Connor had two classes on Thursday. When he had finished his last one, it was three-thirty in the afternoon. He was supposed to call his father at eight o'clock today, instead of right after classes as he normally did. He walked outside and decided that, today, he was going to join the gym. He didn't know if he would ever go, but he was going to try. It might help him, but he knew that it would help his father more. Connor wanted him to be happy.
He knew where the gym was – Jude had pointed it out to him on their brief campus tour. The gym was close to his residence, which, he thought, might convince him to attend more. Things close to his room were better than things further away from it. As he walked, his mind drifted to Jude. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't glancing at the passing crowd, hoping to see the man's bright face looking back at him. Jude was surprising. Connor, as a rule, didn't like surprising. But Jude was a good kind of surprising. Connor hoped he wasn't wrong in thinking that was as he appeared: a sweet, honest, person. Connor was good at making bad judgemental calls, and he reminded himself to reserve making any kind of judgement until he had known Jude long enough to see his true colours.
He opened the gym doors, casting a look around. It was a bright, open place. It was fairly populated at the moment, and there was a receptionist standing behind the desk.
"Hi, there!" she chirped. "Welcome to Cross Fit gym!"
"Hi," Connor said. "H-how much is a membership?"
"Are you a student? We have student discounts."
Connor nodded.
"Okay, well, we have a brochure." She pulled one out of the closest bin. "It lays out all of our different membership plans. You can pay for six months, a year, a school term, or a school year! We also offer classes on different nights of the week." Here she pulled out another brochure. "Here's our schedule for first term. We'll come out with another one … around the exam season, usually. The classes are extra on top of the flat gym rate."
"Oh, thanks." Connor glanced at them. "Um, I think I'll just pay for the school year."
She asked to see his student ID, rang him up, and then took a photo for his gym ID. It took approximately seven minutes to print. Connor got antsy, looking around. He found himself looking at a brochure of the gym's features, even though he was standing in it. It was a twenty-four hour gym, filled with impressive and up to date equipment. He would try to make himself go. He would have to find out when the good times were – when it wasn't crowded, but, also, when it wasn't empty. Both were equally unsettling to Connor.
The secretary handed him his new ID and Connor immediately stuck it in his wallet and then he headed toward his dorm. He didn't see Jude on the way there and he wondered why he was so eager. After wondering, Connor knew. Jude seemed the antithesis of everything that Connor was used to. And, Connor was lonely. He didn't like to think of how long it had been since he had a friend; a real, true friend. As Connor locked his dorm room door behind him, he realized he was hoping: he was hoping for Jude to be that real, true friend.
Connor wasn't happy he was hoping. It would only hurt in the end. Still, he found himself wondering if he and Jude would have lunch again tomorrow.
(-.-)
Connor walked to class, feeling disappointed. He had managed to forget, in his stupid hope, that Friday was a discussion for CLST and not a lecture. Connor had signed up for a discussion that occurred at the same time as the lecture, but he had no idea what Jude had done. And there was definitely more than one discussion group happening right now. Connor told himself to stop it and calm down and try to return to the apathetic internal baseline that he always tried to keep. Either way, he would see Jude on Monday, which should be more than enough for someone that he had lunch with once.
Connor walked into the classroom, focusing on the desks instead of the nice hours that he had spent in Jude's presence. The classroom was empty; he was ten minutes early. Connor took a seat in the back corner, so he wouldn't be boxed in by people. If he had to be boxed in, he'd much rather walls. With care, Connor opened his bag and put his notebook and the anthology they were working from the on his desk. He was just beginning to dig for a pen when the room started to fill. It was a small room, and it got very loud very quickly. Connor swallowed his discomfort and, instead, tried to look angry. Maybe if he looked angry, no one would take the seat next to him.
It didn't work.
"Hey!" Jude said. "You're in my discussion group!"
"Oh. Sorry," Connor replied.
Jude looked at him strangely. "Did I sound upset? I was hoping you would be. I didn't want to eat lunch alone."
"Oh."
"If you wanted to have lunch again," Jude added hastily. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to eat lunch with some jerk who ordered you to eat lunch with him."
Connor laughed a few seconds too late, because it had taken him that long to realize that Jude was innocently trying to be funny.
"Did you do the reading?" Jude asked.
Connor nodded. This was a better topic. "Some of the language is … unnecessarily difficult."
Jude shrugged. "I guess that's the price of translating it from ancient Greek. I don't know about you, but I'd rather deal with complicated English than learning ancient Greek."
"I wouldn't mind learning ancient Greek," Connor admitted.
"I forgot. You're the studious type."
Connor shrugged. He had become the studious type. "It's something to do."
"True. That being said, given the choice between Netflix and homework, I will always choose Netflix."
Connor didn't reply, as the TA had called the class to order. She introduced herself as Mary-Kate and asked if anyone had any questions about the readings. Connor had none. He'd understood most of it; this part of the course seemed simple. He was sure that when they started reading epic poems, like the Odyssey, he would start running into more problems. When the brief question period ended, Mary-Kate asked if anyone had a chance to go and look at the syllabus. Out of the corner of his eye, Connor saw Jude shake his head.
"I just wanted to draw your attention to the discussion group project. It's not due until the end of term, but the syllabus is kind of vague, so I wanted to be sure no one was anxious about it."
Connor was grateful for that.
"So, the point of the project is creativity. You can rewrite a myth, make a diorama, scrapbook, video, whatever you want, so long as it relates back to the course material. You can work with a partner if you want, but no more than groups of three," she said sternly.
Connor made a note of that.
"It will have to be presented to the discussion group. The last month or so of discussions will have time slots you can sign up for. Any questions about that so far?"
Connor didn't like how vague this project was. He was relieved when another student asked about a rubric and when Mary-Kate said that they would be given a rubric halfway through the term. After, they segued into the symbolism of the Greek Gods. Connor took careful notes, though most of the symbols were obvious in the writings at this point. During the last ten minutes, they were the given the first of their weekly quizzes. Jude finished his in two minutes, but Connor read slowly and took eight. When he walked out of the classroom, Jude was waiting for him.
"So … Yes to lunch?"
"Yeah," Connor said.
"I brought lunch today. Do you need to buy?"
"No."
"Oh, cool. Well, it's nice out today. Do you want to eat outside?"
"I'd like that."
They found a bench not far from Connor's next class. Jude watched as Connor pulled a salad out of his bag and balanced it on his knee.
"What did you do yesterday?"
"Went to class. Joined a gym."
"Cross Fit?" Jude guessed.
Connor nodded.
"A couple people I work with go there. They seem to like it."
"Where do you work?" Connor asked.
He had to make more of an effort to talk today. If he kept making Jude carry the conversation, Jude probably wouldn't want to have many more conversations. Connor knew he had to work on talking to other people; Adam had often said it over the past several months.
"A small convenience store at the end of my street. Another reason why I'm lucky to live where I do; I can walk to work in two minutes. When I lived on campus, it was fifteen on a bus. Not that that's bad; I just prefer the walk."
Connor took a bite out of his sandwich, listening as Jude seamlessly entered an explanation on how he didn't have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays so he could work full time on those days. Connor liked hearing Jude talk. Jude always just seemed content, if not happy, to talk about the safe, simple topics that they were keeping to at the beginning of their tentative friendship. Connor glanced at Jude's face; his brown eyes were bright as he told an anecdote about a co-worker and bottles of Pepsi. His comfortable nature was infectious, and Connor would have liked to know what it was like to live life as Jude did.
Jude readjusted himself on the bench and his knee hit Connor's leg. Connor sucked in a breath and shifted away, trying to keep the screaming internal only. Accidental knee touch, accidental knee touch, he repeated to himself. He made himself look back to Jude, to see if his companion had noticed anything, and, to his surprise, Jude apologized to him.
"Oh," Connor murmured.
"Some people don't like being touched. I get it. I'll do better now that I know."
"Oh. Thank you."
Connor waited for it to get strange and awkward. Instead, Jude asked about his hometown, which wasn't a great topic, but Connor could talk about the generalizations enough to not end up in a panic. They passed the time away, and though the slow pace of getting to know one another could have been annoying, Connor didn't find it so. He was fascinated with everything Jude had to say, even if it was just Jude outlining his complicated family tree. Connor knew that they would have to be friends longer before Connor had a good grasp on that breakdown.
"Oh!" Jude exclaimed, looking down at his phone.
"Oh?" Connor repeated.
"We're going to be late to class!"
"Oh!" Connor quickly gathered up his bag. He couldn't believe that he'd lost track of time like that! He wasn't allowed to do that! When he stood up, Jude was next to him. "You don't have to walk me to class."
"I know. But is it okay if I want to?"
"Y-yeah," Connor said, surprised at how nice it made him feel.
"I'm hoping you're not sick of me yet," Jude added.
"No," Connor said. "Not even close."
Jude smiled and they paused in front of his building.
"I'll see you on Monday, then?"
Connor nodded. "I'll see you then."
Jude smiled at him, and then they walked their separate ways.
(-.-)
"Hey, Dad."
"Hey, Connor. How were your classes today?"
"Fine," Connor said. "There's something I need to tell you."
"What?"
Connor turned the tap, running water into his small sink. Speaking above the noise, he said, "I think I made a friend."
Yes. He was definitely still five years old. The only difference now was that his father was an hour's plane ride away. And he didn't have his mother. But, Connor supposed, pouring dish soap into the sink, if he still had his mother, he wouldn't be an hour's plane ride away from home.
"Really?"
His father should not sound so excited about this.
"I think," Connor stressed.
"Tell me all about them!"
Connor couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He was a twenty-one-year-old man, telling his father about meeting a friend. But he understood why Adam was excited. He understood why this was a big deal. If he were in the habit of optimism, Connor would be excited too.
"Well, his name is Jude –"
"A boy?"
He'd been worried about that. Connor hadn't been sure if Adam's desire for Connor to have friendship would outweigh the fact that Connor had found friendship in a male.
"Yeah. He's in my Greek mythology class. He sat next to me on the first day. We had lunch together Wednesday and today."
"What do you think, Connor?"
Connor side-eyed the phone. That was always a dangerous question.
"I don't know, Dad. He's nice. I like talking to him."
"Where's he from? What's his major? Is your age? Younger? Older?"
"Dad, I haven't even known him a week –"
Adam cleared his throat and Connor cringed in remembrance.
"San Diego. Psychology. I think he's my age? I know he's a third year, which would make him close."
"He's not far from home, then."
"About an hour's drive. He said he goes back to see them a lot. He's close to his family."
"Big family?"
"Fairly."
"I'm sorry," Adam said. "I don't mean to make this sound like an interrogation. I know that's not helpful."
"You're just trying to be a good dad. I understand that," Connor replied.
"You need to tell me if I'm getting too overbearing or if I'm making you uncomfortable. I don't want to keep doing that to you."
"Okay, I'll tell you."
Adam sighed.
Connor let his hands float in the sink water. "What did I do wrong now?"
"Nothing, Connor. You did absolutely nothing wrong."
Connor said nothing and scrubbed at his single frying pan. Like he would ever believe that.
The chapter's title is after the song You Ruin Me by The Veronicas (reader recommended)! If you have a song that reminds you of Barefoot And Bruised and would like it to be on the playlist – and possibly a chapter title – send it in and let me know! I'd love to hear your playlist suggestions! (Chapter titles are chosen via shuffle.)
So, on tumblr I'm: we are all of legend now (with dashes between every word). If you want to find my replies to anon reviews, add backslash tagged backslash anon dash replies. If you want to see anything I post about Barefoot And Bruised, go to my tumblr URL and add backslash tagged backslash barefoot dash and dash bruised dash. Punctuation is spelled out due to Fanfiction's restrictions. If you're having any trouble accessing the tumblr content please send me a pm and I can format it for you in a different way.
~TLL~