Chapter Two

~ Victor ~

V ictor watched his dad set down the last box from the truck. He was officially moved in. Well, he still had to unpack, but everything was in the apartment. His mom was more than excited to go shopping with him over the week. He stuck to basics for the bigger things, like a new mattress. He also got a pale blue area rug and some matching curtains that were one step down from total blackout. He had the shoe rack that Zaya gave him for his high school graduation. He imagined setting it up, having his tennis shoes next to some sandals or something. He didn't have any sandals but he could go buy them. He saved most of his money working on the ranch. His parents made him the same deal they did Paxton; if he comes home on the weekends to help around the ranch, they will pay for his schooling. He'd have to pay the monthly rent fee, but being on campus, it wasn't that extreme and all bills were included. He could swing it.

The apartment itself wasn't old, per se. It was dated, but not run down. He was on the second floor, right by the steps. Which meant the most traffic going past, but it added to the experience. At least that was what he was trying to convince himself. The door opened into the living room straight ahead. It wasn't open concept, something that Victor couldn't decide if he hated yet or not. The living room was longer than it was wide. On the right was a flat screen TV on a modern looking stand. Across from it, against the left wall that separated the first bedroom, was a three-seater couch. It was a gray color, looked new-ish. A large window was on the outside wall, overlooking the grassy area in front of the building and the back of the science building. To the left of the door was an archway that led to the small kitchen. It didn't give a whole lot of space, but they had a fridge, toaster, coffee maker, and what looked like a box of new utensils and plates sitting on the counter. There was just enough counter space to place a chopping board on one side of the electric stove and have the appliances on the other. The floor was a plain white linoleum. The hallway was about thirty feet long and a little dark, even with the overhead light. They'd have to set a lamp or something on a table at the end. To the left, past the kitchen, was the bathroom. It had a toilet and a shower, with one single cabinet and a bit of space under the sink. Again, it was all white and nothing too spectacular. The bedrooms were side-by-side to the right. The first one was the one that shared a wall with the living room. The other was at the end of the hall. They were the exact same size and layout. Two windows were set on the outside wall each, the bed frame positioned between them. There was a desk on the right, a tall dresser on the left. Each room had a closet set into the wall shared with the hallway.

His roommate had been in the apartment earlier to drop his stuff off. They only knew that because of all the sticky notes on boxes or furniture. The TV had been brought by him, the plates and utensils as well. True to his word, though, he hadn't taken a room and texted Victor through the room mate app to go ahead and pick which one he wanted. Victor went with the furthest one, directly across from the bathroom.

"Are you sure you don't need help unpacking?" his mom asked for the fifth time. They were all standing by the door. He was excited to start this, but he knew the moment they left and shut the door reality would hit him hard. He would be living away from the family for the first time.

"I'll be okay," he said. "I promise. I'll call you in a little bit once I get some stuff set up."

"You're sure you have everything?" she asked. Also again.

"I don't remember you being this worried about Paxton when we helped her move into her dorm."

"That's because we actually met her roommate," his dad said. "I don't like that he isn't here."

"Obviously he was here," Victor said. "It'll be fine. I love you, but go home."

"I love you so much," his mom said. She pulled him in for a tight embrace. "I'm so proud of you but I'm going to miss you."

"I have my car," Victor said. "And I'll be home on the weekends to help out around the ranch. It'll be okay. Okay, ow, Mom. You're actually breaking ribs."

"Sorry. Sorry." She let him go and smoothed out the wrinkles from his shirt. Then she smiled, cupped his face in her hands and proceeded to hug him once more before stepping back. His dad offered his hand for a firm handshake.

"Call us if you need anything," his dad said. "Stay out of trouble."

"Trouble? Me? Never." He grinned at the way both his parents rolled their eyes. They said one more round of goodbyes before Victor walked downstairs with them and watched them get in the truck. The apartments had a small pull around area at the back of the building that led to and from the parking lot at the edge of the campus. It was certainly convenient. He waved until his dad's truck got lost in the sea of vehicles moving around.

He was officially on his own.

There were a lot of people walking in and out. Most of the parents had already left for the evening. They'd spent about an hour going through and cleaning most of the apartment, from the kitchen sink and counters to the bedroom he chose. His mom even cleaned and sanitized everything in the bathroom.

But now he was alone in the apartment and the noise he thought they'd have with being next to the stairs was not near loud enough. He looked at the boxes he had stacked at the beginning of the hallway. Two of them were his clothes, one was the new blankets and sheets, another pillows, and the last was small knickknacks he wanted to bring with him. He kept a lot of stuff at the house. The mattress had been a bit of a pain to get through the short hallway but he and his dad made it work. He wanted to move the furniture around a little, though. The bed would turn sideways with the head of it against the right wall, under the window so the morning light would hit his face if the curtains were pulled back. The desk and dresser could go on the other wall together. He eventually wanted to get a vanity of some sort to keep his skin care products and stuff on.

His phone dinged and he opened it to see Joe had texted him. Joe was his best friend and probably would be for the rest of their lives. He knew too much about Victor to not stay around .

Before he could even get a chance to read the text, Joe's face popped up with an incoming call. That was his style; text and then decide that ten seconds wasn't fast enough and he'd call anyway. His contact photo was them at the lake earlier that year. They'd gone with his family on Spring Break and both of them spent most of the days either on the boat or chilling by the lake.

"What do you want?" Victor asked. He grabbed the box he knew had the sheets and blanket. It wasn't terribly heavy and he balanced the phone between his shoulder and ear.

"Dude, we're living on campus now."

"I take it your parents are also gone now," Victor said. He set the box down on the bed. The frame was simple, white with slats of wood in an arch as the headboard. It was a size larger than what he had at home.

"They are. And Mom wouldn't let me even sit on the mattress until it was sanitized and the protector was put on."

Victor laughed. "Mom just bought me a whole new mattress."

"That's because you have a whole new apartment. How's the roomie?"

"Don't know," Victor said. "He was here earlier, dropped his stuff off, set up some things and left a couple notes."

"Who leaves notes?" Joe made a very unattractive snorting sound on the other end of the line. "Was it like this is my milk, don't use it?"

"More like ‘hey, I got us a brand new TV and dishes so feel free to use whatever'. He also let me pick which room I wanted."

"Lucky," Joe said. "You won't be stuck with the rent, though, right? "

"Nah, rent is paid monthly but we signed agreements so I only have to pay my half to live here. I'm sure he'll be around. I know he said he's got buddies from this area so he's probably just out with them catching up or something. We'll see each other plenty once classes start."

"Imagine if you don't, though. You would essentially have an entire apartment to yourself. The people you could bring back home with you and not have to coordinate your timing."

"Oh yeah, Joe. Because my track record shows that I'll be bringing even one person back here." Victor put his phone on speaker and set it on the edge of the mattress. The bed didn't look heavy, but he wouldn't be sure until he actually started moving it. He grunted with the first push, still listening to Joe joke about all the stuff he could do living alone. It wasn't until the second grunt- the bed really was sturdier than he thought- that Joe questioned him.

"What are you doing over there?"

"I'm trying to move my bed around so it's in the corner," Victor huffed out. "It's heavier than I thought."

"How big is it?"

Victor paused and then laughed at the question. An old memory of the two of them talking one day popped into his head. Victor and Joe had been best friends since elementary school. Living far enough away from the city meant they both went to the county school system. Which meant they went through their awkward phases and discovering other people and their own bodies together. Victor remembered their conversation that started with that exact same question. He shook that memory from his mind before he let it continue. Joe was his best friend and he genuinely did not have any feelings toward him, and vice versa, but they had fooled around one night.

"It's a queen, so upgrading from my full at home."

"And here I am stuck on a twin." Joe sighed dramatically. "Think you might share with me some nights?"

"Come on, Joe." Victor pushed the bed one final time to get it in the corner of the room. His mom already put the curtains up but he could see that the sun would hit his face perfectly. "You know I applied for the apartments because I didn't want to live with you."

"Ouch, best friend. I'm going to cry now."

"Don't drown yourself," Victor shot back.

The truth was, Victor didn't mind sharing the bed with Joe. While Victor was naturally bigger than him, Joe was more of the video games variety. He was confident in his body, goofy as all get out, and was a damn good big spoon. Victor never recalled them having a conversation about it, but Joe would always pull him closer at night so they were back to front.

"I guess I'll let you go live your cool new life," Joe said. Victor rolled his eyes. "Maybe one day you'll remember me and invite me over."

"You know, just for that, I'm going to wait at least a week to invite you over."

"You hate me. I knew it. Our friendship is ending right now. This is the beginning of the end."

"You're so dramatic, dude. How about dinner at the campus restaurant later?"

"Seven o'clock, don't be late!" The line disconnected before he could agree. His clock read five. He clicked open his music playlist before setting it to the side and pulling out the sheets and blanket. The sheets were plain white, but the blanket was maroon .

As much as he wanted the purple and black bedding set, he couldn't bring himself to ask for it. Not in front of his family. Maroon was the next best choice. It was nice, reversible so he could use the color or the black side. The set came with matching pillowcases and he went back down the hall to grab the two new pillows. Then he moved to his clothes. He hung up his shirts in the closet, folded his pants into the drawers. He tossed his socks and typical underwear into the top two drawers of the dresser. The last box held his other clothes. They were wrapped in one of his plain shirts and put in a plastic bag. He hid it at the bottom of the clothes. He looked around, trying to figure out where he could put the items.

This was his room. No one would be barging in. He'd keep it locked when he wasn't home. He pulled out the skirt and held it up. Then he moved to the closet and grabbed the last hanger. He folded it over neatly and hung it back up, to the edge of the rod. He pulled the underwear out next. He couldn't stop the smile that pulled his lips upward.

Without second guessing, he pulled his shorts off and slipped on the thin fabric. He didn't bother putting his shorts back on as he moved down the hallway to grab the last box. He locked his door and settled into a routine to fix up his room. He shifted the desk to the left wall and placed his laptop, notebooks, and other small items on top. He would try to keep organized, but he knew himself and knew that eventually he would just start tossing things here and there. He was going for a degree in teaching, so he'd have to start working on that habit.

His phone dinged with a text and he walked across the room to grab his phone. It was just after six now. The restaurant he was meeting Joe at was only a ten minute walk straight across campus toward the main entrance and Welcome Center .

The text was from his sister. Hey bro, I'm going to be on campus tomorrow and Sunday if you needed help with anything or wanted to get some food.

He loved his family and of course he knew his sister would be on campus as the newest assistant coach for the same soccer team she played all four years for. The sports buildings and offices were across campus from where his apartment was. The campus was a decent size with a couple tens of thousands of students.

Maybe. I'll let you know if I have some time.

He'd need to stop by the bookstore tomorrow to get some textbooks and then maybe go to the store a couple miles out and stock up on food for the apartment. He really wasn't sure how the roommate situation would go. He'd text the guy and ask what he liked to eat and maybe stock up some things for him too. Since he brought the TV and everything.

He finished putting the rest of his things where he wanted them. He didn't bring a lot, since he'd be home often. But he brought his figurines from his favorite Marvel movies and his stuffed teddy that he'd had since he was a baby. It was sentimental more than anything and he kept it on the top of the night stand next to his bed. He also hooked up his alarm clock and set it for the right time. Finally, he hooked up his lamp on the desk. He tended to do most of his work at night and he liked the dimmer lights instead of the overhead one when he was studying.

It was half an hour before he was supposed to meet Joe when he finally finished. The room was still kind of plain, but it was definitely his. He looked from the room to himself, still in nothing but the underwear and t-shirt. It felt nice, but he wasn't quite ready to try that out just yet. The last time he'd worn them ended with a less than ideal meeting of the new professor that would be on campus. Just the reminder of his face popping up in Victor's mind had him changing quickly. He settled on jeans and the same shirt.