Runner-Up - 2. Chapter 2

‘Mornin’, how’s your day going?’

Kyle didn’t know how to answer, and since he was about to be late, he decided to simply ignore it until his next break and get back inside.

The next two hours went extremely slow for Kyle, first because it was a down time for him at work, only having to answer calls from time to time. He therefore decided to take out his econ book and complete his reading ahead of his afternoon class.

Or that's was his plan. He couldn't stop wondering what David wanted and because of that he was not able to get any kind of meaningful reading done. Until now, they had always waited until the evening before talking to each other.

'Hey! Not too bad, work is halfway done for me. I still have a class after work.'

Kyle had barely gotten outside for his second break when he answered the long awaited text. Now, he could do nothing but wait. He therefore did the only thing he knew to do during his break, when he had time to lose, walk around.

He didn't have to wait for long, he had barely gotten to the street corner when his phone beeped.

'Oh, well that's nice! I had a class at 8:30 this morning. I have to wait until 15:30 for my next one.'

Kyle simply didn’t know what to answer to that, but luckily for him, he didn't have to answer.

'Are you doing anything special after your class? (Or before?)'

He could just guess where it would be going, and Kyle was somewhat quite happy about that.

'Well, after work, I'll just have time to walk to class. But after, I don't have anything planned.'

'Maybe we can hang out?'

'I would love that! :)'

'I'll text you when I'll be done.'

Despite the fact that he hadn't expected it in the middle of the week, Kyle was actually really glad that he'd get to see David again.

“Hey Kyle, you seem happier than usual!” Cindy said as he walked in the nutritionist office.

“Well, I am happy actually, thanks!”

“Good to see that there’s at least some people that are cheerful on Mondays!”

“Kyle, I just need to finish the lactose-free diet you’ve asked for and you’ll be good to go!” Donna, another nutritionist, said.

“That’s alright, I’m not late just yet!” he responded. “I guess you’re right Cindy, however, I’m gonna meet with a friend later on this afternoon. I guess I’m looking forward to it.”

Kyle never really opened up completely about his personal life at work. That morning however, he felt compelled to open up as the opportunity came up.

“Oh, like a date?”

“Nah, not a date, the boyfriend wouldn’t like that. He’s really just a friend.”

“Hmmm! Then, must be a special friend to make you that happy.”

“Yeah, well he’s sweet and fun to hang out with.”

At that moment, Donna got up and handed Kyle the remaining menu slips. “Everything is there!”

“Alright, well, I should get going then!”

As Kyle was about to walk out, Cindy said one last thing “Have a good time with your friend this afternoon!”

“I will!” Kyle said just before too far away.

As he was going back downstairs to the distribution centre, the only thing he could think of was about meeting David after his class and what they would do.

Arriving at his desk, seeing all the activity going on around him, made him realize that he needed to stop thinking about after his class and more about finishing his day first.

Kyle was starting to get very hungry when his forty-five minute lunch break finally came. He almost never brought lunch from home, that day wasn't any different. Kyle could use the defense that it allows him to walk around during his break, as opposed to just sitting down in the cafeteria or worst, staying in his office. The reality was more that he was too lazy, or simply didn't want to wake up earlier to prepare lunch.

He took the ten minutes to walk down the three blocks, at a fast pace, to get to the Desjardins center, his usual place, to eat at the food court. Despite all the choices, his mind was already set for a poutine and a coke from A&W. He simply didn't have time to waist and it was the fastest place around for food.

Hearing his cell ringing made him realize that he had forgotten about calling Ryan, as he would normally do at the start of his lunch. Sure enough, his boyfriend's picture on his iPhone screen confirmed his thought. Kyle felt really bad as he answered.

"Ry! I'm so sorry, it dropped out of my mind to call you!" Kyle said without giving his boyfriend the chance of saying anything.

"It's alright, I'll survive. Things going that bad over there?"

"Kinda busy, but not that bad. Guess who texted me this morning!"

"I don't know, don't really have time to guess right now." Ryan was starting to get irritated. It wasn't just the fact that Kyle was making him guess and lose the precious time he has before starting work, as much as he said it was alright before, he was a little mad at Kyle for not reaching out to him before.

"Party pooper! David, texted me right after my first break."

"Oh really? What did he said?"

"He was just wondering how my day was going, what time I was done, that kind of stuff."

"Oh, okay!"

"I guess he actually did enjoy our company this weekend."

"Well, that's nice, so we might get to see him again then."

"Yeah, probably." It was a white lie from Kyle's part. He knew he won't hide the fact that he saw David later on this evening, but he didn't want to bring in more questions or maybe even make his boyfriend envious of him.

"Good! I need to punch in to work, I'll see you later!"

"Yup, have a good day!"

After the call, Kyle quickly finished eating and on his way out, stopped at the dollar store and got himself a two for one Areo bars for dessert.

After his lunch break, it's never a busy time for Kyle, that day was no exception. It was simply a final thirty minutes to clean up, prepare the desk for the girl holding the next shift and answer the phone for ad hoc collation request.

When he got off work at two, Kyle walked the thirty minutes to Concordia's downtown campus, leaving his car at the hospital. He already had paid for the day, and he didn't want to try and find parking downtown in the middle of the day, or simply didn't want to pay again for parking.

Arriving at the downtown campus, he directly went into the Hall building and slowly made his way up to the 4th floor, where his class was, getting a copy of the student’s newspaper on his way. He was amongst the first one in class, but still picked a seat in the second row, in the small auditorium seating, not too far from the classroom door.

Kyle knew that he could have taken time to finish his reading, with the ten minutes he had before the start of the class. However, he didn't really feel like it, he instead rapidly went through the newspaper he picked up moments before, ignoring the other students as they steadily came in through the door.

He wasn't exactly the model student, yes, he was going to his classes, or most of them anyway, but in terms of school work and readings, he was only doing the minimum he had to do in order to get good enough grades.

His teacher arrived just in time for the start of the class. After taking a minute to setup, he was ready to start.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" The small chatter in the class died. "I expect that everyone did their reading. Can someone tell me what a dead weight loss is?"

As nobody was volunteering to answer the question, and since he had just read it minutes before, Kyle tried to answer.

"The dead weight loss is basically inefficiency created in the market. It's a loss of surplus."

By the time the teacher was done, Kyle couldn't wait to leave his seat. It wasn't so much the fact that the class had been boring, but more that they had covered a lot of points and it was getting too much.

As he was walking down the stairs, trying to avoid the traffic from the escalators, he sent a quick text to David, advising him that he was finally done. Knowing that he still had a good thirty minutes to spare, he decided to slowly walk toward McGill campus.

He had no idea which building his friend's class was in, but at least this way he'd be already closer.

It turned out that he didn't have to wait that much, before he had even arrived on campus he received a text. 'Yay, my class ended early.' then seconds later, 'Where do you want us to meet?'

David was already waiting at the corner of Sherbrooke and University when he arrived. Kyle mentally kicked himself for having David wait on him to arrive. However, he quickly forgot about it as soon as he saw an infectious smile on David' face.

"Kyle! How was your day?" David asked while giving him a big hug.

"It was good! Just three more and the week will be over!"

"Three?" His friend questioned, when it was only Monday.

"Yeah, I don't have classes on Fridays. But this time around, I am working this weekend."

"Oh, that's a shame!"

"Eh, but I'll still be done by two on both days. The day will still be young. It's just that I can't afford to be in bed later than ten thirty." Kyle explained.

"Ah, okay then. So, what do you wanna do?"

"Up to you, we can hang out a little, go get something to eat and hang out some more."

"Fine by me. Can we just drop by my dorm? That way, we won't have to carry our stuff everywhere."

"You can say it, you want me alone in your room!" Kyle teased him as he started walking uphill toward the dorms.

"Ha! You wish!"

"Well, no need to wish, that's where you're bringing me!"

"Right, but no innuendos."

Kyle was somewhat excited about going in David' dorm room. Being born and raised in the suburbs of Montreal meant that there was no reason for him to live in dorms, and he was somewhat envious to that life.

The dorm itself was as Kyle had expected, they walked into a big lounge room on the main floor with a pool table, couches and TV set. They then proceed walking up seven flights of stairs to get to David's floor. There, they didn't have to go very far in the small corridor as his room was the second on the right. Kyle couldn't have missed it, David's name was written next to the door.

"Here it is!" David said, as they walked in.

"Home away from home?" Kyle asked, as he was looking around the small room, which barely had room for the twin bed on one side, a desk and a dresser on the other side.

"Well, it can be cosy, but I wouldn't call it exactly a home."

"It's all tidy and clean! You did plan to bring me up here! You didn't have to do that for me."

David laughed. "No choice, it's a small room, if I don't keep it clean, there's no place for me."

The reality was that David took the time before going to his class to clean-up in advance, but didn't want to admit going to all the trouble.

"Nice view!" Kyle said sarcastically. David’s room was at the back of the building, the large window was giving a view of a parking lot and on the Mont-Royal.

David answered as he got closer and put his hand on Kyle's back. "I know! I lucked out, on the other side they have a really great view on downtown."

"Oh well, at least, you will have a really nice view in the fall."

Kyle turned his head and stared at his friend for a few seconds. For some reason, he couldn't resist and went for a short kiss that David gladly returned.

Kyle would never let the kiss get into anything more without his boyfriend present, and they both knew it, however, he wanted to show his affection toward David that was getting stronger and stronger.

"What do you want to do?" Kyle didn't want that awkward silence.

"Well, since we're here, we could always relax here a little before getting dinner."

"That's fine by me!" Kyle didn't really feel like walking around just to kill time, not when they just got to David' room and could settle down a little.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did!" Kyle teased him. "Of course you can ask me, you can ask me about anything."

"Well, I've been wondering, you're twenty-three, how come you and Ryan already own a condo and still be in university? That's unusual, no?"

"It is, my parents, without being rich, let's just say that they're both making decent salary. So, when I started kindergarten, they also started a fund for me which virtually completely pays for my tuitions. Also, since I was young, one of my dreams was never to be in an apartment, so, since I started to get pocket money, or gifts, or any kind of money, I'd put it away at the bank instead of using it. So, when I was ready to leave home, I had more than enough for the down payment."

"Wow, I could never have been able to save as much. The condo is mainly yours then?"

"The bank would not have allowed it to be only in my name, since I'm not working full time. So, it's also partly Ryan’s."

By that time, they were both sitting side by side, comfortably, on the bed.

"You've never said, why did you chose to come and study here at McGill?"

"I wanted to leave home, if only while I'm in university. Also, my brother came here."

"Oh! So you're not all by yourself here."

"I am, he graduated last spring and he moved back."

"Are you close to him?"

"He's my brother, so we talk from time to time, but not more than that."

"Aww, I kinda wish I had a brother. Growing up, being an only child can be boring."

Ever since the first night, Kyle had a question he wanted to ask, but he had always put it off thinking it was something he should ask face to face. He decided to go for it. "You know last weekend when you stopped us, saying that you weren't ready yet? Are you still a virgin?"

David wasn't offended by the question and openly answered. "No, I'm not, I do have some experience with guys, not a lot, but some."

"Then can I ask why, what made you stop?"

"Don't get me wrong, I do like the both of you, and I did really like spending the night close to you guys and I really do want to have a repeat of it soon. I just don't know if we really should do more."

Kyle felt like there was something else on David' mind, but he knew he shouldn't try and push for more at that point.

They continued chatting like that without getting bored or noticing the time go by. It was a text that David received, making him look at his phone that made him see how late it actually was.

"Oh shoot, we should really go and get some food!"

"Why, what time is it?"

"It's almost seven."

They took the time to put on their jacket then they were on their way out.

"You're not answering you're text?"

"Nah! It's not important, it will wait."

It took some time to find a place where the two of them wanted to eat at. They finally opted out for Schwarzt's deli.

"I still can't believe that you've been here for a month, and still haven't tried the smoke-meat here. They're an institution!" Kyle said, as they were enjoying their dinner.

"Maybe I was waiting for you to bring me here." David teased him. When he noticed that his friend wasn't playing along, he changed his answer. "Give me a small break on this, I've been quite busy these past few weeks, getting settled, orientation, class and all. Also, I need to keep myself on budget, so I can't just go around trying new place every day."

"Don't worry, I know! I'm not holding it against you!" Kyle finally let a smile break his poker face.

"What time does Ryan finish?"

"He should be done at nine."

David looked at his phone to see what time it was. "In a little more than an hour, then. Are you waiting for him?"

"I'm not sure yet, I guess it depends on what we're doing. If you wanna stay with me some more then yes, I will. If you were planning to simply go back to your room by yourself, then no, I'll go directly back home."

"You have classes tomorrow?"

"Yeah, at ten."

"Then, I'm sure you have some homework or reading to get done. It might be best that you go then."

"Either way is alright with me. I don’t have much to do, so I could always finish it in the morning. It's up to you."

"I think it would be better that you go. We both have studies to get done."

It wasn't necessarily the answer that he had hopped. Kyle couldn’t really say nor explain why, but he didn’t want to leave and go back to his own world. Something had made him feel normal around David. He was simply happier when he was around his friend.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kyle unconvincingly said.

"We can always get back together this weekend."

"That will be hard. I'm working Saturday and Sunday. I have to work at 6:45, so that means I can't really do much the previous nights."

"We can still figure something out."

Kyle had them walk back to his car since it was on their way. Arriving at his car, he dropped his bag on the backseat. As he was about to get behind the wheel, he noticed that David was standing still.

"Get in the car, I'll drop you off."

"My dorm isn't on your way, you don't have to. I'll be fine from here."

"It's not even a block away from here, it's hardly a detour."

Seeing that Kyle wouldn't let it go, he did end up getting in the car.

There was two reasons Kyle had for insisting to take David all the way back to his place, as opposed to part ways at his car. As much as they weren't on any kind of date, Kyle simply felt strongly that the nice and gallant thing to do, was to make sure he got back home safely. On a more personal level, dropping him off at his dorm meant that he'd stay around him that little bit longer.

It wasn't long until Kyle stopped the car in front of David' dorm.

"There you go."

"You know you really didn't have to come all the way here, right?"

"Oh, but I did!"

"Alright, well I should get inside. We'll keep in touch.”