By the time they had loaded everything in the car, Erik's shirt was sticking to his skin like duct tape. It was clear that he really didn't come outside except for when he had to walk from one location with air conditioning to the other. Emil was definitely enjoying his time in the car; cool air blowing in his face like it was the first week of spring all over again. Erik shook his head and checked if they had everything packed and ready before giving a thumbs up to his dad who closed the front door.

The car ride was pleasant with a bearable temperature, often even chill enough to send goose bumps across Erik's skin from time to time. Apart from that the trip had been rather uneventful with him reading and Emil casually listening to his iPod again to avoid being social and having conversations with his parents. Sadly this left the eldest of the two to answering their parents' unnecessary questions. In the end Erik even gave up on reading and gave in to his parents' constant reassuring. It only seemed as if they needed this reminder that everything was going to be fine at this new school more than he and Emil did combined. But hey, that was where parents were for in the end.

When they finally arrived at Crowby's it took all of Erik's willpower to open that car door and let in the excruciating heat of the midday sun that to him closely resembled hellfire. He was the first to be dropped off as Emil's dorm was on the complete other side of the campus and his parents rather wanted to drive around it than dragging luggage along. They stopped about a few feet away from the dorms, in between the line of cars already present. With the three of them unloading the car (Emil still not moving from his spot in the backseat) it only took about ten minutes to move everything from the car to his room, number 74. By that time the sweat was dripping from Erik's forehead for the second time that day and he just wanted to be left alone and lay on his bed at that point.

"I'm old enough to unpack my stuff myself mom…." He said as his mother started to line his huge collection of books on the shelves of the plain bookcase. Plain, that was a word that described this whole dorm in general. To Erik's great annoyance it turned out that Corwby's favoured bunk beds instead of two separate ones and liked to keep them as simple as possible with cheap unpolished wood and vinyl mattresses. The whole room was nothing more than one big white box with a light brown linoleum floor that had obviously seen better days. The only upside that this place had was the small bathroom which made Erik thanks the gods for not having to take showers with half a dorm.

"Just a minute, I only have to make your bed and then-"

"Mom….."

His dad was already in the doorway, ready to move with car keys swinging on his fingers.
"C'mon, you can do all that stuff to Emil's room. Erik's right."

Erik himself had no time to agree as his mother pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. If he wasn't mistaking he could even hear the quiet sobs coming from his shoulder. Not knowing what to do he just gently patted his mother on the shoulder, trying his best to hug her back, as he had no space to move, really.
"I-I'm gonna miss you too mom…."He managed to choke out before she let go of him with a small sniff.

"Now, remember to behave yourself. I don't want to get a phone call that you got into trouble…" His dad remarked. As if he was the one to give him this advice with that ridiculous tattoo on the shoulderblade from his younger days, a smoking addiction he still wasn't completely cured from and the fact that Erik's record was still as clean as it could possibly be.

Erik sighed, "No drinking, smoking, drugs or anything that you wouldn't do." He replied monotonously as if he'd done it a hundred times before. Again, it was stupid to even go over this. He'd never touched a cigarette in his life and the only type of alcohol he'd ever gotten was a glass of champagne on New Years and he planned to keep it that way too.

After that there were some more hugs and reassuring to call in the weekends. When all of that was over, Erik watched them drive off of campus, Emil waving goodbye awkwardly from the window until they were out of sight. He then proceeded to drag his desk chair outside to just sit and observe like he always did. There weren't many kids around which was probably normal at this time. He'd been dropped off reasonably early with Emil still having to unpack his whole luggage at the other side of the campus. Everyone who was already here apparently knew someone: laughing and talking as they made their way to their dorms packed with bags or already enjoying the weather. Most of them seemed to be unfazed by this late summer heat and Erik wondered if he would ever get used to it before it was over and autumn would kick in. He'd forgotten to pack a fan and sure hoped his roommate was clever enough to bring one. His main source of worry was still his lack of friends and the looming probability that this could be his fate for the upcoming years here at Crowby's.

Apart from the 4 dorm buildings around the huge patch of grass there wasn't much else to see except for the school building itself in the distance. No benches to encourage the students to spend their time outside when not taking classes or some statue of an important person to brighten up the lives of the teachers. The whole patch of grass merely looked like an old soccer field that had not been taken care of. The grass would probably be bone-dry and not pleasant to lie on. Erik silently prayed that the classrooms were in a better condition.

The sun was glaring and for a moment he even considered taking off his shirt but decided against it. It wasn't that he was that ashamed of his whole body; he rather not confront his possible new classmates with it before school had even started. The sun would merely burn his skin anyway and again, his body wasn't really something to openly brag about either. Most guys went through their grow spurt and were left tall and lanky but Erik didn't really grow that much but was still classified in the lanky department for some reason. Once again a hooray for awkward Erik Nilsen.

Taking about possible classmates: it seemed that a guy and a girl were making their way towards Erik's dorm. He hadn't expected his possible new roommate to arrive this early. From this distance he could already distinguish a scarf on a white shirt and bloody hell why would anybody wear a scarf in this weather for god's sakes. He seemed tall, spiky hair helping him get to those few inches more that he obviously didn't need in the first place. The girl was not a lot shorter and Erik had to accept the fact that she was probably not much smaller than he was himself. There were beautiful curves hidden under that wavy summer dress and Erik swore that it was her laugh that he could hear from his not-so-comfortable chair in the sun. Halfway across the grass they said goodbye and the girl made a right turn, only to leave Mister Tall on his way to Erik.

His suspicions about it being his new roommate got confirmed when he arrived at the door. The stale smell of cigarettes accompanied his whole appearance in that A-shirt and tight black pants. Great just great, out of all people Erik had to share a dorm with a smoker. Luckily he didn't have to fear for the stench lingering in his own clothes as Crowby's had a no-smoking policy in the dorms. The guy gave him a quick look before entering and Erik could distinguish the thud of his bag landing on one of the beds.

Erik decided to just sit there for a few moments longer, trying his best not to make an overly eager impression to meet his new roommate. If he wanted to accomplish something here he had to play it cool. Play it cool as his grey shirt was still soaking wet with sweat and his hair was sticking to his forehead. Maybe he could make a joke about not being able to stand heat with moving and all….Oh who was he kidding, Erik telling jokes, good one.

So he slowly got up and rolled the chair back inside and behind the desk only to find the guy lying on the bottom bunk, reading a small book. His huge bag had been dumped on what Erik now considered his own bed since the bottom one had been obviously claimed.

"Shouldn't you unpack or something?" He remarked slightly annoyed by this and immediately regretted it. This was a great first impression, being rude to your new roommate, the person who you had to share a few square metres with for a whole year. But, then again this guy hadn't been that polite either with the whole luggage affair. He would probably hate and ignore him for the rest of the year and there went Erik's new social life.

Mr Tall looked up for a second, and shook his head with a small smile.
"Shouldn't you?"

Erik frowned for a second before it hit him that apart from the small amount of books that his mother had stacked, the rest of his luggage was still neatly folded while he had been sitting outside. Smart. He mentally smacked his head and sighed. Better to introduce himself than be the fool who was ignoring the guy's question in order to not look stupid again.

"Erik, Erik Nilsen. Nice to meet you." He started, hand outstretched. Oh hell this was awkward. Apparently Mr Tall thought the same and found it funny to just let him stand there with his outstretched hand like a moron. As he stood there Erik noticed the thin white line on the guy's forehead and those uncaring green eyes.

"Constantijn…" The guy finally replied, not looking up from his book and still not shaking his hand so Erik just decided to ruffle his hair with it instead. Constantijn himself didn't really seem to care about engaging in a conversation, nor did he even plan on taking off his shoes as he lay there on the bed. Erik bit his lip for a second, eyes drifting from one boring point to another before he decided to just unpack because this was going nowhere.

Still he couldn't help but jolt a little when there was rapid and loud banging on the door. It embarrassed him and he honestly hoped that Constantijn hadn't noticed. The knocking didn't seem to stop though and Constantijn had to yell to be heard over the noise.

"Just come in already!" It sounded annoyed at least but apparently the source of the banging didn't seem to have noticed that as he swung the door open.

The guy that now stood in the doorway wasn't that much shorter than Constantijn, blonde hair that seemed to defy gravity and a Cheshire grin big enough that Erik thought it would break his face in half.

Even after the volume of the banging Erik couldn't possibly be prepared for the loudness of the voice that followed:

"Okay so, I just arrived seconds ago and I already find those two licking each others' faces off in my dorm. Seriously, I'm gonna claim the top bunk because hell no I'm not sleeping on that bottom bed when they are done! Anyway, enough about Waldy's love life because I still want to puke when I think about it. Do ya wanna go to the lake and please tell me ya have fucking cigarettes because I need one after this traumatic experience!"

It was one rattle of words which Erik wasn't even able to fully take in. He honestly already lost it at 'arrive' because he couldn't stop staring at this guy's face. The abundance of freckles on his façade that would probably fade again by the time winter arrived or the high cheekbones that made him look so much older despite of the childish freckles. That broad frame visible through the thin red shirt as he marched into the room with the sound of flip-flops accompanying him. Damn, puberty had been this guy's bitch.

"Oh hey, who's the new guy who doesn't have the ability to blink?" He asked.

Constantijn sighed and put the book aside before sitting up right. If Erik hadn't been staring that much he would've laughed mentally at how he had to hunch over in order not to hit his head against the top bunk.
His index finger and thumb took hold of the bridge of his nose as he spoke.

"Okay slow down! One question at a time, we've talked about this. 1. Poor you, now you know how I felt when you practically half-fucked your ex-girlfriends when I was standing right next to you 2. No I'm not going to the lake, I still have to unpack and get my stuff. 3. Again, after I've unpacked and 4. This is Erik."

The words made Erik snap out of the little haze just in time as the guy walked over to him. He at least tried to look confident as he was being eyed from head to toe. After all these years he'd expected a remark about his height, maybe even his posture but all he got was a: "Holy fuck, you need to come to the lake with us before you melt into a puddle."

Erik frowned. Had he just been invited to an activity between friends before school had even started? Well….this was easier than he thought, even though the guy had just pointed out the totally obvious state of dehydration he was suffering from. Subtlety wasn't his thing apparently.

"Erik, this is Preben. Nice to meet you yada yada, you know the drill." Constantijn added, slightly more unnerved than he had been before. Preben didn't seem to notice that tone again for some reason and took hold of Constantijn's bag on the top bunk. He also didn't seem to discriminate amongst someone's clothing and preferred to just stuff whatever was in his hands into the nearest drawer until everything was full. Erik and Constantijn simultaneously groaned at the sight and this was apparently the first thing both had in common.

"tadaaaa! All done, now give me my fucking cigarette!"

Erik wondered if he had done all this on purpose just to get his fix of nicotine or if Preben was really just the guy who unpacked like this. God, his mother would've died if she had seen this happening.

Constantijn threw his a pack from his front pocket after he'd sighed and taken one himself.
"God, never ever fucking unpack for me again…. You owe me five bucks for that pack by the way."

"Yeah, yeah whatever." He was just waving it away as he took a cigarette out himself. "A thank you would've been nice but this is better." Preben answered with that smile still in place as he lit it.

Erik watched as both were now smoking in his dorm and couldn't help but clear his throat to indicate that what they were doing was so horribly against the rules. Didn't these two know? They could get kicked out of this school if they got caught right here and now.

Both just looked up uncaringly until something apparently snapped in Preben's head.

"Oh fuck, sorry dude!" He began, lighting a second cigarette with his own and handing it over to Erik who just watched it in confusion. "Didn't think about the fact that you smoked too. Sorry"

Erik's eyes widened at the statement. This hadn't been his intention at all! But here he was with a lit cigarette that was slowly burning away between his fingers as the two just eyed him until he did something. He'd never smoked; it hadn't even been his intention to ever pick up the habit. A sigh escaped from his lips. Well…better start now then…
He took a way too long drag, watching the paper burn up rapidly, exposing the ashes at the end. His whole body immediately protested against this marvellous idea and started coughing, wheezing, anything to get the smoke out of his system. All of it seemed ineffective as he kept on coughing, even considered vomiting here and now until tears started prickling in his eyes. Forget this stupid, stupid idea; he was never going to smoke again in his whole life.

"I don't think he smokes…." Constantijn pointed out unnecessarily with a small chuckle. Preben just patted Erik on the back a bit too harshly, making him cough again.

"He'll get used to it."

Erik wasn't sure he wanted to go through all of that again but nodded weakly anyway.

"Now, we all ready for the lake?" He asked with so much glee that Erik wondered how old he actually was because he'd never heard anyone speaking like that except for a five-year-old at Christmas. The fact that his hand was still firmly placed on his shoulder wasn't helping with Erik's mood either.

Constantijn made his way to the doorway. "Gotta get my couch at Antonio's fir-"

"Dude, you've been lying around reading-" Preben walked over to the little book and eyes scanned the title page "–fucking Van Ostaijen, you could've gotten it way sooner." He didn't seem to understand that it was important to let people finish their sentences either and Erik had the sudden urge to smack him across the head. At least the unnecessary body contact was gone.

Constantijn didn't seem to be annoyed by this however: "AND I have an appointment with Miss Camille."

Preben had already made himself comfortable on the bottom bed by now, casually waving that cigarette around with his other hand behind his head, the little book lying on his chest.

"Oh yeah sure, just leave me alone on the first evening already to make out with that lady of yours. " he spoke, obviously trying to sound hurt even though with that smile he clearly wasn't. "Why can't you just be a good boy and try not to aim for the women who aren't already in college?"
Constantijn merely huffed ad threw his cigarette butt onto the grass.

"I need someone who raises the intellectual level around here." He chuckled before his small book got tossed at his direction, only missing by a few inches.

"Fuck you too! Say hii from me though!"

And Constantijn was off with the door still wide open, leaving Erik alone with this weird idiot. Here he stood, having witnessed a conversation between friends like he wasn't even in the same room. Then again, he was sorta used to that sort of stuff right now, the only difference being that those people weren't usually that loud or obnoxious. Add to that that these two most likely weren't the kind of students with a clean record. Out of all people he had to be roommates with those kind of guys. Great, just marvellous.

It wasn't until then that he noticed that he hadn't moved from his spot since Preben had walked in and the cigarette had already burned up between his fingers completely while he had been holding it. Wow, good job at making a good first impression Nilsson. Back to stage awkward and silent, as always. On the other hand, did he really want to impress guys like them? Getting rid of his old image was one thing but being sent away on his first week at Crowby's was a totally different story. First things first however as it looked like a good idea to actually move right now, you know, to show that rooting to the floor wasn't one of his casual habits. Erik walked to the front door, only to find that the little book was gone. Constantijn really seemed to take care of his books, something he could appreciate in a person.

"You didn't want to read that shit anyway…" was the reply to no question in the first place.

Erik turned around, casually closing the door behind his back.

"Why wouldn't I?" He asked. Where did this moron get the audacity to just assume what he enjoyed to read and what not? The fact that he was still lying there, casually filling the room with even more smoke while trying to boss him around was more then enough to piss Erik off. The heat was making him nauseous as it mixed with the horrible smell of nicotine and he just wanted to lie down but he wasn't just letting this go.

Preben tilted his head to eye him. "Well first of all I doubt that you're fluent in Dutch…and secondly Van Ostaijen isn't your typical poet of the era. Dadaism in a nutshell. Not everyone's cup of tea if ya know what I mean."

Erik stood perplex with the new intake of information. Apparently Constantijn was Dutch, something that wasn't even traceable in his accent unless he just learned the language in his spare time. Both of these two seemed to know their fair share of poetry and for some reason he hadn't even dared to dream that Preben even knew what Dadaism was supposed to be.

"You really have a hard time with blinking, don't ya?" Preben was right in his face at that moment and Erik cursed himself for zoning out again. At this distance Erik could smell the cigarette smoke and sweat in his shirt together with something that made him think of the sea. A combination he never thought that could work so well together.

"Just impressed that you are aware of the term Dadaism." Erik retorted sharply. If Preben was going to point out things that were on his mind without thinking and so was he. For a moment there wasn't a little voice hushing him, telling him to keep quiet if he wanted to make some friends at this school. If things kept going this way Erik would be back at sarcastic square one in no time before he had even moved to the second.

And Preben was just laughing. Not smiling or grinning but really hollering like he had just heard the best joke in ages.
"Wow, you're even more grumpy than Waldy"

Erik had no idea who this "Waldy" was supposed to be even though it was the second time Preben had managed to drop the name. Whoever it was, he seemed to annoy the crap out of him, which only made Erik feel some form of respect for the guy.

"Anyways, make sure you're ready in about an hour, we're going to the lake."

A pat on the back as if he was 9 and finally Preben was out of the dorm and just like Constantijn he had the habit of leaving the door wide open. Erik didn't mind and just prayed that the fresh but damp air was enough to ventilate the smoke out of his still packed clothes. An hour to unpack and get himself in a decent shape before that hurricane of energy would be here again. Erik hoped that there would be more people at the lake than just Preben as Constantijn had already refused the other's offer and he really didn't want to handle that guy on his own. To tell the truth, Erik wasn't really that eager to go. He much rather wanted to read a little and get a good night's rest before his first day started but the prospect of meeting new people pushed him into unpacking just that little bit faster. The remaining books in his bag were stacked on the bookshelf and his clothing got neatly folded in the drawers that weren't stuffed with Constantijn's unfortunate clothing. The only decoration his desk needed was the instant coffee maker he'd brought from home together with a picture of him and Emil for the dramatic effect. His violin got a place next to the desk. Erik couldn't help but sigh and shake his head as he watched the room once more. The place still looked more like a sterile hospital environment than an actual dorm where teenage guys lived. He regretted not bringing any posters or other ridiculous stuff to decorate the place.

Little droplets of sweat tickled their way down his back and at that point the realisation and shock kicked in. No air-conditioning. Erik groaned as he let himself drop onto the bottom vinyl mattress with hands over his face. This wasn't worth it. He would die of a heat stroke by the time that the week was over.

After lying there for a while in self-pity, Erik managed to get up and shower before putting on a new shirt and some flip-flops which he could endure if he channelled out the horrible noise of them clicking as he walked. The shower itself had been disappointed to say at least. The pressure was strong enough to resemble a person crying on your head and it took Erik ages just to soak his hair more than his sweating had done. Nevertheless he was done before the hour was over and he just casually flopped back onto the top bunk this time.

All of this being worth it was all he hoped for right now.