Uncovered

Orientation Day

Oliver's face burst into a smile as he hopped out of the car to overlook the field full of soon to be university students. He turned back to see Mikey slowly swinging his legs out of the car and sliding out. Moving towards the trunk of the car, Oliver pulled his and Mikey's bags out for the weekend orientation. 

"I wish you could see that goofy grin on your face right now. You just ruined any chance you had at meeting any girls," Mikey teased.

As Oliver was about to reply, a girl with beautiful red hair caught his eye. Her eyes quickly traveled down his figure before shooting back up. They made eye contact for a moment. Oliver watched her face turn a bright shade of pink before she turned away. 

Oliver let his eyes linger on her for a bit longer before turning back to Mikey to say, "I think you're wrong about that."

Mikey let out a soft chuckle as his eyes drifted over the red headed girl. She was truly beautiful. From afar, she looked like a sweet girl that was also gifted with a gorgeous figure. With a glance at Oliver, Mikey caught him staring at the girl again. The spit caught in Mikey's throat. With a loud raspy cough, Mikey swung his arm around Oliver and turned him back towards the trunk of the car.

"We have to focus on orientation. Stop staring like a creep," Mikey said in a laugh.

Oliver waved his hand, communicating 'yeah yeah'. The two boys locked up the car and walked into the field towards the large lines of people. They looked at each other in hopes the other would know what to do, but this was new to both of them. It wasn't long before they figured out they were supposed to line up at the tent with the first initial of their last name. Luckily, their last names were grouped together. The two lined up in the loud, misshapen line. The sun was beaming down strong and sweat began to form on Oliver's forehead.

"Goddamn, it's so hot! It's like the line isn't even moving!" Oliver complained up into the sky towards no one in particular.

"I know, they should've done this inside or given us hats or something."

Mikey's head tilted towards the voice that just spoke. Another future student took the opportunity to make Oliver's complaint into a conversation. This wasn't unusual. Oliver was an open person and welcomed anyone into his business. He radiated friendliness, which was something Mikey always appreciated about him. Oliver was no stranger to being the odd one out. One day he suddenly became conventionally attractive and Mikey was no longer the only one to take up all his attention. The girls came flooding in. At school, after school, family trips - there was never a shortage of women grasping for Oliver's attention. There were even a few guys. Oliver always said it was easier to turn them down because he "really wasn't attracted to men. It doesn't make sense to feel guilty about rejecting someone when it wouldn't end up in happily ever after for either party". Coming out of his thoughts, Mikey's eyes met the person who was complaining to Oliver.

"Uh-okay. Your friend is a quiet one..."

"Nah, Mikey's just not much of a talker. He's more of the silent, bruting type. He'll warm up to you," Oliver reassured his new friend.

Loosing himself in his thoughts really helped the time go by. Mikey noticed it shouldn't be more than a few minutes before they got to the tent. A soft 'next' was announced and the guy talking to Oliver turned around quickly. 

He walked up to a woman sitting in a folding chair and announced, "Kyle Roberts." 

She shuffled through the stacks of folders for a while until she noticed his name. Another 'next', this time yelled, came from the woman next to the one helping Kyle. Oliver shoved a bag to Mikey before walking up and stating his name. Kyle walked away and Mikey stepped into his spot before the woman needed to say next.

"Michael Evans," he spoke softly.

He watched her shuffle through folders before turning to look at Oliver. He had another big, goofy grin on his face.

"Okay, here you go. All the information you need is in this folder! This is your name tag, make sure you wear it at all times. You're entering as an anthropology major, so your lanyard is red. The orientation groups are created with majors in mind. You are in group 5B. Your orientation leader is Sam. Right after this, go ahead to that circular area of the field and find your group. Your orientation leader will be going over room assignments for this weekend. Welcome to Riviere University, Michael!"

Mikey smiled politely before walking to the side where Oliver was waiting for him. Obviously excited, Oliver pulled Mikey towards the field where the orientation leaders were holding signs up with they group numbers.

"I'm in group 2A. What group are you in?"

"5B. How are you gonna survive without me to help you out?" Mikey smirked.

"Hey, I'm a college man now! I got this," Oliver laughed.

"I think this is your group right here," Mikey pointed.

Oliver squinted at the sign and started walking towards it. He turned and began walking backwards, giving two thumbs up to Mikey. A cheer came from the small group as Oliver approached. Alone, Mikey continued walking until he found his own group. Another cheer erupted as they noticed him walking towards them. With loud welcomes from the leader, Mikey became another body in the literal field of people. Another cheer snapped him out of his thoughts. The girl with the red hair from earlier walked into the circle of group 5B. She gave a sheepish smile to the group. Her eyes settled on Mikey; she recognized him as the guy standing next to the handsome stranger she made eye contact with. She smiled at him, but he didn't seem to notice. 

"What's your name?"

"Kayla," she squeaked. 

"Nice, okay! Kayla Finn. Welcome to group 5B," the orientation leader cheered.

Kayla couldn't help but glance over to Mikey every so often as they waited for the rest of their group to arrive. More than once, she caught him stretching his neck to get a better view of the field. Finally, he found what he was looking for. Following his gaze, Kayla searched for what Mikey was so desperate to find. The handsome stranger that made her blush was at the end of Mikey's gaze. She turned back to watch his face and then back to the handsome stranger. Once again, she refocused her stare onto Mikey, but this time he was staring back at her. They held eye contact for what felt like minutes before he turned away.