The Roommate - Trillie

Chapter Eight - Familiar Enemies

September 19th, Friday
So much has happened over the past few days. I've met such a wonderful person and I can't help but get butterflies whenever I see him. His name is Tré.

I always have had a feeling I wasn't straight, but pushed it away, not wanting to be what people saw as "weird".

Tré helped me see that being who I am is okay. I feel at home whenever I'm near him, and I haven't even known him for that long. It was just like an automatic connection from when I first looked into his beautiful eyes that could tell a story without a single word.

I'm so glad I met him.
- Beej

I closed my journal and put it on my nightstand. Then I sat up, rubbing my eyes. Tré walked in the bedroom, all ready for class. He was munching on a granola bar, and holding his books in his arms.

"You know class starts in like, ten minutes right?" He smirked.

I cursed under my breath. Then I got up, and spent the next few minutes getting ready as quickly as I could. Once I had thrown on clothes, brushed my teeth, and fixed my hair, we headed out for class.

As we were rushing outside down campus to the next building, I turned to Tré.

"How come you didn't wake me up? I could have missed class entirely!" I sighed, catching up to Tré, who was walking fast, considering he had slightly longer legs.

"And that would be terrible," I continued, "considering the fact that we kinda skipped class yesterday..."

He looked smug and glanced at me. "I just wanted to get back at you for throwing my schedule out our dorm window. Remember that, Beej?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Oops."

•••

Once we had reached our first class, Geometry, Tré and I sat down in near the back of the lecture hall. The professor hadn't walked in yet, so Tré and I had been on time. Thank goodness.

"Alright everyone," a tall, slender, younger looking guy walked in wearing nice clothes. "I'm glad to see all of you are choosing to attend this time." He gave Tré and I a look.

Then he smiled. "Just kidding," He spoke in a laid back manner. "The first day's always rough, and there wasn't much you guys missed."

We were relieved. Then the professor wrote his name on the white board. He wrote out Prof. Cleaveland.

"Okay, if everyone would please take out their notebooks and textbooks. Turn to the first chapter and—"

I felt a tap on my shoulder. Quickly turning around, there sat a strong looking dude about my age, maybe older. I quickly recognized him, feeling dread wash over me. I wouldn't be able to forget my main bully since 6th grade.

I gave him an irritated look. "What do you want, Jeff?"

He smirked at me. "Oh, so you do remember me."

I rolled my eyes. "Unfortunately." I turned back around, and continued with class.

A few moments later, Tré leaned over. "Who's that?" He whispered.

"Just the biggest jerk in my life since, like, middle school."

He sighed. "Neat..."

•••

After we had attended the rest of our classes for the day, Tré, Mike, Jason, and I stayed back in our dorms catching up on work. Tré, unlike me, had listened during class, and helped me with my homework.

I sat on the couch, wishing I had paid more attention in class. "Tré, what was the formula again?"

He sighed, coming over to sit by me. Tré took my paper and started writing. "For that problem you use—"

Knock. Knock. The sound came from the door.

"I'll get it." Tossing my notes to the side, I got up to see who it was.

I opened the door, peering out into the hall, but saw no one. Confused, I stepped out and closed the door. I looked both ways but still couldn't see anyone.

"Whatever," I murmured, starting to turn around. "It's probably Mike or someone messing around—"

A hand grabbed my jacket collar, pulling me backwards. With another jerk of my collar, I felt my body slam hard against the wall.

BAM!

Pain flooded through my head. An angry, taunting face met mine.

It was his face.

"I bet you missed me all these years, didn't you?" Jeff smirked, mischief in his eyes.

I glared at him. "Fat chance anyone would ever miss your ugly face." I stated expressionless.

He pulled me by my shirt towards him until our faces were inches apart. Then he slammed me into the wall again by my shoulders. I squeezed my eyes shut and held in a groan. "You know," I gulped. "I really don't see what's so entertaining about this."

His look darkened. "You know exactly why I'm doing this. You humiliated me! You ruined my chance and—"

"Why can't you just let that go already?!" I yelled, annoyed.

Jeff got close up in my face. Hurt flashed in his eyes for a moment, but soon faded. He raised his fist, and my eyes met his angry ones. After hesitation, he swung as hard as he could, fist colliding with my jaw.

My head turned and I fell back, banging my head on the wall again. I caught myself and wearily stood back up, gritting my teeth through the pain in my back and jaw. Then, I punched right at his stomach, causing him to stumble back this time.

Then he got back up. Before I could react, he hit me just under my eye, and all I could see then was stars.

Then, with my vision blurred and my face hurting like hell, I tried my best to tackle him down. It worked, he fell down and slammed his head against the tile floor, but he soon flipped me over to where I was laying on my back.

I grunted and tried pushing him off, but Jeff was just as strong as me. Grinning as he pinned me down, Jeff was winning.

It's always this way with him, huh?
I thought in defeat.

He then kneed me directly in the stomach unexpectedly, and I cried out in pain, rolling over to my side. I curled into a ball, groaning.

Dammit, this hurts so freaking much.

"Payback's fun, isn't it?" He taunted, looking at me with his insane smile.

"W-Why can't you just leave me alone for once?" I cried, starting to breath rapidly.

His grin faded. He picked me up, stared at me for a while, with anger in his eyes that brought back memories from 6th grade.

Jeff leaned close, and whispered in my ear.

"I was bullied everyday because of what you did. Now it's your turn."

•••