Chapter 2

Three hours later, Sam was no closer to getting a room assignment in the female dorms. Apparently the computer system classified her as male because of her name, and not only were the people in the housing office unable to fix it, but even if they could fix the computer glitch, they couldn’t put her in a female dorm because they were full. You’ve got to be kidding!

At first, they acted like it was no big deal, saying that she could just get an apartment. She argued, yelled, and generally was the kind of pain that all customer service workers hated, but she was hanging on by a thread and could not afford an apartment. After making calls to the financial aid office, the housing department, student services, and even legal, the scholarship office eventually called and told the housing office to figure something out ‘or else.’

So, they offered her a choice. She could stay in the dorm she was assigned, with Mick Royce, Alyx Collins, and another man she hadn’t met named Paxton Warner, until they found a better solution. Or she could sleep on the couch in one of the female dorms with four strangers. As a foster kid, Sam knew the math about that. A bed with one cool dude, one grump, and one stranger was a better deal than four strangers and a couch, no matter what was between their legs. More people, more unknowns, meant more problems.

So they called room seven, spoke to Mick, and walked her back. There were a few people still moving in, but for the most part, things seemed to have settled down in the halls, though behind doors, things were probably still getting settled.

After knocking on room seven, Mick opened the door and ushered them in. A young man sat on one of the couches looking up in curiosity. Alyx was dressed differently, but still sporting a scowl as he leaned against the door jamb to his room. She could only hope she wouldn’t have to share with him. She’d share a room with Mick or the stranger.

Mick warned Alyx and Paxton that Sam would be staying, and the housing official confirmed it. The older woman also made it very clear that, for everyone’s protection, if anything inappropriate happened between Sam and any of the men sharing the dorm, there would be official reprimands in their files.

After the woman left, there was an awkward silence, until Paxton spoke up. “Ugh, hey. I’m Paxton. Your roomie.”

She took his offered hand and shook it firmly. “Sam.”

Mick chuckled, “Since you and Paxton are first years, and me and Alyx have been dorm mates for a while, I figured it was easier if you two took a room and I bunked with him. That cool?”

Alyx rolled his eyes. “No, because I fucking hate you.”

As if this was a normal occurrence, Mick smirked. “Love you too, asshole.” He leaned over to Sam. “Sorry about the language.” He glared over his shoulder at the taller man. “Watch your mouth. We have a young lady living here now.”

“For fuck’s sake, I’m not changing because some girl moved in.” He snorted, marching over to stand in front of Sam, who had to crane her neck to look up at him. “You don’t get special privileges. No extra shower time, don’t leave your girly crap everywhere, and keep your fucking clothes on. First come first serve on the TV, and if we watch sports and not kissing movies, you don’t say shit about it.” At that, Paxton went wide eyed and stared at Sam from behind Alyx, mouthing the words, kissing movies like it was the most unreal thing he had ever heard.

But Alyx just kept going. “Don’t try to set us up with your friends, don’t try to fix us or change us or use your womanly wiles on us. We cuss and stink and drink out of the carton. We’re not your fucking errand boys, brothers, or pseudo-boyfriends.” He punctuated what was apparently the end of his rant with a point of his finger at Sam, then at Paxton, and finally at Mick, who just scratched the back of his head and gave Alyx an incredulous look.

With that, he retreated to his and Mick’s room with a slam of the door.

There was a long moment of silence when the three of them just stared at each other and the closed door. Finally, Sam started to chuckle. “That guy has issues.” They dissolved into laughter, and all Paxton could say was, “Kissing movies!” as he panted out deep belly laughs, while Mick wiggled his fingers and laughed about womanly wiles like they were magic spells.

After they got that out of their system, Mick and Paxton showed her the room she would share with Paxton, and the rest of the small double dorm. As they were settling into the common room, Mick cracked a beer for each of them, but hesitated when he got to Sam. “Hey um, not to be rude, but… how old are you?”

Sam blushed. “Uh… Eighteen?”

Without another word about it, Mick kept the beer and took it back to the kitchen, tossing her a bottle of water instead. They spent the next few hours chatting and getting to know each other, without more than a few sounds, to show that Alyx was in the other room.

That night, she changed in the bathroom and crawled into her new bed, ignoring the soft breaths of the man in the bed a few feet away. This is not what she imagined her first day at the Academy to be like, but it still beat sharing a room with eight other kids. So for her, it was a success.