Chapter 1

~~ Journal Entry 7/14/XX 3:00pm ~~

I, Dwight Fairfield, finally get to start the journey of adulthood. I remember when I got my acceptance letter to MacMillan University. It's not the most prestigious school, nor is it filled with the best students, but money's tight and they gave me a full ride scholarship for music. Mom's not too happy about losing me, her only child, so I must remember to call her lots. Maybe now that I will be miles away from my parents, I can actually come out of the closet, maybe not… But I didn't come here to worry about that! No, I came here to be successful in life and maybe even make some friends that aren't states away who only talk to me when I'm online playing video games…

~~ Close Entry ~~

The car abruptly halts as Dwight hears his mom call from the front of the car:

"Dwight sweetie, we're here. Hurry up with your journal, you've got a big day ahead of you!"

Dwight chuckles amusedly to himself, as he unbuckles his seatbelt and hops out of the car. The sun hits his eyes as he gets out, making him shelter them with his slightly effeminate hands. He moves over to the trunk of the car where his mom is already hauling out two hefty, jam-packed suitcases and a large instrument case.

"Are you going to stand around there all day or are you going to help me?" she laughs.

Instantly, Dwight's face turns beet red as he notices his mom staring at him with a kind smile, clutching his undoubtedly cumbersome suitcases.

"Don't forget to grab your instrument and your electro-gizmo stuff because 'that's too expensive for me to touch, and I might break it.'"

He quickly heeds his mother's words and seizes his saxophone case and backpack filled with his laptop and other gaming supplies, while grabbing one of the other suitcases from his mother's hand. He follows her as she leads him to the front office to get checked in.

"I can't believe my darling child is all grown up, it just seemed like yesterday you were just a little boy. I remember when you spending the night at Jason's house and you couldn't fall asleep because you just watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre, now it seems all you do is play that horror stuff."

"M-mom!" he gasps, indignant. "Please t-try and be a little quiet about it… Someone might hear you. I want to make a good first impression."

As they near the booth, Dwight can tell that his mom is starting to get emotional. Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Oh Dwight, my baby," she sobs, wrapping her arms around her beloved child. "I can't believe you are about to start college. You've grown so big and you've made both me and your father so very proud. Don't you forget it."

Dwight's eyes prickle with the beginnings of tears as emotion overwhelms him.

"I'll miss you a lot mom… I promise to call you and dad a lot, and I'll have someone record the band performances. I know how much you love them."

Dwight hugs his mother tightly before heading over to the check in station. He's greeted there by a worker. Her name tag reads: Viktoria Melova. Also, her hair is a frightening shade of lime green.

"Name?" she asks disinterestedly, blowing bubbles with her gum.

"D-Dwight. Dwight Fairfield."

Dwight hates talking to strangers, he hates nothing more than having to interact with people that he has never met before. He knows he has terrible anxiety, and he has thought of bringing it up with his parents. Maybe he could've gotten therapy, and maybe even prescribed anti-anxiety pills. He knows better though. He knows his parents would've just told him, "you'll grow out of it." His parents are extremely supportive of his music career, but they definitely have some conservative views on many things.

A voice snaps him out of his reverie.

"Pardon?" he asks timidly.

"Here's a sealed envelope containing your new ID, your dorm room number, and keys for your dorm room," the girl repeats, popping a huge gum bubble with her tongue. Suddenly, she shouts: "LAURIE, HE'S ONE OF YOURS!"

A tall girl in a blue shirt with shoulder-length blond hair saunters over to Dwight.

"Hi there! I'm your RA, Laurie. You'll be with me in the Prenn wing of the school," she smiles, her eyes flashing mischievously. "Did you need help taking some of your stuff?"

Dwight shyly nods his head.

"Alright, chatty Cathy," Laurie says in a playful tone, obviously making fun of Dwight for not being much of a talker. "Just follow me, you're gonna be on the third storey."

Dwight trails after Laurie through hundreds of other new freshmen, and upperclassmen who were there to help with orientation week. The building was very modern, and it looks like it was just recently built. He's happy about that. All the people he passed seem nice too, they were all very calm and not too "explosive." He feels very confident about this year.

They finally reach his room. Dwight rushes to open his envelope to retrieve his keys. As he tries to place them into the lock, the keys slip out of his hand.

Laurie snickers. "Slow down there, speed racer. Excited much?"

Dwight promptly becomes flustered and reaches down for his key. He is definitely nervous about his roommate. What is he like? What is his major? Is he going to be really talkative? What if he doesn't like him? Millions of questions swamp his mind as he puts in the key and opens the door.

"Oh," Dwight states blankly, expecting his roommate to already be there.

"Oh?" Laurie fumes. "This is one of the nicest dormitories our university has, and your reaction is just 'oh'?"

Dwight stutters, trying to explain himself. "Ah, n-no that's not what I meant, I swear! I was just expecting someone to already be here."

Laurie concentrates for a second, thin lines drawing themselves on her forehead as she thinks. "Ah. Your roommate!" she exclaims. "If I remember correctly from last year..." The lines etch themselves deeper into her skin. "He was a fairly quiet guy, never really said anything. He was a good kid though. Wasn't the brightest. You should see that guy when he's around animals and wildlife, though. It's like something clicks inside his brain. You'll never see him look happy until he is surrounded by nature."

Dwight brands all the information into his mind so he wouldn't forget. Great, he thinks, I'm going to have to be the one doing the talking one around him. Maybe this is what he needs. Although, if his roommate doesn't talk then he doesn't have to either! Dwight scolds himself, he knows he has to at least attempt to become friends with his roommate.

"I'll let you unpack and do your thing. I'll be back later in the week to check on you guys and see how you're going," Laurie chirps before leaving Dwight alone with his stuff.

Well since he isn't here, I get to choose what side to have," he whispers inaudibly to himself. He drags his stuff inside the dorm. It's a decent looking dorm. It has its own fridge and a microwave for cooking. Dwight puts his stuff on the right bed, he likes it because it means he'll be closer to the small restroom. Although there are no showering capabilities, he often takes pee stops in the middle of the night. He puts it up to his nervous nature.

Dwight takes out all of his clothing, hangs them up. Then he goes over to the one desk closest to his bed and sets up all his laptop equipment with his mouse pad, gaming mouse, and headset.

Dwight glances at his phone. 5:45, it reads. He thinks to himself, "he is really taking his time, maybe he doesn't want to meet me? Laurie did say he was the loner type."

Dwight opens his saxophone case and concludes that he might as well practice now while his roommate isn't here. He assembles it skillfully and starts running up and down his scales and hard passages. Dwight is never confident when he's alone. But when he plays music it sounds flawless and beautiful, like he's trying to prove something to himself.

Dwight is too focused on his music to notice Jake step into the dorm. Jake stands there, shocked. He wasn't expecting to get someone so talented to be his roommate, especially since his roommate last year was just a gambler. A bad one at that. He was always talking like he had some sort of "ace in the hole."

Jake decides to not pester the man playing music and unpacks. It takes Dwight a while to notice the man unpacking, but when he does the young man nearly drops his saxophone from surprise.

"Didn't mean to scare you," Jake says as he continues to unpack while avoiding eye contact. There's a hint of friendliness in his tone.

"Y-you're fine," Dwight nervously exclaims as his face flushes crimson. "Sorry if I was playing too loudly or annoyingly."

Jake Park, while still continuing to unpack, snickers. "You played just fine, I just was not expecting it to come from someone with a personality like yours."

Dwight feels as if something hit him right in the heart. "Uh, sorry for taking the right bed, I didn't know if you wanted it or anything," Dwight mutters nervously, then continues to ramble on distractedly until Jake cuts him off by putting a warm hand on his shoulder. He looks directly into Dwight's eyes, and Dwight feels as if are staring into the innermost parts of his soul. His deep chocolate eyes were putting Dwight into a trance. "You haven't done anything wrong, okay? Stop beating yourself up," Jake murmurs in what could be perceived as a slightly comforting tone before going straight back to unpacking.

Dwight feels even more guilty after that. He bundles up his instrument then lays on his bed. "Okay," he faintly mumbles. He checks his phone for the time. 7:30. He spends the rest of the night there, unconsciously watching youtube videos and scrolling through his blog's feed.

Eventually, around 9:00 pm, Dwight, and Jake both mumble sleepy goodnights to each other and go to bed. After gently placing his thick frame glasses on the nearby bedside table, Dwight pulls the soft sheets up to his quivering chin and tucks himself into the warm embrace of the bed. He falls asleep soon after, clutching the blankets close.