I don't know if you guys know the group...but I just came back from a 2NE1 concert...It was amazing.

Anyway, wanted to publish this chapter for the weekend.

Read. Devour. Enjoy.

I don't understand this new fetish with jock straps," I gingerly lifted one and threw it at her across the room. For those innocent people out there, jock straps are what guys wear to cover their man parts in sports, it's usually paired with a plastic cup for protection.

She caught without at thought and then threw it in the pink and red stripped Victoria Secret bag, she flipped over to show that she was reading some junkie celebrity magazines, "You know how guys collect bras after they've slept with someone? I am resolved to collect their jock straps."

"Doesn't that mean you have to date only athletes?"

"No, every guy has a jock strap honey, if not, they're not even worth seeing," she flipped her hair imperiously, did mention she was a bit shallow about guys? Right.

I stared at her.

"It does help that they have an athletic build," she grinned happily and gently pat her little pile of straps in the bag, "It just now occurred to me what a good idea it was to join a co-ed sport. Now that we're in track, I can have all the jock straps I want."

"I am speechless," I muttered as I began to fold some laundry, "Of course I would make friends with the school slut."

She became oddly silent, uncharacteristic, I should have known that something was up. It took her only a few seconds to sneak up behind me and dump the bag on my head. I was suddenly covered with jock straps.

She hopped on my bed and looked down at me, and cackled, she actually cackled, "Who's the slut now?"

"EW! EW! EW! EW! GET THEM OFF!" I screamed and began to shake like crazy, trying to get them off, "NIKKI! GROSS! DID YOU EVEN WASH THEM?!"

She rolled her eyes as she hopped off my bed, "Of course I washed them, it would stink up my closet. I add a touch of rose to keep it nice-"

The fire alarm began to blare.

"FUCK! WHAT THE HELL?!" she screamed and covered her ears, "THE WORLD IS FINALLY ENDING! DAMMIT! JUST WHEN I FINALLY GOT HOT!"

"It's just a fire drill!" I cursed as I quickly grabbed her and moved to evacuate the room, "Come on! Any longer and my eardrums will bleed out!"

"Wait! I'm still not wearing pants!" she ran back into the room, "You better wait for me whore!"

Who's the whore? I thought to myself as I went outside and slammed the room shut. One of the random guys living next door to us began to evacuate too. No, not random. Dirty blonde hair, six-foot, tan, he turned around...

Kieran.

Son of a-

I cursed under my breath. He instantly recognized me of course and grinned , "NO WAY?!" he screamed above the fire alarm, I think he was happy but I couldn't tell because he was half wincing in pain, "RILEY!?"

No.

No.

No.

No.

Not next door. Not next door. Kieran was living next door to us. I cursed at myself for wanting to economize and signing up for a co-ed dorm. How did I not know that I was living next to the monkey?

"You weren't at the floor meeting?!" I gasped. I was referring to the meeting where we met our dorm leader and learned about all the rules. If I had known about this sooner, I would have requested a room change.

"SAY WHAT?" he winced as he uncovered his ears. He kicked his door, I assumed that his roommate, like mine, was taking his sweet time, "HURRY UP! I'M GOING TO LEAVE YOU SOON!"

His roommate finally came out as he was putting on his black tee to go with his casual grey sweats, his hair damp from taking a shower. No one else could look that good coming from a bath. I inwardly groaned. He seemed unaffected by the blasting sirens as he didn't even cover his ears of cringe at the sound. Even during a drill he was as cool as a cucumber and had the same annoying smirk.

Caleb.

No.

No.

No.

Caleb turned to see who Kieran was facing, me, he recognized me of course. But for some reason, he looked like he was trying to hold in his laughter. He was trying not to laugh at me. I glared him angrily even though I had no idea what the source of his amusement was; the way he was looking at me made me red with embarrassment. He came closer to me. I remembered only a few days ago he had given me a hickey and stepped back in retaliation.

"This-" he said once he got close, his hand reached to yank something out that had caught in my waist band and held it in front of my face, one of Nikki's goddamn jock straps, "Is certainly something interesting."

Why?

Why me?

Why always him?

Why was I always caught in these bad situations by Caleb?

"That's not mine," I blurted out.

"I hope not," he said seriously, "Or else I nearly went to second base with a man."

"We did not-" I felt my face heat up even more, I touched the spot on my neck were the hickey had been, "That is...Nikki-"

"SORRY!" Nikki burst out of the room with some ear plugs on. Due to the deafening effect of them, she was screaming, "TOOK ME A WHILE TO FIND SOME-HEY! YOU!" She noticed our second neighbor, Kieran who also seemed floored, "AND YOU!" then she noticed the jock strap Caleb was holding, "MINE!"

I grabbed her stupid strap from Caleb and pushed her toward the stairs before she could say anymore, "Come on! I'm becoming deaf!"

I threw that stupid strap in the garbage before anyone else got the wrong idea.

"Well isn't this a surprise," Nikki said coyly to Kieran and Caleb. I clung to her. I was shivering from my tank top and light flannel bottoms, while she shamelessly wore a spaghetti strap and short shorts. When she went back in, I assumed it was to grab a jacket, not put on a push-up bra. Ridiculous. The other boys happily got a modeling of Nikki's nightwear, can you say 35 dollar bottoms from Calvin Klein? Me? Five bucks from the Old Navy. The retainers were also a definite male magnet.

"I know!" Kieran grinned, "I didn't realize we were living right next door. Oh, here-"

He took off his Ninja Turtles sweatshirt, revealing his bro tank, and slipped over my head before I could protest.

"No, Kieran-" I tried to say, but he quickly stepped away before I could even take it off and give it back, "Thank you," I smile hesitantly. I was shocked at his suddenly chivalry, I guess he was thoughtful after all. My heart softened a little, just a little. I then heard a 'tch' from his roomate, evidently, a new signature thing.

He grinned back, "No problem," he then there, in front all the grumpy, pajama-clad students, stretched out his arms and yelled, "I am the SUN!"

The three of us stared at him again.

Ans then sometimes, he could be so...

"So how come I've never seen you guys on our floor?" Nikki continued, "You weren't even at the mandatory floor meeting?"

Caleb didn't answer. Kieran smiled good heartedly, "We never really get home until late at night."

Nikki and I exchanged glances.

Translation: We were always out with girls. The weekend hadn't even started yet and they were already out late at night. Nikki had dates lined up, but she mainly kept her Monday through Wednesdays free. I was always free if any of you were wondering.

"Did you guys know you were roommates before orientation?" I blurted out.

Caleb looked at me as if I were retarded, and finally spoke, "Would we have acted that way? Use your mouse brain to think."

Maybe. Just to mess with me.

"No," he read the doubt in my face, "I met this idiot the same night later."

"We were actually walking back from tutoring!" Kieran jumped in, "We were wondering how strange it was that we got off on the same floor after entering the same building. Caleb got there first and then glared at me and asked if I was stalking him."

"You were like a lost puppy following me home, idiot," Caleb sounded annoyed, but I thought I could see a small grin in the shadows.

"Please," Kieran nudged him, "If I were so inclined, I think I would choose someone better looking than you to be my master."

"Oh yeah?" Caleb said, unfazed, "Someone without an X-box?"

Kieran's face fell, "NOOOOOO."

They continued to banter, it was strange, they were already getting along pretty well. Caleb seemed to act indifferent towards the cheerful happy Kieran, but it was clear that they were quickly becoming close. After all, it was hard to remain rigid next to Kieran's disarming personality. I still felt his warmth lingering in his sweatshirt.

They made quite a pair. I could see the freshman girls staring at them throughout the crowd. Even the older students, who didn't know who they were glanced curiously at the two model like students. Nikki too garnered attention.

"ATTENTION!" one of the dorm supervisors yelled into the loud speaker, "WILL STUDENTS CALEB VANDERBILT! KIERAN MCCUTCHEON! RILEY PIERCE! AND NIKKI SALAZAR! PLEASE COME TO THE LOBBY OF THE DORM!"

Sadly, I wasn't surprised that I was in trouble. The fact that they read all of our names just proves my theory that trouble always seemed to follow me when I was with them. We all looked at each other before Caleb, taking the initiative, pushed past the mass of students to meet our summoner. The fire marshall for some reason still there after shutting off the alarm. They must think that we set off the alarm or something.

"We have a problem," he said grimly.

He took us into Caleb and Kieran's room, half unpacked and slightly disorganized. There was a big ass gaping hole in the wall that led directly into our room.

"There is a big hole in our room," Kieran stated, yes Captain Obvious.

"I would look at it as...an adjoining room?" Nikki winked, in front of all the adults. Sometimes, this girl was not my friend. A couple of his younger firefighters looked away from Nikki, blushing. She still managed to charm the young serving men of our country.

"Due to the high frequency of the wall, it hit this wall with the precise amount of resonance causing it to vibrate and eventually causing the foundation to give way," the firefighter grimly stated.

"What? Aren't buildings up to safety codes?" I demanded, "Why aren't any other walls like this?"

"The foundation in this particular wall seems to be...defective. It was calibrated differently than the rest, some sloppy work done by some workman. We just tested a new fire alarm, which is why this hadn't been exposed before."

"Can you fix it?" Caleb asked.

"Yes, we can fix it in a way that doesn't require the evacuation of the entire building, but that means you will have to vacate this room for a few months," the man said, "Given the back order that this Academy has on the local construction company, you probably won't be able to come back until November."

"November?" Nikki looked around, "That's almost four months? Where are we suppose to go?"

That's when the dorm supervisor stepped in, "Thorne Prep will of course refund your money for housing and give you complementary living space." Of course they didn't want us to leave, our tuition money, in contrast to housing money, was non refundable, unless one of us were to sue.

"So...where are we going to live?"

"Unbelievable," I slammed a box down in our new living room.

Nikki sat on the couch, courtesy of the Thorne prep, and crossed her legs, "I don't understand what the problem is, we get more room than that little closet they put us in!"

"The problem is," kicked a suitcase of Caleb's which was blocking the doorway, "We have to live with them!"

"It's not like we're in the same room," she chuckled and flipped another page in her style magazine, "We're sharing a two bedroom furnished apartment. All the upperclassman have taken the off campus housing. We're lucky they even had this open."

"Lucky is not the word I would use for this situation," I said, I gave shriek as I fell backwards after tripping the very same bag I kicked over. A pair of strong arms caught me before I could give myself a concussion.

"I agree," Caleb said above me before roughly tossing me over to Kieran who the caught me gently and then helped me up. After that night, I had tried to give him back his sweatshirt but he refused, "Keep it," he grinned, "It's your's."

In contrast, Caleb and I still butted heads. I abruptly grabbed one of my boxes before I was tempted to start another quarrel with them.

Kieran sprang into action, "Here! Let me!" he helped me bring my other bags into my room. He sprinted down the hall so quickly, I had to chase him down to make sure he didn't accidentally unzip my underwear bag or something.

"KIERAN! Watch out! It's unzipping!"

Sure enough, the bag slipped open and my endless supply of tampons fell out. I slammed the door to rob Caleb the opportunity of embarrassing me even further. First Caleb, now Kieran too. I never understood what was so repulsive about tampons and pads towards boys; honestly, they were like clean underwear. But society trained me to feel embarrassed when these 'lady products' were exposed. True to character, I blushed, mortified.

Kieran glanced down the mess he had made and paused for a second to survey the situation, my guess was to find a way to make the situation less awkward. Suddenly, he grabbed two tampons from the ground and shoved them up his nose, "LOOK! I'm a walrus!" He flipped his hands like a seal.

What the-

I shouldn't have laughed, because he looked so stupid. That ploy was usually reserved for two-year-olds with chopsticks at a Chinese Restaurant impatient for food. I couldn't help it, he just looked so dumb, that and he had just shoved two tampons up his nose. I burst out laughing and wouldn't stop until tears began to form. Kieran began to crack up too and fell down on the bed. I collapsed on the bed in exhaustion next to him.

I hadn't laughed like that in ages.

By the time we were finished I was laying back and staring up at the ceiling. Kieran positioned himself on his side, his head supported by his left hand, looking at me, he grinned, "I'm glad you're smiling."

I covered my face with my hands, embarrassed, "I haven't laughed like that...in a while."

He reached over and gently pulled my hands away from my face, "Why?"

Indeed, why?

"I guess these past few years haven't been worth smiling about," I shrugged.

"That's a shame," Kieran frowned, it didn't fit his face, something just seemed wrong about it. I reached up and touched his lip before pushing the corners of his mouth up, "Eh," I murmured absent-mindedly, "Smiling is more of your thing."

He reached up and pulled my hands away from his mouth and grinned at me again.

I hesitated and then smiled back.

Disarming.

Third POV

Nikki and Caleb were alone in the family room. They heard the door slam shut as Riley began to scold Kieran for opening one of the pockets in his haste.

"Well?" Nikki sat casually fingering through a magazine, her leg carelessly thrown over the chair's arm, "Aren't you going to compete with that?"

Caleb looked at her with his dark impassive eyes, they never seemed to change, even in the presence of a woman. Even if his lips turned into a smile, his eyes stayed the same, "Being a busboy? No thank you."

"Winning over my baby Riley's heart?" Nikki licked her finger and turned another page.

Caleb's expression didn't change as he picked up a duffel bag, "I have no idea what you are talking about. That mouse is of no concern to me."

"Ah well," Nikki said, poker face as she threw the magazine aside, "If that's the case. How about you let Kieran have her and you and me have a go?"

Caleb glanced quickly at the door that Riley entered, so quickly that not even cunning Nikki noticed, he smiled his usual grin, the one he usual wore when he was being seduced by a woman. There was no doubt that Nikki Salazar was a fine woman, "I might take you up on that, especially since you live so close now."

Nikki stood up and sidled up to him, her breasts pressed to his chest. Nikki already had plans for tonight, but she was definitely willing to pass them up for a Vanderbilt. She cocked her head to the side, "Convenient isn't it?"

More character development...working on that :) I hope you enjoyed it! Until the next chapter,

creativemind111