How to Survive Your 19th Life [BL]

Chapter 1: The First

Javernick College was not my dream school, but it was as close to home as I could stand – a four-hour drive. It was tucked away beside a remote northern midwestern town called Javernick Hills. The town was as small as you'd expect, and the college was absolutely breathtaking, with original colonial-revival architecture, tucked right in a thick bed of forest.

I first arrived during a campus tour with my parents. My tour guide, Jason, led us around with all the typical talking points. We went inside the library at the center of campus, then the dorms and campus apartments on the western side, and finally ended up ending the tour at the baseball field all the way to the north. It was a surprisingly large campus for such low student count.

Apparently, they were struggling with admissions since there was low interest in the school, with it being so remote, and the acceptance was extremely strict.

My mom wasn't sold. "I don't like this place. Why don't you just attend Mountain View like your father did? There is nothing wrong with a community college."

Jason smiled at us and excused himself. There was a group of students playing a softball game, and he jogged over to join them.

I sighed and looked at my dad. He nodded in understanding. Dad was always my cheerleader.

Touching Mom's shoulders, Dad said, "Look at the positives honey. This place has a great Finance department. And it has one of those LGBT club he can join." Dad gave me a little supportive smile. I almost rolled my eyes.

Coming out to them last year had turned my parents into one of those rainbow couples. A pride flag went up on our front lawn a week after and they constantly asked me about bullying. Mom worried herself sick over hate crimes in the news. I loved them all the more for it. I understood that I was lucky to have such amazing parents. But I was suffocating. And I honestly don't think they would have been this overprotective if I were straight.

"I don't know, Mike," Mom said. She removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I read that in the next town over, there was a suspected homosexual man murdered in his home in 1986. I just don't know if this place is safe."

"Young man," Dad called to Jason, who was standing in the middle of the field with the group of players. Instead of waiting, Dad of course went ambling towards him. "Young man! Jake!"

"Dad!" I hissed, hurrying after him. "His name is Jason."

"It's okay, Solly. I just have a question for the tour guide."

The group opened up when Dad was halfway to them. Jason jogged over to Dad with a million-dollar smile. He was pretty cute, tall and beachy. His looks didn't help my embarrassment.

"How many members are in the gay club?" Dad asked, extremely serious. My heart dropped into my knees.

"Dad!" I shouted.

"Mike," Mom shouted. She was here with us too, panting now. "You just outed your son!"

Dad scoffed, "Please Lorraine, I didn't. I was just asking a simple question. I said nothing about him being queer." I wanted to clamp my hands over my ears and disappear. There was no way I could go to this school now. Not with this introduction.

Her eyes blazed with hellfire. "You can't say queer, Mike. The word is homosexual now. He is homosexual."

The group behind Jason, clearly listening, howled with laughter. My eyes reluctantly turned towards our newfound audience. It was a mixture of guys and girls, all varying degrees of amused. At the edge of the group, a girl with white-blonde hair was leaning against a tall and outrageously beautiful boy with hazel eyes and thick eyeliner.

Even though he clearly was wearing some makeup, there was something starkly masculine about him. He looked like a rockstar from the 80's with his ripped graphic T-shirt and baseball pants, all complemented by pounds of jewelry. Every finger had at least 1-3 rings. Bracelets and at least four necklaces. His body was muscular and lean with a broad chest, closer to the physique of a swimmer.

I swallowed, completely forgetting where I was.

He was the only one who wasn't laughing. It was not that I fell in love with him immediately. If anything, I felt mostly inadequate in that moment. Compared to him, I was average everything. Average height for a man, slightly under the 6 foot mark to my chagrin. Average level of handsome, with a sharp jawline at least. Even my body was average, somewhat muscular but somewhat soft. Nothing to drool over.

It wasn't so much that my self-esteem tanked... it felt more like seeing the sun for the first time and realizing I wasa pebble.

I realized too late that I was staring at this sun. And this sun was staring back at me. The blonde leaning against him seemed to notice too as she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. Oh...

I turned back towards my parents, who were fumbling in their conversation with Jason still.

"Let's go," I demanded and stormed off. I looked around for a pond to drown myself in. I heard my parents thanking Jason behind me.

"You should apply here!" someone shouted behind me.

I turned and saw the gorgeous guy looking at me again, a few steps closer this time. And free of the blonde. I flushed and clenched my jaw to hold in a smile. All I could do was nod and keep on my way.

As soon as I got home that night, I applied Javernick College. I worked for hours on my admissions essay and applied for nearly 80 scholarships as on-campus living was not cheap. Did I apply because the hot guy on the baseball field told me to? Of course not. But he certainly helped with the decision.

When my acceptance letter popped into my email a while later, I shouted in joy and startled half of the cafeteria at school. I just knew I was entering into the best chapter of my life. I was so sure of it.