Chapter 2: Sam
Tai poked his head out of the bathroom just enough to get a good look at the boy stepping into the dorm. He had a rather small physique for a college guy and looked rather shy and nervous. He looked to have dark orange hair from what Tai could see sticking out of the baseball cap he wore. He had bright brown eyes that seemed scared yet excited for university, and Tai felt like this guy wasn't a threat to his ego.
"Hey there roomie!" Tai said happily and stepped out of the bathroom. Startled, the boy turned to look at Tai and his expression was extremely surprised for a moment but then he calmed himself.
"Oh, hey there." The strange boy responded in a rather raspy tone. His voice was higher than normal for a boy, but Tai didn't dwell on it too much.
"The name's Tai, pleased to meet ya! And you are?" Tai said and extended his hand for a handshake. The boy responded to the handshake and smiled.
"Uh, I'm Sam. Nice to meet you too." Sam said nicely. Tai smiled, satisfied with that answer but ready to ask a million more questions.
"Cool! So where are you from? Are you from here? I'm from Odaiba personally! What's your family like? How are you in school? What classes are you taking? Do you have-" Tai was cut off when Sam put his hand over Tai's mouth.
"Ok buddy hold up! Let me answer those questions before you ask any more, got it?" Sam said with a sigh. He looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds, then turned back to Tai.
"Well I'm actually from Odaiba too, but I uh... Moved away at an early age. Yeah. I live with my mom, and I'm an only child. I say I do pretty well in school though, I give a good effort. And I'm here for botany. I know, a girly subject but I like it." Sam said with a smile. Tai smiled back. There was something he liked about this guy, he reminded him of an old friend.
"Well that's actually a great subject man! Not too many people have the balls to take it. Me personally I'm here for geology and chemistry. I tend to love my rocks and I love what chemicals can do to them and other things!" Tai said excitedly. Sam smiled and giggled in response to Tai's enthusiasm.
"Science is always a great subject dude! Hmm my schedule says I have chemistry too, around eleven in the morning. When do you have it?" Sam said, trying to figure out how university schedules work. Tai grabbed his schedule and looked at it. He then smiled.
"Same time as you, bro! We gotta stick together in this huge place ok? Let's be lab buddies!" Tai said and high-fived Sam. Sam nodded in agreement, and they became partners.
"Great! Now why don't you finish unpacking Tai, and I'll give this place a look ok?" Sam said to Tai, and Tai nodded. While Sam went to inspect the bathroom, Tai grabbed his duffel bag and dumped his contents on one of the beds. He began sorting through the many different shirts, pants, underwear, and shoes he brought. Folding them neatly, Tai picked a dresser and began shoving his clothes into it. When he was finished, he placed his duffel bag next to the dresser to show Sam that one was taken. As Sam walked out of the bathroom, Tai walked in and put away his toothbrush, toothpaste, and blow dryer in the bathroom. He put his special hair products in the cabinets and his special shampoo and soap in the shower. Sam walked in as Tai was stocking the shower shelves and he began giggling.
"What's so funny, huh?" Tai said, a little ticked off.
"I guess your hair isn't naturally a giant brown fluffball?" Sam said and began laughing. Tai grew embarrassed and shouted at Sam.
"Hey buddy at least I don't keep my hair under a dumb hat all day!" Tai said angrily. That seemed to trigger something in Sam.
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL MY HAT DUMB TAI KAMIYA!" Sam screamed at Tai and left the bathroom. Tai suddenly felt really bad about what he said and walked into the other room to apologize. Sam was sitting cross legged on the bed staring at the wall to avoid Tai. Tai felt some sort of deja vu from this whole situation, but couldn't exactly recall the memory.
"Listen, your hat's not dumb but neither is my hair ok? I'm sorry I just get defensive about my hair. It used to be natural but for some reason I have to work to keep it that way now." Tai said, rather saddened to have to admit that. Sam slowly turned to face Tai.
"... You're right. I'm sorry I made fun of you in the first place. I really do like your hair but my hair rather short and I can't do anything interesting with it. That's why I wear the hat." Sam said with a sigh. Tai nodded and understood.
"I understand and that's fine. But it's pretty late, we should sleep if we want to get to chemistry on time tomorrow. That's our first class!" Tai said. He went over to his bed and took off his shirt and pants, revealing a rather fit exterior. Tai crawled into bed with only his boxers. Sam just took off his hat, which showed he had longer hair than Tai thought. It was about an inch below his ears and definitely was a dull red. Tai looked at Sam for a long time as Sam was getting ready for bed. There was something familiar about him... Tai also was wondering how Sam knew his last name when he didn't tell him.