Zodiac University

Virgo pressed his lips together tightly and frowned, examining the chocolate macarons in front of him. “Hmm,” he mumbled to himself. “Are these…good enough?”

“You’re always such a perfectionist, Virgo,” his manager, Bethany, said with a soft smile as she emerged from the back room. “Those macarons are excellent, and I’m sure they’ll yield many happy customers.”

Virgo looked at her and grinned. “Thanks, boss.”

Bethany sighed and put her hands on her hips. “How many times have I told you to call me Bethany?”

It was evening at the small bakery where Virgo worked part-time. The sun was setting and customers were beginning to trickle out of the store.

Virgo grinned again. “I’m just trying to be respectful, boss. This is a professional establishment.”

“Oh please,” Bethany giggled. “You make me sound like some CEO.” She walked over to Virgo and gently rubbed his shoulders. “You’re an exceptional worker, Virgo, but you’re always so hard on yourself. This job should be nothing to you—considering how smart you are. You might as well become a CEO.”

Virgo blushed and looked away. “You flatter me.” The truth was, Virgo was highly intelligent. He’d skipped several grades and was now enrolled at Admirant University, the top school in the nation. The entrance exam was cake for him, and he had the grades and background to qualify as a junior. But he’d decided to start as a freshman to get the full college experience.

It was the same reason why he’d taken on a humble little job at a bakery instead of accepting internships or part-time office jobs. He just wanted to feel…normal?

Virgo had always felt a little left out. And he knew he had no reason to be. He was very handsome—with deep, dark chocolate-colored skin, curly black hair, dimples, and a smile that caused girls everywhere to swoon. He was tall and had a muscular build from all the extracurricular sports he’d done in high school…and, as mentioned before, his IQ was off the charts. He was considered a prodigy by his parents and a genius by the school system. And while he loved being special, he wanted to embrace the common side of life. The bakery was to get exposure into that—interacting with customers was just a bonus. Virgo cherished alone time but was also a people person.

One might call him an ambivert.

Bethany put her hands on her hips. “Not at all, Virgo. But you should really be saving your brainpower for your studies…not the macarons.”

Virgo paused and looked at her, remembering that he started at Admirant University in a few days. He shook his head and smiled. “I have plenty of brainpower to spare.”

“Have you even started packing?” Bethany sighed. Virgo rubbed his head sheepishly and gave a nervous chuckle. Bethany was like a second mother to him. She was an older lady who always wore her hair in a bun and was always rewarding Virgo with cupcakes when he received his paycheck. She had a gentle face and a warm smile but could be stern and cold when she needed to be.

This was one of those times.

“Virgo Armon Sheldon Clemson.” Bethany crossed her arms and Virgo flinched as his full name was uttered. “You need to be taking college more seriously than this job. That’s an order.”

“I know, boss,” was Virgo’s response. He finished setting up the macaron display and wiped his hands on his apron, ignoring Bethany’s stare.

“Well, I’ll be clocking out now.”

“Get some rest,” Bethany said as he walked to the door. “And Virgo?”

Virgo paused and looked back. “Yeah?”

Bethany looked a bit concerned but smiled anyway. “College only happens once. Don’t forget to truly enjoy it.”

Virgo smiled back. Of course he’d enjoy it. He loved normality. “Yeah!”

*

Beep. Beep.

Virgo groaned and rolled over in bed as his alarm clock ricocheted the steady beeping noise around his room. He was having the most wonderful dream, too.

He was cuddling with a stranger. He couldn’t see the stranger’s face, but he had dark brown hair that was slightly curly and fair, olive skin. He was muscular and taller than Virgo, around 6’2. And he was exactly Virgo’s type.

Virgo had been questioning his sexuality for the longest time. He’d dated girls in the past but had recently been aware of his fondness for boys. In his senior year of high school, he’d noticed himself staring a bit too long at the other guys’ figures in the gym locker rooms and looking at celebrities with their shirts off. When he woke up with an erection from a dream featuring a popular guy in his class, he knew that he must have some sort of attraction to men. But he was constantly seeking contact with girls and fantasizing about them, as well.

He’d decided he was bisexual but hadn’t come out about it. As far as his parents were concerned, he was an obedient, prodigious man who only cared about studying. He hated to disappoint others, so he figured he’d keep it that way.

Virgo sat up and wiped his bleary eyes as he turned off his alarm clock. In the dream he’d just had, the guy hugging him was sporting ripped jeans and an oversized hoodie. It looked really attractive on him.

Virgo blushed and slapped his cheeks, determined to get the image out of his head. Today was the first day at Admirant—and he wasn’t going to let his secret cause him to be late. As he tugged on his clothes and ran downstairs to gobble down a quick bowl of cereal, he couldn’t help but think of the fact that he couldn’t see the stranger’s face.

It had just been a faceless skin-colored blob where the eyes, nose, and mouth should be. And while Virgo chalked it up to typical dream behavior, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of features the mystery man had.

“Virgo!” Virgo’s thoughts were interrupted by his mother’s voice, echoing from the other room. “Need a ride to school?”

“I’m good, Mom! It’s not too far,” Virgo called back.

Normally, freshmen lived on campus. But Virgo had arranged with the school for him to stay in his parents’ high-rise apartment. He figured he didn’t need to spend extra money on something that had little influence on his college journey. His father, an astrophysicist who was rarely home, and his mother, a medical writer who primarily worked from home, were very wealthy and had splurged on the apartment. Naturally, Virgo had no plan of giving up his luxurious room.

Virgo wolfed down the last of his cereal, tugged on his shoes, and flung open the apartment door. After he was out of the complex, he broke into a speed-walk. He couldn’t be late for the first day of his new life!

Virgo arrived in front of his classroom a few minutes before it was supposed to start and hurriedly slid inside. He picked a spot towards the middle of the room—not too close to be a teacher’s pet and not too far away to be a slacker—and sat down next to a blonde girl with pink highlights. He turned to her.

“Is this Chemistry 101?” he asked politely.

The girl turned and Virgo saw that she had pink eyes—contacts, probably—that matched her hair. She nodded.

“Yeah, Chem 101,” she said.

Virgo smiled his swoon-worthing smile. “Okay, good,” he said. “I thought I might have gone to the wrong place.” This was a lie, but Virgo figured he’d start some conversation until the class got underway.

The girl grinned back. “So did I,” she said. “This campus is huge. What’s your name, by the way?”

“Virgo,” Virgo said.

The girl raised an eyebrow. “That’s quite the name.”

“Well,” Virgo said with a laugh. “My parents are into astrology.”

“Mine, too,” the girl said. “I’m Capricorn.”

“Capricorn,” Virgo repeated.

“Yeah,” was Capricorn’s response. “I was surprised when I heard you were Virgo. Not a lot of kids are named after constellations.”

“You got that right,” Virgo said with another smile. “You a freshman?”

“Yep,” Capricorn said. “You?”

“Yeah,” Virgo said. “I live off-campus, though.”

Capricorn playfully pouted. “Lucky. I’m stuck in the dorms with a slob for a roommate. She leaves her candy wrappers and dirty clothes all over MY side of the room. Can you imagine?!”

Virgo laughed, the analytical part of his brain already scanning Capricorn’s personality. She appeared to be a neat, self-driven girl.

Virgo opened his mouth and was about to say something else when a red haired chick slid into the seat next to him and looked at him, adjusting her round glasses carefully.

Virgo blinked. “Uh…hi?”

“You got a pencil?” the girl asked. Before Virgo could reach into his backpack to offer her one, Capricorn groaned loudly and put a hand in front of him to stop him.

“Don’t bother with her,” she said sharply. “This is the roommate I was talking about.”

The red haired girl smirked. “You were talking about me? How cute.” She leaned over Virgo. “If you want to kiss me, Capricorn, just say so.”

“UGH!” Capricorn pushed the girl back and looked at Virgo with an I-told-you look on her face. “Can you believe her?” she ranted, not seeming to care that the girl was listening. “She’s like this all the time!”

Virgo couldn’t help but grin. “You two seem…close.”

Capricorn snorted and looked away. Virgo turned to the girl who was still holding her hand out.

“So,” she said. “About that pencil?”

“I’ll give you a pencil if you tell me your name,” Virgo said with a smirk.

The girl smirked back, perfectly mimicking Virgo. “I’m Scorpio.”

“Oh,” Virgo said, glancing at Capricorn. “Another astrology individual.”

Capricorn nodded and then glared at Scorpio. “Just because she has a similar name doesn't mean we should be friends.”

“Seems like if you tried, you’d get along better,” Virgo said, and instantly regretted it. Capricorn got all up in his face.

“You try being friends with her!” she barked. “Did you not see the annoying flirting she was doing to me a second ago?! She only does it to me!!”

“It’s because you’re a cutie,” Scorpio said with a wink, and looked back at Virgo. “I’ll take that pencil now. By the way—” She wagged a finger in Virgo’s face. “—I’m only into girls, so don’t even try it, buddy.”

Virgo raised his hands playfully. “I got it!” He reached into his bag and gave her a mechanical pencil. Scorpio grinned and clicked it rhythmically.

Capricorn huffed. “I’m moving to another seat. You should too, Virgo, if you know what’s good for you.” She started to get up but Virgo grabbed her arm.

“Look,” he said. “Why don’t I help you two connect? I’m sure it’ll make living with each other easier.”

“What’s in it for you?” Scorpio said, a bit harshly. 

Virgo shrugged. “I’m just here to help.”

Capricorn hesitated, like she was considering it, and then snatched her arm away. “No, thanks. I don’t want to connect with her.” She grabbed her backpack and stormed off to the other end of the classroom. Virgo watched her go and then looked at Scorpio who was getting up, too.

“Thanks for the pencil,” Scorpio said with another smirk. “But I only came here for that. Running into that cutie was just a happy coincidence. So I’mma leave if you don’t mind.”

With that, she left the classroom. Virgo blinked.

It was only a few minutes into his first day and he’d already met two interesting personalities. One, a control freak with a grudge—and two, an unprepared pleasure-seeker. Both had astrological names, like his.

This was going to be an interesting year.