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A/N: 27.10.20
OKAY BUT IMPORTANT NEWS EVERYONE!!!
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Ahaha but for reals, enjoy the new chapter 😉
ALSO, I made a tiktok account dedicated to my books and some Conan The Dandelion videos 🙂 my tiktok is @ij_hidee
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The university was big. Maybe that’s why they called it ‘univers-ity. It felt like a small universe of its own, filled with its own population composed of students, professors, and other adults. There were foreigners speaking all kinds of languages, buildings for all kinds of subjects ranging from science to philosophy. This place was its own microcosm.
“You’re a freshman, right?” Freddie asked, locking the car doors.
“Yes.”
Freddie looked around us before lowering his voice.
“Then you need to be careful. The students here have a tradition called Butinage where they pull dirty pranks on the first years. If anyone asks what year you’re in, make sure to tell them you’ve already got your master’s degree.”
“But then I’d be lying,” I murmured.
“A little lie never hurt anyone. I’d rather not see you get hurt. The pranks can get pretty bad sometimes. We’ve even had a couple of students who were sent to the hospital last year. The director is heavily against the tradition and says it’s prohibited, but he can’t control everything that happens in this school.”
Freddie pursed his lips, looking at me from head to toe as if my small size worried him. I think it did.
“Be careful, okay? Hide if you have to.”
“I’m good at hiding.” I smiled. I’ve been hiding my entire life. Freddie gave me The Look, but then smiled back.
“Text me if anything happens. You have my number. I have to head to class now, I’ll see you around.”
I waved at him. “Good bye, Freddie.”
Freddie waved back before walking away. I saw him jog up to a group of students, most likely his friends, and the four of them walked towards a building while chatting and laughing.
I pulled out the school map that I had printed that morning. Despite having a map of the universe-city in my hands, I still got lost. I wasn’t very good with directions. I went up to a few students who very kindly took the time to point out where the Philosophy building was, but then I got lost again. I took a few seconds to stop and stare at the trees. Then, I noticed a group of students smoking beside some trash cans, and went up to them.
“Hello, my name is Conan,” I waved. All three of them turned towards me. “Do you know where the Philosophy building is, please? I’m lost.”
The blond boy pulled his cigarette away from his lips, which reminded me of Parker and how he had smoked inside my apartment the first day I arrived. I’ve been thinking about Parker quite a lot recently. How strange.
“Are you a first year?” He asked, flicking the tip of his cigarette.
“Freddie said that I have a masters degree,” I told him.
The girl beside him snickered.
“You look too young to have a masters degree,” she sneered.
“Yes, I suppose so,” I said. Freddie didn’t give me further indications on my fib, so I didn’t know what else to do but to agree.
“How old are you?”
“Thank you for your help,” I replied, which probably wasn’t the right answer because they all had The Look. I began to panic, not knowing how to handle this situation, so I decided to turn around and leave.
“Hey, wait,” said the second boy, who was at least twice my height. “Why don’t you stick around for a smoke?”
“That’s okay, I don’t smoke.”
“Do you have any money?”
“I have a turkey sandwich.”
The blond boy rolled his eyes and passed the cigarette to who I thought was his girlfriend until she started making out with the boy beside her. The one who was twice my height. University seemed like a very strange place.
“Lemme see your bag,” he said.
“I can’t,” I told him. I had my journal inside it, the one where I wrote everything I couldn’t say aloud. I didn’t want anyone to see it. Not even Dr. Philip George was allowed to see.
“So you do have money,” he said, taking a step closer, which made me uncomfortable.
“I might have a penny,” I murmured, feeling bad that I hadn’t checked.
He took another step forward and that’s when I felt most uncomfortable. I quickly took a step back but froze stiff as a stone when he grabbed my arm without consent. His grip felt like a shock of electricity. My mind went blank and I couldn’t conjure up a single thought. The only thing I was aware of was that I felt sick. Very sick.
It felt as if his skin was burned through the fabric of my sleeves. It hurt.
“Show me your bag,” he ordered. I tried to say something, but at times like this, it felt like my body was no longer connected to my mind, and all I could do was passively wait until the nausea ended. That’s right, it was best if I stayed silent and waited for things to end. Just be patient, Conan, it’ll be over soon.
“What’s wrong with him?” I heard the girl behind him snicker. “Maybe he doesn’t speak English.”
The tall boy laughed.
“Do. You. Understand. Us?” He asked, making dramatic hand gestures which made his friends laugh harder. “Are. You. Stupid? Blink once for yes, blink twice for yes.”
The three of them cracked down laughing, but I was too focused on the burning grip to be upset. When was he going to let go?
“Hey, so are you gonna open that bag for us or what?” Sneered the boy, tightening his grip. I could feel my stomach twist even more, and didn’t know how much longer I could fight the nausea.
“Hey, dumbass, I said-“
“What’s going on?” Said a voice. To my surprise, someone walked towards us and stopped beside me. Parker had his motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm. He stared at the hand that was holding onto my arm. An amused smirk twisted on his lips, and his dark eyes flickered towards the boy.
“Huh Josh, I didn’t know you were into dudes.”
For some reason, that assumption made Josh quickly let go of my arm. He narrowed his eyes at Parker.
“Fuck off,” he muttered.
“I will, once you get out of my way,” Parker said casually.
Josh seemed annoyed but for some reason, he seemed more intimidated by Parker than he was of me. He stepped aside. Parker reached out and took the pack of cigarettes that was in Josh’s shirt pocket and pushed out a cigarette. He placed it between his lips but instead of giving it back to Josh, he tucked it in his own shirt pocket.
“Early Christmas present,” Parker winked with a Chesire grin before walking past the group of friends who all had different expressions. Josh looked angry, the girl seemed shy while her boyfriend looked upset. It fascinated me how Parker could change the atmosphere and mood with just his presence and a few words.
Parker glanced over his shoulder and to my surprise, his eyes met mine.
“You coming?” He deadpanned. I nodded and quickly followed him. We walked in silence until we turned around a building. I stopped in my steps.
“You’re an idiot for talking to guys like them,” Parker sighed. “Can’t you be more aware of your surroundings? Don’t you have a danger radar that keeps you out of trouble? Jesus, Conan, we’re not in high school any-
He stopped and looked to the side, realizing that I wasn’t beside him. He turned around and furrowed his brows.
“Hey, blockhead. What are you doing?”
He backtracked and stopped in front of me, narrowing his eyes.
“Why are you trembling?” he asked, his voice now wrapped in concern. I lowered my head and stared at my feet, curling my fingers into fists. But I could still feel my body tremble. He reached out to touch me but I quickly shook my head, and he stopped. Parker understood that I didn’t want to be touched and lowered his hand.
“Conan…”
“I have problems,” I blurted.
“Yeah, well we all having fucking problems,” he muttered, looking away. I think he did it to make me feel less uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure.
“Do you need water?” He asked.
I shook my head.
“Do you need something else?”
“I want to puke.”
“You what?”
But I could already feel the three bites of toast and eggs travel up my throat and before Parker had the chance to step away, I leaned forward and expelled my breakfast in front of me, meaning Parker’s shoes. When I opened my eyes, I realized that there was brown mush on Parker shoes and blinked a couple of times to remember who and where I was. I looked up and Parker had a scowl that looked like a scar.
“YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”
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Q/A: Do you guys have any plans for Halloween?
BTW for those of you who know about my book “Who Let The Wolves Out?” It is almost completed on Patreon with a total of 49 chapters. If you’d like to read the story, you can find it on patreon 💕
Until the next chapter, byeee xx
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