Roman stood there looking at his creepy roommate who was steering back at him with his front teeths out in a bizarre, unhinged grin making him look even creepier.
Roman placed a hand over his chest dramatically.
“Hey there, you just scared the light out of me now.”
“Why would you be scared of me?” Johnny asked, his voice low and mocking.
He didn’t blink.
“You are not even scared of Luciano Anderson out there in the gold hall, what the hell bro.”
“Did you see what happened back there?” Roman said, his anxiety cooling.
“Everyone in Vesperridge knew what happened today, even those that did not attend dinner heard about it.” Johnny shook his head and let out a dry laugh.
“I can’t believe I got another interesting roommate again.”
Interesting Roommate?
Again?
Roman remembered what porter Ralph told him in his office about Johnny’s previous roommate.
He became curious about the drama between Johnny and his ex roommate but that is not top of his priorities right now.
He had bigger fish to fry.
“What exactly are they saying about me?” Roman asked, his throat tight.
“They say you are dead, that you should count your days and honestly bro they are not lying.”
Roman’s mouth opened in shock.
The weight of what he just heard pressed down on his chest.
It is even worse than he imagined.
“Is he really that scary?”
“Who? You mean Luciano?” Johnny broke into a humorless laugh, he laughed and laughed his laugh echoing off the wall until Roman thought he was going crazy.
“Scary?” Johnny repeated while wiping imaginary tears from his eyes.
“Luciano is not just scary, he is deadly and dangerous.” Roman stayed silent.
Johnny leaned forward slightly.
“People say he can make students disappear.”
Roman frowned immediately.
“Disappear?”
“I mean completely.” Johnny spread his hands dramatically.
“Gone. Vanished. Like they never existed.”
Roman rolled his eyes slightly.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Johnny ignored him.
He can demand for your suspension and expulsion and no one can do anything about it.”
Roman crossed his arms.
“That sounds exaggerated.”
“I even heard he manipulates and changes the grades of students he doesn’t like.”
Roman shook his head ridiculously.
“That is just a bunch of ridiculous stories, how are you sure all these things happened? It sounds like school myth.”
Johnny’s eyes nearly popped out of its socket behind his thick lenses.
“You are crazy, last semester a boy in my class caught Luciano smoking a blunt behind the gym.”
Roman was listening carefully now.
“The guy thought he was being a hero and reported him directly to the principal. Do you know what happened?”
“No.”
“After final exams,” Johnny said slowly, “the boy’s results came out completely blank.”
Roman’s expression changed immediately.
“Blank?”
Johnny nodded.
“He sat for every single paper. Everybody saw him writing. But when results came out…” Johnny snapped his fingers softly.
“Nothing. He was stripped of his academic credits and forced to drop out.”
Roman’s hands dropped to his side.
A strange feeling settled inside his stomach.
Maybe the Luciano’s threat is real after all.
“So what should I do?” He asked Johnny.
“What should you do?” he repeated mockingly.
“I don’t know. Maybe search for somebody who survived Luciano’s wrath and ask them for a survival handbook.”
He snorted softly.
“Oh wait. There isn’t anybody.”
“I heard he is the captain of the hockey team.” Roman asked, he wanted to confirm what he heard.
“Yeah he is the captain of the Vesperridge Wolves……” Johnny’s voice trailed off as he came to a realization.
“Hell no, Don’t Tell me you are on the hockey team?”
Roman answered him with a nod.
Johnny immediately fell backward onto his bed.
“You are FINISHED,” Johnny declared.
Roman sighed.
“You are completely cooked. As a hockey player, you’re literally under Luciano’s control.” Johnny sat back up immediately.
“His dad basically owns the rink.”
“I didn’t know he was the captain.” Roman said.
“It doesn’t matter now bro, you are genuinely cooked.”
Roman could not see his roommate’s face clearly in the dark but from the tone of his voice.
He sounds genuinely worried.
Roman sighed and bent his head in deep thoughts.
What should he do?
Swallow his pride and he apologize to him?
Or maybe he should pull out and move back to his village in Ashford, on time that would save him some headache?
For one brief dangerous second, Roman actually considered leaving Vesperridge completely.
If he returned to Ashford now, life would become easier immediately.
No rules
No spoiled rich kids.
No Luciano Anderson.
But on a second thought he said realized that it also meant saying goodbye to his dream of playing hockey on a standard ice and getting drafted into the major leagues.
He did not leave his mother and sisters behind just to run away at the first sign of trouble.
He did not say goodbye to Ashford to come here and fail.
Luciano Anderson might have money.
But Roman had survived harder things than rich bullies.
Back home, he had fought boys twice his size to protect his sisters.
He is not weak.
Roman took a deep breath and said
“He won’t make me disappear, I am not like the other students, I am going to stay here. I will not only survive I will thrive.”
Johnny looked at him through his thick glasses as if Roman were the biggest fool on the planet.
“You are the crazy one crazy one here, if I were you I would be processing my withdrawal and transfer to another school.”
“I am not a coward.” Then a small smile appeared on the corner of his lips.
“I am going to win him over.”
Johnny blinked.
“What?”
“Luciano.” Roman shrugged casually.
“I’m going to make him my friend.”
Johnny looked at his new roommate as if he was running mad.
How could he have a grin on his face with the situation at hand.
“You are crazy right?”
“Maybe I am, but the people expecting me to withdraw from Vesperridge over this small incident are crazier.”
Johnny suddenly stood up from his bed, his bed frame quaked slightly from his aggressive movement .
“You need to leave this room, I am going to ask for another roommate.”
“I thought you said roommates suck Johnny.”
“Yes I said so.” Johnny adjusted his glasses angrily.
“But at least if the school management is going to force one on me, it should not be a psycho that is worse than kelvin”
Kelvin…
Roman’s ears perked up.
So the name of the old roommate was Kelvin.
“Who is Kelvin?” Roman asked, trying to steer the conversation.
“That’s none of your problem. The issue now is that you just arrived at Vesperridge from some backwater village today and now you stirred trouble with the alpha student of this schoo.”
“And now,” Johnny continued while hyperventilating slightly, “Luciano is coming after you.”
He pointed at himself.
“And by extension… me too.”
Roman blinked rapidly, now he understands why Johnny is hyperventilating.
Him getting into trouble with the Alpha Luciano means his roommate is going to be a target as well.
“Trust me I am going to handle this.”
“Shut up, you are already doomed, how can you go up against Luciano Anderson. You are completely out of your mind.”
Then he grabbed random belongings from his bed angrily.
Books, Pillows, Blankets.
Snacks
Roman watched in confusion.
“Where are you going?”
“Anywhere but here.”
Johnny threw the door open with massive force and walked out into the bright hallway.
But just as Roman thought he was finally alone, Johnny’s head suddenly peeked back through the open doorway.
His face was tense, but his voice was suddenly much calmer, almost serious.
“Make sure you handle Luciano,” Johnny whispered, staring intensely into Roman’s eyes.
“I am going to count on you for that.”
Slam!
He pulled the door shut.
“What an absolute psycho.” Roman exhaled.
The room suddenly felt too quiet afterward.
Roman rubbed his face tiredly before collapsing backward onto his mattress.
What exactly had he gotten himself into?
…..
Meanwhile…
In another dormitory building inside Vesperridge Academy—A much larger room glowed under expensive LED lights.
Unlike Roman’s dorm, this room looked closer to a luxury apartment.
Modern furniture.
Large television screens.
Gaming consoles.
Mini refrigerator.
Leather couches.
Glass tables.
The entire room screamed wealth.
In the midst of it all, beautiful Adonis with blonde hair and green eyes is pacing around the room fuming with an intense, toxic rage.
He paced aggressively around the room like a dangerous animal trapped inside a cage.
His sharp jaw clenched tightly while veins stood visibly against his neck.
His curly blond hair looked slightly disheveled from how many times he had angrily run his fingers through it.
There was fire in his eye and his aura radiates danger and murder.
Two other boys were standing some distance away from him.
From their expression it is obvious they are scared of approaching the beautiful Adonis.
“I am going to crush him. I am going to make him pay.” Then Luciano turned to the boys.
“Did you see that, did you see how he feels insulted me in front of the whole? He put his filthy hands on me! Who the hell is he?”
“I heard he is a new student, Luc, he just arrived today.”
Luciano scoffed loudly.
“Then somebody should’ve taught him the rules.”
He resumed pacing again.
“Who arrives in a new place and starts behaving like he owns the school?”
Luciano suddenly dropped heavily onto the leather sofa.
He sat down on his sofa.
His anger still radiated dangerously around the room.
“I want you people to find out everything about that boy, find out his background, his family and how much money they have.”
The two boys exchanged glances and the room fell quiet.
Because both boys already knew exactly who Roman Milkov was.
And more importantly…
They knew something Luciano did not know yet.
The boy who challenged him publicly during dinner—Was the same boy being considered as competition for the captain position of the Vesperridge Wolves.
Neither of them dared say it aloud.
Because judging from Luciano’s current mood—
He might actually flip the glass table over in rage.