REID

Chapter: 10

Most people would think that having a football player for a college roommate would not be a very pleasant experience. Granted, it wasn't the perfect scenario for someone that was not fully interested in the sport, but it had been better than Reid had anticipated. Terry was a calm guy for the most part. He would never make too much sound and he would always be respectful to Reid if he was in the room.

Thinking about it, the only thing that could have been better, was that they were just roommates. They wouldn't consider each other a friend, even though they had nothing against each other. They would never hang out together or have long conversations about anything. Reid knew that Terry's course of study, unsurprisingly took him down the path of becoming a P.E. teacher and a football coach down the line. Reid told about him studying culinary to become a cook or even a chef.

Since Reid was only a freshman, which meant most of his classes were boring general education courses to fulfil that part of the curriculum. He took a college algebra class, which he didn't particularly hate. He was required to take English and Communication classes too, which he felt were always unnecessary, though he never did poorly. He did have a couple classes relevant to his major. One of which was called Food Safety. He would learn about federal regulations and how to keep working surfaces and environments up to code. It may seem boring to some, but to him, he was fascinated by everything under the umbrella of culinary science.

One of his favorite professors was his communications professor. Mrs. Sara Richmond was a llama who was always well-dressed and would always speak in a friendly and welcoming tone, even when angry. She made the class interesting, when in any other case would make every student fall asleep.

Over the course of his college career, Reid would have plenty of classes that he enjoyed, especially the food-related ones. One particularly interesting to him was a lab course he took in his sophomore year. In the class, they would do experiments with food and other consumable products. They would learn how certain goods were affected by heat, cold, and age, and could see how products would even affect each other. It was his most enjoyed class, and one day specifically was more memorable than the others.

The professor brought in a very successful chef named Jericho Frye. He already had fifteen years of experience in the field and was incredibly respected by his peers and those in that line of work. He came in for a masterclass in kitchen preparation. This included all the items and equipment he used every day, as well as his process within the kitchen.

He would walk around the classroom, looking at everyone working, helping one-on-one when he needed to, and critiquing the work that was done. He was a very kind guy, even though he would give off an intimidating aura around him. He was especially impressed with Reid. His speed and quality were virtually unmatched when compared to his classmates.

He had the opportunity to go to a party with Terry late that same year, though Reid never was much of a partygoer. He would rather be in his dorm on the laptop watching videos online, or movies, or TV. Even doing whatever homework he might have had. Terry said that he could come with him to the party, and he even offered to be the designated driver, since he never was one to drink. Reid thanked him, but declined, since there was a test the next day and he needed to study and rest before.

He had made some friends here and there through the classes he would take. Those that sat next to him being the most likely ones to whom he would become friendly. They would use their spare time between classes to hang out in the main lobby of the culinary department building. There was a lounge-type lobby on one of the floors of the building with couches and vending machines where everyone would come hang out and do homework during the day. Some would even sleep up there since college tends to siphon the energy out of anyone.

His grades were very good for the most part. Of course, some classes and subjects were harder for him, in which he did not do as well. Though he was still satisfied with the results. He was able to finish his junior year with a grade point average of 3.7 on the usual scale of 0 to 4. He enjoyed attending classes and getting to learn. He didn't want to admit it, but Royd was right. Going to college was a good idea, and he was glad he listened to his brother. This was helped by the fact that he was doing something he was interested in.

During the summer after his junior year was over, Reid was sitting in the apartment on his laptop when he received an email from the school. It was from student housing and was informing him that Terry was no longer going to be his roommate as he was transferring to another school. He was a little disappointed, but at the same time they were just roommates and weren't that close with each other.

That summer had gone by uneventfully. He would spend most of his time at home, helping around the house while Royd was at work. He would visit his Aunt Dusk's home and do some odd jobs for a little extra spending money. He would clean around, do small repairs, run errands, whatever he needed to do. It wasn't a lot of money, but he never complained. Anything is better than nothing.

August had come around and it was time to move back onto campus. He decided early on that he wouldn't move into the more expensive dorms for upperclassmen mostly because staying in the same one, he would get a larger refund check closer to the end of each semester. He still didn't know who his new roommate was going to be, since housing was not very good at keeping up with emails and contacts with the students.

Moving day came, and Reid was up early, packing his bags and loading his car. He was in his bedroom, working on the final suitcase that he had full of his clothes, but admittedly too many clothes, keeping the top from closing all the way. He was sitting on it, trying to weigh it down.

"Come on, you son of a-"

"REID!" interrupted the voice of his brother, startling him a bit.

He flinched. "HUH?! Royd, you ass!" the younger deer chuckled in response, showing no malice behind the insult.

Finally, Reid was able to close the lit of the suitcase, zipping it up and sliding off, into the floor and taking a big breath, followed by a sigh of relief. He turned back to Royd, who was clapping sarcastically and looking at the now closed case full of clothes.

"Wow, I didn't think you'd actually get that thing shut." He joked.

Reid rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I bet you didn't." he gave a playful shove.

He carried the case out to the car and threw it unceremoniously into the back seat, before shutting the door and locking it behind him. He went back inside the apartment, and Royd was there leaned up against the wall.

"So, what did you say again about your roommate?" he asked.

"Terry? He transferred, but the school can't seem to get their shit together and let me know about my new roommate. They don't allow students to live in double dorms by themselves for whatever reason, so God forbid I go a year living alone. I just hope whoever it is, he's not an ass."

Royd waved his hand. "Nahhh, you'll be fine. You make friend's way too easily." He chuckled.

After a couple of hugs and goodbyes, Reid got into his car to make the drive back up to the school. When he got to the dorm building, he parked and went inside. He saw his buddy at the front desk and exchanged pleasantries before receiving the key to his room.

"Oh, and he's already up there. We actually went to high school together. You'll get along just fine." His friend said.

Reid nodded and walked toward the busy elevators. It didn't take too long to go up to the fourth floor. He couldn't keep the same room every year, but he did have a choice of floor. Reid likes to keep some semblance of routine, so he chose the same floor every year.

Coming out of the elevators, he went down the left hallway to his room number, which was 427. The door was cracked open slightly, and he poked his head inside. He saw a tan colored goat with dark horns, and long floppy ears. He looked to have a dark brown splotch around his left eye, which Reid immediately found cute. He opened the door and knocked lightly, showing his presence.

"Hello? Roomie's here." He said semi playfully, yet cautiously.

The goat looks over and smiles at Reid, giving a small wave of his hand. "Oh hi!" he said cheerfully.

He walked in and looked around. His bed was neatly made, his supplies were nicely organized and peeked into his closet, and things were put away with purpose. He was impressed already. He looked down at the floor and his eyes widened as his hands flew to the sides of his head.

"Oh god." He said frantically.

The goat looked over. "You alright? What's wrong?"

"We forgot to try to get me a mini fridge to use. We could afford a cheap one this year, but it completely slipped our minds."

"Don't even worry about it. You can use mine. There's plenty of room, and I probably won't use it for much anyway."

"You sure?" Reid asked.

"Absolutely." The goat nodded.

"Thank you. I like you already." He put his hand out to shake. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Reid. I'm a junior here."

They shake hands. "I'm Rami. I'm just a freshman. Hopefully that doesn't bother you."

"Not at all!" Reid responded. "Welcome to campus. I think this works out well. Since we'll be living together, I could help give pointers and show you around. If you'd like, that is."

"I'd love that. Thank you." Rami answered.

The two would work together, bringing in Reid's stuff. Rami volunteered to help, which was a kind gesture that didn't go overlooked. They set up Reid's television, keeping it in a neutral spot where both could enjoy it if necessary. It took just an hour to get everything inside and put away.

Reid even took Rami out tolunch to one of the popular food places in town. They talked and ate and hit itoff quickly. Rami was discussing that his major is in biology and his majorgoal was to research the environment. He wanted to work with nature as a careerand he felt this was his best chance to do so. Reid could tell that unlikeTerry, Rami could be a friend, and he couldn't wait.