Balance

Sunshine University is a private college located in Tampa, Florida, on top of a tall hill looking down on the city. It's a dream college for many and is the main reason why Florida's population continues to grow every year. With its advanced classes and arguably an even better sports package, no one can resist at least putting in an application for this pristine university. With its large campus that stretches from the bottom of the hill to the top, the main thing students expect is the difficulty of getting into this college.

Sunshine University has a 25 percent acceptance rate, but the school has a long history of students becoming extremely successful shortly after graduation. This school has special students who show higher promise than the rest. These students are gifted large scholarships to attend the school, but there are even fewer students who get double scholarships. One of these students lives in a dorm on the west side of the school that has an eagle drawn on the side. In the eagle dormitories on the third floor, in room number 38, a loud blaring alarm rings from an individual's alarm clock.

"Uh, is it time already? Why did I let Zane convince me to take morning classes with him?"

In the first room to the left of the dorm, a hand reaches out of bed and slams the off button on the alarm clock, which is placed on the dresser.

"What's my first class again?"

The blanket on the bed gets thrown to the ground.

"I think we picked English first."

Out of the small bed on the floor, a 6'3 light-skinned man with short brown hair and brown eyes rises. With him only wearing boxers and his hair in a mess, he looks around at his nicely kept room. This is Dante, a freshman who officially entered Sunshine University a week ago, and today is his first day of class.

"Dang, I still can't get used to this room. I need to hang up those posters soon."

Dante gets out of bed while yawning. He goes to pick up his phone, which is currently on the charger.

"Wait, the charger fell out of the phone way too easily."

Dante tries turning on his phone.

"It's dead," Dante screams with a panicked expression.

After he screams, his door bursts open. The person who opens the door is a white-skinned 6'5 man with blonde hair and green eyes. With him wearing black jeans, a white buttoned-up shirt, and a red blazer, the man walks into the room.

"Aye, bro, what the hell are you yelling about this early in the morning?"

"Zane! I didn't plug my phone in all the way last night, so it died!"

"Ok and? You can just charge it a little before we leave."

"No, that's not the problem! I hung up on Roxy!"

"Oh my god! I thought it was something serious!" Zane yells while smacking himself in the face.

Zane goes into Dante's closet and grabs clothes that look exactly like the ones he's wearing currently.

"We've been best friends since middle school, and I still don't understand your approach to women."

Zane throws the clothes at Dante.

"When it comes to women, you have to respect them! But you must not, and when I say must not, I mean must not! Give them a hundred percent of your time! That includes when you are sleeping."

Zane walks out of the room with his head held high.

"Hmph! What do you know? You haven't been in a relationship since sophomore year!"

"And I've been in multiple relationships compared to your one! Hurry up and get ready; we leave in five!"

Dante giggles as he looks at his brand-new school uniform.

"Today is my first day at Sunshine University! This day couldn't get any better!"

Dante put on his Sunshine University uniform to match Zane and left the dorm. Dante and Zane made it to the bus on time and started their official first day at Sunshine University.

As the bus drove them through the campus, they saw many palm trees, felt the heat of the Florida sun, and witnessed how crazy Florida can get.

At exactly eight a.m., Dante and Zane arrived at their first class. The class is large, with sixty seats. Dante and Zane are seated next to each other at the back of the class, next to the left window.

Twenty minutes into the class, the professor started to give a lecture. While he's speaking, Zane has an annoyed expression because Dante is currently on a video call with his girlfriend Roxy.

"So sorry I hung up last night, babe! The phone wasn't plugged in all the way last night, so it died."

In the video call is a white-skinned 5'7 woman with purple-braided hair, piercings all over her face, and black eyes.

Roxy smiles as Dante begs for forgiveness.

"It's ok, baby; just don't let it happen again, or I'll cut your balls off."

"What?" Dante whispers silently with shock on his face.

"Just kidding! Breathe a little, will ya? I'm just joking!"

"Oh my bad, you just seemed so serious. Well, now that's settled, how's Colorado?"

"Oh, it's amazing so far!"

"Yeah, I bet the university you're at is known for being a party 24/7. I just wish you would have come to Sunshine instead."

"Oh, stop with that, Dante! We've already been over this; Sunshine University isn't for me."

"Yeah, I know it's just that we've been together for four years, and to have to go long-distance is going to be hard to get used to."

"Well, Zane is there with you, so you won't be alone."

"Ok, I guess this is how it has to be for now."

"Oh, wait, hold on, I want to show you my outfit for the concert I'm going to today."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were going to one of those."

When Roxy gets up, Dante sees her wearing black leggings, a tiny skirt, and a shirt that only covers her breasts.

"Umm, are you sure you want to wear that? The shirt is only covering your chest, and even then, it's barely doing a good job."

"It's a concert, Dante. I'm just wearing what will make me comfortable."

"Oh, alright, you know me; I just worry sometimes."

I know I know, but I got to go get other things prepared, so I'll have to hang up. See you later!"

"Ok, see you later. I love you so much, babe!"

"Love you more!"

The call ends, and Dante closes his laptop with a smile on his face.

"We might be separated, but I'll always love her. I just have to wait for the summer to roll around.!"

Next to him, Zane rolls his eyes while saying, "At least he puts in headphones."

A few seconds later, Dante hears his last name called.

"Mister Thompson!"

Dante looks to the front of the class and sees the English professor. The professor is light-skinned, 6 feet tall, looks constantly angry, and is bald with brown eyes.

"Oh, Mr. Sanchez, you called me?"

"Yes, I did, and that's professor to you!"

"Oh well, what is it, professor?"

"Hmm, Dante Thompson. You are one of the few students who got a double scholarship. Academic full ride and an athletic full ride for basketball, I believe."

"Yes, professor."

"Well, that's great. That means you're a promising young student. What do you plan to major in?"

"Creative writing."

"Ohh writing! Then, since you're done with your phone call in the middle of my class, how about you answer the question I just posed to the class? If you were paying any attention, you would know what my question is."

"Umm"

"I thought so. I asked the class what situations they felt most empowered in. Would you mind answering that for me, Mister Thompson?"

Dante tilts his head in confusion.

"Umm, well, I feel the most empowered when I'm with my girlfriend."

"Hmm, that's quite an interesting answer coming from you."

Mr.Sanchez goes to his desk and grabs a number two pencil.

"Do you know what balance means, Mister Thompson?"

"It basically means the middle ground for something."

"Good, then I don't need to waste time explaining it. Now let me tell you all something."

Mr.Sanchez balances the number two pencil on his right index finger.

"In life, everything needs a balance, including who you rely on. As you can see, the pencil on my finger is perfectly balanced. Think of the left of the pencil as self-reliance, and think of the right as reliance on others. There are two types of people when they finally get out of their parents house. Some continue relying on their parents outside of their care, or they start relying on somebody else. Then some choose to rely on nobody but themselves. Both of these people have utterly failed themselves. Now can anyone tell me the third path people should truly follow?"

Dante looks at Mr.Sanchez, confused once again.

"Umm, professor, what does this have to do with English?"

"English is a thought-provoking subject at heart, which is why I'm making you all think."

"Well, ok, then to answer your question. The third path would be to have a balance between relying on others and relying on yourself."

"Good, Mister Thompson! Exactly the answer I'm looking for. Now I want you to take the example and apply it to anything. In some things in life, you will need to rely on others, but there are others where you must rely on yourself. This is why you must have a constant balance between the two. Does everyone understand?"

The entire class nods their heads yes.

"There are some of you who think you understand but truly don't, but don't worry because we all learn this lesson one day," he says with an ominous tone.

The words of Mr.Sanchez echoed in Dante's head for the entirety of the day. Even once he had his last class of the day, he was still thinking about what he said.

At the end of the day, Dante and Zane returned to their dorm. They entered the middle of the dorm, where the living room and kitchen are.

"Come on, Dante, just come party with me a little! I already know the location of five parties; it's going to be fucking turnt!"

Dante throws his bag on the couch as Zane nags on.

"No, dude, I already told you I'm busy."

"Oh, with what? You gotta go talk to your girlfriend again for the hundredth time today?"

"Usually, but no, she's at a concert right now, and I want her to have fun, so I won't bother her. I actually want to go watch a few breakdown videos of basketball games."

"Oh my God, I swear you watch those breakdown videos more than the actual content it's breaking down!"

"Well, the videos really help me innovate my writing since their descriptions are so good."

Dante looks at his phone, which has no notifications, with a conflicted expression.

"So Zane, what did you think the English professor was trying to say when he said some of us would learn this lesson one day?"

"You're still thinking about that?"

As Zane speaks, Dante gets a notification from an unknown number, and it seems the number sent him a video.

"Dude, stop worrying about what that old man says. If you believe you understand, then you do."

"..."

"Aye, dude, did you hear me? It's rude to not respond."

Zane looks at Dante and sees that he's watching a video on his phone.

"Dude, are you already watching those breakdown videos?"

Zane starts hearing loud, euphoric cries of ecstasy from what sounds like a woman. As the video goes on, he also hears aggressive grunts from four different male voices.

"Dude, what the fuck are you watching? Do that in your room!"

Zane grabs Dante by the shoulder and looks at his phone. When Zane sees what he's watching, his face turns to shock.

"Is that Roxy?" he screams.

As the groaning gets louder, both of them hear one of the male voices speak.

"Haha, damn, this bitch feels like an ocean! Aye Roxy, I hope you're having as much fun down there as I am!"

Roxy doesn't answer the man; all that comes out of her mouth is continued screams of pleasure.

"Aye Roxy, didn't you say you have a man where that motherfucker at?" Another man screams.

"Fuck him! He's not here right now! I'm only worried about you all and how much longer the four of you can make me feel this way! I'm not worried about his bitch-made ass! Let's go all night!" she screams while laughing.

When Zane hears this come from the phone, he snatches the phone from Dante and turns it phone.

"What the fuck! That bitch! Who sent that to you?" he screams with nothing but anger on his face.

Zane looks over to Dante and sees his face filling up with tears.

"Dude, I know this is bad, but we don't even know if this is real yet!"

Dante starts struggling to breathe, almost like he's been shot in the chest.

Just calm down; we will figure this out together!"

Dante starts to pull his hair with extreme force, and his face starts to scrunch up, with tears falling from his eyes faster than before.

"Bro, just listen to my voice!"

Dante falls to his knees and slams both his arms on the ground.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Chapter 1 end