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Histari has looked forward to college since he first started middle school. Being quickly shuffled to his grandmother’s house and uprooting his life left him with only academics to focus on. While the fresh start at a new school was nice, with no past to manage alongside his troubling present, he chose to not get attached to his new surroundings. Instead, he focused on his future. His future was the only thing that hadn’t changed yet. As long as he poured everything into studying and being the best he could in school, his future in college would be the same.
And so he did.
The young man focused so much on learning and excelling that the years flew past him before he had a chance to enjoy it. The years between his parents’ deaths and his first day at Minamo University were a blur. A seven-year blur. A blur that has finally caught up to him, here standing in front of the door to his freshman dorm. His grandmother is hugging him, murmuring about how handsome he’s become and how much she’ll miss him. All of his belongings are on a moving cart beside them. A stranger is behind that door. A stranger that he’s expected to live with for a year.
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The stranger’s name is Perri. She’s a music major and moved in a week before Histari, apparently for rehearsals. She was confused about why Histari was put in the girls’ dormitory at first but was very kind after he explained. He thinks she’s nice.
As Histari places his things around his side of the room, Perri sits cross-legged on her bed with a flute and sheet music. His bookshelf is slowly filling up, his dresser is sorted, and his bed is already made. The two of them sit in moderate silence as they settle in. Histari’s grandmother made quiet introductions with Perri before leaving him alone to acclimate. Perri being bubbly and kind was making it easier.
Not that he’d admit that to her yet, of course. Instead, he stays quiet and on his side of the room.
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They stay on their sides for nearly two weeks.
It was an unspoken term of their residence. Histari kept his side tidy and maintained his distance, Perri made sure her mess stayed near her things and quieted down when he asked. He didn’t ask often, so she knew it was important when he did. And it worked well. Histari was excelling in his courses, and Perri’s first performance of the semester earned her a lot of praise. The two of them ordered food to celebrate their success, sitting at their desks while sharing the meal.
It worked for them. Until two weeks into the semester.
Perri rolls onto her back on the floor, looking up at Histari where he sat perched on his bed. “Hey, Tari, do you want to go into town tonight? Eyon and a bunch of our classmates invited me, and he mentioned that he’s bringing his roommate Osuk’a. And apparently, he doesn’t know a lot of people on campus, so I figured maybe you two could at least quietly brood if you don’t get along with my classmates? I’ll pay for your dinner if you go?” She wiggles her eyebrows at the end of her babbling.
“Hmmm…” Histari mumbles as he finishes the sentence he was reading, taking a moment to think. “I guess. Are you going to make fun of what I order this time?”
“Probably!” Perri flips back onto her stomach, legs kicking behind her. “But c’mon, sometimes your veggie options look really gross, Tari.”
He mumbles again, this one much more indignant. Free dinner, and the opportunity to sit on the sidelines if he wants to? “Sure…”
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Osuk’a is the prettiest man Histari has ever seen in his life.
While the music majors rush around in front of them, the two men are lingering behind and quietly talking. Though, it’s a bit hard to keep up with the conversation when he keeps staring at the way the city lights are reflecting on Osuk’a’s blonde hair; the colors shifting faintly with the passing neon. From what he’s gathered: Eyon and Osuk’a were childhood friends before deciding to room together at Minamo University, Osuk’a is a year older than him, and he’s a political science major.
The two have been keeping their distance from others since dinner, but that is mostly because Histari forced a conversation to apologize for how he had acted at first.
Osuk’a had joined Perri’s teasing over what Histari was eating and he’d snapped. He didn’t consider himself mean, but he was aware that what he’d said was out of line. So he apologized. And they kept talking. The music majors bolt around the streets, in and out of shops, and pause only for photos of the sculptures or murals lining the streets. But Histari and Osuk’a linger and talk. Soon they trade phone numbers, Perri has yet to convince Histari to download any social media, so they can keep talking after the night ends.
Perri teases Histari for how much he talks about Osuk’a afterward, curled up at each other’s side on the floor of their shared room.
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Perri is determined to get Histari on Instagram.
“Tari, how are you going to make friends on campus if they don’t know you exist?”
“People know I exist! I go to class every day, I talk to my classmates, I give out my number if they ask-”
Perri flutters her hands in the air. “That’s my point! They have to ask, and a lot of people don’t want to give their classmates their numbers at first. If you had Instagram, people could reach out first and they don’t even have to be classmates!”
“That seems weird, Perri.” Histari huffs and tosses his phone over to her, earning himself a wide grin and a giggle. “I don’t understand it anyway…”
“That’s fine, I’ll make the whole account, all you have to do is keep it downloaded.”
Histari mumbles his approval as he shifts to sit next to her on her bed. “...fine.”
Perri beams and zooms through making an account, keeping it simple and explaining things as she goes. She follows herself once the account was made. He doesn’t have many photos of himself, but she finds one she approves of and shows him how to post it. Histari doesn’t see himself using it much but decides to humor her.
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Apparently Osuk’a has an Instagram too. He posts a lot. Histari thinks he looks pretty in the photos as well.
They follow each other. He follows some of his classmates as well.
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The end of the first semester comes quickly. Histari is at the top of his classes, knows all of Perri’s friends by name, and has quite a few friends of his own now. They’re a handy excuse for something to do when Perri’s girlfriend visits their room.
That’s something else he’s had to get accustomed to. In Histari’s tiny hometown, girls who dated other girls didn’t tell anyone, not even their closest friends. It was something that made him look forward to college so much. He always liked boys and it was never a problem until he started telling people he was a boy as well. Perri and he spent a few nights together talking about this and making him more comfortable talking about himself. She teased him for staying quiet about his crush on Osuk’a, but not for how he didn’t realize what it was.
Today was one of the days he didn’t make excuses to leave when Perri’s girlfriend visited. To celebrate the last week of the semester, the two invited all their mutual friends over to their room to share a feast of delivered fast food and a marathon of shitty movies. Histari finds himself beaming and laughing in the middle of this group of former strangers. Perri is beaming as well, the expression brighter whenever their eyes meet through the night.
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A few weeks into the second semester, Histari finds out Osuk’a doesn’t like boys.
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It doesn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. For a few weeks he would avoid being around the other man; not going out with their friends, only leaving his room for class and food. Perri let him do this for a bit, before forcing him out.
“Histari, I’m not letting you go back into your shell. You like hanging out with these people. You like these people. Just because Osuk’a doesn’t like you that way doesn’t mean he doesn’t like you at all! He’s your friend , Tari.”
Histari stares at his comforter with misty eyes. He knows she’s right. Perri’s usually right. She’s smarter than he ever tells her. He tells her so. Her eyes soften, no longer fiery with her planned lecture. He crumbles into her arms when she hugs him.
Perri comforts him, takes him out with their friends later, and squeezes his arm when he smiles and joins the conversation again.
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They throw another feast and marathon when Histari gets his room confirmed for the next year, a room in the boys' dormitory shared with a boy he met in his math class. Jakiro was from a small town like him and they became friends over this and their unusual homelives. He was looking forward to rooming with him.
Perri decided to room with a girl from one of her music classes, despite their year difference. She explained that she’ll just go off-campus when Eliyen graduates and invited Histari to room with her again when the time comes. He accepted with no hesitation.
Eliyen and Jakiro quickly become friends at their feast and fit into their friend group just as quickly. Osuk’a teases Histari over his vegan pizza, a small box sitting in the latter's lap separate from the shared box on the floor. He throws a piece of tomato at him and they laugh. Perri beams at the two from where her head was pillowed on her girlfriend’s lap. Histari beams back at her.