«C'est dans le besoin qu'on reconnaît ses vrais amis.»
«It is when in need that one recognizes his real friends.»
~~~
I completed my third class of the day. Learning about the Market price was exhausting. Xavier went to visit his mom, so I was alone in there listening to an hour of senseless things. I slept through most of the reading, hoping to find an alternative way to catch up on what I missed.
The weather was unpleasant. The sky was so cloudy it was dark in midday. It was cold, rainy, and humid. The perfect temperature to be under the covers, reading a book with a glass of whiskey, eating grapes.
Thea texted me to meet her in the courtyard to have a moment together. We haven't talked in a long time; reconnecting was the best for us, plus I needed to confide in a friend. I understood she wasn't familiar with the courses and needed time to adjust. It's been one month and a half, the quarter exams are approaching, I needed to study too, but I am a last-minute person, I will probably drown myself in the books the night of the exam.
I spotted her sitting on a bench under a tree. I hurried to her and hugged her.
"Hey! How are you?" I asked, sitting next to her.
"I am doing fine. About you and classes?"
"Urghh! You know it's complicated, but I am pushing through, so are you getting hold of things?"
"My roommate and I have been studying and getting things done."
"that is cool. You know you could also ask me for help and pass by to study if you want to," I suggested, feeling a little bit jealous. I was not against her having friends, but we haven't been hanging out because of that roommate. I felt left out.
"Thanks anyway. I'll keep that in mind."
"So who is that roommate? You never really talk about him, except you guys hang out a lot."
"It's a she," she corrected me.
"But it's not someone important" she brushed it off.
"Alright then."
We talked for a minute until the bells rungs. I used this time to sneak into the Media Building every day to pee because we were not allowed inside the other buildings while classes were active. The bathroom doors were closed, and if you wanted to pee, you had to go all the way to the CE-15 building, and that is a five-minute walk.
"I gotta go now." I stood up.
"Leave your bag!"
I rushed into the crowd coming out of the door. After pushing and sneaking my way into the building, I finally find the bathroom. I did my duty and washed my hands quickly before the bells ring again. On my way back, I met Julian's group at the door. They were laughing and talking. We made eye contact, and he smiled. I was confused why he was smiling charmingly. I wouldn't say I like that. I hated when he smiled like that. Usually, that means he had a sick idea behind his head. Two weeks since I vandalized his townhouse, he hasn't tried to get me back. The suspense is driving me crazy. He was too calm about it. Every thought about that made me afraid.
I joined Thea rapidly. She was standing looked impatient. I knitted my eyebrows and asked her:
"Is everything okay?"
"Sure. It's so dark. It's about to rain" she laughed nervously.
"We can go inside."
"Yes, but before we go, do you have Mr. Dale's homework? I don't understand the second question."
"Wait, let me grab it."
I bent over to my bag, unzipped it, and dig my hand. She grabbed my chin and turned my head in her direction, showing me a graph paper, refusing to let me peek inside my bag.
"While you are searching, can you also look at this analysis?"
"Yes, but let me-"
I was interrupted when I felt something running on my hand. A sharp and sour pain sensation suddenly took over my arm. I screamed, yanking my hand out of the bag. I had stings marks on my wrist. I look at my bags. Scorpions were crawling around between my books.
My hand was burning. My breath started to get shorter. Thea was laughing at how terrified I looked. I collected myself and tried not to panic while exercising my breathing. In the corner of my eyes, I saw Julian and his friend approached. I realized that he was behind it. I forgot about all the calming exercises, and rage rise up through my head.
"You did this, you son of bitch!" I screamed, walking towards him, pointing at the bag.
"Yeah, a little bird told me that you are scared of scorpions. I just wanted to surprise you." He smiled.
"I am not scared of scorpions, you bozo. I am extremely allergic." I whistled, out of breath.
My chest tightened. It became more and more difficult to breathe. The stings spots started to swelling. I was itching, and my eyes began to watering, blocking my view. Julian's smiled disappeared. His facial expressions changed from confusion to concern when he realized that I was seriously turning red and swollen.
"Are you oka-" he asked, trying to take my hand.
I backed up, causing me to trip over Thea's bag on the floor, and I fell, hitting my head on the bench. My hand was on fire. I was rolling on the floor, gasping for air. An agonizing and suffering pain numbed my arm.
Through my blurry vision, I could see Julian dropped on his knees, panicking, shaking me, and talking to me, even though I couldn't hear him correctly.
"Call a fucking ambulance. She is bleeding!"He heard him yelled at his friends, standing shocked.
Students who were going to class stopped and started approaching, and some were videotaping. Others were running to I don't know where. It was chaos and panic that I couldn't even understand.
An excruciatingly severe pain submerged the back of my head. I gasped for the last time for air before everything turned black.
_____________
I woke up by the blindly light on my face and the loud beeps. I had a bandage wrapped around my head, and it was hurting. I could feel the blood pumping inside of my skull.
"Ah, you awake!" Exclaimed a high, silky voice.
A female doctor was standing next to me, holding a paper and a pen.
"What is going on? Where am I?" I wandered in a small weak voice.
"You had an Anaphylactic shock and a concussion back there at school. How are you feeling?"
"My head...just hurting and my hand...it's numb."
"I will give you a pill for the headache. It would be best if you were careful around that. And your allergies are severe, Ms. Royale. For now, the swollen is going away. It can feel itchy but try your best not to itch it. I administered you epinephrine to calm the allergies symptoms. Do you have your EpiPen with you every day?"
"No"
"Well, you should consider having it."
"Well, in my defense, it's not like every day you come across your bag full of scorpions," I joked sarcastically.
Even she did not understand what I was emphasizing. She smiled with sympathy. The doctor left quickly to let my friend in.
Thea stormed in and jumped on me.
"Heyyy!! Omg, I thought I would lose you!"
"Mhh yeah, what time is it?" I gently pushed her off me.
"It's 6 pm. I told the school about your accident. You have a week free! Isn't that cool!?"
"Yeah, it would have been cooler if I wasn't sick now."
"Oh Yeah, Xemina, about that, I didn't know you were that allergic."
"But still, why did you help him?"
"I thought it was a funny joke-"
"Joke? Whatever is happening between Julian and me is not a joke!" I raised my voice, making my head hurt slightly more.
"Relax! It's not that serious! That was a little accident. You did vandalize his house, he got you back, yet I am pretty sure that he is feeling bad about it."
"Thea, I am in a hospital bed! This is serious! I thought you were on my side..."
"Oh my God, I am! You know what? I am done excusing myself. You make all people out of your life look bad. Julian, Shawn, and Agea are not even bad people, yet when you talk about them, it's like they are monsters."
"What are you even talking about? I told you what they have done to me. Isn't that enough for you to stay away from them?"
"You want me to stay away from them so I can be your tissue box and shield because all people want to do is hurt you. No wonder why you don't have any other friends. Boohoo, grow up." She spat while doing exaggerating signs.
"It's not about people wanting to hurt me. I brought you here because we are friends, and you are not supposed to be helping my enemy to humiliate me so hard that I had to go to the hospital!"
"So I am not allowed to friend who I want?"
"I never said that."
"Good, so don't bring me into your drama and try to make me hate people that did nothing to me. I will be the judge of who I want to befriend or not. Take on your toxicity to someone else. If you gave me a ride here that makes you think I have to live in your shadow, you could put me next to the road. I'll take a cab to the nearest destination." She crossed her arms.
"It's not about none of that. You go ahead, be friends with whoever you want. It's fake friendly behavior that is wrong. How are you going to play for both parties and think it's ok?"
"Think how you want. I am staying on the more popular, attractive, rich, and winning side."
She walked out and closed the door loudly, giving me a league headache.
I was upset that she had to talk to me like that. Thea promised to stay by my side no matter what, yet she was the first one to turn her back on me so fast. I wanted to cry, but I will make my head hurt more, so I buckled my emotions for the night.
I was staying at the hospital until tomorrow. Mark called to know what was happening. The school phoned him as my emergency contact. Panicking, he was asking all sorts of questions, even proposed to take a flight to Toronto. I declined and told him that I was okay. I also didn't inform him that Julian was responsible for my current state. I figured that would start a war. I had enough drama for today. Xavier also called. He learned about the incident from the school website.
Ah yes, what would I have been without the school media website? Thank God it wasn't public. Only students had access to it via the school portal. Each student had an email and password to access it. It's like our own social media page that no one outside can access. And if any student posted what was happening inside the school to another social media app, they will get suspended or expelled. I loved this privacy because if the media could see what miseries I was enduring under Elvero, that would have shown his true colors to the world.
Tomorrow morning, I was dismissed from the hospital. I was still having minimal headaches but nothing to be worried about, my hand was still swollen, and the redness was almost gone. They gave me a remedy to treat the itchiness along with other stuff. I received a lot of getting wells messages from students that warmed my heart.
Walking to my cabin, I spotted a silhouette leaning against my door. I recognized Juan, primarily confused about what he was doing here. He saw me and redressed himself, spinning his keys around his finger. Juan never addressed me, and he always stood beside Julian. I wish I had a friend like him. He was Julian's ride or die no matter what.
"Let me guess, did Julian sent you here?"
"No, I am here for myself."
"What a surprise," I mumbled, passing him to open my door.
"Listen, I am sorry about what happened to you yesterday."
"Why are you apologizing? The last thing I recall, it wasn't you who did it."
"Julian is very sorry. He didn't mean t-."
"Oh, for God's sake!" I interrupted him. "why is everyone suddenly defending him? Doesn't he have a fucking mouth?! Did he send you here to apologize? Because if he does it himself, that will so hurt his ego! I am tired of this bullshit. Is he going to give you the spokesperson role when he finally settled as a CEO? Because that will not cut the communication phase for me."
"Whatever you think, Xemina, I was doing my part. I guess you need to rest, so I am going to leave. Take care of yourself."
I rolled my eyes and ran through my cabin, and went immediately into bed. Once under the covers, I allowed my emotions out. I was tired and defeated. I just lost my best friend over a dumb argument. Every day that passed by felt more and more draining. I was angry and full of hate that keeps eating me inside. I always had to prove that I was worthy, yet I always lose.
I need a god damn win.
~~~~~
Who do you think is wrong in this friendship? Xemina or Thea?
Q/ If you could have chosen a team, what will it be? Team Xemina? Team Julian? Or play both parties?