Chapter 7 FIRST DAY

MICHELLE's P O V

As soon as I was done brushing my teeth, I returned to the position I had been before, with the covers covering me up to my chest.

‘‘Goodnight, Mike…’’ Devon said, to which I responded with a hum, but then I jumped when the light flickered off, painfully aware of every sound Devon made as he climbed into his own bed for the night.

I didn't mind the darkness at all; in fact, I found comfort in the plush mattress as I watched the shadows creep down the walls.

It was easier to think in the dark…

In the absence of sound...

However, the stillness revealed other causes for concern. I might divulge all of my private information without even realizing it. And after finding out that I would be sharing a room, I was determined to be a considerate and helpful roommate.

If I added snoring to the list of things that make Devon think I was a weirdo, that I was so strange, he may ask for a new roommate, and I could get stuck with someone like the big guy I encountered in the bathroom earlier---Kaden. Though I would never let that happen.

I decided to take the risk of coming here because of Devon Kai. I decided to enroll in this school with the hopes of becoming friendly with him and getting closer to him. But the main reason, I have always been interested in learning how to box.

But I was supposed to idolize him---yes, I have a crush on him, but not to the point where I could see myself falling in love with him. In the event that I ever did so, it would be a catastrophe.

But I couldn't help but worry about what Devon thought about me. After I had stumbled out of the closet, he didn't immediately call campus security, which was a relief. Even more impressively, he extended an invitation to boxing training with him the very next day.

The very idea made me feel very energized and enthusiastic.

I retreated lower into the mattress and said a silent prayer that my snoring wouldn't wake him up.

The silence was broken by a muffled sound, and I kept motionless in order to determine what it was. It took a second, but eventually Devon let out another faint snore, and my lips quirked.

I wasn't expecting the sound to be comforting, so I concealed my smile behind the pillow as I listened to it. Perhaps the value of stillness was exaggerated all along.

…………**********…………..

A bird's chirp startled me out of a peaceful dream in which Devon and I were walking down the beach while laughing and smiling at each other. We were holding each other's hands and sinking our feet in the warm sand as we strolled.

My body rolled into a tight ball under the top sheets, and I grinned as I recalled the dream once again. When I realized that it was the first day of school, I heaved a sigh and shook myself in an attempt to dislodge the dream as well.

I found myself rolling onto my side and blinking against the sheet that was still covering my face. When I recalled the reason why it was there in the first place, heat immediately rushed to my cheeks.

I'm sure Devon thought I was so odd. The boy who hide himself with a blanket.

Taking a moment, I let my fingertips run over the plush feather mattress. I felt as though I was sleeping on a cloud and being encircled by warmth. Like I was in my own room. But my throat choked up when I realized that I lied to my parents. They didn’t know I enrolled in a school exclusive for boys.

I took a deep breath and braced myself to look at my handsome roommate before slowly pulling the sheets off of me till I could finally breathe the outside air.

A warm glow emanated from within the space as sunlight made its way in through the window coverings. I glanced over, not knowing whether I should have hoped he was asleep or awake, only to discover that Devon's bed was empty and a tangled mess of linens had been left behind.

Did I miss him leave while I was sleeping?

I struggled to stifle a yawn as I forced myself to sit up and look around the room while trying to ignore the chilly air that was blowing. Did I oversleep, or does he simply get up really early every day?

The clock that was sitting on our desk indicated that it was only forty minutes after the hour of six. My first class will begin promptly at eight in the morning. There is still a lot of time for me to get ready.

The notion of having to take another shower outside brought up feelings of wanting to sob uncontrollably at that very moment.

I made the executive decision to not shower today, and I dashed into the closet to put on my bindings as soon as I could. After giving myself a bath in the sink--- scrubbing my face, armpits, hair, and my private parts, I stumbled into the closet and changed into my brand-new Goldstein uniform, while I prayed that taking washcloth baths wouldn't become a habit.

I was happy to discover that the dress shirt and blazer did not hang off my small frame. The pants fit unexpectedly well—a touch baggier than expected, but that was better than the opposite issue.

This led me to the obstacle that Rina and I hadn't taken into account, which is a tie.

I was completely clueless about how to properly tie a tie.

I was frowning as I stood in front of the mirror, taking into consideration the long piece of royal blue silk that was draped around my neck. Finding with the ends, I took my chances and looped the bigger end over the skinnier one.

I wrapped it around a few times on instinct, then another time just to be cautious, till it resembled a braid. I chewed the inside of my lip as I stared at it as it lay there uselessly, twisted into a mess, before one end flipped itself over the other and it began twisting in front of my eyes.

I heaved a sigh as I grabbed both ends once more and untwisted the remaining few turns. I approached it from a different vantage point and twisted the ends together once more before looping the thinner end like a shoelace through the hole they formed. After I had completed this step, I gave it a good pull in the direction of the collar of my blazer until a knot was formed.

I ran my fingertips over it, a grin spread across my face. It was a little lower than I had seen it on the other boys, and the knot was more thick than sleek; in addition, it stood out at an unexpected angle; however, I did not believe that it would untie itself in the near future.

Being a boy was proving to be less difficult than I had anticipated it would be. When I thought about it, my chest contracted in protest against its bonds, but I chose to ignore the sensation. Because the male students at Goldstein seemed to have a heightened awareness of breasts, restraints were an unfortunate but essential necessity.

Before heading out the door, I did a quick check of my hopeless mop of dark hair in the mirror, grabbed my bookbag and the campus map.

…………….***********………….

I made my way to the Chemistry classroom, and I could hear students chattering and laughing in the Goldstein Academy hall. I fished my crumpled campus map out of my bag and used it to verify, for the fifth time, the location of the room I was going to be in as well as the routes I needed to take to get there.

With each step, my legs shook, and as I gripped the map more tightly, my palms began to sweat. Today, the guys were calm as they ambled around the hallways, which may have been due to the fact that they were worn out from the excitement of move-in day or because it was still so early.

But I continued to keep my head down, and I had the sensation of being a mouse lost in a maze as I made my way through the busy passageways and darted up the main staircase.

The Chemistry classroom was just around the corner, and I crossed the threshold with at least ten minutes to spare.

When I looked around, I saw that other students were beginning to take their places, so I chose to sit on the middle seat of the third row. The classrooms that were taught in by Goldstein were more opulent than any others that I had been in previously, as evidenced by the luxurious desks made of exotic wood and the expensive draperies that covered the windows.

As I sat on the very edge of the seat, the smooth surface of the wood rubbed against the uniform pants that I was wearing.

A young man plopped himself down on the seat in front of me as I was retrieving my notebook from my bag, keeping my attention on the task at hand, which was flipping open my notebook and writing the name I was going to use from now on. Michael Rivera…

I heard him let out an exasperated huff before taking his notebook out from his backpack. When he opened his pencil case, he flinched, surprised that he did not have anything with him that he could use to take notes.

‘‘Here…’’ I used the pen to give him a little flick in the back, and when he turned to look at me, he had a grimace on his face.

‘‘Didn’t expect to see you here, little guy…’’ his familiar voice drawled, and my hand froze. My eyes whipped back to his blue slacks, trailing up to his Goldstein blazer to find Kaden smirking at me. His elbow was now propped on my desk. ‘‘I didn’t see you in the shower room…’’

His friend nudged him to the side as I swallowed. I don't think he was aware that I skipped my shower today.

‘‘Come on, man…’’ his friend said. ‘‘We need to transfer at the back before it would be taken by others. You can play with that mouse later…’’

Kaden's smirk widened, before he stood up. ‘‘Thank you for this...’’ he said, referring to the pen I gave him.

I nodded and watched as he and his companion walked down the aisle and took the seat at the rear of the room.