1 Infatuation

In the midst of a silent apartment, an alarm screeched in stark contrast to wake up its owner. It was proving unsuccessful, though, since it was the fourth time in ten minutes that it started screeching. Suddenly, the door to the bedroom where the noise was coming from slammed open.

"Bro, you better turn that shit off real quick!"

A groan could be heard coming from the bed soon after. A tan hand reached out from under the covers and slid the snooze button on the smartphone lying next to his pillow.

"What's up?" Bam yawned, lifting himself up.

Six feet tall, tan, with dark chocolate eyes, Bam takes more after his father than his mother physically. His father Colombian and his mother Korean, many have noted his father's charms in him since a young age but his mother's intelligence even more so. A fact that his mother is happy about.

"Your shit has been ringing since forever and your bitch ass hasn't turned it off," said Lu.

Lu has been one of Bam's closest friends since their first year of college. Since sophomore year up until this senior year, they have been living together in an apartment on campus, composed of two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room the size of maybe two closets, and a bathroom.

"Oops," Bam half-smiled in response.

"Ugh, just go get ready. Your first class must be soon if your alarm's that early."

Bam's smile gradually faded away after hearing that.

"Yeah, I need to shower, so go away."

Lu snorted. "You're welcome, by the way."

Bam tiredly propped himself up and got out of bed. Grabbing his towel, he quickly changed into it and grabbed his toiletries. He walked to the bathroom and got into the shower absent-mindedly. When cold water streamed down, his brain finally started working as his body jolted awake.

"Let's just get through this, it's only one more year," Bam whispered. Memories of the past two years flashed in his mind. His heart clenched as he remembered the pain from each friend that left him and each person that believed in the words of others before ever asking him for his side of the story.

Time flew by as Bam was distracted by his anxiety in showing his face around campus and possibly seeing people he really wasn't ready to see. By the time his mind regained clarity, he was already walking to his first class of the year. As he walked into the classroom, his eyes searched around nervously.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he didn't see anyone he didn't want to see. His eyes scanned the room less cautiously as his body relaxed from the tense state he didn't even realize he had before. Almost everyone was a familiar face, which is expected since it's an upper-level English class in a small college. However, he scrunched up his brows when he noticed a girl he'd never seen before.

He was quickly drawn in by her features. Long, dyed pink hair, a button nose, and a smile that reached beautiful blue eyes. She seemed rather short from what he could tell, since she was sitting down. It's been a while since Bam had been attracted to a white girl. With how his parents raised him, he'd only ever been attracted to Latinas or Asian girls.

Bam quickly realized he was staring at her and shifted his eyes quickly to search for a seat. Ironically, the only seat left was right next to her. As he walked over to the last seat, he could feel other people eyeing him.

'Guess my fame precedes me, huh,' he thought with a wry smile.

When he reached his seat, the pink-haired girl turned to look at him. Surprise colored her eyes when she saw him. He gave her a smile in response.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she breathed out.

He hid his reaction when they made eye contact, but his heart started pounding and his whole being seemed to come alive. He was so focused in hiding his reaction that he didn't notice how she had a similar response to him.

Bam turned to the professor who just entered and feigned calmness. Either way, it didn't matter how interested he was in her. She would find out about the rumors surrounding him soon enough. But, both of them knew that their responses were anything but ordinary.

Throughout class, Bam was only able to pay attention to half of what the professor was talking about. Normally, he would love to participate in the discussions and delve into whatever book or reading they were talking about. Many told him how odd it was that he was such a book nerd when he could pass as a celebrity or an athlete. These days, however, he wasn't in the mood for much of anything.

Bam put his phone on the table to check the time and saw that class was barely halfway done. He groaned in exasperation and drew the attention of the pink-haired girl next to him unknowingly as he failed to see her smile at him again.

After class ended, he quickly packed up his notebook and pencil and rushed back to his apartment. Luckily, he only had one class that day and didn't have to deal with anyone any longer. It was too bad he didn't see the pink-haired girl turn to him and open her mouth, as if to say something.

In class, he could already feel his back burning from the stares locked onto him. By the time he got back to his apartment, though, he realized that he was missing something.

"Fuck."