Just One of the Guys
Seven

Corbin

I lounge around in my apartment, my thoughts running wild as the afternoon drifts into evening. A throbbing headache has now taken up residence inside of my skull, but I'm not sure if it's just because I need to eat or because I've got myself worked up over what Knox's interest actually means. Thankfully, it's time to go to the cafeteria for dinner.

The whole crew is already at our table, but I immediately zero in on Knox. A wave of dizziness washes over me, causing me to stumble a bit.

*Freaking A.*

My head is interfering with even getting to appreciate that fine piece of man candy.

Before the dizziness has a chance to recede, a sharp pain slices through the center of my skull.

I manage to get a tray of food and stumble to the table, watching him as he laughs and carries on with the other guys. Knox glares at me again but then he goes back to trash talking with the rest of the guys at the table. Between his mood and my head, my earlier thoughts are now so far from my mind, they might as well have their own zip code.

I try to eat but my head is just making me nauseous. Instead, I just lower my face to my hands, my fingers tangling with the short strands in the front as I try to breathe through the pulsing in my brain. *Holy Mary Mother of Christ!*

After a few minutes, I shove my plate towards Gentry, unable to eat. Around a mouthful of food, I get a garbled, "thank you," as he pulls my plate closer towards him and attacks the meatloaf like he's starving instead of having just finished off his own plate.

After saying my goodbyes and leaving the cafeteria, I stumble on unsteady feet to my apartment.

Maybe a shower will help, I think as I grab some underwear, a tank top, and a pair of shorts and walk into my bathroom, turning the shower on, as hot as I can stand it.

Hopefully, the hot spray will do something, allowing the headache to ease off. I don't have any more pain reliever, having taken the last of my stash for my broken butt and I don't even have the energy to leave my apartment again to try to find some.

After stripping out of my uniform and underwear, I unbind my breasts and pull off the tight sports bra that I wear beneath the binding. It feels so good to take them off and I breathe a sigh of mild relief.

It doesn't help my head, but it still feels good to have that thing off, even if it is just for a little while. I don't like taking them off very often, too afraid that I'll be caught if one of the guys stops by unannounced. Without them, there is *no* way that I would be able to hide my full D cups. My secret would be out, and I would be screwed.

Stepping beneath the hot shower spray, I let it wash over me, not even bothering with washing my hair or body, just needing relief for my head.

I stand beneath the spray, letting it pound against the back of my neck and upper back. When the water turns cold, I shut it off and step out, wrapping myself in the fluffy school colored navy towel.

Opening the bathroom door, I make my way back into my apartment, only to pull up short as a scream gets caught in my throat.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" I shout, on the verge of tears due to the pain that pulses through my brain from shouting.

*Mother fudger!*

Gentry looks up from one of the library books laying on my bed that I picked up earlier, closes it and then sits up slowly, a look of pure innocence on his face, as if he's supposed to be here.

Taking a deep breath, I run into my closet, slip the shirt, and underwear on but decide against the shorts-not like I can really hide the fact that my legs have a feminine shape to them, ya know, considering that they belong to a female. Instead, I opt for a pair of joggers that were tossed haphazardly on the floor, and then grab a hoodie that's hanging up. The last thing I want to do is try to bind my chest right now. The one I've grabbed isn't my go to hoodie but it will work. Once I'm done, I walk back to where Gentry's at, one hand massaging my temple, the other across my chest, trying to hide any of my lovely lady lumps that may still be showing, glare aimed right at him.

"Sorry, I...didn't want to be alone, I was going to see if you wanted to come over to Knox and Colt's apartment and watch a movie with us, if they were up for it." He shrugs like it's not a big deal, not understanding how close he just came to see a whole different side of me that he knows nothing about.

"How did you get into my apartment?" I ask through clenched teeth and slowly sit down on the bed, careful not to make any sudden movements, my headache not having lessened in the least.

"The door was open. I knocked, but I guess you didn't hear me from the shower. Sorry."

The look on his face is like a lost puppy dog and it cracks my heart open a little seeing Gentry, a generally happy guy, so down. "Oh, weird," I murmur.

*I could have sworn that I locked it, but maybe not in my haste to try to get some sort of relief for the pounding in my skull.*

"Sorry, I have a horrible headache. That's why I was in the shower, hoping it would help it to go away, but..." My words trail off as I give a groan.

"You okay?" he asks, concern eking into his tone.

"Yeah, I think so. I thought it was from needing to eat but that just made it worse. I get really bad ones sometimes and usually, I just need to go to bed early and try to sleep it off and pray that I don't wake up with it in the morning." "Oh, okay. Sorry you're not feeling well," he says as he gets up, looking both sad and concerned as he makes his way towards my door to leave.

"What's going on, Gentry?" I ask before he can get the door open. "Is everything okay?

"Yeah, just feeling a little off is all. I'll be alright," he says with a shrug before opening my door and stepping through it.

Before shutting it, he pops his head back in. "Will you come on down to his apartment if you start feeling better?"

"I can't make any promises that I'll make it, considering how badly my head hurts. But if I start feeling better, I'll try," I tell him then ask a question of my own, "Are you sure you will be okay?" *He's never seemed so down before.*

*Actually, he seemed to be fine at supper. Wonder what happened after I left.*

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just the weather and being away from my family with the holidays coming up," he says, staring at the floor instead of looking at me. "I don't do very well with being alone sometimes."

"I get it." And boy do I-knowing that I'm not going to be going home for Spring Break, after already being cooped up here and missing both Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family, it's a hard pill to swallow-which is why I try not to let myself dwell on it.

If I do, I will spiral into a pit of depression and that is not something that I can afford to do.

"You're still going home, aren't you?" I ask, hope forming at the prospect that maybe I won't have to be stuck here alone for another break.

"That's the plan. It's only a few months away, and I was just home for Christmas, but it seems like it's not enough sometimes," he says as he looks up at me, sighing.

"I'll see ya later," he says with a nod as he shuts the door, my heart plummeting from the look of despair on his face.

After making sure to lock my door, I crawl into bed, slipping beneath the covers.

Now that I'm lying down, the pulsing seems even more painful, each beat so loud that it hurts my ears, causing nausea to roll through me in unrelenting waves. I run into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before getting sick. *What the hell?*

*Ugh, I do not feel good.*

*I want my mom.*

I crawl back into the bed, head still throbbing, and heart aching at knowing that I may never see her again.

I'll never again get her homemade chicken soup when I don't feel good or her virgin hot-toddy when my throat hurts so badly, I can barely swallow.

Tears leak out of my eyes, sadness washing over me as I try to fall asleep. Praying for this to all be a bad nightmare and that I can go back home to my family.

Maybe Knox and I would have met under different circumstances sometime down the road, but now I'll never know.