Chapter Twenty - Two
"So, the anonymous guy you are dating is Mike?"
I froze as soon as I heard those words. Even though I knew what was coming my way, it still came as a shock to me that she knew. How did she find out about this? How? Did one of my classmates tell her?
"W - What?" I asked her, my voice a shaking whisper. God, I could feel the fear in my voice. My nerves were getting to me.
Shirley stood up, crossed her arms and stared me down with one of her sharp glares. I would have flinched but I did not. I had seen her be like this with people who liked to bully me, like Blake, but her temper was never directed towards me. I was not used to this.
"Did you not hear me or are you pretending that you did not hear me?" She questioned, her icy voice stunning me.
I bit my lip as I thought about how I should answer her question. My heart was beating fast. It was obvious that she knew so there was no point in lying to her. However, I wanted to steer this conversation to a steady ground.
Therefore, I took a steady breath in an attempt to calm my nerves before speaking. "Yes. I am dating Mike." I told her. I clutched my top, so that I could brace myself from the impact of Shirley's fury.
"Even though I told you not to?" She asked me. That question made me shut up.
Me and Mike's affair was supposed to be a secret. Now that it was out I did not know how to deal with this.
I knew that Shirley would see this as a betrayal. That's why I was keeping this whole ordeal a secret, to keep her away from this. Not only did I lie to her but I also went behind her back and did everything she warned me not to. But it was because I did not want to lose her. She was my friend. I did not want her to turn her back against me.
I fumbled with the top before answering her. "Yes. Even after you told me not to." I answered her. I took a step toward her and raised my hand to reassure her but she stopped me with her one hand raised in the air and took a step back.
That felt like a punch in my heart. I dropped my hand and stopped where I was standing.
"Why?" She asked. Her voice, throaty. I tried to answer her but changed my mind.
"How did you find out?" I asked her instead. There were many ways she could have found out. Yet, I still wanted to know.
Shirley pursed her lips. "I came back today in the morning. My Manager just messaged us that the coffee shop would be closed today. I thought that we could enjoy this day together. However, when I came back, you were not here." She said,
My heart skipped a beat. She came back today? Since how long had she been in this dorm room? Oh damn.
"So, I went to the library searching for you. Turned out that you were not even there. I asked the librarian about you and she told me that you were not coming to the library for a long time."
"I tried to call you but you did not pick up.I thought that you were gone on a date with your ... Well, now that we both know, Mike. Well, I spent some time reading when one of your classmates came to me and asked if you had her notes. That's when she told me all about your dating scene with this guy Mike." She explained. I took an irritated, angry breath. Why couldn't that girl keep her mouth shut? Why were people so interested in selling other people's secrets? Or share about the things that were not meant to be shared?
"Why are you dating him, Viri? When I told you not to?" Shirley asked. Her voice, a little less angry. Although, the bite in her tone was still there.
"Why are you so worried that I am dating him? I know that you both have some beef with each other but you're not dating anymore. So, why is it so wrong if I date him now?" I said. My own anger coming forth and taking control of my voice.
"Are you jealous?" I snapped at her. Feeling frustrated all of a sudden. It was not her business who I dated. It could be Mike or any other guy. She had no right to tell me who was right for me and who was not.
As soon as I asked her about the jealousy, she threw her head back and started laughing like a maniac. She laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed until I could not control my annoyance.
"What!" I yelled at her.
At that, she stopped her laughing and looked at me like she found me ridiculous and stupid at the same time.
"Jealous? From you? You must be pretty dumb Viri, if you think that I only wanted to stop you from dating Mike, because I was jealous." She mocked me.
I could feel myself shaking with anger now. "Don't call me dumb! You always treated me like a child. You always tried to set rules for me to follow. You always behaved like, I am some naive kid who doesn't know the harsh reality of the world! I come from a screwed up house and know very well how this world works. It's only you, who is getting jealous because this was the first time you did not get what you asked of me!" I screamed at her.
Her face transformed with a cold, evil smile taking her face. "Oh, just because you come from a poor house and got few, now and then beating, you think you know the world?" She retorted. "Believe it or not, Viri, that much experience is not enough to know about the world. And you Are a kid. An insolent, unruly child. Who likes to think she's mature, but is nothing but a brat of a child!" She snapped.
Now, my anger was high. "How dare you!" I yelled back. "You are going to blame everyone and everything now, uh? You act so mature and seem to know everything about this world, then why don't you get over your jealous self and accept that you can't stand Mike choosing me over someone like you?"
She let out a humourless chuckle. "Someone like me? You think he likes you because he thinks you are better than me?" She asked, mocking me. Her words made it seem like she could not believe I could be better than her.
"If you really think that, then maybe you are way stupider than you actually look, Viri." She said, her taunt hitting me on point.
"Or maybe, You are the stupidest one Shirley. Mike is one of the nicest guys in existence. If you think anything otherwise, you are stupid." I barked back.
"Oh really? The nicest guy Existing?" She asked ridiculously. Shirley took a step forward. Her face was a mask of fury. "Have you ever thought of the fact that there must be a reason why I told you not to date this guy?" She asked me. A chill gust of air came in through the window making my hair stand up to the cold.
I swallowed hard. "What do you mean?" I questioned her.
"Do you really think that whenever I asked you to not mingle with this guy, it was because I was jealous and thought that he would choose you over me because you were better than me?" She said, I opened my mouth to respond but shut it suddenly. Not sure where this was going.
"Think Viri. I always told you to live your life to the fullest. Always forces you to enjoy the short period of time that you have for yourself. Hell, I even encouraged you to date guys outside this school and never told you to hold back. But when it came to this guy, I warned you against him? Do you think it was because I was jealous of you?" I did not have an answer to her question but I was still angry.
"Yes!" I yelled at her.
"Wrong!" She yelled back.
"Then what the hell is your reason?!" This time, I legit screamed at her in anger. My frustration touching the roof.
"He sold me!!!" She shouted. I couldn't understand her for a second. But soon enough her words set in.
Her words stunned me.
"What?" I asked. My voice barely whispers.
"He sold me." She said, this time her voice broke. A single tear ran down her cheek.
And That shook me to my core. Shirley never cried. Never. She was the strongest girl I know, but this ... this was not the sight I had ever seen before.
I took a step forward without thinking but stopped. "Shirley ..."
My hand itched to console her, to hold and comfort her, but I knew she did not want me to do that. Therefore, I asked her instead. "What happened?" This time, my voice was soft and calm, void of any anger that I just held against her a few moments back.
Shirley slid down slowly and sat down on the floor against the wall. "Mike and I dated for weeks. I was new when I met him at a party. He was a senior and I was stupid. At his party, he charmed me with his looks and manners. I was swooned in just a few days." She described.
"One day, he took me to one of his parties out of this town. There he took me around and introduced me to his so - called friends. We all were having a good time when Mike handed me a drink." She said, I shiver ran down my spine. I did not like where this was going.
"I don't know what happened but after that drink everything became blurry and I became hazy. It was all just a blur. I remember that I wanted to leave the party because I was not feeling right. In middle of the party, Mike disappeared somewhere." Shirley wiped the tear off her cheeks.
"One of his friends said that he knows where Mike had disappeared to and that he would take me to him. In my hazy state I agreed and followed him wherever he was taking me. I don't know how it happened but suddenly, he was throwing me inside a car and out of nowhere I was being pushed in the backseat of a random car. There were two guys in the car who pulled me in. In my weak state, I tried to fight but could do nothing. As soon as I was in the car, it took off." Shirley took a shaky deep breath.
"I thought I would die at any moment. That these guys will sexually assualt me and murder me. But it turned out to be way worse. While I was fighting against the guy in the backseat, he told me to shut up. He told me that I was being paid as debt that Mike owed them for drugs. He also told me that, if not for me then Mike would pay off his debt with his blood." Staring off in the distance, she continued.
"I thought that they were lying for a second, but then the guy who was holding me down got a call from Mike. I could literally hear him, asking if the Girl they had agreed on got safely delivered or not. I could not believe what I was hearing." She said, Her eyes filled up with more tears.
"How did you manage to get out?" I asked her. She looked at me, like she suddenly realised that I was standing there.
"I jumped out of the car. They did not have a child - lock on. I waited for the right time and jumped out. My haze had cleared out by then. Mostly because of the situation. I got bruised badly but wasn't injured seriously. They stopped their car and got out of it to follow me but I was already running in the forest nearby. I hid behind a tree until they got back in the car and left. After that, I waited until the next car passed and hitchhiked it to a nearby hospital. I got out of it safe." She explained.
Wiping her cheeks, one more time, she stood up. Picking up her purse, she looked at me. "So, if you think that keeping you away from this type of guy is jealousy. Then you are right Viri, I am jealous." She said, the hurt clear in her voice.
With that line, Shirley walked out of the room, closing the door behind me. Leaving me to wonder what I just did.