Haphephobia

Chapter 5

"No, no, my fault... It's my fault, all mine... no.." Ava rocked back and forth, holding herself up in a ball on the cold bathroom floor. I sat and did nothing but watch in sheer horror as I knew that she had access to all of my memories. All of them, bar none.

It made me wonder whether this is what it would be like to meet a clone of yourself. I vaguely remembered reading some science fiction novel of a guy who met a female version of himself sometime during the story, and he, rather understandably, flipped out. I mean, really: the poor guy just met himself. He and his clone were alike in every way- the only thing that made them different was their gender. Weird, right? Weird: the summary of all today's events and beyond.

And who knew if today was still the day that I passed out at school? What if days had already gone by? Weeks? Months, even? Man! I had a math test. I had several math tests. In fact, I had several tests in nearly every class I had. What if I'd been asleep so long I missed school entirely? This had been a nightmare come true.

My attention turned swiftly back to Ava in some strange spasm of protectiveness as the door was opened and the freaks poured in. They looked sorrowfully at Ava.

Then I thought about what was wrong with me; and how it could affect her. Most fears are born from something traumatic which occurred during your lifetime. Things that happened once, or things you remember, or things that are happening right then- they can cause the birth of a brand-new fear to become a part of you. Ava, I'm sure, remembered what happened to me as vividly as if it had just happened to her- and right along with it came the fear of touch. I wanted to slap myself. What I had was so sucky that I wouldn't wish it on anyone- that's right up the alley with guys making period jokes at their ex-girlfriends. Totally and completely un-called for: I wouldn't have wished my fear on even Arthur, let alone Ava, whom I had just met.

"Ava, I'm..." I had finished my sentence, but 'sorry' was drowned out by the sudden buzzing noise of everyone trying to talk to me at once. Some were even shouting; others reached out at me in an effort to comfort me, or some other thing. I recoiled, feeling a shortness of breath right in my lungs as I had a spasm of anxiety flicker through my body. Taking on a similar position as the still-shaking and unresponsive Ava, I tucked myself up into a ball and rocked back and forth. I wanted to help her; why wouldn't anybody let me? Why?

I screamed as loud as my malfunctioning lungs would allow, and lo and behold, before any 'animal issues' could occur, everyone was immediately silenced. Finally. A little inkling of peace.

"Quiet, everyone! Why are you even in here?" I asked, my voice hoarse from the yelling.

Silence. Then, one brave soul spoke up. Clearing his throat, he started talking nervously:

"We, uh... well, we just wanted to see what was going on, and... uh... hey, is Ava okay?" He asked. I returned my attention once more to Ava, who had appeared to pass out. Great- wonderful! I had no choice but to do something involving picking her up. And though I wouldn't do it myself, I still ran the risk of her waking up in somebody's arms and totally losing it.

"Somebody turn on the bathtub, quick! Use cold water. And somebody else get some ice." I commanded, and without even having to be told twice, one person came forward and started the bath; another three left for the ice. They came back not much later with a bag of it, and dumped it into the tub, which was still filling itself. I had to spend a minute or two breaking the ice apart, as it had stuck together upon hitting the water, but soon enough the bath was filled and freezing cold.

I grabbed a towel quickly, placing it over her body.

"Pick her up with the towel, and place her in the water," I said, and yet another person stepped forward and did so. Throughout the entire process, nobody had said a word; they followed orders, dumbfounded, and did as I said. I was nowhere near to trusting even a one of them, but I held a certain respect for the group. At least they did as they were told, quietly and respectfully.