11. Who is Alex ?

I look at Ethan once more before slowly sitting up and crawling out of the bed. I walk to the table and take my phone which was lying there. I unlock it and quickly goes to the gallery, searching for one of Alex's pic. I find a close-up pic of Alex and walk back to the bed just to once again compare Ethan's face with Alex's though I know there's no point in comparing him with my dead brother. It's just a coincidence that he looks somewhat like Alex and I shouldn't be this bothered. But I can't help but compare them.

After looking back and forth at Ethan's face and Alex's pic, I decide to snap a few pics of Ethan. He is still sleeping peacefully so he won't know. Maybe I will show it to Anna and tell her about him. She would be as shocked as me.

I slowly crawl on the bed without making any sound. I tap the camera icon and quickly snap five or six pics of Ethan's sleeping face from different angles. Then I sit there for some more time observing Ethan. I find his arms really veiny and I feel a blush creep on to my cheeks on thinking he hugged me tightly with those arms.

At last I think it's enough staring at the stranger. I need to pack the rest of my things and move to my new room. But I don't really want to move out. It would have been nice if he was my roommate, only if he wasn't friends with those heartless monsters who are waiting to feed on me. So I half-heartedly proceed to crawl out of the bed.

To my utter shock, suddenly a hand grabs my right arm. The next moment I am lying on the bed with Ethan hovering on top of me. My eyes are wide as I stare at his brown orbs which are boring back into mine. He really managed to pull me down to the bed and tower above me just in a second? Wait! Oh my God! What is he doing? Did he catch me staring at him? Was he awake?

Ethan then smiles at me and regards me with half-lidded eyes, making me confused and nervous. His lips are just inches away from mine. I automatically start to panic. “Wh..what are you..d..doing?” I stammer more than usual.

“Good morning,” he smiles.

I smile back, “G..Good morning,” I whisper. Oh heck why am I smiling? Is it because he looks more like Alex when he smiles?

“Are you going to go to your new room?” he asks. I leave an inaudible sigh. I guess he hasn't caught me staring at him or clicking pics.

“Yeah....let me g..go,” I squirm trying to push him away by his chest. But he is really strong. His body doesn't move an inch instead his face comes a bit more closer to mine. I start to get more nervous. What is he about to do?

“Hey Nate, who is Alex?” he asks, his breathe fanning on my lips.

“Ethan..l..leave me,” I say, turning my face to the right.

“Alex is your boyfriend or something?” he then asks. Great! Now he thinks my brother is my boyfriend. Should I tell him Alex was my brother and he looked like him? I guess I shouldn't.

 “Does this Alex look like me by any chance? Is that why you were calling me Alex and also staring at me yesterday during class?” he asks before I could reply anything. So he was wise enough to figure it out.

“Alex was my f..friend. He..He passed away. Yeah, he l..looked like..you,” I reply. “And I'm not g..gay,” I add.

“Oh..okay. I'm sorry,” he nods and sits up. Then he crawls off of me and sits beside me as I slowly sit up on the bed. “And Nate, I'm sorry for all that happened yesterday.”

“Why are you now s..sorry? You...you slapped me. And you didn't even t..try to help me when...when they all b..beat me,” I snapped back.

“I am sorry. I honestly didn't want to beat you. And I didn't know you were afraid of dark. And I couldn't help you when they all beat you.” He hangs his head low. “I can't go against them.” His tone is sincere and filled with guilt. I thought he would think of me as a weird nerd for being afraid of the dark and crying, clinging to him. But from his tone, I feel like, he doesn't find it too weird. But I want to know why he bullied me if he actually didn't want to. Why can't he just leave those monsters? Why is he being friends with them?

“Why?” I ask him.

“Because it would become really bad for me. They would beat me like how they beat you yesterday. Also I'm in the football team. I'll have to leave the team if I go against them. I can't let that happen,” he explains looking down.

“So you b..beat people and..make fun of them along with those four?” I ask feeling angry. I don't know why I am feeling angry. I had already guessed the things. Ethan doesn't reply but he ruffles his hair backward. The same thing Alex used to do when he couldn't get proper words to reply, especially at times he brings home poor grades and doesn't have anything to reply when Dad asks the reason.

Ethan then looks at the clock on the wall. I also follow his gaze. It's past 7 Am.

“Nate, go pack your things and leave fast,” he says. I nod and crawl out of the bed.

I quickly start throwing the rest of my things in my suitcase. Within less than10 minutes, I finish packing everything and zip up my two bags and suitcase.

“I'm..leaving,” I turn and tell him. He was lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. He sits up and nods. Then I haul my bag over my shoulder and pull my suitcase out of the room. He sits there and gives me a sorry look as I step out of the room and look at him once more before closing the door shut. I hope he would tell his bully friends that I'm not gay and they would leave me alone. Anyway I'll be careful not to go in front of them.

I walked in direction of D block, the key with the number '99' written on it firm in my right hand. Didn't I tell yesterday that I was walking into some trouble with the key '69'? Now see how my word came true.

I really hope I am not again walking into trouble with '99'. But I am relieved about one thing. I won't have a roommate there, at least for some days. Because yesterday when I went to the office, the secretary told me that there are three rooms available in D block. 98, 99 and 100. 98 is already occupied by a girl so I will have to share the room with her. 99 and 100 are empty. She said if I take an empty room, I will have to pay extra until my roommate arrives. But I choose 99 because the only thing I want now is to be alone.

So I hope I will be left alone peacefully for at least a week. My roommate will arrive only after 98 and 100 get filled. But anyway I don't mind sharing a room with a girl. Moreover, I think a girl roomie will be better for me than a boy. I hope that girl would be someone nice and not someone like that Amelia bitch.

Finally, I reach in front of room number 99. I twist the key in the hole and push open the door. The room looks exactly the same as my earlier room. Black and white themed and even the clock is the same. I step in pulling my luggage and once more look at the clock after closing the door. It's only 7:20. So I decide to unpack my stuff. Thus I once again start arranging my things in the cupboards and shelves.