The Hermit

Chapter 2

Gray Howell sighed to himself, looking down at his broken leg. A white cocoon surrounding his limb. He was lucky that the accident wasn't too severe. At least nobody got hurt. 

Except himself.

He made a face when he remembered his older brother, Mark, scolding him on the phone for not paying attention to the incoming car. He mumbled glumly from that memory.

It wasn't his fault that he was trying to save a duck.

The duck obviously didn't liked being plucked forcefully out of its daily street walking by a lanky bespectacled boy. It gave Gray a wild peck on the nose, one that needed several band-aids, before flying out of his arms. 

Of course, Gray would have been happy for at least some thanks from the duck for his attempts to save its life. A simple thankful quack would have suffice. But no.

He got the duck giving him a death glare and a concussion with a broken leg from the incoming taxi.

Thankfully, the concussion wasn't too severe and the taxi driver didn't press charges. 

Instead, Gray landed himself a broken leg and a mouthful of a scolding from Mark. Still, it was better than having road kill on the street. 

What can he say, Gray was a savior for all things furry, or in this case, feathery.

Gray let out a huff. Now, the problem was reaching school without getting late. The clock read 8 am and he needed to leave his apartment soon.

If only he had teleportation powers, that would be awesome.

You're reading too much comic books, Gray. Pull yourself together. He thought to himself.

He grabbed his crutches and carried his backpack. Turning around to take a last glimpse of his small abode, he offed the lights and exited his apartment.

Gray was twenty-one year old and into his last university year, he couldn't wait getting the hell out of the shit hole of a university and entering the world as a legally capable human being. 

That is, if he survived his school first.

Gray reached the gates of his hell, tall and unnerving, it made him sick to the stomach just by looking at it. There he would be dealing with jerks and douches just waiting to trip him over his new crutches.

And he let them. Why? Because he knew it was better not making a big deal out of it.

They were just insecure jerks who needed an outlet. And being a passive pacifist, he let them release their pent up anger on him.

Their torment started from Year 1. Apparently he stood out as easy bait and he became the campus loser. Not a day went by without him getting the snot beaten out of him by Jeff and his gang of thugs.

A part of him seethed at the indignity of being beaten like raw meat for entertainment but deeper than the hatred of that was the clear desperation in him to unleash his fury and fight back. 

But he kept that desire back, convinced that if he did so, jerks like Jeff will only return in packs.

Gray entered the university entrance and headed straight to his lockers. All the while, he made sure he kept his head down and trying to make as little sound as possible from his crutches. He had hoped that no one would notice his broken leg.

Of course, life wasn't that simple.

Right when he opened his locker, he felt hands shoving his back, hard. The sudden impact rattled him as he banged his head onto his locker, his books falling on the ground.