In New York You Can Be a New Man

Chapter Three

Heya guys! Another chapter here! I'll try to keep them to at around 1000 words? I don't know, let me know how long they should be. Enjoy! I'll try to update once a week from now on (mostly on the weekends)! 

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It was Monday morning, and the whole student body was dreading going to their first classes. Alexander was up early, around 4 o'clock, but John awoke only an hour before his first class of the day. 

Cursing to himself, John scrambled out of his pajamas and was met at the shared dining table with a cup of coffee and a note. The note, obviously scribbled in Alexander's handwriting said: 

John, since you woke up so late, you might need a buzz for the morning. Enjoy. :)

Chugging the cup of dark drink, John grabbed his school books and scampered out the door. He sprinted across the street separating him from the main campus, dodging puddles of slush and snow. Currently, John didn't enjoy winter nor the cold snow it brought with it. 

As he jogged along the path heading to his class, he noticed a short figure that seemed to be completely covered in winter gear. Slowing to a stop next to the person, John took a glance at his face. 

"Alexander? What are you doing with all this, um, snow stuff? I mean, it is cold, but you don't need that much! You must be burning up in there!" John said, mentally noting to bring a jacket the next time he went to his dorm; it was very cold.

Slightly muffled from his scarf, Alexander replied, "John, I am from a place-- I'm from somewhere that isn't cold that much, in fact, it is hardly even close to cold. I suppose you could say I'm not used to this kind of weather."

John noticed Alexander's red nose and pulled Alexander's scarf tighter around Alexander's neck. The falling snow fluttered down and landed in Alexander's long eyelashes, which only made Alexander blink them away. 

The clock rung out seven times, and John's eyes grew wide. His class started at 7:05, so John starting sprinting away from Alexander, shouting a loud "Bye, Alexander! Gotta run!"

--

When John returned from his classes and reentered his dorm room , the first thing he noticed was the extreme heating. The fallen snow in John's hair seemed to evaporate. 

"Alexander, why in the world is this room 100 degrees?"

John received no response, which made him shrug off his coat and walk into the main room. He found Alexander with his feet dipped in a bucket of warm water. 

"So, you don't like the cold?" John asked, turning off the heater. 

Alexander still ignored him and kept his attention focused on the computer. 

"Want some coffee?" John asked and offered a steaming cup toward Alexander. 

Alexander eyed the cup wearily, and took it. He warmed his hands from the cup, and briefly glanced at John.

"Hey." Alexander replied boredly.

"Are you going to tell me why you decided to make our dorm into an oven?" John said impatiently, slightly annoyed that Alexander was ignoring him.

"I'm busy; I don't want to talk about it. It's so cold in here so can you please turn on the h-heater?" Alexander muttered, not meeting John's eyes.

John felt sympathy for the young boy, so he moved behind Alexander and paused, not sure what to do. John decided on rubbing Alexander's back, trying to loosen up his shoulders from being hunched over a computer for a while. 

The night eventually came, and Alexander continued to type through the late hours. 

The temperature continued to drop, and John began to get worried for Alexander when he heard sniffles and coughs. 

"Are you getting a cold, Alex?"

"N-no. J-just let me work..." Alexander hissed, rubbing his nose.

John got up at this and sat across from Alexander at their desks (they were placed to they had the long end of one pressed against the other long end of the other desk). 

"You need sleep."

"Non, toi perdant."

"Did you just call me an loser in French?"

Alexander blinked, and sighed. "You don't understand. I can't stop working. Because if I do-"

"Because?" John asked, interested in what Alexander was about to say.

"Forget I said anything."

"No. I'll only stop bugging you if you go to sleep. You need it." John said, stubbornly crossing his arms. 

After an intense stare-off, Alexander finally receded. "Fine."

A goofy grin creeped across John's features, and John winked at Alexander before he turned to his own bed.

Just before John was about to crawl into his own bed, he heard Alexander's weak voice call from the other side of the room. 

"J-john, do you think you could, um, stay up with me until I fall asleep?"

"Sure thing, Alex."

John didn't get a response, only a soft noise of deep breathing from Alexander a half hour later. 

***

Hey guys! I have a giant project due tomorrow, so I've gotta work on it! But anyways thanks for 70+ reads! It means a lot to me (because I literally just started the book)! Keep reading/voting/being awesome! Katherine xxx