Jock Next Bed (BL)
Chapter 35: The weirdo

Chapter 35: The weirdo

"Letting water continue to run like that should be a legal crime." He heard a voice behind him, breaking him out of his thoughts and bringing him to the present.

Chris was startled at the intrusion for a few seconds before he remembered that he was in the school dorms and not his private bathroom at home, where he could spend as much time as he’d like just thinking while the water ran down his body. Unfortunately, he was here, where people could just creepily stare at him as he showered.

And what exactly caught him off guard was the boy, whom he easily recognized. How could he not?

It was the same boy he had just remembered who started making him feel like shit last night.

Gary had a damp towel draped over his shoulder and wore a tee-shirt that was quite big for his size, but the hem of his briefs was peeking out underneath. His body was glistening as well as his short, sandy brown hair, which was damp, proof that he had just finished showering and was about to leave. So why the hell was he staring at Chris?

And what the actual hell was he doing in this dorm?

"We meet again," Gary said with a smile that both annoyed and irritated Chris.

They obviously stayed in the same dorm. Just great!

"Are you just going to stand there and watch me shower? Are you a pervert?" Chris asked in displeasure since Gary was not making any effort to turn away. But he was at least not looking anywhere else but at Chris’s face.

Gary tried to muffle his laughter. He looked amused. However, Chris couldn’t tell what exactly the boy found funny.

"Sorry if that creeped you out. I didn’t get your name last—"

"Go away, weirdo!" Chris shooed him away, exasperated. Seriously, did this guy lack basic manners?

"Oh... sorry," he said, his cheeks stained with blush as he quickly moved away from there to give him his much-deserved privacy.

It wasn’t until Gary left and he had turned off the shower that Chris realized he had messed up again.

Gary had tried to be nice, just like everyone else from this place that he had met. Even though Gary had gone about it the wrong way, Chris admitted that he had been rude to him. For something that wasn’t his fault either.

He had made up his mind to put what happened yesterday behind him. And he had to start by not letting the emotions from last night influence his actions and how he treated other people.

So he decided that when he next saw Gary, he was going to be nicer and apologize for his behaviour.

However, he didn’t expect to see Gary as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway. Despite being fully clothed since he didn’t want to make Rachel uncomfortable by dressing inside his room, the cold still hit him when he stepped out. Looking at Gary, who was still wearing only a tee-shirt and brief and carelessly standing there with a damp towel laid out in his head, he wondered if he wasn’t feeling the cold or if he truly was a weirdo.

Gary stood with his back against the wall and his arms folded across his chest. But as soon as he saw Chris, he pushed himself away from the wall and looked a bit awkward as he tried and failed to speak.

His look right now reminded Chris of the time when Henry told him that he was gay, as well as of when he met Collins last night. He didn’t like it when other guys were nervous before him. He wasn’t a bully.

Gary opened his mouth again to speak when Chris spoke first to make him more relaxed.

"I was rude earlier. I apologize. But what you did was crazy. Don’t do that again. To anyone at all." He said it like a big brother, even though he had no idea whether this little guy was older than him.

Gary was taken aback by the apology and looked rather surprised. "I... was actually going to apologize to you. Trying to chat when you are... naked was really... weird." He let out an embarrassed laugh before his eyes lit up, and he looked at Chris in admiration. "I didn’t expect you to apologize to me. That’s really cool."

"Why? Because I am tall?" Chris asked lightly.

"Well, that too," Gary spoke lightly as he chuckled.

Seeing him loosen up, Chris felt he was done there. Besides, he had also apologized. So it was time to move.

"See you around." He said and walked only a few steps when Gary called after him.

"Would you... like to hang out sometimes?"

When Chris turned to look at him in confusion, Gary quickly added, "You may need someone to show you around since Sato isn’t always available."

Chris looked at him with a raised brow. "How did you know that I am new and that Sky is my roommate?"

"If you weren’t new, I would have known you. And also, Sato introduced you as his new roommate last night." Gary reminded him.

That was probably true, but Chris had been so lost in his own world that he hadn’t heard anything else and only wanted to step out of the room for a while.

"Oh..." Was the only thing he could say. He could vaguely tell why this guy was trying to be close to him. It was just as Sky had said— girls would try to get closer to him when they knew they were roommates. But Sky hadn’t mentioned anything about boys.

"I know nothing about Sky." He informed Gary straight up, not wanting to keep his hopes up.

"What?" Gary voiced out in confusion.

"In case you are trying to be friends with me so I can give you information about him, I know nothing. He barely comes to the dorm."

"Ehm... No. I just wanted to be familiar with you. No pressure."

Chris was skeptical. He usually didn’t like to make friends with people easily, but for this guy in particular, he really didn’t want to make friends with him at all.

He found Gary weirdly odd.

"See you around." He simply said that dismissively and headed towards his dorm without giving Gary an answer.