Falsettos College AU

Day One

Marvin

This is it. I'm starting college.

I had years to prepare for this. Four years. And that's just high school. I've been thinking about what I want to do when I grow up ever since I was a kid, and college is my next step toward that. One thing I never thought of when I was younger, however, is that I would be starting college with a boyfriend.

Actually, I probably wouldn't have thought of it a year ago either. But in March, after I got into my dream school, I went to a mixer to meet other future students, and there I met Whizzer. And, I'll be honest, I had questioned my sexuality before. Almost everyone does that in high school. But only then did I realize how much I really wanted to be with him.

It was nerve-wracking at first. But we slowly started to ease into a relationship, platonic at the beginning, now? Not so much. So that's what's happening. I'm about to start college with my amazing boyfriend by my side, and everything's going to be all right.

Except it's not.

"When did your couch get so heavy?" I ask Whizzer with a groan. I'm helping him move into his new apartment by the school, and so far I have a million different aches in my back. I glance up to see if Whizzer's still holding his end, which he's not. He's lying on the couch instead. Which explains the sudden increase in weight. "Can you get off?"

"I needed to lie down for a second. This is exhausting."

"How do you think it is for me?" I mutter. I look over Whizzer and the couch, then pick up my end with some struggling. "I'm going to tip you off this thing."

Whizzer smirks. "Try. You won't get me anywhere."

He's right. I try with all my might to lift it enough for him to tumble off, but like I said before, it's heavy, and I'm so obviously out of shape. I let go of the couch and it lands with a thud in the doorway, making Whizzer jump. I drape myself over the armrest and shut my eyes, enervated.

"Can we at least get the couch in through the door?" Whizzer asks a moment later, crawling over to where I am. I open my eyes slightly and stare at him like, it's your fault I'm like this. But I still nod and get up so we can move it.

Finally, it's in, and that's the last thing of his that we had to move in here. I collapse on the couch, thinking to myself that I should start going to the gym while I'm here. I would ask Whizzer to come with me, but I know he would just show off a bunch and make me feel even more inadequate.

"There we go," says Whizzer, who barely looks tired at all. He places his hands on his hips and examines the room. "Cordelia should be here in a few hours."

"Who's Cordelia?" I muster enough energy to raise my head and look at him.

"My roommate. Well, she will be my roommate. Come on, you know I can't afford an apartment all by myself. It's going to be a lot easier with someone else to help pay rent." He inspects his fingernails. "I met her the same night I met you. And then in the summer we agreed to get a place together."

I nod. I didn't know before exactly who his roommate was or how they'd met, but I at least figured out he would get someone to move with him. I sit up suddenly and wonder how I feel about Whizzer moving in with a girl. Of course, he would make it clear to her that he's not interested, but...

"Before you say anything," he tells me, possibly reading my mind, "she's a lesbian. We have absolutely no chance of being attracted to each other."

I scowl. "I wasn't going to say that." Does he really think I'm that possessive of him?

Whizzer makes his way over to the couch and sits next to me. "So, we start classes soon. Are you excited?"

Am I excited? Kind of. But I'm also nervous, like I was at the beginning of our relationship. Actually, we still kind of are at the beginning of our relationship. How long have we really been dating now? Four months? Five months? I couldn't tell you.

Finally, I shrug. "I'm feeling neutral."

Whizzer seems satisfied with this answer. I doubt he's feeling nervous at all. He looks so calm, so collected. I'm not surprised. He's easygoing practically all of the time. Unlike me.

"I should probably go," I say after we sit there on the couch for a few moments, taking in the sight of his new apartment. "I'll give Cordelia a chance to settle in."

Whizzer nods reluctantly. "But come back tomorrow, okay? I want you to meet her."

"Sure thing." I give him a kiss, which for some reason I'm still hesitant to do, and head out into the hall. That's when it occurs to me. Only now that I'm alone.

I am definitely not prepared for this.

-

Finally, the day comes to officially start our classes, and Whizzer isn't there to hold my hand. You can do this, Marvin, I tell myself. You can do this without him. Just because you're scared to come out to your family and scared to tell your boyfriend what you really think of him and scared of going off into the world alone, doesn't mean you have to be scared of this.

It's hard. Of course. It's always hard at first. And yeah, this is a whole new experience for me. But I feel a bit better a few hours (and a ton of encouraging texts from Whizzer) later. That's when I hear an unfamiliar voice.

"What's up with you?"

I turn and see this short kid carrying a backpack, and examining me like he's doing an evaluation. "What do you mean?" I demand.

"You look upset. I'm majoring in psychology, so I can help you with this kind of stuff. Just tell me what's on your mind," he says.

It's clear that he as well is just starting his first year, meaning at the most he's had one or two classes. So the psychology major logic is probably bullshit. Still, he looks like he really wants to help someone, so I sigh and give in.

"All right. Well, this is my first day of college, and I'm still a little nervous about it," I admit. "And my boyfriend just seems so calm and cool about it, and I'm like, how? He's my age. He's never been to college before. Why isn't it such a big deal for him?"

The curly-haired young man whips out a pad of paper and starts writing on it, which is weird. "Mm-hmm. So there's jealousy in the relationship?"

"What? No. I'm not jealous." I'm really not. I just think that if I have to suffer from feelings of apprehension, Whizzer should too.

"Well, maybe you just need to get to know some more people around here," he replies, and he's probably right, but I'm not going to tell him that. "I think there's another party tonight. You know, to welcome the students who may not have gone to the last one. You should come."

I stare at him skeptically. "Thanks, but tonight I'm going to go to my boyfriend's apartment to meet his roommate, not some lame college party." Especially not with this nerd.

"Wait!" he calls as I'm walking away. I don't turn around, but I stop. "My name is Mendel."

"Okay," I answer, because I didn't ask. But now I feel like I have to give him my name too. "Marvin."

"I'll see you around, Marvin."

"Ehh, probably not." I continue walking. I just want my day to be over with and to be able to relax with Whizzer. God knows he's relaxed enough already. It's me who really needs it.

My meeting with Mendel wasn't very pleasant, due to his completely wrong assumption about my and Whizzer's relationship and my exasperation, but it may have also been a stepping stone. With this experience, I can get more used to socializing and less nervous (although I'm still not going to any parties). Maybe I should even be thanking the two-day psychology major.

Right now, though, I'm just so tired of college. It doesn't turn out to be much different from high school, except harder. And I live in a dorm. And it's different. But, still. I'm only a day or so in and I'm already sick of it.