Vengeance University

Weeks had passed. College had been a blast so far, for me at least. I was getting a bit suspicious when Sarah wouldn't come home til very late at night or when she wouldn't be in the dorm when we didn't have classes. It wasn't that I was afraid she was ditching me, I was just curious as to what she could be off doing.

My favorite class had started out being Human Anatomy with Mr. Haner, for obvious reasons. But ever since Sarah knocked me into him and muttered something in German (which she still wouldn't translate for me), he'd been acting strange towards me. He seemed.. colder toward me than other students in the class, even if I hadn't done anything wrong. It confused me.

I was walking around campus, my nose stuck in a book, not paying attention to where I was going. And because I wasn't paying attention, I didn't realize I'd ran into someone until my back was already on the ground and the wind was knocked out of me. I opened my eyes. It was Mr. Haner.

"You alright?" he asked as he helped me up. I grumbled as I stood on my own two feet. I'd just come from that class, and he'd been a jerk to me.

I brushed myself off and looked up at his perfect face. "Fine... Can I ask you something?"

Mr. Haner got a weird look on his face. He looked uncomfortable. "...Sure."

I sighed. "Why are you such a dick to me in your class?"

Mr. Haner looked taken aback. "Excuse me? I'm not a dick to you and you have no right talking to me like that," he said before walking off.

"Whatever," I muttered to myself, and I turned to go back in the direction I was heading and almost ran into yet another person. Their presence there startled me, so I jumped. It was the janitor, Jimmy.

"Don't worry about him being a dick... He's been kinda touchy for... awhile now. Personal matters," Jimmy said without even me asking.

"Oh... well then why does it seem like I'm the only one he's an ass to?" I asked.

"Dunno. He strikes out randomly. Don't hold it against him... he's a pretty cool guy."

"Oh..." I nodded. "So.. now that this is the millionth time I've ran into you..." I laughed. Jimmy smiled. "What are you up to?"

"I was just passing through when I saw you get knocked on your ass. Does that happen to you and your friend a lot?" Jimmy asked.

"Actually yeah. It's really bad," I blushed, embarassed. There was a bit of an awkward silence when something I had told myself to ask Jimmy about popped into my head.

"Are students allowed to be part of the custodial staff here? Cuz I need a job."

"Um, I'm pretty sure they are. I can get you an application and you can fill it out and hand it back to me whenever," Jimmy shrugged.

"Okay... this means I'll get to wear that awesome jumpsuit you've got there," I laughed.

"I highly doubt it'd fit you, but you'd get your own," he laughed.

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Jimmy handed me my black jumpsuit a week later. He'd put in a good word for me with the maintenance wing and was able to land me a janitor's job in no time at all. Some people asked me why I wanted to be a janitor. I guess they looked down upon me for it. Well, when people like Jimmy are janitors, they make it that much cooler.

My first job ever that same night was to clean up the top floor of the science building. Coincidentally it was the same floor that Human Anatomy was on.

I pulled the cart with all the cleaning supplies into that room, which was at the very end of the hall. I'd already done the other classrooms and it was nearing 10 at night, so I was almost done. I pulled out my huge key ring with keys to every door on campus and pulled out the one for the Human Anatomy room. I unlocked the door, the sound echoing down the hall since no one was around this late.

I opened the door and took my cart in there; I flicked the light on and let the door shut behind me. I began cleaning all the student desks, wiping them down with bleach and a sponge. I then swept and mopped the floor and emptied the garbages at the front and rear of the class. I went around to Mr. Haner's desk last and started to clean it off. The center drawer was opened a little, so I tried to push it shut but it was jammed in place. Being OCD about stuff like this, I set down the sponge and started to wiggle the drawer loose so I could shut it properly. The drawer came loose indeed, and it flung almost all the way out, jumbling around the things inside. One thing in the drawer caught my eye. It was a picture set in a silver frame, lying on its back. It was of Mr. Haner and a woman. I picked it up and looked at it. They looked happy together; that woman must have been his girlfriend, because Mr. Haner wore no ring on his left ring finger. But as I took a closer look at the picture, I saw that both Mr. Haner and the woman were wearing wedding bands. They were married at some point in time, I presumed. They must've gotten a divorce; maybe that's what Jimmy meant when he told me not to take Mr. Haner's actions to heart.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Mr. Haner walked in.

"Hey Jim--" he started to say before realizing who I was. He must've figured Jimmy was cleaning his room. Mr. Haner's eyes glanced from me down to what was in my hands. He saw the open drawer. He must've thought I was snooping; I really wasn't. It was an accident.

"What are you doing?! Put that down and get out of my things!" he shouted, rushing over to me. He grabbed the picture from my hands, slammed it into the drawer, and then pushed it shut harshly.

"I--I'm sorry Mr. Haner..." I stuttered. He'd startled me, naturally. His hands were still on the desk and he was looking down as he breathed heavily. "Was it a messy divorce?" I asked, wondering why he was getting so worked up.

"She's dead, now get the fuck out of my room," he growled as he glared at me. I instantly felt a pang in my heart for him. Mr. Haner was a widower. I didn't bother to protest but rather decided to grab my things and my cart and get out of that room as quick as possible.