"I love you too, mom. Tell dad I love him," I said before hanging up, finishing the call from my mom that lasted for almost half an hour.

But I don't mind, talking to my parents bring me comfort.

"Your parents?" Julius asked as he threw the controller back to me, I caught it easily and sat beside him. Crossing my legs on the couch.

"Yeah, they were asking about my week," I replied as he started the game again.

"Told her about your awesome new friends?" He teased making me chuckle. Although I couldn't deny, I did tell my mom about them. She was so excited to find out I'm trying to be more sociable and have friends now. She always feared I would grow up alone when they leave the world. Learning that I'm making new friends made her happy.

I honestly thought she was about to cry earlier.

"What awesome friends?" I teased back, gaining a bit of confidence enough to joke the past two weeks of spending time with their group. It was surprising how they're still stuck with me, most people would've been gone by now.

It's likely because they still don't know I'm intersex.

"Me, bitch. Who else," Julius cursed out loud when he got knocked down by an enemy. "Shit! Kill him, Aiden."

Sticking out my tongue in concentration as I fought against the enemy, a rather good one at that. My fingers fast as they moved the thumbsticks. Julius and I couldn't help but cheer out loud when I knocked down the enemy. I immediately healed him as we continued to play.

"Stop the game, time to eat," Lexie ordered us as she and Zoey placed down the pizza and pasta.

The four of us have been hanging out in the dorm room Lexie and I are sharing as we are the majority. It's been a little over two weeks after Lexie approached me and there hasn't been a day where they didn't include me in everything they do. Right now, Julius and I are playing Call of Duty while Lexie and Zoey just finished cooking the pasta. Although I insisted to cook or at least help, Julius forced me to play with him instead.

"Just a few more minutes," Julius mumbled distractedly. We are already in the top 10, already 3 teams left in the game, including us.

Lexie only rolled her eyes but let's us finish the game. Giving each other a high five when we won.

Zoey shoved Julius away from me and took his spot instead. I chuckled as they began to bicker. The blonde and I have also been close, much to my surprise. She was the least person I talk to in the group. The first week of us hanging out, she was a bit wary of me, always looking away when our eyes met and stopping from arguing with Julius everytime I arrived. But after we bonded over a book, she had been sticking to me like a glue.

"How is it?" Zoey asked with hopeful eyes after I took the first bite of the pasta.

"It's really delicious, thank you for cooking," I gave a shy smile.

"You're welcome," The girl beamed and put more in my plate. Lexie and Julius shooting us looks I'm not familiar of. I shook it off and continued eating.

After eating, I took the initiative to clean up the mess. We also did a group study with the general courses we all share. As for my major subjects, I could say I've been doing well. Although it was hard, the professors made it easy for us to understand.

"Dude! You should've seen her, she's so beautiful, like damn," Julius rambled on, gaining my attention as I was a bit distracted with my thoughts. "Right, Aiden?"

"I'm sorry, who are we talking about?" I questioned.

"Who else, Professor Peterson!" He said excitedly, earning a smack on the arm from Lexie. "Ouch, babe! I let you fantasize about other men, let me be."

"Yeah, fictional ones," The brunette rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, making Zoey and I laugh.

"And you love them more than me."

"I'm glad you're aware then."

"See!" Julius shook his head in disbelief. "So I'm allowed to crush over our professor, I mean, who wouldn't. Have you seen that beauty, perfection."

"Aiden doesn't have a crush on her," Lexie retorts back. It made me look up from my paper to them once again.

"Bullshit. Aiden, tell them you're crushing over Professor Peterson." I look back and forth between the two, scratching the back of my neck.

"I don't know," I muttered. "She is a good professor though, and beautiful."

"See!" Lexie said mockingly.

"She's just not aware of her own admiration."

The couple continued to bicker while I went back to finishing my school work, joining the conversation from time to time.

It took as a few more hours before we finished our work, by 6 pm, we are already exhausted after a long day of studying and doing activities and homeworks.

Stretching my arms, I yawned, rubbing my sleepy eyes.

"We're gonna go now," Zoey stood up, bag in hand.

"Don't forget to wake up early tomorrow," Julius reminded, I gave him a nod.

Julius is a big guy. With his 6'4 height and mascular body, he seems like a giant compared to us three. I'm only 5'11, second tallest person, while Lexie is standing at 5'5, Zoey an inch shorter than her. Going back, Julius offered to help me get back to exercise after I told him I stopped playing sports after I developed PTB years ago.

I was 15 when I had the disease and it ruined sports for me. I was an active player of basketball and track for many years, but when I had PTB, it weakened my immune system. Constantly short of breath, even walking made me tired. I stopped playing both sports even though I didn't want to. After half a year of medication, I never got back to it. Although I did recover and no longer feel tired simply from walking or climbing up stairs. I think I just lost interest and gave up.

When I told Julius about it, he insisted to help me get back to exercising. And after telling him my interest in working out, he was more than glad to help and share his workout tips. He will bring me to his gym tomorrow.

"Goodnight, Aiden," I looked down at Zoey as her hand lingered on my arm.

"Goodnight, Zoey," I smiled, once again not minding the look on Lexie and Julius' faces because I didn't understand why they're giving us weird stares.

Once they left and Lexie went to sleep early, I changed into some tight boxers to suppress my bulge and put on some sweats and hoodie. I settled on wearing my crocs and went out to take a walk at the campus park.

It was still a little over 6 and our curfew is at 10 o'clock, so walking at this time wouldn't be a problem. Although not a lot of people are out. Probably because everyone's been busy and exhausted despite it being only the second week of the semester.

I sat down on the bench, gazing up at the starless sky. There wasn't any visible. But the view still looked spectacular as the moon shines bright, giving light to the darkness of the place.

The sound of things dropping caught my attention, squinting my eyes, I saw a person with their back on me, struggling to carry of what it seems to be books and papers, quite a lot might I add. Although their back was on me, I would recognize that dark curly hair everywhere.

Jogging up to my professor, I bent down to picked up the stuff on the floor.

"I can help," I pointed at the rest of the papers she was holding.

Smiling, she didn't hesitate to accept the offer and hand over half of it. "Thank you so much, Aiden."

I nodded, walking silently next to her as we neared the parking lot.

It didn't surprise me that she knew my name because of my slight activeness in her class. Answering when needed to and raising questions during her time. Although I wasn't as active as the other students, I participate as much as I can.

But it's also because Professor Peterson seems like a really great educator, not just with her teaching, but with her interaction with her students. She tries as much as possible to include everyone in the class and give opportunities to those who haven't participated. And compared to other professors who would forget the name of their students, she seems to remember all of our names.

But I can't really blame them as they are handling a lot of classes. I just really admire Professor Peterson as an educator.

"Here," I took everything she was holding so she could take out her keys and open her car. She gave me an appreciative smile.

I placed down her stuff properly at the backseat. Hands on my pockets as I rocked on my feet, waiting until she finishes doing whatever it is she's doing.

"Thank you, Aiden, really. I appreciate the help," She said once she faced me.

"You're welcome, Professor," I mumbled shyly, looking down at my feet. "Drive safe."

"I will," She replied before getting into her car, giving me a wave before driving off.

I couldn't help but think about how she smiled at me. The way her eyes seemed to smile too even though she didn't bare her teeth. Only the corners of her mouth turning upwards.

It made me feel weird. Frowning, I patted my stomach as it feels like it was fluttering.

I think I'm hungry again.