Obsession

Secret: Chapter 17

The message had come in at 2:03 AM on Sunday morning, rousing Julian out of his ramrod stiff position as his desk. While most of the town of Shaw was asleep, he was among the new resident college students toiling the night away behind their studies.

Duncan Boyer was no such studious person on that night. He had sent a message to his best friend stating a simple order that read: Meet me at my campus dorm. The earlier the better. It can't wait.

And so, at 10:23 AM in the morning, Julian was refreshed and dressed to head out. He would meet with Gabriel later on in the day to go on their second date, but the first date as an official couple. It was to commemorate their relationship in continued celebration since they had spent only two hours together the day before.

The Shaw Stallions had had a tough match against the Roaring Tigers, and while Gabriel was exhausted and needed to rejuvenate his energy, he also needed to get homework done. So, their celebration had been cut short, and they'd agreed to go on a date the very next day.

"You're headed out already?" Shannon Stroup asked, catching sight of her son decked out in jeans, a plain tee, and a jacket thrown over it.

"I'm going to the campus," he explained, and his mother nodded in acknowledgement before letting him go.

When he had gotten to the campus, he didn't waste any time and turned in the direction of the dormitories to meet with Duncan. Since Julian did not live on campus as his home was close by, he had to inform Duncan to come get him since students living on campus required a key card to gain access in and out of the dorms. He had to sign a log book as was the college's policy to keep track of visitors to the dorm.

While waiting, he sat on a leather couch in the lobby area, looking past the reception desk, out through a set glass windows. He could see the floors lined with windows and doors marking the beginning and end of separate living units. There was an open courtyard at the centre where a few students were playing a friendly game of basketball.

He had waited all of ten minutes before he finally caught sight of Duncan through the glass doors, exiting the building adjacent to the lobby, coming from his dorm room.

"Took you long enough," Julian said as his friend entered the lobby having used his key card.

"The place was a bit of a mess. I needed to do some neatening up before I let anyone in," Duncan explained, nodding to the girl at the reception desk to let her know that Julian was there to visit him.

Together, they went back to the wing of the building where Duncan lived while school was in session, and on most weekends if he didn't have the spontaneous bout of homesickness and urge to visit his grandparents at the lodge not far from where their inn was located.

"What did you want?" Julian asked as they took the elevator up to the third floor.

"I found something on the security footage I wanted to point out," he offered, and Julian frowned deeply as the elevator doors slid open. They got off, and two girls living on that floor got onto the elevator.

"You couldn't just tell me?"

"I wanted you to see it for yourself," Duncan retorted as they arrived at his dorm room.

Opening the door with his key card, he heard Julian say, "Fair enough."

"There are things to drink in the mini-fridge if you want anything," Duncan offered as he went over to his desk and booted up his laptop. "Help yourself to whatever."

And Julian did, taking a moment to survey what was inside the mini-fridge and settling for one of two different types of soft drinks. He knew better than to touch Duncan's stash of Mountain Dew and a strange thought popped into his mind. If he pitted Duncan and Gabriel against each other and gave them their preferred soft drink choices, he wondered who would win.