Chapter 1

When Michael arrived at Lakeburg University to start his college life, he expected to go out more, have fun and make a ton of friends… But old habits die hard and not even a month after the start of the semester and he was already locked inside his dorm room, avoiding people while gaming and focusing way too hard on his coursework, exactly like he did in high school. His roommate wasn’t much help in the social department, Oscar was a biology major who was also a socially awkward guy, a nerd through and throughout, the boys would silently game together, binge watch shows like Game of Thrones, discussing theories, plots and helping each other with homework.

Unlike his roommate, who kept binge snacking every hour of every day, the shy guy did manage to shed off some bad habits. Ever since starting college, he was starting to gain more control over his sweet addiction and going more often to the gym. Not giving into his desires once, he was starting to lose a bit of his belly, which he had gained in the first place due to his sweet tooth. Michael wasn’t the hottest guy on campus, and he was fine with that, he was somewhat tall, being around 6’0 ft tall, had a cute crooked nose, sandy blonde hair, some sparkling blue eyes and a very lanky frame.

He was majoring in computer engineering and as the weeks flew by, his coursework started to get extremely busy and chaotic, making the poor nerd to crave some chocolate bars really badly. “A small chocolate bar won’t bring me back to overeating and crave junk food everyday”, he thought, so he headed to the candy shop next to his campus, some place called “Candy Cane”.

As soon as he got inside, his nostrils were overwhelmed by the smell of candies, he could almost taste the salted caramel bars, the peanut butter chocolate, the lollipops… The cakes… he was in heaven, immediately picking up a few of his favorite chocolate bar and shoving them on a bag while a very familiar thick tall and muscular clerk started staring at him. Michael went to the counter and finally recognized the guy.

- Hey! Aren’t you in my Systems Programming 1 class? You sit right on the back! Jonh? Jacob!
- Jim.
- Yes! Exactly! I’m Michael! Are you staying off campus? I’ve never seen you in the dorms!
- Listen punk, are you buying the candies or not? Can’t you see the huge line behind you?
- Oh… Yeah… Here - Michael handed all the candies to be weighed.
- That will be 6 dollars.
- Okay… see you in class?
- Mhm.

Michael and Jim didn’t really get along after that. Michael’s desperate need to be the teacher’s pet drove Jim insane, while Jim’s careless attitude towards college annoyed Michael deeply. When the students started to make friends and form groups, it was clear they were in opposite sides, Jim started to hang out with some guys from the gym, majorly business majors who were taking some Computer classes as electives, while Michael started to hang out to some of his roommate’s friends, who invited him to play a D&D campaign after seeing a bard and a wizard on his computer Lock Screen. Michael had developed a good relationship with his roommate Oscar, even encouraging him to go to the gym and work out together, managing to help his roommate indulge less in junk food.

However, Michael continued to buy candies at the candy store every time he got stressed and eventually gave up from making small talk to Jim, who clearly couldn’t stand him. Even though he indulged in his cravings once in a while, he was very proud of his control, his orders were never as big as they were in High School! Jim on the other hand, couldn’t care more for his coursework, the guy was always partying, drinking and skipping classes with his mates. He started to go to the gym even more, making him even thicker and more muscular than before, which made him extremely popular with the ladies.

When midterms exams arrived, it was no surprise Michael got the best grade, but it was definitely a surprise for Jim when he didn’t even score 40%, he had technically studied a bit… well… he looked at the books! And this used to be more than enough for him! He would have to practically ace his finals to pass.

Jim was anxiously helping some random client at his job when he noticed Michael enter the store. He had never realized how much Michael frequented the candy shop… It was almost as if he were addicted to candies or something. When it was time to weigh all the stuff Michael had picked up, Jim had a very mischievous idea.

- So, Michael… I’ve heard you got the highest grade from class. Congrats.
- Yes! I studied a lot for that. Did you do well?
- I can imagine. Hum, not quite. Will have to ace all my assignments and finals.
- Yikes.
- Uhum…. -Jim raised his eyebrows- I can see you really enjoy our candies! I’m very glad to know you are such a loyal client.
- “Our”?
- Yes, my family owns the store.
- That is quite incredible! How are you so fit?
- Self control? Obviously? -Jim couldn’t help but roll his eyes - But hey, I have a proposition to you, my dear… friend.
- What? -Michael seemed very interested
- I can give you twice as much candy as you are currently buying if you did my assignments… Let’s say, two big bags, completely stocked to the brim, for an assignment?
- Two full bags? -His eyes were sparkling with desire
- Yeah you’re probably right, that’s too low… let’s say three bags?
- You… you have a deal! When do we start?
- Hm, Mrs. Dotts have a Calculus assignment for next week, take this bag for free and I will bring you two more after I’m done here.
- Wait? Do you know where I live?
- We are on the same floor…
- How have I never seen you there?
- Guess you just don’t leave your room a lot.

Michael practically ran back to his dorm to finish Jim’s assignment. It was a simple sheet of advanced math problems even a monkey would be able to do, but he couldn’t complain, he was studying more, which he loved… And now he had all the candy he could have wanted! He had never eaten so many candies in an afternoon, and to think he only ate one of the bags? Michael felt like he won the lottery… But a little silent voice in the back of his mind told him to cancel this contract… He was falling back to his old habits without even noticing… It was almost as if his first three months of progress were tossed in the bin.

At night, Jim knocked on his door and Michael answered him grinning, the rich cashier was carrying two completely full bags of candy… And from the looks of it, it was all his favorite stuff… He could see tons of chocolate, salted caramel bars, brownies, licorice, chocolate cookies and, for his surprise, one of the bags had one of those industrialized red velvet cakes… And all of that was for only him! Jim could not be more excited.

- Hey buddy - Michael grinned- Thought I should drop by and give you some candy.
- Thank you so much! - Jim gestured to the table- I already finished your assignment. It was quite easy… Need anything else done??
- Good job nerd. Guess our deal might work better than we thought.
- Just one quick question… You would give me 3 bags of candy per assignment right? What if I finished two in one night?
- Then I guess I would have to give you six bags big guy.
- Oh - Jim couldn’t stop smiling and salivating- That’s good to know.

Later that night, Oscar got back from class and saw the bags of candy, some empty and full pizza boxes on the floor and Michael passed out in his bed. He woke him up:

- Dude, where does all this food come from? - Asked Oscar in disbelief.
- You won’t believe this, you know that cocky jock from my class, Jim?
- Yup, the one whose family owns the candy shop?
- How do you even know that?
- Well, I buy a lot of stuff there and he was always so chill, we talk a lot. He always gives me some extra stuff.
- No kidding? He was always a dick to me. Anyways, he flunked the big System’s Programming exam and after he saw I got the highest grade, we made a deal, he would give me 2 bags of candy for each of his assignments I did,
- But… don’t you guys have like 4 assignments per week in Computer Engineering?
- Yeah! Neat right?
- That’s a lot of candy….

Michael gently slapped Oscar’s belly and smiled:

- Are you really gonna say that’s a problem?

Oscar blushed and smiled:

- Well, I guess not. And what’s all this pizza?
- I needed some salty thing, my teeth were begging for it after so much sugar.
- That makes a lot of sense buddy. Are we going to the gym tonight?
- Nah, I’m too stuffed for that. Wanna stay inside and play dead by daylight together and eat some pizza?
- Sure.