Part One - Third Year - Chapter [001]

Getting to the university wasn't much of a problem this early in the morning, traffic can be a nightmare somewhere before 8 and 10 AM.

With just the first rays of sunshine hitting the horizon, it was still very early in the morning, I checked my watch, and the LCD screen turned as I looked at it. 

6:47 AM. I was right on time.

Practice started at 7:15 - I had some time to change and get my things ready. The other perk of being this early was that the parking lot was mostly empty, with all the good slots next to campus still being open.

However, those spots you had to pay for, and since most days I was on campus until late night hours I decided to go towards the parking lot that you didn't have to pay for.

Even though the payment wasn't paved, full of dirt and loose rock - my Honda CRV could easily handle this terrain. It was a 2003 and model service for it was outdated and I had to install a dongle on it to get Bluetooth to work through the speakers.

It was old - very old, and I dreamed of the days when I could drive my own Kawasaki Sport's Ninja.

Could I even be that guy?

Walking through school with an all-BMX outfit. Having to carry my helmet all day with me. 

The car I had right now was fine - it was big and sturdy, perfect for road trips, and it had enough space for whenever I had to bring into school big handmade projects.

Even though I was studying Digital Design some professors still asked us for traditional stuff. 

Ugh - what a bother. 

The coolness factor of a Kawasaki was unbeatable though.

But hey - dreaming is free after all. 

Driving through the city this early in the morning was almost peaceful, every year it felt like more and more traffic would congest the city. But this early in the morning traffic was minimal, only crazy people like me who would rather fill their days with activities than have to spend another moment at home. 

I was blasting Hard-style EDM through the speakers at full volume with the windows up of course.

It woke me up.

After driving through the center of the suburbs, I took a turn into downtown and towards the principal highway that crossed the entire city from East to West. Even on such a big highway there still was very little traffic. I got to a streetlight and was finally able to turn left after it turned green. 

Then it was all straight until I had to turn left again at a street that was right next to my university. After a couple of moments, I was able to see the entrance. 

Valhalla University.

Big bold letters adorned several lanes with pens that could only be accessed with a student ID. This wasn't the entrance I would take, instead right next there was another street with six lanes, and a crossing in the middle, a walk able space full of trees and nature.

People were already walking up it, probably going towards their work. 

Once again I had to wait for my turn light to go green, and I could take up the street, which was in an incline, towards the parking lot. 

It wasn't much of a wait as I sang along to the lyrics of a song and then headed up towards where I was going.

At the entrance of the lot, I was met with a security guard, who was sleeping.

His legs spread wide apart as he slumped in a chair. This lot didn't have digital pens just yet, so the guard had to check ID's manually. I lowered the volume of my music and rolled down my window. 

I knew him by name - after all, he was the only one who was assigned to the night shift. The guard had probably been awake since 2 in the morning or something like that. So of course he was tired. 

"Chris, good morning!" I shouted. The guard kept on sleeping like I wasn't there with a blaring motor next to him. Maybe I had spoken too softly, it happens usually. I forced myself to speak louder. 

"Chris!" I shouted as loud as I could. Finally, the guard woke up with a jolt and sprung to his feet. He walked towards my car a little embarrassed.

"Sorry - I didn't mean to wake you," I said with a smile. I knew Chris had a wife and kid, so mocking him a little was part of bro culture - or straight culture I don't know which one. 

Chris looked apologetic and embarrassed, so I didn't tease him too much.

"Oh! Aiden, good morning," he said, scratching the back of his head. We were on a first-name basis after all. 

"Good morning," I said with a smile handing over my student ID. Chris took a look at it and let me pass, he opened the gate for me and allowed me entry. The lot was still gated and they would close it off if it filled up, eventually a line would form obstructing the whole right lane of the street.

Finally, I parked my car and headed towards the main building.

The trek from my car to the sports club wasn't that hard, there weren't any inclines or tall buildings to cross over. I did have to cross a giant road, right next to the university, but things would be smooth sailing after I passed my ID card through the East entrance. 

After walking at an abrupt pace, I managed to get to the drop-off and scan my ID card, finally making it inside the university. 

I would say there are more parking spaces inside campus than actual buildings, but the open floor plan with the buildings scattered about was nice to see.

The orange buildings had a sort of washed-out feel to them making them more of a red brick scenario. The sun was already rising through the north.

The whole school was on an incline going north, thankfully I was cutting through the middle of it all, I had to hurry or else I would be late.

As I made my way into the Solar walkway which was full of grass and tons of springtime flowers, I saw a curious face, right next to the rector building was a boy who I knew all too well. 

What was he doing? 

It was not until I got a little bit closer that I managed to figure it out, taking pictures of the sky and the mountains was the bane of my existence.

All by himself, on this lonely cold morning, using his camera to snap picks of the sky and the flowers below. 

I don't think he noticed me.

My tummy flustered instantly as I recognized him, he was wearing a flannel shirt with long sleeves and skinny jeans that fit him tight. 

My stomach dropped once I remembered what I was wearing. 

I was already in my sports outfit for today's practice.

Shiny shorts, and a muscle T that didn't exactly do me any favors, even though I was skinny and with a little bit of bulk on the sides, I was still almost practically half naked. 

Then without warning, he turned around in my direction and pointed his camera at me.

He smiled and waved. 

Oh god - there was no way I could sneak my way past him now. 

I smiled sheepishly and made my way towards him. I ran a little until I met him at earshot. 

"Eddy - sup' bro - I uhh- saw you taking pics and wondered what were you doing, you know,"

Oh god did I just 'sup bro' him? 

I'm so cringe!!! 

I want to dig a hole in the earth and die. 

"Hey! I knew I felt someone spying on me…" he spoke, his treble medium-low, sort of deep for a 20-something-year-old, who's height was around 5'7 (175), I was taller than him at around 5'9 (182) from the last time I checked. 

"What - spying?!" I flustered. He was teasing me, I knew that.

I looked away for a moment as we broke eye contact, and then I looked back at him as he concentrated on the horizon. His face had a square jaw at least on his profile.

Today he was rocking a well-kept groomed beard, but he never wore a mustache, his hair was soft and wavy, and at the ends, it would spike in an angle.

His nose was slanted, and he had small inclined eyes, with an invisible eyebrow that would gather only in two dots on his brow. He hadn't cut his hair in a little while, so it was longer than usual.

I remember how he had red fantasy ends during the first year.

I noticed I froze.

"I'm joking Ace," he said oh so casually touching my shoulder It made me ease up.

That was his nickname for me, I have no idea how Aiden turned into Ace, but I'll take it. 

"Yeah - Yeah, I knew that," I said trying to play it cool, I could feel like he saw right through me. 

"What are you doing here so early here anyway-" he said turning naturally towards his camera again. 

"Morning practice," I explained. "I might be a little late." 

"Please, don't let me hold you," he said with a soft gaze, he meant those words, as if he for a moment cared about me. 

"Oh - no worries - I always have time to stop by and say hi to a friendly face," my internal voice flushed embarrassingly - but on the outside I had a cool demeanor.

He smiled and hid his face by looking to the ground. 

I felt the conversation come to a complete standstill - this always happened when I flirted with him, and I could always see him getting flustered about it. 

We both froze not knowing how to continue the conversation. 

I looked at my watch. 

5 minutes past 15. 

"Oh shit! Anyway - I sort of need to go." I said with a sad tinge in my voice.

"Oh yeah no worries, I need to finish my assignment anyway," Eddy motioned to his camera. 

"Yeah - I'll see you later then - I'll visit your presentation during my break," I said, already pushing my feet to run towards the gym, it was still a good 5 minutes away.

Besides we had tons of classes together today. Even though he was studying Animation and I was majoring in Digital Design. We still shared tons of technical and design classes. 

He nodded like I had given him some type of creative inspiration. 

"Wait - hold on!" he said.

"Let's get a selfie together," he pushed the visor on his DSLR forward so we could see it like a mirror. 

"Okay - " I said without much thinking.

"Send it to me later though," I said, my brain felt like it was running a thousand miles per hour.

There was no thinking with him only talking. 

I got close to him and scooched down to his level using my knees so that we would both fit in the frame. Eddy extended his arm and used the DSLR like a selfie. I made a dorky face with the peace signs, he made a cool face without a smile. 

He snapped the pick.

We gushed over how good we looked and finally, I said my goodbyes and started running towards the gym, I was late - more than late.

The coach was going to kill me. 

Moments later as I opened the doors to the gym my phone vibrated, as I left my things in the locker room I opened the message quickly and saw he had already shared the selfie with me. 

I smiled and buried my face as I squealed, I gave a heart reaction to his message.

"Aiden! We need you out there!" said the coach as he peaked his head in the locker room.

"Stop gushing about some boy and come help the team," he said as he saw me looking at my phone. I must have had a smile because of that comment. Everyone in the team knew I was gay. And everyone thought me as their ace.

I'd rather keep it like that. 

Finally, I locked up my locker and the coach met me outside, putting his arms around me, and ruffled my hair, he was friendly like this with everyone on the team. Morning practice was in full swing.

"You talking to boys Aiden?!" said the coach in a half-joking, half-serious tone.

"No - just a friend I swear!" I said flustered.

"Just a friend - Just a friend my ass - get you're head in the game, we have a big meet against the Goats, in two weeks!" Those were the rival school teams.

"Come on!" he said pushing me into the court. 

Trojans against the Rams. This meeting was real important - we needed to show them our team could also perform at a national level. It was only the beginning of the season, but we needed a strong start.