My Words Are Law

Last Semester

It was the starting semester of last year when Amaryllis saw Chryses diverge from his supposed kind and gentle personality. That was also the first time she met him, as he had just started attending Liberty University in year two. He is a year older than their peers and many rumors were circulating around him - That he has multiple degrees and that his return home was related to his inheritance. This all sounded ridiculous to Amaryllis, but it seems there is a semblance of truth to the stories when Mia enthusiastically summarized Chryses Taylor's biography one day after the shocking discovery of Amaryllis' ignorance.

                                                           

According to the legitimate information obtained by Mia's stalking abilities, he has an impeccable IQ and had won many awards, whether it be in sports or academics. However, news about him dwindled when he went abroad during high school, until his reappearance.

Amaryllis stood by the bus stop, staring at the passing vehicles. The bizarre scenario of her earlier interaction with Chryses began to overlap with memories of him during her sophomore year - That hellish year when her high school nightmare came alive again...

They had more classes together then. Two- Three, maybe..? Nevertheless, their interactions were minimal and she would have spent the whole year minding her own business, but her classmates just had to invite her to a class party. Exactly on the day right after she saw him showering with alcohol after the fleeting physical contact with Samantha. Showering with alcohol is a slight exaggeration, but he might as well have done that with the way his face had bent out of shape from disgust. It was a scary sight to see, suddenly seeing an extremely incongruous behavior from his gentle personality.

That was how it all began.

She made sure to decline firmly, but the star of the event suddenly spoke and invited Amaryllis himself, saying, "Why don't you come over? You're part of the class, too. It's sad when someone's left out like this... don't you think?"

She could have come up with a thousand arguments of why it wasn't sad at all, but she was sure none of them would have convinced him. Not at the moment when he seemed too adamant about her attendance as if it would make the whole world cry if she didn't go to the event. His face was gentle as usual, but Amaryllis' gut feeling told her it wasn't real and that she had to flee. "N-no... I'm sorry, but-"

"C'mon... He already invited you personally."

"Stop being such a stick in the mud, sheesh."

"It's just a party. Let loose. You're always in your books like a loner."

Some harsher words were being whispered here and there, but when she panned her gaze around, everyone's lips were already stitched close. She'd bet on her life her classmates heard the verbal assaults but nobody said a word. Even the angel who stood at the center, remained silent as he stared at her, seemingly unaware of the situation. Or maybe he was unaware and she was just being overly suspicious of him because of what she saw yesterday.

Seeing as they were busy washing their hands off the insults, she had to force a smile and act like she was deaf. "Right... Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world."

As soon as she said that, she heard a soft snort coming from her right, followed by a, "Would you look at that? Wasn't she just declining a while ago..? Is she trying to play hard to get?"

"Does she think she's suddenly special because he personally asked her to come..?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. What did she do that was so wrong..? They were the ones who forced her to agree, so what's with the sudden resentment? They sound horrendously ridiculous. It continued on for a while, until someone clapped their hands, calling everyone's attention to talk about the where and when's. While some faces looked at Amaryllis with pity, nobody bothered to address the nasty remarks as they plastered their fake smiles on and continued to discuss the time and venue.

Later, she lifted her eyes from everyone's mouths and her gaze accidentally landed on Chryses. She didn't expect to catch him looking at her. She was surprised, but it immediately shifted to dread. When you catch people staring at you, they would usually look away to avoid the awkwardness, but Chryses was different. The way his unblinking eyes were dead set on her as if noting every reaction on her face was unsettling to her stomach... Until now, she still couldn't forget about it.

The sudden screeching sound of a car brought Amaryllis back to her senses as she woke up from the haze. The memories subsided in her mind as she stared at a shiny silver vehicle before her. She looked left and right to see if it was someone else's ride, only to realize she was the only one standing at the bus stop. After becoming aware of this, she immediately stepped away from the car in an instant, sneaking a wary gaze in its direction.

It would be fine. The bus will come any minute now and the person will have no choice but to drive the car away.

The door to the passenger seat opened and one look at the driver dampened Amaryllis' mood. Speak of the devil and he will come.

Chryses Taylor must be a devil.

Upon closer inspection, Amaryllis recognized another person sitting in the passenger seat. If it isn't Samantha. She sighed as she quickly dragged her eyes away from the pair, walked towards the farthest edge of the bus stop, and turned her back to the scene while chanting a mantra. 'I'm invisible, I'm invisible, I'm invisible...'

Judging from Samantha's bewildered face, it seemed Chryses might have revealed his mean streak to her. Ugh... Why does she always have to be present at times like this..? Sooner or later, she'd end up dead in a gutter if she continues to witness any more of his queer tendencies.

Dear God, let me leave unnoticed, please.

***

"Fate would have it that the timing of your birth determines your measure of luck. You're either born lucky or you're not, though the only way to know for sure is to test it. The problem with that is most people find out they're not lucky at the worst possible moment, usually in the throes of death or arrest."― Tanya Thompson,