The Poor Orphan Boy Is The Campus God

Chapter 1

Jimmy walked down the street with a small gift box in his hand and a big smile on his face. Today was his girlfriend Mirabel's birthday, and he was going to surprise her.

Mirabel had told him not to come around. She said her family was having a small dinner and that she would call him the next day. But Jimmy couldn't bear to miss her birthday. In the whole year they had been together, he had never missed a single special day of hers, and he wasn't going to start now.

Inside the box was a silver bracelet that cost five hundred dollars. For most students on campus, that was nothing. For Jimmy, it was seven weeks of skipped lunches and extra shifts at the campus library. He didn't mind. He loved Mirabel more than anything in the world, and he believed she loved him too.

When he got to her house, his smile faded. The street was full of expensive cars, loud music was blasting from inside, and a big banner hung over the door: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIRABEL!

This was not a small dinner with her family. It was a full party.

Jimmy told himself there had to be a good reason. Maybe her family had planned a surprise and she wasn't allowed to say. He had always been good at finding excuses for her. He took a deep breath and walked in through the open door.

The living room was packed with students from his campus. None of them looked like family. A few of them glanced at his old hoodie and worn sneakers and laughed quietly, but Jimmy ignored them and looked around for Mirabel.

Then he saw her, and his heart nearly stopped.

Mirabel was standing in the middle of the room, kissing Justin Hale. Justin was the richest and most notorious playboy on campus, a guy who changed girlfriends the way other people changed shirts. Her arms were around his neck, his hands were on her waist, and the whole room was cheering them on.

"Mirabel?" Jimmy's voice shook. "Mirabel!"

She pulled away and turned. When she saw him, she didn't look guilty or sorry. She looked annoyed.

"Jimmy? What are you doing here? I told you not to come."

"What is this?" he asked. "Who is he? Why were you kissing him?"

Before she could answer, her two best friends, Becky and Daniella, walked over with drinks in their hands. They had never liked Jimmy, and they had never hidden it.

"Oh my God, he actually came," Daniella said, laughing. "Look at him. He even brought a gift."

"Aww, poor thing," Becky added. "Did you think you were invited?"

The whole room laughed. Jimmy's face burned with shame, but he kept his eyes on Mirabel.

"Tell me this is a joke," he said. "Please. Tell me it's a prank."

Mirabel sighed as if he was a child who wouldn't stop begging. "It's not a prank, Jimmy. We're over. I'm with Justin now."

"Over? We have been together for a year. I paid your school fees when you had no money. I did your assignments. I gave you everything I had."

"And that's exactly the problem," Mirabel said coldly. "Everything you had was nothing. You were a waste of my time, Jimmy. I only stayed because I felt sorry for you. You're an orphan. Who else was going to date you?"

Those words hurt more than any slap. Jimmy had told her about his childhood in tears one night, and she had promised never to use it against him. Now she was using it in front of everyone.

Becky snatched the gift box from his hand and opened it. "Five hundred dollars? That's all you had?" She laughed and turned to Mirabel. "Do you want this?"

Mirabel shrugged. "Not really."

"Please, give it back," Jimmy begged. "It's for her."

Becky smiled, walked to the kitchen, and dropped the bracelet and the box into the trash can. The whole room burst into laughter.

Jimmy stood there shaking. Seven weeks of hunger and sacrifice, thrown away like garbage. And the girl he loved only stood there and watched.

Something inside him snapped. He rushed at Justin and punched him in the face. Justin's lip split and started to bleed, and for a second the whole room went quiet.

Then Justin wiped the blood off his mouth, smiled, and said to his friends, "Teach him a lesson."

Five of Justin's friends rushed forward at once. They punched him, kicked him, and stomped on him while he lay on the floor. Jimmy tried to cover his head, but there were too many of them. Everyone around was laughing and recording with their phones.

"That's what you get, street rat!"

"Look at him! He thought he could touch Justin!"

Through the pain, Jimmy looked up and saw Mirabel. She was holding a glass of champagne and watching him bleed. She wasn't scared and she wasn't sad. She was enjoying it. That hurt him more than every kick.

"Enough," Justin finally said. "I don't want him dying at her party. Throw the trash out."

Two of his friends dragged Jimmy through the crowd, down the steps, and threw him onto the road. The door closed behind him, and the music and cheering started again as if nothing had happened.

It began to rain. Jimmy lay on the wet road for a long time, bleeding and crying. His whole body hurt, but his heart hurt more. A whole year of love and sacrifice, and it meant nothing to her.

When he finally got up, he started walking home slowly, holding his ribs. He had never felt so alone. Then again, he had always been alone. 

He was left at an orphanage when he was only three months old, with a short note pinned to his blanket. He had kept that note in his wallet for twenty-one years. 

It said: Please forgive me. I cannot keep him. His name is Jimmy.

All his life, he had tried to be good enough so that nobody would leave him again. Mirabel was the first person he truly trusted, and she had just proven that it didn't matter how good he was.

He was halfway home when his phone buzzed. He ignored it, but it buzzed again. He took it out with a shaking hand. The screen was cracked, but the message was clear:

A credit of $20,000,000.00 has been made to your account.

Jimmy stopped walking. He read it three times. This morning, his account had $41 in it. He thought it had to be a mistake or a scam. 

But the description said: Unknown Sender.

Before he could think any more, the phone rang. The caller ID was blank. He was too tired to care, so he answered.

"Hello?"

There was silence for a moment. Then a woman's voice came through, soft and trembling.

"Jimmy?"

"Who is this?"

"My son," the woman said, crying. "It's me. I'm your mother."

Jimmy froze. "I don't have a mother. Whoever you are, this isn't funny."

"You do, my dear. I'm the one who left you at the orphanage twenty-one years ago. I'm the one who wrote the note."

Jimmy's legs gave way and he sat down on the curb. Nobody knew about that note except the orphanage matron, who had died years ago, and his two closest friends. How did this woman know?

"I know you're angry," she said. "You have every right to be. I am so sorry for everything. I never stopped thinking about you. I'm working to come back to you, and I promise it will be very soon."

"Why now?" Jimmy asked, his voice breaking. "Twenty-one years, and you call tonight?"

"Because I only just found you. And because I know what happened to you tonight."

A chill ran through him. "How?"

"The money in your account is a small token from me," she said. "Please use it to take care of yourself until we meet. You don't have to be afraid of anyone anymore."

"What is your name?"

"Diana. Diana Levruff."

Jimmy was already reaching to search the name on his phone, but she seemed to know.

"Don't g****e me, Jimmy. Not yet. You will learn everything about me, and about yourself, when we meet. I promise."

Then the call ended.

Jimmy sat in the rain, staring at his phone. An hour ago, he was a heartbroken orphan with forty-one dollars and a bracelet in a trash can. Now he had twenty million dollars in his account and a mysterious woman calling herself his mother.

He had no idea who Diana Levruff really was. But one thing he knew for sure: his life had just changed.

Jimmy was still thinking about the woman on the phone when it happened. She claimed to be his mother, and he couldn't get her voice out of his head.

Was the $20,000,000 real? Or was it just a fake alert?

He never got the answer. A black van screeched to a stop beside him on the empty road.

Before he could run, 3 men jumped out and grabbed him. One of them pulled a black bag over his head.