the talented, capable college football athletes out there, both in San Diego and across the country—I didn’t want anything or anyone gettin’ in the way of my future goals.

Even Brandon, I thought to myself.

I’d been doing my best not to think about Brandon, and I was proud of myself. I knew that sounded petty, but to my defense, after the last time we’d spoken to each other, a week before, on New Year’s Eve, I decided in my mind that it was probably for the best if we didn’t speak to each other again, considerin’ that we’d broken up and all. At least, I didn’t want to talk to B for a very long time.

No doubt, I missed the dude, but the drama, I didn’t miss. I could live without the bullshit. Ever since Brandon had called me, a little less than a week before he called me on New Year’s Eve and told me that he had gotten drunk with his friend, Jason Coleman, and my ex-best friend, Billy Anderson, I couldn’t get that conversation out of my head. The main reason I was feelin’ some type of way, was `cause Brandon had told me that he had woke up in the mornin’…in Jason Coleman’s bed…with Billy sleepin’ right next to him.

I believed Brandon, when he told me that he didn’t have sex with Billy…B has never been a liar, with me…but Billy was a liar, from time to time. Knowin’ Billy, he was still probably feelin’ some type of way toward me, and might’ve tried to use Brandon, to get revenge on me. I didn’t handle that type of shit, lightly.

I soaped up, for about another ten minutes. My dick got hard, without me even thinkin’ about somethin’ sexy…`cause the idea of Brandon and Billy bein’ in the same bed together wasn’t turnin’ me on. I was tempted to jerk one out, right quick, but I knew that I had to hurry up, get out of the shower, get ready for class, and run a few things by Jeff, right quick, about openin’ his mouth and spreadin’ news about my personal life.

A few minutes later, I dried off and wrapped my towel around my waist, as I headed back to my room. I could hear a 2Pac track playin’ from our room, which meant that Jeff was up. That was both a good and a bad thing. I wasn’t plannin’ to fully rip into the dude…partly, `cause I didn’t have time for all that— but I needed to address a few things with him.

I opened the door and found Jeff, sittin’ on his bed, naked, with his laptop coverin’ his junk. It looked like he was browsin’ through some of the songs on his music library. He also had a lit joint in his hand. He looked up and smiled, when he saw me. I could tell that he was already half-baked...homeboy always woke up half-baked or at least a quarter-baked, on the natural. If there was ever a poster-boy for stoners, Jeff would have been that dude.

Buddy! There you are! Jeff yelled, a little bit too loud. I was wondering what happened to you! I thought maybe you went to class.

As much as I wanted to be mad at him, it was hard to be pissed at Jeff. He was a very likable doofus. I found myself smilin’, against my will. I was just in the shower.

I can tell, from the fact that you’re practically naked and you smell like soap. Jeff extended the joint toward me. Take a hit or two, to wake you up.

It’s cool, I’m already up. `Sides, I got class, remember?

Jeff shrugged. If you’re worried about the smell, I’ve found that it’s better to smoke naked, so the smell doesn’t cling to you.

I searched around my closet for some underwear and some clothes to wear, for class. Somehow, I don’t think your logic is very logical, my dude.

You mad about something, bro? Jeff asked. You sound like you got something on your mind.

Honestly, I didn’t know how Jeff was able to pinpoint that, but he was spot-on. Maybe the weed had him thinkin’ straight…for once.

Yeah, I got somethin’ on my mind.

About me?

About somethin’ you said.

Jeff sighed. Sounds serious, buddy. How about we have a few tokes and talk about it?

His obsession with tryin’ to get me to get stoned was both obnoxious and tempting at the same time.

Class, remember? I explained to Jeff. First class of the new semester, at that.

Nothing ever happens on the first day of class, buddy, Jeff promised. "The professor just gives you a syllabus and you can just check out all the hot girls…well, I guess hot guys in your case."

That’s what we need to talk about, I replied.

Hot guys? I’m not too sure if I’m well-versed on that, homie.

Naw, I’m talkin’ about you tellin’ people about Brandon.

Jeff seemed confused for a second or two, and then at last, the lightbulb seemed to go off in his head…though not that brightly. Oh, yeah! Your dude! I don’t remember talking to anyone about him, buddy.

Well, I was in the shower with Jayne just a few minutes ago…

Jeff immediately held up his hand. Wait a minute, homie. You and Jayne were in the shower, together? I had a feeling you were into chicks. I mean, honestly, it’s still a bit surprising to me that you’re into guys in the first place…not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course…

That’s not what I meant, dude. The girls’ bathroom is fucked-up or somethin’. Anyway, the point is, she said that you told her about Brandon.

After taking a toke from the joint, Jeff finally responded: She asked me about the time your boy came over here, knocking like crazy on the door, looking for you. She wanted to know what that was all about. I never told her you were gay, buddy. Brandon screamed that out for the world to hear. And that’s the truth. Most people are cool with you being gay, Chris. No biggie.

"It’s a biggie to me, dude, I said. I’m a private person. I don’t like people knowin’ things about me that I didn’t tell them."

Jeff handed me the joint. I know you have class, man, and school is important and all…but you really need this right now. Your anxiety level is like, at an eight. Let’s bring it down to a solid two. A few good hits are all you’ll need.

I had about fifteen minutes, before class started, but Jeff was right: I did need somethin’ to calm my nerves. Knowin’ that it probably wasn’t the best idea in the world, I took the joint from Jeff and took a few large puffs. No lie, whatever type of weed Jeff was strong as hell, `cause I was coughin’ for a good five minutes. I was feelin’ light-headed after, another five minutes.

You okay, buddy? Jeff asked.

I’m cool. I just got a feelin’ that I’m gonna be high-as-fuck, when I get to class.

Jeff thought that shit was hilarious. You will be, bro…you will be.

I took off my towel, lightweight forgettin’ that I was naked underneath my towel. It didn’t really bother me much, until I saw Jeff checkin’ my junk out, with this glazed-ass expression in his eyes.

Dude, what’s up? I asked.

"Buddy, I know this will sound gayer-than-gay…but your cock is awesome. That’s like…Grade-A cock meat, right there, buddy. All dicks should aspire to be your dick."

Maybe it was because of the few puffs I took, but I found what he said to be funny-as-hell.

I quickly changed into the clothes that I laid out, earlier.

Are we cool now, Chris? Jeff asked. I don’t want you thinking that I’m going around spreading rumors about you. I respect you…seriously. I can be a dumb-ass, sometimes, but I’m not a shady guy. I’m sorry if I’ve fucked up anything between you and Brendan.

I was high-as-fuck, now, but I could tell that Jeff’s apology was genuine. It made me feel all light and mushy inside…or maybe that was just the weed.

We’re all good, I told Jeff. No worries, man…and his name is Brandon.

Brandon! That’s right! I keep forgetting. Did you two make up, yet?

Not yet. We decided to take some time apart.

That sucks, but don’t worry, bro. Things will work out…they always do.

Thanks, J.

For sure, buddy. Take another hit, for the road.

Clearly, I should’ve said no…but that didn’t happen. I took another two hits. I’d be surprised if I could find the elevator, on my way out the dorm building. I was able to find my backpack, keys, and