The Students

Chapter 1: The Beginning

"Are you absolutely sure that you have everything you need? We don't want you getting all the way there, just to realize that you've forgotten something." Lukas' mother fusses over him as he drags all of his boxes to his truck.
"Yes, I am absolutely positive. Can you help me with that last box? That's all that I need to get in the truck before I can leave." He tells her, breathing out a slight sigh. He stops in his tracks, realization finally hitting him. He was going away to semi-prestigious art school, Brookdale, in California.
He bites his lip in anticipation as he thinks about it. He wouldn't be able to see his family in...well, in quite a while. He knew he wouldn't have the money to get all the way back to his hometown in Michigan. Not for quite a while, at least.
"I'll be on my way out, now, then." He taps his finger on the side of his truck, looking at the house in front of him. His mother steps in front of him, blocking his view. "Look at my son...so handsome. Don't let the girls over at that school fight over you too much." She tries to laugh to hide the tears beginning to form in her eyes.
Luke laughs softly as he shakes his head. "Heh...yeah, I won't let the...girls, fight too much." He was unsure of why, but he hadn't yet revealed to his mother that he wasn't interested in the female gender. She was the person he could trust more than anybody else, and she didn't know yet.
Luke was, in fact, quite handsome to many people. He had short, ink black, slightly messy hair, which wildly contrasted his bright, icy blue eyes. He stood at a height of 6'2, with a pale skin tone. He had a small red and black devil horn piercing on the side of his nose.
His personality was also one that many people liked. He was very protective over those he cared about. He wasn't very outgoing, and mostly kept to himself, but he seemed as though he was a completely different person if he actually warmed up to you. He didn't mind getting into fights, if necessary, but he wasn't the type to actively search for them. His music interests were also an...acquired taste to most.
He gets into his truck after saying his goodbyes, and closes the door. He breathes out slowly as he presses his foot gently on the gas pedal. "I can't believe it...the first day of the rest of my life. It can only be uphill from here." He smiles widely, accelerating slightly more.

~Many, many hours later~

Luke pulls the truck up and parks it by student parking. He jumps out walks along the school's campus towards the administration office, honestly unsure of what he was supposed to be doing. He had a scholarship for the first two years of the scheduled four years of schooling.
Without looking up at the male in front of him, the woman running the administration office asked for his name.
     "It's, uh, Lukas...Lukas Reilly." He tells her softly, looking down at his shoes as he speaks. "I really don't know what I'm supposed to be doing here, in all honesty. When does the schooling begin?" He asks softly.
     The woman sighs, as if hating to spoken to, and asked questions. "You have a week before everything begins. You'll need to show proof that you are who you say, yadda yadda." She waves her hand out in front of her, as if dismissing him. "Just come back here tomorrow to set up classes and times." She tells Luke, turning away.
     Luke nods in acknowledgment, walking out. He already had a meeting set up to check out an apartment nearby the school, to see if he'd be able to get the home.
     Luke walks up to the building, going to meet the landlord. It doesn't take them very long to figure out the fact that Lukas wouldn't have the money to get the room in the apartment.
     Unsure of what to do, Luke scours the internet, and local news boards in an attempt to find a place to live. Finally, he finds something. It reads: "Roommate needed! Needs to be able to pay some of the bills, and has to be able to give money for some amenities. Call this number for Ryder." Then, a phone number is given. Luke sighs, giving the number a call.
     "Hello?" A voice on the other end speaks groggily, as if he had been woken up.
     Luke speaks up quickly. "Hi! Is this Ryder? I'm calling about the apartment roommate thing?" He asks softly. "If it isn't already filled, I'd like to do a meeting to see if I could be your new roommate." He smiles softly to himself.
     "Uh...Yeah, the space isn't filled yet. If you're free, you could come by 1892, College Ave. at 6:00 PM tonight." Ryder says softly, glancing down at his watch.
     "Yes, of course! I can definitely make that." He says excitedly. He then hangs up the phone, smiling widely. "And here I was, afraid I'd have to sleep in my truck for the next few weeks." He mutters softly to himself, walking to his truck. He opens it and turns on some music. His particular taste in music would surprise just about anyone who had just met him, as his demeanor didn't seem to match the heavy metal that he so frequently enjoyed listening to.

~6:00 PM~

     Luke rushes to the address given, having fallen asleep in his vehicle. He was now late to getting to the meeting, and he hates the fact that Ryder's first impression would be him being late. He rushes up to the room, knocking quickly on the door. A man opens the door, and the first thing that Luke notices is how handsome Ryder is. "I'm...I'm sorry I'm so late. I promise I don't usually end up late for things." He whispers, looking down at his feet.
     "Don't worry about it, at all. Everyone is late for things once in a while. Now, why do you think I should let you live here with me?" He asks, looking at Luke up and down.
     "I believe you should let me stay here with you, because I have absolutely no where to go. I can pay monthly towards bills, and I think I'm a good person to have around. I can give you advice if you need it, and I know when I'm not wanted, so you won't have to worry about me being around you constantly or anything." He laughs softly.
     Ryder examines the male in front of him once more, going over some things in his head. "Well, due to the fact that just about no one else has wanted to live here with me, I'll be accepting your offer. I expect a payment of at least one hundred and fifty dollars on the first of every single month." He smiles nicely at Luke. "Do you need any help getting your boxes inside, or anything?" He asks.
     "Well, if you don't mind helping me out with it, then sure, I'll take some help." He smiles happily and leads Ryder out to his truck, grabbing a couple of boxes at a time. Luke was, in no way, extremely muscular. He had some muscles on his arms, and abs, but that was about it. That didn't mean he wasn't strong, though, because he was extremely strong.

~1 hour later~

      "Thanks for all of the help getting all of my things inside, and thanks for allowing me to stay here with you. I can't accurately describe in words how grateful I am for all of this." He smiles at Ryder. "So...do you have anything going on tonight? Maybe I could make some food, and we could watch a movie or something? Maybe get to know each other a little bit better. I mean, we will be living together, after all, so it would be nice to learn some things about you."
     Ryder nods almost immediately. "I have absolutely nothing going on, and I would love to do that." He smiles widely and sits down on the loveseat in the living room, patting the cushion next to him gently, in a motion for Luke to sit.
     Luke sits down quickly, facing Ryder. "So...do you have a girlfriend, or anything?" He asks, curiously cocking his head to the side as he awaits a response.
     Ryder sighs softly as he hears the first question asked towards him. "I recently went through a nasty breakup with my boyfriend.." he says softly, leaving it at that. "And you?"
     "Heh...I have only ever dated one person in my life, and he broke up with me five months ago. So, you're gay, then?" Luke asks, his stomach doing flips.
     "That, I am. Nice utilization of context clues." Ryder teases jokingly. "Not to try to offend you, or anything, but I don't see you as the 'gay' type." He says softly, smiling gently.
"Yeah, well, not many people do. I'm honestly not too sure why." He laughs. "But then again, I can't see you as being gay either."
Ryder rolls his eyes. "Everyone I know had absolutely no surprise in them when I told them." He shakes his head softly.
     Luke smiles gently and stands up, walking to the kitchen. "You have, like, nothing to eat. I have some money leftover. I can run to the store to get some stuff for dinner, if you'd like?"
     Ryder nods softly, looking into the other male's eyes. "Yeah, that'd be fine. What do you plan on making?"
     "Well, is spaghetti ok with you?" He asks. "Because, honestly, I can't make much more than that." He laughs, with a slight blush.
     "That is absolutely perfect by my standards. I can't make cereal without fucking it up, so..." He laughs softly and shrugs.
     Luke nods and grabs his coat, walking out to his car, and driving to the store.