Grad School Rivals (Chapter 5)

*All characters are 18+*

Previous chapter: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Friday, September 9th, 6:33PM

I’m freaking out. I have nothing to wear. And I don’t even know where he’s taking me. Misael only told me to wear something casual, something I’m comfortable in. Should I wear a long-sleeve or a short-sleeve shirt? Should I wear shorts or jeans? Ugh—if I knew where he was taking me, I would know what to wear. I don’t want to underdress—or overdress. I’ve overturned my closet. I finally decided to wear a plain black, long-sleeve shirt, jeans, and white Converse. My hands are so shaky that I don’t wear contacts, but just my glasses. I hope he doesn’t find me ugly in them.

Misael texts me, saying that he’s twenty minutes away. My stomach twists. I don’t know why I’m nervous. I’ve hung out with him twice already, and we text and FaceTime nearly every evening this past week. I start to put on finishing touches—cologne, sunscreen, and a hat. I get my wallet and keys before heading out. I get a text that he’s here. As I’m nearing the front door of the building, I see him standing outside.

“Hey, beautiful,” he says, handing me a rose.

“Hi.”

“So cute with your nerdy glasses.”

“Already bullying me? Not a great start to this date,” I reply, smirking and chuckling.

He hugs me and says, “Already feisty? Great start.”

We get into his car and head out. I ask him where we’re going, but he says it’s a surprise. Anywhere would be a surprise. We pull into the parking lot of the batting cages. I look at him with a surprised look. He says, “Expecting this?” “No, not really…but I’m excited.” We head inside and go to our cage. I used to play baseball when I was younger, but never pursued it. I probably wouldn’t have made the team anyway; I sucked at it. But it was fun playing with my older brothers and dad.

“Want to go first?” I ask him

“No, you can go first.”

“No, you, I totally suck,” I reply.

 

He walks over to me and puts me in the right position. He easily repositions me. The way he gently but firmly manhandles me is euphoric. The first ball comes flying at me, and I miss it. Another and another. All misses. He gets behind me, puts his hands over mine, and we swing together. We hit the ball! I start jumping. As I’m distracted, another ball flies towards us. He hits the ball and says, “Close one, I can’t let you get hurt.” He takes over, and I run to the sideline. He hits like 10 balls in a row. No misses. I try it again. But fail. He helps me again, and we hit about 5 in a row. I tell him I want to try on my own. And I do! I hit a second one on my own. We switch again and do this for about 30 minutes.

Afterwards, we go inside to eat. We order food and sit down. It was pretty packed. I tell him that it’s a little too loud inside, and that if he minds eating outside. After getting our food, we go sit outside. I got a burrito, and he got a burger. He’s drinking a beer and offers me a sip. Normally, I don’t share drinks, but with him, I didn’t care. I take a sip. I did not like it. I make a face.

“Ha, not good?”

“I just don’t like the taste of beer.”

“Fair, they have other drinks, I can go get you one.”

“Are you trying to get me tipsy?”

He grins immediately, “tipsy? From one sip?”

“Yeah, probably. I don’t drink that often.”

“A cute college boy not into drinking?”

“Not cute, but correct.”

“You’re so innocent.”

“You think I’m innocent? I’d say I’m selective in who sees my wild side.”

“I like your innocence, but wouldn’t mind getting to know the wild Luca, too.”

“Bold of you to desire that. Be careful what you ask for.”

“I think I can handle the wild Luca,” he winks.

“Is that a bet?” I wink back.

“Dangerous…”

“You or me?”

“I’d say you’re more of a menace, Luca.”

“Yet you keep seeking me.”

He winks, “I’ll seek you until the end of time, no hiding from me, Luca.”

I get his beer and take another sip. “That confidence is either very attractive or very concerning.”

He grabs my hand and kisses it, “Take your time to decide. Either way, I’m sticking around.”

I try not to blush and say, “Okay.”

We continue eating. Glancing at each other, catching each other’s gaze. He tells me how he played baseball throughout high school and into college, until he got injured. I tell him about playing baseball with my dad as a kid. We start talking about our childhoods. He asks me about my coming out story.

“Well, one day I just told my sister (Clara, 27F) that I didn’t like girls. But obviously, she already knew that. So it was easy with her. Then, sometime after I told my mom. She always had suspicions about me being gay. I was very, very afraid of telling my brothers (Xavier, 30M, and Gilbert, 29M) and dad. For about two months, I tried to tell them. But always felt too scared. Until one day, I just told them during dinner. I was sobbing. I thought my dad was going to kick me out, so I had an emergency bag already packed. But to my surprise, it didn’t faze him. All he said was ‘okay. What’s new?’ And that was it.”

“So, your family is cool with it. I’m glad,” Misael said. I asked Misael if he wanted to share his coming-out story. He seemed hesitant but said,

“I had girlfriends growing up, but it wasn’t until college that I had my first experience with a guy. I wasn’t too sure what I was, as I still found girls very attractive. I told some friends about me being bi. I first told my mom and then my siblings. I was also scared of telling my dad. He wasn’t that supportive. Still weird with him. Our relationship hasn’t been the same, but at least he still talks to me." 

I could see his eyes fill with tears. I lean in for a hug. He hugs me tight. He makes an excuse to go to the restroom. I sit outside waiting for him. He comes back with a churro. “Saw you eyeing it, thought you’d enjoy something sweet.” We share the churro. He wraps his arm around me. I tilt my head and snuggle into him. We just sit there, watching the other people bat. He asks if I’m ready to leave.

We head out. I ask him if I can put on music, and he hands me his phone. It’s locked, so I ask him to unlock it, and he just gives me his passcode. He’s trusting me with his phone. I go through his music library, judging his music taste. We sing along to the songs. We arrive at my place.

“Want to come in?” I ask him.

“Is that something you’re comfortable with?” He replies.

“Yes, we can watch a movie or something. If you want. But I understand if you have somewhere else to be.”

He looks at me and says, “I’m exactly where I need to be.”

I smile at him. He leans his forehead on mine. He says, “You’re even cuter with glasses.”

“You said that earlier.”

“And it’s true both times.”

We just sit there, looking into each other’s eyes. Silence.

“Are we going to sit here or go inside?” He asks me.

We walk into my dorm, and I’m so nervous. I struggle to get the door open. Walking into the living room, he says, “You’re so….you’re so clean, organized. You should definitely come clean the houses I show.” Misael is a realtor. He’s been doing that for about three years now. He’s working towards his real estate brokerage license. “You’re hiring me?” I ask. “I think that would be a conflict of interest,” he jokes.

We sit down on the couch. I sit next to him, snuggly. Immediately, he puts his arm around me. I ask him what movie he wants to watch. “You pick,” he says. “No, you, I’ll enjoy what you pick.” He smirks, saying, “If you say so.” I hand him the remote: he selects a horror movie. Ugh—what have I gotten myself into? I brace myself for this. He teases me, saying, “If you get scared, you can hold onto me.”

I cling to him during the jump scares. I try to hide how scared I am. How weak he must think I am. Halfway into the movie, he says, “Hey, you okay? We can put something else on.” “No, it’s okay. Just spooked by the jump scares.” Misael tilts his head slightly; his arms tighten around my shoulder. Another jump scare hits. I flinch hard, instinctively tighten my hold on his arm. A gory scene appears, and I bury my face in his chest. He chuckles, his hand coming up to the back of my head, fingers brushing lightly through my hair, “Okay, let’s put something else on.”

“Sorry, I just don’t like gore,” I say. “Luca, you don’t have to apologize for being scared.” He switches the movie. He puts on a comedy. However, neither of us is paying attention. I slowly drift off to sleep. Suddenly, I awaken. The TV is on mute. He also fell asleep. I slowly, carefully, reach for my phone. But that was enough to wake him.

“Sorry,” I say. “We fell asleep.”

“What time is it?”

“Um, it’s 1:12AM.”

“Late,” he says, stretching out.

“Yeah, um, sorry, I…I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“Luca, it’s totally fine, I don’t mind, nothing to be apologetic about,” he says, leaning in, kissing my forehead. We sit there for a few minutes. He gets up and says he needs to get home. I didn’t want him to leave. I wanted him to stay. To sleep next to him. I felt utterly safe with him, in his arms.

I offered to walk him to his car, but he said, “No, I’m okay, I wouldn’t want you walking back here alone.” Then I say, “Okay.” I walk him to the door. We stand in the doorway, and he leans down and kisses me. Our first kiss. It felt euphoric. I was floating. I kiss him back, passionately. He says, “You’re amazing.” He leaves. But I did not want him to. I lie down, I wait for his text, saying that he’s home. I fall asleep.