Chapter 5
The next day, Adam was awoken by loud, incessant knocking at his door. He groggily looked over at the clock on his wall; it was only 7 a.m. Adam felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. He had managed to sneak into his room the night before without any of the other Nova guys spotting him, but he knew that everyone had seen the picture of him kissing Connor. He would likely have the eyes of the entire dorm on him whenever he was brave enough to leave his room again. Adam got out of bed and pulled on a t-shirt, adjusting the boxer shorts that he had slept in. He opened the door to be greeted by Vernon’s sneering face. “Good morning, Adam! Looks like you’ve had a good night’s rest.”
“What do you want, Vernon? I’m not on mentoring duty today, and I really don’t feel like seeing anyone right now. Especially not after the stunt you pulled last night.” Adam rubbed his hand over his short hair as he gave Vernon a contemptuous glare. Vernon was already dressed in his Initia Nova committee jacket and neat chinos, with his name badge straightened over his jacket pocket.
“I was only doing my duty as an ambassador of this university, Adam. People like you think you can get away with anything. After you and your friends vandalized the swimming stadium’s lounge last year, all you had to do was bat your eyelashes and they let you off with nothing more than a warning. I just want you to get what’s coming to you. If you can’t follow the rules, you shouldn’t be here, and you definitely shouldn’t be a mentor for Initia Nova.” Vernon seemed to be taking pleasure in every word he uttered. He spoke slowly and deliberately, driving home his resentment towards Adam.
“Just leave me alone, Vernon,” Adam shot back, and he motioned to close the door, but Vernon put his foot in the way to stop it.
“Not so fast. Prof Steyn sent me to let you know that he wants to see you first thing this morning. He was very disappointed to see that you were abusing your position as a mentor. He’s expecting you at 8.” The words were uttered through a satisfied smirk. Adam felt his shoulders sink. There was no way out of it. Adam would have to face the music.
He closed the door and sat on his bed in the darkened room. Why had he asked Connor out for drinks? He should’ve known that it was a recipe for disaster. Connor was very cute and very flirtatious, and Adam knew that he was incredibly attracted to the first-year. But he couldn’t resist. The magnetism between them was immediate and intense, and Adam couldn’t get Connor off his mind.
He took a shower and got dressed with a sense of dread. Luckily, he could sneak around the hallways without anyone seeing him, since most of the Nova guys were still asleep or taking showers, but that would all end as soon as he had to walk across the quad towards Prof Steyn’s door. He would definitely be seen walking out in the open like that. It would be excruciating, and Adam tried to steel himself for the oncoming embarrassment.
He finally made his way out of his room and stepped out of his section’s door onto the quad. He could feel the eyes on him. Many guys were standing at their windows, silently watching Adam cross the quad. They had all received the message from Vernon the night before, and they all knew that Adam would be in trouble for making out with a first-year that he was supposed to be mentoring.
Adam finally arrived at Prof Steyn’s door and hesitated for a second before knocking. He heard the heavy, commanding voice of Prof Steyn call for him to enter, and he slowly turned the handle.
Prof Steyn was sitting at his desk in the small office where he often met with students. He had been the resident head of Initia Nova for years, and his strict demeanor was legendary. Adam greeted him with a groggy voice. Prof Steyn was in his early fifties, his hair greying, and his frame large and intimidating. His spectacles were perched on his nose. “Sit down, Adam,” Prof Steyn said, no emotion in his words.
Adam walked over to the desk and sat across from Prof Steyn. He could feel beads of sweat around his neck and his breathing was shallow. What had he gotten himself into?
“I trust that you know why I called you here this morning.”
Adam’s eyes sank to the ground. “Yes, Prof.” He couldn’t manage to say anything more than that. He hated the feeling of disappointing Prof Steyn, especially since Prof Steyn was the one who had fought for Adam to be readmitted into Initia Nova.
“Adam, you’ve put me in a very difficult position. The university was ready to expel you last year along with all of those students who thought it would be fun to destroy university property. But I told them that you showed great potential, and since you were not involved in the vandalism, they agreed to give you a second chance. Do you know how bad it looks that you are taking advantage of that generosity?”
Adam felt tears welling in his eyes. He was so determined to turn things around after all of the mistakes he had made the year before. He couldn’t believe that there was a chance it could all slip away. “Prof, I know that what I did wasn’t… appropriate. I know I’m supposed to be a mentor to Connor. Trust me, I tried to change the way I feel about him. I tried to push it aside.”
Prof Steyn’s expression softened, and he said: “You feel that strongly about him?”
Adam nodded. “I’ve gotten to know him a bit over these past few days. There’s something really special about him. But I know I should’ve gone about it differently. I’m sorry, Prof.”
Prof Steyn slowly stood up from his desk chair and walked over to his bookcase. He scanned through a few books and found a stack of pictures that he brought over to Adam. “Let me tell you a story, Adam. I fell in love with someone a long time ago. I was an officer in the army during apartheid. It was not only against the rules for us to fall in love, it was illegal.” Prof Steyn put down a picture of two young men in army uniforms. One of the men was clearly Prof Steyn as a young man, and the other was a dark-skinned, handsome man who looked slightly older. “He was a lieutenant of Indian heritage. We had to break the rules to be together, but we couldn’t tell anyone about it. Not for a long time. That was a lifetime ago.” Prof Steyn turned around a framed picture on his desk, facing the picture towards Adam. In the picture was Prof Steyn, looking about a decade younger, with the same Indian man. Both of them were wearing suits and holding hands. “Now, Vijay and I are married and we are raising two beautiful children. I know how sometimes you have to break the rules, especially for love.”
Adam could feel tears rolling down his cheeks. He looked up at Prof Steyn, whose face had lightened into a smile.
Prof Steyn spoke again, his voice as heavy and stern as before: “Unfortunately, I need to take some serious action as a result of what you’ve done. There are some other students who are willing to report this to the dean of students if we don’t handle it internally. You understand, Adam?”
Adam nodded, feeling a mixture of admiration and shame in Prof Steyn’s presence. “I understand, Prof.”
“So, for that reason, I’m assigning Connor to a new second-year mentor. We can’t have a mentor dating a mentee. That will be all, Adam.”
Adam looked up, his eyes wide: “You’re not expelling me?”
Prof Steyn laughed and went back to his seat across the desk from Adam. “There’s no need for that. It was just an innocent kiss, after all. Your probation stands for the next six months, and you’ll be assigned a new first-year student to mentor in Connor’s place.”
Adam was so happy that he almost got up to hug Prof Steyn. “Thank you! Thank you, Prof! I won’t disappoint you.” He stood up and shook Prof Steyn’s hand and rushed out of the office in one quick motion, running towards Connor’s room. He had to tell Connor the good news immediately. Adam ran up the stairs, ignoring all of the other guys that he passed as he finally arrived at Connor’s door. He knocked and waited, anxious to see Connor. Adam knew that he had been too blunt with Connor the night before, but in his frustration with Vernon he had lashed out at Connor. Adam wanted to apologize and see if Connor would give him another chance.
There was finally an answer at the door, but it wasn’t Connor’s face th
at greeted Adam. Connor’s roommate, Quinton, the unpleasant first-year with a mushroom-cut hairstyle, greeted Adam with a knowing smile. “Connor’s not here,” Quinton said immediately.
“Where is he? I need to speak with him,” Adam said, barely catching his breath.
“Didn’t anyone tell you? Connor packed up and went back to Saldanha last night. He said that he wasn’t cut out for life at Ridgemont.” The gleeful smirk never left Quinton’s lips.
Adam stood frozen staring at the door as Quinton closed it in his face. What had he done? Adam knew that Connor was struggling to fit in at Ridgemont, and it was his job to make Connor feel at home. Instead, he had made Connor feel so unwelcome that he had packed up and left.