Dial up

Round 33: March 2038 (Autumn)

Mitchell's last update/Tim's last update/next update

Mitchell Carmody is 19 and Tim Lane and Eddie Gentry are 18.
(Eliot is 52, Cordy is 45, Noah is 20 and Lauren is 17)

Narrated by Tim Lane

Mum and Dad were a little dubious about me living in private accommodation on campus but they came to visit and they had to agree it’s been working out pretty well.

Dad did a full inspection and apparently, the place passes the test.

They both thought I’d end up just eating crap all the time but living with a future chef, I’m probably eating better than I would in the dorms.

I’m pretty health-conscious to begin with, so between me and Mitchell, Eddie gets a lot of nagging about his diet.

We could do with a maid to clean up after Mitchell and Eddie but as long as they keep it in their bedrooms, I don’t care too much.

I think I’m a lot more comfortable here than in a dorm too, with just two friends to live with.

Mitchell told me he found the dorms pretty overwhelming at first but he got used to it after a while. If Mitchell was daunted, I would probably be doubly so!

It’s much quieter here and that’s the way I like it.

We do get our fair share of visitors though. Eddie is still dating Lauren. She’s still in school, so she’s only over on the weekends.

She was the grade below me and Eddie, so we had a lot of classes and field trips together. I never knew her that well but she’s okay. She talks a lot, which means I don’t have to.


Mitchell is supposed to be keeping an eye on Lauren when she visits, on behalf of their dad, but he doesn’t seem too fussed about whatever they get up to.

Eddie’s a pretty good guy - probably the nicest of all of us - so Mitchell’s dad doesn’t have much to worry about anyway.


Mitchell’s girlfriend Dixie lives on campus too, so she’s a more frequent visitor.


Dixie is hard to get to know, because she’s quite reserved. Eddie has really struggled, because it’s not really something he gets.


Being a bit like that myself though, I can see where she’s coming from.


I’ve spent a little more time with her than Eddie has too. When Mitchell started college last year, he and Eddie fell out of touch for most of the time, so he and Dixie have really only just met.


Dixie was a little standoffish with Mitchell at first too, to the point where he wasn’t sure she liked him at all. They obviously don’t have that issue any more, so I think Dixie just needs time to warm up to people, before she feels like she can relax around them.


Being the only single guy in the house, I often have the place all to myself at night.


It can get boring but I have so much work to do that I find plenty of things to occupy my time.


Having not studied physics at all while I was at school, the material is all almost entirely new to me, so it’s even more challenging than it might have been otherwise.


I’m still enjoying it though. Noah is really closer friends with Mitchell but it’s been nice to have a familiar face in some of my classes.


Like seemingly everyone else I know, Noah is dating someone. It’s a pretty new relationship but he and Brigit are already seeing each other just about every night.


I didn’t date at all during high school but I really feel like I’m ready to start now.


My grades so far are awesome, due to the huge amount of time I have to spend studying but it does get a little lonely sometimes.


The prospect is incredibly daunting to me though. I’m gay and have only just recently come out and only to Mitchell and Eddie.I didn’t tell them until I got to campus but I’ve been thinking about it for the past year or so.


Eddie was fine about it but really surprised. He’d just figured my complete lack of girlfriends was just because I was so shy.


Mitchell wasn’t nearly as shocked. He actually was starting to suspect as much. Sometimes it seems like Mitchell knows me about as well as I know myself but I guess that's what comes after being friends as long as we have.


Telling my friends seems like a piece of cake compared to actually going out there and looking for someone though. I have no idea how to start doing that.


There’s a guy in a few of my classes who I’m sort of interested in. His name is Marius.


We seem to have a fair bit in common. We’re both thought of as kind of brainy. We spend a lot of our spare time in the library, researching for our papers and assignments.


We’re also both into fitness and are kind of sporty. That goes hand in hand with complaining about Suffolk’s lack of a gym or sports centre.


We sometimes head to Exeter to play a game of basketball or soccer but it’d be nice if there was a place on campus. Indoors, preferably, so even the rain can’t stop us.


Marius has hung out here at the house a little, so he’s met Mitchell and things seemed to go smoothly enough.


That all bodes well for a friendship but I have no idea whether Marius wants anything more than that and if he feels the same way I do.


Fortunately, I don’t feel like I’m in any great rush to start something. I’m hoping I might get a clearer picture about where this could go, if anywhere, as I get to know him better.

Notes:

• Title is from Dial Up by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.
• All three boys are maintaining 4.0s right now. Eddie, Tim and Mitchell all either have a Knowledge primary or secondary, so that almost guarantees a want to write term papers and skill, so I suspect they'll all graduate with honours. I guess I should start figuring out what Eddie actually wants to do with his life after that!
• Tim is fairly keen on Marius!

• I've known Tim was gay since he was a kid but he was such a weird, non-hormonal teen and coupled with the fact that there were no other gay teens (even among the townies), it made for a fairly chaste existence for him during high school. But the second he aged to YA, he rolled the want for his first kiss. So he's ready now.
• Tim and Marius have 2 bolts but I'm waiting to see if either of them makes a move autonomously. They're both quite shy but I'm not sure if ACR takes that into account or not. Not, in my experience, but I could be wrong!