Nightmares (Short Stories)

Psychology

With a cheesy dance that would make any Sailor Moon lover jealous, Maria shouted once again, "BL for life!"

Standing next to the overly enthusiastic Maria stood Jane, the one who is always dragged to these conventions, dressed as some random character she doesn't even know about and pushed into lives that she had no interest in being in. If you listened closely, you could hear a subtle, "more like 'Stockholm Syndrome for life!'"

The two had been together since they were children. Maria mentioned to every person including those who never asked how long they had been best friend and her response was always the same, "since we could pee in a diaper." Maria is very outspoken and marches to the beat of her own drum as most teachers have stated in the past. Jane is typically quiet and just goes with the flow which typically happens to be hurricane Maria's direction everyday.

"I heard that you grump. It's all love, Jane. Don't you see how much they care for each other? It's beautifully romantic... to be loved so much and the passion so strong, one takes the next step and brings the other into their repressed feelings. It's my dream!" Maria had twirled around with her very frilly skirt and long braids, snaking Jane in the face a few times.

"You wish to be held hostage, raped and forced to be in a relationship with someone you wouldn't have thought twice about?" Jane knew where this would go. It was always the same. She knew she should have kept her mouth shut standing in a line with 5000 other ranting and giggling girls to get an autograph by the creator of Maria's current favorite WEBTOON "He said no, but his body said yes."

The stares had multiplied. No longer was Jane just a quiet girl next her her boisterous "friend," but a spectacle to be watched. The whispers around her started making Jane feel uncomfortable.

Maria saw the disaster unfolding and once again did nothing to protect Jane from her massive social anxiety or the hurtful words from the teenagers surrounding the recently turned 20 year olds. All she could think of was how much of a party pooper Jane was and how she wished she could ditch the witch if only their parents didn't make them hang out. Maria's mom had resorted to bribing her to hang out with Jane. The barely concealed hatred Maria had for Jane was evident to everyone, even Jane, but the silent girl always managed to do as Maria had told her. It was her one saving characteristic according to Maria.

"You just don't understand. You have never had a boyfriend and felt true love. You probably never will with that attitude. This is true love. They need each other." Maria was slightly obstinate at the best of times and downright rude and frustratingly stubborn at other times. Jane knew this was not a good idea to argue here, but she couldn't help it. If she could help these kids see how unhealthy this relationship was and how awful many stories are, she would try.

"That's called codependency and is very unhealthy." Jane tried not to fight Maria. Both of their parents had been paying her since they were five to watch out for her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. If she didn't have her academic scholarship, she had enough to pay for 10 years of university already. She knew Maria's mom paid her to hang out with Jane, but the pitiful sum was change compared to Jane's paycheck. That's what it Turkey was in her eyes, a paycheck to watch over this giant chump of wasted cells. She had learned to just be quiet and only interrupt Maria if absolutely necessary.

They were silent with each other for the rest of the two hour wait. Jane was relaxing for once and was ready to just go home and get off babysitting duty early for once. Maria had other ideas. She had been fuming next to Jane and ready to ditch the witch the moment she had an opening.

Standing in front of the handsome creator who was a rarity among most female authors of this genre, Jane cringed when he opened his mouth while Maria swooned.