CHAPTER 62

'Come on girl, look alive." Lisa jerked me back to reality when she tapped my shoulder.
'This is not a mourning ceremony. Try to interact with people and stop warming the seat with your backside."
'Who's your friend Lisa?" A guy said as he approached us from behind.
Yes, she had said all that, even mentioned my backside in the presence of a strange guy who just happened to show up at the
time.
'Monica, this is Victor," She said. 'Victor, meet Monica." I eyed the guy beside her and froze when I
recognized him. I'd seen him in class before. He was the guy who spoke to me
after Mr. David's class but didn't introduce himself.
'Ah, we meet again." He offered his hand for a brief handshake which I accepted.
Lisa looked between us questioningly.
'We met in class." I explained.
'Great, that means you two already have something in
common." She gave me a meaningful look and I narrowed my eyes at her.
Not again.
'So, I will leave you two to talk, I think I hear the dance floor calling me." She walked away with a smug smile on her face. If there was one thing I'd learned about Lisa by now, it was
that she never listen. The girl was extraordinarily a stubborn creature.
'You don't look like you want to be here." Victor said as he watched me carefully.
'It's just not my scene." I shrugged as I looked around.
'So what is your kind of scene?" He said as he -air-quoted the word.
'Less crowded, less noisy, less…" I paused and looked at him.
'Shall I go on?"
'No, I think I get the point now." He chuckled.
'Do you want to, I don't know maybe go outside or something?" He gestured towards the doors behind him.
I froze upon hearing that and glanced at him sharply.
'Why?"
'Hey, calm down. I just thought we should be able to hear ourselves talk without shouting at the top of our
voices." He raised his hands as in surrender. 'I'd rather not."
'Okay, fine."
I could tell that he was a bit annoyed at my reaction but I didn't feel like soothing his ruffled feathers. We
sipped our drinks in silence that nearly became unbearable.
'Why are you so prickly all the time?"
'Excuse me," I said in surprise. 'This is just the second time we're speaking to each other."
'And I can't say that it's better than the first."
'You don't have to force yourself then." I shrugged.
'Listen, if it's because you think I'm trying to get you or that I'm interested or something then you don't need to
worry about that."
I tried not to look concerned by what he was saying.
'That's it, isn't it? You're trying to ward off male
attention." He sounded amused like he just discovered a huge secret.
'Why're you still here then?" I looked up at him.
'I'm here because I'm trying to have a conversation with you."
'Well, have it with someone else then."
Just as the words left my mouth, I rolled my eyes, looked into the crowd and saw a face that I'd hoped never to see again.
My grip went limp and moments later, the drink fell from my hands and the contents spilled onto the floor.
'Hey, watch it." Victor yelled and sprang back when the drink splashed onto his shoes.
I ignored him as I stared at the face in the distance. He was standing by the door, looking like he owned the
place. Two imposing guys stood on either side of him and their eyes surveyed the room with disgust. I froze when his eyes drifted
past me, only to return a few seconds later.
'Now I have to go and clean this up." Victor
grumbled as he walked away.
Right then, I nearly begged him to come back, for
him not to leave me alone, especially not when he was here. What was he
doing here for heaven's sake? Why did he have to
ruin everything all over again? I began to feel a familiar
bubble of panic and anger with each step he took further into the room.
He stalked towards me with purpose, his eyes
glinted with
mischief and wicked intent. I couldn't remember
what I ever saw in them that I once thought was beautiful and charming.
He stopped right in front of me and leaned down to whisper the words that sent dread creeping up my spine.
'My Monica," His warm breath blew over my ear as he
whispered. 'We meet again, I've missed you."
I wanted to yell at him, to slap his irritating face and make him feel all the pain I endured over the years but I was paralyzed with fear. It gripped my limbs and made me spineless. After all
these years since the incident, I was face to face
with Ryan again, yet I couldn't even form a simple coherent sentence.
I shrank away from him, struggling to breathe but it
seemed the oxygen supply simply wasn't enough, my chest began to
constrict and right there and then, I had another panic attack, something that I hadn't had in nearly a year. Dark spots
clouded my vision and before I knew it, my body slumped to the ground.
*********
When I woke up, I was in the campus Medical Center. I laid there on the bed for a few minutes until I remembered what happened and felt depressed all over again.
Why couldn't he have remained wherever he was? Why did we have to cross paths again? I cried silently as I regretted my decision to come
here. Any other university where I would never see his face would be heaven right now. I heard footsteps approach the door and tried to wipe away evidence of my tears but I knew my eyes would still look bloodshot and my face will be blotchy.
'Is she awake now?" Someone whispered as two people entered the room.
I briefly thought of pretending to be asleep but decided against
it. I watched my roommates Lisa and Alison walk into the room trying to make as little noise as possible.
'Oh, thank God you're alright." Alison breathed in relief.
'One minute you were fine and standing on your own two feet and the next thing we knew, you were flat on the ground." Lisa said as she took a seat beside the bed.
Alison stood beside her, peering at me intently. 'Did it have anything to do with…Ryan?" She tentatively asked.
'I mean, you were fine before he approached you." I didn't want to talk about it so I changed the topic. 'Where's Stacy?"
'She's still at John's place. A fight broke out just a short while after you were carried out." It seemed parties were jinxed on this campus.
'What caused it?" I asked.
Lisa immediately looked animated as she prepared to narrate the incident.
'You wouldn't believe it. In fact, it happened like a film trick. When you fainted, you drew a lot of attention. People started gathering and asking what happened to you. Some wanted to brush it off as you having a bit too much to drink
but Alison, Victor and I swore you'd only had a can of Soda all evening." She paused for breath.
'When John, Stacy and some of his guys came over, they saw Ryan with you, John confronted him and before we knew it, some of Ryan's friends came over too and they all began exchanging punches. I would've said John fought for your honor but we all know he's crazy about Stacy, so I think there's something more going on between those guys than we think."
For a moment I took in all she said and tried to make sense of
it. A fight couldn't have broken out just because I fainted. Lisa
was right, there had to be something more.
'I didn't realize Ryan was a student on this campus." I said
slowly.
'Oh he is, but he's rarely on campus. He recently came back with the other people I told you about who've been away since the beginning of the semester." She eyed me carefully. 'Why? You sound like you know him."
'He's just familiar that is all." I muttered, hating the fact that I'd embarrassed myself like that in front of him.
Later when I was discharged and allowed to return to the hostel, I stretched out on my bed and shut my eyes. I desperately hoped that it was a nightmare and nothing more. I fervently wished that Ryan would disappear into thin air or back
to whatever hole he had crawled out from. I got out my phone
and called Tonia, she would understand.
'Monica, how're you?"
'I'm not fine." I answered truthfully.
'What's wrong?" She asked urgently.
'He's here."
'Who's there?"
'Ryan."
There was a moment of silence.
'Did he touch you or did he do anything to you?" Her voice was firm.
'No." I whispered.
'Good, stay far away from him, do you hear me?"
'I will."
'Remember, he has no power over you. Don't let
anything disrupt your life again." I felt silent tears run down my face as I listened to Tonia's words. My skin was covered in cold sweat and I tried as much
as possible to slow down the pace of my breathing.
'If there's any emergency, let me know or better still, get in touch with any trustworthy university authority."
'Okay, I will."
When the call ended, I shut my eyes again and tried to block out the memories that threatened to surface. I wondered how long it would take for him to find me on campus and what I would do if that should happen.
Sylvia decided call Monica and tell her the whole truth because if it wasn't for her she wouldn't have been alive today. So she dialed Monica's number.
''Hello, Monica'' Sylvia said.
Hello. Monica replied.
'I'm Sylvia from the medical center, i will like to speak with you please'.
It was kinda tragic but confusing and that includes Mr. David and Lisa to it.
'Don't say that it might be negative."
'I desperately hope so."
Together(me and Lisa), we walked out of the medical center and I was sure we were a strange sight to see.
There I was dressed up in my Sunday best while Lisa had simply worn a caftan over a pair of worn-out jeans. But neither of us was bothered because all we could think of was whether or not Lisa's life was about to take a tragic turn.
I'd promised not to reveal a word about it to anyone, not even when Alison and Stacy gave us strange looks as if they suspected that something was wrong.
On Monday morning, I tried to force myself to pay attention to Mr. David during the lecture but I was failing miserably. All I could think about whenever I looked at him was how Lisa was cooped up in the room after she had the truth which includes Mr. David at most, possibly depressed while he carried on with his life as if nothing was wrong. I wanted to scream at him and call him names, I wanted him to rot in a cell somewhere. I wanted justice on Lisa's behalf, the justice I realized I never got.
Two Years Ago….
Over the next few weeks, Ryan and I became as close as peas in a pod.
There were times when I felt like I'd known him all my life but there were also times when I felt I didn't know him at all. In my moments of doubt, I focused on how wonderful he'd been as a friend and justified his strange behavior to be part of his quirks. No one is perfect after all.
One quiet evening, Ryan called me and he sounded ecstatic. He had written his exams and passed.
He'd chosen the University along with another university which I hadn't bothered to ask the name.
He told me that he had a surprise for me and I wondered why he would plan a treat for me when he was the one who should be celebrating.
Half an hour later, we were strolling through the quiet streets.
'Where are you taking me?" I asked as Ryan as he guided me with one hand covering my eyes.
'Shh," He whispered. 'And no peeking too.
It's a surprise."
'I'm getting nervous."
'It's nothing to be nervous about, I just want to surprise you, think of it as an early birthday present."
'My birthday isn't until like a month away." I laughed.
'That's better. It's a very early birthday present."
'Well, I hope we'll be there soon because I feel like I might trip any moment now."
'I'll catch you if you do."
A few minutes later we stopped and I waited in anticipation. He slowly removed his hands and my eyes adjusted to my environment. We were in front of what looked like a small restaurant.
'I've got food at home you know," I turned to him and rolled my eyes. 'We could've just prepared something."
'Don't ruin the moment please." He said as he led us inside.
The place looked empty but there was soft music playing from hidden speakers. The low lighting and plush chairs created a cozy feeling and when we were seated, I looked around expectantly.
'There's no one else here."
He smiled but didn't say anything.
Moments later, a waiter opened a door that I hadn't noticed earlier and walked towards us with a food trolley.
'Welcome." He said before he set about the
task of laying out a delicious-looking array of food on the table.
'Okay, I admit this looks way better than anything I would've prepared."
'I had this one made especially for you." Ryan said as the waiter placed a swirly chocolate and vanilla ice-cream before me.
'We're having dessert before the meal?" I laughed.
'It's allowed." He shrugged.
I briefly wondered how he was able to pull off all of this, the empty restaurant, expensive meals and excellent service. Sure, I knew Ryan was in a different league of his own and unlike any regular student i knew but I never realized
he could do this much. I didn't know to be impressed or suspicious.
'Your expression suddenly changed, what's wrong?" He asked with a slight frown.
'Nothing," I scooped up a spoonful of
Vanilla and took my time with it.
'Come on, tell me."
'I was just wondering how you arranged all this." I gestured round.
'Oh, that's what you're bothered about?" He chuckled.
'Well we're both students after all." I shrugged.
'I have a few friends in high places." He said.
'What kind of friends?" I asked.
'Listen," He pushed his plate away. 'Let's just have a good time alright. This isn't the time or place for interrogation."
Afraid that I'd annoyed him I agreed and we continued in silence. It seemed like eternity before he spoke again.
'I'm sorry."
'It's alright." I shrugged, relieved that he'd spoken first.
'I'm a bit older than you think so this isn't really a big deal for me. I also have many friends who are either my age or even older so some things I do are normal to me but unusual to you." 'I guess that makes sense." I said. 'So, how old are you exactly?"
'You're the curious type, aren't you?" He laughed. It was low, deep and masculine and it suited him perfectly.
'I admit, yes I am."
'Alright then, I'm at least three years older than you."
'How old do you think I am?"
'I know almost everything about you Monica,
so how can I not know your age?"
'But why do I feel like you're keeping secrets from me?" I didn't mean to say the words but once they were out, I realized that was
really what I felt.
Ryan's jaw clenched slightly as he looked at me and I wondered if I'd made him angry again.
'Why would you think that way?" He asked slowly.
'I just feel there's a side to you that even I don't know and there isn't much time to discover it because you'll be gone soon."
'Just because I'll be in the university doesn't mean we won't be in touch anymore."
'It won't be the same." I looked away as I suddenly felt my heart sink in disappointment.
Wait, that wasn't my heart. It seemed my whole body was sinking slowly. I dropped my spoon and it clattered noisily unto the table as I
felt my stomach heave. My head suddenly felt heavy and my limbs grew weak. Through half- closed eyes I looked at Ryan whose face showed
no expression at all and behind him was the waiter who suddenly didn't seem like a waiter anymore. The last thing I registered was the feeling
of arms lifting my body off the chair.