Coward

Chapter 1 - Disaster

Jeremy was kind of embarrassed as his mother was cuddling him. "Oh, my own Jeremy is going to college already! He's growing up so fast!" Jeremy blushed. "It's nothing Mom, I'm 19. I'm not a kid...." Jeremy's mother looked like she was going to start crying, not from sadness, but from joy. "Oh, what's next, you'll marry a nice young woman, have children, and live in a mansion?" She said cheerfully. Jeremy blushed even more and muttered something about being too young.

Jeremy got on the bus, partly worried, but also partly excited. He looked around for a seat but all the seats were taken. "Figures..." Jeremy muttered. He spotted a boy around his age, but slightly older. Maybe 20? 21? He shuffled over to him, very shy, and asked in a tiny voice, "Um.. C-can I sit here?". It was barely audible but the person heard and nodded. "I-I'm Jeremy."

The boy turned around, trying to face him. He had deep brown eyes with black hair, with cream colored skin. He had a band-aid placed across the bridge of his nose. "Hi, my names Fritz Smith."

They didn't talk much after that. Jeremy got off at the college and looked at the campus, and immediately bit his tongue. The campus was abnormally huge. It could've been a city if it was any bigger.

He reached into the pocket of his over-large sweater, and pulled out his letter. It gave him instructions where to go and what to do, so he shouldered his bag and gulped. This was not going to be an easy semester.

The teachers were friendly enough, but some of the other students were so horrible, it seems strange to Jeremy how mean they can be.

Jeremy took out his Polaroid camera as he walked out into the park, which was part of the campus. Wow. Jeremy thought. It was the middle of autumn, which made all the trees turn breathtaking shades of yellow, orange, and red. There were so many flowers too, he didn't even know what half of them were.

Jeremy watched as a butterfly came to rest on a flower, and took out his camera again to take a picture. He snapped the picture and tried to develop the film. "Hey! Gay boy! What're ya doin'?" An unfamiliar voice yelled.

Jeremy whipped and got the picture plucked right out of his hand. "Look, its a new kid!" One of them said. "He's just waltzing around like he owns the place... the little gay shit he is..."
Another said. "I-I'm not g-gay!" Jeremy responded, only to get kicked in the stomach. One punched him in the face, then all of them came pouring on Jeremy, yelling insults and spitting on Jeremy, kicking, punching and even to the point where they smashed his face into the ground while he whimpered. One member took the butterfly pictured and ripped it up to shreds, rubbing the pieces into his face.His mouth, face, and the places where the gang kicked and punched him was bleeding badly.. "Please... Stop..." he mumbled. "Oh? I think the gay boy wants more!" The one who said that knee'd Jeremy face and then everything went black.

"Oh god... Is he going to be okay?" someone said. "He should be, as long as he gets enough rest and takes the medication. He'll probably have some scars, but they won't last..." another voice said.

Jeremy yelped and sat up, only to be overwhelmed by a wave of pain. "Oh! No, don't try to sit up Mr. Fitzgerald, that'll only make the injuries worse!" The person said. Jeremy opened his eyes to see Fritz and a doctor standing over him. He... Was in a hospital..?

He remembered what happened with the gang and him... He shuddered and put his head in his hands. "What did I get myself into...?"

It felt like an hour but finally the doctor broke the silence. "Your mother is here to see you." Jeremy was surprised and looked around to find his mother, but with bloodshot eyes from crying. "Jeremy!" She cried. "Oh, what happened?". "That's what I'd like to know Fritz." Jeremy said to Fritz. Fritz  began, "well, I found you lying on the ground just.. bleeding everywhere, so I called the ambulance, and here ya are. Ya needed around 15 stitches to get those wounds to close up."