When Words Fail

Chapter 21

Another month passed.

We've finished our Preliminary and Midterms exams alive, but of course with Jake getting caught cheating by Mr. Lukas.

I was growing and growing to like them each and every day, as much as I hate to admit. As for Tish, she told me she treats me as the closest thing next to bestfriend. I didn't argue with her since I found out once she feels attached to someone, she cannot back off.

We're the same actually. It's just that I don't get attached to people, with the exemption of her and the boys.

I've been calling them 'The Boys' if you haven't noticed, but sometimes I call them 'The Cocky Idiots' if I get too annoyed with them which always end up with Luke calling themselves the 'The Poker Face Club' – yeah they love me so much. Note the sarcasm.

This day was another ordinary day, with Jake getting punched by Brian in the face after he'd let out a nasty joke about Brian's you-know-what in front of Tish.

Yeah I consider it very normal.

As for me, I found my perfect hiding place.

Between two of the countless buildings in our school, there was a wide mass of land covered with Bermuda grass. It was kind of a slope so at the bottom part which was hidden by a worn wall, I found my personal space. It overviews the whole city and the nearby province because our University was located in the highest point of the city.

Since I found it, I always sit and enjoy the silence in there every day.

My new hobby includes closing my eyes just to listen to the birds sing, feeling the wind pass by and watching the clouds as they majestically travel in the sky.

I consider myself happy.

After the sun has set, I stood up and headed to my dormitory.

I came to a halt when I heard someone sobbing. The sound was coming right behind a huge tree and as my curiosity had increased since the past few months, I went to see who's behind it.

I took my steps carefully, to not alarm whoever was behind the tree. Who knows, the person behind might turn out to be the big bad wolf who likes to have college students as dinner or a serial killer who might attack me and leave me and cold blood or a frightened possessed girl who might strangle me to death or – okay, the possibilities are endless, alright?

When I saw who was behind it, no it wasn't a big bad wolf, no it wasn't a serial killer but it was indeed a girl. Whether she's possessed or not, I wasn't sure.

The girl was hugging her knees close to her chest where her head was buried. She had short reddish brown hair that barely reached her neck. She was wearing a worn-out sweater and an abnormally long skirt matched with abnormally long socks.

And here I thought Tish's outfits are the weirdest things ever.

I was staring at her for several seconds before she noticed me. She gasped and covered her face with her hands. She was trembling.

"Are you okay?" I asked, quite not sure what to say.

"A-are you one of t-them?" She looked up at me with her bloodshot eyes. She looked like she'd been crying for hours.

"What? One of. . . what?" Was all I managed to say.

"George. Madison George's friends." She answered shaking.

"Wh--, the blonde girl who likes to flip her hair on anyone, the girl with little minions? That girl?"

Her eyes widened before nodding.

"Oh well I hate that bitch." I spat.

She smiled behind her tears and tried to sit up straight but with her knees still on her chest.

"I'm gonna ask you again, are you okay? Oh wait, what a stupid question to ask. Obviously you don't look okay." I said.

Her smile went wider but her eyes showed so much pain. She stopped crying but the pain never left her.

So much pain it even hurts to look at her.

"I know you." She said and I tilt my head, not quite understanding how, "you're the one in my biology class who gets every quizzes perfect. You're Aaiana."

Biology class? I don't have any biology class.

"Are you sure cos I don't remember having any biolo—, you mean Anatomy and Physiology class?" And for the record, I can be smart when I want to. I like science.

She nodded.

I didn't know I was that famous.

"You know I once had my hair as long as yours."

"Oh." I muttered and when the silence went unbearable, "so this situation is kinda awkward, isn't it. You still won't tell me what happened to you?"

"Madison hit you with a laptop." Not a question, but a statement.

"Yeah, and you're stalling. You really don't want to tell me wh--."

I lost my words when she lifted up her skirt unto her thighs.

There were so much scars. They don't look like normal scars that people get from accidents, rather they looked like it was intentional.

I took a closer look and the scars looked like it the wounds were pretty deep before they healed.

"Did Madison did this?" I asked, my eyebrows creased.

"No. They didn't. They just bully me for having these." She's close to crying again.

"They 'just' bully you for those scars?!" My voice went higher as I emphasized the word 'just'. She took off her sweater and revealed several looking cuts on her both arms. There were so many I can't even count how many scars were there at one of her arms.

"Where did you get those?" I asked as I grasped her right arm and traced the scars gently as I could manage.

"Do you know the news about those senior rapists months ago?" She asked, on the verge of tears.

"Yeah what about them?" I asked, still tracing the scars on her arm.

Then it hit me.

Short hair plus too many scars.

'. . . cut her skin using scissors before cutting her hair.'

"You were their victim." I whispered, mortified.

She nodded.

If the realization wasn't painful enough, the look on her face broke my heart to pieces.

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Scarlet at the top! 👍