College Frerard

We’d headed back to our room after a long discussion (or rather, rant of mine) about homophobes. Currently, I was making fun of Frank’s folding techniques.
“What’s wrong with just doing this?!” He questioned, screwing up a T-shirt into a ball and throwing it into the bottom of the wardrobe. Even though I was sat on my bed at the opposite side of the room, I could still make out the small mound of fabric that was building on the wardrobe’s floor.
“BECAUSE!” I giggled, thinking it was hilarious how this 16-year-old couldn’t fold his own bloody shirts. “Then all your shirts are all crinkly!” I answered, as Frank placed his hands on his hips and pouted slightly, scrunching up his nose.
“But I don’t care if they’re crinkly.” He said stubbornly. I replied with a sigh.

I leapt off my bed and walked over to where Frank was standing next to the wardrobe.
“Well I do care. Now. Pick up a shirt and we can fold it neatly. Okay?” I said in my best teacher-voice. He did as he was told and gathered up the pile of scrunched up shirts from the wardrobe’s bottom, handing me one before ordering me to give him an example of how I wanted him to fold his shirts. I lay it out on his bed and he did the same with a second T-shirt so that he could follow me step by step. I can honestly say that when I decided to catch up on my education again, I wasn’t expecting to have to teach my roommate how to fold items of clothing... But, hey. Frank’s incapableness is stupidly cute and adorable, so I’ll happily spend as much time as I can teaching him how to fold shirts... Maybe tomorrow I can teach him how to iron! “Okay.” I began. “You ready to learn this skill?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Totally.” He replied, grinning from ear to ear.

“Okay. So. You fold down here.” I instructed, folding one sleeve towards the middle of the T-shirt.
“Like this?” Frank asked, his tongue already creeping out between his teeth for concentrating as he copied the fold I’d just made. For some unknown incapableness, it took him longer than it should’ve done, but once he got it, I patted his back and rewarded him with a sarcastic ‘well done’.
“Now you just do the same on the other side.” I stated, making the second fold in the T-shirt.

HEESH! You wouldn’t have thought teaching a teenager how to fold a shirt would take this much effort! It was similar to teaching a 2-year-old how to read.

“Didded it!” Frank grinned as he completed the third and final fold, flipping the folded T-shirt over and throwing his arms into the air as if to wave to a crowd of people. His enthusiasm made me giggle, and I wrapped my arms around his waist before congratulating him by saying:
“I’m so proud of you!”

Frank responded to my hug by wrapping his arms around my waist too, resting his head on my chest.
“You better fucking be proud of me. That took damn loadsa effort.” He laughed before we both let go of each other and Frank placed his two folded shirts onto a shelf in the wardrobe. “Only another 20-somthing to go.” He sighed, turning back around and beginning work on the pile of shirts that were presently on the floor.
“HA! I think I better get unpacking too actually...” I said, opening my now-arrived suitcase and pulling out the already-folded shirts and jeans to place them onto a separate shelf in the wardrobe. The silence between the two of us whilst we unpacked became a little uncomfortable after a few minutes, and so I decided that it was my job to begin a conversation again. “You’re short.” Was all that I could think of at that precise moment.
“Well observed.” Frank giggled as he placed his twentieth shirt onto the shelf. “Fun sized.” He smirked, starting folding his twenty-first.
“You should wear heels.” I joked whilst I placed a couple of pairs of converse at the foot of my bed.
“Fuck off!” Was the reply I received, shortly followed by: “There. I’ve unpacked fully.”

“Me too!” I announced, collapsing on my bed, face down in the pillows. After a few moments of listening to my breath against the fabric, I began to hear a minor melody coming from Frank’s side of the room. The chords flowed beautifully; every now and again there was a random major chord which caught you by surprise. The bass part of the tune moved around the chords in arpeggios, whilst the melody on top fluttered everywhere. It was a sad melody, it felt like it was portraying grief, sorrow, and sadness; But the odd majors chucked in a hint of Sunshine, a smile, and happiness. “That’s beautiful.” I whispered, sitting myself up and looking over at Frank’s bed where he sat, once again, with his legs crossed and his guitar on his lap.
“Y-You really think s-so?” He blushed. DAYM! I thought he was just getting comfortable around me? You know, without the stuttering and the blushing? Never mind. I’m not complaining. It was cute.
“Yeah.” I sighed, unhappy that he’d stopped playing to look up at me. “Did you write it?”

Frank nodded.
“I-I... Last month... I composed it last month.”
“Wow.” Was my only response. “Seriously, wow.”
“Thanks.” He smiled, getting back off the bed to rest the guitar against the wall again.
“How long have you been playing?”
“A while.”Frank chuckled, jumping back on his bed. I could tell. He was amazing. “What’s the time?” He asked, changing the subject.
“Ummmm...” I pulled out my phone from my pocket and pressed a random button on it so that it would light up and reveal the time. “Six.”
“I thought I was getting hungry... I’m going to head to the cafeteria and see if they’re selling anything decent.” He decided, hopping back OFF the bed and walking past mine to the door. “Coming?” He asked, picking up his keys and wallet on the way.
“Yeah, sure. I could do with something to eat.”

We walked through the corridor of dorms and headed to the college’s cafeteria, soon deciding that all the food was crap, so instead we bought a couple of chocolate bars each and ate them as our evening meal. Next thing I know, it’s seven o’ clock, we’re sat back on our beds, and Frank’s already yawning. “You tired already?” I laughed as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Yeah... I kinda had to get up early to get here on time.”
“Well go to sleep then! I’ll head out to give you some quiet if you want?” I offered, jumping off my bed and picking up my shoes.
“NO! I want you to stay!” Frank semi-yelled before clapping his hand over his mouth with wide eyes. I turned back to face him and quirked an eyebrow.
“Oh?” I grinned, which just made his cheeks turn rosy. ... Awhhhhh!
“I-I... I didn’t mean that... Um... Well, I did mean it like... I don’t not like you... But I don’t mind if you go... Don’t f-feel like I’m... No. Just go it’s cool. Forget I said that... And s-sorry for y-yelling... Like... I didn’t mean it.” He rambled before adding one last “Sorry”.

I put my shoes back down on the floor and folded my arms, still grinning from ear to ear.
“You’re really cute when you stutter and blush, you know?” I stated, watching Frank’s cheeks turn from rosy to bright pink. He opened his mouth to start speaking again, but he produced no words. It made me giggle. I sighed and tilted my head sideways. “You go to sleep. I’m going to go for a walk around the area. I’ll see you later.”
And with that, I popped my shoes on and headed out of the building, leaving Frank to sleep in peace.