Arkham's Crazies

The Beginning

         I met the ginger haired boy when I nervously entered the creaky wooden doors of Gotham Junior High. I was entering as a sixth grader. New school. New district. My mother recently passed, and left with my drunken excuse of a father. Entering this new school with shaky hands, a specific ginger found me alone sitting on the swings.

       "Hiya gorgeous! I'm Jerome. I don't think I've seen you around here." He said with a smile.

       "I'm Jess." I whispered.

      "Well Jess, it's a pleasure to meetcha. Do you know where you're going?" Jerome asked.

      "No. Not really." I said stifling a nervous laugh and put a sliver of hair behind my ear.

         "Care if I show ya 'round?" He asked, gesturing to his pale hands.

        "Not at all." I said, taking his warm hands into mine.

         And that is how my everlasting relationship with Jerome Valeska began. We journeyed through the horrors of middle school, and the raging stress of high school together. His mother Lyla, and my father were very similar to each other. They were both drunks. It's hard to say which one was the worse drunk; they would both bang people, abuse us and then make us do the household chores while they banged. The only reason we haven't had a breakdown is because we have each other. In seventh grade we found a secret hiding spot in a forest in the western part of Gotham. An old abandoned tree house hid at the back of the forest, surrounded by multiple shades of green. Vibrant flowers scattered across the dense forest.