4. The moment he knew

Carl looked at him and then returned his focus to his book.

Anderson was beside himself with bewilderment. Of everyone else in the whole school, it just had to be this rude, nonchalant guy? He was furious at his bad luck. Just when he thought this day couldn’t get worse, it proved that his entire stay at this prestigious college was going to be a hell of a ride.

“Oh, fuck me,” he mumbled and his eyes suddenly widened when those words gave him a cold chill.

Carl’s piercing eyes peered at him for a second, he had heard those words but decided not to say a word. Anderson grumbled as he unpacked his bag and made his small bed. He had a lot of questions running through his mind, but the most recurring was why he had grown so attracted to Carl earlier.

“You watched me get beat up,” Anderson said later that night, when he couldn’t sleep and was staring at the ceiling interminably, “why didn’t you do anything?”

Silence.

He frowned and looked at Carl, his eyes were wide open, buried into his books again. This frustrated Anderson, he was the bookworm but yet he couldn’t focus on anything but the disturbing thoughts in hid mind. He felt uneasy around Carl. Worse, unsure of himself. The previous night’s scenes played in his head again and his eyes slowly traced down to Carl’s pelvic region. He had a picture of Carl’s dick in his mind all of a sudden.

A guy as tall and well-built like Carl certainly had to have a huge dick, a pink cap to go with it that he could suck on all night. Anderson’s thoughts ran wild, but he froze the moment he saw Carl staring at him. He quickly turned away, his heart racing with embarrassment and he covered himself with his bedsheet.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” he wondered.

The next day, Anderson kept hoping that at some point in class, Carl would sit next to him. But the only time Carl bothered to come to class was during lunch to pick up his bag again. Anderson’s bullying didn’t stop, this went on for three good days, each time leaving him running to the bathroom to clean up one writing or drawing on his face.

On a certain day, Carl happened to be in class, after not speaking to Anderson all this while, when Arnold Pierce decided to pick on Anderson again.

“Hey, pretty boy,” Arnold said and his crew surrounded Anderson like a wake of vultures, “wouldn’t you love a tattoo of my name on your face now?”

Anderson’s eyes widened and he gasped, “Look, I don’t know what I did to you, but please…I do not want any more trouble…please.”

Arnold grinned wickedly, “Oh dear, just a tattoo Wells, what the hell is there to be scared of.”

“I don’t want a tattoo!” Anderson cried.

“Too bad, Anderson. It’s not about what you want, but what amuses me,” Arnold said and gestured to the other boys.

“He said he doesn’t want a tattoo,” a deep voice suddenly stopped them and Anderson looked up and was shocked to see Carl walking into the circle, “don’t push it, Arnold.”

Arnold’s face went red immediately, “Carl, why do you give a fuck about this loner?”

Carl glanced at Anderson, who was already shaking like a leaf, “I don’t. But he protects my bag during classes. I have use for him, so back off.”

Arnold hesitated, he knew that the entire class was watching and it would tarnish his reputation and make him look weak if he backed off, but he couldn’t take a chance with Carl Brimmer.

He scoffed, “Come on, boys.”

Anderson’s eyes worshipped Carl as he leaned over and picked up his bag again, “Thank you so much, Carl!” he said hysterically and Carl grimaced at him before walking out of the class.

Carl’s intervention was enough to lay off Arnold’s bullying for the rest of the day and Anderson finally saw an opening to talk to him. He was almost skipping back to his room joyfully by the time classes were over. He opened the door and it felt like a dagger tore through his heart when he saw the beautiful girl seated next to Carl, planting kisses all over his face.

Anderson swallowed and looked away, gently closing the door, but not silently enough. Keisha Wilbur, the beautiful blonde whom every boy in the school wanted to date, stopped kissing Carl’s face and glared at Anderson. She clearly didn’t like the slim, awkward looking guy with the circle-rimmed glasses and her eyes made it known. Anderson suddenly remembered Jason telling him that Carl was dating the hottest girl in the college.

“Well, he certainly hadn’t been exaggerating,” Anderson thought with dismay as he walked into the bathroom.

By the time he was out, Keisha was gone, but he could still perceive her expensive perfume and a pang of jealousy hit him firmly. He crawled into bed, exhausted and he saw Carl reading the same book he had been on for days now. It had no title, just a brown cover and an author name.

“Why do you barely come to class though, Carl?” Anderson asked when his curiosity kept tugging at him. “How do you intend to pass if you do not attend classes?”

No reply.

Anderson sighed, he thought things would be different. Carl had stood up for him anyway, didn’t he? Why was he still so cold?

He stared at the ceiling again, “Looks like your girlfriend doesn’t like me,” he voiced out his nervous thoughts.

He expected silence, but Carl’s deep voice suddenly filled the room, which made Anderson excited at first, but as the tone of Carl’s voice registered in his head, he suddenly grew uneasy and that rich, well-aged smell of wine awkwardly filled his nostrils from nowhere.

“She said you are weird. She doesn’t like weird guys.”

Nico’s voice reverberated in his head again and he sat up all of a sudden, his heart racing with anxiety at the possibilities that ran through his head at that point. He swallowed and looked at Carl. His heart stopped beating for a second or two, Carl was staring directly at him, his eyes glowing like a setting sun.

Anderson felt beads of sweat forming on his head and the hairs behind his neck hackled. He felt so uncomfortable at that point and Carl wouldn’t avert his gaze!

“W-What is it?” Anderson asked nervously, “w-why are you staring at me like t-that?”

Carl suddenly squinted and his next words were like bombs exploding in Anderson’s ears, “Were you at Mia’s masked party the other night?” he asked suddenly, “I could swear you look very familiar.”

Anderson stopped breathing totally, his eyes wide with shock and guilt.

“What?”