Chapter 5: Lines in the Sand

"I thought Eli would move off campus. But I forgot about Noah Evans."

Outside the dorm building. Without Noah’s pressure, Marcus finally dared to speak up, his face full of disdain as he sneered nonstop. "Guess the freaks are doubling up now. Great."

He nudged Derek with an elbow, like he expected him to join in. Derek suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned to look at Marcus: "What do you mean? What’s up with that guy?"

Marcus froze, blinked, then suddenly realized: "Oh right, you’re probably clueless as a straight guy. That guy with Eli just now is Noah Evans from the athletics department, a year above us. He’s pretty handsome, had tons of girls chasing him when he started school, totally obsessed..."

Derek’s frown deepened: "Get to the point."

"That is the point—don’t rush," Marcus said, exasperated. "The chemistry department queen confessed to him in public, guess what? He just said, he likes guys, came out right there."

Derek’s eyes darkened. His chest heaved a few times, then he said quietly: "He... probably just used that as an excuse to reject her, right?"

"Everyone thought so at first, but later, someone saw him on the LGBTQ forum. So him liking guys, that’s confirmed."

As he spoke, Marcus suddenly leaned closer to Derek, lowering his voice weirdly: "Didn’t you hear him just now, telling Eli to sleep in his bed tonight? Noah’s 601 is just him alone, now both of them are gay—who knows... Hey, Derek, where are you going? Aren’t you eating?"

Marcus trailed off as Derek stormed away, hands shoved deep in his pockets, jaw set.

That fall really hurt. My knee was swollen. As soon as I sat down on the empty lower bunk, the pain made me grimace. I peeled my sock off and winced at the angry red scrape blooming across my knee. The cheap dorm mattress springs squeaked under my weight.

At first, Noah thought I was being dramatic, acting like a wimp. But when I lifted my leg onto the bed and he saw the blood on my knee, his expression shifted and he scratched his head. "You’re bleeding already? Dude, you trip over air or something?"

Me: ... Are all you sports guys made of steel? You don’t bleed when you get knocked around?

I looked up, about to retort, but met Noah’s deep gaze. Only then did I realize he’d been staring at my calf, lost in thought.

"Noah?"

Noah snapped back, that same cool, lazy look on his face. He turned and went back to his desk. I was about to sigh at his indifference, but then a shadow fell over me. Noah pulled up a chair, sat by the bed, and scooted closer:

"Move over. I’ll put medicine on you. It’s special stuff—heals fast, but it’ll sting. Bear with it."

I blinked, thinking, how bad could it be? But the next second—

"Ah! It hurts, it hurts!"

"Don’t move! Spread your legs a bit! I can’t aim properly!"

I kept dodging from the pain, making it hard for Noah to apply the medicine, so he just grabbed my legs and pinned them on either side of his waist.

"Hold still or I’m gonna tape you to the bed. If you can’t take it, just grab my waist."

I couldn’t even care how weird that sounded. In pain, I clenched my fists and pounded the bed.

"It hurts, dude... go easier, you’re bruising my thigh... ah!"

The medicine stung the wound, making me shudder all over. But before I could say more, the door suddenly made a huge bang. It didn’t sound like a hand—more like someone had kicked it hard.

Both Noah and I were stunned, looking toward the door. The next second, Derek’s icy, bone-chilling voice came from outside:

"Eli, either I count to three and you open the door, or I’ll smash this damn door down today."

The doorknob rattled. My heart hammered so loud I was sure Noah could hear it too.