College Secrets (An EddiexGaege Fanfic)

Chapter 1: Group Members

Gaege had a hard time finding the motivation to get up in the mornings nowadays.

The alarm clock rang and warned him he would be late for class if he didn't wake up. Sometimes he would even dream of the annoying beeping before realizing it was already morning in a blink of an eye.

Gaege only sleeps four hours a day now. It's not like he hated staying up late every night. Why waste time sleeping instead of grinding on call of duty, catching up on college work, or even going for a late night jog when all the other college kids were asleep? Gaege couldn't see the logic in going to bed early, even if his body would crave the extra hours of sleep.

He rolled over on his side with an exhausted groan, slapping his hand over the alarm clock that was blaring in his ears.

"Ughhh, why did it have to be a Monday?" Gaege sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. He groggily stood up as he forced himself not to collapse back into bed. He was supposed to head to classes early today, but he really didn't want to deal with the ever-increasing loads of work that keeps piling onto his shoulders.

After a few minutes of contemplating on whether he should sleep in and skip classes, he turned on the shower, twisting the knob until it was at the hottest temperature. The steaming hot water poured over his face and back, soaking the short, brown strands of hair that covered his forehead. It made his skin turn red from how hot it was, but it was quickly covered with a layer of frothy body wash.

He softly sang one of his favorite songs- a song that his dad always used to play in the car when he was a child- hitting the notes with a familiar ease after hearing it so many times over. It was one of the only clear memories he had of his dad before he moved halfway across the country for college. Florida was miles away from Texas, where he had decided to spend his remaining three college years, but it might as well have been across the world for him. He hadn't had the time to call his father, but it wasn't like he was eager to speak with him either. After his whole argument about Gaege leaving to another state for school, Gaege had never mustered up the courage to properly apologize.

After thoroughly shampooing his greasy, tangled hair, he finally felt fresh and cleaner than he's had in days. Perhaps he looked more human now and not a pale, white corpse barely passing his classes. With a white towel wrapped around his waist and another to dry his messy hair, Gaege began digging through his drawers before finding the perfect outfit to wear for the day.

He walked into the kitchen with a pair of ripped jeans and a black shirt, but he grabbed a red hoodie to cover the sleeves of tattoos on his arms. He was adjusting a backwards cap onto his head before hearing his roommate exit from his bedroom across the living room.

"Yo! Gaege!" His roommate beamed upon seeing him, scooping him up in a hug before Gaege had the chance to protest. "Ah- good morning, Mully!" He patted his friend's back, hoping he would let go before suffocating him. "How are you this happy, dude? Winter finals are in a few weeks!"

Mully shrugged as he stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth. "I honestly lost hope like two months ago."  While Gaege could agree with that, he didn't understand how careless his friend could be sometimes. His stomach grumbled as he made bacon and eggs, but Mully was luckily distracting him from his hunger like usual.

"...And then I'm supposed to meet up with a friend today," Mully scrolled through his phone as he slouched on the couch. "But I honestly don't know if I should." Gaege had been zoning-out as Mully glanced over at him with a frown. "Are you even listening?"

"What? Yeah, sorry. My mind is everywhere right now." Gaege shook his head as he tried to focus on his friend and not his own personal problems. "You know, early-finals stress." Mully pressed his lips into a line, "Understandable. Don't worry, mate. I'm sure you'll do great."

Gaege let out a small sigh before hearing his phone go off, already noticing the time reading 7:30. "Shit! I'm going to be late if I don't hurry the fuck up!" Gaege gulfed his food down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before he heaved his black backpack over his shoulders.

"Haha, that's why I chose my classes at nine," Mully waved as Gaege raced for the door, "Call me later!" Gaege nodded, stuffing his car keys into his pockets before shutting the door to their dorm room.

After racing through the campus grounds and almost tripping over someone's dog halfway there, Gaege burst through the doors of the engineering building. He took a seat next to his friend, Grant, who crossed his arms as Gaege sat next to him.

"You're late." Grant shook his head, as he whispered, "Gaege, that's the third time this week."

Gaege pulled out his notebook from his backpack, wiping the beads of sweat that dribbled down his forehead as he sighed. "I know! I promise, this is the last time!"

Before Grant could say more, another student that they didn't know sat beside them with a soft sigh. Gaege recognized him as the new exchange student that had moved in from across the hall his dorm but couldn't recall his name. His dark hair fell in his face as he dug through the backpack in his lap. Gaege couldn't help but notice the anime stickers scattered on his gray laptop.

"Hey, you live across the hall from me, right?" The man suddenly spoke, noticing Gaege glancing in his direction. Gaege's face burned from the embarrassment of getting caught, but he cleared his throat and answered, "Um, yeah! We're in Dorm 201." The man nodded, pushing his black glasses up on his nose, "Oh, yeah! I'm in Dorm 206."

He stuck his hand out, which Gaege awkwardly shook with a tight smile. He wasn't the type to converse with students he didn't know fairly well, especially people that lived in the same dorms as him. The only friends he had were Grant and Mully, and he hadn't planned on making new ones. After constant bullying in high school and his addiction to video games, Gaege hadn't picked up on the best social skills. His friends always told him it was okay to meet new people, but the social anxiety he had developed in high school was too intense for him to even dare try and meet people.

"My name is Eduardo Saucedo," The man brushed his hair out of his face with a friendly smile. "But people usually call me Eddie."

Eddie, Gaege thought to himself, what a nice name. Eddie had a thick Mexican accent that Gaege quickly noticed, but it sounded enchanting. He had never heard such a beautiful accent before, especially how different it was compared to Spanish accents in Florida. It sent an unexpected thrill down his spine.

"Gaege." Gaege gestured to his friend beside him, "And this is Grant. Nice to meet you." Grant and Eddie exchanged smiles and waves, and Gaege suddenly felt more confident in himself. He couldn't help but stare at Eddie's dark brown eyes for a moment longer before the professor's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"And how about you, Mr. Gibson?" The professor asked as Gaege straightened in his chair. "Who will be your group members for the research report?" Gaege's eyes flickered to Grant for context behind the professor's question, but he seemed just as clueless as him. Everyone was staring at him for an answer, and he swallowed a lump forming in his throat anxiously.

"Uh, Grant and..." Gaege licked his lips nervously before saying, "Eddie. Grant and Eddie." The professor nodded before moving on to someone else, and he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Sorry about that," Gaege whispered to Eddie with a nervous laugh, "I kinda freaked out there." Eddie shrugged his shoulder with a smile. "Nah, don't worry about it dawg. I was actually going to ask you to be in my group so it all worked out in the end."

Gaege smiled to himself. His cheeks heated up as Eddie smiled at him with shiny, white teeth. Although he caught himself as he realized how attracted to he was to this man. He had to remind himself of the last time that happened... and he knew how well that played out last time.

A/N: Soo this is actually the first time I've written a book in third person, so bare with me lol. Hope you all enjoyed, more chapters coming soon have a good day :)