"I've told you to stop calling me that. You’re honestly the most irritating person I've ever met. This isn’t amusing, and neither are you. You're so bothersome and unbearable. You’ve lost your mind, and there's no way I'm letting you be my tutor." Mick exclaimed, exhaling sharply, which caught the attention of a few people nearby. 

"Impressive! You still haven't let a curse word slip," Samson remarked, his grin unwavering. 

"I've told you before, I don’t curse. When are you going to finally understand that?" Mick was seething. He turned to me and added, "This is exactly why I refuse to be tutored by him." With that, he stormed off, his grip on his bag leaving his hands flushed. 

"Man, he’s so easy to tease," Samson chuckled, a crooked smile spreading across his face. He casually pulled out a chair and sat down, as if the whole scene hadn’t just unfolded. 

Darla and I found ourselves fixated on him for a while, prompting him to ask, “What?” as he leaned back in a relaxed manner. 

“What do you mean ‘what’? You're intentionally trying to annoy him,” Darla responded, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinized him closely. 

“I’m not! He started it! You weren’t around, so you wouldn’t understand,” he retorted, dismissing the issue with a wave of his hand. 

“I’m pretty sure nobody enjoys being called Mickey. His name is Mick,” I pointed out. 

“Well, he called me Sammy first and said he didn’t hear it right,” he countered. 

“What about the other comments he made regarding you?” Darla inquired, her arms crossed. 

“Like what? Probably that I’m not serious and too playful. Tsk, HE’S the one who’s too serious. Just because I joked about calling him Mickey after he called me Sammy, he told me he doubts if I’m actually in my second year,” he replied with a slight frown. 

“Is he really wrong to question that, though?” Darla asked. 

Samson simply shrugged in response.

I let out a deep breath. “So, I'm really going to have to find him a new tutor.” I genuinely believed that the whole tutor situation was behind me, but it seems I overlooked the fact that Samson was still in the picture. 

“No way, that’s not happening. I’m still tutoring him,” he declared, his eyes wide and sparkling with excitement. 

“Not if you keep calling him Mickey. You need to apologize and stop using that name,” I insisted. 

“Believe me when I say, I’m not going to do any of that,” he replied, turning on his phone to check something. 

Darla narrowed her eyes at him and asked, “Or do you have a crush on him?” 

“Not at all, he’s definitely not my type. Anyway, I have to go.” He got up and walked away, leaving Darla and me to watch him leave. 

“Why did you ask him that?” I inquired. 

“Just wanted to see how he’d react. Maybe he’d take it seriously if you explained why you don’t want to tutor Mick.” 

“Oh…but I really doubt he’ll take it seriously, no matter what.” 

“You never know,” she remarked, taking a sip of her drink.  

Perhaps she has a point, but was it truly necessary? I really didn’t want anyone to find out that Rex and I were high school acquaintances. 

What if he starts telling everyone about my old crush on him from those days? 

«»«»«»«»«»«»«

Today has been incredibly overwhelming. All I wanted was to crawl into bed and block out the world. I rushed upstairs, exchanging a few casual greetings with familiar faces. As I reached the hallway, I spotted Rex chatting with the guy at the last door. 

When I first arrived here, Milo had introduced me to a handful of his friends from upstairs. The rest, I had met through parties and classes. To put it simply, I was familiar with about 80% of the folks living up here. 

The guy Rex was speaking with is Matt, a business administration student in my year. Essentially, we’re all classmates. Matt isn’t particularly fond of our apartment parties; he prefers hitting the clubs with his crew downtown. Not to mention that he's openly gay. He’s on the shorter side, sporting an undercut, with the rest of his hair just grazing his ears. 

Matt and I aren’t friends, nor are we enemies—just mere acquaintances. I couldn't help but wonder how Rex got to know him. They couldn’t have become friends that quickly, could they? 

They were chatting right in front of Matt’s door—number 8 on the right—while mine was number 6 on the left. I walked over to my door, choosing to ignore them. Just as I was about to step inside, I heard Matt call out to me. 

“Hey, Casper.” 

I paused and turned around, forcing a small smile. “Hey, man.” 

“Rex mentioned you went to Collins High. I had no idea.” He said, a slight grin on his face. Something about his smile felt insincere, much like mine. 

“Yeah, that’s right.” I wondered if Rex was spreading the news about my high school. What else had he shared, and with whom? 

“Wow, how did we not recognize each other? I went to Lead High, and Rex and I were classmates.” He remarked. 

My eyes widened in surprise. Matt and Rex were in the same class? I glanced at Rex, who was sporting a curious smile directed at me.

Matt laughed lightly. “I can see you’re surprised. I was taken aback too when I learned you went to Collins High. It’s great we bumped into you. Rex and I are planning to grab drinks tomorrow evening. Why don’t you join us? It’ll be fun reminiscing about our high school days.” He concluded, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. 

Hold on, this was a lot to take in. Rex and Matt were classmates, they were going out for drinks, and now they wanted me to tag along? Absolutely not. 

It appears I’ve been silent, but then he spoke up again, “You can’t say no, come on, it’ll be a blast. Right?” I nodded, feeling defeated. 

“Great! It’s settled then. I’ll see you tomorrow at 7 PM.” He flashed a tight-lipped smile at Rex. “I’m heading in now, enjoyed the chat. See you then.” Something in his tone felt insincere. 

Rex nodded back, grinning. Once Matt disappeared into his room, Rex approached me. “I didn’t expect you to say yes,” he teased. 

“Only because Matt asked politely; don’t think it has anything to do with you,” I clarified, wanting to set things straight. 

“Sure, whatever you say,” he replied, raising an eyebrow with a smug look. 

That annoyed me. “Don’t tell me you still believe I have a crush on you? I don’t. So please, don’t go around telling people that.” 

“You know, I had my suspicions about a crush back in high school, but I wasn’t entirely sure. So you did like me.” he said, grinning.

What does he mean he wasn’t sure? 

“I’m telling you, I don’t feel that way anymore, so please don’t tell anyone I do.” 

“Why would I do that?” 

“I just want to ensure we’re on the same wavelength. I don’t want to be surprised like I was when I caught you giving a handjob to Jess.” 

Rex's eyebrows raised in surprise.

Fuck! Why the fuck did I say that?! 

“What?” 

“I’m done talking,” I said hastily as I retreated to my room and slammed the door. Why did I let that slip? Ugh! He must think I’m a total whiny dick. And to top it off, I still have to meet him tomorrow with Matt. 

Matt. Was he the person Rex was looking for in class yesterday? I don’t recall Matt's name being mentioned in high school. From what I learned back then, Rex had just one close friend, Dan, with whom he spent all his time. 

I don’t remember Matt being part of that scene. What’s the connection between Rex and Matt?