Cid (working title) - 16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Kellen’s POV

As soon as they turned the corner to get down the hall to his room, Kellen felt he could let out a sigh of relief. Especially after he turned the key to unlock his room. He waved Cid inside and shut it behind them and relocked it. Hopefully that moron that hassled his friend would get the message that he was there to protect and could handily do so.

“It’s a lot warmer in here, wow! Have a seat wherever you like.” He offered Cid as he rushed to get his coat and scarf off. It’d been a hike from the cafeteria and he had started to sweat already. He slung his backpack to the floor and unzipped it to retrieve his food. He took a whiff of the sandwich and fries that he’d grabbed and set them on his desk atop a pile of napkins.

He saw that Cid hadn’t yet sat down, in fact he’d barely entered the room. His eyes were still busy taking in all of the posters and flags that Kellen hung in his room.

“Taking it all in?” he asked.

Cid nodded. “Yeah…bigtime.” He actually seemed interested in the posters. “You’ve covered all the walls.”

Kellen snorted. “Yup. Nothing bugs me more than plain white walls. Plus I gotta have my favs all around me.”

“I know how that goes. I barely have any space left in my room so I just pile them up.” Cid added. Was that almost a smile on his face? Nah, couldn’t be. The guy didn’t know how, or did he?

“Check it out, bud. My room is an homage to Scotland, soccer, and family. If you chill while I’m eating I’ll take you on a tour.”

“Eating…” Cid mouthed. It’s like he forgot he even had food with him.

Kellen cocked an amused brow and watched his friend unpack his lunch from his pack and tear it apart piece-by-piece. He was a slow eater, but his eyes drank in the whole room.

“Nice.” Cid uttered. The guy never said much, so Kellen took this as quite the occasion. He wolfed down his hamburger and ate the fries three at a time.

“Thanks, man.”

They finished their food and Kellen looked Cid over. “You look a lot better than you did earlier.”

“I am better.” Cid looked up through his eyelashes in a very shy manner. “That jerk has been on my case for months.”

Kellen scowled. “Did you report him?”

Cid rolled his eyes. “Nope. What good would it do?”

“Just a question. Hey, you done eating?” he wanted to rescue the mood they had before he’d asked. He was wise enough at least to know when to stop pushing.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll give you the tour then.” Kellen stood and offered his hand to Cid to help him up.

“I’m good.” Cid refused the hand. “Is that your flag?”

Kellen brushed the refusal aside. “Of course! Scotland pride through and through. My mother was a highlander, my father a lowlander.” He grinned. “Over there is the rest of the clan, about…two years ago now.” He squinted at the picture and all of the smiling faces.

Cid glanced at it too. “Cool. I’m...I don’t have any siblings that I know about.”

“Ah, well I’m the middle child. Older sister and young brother. Guess that makes me the oddball.” He mused.

Before he gave Cid too much of a chance to react; he turned to the wall of soccer photos. “Ahhhh the team. My old team. We were gods to the locals.” He brushed his fingers down the team photo and grinned from ear-to-ear.

“Do you still play?” Cid asked.

“Naw, just for fun. But in high school we tore it up, man! We won the local, regional and state championships. We were the kickass team.” He pointed out a bright blue ribbon. “I was named player of the year twice.” He touted. “My position was forward then goalie. That’s a crazy hard spot to be. Explains my teeth at least.”

Cid’s expression perked up and he looked at Kellen’s mouth. “Oh! Yeah I wondered.”

“Took a ball to the face four times straight on. Let’s see…I broke my nose once, and my teeth took the brunt of it the other times. Holy shit, taking a soccer ball at about 75 mph is not fun.” He huffed. “But it got me tons of sympathy. Crap did I get mobbed by the girls wanting to ‘kiss and make it better’. He rolled his eyes. My teammates helped out a lot too.”

“Cool.” Cid answered.

Kellen didn’t quite know what to make of his new friend; but he did know one thing for sure. The guy had issues and was a storm under those gorgeous lilac locks. He’d give anything to just bury his hands in them and hold Cid to him; but he’d wait.

“Very. The rest?” he looked around. “Just bands I like or movies. Huge sci-fi fan, and some action. The rest is crap.” He joked.

“Yeah it is.” Cid agreed.

Kellen sat again. “So, how long is your break? I could walk you back to your room if this isn’t good.”

“I…” Cid paused and looked around. “No, I’m ok I think. I have homework to do and I always wait til nighttime. I get caught up too much in my art; but I could seriously use a break from it. Gone kinda off the rails.”

His tone trailed off like he was sad about something. Kellen wouldn’t press or push.

“We all need a break sometimes. Hey, how are you on econ? I suck at this crap and am not into it. I’m barely passing as it is.”

“Really?” Cid asked, his face suddenly very boyish despite his goatee. “Maybe we could study?” he seemed so timid; like a rabbit that would hop away at any second.

Kellen reached for his laptop and econ book. “I’m cool with that. I’m usually pretty organized, but not with this one.” He flipped open the laptop and pulled up his notes. “You?”

Cid cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m usually a hot mess but somehow my art won me a scholarship and here I am in this shithole.” He dug around in his pack and pulled out a notebook and a pen. He sat on the floor and looked up at Kellen. “So, what should we cover?”

Holy moses those eyes were purple…right? Was that the color? This was the first time that Cid had looked him straight on that he could see that fantastic hue. Kellen had to cross his legs and focus on the subject at hand, which wasn’t eye color; it was economics. “Um, how about what he covered last week? Usually after semester break I’m a total idiot.”

“I think most people are.” Cid grumbled and he turned the pages in his notebook. “I could’ve gone for a lot longer break to be honest.”

That was something they definitely had in common. “I hear ya there, bro. My folks and sibs are always a welcome sight. I hate leaving them at all; but here I am. Gotta get this degree wrapped up and into a real life.” He had to really make himself focus on the subject but his eyes barely left his classmate.

“Yeah. I just want to paint for a living but I guess I gotta be ‘well-rounded.” He used air quotes and it make Kellen snicker.

“You comfy over there?” he asked as he saw Cid lean back against the bed. “Why not sit up on the bed?”

Cid hesitated and looked between the bed and Kellen. “I…I guess. If you don’t mind. It looks bigger than mine…is that a full-size?”

Kellen nodded. “Yup. I’m a big guy and those tiny mattresses won’t hold me. Besides; I might want some company later on and it’ll be better for…”

“I get the picture.” Cid held up his hand and scowled. “Cool, well whatever.” He repositioned himself to sit on the bed and faced his friend. “Let’s review whatever that fossil uttered a couple weeks ago and work forward.”

The sudden tone change took Kellen off guard. What did Cid think he was going to say? Oy, this guy was a piece of work, but one he didn’t mind working on at all. He didn’t have many friends there; they were all in the old town. He missed his family and wouldn’t mind someone new to hang out with. Plus this guy needed him too; for protection and he sensed a helluva lot more.

“On it.” He drank the rest of his soda and soaked up the nice study session for the rest of the afternoon.