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The wind was howling. It was an ironically loud shushing noise outside the dorms. It pushed a tree branch to keep knocking on the window, its leaves rustling. Jeremy heard every individual leaf and twig rattle and brush against the glass, and as the small taps turned into large slams, he felt the seeds of worry begin to sprout. The rain was pouring down on the building, and it was surely flooding the streets. The constant thrumming sounded like a million people drumming their nails on a desk. He had enjoyed the sound at first, but after twenty four hours, it was deafening. He was growing tired of the droning. Hoping to drown it out, he had turned on the T.V. but after only the first flash of lightning and boom of thunder, the power had gone out. That was what he was dreading.
Jeremy loved storms really. After his mom left, it was nice to hear something other than silence. Nature would drown out the sounds of his own thoughts, and it gave him a show to watch. The thunder and lightning was actually his favorite thing. Whether it was a low rumble, or a crash of cymbals, it was an epic noise. Growing up, he liked to think of Greek mythology, and pretend it was Zeus punishing his bullies. They never got hit by lightning, but it was a comforting, albeit rather strange thought. But, once the Squip had began to electrocute him, lightning and thunder became a rough patch for him. It was rough seeing electricity fall from the skies in painfully similar patterns to his scars. Zeus punishing bullies gradually morphed into Keanu Reeves reminding him that he would never be truly gone. At times like these, the voice was loudest. They would be taunting him, making fun of him. Call him weak for being so sensitive to the sounds of nature.
You’re pathetic, Jeremy. Getting so worked up over a little storm? Tch.
It always put him into a slump. A state of emptiness where nothing really mattered to him except his flaws. Jeremy wallowed in his misery until Michael noticed and got up to grab him some Red from their mini fridge.
The only thing was, Michael wasn’t with him.
At the moment, he was off at an on campus retreat for the Asian Pacific Islanders Club and would be there until the following day at around ten am. Right now, it was ten pm. Jeremy sighed. He dragged his feet as he went to grab the drink himself. He twisted the cap open and chugged it before reflecting. Michael wasn’t going to come back to the dorms for twelve hours. He didn’t want to interrupt some game that he was doing or any new friends he was making. He couldn’t just call him immediately. Hoping that the day’s activities were already over, he opened his phone to text him. As he tapped on the message app, he was pleasantly surprised to see that Michael had already texted him five minutes ago.
Babe ik its stormy rn so like u ok?? U can call me if u want. Im just chilling rn.
Relieved to read the invitation, Jeremy immediately hit call on his contact. The phone rang once before he picked up.
“Hey, so I just want to let you know I’m with some others right now, so you might hear them.”
Jeremy heard some unfamiliar voices on the other end begin to shout. “Oh guys Michael’s talking to someone!”
“Is it your boyfriend?!”
“Guys shut up this sounds important!”
“Oh my gosh, Michael put it on speaker!”
He apologized to Jeremy before seeming to muffle the speaker with his hand as he replied to the others. “Yes it’s my boyfriend, this is important, and no, I’m not putting it on speaker why the hell would I do that?” There were a few sounds he couldn’t make out before his voice got clearer. “Everyone says hi.”
Weakly, he told him, “I say hi back.” He paused as Michael relayed the message. “Um, yeah anyway… i-it was back. I already drank the Dew, but it’s still fading out. I feel awful...” His voice became fainter as he hid buried his head in a pillow. He put the phone on speaker as he rolled over in the bed and pulled up the blanket.
His boyfriend sighed. “Anything I can do, babe?”
Jeremy took a moment to think. The thing he could do was get back to the dorms. He wasn’t sure if they were doing any activities the next though. He really didn’t want Michael to miss something important. Was he worth missing something? Pondering the question, he decided there was only one way to find out. Might as well just say it. Sincerely, almost begging, he said, “Please come home… I miss you.”
There was a moment of silence. Jeremy figured that he probably wasn’t worth leaving for. Michael probably had some grand finale of a game and didn’t want to miss it. He cursed himself and tried to crawl under the covers, as far away from the phone as possible. Anxiously, he awaited the disappointing response. It never came though. Instead, he was granted comfort as he replied.
“I’ll be there.”