Jock Next Bed

Chris frowned when he realized what he was doing and frowned at himself. He was about to walk away when he looked at the hair again.

The hair reminded him of someone, even though the other person's was dyed white while this one was blonde.

He snorted at the poster and walked ahead to complete his registration in the office he had been directed to.

They were quite efficient and everything was concluded in less than an hour. He received his class schedule and was able to meet up with his first class for the day, which was by 10 a.m.

High school was indeed different from university. He thought to himself as he listened to the lecturer. The class was so boring that he almost dozed off.

As the class went on, he noticed someone was staring at him a few rows to his left. At first, he thought he was overthinking it until he caught the girl in the act.

He expected her to look away since he had caught her staring, but she kept on with it, looking at him curiously, which made him furrow his brows. Now that he was also looking at her keenly, he noticed she looked familiar. Was it possible he had met her before? Was that why she was staring at him like this? He quickly looked forward, hoping that was not the case. But before he could leave the class at the end of the lecture, the tiny girl stood in front of him and openly looked at his face.

"I... know you, right?" She asked, peering closer at his face and creeping him out as he bent backwards, trying to get his face away from hers.

"I don't know you." He shook his head.

"The voice!" She exclaimed and snatched one of the notebooks he had been about to return inside his back.

"It's you! Christopher Owe--"

He clapped a hand over her mouth and looked around in alarm at the students who were looking at them curiously.

Her eyes rounded in surprise and confusion as she looked at him. He slowly let go and looked around again, relieved that everyone was minding their business now.

"Don't say another word." He whispered.

Just great! He had travelled many hours away from where people knew him just to bump into this one here. From her accent, it was obvious she wasn't from around here. But he doubted she was from Southern Creeks. Otherwise, he would have easily recognized her, but he was still finding it difficult.

It seemed she was able to read his face because she introduced herself in a whisper.

"My name is Rachel. I attended Northend Academy. I was the senior's class prefect before I left the school, and we've met a couple of times."

That sounded familiar. He racked his brain to make sense of it and suddenly remembered.

"Ah! You..." He pointed at her. "Your... family..."

"Yes. That's us." She whispered and looked around. "But no one here needs to know that detail about me."

He remembered her. He had met her before at a few parties and also during interschool games. They had barely spoken to each other. Maybe once or twice. But he remembered a particular detail about her--many girls hated her.

Since the two had a lot in common, they were currently seated in a cafe outside the school, catching up, and she seemed a little giddy to meet him.

"As much as I was wary about bumping into anyone from our place, I am excited to see you. You are like the last person I imagined finding here. What happened? And why do you look like this? I don't remember hearing anything about your family going under." She asked curiously.

"First of all, how did you recognize me? I thought I did a good job covering up my looks?" He asked, curiously.

"You're like tall and have this striking facial features that is hard to miss. And I used to be your avid follower on social media." She blushed.

"That's... cool, I guess? What are you doing here?" He asked her. What were the odds that the two of them would meet here and share a class?

Rachel looked a bit embarrassed as she told him.

"You know how my family went under and how my dad went to prison for all the corruption he got himself involved with? It wasn't easy to deal with things, so we relocated to the countryside, where my mother's family lived. Fortunately, my credits from NA were transferred to a local school over there so I could complete high school, and it also wasn't difficult to maintain the top position just like in NA. I was able to apply for a scholarship here after bumping into the ad, and here I am! Studying Economics for free. This is my second year. I'm taking two elective courses from your class." She concluded with a smile.

"It must be hard on you," he said while looking at her with pity. He couldn't imagine the same happening to him. Surprisingly, she was looking okay.

"It is. But I'm happy to be here. It's been so great! I know it's silly, but I'm still like acting like my family is a... you know... big deal, so people treat me really well here." her face flushed again.

He almost laughed at that. She was pretending to be a princess while he was pretending to be a pauper. What a weird novel plot.

He also summarized his story to her since she opened up to him. Since they were in a foreign land, they had to have each other's backs.

"But I think they would have also treated you well even if they knew your family wasn't. People here seem nice."

"And they would probably not treat you any differently if they knew you were a prince." She quipped.

"You never can tell."

"I didn't mean to lie though. I came here looking like myself. But they saw how expensive my clothes and stuff were and assumed I was a humble nouveau riche. Even when I tried to tell them I was not, but then, I couldn't tell them about my family, so yeah, they just assumed and I just left it that way."

He nodded. He wouldn't judge her for any of it. He wasn't better either.

"How is this place like?" he asked her.

"Aside from all the gorgeous faces?" she wiggled her brows.

"I thought I was the only one who noticed it." He laughed.

"There have been 2 Miss Worlds from this place. And it makes perfect sense. One of them has children who study here. The girl won the Miss Fresher last year, while her twin brother, who is simply drop-dead gorgeous, by the way, won Mr. Fresher. Just imagine it!"

Chris almost rolled his eyes.

"You're into him?" he asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"Everyone in this school is into him!" She all but gasped.

"He is the cutest, nicest, most talented, smartest, and sexiest guy alive." She moaned.

"Everyone here is cute and nice," he reminded her.

"But not talented, smart, and sexy altogether. But this guy, he is all of it!"

"Does he have a partner?" Chris asked curiously.

"I heard he doesn't. No one knows for sure though. His sister hardly says anything. And his friends are tight-lipped. It's so difficult to know much about him. I have tried to be friends with his sister for a long time, but it's not been so easy to get much from her." She sighed in frustration.

"He must be doing all the 'mystery thing' on purpose. Maybe he doesn't want to lose his 'fans'? Seem like a narcissist who enjoys the attention." Chris shrugged again.

"Sato is anything but that!" she scolded harshly.

"You don't even know him personally," he pointed out.

"And I've heard everything I need to know."

"Whatever you say. I just want to live quietly here. We're going to keep each other's secrets, right?" he asked, even though it was obvious what the answer was.

She nodded. "I can't believe you are really pretending to be broke here."

"And I can't believe you aren't taking advantage of it to throw yourself at me."

She blushed and laughed. "Maybe I would have if I didn't have my eyes on Sato."

"Is his family loaded?" Chris asked, not sure why he was interested in knowing about these people. Maybe because he had been a god in high school and wanted to keep up with the god here? But he doubted the guy would be able to measure up to him.

"I hear they are pretty average. I don't mind though." She shrugged again. "I can keep a rich guy like you as my friend and Sato as my boyfriend."

Chris laughed. "Big dreams." He said before asking seriously,

"Any particular thing I need to do to stay out of trouble and not be in the spotlight? Things to just watch out for?"

She leaned over the table and raised a finger each time she listed one.

"Do not just get yourself in trouble. No fighting. This is a friendly environment and do not forget, we aren't from here and we are on scholarship."

He nodded. He had the sense to know that already.

"Do not speak badly about Sato in public. He has fans. I'm telling you. Like, real fans even though he is not on social media. So one bad word and they'll ruin you."

He could not stop the eye roll.

"Okay. What next?"

"And... do not be gay. Those people are put in the spotlight for no reason at all. Instead of your name, you'll become 'the tall gay boy'. Wait... you... like boys, right?" she said, remembering some rumours she had heard while in school.

"Girls, boys, and everything in between," he said casually. "But thanks for telling me. I think I'll stick to liking girls here even though I'm not exactly looking to like any girl."

She laughed in amusement. "You are going to have a filled day staring at so many good-looking people. Anyway, like whoever you want, but not Sato."

"Why?"

"Because one, girls are going to kill you if they suspect you have any intention of taking their dream man from them. Me included. Two, there is a very high probability that he isn't gay. And three, just stay away from him."

"Who said I was going to be interested in him anyway? Not that I am interested in any relationship, but I lean more towards the feminine folks than towards guys."

She laughed again. "You obviously haven't seen him."

"I don't like every pretty boy I see." He lectured her.

She was about to say something when Chris's phone dinged. He took it out and saw he had two messages. One was spam and the other one was from Sky. He realized the message came in about an hour ago and had missed it because he was in class.

SKY: Hey, So, one, that was my laundry basket. Two, I guess you do not like burgers. Sorry for troubling you with that. Let me know if you run into any trouble in school.

Chris's face burned from embarrassment as he remembered throwing all the trash inside the basket he found in the room. Including the burger.

Despite that, Sky was still kind about it. He felt very awful and guilty.

CHRIS: I apologize. And I love burgers. I kind of slept off and figured it wasn't safe to eat anymore this morning. I'll make it up and buy you dinner if you're coming tonight.

He was about to put down his phone when he noticed the text had been marked read and he realized Sky was typing. That was... unusual. Usually, it would take hours. He waited patiently until Sky's message came in and read it as soon as it arrived.

SKY: Oh, it's nice to know you didn't deliberately throw that out. And you don't have to worry about buying dinner. My mom made enough, and I've been asked to drop by home to get some to share with my new roommate. So you can skip dinner and wait for me. I'll try to be there early.

Another message came in as soon as Chris finished reading that one.

SKY: Is that fine? I don't want to impose.

Chris could not help but smile. Why was this guy so adorable?

CHRIS: That is fine. Thank you.

Sky sent a smiling emoticon and that was it.

"You are smiling. Is that a lover?"

Chris snapped his head up when he heard Rachel and kept his phone back.

"My roommate. He's... interesting."

"Roommate? And you're smiling that much? Are you really sure you want to stay out of trouble?"

"Come on, I haven't even seen this guy before. He is just kind of nice and not something I'm used to from a guy here."

"Wait till you meet Sato."

"Jeez! Enough of this Sato guy. How many times have you met him anyway?"

"A few times. But trust me, I know what I'm saying. Come on, we have business math in 20 minutes. Let's go."

He stood up after her and just as they turned towards the door, Rachel gasped when she saw who had just opened the door and was waiting for the little girl beside him to enter inside before him.

"Speak of the angel!" She whispered excitedly with her eyes not leaving the young man.

Chris followed her gaze and felt his heart stop in that moment.

Wait... Isn't that the model in the poster?

"That's him." Rachel whispered breathlessly.

It seemed like what Rachel had been trying to make him believe the entire time was correct because all the attention in the cafe went to him and the little girl beside him, who was probably around 11 years old.

Sato was tall. As tall as Chris. It seemed Rachel had forgotten to give him an important detail about Sato. The guy played sports. There was no way that body was just from workouts. He was fit and lean and firm.

He wore a black shirt with the first three buttons undone. The first wasn't fitted to his body, so it was a little big on the sides, but it was tucked into fitted grey pants and nice Oxford shoes. His earring was still there, as well as a tiny stud on his nose. He carelessly ran his hand through his hair as he entered the cafe and asked the girl he was with what she wanted to have.

"Uhm... excuse me? Sorry, you are in the way." He said to them with a polite smile.

God, his voice was crazy.

He reminded Chris so much of someone he was supposed to not be thinking about.

"I'm Rachel!" She squeaked, bringing Chris back to his senses as he cringed on her behalf. What the hell was that?

Chris looked at her and noticed how bright her face was burning now from embarrassment.

"Sorry." Chris said to Sato, adopting the "Sorry" the people here liked to say.

He quickly moved Rachel out of the way and pulled her with him outside.

"That was so embarrassing. I can't believe it was the first time I got to really bump into him like this in over a year and I made a complete fool out of myself." She cried.

"Do not beat yourself over it." He could perfectly understand why.

He could perfectly understand.

Usually, he was confident about things. But now, he knew he had to make a conscious effort to stay away from this one. He just had to.

*******

"Are you listening to me?" Chris asked his friend. He was on a call with his best friend, Wilson. And the only other person, aside from his parents, who knew where he was.

"Of course. I have been listening to you for the past 30 minutes talking about a boy you are crushing on when you've been there only one day and brushed past him without even saying anything reasonable." Will deadpanned.

"Don't be stupid. I am not crushing on him! You asked how it's been for me here, and I was just telling you everything."

"Okay... so you are interested in this Sato guy?"

"Obviously not!" Chris yelled as he fell on his bed and took off his shoes.

He had spent the entire day going to classes and looking around the town, and now he was beat. And hungry. But he was patiently waiting for his roommate to return with the dinner he had promised.

"I didn't come here to crush on anyone. And obviously not on a guy. You know I prefer girls."

"Really?"

It sounded like Wilson was asking, "Are you sure about that?"

"Should we seriously talk about that?"

"Okay, fine! But now I prefer girls. And even if I wanted to date or whatever, I'd go for a girl. But that's if I wanted to. I don't want to do that shit here." He couldn't believe one was trying to insinuate he liked his roommate, who he had never seen before, and another was saying he liked Sato. What the hell?

Will sighed heavily. "I was talking to your mum yesterday. We were wondering if you'd like it if we sent a girl over there. Like a maid or assistant or whatever you are comfortable addressing her by. She would pose as your girlfriend and help you with everything you need there to make your life smooth. We'll look for an apartment close to the school for her. So you could just go there, posing as if you're meeting your girlfriend, and get to relax."

"Okay... I feel offended that you guys are treating me like some toddler who cannot handle my shit."

"Can you?"

"I can!"

"One week then. If you cannot handle it, we'll have to step in. You are a prince. You need to be treated like one."

"Yes, daddy."

"Only Jack gets to call me that."

Jack was Wilson's boyfriend.

"Perv."

Will laughed.

"I need to go shower. I'll talk to you some other time when you're not being an asshole."

"Hey! What did I..."

Chris ended the call before Will could finish.

He picked up his towel, his expensive dye-retaining shampoo, and body wash before stripping out of his clothes and dropping them on the bed. Then he wrapped the towel around his waist and left the room for the shower.

Even though he was pretending to be a pauper, there were some things he just couldn't give up. And one of them was his shampoo and body wash.

He visibly relaxed as soon as both liquids made contact with his body and he properly soaped every part of his body, enjoying the warm shower, not minding the fact that other people were showering in the room. At least they were not facing him or looking at him, so that was fine.

He realized the mistake he had made when he was done showering and was hit by a strong cold, making him shiver.

He cleaned his hair roughly and tied the towel around his waist before hurrying to his room.

He was so distracted by the cold that he wasn't thinking about anything else or the voices coming out of his room as he opened the door.

He almost got the shock of his life when he met a crowd inside his room. Yes, it was a crowd because the room was already tiny enough, but now there were about five people inside.

His eyes went to his bed, where a guy was seated. That wasn't all; he was holding up Chris's boxers between his fingers in the air.

The surprise on his face turned to annoyance as his gaze was fixed on the guy in his bed.

"Want to jerk off with it?" Chris asked in a condescending tone.

The guy laughed nervously and dropped it on the bed before standing up.

"Sorry."

"Save it, dipshit. Fuck off." He said this in annoyance as he approached his bed. This guy was probably his roommate. The 'sorry' was enough to tell him that and also the fact that he did look like a nerd with glasses and a small frame and unruly hair.

Chris has never been a calm and polite person. So seeing such a scene immediately put him off.

"Uhm... hi, you must be the roommate."

Chris instantly turned in surprise when he heard a feminine voice.

He looked at the other bed and saw some familiar faces. Two belonged to the guys he had seen yesterday. Henry and Noel. Then one belonged to the girl. His breathing hitched up when he saw her.

It was no wonder he hadn't suspected a girl was inside. She was at least 6 inches tall and gorgeous. Very gorgeous. And she looked like someone he had seen today.

He was staring a lot.

He reminded himself when he saw the amusement in the girl's eyes.

It was also then that he remembered that he was literally naked except for the towel around his waist.

And not only was she staring at him openly, but everyone else in the room was staring at his body. Especially Henry, whom he had suspected had been checking him out yesterday.

"You should cover up." Someone said in annoyance, causing Chris to look in the direction of his roommate's reading table.

His mouth fell open in shock when he saw Sato sitting there staring at him with annoyance. He was dressed in the same outfit Chris had seen him in earlier today.

"Cover up," Sato repeated as he got busy typing on his phone.

Chris didn't want to get angry, but he couldn't help it.

"What's your problem?" He asked Sato, who raised his head at the same time as three phones dinged in the room.