My sister's best friend

Episode 8

Me interrupting: stop self-praising yourself.

Om: whatever! So being the nice person that I am, I offered her a lift.

So he wasn't dating Ishana. OH MY GOD I WAS SO RELIEVED! Why was I relieved though when I knew that he would never ever date me?

Om: but yeah, no one knows about my phobia and me having panic attacks. I don't talk about it because I feel embarrassed about it, you know how people are like about men having panic attacks, anxieties, phobias etc. They love to judge and I don't want to be judged. 

Of course I did. Our society, in fact this world needed to normalise men having mental health issues or being scared of stuff. Men like Om don't deserve to hide what bothers them or what affects them. They also deserve to talk about it and not be judged about it. I had no idea how long Om was dealing with this phobia and panic attacks but he didn't have to go through it alone. 

Me: so you were never planning to tell anyone about it?

Om: never until now. If we weren't trapped in a library then yeah, you probably would never ever know. 

Me: how long did you know?

Om: let me think...umm I have known about my phobia since I was 11. I have always been scared of the dark though. 

Me: so for all your life, you've stayed quiet about it?

Om: like I said, people love to judge. 

Me: well if anything is ever bothering or affecting you, I'm here for you. I promise you I won't judge. You are not alone and well I care about you.

Om gave me one of his soft friendly smiles. There was a little moment of silence and then he wrapped his arms around me.  His embrace was warm, and his big, strong arms seemed very protective when wrapped around my body. The world around me melted away as I squeezed him back, not wanting the moment to end. 

This hug felt right. It really did feel right. After a little while, Om took his arms off me and said: we really need to get out of here else our parents will start to panic.

He had a point but couldn't he have hugged me for a bit longer? I was really enjoying the moment. Why does my fate have to be so unkind to me? 

Me: let me call someone. Put the torch on your phone.

Om nodded as he did what I told him to and I went on my phone to call one of the librarians. I pressed on the first librarian's number and it was ringing until I heard that annoying automatic female voice: the number you are trying to call is currently unavailable, please call again later.

Me: luckily there are a few more numbers I can try.

I tried the other numbers but that automatic female voice always popped up to say the only words she has ever learnt 'the number you are trying to call is currently unavailable, please call again later', can she learn something else?

Om: any luck?

Me: not yet, let me call my mum. She knows someone who would have the key here.

Om: how lovely! You could have called her first.

Me: I am calling her now. 

Om: I know what you are doing.

Me: what am I doing?

Om: you're not aware, looks like I have to tell you. You are trying to spend more time with me so you are calling all the librarians first.

Technically that was not true. I was calling all the librarians first because they had keys to this place but...