SOTUS: The Adult Years

A Friend in Need (May)

It was quite alarming when Maprang did not go to university over the past 2 days. On the first day, she was simply not answering her phone. On the second day, it went out of reach. After finishing our class for that day, I excused myself from a date with M and hurried to Maprang's apartment.

I tried knocking first but when I got no answer I tried opening the door. Lucky enough it was open. Once inside, the room was pretty dark. All the curtains were pulled to the other end and there were no lights on. "Maprang," I called out with concern. I turned the lights on in the living room and saw Maprang's bedroom door is open. "Maprang," I called out once more. The bedroom was also dark but sighing with relief, I saw Maprang on her bed sleeping.

I turned the lights on in her bedroom and saw discarded cups of instant noodles everywhere along with discarded clothes. I tried rousing her from her sleep but when I got no response I pulled over the curtains and let sunlight in. That trick seemed to work and I heard Maprang groaning with agony.

"Maprang," I called out once again. She got up and looked at me while shielding her eyes from the glare. I cannot see her face clearly with her long hair covering her face. Her pajamas looked a bit disheveled like she had been wearing the same thing over the past few days.

"May," she asked.

"Who else?" I answered.

"I thought you're Prae," she said weakly.

"You scared me, y'know," I scolded her. "I tried calling you but you were not answering and then your phone was out of reach." All I got was an "Ung" from her and she shook her head to finally wake herself up from her stupor.

Maprang got up from her bed and I was finally able to see her clearly. And the first thing I noticed were her eyes. They were so red and puffy. Right away I thought she must have cried over the past few days. That could only mean, Prae. "When was the last time you took a bath?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Could be two hours ago. Could be yesterday. Could be last week," she dragged on. "Go ahead and take a bath first. You stink!" I admonished. She listlessly took some clothes from her closet and I gave her the towel hanging from her chair. I started tidying up her bedroom while she was taking a bath. I picked up her discarded clothes and put them in her hamper. I picked up the cups of noodles and assorted food wrappers (from chocolates to cookies to even seaweed) and threw them in the rubbish bin. My instinct tells me that something has happened over the past two days. I was done making her bed when she stepped out of the bathroom. She is wearing a terrycloth robe on top of a set of pajamas.

"Don't tell me you plan to sleep again?" I nagged at her. She made a face at me and smiled. But her smile didn't touch her eyes like it used to. It seemed forced. "C'mon, sit here, I'll dry your hair." I plugged her hairdryer in an outlet nearby and she sat on floor while I sat on the side of the bed. We were quiet for some time letting the heavy air bear down upon us. I usually let my friends open up to me first rather than bombard them with questions right away. Normally, Maprang is the chattiest in our group and with her being quiet right now made me more sure that something was in deed wrong.

When I cannot stand the silence anymore, I tried opening up with her. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" I encouraged her. She breathe deeply and let out a sigh.

"Prae and I broke up," she explained. I hid my surprise and did not say anything at first. But when she did add details afterwards, I asked her once more. "Do you want to tell me about it?" I said curiously.

"What is there to say?" Maprang said weakly. "It is over. We can't seem to work out being together. As a couple we should be together but we hardly had any time for each other lately. I'm done being a doormat always welcoming her back when she finds it convenient for her to be with me." She ranted more in the next few minutes. I tried to distance myself from what she's saying because both of them are my best friends.