His Favorite Nerd

Social Jungle

Chapter 2

:⁠-[ADRIAN'S POV]:⁠-

" For God's sake, Lucaaas!" I heard Ethan yell behind me. " Get yourself a private place."

After a few seconds of shutting my eyes, I opened them and slowly turned around. The guy I assumed to be Lucas was on the bed smiling at me while the other guy was hurriedly putting on his shirt.

" Woah! You must be the new student," Lucas said, and I slightly gave a nod.

" I'm sorry you had to witness this on your first day," Ethan apologized, turning to me.

A few seconds later, the other guy stomped out of our room after Lucas whispered something in his ear.

" This is our third roommate, Lucas Bennett," Ethan introduced. "And Lucas, this is Adrian Hayes," he concluded as he finished introducing us.

I gave a small wave toward Lucas, who immediately winked back, making me blink in confusion and quickly look away.

Ethan showed me around the room, which had three single beds inside with wardrobes. It was actually a big room plastered in white. Different artworks were also on the walls. I actually loved the room, and it met my expectations.

After he was done showing me around, he told me he had to return to class and would see me later. That moment made me think about why Lucas was in the room while Ethan was going to class.

During the time I was arranging my clothes, I was bombarded with lots of questions from Lucas. That guy wouldn't stop asking me questions.

After an hour, I was done unpacking. I sat on the bed and gave my mom a call. While I was on the call, that guy continued to murmur about different guys he was planning to meet up with and some other naughty things going on in his life.

" You must be a mommy's boy," Lucas said after I ended the call with my mom. I don't blame him for calling me that. I actually talked to her on the phone longer than he could comprehend.

I only smiled and moved to the restroom afterward.

***

Around evening, Ethan was back from class. And I'm sure by this time of the day, students must have been roaming around the school compound. I was actually eagerly waiting to go outside, see what the school looked like at night, and meet the students.

" Four-eyes," Lucas suddenly called, which made me turn to him. I can't believe he just called me that.

" I have a party tonight. Would you like to come along?" he asked, but Ethan gave him a response before I could.

" Holding parties isn't allowed. I hope you won't get more demerits if you're caught by the dorm master," Ethan advised, prompting Lucas to scoff.

" You're boring," he said. "I don't know why this crazy school won't allow us to hold parties. We're in our senior year, for f**k's sake."

" The rule is for our own good," Ethan stated.

I watched the two of them exchange words and couldn't help but smile.

" I made the right choice when I voted for you as class president," Lucas said sarcastically with a smile, his hand placed on Ethan's shoulder.

" Get your dirty hand off me," Ethan warned, slapping his hand away.

Lucas scoffed as he rose from Ethan's bed. He adjusted his jacket and used his hand to style his hair back. He then moved over to my bedside and sat in front of me.

" You have the right person as your roommate," Lucas informed me, referring to himself. " If you need any assistance, just come to me right away."

" Does it include academic assistance also?" Ethan teased.

" Excluding that," he answered, and I quickly gave a nod. He smiled at me.

" If you need a boy to sleep around with, feel free to let me know," he added with a wink.

" Must you involve him in your dirty lifestyle? You don't even know if he's into boys," Ethan pointed out, throwing a pillow at him.

" I'm pretty sure he is," Lucas replied, flashing me a smile. " Seventy percent of students here are gay, and Adrian actually looks like one. Probably the bottom," he stated, lowering his eyes to look at me.

How dare he?

I looked up. He's totally something else.

***

All students had to be inside their rooms by ten, and when it was exactly 8 p.m., we left our room for the cafeteria.

Along the way, we met some students. Lucas stopped in his tracks to have one or two chats with them... flirting with them.

When we got to the cafeteria, Lucas pushed open the doors first, walking in like he owned the place.

" Welcome to the social jungle," he said dramatically, spreading his arms.

I hesitated slightly before stepping in.

Rows of long tables stretched across the huge hall. Students were grouped neatly, some laughing loudly, some eating quietly, others sitting like they didn't want to be noticed at all.

Ethan folded his arms and turned to me. " Just follow us."

We joined a nearly empty table near the middle after taking our trays of food.

Lucas leaned back in his chair, his arms widely spread over it.

" Bro," he started, looking around the cafeteria. " This school is literally a reality show."

" A reality show?" I blinked.

" Yeah," he nodded seriously. " You've got your rich kids over there pretending they're not rich, the quiet ones pretending they don't exist, and the athletes pretending they own the world."

Ethan sighed softly. " You talk too much."

" I provide information," Lucas corrected.

I looked around, taking everything in. This place really showed an elite community.

" Also," he said, " don't let anyone fool you. The football guys run half of this school."

I paused eating. " Football guys?" I asked, and he nodded.

" He means the team," Ethan said, his head glued to his tray.

Lucas nodded quickly. " Yeah, especially their captain."

There was a brief pause.

I noticed the way a few students nearby reacted when he said that, small glances, whispered words, quick looks toward the far side of the cafeteria.

Like the name alone meant something.

Lucas continued, clearly enjoying the attention.

" They're actually away for a tournament right now," he added, stretching his legs under the table. " So the school is slightly less intimidating than usual."

" Less intimidating?" I repeated.

" Trust me, when they're here, you'll feel it." A wide grin spread across his face.

But somehow, the way he said it made me curious anyway.

Ethan finally spoke again. " You'll get used to it."

Lucas smirked. " Or you won't. Depends on your luck."

I looked down at my food, then back up at the room again.

Rosewood Academy didn't feel like a normal school. It felt like something I still didn't understand yet. And somehow... that made me even quieter than before.

" You know... their captain," Lucas started again as he turned toward me. " He doesn't allow anyone close."

" Why?"

" I don't really have the full details, but something actually happened two years ago, and everyone believed that anyone who got close to him ended up leaving," Lucas explained, which made me more curious about what really happened.

" None of us actually know what happened, because it was among the football team," Ethan added.

" Could that really be the reason why he doesn't allow anyone close to him?"

" I don't know," Lucas replied with a shrug.

The way they described the captain made him even more mysterious to me. What kind of person doesn't allow people close?

After we were done eating, we headed back to our dorm. Along the way, Lucas kept talking about rumors around the school, those who secretly hooked up and nobody knew about it.

Ethan stayed silent throughout the entire time, while I mostly just listened.

I loved them as my roommates.

Ethan being the calm, reserved type while Lucas was the outgoing type.

Maybe transferring to Rosewood Academy wouldn't be as terrible as I imagined.

But why does the captain sound more mysterious when they talked about him?

To be continued...