"the black haired girl"

iii

the next night, however, william was getting ready for the club.

"man, i'm not gonna repeat myself another time, just wear the white one!" henry sat on his bed, leaning up against the headboard. he was reading, until william had asked for his opinion on what to wear. he was debating between a plain white tee, or a purple polo.

"fine, fine," william agreed. he threw the hanger with the white shirt onto his bed, before going back over to the closet to hang up the polo. he was a little sad putting it away, but he supposed henry was right: a polo was too formal for a club setting, and especially one where he wanted supposed to come off causally.

he walked over to his bed, and took off the logo tee he'd been wearing. balling up the shirt, he threw it in the pile of dirty clothes he and henry shared in the corner of the room. neither of them felt like buying a hamper, or a basket, or any kind of thing to separate or even hold their dirty laundry. every week, they alternated who'd go and wash the clothes.

coincidentally, that day was supposed to be one of william's turns, but the two of them had forgotten. henry would end up letting them spin while william was out.

william stretched, raising his arms behind his head. he was getting slightly more anxious by the second, knowing he might see that beautiful woman again in a matter of minutes. when he let his arms fall by his sides again, they didn't rest for long before he reached them out to take his shirt off the hanger.

henry watched as william clothed himself. "see, you look fine." william turned around, facing henry. he looked down at himself, and pinched at the plain shirt.

"i guess so."

shrugging it off, he walked over to their bathroom, where he wanted to touch up his hair. he picked up his comb off the vanity, and he ran it through his brown hair. he quite liked his haircut; it was an undercut, but he kept the long part of it, long. it fell a bit below his ears. every month he scheduled appointments at the barber to keep the shaved part short.

after setting down the comb, both of his hands held onto the vanity. he looked at himself in the mirror, into his own eyes. brown and dull, yet, at this point in his life, they were beginning to be as full of life and love as they'd ever be.

a few more moments of silent but internal contemplation passed, before william decided he was ready to go. it was nearly 10, which was he left the previous night. with that, he decided it was time.

"i'm going now," he announced to henry as he stepped out of the bathroom. he closed the door, and started looking for his shoes.

"your shoes are over here," henry pointed to beside william's bed. when william looked up, sure enough, he was right. he walked over to his bed, and sat down to put them on. "so, do you have a game plan of any sort?"

"i mean, more or less." william tied his purple converse as he spoke. "it's basically just a plan for me to not completely fuck up any interaction."

henry chuckled. "that's fair."

william stood when he finished tying his shoes. he felt his pockets, double checking for his wallet, which was in his right back pocket.

"good luck, again," henry spoke back up before william walked away.

"thanks, henry," william smiled. henry returned the smile. the two of them nodded to one another before they parted.

henry watched william leave the dorm, and after the door was shut, he tossed his book aside.

he got off of his bed, and he immediately went over and kneeled in front of the tv. after turning it on, he began tuning it to a program that william hated. he couldn't watch it when he was in the room, or he wouldn't stop groaning of frustration the entire time. he was glad he finally had time alone to view it.