"Oh, oh, oh Malcolm!"
Jason cringed as he heard another muffled cry through the paper-thin wall. It was one thing to know the guy living next to you had a very active social life, however, it was another thing entirely to have to listen to it.
Jason groaned as he buried his face in his navy blue pillow. The universe had really done one over on him this time. Now in his junior year, Jason finally had a single room and was free from the nightmare of awkward roommate encounters. And to top off his good fortune, the only other occupied room on his floor belonged to Malcolm Hale, co-president of the student body. Jason figured a guy like him would be in total compliance with the rules and as predicted, Malcolm had been. Well, until recently. Now Malcolm apparently had a girlfriend or at least a girl, who apparently liked Malcolm a lot.
Figuring he wasn't going to get his calculus homework done with the racket next door, he decided to go for a walk. It was a warm afternoon, at least. Hopefully, the happy couple would be finished with their 'activities' by the time he returned.
"I'll see if Reyna's around" Jason mused to himself. She would always listen to his roommate horror stories and laugh, her dark eyes twinkling with amusement. He normally saw Reyna every day, but recently, she never seemed to be around. She was the other co-president of the student body and always has a lot on her plate. Things must be really piling up for her not to make time for him.
"Ah well," Jason said to himself, reaching for his phone. He'd go bug her anyways.
Jason stomped down the generic white hallway of the west dorm building. He'd been gone for almost three hours, as the setting sun was now making shadows on the wall. The blond boy frowned, his electric blue eyes darkening with frustration. After receiving no reply to his many texts, he'd gone looking for Reyna all afternoon, but to no avail. He'd been to all her regular spots; her dorm room, her office, even the classes he knew she'd had that day, but she was nowhere to be found.
Jason sighed and ran his fingers through his golden hair. He was starting to get worried, which he knew was silly, but he's always been overprotective when it came to his best friend.
'She must just be really busy' he thought to himself, wandering back to his room. Distracted by his thoughts, he didn't see the wooden door next to his swing open, until it hit him in the face.
"Shit!" Jason yelled as the door slammed into his nose, with a painful bang. He reeled slightly, wondering if his nose was broken.
"Oh my god!" Jason heard a soft female voice exclaim. He looked up squinting in pain and found himself staring into the dark eyes of his 'missing' best friend.
"Oh, there you are!" Jason puffed with relief pulling Reyna into a tight hug, ignoring his sore nose. He pulled back and held her at an arm's length. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"
"Well, here I am," Reyna chuckles nervously, looking away from Jason to play with a strand of her raven hair, which was loose and uncharacteristically messy. She seemed a little cagey, her eyes flicking around the narrow hallway instead of meeting his eyes.
"Reyna, are you alright?" Jason questioned his brows furrowing together. There was something odd about Reyna's appearance, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was.
Then suddenly it clicked, her sweater. He'd never seen it before. It was a deep navy hoodie, contrasting strongly with her mocha skin, with a silver stitched emblem on the front. It was a tad big for her, falling about mid-thigh. Reyna wasn't really the type to buy oversize hoodies, she normally got them from sports teams or stole his.
"Reyna where did you get that..." Jason was cut off by the same door that hit him in the face earlier swinging open once more. The pair turned, startled by the noise.
"Oh, hey you two!" Malcolm's warm voice casually greeted the pair, his blonde curls ruffled slightly. He was dressed casually in jeans and a grey t-shirt, contrasting with his normally smart appearance.
"Hey" Jason responded looking away slightly. He found it kinda hard to look Malcolm in the eyes after overhearing his 'escapades'.
Malcolm meanwhile turned his attention to Reyna.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you" Malcolm started "Did you hear about Octavian's new fundraising idea?"
Jason could practically hear Malcolm rolling his eyes. He looked up, eager to hear what would no doubt be an entertaining story when a name etched in silver on the back of Reyna's sweater caught his eye.
"Reyna, why are are you wearing Malcolm's sweater?" Jason blurted suddenly. Reyna turned to look at him, her cheeks flushed slightly, while Malcolm grinned at him, his grey eyes sparkling with amusement.
"This isn't, you don't mean, I mean surely you're not..." Reyna's cheeks grew steadily more red as Jason spluttered, his thoughts racing as he finally put the pieces together.
"You're sleeping with Malcolm!" Jason finally managed to get out.
Reyna's cheeks were scarlet and she couldn't meet his eyes, confirming his fears.
"We're not just sleeping together" Malcolm interjected cheerfully, slowly slipping an arm around Reyna's waist. "I'm not really that kind of guy"
"So the two of you are together then?" Jason asked slowly, directing his question at Reyna. She nodded quickly and shot Malcolm a nervous smile.
"I was going to tell you at dinner next week" Reyna confessed "I just wanted to make sure it was serious first and well, it is"
Malcolm's grin grew wider at this and he kissed it top of Reyna's head tenderly. Jason felt his hands curl into fists as stared at the ground, unsure of what to say. He'd always felt uneasy about how much time Reyna and Malcolm spent together. Reyna had always said they were just friends, and yet here they were. It wasn't that he didn't like Malcolm, there was just something about his friendship with Reyna that made him almost, jealous.
"Sorry to break up this uh, revelatory chat, " Malcolm started breaking the weighted silence "but I have an essay due at midnight, so I'd better go."
He kissed Reyna quickly on the cheek and whispered something in her ear before loping off towards the library. This left Jason and Reyna just staring at one another. Reyna still looked slightly nervous and Jason knew she was still unsure about what he thought about this new development.
"So how long has this been going on?" Japan finally asked, leaning against the wall of the narrow hallway.
"About three weeks" Reyna replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her fingers were fidgeting with the bottom of the incriminating hoodie, making her silver ring glint in the light.
Jason knew she wanted him to approve, not that she needed it, but Reyna had always been very loyal to her friends and family. She hated getting torn between people, especially those she cares deeply for.
So for that reason, Jason forced his expression into an easy-going smile, but with a heavy heart said
"I'm really happy for you, Rey"
He heard Reyna breathe out a quiet sigh of relief and knew he had done the right thing. Jason didn't want to make things hard for Reyna.
"Thanks" she replied with a shy smile. As she turned to shut Malcolm's ajar door, Jason heard the unmistakable sound of Reyna's stomach rumbling. She whirled around to face him, cheeks tinged with red again.
"Hungry?" Jason asked, chuckling slightly.
"Starving," Reyna admitted, "How do you feel about Diocletian's?"
"Perfect." Jason smiled, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him. As they walked down the hall, basking in the golden glow of the setting sun, a thought suddenly sprung into his mind that made the most immature part of him snigger.
"Can I make a request? Jason started, a mischievous grin growing on his face."Abot you and Malcolm that is."
"Since when do you get to make requests in my relationships?" Reyna questioned, raising her eyebrows.
"Okay, a suggestion then" Jason quipped back. The teasing banter between them felt right and Jason felt the remaining awkwardness between them slip away.
"I suppose..." Reyna mock sighed, folding her arms across her chest and looking at him expectantly.
"Do you think you could keep it down next time?" Jason asked cheekily "It makes it kinda hard to focus on math when you two are going at it next, hey!"
Jason jumped aside laughing just in time to escape being shoved by a red-faced Reyna.
"Shut up!"