Crossing States

Chapter 7

The start of sophomore year brought with it new classes, new faces, and for Luca, a sense of cautious optimism. Over the summer, he had mostly kept to himself, focusing on his studies and avoiding the complexities of relationships, especially after that tense coffee meetup with Ethan. He hadn't expected much to change. That was, until move-in day.

Luca pushed open the door to his new dorm room, juggling a box in one hand and his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He glanced around at the unfamiliar space—two beds, two desks, standard dorm setup. His roommate hadn't arrived yet, and Luca was glad to have a few minutes to himself to settle in.

As he dropped the box on his bed, the door behind him creaked open. Luca turned around, expecting to see some random guy walk in. But instead, his heart nearly stopped.

Standing in the doorway, with a wide grin and a surprised gleam in his eyes, was "Ethan".

"Luca? No way!" Ethan laughed, pushing the door open wider as he dragged his own bags into the room. "You've got to be kidding me. We're roommates?"

Luca's mind raced. Of all the people, of all the dorms—how could this have happened? He hadn't spoken much to Ethan after their awkward coffee hangout last year, and now... now they were going to be sharing a room. Every day.

He swallowed hard, trying to hide his shock. "Yeah... looks like it," Luca managed to say, his voice tight with a mix of disbelief and nervousness.

Ethan dropped his bags by the empty bed and turned to Luca with a smile that was equal parts amusement and excitement. "This is crazy! What are the odds, right?" His tone was light, but there was a sense of genuine enthusiasm behind it.

Luca forced a smile, but inside, his thoughts were a tangled mess. Was this some kind of cosmic joke? First, the coffee meetup, now this? Part of him felt like the universe was playing some strange game with him, while another part of him wondered if maybe this was fate—some weird twist that was pushing them back together. But still, that didn't erase the awkwardness or the distance that had grown between them over the years.

"Yeah, crazy," Luca said, trying to sound casual, but his words came out more guarded than he intended.

Ethan didn't seem to notice—or if he did, he chose to ignore it. "Well, I guess we're stuck with each other," he said with a chuckle, tossing his backpack onto his bed. "This'll be fun, though. We can catch up, hang out... It's like we're kids again."

Luca shifted uncomfortably, already feeling the pressure of having Ethan so close all the time. It was one thing to run into him on campus or grab an occasional coffee. But living together? Sharing a room? That was a whole other level of closeness that Luca wasn't sure he was ready for.

Ethan, on the other hand, seemed thrilled by the idea. He began unpacking his things, chatting away about his summer and how excited he was for the new year. Luca nodded along, listening but not really absorbing Ethan's words. His mind was elsewhere, trying to wrap itself around the reality of their situation.

As Ethan filled the room with his energy, Luca quietly unpacked his own things, feeling the weight of their shared history pressing down on him. There was a strange tension between them—not quite hostility, but definitely not the ease they used to have as kids. Old memories of their friendship clashed with the reality of who they were now, and Luca found it hard to reconcile the two.

Could they really go back to being friends? Or was this living situation going to turn into a constant reminder of how much they had changed?

Later that evening, as they both settled into their respective beds, the room fell into a heavy silence. The initial excitement of the day had worn off, and now, the reality of their new living arrangement loomed over them. Luca lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, his thoughts swirling. Ethan was only a few feet away, but it felt like there was a wall between them—a wall made of all the years they hadn't been in each other's lives.

"So," Ethan said into the dark, his voice quieter now, more thoughtful. "Weird, right? How we ended up here?"

"Yeah," Luca replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

Ethan shifted in his bed, the sound of sheets rustling filling the room. "I'm glad, though. I mean... I know it's a little awkward, but I've missed this, you know? Us hanging out. Maybe this is a chance to, I don't know, rebuild some of that."

Luca felt a knot form in his stomach. He wasn't sure what to say. Part of him wanted to agree, to tell Ethan that he missed it too. But another part of him—the part that had spent years feeling abandoned—wasn't ready to dive back into that friendship, not without some serious hesitation.

"We'll see," Luca said softly, echoing his words from months ago when they had first reconnected.

Ethan didn't push. He seemed to sense that Luca needed space, and for that, Luca was grateful. But as they both lay there in the dark, Luca couldn't help but feel that unresolved emotions were simmering just beneath the surface. He could feel the weight of their history, the unspoken questions, the tension between who they had been and who they were now.

This living arrangement was going to be complicated, and Luca wasn't sure how to navigate it. He wasn't sure if he could open himself up to Ethan again, or if their past was too tangled in pain and distance to ever truly be repaired.

As sleep slowly crept over him, Luca's last thought was a simple one: *What happens now?*

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