I fell first

A housemate

No one had heard, or seen Christian since after the incident. Jasper had stood in front of the school gate for one week straight, waiting patiently for when Christian would show up so he could ridicule and taunt him, but, he never showed up. He wondered why the Nymph hadn’t been to school, he knew he was a coward but doesn’t he plan to graduate? Whatever; he’ll surely show up and he'll make sure to treat him like the Nymph he was.

The second week came and Christian was still nowhere to be seen, rumors started spreading out that he had committed suicide because of the humiliation he faced from his fellow students, and an anonymous had posted a video of what had happened in the male toilet that day. Everyone changed the way they thought of Christian, guilt haunted them as a plague and they all looked forward to when they’ll see him so they could apologize; their hatred turned to Jasper but, of course, no one dared approach, post, or say anything to him; his family was one of those wealthy powerful feared families in the States. The video was taken down within twenty-four hours and the culprit kept on leading his life as if nothing happened. Though, Jasper acted like he didn’t care; deep down he felt guilty too. He secretly sent Christian numerous messages on every social media platform he used but all he got was radio silence; his last seen was on that day of the incident. Jasper felt frustrated, ‘does that nymph think he could guilt-trip me?’ He thought as he sat in the cafeteria, eating his favorite drumsticks.

“Umm, Jasper, do you believe that kid killed himself ?”

Logan, one of his friends asked him as they eat together. Jasper didn’t reply, he didn’t know either, his instincts told him that Christian was just being paranoid like every other kid would, but a bugger part of him started to believe the rumors. He thought back to how Christian had tried his best to run and hide from him, and how he struggled to free himself from his little gang but he just stood there watching and finally delivered the last blow by uploading what he did on his f*******: page. Guilt tugged his heart like never before, and he lost all appetite for his favorite drumsticks, He thought of how painful it must have been when he took his own life, and all be used he wanted to have sins fun by bullying an innocent kid, even though he didn’t understand why he was so interested in Christian but all he knew was that he didn’t want to be the reason for someone's death!

“f**k!”

He hit his fist hard on the table and stormed out, leaving the whole cafeteria in pin-drop silence. All the students stared at him like he was going mad and his friends were lost at his outburst too. They thought he’s been acting strange since the incident and this just confirmed it. Three days before the graduation, Jasper had asked almost the whole students about Christian's address but no one knew it. He was a loner after all.

“Hey man, chill. I was just saying something random the other day. Today is your graduation day man, you’re going to college soon. Just think about all those hot girls we’re going to meet.” Logan nudged Jasper on the shoulder. They sat beside each other listening to their principal give his speech. Jasper just sat there, looking straight at nothing in particular, but when someone entered the hall, he zapped his eyes toward the figure, each time feeling disappointed when it wasn’t the person, he hoped it was. “Did you hear me?” Logan nudged him again. He heard him right, but he didn’t share his fantasies at the moment. If it were a month ago, he would have been on and on about he was going to score every girl he laid eyes on, but he was most likely, the cause of someone’s death.

The graduation came and went. Everyone trooped out of the school gate, all looking excited with their families and friends, taking pictures and making vacation plans; but, someone didn’t share their enthusiasm, for the first time in his life, guilt eat at him; Jasper disappeared from his friends and walked down into the make toilet where he could have stopped everything, but did nothing. He was a murderer!! It seemed like he wanted to torture himself psychologically, he wanted to feel the guilt weigh down on him like a sailor's anchor. He stood on that same spot he had seen Christian kneel to the floor in a state of defeat, trying to fix his glasses in place so he could see, at that time, he had thought he looked kind of funny…cute even, but he just ignored him and left with his friends. He stood there, reminiscing the incident and he wasn’t aware of the hot tears that flew down his cheeks exactly the way they had flown down Christian's cheeks. He heard approaching footsteps and someone shouting his name but he didn’t bother to wipe his face, he let them see him.

“Hey, what are you doing here…whoa man, what’s the problem, wait…don’t tell me you’re already missing this shitty place!” Daniel laughed but Logan who stood behind him didn’t share his joy, he knew what was wrong with their friend, and he felt guilty too. “We killed him,” Jasper said in a whisper.

“Huh!” Daniel exclaimed with his eyes widened like saucers. “Killed who!?”

“Calm down Jasper, we don’t know for sure if he committed…”

“Then why wasn’t he here today!?” Jasper cut Logan off with an angry yell, stopping him from saying the word he had come to despise the most. His two friends kept mute, not also sure if the boy did do as the rumors said. They stood there, each quietly remembering the roles they played in harming someone's psychology all in the name of fun.

Daniel looked from one friend to the other, he sighed and put his hand into his pocket, tapping his feet impatiently on the floor.

“I can’t f*****g stay here guys, I’m out.” He walked out without looking back, not wanting to feel worse than he already did. Logan’s parents called him on the phone after some time and he left, leaving only Jasper. He stayed there until security told him to leave the school premises so they could lock up.

Just as he stepped out of the school gate, he got a notification on his phone, an unknown number had sent him an address and just wrote “Christian” Jasper didn’t even care to look up the source of the message, he quickly ran down the street and took a cab. When he got to the address, he rushed out of the car and ran up to the milk-colored gate, leaving enough change for the can driver. He slowed down as he reached the gate, but when he was just about to ring the bell; he saw a sold sign, hanging on the gate. He slumped down with his back toward the gate, defeated. Had his parents moved because of the death of their son? He smiled a depreciating smile to himself, took out his phone, and took a selfie, then he stood and took a picture of the house too. He would use this as a reminder of what he had done. He didn’t want to be that kind of person anymore, it was never going to happen again. He uploaded the pictures to the cloud, stared at the house for some time, and, left.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Two years later, a hot boy walked into the campus, instantly turning all the girls in sight into fans and admirers. He walked with steady strides, ignoring the lustful looks he got from girls, and boys too, he was used to it; he was half-Asian after all. His cut curly dark brown hair added a look of handsomeness and cuteness to his clean shaved face. His blue eyes were brighter than the stars and focused only on his destination. He followed the location on his phone and found the class he was looking for. He pushed the door open and entered.

A classic-looking young man was lecturing the class, the man motioned for him to stand beside him.

“Everyone, let’s welcome Mr. Brown Davis to our class.” Whistles and shouts flew from all corners of the class.

“Is he taken?”

“he’s so cute!”

“Be my boyfriend!”

“I’ve got a competitor!”

“Quiet down rascals! pay them no heed” The lecturer smiled at Brown

“Welcome to Sky-high College kid, go take a seat.” Brown nodded and walked over to the third row and sat on the empty seat he found there.

“Hey, my name is Jennifer, But Jenny is cool.” He heard a chirpy voice from his left and turned to see who it belonged to, it was a girl of his age, her round owl-like brown eyes sparkled with mischief, and her brown hair was packed in a loose bun, making her heart-shaped face more beautiful. He smiled at her.

“I'm Brown.” He offered his hand and she shook it firmly.

“I know.” They both chuckled.

“We don’t act like future doctors right, don't worry, you’ll get used to it.” She winked at him.

“I don’t mind.”

He shrugged and continued to listen to what the man was saying. “Oh, the young lecturer is Mr. Edward, but, just call him Edward, he’s fine with it. At 35 he’s already a professor. He’s awesome, he takes us on Gross Anatomy.” Jenny informed without looking up from her book as she wrote her note. Brown just nodded and continued listening to Edward's lecture. After class, Jenny invited Brown to have a launch together but he declined, saying he had something to attend to. They parted eats after changing their contacts. Brown was walking along the hallway when someone suddenly tapped his shoulder from behind.

“Hey, I’m Myles. Sorry to interrupt you, but our basketball team is recruiting new members and I think you’re fit to join. And before you say you’re not interested, here’s my number, think about it and call me when you’ve made a choice.” And just like that, Myles was gone. Brown looked at the card in his hand and looked at Myles retreating figure, he put the card into his pocket. I wasn’t even going to refuse. He sighed at the weird characters he’s been seeing since he stepped foot in the school. Sky-high College was very huge, one of the best in the states, he was glad he came here and he hoped to achieve his goals here too. He walked to the gate and continued to walk further down the street till he decided to take a cab to his new apartment.

In the back seat of the cab, he checked the location his mother had sent him. It wasn’t that far from college. He thought back to two weeks ago when they had just returned to America, they had just been running around looking for a place he could stay which would be comfortable and convenient, and finally, when they did find one, he hadn’t been present with them, he had gone to handle stuff concerning his transfer, so, currently, today was the first day he’ll be seeing the place and it happens to be the day he starts living there. His parents were kind enough to move his things into the apartment they chose for him, they gave him an earful for not going with them to see the apartment when they were moving his stuff into it and even threatened to make him live in the school dormitory. He knew they loved him to the moon and back even if they don’t agree on several occasions.

He alighted the cab and walked into the building. It was a five-story building complex and as the message implies, his apartment was on the third floor. He went into the lobby, it was adorned with flowers vases, and different Greek statuses, it had chairs in a corner where you could sit with friends or visitors if you did not want them in your house. He loved the place already, his parents must have had the same thought as him when they saw the building; the calm yet cozy environment will be great for his writing.

“Mr. Brown?”

A man’s voice called him from the reception area. He paused his admiration of the place and walked to the man in uniform, he looked like a security man. “Good afternoon sir, your mama gave me this, and this.” The man put a picture of him and a key card on the counter.

Of course, Mom would do something like that. He has forgotten to ask her how he'll be entering his apartment, but as always, she was always thinking ahead of him.

“Thanks…Mr. Sam.” He looked at the man's name tag before speaking, not wanting to be rude by just saying thanks without addressing him politely. The man nodded at him and handed him, his key card and picture. Brown put them in his pocket and walked into the elevator. He would not forget to ask his mother when she managed to shoot him before he left the house that morning. He reached the third floor and used his card to open the door, with the number A60 on it. He opened the door and entered. It was a two rooms apartment, it looked modern and cozy. The Grey twin sofa faced a large tv that stood on top of a natural grain veneer with gray drawers and between the Tv and the sofa was a rectangular glass table. The gray-colored walls made the house look cold and at the same time cozy and warm. He sat on the sofa and sighed.

“How soothing.” He murmured to himself, but before he could rest his back on the sofa, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

“Hi, mom,”

“Hi son, do you like your new apartment?” His mom asked expectantly over the phone, he could imagine her drumming her fingers on her lap with a smile on her face, he smiled and nodded his head, then he remembered she wasn’t there with him.

“Yes Mom, I love it. I love you.”

“Aww, my sweet baby, I love you to the moon and back!” She replied lovingly. She knew that reply will always put a smile on his face. “I’ll call you tomorrow Mom, let me see the rooms, you know, choose which one will soothe me the most. I could turn one into an office.” He stood and stretched his body from side to side. He looked behind him into the open kitchen and decided to tour that part of the apartment later.

“Rooms? No darling, your room is to the left side of the apartment. Your Dad probably forgot to inform you. But don’t worry darling, it’ll just be the same as living alone. They say he hardly sleeps there.”

He paused in his tracks toward the right side of the apartment, he was lost. His room? Wasn’t he living alone? And, who hardly sleeps here? He didn’t know where to start questioning his mother, all he could do was stand and stare at the black oak solid door with one thousand questions running in his mind. His mother noticed the prolonged silence and quickly tried to diffuse her bomb.

“Ahem, darling. I hope you like your new place. Daddy will talk to you later okay? Be good to your housemate... if you'll ever meet him. I love you. Bye.” She ended in a rush, not wanting to be the one to receive an earful. They had agreed to let him live alone, but his Father thought it would be nice to have someone to talk to, in case he ever felt lonely. They knew he cherished his privacy, but, that was what got them worried in the first place. They did want him to keep isolating himself from people, they did not want a repeat of his high school.

Brown stood there, staring at his blank phone. She had the guts to drop a bomb on him and disappear. He had a lot of things to iron out with her and his old man. How dare they decide for him. He wasn’t a kid anymore, contrary to their belief, he could take care of himself just fine, and definitely can’t be bullied by any asshole again.

“f**k this.”

He murmured and walked to the left side of the house. He pushed the door and entered. At least, the spacious room was enough to calm his boiling anger. He loved spacious rooms, he didn’t have to feel claustrophobic. “Ugh!” he grunted. He was already forgiving his parents for being so considerate toward him, but, no; he won't forgive them easily, not until he had it out with them. He looked around and saw only a few boxes beside his tall fitting mirror and the working table, probably things he needed to put away himself, his parents had done ninety-eight percent of the job for him. The bed was already made, looking all inviting and cozy with the comfy-looking black duvet. He accepted the invitation from the bed and moved toward it, removing his shoes and jacket, He fell flat on the bed, snuggling up to the pillows. He forgave his parents at that instant, the soothing feeling the bed gave him removed all anger from him as he fell asleep with a clear mind.