FRESHMAN

Curtis woke up very early in the morning due to an improper sleep during the previous night owing to the fact that he was not used to sleeping in his hostel room on campus which was far from his hometown Boston Massachusetts, coupled with that was the anxiety to start fresh with his new life as an Alabama state University student. He was admitted into the university to study computer science. With Curtis embracing college life he was filled with lots of hopes and aspirations and was glad the college presented a new sight. It was quite different from what he had seen back in highschool as he expected, he came across many faces and was happy and felt relief that he was not going to wear a particular set of uniform as he did in highschool. He walked freely taking a moment to enjoy the cool breeze that swept across his face as he headed for the lecture hall he was scheduled to have his pre calculus algebra class.

Curtis never took a class like that before because it was the first time he was taught by a professor, he was fascinated by the way the lecturer solved complex forms of algebra without making reference to any book or piece of paper. Curtis was like 'this is a same sort of problem I wasn't able to solve since highschool and this guy just broke it down in just a few minutes' he admired such intelligence 'it would take a whole lotta study to become like this professor' he thought.

Curtis was an African American who had Nigerian decent through his mother, brown skinned and skinny he appeared as one in his early twenties though he turned 19 last month, he was tall about 181-185 cm, he was good looking but he kept a messy dark medium afro hair, he had narrow brown eyes under his bushy eyebrows and he wore glasses which due to the fact that he had myopia. "okay guys there's your homework on the board, be sure to do it and bring it to my office by tomorrow before 10am have a nice day" announced the professor. With that said it took approximately two seconds for the once grave silenced lecture hall to turn into a loud noisy zone. The Alabama state University had admitted 134 students to study computer science that year but it was no surprise the male folk dominated in population, however it was just by sixty percent against forty. It was easy to say everyone was looking lively and excited, most students looked for new friends to get acquainted to, common culture for freshmen. Curtis bent over his lecture note, pressing his pen against his lips, he was trying to understand the lecture points and excercise that was done in class because he had not fully understood the excercise while the lecturer solved them one by one 'i have to understand this lecture if not my homework is going to be a disaster and that would be no good impression of me as a freshman' he thought "hello Curtis" someone tapped him, the voice was deep and he could recognize it but he was not sure of who he could remember the voice by, he looked up "hey Ben" he was surprised and excited "what's up man" both guys exchanged handshakes "I'm fine" Ben replied "long time, you belong to this department?"

"yeah, what about you?" Curtis asked "yeah I'm definitely part of this department" Benjamin Gunther was his name, he was German and he was Curtis classmate from highschool from sixth grade till twelfth grade, he was in his early twenties which meant he was Curtis senior though with a little gap. Ben was blonde and muscular, he had bulging eyes and the slight wrinkles on his face like a man in his mid thirties. As Curtis could remember, Ben was famous in highschool because he was good in sports and... bullying. Curtis was however a regular victim of Ben's intimidation, threats and fists although Curtis usually retaliated by playing pranks on him. Sometime in seventh grade Ben shoved Curtis while Curtis was drinking some lemonade he brought from home to wash down what he had just eaten during lunch time. The shove caused Curtis to spill the lemonade all over his body, it looked funny to some students around who reacted with laughter, Curtis was mad about it and reacted angrily yelling at Ben, Ben felt embarrassed and punched Curtis straight at the nose. Ben wanted to do more but he was restrained by Damien and Ryder his friends, Curtis now with a bloodied nose vowed to pay him back. In return while Curtis was sitting behind Ben in history class, he carefully sticked a note behind the unsuspecting Ben, the note read 'I am a jerk, I really deserve a good beating.' everyone Ben came across laughed but they never told him what was at his back, he was not lucky enough to come across any teacher and unfortunately for him his friends were on detention. Ben never understood why everyone he came across chuckled and grinned, he thought maybe they admired him. However it was during P.E that Ben later understood why everyone why they laughed but that was after he got a good beating from some senior students during basketball classes which left Ben with a swollen face. Curtis felt happy and satisfied at his prank resulting to Ben having a swollen face. That was just one of the many times Curtis and Ben were at each other's necks.

Curtis started feeling buncomfortable with Ben standing before him, because the sight of Ben reminded him of those days, he prayed that Ben vs Curtis would never exist anymore now they were in college and funny enough the same department. "so I see you're trying to do the assignment eh" Ben's deep voice was accompanied with a grin as he decided to lean on the table and began staring at Curtis lecture note, Curtis was a bit surprised, he felt uneasy and he could bet a punch was coming right away. "Algebra they say it looks hard but if you know the steps it's easy, the first day in class they already want to stress our brains out."

"yeah it's annoying, the assignment is in no way similar to the equations the lecturer solved in class" Curtis said feeling disappointed "and I usually find it hard trying to understand those stupid textbooks." Ben smiled this time turning to Curtis "you know you need to stop talking like that if you don't want a poor grade point average" he said "die wisse shaft can be annoying but you have to find a way you know" he continued "yeah, you have to find a way so that you won't find an F with your name beside it, the famous words of Mr Hart Clancy... you know I hated it when he taught us Math, so boring yet so strict" Ben started laughing "you know what class we have next" Curtis asked, Ben looked up like he tried to remember something "uh I am not sure I'll check the notice board or I'll ask some of our course mates but I am sure the next class is about four hours from now and that means we can talk and you know hang out a bit, talk about old times, just will away time" Ben suggested "yeah sure Curtis face brightened.

"whoa, these pizza is amazing." Curtis said in amazement as he and Ben helped themselves with some pizza that Ben had ordered while they sat down at a relaxation spot close to the library "ya it sure is" Ben nodded in approval "what's the name of the pizza again?" Curtis asked looking very much inquisitive. "oh ze Billy spicy pizza" Ben took a bite. "they have been my favorite since I arrived here" he continued. "this is one of the best pizza I've had in my whole life" Curtis smiled then took a bite. "Um Ben I thought you said you would be going back to Germany." Ben's mood changed, he put on a sour look then looked away from Curtis turning to the opposite direction. "who told you that because I don't remember telling you myself" he turned forward to continue with his pizza "I usually overhead you telling Damien and Ryder back in highschool that you would be going back to Germany after highschool to meet your dad and you said you were going to enroll in a military academy there in Germany, I'm surprised you are still here given all the time you spent making it obvious you were going back ho...

"hey hey it's enough" Ben snapped "I'm not in Germany, I'm okay here in Alabama so that's that" he took another bite on his pizza, Curtis stared at him. "did anything bad happen, come on you can tell me, I'll understand" Ben now put on a scowling look making him look gloomy. "my parents got divorced I think the distance between both of them may have caused it because my dad works in Germany as an intelligence officer while my mom is a nurse back in Boston. After the divorce my dad said he wasn't concerned about my future anymore, he said he was done with my two sisters and I, now my mom is the one taking care of us"

"oh sorry man, must be a hard time for you, but what kind of father would abandon his children because of a divorce, most divorced couples with children resort to co-parenting"

"well my dick head father is one of the few bastards that would abandon his own children"

"whoa whoa easy, don't worry man just don't dwell on it, just focus on the opportunities that lie ahead. sometimes it's painful to dwell on the past especially when you've gone through dark times" Curtis tried to calm Ben down who looked like he would punch his father so hard if he was standing in front of him. "okay Ben I got a question for you, promise me you'll answer" Curtis said trying to evade the topic "hope it's not a stupid question?" Ben looked sternly at Curtis. "oh no it's not a stupid question, but it is kinda awkward" Curtis replied. Ben continued his Stern look at him for a while, then grinned and shook his head. "what is it?" he asked. "okay you know that in highschool you and I were like Tom and Jerry, always fighting and resenting each other just because you started bullying me, what one earth did I do to receive such ill treatment from you, which led to us being at logger heads with each other all through highschool." In highschool Curtis usually thought that Ben had mental issues because Ben was a big bully on another level, Curtis was not the only student he treated badly, he physically assulted some of his classmates that made him uncomfortable in class, he extorted money from junior students and his own classmates as well, he would beat up any of his classmates that laughed at him in class and he assaulted his female classmates verbally. He got into trouble lots of times serving detentions, suspensions and also getting beat up by seniors whose younger siblings were victims of his ill treatment, he almost got expelled once when he got into a fight with a student and dislocated his shoulder, but his parents pleaded with the principal and promised to take care of the child's treatment till when he recovered, however Ben's classmates were surprised on how he managed to pass his tests and examinations after all the troubles he made and got into. "oh that, I was a freak that had mental issues that's all." Ben chuckled as he took another bite of pizza. Curtis knew that was a lie because no one with mental issues would do well in class and be good and cool in sports. Yes Ben was a big bully but in sports he was a different person, you would even think that it was his clone playing sports, you would not just believe that was Ben doing sports. Ben got involved in more than one sport during his highschool days, he was into basketball, baseball, lacrosse and soccer, he was a very good team player who would encourage his teammates and told them not to worry when they got the play wrong. Although at first Curtis had thought Ben had mental issues but seeing Ben being such a great team player, Curtis knew that Ben was way far from being mentally ill, the funny thing is Curtis and Ben when soccer teammates who represented their school in regional soccer competitions but Ben was not always cool with Curtis, no. "mental issues, don't expect me to believe that." he said "come on, what happened that you became like a brawler, a big bully that was always giving me hell because I remember when you came you were cool and friendly then all of a sudden you became a nightmare for students especially me."

"oh now you want to know why," Ben paused then dimed his eyes while pressing his thumb against his lips as if tried to remember something. "uh! remember the time you called me Nazi and you wrote a very bulky presentation about how the Germans were evil people, how the Germans killed Jews and what and what the Germans did during world war two, not only that, there was also a time you said that we Germans looked up to Adolf Hitler as our savior and our Messiah but hey that's not all, I lost my would be girlfriend because of that stupid presentation you did on history class about Nazi Germany," Curtis raised eyebrows on hearing that. "oh man I'm sorry for that, that was pure racism, the thing is I was too young to think about that as racism." Curtis felt sorry for Ben. "but the reason why I did all that..." he rested his chin on his palms. "was because that girl you asked out, I had a big crush on her ever since I saw her and I could not just stand seeing her with another guy, I'm sorry man I was so jealous of you, I mean you had a great body, big muscles, deep voice, you wore nice clothes, the latest shoes and you were great in many sports, you had a nice blonde haircut, you looked matured, you looked perfect, I... I wanted to be like you, unlike me that's skinny with visual impairment, my hair is most of the time made fun of, I mean I like this hair and I don't see anything wrong with it." Curtis held some strands of his messy afro hair. "and I'm... shy." Ben started giggling which made Curtis to feel embarrassed. "you know Ben despite being famous in highschool as a big bully some girls in our class had a big crush on you." Ben looked surprised with eyes wide open. "well, can't pretend I'm not surprised to hear that, how did you know." he asked. "they were alw..."

"which girls are you talking about." he interrupted Curtis. "Kathy and Melissa" he replied. "uh Kathy and Melissa, no way I would've given those two my attention let alone date them." Ben snorted shooking his head in disappointment. "why? both girls were smart." Curtis asked. "I hate nerds, they talk a lot, sometimes they assume too much and they look crazy, besides Kathy had a big tooth and she was plumpy while Melissa was so argumentative, I hate arguments and debates, she loved history I hated history, so that means she was good and loved the things I hated, it's like you would say the opposite of small is big you also would say that the opposite of Ben is Melissa, I hated that girl." Curtis started laughing. "you mean two of them"

"yeah two of them." Ben replied then joined Curtis in laughter. "so you mean that presentation I did in class was all it took for you to go beserk and start making students lives especially my life a living hell."

"No it was not just the presentation but also what happened after the presentation." Ben replied. Curtis eyebrows creased together wondering what Ben would say next. "as I told you the girl I asked out, what was her name again?"

"Daniella."

"oh yes Daniella, she turned me down and stopped answering my calls or answering my texts, then when I approached her and asked what's up, she told me she was not ready to have a boyfriend, then I held her close to myself and told her I meant no harm, she shrugged me off, I still pressed hard to know the reason for the sudden change she got pissed off and threatened to report me to the school authorities only for me to see her flirting with another guy two weeks later." Ben looked sober as he picked up the last piece of pizza. "oh yeah Mathew was his name, he was a senior, I was left with a heavy heart the first time I saw them together." Curtis looked sober too because he seemed to recall how nice he had been to this girl Daniella, buying her chocolate, sending her Xmas cards and texts, and helping her with assignments, school notes and even continuous assessments but she never gave him the attention he needed, it became clear she was manipulating him. "you know after you presentation I was called names, people avoided me, ugh I just don't want to talk about all of that."

"okay then, what about college, got any plans?" Curtis asked.

"yeah, how about getting a girlfriend and having intense marathon sex till we graduate." both guys burst into laughter "common, enough of that I'm talking of real plans."

"okay, for me I would... I would want to have a good college experience, I would love to have good grades, cool friends like you, a nice girlfriend I would eventually marry, become a nicer guy than I was in highschool and sure get my dick to work." he started grinning and fixed a gaze towards Curtis. Curtis looked confused "I thought you said you would want a girlfriend that would be your wife, you can't get a decent woman if you have an over busy cork." he said, Ben started giggling "well don't you know girls love bad boys, all girls love bad boys, both decent and indecent, all books I've read about women teach me one thing, BAD BOYS FINISH FIRST AND NICE GUYS FINISH LAST." Ben said emphatically "and besides there's a lot of attractive girls here in college, I would want my girlfriend to be a good fucker, a girl that can suck my cork like a pornstar and what better ways than to taste all apples." Curtis shook his head. "that's gonna get you into much trouble."

"no it won't, ich bin ein kluger kerl."

Curtis gave a scowl look. "what does that mean, ich bin ein kuga ka whatever." he asked. "it's German it means I am a smart guy."

"well if you want to get your dick to work regularly on different girls why don't you become a pornstar, you could get good money."

"Ben looked awkwardly at Curtis with eyes wide open, supposed he brought such idea. "nah, no way I'm striping myself naked in front of a camera, yeah they make good money but I have some dignity in me, I have regard for myself." he paused "so Curtis what about you, what are your plans." he continued, Curtis was prompted by that question then he sighed. "um me I sure would love good grades, if possible an amazing girlfriend and I would love to play for the college soccer team." he said. "whoa I almost forgot, I also got plans to play for the college soccer team." Curtis was happy to hear that. It showed that Ben had not lost his passion for soccer and Curtis thought of how great it would be to have a former bully classmate turned friend and course mate embarking on the same journey as he, Though he felt a bit envious of Ben because Ben was a better player than he was. Back in highschool were Curtis and Ben were teammates the whole team including the coaches were amazed at Ben's athleticism, dribbling ability and shot power. In competitive matches and training Ben never failed to show his quality when taking a shot at goal or taking on a defender. To most of his teammates including Curtis, Ben was the best player they ever shared a pitch with, his strength, ability to use both feet and dribbling ability made him a versatile player making him operate effectively as a right winger, left winger and a center forward, but most times he played as a right winger. Curtis on the other hand was though a good player but he had more bad days than good days meaning he wasn't always at his best, but however he had good days to remember especially the time he scored a brace in the final of a highschool community cup in Boston a year ago.

Curtis was not strong physically but his shot power, passing accuracy and good positioning made him stand out as a center forward in highschool days but that didn't mean he never had to fight for the top eleven spot. He had tough competition for the center forward position ever since he got registered as a team member in his ninth grade. Curtis was however determined to work hard in order to earn a place in the hornets soccer team because it was his dream to become an elite college soccer player and a pro soccer player in the MLS.