Leo walked into the canteen with one goal: survive another afternoon without embarrassing himself. His day so far had been delightfully uneventful, no spilled coffee, no tripping over his own feet. He should’ve known it wouldn’t last. The cafeteria, with its chaos and cursed seating options, always had a way of humbling him. He scanned the crowded room, his hope fading with every table his eyes landed on. Only one spot could still be free at this hour. With his luck, even that was a long shot. Worst seat in the house and yet he was so tired he hoped it was still free.

If only Evan hadn’t been busy. Evan was more intimidating than him. And could always clear out a table with a look if he wanted to.

Leo oozed the intimidation of a sunbathing snail, which explained why, five “Sorry's” and three nervous nods later, he still hadn’t reached the lounge. His backpack snagged on someone’s chair. Of course it did. That stupid mesh is always snagging on stuff! But when he finally got to the cafeteria he could bask in the peace of the slightly quieter space. Quieter because anywhere was quieter than out in the main hall.

That place was like a Saturday morning at the zoo.

Leo scanned the cafeteria, praying he was wrong. He wasn’t. The only open seat was the dumb red armchair with the broken leg. His choices: go back to the dorm, or suffer public humiliation.

Leo sighed. “Of course.”

He shuffled along the wall, clipped the corner of some oversized banner project, muttered an apology, and endured the glares. By the time he reached the chair, he was too tired to care. He plopped down and immediately yelped as the seat tipped. Perfect. Half the cafeteria was smirking at him now.

He blew his bangs out of his face and glared at the chair. “Demonic furniture.”

Everyone knew the cursed chair. Some swore the janitor kept it around as freshman bait.

Grumbling, Leo dug through his bag until he found his old writing journal—the perfect size to wedge under the busted leg. He slid it into place, testing the balance. Solid. Clever.

He looked up, waiting for someone to notice his brilliance. No one cared. He pouted, left his bag to claim the seat, and slunk off to grab lunch.

“King’s keys went missing… thinks it was some nerdy freshman.” Leo rolled his eyes. The dude can’t find his keys and people are talking about it like he just created a new atom. How is it that everything he does is gossip-worthy, it’s just keys.

He ordered a simple sandwich, as anything with flavor and variety had already sold out of stock a while ago. He turned on his heel and started to walk back from the canteen towards the table he had procured. The work load today was beyond tedious and he wasn’t looking forward to doing it alone. He got back to his table unscathed sat down and unwrapped the sandwich and took a small bite.

His meal was almost tasteless as he mind-numbingly chewed away at it while concentrating on his lecture notes, taking a bite, setting it down, reading a while then biting again. he worked like this for a while. As the noisy cafeteria faded away.

He was just on his last bite of sandwich when out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a small group of seniors enter the room and thought nothing of it. Instead he ignored the new group of people who would have to grab one of the more extensive tables that had cleared out while he had been eating.

He popped the last bite of his food into his mouth and chewed.

The curb and flow of students’ was always consistent. At any given time, the cafeteria and foyer area filled up to the brim with at least three dozen students. And you could find it that way, even at one in the morning, as they either worked quietly or frantically on the projects before them.

Many people met here, despite the canteen counter closing by eleven at night. It was still an excellent place for group projects and collaborations for vlogs and essays. The space was better than the dorms because the dorms were too small for projects and gatherings.

There was a higher chance of work issues and complaints about or by roommates to the resident, so most people just got out of the way. Luckily, he had a single room. Because he didn’t think he could stand a roommate.

Something flashed in Leo’s peripheral.

Then a shadow. A voice like thunder cracking over a picturesque picnic. “Leo.”

Leo’s head snapped up at his name.

Max King, campus Adonis and Leo’s personal karmic reckoning, loomed over him. He looked like he might have been doing physical labor beforehand, not coming from a classroom, his tie hung loose, shirt sleeves rolled up showed off forearms sculpted by some cruel god, and his eyes were darker than fresh coffee stains on Leo’s last clean shirt. His dark hair fell loose around his face, but it was the storm in his expression that made Leo’s knees weak.

Mr. Social, outgoing, all-around lovable guy with a million-dollar smile. The one who no matter what problem smacked him in the face, always seemed cheerful and smiling. Was furious.

That guy.

Max King was storming at him, anger plastered across his face.

How? What?

Leo’s eyes bulged. Oh my, god, dammit, he is coming towards me?

He glanced around, no one was meeting Max’s eyes, but all seemed to be watching and aware as the angry behemoth of a senior charged at him. Most probably just wanted the gossip. I could use the gossip, too. What the heck did I do? I don’t even know you.

Leo choked on his last bite and attempted to swallow but only managed to choke down his food before backing up a little.

Max’s long dark hair blew back gently as he came towards him. Leo gulped.

Max hauled him up by the shirtfront and slammed him against the wall. The impact rattled Leo’s teeth. Leo gulped, trying to calm his stomach. Max’s angry expression, with his furrowed eyebrows, cast a shadow over his eyes, worsening Leo’s anxiety.

“What… Me?” Leo stuttered out, aware that the entire hall had quieted now as many faces paid attention to what looked like a fight about to start.

“You’re looking for me?” He asked slowly, leaning back, pressing himself further into the wall as if he were trying to melt into it as Max got right into his face.

“Where’s my key?” Max said evenly, his face working in anger, a dangerous scowl that sent shivers down Leo’s spine. The dark brown of his eyes flashed, and he extended his free palm upwards in front of him. Angrily demanding for the item as if he had taken it.

Leo bit his bottom lip.

Then he ran his tongue slowly across the back of his teeth, unsure what Max was talking about.

“What?”

“Some freshman said they saw you take my key chain when they were leaving the freshy games.”

“I dunno why you think it would be funny to take someone else things. But give it back.”

“I don’t have your keys…”

“I would remember taking someone else keys. Besides, who would do that?” Leo said. He looked around for help, but his glances were short and filled with anxiety, half from begging for help and partly from the stress and embarrassment of being pinned helplessly against a wall.

“You don’t have it anywhere?” Max glared at Leo, his eyes filled with distrust.

“Do you have any idea how important those are?”

Leo shook his head vigorously.

“It’s not just a house key.”

“I’m sorry, still. I didn’t touch it.”

“Oh? So, it’s okay if I check then?” Max smirked, annoyance flashing across his face.

Leo nodded yes.

“Right?” Max quipped.

Then, before Leo answered, he leaned his arm from elbow to hand across Leo’s chest, not hard enough to hurt but enough to pin him tightly to the wall so he couldn’t move.

“You don’t have to pin me down.” Leo snapped.

“Just go ahead and check. Frisk me if you don’t believe me. I have nothing to hide. I didn’t steal anything. I am not a thief.”

Max gave him a look. A look that Leo had seen a hundred times before. A look that said, I very much doubt that.

Leo gulped, trying to remove the taste of his lunch from the back of his throat. Wolfing that sandwich down so quickly was starting to feel like a bad idea.

Max scoffed.

He let Leo go, and his arm dropped.

Max’s hand was in his pocket, fingers brushing Leo’s thigh through the fabric. Too close. Way too close. This is a shakedown, not… oh god, don’t think about it. Leo’s face burned. God, could the floor swallow him now? Preferably before Max noticed how fast his pulse was rabbiting in his throat.

“Ahhh….” Leo yelped, a little startled. Relax, calm down. It’s just a pocket. It’s not like he is punching your brains out. Or invading your privacy. You could have stopped him. You are letting him do this because you are not guilty of anything and have nothing to hide. And because you don’t want people to start rumors that you are just like Caspian. He reminded himself.

His hands are going kinda deep there…

Why are my pockets basically bottomless pits? Damn pockets, why now?

“Max…” Leo flushed as Max’s hand moved around through the thin material of his pocket square. Max’s fingers brushed the inside of Leo’s thigh,

Shit!

Is that a hole in the pocket? Had it always been there? Leo’s face burned. Great. Perfect. My life ends because I didn’t throw out these stupid jeans.

Oh god. Don’t… don’t move your hand there!