More Like a Movie

Vic.

I was in Tony and Kellin’s dorm, waiting impatiently for the both of them to come back. They left about fifteen minutes ago to do god knows what. For some reason I had agreed to a movie night in with them instead of going out somewhere with my brother. Mike was a party guy, kind of weird for someone studying business because he was always meant to be serious, but partying was his thing. Every now and then I’d join him, needing that distraction that only alcohol and meaningless sex could bring. Being my last year here, I indulged in those diversions more than I should have. Really, I didn’t know what I was thinking most of the time. My grades weren’t horrible, but I could definitely do better.

I just liked the thought of having fun. It wasn’t the drinking or the sex that excited me; it was the fact that I could leave my worries at the door and let the night take away my problems. When I did those things, I wasn’t Vic anymore, I was someone else. Someone relaxed and stress free. It was a beautiful feeling and I loved it. At least I did until Kellin started hanging out with us. I don’t know why, but there was something about him that intrigued me. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, but it was definitely there, plaguing my thoughts and with that, I didn’t really feel the urge to forget about myself anymore.

He was just so different from anyone I had ever met. Honestly, Kellin was not like your typical 20 year old and I couldn’t determine on whether I found it refreshing or not. I guess I was still pretty skeptical about him, even though for someone I just met, he was completely open with me.

The door finally opened, immediately removing any of the previous thoughts I had. Still on one of the beds, I turned towards the direction of the door, smiling when I saw Kellin walk through, Tony and of course, Jaime, trailing along behind him. “What is he doing here?” I asked, playfully rolling my eyes.

“Tony made me invite him,” Kellin sighed dramatically before slipping his shoes off, leaving them by the door and crawling on the bed to sit next to me. I quirked an eyebrow at him, silently questioning why, out of all places, he decided to sit right next to me. He caught on quickly and with a shrug said, “You’re in my bed, Fuentes. You get my company.”

I gave him a light shove, followed by a chuckle. I wouldn’t lie; I’d grown to appreciate his company. He had a decent sense of humor and from spending so much time with me recently, he’s kind of picked up a few of my personality traits and bad habits. It was pretty amusing to see. I told him that I’d be opening his eyes up to what life has to offer. Hopefully he’s ready.

“I’m glad you two are getting along now,” Tony said, disappearing into the hallway once more only to return with a very suspicious, bright blue cooler. Kellin and I both watched with confused expressions as he opened the container, rifling through it and eventually pulling out two beers. Next to me, I noticed Kellin tense. We could get in a lot of trouble for this. Technically, we’re not allowed to be intoxicated on campus and we aren’t allowed to possess alcohol unless it is approved by administration. Even though it was the minimum amount allowed.

I placed my hand on Kellin’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze to let him know that we’d be fine. Tony probably only had a six pack in there anyway. I wouldn’t have more than one and I wouldn’t let Kellin, either. Sometimes I felt like it was my job to keep an eye on him. He was kind of under my wing now. I graciously accepted the drink from my friend, taking Kellin’s as well and opening it the same way I did that night in the parking lot.

Kellin took the bottle from my hand hesitantly, so I decided to take this time to answer Tony, leaning back on Kellin’s bed and making myself comfortable, the boy soon joining me, leaning into my shoulder. A smile graced his lips as he looked between Tony and me, excited just as I was that we were actually friends now.

“Yeah,” I said with a smile, glancing at Kellin briefly. “Me too.”

I had to agree with Tony, I mean, I was glad that Kellin and I were friends now. I will admit that when I first met him there was something I didn’t like. He seemed so innocent, too innocent actually, and I didn’t buy it; I thought it was all an act but that night in the parking lot where he admitted to me that he had never been drunk before, I knew the kid was telling the truth. Kellin bled innocence; he was the poster child for it.

Even now I still wasn’t sure how I felt about him. No, there was no more animosity between the two of us, but instead I had this weird nagging feeling in the back of my mind like I was supposed to look after him, or guide him in a way. Maybe teach him things that a guy his age should know, but never had anyone explain it to him. I guess that was Kellin for you, though. He doesn’t go at everyone else’s pace and that part I found refreshing. I wish he could see that.

Truthfully, there’s nothing wrong with taking your time and figuring life out the way you want. The only thing that bothered me was his fantasy land. One day he was going to wake up and realize that real life is hard, it’s not a Disney film and he can’t be rescued or anything. I felt like it was my job to teach him that.

“Up,” Kellin chirped with the snap of his fingers setting his beer down and taking mine. He swung his legs around, sitting in front of me crisscrossed. I came down from my cloud and stared at him like he had three heads. Annoyed that I wasn’t moving, Kellin let out a whine and hit my arm, beckoning for me to get up like he asked. Still unsure of his reasoning, I ignored his pleas and stayed frozen in my position. “Come on, Vic!” He huffed, reaching beside him swiftly and bringing a pillow to my face, smacking me with it.

I reacted quickly, grabbing the cushion from his slim fingers and holding it in my own. Moving, I knelt down so my knees were digging into the mattress, Kellin still sitting there, his eyes growing wide when he realized what I was about to do. He tried to move quickly, but failed, earning a whack to the face with the same pillow, a short grunt escaping him as he fell backward on the bed.

At that, I couldn’t help but laugh at him, tossing the pillow back at his head and finally standing up so he could do whatever it was that he wanted. He snatched the object and placed it at the headboard, grabbing two others he had and then a blanket, carefully folding the fabric and lining it up just across the pillows. He then plopped back down onto the bed, shuffling so his back was propped against the mound of coverings he just created.

“Join me,” he smiled, patting the empty spot next to him. I was hesitant at first, thinking it was probably weird to just crawl into bed with him and lay down, but I shrugged it off. Knowing Kellin, he’s persistent and he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted.

I guess it was kind of adorable. Kellin was cute, I’d give him that much, but he always had this constant look on his face, like a kid seeing snow for the first time. He was amazed by literally everything. I shook those thoughts away and tore my gaze from his amused face, eyes settling on Tony who was standing at the foot of the bed with his beer still in his hand. I shot him a look and nodded my head, telling him to get whatever thoughts he had been thinking out of his head.

“So, uh,” I cleared my throat, switching from Tony to Jaime. “What movie are we watching?”

“Ah,” Jaime reached into his bag, pulling out a small DVD case and held it up between his fingers, dancing it around. “Cast Away.” He grinned.

“Tom Hanks,” Tony and I said at the same time, laughing at Jaime who just rolled his eyes and proceeded to pop the disc out of its case and place it in the awaiting DVD player. Tony found a spot on his bed, Jaime soon after dragged a chair to place between both beds in front of the shared nightstand. The lights dimmed, thanks to Tony and the switch he had installed last year, and the start menu popped up, Jaime wasting no time in pressing play.

We were about an hour and a half into the movie when I felt a weight on my shoulder. I was so focused on watching Tom scurry around the island that I had forgotten where I was, or who I was lying next to for that matter. Slowly, I turned my head away from the TV and my eyes landed on Kellin, head fallen onto my shoulder as his body breathed in and out deeply. He had fallen asleep.

Silently, I cursed myself. I knew that when this movie ended, he’d still be out of it and I’d have to be the one to wake him up. I was half tempted to do it now, but one glance and I just couldn’t disturb that sleeping face. I didn’t know much about Kellin yet, but I knew that he was going to be trouble for me. And I wasn’t sure if I should be excited or make a run for it.

Kellin.

When I woke up the next morning, I wanted to curl up under the covers and fall back asleep. Oddly enough, even though I went to bed fairly early the night before, I didn’t stay asleep. After Vic woke me up to tell me he had to leave, I couldn’t close my eyes again. Jaime ended up crashing in our dorm since he was already passed out we didn’t bother to wake him and Tony ended up falling asleep shortly after. I, however, was left alone with my thoughts once again and once my mind gets racing, it’s hard for me to stop.

In total, I got about two and a half hours of sleep, maybe three, so it was no surprise that my first stop before class was the coffee cart next to the building. I was by myself; Tony left another note saying he woke up early so he decided to get breakfast. On any other day, I’d be upset he didn’t invite me but I’m guessing he understood how much sleep I actually needed.

I was quick to pay for the two cups, dropping the few extra cents in the tip jar and grabbing the drinks, heading towards the classroom. It was a cool fall morning and the leaves were just starting to change their color, going from vibrant and fresh green to the beautiful golden yellow and crisp orange. This season was my favorite, saying goodbye to summer and getting ready to welcome winter. I loved it and as much as I wanted to stay and enjoy the weather around me, I had to get moving. Class started in just five minutes so I knew that Vic would already be in there.

Speaking of Vic, from what I can remember about last night, we got a little bit closer. Nothing big happened, but he let me fall asleep on him and so it was a huge step for us as friends. A month ago he wouldn’t have been within a foot of me, let alone sharing a bed and letting me use him as a headrest. I think it was pretty obvious my crush was growing with each day I spent with him. He was like a breath of fresh air in some ways and I liked learning about him.

Walking into the classroom, I spotted him instantly, back turned to me as he was shifted facing Tony. They were talking about something funny because his shoulders were bouncing up and down and I could see the faintest hint of a smile on Tony’s face. He looked up from Vic for a small second and caught me staring, smiling and waving me over. Vic turned towards the door and grinned when he saw me.

Sitting down next to him, I slid one of the coffee cups in front of him, giving a shy smile as I felt my face go warm. I don’t know why, it was a kind gesture. He’s gotten coffee for me before so it’s not like he would assume I had other intentions with it. Still, I couldn’t help it. Once I have a crush on someone, a lot of my thoughts tend to go towards them.

“Aw, thanks Kels,” Vic smirked, poking my cheek where no doubt he saw the blush forming. Sometimes I think he did those things on purpose, knowing the type of affect he had on me. I should hate him for that, I really should.

I shrugged like it was nothing and began pulling my supplies out of my bag, just a notebook, a pencil, and my planner, which Vic had called me a nerd for carrying around everywhere with me. I liked to be organized though and with all of my thoughts constantly running rampant in my head, I needed to write things down more than the average person.

“Excuse me.”

Vic and I both looked up from what we were doing, glancing at each other for a moment before our heads snapped back to Tony. He sat there with a frown, pouting at something I didn’t quite know.

“What?” I asked bluntly.

“You got that little shit coffee, but not me?” He said, offended.

My mouth opened slightly and it finally hit me that I had only ordered two drinks, completely forgetting about Tony altogether. “I’m sorry. I just forgot,” I told him, biting my lip and offering an innocent smile.

He rolled his eyes and began writing on the paper in front of him. “You become best friends with him and you forget all about me. I see the way it is.”

Next to me, Vic began laughing uncontrollably, grabbing at the desk in front of us to steady himself. Obviously he found it funny that he was becoming my go-to person. It used to be Tony and well, he still kind of is, but Vic was easily becoming my closest friend out here.

“Mr. Fuentes, I can assure you that whatever it is you are laughing so heavily about is probably not that funny.” Our professor walked into the room, a smug look on his face making Vic fall silent the second he spoke. There was a certain tension there and I knew it had something to do with Vic failing. I’ve asked him about it before, but he always refuses to tell me. It’s not my business, but my curiosity always got the better of me.

“You alright?” I asked, noticing his body had tensed a little and the once sweet smile that was on his lips had faded, his eyes no longer holding the joy he previously showed.

“Just fine,” he mumbled and went about doing his business, leafing through the pages of his black notebook and writing down whatever Mat threw up on the board.