Chapter 3 Pt. 2: The First Night
 
Aiden unlocked the door to the house with the hand that was not holding groceries, and once inside, he stepped aside and held the door open for the others to walk in. After he closed the door behind them, he released a yawn and trudged his way over to the kitchen after the others. How was he already getting tired?! They had a whole night ahead of them! Knock it out, Aiden, it’s too early!
Jin was the first in the kitchen and was already sorting out the groceries that everyone began to set out. Damien and Rhodon seemed all too ready to help Jin out with this chore, assuming that everyone would assist, but Evan and Aiden seemed to have other plans. While the three of them continued their work, Evan plopped himself down on the couch in a laying position to grab himself a quick nap after all the events of the day.
Aiden was going to strike up some conversation with Evan and maybe even suggest a game or two, but immediately after walking into the living room, Evan was already determined for a nap it seemed! Didn’t he already take a nap today? Perhaps that one didn’t count as one… after all, it was still earlier this morning when he took it, so it was just a continued sleep. Maybe… Man, what now? Oh! I can show Damien Pokémon!! With a snap of his fingers to show his own approval to the idea, he excitedly jogged to his room to obtain his DS and his Gameboy games (he had to play the earlier generations) and his charger before he returned to the living room to wait upon Damien. Hopefully Rhodon would enjoy watching as well!
Jin thanked Damien and Rhodon for helping him, but instead of joining them in the living room, he decided to get a start on dinner. He was extremely hungry himself, so there was no way that they weren’t as well! He began his search through the cabinets for the pans and utensils, but it came to his attention that Aiden’s mother might have taken all of his cooking ware… not that he could blame her after all the stories he’s heard. Well, it’s a good thing I brought my own pans… With a sigh, he tried to remember where his cooking ware was placed as he scratched his head and looked around with uncertainty. When it clicked, he walked over to the farthest cabinet from the fridge and pulled out all of the necessary items he needed in order to cook the meal.
Upon seeing his reflection in the saucepan, however, Jin stopped what he was doing as a frown came to his lips. It was the first night living with another group of strangers… yet again. He could count how many times he’d moved in with strangers, so it’s not that he had experienced this excessively, but every time he always had to be aware that the relationships wouldn’t last. Thankfully the people he had lived with here in America didn’t turn out to be individuals that he felt attached to, but there was always a chance. He hated the idea that there was always the potential that he would become close friends with someone who would be gone in no time, and it always concerned him for the first couple of weeks.
However, the strange thing about this move-in was the diversity of his new roommates and their personalities. He knew a great deal about Rhodon and Evan and a small bit about Aiden (not of their complete histories), but he was still getting use to Damien, even though he was completely readable. This kid is so sheltered, there has to be a story about it… He carried his backpack everywhere because it was the one thing he had in the states from his past life in England, and he was overly cautious about others. Why was that? He was still speculating, but he had his suspicions. He held symptoms he had seen before and perhaps… With a shake of his head, Jin tried to throw all of these thoughts from his mind and turned his attention back to his cooking. He could feel the emptiness overwhelming him, and as always, he knew he just had to take his mind off of it. Easier said than done, and yet… he always succeeded. It was like a switch that he could just turn off when he was aware that his mind was wandering too much.
So as Jin continued on with the cooking, Aiden had already informed Damien that he would be showing him a thing or two about the gaming world, and just as Aiden had hoped, Rhodon was interested in watching him play as well. The three of them grabbed a seat on the smaller couch that sat perpendicular to the couch that Evan lay on as Aiden simultaneously pressed the ‘on’ switch that was found on the right side of the DS. He made sure that Damien sat in the middle so that he and Rhodon could watch over his shoulder and help him when he needed, and the sound of the opening of Pokémon Sapphire made him extremely excited, “Just wait, Damien. You’re going to love this game! Once you get started, you won’t want to put it down!” he informed him with a grin.
Evan’s eyes flickered open at the sound of Aiden’s voice, which was absolutely lathered with too much excitement. How could he sleep with this guy jabbering? Pokémon music he could handle, but Aiden? No. Not in his sleep. With a scowl in their direction, he grudgingly shifted over onto his other side with his face turned to the backrest of the couch before he placed a pillow over the side of his head to try and block out the noise. Couldn’t they do that in another room? Probably not… After all, Aiden wanted to make sure he stayed involved with ALL of his roommates.
Damien was getting a little excited due to Aiden’s influence, but he was also a little nervous being in the middle of the two of them. He didn’t know Rhodon at all. At all. He didn’t even know his name! He was sure he had overheard it during conversations the others held with him, but he most certainly wasn’t introduced. All I have to do is think about the game… that’s it. Ignore the people around you and--- whoa. Damien’s attention was caught by the animation playing in the game’s opening, and even the music was pleasing to his ears! When the opening ended, the game asked him to press start, and once he scanned the console for a brief moment, he followed the directions and did as told, “... Does he have white hair? How old is he?” he asked as he was assigned his male character.
“You did not just ask that.” Aiden remarked seriously, yet… jokingly? Everyone he knew that played this particular generation thought that the male character had white hair, and that just wasn’t true! He wasn’t an old man! “That is a hat. Look, see?” he pointed out as he tried to get Damien to see the tiny details. It was certainly hard to tell, and because Aiden seemed to be oddly passionate about his ‘hat’, Damien just took his word for it and continued playing.
As the game proceeded, Damien seemed to be completely immersed. Aiden and Rhodon barely had to help him after the first section of the game (of course, this was only speaking with other characters and moving around). Several minutes passed, and Damien’s character came upon a man running around in circles with a grey and black dog chasing after him. “Oh..! The dog’s chasing him! What do I do?” he asked with a hint of concern in his voice and expression. The man was even asking for help! Wait… he wants me to go in his bag? What for? Isn’t it rude to search through someone else’s belongings? Well, if he’s asking… Surprisingly Aiden and Rhodon weren’t assisting him this time, so he had to figure this by himself. Hesitantly, he pressed the ‘up’ button on the control pad and pressed ‘A’ to click on the bag and find this Poke ball the man was talking about. But wait! There are three! He said to grab one! What’s this? I have to choose? A bird-like Pokémon called ‘Torchic’, a wood gecko Pokémon called ‘Treeko’, and then a mudfish Pokémon called ‘Mudkip’ were all open for choosing, and he was so… torn between the three of them. They are all so cute! Why can’t I use all of them? “... I have to choose one? What am I choosing it for?”
“Yeah, just one. The one you choose is the one that fights alongside you.” Aiden replied as he watched him switch from one Pokémon to the other over and over again.
“It /fights/? Fights what? Who am I fighting? Do I have a good cause?” Damien questioned, obviously wondering if he should even be playing this game. Will his companion get hurt? Would it be his fault? He was beginning to think he wouldn’t like the game if that’s how it works…
“You fight other Pokémon with your own. Your goal of the game is to catch all of the Pokémon and to defeat all of the gym leaders. To do that, you have to fight. Otherwise you won’t get anywhere in the game. Pokémon are kind of built to fight, like warriors. You have a bond with your Pokémon and you take care of them, but you also use them in battle.” Rhodon explained, though the more he thought about it, the more he did question the ethics of the game… He was about to say that the Pokémon like what they do, but that was kind of like saying they enjoyed abuse, wasn’t it? How wrong is that?
“So… they have to get hurt?” Damien asked just to clarify. They don’t look like warriors… They look so harmless and adorable; they should just be protected! But… maybe there’s more to them. Reluctantly, Damien chose the Mudkip as his starter and began his battle with the dog that was apparently called Poochyena, Lv. 2. Okay… Fight, Bag, Pokémon, and Run are my options. Run doesn’t involve fighting! He was quick to click on it, but it immediately told him that he couldn’t run away! He selected Bag and Pokémon in an attempt to find something else to do, but his only real option was to fight… Here it goes. He first selected ‘Growl’ because he was aware that it didn’t do any damage to the opposing Pokémon, but when the Poochyena attacked with ‘Tackle’, he was absolutely appalled that his poor Mudkip was injured! Some of his HP was taken away! With a frown, he immediately clicked the ‘Fight’ button again and this time clicked ‘Tackle’ in order to defend himself, taking away about half of the HP of the Poochyena. He wasn’t for fighting at all, but if he had to defend himself, so be it!
And so it continued… Damien was a little thrown off when he thought that Poochyena had died, but when the game told him it only fainted, he felt a little relief. Of course, it was still a little disappointing to see that he hurt the Pokemon that much, but he was getting use to the game, and it appeared that the fighting wasn’t all that bad. Overall the game was quite fun!
30 minutes passed, and the scent of mixed spices, fried chicken, and steamed rice lingered in the living room now, which was making it more and more difficult for the boys to concentrate on the video game. Damien especially was losing interest because all he had eaten today was the plane food he was given on his way over from England, and the smell was making his stomach growl like crazy!
Evan’s eyelids steadily opened as he slipped back into consciousness, and he found himself questioning reality for a moment… Am I still dreaming? He was just dreaming about having a good meal, and it smelled exactly the same! I must still be in a dream… Wait. Wait. It was far too real to be his dream. Even Aiden’s voice was annoyingly loud, which most definitely would not be a part of this dream. He hadn’t been living with them long enough to deal with that. Plus, Jin said he was a good cook, right? Evan’s eyes widened at this realization, and he found himself sitting up immediately and averting his eyes over to the kitchen to see what Jin was up to. Was he eating all of it already? He squinted in an attempt to see more clearly, having placed his glasses on the table beside the couch before his nap, and he was relieved to see that Jin still seemed to be cooking. With a brief sigh, he stood up and grabbed his glasses, slipping them over the bridge of his nose easily as he began his walk over to the kitchen.
Jin eyed Evan as he entered the kitchen area, and he offered him a curious look, “Dinner isn’t quite done yet, but it’ll be finished within a few minutes.” he informed him in case he was becoming tempted to eat a snack or something. His own mouth was watering from the smell of the food, so he would completely understand that!
“Yeah.” Evan responded with a hint of suspicion towards his fellow roommate. He was acting as though he planned on sharing, but did he really mean it? He could eat all of it if given the opportunity, so he made sure to stay nearby until the food was up for grabs. Evan leaned against the island as he watched Jin continue preparing the food, and he couldn’t help but to be impressed by his cooking skills. Somehow, this guy had more cooking skills than anyone he had ever seen here at college. Then again, he had noticed that internationals tend to be rather good cooks… Jin just looked rather professional.
What was Evan doing? Scoping out the food? Jin didn’t exactly mind him watching, but he was aware that his roommate wasn’t watching because he was interested. He was very aware that Evan was expecting him to eat a great deal of this meal, mainly because of his comment he had made back at the grocery store. Jin actually found it quite humorous and was half-tempted to get a huge bowl for himself just to joke around with him. Maybe that would teach him to put a little trust in him! Or maybe not. It may just put him in a--- Oh… Say, that’s an idea. “... Evan? Would you mind setting the dining table up for dinner?” he asked as he glanced at him hopefully.
… Set the table? Is he serious? Leave him alone with the food? No way! Evan kept his eyes steady on Jin, even though he had already turned his attention back to the food. He was adamant about not moving until he received his serving of food, but at the same time, he came to realize that he wouldn’t be getting his food until the table was set. Evan scowled at the back of Jin’s head before he finally turned to fetch his other roommates. He didn’t set the table. He was too lazy for this kind of stuff. If he was doing something, they had to as well! He approached the three gamers and was quick to nudge Aiden’s foot with his own while offering him an intimidating scowl, which remained on his face from his interaction with Jin, “We have to set the table. Come on.” he urged them without moving a muscle until they showed signs of moving as well.
“Food’s ready?? Great! Come on, let’s hurry up and make sure there’s room for everything on the dining table so we can eat!” Aiden exclaimed as he gratefully received the DS from Damien, closed it, and slipped it into his pocket for later. He stood and gestured for the others to follow, more excited than usual to actually do chores. He normally would not be this eager to help out with household duties, but this was the first time he would be eating Korean food, so it was kind of worth it!
Damien was going to follow after Aiden, but he for some reason was sort of blocked by Evan. Maybe unintentionally? He didn’t have a clue, but he was definitely caught off guard by it. Nervously, he stepped to the right and then the left in an attempt to get past him, but Evan followed suit! Is he blocking me on purpose??
“Damien, this way.” Rhodon laughed as he watched the two practically dance around each other in an attempt to get things done. He could tell that Evan was just trying to get around the kid and vice versa, but neither of them knew who would step aside first! He gestured for Damien to go to the right and watched him hurry off to the dining room with a sneak glance to Evan.
Evan was really not trying to bully Damien around. That time. He was really just wanted to speak with Rhodon about something, and Damien was going in the opposite direction. Poor kid is going to think that he has something out for him… What can he do though? It’s not his fault that they keep having awkward interactions. Right? He shook the thought from his mind and reminded himself that he had a question for Rhodon, “Hey, you know Jin, right? I mean… you’ve seen him eat. He claims he doesn’t eat at home like he does at restaurants, but have you, you know… witnessed it?” he asked hopefully. He just did not trust Jin with all of that food.
Rhodon raised his eyebrows as his grin broadened, “Evan… Jin isn’t going to eat your food, if that’s what you’re wondering. Come on.” he laughed as he gestured for him to join them in setting everything up.
Evan breathed an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes as he grudgingly followed after his acquaintance. He really didn’t want to set the table; he did that enough when his four siblings didn’t listen to what his parents had to say. If that’s what he had to do get food, though, he didn’t really have a choice. He reluctantly returned to the kitchen and walked through it to reach the dining table only to find that it was already set up by Aiden and Damien! Rhodon was already grabbing the cups, too! Wow, these people were reliable! He didn’t have anything to do now! His excitement soon dissipated, however, when Jin asked him to help out with the food. He thought he’d get out of the work, but--- wait. I’m going to be able to take the food? So, he really is sharing? Evan waited as Jin poured the chicken onto a serving plate and handed it to him for him to place on the center of the dining room table. Jin followed after and placed another serving plate of rice beside the chicken. Evan sat down with the others at this time, with Damien and Aiden on one side, Evan and Rhodon on the other.
Once all of them were situated, Jin went ahead and prepared to serve all of them, but he wanted to do something before serving the food. “So I’m sure you’re all hungry, as am I, but before we get to eating, I thought we should introduce ourselves to each other and discuss a few things about ourselves now that everyone is here. Oh, and you cannot eat without saying something.” he remarked with an authoritative air about him.
“Wait, what?” Evan asked with a look of disgust in his direction. The food was hot now. It was obviously ready to be eaten, and yet he was stalling? Why that sly little… Ugh. He breathed a deep sigh before standing from his seat to speak up just to get to the food, “So what do you want us to say? I thought we did this earlier.” he asked uncertainly as he kept a firm eye on Jin.
“If you could just say your name, where you’re from, and a little bit of background about yourself.” Jin replied as he sat himself down to listen to what Evan had to say. This should definitely prove interesting…
Background?? Like what? This is going to be the death of me! Evan could feel his temperature rising as he suddenly became nervous about the situation. Social speaking was never his thing, and a background was the last thing he wanted to give to a group of strangers. Well… he didn’t have to say a whole lot at least. “Okay, so… I’m Evan Sugar. I’m from San Diego, California, and I’m a sophomore at Berea majoring in English. My labor position is in Public Safety. Let’s see… I… have four siblings. My sister is 18 years old and my brothers are 14, 15, and 17 years old, and we all live with my dad.” He replied as he scratched the back of his head to keep himself from just fidgeting. He quickly sat himself down to relieve himself of the stares he was getting, and he hoped that whoever else would hurry up and speak next.
Rhodon could tell that Evan was nervous, and he really couldn’t blame him. At least it showed he was human to the others that didn’t know him as well! He tried to think of what he should say and then stood up once Evan was seated, “Uh, I’m Rhodon Hope. I’m from Canada originally, but I moved to New York City when I was 14. I have two older sisters, ages 21 and 22, and yeah… I think that’s all. Oh, and I’m a sophomore as well, and my major is child and family studies. My labor position is in the CDL, which is the child development lab in case some of you don’t know.” he said, basically just following the outline that Evan had set up.
Jin was the next to stand up, and he seemed to have practiced the entire thing before! He didn’t hesitate in any of his words, and he was very at ease, “I’m Jin Kasey, I’m a junior business major, and I’m from Seoul, South Korea. My primary labor position is Korean TA, and for my secondary, I work at the office of admissions. I do not have any siblings, and I live on my own.” he said with a smile and head bow at the end before he sat himself back down. His was probably the fastest!
Damien was next, and the entire time that the others were speaking, he was trying to figure out what to say. He noticed that he was supposed to be using the same format that everyone else was using, but he wasn’t ready for that. This was his first time alone with strangers, and it was the first time that he didn’t have supervision from an elder. No one to scold him if he said something wrong, no one to tell him he should or should not say or do something… He was free of control, and yet he was still bound to it. What was worse for him was the simple fact that he wasn’t comfortable speaking about himself. He didn’t exactly like to lie either, and so he was stuck in this situation he had never encountered… Damien could feel sweat forming in his hands, and as he stood, his legs began to shake. After all this thinking he didn’t have a clue what to tell them, so he just spoke what he could, “I um… I’m Damien Kooke… from Liverpool, England. I-I will be a freshman chemistry major, and I will be working in dining services. I have a twin brother. And I…” he took a moment to gulp down the frog in his throat as he made a last minute decision, “Well, I uh… I live with him.” he said finally before quickly sitting down. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks, and he had the gut instinct to get out of the room and find somewhere to just breathe. He denied this to himself to save him the embarrassment, though.
Evan wasn’t all that interested in this whole idea, but Damien’s little introduction caught his attention. Watching him shake like that just because he didn’t know anyone around him caused him to surprisingly feel a bit of concern for the kid. He didn’t know what was going on in his head, but it was obvious that he was beyond uncomfortable. Almost as uncomfortable as he had looked when Paul had grabbed hold of him. He almost spoke up when he noticed Damien was having a hard time, but he finished before he could get a word in. Evan’s eyes wavered on Damien for only a couple more seconds before he adjusted his glance towards Aiden.
“All right, so I guess I’m the last. I’m Aiden Valentine, and I’m an incoming freshman theatre major that will be working at the library. I am from right here in Berea, and I am an only child. I live with my mom. Or, I used to. Obviously I don’t anymore.” Aiden laughed as he breezed through his introduction. He didn’t mind sharing things about himself because he had come to learn that it was part of who he was. Of course, there were limitations to how open he was, but he didn’t really mind brief introductions like this.
“Okay, thank you all for discussing this, and I am sorry for putting you on the spot. I just think it’s better to get to know the people you are living with.” Jin was glad to know more about these other individuals, though some of them didn’t exactly tell him things he didn’t know already. Still, he was grateful for their discussion and was ready to start serving. He began by giving equal amounts of rice to each person first and then proceeding to do the same with the chicken. He served himself last and then sat himself on the end of the table between Rhodon and Damien. “Jal meokgesseumnida~!” he said excitedly as he went ahead and started eating. Being the oldest, he didn’t wait for anyone else to eat first, when in Korea he knew many elders he would wait on to eat.
The others watched Jin for a moment as he spoke in his language, but they were all eager to dig in as well. Evan and Aiden shared similar table manners; both only used their forks as a utensil, completely disregarding the spoons and knives they were given. Evan was much faster in his eating pace, however, and he found that with each bite, he was becoming more and more grateful that he chose Jin. This year was going to be fantastic. As for Damien and Rhodon, both actually used more than one utensil in order to pick up the rice in a more efficient way. Again, out of the two, Damien was the faster eater, but he still didn’t quite beat Evan. Not that… Evan was the fastest. Jin was certainly taking the lead on speed as he had before. The anxiety that had built up in most of them was quickly disappearing with every bit of food they ate.
 
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After dinner, Aiden, Rhodon, and Damien returned to Pokémon Sapphire for another couple of hours while Jin played Link Between Worlds on his 3DS and Evan was occupied with writing in his black covered spiral notebook. The group passed the time rather quickly, switching between video games and chatting, though Damien was completely hooked on the game and didn’t much partake in discussions. In no time, the clock upon the living room wall next to the TV struck 11:00 p.m., and the group unanimously agreed to call it a night.
            Aiden showed them all to the master bedroom where they would each be staying for the night and pulled some blankets and pillows from the closet for whoever needed them, “We will be picking up furniture on Sunday, so until then, I think it’s a great idea for us all to camp out in the same room!” he informed the others as he began to lay the blankets across the floor to form beds. “Because there are five of us, I think two of us can sleep with our feet towards the wall and three of us can stagger our heads with theirs. I’ve heard that close proximities with other people can help overcome any barriers you may have with them. It’s very healthy.” he commented with a raised pointer finger as though this was something to write in one’s notes.
            Jin knit his eyebrows together and grimaced, almost certain that he had found that on the internet where everything ‘must be true’ (that was something he heard many Americans speak of sarcastically). Oh well, if that’s what he wanted, he wasn’t going to argue with it. He was ready for sleep after this long day, and he was sure that the others were, too. “All right, well, I think I’ll choose the one closest to the window but not against the wall.” he remarked as he walked himself over to the farthest blanket from the door and tossed his pillow onto it.
            Rhodon considered this for a moment and then decided on the blanket that was close to the wall and farthest from the door, which would place his head between Jin’s and whoever would take the middle blanket. Aiden chose the blanket next to Rhodon, leaving Evan and Damien the last two blankets farthest from the wall.
            Evan wasn’t surprised by Aiden’s suggestion, but that most certainly didn’t mean that he had to like it. Do we really have to be this close to one another? With a pout, he decided to just it up and was about to grab the blanket closest to the door when he realized that Damien also hadn’t chosen his spot yet. What if being between two people would be too much for him? As much as he wanted the end, he tossed his pillow onto the middle blanket and allowed Damien to have that spot, assuming that’s actually what he wanted. Hopefully he didn’t just place himself in the center of snores…
            Damien gathered two extra blankets and a pillow from Aiden’s stack he had placed just outside the closet, and he settled himself down onto the blanket that was left for him, which really was the one that he had hoped to get. It’s too bad that Evan was the one next to him, but maybe he wasn’t that bad? It was so hard to tell! Carefully, he removed his backpack from his shoulders and placed it beside him while he was getting situated underneath his blankets, and then he pulled the sack close to him in his arms. There was some comfort he found in his backpack, and he didn’t want anyone taking any of the belongings inside, so this was his way of keeping tabs on it.
            As the other four lay themselves down to sleep, Jin went ahead and turned out the lights before he returned to his blanket. He gently lay the back of his head upon his slightly-fluffed pillow and breathed a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling. He had so many questions floating through his mind regarding his roommates, and he found himself piecing things together and considering the things that were yet to be known about them. It had been a long day, but even though his eyelids were heavy, he couldn’t turn his mind off.
            “Well… this has been an interesting day. I’m glad to have finally met all of my roommates, though. To be honest, I delayed my apartment search so much that I thought I wouldn’t have a place to live.” Rhodon remarked with a quiet laugh as he lay with the back of his head rested upon the palms of his hands, also looking to the ceiling.
            “... Oh. Yeah, about that… You haven’t met all of the roommates yet.” Aiden remarked thoughtfully as he finally remembered to mention this fact to them. He just didn’t have it on his mind because he already knew who his other two roommates were, so what did he need to think about that for? He only needed to remember when they were coming.
            “Aiden. What do you mean we haven’t met all of the roommates?” Evan asked seriously. This information would have been nice to know the day I moved in. “We didn’t interview anyone else, and we agreed on everyone we denied. Did you forget to tell us something?”
            “Kind of… Neither of them were interviewees. I’ve met them before. Well, sort of. One’s from Japan and the other one is from Texas. They both arrive sometime tomorrow.” Aiden replied, fully understanding why Evan wasn’t too happy with him. Yep, I should have told them. It’s not like I meant to keep that hidden from them, though!
            “When you say you ‘sort of met them before’, are you saying you actually haven’t?” Rhodon questioned him as well, wondering if this was just some haphazard decision made when he first came up with the idea to have roommates in his home. Now that he thought about it… is this his home or is he renting it? Maybe that’s a question for later…
            “I actually met Hiroshi, the Japanese guy, last year. He was nice. A little weird, but nice. I thought it’d be cool for him to stay here since he only comes for the school year and probably didn’t want to stay on campus. The guy from Texas is someone I’ve been playing online games with. I’ve never met him in real life, but he seems pretty cool. He’s a rancher! His name is Andy Chim… Chim… Yeah, I don’t know how to say his last name. It’s Italian, and he told me his last name orally instead of typing it, so… Yeah.” Aiden replied uncertainly. He’s going to have to clarify that last name with him when he sees him.
            “You met this Chim Chim person online? Do you even know the probabilities of this individual being a possible criminal?” Jin spoke up. Aiden really should be more careful about his lack of caution. Only one day with him showed Jin that he was way too trusting of others, which could be a good or bad thing. Usually it was the latter.
            Damien frowned as he listened into the conversation, and because he felt Aiden should know a little more about safety, he decided to pipe up as well, “I don't know the statistics of that, but more than 16,000 abductions, 100 murders, and over a thousand occur every year because of online scams…” he said with a frown. He had read this information in a book that was published just last year, so the numbers might be a little off for this year but close enough. He just had to inform him that it was risky.
            The entire group looked towards Damien with either perplexed or dumbfounded expressions plastered upon their faces. Did he just say that? “Gee, Damien… thanks for that.” Aiden remarked as he began to feel uncertain about his online friend now. No way could he be one of those scammers! This guy was genuinely nice! But… what if?
            “Okay, I don’t think it was necessary to speak of all of those things, but as Damien said, you should consider these things when dealing with people you don’t know personally.” Jin remarked with concern. He was sure Aiden meant well, but it was kind of the same situation as the interviews-- he just didn’t consider the bad side of people.
            “Berea wouldn’t allow someone like that to go to school here, though. Think about it; this school is a crazy opportunity. They don’t just give it to anyone.” Aiden disagreed, hoping that would prove his reasoning.
            “Please… Berea doesn’t perform background checks. How do you think I got in?” Evan remarked with his eyes closed as he was still trying to go to sleep. He just wanted to say something that would shock everyone enough to make them shut up. And it worked.
            The room filled with silence after Evan’s comment, and Damien especially found his comment to be rather disturbing. He sat up and looked in Jin’s direction, but he didn’t expect to receive a shake of the head from the eldest.
            “Evan’s not a criminal. Don’t worry about it.” Jin informed the others and gestured for Damien to lay back down to get some sleep. He nudged Evan’s shoulder with his hand to essentially tell him that he shouldn’t have said that and then to his right side to face the window and get some sleep of his own.
            Evan’s eyes only opened when he was confronted and nudged by Jin, and he narrowed his eyes at him with a scowl before he pulled his blankets up to his chest and closed his eyes once more. How did Jin know he wasn’t a criminal? Jin didn’t know him that well, so it’s not like he could be that positive about the matter. It’s a good thing he really wasn’t a criminal because otherwise, Jin would definitely be in for it. He acted as though he knew him already, and it kind of bugged him.
            No more was spoken among the roommates as most of them questioned Evan’s comment while they were trying to sleep. Evan was the first to drift off and was soon followed by Aiden and Rhodon. Jin and Damien remained awake for another half hour or so until their minds finally drifted away from their thoughts and into a deep slumber.
However, a few hours after their sleep had begun, Evan rolled over onto his left side, facing the door, and slowly opened his eyelids as he came upon the unfortunate realization that his body had woken him up for some reason unknown to him. He didn’t have the urge to use the restroom, the temperature was satisfactory, and he hadn’t heard any noises that might have woken him up, so what the heck was his body doing? His eyes remained just barely opened as he stared at the blankets and pillow that lay beside him, and the more he began to register reality, the sooner he realized that the blankets beside him should have someone under them. What the…? Both Damien and his backpack were missing!
Evan sat up, brushed a hand through his hair, and rubbed his eyes to wake himself up, and he soon forced himself to stand up and scan the room for any sign of Damien. He was grateful that his eyes were already adjusted to the darkness, but he still couldn’t see too clearly, especially without his glasses. Quietly, he walked over to the wall and searched for his glasses that he had placed on top of his notebook earlier in the night. When he found them, he slipped them on and hurried to the door where he slipped through the crack that was just big enough for him to squeeze through without having to open it any further. Did I scare the kid that much? How long had he been gone? He cursed at himself as he rushed into the living room towards the front door to slip on his shoes, but he came to an abrupt stop when he spotted a figure sitting on the window sill staring straight at him. Evan could have sworn that he had experienced a mini heart attack because he didn’t exactly register that it was only Damien and not someone who had broken into the house, so the bit of adrenaline that had begun to pulse into his bloodstream caused him to breathe just slightly heavier than normal. What was he doing scaring him like that?! He was supposed to be in bed! Evan took a few seconds to return to a relaxed mindset, and once ready, he spoke up as he approached his roommate, “What are you doing out here? Couldn’t sleep?” he asked, hoping he didn’t scare the kid yet again.
Damien was surprised to see Evan up this early, considering he was aware that it was now 2 o’clock in the morning. He seemed to be in a hurry as he appeared from the hall, but for some reason, whatever was so important must have fled from his mind. He removed his headphones from his ears and became a little nervous when Evan began walking towards him, but his questions sounded surprisingly genuine. With a shake of his head, he responded to him in a whisper so that he didn’t disturb the others, “No… I came out here so I wouldn’t wake any of you up.”
Evan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he came up with something to say. He had gone through many of these kinds of situations with his siblings when they had something troubling them, and because this case was so similar, he didn’t feel so awkward confronting Damien as he would his younger brother, “What’s bothering you?”
Damien offered a shrug and turned his head away to look out the window, gazing upon the brightly-lit half-moon that held its position in the sky. There were many things that were bothering him, and to pick just one was impossible. He didn’t know how to explain what he was feeling or why he was feeling it… If anything, he felt wrong being here. His chest ached the more he thought of what he left back home, and he felt so many emotions tugging him in all directions. His stomach even felt twisted in a knot…
A shrug was not exactly what Evan was hoping for, but it was quite typical of someone who didn’t want to discuss what they were feeling. He himself was guilty of it. The problem was that whatever was keeping him from sleeping needed to be resolved somehow, at least enough for him to rest. What might be bothering him? He had a good dinner and played video games before bed, and he doesn’t seem to be afraid of me, so that comment from last night couldn’t be it… He began to consider that maybe it wasn’t the roommates or the house in general that was causing him to be like this. When he first moved from California to come to school, he distinctly remembered his first few nights and how excited he was to be away from home and to be away from the siblings he had so much trouble with. However, after the rush of excitement he had experienced those initial days, he remembered that he had really come to miss his home and family, even though he had told himself that he wanted the distance. Perhaps this was what Damien was feeling… It was possible that someone could experience a longing for home during the first night, he was almost positive.
Uncertain as to whether or not this was the problem, Evan allowed a few moments of silence to come between them before he felt he should really try to discuss the matter with him by beating around the bush first, “Are you upset about the living arrangement?” He received a shake of his head to say ‘no’. “Are you anxious because you don’t know any of us?” He received a shrug. “... You miss England, don’t you?” he asked finally, awaiting a response that would never come. Damien didn’t move a muscle after the last question because he didn’t exactly know how to reply. “That’s what I thought… You’re just homesick. Give yourself some time to adjust, and you’ll be fine. Skipping sleep will just make it worse.” Evan informed him as he carefully reached out and patted him on the shoulder before gesturing for his roommate to follow him.
            Homesick? Damien had heard so many things about the word before, but he had never experienced it. The thing is… He didn’t know it was possible for him to ever know how homesickness felt. He wasn’t like others, and he didn’t have the luxuries that many people shared. All he knew was that he was an entire ocean away from his brother, and he felt as though half of his identity was missing. His eyes gazed upon Evan as he questioned whether he should really follow him or not. His legs seemed to move before his mind gave the O.K., and before long, he was standing in the kitchen with Evan, who had the lights to be able to see. Didn’t he say that I needed to go to sleep?
            Without any hesitation, Evan pulled a random blue cup down from a cabinet and used the automatic water dispenser on the fridge door to fill the glass with the water. He handed the cup to Damien, who was surprised to be receiving it, yet grateful at the same time, seeing as to how he was quick to gulp the cup down. Somehow, this kid needs to get into contact with his family. It didn’t seem right for him to be going through so many shocks at once, and he knew that the best way to get past homesickness was to get in touch with loved ones. He wondered if his family was even able to be contacted though… Damien didn’t have a cell phone, so did any of his family have one? He patiently waited for his roommate to finish the water and then placed it in the sink when he was done, “Alright, now let’s go to bed. We’ll wash the cup in the morning.” Or… someone will. Evan turned out the lights again and yawned as he followed Damien back to the room, grateful that he didn’t even argue with him. He wouldn’t have the energy for that right now…
            As the two of them lay back down, Damien set his backpack back down, breathed a deep sigh, and kept his eyes wide open and trained on the ceiling as he continued to think about all that was on his mind. In a matter of seconds, however, Evan spoke to him in a whisper to pull him out of his thoughts, “Hey, quit thinking and concentrate on your breathing or something.” he insisted in a mumble as he, too, began to close his eyes. Damien looked in his direction for a moment before he to his side and at last made the attempt to return to the sleep he truly needed. Hopefully he would fall asleep fast.