Doodled Hearts

Chapter Seven

The campus became clustered with students slowly but surely. The last weeks of the holiday were the fastest. Students were moving into their rooms again, some trying to get new ones. The new senior prefects were getting their keys to move into the White House, which was the most comfortable dormitory on the entire campus. Jane was going to stay there when she got back.
Kankri was roaming around the Ivanka dorm, picking up rubbish. Some teens were kind enough to help, they were mostly grade eights.

The town outside the school was also busy, clustered with youngsters buying stationary and other school supplies. Roxy had dragged the two boys along to go to the small shopping center, forcing them to help pick this from that. She was quite violent in the process, tugging the fellas here and there. Dirk was surprised he still had his hand after that escapade. 
They sat at the Hog Wagon now. Roxy's lips were numb from talking too much, telling the boys tales from New York. She also talked about Jane. She said that Jane missed the boys terribly, and that she would only be back on the last day of summer. 
"And what did you dorks do this vacation?" Roxy asked, gulping down some cola.
"Nothing too exciting." Dirk replied. Roxy had a look of diappointment, "Not even some gay snogging?"
Jake choked on his milkshake.
"Nope." Dirk replied, his voice painfully monotone, and then looked at Jake. He tried to chuckle and looked at Roxy, "I assure you, Rox, there was no gay activity of any sort." Sadly.
"Sorry to disappoint." Dirk spoke to Roxy, but kept his hidden eyes on Jake. His face was a pink hue, his eyes exhausted from the hectic shopping trip. 
To be honest though, from a detailed point of view, this summer was incredibly gay. The amount of times Dirk's hands found them on (or in) Jake's was rather abundant. There were endless amounts of moments, but the one that absolutely got the award was a few days before Roxy reunited with them. They were sitting in the library, the book shelves were their barricades. English's laptop was plugged in and they shared a pair of earbuds. They were watching some funny videos on YouTube, and they took turns to share each other's sense of humor. There was this one video that got to Dirk, and he laughed his ass off. He snorted and cackled and even shed a small tear of joy. This magnificent laugh made Jake stare at Dirk, and for a long while too. He stared with awe. Dirk noticed after a while of cackling and stared back at him... and they just stared.
"Yep. Ever so sorry Roxy." Jake showed off his teeth with a smile, and Roxy returned it.

Jake had moved out of Dirk's room the following morning. He had signed up for a private room, and he got it. The room was now very empty, even with Roxy in the room. She was sitting on Dirk's bed, painting her toenails. Dirk let out a huff, and took off his shades. His pupils shrunk when light hit them. He sat on his bed at Roxy's feet, watching her slim fingers carefully brush the blue-black liquid onto her nails.
"What's wrong, Dirky?"
"Rufioh is coming back and...."
"And?" Roxy pulled the brush back to re-coat it with polish.
"And Jake moved out. Do you know how quiet it's going to be in here?"
"Super quiet?"
"So fucking quiet." He sighed dramatically. Roxy's eyes darted from her petite toes to Dirk's naked eyes. She had a soft smile on her face. Her face always looked softer without any makeup. Dirk met her gaze and replied with a quizzical look. Roxy bobbed her eyebrows, and he forced himself to not understand her message.
"What?"
"Oh shut up, Dirky. I know you like that Mr. English. I don't blame you, he's soooo cute."
Dirk knew that he couldn't fight with Roxy; he just looked at his sock-covered feet and sucked in some air, "I know right?"
"Well? Go get him."
"I can't just go get him," he shook his head, "it's not that easy."
"Why?"
"He... he makes me feel like some simpleton. I hate it," Roxy giggled. Dirk continued, "he makes me forget the English language. His voice is like a song that I can't remix because it's already so fucking perfect. His eyes drive me insane. It's so unfair, Roxy. How can anyone do this to Dirk Strider? Dirk Strider is not weak."
"It's not a weakness, Dirky." Roxy screwed the nail polish bottle closed, prepared to speak again. Dirk furthered his poem:
"It is. I can't focus. He makes me feel like a ragdoll when he is near, and when he is near everything else just blurs out. It's like everything else is erased into dirty smudges and he is the only perfect line. He is just one line of perfection, with no end to it. He is... He is everything I want."
Roxy stared at Dirk with wide eyes. Dirk had never been so poetic in his entire life, and Roxy loved this side of him. 
"From his tanned skin, to his dorky-ass laugh, to his perfect lips with do that funny thing when he is curious. It twitches into some sort of sly smirk, but it isn't sly because his eyes scream 'adventure'. He is everything I am not and..."
"He completes you?" Roxy hummed. Dirk nodded, and breathed fast, as if he just let out all the steam he had inside him.
"He completes me..."
_________________________

Rufioh probably wrapped himself in a cocoon and morphed into a much more taller, buffer self over the summer. When he opened the door Dirk was ready flinch and look away. If Dirk was a vampire, Rufioh was his holy water. The thing was... those toned arms and broader shoulders just caught Dirk off guard. To him, Rufioh was this scrawny asshole who was just a tad taller than him.
Dirk stared at Rufioh as he stood in the door way, a wide smile stretched out his thin lips.
"Hey! Long time no see, amigo." Rufioh stomped toward Dirk, and pulled him into a hug. Dirk pushed him away.
"Yeah. That long time was pretty enjoyable. Also... where is Rufioh? Is he behind this big douche?" Dirk leaned to the sides, pretending to look behind his roommate. Rufioh let out a chuckle.
"I'm right here, man!" Dirk smirked slightly, in a fake sense of course.
"Oh? I didn't know. Hey Rufioh," He pushed the boy out of the way and walked toward the door. Dirk sighed, he could feel Rufioh's sulking eyes on him now. He looked over his shoudler, "welcome back."

Dirk stumbled in the hall way. A sudden rush of memory flooded back into his mind, and it made him dizzy. His eyes even had a haze to them. He bumped into Kankri on the way, who gave him a sort of disheartened look. He bothered to ask what was wrong but Dirk pushed him away.
The feeling of heartache had hit him and he hated it. He hated it more than having a crush on Jake. Rufioh didn't look like that since they first met... after a certain incident he just stopped working out and his muscles bid him farewell, but it looked like they were having a fun reunion now.
Dirk sucked in some air and walked down the stairs, meeting Jake at the bottom. Together they made their way to the White House. Jane was arriving soon.
Jake attempted to ask the other what was wrong, but Dirk refused to speak. He was too stubborn, and also slow with revealing personal information. While Dirk knew almost everything about Jake, Jake knew only the basics about Dirk - and even some of those are lies.

When Jane arrived the three muskateers greeted her with all the fanfare possible. There was a cake and everything. The fanfare was more of a 'Congrats' sort of thing, since she was a senior prefect now. She was going to wear a white tie and a white blazer instead of navy blue. She, and the rest of her friends, were terribly excited.
Sadly, the other prefects didn't let the rest go into the White House. Instead they went to the park. The park was empty at this time, and so Jake brought his guitar along. They sat under the tree near the pond and just talked. It was nice, for the most part. Talking. It was the perfect distraction for Dirk, especially with his state of mind. After a while the group parted; Jake still needed to unpack and Jane needed to start unpacking. Dirk walked Roxy back to her dorm, and they stayed there for a while. He couldn't go in the girl's dorm, and so they just sat outside.
The last evening of summer was always the best. The sky was a light lavender, with the stars slowly pouring out from it like a clogged up glitter shaker onto a black velvet sheet. Dirk had his eyes plastered on the sky. Roxy held his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. 
"From the look you're conveying either Jake rejected you or Rufioh arrived today." Roxy spoke softly.
"Rufioh... he looks like his old self."
Roxy gasped, "Oh shit." Dirk nodded as a reply and added,
"I know what he's doing. He's screwing with me, the little dickhead."
Roxy huffed, "I don't think he's doing it to get to you. Maybe he just wants to bring up his self-esteem or some shit? You never know, Dirky. And anyway, you need to focus on Jake. More fisherman are coming to this lake, Dirk, and Jake is the catch of the day."
"What?"
"You know what I mean!"
Dirk looked at Roxy and she pulled away to give him a serious look. He brought his hands up and rub his eyes, and then he rested his head on Roxy's lap. He faught the tears for as long as possible. He couldn't get a single word in, if he did it would be like pulling the trigger that would spark a sprinkler. Instead he just squeezed the fabric of her skirt,

"I hate him so much." He mumbled after a while, and with that two tears fell from his eyes.