Girls Like Boys

Our second week of school was a lot like the first, except now we knew where we were going and what to expect. Ramsy spent most afternoons with her friends from class, which worked out well since Travis was around more than he wasn't. It was weird being so separate from my sister, but the transition came easily. We didn't have the same classes or see the same people, so it was only natural that we ended up doing different things with different people.

I called my dad twice the second week, even managing to wrangle Ram into a conversation on speaker. We told him everything we could about our first week, leaving out the party and the boys and anything what wasn't class or school related. It was too soon to tell Charlie just how quickly we'd formed new habits.

On our second Saturday on campus, Ramsy and I managed to sleep in for the first time since arriving. We'd spent last weekend with girls from out floor, trying to form connections with the people we lived with. We'd gotten breakfast with a the group on both Saturday and Sunday, and both days we regretted agreeing to get up so early.

Today, neither one of us rolled out of bed until after noon, when someone dragged us from our dreams by knocking on our door. I rolled over, staring idly at the door as though waiting for whoever it was to stop. My first thought was that it was Kiera coming to invite us to breakfast again, but my phone said that it was already almost one pm. My gaze flickered to Ramsy, who just sighed in her sleep and rolled the other direction.

When the knocking started again, albeit quieter, I shoved my blankets off and climbed up. Our floor was a mess of clothes that we’d shrugged off last night when we climbed back into bed and I trampled over them to get to the door.

Travis had been over for awhile last night. We'd ended back at up Murphy's. It was our two week tradition and I imagined that it would happen again. Ramsy's friend Luke hadn't been here much this week, despite the fact that they'd hung out last Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Glancing at Ramsy asleep in her bed, I reminded myself to ask her about Luke.

I stepped across the small space and pulled the door open, sticking my head out into the lighted hallway just in time to see Tegan traipsing back to the common space.

She spared a glance back just as I readied myself to call out to her. Seeing me, she pivoted back, catching me off guard with how serious she looked. I watched her eye me wordlessly as she moved closed, probably trying to differentiate me from Ramsy.

I glanced down at myself. We had signature differences, but like this, with my hair a mess, dressed in an oversized t’shirt and a pair of small shorts, I doubted she knew who I was.

“Ramsy’s asleep,” I said, differentiating. “Sorry we didn’t get to the door right away.” I stepped further out, standing in the space between the door and the frame.

Tegan nodded, her blonde hair sliding over her shoulder and into her face. She tucked it back before she spoke. “That’s fine. I need to talk to you, anyway.”

I frowned, pressing against the doorframe. “Oh, what’s up?”

Upon first meeting her, I’d instantly liked Tegan. She hadn’t beat around the bush. But now, she hesitated. “I heard some news that I wish I hadn’t,” she said honestly. “Nobody told me on purpose, but I heard that there's been a guy staying over a couple times already, Cody. And even though I don’t want you to get in trouble, if it happens again, I’m going to have to write you a formal citation.”

I nodded quickly, surprised that she knew just how much Travis had been here in the last two weeks. “Sorry, Tegan,” I answered, “I won’t do it again.”

The shorter, older girl matched my nod. “This is a female-only dorm for a reason,” she said, the volume of her voice dropping. “There are girls here who aren’t comfortable having men sleeping over. Keep it to the weekends-only.”

“Yeah, he won’t be here overnight again,” I said, embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to make anyone uncomfortable.”

The RA dipped her chin, her eyes darting to the door. “I’ll email you a list of floor rules about male guests,” she said, “and safe sex.”

I blanched, shaking my head. “No, it’s not like that, Tegan. Travis and I aren’t-“

The girl held her hand off, cutting me off. “It’s policy,” she told me, completely unabashed. “I’m not interested in knowing what happens while he's here, but I’m required to give you all the information anyway.”

I stayed silent, letting her words die off awkwardly. I didn’t know what to say other than to apologize again and that would start the whole conversation back at the beginning. So instead, I just nodded and muttered words of agreement, letting her know that I would look for it.

Finally, she concluded, “we’re having a floor dinner tonight. I wasn’t sure if you and Ramsy heard about it. We’re meeting in the living room at six to head over.”

“I have plans,” I said, “but I’ll tell Ramsy.”

“Okay,” Tegan said easily, switching back to her usual demeanor. “Have fun with whatever you’re up to and be safe.”

I smiled and agreed, standing in place until she disappeared back down the hall and into the common room. I heaved a sigh and darted back into my room, diving into my bed.

“That conversation was painful,” Ramsy said quietly, rolling over so that she could see me.

I glanced at her, nodding in agreement. “Did you hear all of it?”

“No,” Ram answered, stretching her arms over her head. “Came in at the part where she told you that you’ll be getting an email about safe-sex pretty soon.”

I groaned, dropping backwards onto my pillows. I swiped my cell phone from where I’d plugged it in the night before it unlocked it. There wasn’t a single notification, so I clicked through the home-screen to my messages and found Travis’ name near the top.

“It’s embarrassing,” I told Ramsy as I typed out a text to Travis. “Now she thinks that I had sex in our room.”

“Nobody will care,” Ram said, eying me from across the room. “You’re probably not the first person she’s had to talk to. She was on a coed floor last year.”

We’re busted. I sent to Travis, No more sleepovers in my room.

“The point is is that I didn’t do it,” I answered my sister, sliding around in my bed to face her, “so I don’t want people to think that I did.”

Ramsy grinned lazily at me and reached for her phone too. The two of spent the early afternoon in almost complete silence, distracted by our own conversations. Travis texted me back within a half hour.

What happened?

I painstakingly explained my conversation with my CA through quick, successive texts.

Tegan heard you stayed overnight during the week again.

Can’t happen again or I’ll get in trouble.

Travis’ reply came in the form of a complaint, letting me know how stupid he thought the rules were. After the conversation escalated, he apologized for being a contributing factor to my warning.

“Ramsy, the floor is going out for dinner together if you want to go with,” I told my sister as I climbed out of my bed.

Ram’s eyes lifted to me. “Where’re they going?”

I shrugged. I pulled my towels from the rack in the closet and grabbed my robe from its hook. “She didn’t say. Just told me pass along the message.”

Ramsy grinned as she sat up and crossed her legs, leaning back against the window so that she could face me directly. “I forgot about your date tonight,” she said eagerly. “What’re you going to wear?”

I laughed, shooting her a look. “I haven’t really thought about it,” I answered honestly. “Probably just a pair of jeans and a shirt.” I spoke slowly, enunciating the obvious.

She frowned. “Can I pick out your outfit? I promise it won’t be anything that flashy. I just want you to look nice.”

I laughed. “I know how to look nice on my own,” I answered.

“Yeah, yeah,” she appeased, “but this is a boy, Cody, and no matter what you say about it not being a date, it’s a date, and I want to help.”

I relented and let Ramsy contribute to my outfit for the day. She suggested a few things and it didn’t take us that long to come to a compromise. By three, we were both showered, dressed, and starving.

As we crossed the street to the dining hall, Ramsy asked, “Is Jack picking you up later? What time is he coming?”

I held the door open as she slipped through and shook my head, vocalizing since she walked in front of me. “I don’t think he has a car,” I explained. “I was thinking I’d probably just walk. I’m not sure if there’s parking on that side of campus.”

Ramsy frowned as we stepped in line to scan into the dining hall. “If you walk, you’ll have to walk all the way back tonight, Cody.”

I shrugged, handing my ID to the woman manning the scan-in desk. “I’ll be fine. I probably won’t even be out that late.”

“No, I’ll drive you,” my sister rebutted. “I can drop you off and you can text me when you want me to pick you up later.”

We stepped into the dining hall and diverted in separate directions. When we met back up and headed to a table, I continued our conversation. “You can’t be weird with him,” I said to her, “and you can’t call this a date to his face, because it’s not. Also, you can’t get out of the truck or talk to him.”

Ram blinked at me across the table as we set our plates down. “So basically I need to pull up to the curb, shove you out, and drive off.”

“Ideally I’ll tuck and roll all by myself, but that’s the general idea, yes.” I sat down without another word and grabbed my wrap before she could join me.

Ram grabbed us both drinks and then sat down across from me. We were mostly silent as we devoured our first meal of the day. The dining hall was fairly empty and we didn’t stumble on anyone else that we knew until we were leaving. Ram’s friend Luke walked right past us, barely making eye-contact with my sister as he slipped by, following his friend to a table.

Noting the weird interaction, I turned to Ramsy. “What was that?” I questioned, pausing in front of her. I looked back over her shoulder, but the boy was already out of sight. “Is something wrong with you too? Is that why he left so early last night?”

Ram shrugged. “I think he's kind of freaked out,” she said, confusing the hell out of me. Seeing the look on my face, she explained, “I don’t know. I think he expected that hanging out with me would be different.”

“What do you mean ‘different?’” I asked.

She shrugged and I could tell that she was trying not to say something mean. "I don't know," she said after a moment. "I just think he's overwhelmed. You and I are a lot, you know. And then Travis is always around you. He probably just felt like he had to hangout with all of us all the time.”

“He doesn't like me?” I asked, reading between the lines. “If that's the reason, that doesn't give him a reason to ignore you. We're not the same person. I have my own friends. I don't have to hangout with you guys.”

“I don't think that's it,” Ram defended. “All I know is that Luke doesn't like being around Travis.”

“You and Trav aren’t even friends,” I recoiled, annoyed the the blonde boy even though I hadn't seen him for a few days. “Why is he ignoring you?”

Ram shrugged again, pushing me forward so we could leave the dining hall. “I don’t know, Cody. I’ll just give him some time and if he doesn’t come around, I’ll ask him about it.”

“I just think it’s shitty that he’s icing you out because he doesn't want to hangout with me and my friends. He ate with us that one night and he's seen Travis like twice since then. It's not like we're forcing him to be around us,” I rambled as we crossed the narrow street back to our dorm. “It’s just weird, Ramsy. Maybe you’re better off without him.”

Ram frowned as we stepped into the elevator. “I don’t know, Cody. A lot of people seem to think that you’d be ‘better off’ without Travis.”

I blanked, my jaw dropping as I shot to look at her. “Where did that come from?”

She scrunched her face up as she considered the most delicate way we could have this conversation. “It’s hard to ignore the evidence, Code,” she said, leading the way out of the elevator towards our room. “You and I both know that there’s something up with him. Like how does he have so much money? You and I both know that he's mostly likely into drugs.”

“No, he isn't,” I retorted, going on the defensive. “Just because someone has money doesn't mean they're selling drugs, Ramsy. He's good with cars. I told you that. He, like, flips them or whatever. Like they do with houses.”

“But literally everyone thinks he’s sketchy, Cody,” she argued, pushing our door open. She turned around to face me as I walked past her to my side of the room. There was no avoiding this conversation. “I like him, you know I do, but you two are freakishly close and I don’t want you to get into trouble because of him.”

“I won’t,” I said. “There’s no reason to worry about something that doesn’t even exist. Just because some guy you’ve known half a second suddenly doesn’t like him doesn’t mean that I have to jump on the bandwagon, Ramsy.”

My sister, taken aback by my words, nodded slowly. “I know that,” she said. “I just want you to be careful. You’ve already gotten in trouble because of him once.”

I shot her a glare at the low blow. Today with Tegan was merely a warning. “I can look out for myself,” I stated. “I don’t need you hitting me with sketchy-Travis vibes all the time just because I like hanging out with him. I don't say crap about your new friends.”

Ramsy and I operated on our own sides of the room for the rest of the afternoon. It was like a small fissure had opened between us and neither one of us wanted to get too close in fear of the chasm opening up and swallowing us whole. It wasn’t until around six that I crossed the divide.

“Are you still driving me?” I asked, gathering my phone and wallet from my desk. “If not, I’m sure Travis will come get me.”

Ram shot me a look. “You’re such a child sometimes,” she said. “I’m sorry I insulted your perfect Travis. It won’t happen again.”

I rolled my eyes, choking on a scoff. “You liked him perfectly fine before and you didn’t have any problem with his 'drug-money' before Luke had a problem with him.”

“Fine,” Ramsy quipped. “I’m sorry. I like Travis but I can’t ignore the way people react to him, Cody.”

“You just want people not to like him because you don't like him,” I answered, annoyed. “I'm not jealous of your new friends, so you need to get over it, Ramsy. All I asked is if you're driving me to Jack's. I don't need your opinion about Travis.”

“Fine,” she answered, just as short with me as I was with her. "Lets go."

We traipsed down the street the truck and climbed in opposite sides. By the time she started the car, Ram initiated a new conversation. “So I really can’t say a word to Jack at all?”

“No,” I answered, shaking my head at her. “You’re just going to drop me off and leave.”

“Are you worried I’ll embarrass you?” she asked, smirking at me. “Because you like him.”

I ignored her comment, tired of repeating myself and arguing about the same thing. The drive to Jack’s dorm didn’t take long. We weaved our way through the center of campus, heading to the far outskirts of the north side. When we pulled up outside his building, I was surprised by how quiet the streets were. Unlike our side of campus, there weren’t many students outside the building. Our road was a hub of student activity, filled to the brink with college kids.

Ramsy eyed the quiet road. If it weren’t for the sign on Jack’s building, I figured she would’ve asked if we were in the right place. “I’ll wait until he comes and gets you.”

I eyed her, anticipating ulterior motives. “I’m sure I can wait inside for him,” I replied, unbuckling my seatbelt so I could get out of the truck .

“Fine,” Ram breathed, shaking her head. “I’m just trying to look out for you.”

I shot her a look. “I think you’ve looked out for me enough today,” I said. I sent Jack a text letting him know that I was downstairs and I thanked Ram for the ride as I slipped out of the car.

The front of his building was brown brick with small, square windows every few feet. From the looks of it, it rose five stories high. The front was peppered with large trees that framed the main entrance and blocked a lot of the building from sight. I checked to make sure that I had my phone and wallet before I walked into the lobby.

Unsurprisingly, the layout wasn’t that different from ours. There was a front desk attendant who gave me an unconcerned look as I stepped over to the seating area. The left front corner of the room consisted of a few couches arranged in a square. Beyond that, there was another set of double doors.

Jack walked through them moments later. He grinned at me, bright in the dim room, and hurried over. “Cody, you made it,” he said, motioning to the space around us.

I nodded, hoping to shake away the awkwardness. “My sister dropped me off,” I said, glancing back towards the street where the truck had sat. “Sorry if I’m too early.”

The sophomore shook his head. I had half expected him to look different on the weekends compared to in class. There was something brazenly different about seeing him in his own environment.

“Did you live here your freshman year?” I asked before he could reassure me that I was here just in time.

“Yeah,” he said. “I lived with the same guys. Do you want to go upstairs?” He spoke quietly, phrasing his words in a way that was meant to reassure me that I had the option of saying yes or no.

“Do you want to go get something to eat?” I asked, glancing towards the double doors from which he came. “I’m starving.”

He nodded eagerly. “Yeah, me too. I just need to run upstairs and get my wallet.” He flashed me his student ID to show that it was all he brought down with him. “Do you want to come with? I can’t show you around real quick.”

The double doors led us into a hallway and down to an elevator. Jack took us up to the fourth floor where we stepped out into another hallway. Near the end of it, Jack turned and pushed a simple wooden door open. His dorm didn’t look anything like ours on the inside.

The room opened into a narrow hallway. True to form, it was crowded with discarded and shoes and jackets. Jack kicked his shoes off as he led me down into the open space. The hallway opened up into a space that was both kitchen and living room, opposite each other. Opposite the door we came through was another room. Through the open door, I could see that it was obviously a small bathroom.

There were doors on either side of the living space and they opened up to bedrooms. Jack led me through the small kitchen, into the living room, and through the doorway on the left. The room was about the same size and mine and Ram’s dorm.

“My room,” Jack said, heading over to the desk along the same wall. The room was packed with items. The beds were bunked so that one was lofted over the other to make room for a red futon that was shoved beneath the window. Two desks were crammed in on either side of the room and a large bookshelf sat in the space between two closets. A decent-sized TV balanced haphazardly on top.

“This place is really cool,” I complimented, believing it wholeheartedly. The 'dorm' was an entire apartment shared between four people. “You have three roommates, right?”

Jack nodded as he stuffed his wallet into his pocket. “Yeah, my actual roommate isn’t here this weekend, Caleb’s at work, and I think Will is in his room.”

I glanced across the living room at the door exactly opposite of this one. Jack’s roommate didn’t make any kind of noise to alert us to his presence.

Jack spoke, calling my attention back to him. “Do you want to watch a movie when we get back?” he asked, grabbing his jacket. “We can stay in the living room if you want. Will won’t bother us.”

I nodded. “Is there a dining hall here?”

“No,” Jack answered. “We cook for ourselves since we have kitchens. We mostly just end up eating out. There’s this Chinese place down a couple blocks and around the corner, if you want to go.”

I grinned at his choice of food. “Yeah, I love Chinese,” I said easily, stepping back as he walked around me to the bookshelf. He pulled his phone from one of the middle shelves and unplugged it.

“It’s a really quick walk,” he told me. He motioned for me to go into the living room and he followed, pulling the bedroom door closed behind us. He offered me a polite smile and darted across the living room to the opposite bedroom. He pushed the door open and stuck his head in. “I’m leaving,” he said to his roommate. “Don’t be in the living room in about an hour.”

I couldn’t hear what the other boy said back, but Jack laughed and shook his head, throwing a few hushed words at his friend. “I’ll see you later,” he said, pulling out of the room.

“Sorry,” he apologized with a laugh as he came back to me. “Just wanted to fill Will in on tonight’s plan.” He checked that he had his phone and everything and then I followed him out of the dorm-apartment.

The conversation picked up as we stepped out of the building into the quietness of this side of campus. “What classes are you taking?” he asked from my side.

“A bunch of stuff,” I answered, “I’m not really sure what I want to do, so I just signed up for anything that looked interesting. What about you?”

“I’m a math major,” he answered, chucking at some private joke. “I’m only in our class because it’s one of my requirements to graduate.”

I told him about Ramsy and how devoted she was to Political Science already and about how we came from Indiana to go to school here. He told me that his hometown was less than an hour from here, just outside the city.

“So you told me about your brother and Ramsy, do you have anymore siblings?” he asked as we rounded the corner onto one of the main streets of the city. The lights were brighter and the roads busier. I could see the Chinese place about a block down.

I shook my head, turning my attention back to him. “Nope, it’s just the three of us, our dad, and our grandma,” I explained, recalling our house and how filled it seemed with the five us.

“I’m an only child,” Jack admitted, grinning sheepishly. “I didn’t have to fight for survival like most kids.”

I laughed, nodding easily. “It did feel like that sometimes,” I joked. “Especially with Ram. She’s naturally the center of attention. It’s easy just to follow her lead.”

“Are you the youngest?” he asked, surprising me with the question. I tried to remember our conversations about Ramsy. About the fact that we were twins.

The information bubbled out of me. “No, technically we’re the same age,” I told him, watching the expression on his face change to confusion. I grinned. “We’re twins.”

Jack’s eyes grew wide for a moment as he matched my grin. “I can’t believe you just happened to forget to tell me,” he said. “Are you identical?”

I nodded, smiling. “Almost exactly.”

Jack sped up a bit so that he could open the door for me and I thanked him as I passed. The building was practically all windows and the linoleum reflected the light, making the room brighter. The light spilled out through the door and windows onto the street, illuminating the yard in front of the restaurant with shades of harsh yellow and white.

Jack brushed past me, touching me for the first time all night. He hurried up to the counter, leaning back enough just to welcome me at his side to order. He spoke quickly, excitedly, speaking to the worker as though he frequented this place often.

“What do you want, Cody?” Jack questioned, stepping away to give me the man’s full attention.

Jack pulled his debit card out of his wallet before I’d even finished submitting my order. “One bill,” the boy said, shooting me a cheesy grin. He signed the receipt, grabbed our cups from the counter, handed me my own, and then walked off to the machine, leaving me unable to decline his offer to pay.

I stared after him, dumbfounded for just a moment before I followed him to the table in the corner.