Fifteen Layers of Steele

Chapter 5

  Having left the class as soon as it ended, I found myself sitting at the outside courtyard. Sadly, I had forgotten to pack my lunch in my haste this morning. Kate also wasn't able to meet up again. "Guess I'll have to eat out alone today", I exhaled in disappointment.

Due to my Haphephobia I wasn't able to make very many friends. Forming friendships is a bit difficult when you avoid talking to people so that they don't try to shake your hand to greet you—also when you're known as the freak of the school. In my childhood I had managed to make such a bond with a few people that stuck around even after my problems started to develop. One of those being Kate. Some of the others left because they didn't want to be ridiculed by having an association with the "school freak." I didn't blame them. There was no way that I could see me being worth their ruined reputation either. The ones that stuck around, like Kate, are the true heroes in my eyes. Sacrificing their social lives for a person like me. Their kindness makes me want to cry.

Sitting on a bench debating about where I should go out to eat, I watched my phone screen intently in anticipation for the text that was supposed to be arriving. "Why hasn't he texted me yet? He said he'd be sending me a message shortly," I melancholically murmured to myself.

Almost as if on cue, my phone screen flashed, showing that I had a new message. The vibration it gave off was music to my ears. As the screen lit up so did my face. He finally texted me! I entered in my password and swiped down to see the text. To my dismay it wasn't from Christian but instead from another friend of mine named José. I clicked on the notification to bring up the chat to see what he was randomly messaging me about. It had been a while since I had last seen José so I was surprised to get a text from him. Normally he was attending another university nearby mine in Seattle, but recently he had been taking a gap year to go down and visit his family in California. Studying all the time had gotten to be a bit too much for him, so he decided that it was time for a break.

The text read:

Hey! Long time no see! I just got back up to Seattle a little early. The time off did wonders for me, so I decided to get back at it again this spring quarter. Today is one of my days off, so I was wondering if you had time right now to catch up over lunch? I was thinking that we could go out for pizza. I have so much to tell you. I think you'll be really surprised.

Surprised I was indeed. José and I had met back in middle school at a children's meet up for those battling with various phobias. It was one of those events that you often see in the movies where everybody sits in a circle and introduces themselves then announces what their problems are. It had ended up being a load of crap but it did prove to be a great place for making friends. Being surrounded by people who are going through the same things as you are unsurprisingly really helps. There's a lot less judgment from those who know what it likes to suffer and be ridiculed. Nobody understood what I was going through better than José though because his phobia was really similar to mine. Well, similar in the sense that he also had problems with touching others that is, because rather than Haphephobia he had Mysophobia. Mysophobia is also better known as Germophobia; the fear of contamination and germs. This means that he is afraid of touching many things, including but not limited to, other people, door knobs, belongings, and even going as far as making him afraid of eating food that was not cooked directly by himself in dishes that had been pre-washed three times. His hands were always covered in scars from over washing.

In my opinion he had it even worse than me. Although he was still able to touch other people from time to time (as long as they were not inflicted with a cold or some other virus) unlike me, he had many other things that he could not do. I found that the worst was not being able to eat outside. We spent most of our time in his house where he could be sure there was no outside germs. I was one of the few people allowed inside his place. He had to live alone. José and I shared a beautifully platonic relationship. We never had to worry about the other trying to engage in physical contact. Since we shared similar phobias getting along was very easy. The time that I wasn't spending with Kate I was usually spending with José—up until this past year that is.