Chapter 4: Competition?

Kai’s P.O.V

“Wow.” Devon gave the three of us a once over as he leaned back in his seat with a smirk. “The three of you sure look wonderful this fine morning.”

Three consecutive groans came from three different people but for three completely different reasons.

Joshua, the red-headed player of our group who got spotted the most because of his unusual hair color, gave Devon the middle finger as he laid his head back down on his desk. “Fuck you, man! I nearly had a heart attack! And this is what I come back to?”

Apparently, the woman who he went home with last night was barely eighteen and had a Lieutenant for a father. So it was safe to say…he spent the rest of the night running away from cops and ultimately getting away with a ‘polite’ warning as to never set foot near his daughter again ‘or else’…well, I’m sure none of us would like to know how that sentence ended.

As for Cole, he was lying on his desk with his head in his hands, still recovering from his killer hangover. I didn’t know if his bleached blonde hair was in disarray because he had been pulling at it all this time, or he had forgotten to brush it this morning due to the hangover.

And last but not the least…there was red eyed and sleep deprived, moi.

“I’d totally do you…if you let me.”

After my gay roommate had been so kind as to make that joke before snoring his way to dawn…I had lost my will to sleep because:

A. I did not find it funny at all.

B. I did not find it funny at fucking all.

C. He was joking…right?

“Hey De,” Cole turned to Devon, looking at him up and down with narrowed eyes. “How come you don’t look the slightest bit hung-over? You drank a lot of whisky last night.”

“It wasn’t all that much and I went home and got a good few hours of sleep last night.” Devon shrugged. “I even took notes in class for you guys. So if you want to copy my notes…buy me lunch.”

All of us groaned at the same time before placing our head back on top of the desk.

If there was anything we feared about Devon…it was the fact that the man had a bottomless pit and could eat an entire horse without blinking. And the fact that he had an incredible body to match his six feet four height was like rubbing salt to the injury.

But in his defence, he was the boxing club president and has won several medals in his school and college competitions. The fact that our group had a major fan following on Facebook and several fan pages dedicated to each of us, was partially thanks to Devon posting shirtless workout selfies in the gym and sometimes daring us to do the same.

“Fine.” Cole and Josh said at the same time. “Whatever!”

“I took notes.” I told them before I looked down at my notebook and groaned yet again. “I think.”

Fuck! Since when did my handwriting become unrecognizable even to myself? Being sleep deprived wasn’t as cute as movies made them out to be. My vision was hazy and it felt like I could pass out at any time. If it wasn’t for the five shots of espresso in my coffee this morning, I’d probably be asleep already. But now, I just couldn’t stop shaking my legs.

“Fine, fine!” Devon sighed. “I’ll take pity on you three, just for today. Let’s go get lunch already. I’m hungry.”

“When aren’t you?” Joshua asked as he got up from his seat, as did the others…before all of them turned toward me. “You coming?”

“Yeah…” I sighed, getting up as well.

“I’d totally do you…if you let me.”

Fuck! Why did his words keep reverberating inside my head like some kind of stuck tape-recorder?

“What do you guys want for lunch? McDonalds or Subway?” Joshua yawned as we got into the elevator to get to the ground floor, making us all yawn in sync before giving him death glares.

“Nah! I’m fine with whatever they have in the cafeteria.” Cole waved away any suggestions of going out to have lunch, even though our next class was at 2PM.

“Wait a minute,” I frowned at him. “You just gave up on going to McDonalds! What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Fuck you idiots!” He cursed. “Did you forget what day it is?”

“Start of our third year?” I said along with Devon who muttered, “First day of new class?”

“Exactly!” Cole shook his head. “And that means what?”

The four of us gave each other weird looks before it finally clicked.

“Shit! Freshmen!”

“And fresh new girls!” Cole sang like a creep as the elevator doors opened and he all but skipped out of it. “Let’s get to the cafeteria before all the good ones are taken!”

“Is he seriously talking about women like they’re some kind of livestock?” I narrowed my eyes at his blonde head, hoping he would actually slip and fall on his face for once. If only he had this much enthusiasm when it came to group projects rather than leaving it all to the rest of us to finish…

“Well…he does have a point though.” Joshua, freshly heartbroken after last night, followed behind Cole as Devon and I walked at a slower pace, not wanting others to associate us with the two fools skipping ahead.

The cafeteria was crowded as usual, with students from other faculties joining in, especially those who didn’t have class at this time of the day. So it wasn’t a surprise to see a huge crowd considering the influx of the freshmen and their new admirers. It was however…extremely surprising when Cole suddenly slapped at my shoulders and Devon came to stand in front of me as if to shield my view.

“What the hell?” I looked at Cole incredulously while rubbing at my shoulders. “What’s wrong with the two of you? Get moving or all the seats will be gone!”

“Well…” Devon hesitated, but Cole shoved him out of the way.

“Oh, shut it!” Cole snorted. “Kai’s been over Ruby for ages. There’s no way she’s getting any reaction from him.”

“Huh?” Confused, I looked around as to what my friends were talking about, but with Devon still in my way…I didn’t think I would find out if he just kept standing there.

“Fine!” Devon sighed, finally stepping aside. “But I gotta warn you…I think you got competition.”

I was still confused as to what they were talking about…until my eyes finally met hazel orbs from across the room and I understood what was going on.

Ruby was sitting on top of a freshman, with her arms around his nape. Her expression was unreadable and yet, they were close enough that it seemed like they were about to kiss…and the man she was sitting on top of…was none other than Night Winters.

Competition was the furthest thing on my mind as I continued to meet Night’s eyes from across the room; my blue orbs narrowed in on his innocent hazel ones.

But what surprised me the most at that instant was the fact that the only question on my mind at that moment wasn’t about Ruby or how she ended up on his lap. Rather it was…

He told me he was gay…did he lie?