"Let go of me!" you snarl. You try to twist and run away from the two goons dragging you down the hallway, but they take no notice. Maybe you should actually hit the gym more often because this was embarrassing.
"Should we wait for Kai?" one of them asks over your head to the other.
"Yeah, but he said to take the trash out first," the other sniggers as he shakes you like a wet rag.
Behind the door you hear raised voices, but the wood is thick so you can't make out what anyone is saying. The guys start dragging you down the hall toward another set of stairs. You stop struggling for now. They're too strong for you combined. But before you manage to take many steps, the door to the dining room bursts open and Krystal runs out.
You've never been more happy and more terrified to see someone in your life.
"Let Amber go!"
Krystal barrels into the guy on your right. He releases you with a surprised yelp. The other guy drops your arm and steps away from you. Krystal hastily turns to you and starts pushing you toward the stairs. Behind you, the two guys stare blankly at each other. They probably didn't have one brain cell between them. You ought to know. You're a neuroscience major.
"Krys—what's going on?" you try to ask as she hustles you toward the steps.
"Amber," she says furiously, "just go!"
You want to stay but the desperation is plain in her voice so you think you better listen for now. You give her a curt nod and start down the stairs. She seems to huff with relief and makes an about face, just as the tallest guy strides into view. He doesn't see you slinking away down the stairs and you continue down until you're at the landing below. Completely hidden from sight, you stop to listen.
"Kai, are you kidding me? What's wrong with you? You can't just get your friends to do that to people!" Krystal angrily shouts.
"Krystal, I don't understand the problem. You were never going to be friends with it anyways. I was just saving the both of you the trouble. It's not nice to use people for attention, you know."
"What? Use Amber for attention? What are you talking about?"
There's the sound of deep cold laughter. It chills you to the bone.
"Oh, you even gave it a name. How cute. Tell me, are you getting attached? Do you have feelings for it?"
"Why does it matter to you? Just leave me alone. We're done."
You hear heavy footsteps right above you, which suddenly stop.
"Don't touch me," Krystal says. It comes out as a shaky whisper and makes you grit your teeth.
You hear cold laughter again, except this time it sounds even darker. It makes your skin crawl and all you can do is cower on the stairs.
"Don't touch you? Don't you remember last week? You were begging me to touch you then. What happened? You can't survive without me. You're just a pathetic, dirty slut—"
Suddenly, there's a resounding slap followed by a roar of pain. Frantic footsteps thunder down the stairs and Krystal hurtles right into your arms.
"Wha—Amber! I thought I told you to leave!" she fiercely mutters.
"I was!" you stammer, but you can't finish because Krystal is tugging you out the door and into the courtyard.
"COME BACK HERE YOU BITCH!"
There's no time to think. You grab Krystal's hand as both of you sprint out of the dining hall and into the courtyard. You don't hear the other guys yet but no doubt they'll be hot on your tail. Krystal runs slightly faster than you and takes the lead, circling to the back of the dining hall. She veers off to the right and approaches the high hedge that borders the campus. There's a small breach in the hedge and she squeezes through. You hesitate but Krystal beckons impatiently so you force yourself through, branches gouging bloody furrows into your skin.
"Yeowch! What the hell," you yelp and frantically wave your arms, scattering blood everywhere.
"Stop being such a wuss," Krystal shoots over her shoulder.
You just barely squeeze yourself in before you hear the faint sounds of pursuit. Krystal yanks you down by the collar and you both crouch next to the hedge. You're panting like mad but Krystal claps a hand over your mouth. Face to face, you two stare at each other. Her eyes are wide and fearful, her entire body vibrating with tension. You bring your hand up to hers and stroke her skin, in an effort to calm her. It seems to work because she relaxes a bit.
"Are you sure they went this way? There's nowhere to go you idiot!" one of them shouts.
"I thought they did but maybe they went to North Quad," the other replies in an timid voice.
"Ugh, I don't even know why I listened to you in the first place. Let's just go back and you tell Kai that they escaped."
"Why me! You're the slower one, I thought I saw them run around this building!"
They bicker for a while, but start moving away. You take a look at the hole. The hole is actually pretty small and you don't think the bigger guys would fit even if they tried to get through. Eventually, their voices fade. You're frozen in a crouch but Krystal cautiously rises and looks out the gap. She nods at you and pulls you up, dusting off your shoulders. You open your mouth to speak but she shakes her head and motions for you to follow her as she starts walking away. You try to get your bearings. You're in some kind of forest. A faint trail meanders through the leafy undergrowth. Krystal seems to know where she's going so you obediently stride after her. After about five minutes, she stamps her foot and comes to a stop. You take a seat on a tree stump and try to catch your breath.
Krystal has her back turned toward you, her hands clenching and unclenching.
"I'm so sorry for what happened just now," she begins. "I didn't know it was going to happen.
You look up at her and cock an eyebrow.
"Why don't you tell me what's going on then."
She kicks a pebble away and sighs deeply, arms folded across her chest. She suddenly looks so vulnerable and small that you can't help but pity her.
"Kai and I started dating a few years ago," she says haltingly, "it was pretty good at first. But for some reason he started being mean. I tried to break it up but he would always tell me that he would change, so we never officially broke up. Until recently."
"So how many times did you almost break up?"
She gives a small laugh.
"I guess a lot. I don't know, I'd break up with him but then I'd miss him, so we'd get back together. He was always better for a bit. We would fight, but after he'd send me roses and take me out. He could be super sweet. Like when I'd get super drunk, he'd always take care of me. I don't even remember those nights, but I always found myself back home safe."
You're alarmed by how tender her voice sounds, like she had almost forgotten what happened a few minutes ago.
"It sounds like you might have a drinking problem, in addition to a crazy ex-boyfriend problem," you say rather sharply.
Krystal turns at this with a frown on her face.
"He's not crazy. He's smart, he's charismatic, he's ambitious. Our families love each other. He's perfect on paper. He just gets angry sometimes," she states, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself than you.
"You're making a ton of excuses for someone who's clearly an asshole. If he's so perfect then why'd you break up recently?"
Krystal looks at you with a stricken face.
"It was after a big fight, after he cheated on me and I found out. I got drunk, I wasn't myself. I just told him to leave. But I didn't—I'm not sure I meant it."
You give her an exaggerated eyeroll.
"Krystal, I don't know you all that well, but I really think you need to ditch this guy for real. He sounds like a huge jerk."
"But he's not always like this! He's a decent guy. You just don't know him like I do."
"Oh, my bad. Maybe I should hang out with him then, to get to know him better. Wait, it doesn't sound like he wants to," you say with a hard edge.
"Look, he's never hit me before." Krystal suddenly looks horrified. "In fact, oh my God, I'm the one who just hit him!" I slapped him! I need to go back and say sorry !"
You feel like boiling water is being poured inside you.
"Are you actually defending him right now and blaming yourself Krystal?"
She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. It would've been funny if you weren't so angry that she was defending a douchebag.
You take several deep breaths. You're sure that if you're a kettle, steam would be pouring from your ears.
"I think you need help. But you need to admit to yourself that Kai is the jerk here and you don't need him to be happy." you say sternly.
Krystal looks confused.
"Admit to myself?"
You throw your hands in the air. "Jesus! You can't even see it. When you were drunk, you told me that he would make you cry, that he wouldn't let you even sleep in the same bed as him. Does that sound normal to you?"
"But...but what about our history? And the fact that he can be sweet? Don't you think there's hope, Amber?" Krystal pleads, her big eyes brimming with tears.
"Frankly, no. I always judge people by their worst behavior, because that's who they really are on the inside. It keeps you from being unpleasantly surprised," you answer firmly, "and I think you don't actually love Kai the person but Kai the idea. Look, when was the last time you were out of a relationship?"
She looks down at her hands. "Uh, maybe when I was fourteen?"
Of course. The Princess always had people going after her so finding a partner wouldn't be a problem. And so she probably felt scared to be single.
"Well I think you need to be single for a while and be happy with being single before you look for someone. You can't expect someone to make you happy. Make yourself happy first. That way, even if someone makes you sad, you can just drop them and continue to live your life without trying to accommodate that crappy person."
She stares at you with something akin to fear. You have a flashback to last night, when she said all those sad things about being lonely, but you shrug off the softness and stand firm.
"Single? For a while? I don't know if I can do that," she hesitatingly whispers.
"Yes you can! I'll help you."
The words escape from your mouth before you can pull them back, fluttering like butterflies toward the sun. You curse at yourself internally. Why did you always have to speak before thinking? Now you've done it.
To your surprise she flushes a beautiful pale pink.
"Um, wow. No one's ever offered that before."
"What?"
"Help. For my relationship," Krystal gives you a one over, as if finally seeing you for the first time. Something seems to change within her and she straightens up and looks you evenly in the eye.
"So, let's say I trust you and accept your offer. Because maybe you're right, you're a better judge of his character than I am. What now then?"
You think for a bit.
"Well, set some boundaries. Don't text or call him…"
You trail off as Krystal looks sheepishly at you.
"Well, um, I guess now's not a good time to mention that the place I stay in is actually his apartment?"
"YUCK!" You wring your shirt in hands. "You mean I actually slept in that creepy dude's bed? Oh Jesus, do you two have sex on there?"
Krystal hides her beaming red face in her hands. You breathe through your nose in an attempt to calm down, but you can't. You're quite the germaphobe and your skin is crawling.
"Please tell me you washed the sheets since you two last hooked up."
Krystal's face is now a blotchy shade of scarlet as she slowly shakes her head.
You immediately take out your pocket hand sanitizer and pour the alcohol all over your scratched-up arms. At least the stinging pain distracts you from the one in your heart after hearing how close she and Kai still are. And then you get angry at yourself. As if you had any chance with her. As if you should care who she has sex with. She's a grown woman for crying out loud.
She must've noticed your look of disgust.
"Look, we did hook up a few times but it was because I was lonely. You can't erase two years of love overnight! Anyways, let's stop talking about my bad sex life. You said you wanted to help me. How about we start with moving out of Kai's apartment?" she defensively snaps, as if trying to prove that she didn't need Kai.
You liked that she still had some pride left.
"Okay, good idea. We can move your stuff to one of your friends' rooms."
At this, Krystal looks awkward.
"Well, the thing is, when I started dating, I kind of stopped talking to my other friends. I don't think anyone would let me just move in with them," she mumbles sadly.
You think about to how she said she was lonely. She must've given up her entire life for her ex-boyfriend (you relished thinking that word).
You seize your chance. "Well, let's move your stuff into my place for now and go get the school to give you a proper dorm then."
"Um, are you sure? I have a lot of stuff."
"Yeah, it's fine. We'll figure it out."
"All right," she says with a shy smile that turn her eyes into cute half crescents, "thank you, Amber."
Your heart feels lighter than it had in weeks. For once, you're not thinking about medical school and your career. She gave you something else to look forward to and it helped you put your life into perspective.
You both start heading back to the dining hall and your dorm. With the trees quietly swaying overhead and the sunlight hitting the floor in dappled patterns, you feel like you're finding your happy place. And best of all, instead of her leading the way, Krystal and you are walking side by side.
Together.