Stuck in the Middle (MxMxM)?

"I'm sorry!" Ryder apologized for the umpteenth time as his father ripped into him over the phone. "They didn't tell me they didn't accept our insurance until after the doctor treated me!"

After he'd found his way to the campus apartments, Ryder called his parents first thing in the morning. When he told them about the run-in with the dog, they insisted he see a doctor, who then told him he'd need a rabies shot to be safe.

If that hadn't been painful enough, he also noticed a large dent on the front of his truck from where he'd hit the dog. That alone would be a huge expense, and his parents tore into him about getting it repaired.

The problem was that the local mechanic couldn't just knock the dent out. He said he'd have to replace the bumper, but didn't have the part in so they'd have to order it. Ryder would need to drop the truck off and Uber back to school, which would cost even more money. This was non-negotiable as his parents warned him he'd have to return home if he couldn't manage to take care of the vehicle.

"Look, dad, I have to go. My first class starts soon" Ryder lied and ended the call, glad that he'd scheduled his first class in the afternoon.

He was grateful for his parents, he really was. They paid for a lot of things but also held it over his head. This was why he'd applied for so many scholarships. If he paid for his own education, then they'd have no reason to make him stay home.

They didn't make a ton of money as chicken farmers, but they were still pretty well off. Ryder, on the other hand, didn't understand the business side of things. He could keep the chickens alive, but he didn't know how to manage vendors. That was why he was going to college. So he could grow confident enough to take over the farm so his parents wouldn't have to sell when they retired.

The problem with learning under his parents was that they didn't give him a chance to be independent. Whenever he had a problem, his father would do the work himself instead of telling Ryder how to fix it. And every time he made a mistake, his parents would tear into him like it was the end of the world and act like he should have let them handle it instead.

In that sort of environment, he'd never have learned how to handle the farm on his own.

He wished he had enough money to take care of the car and the medical bill, but there was only so much a 20-year-old from the country could afford. There were no local restaurants, or offices for him to have applied to as a teen to raise more money. Every business back home was family-owned and therefore, unwilling to hire someone outside of their own families.

Ryder took one last look at the dent, sighed, then swung his backpack over one shoulder and made his way to campus. A gentle, cool breeze blew across his face, and with it, the smell of fresh spring water.

The university was a set of several square brick buildings with three floors each. Some had breezeways attaching them, and a few of the courtyards in front of the parking lot had student sculptures on display. Off to the right was a lake with a dock and some boats fenced off. On the opposite side of the lake, he could see rolling hills of trees.

There were supposed to be two neighboring towns, but he had yet to look into where they were or what they were called. His priority had been to find the campus and his apartment.

Entering the first building, he took out his class schedule and checked the room number, then started hunting it down.

Every turn he took, he would pause, thinking he saw Delilah. Whether her parents had also forbade her from attending college or not, he wasn't sure. But if they did allow her to attend, then their reunion was inevitable, and he wasn't sure what he'd say to her. Yes, she ghosted him with no explanation, but instead of checking on her, he had driven off to university. It was a complicated situation that he didn't feel like enduring on his first day.