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When I woke up, I was in the campus Medical Center. I laid there on the bed for a few minutes until I remembered what happened and felt depressed all over again.
Why couldn’t he have remained wherever he was? Why did we have to cross paths again? I cried silently as I regretted my decision to come
here. Any other university where I would never see his face would be heaven right now. I heard footsteps approach the door and tried to wipe away evidence of my tears but I knew my eyes would still look bloodshot and my face will be blotchy.
“Is she awake now?” Someone whispered as two people entered the room.
I briefly thought of pretending to be asleep but decided against
it. I watched my roommates Lisa and Alison walk into the room trying to make as little noise as possible.
“Oh, thank God you’re alright.” Alison breathed in relief.
“One minute you were fine and standing on your own two feet and the next thing we knew, you were flat on the ground.” Lisa said as she took a seat beside the bed.
Alison stood beside her, peering at me intently. “Did it have anything to do with…Ryan?” She tentatively asked.
“I mean, you were fine before he approached you.” I didn’t want to talk about it so I changed the topic. “Where’s Stacy?”
“She’s still at John’s place. A fight broke out just a short while after you were carried out.” It seemed parties were jinxed on this campus.
“What caused it?” I asked.
Lisa immediately looked animated as she prepared to narrate the incident.
“You wouldn’t believe it. In fact, it happened like a film trick. When you fainted, you drew a lot of attention. People started gathering and asking what happened to you. Some wanted to brush it off as you having a bit too much to drink
but Alison, Victor and I swore you’d only had a can of Soda all evening.” She paused for breath.
“When John, Stacy and some of his guys came over, they saw Ryan with you, John confronted him and before we knew it, some of Ryan’s friends came over too and they all began exchanging punches. I would’ve said John fought for your honor but we all know he’s crazy about Stacy, so I think there’s something more going on between those guys than we think.”
For a moment I took in all she said and tried to make sense of
it. A fight couldn’t have broken out just because I fainted. Lisa
was right, there had to be something more.
“I didn’t realize Ryan was a student on this campus.” I said
slowly.
“Oh he is, but he’s rarely on campus. He recently came back with the other people I told you about who’ve been away since the beginning of the semester.” She eyed me carefully. “Why? You sound like you know him.”
“He’s just familiar that is all.” I muttered, hating the fact that I’d embarrassed myself like that in front of him.
Later when I was discharged and allowed to return to the hostel, I stretched out on my bed and shut my eyes. I desperately hoped that it was a nightmare and nothing more. I fervently wished that Ryan would disappear into thin air or back
to whatever hole he had crawled out from. I got out my phone
and called Tonia, she would understand.
“Monica, how’re you?”
“I’m not fine.” I answered truthfully.
“What’s wrong?” She asked urgently.
“He’s here.”
“Who’s there?”
“Ryan.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Did he touch you or did he do anything to you?” Her voice was firm.
“No.” I whispered.
“Good, stay far away from him, do you hear me?”
“I will.”
“Remember, he has no power over you. Don’t let
anything disrupt your life again.” I felt silent tears run down my face as I listened to Tonia’s words. My skin was covered in cold sweat and I tried as much
as possible to slow down the pace of my breathing.
“If there’s any emergency, let me know or better still, get in touch with any trustworthy university authority.”
“Okay, I will.”
When the call ended, I shut my eyes again and tried to block out the memories that threatened to surface. I wondered how long it would take for him to find me on campus and what I would do if that should happen.
Sylvia decided call Monica and tell her the whole truth because if it wasn't for her she wouldn't have been alive today. So she dialed Monica's number.
''Hello, Monica'' Sylvia said.
Hello. Monica replied.
'I'm Sylvia from the medical center, i will like to speak with you please'.
It was kinda tragic but confusing and that includes Mr. David and Lisa to it.
“Don’t say that it might be negative.”
“I desperately hope so.”
Together(me and Lisa), we walked out of the medical center and I was sure we were a strange sight to see.
There I was dressed up in my Sunday best while Lisa had simply worn a caftan over a pair of worn-out jeans. But neither of us was bothered because all we could think of was whether or not Lisa’s life was about to take a tragic turn.
I’d promised not to reveal a word about it to anyone, not even when Alison and Stacy gave us strange looks as if they suspected that something was wrong.
.
.
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