I'm so sorry for the late update on this story. I wanted to stick to my every-other-Sunday plan and unfortunately, I fell off of it. I want to get back to that and will do my best to stick to it moving forward. It's 2020 (20/20) and I have no intention of not doing everything I put my mind to!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new update! This chapter is split into two parts for length consistency and because I want to keep the following events in "November" before we move on.
./././
Early November found Luke sitting in his only tutorial that semester for a first year class he'd been unable to get into previously. It was a mandatory class to graduate from his program, so he felt it necessary to complete it sooner than later. And while he had a general gist of what the course entailed, he had completely forgotten about the partner project it contained until his teaching assistant had mentioned it the week prior.
The teacher in training had taken the time today to assign partners and explain the project in further detail.
"Remember to start working on these group projects soon," they warned as class concluded. "Holidays are right around the corner and you don't want to fall behind."
Luke held back a groan as he packed his supplies. Memories of awful high school group assignments flooded his mind and he couldn't help but grimace as he pictured how this one could go.
At the very least, he vaguely knew who his partner was. Clementine Marsh, a quiet first year student who didn't speak much outside of conversations with a fellow first year named Colette Hawthorne. She rarely said a word during their lectures or tutorials but she seemed to hand in her assignments on time and answer questions when called upon.
She was about the same height as Luke, with curly brown hair pulled back into two ponytails under a baseball cap with the letter "D" sewn on the front of it. Her eyes were a bright hazel and her cheeks were pink and rosy. She usually wore loose fitting sweatshirts or turtlenecks with skinny jeans and oversized boots. With the weather changing, she'd been donning leather and denim jackets that made her look more intimidating than Luke believed she really was.
When he stepped out of their tutorial room, Luke noticed her standing with Colette in the hallway. Deciding that now was as good a time as ever to introduce himself and get the project started, he walked over and waved as he approached.
"Uh, hey," he said as he caught the attention of the young women. They turned and gave him a suspicious look before Colette recognized him.
"Oh, hi," she said cheerfully, "you're Luke, right?"
To Luke, Colette had always seemed like a juxtaposition to Clementine. She actively participated in class, was a member of several clubs already, and seemed to be pretty social on campus for a first year.
She was also a little bit taller than Clementine, with almond brown eyes and a bright smile. Unlike Clementine, Colette's outfits were brightly coloured and trendy. She wore makeup often and was almost never seen without thigh high heels that clung tightly to her legs.
Today, she was dressed in a bright yellow sweater that tucked into a pair of high waisted, faded blue skinny jeans. The converse shoes she was wearing were a similar shade of yellow and brought her outfit together nicely. Her hair was pulled up in two spherical buns that were just as big as the gold hoop earrings hanging from her ears.
When he nodded, she turned to Clementine and smiled.
"I guess this is your partner, Clem."
Clementine nodded and gave Luke the smallest of smiles. Feeling a handshake would be too formal, Luke settled for a small wave.
"Luke Vance, nice to meet you."
"Clementine," Clementine replied, "Clementine Marsh."
"And I'm Colette Hawthorne," Colette added, "Clem and I go way back."
To Luke's surprise, Clementine snorted and turned to smile at Colette.
"Oh, please," she replied, "we haven't know each other that long."
Colette placed a hand on her collarbone and gasped dramatically.
"Long enough," she retorted, feigning offense.
Clementine shook her head and turned back to Luke.
"We attended the same high school but only became friends in our last year," she explained to a confused Luke.
"That's because Clem doesn't open up to just anyone," Colette added, "I had to chip away to get through to her."
"She's exaggerating," Clementine sighed.
"Am I?" Colette teased, nudging her playfully. Clementine groaned, though she smiled as she did.
"I just wanted to find out when we could start working the group project," Luke explained, returning to the topic at hand.
"Right," Clementine said with an understanding nod.
"Oh, shoot," Colette said, clapping her hands together, "I have to find my partner too. Her name was Sarah or something. I'll be right back." She gave her friend a squeeze on the arm before running back to their tutorial room.
"It was nice meeting you, Luke!" she said over her shoulder, waving as she did. Luke laughed and returned the gesture.
"You too!" he yelled.
He turned back to see Clementine with her notebook out.
"She's fun," he said. Clementine smiled and shook her head.
"She's something…"
"So, how did you want to do this? We have to read two books and then do a comparative essay on them, right?" Luke asked.
Clementine nodded. "Yes, but we need a visual aid to represent the comparisons as well."
"I forgot about that," Luke groaned.
"I don't think it'll be too hard," Clementine replied. Luke crossed his arms and tapped his foot a couple of times.
"Maybe we can brainstorm on our own before we sit down and discuss some ideas," he proposed. "We can read the books in that time as well. Once we fully understand the material, it'll be easier to come up with some concepts."
"That's a good idea," Clementine said, placing a hand on her hip. "How about we meet this weekend? That'll give me enough time to finish the readings."
Luke nodded in agreement. "That sounds fair. I can be ready by then, too."
The two exchanged numbers and agree to contact one another if anything came up.
"Where are we going to meet?" Clementine asked as she put her phone away.
"I'm fine as long as it's not the dorms," Luke said, rolling his eyes, "I'm always distracted over there."
Clementine giggled and nodded. "Okay, no dorms then."
"How about one of the libraries?" Luke offered. "There's a couple, I think?"
"I haven't been here long enough to know for sure," Clementine admitted, shrugging as she spoke.
"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot about that," Luke replied sheepishly. "I do believe there are at least two, for sure," he continued.
"Okay," Clementine replied, "maybe we can meet somewhere on campus and go from there."
"That works for me. We can meet at the student centre if that's easier for you," Luke said.
"Sure," Clementine confirmed with a nod. Luke was about to say something else when Colette came barreling down the hallway.
"Phew, this project is going to be a lot," she said when she reached the two of them, wiping imaginary sweat from her brow.
"How's your partner?" Clementine asked. Colette shrugged.
"She's okay," she replied, "but she's nothing like your cute sophomore partner."
It took a second for Luke to realize she referring to him and he tried to hold back the blush crossing his cheeks.
"H-how did you know I was a sophomore?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he did. Colette smiled and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You have that sophomore scent, that's all," she explained nonchalantly.
Luke didn't know how to respond to that. Luckily, Clementine butted in before he had to.
"Didn't he mention that during our first tutorial? When we all had to introduce ourselves?" she asked with a raised eyebrow of her own. Colette rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"Are you really trying to undermine my keen sense of smell?" she accused, "If you're a little bit nicer, I might teach you how to better yours."
"I'm good with my regular sense of smell, thanks," Clementine retorted.
"Suit yourself," Colette shrugged.
"I, uh, have to get going but it was nice meeting you two," Luke said, confusion written all over his face.
"You as well," Colette said with a bright smile. Clementine nodded in agreement.
"I'll text you later this week," she said.
./././
Luke spent the next few days reading the project material in-between classes and coffee runs. Since meeting Clementine and Colette, he'd felt a lot better about working with a partner and wasn't as worried as he had been. This assurance was solidified when Clementine messaged him about his weekend availability. His schedule was open and he promptly messaged her back before returning to the readings.
The material wasn't anymore complex than what he was already used to, but he could tell it would be a challenge to find points of contrast and comparison between the two texts he'd been given. The texts told two very different stories with only a couple of characters carrying similar archetypes and storylines. That explained why the project was meant to be completed in pairs and why they had to include a visual aid to illustrate the rather abstract points they would most likely have to make.
It was early afternoon the day before he was supposed to meet up with Clementine when he decided to retire to his dorm room to review the material again.
Sighing as he dropped his bag on his bed, he left his room to turn on the kettle in his dorm's shared kitchenette. Grabbing a leftover slice of pizza from the fridge, he returned to his room and plopped down on the beanbag chair his mother had bought him for Christmas before he started eating.
Thoughts from the class he'd attended that morning floated in and out of his mind as he chewed. With only a month left of the current semester, his classes were beginning to wrap up and focus on exam preparation. Luke's grades were pretty good across the board, so the upcoming examinations didn't have him as worried as he had been last year. Still, he had a feeling a couple of late night study sessions were in his not so far future.
Brushing crumbs off on his shirt as he finished eating, he reached for his bag and pulled out some of the textbooks and notes he'd been working on to share with Clementine. He had a pretty good idea of how they could go about comparing the two texts but still wanted her approval before fleshing out any ideas. Grabbing a pen and highlighter from one of his desk drawers, he began making adjustments and additional notes to further elucidate his points. It would be easier for them to write the essay if their initial points were clear and concise.
He'd been working on it for all of ten minutes when he heard someone enter the dorm room. He looked up to see Nick leaning on his bedroom door frame.
"Thought I'd find you here," Nick said with a casual smile. His face was red from the harsh, winter winds and his beard seemed more unruly than usual. He was wearing a dark blue winter jacket lined with a faux fur hood and boot cut jeans that brushed against the grey sneakers he wore regardless of the season.
"Aren't you cold?" Luke asked with a raised eyebrow, though he'd known Nick long enough to know the answer already.
"Nah, I can handle it," Nick said, waving him off as he entered his room.
"You really need to clean up in here," he continued with a grimace as he sat on the corner of Luke's bed, close to where his backpack lay.
Luke gave his room a once over and snorted. His room was covered in clothes he needed to wash, pizza boxes he needed to throw out, and school supplies he should have organized months ago. His mother would've had a fit from the sight of it and his father would have probably given him that disappointed stare he had the tendency to make when he wanted to express how he felt.
But he wasn't going to tell Nick that.
"I'm sure yours doesn't look like a luxury suite, either,"
Nick scoffed. "It might, in comparison to this dump." Luke couldn't help but roll his eyes and laugh.
"Yeah, whatever man. What's up?"
"Just wanted to see what you were up to," Nick replied, shrugging nonchalantly.
Something felt off, and Luke couldn't help but feel that wasn't the only reason he'd come to see him in the middle of the day. Nick was just as busy as Luke, if not more so.
Still, Luke decided not to mention that as he put his notes down on the floor beside him in order to give his friend his full attention.
"Nothing much, just working on this group project," he explained.
"Oh, that one for the first year course?"
"That's the one. I wish you would have taken it with me. You know you'll have to eventually, right?"
"I can do it next year, or fourth year if I have to," Nick replied.
"That's true," Luke admitted, "but it gets filled up pretty quickly and it's not the easiest course either. This group project is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. My partner seems nice though, I'm meeting up with her this weekend to work on it."
"Is she cute?" Nick asked with a smirk. Luke resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"She's just my project partner, Nick."
"Doesn't mean she can't be cute."
"Well, she is but…"
"…but?"
Luke could feel irritation pooling in the pit of his stomach. Why was Nick backing this horse? They teased each other all the time but why was he so concerned about what his project partner looked like? For some reason, the question (and implication) bothered him more than he thought it would and he found himself gritting his teeth to hide the frown threatening to spread across his face.
"You must really like her if you don't want to talk about it," Nick mused.
"S-she's not my type, okay?" Luke stammered out, throwing his hands up dramatically.
"Okay, okay, calm down," Nick said with a laugh.
"Whatever, man," Luke replied with a glare.
He hadn't told Nick or Mike which team he played for and honestly hadn't planned on doing so anytime soon. While a part of Luke worried about how they would take it, he wanted to believe his friends would stick around whether or not he was attracted to the same sex. The real reason had more to do with the fact that he'd never had a significant other or some long term relationship to write home about. He'd had little interaction with guys outside of friends in the small town he'd grown up in and that hadn't really changed since he'd come to University. Since he'd been so private about his sexuality in the town he'd grown up in, he'd just adopted the same philosophy at Telltale. It wasn't really anyone's business, anyway.
"Actually, speaking of that…" Nick started, looking down at his feet.
"Yeah?" Luke probed. He was still irritated with what Nick had said, but it was clear his friend needed support.
"I think I might like someone in one of my classes," he admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Luke's eyes widened at his friend's confession. Irritated or not, there was no way he wasn't going to respond to that.
"You what?"
"I-it's nothing!" Nick spluttered, as if he was totally regretting even mentioning it. "Forget I said anything, okay?" He crossed his arms over his chest and stared out the small window in Luke's dorm room.
Luke opened his mouth to say something, but the way Nick's face had twisted into a mix of anger and embarrassment made him think his words over.
This was clearly something serious to Nick, or he wouldn't have brought it up in the first place. And he probably wouldn't have stopped by the dorm to find him, either.
Taking a different approach, Luke took a deep breath and shook his head.
"That's…that's great, man," he started, "what's her name?"
For a few seconds, he thought Nick wasn't going to budge or say anything. Luckily, some of his friend's anger seemed to subside and he watched his shoulders relaxed a bit.
"Jane," he said, "she's in my elective."
"What is she like?" Luke asked slowly.
That seemed to be all it took to get Nick's forgiveness as the boy fell back on the bed, ignoring the scattered clothes around him. He let out a deep sigh and stared at the ceiling with a dreamy expression on his face.
"She's beautiful and really smart, too."
"We help each other out," he continued, "with notes and stuff. I want to take her out sometime, you know?"
"That's nice, Nick," Luke replied, grateful that his friend couldn't see the skeptical expression on his face. "How are you going to do that?"
"I dunno, man. It's not like I'm loaded or anything."
"You don't have to be loaded to have a good time. We somehow manage, remember?"
"Yeah, but she's special."
"Well, there are some nice restaurants on and off campus. Have you thought about taking her to one of those?"
"I have, but I have to let her know how I feel before any of that."
"O-oh, right. That makes sense."
Suddenly, Nick sat up with a determined look on his face and Luke couldn't help but feel nervous again.
"Give me some advice, man. I'm sure you've been in my shoes before. What did you do?"
Luke didn't realize he was inching back in his bean bag chair until his head tapped the wall behind him. He didn't know how to answer his friend's question and he wasn't sure he really wanted to, either.
"Well, I uh…" he tried, his face burning up as he spoke. "I probably don't have much more experience than you, man."
That was honest, at least.
Unfortunately, it didn't convince Nick.
"Really? I find that hard to believe. I'm sure that girls are all over you."
A couple of them had been interested in the past, Luke could admit. The feelings, however, had never been mutual.
"Not really? I-I didn't date much back in my hometown."
"Why not?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head slightly. Luke held back a groan.
"I wasn't really interested, I guess? I had other things to focus on…" he explained, floundering as he tried to make his answer as elusive as possible.
"Oh, I get it," Nick replied, smirking slightly. Luke tried to keep a poker face but was pretty sure his façade was slowly falling apart.
"You do?"
"Yup," Nick nodded, flashing a triumphant smile, "I should have known you were the really picky type."
There was silence for a few seconds before Luke realized what his friend said and he almost failed to hide the sigh of relief he wanted to let out.
"Oh, right. Yeah, I can be pretty picky. That's probably it," he blurted out. If his response was faster than usual, Nick didn't seem to notice.
"Hey, I get it," Nick reassured. "We all have our reasons. I won't tell you to lower your standards but I think you should give people more credit. Some of them might surprise you."
Luke nodded slowly, still recovering from the fear he'd had less than a minute ago.
"Y-you're right," he started, "I'll work on that. Thanks, Nick."
"No problem," Nick said cheerfully, getting up from Luke's bed. "Thanks for listening, I feel like Mike would have just laughed in my face."
"He probably would have," Luke admitted, "but he cares about you, too. He would have heard you out."
"You're probably right," Nick replied with a shrug as he walked out of Luke's room.
"Good luck with that class…and your partner," he finished with a wink as he headed out of the dorm.
"Very funny," Luke replied sarcastically, waving his friend off. He waited until he heard the dormitory door open and close before letting out a sigh of relief.
He wouldn't have expected Nick to figure out his secret, but his friend had come a little too close for comfort. He didn't want to have that conversation now, regardless of how he thought Nick would take it. Besides, it wasn't like he was in a serious relationship that he could share with his friends. And what was wrong with being private, even if he did have someone special?
Taking a deep breath, he picked up his notes and returned to his review. His thoughts and feelings would have to wait for now, he had more important things to focus on.
./././
I hope you enjoyed this update! I enjoy writing Nick as a side character for Luke's adventures. He's fun to write and I like making him kinda goofy. Let me know your thoughts and Happy New Year, everyone!