Chapter Text
Late at night, sitting one side, contemplating leaving to go up to his dorm room, Lo’ak sat. He stared out at the scene before him, guys and girls with drugs and drinks. Half of them are dancing, the other half just talking over the music.
Lo’ak knew he would’ve been out there with them, if he could only take his mind off things. It’s been a while since he’s gotten to university, it’s been a while since he failed that one damn test, but it didn’t seem like his dad was ever going to forget it. He fought the urge to get drunk and then skip class tomorrow, but Neteyam would put two and two together and figure out what happened — then try and take the blame for it.
Lo’ak rolled his neck back before getting up and leaving. He pushed past people on his way back into the frat house. On his way in he spotted a girl staring at him, she had big blue eyes and her hair, her jet black hair, curled perfectly.
If only he felt better, he would’ve gone over and talked to her. Never mind that, he felt terrible and at this point he couldn’t even imagine feeling good again.
Lo’ak closed the sliding glass door behind him, watching the scene before him, people sitting around and talking quietly in the dim lights. It felt a lot more calm in here, somehow it made him feel relieved. Maybe quiet was what he needed right now.
He drifted up the stairs, following the familiar route to his room, the room that he shared with Rotxo, one of Ao’nung’s closest friends – maybe even his best friend. The average person wouldn’t have guessed that since they were polar opposites.
Rotxo being down to earth and all, and Ao’nung being a little more obnoxious.
Lo’ak got really lucky with his roommate, not only did he feel himself becoming closer to Rotxo, he understood when Lo’ak needed to be alone.
Lo’ak shut the room’s door behind him. The room was dimly lit, the only light coming from outside. The layout was simple, two loft beds with desks and dressers underneath them.
His side of the room was plain, his textbooks and comics resting on his dresser, his laptop on his desk, a skateboard under his desk. His chair had a ton of jackets thrown and abandoned on it, the wall by his bed was covered with posters of music artists and movies.
His space was quite discarded despite him spending almost all his time there.
Lo’ak reached for his headphones, kicking off his shoes. He climbed onto his bed, hugging his pillow, and started playing music. This specific playlist, that absolutely no one knew of, consisted of sad Olivia Rodrigo songs.
It wasn’t often that he listened to her music, but some of her songs hit home, and made him feel better in a twisted sort of way.
Lo’ak took a deep breath , he was about to close his eyes when a knock sounded on the door.
“Hello?”
Lo’ak frowned, sitting up, “Hello?” He knew it wasn’t Rotxo, since his roomie was staying at a friend's place for the weekend.
“Can I come in?” The voice asked, even if the door was already slowly being opened.
“Sure,” Lo’ak sighed. He hung his headphones around his neck.
A girl with a denim skirt on and a teal top came into the room, she held a glass of water in her hand, and her face bore a perfect smile.
It was the girl from before.
“Hey,” Lo’ak grinned.
“Hi,” she looked down, slowly walking further into the room. “I’m sorry, this is a little weird–”
“No no, it’s fine,” he told her. He moved to the edge of the bed, putting his feet on the ladder.
“I saw you leaving, you looked down, so I don’t know, I got you water,” the girl lifted the glass, handing it to him.
“Thanks,” Lo’ak took the glass, with furrowed brows, “But, uh, maybe you should tell me your name at least.”
“I’m Tsireya, and you?” She put her hands on the side of Lo’ak’s bed before leaning back, letting her waist length curls hang in the air.
“I’m Lo’ak,” he smiled, looking down at the glass of water. “Thanks again for the water.” He took a sip, letting it soothe the roughness of his throat.
“Of course,” Tsireya replied, “Do you want to talk about why–”
“Not really, I just got a lot on my mind,” Lo’ak muttered. “In anyway, you’re a stranger, why–”
“I’m not a complete stranger, I’ve seen you around before,” Tsireya, stood still, looking up at Lo’ak, “I’m Ao’nung’s sister.”
“Well then it’s strange that we haven’t met before,” Lo’ak told her, he could tell her that he’s also seen her around before…
~~~
Ao’nung could’ve sworn he saw Tsireya only a second ago, now the question was: where did she run off to?
Never mind where Tsireya was, where was Neteyam? He promised he would be down here for the party… Ao’nung rolled his eyes, heading towards the stairs.
He walked down the hallway to his and Neteyam’s shared room. He slowly pushed the door open, shaking his head when he caught sight of Neteyam sitting at his desk.
“What are you doing? It's Friday night?!” Ao’nung clicked his tongue, pulling Neteyam’s chair, letting it glide to the middle of the room.
“What are you doing? I need to study,” Neteyam leaned back, crossing his arms, his hand still clutching onto his pen.
“You’ve been over this work like ten times already,” Ao’nung stepped back, “stop being so stuck up and come join the party.”
“No, no, no, I’m staying right here,” Neteyam sighed. “If you could leave me be, I’d really appreciate it.”
“You’re a buzzkill man,” Ao’nung playfully hit him on the shoulder, still clinging to the hope that Neteyam would go down to the party.
“Buzzkill or not, I have this thing called priorities,” Neteyam scooted his chair back to his desk.
“Then prioritize spending time with me,” Ao’nung tugged on Neteyam’s chair again, “you don’t have to drink, you just gotta come down.”
“Ah, skxawng, fine,” Neteyam got up from his chair, shutting his laptop and dropping his pen.
Ao’nung didn’t bother hiding his smile, throwing his arm around Neteyam’s shoulder, leading them out.
~~~
Kiri watched the stars through her widow, still open to let the cool breeze in. Despite the loud noise coming from the fraternity, the girl refused to close her window.
It was quiet in her room, the main source of light coming from lamps. Her bed was cluttered with pillows and blankets.
The door creaked open, a head poked through. It was Rotxo.
“I’ve been waiting forever,” Kiri smiled, “come in.”
Rotxo gave a polite smile, looking down at the doorknob as he closed the door behind him. He dropped his bag on the floor, before plopping down on the bed.
“I was thinking we can watch–”
“What if we watch Spider-man… into the spiderverse,” Rotxo suggested quietly.
“I told you I don’t watch stuff like that,” Kiri frowned, her arms hanging limply beside her.
“You haven’t even tried watching it,” Rotxo complained, taking Kiri’s laptop and opening it. Kiri was surprised to see that Rotxo knew her password and everything.
“Do you really think I would like it?” Kiri sat down next to her friend.
“Yeah, I mean who doesn’t?” Rotxo grinned.
“If I don’t like it, then I’ll sue,” Kiri joked, getting comfortable.
~~~
“Who’s your roommate?” Tsireya asked, trying to keep the conversation going. She might not know why lo’ak was upset, but she did know that whatever she was doing right now was taking his mind off of things – that’s all that mattered.
“Rotxo,” Lo’ak told her, “Do you know him?”
“Yeah, I know him. He was our neighbor while growing up,” Tsireya told him, “our house was like his second home.”
“That’s nice, we had a friend like that too, his name was Miles,” Lo’ak continued, “everybody calls him Spider though, we lost contact over time…”
“Oh, I'm sorry about that. It must’ve been like losing a brother,” Tsireya pulled the chair away from Lo’ak’s desk, sitting down on it, hugging one leg against her chest.
“It happened so naturally, I barely even noticed, anyways, a lot of people hated him, my mother too,” Lo’ak said, completely forgetting that he’d only met Tsireya a few minutes ago.
“Perhaps I’ll cross paths with this Spider and see for myself who he is,” Tsireya smiled, dimples forming on her cheeks.
“He might come across a little bit weird, but I think he’s an okay person,” Lo’ak smiled back at her, forgetting all about his troubles.
“I hate to say it, but it’s getting late… my roommate back at the sorority wouldn’t be happy if I show up past midnight,” Tsireya explained, “She’s been studying a lot recently and needs her sleep–”
“No, I get it,” Lo’ak told her, he could retaliate, tell her to stay the night, but he knew what was best. “My brother is exactly the same.”
“Wasn’t he the one who came stumbling past here? With Ao’nung?”
“Yeah, he was, your brother brings out the worst in him,” Lo’ak joked, earning a small laugh from the girl.
Tsireya said nothing more, she looked at the books and desk under the bed with pursed lips.
More silence led to Lo’ak frowning, bending over to see what Tsireya could be looking at.
She got up, taking a piece of paper and grabbing a pen. She wrote something down, then took the boy’s hand.
“Text me… in about five minutes?” She put the paper in Lo’ak’s hand, closing his fingers over it.
“I will, you can count on it,” he told her, smiling as she left.