Dean Warner Intrigues - 14. Settling in at IU

Chapter 14 Settling in at IU

Dean spent Saturday doing some shopping. He picked up a desk lamp, a coffee maker, some coffee, creamer, cream cheese, and bagels at Walmart along with some snacks. That afternoon he went to the Pei Art Gallery and found it stunning. It was an architectural gem designed to showcase art with style and succeeded. Dean was enthralled and spent hours wandering the exhibits. For supper he went to his dining hall and used his meal card and enjoyed the meal in a mostly empty venue. Before going to sleep that night he again pulled his legs over his head and went down on himself until he came. It became a nightly ritual.

Sunday saw a sudden influx of students, as the Freshmen all started arriving. Orientation was scheduled for Monday. Even Dean's building saw some returning students, mostly those who worked on campus and needed to be there early for help with orientation. But none of his podmates showed up. Dean wandered the campus and scoped out all the facilities where he had classes and timed his walking time between classes to confirm it would not be any trouble to make his classes on time. The Kelley School of Business Undergraduate building was old. The school's reputation however was stellar and Dean was proud to be enrolled. When he got back to his dorm he gathered up his used towels and other items to be laundered and took them to the laundry facility in the building which had coin operated machines. He finished and was surprised at how much he spent and realized he would be one of those guys bringing home dirty laundry from college.

He talked to John late Sunday and found out that his weekend at his grandfather's was bittersweet. Evidently, John Trask Sr. was retiring completely and being bought out by the other partners. John's grandmother had died about five years previously. His now seventy-nine year old grandfather was selling his “farm”, a really lovely property and retiring to his condo in Naples Florida, where it was warm year round.

Monday was hot and Dean arose early and showered, drank his coffee and enjoyed a bagel with cream cheese. He wondered if he should get a toaster too. His little microwave worked fine making popcorn as he found out the night before. He went to the orientation for new students at nine and actually took some notes and received several more handouts. He met some other students who were transfer students and they went to lunch together and exchanged phone numbers with a couple of the guys.

That afternoon, he was going over some of the class outlines and looking at some of the text books again when he heard someone enter the common room. He went out and introduced himself and met Tyler Thompson. Ty was a tall lanky guy about six foot three. He had sandy blond hair and blue eyes. He was dressed casually and had a ready smile. Dean was relieved to find out he was his suite mate with whom he shared his bathroom. Ty asked if Justin or Jacob had made an appearance and Dean shook his head no and in turn asked “what are they like?”

Ty smiled and replied “well they love computer games, touch football, basketball, beer and babes. Neither is really driven as both come from fairly wealthy families. Justin's family owns a very successful Ford dealership in Lexington, Kentucky. Jacob's father is a vice-president at Eli Lilly & Company in Indianapolis. Both make decent grades despite their lack of organization. Have you seen their rooms?”

Dean looked down and said “well I peeked into all the rooms.”

“Then you know what I mean. I could never live like that. I hope you aren't too messy, especially as we have to share the bathroom.”

“I had my own bathroom at home and have been responsible for keeping it clean and neat since I was ten. My mom has high standards, but I have been known to leave the random towel on the sink.”

“Well then, I think we will get along great. One other thing, Justin and Jacob are very informal and like to get comfortable. Finding them playing a game on the bigscreen dressed in just their boxers is not unusual. They are very social and often have friends in to play games as well. It can get noisy. I can show you some of my favorite quiet spots in the library for studying. I would suggest you keep anything you value put away and your bedroom door closed and locked as lots of guys drift in and out all the time. Keeping the door locked keeps people from using our bathroom too.”

Dean helped Ty move in the extra stuff he brought from home and they continued to talk about themselves. Ty was also from Indianapolis and his father owned a couple of funeral homes. Dean confided that he never new his dad who never married his mom. He told Ty about attending the local community college and working at Kroger and how it was his dream to finish out his degree at IU. He noted he was admitted as a second semester sophomore but if he attended the summer session next year, he could graduate on track.

Later Ty asked Dean to go out and get some supper. They went in Ty's silver metallic 2005 Lexus RX 330. It had been Ty's graduation gift from highschool. Supper was at Bella Cucina's. They ordered side salads and a chicken pignole pizza which they shared. Dean had never had anything similar but liked it. When the check came, they argued over it and Ty noted he had asked Dean to join him. Dean eventually caved, but was allowed to leave the tip.

Upon return to the dorm, Ty told Dean to go ahead and use the bathroom first as he was going to check out Sportscenter. Dean showered and finished and wiped the place down. He placed his towels and wash cloths on a drying rack he had bought at Walmart which was in his room. Dressed in sleep shorts he went into the common room and told Ty he was finished in the bathroom and was going back to his room to look over some more of his orientation materials. He did that and found out how to log onto the campus internet system and his student e-mail which already had five messages regarding each of his classes. He systematically went through them and printed some out but regarding others, he just made some notes in his notebooks for those particular classes. Dean had done fairly well in school but this was the big time and he was determined to work hard and get as good an education as possible.

The next afternoon both Justin and Jacob arrived within an hour of the other. They could have passed for brothers. Both were about six feet tall, broad shouldered, with brown hair and eyes and they looked like jocks. They were friendly and asked Dean all about himself and he gave them a brief run down. Justin asked Dean if he was a neat freak like Ty and Dean replied “well, I don't know, I like to keep things in order and do things on a regular schedule.”

“Perfect” was the reply, “you will get along great. Jacob and I could never share a bathroom with Ty as we would drive him crazy. He is the one that sees that the common room is picked up and the trash is taken out. He really gets on our case sometimes. Out last podmate was only fair at not being a slob and it drove Ty nuts. He is a good guy but likes order. Jacob and I are a lot more laid back.”

Ty came in just as Justin finished speaking and said: “Laid back my ass, try lazy. Dean and I are not your housekeepers and you guys will do your share, right Dean?”

“You bet” Dean replied softly.

Jacob noticed and said “don't let us intimidate you Dean, you are an equal member of the pod and have as much say as any of us. Justin and I are a bit less intense and sometimes need a little prodding when we let something go too long. Can you deal with that?”

“Sure, no problem.”

“What about nudity?”

“What?” Dean asked, startled at the question.

Our last roommate was almost phobic about nudity. He was also homophobic and ranted if one of us was less than fully attired. This is our home and we like to get comfortable. We hang out in here in our boxers. If we happen to be in the middle of changing and hear something we want to see on TV, we are known to sometimes walk out here in the nude to see it. He ranted on and we ignored him. It got to be that we ignored him completely and he left at the end of the last semester and transferred to some Bible College. So what about you Dean, how will you react?”

“Well, I sleep in the nude but keep a pair of boxers or sleep shorts handy. I don't think I would stroll out here naked unless I knew you all a lot better. I won't have a problem with you being casually nude on occasion, but I don't think you will see me that way” Dean said and blushed.

Ty noticed and said “I also sleep in the nude and keep a pair of boxers handy. You won't have to worry about seeing me nude, unless you walk in on me in the shower or just getting ready to get in it.”

Dean realized that the guys were wondering why he blushed. It was something he couldn't help but he wanted to get started on the right foot with these guys and explained: “I blushed because of how I am built. When I first started taking gym in high school and we had open showers, all the kids called me dino-dick. Even with boxers, you all will probably notice me on occasion, and especially if I chub up at all.”

Ty glanced at Justin and Jacob who were exchanging smirks and heard them ask.

“Exactly how big is dino sized?”

Dean blushed more and said “about nine inches normally and about a foot with an erection.”

The other three looked at Dean with amazement.

Justin spoke first, “with equipment like that, you could make a bundle as a porn star!” Jacob was nodding his head and added. “Hell yeah, people pay good money for that stuff.”

Ty just looked a little shocked that and said “ok, come on guys, let's get real. Who would want to be a porn star and be known and exposed all over the internet?” He looked from Justin to Jacob and then said “don't answer that.”

Justin and Jacob just laughed and said in unison “in our dreams!” They all laughed at that but Dean was still a little sensitive about everything. As the day wore on, they all got along really well and Dean relaxed. He saw that Ty was not as anal as he feared, but was more like him in that he liked things orderly. The other two gathered up all the dirty laundry in their rooms and announced they were making a run to the laundry and asked if Ty or Dean had anything they wanted them to throw in with their stuff. Both Ty and Dean declined and Justin and Jacob laughed and Jacob said “don't say we didn't ask.”

Later the guys all went to eat at the dining hall and it was the same one that John had shown Dean. The all agreed it was one of the better ones and close to their dorm. After they ate, Jacob and Justin went to the book store. Ty already had his books and stuff so he and Dean walked back to the dorm. Ty asked Dean if he had a girl friend and he replied that he didn't and wasn't likely to have one either. Ty gave Dean an enquiring look and he admitted he realized he was gay this past summer and was sort of seeing an older guy in his home town.

“How much older?”

“Almost 7 years. He's a lawyer and assists with my financial affairs.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, well I neglected to tell you I inherited a trust fund this summer that provides a monthly allowance under the terms of the trust. I have to keep track of expenses and there is an annual accounting as well as taxes to pay.”

“Well that explains it. You told me about your past job at Kroger but didn't mention anything about needing a job on campus or a scholarship and I didn't think you could have saved enough working at the grocery store to pay the rates here.”

“No, my job would never have covered school expenses here. It was always my dream to come to IU and get my degree and the windfall this summer allowed me to make my dreams come true.” Dean then continued; “you are not put off by my admitting I have a boyfriend?”

“Not in the least. I don't broadcast it, by I am gay as well. That is another reason our last roommate was ranting so much as I let it slip in an argument. Justin and Jacob are cool with it, but prefer it is kept discreet so as to not arouse undue unpleasantness.”

“I thought this campus was more gay tolerant” remarked Dean.

“It is technically, but there are always bigots, some openly and others more surreptitious. Last year there were a couple of incidents where guys walking across campus were assaulted and robbed at night. Both were gay and out, but the authorities treated it like it was just a robbery. The rumor going around was that it was someone who had in for gays. It is always better to stay in a group in any case.”

“So do you have a boyfriend” asked Dean?

“Not really. I have some gay friends who are 'friends with benefits,' but they like me, are mainly interested in getting an education and established before we make any life-long commitments,” replied Ty.

Just as Ty finished speaking, Justin and Jacob came in each carrying a couple of heavy bags of books and supplies. They started to compare course schedules and Dean found he only had one class in common with any of them and it was the course he had asked his academic advisor about. He had the class with Justin who planned to work in his family's car dealership and wanted to develop a bigger internet presence.

Tomorrow was the big day, the first day of classes.