Hot to the Touch

Back a Year

I unload two of my bags from the car with my best mate, Pj, by my side. He grabs two of his bags as well and closes the trunk of the car with a slam. "Let's go, babe." I hear Peej's voice ring out from beside me. "Babe?" I ask with a raised eyebrow at him, "What? I thought maybe I could pull off being that cool sly guy that can call everyone babe." He says in defense and I let out a small chuckle. "Okay, babe." I say and he punches my arm playfully with a bright smile upon his face. We then begin to walk away from the vehicle and inside the building to quickly get our room keys before heading up to our dorm.

When we enter there's a lady who looks to be in her mid thirties behind a desk with a group of kids already in front of her as they anxiously wait to get their keys to their room. We stand in there in the messy line of people as we wait and move up a step with every one person who gets their key. "Your plan if we end up getting rooms on the top floor?" I ask while looking over at the curly haired boy, "I think we should build a giant slide outside out window and so we could have a fun ride down everyday." Pj says and hums softly as I think about it, "But that still means we would have to walk up the stairs everyday. I'm not fit enough to do that! Look at these noodle arms I have!" I say with my arm stretched out and flailing towards Peej. "Well lucky for you walking up those stairs require leg exercise and not arm." He says with a smile as we take once again another step forwards in the line. I then give him a playful kick, "No. Half way through climbing those stairs my legs will give out and I'll have to use my noodle arms to drag myself up to the dorm." I say with a small chuckle and moments later we're face to face with the woman at the from desk.

"Welcome boys to your first day at Manchester. I assume you lads know each other so you should fit in right along here." The lady said with a plastered on smile to seem welcoming. "May I have your last and first names please?" She asks and we nod. "Pj Liguori." Says well of course Pj Liguori and she begins to type, but then stops. "Sorry, but may I ask how you spell your last name?" The chocolate hair woman asked and Peej nodded. "It's L-I-G-U-O-R-I" He spells out for her and she nods while typing it. "Okay, thank you very much. Your dorm is 222. Seems like an easy one to remember. Here's your key." She says while handing him the key to his dorm. "Now let me get your mate here and you two better be on your way before even more people pile up and flood this area." She says and looks at me in this way as if she's asking me the questions she was asking Pj earlier but not verbally saying them. "My name's Phil Lester." I say and she nods before typing it into the computer. "Okay. Your dorm is 634. Here's your key." She says and hands me my dorm room key that looks like it's been through somethings that I don't even want to know about. I then look over at Pj and I see him looking back at me.

"Um..." I look down to check the  lady's name tag, "April. Is there anyway that you could change our dorms to be together?" I ask her with pleading eyes. "I'm sorry, but there's really nothing I can do about this right now." She says calmly and I sigh a bit before looking back at Peej. "April, please? There must be something you can do. You see Phil and I have been friends for such a long time. It would be a crime. No a sin to do this to us. You can't just separate the two of us like this." Peej says in a begging tone as we  desperately wish that she could just magically switch everything to where it wasn't like this. "I'm really sorry, but like I said before there's nothing I can do to help you out. Now there's people behind you still waiting and I can't hold up everyone for this." She says and then signals for the person behind us to come up.

We move out of the way of the people getting there keys and look at each other. "I guess this isn't the end of the world... just pretty much one of the worst things that could have happened today that doesn't include getting seriously injured or dying." I say and the emerald eyed boy sighs softly before looking into my eyes. "Hey. It'll be fine, and maybe if we're lucky we can sweet talk our roommates into switching rooms with so we can be together." He says and a nod with a half smile on my face. "Now let's go meet the suckers who might have to put up with us for the next while." Peej says as we begin to walk up the stairs since this place doesn't have any stupid lifts to bring us up.

When we make it to the second floor it's time for Pj and I to separate for now. "Good luck with these stairs, Philly boy. Remember I won't be there to help you if you pass out on them." He says before giving me a pat on the back and waving. "Well if you don't see me later just know that I died on the stairs and that my ghost will forever haunt you." I say and start waving bye to him a well. Once he's gone I begin to force myself to grudgingly carry myself and two bags up the flights of stairs.

After all that work of climbing those stairs I finally make it to my floor. "Oh thank fucking god." I mumble to myself with my body hunched over and my tired arms dragging my bags on the ground. "Why did anyone think it was a good idea to make so many stairs?" I ask myself as I begin to straighten up and walk down the hall where my dorm is. After a few moments I find it and stare at the door as if I'm scanning it for secret traps. "Room 634." I mumble to myself before jamming the key onto the lock and turning it.

I step into the room and find that someone is already in here and unpacked as well. The boy's tall like me and 'is feet stick out over the length of the bed much like mine will more than likely do. He has brown hair that curls a tab bit at the edges and I can only presume that he straightens it regularly. "It's not polite to stare, blue eyes." The boy says with a rather posh accent as he looks up from his laptop that he was previously looking at. "Oh, uh, I- I'm sorry." I say awkwardly while walking deeper into the room to set my bags down on what I'm guessing is my bed since he's laying on the other. 

I then let out a soft sigh as I begin to unzip my bag to get out my phone charger out so I can charge my phone up a bit before heading out later to meet up with Pj. I then begin to think about how great it would be if it were me and Peej instead of me and this kid who I don't know yet and bite my lip a bit. "So what's your name, roomie?" I ask while turning around to face him. "Does it really matter to you if you know? We're just roommates. You have your own life and I have mine. You don't need to try and force yourself to make an effort to be my friend. " He says and I look at my feet on the ground, not knowing what to say.

I turn back to my bag and unpack some more as he puts on his headphones and watches what I pray to god isn't porn. The awkward encounter with him was all I need from him for today. Figuring out that he is watching porn minutes after first seeing each other would just be the end of me.