Chapter 2

He had known Charles Foster Kane for three months. They had become acquainted when they both enrolled in Dr. Bennet's course. They were hardly close. In fact, there were times where he felt that he hardly knew Kane at all. And he sometimes wondered if this might not be a good thing. After all, with his family's connections, he could hardly afford to be seen with someone who had such a strong desire to create trouble even if there really wasn't any trouble to be had. He was sure that his father would most likely despise Charles Foster Kane. Then again, his father seemed to despise most people. He often wondered what caused his father's deep unhappiness, not only with the world, but also with his family... Even himself. Being part of the Leland family created quite the burden for a young man in college, wishing that he could act like any other man his age, yet always succumbing to a sense of duty to his family. Not even his family, for that matter. Just his name.

Crossing the courtyard towards his own dorm, he wondered if perhaps he should have invited Kane to go out to a bar with him. After all, it was early yet. But again, perhaps this was for the best. His father had been in such a frightfully bad temper lately, Jedediah Leland could hardly afford to be caught associating with someone who most likely would do or say something that would condemn him to his father's black list.

Leland was not one to associate with very many people. Kane often teased him about this. To Kane, it was utterly absurd for a young man in college to not have "at least" one girl to go and see after classes. Leland often wondered if Kane understood the first thing about him. Though he would never admit it to anyone (least of all Kane), he really didn't have any desire to create meaningless relationships with dozens of women (as Kane did practically every weekend), unable to remember their names within a few days after making their acquaintance. There had been a woman in Boston who caught his attention the last time he went there with Kane (which, of course, Kane caught on to and teased him mercilessly about throughout the rest of the evening). But for the most part, Leland much preferred to be secluded in his dorm, perhaps with a decent book to read. This alone caused Leland to stop for a moment outside his dorm room, running his fingers through his hair pensively.

No, he thought to himself with a slight grin. Charles Kane was a decent person. He wouldn't deny that, no matter what his father's opinion of him could be. But, having absolutely nothing in common with Kane, why would he ever worry about them becoming close friends? In his mind, it was quite likely that Kane would drop out of Harvard and after this, he would probably forget all about Charles Foster Kane.