The Boyfriend Tag - 2. How We First Met

HOW WE FIRST MET

"What is up, YouTube!" Em practically screamed at the camera. "Woah, that was way too loud. Sorry. Guess I had one too many Snickers. Anyway, what is up, YouTube? Emmy boy here, and joining me today―or rather tonight to be more exact―is, as promised, my boyfriend Kylie! But only I can call him Kylie. So ya'll out there would have to call him Kyle. Say hi, Kylie."

"Hey, YouTube, how ya'll doin'?" I said with more confidence this time. How hard can this be?

"So, we did mention in the last video that we're going to do the boyfriend tag today. And if you don't know what that is... I believe I said this like a million times right, Kyle?" I nodded in agreement. "That it's just us taking turns answering questions about each other―̶"

"To see how well we know each other and how compatible we are."

"And what? We're breaking up if we aren't?" Em retorted.

"Our relationship's on the line, people!" I put my hands on my face in mock terror, like that kid from Home Alone.

"Anyway, what I was trying to say for the millionth time is that yes, we will be answering some basic questions that we found online, and also some of the questions you guys posted in last video's comments. We have chosen the weirdest and most awkward questions―nah just kidding. But yes we have chosen a few interesting ones to add to our list, and the poster will also get a shout out. So guys, I think it's high time we get the party started! You ready, Kylie?"

"Woo hoo!" I put my hands in the air and cheered.

"Right, first question: Where and when did we first meet?" Em read from the screen of his laptop. "I'll let you take this one, Kylie. Your side of the story is better." And indeed it was. My side of any story is always better.

"This is too easy, senior year at the lobby of our dorm." I tried replaying the first day we met in my head "To be fair, lemme tell you guys the whole story. It was something like this..." And here we are in a long, boring drawl.

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First day of school and I'm already late. Hell, I'm always late. I just had to take the flight on the exact day I have to rush to the school for registration. To make matters worse, I forgot my hockey stick... and my lacrosse stick. Great. Now, I would have to hear my mom's nagging, and wait a few weeks before the sticks arrived in the mail. I finally stumbled into the lobby of the dorms, after startling everyone, and interrupting the Headmasters' speech when I accidently banged my heavy suitcase on the hall door. I didn't eat much that morning, since I didn’t want to get sick on flight, so I was pretty damn hungry by the time I reached the cafeteria. I’d had nothing to eat though, since everything was gone; I had to wait 'til lunch time. It took me a good half hour to finally get all my papers signed at the registration desk. And now, I was greeted by the stinking glare of the bitch. Mrs. Landon, who's one of the clerks in charge of accommodations, had every right to despise me since I'm always the one preventing her from wrapping up early. As much as I hated it, I had to confront her, just like every year, to get myself assigned to a room. I made my way to the counter and smiled a sickly smile at her in an attempt to be nice-er.

"Good morning, ma'am."

"Afternoon," she corrected me. I told you she's a bitch.

"Good afternoon ma'am, I believe you know me already. I'm here every year."

"You're late every year."

"Right..." God, I didn't know how long I could stand this. "So, which room will I get?"

She ignored me completely and took her sweet time sorting out some papers and working on the computer while I just stood around, stupidly staring into space. She would constantly glare at me, and I would constantly sigh in annoyance. I was at the brink of raging when she scared the crap out of me; she suddenly stood up, and clasped her hands together. For a second I thought she was gonna hit me, but then she screamed in delight towards the doors.

"Welcome, oh welcome to St. George!" Her high pitched squeal reminded me of a pig. "So nice to finally meet you, Lady Faboir. And this must be Emmanuel."

I turned to see a tall, elegant woman, probably in her thirties, with a head full of lush blond hair. She had ice blue eyes that looked cold and hard, despite her warm and friendly smile. She was walking towards the counter, with her hand sticking out to meet the bitch's. Following rather meekly behind her was a boy, I guessed about my age, with the same set of blue eyes and blond hair. I saw he wasn't clad in the school's color of black and gold, like I was. He was wearing a pale blue button down shirt and khaki slacks with a pair of fine dress shoes instead. The woman was smartly dressed too―if not overdressed―with her large earrings and pearl necklace. I knew instantly they were somebody of importance.

"I'm Nicole Landon and I'm in charge of the accommodations here at St. George. Allow me to have your boy registered and assigned to one of the best rooms St. George has to offer." The bitch shook the woman's hand rather vigorously as she beamed at her. How pathetic.

"Uhm... Mrs. Landon, what about my―" I started but was cut short.

"Not now, Hambusch. Can't you see we have guests?" She hissed.

"Well, I'm a guest too, and it would be fair if..."

"Alright, Lady Faboir, we've got his name up already. He'll be placed in a private suite up here, in the North Tower. He'll have the room all to himself and he'll also have his own en suite bathroom and study, so he doesn't have to share with the others." The bitch totally ignored me.

I was fuming at this point but caught my tongue just in the time before I let out an extremely rude word. The woman then turned to her son and spoke, much to my surprise, in French. I had learned the language some time before, so I understood what they were saying. She said something about how happy she was with everything; he didn't say a word. Then she said something about roommates, and that he should have one 'cause it wouldn't be a good idea to sleep alone in a foreign place. The boy then looked up and smiled for the first time. I swear my heart skipped a beat. His eyes lit up and his lips curved into the cutest grin. It definitely caught me off guard to actually think that another male was cute. Boys and men were not cute. I shook the feeling off, was about to continue pressing the bitch, but was cut off again when the woman spoke first.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Landon." She spoke with such grace, I forgave her for interrupting.

"Please, it's Nicole." Or the bitch I thought, as the bitch was being way too obvious in sucking up.

"My son and I have come to a decision. We think it's best if he gets a roommate. I mean, it wouldn't be nice for him to be all alone in his room. And besides," She turned to her son. "Isn't that what living in the dorms is all about? Having roommates. Right, Emmy?"

"Maman, please don't call me Emmy." the boy groaned and rolled his eyes at his mother.

"Nonsense, I always call you Emmy." Yikes, a mama's boy.

"Oh, would he like to have a roommate then? Well, let's see." The bitch looked around the room franticly for God knows what; she stopped when she met my gaze. I raised my pierced eyebrow quizzically at her. Then she let out another squeal, scaring me for the second time that day.

"Aha! Then this will be your roommate!"

This???

"Okay, that's it! You think I'm some kind of thing?!" I roared. I was definitely not holding back this time. "You have been a total―" Before I could continue on my rampage, the lady stuck out her hand at me and honestly, I flinched a little 'cause I thought she was gonna slap me for freaking out. I looked at her weirdly as she continued to smile at me like I wasn't going crazy at that moment.

"Anais Faboir," she smiled. "And this is my boy, Emmanuel."

"Urgh... Hi." I reached for her hand and shook it meekly. "I'm Kyle, Kyle Hambusch."

"Right, pleased to meet you, Kyle," She said my name with a lilt. Kya-eel. "Come over here and say hi, Emmy"

Emmy came between us and stuck out his hand and I don't know what was wrong with me but I found myself really nervous as I felt the soft touch of his hand on mine. I thought this guy had probably never done the dishes, like ever. I mean, how could someone's hand be so soft? Ah what the hell! It's just a hand. Get a grip Kyle!

"I guess you already know my name," he let out the goofiest, cutest chuckle. "You can call me Em for short."

"Kyle... none for short," I managed to croak.

"Okay, None" I must've looked really lost 'cause his smile died down a little.

"What?"

"You said none for short. So, I called you None." I could tell he didn't think it's a good joke anymore as his face turned bright red, especially around his cheeks. Aw... he was blushing. That was a pretty lame joke but I forgave him 'cause he was being so darn cute. Again with the cute!

"Oh! Haha! Good one." Yeah, that was a lie.

"Well, I'm glad you two are getting along, but we really must get going. Come now, let me escort you to your room," The bitch got out from behind the counter and called two boys, who I knew were graduating seniors that had come to volunteer, to get a cart for our bags.

Now, I'm loving all this special treatment but I can't help wondering how come Em gets all that. I mean, we had sons of really important people in the past and they didn't get this much attention from officials. Not even from the headmaster himself. I wondered how important Em really was.

We took the lift and got off on the fifth floor where all the seniors stayed. The bitch led us to a secluded area at the end of the corridor, produced a card from her jacket pocket, and swiped it on the door's lock. It let out a beep and opened. She held the door open for both Em and Mrs. Faboir, but let go as soon as I stepped in, almost slamming it on my face. I cursed under my breath, but soon had it taken away when I saw how big and luxurious the room was. It was mildly but tastefully decorated with two twin beds on the either side of the wall―I called for the one near the window. There were two work stations, our very own bathroom, and even a walk-in closet! I tossed my school bag on my bed and went rummaging through the drawers and cabinets, trying to find some sort of forgotten treasures in them. Usually, we would have to settle with just a dresser that we had to share and would hang our uniforms anywhere we could.

"Hmm... This is very nice. Isn't it, Em?" Mrs. Faboir commented as she walked around inspecting the room.

Very nice? This is better than my whole house!

"It sure is," Em nodded, coming out of the bathroom. "Glad I won't have to do the laundry by hand."

"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled. "You have to do it by hand."

"Why would I have to when there's a washing machine?"

"No way!" I ran out of the closet and went straight to the bathroom and sure as hell, there was the machine, right next to the sink. "Oh... My... God..."

"What's the big deal? Never seen a washing machine before?" Em chuckled, joining me in the bathroom.

"There's no such thing as a washer―in the dorms at least." I said still admiring it.

"Well, here it is."

"You can find the detergent in the cabinet under the sink and if you ever run out, just inform me and I'll be sure to re-stock. Same goes for toilet paper." The bitch proudly announced.

"TP?! You have that here too?" It's crazy how this guy gets everything from a closet to toilet paper, when all these times we were told to bring our own. In a way, I was happy that I got to share all these conveniences.

"You don't use toilet paper?" Em looked horrified.

"No, it's just that we have to buy our own."

"Oh."

"Well, I see that everything's taken care of. I guess it's time for me to leave then, Emmy," Mrs. Faboir said as we stepped out into the main room.

"You are welcome to stay as long as you like, Lady Faboir." The bitch chimed in.

"Oh no, it's fine. I'm happy to see that my boy will be well taken care of here. Thank you again, Nicole. Now, take care you two. And Kya-eel, teach Emmy how to play. He needs to learn how to have fun." She winked at me and I found myself blushing.

"Uhm... Sure, Mrs. Faboir. You can count on me."

"Right then, allow me to escort you downstairs, Lady Faboir." The bitch offered. After giving Em a hug and shook my hand, Mrs. Faboir was led by the bitch out the doors.

"Oh and by the way, after lunch you'll be reporting to your homeroom and there, you'll get your student card." The bitch turned to inform us. "The card acts as a key to unlock your room, so try not to forget anything important before you leave, since the door locks automatically."

We both nodded and the two women left, leaving us alone in the room. We stood staring at each other awkwardly, not knowing what to say, when there was a knock on the door.

"Guess I should go get it," I said and rushed to the door.

"Sup, Hambusch. I see you got yourself lucky," Dretchen, one of the seniors who volunteered that day greeted me with his usual cocky grin. Parts of his flaming red curls were plastered to his face as he was sweating a lot from carrying our bags. "Here's your stuff. No need to thank me, just give me a glass of water. I'm beat!"

I stood aside to let Dretchen in and went out to help carry the rest of our luggage. They were mostly Em's though, and I saw he didn't forget his sticks, unlike me. Dretchen must've intimidated Em when he went straight to his bed and sat. Em just stood unmoving by the window, staring at the huge Russian.

"Nice place, one of the VIP rooms, amma right?" He said to Em, who in return, didn't say anything. "Right, I haven't introduced myself to his royal highness, my apologies," Dretchen said rather mockingly. "The name's Dretchen, yeah like Gretchen, but with a D. Nice to meet you." He stuck out his large hand and I could see Em was uncomfortable, but he took it anyway.

"Emmanuel. A pleasure to meet you."

"Who talks like that? Haha! Loosen up will ya, I don't bite," Dretchen laughed. "Hey, Kyle, where's my water?"

Em laughed along nervously but I could still see he was a bit cautious. I went to my bag, grabbed my water bottle, and tossed it to Dretchen who took a long chug immediately.

"Ahh. Now that's better. Thanks," He tossed it back to me and stood up. "Well, ladies, I think I better go. Nice seeing you again, Kyle. You too, Emmanuel. Oh! And lunch is in half an hour, I'll see you guys there. Ciao!" I followed him to the door and thanked him again before returning to the room. After checking to see that all my stuff was there, I began unpacking.

"Is it okay if I take the right side of the closet?" I asked Em who was busy writing in a brown, leather-bound book.

"Uhm? Oh yeah, sure." He responded without looking up.

I began hanging my uniform and jeans, and stuffing my t-shirts and underwear in a drawer, but stopped as a foul smell coming from one of the drawers hit my nostrils. It almost made me gag. I put my hand deep in the drawer and felt around. I didn't find anything at first, not until I reached deep in the corner and felt what I thought was a wet cloth. I pulled it out and what do you know, it was a dirty old tighty whity, only now it wasn't so white.

"Hey, Em! Heads up!" I tossed the pair of undies at him and it landed on his lap, making him jerk violently, dropping his book on the floor.

"Gross! Come on, man. NOT cool," He may have tried to sound mad, but I could see a slight smile on his face. "You've ruined my appetite."

"You'll get it back once you see what they serve for lunch. It should be extra good since there are parents. Come on, I haven't eaten all day."

"Cool! Just let me unpack first."

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