Chapter 2: The Gay Stare

"Ped!" A brawny girl tapped on my shoulder, handing me a filled plastic cup. "Iced coffee, with no milk cause you're a weirdo,"

"Thanks, Antonia." I brought the straw to my face to take a sip. Antonia was one of my best friends, a tough rugby player who had always kept her hazelnut brown hair short. Our parents knew each other, so we had known each other for years, along with another friend-

"Nathan!" called Antonia, waving her arms in the direction of a fit male walking towards us. Nathan was the funnier one, and had an incredible passion for music. He moved all the way from Mexico to the house right next to my family four years ago, and we'd become friends ever since.

"What's up y'all?" Nathan smiled, grabbing an iced tea from Antonia. "First day of year two, let's do this!"

The lecture hall was already half full when we got in, and we sat down near the back of the hall. "Wonder who's the new English professor this year, after Brittney- you know," Nathan winked, leaning towards me. I shrugged. "Quiet as always huh?" Nathan pinched my arm to get a reaction out of me. "Ow, Nathan!" I turned to see his mischievous face holding back a grin.

The door suddenly swung open, and out of all people, Brad entered. As he stepped into the lecture hall still looking in his twenties, the class seemed awfully surprised to witness such an unusually young professor entering. Some students quickly tried to check if they were in the wrong classroom. Brad walked to the podium, laid down his laptop, and proceeded to introduce himself to the class by writing his name on the blackboard in huge, bold letters. Hundreds of curious eyes followed his strokes on the board and mouthed his name in silence.

"So," Brad clasped his hands together. "I am Professor Mateo and I'll be your professor this semester." His eyes wandered around the hall.

"Let's get right into business."

He then proceeded to explain the outline of the course, the materials and topics we were going to cover, and how the grading would work. Nathan leaned towards me and whispered, "Damn, I wonder if this guy has an Instagram,"

"I actually saw him this morning, at the station,"

"You did?"

"And he introduced himself, like right in front of me."

"Does he have the gay stare?"

"I don't know. I think maybe,"

"He's definitely not straight, that I can tell you. Do you still have that hookup app on your phone?" Nathan reached for my phone and began tapping away.

"Even if he had an account, I don't think he'd want students to know. And for the record, he might be hot but I think he's straight."

"Here, see for yourself." Nathan put the screen in front of my face. It was a gay profile of Brad, and he had put a picture of himself standing on a beach, fully-clothed unfortunately.

"Looking for L-T-R and fun," I read aloud his profile. "Be nice, and N-P-N-C."

"What's LTR and NPNC?" Antonia suddenly popped into the conversation. "Also is that our professor?"

"LTR is long term relationship, and NPNC is no pic no chat. And yes, this is our professor's hookup account."

"I thought this was a dating app, not a hookup app." She turned her head in confusion.

"I think people only use this app to hookup," I replied.

Brad must've noticed us engaging in our little conversation, as he cleared his throat all of a sudden. We stopped talking and turned our attention back to the professor.

-----

"Imagine hooking up with that piece of meat," Nathan said after the lecture ended. We three were walking down the hallway right outside the hall.

"Excuse me?" A deep voice boomed behind us.

Brad had his arms crossed and looked disappointed. "Ped, you stay behind."

Antonia and Nathan continued to walk away quietly, with Nathan mouthing the words "text me" before leaving.

"Was I that boring?" Brad's sour face turned into a smirk. "Pay more attention next time, buddy. I think you know better."

"What was so interesting anyway? You guys were practically out of focus." He continued.

"We were just talking about your- "

Oh shit. I stopped myself before I could say any more.

"My what?"

"Nothing, I mean, it's not important," I was lost for words.

My phone immediately buzzed. And as I held it up to look at the screen, I realized it was a notification from the gay hookup app. "New message received", it read.

Brad noticed the notification as well, and his smirk swiftly changed into that of a surprised look. "Dear God, are you talking about my profile on that app?"

"Yes," I looked down in embarrassment, though he should be the one embarrassed more, to be honest.

"I should've reminded myself to delete it while I could. Now my secret's out." He covered his face in shame. "See you tomorrow, Ped," He said dismissively, seemingly wanting to get out of the conversation.

"Brad! I mean, Mr. Mateo, it's alright. Your secret is safe with me." I blurted out as he began to leave.

He peered at me with his earnest eyes, and for a moment our eyes locked. He did have the gay stare, I thought to myself before he thanked me and left.