“What’s up?” Lisa asked when I entered the room.
“You look moody.”
“It’s nothing.” I shook my head.
“Um, where’s Charles?”
“Oh, he left already. He asked after you but you didn’t show up.”
I felt a bit of relief mixed with disappointment knowing that he was gone.
“But you’ll probably see more of him when he visits again. He used to be a student here but left due to some complicated reasons.
Anyway, enough about my annoying cousin, what’s wrong with you and don’t lie to me.” She kept a firm face and waited with her arms folded across her chest.
“Okay,” I threw my bag on my bed and sat down beside her.
“I’m just freaked out about this ORION and THE REDS thing.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about, just stay out of their way and you’ll be fine.”
I didn’t know how to tell her that I was already involved with their current leader who had made it a mission to frustrate me at every given opportunity.
“Or is there something you want to tell me?” She raised an eyebrow.
I figured it was now or never. I had to tell someone about Ryan otherwise it might eat me up inside and I didn’t know how much longer I had before that would happen.
“Actually, there is.”
“I’m listening.” She sat up and waited for me to continue.
“Years ago, I met Ryan in high school and it was a bittersweet experience for me.”
Her eyebrows shot up at this.
“I remember Alison asked you about him before.
We noticed you always act weird when he’s around, but you said there
Was nothing wrong. So you lied?”
“I just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.”
“Okay, go on. What happened between you guys?”
“He… um, he…”
“He did what?”
“We got close, first as friends but then we kind of became something more.”
“As in, a couple?”
“Not really but there were definitely some feelings involved but now that I think of it, maybe any true feelings were only on my side.
Anyway, one day we met at a restaurant to celebrate his admission into the university and I had no idea that I’d walked right into a trap. He organized the whole thing, the empty restaurant, the drugged food and drinks. I passed out and when I woke up, he and his friends were there. I was gang-raped and mercilessly beaten. He let me go but sometimes, I wish he’d left me to die or did the job himself because the shame and embarrassment were just too much to
Bear.
It was so bad that I had to see a therapist for a year after the incident. I chose to become home-schooled because I didn’t know how to be around people anymore, especially guys and I despised them, every single one of them.”
“That’s terrible, I’m so sorry.” Lisa shook her head. “Now I
See why you used to get upset whenever I used to
Force you to
Talk to guys, I really had no idea, I’m so sorry.”
“You couldn’t have known.” I shrugged.
“Do you still, I mean do you still fear them?”
I sighed and massaged my forehead to relieve
Some tension.
“It’s called Androphobia. I can’t help it at times. I just want to be far away from men.”
“But what if the guy doesn’t mean any harm?”
“It’s not as bad as it used to be, I can interact with them now but back then was when I was at my lowest point. I used to have panic attacks and that’s something I haven’t had in years until Ryan showed up. I guess the shock of seeing him again triggered it.”
“Shouldn’t you report him to the authorities? He can’t go scot-free.”
I chose my next words carefully before I spoke.
“I can’t report him for the same reason you can’t seem to bring yourself to speak about Mr. David to the school authorities. We’re both afraid.”
“This is different.” Lisa took in a sharp breath and I saw tears form in her eyes but she blinked and brushed them away.
“How is it different?”
“He could fail me in my course or… or find a way to
Make the rest of my stay in this university a living hell, there are consequences but if I keep quiet, I can avoid them.”
“That’s the thing, Lisa, we’re already suffering from some sort of consequence. You know what you felt like when you got
Those test results from the hospital for your test. I was
Mentally and emotionally unstable for nearly a year and I attempted suicide at some point in time.”
Lisa froze at my words. “You did what?”
“I know exactly how it feels to want to end it all. I tried it too but I couldn’t go through with it, there was no way I could watch you try to kill yourself the same way I tried to years ago.”
“You know what?” She said.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m glad you didn’t go ahead with it, otherwise, I would never have met you.”
“I’m glad I didn’t too.” I smiled.
.
.
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