it was a very cold, very harsh, spring evening as nineteen-year-old Jack made his way back to the college dorm in which he lived in. As the sun began to set and the wind picked up, tossing his dark red, nearly brown, hair, Jack bundled himself into his hoodie and dipped his head into the collar.
“Damn, maybe I should’ve taken that winter jacket,” he thought to himself as he dug into his jeans pocket and reeled out the room key. There was a loud click as he twisted the key within the lock, then the door gave away and Jack stepped inside with the door slamming shut behind him.
The room he shared was sparse with furniture, only having two beds on opposite walls and a desk in between with a computer the duo pair shared. One very small hallway opened to a kitchen, another leading to a bathroom barely large enough to contain a six foot teen such as Jack himself. Clothes littered the ground around him, discarded pizza boxes and empty soda cans tossed about in an unorderly fashion. The small TV set with the Xbox glowed dully as it remained idle, and Jack’s roommate, Mark, was strewn halfway onto his bed, a beer can in one hand while his opposite arm rest over his shut eyes. He had one leg on the bed while his other dangled over the edge, loud snores emitting from his mouth and clogged nose.
“Fucking asshole,” muttered Jack under his breath. With a sigh, he removed his backpack and picked up the trash, quickly discarding them as he gathered up the piles upon piles of dirty clothes and tossed them into the hamper. “I swear he can’t do anything right…”
It was no secret that Jack hated Mark with a passion. Not only was he a total dick to his own friends and Jack himself, but he was a predator who preyed on innocent woman and could never clean up after himself. The man was an irresponsible, inconsiderate pig, and Jack took great displeasure in spending any time with this man who was his roommate for the remaining school year he had left.
“Hopefully my recommendation to switch rooms goes my way.”
As Jack rummaged through the mini fridge to try and find something salvageable to eat, there came a low moan as Mark began to awaken. Mark sat up straight in his bed and stretched out his arms, yawning loudly as he asked, “Jack, man, how long have I been out?”
Without giving him any attention, Jack responded grudgingly, “Most of the day. You missed exams in AP Biology.”
“Eh, Biology is for dipshits anyways.”
Mark belched loudly as he stumbled into the kitchen, roughly shoving Jack out of the way as he reached for the last can of beer. “Need more beer,” he mumbled, more to himself than to Jack. Jack merely shook his head in disgust as he watched Mark crack open the can and take a rather large gulp. “Seriously, how did a dumbass like you ever manage to get into college?”
With a smirk, Mark answered him. “Because I’m captain of the football team and have pathetic nerds like you do my work.”
“Don’t remind me,” Jack sneered, turning away and gazing out the window just as the sun slowly began to sink beyond the horizon. “How long has it been?” He thought to himself. The rest of Marks pitiful words faded out as Jack began to slip away from reality, his mind sending him to darker places as he wondered what it would be like if he could just stand up for himself against Mark and his shit-faced followers. But, he knew that would never happen. Even though Jack was just as tall as they were and was slightly muscular, Mark and his other “friends” were like gorilla’s compared to him, and he wasn’t going to fight against that. With a groan of utter defeat, Jack was about to face Mark once again, but then he stopped. Slowly, he lowered his eyes to the line of trees just outside the school’s gate. There, he saw a silhouette of a strange figure standing there, or rather, watching in wonder as the rest of the kids passed by, unknown to the mysterious man who appeared rather infatuated with everyone else. Jack rubbed his eyes and leaned closer to the window, hoping that maybe he was just seeing things. Unfortunately for him, though, the thing still stood there. Only this time, he was gazing at the window where Jack stood, gazing directly into his eyes.
