Stay with me

The moment I walked into the mess hall, the smell of syrup and bacon made my stomach growl. I decided to sit at the same table as the day before, officially claiming it as mine. The atmosphere during breakfast was far different from last night’s di

Jake waved me over from across the room, but I declined with a shake of my head. I didn’t need friends, especially the tenacious kind. Humans a

Ollie strolled in a few minutes later with his brown hair flipped into a lopsided wave and wearing a plain white tee around his tall and ski

Ollie walked in beside another guy a few inches shorter with midnight-black hair, longer at the top and buzzed around the sides. He had darker features and trimmed facial hair. Since I didn’t plan on getting close enough to the group to learn their names, I’d decided to call him Midnight.

They both glanced over in my direction as Ollie talked in his ear.

The pixie-haired girl greeted Ollie with a kiss on the cheek, and he quickly glanced to me then back at her, and his posture changed. It could have been his girlfriend, but the way he reacted said otherwise.

My attention went back to my food. I took a bite of the bland pancakes as I stared at the screaming kid, Zeke, eating alone.

The people here, for the most part, stayed to their group or themselves. Loners scattered themselves throughout the mess hall, but you still had your group of sexually confused, your punks, thugs, jocks, mean girls, and handicapped—all most likely avoiding prison or a mental institution like me.

But then you had the crew Jake and Alicia were in. They were quite the mixture.

Ollie and Midnight took a seat at their table before Ollie found me across the room. He was interested. Humans are wired to stare at ones they are interested in.

I once read a study regarding the different levels of eye contact. There are nine levels, by the way. Ollie was on level three right now, which is the “glance and a half.” Though, if he looked away then back at me a second time, he would be upgraded to a level four—”The double glance.”

He looked away, and I held on a few more seconds.

He looked again, and—boom—level four, ladies and gents.

His gaze fixated on me, somehow holding all my attention now. Level five. Those fierce green eyes held a degree of gravity, weighing me down and lifting me off my feet at the same time. He gri

Ollie raised a brow as his smile matched mine. His dimple deepened, and I managed to pull away from his hold to allow my smile to subside.

I needed to get laid—like yesterday.

The first block went by quickly. I had already taken college algebra during my senior year of high school, so now I was placed in trigonometry. Math was black and white, right or wrong. The answer was clear.

Next was the introduction to literature. I walked into the class, and I immediately saw Jake with wide eyes, slapping his hand over the empty desk beside him.

“Thank God,” he whispered as I sat in the seat he’d saved for me since he hadn’t left me much of a choice. “You made this class so much more interesting.”

“That bad, huh?”

Jake nodded as he continued to tell me about the monotone professor and the number of papers we would have to write this semester. I hated English, literature, and everything else that went along with it, unable to understand why people would be intrigued by something that was entirely made up. How on earth was it essential for survival in the real world? Each story had a different meaning to different people, different interpretations, so there was never a precise answer.

After class, Jake quickly gathered his books together to keep up with my pace. I was almost out of the door—almost.

“Care if we walk together to the mess hall?” he asked, catching his breath.

“Only if you let me read you.”

“Let you read me?” He panted.

“Yeah, it’s a game I like to play.”

Jake’s face twisted with an amused and curious smile. “Alright, sure … yeah, read me.”

Though I’d already figured him out, I took the time to study him up and down for dramatic effect. Jake straightened his posture and managed to grow another inch. I was only 5’3”, and he couldn’t have been more than four inches taller than me. “Alright, Jacob … goes by the name Jake because it makes you seem … less masculine …” He rolled his baby-blues before shifting his books to his other hand. Jake was in touch with his feminine side; you could see it in his stride. “You are a middle child surrounded by sisters—”

Jake opened his thin lips to speak, but I put up a finger to silence him.

I quickly added, “But you have an older brother who is the star athlete of the family, and whom everyone is compared to. So that would put you as the second youngest.” Jake raised his eyebrows, and I knew from his expression I was on the right path. “You come from a religious family, and even though you are a poster child, always followed the rules, always did the right thing, your parents still sent you here to try and knock the gay out of you.”

Jake shook his head in disbelief. “Bloody hell, you’re good.”

I dusted off my shoulder. “It’s a talent. Though, what I don’t understand, is why you agreed to come here. You’re an adult. Your parents can’t force you.”

“You’re right, they can’t force me, but they sure as hell can bribe me.”

During the rest of our short walk to the mess hall, I’d learned Jake had a boyfriend back home, whom he was caught in bed with by his father. He didn’t even get to say goodbye before he was brought here. At first, the school turned Jake away, but since his father was a pastor of a church, they offered to help students with community service upon their release in negotiation to take Jake in.

Jake tried to convince me to sit with him during lunch, but I decided to keep to myself at my table.

After I finished eating, I pulled out my class schedule to see psychology was next—my favorite. I folded my arms over the table and laid my head down until the lunch bell rang.

My eyes wandered toward Jake’s table. The pixie-haired girl had her head against Ollie’s shoulder as he talked to Midnight. Alicia and Jake were laughing and pointing at a girl across the room who had trouble bringing her food to her mouth. Ollie caught wind of Jake and Alicia’s amusement, turned behind him to see what they were laughing about, then slammed his fist against the table.