Sharing is Caring

The cabins were all shoddy to begin with, but the boys took so long to pick one they were stuck with the worst and smallest of them all.

The only window barely closed, the door hinges and the wood on the walls and floor were creaky, plus the space in the middle of the room was almost nonexistent.

Granted, the blankets had been recently washed to prepare for their arrival, but a thin screen of dust had already formed on top of the beds thanks to the crack on the window.

Just like all other cabins, it had three individual beds and one double.

The three boys made their way inside awkwardly, shoved aside by the delinquent who had been assigned to that same room.

“This is mine,” he said, throwing his backpack over the bed closest to the window. “I’m gonna smoke when I feel like it and I need to have the window close. You tell on me, I’ll kill ya.”

The rest of them said nothing.

Truth be told, nobody wanted the bed closest to the cracked window, anyway.

But now they had a different problem: there were only three beds and four of them left.

Ren, Yusei, and Julius could all feel the presence of the fourth student assigned to their cabin walking right silently behind them, but other than sneaking short glances in his direction, none of them had talked to Adam Stoker yet.

Julius was the first who had the courage to turn around and face him for the first time.

He found himself in front of a boy with shaggy black hair, dark eyes, and a pale white complexion rolling a simple suitcase behind him.

“Say, would you like some help with—”

Adam Stoker simply walked past Julius mid-sentence and placed his luggage on top of the biggest bed.

Julius was clearly irritated, but instead of being rude like usual, he took a deep breath and set his luggage on the floor near the entrance.

“I’m sorry, where are my manners? My name is Julius Verne. You’re Adam Stoker, yes?”

Adam had his back to him as he unzipped his luggage, sparing no looks in his direction.

“Yes.”

He talked.

It was the first time all three of them heard his voice. Julius’ smile widened, approaching him carefully.

“It’s nice to meet you. Since we’ll be spending the next week together, let’s get along, shall we?”

“...”

“...I see you chose your bed already. Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but this bed is larger than the others in the room…”

“...”

“Uhm…”

“...”

Yusei grunted, overcome with second-hand embarrassment at Julius’ failed, shallow attempts at connecting with Adam.

“Ugh. I can’t watch this anymore. I’m taking this one.”

He walked over to the single bed next to the one the other delinquent had claimed. They both glared at each other, but nothing happened from there. It was late, and they were both tired.

Ren started to get worried. There was only one bed left, and the distance between the beds meant the floor was out of the question.

Julius immediately realized the situation as well, and before Ren could even take one step forward, he pulled the handle from his suitcase and walked over to the last remaining single bed.

“Hey…”

Ren growled under his breath. Julius pretended not to listen.

He turned to look at Adam, who was quietly changing out of his uniform. He looked at the floor, and the corners of the room, and for a moment considered sleeping there until he realized how ridiculous that sounded.

Carefully, he looked at Adam again, and took a deep breath.

“Stoker.”

Adam, changed out of his uniform, turned to look at him wordlessly.

“...That bed you claimed is for two people.”

“...?”

He turned to look at the bed, and then the other three beds, as if he was realizing this for the first time.

“...Oh.”

Ren awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s a little hard to tell from this angle, so you probably didn’t know. It’s usually common courtesy to draw paper straws or play rock-paper-scissors to see who has to share.”

“...Share?”

Adam looked at Ren with his sharp, black eyes. His gaze was so intense it made Ren a little uncomfortable, and he had to look away.

“Holy shit,” Yusei whispered in Julius’ direction, “Ren’s trying to get killed.”

Julius shook his head.

“If he’s trying to get ahead of us in the game, he should know that’s a bad move. There’s nothing to gain from forcing a friendship where there is none. It’s counterproductive, really.”

Yusei scoffed, and Julius squinted at him.

“What?”

“Just say you don’t wanna share a bed with the creep and go, man. No one’s gonna judge you.”

Julius stayed quiet and ignored him, because he was right.

Adam finished putting his suitcase back together and zipped it up, then looked at Ren, who had been awkwardly standing behind him. His eyes slowly panned over to Yusei and Julius.

“...Are they your friends?”

“What?” Ren followed Adam’s gaze to the other two, recoiling. “No.”

“Do you want to share the bed with them?”

“Definitely not.”

“But you don’t want to share with me, either.”

“That’s…”

“...”

Ren was at a loss. He didn’t want to share a bed with anyone, but if he had to pick, Adam would probably be at the bottom of the list.

Adam looked away from him again, and placed his luggage under the bed.

“I’ll sleep somewhere else.”

Ren blinked a couple times, surprised at his sudden words.

“Huh? Where are you going to sleep?”

Adam crouched lower, looking under the frame and the mattress.

“...There’s space under the bed.”

Ren looked at him incredulous.

“Y-You’re sleeping under the bed? For real?”

“...”

“Why?”

“...It’s fine.”

Adam spoke quietly, but was definitely serious. He started making his way under the bed, and Ren just stood there, looking at him as he crawled under, illuminated only by the bleak lightbulb on the ceiling.

Ren had formed an image of who Adam Stoker was before he met him, but none of them fit whatever he was witnessing in front of him right now.

Was this guy really who he thought he was?

Was this the terrifying student who pushed someone down the third floor window?

Or maybe, this was someone completely different?

…Either way, this guy was weird.

“Um… Stoker?”

Adam had his entire torso down the bed by now, and he didn’t stop moving as Ren addressed him.

“...If you’re fine with it… would you like to share the bed with me?”

“..........”

He finally stopped moving.

After a moment of silence, he spoke.

“You want to share it with me?”

“...Y-Yeah, I mean… why not, right? It’s just a bed. Everyone else is doing it in the other cabins.”

Slowly, Adam started crawling backwards from under the bed until he was finally completely out. His hair and clothes were full of dust.

He looked at Ren with his face completely devoid of emotion as always.

It made Ren nervous to be looked at so scrutinizingly, but he stood his ground. Adam observed him for a few more quiet seconds, before he finally replied.

“...Sure.”

Ren sighed with relief at his response, if a bit uncomfortable at this whole situation.

Cupid sure knew how to pick them, he thought.