Catalyst

Freshman were obligated to arrive on campus a week before classes began, and Tai was bored, bored, bored. Although parties and clubs filled the evenings, the days were empty stretches of nothing. He rolled over on his bed and stared at the clock. It was eleven in the morning, past time to get his lazy ass up and moving, but what was there to do? Soccer practice didn't start until the semester began, since most of his teammates weren't on campus yet.

"Matt?" he muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. There was no answer, so he sat up and found that Matt's bed was empty. The bass was gone too, so Matt was probably out practicing somewhere. Rat bastard!

Many alumni from his high school attended this college, since it was local, so Tai would make some calls and hopefully spark up a game of soccer. Hell, he'd settle for baseball at this rate. Whatever he could do to get his body moving, to work off some of the restless energy that had built up since the weekend. Worse case scenario, he could hit the gym.

With that decided, Tai groped on the surface of his desk, which was pushed against his bed to provide a nightstand. When his fingers curled around his cell, he pulled it in and flipped through his contacts, making calls until he found some people willing to play.

Feeling much lighter of heart, he leaped out of bed, dressed, and made his way to their chosen meeting place. Eating and showering could wait until after he got what he craved: physical exertion, release of pent up energy, the rush and dominance of competitive sports.

XXX

It was late afternoon by the time Tai ate, returned to his dorm, and showered. He felt calmer after spending a few hours working his body, running around in the sun until that strangely pleasant burn of exertion set into his muscles. Plus, one of his friends told him about a party tonight, and he knew just whom to invite.

Tai slipped out of his room and climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time with his long legs. He opened the door to floor five and wandered around until he saw a door labeled Isaac. He knocked, and he soon found himself staring down at Izzy.

"Hey," Tai said. "Uh, heh, remember me?" Izzy blinked, then nodded. His expression was carefully neutral, and it irked Tai a little. He forced that feeling down when he noticed the darkened bruise on Izzy's forehead.

"What can I do for you?" Izzy asked, still blocking the entrance to his room. Tai tipped his head and frowned. What was with this guy? He had never met a kid who spoke so formally.

"Just wanted to talk," he said, trying to keep his smile friendly. He cocked an eyebrow at Izzy's look of mild surprise. Izzy stepped aside, and Tai entered.

Izzy's room was incredibly bare. There were no posters or decorations, just a black rug between the two twin beds. One bed had a dark green comforter and pillow cases, and the other was decked out in black. One desk was occupied by an enormous desktop with twin monitors, a laptop, and a neat pile of books, and the other was covered with study charts, books, and binders. The closets were closed, and there was nothing piled on top of either chests of drawers. Belatedly, Tai noticed the boy bent at the desk without the computers. He hadn't even looked up, despite the arrival of a stranger in his room.

"Uh, nice to meet you," Tai said to the boy's back. He finally turned around, looking slightly annoyed. His hair was dark black, almost blue-looking, and he had black eyes and glasses. His face was long and thin. He wore a sweater vest over a collared shirt, and Tai tried not to laugh at the geezer-esque ensemble.

"Nice to meet you," Izzy's roommate said. "I'm Joe." As soon as his greeting was delivered, Joe turned back to his books.

"I'm Tai." Tai had somehow wandered into the most asocial dorm room on the planet, and their standoffish behavior was pissing him off. "What are you studying, anyway? Classes haven't even started yet." Tai poked his head over Joe's shoulder and saw a bunch of shapes with sticks coming off of them.

"Organic chemistry," Joe replied. "This isn't the kind of thing I can afford to get behind in." Tai whistled. He wasn't taking anything remotely similar.

"You should talk to my cousin," he said, shaking his head. "I caught her studying biology on move-in day." Joe made a noncommittal sound and turned the page of his book. Tai shook his head and turned back to Izzy, but he was already sitting at his desk and doing something on the computer.

The last shreds of Tai's patience withered. "Really, Izzy?" he asked, pressing his hands on the back of his desk chair. It shuddered beneath the force, and Izzy flinched. Tai breathed deeply and tried to reign himself in. Izzy swiveled the chair around, looking cautious.

Tai sighed. "Look, I wanted to invite you to a party. Joe's welcome to come, too." Izzy smiled, but it was a purely polite gesture. There was no eagerness or interest on his face.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll have to decline." Izzy started to turn back to the computer, but Tai's eye twitched, and it seemed to freeze him. Tai's teeth began to grind. Apparently, Izzy was going to treat him like a dangerous predator forever.

"It's going to be fun. Girls. Alcohol. Music." A sudden thought occurred to him, and he tilted his head and spoke in a slightly suspicious tone. "Have you been to a college party yet?" Most of the freshman were living it up before they had any responsibilities, and it seemed like everyone everywhere was drinking. But if anyone was missing out on that, Tai was sure he had just found them.

Izzy blinked and shook his head. "Well, that settles it, then!" Tai said, clapping his shoulder. "It's high time you went to your first one." It pleased Tai to have some way of making amends to Izzy. The guy probably had no clue about this stuff, so being introduced to it under his experienced eye would surely be helpful, right?

"I'm underage," Izzy said, raising a brow and frowning. Tai waved a hand dismissively.

"It's at a frat house, dude. No one's going to card you." Izzy's expression didn't change, and Tai felt his face tighten. "Oh, God. You… You actually mean that you won't drink until you're twenty-one, don't you?" He grimaced and pulled back a little, as if Izzy's uptightness might be contagious.

"I feel no particular desire to impair myself," Izzy replied, tapping a finger against his knee, "regardless of my age." Tai groaned and rubbed a hand against his face.

"Get up," he demanded. "You're going. You too, Joe, come on. And for the love of God, lose the sweater vest!" If Joe heard him, he gave no indication. Tai glanced back at Izzy and saw that he was wearing khakis and a raglan shirt, which he found no fault with. But really, something about the guy just screamed 'piss off,' only… politely so. 'Please piss off,' maybe. No, 'Would you kindly piss off,' that was it.

Izzy gawked at him as if he were a baffling animal at the zoo, maybe a platypus or a sea horse that looked like seaweed. "Tai. I'm not interested."

Tai backed away from the chair and started pacing. "You'd think I was asking you to get a root canal. Look, it's a fantastic evening. Let's just walk over there, and if you don't like it, you can leave. Otherwise, I'm going to stay here and pester you until the party ends, whiiiiich will probably happen around four in the morning."

Joe must have been listening, because he finally spoke up. "You've got to be kidding me," he groaned. "I have studying to get done."

"It will be there tomorrow," Tai said testily. "And if you think I'm annoying now, well, you ain't seen nothin' yet." At this point, even Tai couldn't say why he was still arguing. Izzy and Joe were clearly a pair of lost causes. It was probably just stubbornness running away with him.

But then Izzy sighed and stood, much to Tai's surprise. "Fine. I did promise my mother that I would get out on occasion, and this will at least allow me to stretch my legs. But don't expect me to stay."

Joe adjusted his glasses and slumped over in his chair. "Seriously? Why me…" With a glare at Tai, he removed his sweater vest, folded it, and placed it in a drawer. Tai rolled his eyes. Joe was still dressed at the higher end of business casual, but it would have to do.

"I'm glad we're doing this the easy way," Tai muttered. He opened the door and held it open while the nerds filed out, each one looking put upon. "It will be fun," he added, and there was a slight growling quality to his voice. "You'll see."

"I'm sure," Izzy drawled, and his politeness was cutting, even chilling. Tai's attention sharpened. So, there was some spirit there, after all. He grinned slowly, arrogantly, and slammed the door with a sense of finality.

"March, boys." They fixed him with identical black-eyed glares. Tai laughed, and even he was aware that his friendly desire to help had morphed into challenge somehow.

He knew he would push Izzy and Joe out of their comfort zones before the night was through, and he was looking forward to it.