A/N: WARNING! Jeremy gets hit in this chapter. If that offends you please go to the next chapter.
Students walk out of the school doors with a sluggish pace, drained from the work. The school day was painfully boring, repetitive, and too long for Jeremy to pay much attention to anything. His backpack dug into his shoulders from all the books he was forced to carry around. He looks up at the clouds since there really wasn't anywhere more interesting to look. A few fluffy cloud were in sight with the sun shinning brightly on them. He smiles and keeps looking up at them. That is, until a sudden push sends Jeremy to the ground.
"You should be more careful, queer." A venomous voice whispers. Jeremy rolls his eyes at his usual attacker. Jeremy gets up and brushes off his jeans, not very fazed by his fall. He runs to his bus and sits in his usual seat. Jeremy continues looking at the gorgeous sky out the window. Looking at the sky during bus rides calm him. It just keeps his full attention and clears out any stress on his mind. It's such a lovely mindless feeling.
The bus makes its first stop, snapping Jeremy back to reality. It's then that he notices the vibrations of his phone. The teen takes it out and gulps when he sees the text.
'Get your fuvkong littel ass home noe!' His father was drunk once again. Jeremy looks down and types with shaking fingers.
'The bus is almost home daddy. I'll be there soon. What's wrong?' Jeremy sends it and taps his foot on the floor. His breath becomes shorter and his heart beat faster. He almost jumps when another text pops up. Jeremy quickly taps on it, and tilts his head. Whoever texted him isn't in his contact list. He looks around the bus, seeing if anyone was just playing another prank on him. No one was looking back at him or even glancing at him. He turns back to his phone and reads the text.
'Hey. Where are you?' The stranger asks.
'Who is this?' Jeremy texts back, a little confused.
'Santa Clause. It's Vincent! Who else would it be?' Jeremy is now even more confused. He is sure he never gave Vincent his number. His phone was with him at all times and he is sure Vincent never touched it.
'Uuuuuh how did you get this number?' Jeremy asks. Vincent waits a few minutes before answering.
'...Where are you? I'm at your school, but I can't see you.' Vincent texts, completely avoiding the question. Jeremy looks around again, still thinking this is just a weird prank. Once again, no one was paying Jeremy any mind. He's pretty sure he never told Vincent which school he went to.
'Took the bus home. Legs were killing me. I'm almost home so im ok but um how did you know what school I go to?' Jeremy asks, a little creeped out.
'...Check your grammar and be safe. If you want to come to my place again, I would be more than happy to pick you up.' Vincent once again avoids the question. Jeremy begins typing again, but is cut off from another text. He instantly taps on his father's name. He gulps and reads.
'Get ovre here now!' Jeremy's eyes widen. The bus stops again, almost making Jeremy slam his face into the seat in front of him. He stands and rushes off the bus. The first thing he sees after getting off the bus is Ms. Bonita and her granddaughter playing on the porch. He waves while putting on a calm expression. The elderly woman looks at Jeremy and waves back. Her granddaughter, on the other hand, is too invested in what ever game they're playing to notice his presence. He almost calls out the young one's name, but decides against it. Little Sofia looks so determined, it was just too adorable to interrupt her concentration. Jeremy rolls his eyes and walks to his house. He slows his pace as much as he could without looking too suspicious. Once at the front door, he stands there for a few seconds. Jeremy takes a deep breath and looks down at the door knob. He forces himself to step inside of his house.
Jeremy's father sits at the kitchen table, sipping the last drops of a beer. Jeremy quietly shuts the door and slowly walks towards his father. He sets down his heavy book bag. His father finally notices his nervous child. The man sets down the beer bottle and motions Jeremy over. The boy gulps and walks over slowly. Once close to his father, Jeremy kneels down and places his folded hands on his lap.
"H-hello, Daddy," Jeremy whispers, not looking up to meet his father's gaze. His father grins at his son's submission. He grabs Jeremy's bangs and yanks his head upward. The frightened boy holds down a yelp and squeezes his eyes shut. His hands clench his pants when his father begins yanking on his bangs. Jeremy forces an eye open to his see his father. The man finally lets go of his son to open another beer. Jeremy combs down his now very messy hair, frowning when a few strands fall off. Jeremy returns his gaze to ground. His father sets down his beer and nudges Jeremy with his boot. The brunette slowly looks up.
"You're gonna have ta be outta here fer a week. If ya come back sooner, I'll get yer little ass. Got dat?" The drunken man asks. Jeremy nods.
"I-i-is that girl you m-m-met staying?" Jeremy asks in the quietest voice he can manage. His father somehow hears him and growls. Jeremy flinches and covers his head when he sees his father's leg move. The boy flies back from a kick. He groans and curls up tight. His father's footstep thump against the floor, getting closer. This just made Jeremy curl up tighter and cover his head as best as he could. An empty beer bottle is smashed on the terrified boy's head. It shatters from the force, but luckily it was met with Jeremy's hand. He hisses and tucks his throbbing hand between his stomach and his legs, trying to lessen the pain. The man picks up Jeremy by his hair and forces him to stand. The boy whimpers and balls his good hand. He could only handle a few seconds of the pain this time and tries to push his father's hand away. The man punches his son in the gut. Jeremy coughs as his legs buckle, making his father rip out a few more hairs in the fall. His father gives a last kick to Jeremy's side. He curls up again and whimpers. His father kneels down beside the shaking and beaten boy.
"I'll be nice n' give ya an hour ta pack yer shit. I don't care where ya go er what ya do, but don't come back here fer a week. Got it? A week!" His father shouts. Jeremy flinches and nods. His father reaches into Jeremy's back pocket and takes out his wallet. The man takes all the money and tosses the wallet on its owner. Jeremy flinches and doesn't move a muscle. His father walks away, mumbling insult under his breath, and slams the front door shut behind him. Jeremy waits a few minutes to make sure his father wasn't coming back in. Jeremy takes a few deep breaths and rolls onto his stomach. He slowly lifts himself up on his elbows and knees. He gasps from the renewed pain after twisting his body. The brunette hangs his head and crawls. Once he reaches the stairs, he grabs the railing and helps himself up. He sways a little, but stays up. He walks up the stairs and walks into his room.
Jeremy's room isn't anything all that special. If anything it's just a boring room. A bed, white walls, grey carpet and a pile a clothes. The only thing in the room that had any color were a few flecks sprouting from behind his bed. Jeremy grabs his duffel bag and begins filling it with enough clothes to last him a week, along with some deodorant. He picks up his brush and fixes his hair before throwing the it in the bag too. He walks over to his bed and grabs the stash of money hidden under the mattress. Jeremy stuffs the money into his back pocket and grabs his blanket. He folds it up and stuffs it into the duffel bag. Jeremy grabs the bag and walks out of his room, closing his door behind him. He walks down the stairs with more ease.
Thankfully, the pains were barely noticeable now. Jeremy smiles as he pats his torso. It definitely hurt with direct contact, but twisting didn't hurt as much. Jeremy walks into the kitchen and takes the bottle of Tylenol just in case. He goes through the cabinets and begins taking out what he wants to pack. Pop Tarts, crackers, and a few bags of chips were good. Jeremy took the bread since his father never really ate it. He looks through the cabinets again, and takes a few more things that his dad probably wouldn't even know went missing. Jeremy grabs a a good amount of water bottles before leaving the kitchen. He picks up his backpack by the door and looks around one last time. There wasn't anything popping out to the brunette as an important item. He walks out of the house and bounces down the steps. He looks to his neighbor's house to say hello properly, like usual, but find that Ms. Bonita and her grandchild had gone inside. Jeremy frowns a little, but shrugs it off. Sofia probably got bored and wanted to go inside and make sugar cookies or something. Jeremy turns away from his neighbors house and begins his walk.
The teen sits down on the abandoned park's bench after a short walk through some woods. He always came here when his father threw him out. A quiet little place of his. He takes out his spare sketch book and opens to a new page. Taking a sharpened pencil, he stares down at the blank sheet. Jeremy gulps and sighs. He begins sketching. However, the lines on this drawing were not light and gentle. Theses lines were harsh, jagged, and heavy. Jeremy gulps and blinks away tears. He isn't really focusing on the drawing. He focuses instead on the emotions. Anger, sadness and fear are fueling this picture. Jeremy feels the emotions slowly creep onto his expression, only making the desire to finish this one quickly grow. He packs away his pencil and closes the book, not bothering to sign this picture. He reopens it and smiles. He always did when he reopened this book. The first picture is of his family. His smiling mother has the usual soft and curved lines, while his father has straighter lines. Jeremy giggles at the blob he drew his baby self as. He flips to the next page. Then the next, then the next. He kept flipping through the pages, all holding a milestone in his life, until they end at his newest drawing. He stares at it for a few seconds, no remains of a smile left. The brunette goes through the pages again, this time backwards. His smile slowly reappears. He hugs the book before putting it away.
Jeremy closes his eyes and smiles from the many wonderful memories passing through his head now. He plays his favorite over and over again. His mother was washing dishes, his father was read a book in the kitchen and he had just finished a drawing of a horse. It was the best of all his drawings and he couldn't wait to show it off. His father smiled and ruffled Jeremy's hair. His mother smiled and hung it up on the fridge. The fridge was the biggest reward there was at the time. Jeremy smiled, showing his missing front tooth. The teen leans his head back and enjoys the nostalgic feeling. He chuckles and opened his eyes. The same picture was still hanging up on the fridge. Jeremy feels a tear roll down his cheek. He doesn't wipe it away. He couldn't. Tears of joy were very rare with Jeremy. When one did pop up, he was in no rush to hide it. It felt too nice to just brush off like it's any ordinary tear. He sniffs and feels it slide down his neck. It slightly tickles Jeremy before being adsorbed by his blue collar.
The artist sits up, still smiling. He reaches into the bag and grabs a strawberry pop tart and a water bottle. He unwraps his food and takes a bite. There are a few leaves being carried by a gentle breeze, flowers slightly bowing, the scent of the woods, and sunshine peeking in and out of the trees' shadows. Jeremy is alone to enjoy this wonderful scene, and he loves every second of it. He giggles as a thought crosses his mind. 'A feast and a show fit for a king,' he thinks. He thinks about trying to capture this moment onto paper, but quickly abandons it. He was not skilled enough yet. Then again, a still image on a camera, and the limited space on a camcorder wouldn't be able to capture the beauty either. Jeremy adores this moment before it leaves for those reasons.
"This is going to be a good week," Jeremy says to myself.