Secrets of the U (bxb)

First Day of Class

Ontario POV //

As I made my way to English class this morning, my mind still buzzing with that locker room moment from the other night. Tirrezz's "fruits on our football team" comment hit a nerve, and I don't need the whole world knowing I'm into dudes. Especially not my teammates - I can already imagine the gossip spreading like wildfire on Insta and Twitter: "OMG, the U has a gay football player." Like, seriously, who needs that drama in their freshman year?

Eventually, after what felt like a marathon across the campus, I finally made it to class. I scanned the room and saw most of the seats taken, except for a few in the front and one kinda in the middle by the windows. Not wanting to draw any extra attention, I quickened my pace and nabbed the seat in the middle before anyone else could swipe it.

"Good morning, everyone!... It's a tad early so I'll wait a couple more minutes for last minute stragglers to come before I begin."the professor chimed in as she strolled in, plopping her briefcase on the desk with a thud. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she was chill enough to give us a minute before starting. I took a quick look around, checking out the mix of half-awake and fully alert faces gearing up for the first day of class.

Just as the professor moved to close the door, in came a familiar face, fashionably late. It was Dedrick, my teammate, the same dude I saw naked in the showers yesterday. He shot me a quick glance and head nod before settling down in one of the open seats up front. "Great, now I have that memory on replay...." I thought while awkwardly looking away.

"Alright, let's kick it off! Welcome to Modern World Literature," Professor Wilson announced. "For most of you, this is just another English course, but for a few, it's your first rodeo. So, welcome aboard! I'm Professor Wilson, and I'll be your guide for the next eight weeks."

As I sat there, half-listening to Professor Wilson's lecture about the upcoming literary journey, my phone suddenly lit up with an Instagram notification: "Dboy_58 followed you." I brushed it off initially, assuming it was just another random follower. However, my nonchalant attitude quickly dissipated as a series of additional alerts flooded my screen: "Dboy_58 liked your post.. x3."

My confusion morphed into curiosity, as I thought about who was Dboy_58, and why they liked my posts. I sneakily glanced around the room, attempting to decode the mystery of the username before opening their profile. Dboy_58 was Dedrick, and bitch I was perplexed. Then came the flood of conflicting emotions—was he trying to reach out? Or was this some sort of inadvertent exposure waiting to happen?

As the professor rambled on, my mind was all over the place, cooking up a storm of what-ifs and maybes. When the class finally wrapped up, I made my way through the crowd. Then, out of the blue, I heard a deep voice say "Yo Bro, wait up". I pivoted slowly, playing it cool, waiting for him to catch up realizing that it was Dedrick.

"What's good, man?" I said as he walked up, giving me a dap. "I'm hitting up the cafe; I'm straight-up starving. You down?" he asked, his energy cool. I cracked a grin, shooting back, "Nah bro I'm off to my next class on the other side of campus."

"Facts, damn alone it is. Definitely gotta start setting that alarm a bit earlier, so I can grab something before my classes begin," he admitted with a chuckle, as we made our way to the elevator. "Definitely," I agreed, reaching over to press  the first-floor button. The doors glided shut, enveloping us in a momentary bubble of elevator silence.

Then, breaking the quiet, Dedrick threw out the curveball, "So, did you peep your notifications, bro?" My stomach did a little flip-flop as I met his gaze, trying to suss out the vibe behind the question. "Nah, man, my phone was on DND during class, so I didn't see anything. What's up?" I replied, trying to keep my cool.

Dedrick flashed a grin and added, "Yeah, just hit you with the follow on Insta, bro."

"Oh, cool, let me check it out," I fumbled, swiftly hitting that follow button in return.

As the elevator doors parted, he nodded and said, "Alright, catch you at practice later, bro." I watched him leave, my mind still racing about our brief conversation.