Camille: I managed to gobble down the food that had gotten stuck in my throat as I reflexively moved away from him. “I didn’t ask you to come in,” I said, immediately regretting why I hadn’t just locked my door like I always did right after I got in. He looked at me like he didn’t understand what I was saying. “Your door was open. It’s been locked for days now so I assumed it was an invitation,” he said with a shrug as he made himself more comfortable on my bed. “So what are we watching?” I turned off my phone and made it lie face down on the bed. “What is this about? What game are you trying to play here?” I asked him straight to the point, with my arms crossed over my chest. If he thought he could just waltz in here and pretend like we’ve been buddies ever since, then he was completely wrong. He took a bite of his food and hummed. “Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly get any better,” he said as he savored the taste of the food. I felt a blush color
Camille: Words could not describe how embarrassed I felt. The way Lucia kept looking down at me with disappointment only made matters worse. What was my excuse? I wasn’t drunk. What then was my excuse for resting on her brother’s shoulder while he touched me, just a day after she had expressly warned me to steer clear of him. I suddenly felt so dirty, even without having to look at her. No wonder he didn’t take me seriously. Even after all the hurtful things he had said countlessly to me, I still managed to let myself be putty in his hands. My food was halfway gone, but I no longer had an appetite for it. I placed it on the chair Daniel had vacated, before laying on the bed and covering myself with the duvet, just to protect myself from her silent but deadly glare. She didn’t let me do that. “What is the meaning of this?” She asked, lifting the top of the blanket away from my face. “How did you get in?” I asked, avoiding her eyes. What was it with locked doors today?
Camille: On Monday morning, I felt much better. I dressed up for school early enough and left without seeing anyone. Fortunately, Daniel didn’t come out throughout the time I had my breakfast, the leftover food from yesterday, and I was thankful for it. When the third professor for the day didn’t show up, I got busy with reading one of the novels for my Romantic literature course. Even though I had read it before, I still read it again to refresh my memory. At least it was a well-deserved break from erotica. Apparently, that genre wasn’t doing me any good lately. “Hey,” a male voice said to me and I recoiled inwardly. I ignored the voice as well as his shadow that was blocking my line of sight. I hoped he would just walk away if I ignored him long enough, but unfortunately, he didn’t. “Hi,” he said again, pulling an empty seat in front of my desk. I wished I could just disappear. “Hello Ezekiel,” I said with clear irritation as I dropped the book I had been reading. “
Camille: Warning bells went off in my head when he said that. “You’ve been waiting for me?” I repeated, watching him closely. “Well, yeah,” he said with furrowed brows. “Why do you look so surprised?” “Oh it’s just uh…” I lost my trail of thought when he started moving toward me. “It’s what?” He asked with a smirk as he moved, making me step back until my back hit a wall. He was just a few inches away from me at that point, his hand over my head, caging me while his eyes bore on my lips. “I didn’t uh…” I said and stopped, getting distracted by what was in front of me. We were so close that I could almost see the pores on his face. His chest was directly in my line of sight, but I forced myself to look up at his equally handsome face instead. “We weren’t quite finished yesterday, were we?” He asked, slowly touching the tip of my ear with his other hand. I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. Why was I getting so turned on from my ears being touched?
Camille: After school the next day, I made my way to a store to buy earplugs. I was tired of deafening my ears every night with noise canceling headphones because of my roommate’s brother. If Daniel planned to bring more girls over, I would have to find a better way to block my ears every night since his room was right next to mine. I arrived ten minutes late to the bookstore and snuck in from the back just in case Miss Winston caught me and decided to lecture me. However, that backfired, because when I made it to the cashier counter, she was already standing there with Reggie, apparently waiting for me. “My favorite employee is here,” she squealed when she saw me and came to hug me. I tensed a little, wondering why she was so excited to see me. “You remember Reggie, don’t you?” She asked, pointing at her son. He waved at me with a smile on his face. “Hi.” “Hey,” I responded, unable to meet his gaze for some reason. “Reggie just came over and he won’t stop talki
Camille: When Daniel yelled at me to get in, the guilt I had felt disappeared immediately. What right did he have to yell at me? Was I his responsibility? He was the last person to lecture me on the right way to behave. “Don’t raise your voice at me,” I said in a small but steady voice. I staggered a little, but fortunately, Reggie held me. Daniel’s eyes darkened with rage. “You’re drunk,” he accused me. “You’re fucking drunk.” “And what’s that to you?” I asked, equally raising my voice. “You get drunk everyday and you and your drunk disgusting friends mess up my house. If anyone should yell at me for this, it shouldn’t be you.” Daniel opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t. He leaned against the door and crossed his arm, turning his gaze on Reggie. “Get in,” he repeated to me, still looking at Reggie. “Don’t tell me what to do,” I slurred. “If you don’t get in in ten seconds, get ready to sleep outside,” he warned me. “What the hell is wrong with y
Camille: When I woke up the next morning, I felt like shit. It felt like someone was throwing the loudest party in my head. It was already bright so I knew it was morning. As I sat up, I began to remember some of the events from last night. I remembered coming back with Reggie and being yelled at by Daniel. I frowned. However, I also recalled him rubbing my back and holding my hair while I threw up. He also gave me some water and a drug that was supposed to help with my condition. I shuddered. At least I was still alive so that meant he hadn’t poisoned me. This was not my first time being hungover, but for some reason, this one was the toughest one I’d ever dealt with. I couldn’t miss school again. Groaning, I picked myself off the bed and managed to change my clothes and tie my towel around my chest. My legs still felt wobbly, but at least it was not as bad as yesterday. There was a knock on my door and I hesitated before opening it. “Hey,” Daniel said, coming i
Camille:Ezekiel, my weird class stalker kept giving me the side eye while we were in class, so I made up my mind to leave even before our last professor came in. I didn’t want to be ambushed by him or have to listen to whatever crap he would come up with. Some people just couldn’t take hints, and he was obviously one of them. I couldn’t have been any clearer about not wanting him the last time he approached me, yet he still didn’t give up. He had sent me several texts which I had ignored, and had even tried calling me. I didn’t answer those either. On my way to the bookstore after school, coupled with my sickness and hunger, I felt nervous. I wondered if Reggie would be there. I had called him over and over that day, but the automated voice kept saying the number was unavailable. I really hoped to see him, at least to apologize for Daniel being such a d!ck, although a part of me was certain he was already used to it. I walked past a couple kissing passionately in the park, and wh
Camille: “What the hell!” My peaceful sleep was interrupted by the loudest screech I had ever heard. I opened my eyes slightly and looked around. Thankfully, my head didn’t hurt as much as it had the night before, but if she kept screaming like that, the headache would be sure to return. “You? Him? Get up right now!” Lucia continued, her face reddening as the words left her lips. She was livid. If looks could kill, there would have been two bodies on my bed. “Hmm,” Daniel grumbled, half-asleep, as he burrowed his head deeper into my neck. “What the fuck is going on? Cam? You slept with him? Is that it?” She yelled, turning her attention to me. I could feel the warmth from Daniel’s body where he had fallen asleep behind me. His left arm was wedged under my neck and his right arm wrapped around my waist. One of my legs was draped over his and one of his was lazily hanging over mine. He was topless and it appeared as though I was wearing nothing but his shirt which he
Camille: That face. The one I thought I would never see again. He was glaring at me, the lines on his cheeks on the same spots they had been more than a decade ago. No matter how much I kept running, I would never be free from him. “Come here!” He groaned, his voice sounding as close as if I had never even started to run off in the first place. His big burly hands caught my shoulder and spun me around, while he laughed in my face, his cigarette flavored breath choking me. “How many times have I asked you to stop being a pain in the a*s and do as you’re f*cking told?” He yelled, before shoving me forward, and catching me by my hand which was now so tiny, right before I hit the ground. I heard a crack and I was so sure it was from my now dislocated shoulder. I cried, but my cries only seemed to fuel him. He laughed some more, as his minions who looked just like him, joined in. I cried, physical pain and humiliation clouding my brain. I hated it here. I wanted out, no matter what.
Camille: Hearing him say that just confirmed my suspicions. I was confused. Lucia was my best friend. She always meant well for me. Why would she purposely try to worsen the situation between her brother and me? And if she knew I had been in the closet and had said those things just to ensure I heard them, then it made even less sense. Did she really think we would never talk to each other again and figure it out? I felt a pang in my stomach and swallowed. Daniel seemed to notice. “Sorry,” he said softly. I nodded. “Thanks. You can leave now,” I responded, looking at the door. He looked surprised. “But…” he started to say. “You asked me to yell at you, I did. You asked me to tell you all the hurtful things I thought about you and I did. You asked me to ask you questions and I did. I feel much better, thanks, but I don’t need you again,” I said, wrapping the duvet over my stomach. His lips pressed into a thin line, but he didn’t make any move to leave.
Camille: For what felt like eons, time seemed to stand still. Daniel successfully hid his amusement as he watched me process what he had just told me, his eyes trained on nothing else but me. One would wonder why I was reacting so dramatically over being reminded I had my period, but it was much deeper than that. I was being bombarded with several emotions at once, which had begun even before now. Everything was confusing. Just when I thought I had it all under control, he had to go and say something like this to remind me that I was currently not the one calling the shots in my own life. Lucia, my own best friend was lying behind my back for some reason, Reggie was putting so much pressure on me even though we hadn’t started dating yet, school wasn’t going so great, and greatest of all, Daniel who was like hot water one day and cold water the next, constantly reminded me of how unstable I was, that a seemingly harmless truth he had said could elicit such a reaction from m
Camille: “You don’t have to watch me the whole time I eat. I’m not judging your meal. I’m just hungry,” I said sharply. I was nervous, but I wasn’t about to let him meander back into my life like he always did after hurting me. I wasn’t about to make the same mistake for the fifth time in a row. “Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. He started to eat his meal instead. He was silent until I finished my meal and all he did was look at me for a while, before going back to eating his own meal. Was I crazy for hating the fact that he listened to me and kept to himself? I mean, it wasn’t my fault. I had nothing else to do. I had no desire to go through my phone or read and it was still too early for me to sleep. A part of me had become accustomed to listening to the stupid things he said and reacting to them that I had even began to indirectly yearn for them. No matter how messed up that sounded. “I want more,” I said, giving him my plate. “Oh,” he said and happily
Camille: “I think I should be going now,” I said, getting up. Reggie pulled me back. “So soon?” I showed him the time on my phone. “It’s already after six,” I said. “I better get going. I have to prepare for my other tests at home.” He frowned. “Why can’t you just read at my place instead? It’ll be more convenient for you to be honest.” “I just…I’m just used to my room,” I explained, wishing he would just let me go. I was really tired of being here. I just wanted to be alone. “You don’t even close from work till eight in the evening and you never get home until after eight. Why don’t you just stay here till then?” Why was he making this difficult? “Miss Winston gave me the day off so why don’t I make use of it…?” “She gave you the day off so you could spend it with me,” he said abruptly, shocking me. “Sorry,” he apologized when he saw my expression. “I just really want to spend some time with you.” “We have all the time in the world,” I said,
Camille: I was breathing fast. This was too much. Reggie was glaring at me, obviously mad that I had answered Daniel’s call in front of him, or was it because he realized I had his number? Daniel’s voice sounded equally mad on the phone. Wait a minute. Neither of them had any right to be mad at me. I was the one who was having a bad day and yet somehow without being in each other’s presence, both of them had managed to make it about them. I frowned. “What kind of question is that?” I snapped at Daniel over the phone. “What’s your business with where I am?” There was silence. I held the phone with both hands, slightly shaking, but I didn’t take back my words. I heard him sigh over the phone. “Just be careful,” he said and hung up. “What was that?” Reggie asked, taking the phone from me and growing when he saw the call was already ended. “I was talking to Daniel,” I said. “That much was clear. What did he want?” I stared at him. “I don’t think that’
Camille: At school, there was no sign of Carla anywhere. She still hadn’t been regular in school for the past few weeks no matter how often I begged her to come , but I was sure that my friend would come to her senses and at least show up when we had a test. We had a free period just before the test, so everyone was studying seriously, since we had been told beforehand that it was going to be worth over fifty percent of our total score. Frantically, I dialed my friend, Carla’s number over and over again but got no response. Was she seriously going to dump her education because of that stupid boyfriend of hers who clearly didn’t even like her? I mean, what kind of boyfriend uploads dirty pictures of the girl he claims to love just to spite her because they had some silly argument? “Hey,” Ezekiel, the most annoying boy in my class said to me, before pulling his seat closer to mine. “Wanna study together like old times? With me on your side, you could smash this.” “Thanks,”I s
Camille: That Tuesday morning, all I wanted to do was throw myself against my bed and sleep until the next day. This would be the third night of sleep Daniel had stolen from me because of another one of his stupid parties. Staying at Reggie’s hadn’t been all that bad, but I hadn’t been able to sleep there either for reasons I was yet to revisit. When I heard yelling from the living room, I was not the least bit surprised. When Reggie insisted to ride with me up the elevator to my apartment after dropping me off in his car that morning, I had known that if they eventually met face to face, there would be a clash. I wished they would just stop it already. What pissed me off the most about their sudden resentment for each other was the fact that neither of them would tell me the reason behind it. They had been great friends at the beginning and abruptly started hating each other. No matter how much I had pressured Reggie the night before, he still wouldn’t tell me what had to