Next Semester

3. hiding

1864 words

The next week was horrible for Tyler. He could tell that Jude wanted to say something to him, but chickened out every time he tried. The suspense of having that conversation was driving Tyler up a wall. On top of that, he had to try to not humiliate himself in front of Professor Dun for hours every day. If he wasn't in class or sleeping, he was with Professor Dun in his office. The two had worked out a pretty decent schedule, but being around the man so often on top of the Jude stuff was making Tyler practically short circuit.

Friday morning rolled around and Tyler could not wait to sleep in. Getting up at 8am every morning was torture. He dragged himself out of bed and was surprised to see that Jude was awake and getting ready at the same time he was.

"Why're you up?" Tyler grumbled as he pulled his clothes from his dresser. Jude shrugged, "Couldn't sleep." Tyler rolled his eyes and sighed, "I wish I could go back to sleep and you're up and getting ready on purpose."

Jude smiled at him with that same look Tyler had come to recognize as affection, and it made him feel guilty, "I've never met someone who hates waking up as much as you."

Tyler chuckled a little awkwardly, not sure how to behave under Jude's gaze, "Yeah, uh, never liked getting up ever since I was little."
He rushed around a little more than usual, hoping to god that Jude wouldn't try to walk with him to Braxton.

"Um... do you want to have lunch at the cafe today instead of the dining hall? I wanted to talk to you about something." Jude asked, his voice shaky and nervous. Tyler's blood ran cold. Here it was, today was the day.

"I'm working through lunch today." Tyler blurted out. He was going to avoid that conversation for as long as he possibly could. Jude looked at him, eyebrows furrowed, "Really?"

"Uh, yeah... Professor Dun has some extra stuff he wanted me to pick up before the week ended and asked me to work during lunch." Tyler shrugged as if it were out of his hands.

Jude's face fell, a little discouraged, "Oh... okay. We can just talk when we both come back here for the night, then."

"Yep, sounds good. I'm gonna head out, okay?" Tyler said, shoving his feet into his shoes and hastily grabbing his backpack. He discreetly stuck his toothbrush and toothpaste into his pocket before leaving. He walked so quickly and looked back so often that it looked like someone was chasing him. He made it to Braxton in a little over 5 minutes, almost half the time it would take anyone walking at a normal pace. He panted as he rode up the elevator, still catching his breath from his brisk walk-run. The chilly morning air made his cheeks sting and his eyes water and he shifted uncomfortably in his clothes as his body still warmed up to the building's temperature.
As soon as the elevator stopped on the 4th floor, he stepped off and headed straight into the bathroom. His hair was a train wreck on his head and his clothes were crooked and carelessly thrown onto his body. He groaned and straightened his shirt before running hasty fingers through the brown tuft on his head, only stopping after it had settled into a semi-decent looking shape. A yawn escaped from his mouth as he pulled his toothpaste and toothbrush from his pocket. Just as he set the toothbrush in his mouth, the door swung open. He froze as two dark brown eyes met his in the mirror, "Oh, Tyler. Good morning...." Professor Dun hesitated, confused eyes looking over Tyler in the mirror.

Tyler gave the man an awkward nod, toothbrush still in his mouth. When the man entered the stall, Tyler took that as his opportunity to race the man and get out of the bathroom as soon as possible. He figured that beating him to his office was better than being stuck next to the sink with him. As he spit his toothpaste and rinsed his mouth, Professor Dun exited the stall, sleeves rolled up to his elbows.