Another Unlikely Love Story

Chapter 2

Sienna

The drive to Stanford was lonely, it would've been nice if dad came along for the ride but he had to work. Instead, I turned up the radio and sang along to every classic rock song that came on and thought about Carl, he loved classic rock. He was the one who got me hooked on bands like AC/DC, CCR, Kansas, and The Headstones. When I turned seventeen, Carl had surprised me with tickets to go see Kiss perform and also backstage passes to go meet them in person. It was one of the best things I'd experienced in my life. He'd promised to take me to see Led Zeppelin after him and my dad got married, but we weren't able to make it.

By the time I pulled up into campus, it was noon and my stomach was rumbling. I decided to at least bring my little boxes into the dorm room. I was on my own for unloading all my stuff, which wasn't too hard considering all I owned was my research books, my laptop, some small furniture and bedding, and some family pictures of my dad, Carl, and I. Anything else was just a small selection of clothing- I would be going back to my dad's house for the rest of it at a later time- two pairs of shoes and some jewelry that Carl had bought for me to wear to the wedding: a dainty silver charm bracelet and a pair of matching earrings.

As I was getting a box out of my truck, another one fell to the ground. I hopped off of the tire I was standing on to pick it up. Being as short as I was, it was difficult to get all of my stuff out of my truck without fully climbing in and getting my white t-shirt dirty.

"Hey there, you need some help?" I turned around to see a guy behind me wearing a tight black v-neck shirt, khaki shorts, and a large tattoo on his right forearm. He looked tough and he startled me because I didn't hear him approach me.

"Umm, no thanks, I'm fine." I looked at him again and changed my mind after seeing his bulging biceps and his towering height, "Actually, that would be super helpful. Thank you."

"I'm Jake Caggiano by the way." He had a hint of a southern accent in his voice.

"Sienna Winslow. I would shake your hand but my own are kind of full."

We continued making small talk as we unloaded my truck and we followed the map I got at the front desk through the maze of dorm rooms to find mine, room 42C up on the third floor. I opened the door and looked around, empty boxes were everywhere and the other bed had been made and there were clothes carelessly thrown on top.

"Looks like my roommate's already here."

"Too bad you didn't get first pick of the bed. The window sides are always the best. I would know, this is only my sophomore year here and I'm on my 6th dorm room."

"Why have you had so many?" I asked as I started opening boxes and stripping everything of last month's newspapers.

"Well, I request to be put with girls all the time, and they never let me stay for long. The girls complain I'm invading their space when really I just want outfit opinions." He kneeled down and helped cut open boxes with my Exacto knife.

"You? A tough looking straight guy needing outfit opinions? Of course they requested for you to be kicked out, they probably thought you were crazy and that you were going to rape them or some other bullcrap they could've possibly made up."

"Well honey, I'm quite far from straight. My sexuality is as straight as... I don't know. A cooked spaghetti noodle I guess!"

"Really!? I never would've guessed. How long?"

"How long what? How long until my next date? How long have I been single? How long is my p-"

"Whoa, whoa. Just gonna stop you right there friend, don't need to hear those details, not even interested in that line of merchandise. I was going to say how long have you been gay?"