Who Corey Was

5

I sat by myself in the rec room until four o'clock, when the other students began to trickle in. Craving privacy, I left to return to my room, momentarily forgetting my roommates. Halfway to the stairs, however, my memory recovered, and I veered right, towards the gym, seeking an empty room to pour my thoughts into until dinner.

The gym was pitch black when I entered, and I fumbled in the darkness of the unfamiliar room. I groped the wall for a lighting panel, making my way around the perimeter. In the far corner near the dressing rooms, I located the panel, but as I ran my hand across it in search of the main light switch, I came in contact with something warm and soft and...alive.

I shrieked into the spacious room and the lights immediately came on. Less than two feet from my nose stood Dylan, a huge grin on his face.

I smacked his arm. "You idiot!" Letting out a laugh, I told him, "You scared me half to death!" He, too, began to chuckle. Then the realization of what I'd just confessed hit me. I shoved him and jabbed a finger in his face. "If you tell anyone that you scared me, I will end you." He only laughed some more.

"Sure, you will," he said.

"What the hell are you doing lurking in the dark?"

"I wasn't lurking," he laughed. "I stayed for some extra practice after the EC's ended. I had just turned the lights off when I saw you come in."

"So instead of turning the lights back on, you stood here and waited to scare me." I smacked his arm again.

He laughed harder. "Well what are you doing here? I'm not the one that's out of place."

"I came here to be alone, if you must know," I told him rudely.

He ignored my tone and merely continued smiling. "Well then you should know that there is very little chance you'll ever be left alone in this school."

"Fuck," I groaned, throwing my head back. "Don't tell me that!"

"Hey!" he teased. "There's no need to swear about it."

"Well, fuck you too!" I laughed.

He rolled his eyes. "Look, if you want, I can leave you alone. No guarantee you'd stay alone, but..." he trailed off.

"I sense a second option."

"Well, you could just hang out with me for a little while."

I grimaced. "Why would I want to hang out with you?"

He pretended to look deep in thought, hands on his hips, then shrugged. "You're right. I guess I'm just going to revoke the previous offer of leaving you be."

I sighed. "Well, if there's really no getting rid of you..." And his smile grew even more.

He led me over to the bleachers and sat down. When I hesitated, he gently patted the spot next to him. "I don't bite," he joked.

"Yeah, but I might," I responded, sitting down.

He grinned. "I'm not afraid of you."

I looked him dead in those beautiful eyes of his, and in a moment of vulnerability, said, "Maybe you should be."

He returned my gaze steadily in silence for a short moment. "Listen..." he began.

"So, what's your extracurricular then?" I interrupted. The moment had passed, and I didn't want him to make this awkward.

Thankfully, he understood and didn't press it. "I'm in track."

"Wow," I responded sarcastically. "Track. You must really get all the girls."