Fifteen Layers Deep

Chapter Five

Having left the class as soon as it ended, I find myself sitting at the outside courtyard. Sadly, I had forgotten to pack my lunch in my haste this morning. Valeria also isn't able to meet up again, so I'm left with nothing to do. "Guess I'll have to eat out alone today", I exhale in disappointment.

Due to my Haphephobia, I have never been able to make very many friends. Forming friendships is just too difficult when you are always avoiding talking to people so that they don't try and greet you by shaking your hand. Also when you're known as the freak of the school. That usually does it as well.

In my childhood I had managed to make such a bond with a few other kids that stuck around even after my problems started to develop. One of them being Valeria. Some of the others left because they didn't want to be ridiculed by having an association with the "school freak," and I didn't blame them. There was no way that I could see myself being worth their ruined reputations either. The ones that stuck around, like Valeria, are the true heroes in my eyes; sacrificing their social lives for a person like me. Their kindness has always made me want to cry.

I think valeria could sympathize with me because, being from brazil, her English was not yet totally perfect, and she sometimes made odd cultural mistakes. For that, she was often teased by other kids who didn't understand why she talked that way or did those things, especially because she didn't really look like a foreigner. It was just like how they didn't understand why I had my phobia or even really what it was. That bond we shared held us together. She always felt the most comfortable around me and didn't want to leave me for a bunch of kids who couldn't accept her for who she was either.

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

Almost as if on cue, my phone screen flashes, showing that I have a new message. The vibration it gives off is music to my ears. As the screen lights up, so does my face. He finally texted me!

I enter in my password and swipe down to see the text. To my dismay, it isn't from Jaden, but instead from another friend of mine named Daniel. I click on the notification to bring up the chat to see what he is randomly messaging me about. It has been a while since I last saw Daniel, so I'm surprised to be receiving a text from him. Normally he attends another university nearby mine in Seattle, but recently he's been on 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 reads:

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 am indeed. Daniel and I 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's like to suffer and be ridiculed.

Nobody understands what I'm going through better than Daniel, though, because his phobia is really similar to mine. Well, similar in the sense that he also has problems with touching others, that is, since rather than Haphephobia, he has Mysophobia— or 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 is not cooked directly by himself in dishes that have not been pre-washed three times. His hands are always covered in scars from over washing.