Chapter Eight - Danger – warning for homophobic language and violence.
After Dean had left with a promise to visit again after the next hunt and a warm hug that lasted a little longer than normal and a soft kiss with a lot of promise of more to come. Sam hears a knock on his door, thinking that Dean had forgotten something, he opens the door but instead of Deans smiling face, there is no one there. He pokes his head out and looks both ways to see no one around. He leans back into the room and notices something spray painted on his door 'FAG', he is shocked into silence, he stands there staring at it, rooted to the spot, then when he hears someone laughing across the room, he is spurred into action, he grabs his phone and snaps a photo of it for evidence.
Sam lets out a breath, he contemplates what to do, this is his first experience of homophobia, and it is jarring. So far, he had told Bobby and Dean about his sexuality and that was it, they had both been so supportive and he knew that if his father ever found out, that his reaction would be explosive, but he had never had this kind of experience with an outsider.
Sam walks over to the RA's room and knocks on the door, when someone yells out "Come in" Sam opened the door and stepped forward.
"Hey um, are you the RA" Sam asked peering in the room
"Yep… make it quick" the other boy said without turning around
"I just had something happen" Sam held out his phone for him to see the photo of the vandalism on his door.
The other boy looked at the photo on Sam's phone and furrows his brow and looks up at Sam "Do you know who did this?" He asked in a croaky voice.
"Umm no I don't, but it was obviously someone either from this dorm and a student here" Sam replied agitated.
"Ok, yeah, I um, we could complete a request form for security to check the cameras so we could see who did this. You'll have to visit security and file an incident report, I guess I can also mention the whole discrimination rules in our next dorm meeting" he says thoughtfully.
"Ok, I guess I can do that.. is there anything else you can do, like who can I get to clean my door?" Sam asks shocked that there wasn't a more rigorous process for stopping discrimination.
"Unfortunately, I can't really do anything at the moment, we have to wait for the incident to be investigated, then we can get your door cleaned" The RA replied.
"So, what do I do, I've got this disgusting word on my door… I can't leave it for everyone to, see?" Sam asked weakly.
"You could cover it, just until you get security to have a look at it" The other man says.
Sam sighs "Fine, I think have something I could use to cover it" Sam said resigned.
"Well, ok, if they do something like this again and you have a report filed from a previous incident, then it's a repeated form of discrimination and if we can figure out who did it, then we may be able to do something… I'm sorry, I wish I could do more... you shouldn't have to deal with this type of discrimination" he said looking at Sam sympathetically. "If I notice anything weird around your room or in the building or if I hear any negative language, then I'll do something ok?" he says.
Sam nodded and sighed "I really hope this doesn't happen again, it was pretty jarring but if you see anyone hanging around here can you let me know" Sam turned away and walked back to his room and hoped that this was a one-off experience and that it wouldn't escalate.
Sam settled into a routine, with his classes, study groups and he started working part time at the local café and messaging with Dean most nights after his shift. He hadn't seen Sebastian again since their last interaction and Sam was equal parts relieved and a little paranoid as he had taken to looking over his shoulder every time he walked to and from his job at the café and to his classes. He had received a new care package from Dean with a new portable record player with a few records from bands that Sam liked. Sam was so touched by the gesture that he had to call Dean to thank him "Oh my god, Dean, I love it" Sam said a huge smile on his face and without a greeting when Dean answers after the first ring.
Dean laughs at Sam's excitement "Your welcome Sammy"
"Everyone is going to be SO jealous" Sam said gleefully.
"Well, make sure you keep your door locked, that's just for you" Dean said protectively.
Sam smiled at that "I won't let anyone else use it, don't you worry" Sam said reassuringly.
"I hope you like the albums as well; I remember you told me you liked Jack Johnson, and I thought it would sound really good on the player" Dean said explaining his reasoning.
"It's great, I just really like his sound, it's relaxing, especially while I'm studying" Sam replied with a smile.
"Well, how is everything else going?" Dean asks
"Fine..." Sam says and contemplates telling Dean about his interaction with Sebastian. "It's been challenging getting on with new people".
"Challenging how?" Dean asks worriedly.
"Well after you left, I found something written on my door … it was a little homophobic" Sam said hesitatingly
"Homophobic… are you being bullied?" Dean asked sitting up straight in his seat. "What did it say?"
"Just um…a homophobic slur" Sam relies cagily
"Slur? Like what? " Dean asked getting more agitated.
"Um, you know, someone gay, but… they didn't use the word gay" Sam replied hesitatingly.
"My god… what kind of university are you going to?" Dean asks sarcastically.
"The RA wasn't very helpful either, I have to file an incident report, and I can't clean it off my door until security have seen it. I've covered it with some brown paper for now" Sam rambles.
"You let me know if anyone gives you any more trouble ok Sammy?" Dean replies protectively.
Sam smiles at that "I think it'll be alright, but I will definitely tell you if anything else happens" He doesn't want to tell Dean about the note on top of what happened with Sebastian, he thinks it will die down so there is no need to worry Dean for no reason.
They continue chatting for another 20 minutes and when Sam yawns, Dean tells him to get some sleep, and they say good night and hang up.
Sam gets ready for bed and lays there looking up at the ceiling. He wonders if he had been too open with people about his sexuality and perhaps his fellow students weren't as enlightened and inclusive as he had hoped. He thought that he would be able to enjoy a true college experience, with dating, meeting new people and learning new things about himself and maybe even meeting some people just like him, but so far, his experience had not been very positive. Sam hoped that if he joined a local LGBTQIA group he could then at least have people on his side, people who understood him and his experiences. It took a while to fall asleep that night and as he laid there looking up at the ceiling, he hoped that things would get better and that maybe if he joined the local LGBTQIA group then he would feel safer and that maybe they could protect him.
The next morning, Sam joins the local LGBTQIA group located in the same street where he works at the local cafe. He feels at home as soon as he walks in, it's cozy and comfortable. The director, named Joshua, who was a 55-year-old bald man, had a very similar story to Sam's, he came from a military home with a father who had the expectation that his son would follow in his footsteps. When Joshua had told his father that he didn't want to go into the Marines, that he wanted to become a teacher and was gay, his father had disowned him and kicked him out of the house. Sam had told Joshua about his experience with his father and his violent reaction. Joshua hadn't pressured him into going to the police but had told him there were ways to protect himself if he ever felt unsafe or in danger of violence.
Sam felt lighter with each step he took as he walked back home, it felt so good to have spoken to someone who understood and was so supportive. When Sam turned the corner down a relatively quiet street, he hears a noise behind him and stops walking, he turns around and when he doesn't see anyone or anything behind him, he turns back to keep walking, then suddenly he feels an immense pain on the back of his head and he collapses in pain, he is repeatedly hit and kicked from all angles and when he is hit again over the head, the pain is excruciating and everything goes to black.
TBC