Page 3 of Talk to Me

“They had like ten million followers and were the most popular account on Peepers,” Collin continued. “That’s so many followers they had almost twice as many as the next most popular account!”

“Crazy.”

Though I didn’t want to admit it, I was actually impressed that a gay couple was the most popular account on any social media site. We, as a people, have come a long way.

“I know!” Collin squealed. “Like, they were interviewed on talk shows and stuff and even had an article written about them in People magazine!”

“Insane!”

“I know you’re mocking me, you bitch.” Collin sniffed. “But anyway, then, like, the guy in the blue blou—shirt—Theo? He cheated on the other guy—Ben? And then they broke up and half the people stopped following the account and started following Ben. And Theo is, like, Satan to everyone in the community!”

“The…community?” I asked. “Which community?”

“The gay Peepers community!”

“Ah. Is he going to be okay? I mean, should we start a fundraiser or something?”

Collin glowered at me.

“I know you don’t think social media matters, Josh, but you could at least pretend,” he said.

“Impossible. Peepers isn’t a real place.”

With a roll of his eyes, Collin continued.

“Anyway, I guess everyone was so hostile to him at Blaze University that Theo left after his sophomore year. And now he’s turned up here! We have Theo Hendrix at Midway University!”

“I’ll have to call my parents. They’ll be delighted to hear of this development at my educational institute. Maybe the cost of my tuition won’t bother them so much once they know that Theo Hendrix is studying here, too.”

Collin jumped up from the bench.

“You are a snide little bitch and I want nothing to do with you!” Collin, the dude who slept ten feet away in the other bed in our dorm room almost every night, announced.

I watched Collin as he marched six steps away. Then he turned.

“Well,” he asked, “aren’t you coming? It’s pizza day in the dining hall.”

I laughed.

“Yeah.” I rose from the bench. “I’m not going to miss pizza day.”

If you’re lucky, you can sneak a few slices of pizza out of the dining hall on pizza day. The dining room staff are usually pretty lax with rules, but on pizza day, they turn into the Midway University Secret Police. There’s a limited supply of the pizza. So, while they will let you eat as much as you want while you’re sitting in the actual dining hall, they get fussy if you try to take any to go. Even if you haven’t eaten in the dining hall and want to take your meal to go, they will argue with you.

It’s become a game for us students at Midway.

How many slices did you smuggle out? There’s melted cheese stuck in the zipper of my backpack!

Needless to say, Pizza Day is the busiest day in the dining hall. I’ve seen the crowd swell enough that people have to sit on the floor or stand to eat. When I think about it, this is most likely what led to the smuggling. Students got tired of leaning against the wall or sitting on the hard tile, so they made getting pizza out of the dining hall into a game. Even with so many students taking their pizza to go, the dining hall remains full on Thursdays during lunch.

The most perplexing aspect to Pizza Day is that what the dining hall serves is nothing compared to the only decent restaurant in Big Fork. Which also happens to serve the same thing. Pizza Insanity is the only real restaurant for students at Midway University to hang out at outside of classes. Unless you enjoy the McDonald’s parking lot. The pizza is far superior to what is found in the dining hall, obviously. However, the place is frequented by the citizens of Big Fork, so that means limited seating for students. Additionally, if you’re a Midway student and linger too long, you get the vibe that the staff and townies wish you’d lave.

So, Pizza Day in the dining hall is a big deal every Thursday.

However, I wasn’t in the dining hall; I was sitting at my study desk in the dorm room I shared with Collin. Sharing a room with Collin had been the easiest part of my time at Midway University because he was rarely present. It was like having a dorm room all to myself. As any college student will tell you, having a dorm room to yourself is not only rare, it’s a luxury.

As I nibbled on the pizza I’d smuggled out of the dining hall in the gallon-size Ziploc bag I’d had stowed in my backpack, Collin was dressing. Or redressing. The guy had a thing for outfits. He had his “going to classes in the mornings” outfits. Then there were the “hanging out after classes and lunch” outfits. Lastly, he had his “evening hanging out” sets of outfits. He was in a “hanging out after classes and lunch” outfit as he stuffed an “evening hanging out” set of clothes into his backpack.

Obviously, he wasn’t planning to return to our room at bedtime.