Chapter Text
“We love you! Be safe!”
Avery’s best friends called out over the speaker phone.
“I’ll try, love you guys,” Avery laughed, propping the phone close to his ear with his shoulder, whilst juggling his overbearing amount of luggage.
“Love you!”
“Bye!”
”We miss you!” were all heard over the phone just before Avery hung up and tucked his phone in his pocket, dropping the bags on the floor outside his new dorm room. His hands reached for the key and unlocked his new home for the next 4 years of his life.
Wow.
The room was technically a 14 x 16 ft room, but looked way smaller on the inside. It consisted of two twin beds and crème color walls, and that was about it. It’s not like Avery was expecting something luxurious, but he definitely was disappointed with his room so far. Avery sighed and picked the bed to the left side of the room, setting his bags in front of the mattress. His stomach sunk as he fell deep into thought and took in his surroundings. His stomach twisted slightly and Avery lost his focus on the room. He wanted to go home and be in his own bed. The windows here were too small and he didn’t want to leave his friends. He reached for his phone to call his friends to ask for a ride home and-
Unfamiliar voices emerged from outside his door, followed by a jingling of keys. Those noises were enough to bring Avery back to reality and relax slightly, the feeling in his stomach still present. A man with a slick blonde middle part and glasses peeked his head through the dorm door before fully stepping inside the room. Avery examined the man. He was tall, taller than Avery, though that wasn’t saying much due to Avery’s stunted height. The man was wearing a sweater vest with khakis, and paired with his glasses and upright stance, it totally made him look like a geek. But Avery kept an open mind, he was pretty nerdy himself, after all.
”Are you Avery Mayervo?” the man asked. He had a rather deep and serious sounding voice, but not to the point where it was intimidating.
”Yes I am, are you Derek Hutchins?” Avery asked, standing up straight.
”Nice to meet you in person, Avery,” Derek recited as he held out his hand to shake.
“Nice to meet you too,” Avery said in an over confident voice, shaking the other man’s hand. Derek and Avery had spoken before, but it was only over text to arrange who would buy certain appliances and whatnot. He realized he didn’t actually know anything about Derek (other than the fact that he replies to texts at least three weeks after they were sent). In hindsight, he should have gotten to know Derek more. The dorm guide even recommended befriending your roommate before the year starts. But Avery wasn’t an outgoing guy, so he ignored the advice. Trying not to linger over his mistake, Avery asked a few standard questions to break the ice.
“What area do you come from?” Avery asked, walking towards his side of the room.
”I'm from Nebraska. You?”
”No way? I’m from Nebraska too! What city?” Avery asked energetically.
Derek’s eyes widened in surprise, the second emotion Avery had seen appear on the mans face besides his resting face.
“I’m from North Platte, lived there my whole life.”
Avery thought for a moment, “I think I know where that is. I lived in Lincoln.”
”Oh, nice,” Derek responded.
”Anyway, I’ll be unpacking my bags for the next few hours, I’ll have this part of the room, if that’s alright with you.” Avery spoke.
Derek sat down on his bed. ”Yeah, thats fine by me. The right side has a pretty window view.”
“Darn, I didn’t even think about the window. You lucked out.” Avery laughed. Derek smiled back, his body shifting back towards the door to grab his luggage. ———————————————————————————————-