The Hermit's diary

She

"Will you tell me what the hell you want from me?" I nervously asked as the so-called Rachel rolled a cigarette. "Are you going to answer me, or are we just going to sit here looking at each other like idiots?"

"Hi, here's your menu. Call me when you decide what you want to order," said Andrea, one of the waiters in the cafeteria. She then leaned towards me and whispered, "First time I've seen you with a girl here. Who is she?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know who she is either. I don't even know what she wants from me; she just came here looking for me," I replied as quietly as I could.

After I said those words, Andrea stood up and walked away from my table with a slight smile on her face. "Looks like they know you pretty well in this café," Rachel said, slowly turning the pages of the menu with one hand and holding the cigarette she'd rolled in the other, in the most elegant way I've ever seen. "But I'm not surprised. I'm told you're a regular here, and no one has seen you go to any other café."

"You've got that right, but that's not what I'm interested in," I replied, growing nervous. "I'm interested in what you want from me, and who told you where to find me. Why are you here, why with me, and why are you even talking to me? I can tell by the uniform you're wearing that you're from the same school as me. And that leads me to the question, what the hell are you doing here in this cafeteria, at the same table as me, 'The Hermit'? I thought no one would pay attention to me or care about me after the incident, but here, a girl from my school is sitting at the same table as the most hated person in the entire school. What the heck do you want from me?" I shouted in rage. A second later, I realized what I had done. I turned to the waiters and other customers and said ashamedly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I apologize if I have upset you."

"Calm down; I know perfectly well who you are. But it's normal for you not to know who I am, and that's a big plus for me. As for what I want from you, it's to tell me all about the incident. I want to know everything related to it," Rachel calmly replied to me. She was calm even after I had unraveled in that horrible way.

"And why do I have to tell you about it? I'm one hundred percent sure you won't believe what I'm saying. Also, I don't want to talk about it; that's something I want to completely forget and never remember again," I answered her nervously while lighting another cigarette.

"Trust me, I want to know everything that happened that day because I think everything I've heard about it so far is a complete lie. I want to hear the truth from you. I want to know everything so I can clear your name," Rachel replied with a smile on her face as she put out her cigarette. "That's why I'm asking you to tell me everything about the incident, down to the smallest detail."

"Nope. I'm not going to tell you anything," I replied angrily, then put out my cigarette, left ten dollars on the table, and left the café.

**----A few hours later----**

"She wanted to know everything. Actually, she doesn't want to know anything but just wants to spread more lies about me. I wouldn't honestly say no to it, but right now, I'm not exactly up for that sort of thing," I said to myself in my head after I started again to think about my conversation with Rachel from a few hours ago. "She may have really wanted to know everything, so she could help me, but that's not what I'm up to right now myself. I just want to be alone and not think about the accident.

"I just want to sit here and not think about anything or anyone. I want to be alone, no one to get on my nerves and no one to question me about anything. I want to continue to be 'The Hermit.' Don't think about anything," I kept repeating to myself as I lay on my bed.