Xavier (Sugar Baby 2) ✔️

ninth: distance

Jeremiah was friendly. Too friendly. About half an hour of sitting in the cafeteria, I found myself surrounded by a bunch of people who all seemed keen to talk to him.

"And I told her, that would be front page news!"

The people guffawed and laughed at the apparent joke he had just cracked. I quietly took a sip of the coffee, gazing at him. His eyes twinkled amiably, a broad, dazzling smile on his handsome face. I could see the appeal.

"So, you're the room mate?" A girl with pale blue eyes and straight, platinum hair asked, looking at me curiously.

I took a slow, deliberate sip. I could feel the eyes of the half a dozen people who had congregated around our table. Having led a life in obscurity, I wasn't particularly fond of attention. Slinking into the shadows had been part of my job. I nodded finally, flashing her a soft smile. "Yeah. Xavier."

She smiled back. "Morgan Hart,"

I scoffed slightly at her words. I had noticed her name when she had introduced herself a while ago. She tilted her head slightly to the left. "What are you in?"

"Foundation for STEM," I answered, rising to my feet. "I'll catch you guys later."

I took the paper cup and walked away from them, able to feel their eyes boring into my back. I had spent the last twenty minutes profiling them and was getting bored of their mindless chatter.

Morgan Hart. Twenty two. Journalism like Jeremiah. The dark circles under her eyes told me that she had sleeping problems. Insomnia. Possibly pertaining to withdrawal from some addictive substances.

The guy beside her, Colton Dixon. Twenty one. Heavy gamer by the lack of any sort of tan on his body. English, senior.

The girl beside him had been Tina Gupta. Computer Science major. Recovering from a bad breakup by the messed up tattoo on her forearm which presumably contained the name of her ex.

Joshua. Went by first name which meant he had issues with his father. Lives with his boyfriend who was paranoid and had already called him thrice in the short span that I had been there. Lefty, because of the faded graphite marks on his left hand all along the side of his palm.

The last guy was Zen Lou. Mathematics senior. Quiet and secluded. All I could tell was that he played the cello by the unnatural flatness of his right thumb.

The sixth of course was Jeremiah. I felt like I knew too much about him already.

I walked out of the campus and crossed the road to the other side where a small magazine stand stood. Smoking wasn't something I would usually go for, but something about the newness and strangeness of the university was making me anxious.

I stood quietly under the shade of a tree, gazing at the different people going about their business. I was used to studying. Analyze and plan. It was hard not to profile everyone at the magazine stands.

"Twenty One. Probably a STEM major. Name with something really cool like...Z or K perhaps?"

I turned, startled as I saw a man standing beside me. He grinned at me, flashing a brilliant smile. "How much of that was correct?"

I inhaled and started coughing.

After a few minutes, I finally came to myself and threw the cigarette in the trashcan behind me, shaking my head. "Pretty much on point. It's X though."

He smiled again. "Xander. Xavier. Xavi?"

"Xavier."

He sighed softly, "Ah, that is a beautiful name," he stretched out a hand as he continued. "Caleb Kingsley."