SHE'S NOT A SLOT

When I boarded this jeep, my fellow passengers couldn't help but stare at me. The men in the jeep grinned while looking at me, while the women looked at me with disgust. They examined me from head to toe.

What's going on? Why are they looking at me like that? It only made my headache worse to think about it, so I just ignored them.

"That's her, right?" I heard a woman in front of me say.

I pretended not to hear and just covered my face with my handkerchief and closed my eyes.

I was suddenly awakened by the sound of my cell phone in my bag, so I took it out and read the message. It was Blessy, one of my colleagues at work.

"Tasia, do you know about the news?" her text message said.

I ran out of load so I couldn't reply, so I was about to put my cell phone back in my bag when it rang again. It was Blessy calling.

"Manong, stop here, please," I told the driver, and he stopped the jeep.

As soon as I got off, I answered Blessy's call.

"Hello, Blessy, what's the news you're talking about?" I said as I walked towards the way to my home.

"Tasia, well, don't be surprised," she said hesitantly.

I furrowed my brow. "Come on, Blessy, just tell me," I said calmly, but I was getting nervous about what she was going to say.

"There's a photo of you and the richest CEO in the world going around social media. I thought you were going to celebrate your 2nd anniversary with Troy, which is why you took leave. I sent you a load check out the picture I sent you," she said anxiously.

I immediately checked what she was talking about. I almost dropped my cell phone when I saw it.

I saw myself naked with the man beside me also without clothes, but his face was blurred and only my face was visible.

I looked at the picture on my cellphone for a long time, why did it have to come to this? I'm the one who lost my virginity, and now I'm being judged by others.

I could still hear Blessy talking, but I hung up the phone. I wiped away the tears in my eyes. I decided to cover my face with my handkerchief as I walked home to avoid the judgmental stares of people.

I hurried my pace to get home quickly, but even from a distance, I could hear my mother and father shouting. My father was hurting my mother again.

I ran to stop my father from hurting my mother. When I held my father's hand, he pushed me hard, causing me to fall to the ground.

"Don't meddle here, you're just a bastard in my house. You're not my daughter," he shouted at me as he pointed at me.

I got up to go after my mother because I was afraid my father would hurt her again. I held my mother's hand, but I received a slap from my father, causing me to let go of my mother and fall to the ground while crying.

He took my mother inside, locked the door, and shouted from the window.

"You're no different from your mother! I don't have a daughter who is a flirt and a whore like you! Leave and never come back to my house!" he yelled.

I stood up from kneeling and crying. I saw my mother inside, crying like me, but I felt sorry for her, she was always being hurt by my father.

I approached the window where my mother was, "Mom," I cried as I tried to reach out to her.

My father hit the hand that was inside the window, "Leave now, I said! If you don't leave, I will hurt your mother as I did to you," he said and he was about to hit my mother again but...

"Dad! Please stop, I'm leaving now, don't hurt Mom anymore," I begged my father while crying.

I approached the window again and my mother did the same. She kissed my hand and signaled me to leave.

"I'll come back for you, Mom, I'll come back," I said goodbye to my mother while she just shook her head.

I wanted to take her away from my father but it was my mother herself who refused. She didn't want to leave my father even though he was treating her badly.

I couldn't do anything but leave and go back to my small apartment in the city where I work.

I felt my body getting weaker so I decided to rest for a while, I had no strength left and I haven't eaten since yesterday.

I lay down on my small and thin bed, wiping the tears that continued to flow from my eyes, and closed my eyes. I wanted to end this bad dream. It's worse than a nightmare. I hope that when I wake up, the pain will be gone. I hope I can forget what happened and that everything will go back to how it used to be.

From: Babe (Troy)

"Hey Anastasia, I hope you're doing well. I had a lot of fun getting to know you but to be honest, I don't think we have much in common. It was a pleasure to meet you. I wanted to express how much I appreciate our conversations and how much I would like to see you again, but I believe we aren't compatible and that this relationship isn't working for me. As a result, I'd like to cease all further contact with you and wish you the best of luck in the future, I'm sorry it’s over,"

I thought everything would be fine when I woke up, but when I read Troy's text message, I just wanted to sleep forever because of the immense pain I was feeling now.