XIX. golden boy

      The golden boy was back.

Vanderbilt University was everything Nolan hoped it would be. The people, the campus, and Nashville made him feel right at home. He'd been there for four months. Four months of meeting new friends, four months of having to learn to adapt without having his family around, and four months without his favorite people in Hawkins.

Moving day was hard. He expected it to be but when the day finally came, Nolan almost didn't leave. They threw him a going away party which made it even harder. The younger kids made their statement that they didn't want him to leave because they surrounded him in a group hug and refused to let go. Leaving Max was the hardest thing he ever had to do.

He spent as much time with Steve as he possible could, which was just about every day. From date nights, to late night drives around town, to sleepovers, Nolan fell more and more for Steve with every minute they spent together. They had a plan: call each other a few days out of the week when Nolan wasn't busy with studying and then he would drive to Hawkins on weekends when he was free. Going back and forth made it harder to go back to college but he had to, because Nolan deserved to have something for himself.

Now, the Golden Boy he thought was lost in California was back. College was awesome. In just the short few weeks he started at Vanderbilt, Nolan made an abundant amount of friends. He attend parties that the fraternity houses would throw on the weekends and the Friday night baseball games. It was just like it was before only this time, Nolan didn't care that he had a hearing problem. And neither did anyone else. He was just Nolan Mayfield.

He was studying for his final exam when his door swung open. "Dude, it's our last week until summer!  Why are you sticking yourself in your room?" Morgan Goodkin exclaimed.

He sighed. "Because it's finals week and I can't afford to not pass."

"You have a 4.7 gpa."

"And I would love to keep it that way."

When Nolan first met Morgan Goodkin, they were a fraternity party for his roommate, Ethan's, birthday.  She was drunk and tried make out with him until he told her that he had a boyfriend. He was also drunk because he would have never outed himself like that if he was sober.

He expected her to go crazy and be disgusted with him, or call him any derogatory name in the book, but she didn't. After the party, Morgan found him and apologized for trying to make a move on him. Then,  to his surprise, she found the courage to come out to him and tell him that she was a lesbian. Nobody else knew but him and her family.

Now, they were best friends. The wild blonde groaned dramatically and bounced over to his desk. Ethan was with his girlfriend in the lounge, which left Nolan alone to study. "C'mon, Nols, we're supposed to be having fun!" She shook his shoulders.

Nolan laughed and put down his pencil. "We have one more week and then we can have fun." He turned in his chair and faced her. "Still haven't decided if you're going home or not for the summer?"

Morgan's parents were hardcore Christians. When she was seventeen, her mom walked in on her kissing a girl she was best friends with at the time, and that's when she told her family that she was gay. Now, her dad barely speaks to her. She explained to Nolan how coming to college was the best time of her life because she didn't have to see her dad for a while. "Not yet. I was kinda thinking about crashing at a friend's house. But I know I can't do that all summer." She explained with a subtle frown.

Nolan stared at her for a minute, thinking to himself. Finals week was almost over and after that, he planned on going back to Hawkins and surprising his friends.  "Hey, you know you only live about two hours away from me," he reminded her. "Why don't you just ask your parents to come stay with me for a few days?"

Her light eyes brightened at the offer. "Really?"

He nodded. "Of course. You can meet my sister. I'll ask my mom if it's okay."

Morgan grew a large smile and she threw herself at him. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She repeatedly squealed while her arms tightened around his neck.

Nolan chuckled and moved his head so that he was looking at his books. "Okay, okay, now can you go,  please? I have to study."

She rolled her eyes and released her grasp. "Y'know,  I'm glad we're not attracted to each other cause you'd be a boring person to date."

He smirked as she headed towards his door. "Tell that to my boyfriend."

She flipped him off.

"Pleaseeee tell me you're coming home soon." Steve begged into the phone.

Nolan leaned against the wall with the phone pressed against his ear. He twirled the cord around his finger.  "That's for me to know and for you to find out," he teased. He waved at his friends that ran by him in the hallway. Most of the people in his dorm hall already took their final exams.

"You're so annoying. Why am I with you again?"

"Cause I was your gay awakening."

It went silent. "What, and I wasn't yours?"

Nolan shrugged even though he couldn't see it. "I think after a while, I realized just how good looking Rob Lowe actually is." He answered with a small smirk.

"Ron Lowe? I would've at least said Tom Cruise."

Nolan chuckled. "But hey, I might have a friend coming to stay with me when I go back home."

On the other line, Steve narrowed his eyes. "Friend?  What friend? It's not a guy, is it?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, Steve, my roommate will not be coming to stay with me. His girlfriend would have a problem with that." He emphasized.

Nolan heard him sigh. "Okay, good. Who is it?"

"Her name's Morgan. We met at a party when she tried to kiss me."

"What?"

Nolan snorted a laugh. 

"Oh, you asshole."

"Sorry," he continued to laugh. "Don't worry. She's not my type."

"Well, I would hope not."

"Don't worry, okay? I'll be home soon. I take my final exams tomorrow and then I'll be homeward bound."

"Good. I miss you. The folks are making me look for a job this summer." Steve told him with a groan.

"Have you applied anywhere."

"Uhhh, a few places at the mall. I think the only place hiring is that ice cream shop by the Chinese food stand."

Nolan raised an eyebrow. "Scoops Ahoy? The place that makes you wear a sailor uniform?"

"That's the one."

He smiled. "Aww, it'll be cute coming home to see you wear the little shorts."

"You better stop ahead before you become single."

"Ha ha," he responded with sarcasm. When he saw more people coming to use the phone, Nolan cracked another smile. "I better get going. Other people gotta use the phone. I'll call you after my tests tomorrow,  okay?"

Steve frowned. "Yeah, yeah, of course. Good luck."

Keeping the smile on his face, Nolan said his final goodbye and hung up the phone. He put his hands in the pockets of his bomber jacket and walked down the hallway. As he passed by the dorms with their doors open, Nolan began to really miss his friends. He missed his family more than anything.

Him and Billy hadn't talked since the going away party his parents threw him. They exchanged words at the house and a handshake but that was all. Things between them were still awkward. What made him the most nervous was knowing that now he was at college,  Max was left at home alone. It made his teeth hurt to think about the torment she was most likely enduring from the step brother.

But Max made him promise not to worry about her while he was away. College was his opportunity to do something great in life. She didn't want to hold him back from that. Max knew her brother loved her but he deserved to have something for himself. Nolan only prayed that he didn't make a mistake by leaving.