Breakfast Breakdown

(Sorry readers, it really is going to be a slow burn before we get to some action. This is where the story is taking me though.)

You wake early, as you often did. You were a naturally early riser and generally only needed five or six hours sleep to feel well rested. Sitting up you swing your legs over the side of the bed. The room was already well lit from the bright rising sun. Squinting as you look out the window you remind yourself to get some curtains or something to put up.

Looking over to your roommate you see he is lying face down, his arms under the pillow beneath his head and his dainty right foot sticking out of the covers over the side of the bed.

You get up and go take a piss. You splash some water on your face and freshen up a bit. Shave, brush your teeth, etc. Heading back to the room you throw on a t shirt and sit at your desk to start getting a few thing set up with your laptop. First connecting to the dorm wireless, then setting up your student account on the various campus sites.

You hear Charlie start to rustle and move. He turns over on his back, slowly opens his eyes, then shoots up to a sitting position. He looks around as if reminding himself as to where he was. He settles after a moment. He looks over to you and smiles. "Good Morning Jonathan."

You smile and nod.

He rubs his bleary eyes. He crawls out of bed and grabs many of the same clothes as he wore yesterday before stumbling to the bathroom. His zombie stagger revealing that he was not a morning person. He is in there a long time before finally reappearing. "Food Services Dining Hall good enough?" He asks.

You look over your should at him as you close your computer. "Yeah, breakfast. That's right. Uh. My food card isn't active yet."

"Mine is." He produces it from his pocket and shows it too you. "It's unlimited too." He grins. "It was one of the perks they offered me. I owe you one anyways."

Perks? No one offered you any perks. You remembered waiting nervously for the acceptance letter to arrive. You were pretty sure you'd make it in but until it actually arrived there was at least some doubt. It sounds like Charlie had had a bidding war for his attendance.

You get up, throw on some pants and slip on your shoes. Together you make your way, after a few wrong turns, to the food hall. It was sort of a buffet affair with a large common room eating area. You both load your plates and Charlie pays. As you head into dining area you notice the same group of girls you had asked directions from last night sitting at one of the large round tables. "Come on Charlie." You say as you make a beeline for their table.

"Uh..." You hear him say behind you.

As you arrive they all look up and smile. Four college aged cuties...man, if you weren't already taken...

"These seats taken?" You ask. There were plenty of other places to sit, but you were in the mood to meet some people.

"No!" One of them says. "No, go ahead. Did you guys find the pizza place okay?"

You set down your tray and nod. "Yep, thanks again."

Reluctantly Charlie takes a seat beside you. You smile at him, he grimaces back. He was not happy with this at all. Ah, it would be good for him to socialize a bit.

You and the four girls begin some lively flirtatious chit chat. You learn a bit about each other. Charlie just sat quietly beside you. The inevitable topic of your availability was subtly questioned.

"I've got a girlfriend back home, she'll be joining me next year." You inform them, much to their chagrin. "But my quiet Canadian friend here...he's a free man."

He looks at you with wide frightened eyes. You give him an unspoken little look as if to say. 'Dude! Go for it!' This was low hanging fruit, he just had to reach out and grab it. If you could help him 'become a man' you'd consider that a big accomplishment for your freshman year.

You crow. "Yep, single for the moment." You laugh and shoot him a wink. "I suspect that won't last long."

The girls were very much interested in this news and begin talking to him. Asking him all sorts of questions and giving him pretty smiles and suggestive stares.

Charlie remained quiet, awkwardly quiet, painfully quiet. His scared eyes darting this way and that. He was blowing it! You nudge him elbow to elbow. "Come on Charlie, speak up." You turn to the girls. "He's just a bit shy..."

Charlie stands up suddenly. "I-I-I've g-got to...g-go!" Without another word he turns and walks briskly away, almost tripping over his chair in the process. He storms out of the hall, his half eaten breakfast sitting there on the table. You and the girls all sit there stunned.

You turn to them. "Sorry about that. I...uh...I better see..." You point over your shoulder. They just nod, not sure of what to make of it all.

You stand and sprint out of the hall. You don't see him in the hallway. You continue your way out the doors and you finally see him walking briskly out along one of the paths. You rush to catch up.

"Charlie! Charlie wait!" You call out. You run up beside him. "Dude, calm down. What's wrong?"

He stops, his small hands balled in fists. His face was turned partially away from you, his hair covering his eyes. "D-d-don't you ever do that to me again!" He hisses. Holy shit...was he crying!? He was crying! You couldn't believe it, this guy was one sensitive soul!

You put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey man, calm down. I didn't know you'd react like that. I was trying to help you out."

He was fuming, he continued to hide his face from you. "I-I-I don't n-need your help J-J-Jonathan."

People were turning their heads as they walked by, wondering what the drama was about. You couldn't believe you were doing this with a guy you just met yesterday evening. With your roommate of all people. You were not used to this among your male friends. This display of emotion might be something you ribbed a friend about back home or just told them to suck it up. But you lived with this guy, you needed to mend this fence. More importantly...you truly felt bad that you'd hurt his feelings. You felt downright retched about it.

"Charlie. I'm sorry, really. I was a total asshole back there. A total total asshole. I should have at least talked to you first." You squeeze his slender shoulder. "It won't happen again, okay? I promise. I promise you that."

He is quiet a time. He finally nods. "Okay Jonathan." He reaches up and squeezes your hand in his, an odd gesture to be sure. "I'll...I'll see you back at the room." After a moment he adds. "I-I'm sorry I acted like that."

"Sure Charlie. It's okay. I'll see you later." You watch in confusion as he walks away. You hoped he was okay. You hoped things were still cool between you.

Okay, wow, lesson learned. You would be more careful with Charlie in the future.