Conner had changed into his favorite hooded sweatshirt and jeans. His white tennis shoes were permanently grass stained, and he realized that the cuffs of his jeans were fraying. Conner thought about what his mother might say, seeing him in such casual clothing.

Erik on the other hand, wearing a black blazer over a band-t, tight black pants, and dress shoes, looked like a rock star. Conner couldn't help but wonder what kind of family he came from…if it was anything like his.

Erik flashed a grin at him, who's blush had now reached the tips of his ears. "So that was pretty funny this morning," Erik said, walking next to him in tandem. 

Conner cursed inwardly. "Was it?" he asked, slightly irritated.

Erik's smile faltered as he saw Conner's face. He shoved his hands in his pockets, brows furrowed. "Sorry, I didn't see you. I was looking for Tim and then he showed up. If I'd known it was you, I would have said hi earlier. Monday's, you know? Besides, you're always gone when I wake up... I wasn't really expecting to see you."

His sincerity struck a cord with Conner. "Oh," he said, a little relieved that perhaps Erik hadn't thought the exchange was as pathetic as it had turned out in Conner's mind, "It's no problem."

Erik beamed at him. "Environmental club, right?"

This surprised Conner. He recalled maybe mentioning his club activities once when they had met some weeks ago as roommates. "That's right. I'm surprised you remembered."

"Really?" Erik asked. "I'm actually kind of interested, but, you know... sleep."

Conner laughed. "Yeah, I know. You sleep like the dead." They exchanged a look of mild amusement, walking down the winding school passages until they reached the dining hall.

The room was cavernous, with multiple buffet stations and long oak tables. Loud student voices filled the high ceilings, endless senseless noise making Conner's ears ring. He groaned as he saw the buffet lines. Usually Conner had dinner early, avoiding the evening chaos... but, Erik had asked him to wait. Conner wondered if the twenty minutes trying to remain inconspicuous—Erik getting dressed—would be worth the late dinner.

A voice in his mind was quick to say 'yes'.

Erik pointed at a free section. "Want to grab us seats? Tell me what you want, and I'll get the food."

Conner shrugged, startled by the gesture. "Uhhh whatever you get is fine."

"No allergies? Dietary restrictions?"

Conner shook his head, making his way over to the empty section of table. He sat alone, remembering distantly that in his fluster he'd forgotten his phone back in the dorm. He patted his pockets, swearing as he realized he'd also forgotten his keys.

"Hey! Conner!"

Conner looked up to see Anthony walking over to him in a white t-shirt, beside a beaming Jannet. Conner was relieved, waving at them as they sat across from him.

"Never see you here!" Anthony chimed, his barcode fully visible on his inner wrist. His joints had the same silver hairlines as Charlotte's.

Conner looked away from it, up to Anthony's startling blue eyes. "Yeah, I know. I usually come a lot earlier and miss the lines." Conner peeked up at where Erik was standing in line with two plates in his hands.

"Did you already eat?" Jannet asked, taking a large bite of bread.

Conner blushed, looking at Anthony who narrowed his eyes. "Um, actually I came with my roommate."

Anthony sighed, picking the tomatoes out of his salad. "Here we go," he muttered under his breath.

Jannet squealed, reaching across the table as she grabbed his hand. "Omg is that the guy you wouldn’t talk about earlier? Is this a date?"

Conner shook his head, wrestling free of Jannet's grip and began scratching at the surface of the table. "No. I don't think he even knows I'm gay," Conner mumbled. It had been a constant struggle with his roommates of previous years. Of course, Conner didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable. He found that if he said nothing, he could avoid the misunderstandings and conflict altogether.

Looking again at Anthony, whom he had been friends with since his first day at Silverside, Conner wished that everyone could have been so accepting. Anthony's expression was skeptical as he asked, "Is this one of those times where you tell us you're totally fine with a guy being straight and then when reality hits you we need to force feed you three tubs of ice-cream?"

"I resent that," Conner snapped back, half smirking. Anthony wasn't entirely wrong. This time, Conner's roommate wasn't just a random guy he might have a class with... Though he had only officially met Erik Delahunt a few weeks ago, Conner had had a distant crush on him for the past year.

"Okay, here's yours," a voice said from above Conner. Erik, who had been the closest thing to a ninja, placed a heaping plate of food in front of Conner, sitting beside him.

Conner gaped at the food, protesting, "There is no way I can eat all this!" He turned quickly to compare his plate to Erik's nearly identical pile of food.

Erik, who was already shoveling pasta into his mouth, stared back at Conner. He shrugged, chewed, gulped, and said, "You told me to get you whatever I got..."

Conner laughed-he couldn't help himself-small snickers still escaping his lips even after a sizable moment had passed. "I did, didn't I?" Conner gestured to his friends who were also laughing. "Erik, this is Jannet and Anthony," Conner pushed his plate towards them, "help me out guys."

There was no protest from Jannet who immediately picked off his fries.

Erik looked at Anthony. "Hey, you’re the guy from the assembly," he said, "You asked about the D-Model primes, right?"

Anthony smiled slyly. "That's right. I was curious to see the kinds of responses it would result in... I'm always curious to see how far society has progressed."

Erik nodded slowly, his gaze dropping to Anthony's wrist. "Interesting," he said, returning to his meal.

Before Anthony could repeat the tirade that Conner had already sat through at lunch, Conner interjected, "Oh, Erik, sorry but I forgot my keys in the dorm."

"Don't apologize for that. We'll just head back together," Erik replied.

Conner smiled. "Thanks."

~~~

After dinner, Conner said goodnight to Jannet and Anthony, following Erik into the quiet hallway. It wasn't entirely empty, but compared to the din in the dining hall, it was a relief to be able to hear properly.

"Oh, shit, I completely forgot," Erik said, groaning as he pulled something out of his pocket, "I have Tim's usb drive from our philosophy class. I was supposed to give it back to him. Mind if we stop by his dorm? It's on the way."

Conner nodded, "Yeah, of course," he said, thinking about how it would mean more time with Erik.

The sunset cast orange rays of light through the cut-glass windows, their shadows mixing together on the stone wall of the hallway. Conner felt his heart hammering, a pit of guilt in his stomach. Was it wrong to be hiding the fact that he had a crush on Erik, especially since they roomed together? It wasn't as if he expected any reciprocation. He simply didn't want to face the possibility that Erik would stop talking to him... Or worse, request a transfer.

As they reached a different dorm level than their own, Erik knocked on a door. It opened to reveal not Tim, but Michael Farley, one of Conner's former roommates.

Conner's stomach dropped.

"Hey Mike, is Tim here? I have his usb," Erik said, oblivious to the blood draining out of Conner's face.

Mike grinned at Conner, his eyes sliding back to Erik. "No, he's not. I'll give it to him," he said, his gaze back on Conner as he outstretched his hand, palm up.

"Awesome, thanks man," Erik said, placing the drive in his palm.

Mike sneered, "No problem... So, what are you doing with him?"

Erik's brow twitched, taken aback as he looked momentarily down at Conner. "What do you mean? Conner's my roommate."

Conner wanted to walk away so he wouldn't hear whatever Mike would say next, but he was frozen.

Mike scoffed, "Seriously? You know he's gay, right?"