Scott and Ryan

Scott drags a big luggage bag to Room 104. He turns the doorknob and finds that the room is open.

"Hi," says someone inside with a warm voice as he steps inside the room. "I'm your roommate." The guy introduces himself by name: Ryan. "Wait a second, I'm in my room".

Scott does not see him immediately because Ryan is in his bedroom. The dormitory rooms are split into a big common room and 2 bedrooms with a common bathroom. It's like having two separate apartments connected together through shared living spaces. There are only 2 people sharing each room and has enough living space to live comfortably.

Ryan comes out of his room wearing nothing but boxers which reveal most part of his muscular body. Ryan is 6' 2" tall and very fit. Scott tries to avert his eyes as the attractive man approaches. His face looks familiar to Scott for some reason or another though it feels so strange seeing this person in just his boxers at such close proximity. After all, they have never met before. But there is something about Ryan that makes Scott feel comfortable around him. They exchange greetings and introduce themselves one more time.

"Hello, I am Scott Nelson. I was assigned to this room. Are you Ryan Smith?" asks Scott.

"Yes, nice to meet you," answers Ryan who shakes hands with Scott. "You're new here right? Let me help you unpack if you want."

"Oh sure, I appreciate the help. I have a few more boxes to bring up."

As Scott starts unpacking his stuff, Ryan helps him with what little things he needs. Soon after their conversation ends, both guys get lost in the task at hand. As soon as they finish moving everything, they realize how late it already is.

"Did you uproot your whole life to get here?" Ryan asks jokingly.

"Well...yeah..." Scott replies sheepishly. He realizes that he should've been more prepared when arriving to the city where he'll spend 4 years of his life studying.

"Don't worry! You will adapt pretty quickly!" Ryan laughs loudly. "My advice would be to go on campus tours during orientation week. That way you don't miss anything important while adjusting to being away from home."

"I see. Thanks for the advice" Scott says. He's a bit relieved that his roommate is not rude. In fact, he seems to know quite well about college life.

"So...what are your plans for tonight? Do you wanna grab dinner somewhere?" Ryan inquires.

"Yeah, why not?" Scott agrees without thinking too much about it.

"Let me just change clothes then we can head downstairs" Ryan says.

The boys decide to eat out at the cafeteria downstairs. There was a decent selection of food items at student-friendly prices. While waiting in line, Scott notices how handsome Ryan looks. The young man is dressed casually in jeans and T-shirt. Scott wonders whether Ryan goes to gym regularly since he seems pretty built. When they reach the front of the queue, they order their meal. Once the cashier gives them their receipts, Ryan pays for theirs.

"Thanks again", says Scott. "It's really no problem. I'd pay for yours anyway. When I was freshman, the upperclassmen are all pretty friendly and I'm just paying it forward." Ryan smiles.

"By the way, I think you look familiar somehow. Have we ever met before?" Scott asks curiously.

"Maybe you've seen me on TV?" Ryan jokes. Scott doesn't understand what he means until he remembers that the local news station had recently covered a story about Ryan. He remembered watching the report earlier today. Apparently, Ryan is the star player of the varsity team.

"What?! Oh wow! No wonder I recognize you. I saw your picture in the newspaper!" Scott exclaims excitedly. Unfortunately, Scott is not very knowledgeable about sports and only remembers Ryan from the news because of his good looks.

"Cool. So, you play soccer? Or basketball?" Ryan asks.

"No, actually, I don't even know any sport. I'm sorry."

"That's alright. I bet you're gonna love our football games! We always have lots of spectators every year!" Ryan says.

"Really?!"

"Yep! And the best part is that everyone from the school gets free admission!" Ryan adds.

"Wow! Sounds awesome. I guess I gotta check out your games soon then."

After finishing dinner, they return to the dorm. Both roommates sit down on the couch in the common area. They chat about random topics over snacks. During their casual conversations, they discover that they share many interests. For example, Scott likes music, movies and books; whereas Ryan enjoys playing video games. Neither one of them knows the other well yet but they seem to hit off instantly. Their personalities mesh perfectly.

***

Eventually, it becomes late night and both boys retire to bed. It has been a long day and Scott falls asleep easily. However, he wakes up suddenly at 3:30 AM. He hears loud voices coming through the wall. Someone is arguing in the next room. Scott jumps up to investigate. Sure enough, he finds Ryan talking angrily to someone on the phone.

"How could you do this to me!? Why did you tell her about us!?" Ryan shouts into the receiver.

Scott decides to stay quiet. He sits on the floor near the door and listens carefully. After some time, Ryan hangs up abruptly. His voice is shaking and full of rage. A minute later, Scott feels something heavy hitting his shoulder.

"Whoa! What the hell were you doing there?" Ryan screams.

"I heard you yelling so I came to check. Is everything okay?" Scott replies calmly.

"Fuck! Everything is NOT okay!" Ryan roars.

"Do you need to talk about whatever's bothering you?" Scott offers.

"Not now. But maybe tomorrow morning" Ryan answers. "Sorry if I woke you up though."

"Nah, it's fine. Just let me know when you feel better".

Ryan sighs deeply and nods. "Sorry again for the noise."

"It's cool. Goodnight!" Scott replies as he leaves the room.

When he returns to his own bedroom, Scott thinks back to what he heard. The conversation sounded like a very heated argument. But it is not his business to pry so he tries to fall back to sleep.

***

At breakfast the following morning, Ryan approaches Scott with an apologetic expression.

"Hey, I didn't mean to wake you up last night. Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's ok," Scott shrugs. "But I am curious why you were mad so early in the morning."

"Well, uhm..." Ryan stammers nervously. "You might want to keep this between us or else people will get the wrong idea."

"Sure, go ahead. You can trust me."

"Alright, first things first. This isn't going to be easy for me. I'm still embarrassed by my behavior yesterday."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because...well, you see, I made a huge mistake." Ryan hesitates briefly.

"Uhm, what happened exactly? Did you cheat on your girlfriend?" Scott questions bluntly.

"No, nothing like that." Ryan quickly responds defensively. "We broke up a few days ago. I was dating this girl back in high school. Her name is Rachel. We started pretty close friends and we ended up dating. I introduced her to my parents but they did not like her. She's apparently the granddaughter of the man who ruined by family's company. We decided to keep dating in secret because we felt strongly about each other."

"So she cheated on you?"

"No! Nothing like that! My parents found out and told her that unless she breaks up with me, they won't allow me to continue attending college here and cut me off completely."

"Wait, wait, hold up! How does breaking up have anything to do with getting kicked out of school?" Scott asks.

"My parents wanted me to break up with her but I refused. Then, after being threatened, they said they would force me to drop out of school instead. I couldn't afford tuition without financial aid anymore so I had no choice." Ryan sighs.

"Man, they must really hate Rachel's family. Do you have any idea what happened between her grandfather and your family?"

"Actually, yes. One of their companies bought my grandfather's company right before my granddad died. That caused all kinds of problems in the past years. Anyway, once I got accepted to this university, my mom convinced me that I should dump her because she wants to avoid more problems. So I did. Unfortunately, it seems like I underestimated how much trouble it'll cause."

"Rachel ended up exposing our secret relationship to my parents, which we agreed not to mention to anyone after their initial disapproval." Ryan adds. "She also called them several times while I was sleeping. They finally figured out what I've done and confronted me this morning. When I tried explaining myself, they just yelled at me. Now I don't know where to turn."

Scott is stunned by what he learned. He never expected such a dramatic ending to the story.

"That sucks dude." Scott says sadly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I think I will be. Thanks for listening to me. I appreciate it."

The two boys finish eating quietly then head back to their rooms. Scott lies down again on his bed and tries hard to forget the events of earlier today.

***

Around 1PM that day, Scott decides to go out and join the campus tour to familiarize himself with the sights. It takes him quite some time to find the building he needs to go to due to the lack of signs around the area. Eventually, he arrives at the correct location and finds a large group of students standing outside waiting patiently in front of the entrance of the theater building.

"Good afternoon, freshmen. Welcome to Alcatraces University! We'll be going around the university to help you navigate the land." A young woman dressed in white tells everyone present.

"This is the main building. All classrooms are located inside." She continues pointing towards the imposing structure behind her. "There's also a cafeteria, student center, library, and gymnasium."

"And over there you can find the dormitories." Another person wearing blue informs the crowd.

A couple minutes later, they start walking through the various buildings one-by-one. The tours include information about everything from the history of the place to its facilities. At the end of the tour, the groups gather at the auditorium to hear the next speaker.

"I'd like to introduce you to Professor Jackson. He's the Dean of Student Affairs. As you may already know, he oversees most aspects regarding your academic progress."

Professor Jackson walks onto the stage. Everyone stands as soon as he starts speaking.

"Welcome everybody!" Prof. Jackson greets enthusiastically. "Thank you very much for coming here today. Let me begin by saying that I'm honored to welcome all of you into our community."

He pauses briefly to look at the audience. After a moment, he resumes talking.

"You all came here to learn new skills, discover yourself and grow intellectually. However, we cannot ignore the fact that many of you will probably experience difficulties along the way."

Prof. Jackson looks directly at Scott.

"Some of you might encounter personal issues or even get bullied. In order to prevent these things from happening, we've created an organization to provide support services for those who need assistance."

He points to a small table near the back of the room. Two people sitting there stand up and walk towards the front. Both appear to be around 30 years old. One has short brown hair and glasses, the other blonde with long straight bangs covering part of his face.

"Good afternoon, freshies! We're from the Student Complaint and Grievance Office. If you need a listening ear, that's the reason we are here."

They both sit on chairs placed in front of the podium.

"We want to assure you that nobody will judge or criticize if you come forward with something bothering you." The first man continues.

"What you tell us stays confidential unless otherwise instructed by law enforcement agencies." His counterpart finishes.

After giving the audience another brief pause, Prof. Jackson speaks again.

"Let me now introduce Mr. Kris Stetson, who heads the office." He gestures to the shorter guy on his left side. "Mr. Stetson will handle most matters related to academics."

Kris nods at the crowd and sits down.

"Now, let me introduce Ms. Michelle Taylor, who handles all nonacademic complaints." He indicates the taller girl. "Ms. Taylor will deal with any problem pertaining to housing, health care, financial aid, transportation and anything else non-academic. Feel free to approach either of them anytime you have questions or concerns."

As the professor concludes, Scott gets up to leave but stops when someone calls his name. Turning around, he sees Ryan waving at him from across the auditorium.

"Hey, Scottie!" He yells happily before continuing. "It's great to see you again!"

Scottie? Scott is surprised that Ryan called him with a nickname. "Hey Ryan! What brings you to the freshman tour and orientation? Aren't you a sophomore?" Scott inquires.

Ryan smiles widely. "Yep, I am! But I am part of the welcoming committee so I had to be here."

"Oh that's cool." Scott replies. "I never got the chance to ask, but what do you study?"

"I play football for the team here." He answers proudly. "But my major is business management."

"Cool! You must really enjoy playing sports since you're doing it full-time."

"Yeah, I love being able to work hard every day while having fun too!" He laughs loudly. "The only thing that bothers me sometimes is not getting enough sleep after practice."

"That sucks dude! How does that affect your studies though?"

"Well, we usually train twice per week and then go home right away. That means I don't spend time studying during the weekend. So, when Monday comes around, it takes longer for me to catch up than usual."

"Wow! It sounds tough. Are you still managing to keep good grades?"

"Yup! My GPA isn't bad at all actually." He chuckles. "In fact, I just made dean's list last semester."

"An athlete and a scholar? What can you NOT do?" Scott jokes.

"Haha... thanks, man."

Both students laugh together. They decided to walk back to their dorm room together.

"So, how did you find the tour and orientation?" Ryan asks. "Did you learn anything interesting?"

"Yes, definitely!" Scott responds excitedly. "This campus is huge and I didn't realize that until this afternoon."

"Yeah, I heard some freshmen complained about the size of the school. But I think they'll adjust eventually."

"How so?"

Ryan explains: "Most schools aren't as big as ours. Once you get used to it, everything seems normal. Plus, there are tons of clubs and organizations here which makes finding friends easy."

"Really?" Scott asks curiously. "Do you know of any groups that cater to the LGBT+ community?"

"Sure! There are quite a few." He says confidently. "One group even organizes weekly gatherings where everyone meets up to hang out, talk and make new connections."

Scott's eyes widen upon hearing such news. He was expecting nothing like that.

"Awesome!" Scott exclaims. "Thanks for telling me."

Ryan grins and nods. "No worries, buddy!"

***

Three months pass without incident. Scott settles into his life at the Alcatraces University well. He joined several social groups and found himself making more friends each day. However, one particular person has been occupying much of his thoughts lately: Ryan. He couldn't stop thinking about his roommate. Not only because he's an attractive guy; but also due to the way he treated Scott with respect and kindness. In addition, the fact that they share a room meant spending plenty of hours talking to each other whenever possible.

Although things between them remain friendly, Scott knows that there's no chance for a romantic connection whatsoever. And yet, his feelings for Ryan grow stronger over time. After weeks of obsessing about him, he decides to confront him in private. He waits till late evening and knocks gently on his door.

"Come in!" Ryan shouts from inside his room.

Scott enters cautiously, closing the door behind him.

He finds Ryan sitting inside his bedroom with his laptop opened. The room is messy, covered in clothes and papers scattered everywhere.

"Hi Ryan..." he begins hesitantly.

Ryan looks up briefly from the computer screen and smiles at him. "Hey, Scottie!" He answers cheerfully.

Scott notices that Ryan is wearing tight sweatpants and a fit shirt instead of the typical uniform he wears in school.

"Can I sit down?" He asks nervously.

"Sure! Go ahead!"

They both take seats next to each other on the bed.

"What's up?" Ryan asks kindly.

Scott clears his throat before speaking. "Um, I wanted to tell you something." He pauses for a moment. "You probably already noticed but... I've developed a bit of a crush towards you."

His voice becomes shaky and he feels butterflies flutter within his stomach. This is the first time he admits these feelings openly to someone else, especially a guy.

Ryan's face brightens up instantly and he laughs happily. "Aw, thank you, Scott!"

Scott blushes and turns red. "Erm, sorry if I came off as weird or awkward."

Ryan shakes his head. "Nah, don't worry about it! I'm flattered!

"So," He continues, "how long have you felt this way?"

"Since the first week we roomed together. Actually, I guess it started earlier than that."

Ryan tilts his head slightly and raises an eyebrow. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"I wasn't sure what to do. You're my roommate after all. If I said 'hey, wanna hook up?', it's highly likely you'll deck me in the face. Besides, you kinda just told me about your corporate Romeo-Juliet love story with Rachel. I didn't want my first semester here to be a living hell. So, I kept quiet hoping that this feeling would go away soon."

Ryan frowns and furrows his brow. "Oh... yeah, I see."

The two young men stay silent for a while as they gaze at each other. It isn't very often that they speak to each other privately nowadays. As roommates, they spend most of their time studying and hanging around with friends.

Eventually, Scott breaks the silence. "Well anyway, I hope you won't mind continuing being my friend. No matter how awkward this might sound."

Ryan chuckles softly. "It's cool man. Don't worry about it. We're good."

"Great!" Scott replies relieved. "Thank you so much, Ry-"

Before he can finish saying his name, Ryan places a hand on his shoulder and stops him mid-sentence.

"Wait, wait! Before you leave, could I ask you something?"

Scott cocks his head inquisitively.

"Have you ever kissed anyone before?"

Scott's mouth opens wide in surprise. He had never expected that question.

"Uh... not really..." he stutters. "But I mean, I haven't exactly dated either."

Ryan gives him a curious look. "Really?! Well then, maybe we should change that tonight."

"Huh?!" Scott gasps loudly. Scott was about to say something but he is cut off when Ryan closes the distance between them and kisses him. Their lips connect slowly and passionately. They exchange soft moans as their tongues explore each other.

Their mouths part reluctantly.

Scott stares at him speechlessly and doesn't know how to react. He has been waiting months for this opportunity. Now that he finally got it, he feels like he made a huge mistake.

Ryan notices the confused expression on his face and touches his cheek tenderly.

"Are you okay?" He whispers.

Scott nods silently.

After a few seconds, Ryan leans forward again and plants another kiss on his lips. This time, Scott returns his passion. He wraps his arms around Ryan's neck and deepens their mutual exploration. Both boys moan into one another's ears as they feel their hearts beating faster.

When they break apart for air, Scott tries to regain control over himself. He takes a step backwards and holds onto the wall for support.

Ryan watches him closely, wondering why he suddenly backed away.