Better Than Dreams

Lin

Sebastian

Really? Of all the people in this godforsaken school? Blondie? God, he probably had an IQ of 30! (Highly inferior to my IQ of 163.) He was cute, I'll admit. But he was also straight, and had no other redeeming qualities. Plus, blue eyes had always been my type.

I'd walked out of the dorm with no real idea of where I was going. I remember walking down a few flights of stairs, running my hand along the numbers plated in bronze on the doors to other people's dorms and stopping at dorm 342. I only just realized what I was doing when I'd already knocked on the pine wood door. Shit. Do I run, hide, pretend it's the wrong door, or stay? I wanted to just keep walking, but I knew I'd walked here for a reason so--

"Seb? Why are you here? Your dorm is on floor five." Lin's smooth voice caught me off guard. It had gotten deeper since he was younger. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Made me feel even younger than before. Lin had always liked to stress the fact that I was 'little and insignificant.' Little, not really. I was quite tall compared to most people, but insignificant? Not sure I had a valid way to refute that.

"Sebastian, if you don't mind. I'm not a kid anymore." I tried to sound uninterested and miffed.

"Sure. My question still stands. What do you want?" Lin's voice sounded tired and annoyed, but not at me. Guess being head boy was finally getting to him. I smirked despite myself.

"What? I can't say hi to my dear brother?" I said dismissively.

"You? No. You haven't willingly spoken to me since..." He trailed off, not wanting to mention the accident. Losing our parents had hit both of us harder than either of us would've liked to admit.

"Bored." I said simply.

"You have a dormmate." Lin never got references. Never even watched TV. Just read books written hundreds of years ago. The newest thing he'd read was probably The Great Gatsby. (Which was written in 1925)

"He's also boring." I whined, stretching out the vowels.

"Have you tried talking to him? That might help." Lin said with a smirk.

"Oh, fuck you." I turned and started walking toward the library.

"Hey! Seb- Sebastian, wait." I swiveled my head back to get another look at Lin, who had stepped out of his room and was standing in the middle of the hallway. "I also have a dormmate, but he'll probably like –or at least tolerate you. You want to stay here for a bit?"

I was confused by his offer, and I knew it would be out of character for me to say yes, but I hadn't even had a normal, actual conversation with him in years. So, I just nodded and walked toward him. I saw him smile slightly, his blue eyes, the same hue as mine, lighting up with surprise and- was that affection? He stepped aside, letting me into his slightly-bigger-than-mine dorm.

"Yo! Lin, my man! Who's this little guy? He gunna crash here? We got some spare blankets and stuff, I think!" Lin's roommate was slumped in a chair near his bed, a Nintendo Switch in his hands. He was a bit chubby, had skin the colour of milk chocolate, and a giant black afro. Everything he said seemed to end in an exclamation point. Lin gave me a sympathetic smile which I almost returned, almost. Forget about Tom, – was that his name? - this guy probably had zero IQ.

"I'm Sebastian. Lin's brother. And I'm not sure if I'm 'gunna crash here.' I'm just saying hi, I suppose." I said, mocking his previous comment. Lin shot me a disapproving look before pulling up a chair in the corner of the room for me. He slid his closer.

"Sorry about Axel. He's not that bad, once you get to know him. I guess." Lin tried to defend his dormmate.

"I'm not deaf, you know!" Axel called, trying to feign hurt, but failing miserably due to his constant fits of laughter.

Lin ignored him and stumbled over the magazines scattered haphazardly around the room to the small kitchen. He started opening and closing cabinets, looking for something to offer me, I presumed.

"All we have are pretzels." Lin said sadly, casting a glance at me. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah." Lin threw me a half-eaten bag of pretzels and returned to his seat next to me. "Thanks." I said quietly, almost quiet enough to be considered a whisper. Lin looked startled. Had I never thanked him before? Guess not...

"So, do you know who your teachers are?" Lin said after a minute, tried to start a conversation. At least he was trying.

"Don't really care. Except for science, of course. I have a- uh, Mr. Darawere."

Lin smiled and preceded to tell me about Mr. Darawere. He really did know everything about this school. As much as I hated to admit it, Lin was a pretty good head boy. A shitty brother, but hey. You win some, you lose some. 

Big thanks to my first reader, @philshouseplant16! Thank you for all your nice comments! 

It was great to wake up and see that someone actually likes my story! (This sounds pathetic, I know)

Also, I am getting a cover made, so the story won't look all unprofessional for long! :D

-Rayne