Love Is In The Smoke

Friends And More

RYAN

Since I was busy getting high the entire night, I started for class half-asleep, lost in space, barely understanding the things around me. So much for my first day at college.

What a miserable fucking life, I thought, shaking my head in annoyance.

The breakfast they served at the dorm was some kind of a blend of vegetables in soya sauce and spices and I have no idea why they called it salad. It was anything but. I skipped breakfast.

My stomach was empty, and the perilous amount of acid I was on was giving me a constant headache and some blasts from the past I’d rather not talk about. No more acid before class, I made a mental note.

I had half a mind to bunk the first day of college.

Somehow, I decided against it.

I parked my bike half a mile away because apparently, the students were too dumb to see a gigantic two-wheeler coming their way and might get hit, resulting in their guts being spilled out in the middle of the road and the college being shut down following a lawsuit, so the rest of the way to the class was to be done on foot.

I was taking off my helmet when a squeaky voice exclaimed in a G7 note,

“Dude, is that a Harley!? Tell me it’s a Harley,” he blared, his eyes shining with the twinkle of astonishment.

I looked at Hawk, and for a moment a proud smile marked my visage. It was a magnificent creature, this bike. All matte black, and an engine that could make girls on the other end of the world wet. I gave a single nod of the head, not deeming it necessary to reply.

“Holy shit! I mean, c’mon man, you must be super rich,” he exclaimed, and after a moment of thought, continued, “Can I touch it?”

“Go ahead,”

I watched in expressionless amusement as he roamed his hands over the beast, basking in the pleasure at touching its soft leather seat. I wondered if he’d never seen a heavy bike before.

I took a look at him. He was what you’d call a nerd-tryna-look-cool. He had a fairly round face, pale, very pale. Medium length blonde hair parted in the middle, black jeans, a red checkered button-up, and an odd pair of sneakers.

He looked…eccentric, in a good sort of way, though I don’t know what way that was.

“It’s a Street 750,” he said flatly, yet all his composure couldn’t hide the subtle breathlessness and amazement in his features.

“Damn right it is,” I said as I got off from it, hooking the helmet behind the seat.

“What do your parents do?”

I froze.

“What?”

“Your folks, man. What do they do? I mean, you gotta be filthy rich to buy this.”

I looked away. Scratched my neck as i spoke.

“They, um, they’re…my mother, she’s, um, actually she’s –“ 

“Uh, it’s alright, man,” he cut me off.

I don’t know what he thought of my awkward reply, but I was glad he didn’t push the topic any further.

“I’m Alan, by the way. My first day here,” he said, thrusting his hand forward for a shake.

“Ryan. Ryan Clifford,” I shook his hand, “What’s your course?”

“Undergrad. man, Computer Science,” he replied.

“No shit, Sherlock. Computer Science.” I said with a hint of a smile. I didn’t want to be rude.

“Oh man, this shit always happens in movies, you know, man. Like we meet a classmate on the very first day and all and be friends the entire college life. Shit, man. Mind if we walk together?”

“By all means, " I said politely.

We walked a monotonous walk. I barely said a thing to him. He kept talking the whole time. His constant blabbering was starting to hammer my head. So was the acid. I was feeling dizzy.

“You don’t talk much, do you? I, on the other hand, can barely contain it.”

Ugh.

“By the way, dude, did you hear about this new girl come from England, some Parker I think. A billionaire family, man, as far as I know. Dude, I’m telling you this - she’s a fairy if there ever was one on earth.”

Ah, this is it.

“You gotta see her, man, sh-“ I cut him off.

“Fuck. Stop it, man. Syllables. Fucking syllables. How hard is it for you to talk in syllables? But no, you gotta rehearse a monologue every time you open your fucking mouth. Shut the fuck up, man,” I exploded, finally. Everyone was staring at me. The hell……

“Ryan, buddy, you listening?” I heard Alan say.

What the actual fuck.

“Yo, buddy, earth to.”

Did I just zone out and imagine an entire dialogue? These drugs, man…

“Yeah, I am. I am, just got lost. First day, you see. I’m nervous,” I managed an answer.

“Uh huh, I see. So, as I was saying, you gotta see this girl, man. The entire campus, every guy in it, is like after her right now,” he said, using his hands to explain to me. He used his hands a lot, I noticed.

“What was her name again?”

“Some Parker, man, not really sure.”

I give a brief nod of the head. We kept walking.

The academic block was some 200 meters from the sorority, which was a welcome sight. The sorority girls were just as I’d imagined. We ogled shamelessly as girls came out the entrance in packs – there were blondes, brunettes, pixies, ravens, even redheads, and in all sizes too.

This is gonna be fun.

You could point a freshman there by the finger, because all of us were mentally undressing these beauties. A few of them caught us looking, some liked it, some didn’t.

A few smiled back flirtatiously at me. I mean, yeah, I’d been told all my life that I was hot, and I had had more than my fair share with the fairer sex. I’d fucked more girls than I cared to remember, and I’d done it all – in the class, in the pool, in the car, dom/sub, multiple girls. You name it, I’d done it.

But now, all this seemed meaningless, and to be frank, I didn’t have it in me to fool one more girl. It always ended up with the girl falling for me, a promise to call back, and then, nothing. I’d never look back. They were all conquests for me.
You win one, but you do not look back.

So, I chose to ignore their signals. We kept walking.

I had almost reached class.

“Hey, Ryan, man, there she is. That Parker girl,” Alan exclaimed, trying to be as low-key as possible.

“The hell, man, where?” I asked, my eyes on a military scrutiny.

“There, across the lockers, man, chatting with that hot one,” he mumbled, pointing his finger in the direction of the lockers.

“Put that fucking finger down, dumbass,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Shit, she saw me staring. I’m outta here. See you in class,” he was gone before he finished.

I followed the direction he was looking in.

And saw her face before she looked away.

HOLY. MOTHER. OF. GOD....