Woodbridge Academy Ch. 01

I first met Matt Humphrey on a subway train one cold night in January. Well, that was the first time we actually had a conversation. We had gone to the same boarding school for three and a half years, but had never once had a conversation. Which, when I think about it, is really quite amazing, considering the fact that we only went to school with 200 guys, but still. Just because we had never met, doesn't mean I didn't know who he was.

Matt was the king of Woodbridge Academy, an all boys boarding school outside DC that we both attended. He was captain of the football team and the lacrosse team, in the top five of our class, and the student body president. Everyone loved him, and he had this gorgeous girlfriend who was already in college. I had seen pictures of them together in the papers occasionally, but never thought much of it. She was the only child of a senator, as was he, and they were apparently the "Capitol's sweethearts". The picture perfect couple that joined together two families that were already pretty powerful in the senate, they were both raised with the creme de la crème of DC high society. Needless to say, Matt Humphrey and I didn't exactly run in the same circle.

It's not there he was popular and I wasn't. With only 50 kids in each grade, there wasn't a whole lot of room for things like that. Everyone just kind of got along with everyone else. I mean, we're guys. There's only so much drama that can take place amongst teenage girls when you remove girls from the picture. Some people just happened to be closer than others. I don't think I have ever had a class with him in all four years of school, but I don't necessarily have anything against him. I just tend to run in a quieter crowd.

In all honesty, I just try to stay out of everyone's way. I know I'm really lucky to go to Woodbridge, where 98% of students end up at an Ivy League college, so I put my heart into all my schoolwork and the swim team, and try to stay out of any drama. It's worked so far, seeing how I've got a state title in two different swimming events, and the highest GPA in my class.

Growing up in DC was hard. My mother left me and my dad when I was ten to be a performer on a cruise ship for a week, and never returned. We got a postcard from Aruba saying that she was going to stay there, and that was the last I heard from her. Dad took it pretty hard, and ended up turning to booze to cope with the pain of being ditched with a child so that she could live on an island. At one point, he went to go get her and bring her home, but came back empty handed.

Getting a job as the head of security for a senator from Ohio was the best thing that ever could have happened to him. It was the kick in the ass that he needed to get clean, and he hasn't had a drop to drink since he was offered that job. Kyle Kent was a fresh faced kid from the Midwest, totally out of his element. He had won his election in a landslide, but was quickly overwhelmed with life in DC. He had been sitting next to my father in a bar in Adams Morgan when they got to talking, and he was instantly won over. Dad is pretty great at making people feel welcome and can calm even the most anxious person. Kent was smitten and offered him the job on the spot. It was the perfect situation for him, and I could not have been prouder of him.

Unfortunately, the job entailed a lot of travel between Ohio and DC, among other places. Dad couldn't leave me home alone all that time, and he certainly couldn't afford a live in housekeeper on one salary. He tried to turn down the job, but Kent refused to let him back down. Instead, he offered to pay tuition at any boarding school I got into in the DC area, which is how I ended up at Woodbridge Academy, home of some of the most elite teenagers in the district and from around the country. I tried not to draw attention to the fact that I wasn't at the same level as my classmates, but I never hid who I was or where I came from. Plenty of friends have come to my father's apartment when he is in town, and no one has cared that we lived in a two bedroom apartment rather than a Georgetown loft or some fancy townhouse like their families. Overall, I had a great thing going for me and I was grateful for everything I had.

All of this brings me back to my subway ride that night. Dad had flown back in with the senator, and he took me out to dinner to celebrate my 18th birthday. I can't remember the last time I saw him so excited about something as trivial as dinner, but I let him have it. We went to this awesome Brazilian place and stuffed our faces with all kinds of delicious things. Dad had to jet off to some event after, so I took the metro back to school. It was a pretty long ride from where we went to dinner, so I was glad I had a book for my Irish lit class with me. I had settled into a seat and was totally wrapped up in my reading when someone plopped into the seat perpendicular to mine.

"Hey." A deep voice interrupted my reading. I jumped slightly at the interruption, since I was clearly not expecting anyone to talk to me. Assuming it was some homeless person looking for change, i hunkered down in my seat and pulled my book closer to my face in a clear attempt to block any unwanted attention. "Hey." The voice said again, so I looked up. I was shocked to see Matt sitting in front of me with a grin on his face. "You're Jason, right?"

"I am." My voice doing nothing to hide the confusion I was experiencing. Matt Humphrey had never spoken to me, let alone sat beside me to have a conversation while riding the subway.

"I'm Matt." The grin was permanently placed on his face, but it seemed really forced. If he didn't want to talk to me, why was he? He looked like he was about to stroke out. "On your way back to school?"

"Yeah, I just met my dad for dinner." I told him, figuring I could at least be nice and attempt to relieve some of the awkwardness of this situation.

"Same. Well, I went out with my girl...with my friend." He grinned again, his perfectly straight teeth in a dazzling smile that rivaled the ones only seen on commercials for toothpaste.

"That's cool." I lamely commented. This whole situation was completely bizarre to me. He was still looking at me with my that smile, his blue eyes wide and sparkling. There was no denying that Matt Humphrey was a good looking guy, but it was still weird to be in such close proximity to him. Like I said before, we weren't exactly close.

"Irish lit?" He asked me.

"What?" He nodded at my book. "Oh, yeah. Just trying to get some reading done."

"I took that last semester. It was a pretty good class. You have Conti for it?"

"I do."

"Watch out for his pop quizzes. He always gives one every third chapter you're supposed to read. It's like clockwork."

I looked down at my book. I was on chapter three. Looks like I was going to have a pop quiz tomorrow. His eyes followed mine, and he let out a chuckle. "Looks like I warned you just in time."

"Looks that way." I agreed with a laugh. "Thanks for the tip."

"So." He shifted slightly in his seat so he was facing me a little more directly. His broad form barely fit in the seat and he looked pretty out of place. "You're a senior, right?"

"I am." I answered, glancing down at where his knee was now bumping mine. The heat from his leg was radiating through his jeans and through my dress pants, but it seemed rude to overtly move it. I am not exactly well versed in train etiquette, but I wasn't going to go out of my way to be a dick to someone nice enough to talk to me. No need to make any enemies tonight.

"Have you been thinking about colleges at all? My dad has been all over me about it."

"I got into Yale early decision." I told him, giving up on my book and shoving it into my backpack. "So I'll be going there."

His eyebrows shot up. "Hot damn. I never knew you were a whiz kid!" I just shrugged. "I applied to Yale, Princeton, and Brown." He said with a grin. "Although let's face it. I'll probably end up at Brown."

"Why's that? Not that there's anything wrong with Brown. It's a great school."

"It is." He agreed. "But I'm kind of stuck there. Every male in my family for five generations has gone to Brown. There's a dorm named after us. My dad is constantly on campus. I just couldn't escape if I wanted to."

"I can see how that would be a little frustrating." I told him. "But that's the joy of being 18. You can do what you want."

He let out a chuckle. "You would think, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, there are a lot of things I want that I just can't have." His eyes caught mine and he held his gaze there until I finally broke away, his icy blue gaze too much to handle. Who knew Matt Humphrey was so intense? I was way out of my element. This seemed to go beyond normal train ride conversation and into some depths that I was not anticipating.

I didn't have much of a response for that, so I turned my attention to the window beside me and stared at the trees as we passed by. There was a light layer of snow on the grass, giving everything a peaceful glow in the moonlight. It didn't snow often around here, but it really was quite nice when it did. By the time we reached the stop for school, I was exhausted and dreading the walk to campus. It would only take about ten minutes, but it was long enough in the frigid air.

Matt walked beside me without saying a word the entire time, and I couldn't help but wonder what the heck was going on. He had never said a word to me and now he wanted to be besties? A little weird if you ask me. When the dorm was finally in sight, he stopped and pulled my arm, jerking me to a stop. I raised an eyebrow at him in question, and couldn't miss the blush that spread across his cheeks in the dim moonlight.

"Sorry." He mumbled and started walking ahead of me, all of a sudden in a mad rush to get back to the dorm.

"Matt." I called after him. I have no idea why I even bothered. I legitimately had no ties to him, and there was no reason why I felt compelled to talk to him after three and a half years of radio silence.

Matt had stopped walking but he still hasn't turned around. I caught up to him and stood facing him. "What's going on?" I asked him. "Why are you acting so weird?"

He avoided my gaze and instead seemed largely fascinated with the snow-frosted trees that lined the picturesque path leading to the senior dorm. "I'm not acting weird." He argued.

I scoffed. "Real mature. Fine. Have a nice night." I practically snarled before I spun on my heel and continued the walk. He wanted to be ridiculous? Fine. He could be as ridiculous as he wanted. I wanted nothing to do with it. There was obviously a reason we hadn't spoken in all this time we had been in school together. We were nothing alike and had absolutely no reason to.

By the time I reached the dorm, I wasn't really annoyed anymore, and for some reason, this ridiculous level of guilt had snuck in. I'm not really sure what made me feel guilty-I didn't owe a thing to him-but I couldn't shake it. I turned around to face him again, and was surprised to see that he was as still pretty far back, shuffling along with an absolutely miserable look on his face.

I let out a sigh, watching as my breath misted in the cold air. "You okay, man?" I called out to him.

Matt looked just as shocked as I felt. "I'm fine." He answered. "Just have a lot on my plate I guess." He gave me a sheepish grin before he reached around me and pulled the door open for me. "So I guess I'll see you around?"

"Sure." I agreed as I stomped the snow off my shoes and headed for the stairs towards my room. "Take it easy."

"Night." He murmured. Before I turned the corner to go up the second half of the stairs, I caught sight of Matt watching me. Call me crazy, but I swear he was watching my ass as I went up the stairs. His cheeks turned a bright red when I turned, and he quickly scurried down the hall immediately after.

"Dude, where have you been?" My roommate asked me the second I entered my room. Josh Potter was the coolest kid I have ever met in my life. He was easy going, smart as a whip, and hilarious to boot. We had been living together since sophomore year, after bonding during freshman year over many hours in the pool together.

"Went out with my dad." I reminded him as I dumped myself on my bed.

"Oh yeah. Birthday dinner." He closed the book he was reading at his desk and turned to me. "How was it?"

"It was good." I shrugged. "Had the weirdest conversation with Matt Humphrey though." I told him as I stripped down to my boxers and started getting ready for bed. Josh just stared at me for a minute, silent until I raised my eyebrow at him in question. Josh was the only openly gay guy on campus, but living with him had never been uncomfortable. No one had a problem with it, Josh was just Josh, and that's all there was to it. Occasionally, he got in a good peak, but he was totally harmless. And he was my best friend, so there was no chance of anything ever happening. Josh was currently involved in some clandestine affair, though. He couldn't say who it was because the guy didn't want to be out due to his parents' disapproval or some shit like that. He was the son of some bigwig in DC, but so were most of my classmates, so it wasn't like I could narrow it down if I wanted to. Josh was happy with the situation, and that was enough for me.

"Yeah?" He gave me his famous shit-eating grin as his eyes made a slow perusal from my abs to my face. I may not be the biggest guy around, but years of swimming had kept me in shape. While Matt Humphrey was broad and imposing, my muscles made me appear long and lean. As I got older, my shoulders have become more broad, but I'm not a big guy by any stretch of the imagination. Josh occasionally checked me out, but I knew it was 100% harmless and was never offended by it. "He finally confess he wants you?"

I did an absolute double take. What the hell? "He wants me?" I scoffed. "What the hell are you on?"

"Dude, he watches you like a hawk. I'm surprised you've never noticed." His smug grin makes me laugh out loud again.

"I can't say that I have ever noticed." I agreed. "We have never even spoken before today. Where would you even get that idea? I don't think we have even taken classes together."

"He sat behind you in modern European history sophomore year." Josh rolled his eyes. "You really are oblivious sometimes."

"Huh. I had no idea."

"You wouldn't." Josh chuckled as his phone buzzed on his desk. He picked it up and grinned before putting it back down on the wood. "You going to head to the pool at all tonight?" He stretched in his seat and looked down at his phone again before meeting my gaze again. His eyes were sparkling, a sure sign that a certain someone had texted him.

"You want me to?"

"Do you mind? Just for an hour or so, I swear."

I stood and stretched. So much for an early night of reading in bed. I was being sexiled. It's not that I really minded, I was glad josh was having fun, but it kinda sucks to get booted from your own room sometimes. "You got it."

"Really? Thanks, man. You're the best roommate ever!" He grinned and jumped up to give me a hug.

"Just stay off my bed." I teased, jumping out of the way of his attempt to smack me upside the head. "I'll be back by 10:30 or 11:00, okay?"

"That'd be awesome." He grabbed his deodorant and started to freshen up. "His roommate would not be nearly as cool as you so it's awesome that you're so willing to be okay with us hanging out here. I wish I could introduce you guys but he is so paranoid."

"As long as he doesn't hurt you." I shrugged. "I just don't want this to blow up in your face."

"I know. I'm being careful, I promise." He tossed me my swimming bag and gave me shove towards the door.

"Dude! At least let me put pants on!" I laughed as I shoved by him and pulled some clothes out of my dresser. Once I was covered in sweats and had shoved my feet in some sneakers, I grabbed my swim bag again and headed out the door, leaving Josh and his mystery lover to get some peace and quiet for a while.

A glance down at my watch told me that it was already past 9. I loved going to the pool this late because I am typically the only one there. It's technically closed this late, but as captain off the swim team, I had a key to the locker room and pool area so I could get in and lead extra practices or just get some of my own time in. Coach was desperate for another state title this year, so he pushed us to get as much time in the water as we could. Sure enough, the locker room was empty when I got there. I changed into my suit and grabbed my goggles before making my way to the pool. After turning the stereo system on, I jumped in and started some warm up laps.

The best thing about being in the pool with some good music playing was that it gave me some time to do some thinking. No matter how I tried to distract myself, my mind kept wandering back to Matt Humphrey and our bizarre interaction, followed by what Josh had said.

I have to admit, if what Josh had said was true, it makes the interaction on the train and on the walk back to the dorm make a whole lot more sense. He had seemed so sheepish on the train, and then while we were walking, it seemed like he was desperate to tell me something that he couldn't spit out. Was he trying to tell me that he liked me? Was that why he was so awkward?

If I'm being honest with myself, I wasn't turned off by the whole thing. Maybe I had been hanging around Josh too long, but my comfort level with the fact that he may have a thing for me kind of surprised me. I never really cared about anyone's sexual orientation before anyway. Love is love, if you ask me. I don't care who is with who. My parents had never encouraged me to dislike people who were different, which I guess made me an abnormality. People around school didn't seem to have a problem with Josh either, but then again, it may have just been the fact that everyone got along so well. No one wanted to be the lone bully. That was part of what made me so mad about the guy Josh was seeing. No one would care. I understand not wanting the general public to know if it would be a bad thing for his family. But still, Josh is an amazing guy. I'm surprised no one wants to show him off.

I had never really thought about my own sexuality to some deep level. I mean, I'm attracted to girls, no doubt about that, I had only had one girlfriend, but I sure loved having sex with her. It didn't really fail for any particular reason other than the fact that she moved to California with her family, and we didn't see the need to do anything long distance while in high school. She already knew she was going to Northwestern, so really, there was no point in even pretending to stay close. We had different paths in life.

As I kicked off the wall and eased into a lazy front crawl, I let my mind wander back to Matt. Again. What Josh had said actually bothered me. If Matt truly "wanted" me, why hadn't we spoken in all this time? And why would he randomly choose a subway ride to start talking, of all places? He had plenty of chances at school to talk, he didn't need to wait until a random run in to start. We lived in the same building for crying out loud.

When I reached the end of the lane, I latched onto the wall and pulled my goggles off. A quick glance at my watch told me I still had half an hour to kill before 11:00. I figured it was better to err on the side of caution and give Josh some private time than to walk in on him doing anything. I shut off the radio and made my way back to the locker room, toweling off as I went. No one was here to yell at me for dripping water all over the mats, so I didn't care enough to be more careful.

Surprisingly, the locker room lights were on when I got in there. They were on a sensor, so that meant someone else was around, at least in the last 15 minutes to set the lights off.