I go over and unfold the blanket and make my bed for the night. Tallius lays back on his bed stretching and yawning. From what I have gathered is that he is sleepy most of the time, maybe I am mistaking that for rudeness. After several minutes of silence of the two of us just on our beds, Sparky returns from the shower. He walks out, half-dressed without a care in the world.

“Your turn Ori!” Sparky smiles at me.

“Okay, thanks.” I smile awkwardly back, trying not to stare too much.

I gather my clothes and towel and head to the shower. I place my clothes in a dry place and turn on the water and take off my clothes while the water reheats. Once the water is warm enough, I step under the stream. I think this is the first time I have taken a shower outside of my home, somehow it feels really awkward. I wash my hair then my body, avoiding the mirrors like the plague. I take my time with my showers; I like to relax and take in the warm water. After my shower I dry off and put my clean clothes on. I gently dry my hair with the towel and exit the shower room.

In the room Sparky is working on his homework and Tallius appears to be helping him. He seems to treat Sparky well, why do I feel a sense of jealousy when they’re practically brothers? I sigh and put my dirty clothes in the basket and continue to dry my hair.

“Hey Ori, are you good at math?” Sparky asks, “because Talli is making this even more confusing!”

“Aaah, I don’t know. What kind of math?” I answer.

“Your nose.” Tallius says looking at me.

“Huh?” I answer, “what about my nose?”

“How do you not feel it? Your nose is bleeding.” Tallius talks back and gets up, going into the bathroom.

“O-Oh!” I exclaim covering my nose with my hands.

Tallius returns with tissue in his hand and hands it to me with a shaking hand. I accept it and accidentally get blood on his hand. I block my nose with the tissue and lay down on my bed. Meanwhile Tallius stares at the blood on his hand.

“I have to leave.” Tallius suddenly gulps and leaves the room.

I continue holding pressure on my nose and I take slow breaths. Nose bleeds aren’t uncommon for me, but I haven’t had one in a while. I usually get them during panic attacks or when I’m having anxiety. It might have been the shower water was too warm.

“Are you okay Ori? Do you want me to take you to the nurse?” Sparky asks in a sincere voice.

“No! No! I’m fine, this is normal!” I explain.

I take the tissue from my nose and dispose of it in the bathroom and wash my face.

“Don’t mind Talli, he is weird about blood haha!” Sparky smiles trying to make me feel better, “Dinner is soon, we should head over there once you’re all better.”

“O-Okay…” I answer and put on my shoes as Sparky puts on his as well.

We walk together to the cafeteria where we meet Tallius sitting outside on a bench with another student. Tallius and the other guy are sitting across from each other, not talking but drinking some red drink.

“Hiiii Kiyoshi!” Sparky shouts grabbing the other guy’s shoulders.

The guy flinches and turns around, “H-Hey!”

“What are you guys drinking? Blood?” Sparky jokes.

My eyes widen and I get kind of scared, my imagination runs wild. Tallius is pale and mysterious and acted weird when my nose bled, what if he is a vampire! What if this school is for vampires! Maybe the drink is a blood substitute and he got hungry from my nose bleed! No…No…This isn’t some drama TV show, there’s probably an explanation for all of this.

“Of course not it’s an energy drink! I’m Kiyoshi, you’re the new guy, right?” Kiyoshi smiles.

I snap out of my imagination and mutter a reply, “yes…”

“Kiyoshi is Tallius’ cousin, he and his dumb friend broke our bed…” Sparky whispers to me.

“Don’t say unnecessary things.” Tallius replies shooting a glare at Sparky.

Sparky raises his hand in salute, “I said nothing wrong!”

The four of us go to cafeteria where we eat dinner together, Kiyoshi and Tallius only drink their energy drinks and don’t eat food. If vampires do exist, it would be them for sure! I pick at my food and eat only the rice leaving the rest. When I’m anxious I don’t have much of an appetite, especially after a nosebleed with the taste and smell of blood still lingering.

We finish our meal and say goodbye to Kiyoshi. By this time the sun is already setting, and we head back to our dorm. I go immediately to the bathroom to brush my teeth while Sparky sits on his bed eating some hard candy and playing a game on his phone and Tallius sits down on his bed and takes off his shoes. I return to my bed and sit down with a sigh.

Tallius gets up and goes to the bathroom right as I sit down. I sigh again, he hates me. I plop back onto the soft bed and hug my pillow. I miss home. Instead of burrowing myself into another anxiety attack I try to think of something else. I take my phone out and search for information on vampires. I wonder if they actually exist, I think that would be pretty cool. I wonder what powers they would have. Before I know it, I can hear Sparky snoring and Tallius exiting the bathroom. I quickly exit the vampire page and throw my phone down. Tallius gets into his bed and takes his shirt off. I glance over, gasp, then look away quickly. He turns over and comfortably falls asleep. Still in shock I glance over again and look away, how could someone be that comfortable with themselves? Sparky too, maybe it is a boy thing. This must be normal guy behavior, we’re all boys so it’s not like it’s weird or something. My face heats up and my heart beats fast. I feel sick somehow, I want to go home. All night I try to fall asleep but end up getting back on my phone searching random things on the internet then eventually falling asleep sometime during the night.