The Four Years: Year One Ch. 01

***Note from the author***

Please note that this is going to be a very long story set over the course of the four years of the characters lives in college. Not every story will have sex in it, so if you're just looking for a quickie, then you should move on to something else. And for those sticking around, thank you and enjoy. I look forward to reading any and all comments you have.

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College. One of the big events in a person's life. The day they "leave the nest" and venture out into the world of higher education and be on their own. A day that fathers say how proud they are of their kid and that mothers fuss over losing their little baby. Well, at least for most people it's supposed to be that way. Yet, here I was parking my car after driving for two days on my own while my parents did... Whatever.

But, I really can't say that I was surprised. My parents never really have been there for me. Dad was an investment banker and spent as much time as he did moving money around as he did banging whatever nineteen year old intern he had for an assistant that year. While mom pretended everything was fine while she downed glass after glass of wine with a Prozac chaser and tried to raise money for whatever charity was popular at the time with the other housewives around the neighborhood. And that's pretty much what they did when they constantly missed all the big moments of my life. Like in first grade when I was in a class play about the environment, they were a no show. And in sixth grade when I won an award for having the highest GPA, they went and planned a trip to Europe so they were gone that same week. By the time I graduated from high school, I wasn't even surprised by the fact that they didn't bother coming.

The only person I would miss would by my ex-girlfriend, Jennifer. She and I decided to end it because of us going to different colleges (i.e. it was her idea, and I reluctantly agreed after her telling me for an hour that it wouldn't work long distance).

So, here I was, arriving in Los Angeles to start my four years of studying computer science, and neither of my parents had the time to see me off. As I got out of my crappy old Ford Escort, which I saved up and bought with my own money earned working part time, I noticed a lot of parents here with their kids. I felt a bit of a pang in my heart, but quickly shook it off as I always did and grabbed a box from the back seat before heading inside.

As I walked down the third floor hallway of the dorm building I would be living in, I looked at each door for my room. "Watch out," someone said from behind me, and I stepped aside as two guys quickly walked past carrying a keg. I chuckled to myself and continued down the hall till I found room 342.

"Yeah, just set it down there," a guy with black hair said as he pointed without really looking at me.

"Sorry?" I asked.

He turned to look at me and said, "My stuff. Just set it over there."

"This is mine," I said.

Suddenly he looked embarrassed. "Shit," he quietly said. "You're my room mate, aren't you?"

"I guess so," I said.

"That means my mom did find you walking around and guilt trip you into carrying a heavy box up for her, huh?" he asked.

"Nope," I said.

"Sorry," he said, holding out his hand. "I'm Jake."

I took his hand and shook it, "Marc." I set the box I was carrying down on the empty bed on the left hand side of the room. I was just about to go and get another box when a man and woman in the early fifties walked in carrying a bunch of boxes.

"Jakey-poo," the woman said as she walked in. "I seriously hope you're not going to be spending any time with the hooligans down the hall. I saw them we enough beer to kill a dozen elephants." That's when she noticed me. "And you would be?"

"That's Marc," Jake said. "He's my room mate."

"Oh," she said. "Well Marc, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I said as I opened the box I had brought in and checked to see what it was and thinking I should have at least labeled it. But, I was in such a rush to leave home and my family that I just shoved everything I thought I would need into boxes and bags, that I never even bothered to say goodbye to my parents. That was two days ago, and they still had yet to call my cell phone to see where I was. I guess they were so wrapped up in their own things to even notice I was gone.

"Jake, where's your sister?" his dad asked as he helped his son unpack.

"Um," said Jake as I started to leave the room to get more of my stuff from the car. "She said something about going downstairs to get a soda from the machine."

I made my way downstairs and out to my car where I grabbed two large duffle bags full of clothes. Just as I walked back into the dorm building, I passed a young girl telling some guy to 'fuck off'.

I looked over and saw a guy in his early twenties leaning against the soda machine as he talked to a girl who couldn't have been older than fifteen.

"Come on," he said. "It'll be fun."

"What part of 'fuck off' don't you understand," the girl said.

"Oh, I understand fucking just fine," the guy said. "In fact..." he reached his hand out and grabbed her ass as she leaned down to get the can of soda that had fallen out of the machine. She jumped back when he did so, and that's when I knew I had to do something.

"Is there a problem here?" I asked.

"Piss off," the guys said. "This is a private conversation."

While the guy was momentarily distracted, the girl rushed past him and ran off.

"Great," he said. "Thanks for fucking cock blocking me asshole."

"I think you were doing a good job of that yourself," I said as I turned around and left.

I made my way back upstairs and to my room where, to my surprise, the girl was sitting on my bed as she took a sip of her soda.

"This place is stupid," she said. "So that figures why you'd want to go to school here."

"Yeah, well," Jake said, "You could always smell your own."

Jake and the girl looked at me as I walked into the room.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked.

"That's Marc," Jake said. "He's my room mate, and you're sitting on his bed."

"I don't see his name on it," the young girl said.

"Sisters," Jake said, shaking his head. "Can't live with them, can't leave them at the zoo to be raised by monkeys. And believe me... I tried."

I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched the two of them insult each other.

"Will you two knock it off," Jake's mom said as she and her husband walked into the room. "I swear, one thing I'll be glad of with you gone is the peace and quiet of not having to listen to the two of you argue all the time."

"She started it," Jake said.

"And you're older," his mom said. "So I expect you to be more mature about it and not argue with your sister. Anyways, Marc was it?" she said, turning to look at me.

"Yes ma'am," I said.

"Well Marc," she said. "We're all going out for some lunch before leaving Jake here. Would you and your parents like to join us?"

"Well, my parents aren't here," I said. I noticed both of Jake's parents seemed a little surprised by this. "They had to fly back home after we all drove down here," I added with a lie. "Emergency back home."

"Oh," she said a little uncertainly, but accepting of what I said. "Well, then you can still join us."

"I appreciate it," I said. "But I'm kind of tired from the drive down here, and I still have a bunch of stuff to bring up and unpack. But thank you."

"You sure?" Jake's dad asked.

"I'm sure," I said. "But, thank you again for the invitation."

"Alright," Jake's dad said. "Come on you two. Let's go."

The four of them left as I unpacked some of my clothes and put them away. It was almost an hour and a half later when I brought the last of my stuff up from my car and unpacked it. I was about to hang up a poster when someone burst into the room and closed the door.

"Hey," he said out of breath.

"Hey yourself," I said suspiciously. "Can I help you?"

"Just trying to get away from my overbearing parents," he said. "I swear, they were so excited when they found out I would be going to college, and now that I'm here, they can't seem to come to terms with leaving me."

"Ah," I said.

"And it's not like I'm gonna be alone," he continued. "My sister is starting here as well, and you can damn well bet that they'll be constantly calling her to make sure I'm ok."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He started to light one, then stopped and said, "You don't mind, do you?"

"Go ahead," I said. "Just open the window."

He lit the cigarette as he walked across the room and opened the window.

"Ahhhh," he said with a sigh of relief. "Much better. Want one?"

"I don't smoke," I said as I pinned a poster of Lexi Belle to the wall. She was my favorite porn star, and had got me through many lonely nights in high school.

"That's good," he said. "Dirty habit, smoking is. Names Andy, by the way."

"Marc," I said.

"Well, Marc..." he started to say, but stopped when he heard someone calling his name outside.

"Damn it Andy," the female voice said. "Where the fuck are you? Mom and dad are gonna kill me if I don't find you."

"That's my sister, Amy," Andy said.

There was a knock at the door, and then it opened. If these two were brother and sister, they didn't show it. While Andy looked only to be around five and a half feet talk, his sister was closer to six feet. Andy had dirty blond hair and brown eyes while his sister had red hair and green eyes, which were behind a pair of glasses. She also had a light dusting of freckles along her nose.

"There you are," she said. "And smoking? Don't you know how bad that is for you," she added as she took the cigarette out of his mouth and then took a puff from it. "I swear, I can't wait for mom and dad to leave."

"Tell me about it," Andy said as he pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

"Please," said Amy. "You get off easy. I'm the one who's always is supposed to look out for you. And I'm the one who gets in trouble when you do something stupid. Anyways, who the hell are you?"

"That's Marc," Andy said. "This is his room. That's his bed. And that's..." he noticed the poster on the wall. "Wow."

I should point out that the poster of Lexi wasn't with her naked or anything. But what she did have on left very little to the imagination.

"So Marc," Amy said. "How bad were your parents when they dropped you off? Did they get all teary eyed and make a big deal about it?"

"Can't say they did," I said. "Mostly because they didn't come with me. In fact, I don't even know if they know that I left yet."

"That sucks," said Amy. "You should find out?" With that, she pulled a cell phone from her pocket and asked, "What's their number?"

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, and she just looked at me as she waited for me to tell her the number. I did and she entered it before turning on the speaker.

"Yes, hello?" I heard my mom say.

"Hi," said Amy. "Is Marc around?"

"Let me check," my mom said, and then I heard her call out my name. "I'm sorry," she said after a few moments. "I think he's out... Doing something."

"Alright," said Amy. "I'll try again later."

"Ok," my mom said. "Real quick, while I have you on the phone, I'm raising money to help rebuild war torn countries. Care to make a donation?"

Amy got a wicked gleam in her eye and said, "Sure. Put me down for five hundred thousand."

"Splendid," my mom said.

"I'll be by shortly with a check," Amy said. "And hopefully Marc will be there so I can fuck his brains out."

"That's nice," my mom said, obviously not really listening and thinking more about how good it will look for her to be the one to bring it such a large donation. Shame it's not real. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when she has to explain that one to her friends.

Amy hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket as all three of us burst out laughing.

"Damn," Amy said as we slowly stopped laughing. "Your mom doesn't really pay attention to anything besides herself, does she?"

"Nope," I said. "That's the world I grew up in."

"I don't feel so bad about our parents now," said Andy.

"Me either," said Amy. "Though, I still can't wait till they leave so I have some sense of freedom."

Just then, her phone started to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and sighed. "And speak of the devils... Hey mom... No, I found him. He's right here... We're down one floor... Just some guys' room... No mom, we're not having sex." Amy rolled her eyes. "Yes mom, I'm a good girl and will wait for marriage before I let another man even see me naked... Alright, we'll meet you downstairs in a minute to say goodbye."

Amy hung up and let out a little growl. "Ok," she finally said. "We both have it bad."

Amy and Andy flicked their cigarettes out the window and got up to leave. "Thanks for letting us hide out here for a bit," Andy said.

"Don't mention it," I said.

"Come on twerp," Amy said. "Let's go before mom and dad gather up a search party... Marc, it's been fun. See you around."

"See ya," I said as they left. I don't know what it was about her, but there was a small feeling deep in the back corner of my mind that barely even registered with me at that moment that she was going to be a big part of my life in some way.

After they had left, I decided to walk around the campus and get my bearings. The last thing I wanted was to get lost on my way to a class on the first and end up missing some important information.

I ended up walking around for almost three hours before heading back to the dorms. When I got there, Jake was already back.

"Hey," he said, looking up from the architecture book he was reading.

"Hey," I said as I fell back onto my bed, and realized how tired I was from my walk.

"Oh," Jake said, "Mom insisted that we bring you something back. Not sure what you liked, so I hope the nacho combo platter is ok."

"Sounds good," I said and tried to get up, but my body refused to let me.

Jake chuckled as he closed his book, got up and retrieved the take home box from the small mini-fridge that the school supplied. "Here," he said, setting it down next to me.

I managed to sit up and opened the box of food.

"Oh, that looks good," I said and started to eat. "Want some?"

"Sure," said Jake as he grabbed a chip loaded with toppings. As we sat and ate, we talked about the what we were planning on studying. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Jake got up and answered it.

"Yeah?" Jake said as he opened the door and Andy walked in.

"Hey Marc, got a question for you," Andy said. He was looking at a page in a book and sat down next to me on my bed. Jake had a confused look o his face.

"Jake, this is Andy," I said. "Andy, Jake."

"Hey," said Andy, quickly glancing at Jake before looking back to his book.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"I need to know if I should be taking introduction to chemistry, or advanced chemistry," said Andy.

"You haven't picked your classes yet?" asked Jake.

"Obviously," said Andy. "Why the hell do you think I'm asking what I should be taking."

"Classes start tomorrow," I said.

"I know," said Andy. "But I didn't know I would be coming here till four days ago."

"They took that long to let you know you were admitted?" Jake asked.

"I never applied," said Andy. "Actually, I technically never even graduated from high school. But, apparently I'm some kind of genius, and the governor and some other people felt it best to skip me my last year of high school and get me right into college."

"So that would make you..." I started to say.

"Just turned seventeen a couple weeks ago," Andy said.

"Well then," I said. " You should probably go with the intro class since you skipped a year."

"Yeah, but I now all that shit," Andy said.

"Still," said Jake. "They might touch on something that you might not know and talk about in the advanced classes."

"That makes sense," said Andy, just as the door opened and Amy walked in.

"How the hell did I know you'd be here," Amy said as she walked in.

"Because I told you," Andy said.

"No you didn't," responded Amy.

"Yeah, I did," said Andy. "But you were too busy drawing in your little sketch book to pay any attention to what I was saying. Hence why I came here."

Jake was about to say something when I said, "Jake, that's Amy. And in reverse."

"Nice to meet you," said Jake.

"Yeah," said Amy as she grabbed Andy by the arm. "Let's go," she said. "Mom and dad's plane should be landing soon and you know they're gonna call the first second they can. I really don't want to have to listen to mom bitch that you're not there."

"Whatever," said Andy. "See you guys later."

Amy and Andy left the room for the second time that day, closing the door behind them.

"She's hot," Jake said.

"I guess," I said while picking up a magazine and looking through it.

"Wait," said Jake. "You don't have a thing for her, do you?"

"What?" I said. "God no."

Truth was, I did think that Amy was cute. Once or twice during my walk I even thought about seeing if she wanted to go out.

"You sure?" Jake asked.

"No interest in her at all," I lied.

"So you have no problem with me asking her out?"

"Go for it," I said, wanting to reach over and choke the life out of him.

"Alright," he said and stood up.

"Where you going?" I asked.

"I'm gonna see if I can catch up with her and ask her out before I lose what little nerve I currently have," Jake said as he walked out of the room.

"Damn it," I whispered to myself.

TO BE CONTINUED...