Prologue
© Sweet Kisses
~*~
Tall, blonde, 18 year old Nickolas
Gene Carter stood in front of the high red brick building that seemed to tower
over him, his crystal blue eyes wide with anticipation. He adjusted the bag
over his shoulder more comfortably and stared at all the people walking by him,
young men and women his own age, and they all seemed to spell the word freedom.
He was amazed that he had actually made it, finally had made the transition
from high school student to college undergrad, from teenager to adult. And now,
no-one could tell him what to do ever again. Because now…he was in control.
Nick smiled to himself and vowed
that college would be different from high school. In high school, he was a shy,
introverted boy who could only show his true colors when singing. And that was
his God-given gift. His voice. And that was what led
him to where he was now, and in just a few short years he would be a music
graduate. But here, nobody knew who he was, nobody knew of his past and nobody
would ever have to know the Nickolas Carter he was back in high school. Here,
everything was going to be different. He could feel it in the air.
He began to walk the winding path
that led to the entrance of the building and as he neared the double doors, he
could hear the voices getting louder and louder with each step that he took.
The voices held so much excitement, so much anticipation, so
much liberation. He walked past a dark-haired male that was older than Nick
was, but just the height he was, his hair skimming the nape of his neck and
appearing casual wearing black pants and a long-sleeved white shirt with the
first few buttons open. Obviously a Professor, Nick thought, and Nick glanced
away when the Professor gave him a small smile.
Walking through the doors, several
people walked past him, some giving him a friendly welcoming smile. Nick tried
to smile back, remembering his vow to stop being like a clam. On the stairs,
three girls walked down the stairs and gave him bright, sunny smiles. Again,
Nick tried to smile but he always had trouble trying to be friendly to girls. Not that he didn’t want to be, but he was just too damn shy.
So…he tried to smile, but it sort of came out as a half-smile, half-wince. The
girls smiles died and they continued down the steps.
Nick sighed and after reaching the
top, looked at the number he had scrawled down in his messy handwriting.
Looking up again, he began to search. He slowly walked down the corridor and
was immediately greeted with loud voices again, raucous laughter, blaring music
and people. Suddenly he saw his number and stopped. Butterflies swam in his
stomach. Please God, please just be nice
to me, just this once. Please don’t let me room with a drug-dealer, a
psychopath, a metal freak, a punk, a sadist or a Manson look-alike…
A young man with curly brown hair,
deep brown eyes and warm smile wandered to the door. “Hey!” He immediately
began to shake Nick’s hand. “I’m Howard Dorough, but everyone just calls me
Howie. And you are…”
“Nick. Nick Carter,” he replied,
returning the hand-shake and the smile.
“Nice to meet
you, Nick. Come
on in and I’ll show you the place.”
Nick breathed a sigh of relief and
closed his eyes for a brief moment. Thank you God. He followed Howie through the room and was
given a grand tour of the place that would be his residence from now on. It was
rather small by his standards but habitable for two people and because of that,
the tour was short-lived. Howie turned to Nick with still a smile. “You like
it? I know, I know. It’s pretty dull, huh?”
Nick shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess.
I’ve seen worse.”
Howie laughed and fell down onto the
small couch in the living area. “So…where’s all your stuff? Where are you from?
Which high school did you go to?” He chuckled at Nick’s baffled expression and
wide eyes. “Sorry. I ask so many questions when I meet new people. And guess
what? I already know our neighbors life story!”
Nick sat down on a single seat which
was opposite to his new friend. “Well, I’m from
“Business,” Howie replied, “and I’m
from here, the good ol’ West Coast. My parents thought that it would be a good
idea for me to study business, only because I’m okay with accounting. But…hey,
I’ll make the best of it. Want to meet Alex and Brian?”
“Alex and
Brian?”
“Our neighbors, Alex McLean and
Brian Littrell,” Howie said, already putting his head out the door and
hollering. “Hey! Someone wants to meet you guys!” He turned around with a smile
still on his face, and Nick secretly thought it had to be plastered there.
“Alex is a bit of a wild one, but I think you’ll like him. Brian’s really cool.”
Alex, as it turned out, was about
the same height as Howie with short, dark hair. He was completely decked out in
black with dark glasses and piercings to match. His voice was deep and husky.
Brian was the same height as Alex, with short blonde hair and sky blue eyes.
Nick immediately liked them both. He stood up and began to walk over to them,
holding out his hand. “Hey, I’m Nick. Nice to meet you.”
Alex took off his glasses to reveal
dark, penetrating eyes. “Hey Nicky. Ya don’t mind if I
call ya that?”
Nick shook his head. “No.”
Alex smiled. “Sweet.”
Brian shook Nick’s hand. “Hey, Nick,
I’m Brian. Nice to meet you,” he said and Nick noticed a hint of a southern
drawl.
“So…where are you guys from?” Nick
asked, finding courage to question his new friends.
“
“
While Brian and Howie chuckled, Nick
was confused. “Oh…okay.”
“What field brings you here, Nick?”
Brian asked. “I’m studying Theology. I know, it’s not exactly the thing you go
to college for,” he added reluctantly.
Alex threw himself down on the
couch. “See, this Southern Baptist feels a close connection to ol’ JC upstairs.
Don’t ya, sonny boy?”
“Hilarious,” Brian drawled, glaring
down at Alex. “Least I’m not doing dance and getting forced to strut around in
a tutu.”
“Music,” Nick replied, feeling more
and more comfortable with these new friends than he did with his own family.
“And I’m from
Alex sat up and burst into song.
“Motown Philly back again….doin’ a lil’ east coast swing…”
Brian rolled his eyes. “Don’t mind
him. He’s already burst into song at least a million times in the last hour. Mostly due to the conversation.”
Alex laughed heartily at himself. “But music? Oh man. Watch out for Professor Richardson.”
“Who?” Nick questioned.
“Tall, dark hair, Professor of
music,” Brian explained. “Apparently he’s got a reputation that we’ve already
heard about from some of the other guys on the floor.”
Alex nodded. “I’ve seen him and he
walks like a fag. I heard he latches himself onto male students and does not
let go until he’s…well…particularly pleased with the student’s performance. If you get my meaning.”
Nick gasped. “Oh…”
Howie stepped in and swatted Alex’s
arm. “Stop it. You’ll have him scared before his first class. And you don’t
know that Professor. You just got here.”
Alex pretended to yawn and began to
clean his glasses. “So, Nicky. Ya got yourself a
woman? Me, I decided to keep myself free. Never know who will turn up. Ya
know?”
Nick blushed slightly, his voice
stammering as he spoke. Sometimes his shyness was just too overbearing for him
to control, much as he’d like to keep it under wraps. “Uh, no. No girlfriend.”
Alex looked up and narrowed his eyes
while he studied Nick’s face intently for several long moments. He gasped. “Bet
you’re a virgin, huh?”
“Alex!” Brian and Howie shouted.
“What?” Alex asked innocently. “Just asking.” He shrugged, casting Nick a goofy grin.
“Don’t worry, I ask questions like that all the time. You’ll get use to me.”
Nick was sure his cheeks were a
lovely shade of crimson by this point. “Umm…okay. Sure.”
Brian gave Nick a comforting smile.
“Well, good to meet you. I think we’re going to have an interesting year.”
~**~