Finding Love in the District

Smash Bros

16 years ago, Boston University

The common area lounge was rather quiet for a Friday evening on campus, mostly due to many of the students who occupied the dorms going to house parties at fraternity, sorority, or off-campus housing. Once the school day had wrapped up for any Friday classes, social plans had already been made and the dorm was mostly vacant by 7pm. Any remaining students were either anti-social, had major projects to complete by midnight, or non-party types.

Ros was using the empty lounge area for solace. It was the one place outside of the library, labs, and student union where he could have a moment of peace and safety not being in his dorm with his suite mate. It had only been 3 months, and things were off to a very uncomfortable start with the other male student. He wasn't sure how to tackle this issue on his own, as he didn't know anyone else on campus outside of his now ex-girlfriend and did not want to reach out to his parents for help. Well, considering the circumstances, he knew if he asked for them to intervene, it would end up revealing many other things he wasn't ready to share.

He laid across a couch, his feet slightly hanging over an arm as he read a book required for his psychology elective he choose for the semester. The assignment wasn't due for another week, but he figured he could get a head start on it, as he had nothing else planned for the weekend. Seeming to be rather engrossed with the theories of Maslow, he failed to hear someone approach him.

"Hey." A voice spoke calmly from the other side of the couch.

Ros peeked over his book, the rim of his glasses lightly resting on the pages as he looked up at the stranger who was standing near his feet. It was a student, male, who was of Asian descent. He had on a pair of green, cargo khaki pants, with black Adidas and a black hoodie from the band Radiohead with their latest album In Rainbows on it.

"You're not busy, are you?" the student asked directly, his hands in the pocket of the hoodie.

Ros looked back at him, wondering if he was serious, as he was clearly reading a book. "Why... do you ask?"

"Cause we're looking for another player for Smash Bros. You want to play?" he asked nonchalantly.

Ros blinked once, before he slowly sat up, closed his book, then looked over at the unknown student while he pushed his glasses back onto his nose. "I want Kirby."

"Sweet." The student replied with a smile. "My dorm room is around the corner." He stated as he motioned his thumb behind him.

"Cool." Ros responded with a smile of his own as he got to his feet, grabbed his bookbag and followed the student towards the room.

"I'm Daniel. What's your name?" the other student asked, looking over at him as they walked.

"Roshan, but you can call me Ros." He answered, walking alongside Daniel.

"Nice to meet you, Ros. I think I've seen you around the floor, but you always seem like you're in a hurry or something." Daniel spoke passively as they rounded the corner and headed down the hallway.

"Ah, yeah... I have a lot of labs." Ros answered bashfully.

"Oh, a STEM major. Which one?" Daniel asked, curious.

"Health Sciences. You?" Ros asked.

"Comp. Sci, with a minor in Sound Engineering." Daniel answered, only to see Ros give a face of surprise. "My parents made me chose computer science if I wanted them to pay for my college tuition." He shrugged, before stopping in front of a door and opening it with a simple push. "Yo, I found someone else to play." Daniel spoke as he entered the room.

Another student was sitting on the floor in front of a TV and a Nintendo Wii, the music from Super Smash Bros. Brawl blaring from the speakers. He looked back from the TV to see both Daniel and Ros enter the room, turning around with a quick movement of his legs to face them both. "Damn Daniel, he's cute." He replied with a cheeky smile. His short red hair was parted to the right side of his face while his blue eyes looked over at Ros in a playful manner.

"Only you would say that, Charlie." Daniel responded with a sigh, allowing Ros to come into the room, before closing the door behind him.

"I mean, what do you expect? You should know how I am by now." Charlie replied with a shrug.

"Don't mind him, Ros. Charlie is just very blunt." Daniel explained, motioning for him to sit down on a bed near the TV.

"What he means to say is, I'm bisexual." Charlie interjected proudly.

Ros was very shocked to hear him say that openly and out loud, having not heard someone be that bold about their sexuality. He then looked over Daniel, only to see him shake his head.

"Nope, I'm straight." Daniel replied, as if he could read his mind. "I got stuck with this... goofball as a roommate."

"But you love me!" Charlie said happily, only to see Daniel roll his eyes. "Anyway, nice to meet you Ros. We play Brawl all the time together, and it gets boring after a while. We figured we could see if anyone else on the floor wanted to play. Granted, seems like everyone is out."

"I think there are some major parties from with frats and stuff. I'm not into that." Daniel responded, only to see Charlie nod in agreement.

"I'm... not either." Ros proclaimed, hesitantly.

"Even better! We found another nerdy gamer like us!" Charlie exclaimed happily, handing Ros a Wii controller. "Let's play! I'm Link."

"I'm Fox." Daniel replied, choosing the character on the screen.

"Kirby." Ros stated, a small smile coming to his face. For the last couple of months, he had been incredibly isolated and alone, considering his brief relationship had ended, and his roommate was causing him the utmost stress. It was nice to start making some new connections, and hopefully, new friends.

-

"Charlie was already out about his bisexuality by Freshman year of college?" Syke asked, both impressed and surprised.

"Yeah. He later explained that he told his parents as soon as he graduated high school. He was the 3rd child of 4 kids of a very Irish family, born and raised in Boston. He has 2 older brothers, and a younger sister. His father was not pleased about this, threatening to disown him. But his mother was the one who defended and embraced his sexuality the most. He mentioned that he grew up in a rough household, but his mom was the one who would keep the peace and show all her children the love they needed. He's incredibly close with her. By the time his younger sister had graduated high school, his mother was pursing divorce. He was also the first of his family to go to college. He said that once he was out and he didn't have to live with them anymore, he couldn't have cared less what anyone thought about him at that point. He was out and quite proud about it."

"I admire that... it took me until sophomore year of college to be out." Skye admitted with a sigh.

"Ah, well, you weren't too far off from me, honestly." Ros responded. "About a month or so before the spring semester ended my freshman year, I slowly came to realize that I was gay and came to terms with it. I have these 4 fools to thank for that." He added, before getting to his feet and walking over towards his computer desk. He opened a drawer to reveal a small notebook, heading back over towards the dining table, and taking a seat. He flipped open the notebook before pausing, an amused smile on his face as he saw a photograph in-between the pages. "Tell me, Skye. Have you ever participated in a drag show?"

Skye, not expecting the question, shook his head to decline, quite confused. He looked down as Ros passed over the photo for him to look. He could clearly see much younger versions of Daniel, Charlie, Emil and Duran in the photograph, all cheerful and excited, while a very attractive looking woman with long, brunette hair, beautiful hazel eyes and amazing makeup with a silver crown dressed in a dazzling teal gown wore a bashful but happy smile. Holding the photo in his hands, Skye stared at the woman very carefully, before his eyes widened and he looked up at Ros in shock.

"Well... I have. This is how I was introduced to Duran, as well Emil. It's also the same night that I realized I was gay."