All The Ways We Touch [BxB]

two - natural disasters

This Monday was the same as any other, with Jamison starting the week off yawning, his hood pulled over his head, and his stomach churning from his half-assed breakfast of an orange and cigarettes. Being that it was a bright morning, he wore a pair of some off-brand Ray-Ban-looking sunglasses to review a deck of flashcards.

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

Glancing up, Jamison watched as Jack and Elliot strolled up to the Natural Disasters lecture hall, Elliot's arms stretched up and over his head. He'd been on his mind since the night before, but despite that, he wasn't eager to draw any more of his attention, no matter how intriguing the tall brunette had turned out to be.

"I'm the party god," Jack insisted, yawning loudly. "Of course not."

"Party god or not, you've gotta sleep sometime," Elliot muttered, shaking his limbs in an attempt to wake himself up.

Leaning up against the wall near the door, Jack waved his hand dismissively. "You drank a lot for a Sunday night. Woe is you and all that bullshit."

"Do you want me to kick you?" He grumbled, shoving him.

'It's not even 8:15 a.m. and they're already picking at each other.' Turning his attention back to the deck, he continued to quiz himself, trying to ignore them.

Flashcards were his preferred way of studying due to their ease of portability and, more importantly, the fact that he could study alone. Having just transferred to the University of Forest Grove for his junior year, he'd not bothered to try and make any friends outside of work, nor with his classmates. It wasn't that he was actively trying to dissuade people from trying to befriend him, but the serious expression that often sat on his face only helped to cement that he was just another weird, anti-social art student, rather than working to pique anyone's curiosity, at least until last night. Not that he'd minded much, but watching Jack and Elliot horse around had gotten a little under his skin, a pang of jealousy rippling through his chest. Though, as someone who'd never had a best friend, it was a reasonable reaction. Still, the feeling made him uneasy. 'I'm just tired, that's all.'

"Did you make any progress with Vera last night?" Smirking, he ruffled Jack's auburn hair, messing up the way he'd styled it, and leaned back against the wall, looking towards the door. "Oh, what's that? She was too busy texting and talking to Katie to listen to your whining?"

"Is that the only place you know to poke?" Jack pushed off the wall, eyes narrowed as he casually walked a few feet in Jamison's direction. "My poor broken heart?"

In the time since Jack had stepped away from Elliot, Jamison stopped bothering with his flashcards and stowed them inside his backpack. In the direct sunlight, he could see that he hadn't been able to get all of the glitter from his nails despite his scrubbing efforts, and put them into his pockets as he waited for their bickering to continue, or for the door to open.

Fortunately, the door popped open, and a line began to form before Jack wandered too closely to him. Joining him in line, Elliot rested his head on Jack's shoulder. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Folding his sunglasses, he slipped them into the inside pocket of his leather jacket and joined the line, a handful of students behind them. 'They never stop.'

"Elliot Astor and Jack Walsh."

"You're both marked in." The teacher's assistant looked to the next few students in line, and finally to Jamison.

"Jamison Parker." When she nodded, he moved into the lecture hall, ready to stop thinking about the others. The only trouble was that Elliot and Jack were standing near the door.