The New Separation (Book 2)

Chapter 4

Colton

If I thought my dorm room was small when only my stuff was in here, it was downright tiny once Danny unpacked all his stuff. I didn't know if we were going to make it through the whole year like this. If he didn't end up hating me because of who I was dating, then he'd probably end up hating me just because there'd be no escape from each other.

There was suddenly a knock on the door. Danny looked at me, as if I knew who was there, but I had no clue. Alec wouldn't just show up like that without texting me first, even if he didn't already know his roommate that was moving in today. And anyone else on the team was probably busy doing other things. So I shrugged and opened the door.

In the hallway stood a girl quite a few inches shorter than me with flaming red hair that was a mass of curls on her head. She had a huge smile on her face when I opened the door.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "I'm Aleena. My room's right across the hall from your's, so I thought I'd come by to introduce myself. Can I come in?" She didn't wait for me to answer before she was walking in, still talking. "Oh hi!" she said, just noticing Danny. "I'm Aleena. I'm in the room across the hall. My mom told me to make friends here, so that's what I'm doing. I hope we can be friends. What are your names?"

I spoke first, in that brief pause of hers. "I'm Colton."

She didn't even give Danny a chance, almost ignoring that he was there. "Really? That such a cool name! Do you go by Colt or something, that would be cool."

I quickly shook my head. "Just Colton. Please." I hated nicknames. It was bad enough that Kyle called me Cole sometimes and, I have to admit, it was hot when Elliot called me Colt, but that was only when we were having some private fun together. If he calls me that in public, it's just gross. I didn't need random people I just met calling me that too.

"That's cool too. Colton. I'll remember that." Then she turned to Danny. "And you?"

He hesitated a second before answering, probably just intimidated by her outgoingness. "Uh, Danny."

Aleena smiled. "You sure about that, there?" Danny awkwardly nodded his head before sitting down in the chair at his desk. "I'm only kidding. I think I'm going to like you guys." She then eyed me, not too secretly. "Definitely."

I took a step back, knowing what that look meant. "Hey, you're pretty and all, but I'm already taken. But the friends thing I think I can handle." Hopefully.

"Damn, the cute ones are always off limits," she muttered under her breath. Then she looked at Danny again. "What about you? Dating anyone?"

Danny looked almost sick. Maybe he really didn't like her, or conversations in general. "No."

My phone started buzzing in my pocket and I looked down to see Elliot calling me. As much as I wanted to answer it, I couldn't with Danny and Aleena here to possibly overhear. I didn't want them to know I had a boyfriend just yet. Especially not Danny. And I had a feeling if Aleena knew, so would the rest of the building by the end of the day.

So I excused myself from the room, hoping the hallway was a better option.

Elliot

"Hey, babe," Colton said, answering his phone. I heard what might have been a door closing on his side. "You didn't just wake up, did you?"

I laughed, looking at the time. It was just after one. Mom had left, after making me apply to some local stores. I really just wanted to talk to him now and see how he was doing. "No, I've been up for about an hour or so." I then started telling him about my job search, that I still really didn't want to do.

"I think it's a good idea," Colton said. "You should do it. Work a little bit."

I groaned, stretching out along the couch I was on. "I guess. What are you up to, anyway?" I asked, changing the subject. "No practice today, right?"

He scoffed. "Roommate moved in today. I think he's homophobic, so I haven't said anything yet. Not that it's anything against you, babe, but I want to try to get him to maybe be my friend before he hates my guts for who I'm dating?"

I sighed. I kinda had a feeling something like this was going to happen. Colton's always had a bit of an issue with people knowing about his sexuality. I know he loves me, that I'll never doubt, but sometimes I worry about him and the way he acts around strangers. I never really thought about it before, but maybe I've been thinking too much about it since he changed his profile picture last week. But that was probably me overthinking things.

"I'm sure everything will be okay," I said, unsure of what else to say. "It's up to you if you tell him. Whether you do or don't, though, I'll always support your choice."

I could hear the smile in his voice when he said his next words. "I love you, El. Always." Then the smile dropped with a "shit! Aleena!"

"I only have one thing to say to your girlfriend," a girl was saying on the other side of the phone. Then she actually started talking to me. "Hi, I'm Aleena. I just met your boyfriend and I have to say, you are very lucky and I'm jealous of you. He's so cute!" It's like she tried whispering that last part, but it came out more of a squeal. I had to pull the phone away from my ear slightly.

"Thanks?" The word was out of my mouth before I remembered she had called me Colton's girlfriend, meaning she didn't know either.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like she heard, because in the next second, Colton was speaking back into the phone, sounding like he was walking away from wherever he just was. "Sorry. She's totally crazy. I only just met her, like, five minutes ago."

I laughed. "I have to agree with her, though," I said.

"Oh?"

"You're very cute."

Colton scoffed. "I'll have you know that I'm not cute. I'm sexy."

I burst out laughing. God, how I missed him.