Freshmen Chronicles

Author's Note: First, I apologize for the wait. As a college student, my free time is limited. Second, thank you, everyone that has left feedback; it is greatly appreciated. Reviews, at minimum, show that someone is reading. Hits only tell me that someone clicked on my story. For all I know, people could be reading the first paragraph of chapter one, and then closing their browsers.

Chapter 5

After being dragged through hell and back ten times over on my first day here, I'm kind of surprised at how fast the rest of the week went by. I think it's mostly because it was pretty dull with everybody I know being busy with either class, work or both. It's still strange not having Chouji around, but I can't fault the guy for going to a culinary arts school when he had been planning to be a chef since the fifth grade. Besides, I was too ecstatic about how scarce Sasuke had been making himself to properly feel any sadness. Somehow, he managed to find the small group of international students even though they only make up about two percent of the student body. Considering East Meadowbrook University has less than 2,000 students, I'm kind of impressed. I swear that guy could find the intact remains of Jesus Christ with his determination and natural tracking ability.

Ha, speaking of tracking ability, I saw him smirking and sizing up Mike this past Saturday morning, even though I had him plugged up by the head of the top bunk. I guess the little green glow is kind of eye-catching, and of course, it had to be Sasuke's eye that was caught. I just knew he was going to give me shit, so I shot a glance at his baby blue blankie, and just like that, his unborn taunt was aborted. That's one of the unofficial man laws, you know; if two men know embarrassing shit about each other, then they are obligated to forever bury that piece of evidence, even if new embarrassing shit surfaces. If you break the man laws, then you are a vagina, and will be forever shunned from all manly perks and activities. I've seen it happen to a few dudes and it is not pretty.

But, enough about that. I don't even want to think about that shit when I'm already mildly pissed off about how this day has gone so far. You see, it started this morning when Sasuke's alarm went off at fucking six am. I know for a fact that no class starts before eight, so there was no reason for him or me to be woken up at the ass crack of dawn. At the time, I was so sleepy that I didn't know what was going on, so I turned my alarm off on reflex. Two hours later, I wake up, he's gone, my class is starting, and I'm still in boxers. Somehow, I managed to get to class by 8:20 am, but it was already empty. Apparently, the professor handed out the syllabus and then left, so I spent the next half hour trying to find her office only to find it and see an "out to lunch" sign. Luckily for me, the secretary felt bad, and printed me off a copy.

There wasn't enough time before my second class to go back to my dorm and take a nap, so I went to the welcome center and ate a hard ass bagel with a sour glass of orange juice. You would think my meal plan would have covered it, but nope, "The campus convenience store is a separate entity from the campus cafeteria. Your order comes to $5.04." What the fuck? I could have gone to Denny's for that price!

Anyway, I made it to my second class only for the professor to be 20 minutes late. He then offered no apology or explanation, just quickly passed out the syllabus, assigned a three-page paper, and then walked the fuck back out. This left a solid hour before my third class, and I was exhausted. No way could I have gone to sleep, and then woken up on time. So, now, I was hoping that the prof only gave out the syllabus and then left.

Ha, that bastard passed out the syllabus, lectured, made us introduce ourselves, held discussion and assigned some homework. He went over by almost ten minutes. If it weren't for students for the next class walking in, he would have kept going! Hell, it took almost five minutes after we left for me to get him to stop following me and talking about how my sister and Deidara were some of his best students.

Now, it's 2:30 in the afternoon, I'm starving and tired, but can't do anything about it, because I have to talk to housing about the price of my dorm room. My uncle may have a little money from his company, but that's him, not me. I didn't ask for all of those amenities, and I don't like the bastard that comes with them. Somebody is going to tell me something, today.


________________________________________

"Hello, may I help you?" The receptionist asks, dryly, and I immediately school my face to look as pissed off as hers does. She may be having a shitty day, too, but at least she is getting paid for hers.

"Yeah, I was assigned to room 106 in Madison Hall, and I think there has been a mistake…" I begin, and she cuts me off, further raising my level of pisstivity.

"If you are unhappy with your roommate, you must first go through mediation with your roommate and your resident assistant. This will be followed by a trial period and further mediation. If the conflict still cannot be resolved, then, and only then, will you be allowed to submit a change of residence form. From there, you will be placed into our matching system, which will be followed by a meet and greet, an interview, and then another trial period. The total process usually takes 4-6 weeks," she rattles off, and then unofficially dismisses me by turning back to her computer.

Therefore, not only am I pissed about being cut off, not getting my question answered, and being ignored, I now realize that I practically have to kill Sasuke to get rid of him. Hell, people go through less than all of the shit she just named to get a divorce!

"That's all useful information, but you didn't answer my question at all," I state, and finally I seem to have her attention.

"When I signed up, I requested the cheapest residence hall, but what I got was anything, but that. The place is super decked out, and I need to know how much this is all going to run me," I add, and voila, she's acting all professional, asking for my student number, and quickly punching it into her computer. Whatever she sees must be interesting, because now she's clicking and typing faster than I can follow.

"I see that you were assigned to Madison Hall, and are rooming with Mr. Sasuke Uchiha, which has been approved by the elder Uchiha. What seems to be the problem?" she finally asks, while looking at me like I'm the one that's stupid. Did I not just ask for a price? And, who in the hell needs to be officially approved to room with someone?

"Um, besides everything that you just said, the price," I respond, and can't keep the bewildered look off my face. In a minute, I'm going to ask for somebody else. I don't want to accidentally kill the few brain cells that she does have working.

"Ah, I see no one has informed you," she says, and I continue to look straight ahead. The least I can do is control my face, because controlling my brain is hopeless.

'You don't say, you stupid bitch!'

"That particular room was purchased and remodeled by Mr. Fugaku Uchiha over the summer. It was agreed upon that rent would be collected by the school, and then transferred to Mr. Uchiha. However, there is a note on your account stating that the standard boarding fees are to be waived, which is why $2816 has been refunded to your checking account. You should see it within 3-5 business days, if it isn't there already," she continues, and then finally cracks a smile. I don't know whether to be happy for the extra cash, or insulted that this foreign dude is seriously trying to buy me, so I just stay with old faithful, confusion.

"Right, um thanks, I guess," I mumble and then wander out of the office. I have to think on this a bit more, because all of this is weird as hell, and it's getting out of hand.

________________________________________

"Here," I say as I hold out the envelope to Sasuke, who is leaning back in his desk chair, balancing it on its two rear legs. He glances at my hand, and then leans back even further. For the longest time, he just stares at me, which all at once annoys me and strengthens my resolve.

"What the fuck is that?" he asks coolly, and I swear handing over nearly $3000 dollars has never felt this good. So, with a hardened smile, I push the white slip of folded paper into his palm.

"This is $2816, exactly. Tell your dad, thanks, but no thanks. I don't need any handouts," I inform casually. Within less than a second, Sasuke's eyes widen, narrow, and then return to normal, before he dismissively backhands the envelope out of my hand, sending my cash flying through the air all around us.

"Telru him yourself. Thas his affair," he replies, and then turns back to his laptop. All I can do is stand and stare in shock. But, as I watch each bill hit the floor, I can feel my blood pressure steadily rising, which is rapidly bringing me back to life. I can practically feel his blood on my hands, and it has only been seven days. There is no way I'll last eight months without getting charged with at least manslaughter.

"You overly arrogant piece of shit! What the fuck is your problem? What did I ever do to you, huh? What did I do?" I explode after collaring him up, and slamming him into the wall. I'm only a few inches from his face, and it takes everything in me not to remove my hands from his shirt, and place them around his neck. I know that if I do, I won't stop squeezing until he's lifeless, so I tighten my grip until my knuckles turn white. Out of nowhere, I feel myself sailing through the air, and only after I crash into the wall do I realize that he somehow kicked me in the shoulder. I'm totally ready to take him on, but am brought back to reality by the red liquid that he's dabbing from his scalp onto his fingertips. Shit!

"Don't. Eber. Touch. Me. Again," he growls out, and is practically shaking in anger. I'm finally subdued, but now he's livid.

"You wan know my proberum? You wan know what you did?" he yells, and it seems as though the angrier he gets, the worse his English gets. Hell, I'm wondering will I even understand the answer by the time he gets to it.

"I didden wan come here! This school beneat me! They coulden eben get one ting right! I ask for Japanese roommate, I get a mutt! A fuckin mongeru!" He erupts, before the rest of his rant dissolves into some bizarre combination of English and Japanese. I have already heard enough. Being mixed can really suck sometimes. I am a part of all, but accepted by none. Nothing hurts quite like this level of rejection no matter how many times I face it.

"Fuck this, I'm out. Feel free to move in as many purebred Japanese roommates as you want," I quietly inform, and then head to the door. Before I can even see a slither of the hallway, Sasuke is closing the door, and staring at me with wide eyes.

"You can't go," he says, and for a second I am struck by fear. This guy is truly fucking nuts!

"Move," I command, and then try to shoulder past. He's either really strong, or using every ounce of his strength, because for all of my pushing and shoving, he doesn't budge a centimeter.

"You can't go. My father expecting you stay here," he practically pleads, and just like a week before, he looks way younger than his age. The raw fear in his eyes is not helping the image, but at this point, I just don't give a fuck.

"Wasn't it you that said that this is his affair? Well, ditto," I reply, and am tempted to ram him again in order to free myself, but I just don't have the energy or anger to properly fuel it. I just want out.

"Look, he's all the way in Japan, and it's not like I plan on calling him anytime soon. So, he can just continue to think that I'm staying here," I try to reason, but Sasuke is swiftly shaking his head, no, and I am getting more and more frustrated.

"He'd know," he finally announces. At these words, I pause, because one, I'm amazed at how obsessed Sasuke is with keeping me here to please his father, and two, I just don't have the will to fight anymore. So, while holding my head, I practically fling myself onto the top bunk, and use my forearm to shield my eyes. I hear Sasuke quickly walking around, gathering my money and placing it on my desk. From beneath my arm, I now see him carefully straightening it out in neat stacks, and I truly feel like I should be sending Fugaku a bill, because $2816 isn't enough to deal with this bullshit.