Chapter 3: A Friendship Should Never End

The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.

- Ernest Hemingway


The next day on campus was unusually quiet and placid, especially in the cafeteria during lunchtime. Some students preferred to eat outside for lunch rather than sit in the cafeteria, which never has for the semester been a popular place for students, but on the exception of Laura; who she and her friends like the cafeteria for its tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.

Laura, who is on her lunch break, is having fond and happy memories about her birthday dinner party; and how valued and special she was treated during the occasion. Still chirpy and jaunty, she selected a bottle of still water from the open beverage fridge, and was greeted by a fellow student; whose name she probably did not instantly know. She asked her how she was, with a smile on her face to make the student feel noticed. They both responded, but a conversation did not commence, and they went their separate ways, with a fixed smile on their faces.

Laura was walking down the cafeteria to where her friends were sitting, and all of a sudden a shady sniveling figure stepped in her way, it was Marina. „I thought we were friends," said Marina in a stern tone, obviously upset and desperate for an explanation.

„Marina, what…what are you talking about?" asked Laura, pretending to be baffled by what Marina was accosting her about.

„I saw you with everyone, your birthday dinner, I saw it," replied Marina.

„Marina I'm sorry, I… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," apologised Laura, turning her attention to her friends sitting at a table in the distance, feeling the urge to break away from Marina and tend to her social group. „Can we talk about this later, okay?" requested Laura, as she tried to walk past Marina, but Marina grabbed her wrist.

„I had a present for you, I worked on it for two weeks," declared Marina, sounding distraught.

„Two weeks, you barely know me for two weeks," retorted Laura.

„YOU'RE A FUCKING LIAR JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!" shouted Marina at the top her voice, her voice echoed across the cafeteria, getting the attention of other students present. „WHY DID YOU ACCEPT MY FRIEND REQUEST? YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT," interrogated Marina, still angry and upset about feeling rejected. She grabbed Laura's wrists, trying to stop Laura from departing.

"Get the fuck off me," rebuked Laura, holding onto her lunch tray in her hand, and trying to retain her grasp; but Marina's grasp and strength was too much.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ALONE? DO NOT LEAVE ME ALONE!" yelled Marina, still holding firmly onto Laura.

Laura tried to resist and break free, Marina pulled her forward, and as a result; the lunch tray flipped over and stuck to Marina's shirt. The lunch tray slowly detached itself from the shirt and fell on the floor, and there Marina stood looking down at her shirt that was covered in thick guacamole.

Everyone was gasping and staring at the scene, and Laura stood there gazing at the mess her lunch made on Marina's shirt. Marina paused, looking horrified and embarrassed by the situation she was in, she fled the cafeteria in tears.

Laura took a glance at her friends, who were still observing Marina running away with a smirk on one of their faces, enjoying the drama. She then looked back catching a glimpse of Marina running up the stairs. Feeling a moment of guilt and regret, she chased Marina.

„MARINA... WAIT," shouted Laura at the bottom of the stairs, seeing Marina running up the to the second floor.

Laura pursued Marina all the way to the second floor, and in an isolated corridor, she saw the girl's bathroom door close. It was apparent that Marina ran in there to sulk, and Laura was determined to approach Marina, and hope to apologize for what happened. She approached the bathroom and entered slowly and quietly, taking small footsteps. In the bathroom that was isolated and silent, apart from the crying, which happened to be Marina; who had locked herself in one of the cubicles. She was sniveling and sobbing uncontrollably, it scared Laura as she approached the cubicle where she suspected Marina was hiding. The door was firmly closed while the others were ajar open, ostensibly meaning that Marina was in the one that was closed.

„Marina," whispered Laura, sounding really petrified. „Marina, can we talk….please," pleaded Laura, with tears forming in her eyes, the sound of crying and blubbering almost brought her to do the same. "Please Marina, open the door… I'm sorry for what happened," lamented Laura, with a tear running fast down her right cheek, the crying from inside the cubicle got louder, it was enough to scare Laura to death, getting the idea of what might be happening behind the closed door. „PLEASE…JUST OPEN THE DOOR!" squalled Laura with a shrill. Her tear soaked eyes held her eyes shut, she lost her sight and leaned against the wall beside the door. Her legs turned to jelly and sunk to the floor; continuing to whimper and sob.

All of a sudden, the girl that was originally crying stopped, and her pursuer was now the one doing the crying. The lock on the door made a loud metallic clang and creaked open, and a voice whispered in the small space, „Laura." Marina turned her attention to the toilet paper at the side of the wall, and frantically rolled the cylinder of paper down. With a long strip of paper touching the bathroom floor, Marina broke off the strip and quickly folded it into a thick rectangle piece of paper. She crawled towards Laura on her fours, slowly moved the thick toilet paper handkerchief towards her face, and gently begun to wipe her teary eyed face. The tears soaked right through the thin paper, it seemed that the paper was not designed to absorb so much liquid.

Laura placed her hand on the makeshift handkerchief, and wiped her face, absorbing the tears that stung her eyes and salted her cheeks. Marina moved in front of Laura, and knelt by her side, looking straight into her bright red eyes.

As Laura regained her sight, she saw her vision was blurry with a figure kneeling before her, her eyes started to regain focus; and she saw who it was kneeling right before her eyes. „Marina," sobbed Laura, sniffing hard.

Marina whispered with half a smile, concerned for Laura's wellbeing, „Laura."

Marina's eyes were not that red, despite that she did so much crying before Laura shed her share of tears. On close inspection, her eyes were a pale pink with tears forming at the bottom of her eyes, but enough for them to leak. She brought Laura back onto her feet and smiled, hoping to brighten the mood.

„I'm sorry," apologised Marina sincerely.

„No, I'm the one who should be sorry… I lied to you, and it was wrong of me," sobbed Laura.

„I was in the wrong for behaving the way I did, I embarrassed you in front of all those students," whimpered Marina, with tears leaking out her eyes.

„Please Marina, stop," pleaded Laura, as she stuck out her hand, trying to prevent an argument.

„Why were you crying?" questioned Marina in a soft slow tone.

„Because I was worried you were self harming yourself," sniffed Laura, with her eyes still red and puffy, and her cheeks were still moist; caused by the tears that ran down her face.

After a brief moment of silence, and staring into each other's eyes, Marina's face became stern. She prepared to ask the question of all questions regarding their friendship. „Are we really friends Laura?" asked Marina, shivering and eagerly waiting for an answer to leave Laura's lips, which snapped apart when being asked that question.

There was another long pause, as Laura sealed her lips tight, and looked into Marina's eyes; hoping that the answer would be enough to satisfy the troubled girl. „Marina, we are friends," clarified Laura, which caused Marina to lightly smile to that response, „It's just… I feel sorry for you."

„If you feel sorry for me, then why did you ignore my messages?" slurred Marina, without giving any comprehension as to why.

„Marina… I'll be honest with you… all those messages, and all the other posts to get my attention, were really scary," explained Laura, as honestly as she could.

„I didn't mean to scare you Laura… I just don't want to lose you," murmured Marina, almost about to break out into crying again. Laura seeing the tears about to flow out of Marina's, paced towards her and took her hands.

„Marina… you're not going to lose me, you're just being too forward with me, and it's scary," said Laura, still holding Marina's hands.

„I don't want to scare you Laura, I just want to make you feel special," defined Marina, which caused Laura to awe and smile. This reaction made Marina broadly smile with her hands in Laura's, and to receive a smile from her.

„Marina, that is so sweet of you," smiled Laura.

„Can I still give you your birthday present?" asked Marina with a smile still on her face.

„Of course you can, but can we get you cleaned up now?" asked Laura with a wide smile. After a long pause, Marina begun to slowly turn her gloomy facial expression into a tight-lipped smile and nodded.

Laura took Marina by the wrist, and lead her to the sink where she stood her in front of the mirror. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Marina's smile was affixed and wide as it could ever be, it hurt her cheeks. Like a hairdresser, Laura removed Marina's brown hoodie, letting the sleeves slide off her arms. Underneath the hoodie, Marina wore a plain black T-Shirt with short sleeves, which was the article of clothing that got sullied with thick lumpy guacamole.

It was obvious that if the T-Shirt was to be cleaned, the hat (a slouchy beanie that was too big for her head, and looks like it would easily slide off) would have to come off. Laura slowly moved her hand up to the top of her hat, so Marina could see. „May I?" whispered Laura, leaning to one side, and looking into into the mirror too.

„I… I don't know about that," shuddered Marina, shaking like a leaf, „I don't think you will like what you will see."

„Don't worry, I know you have trichotillomania," affirmed Laura, as Marina frowned with confusion, „Hair pulling, I know you pull your hair out." Marina looked surprised, and astonished that Laura is knowledgeable about mental disorders and their names. She relaxed and allowed Laura to pull the hat slowly off her head, and allow her to look at the disfigurement she veiled.

Laura let her lips hang open and beheld the bald patch on Marina's head that showed scars, which were caused as a result of her hair pulling. Marina appeared nervous, being aware that Laura has seen the bald patch, and seemed sort of shocked to lay her eyes on it. „How long have you had this problem?" asked Laura inquisitively, continuing to examine the horrific site of the mutilated scalp.

„I don't remember, I think it's only when I've been round people do I feel like pulling my hair out," explained Marina while jittering, trying to put her sentence together.

„You shouldn't do that… you should use a stress ball, or have something to play with in your hand," admonished Laura in a nurturing tone.

„Oh," reacted Marina, raising a smile and started to giggle.

„You're very pretty, you know that?" complimented Laura, playing with Marina's hair and combing it with her fingers.

„No I didn't… I mean… thank you," softly responded Marina, embellishing an open smile, and shivered with excitement, feeling really touched by Laura's compliment.

Laura leant forward over Marina's right shoulder and spoke into Marina's ear, „Now, it's time we took that shirt off." The volume of Laura's voice made Marina's eardrum ring, and she willingly stripped off her T-Shirt with both hands. Underneath her shirt, she wore a black bra, her belly was flat and her skin was pale.

Laura took the T-Shirt from Marina's hand, and moved to the sink on the left, then begun to wash the guacamole that had soaked into the fabric. The water from the tap that splashed on the T-Shirt, turned the water into a bright green colour. She continued to scrub the stain with her palm, and press the fabric up against the inner walls of the sink, to make a more effective way of getting the paste out of the fabric.

Marina watched Laura, who was occupied with washing the T-Shirt to notice that she was being gawked at. She was still a little too nervous, shy and also touched by the recent compliment to get a word beyond her open lips.

Once the water showed that clear transparent colour, Laura turned off the tap and wrung the T-Shirt hard with water gushing and bleeding out, until it was left dampened and creased. She hung the T-Shirt by the neckline, and manifested the damp creased shirt in front of Marina. „I think this T-Shirt will need to dry, it's still too damp to wear," implied Laura, holding the shirt in front of her eyes.

„Don't worry I think I can still wear it," objected Marina

„Don't be silly Marina, you'll catch a cold if you were to put this on," giggled Laura. Laura folded up the shirt into a small enough piece to hold in one hand and offered, „I'll take it home and proper wash it and iron it for you."

„Oh no, you don't have to do that, honestly it's fine Laura, I'll wear it the way it is," insisted Marina, trying to talk Laura out of making the effort.

„No Marina, just stop, it's no problem; besides, I have a shirt in my locker that I can lend you," affirmed Laura, as she moved to the exit of the bathroom. „Wait here, I won't be gone long," said Laura, outstretching her arm and paced out of the room with Marina watching her leave the room.

When Laura did return, Marina had not moved a muscle, she was still watching nervously hoping that Laura was going to come back, like she said she would. Marina watched Laura attentively, as she approached with a folded up piece of fabric, which was a lighter colour; it was purple T-Shirt. „Here, put this on," requested Laura, handing the T-Shirt to Marina, and she took it with a delightful smile on her face.

Marina put on the shirt, and it was so tight, it felt uncomfortable for her to wear; but would endure the discomfort, and hope that the shirt will stretch to her size. „It's my jogging shirt, I didn't wear it recently," affirmed Laura, with Marina looking up at Laura in a funny way. „I sometimes go jogging after class, or in case I need a new change of clothes," explained Laura with a smile, threw her arms behind her back and linked them.

„Thank you Laura, I'll return it," vowed Marina gleefully.

„Thank you Marina, I'll bring your shirt tomorrow morning… I can come round yours and collect my present," confirmed Laura.

Laura arranging to come and visit, elated Marina and she was filled with joy. „Really? Okay… what time?" asked Marina.

„How about 17:30?" asked Laura.

„Okay," responded Marina with her hands together.

„Okay, I'll see you then," said Laura, turning her back, and exited out the bathroom; having second thoughts about the arrangement she made for tomorrow.

While Marina was all alone in the empty and sunlit bathroom, she examined Laura's shirt in the mirror. Overcome with temptation, she brought the bottom part of the shirt to her nose and snorted the garment. She could smell the washing powder and the conditioner, which was not what she had hoped to smell. She was hoping to catch the scent of Laura, but like she said, that she had not worn it recently. Maybe someday she'll get the chance to sniff one of Laura's worn clothes, and indulge in her aura and odor.


Marina's Diary 5th of October 2016

One day had passed since Laura's birthday party, and I still would never forget the hurtful memory of her lying, just so she could have a party with what I hated to admit; her real friends. I was still burning up inside, consumed with rage, and the thought of lashing out on them; was a reverie, I often reflected on. The thought of mutilating their faces, and showing them who they really are.

But what about Laura? Should she not be the person who I am truly angry with? I will admit that I am angry with Laura, but I still liked her, no I love her; and I want to help her. I wanted to break her away from her prison, where her inmates were those who wanted to control and manipulate her. Of course she called them friends, if not her best friends, and I wanted to show her what a true friend really is. What I wanted her to understand, is that being friends with me is no chore, she doesn't need to be surrounded by sunlight, beaches, nightclubs and all the other pleasant scenery. Just her, just her alone, just her and me. I just wanted to give her a new insight and meaning of life, I wanted to show her my world, my world of enlightenment and illumination.

However I would approach her and introduce her to my practice in the occult and mystical, I wanted to ensure that I do not frighten her. The last thing I ever wanted to resort to was impose her with the pain I suffer every day, rejection, abandonment and loneliness.


Marina's Diary 7th of October 2016

Today is the day, the day Laura comes round to visit, to collect the birthday present that I made for her with my own two hands. I'm feeling very uptight and restless, not in the sense of encountering her, but more in the sense if she will ever turn up at all. Will she break her promise and have other plans scheduled this evening? Or maybe she's just running a little late? I've looked back and forth at the clock, and I can see that the time is 17:30, I even watched the clock since the displayed time was 17:29; and watched the last two digits switch to 30. Now after looking at the digital clock the time was now 17:31.

The rage boiled in me, in the pit of my stomach, I shook with anger and dug my finger nails into the Mount of Venus of my hand. I growled to myself, „You said you'd come 17:30, you said." Maybe that curse that I planned to have Laura's world fall apart, and make her lonely was the best act of revenge I thought of. It sounds sadistic and ruthless, but the thought of it made me smile, giving Laura the pain that I endure every single day. Her tears would bring me satisfaction and amusement as her friends, or real friends abandon her one by one. Eventually she will be left with no one except me, and we will eventually be together forever.

Then for a moment I snapped myself out of the fantasy, and thought about how Laura felt, and how she would feel; if I was to commence with my plan to make Laura lonely. I could now see a teary eyed Laura, which made me reflect back to the moment when I withdrew myself into the bathroom, and gave her the wrong idea that I was self harming myself. Was that the Laura I really wanted to see? Was this the way I wanted her to feel? The answer was no, no way did I want to make this girl, who I care so deeply about to feel this way at all.

Then I started to cry and whisper to myself, "Laura I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I don't want to hurt you. I just want you Laura, I want us to be friends, best friends forever… Laura I love you…"

Unexpectedly there was a knock at the door, which made Marina's heart skip a beat, and drop her pencil as it rolled against the cover of her diary.

With caution and anticipation, hoping that it would be Laura, Marina approached the door; and begun to open the door, as she held her breath to prepare herself, who was on the other side. There directly in front of the doorway stood Laura, smiling and looking so cheerful, it was as if she had forgotten about the fracas they both had yesterday.

„Hi," greeted Laura, waving briskly, holding her bag over her shoulder, and waiting patiently at the door. Marina smiled and beamed, completely astonished and taken aback, to know that Laura did keep her promise; and did show up afterall. „Sorry I was a little late, bad traffic," snickered Laura, hoping that Marina would laugh too, but all she did was widen her smile and weakly chuckle.

„That's okay, please come in," whispered Marina, gesturing Laura to come in.

Before Laura stepped into Marina's temporary accomodation, she looked down at her feet and surveyed each corner of the small and solitary abode. The strong aroma of scented candles and unidentified art materials engulfed the room, she was already feeling on edge about the kind of activities and leisure Marina does behind closed doors.

Slowly walking further into the apartment where Laura was approaching the bed, which was disorderly. She then turned her attention to the chair that was facing a desk, where Marina must have sat when on her laptop. The seat looked worn out and had a wide crater, which indicated that someone had been sitting there, more than likely Marina. Looking up at the walls there were drawings, depicting gothic and dark images, which made the bedroom more captivating and not so empty and lifeless.

Laura swayed her eyes around the room and came across an assortment of drawings and sketches. Without consideration if Marina was sensitive about others viewing her work, Laura continued to look through the drawings, and was impressed with how artistic and creative Marina was. Browsing from the bottom, there was one of Marina's older pictures she must have done when she was at school. Each of the drawings had a scary, macabre or a gritty image, which meant that Marina's childhood didn't involve pleasant things like princesses and unicorns.

„These are really good, it seems that you have been doing art all your life," assumed Laura, still scrutinising one of the drawings, admiring the cross hatching and attention to detail.

„Thank you Laura, I have been doing art all my life; it was my way of escapism," answered Marina softly, who was sitting on the bed, fumbling at something under her pillow.

Suddenly a reminder flickered into Laura's head, that she came to return Marina's shirt. „Oh…," reacted Laura, as she turned to face the bed where Marina was sitting, and dug her hand into her bag. „I've washed, dried and ironed your shirt," said Laura gleefully, plopping herself on Marina's bed, and handed her neatly folded shirt.

„Thanks Laura," thanked Marina gratefully, taking the shirt and laying it by her side. After an awkward pause, Marina turned her attention back to the pillow, and took out a rectangle object encased in glass; it was Laura's birthday present. It was a portrait of Laura, which was enveloped in a pattern (with white birds flying in the background), more likely intended to illustrate her personality. It was obvious that it was worked on for days, and that a lot of effort was put in, just to make this a special present for this one special person.

Laura was looking at the wall at one of Marina's drawings, while Marina was looking at Laura, and finding the right moment to hand her the present she hoped Laura would like. „Laura," whispered Marina. Laura impulsively turned her head to look at Marina directly into her eyes. „This is for you," indicated Marina, holding out the present with her hand shaking. This was because of nerves, and not so much the weight of the object.

„Aw, thank you," expressed Laura gracefully without having a look at the present.

Laura held the present in front of her eyes and examined the framed portrait of her, and froze stiff upon closer examination how well drawn the portrait was. „Oh my…" gasped Laura, as her mouth hung open, „Marina, it's… it's… really really… oh Marina it's amazing, did you really draw this?" asked Laura, still amazed by the present she received.

„I did," confirmed Marina bashfully, as she started to blush and rub her hands together, so hard she could feel a friction burn. Laura turned her attention to Marina, and smiled, but only this time; Marina was flattered by the acknowledgment that she made Laura both happy and special.

„Thank you so much Marina," thanked Laura, as she put the portrait to one side and flung her arms around Marina. For the first time ever Marina felt what it was like to be embraced by another human being. The pressure of Laura's grip, and the feel of her body pumped a tingly sensation around Marina's body, which made her feel relaxed and secure. Marina closed her eyes and placed her hands on Laura's kidneys, which made Laura titillate. After hugging for 10 seconds Laura released Marina as her hands brushed up against Marina's palms.

Laura looked at Marina with her head down, but with a half smile on her face. „Marina, what's wrong?" asked Laura.

„Nothing, it's just… I've never been hugged before," responded Marina.

„Really… you've never been hugged before?" baffled Laura with her eyes wide open.

Marina shook her head and replied, „No, never."

„Not even from your parents or your family?" questioned Laura.

„No… my mother died from childbirth," responded Marina quite openly.

„I'm sorry… I know what it's like to lose a parent," lamented Laura, placing her hand on Marina's lap.

„You mean your father?" suspected Marina.

„Yeah," confirmed Laura as she nodded. „I miss him," expressed Laura emotionally.

„At least you knew him, I never knew my mother, the only family I truly knew was my teacher at boarding school," divulged Marina looking at the wall in front of her.

„Was she motherly to you?" asked Laura looking at Marina, who was still focused on the wall.

„Sort of, I don't know, I don't know how a mother is suppose to look after a child," answered Marina.

„Well at least you had a bed and were given food, otherwise you wouldn't be here today," bantered Laura.

„I guess, but I have always been alone, I've always longed for friends; and unlike the other kids at my school, you were the first person in my life who noticed me," professed Marina fumbling her hands, and turning her attention to the setting sunlight outside the window.

After a moment of silence Laura fixes her eyes on Marina, sighs and conjures a response to Marina's statement. „Look Marina, I can understand how much you fear rejection and abandonment, but you have to understand; I'm not the only person you will ever meet who will recognize you," convinced Laura, placing her hand on Marina's hands. The touch made Marina look down at her hands, loving the physical contact of Laura's soft white hands.

„I… just never had the courage to approach another person, other than you, the rest I assume just wanted to ignore me," stuttered Marina.

„Look, just because people don't greet you when they see you, doesn't always mean they are ignoring you," explained Laura, looking at Marina who still was gazing out of the roller-blinded window. „Marina," said Laura, as Marina turned to look at Laura. „When you see people, and you think that they might respond or not, it doesn't hurt to say "hello" to them," lectured Laura.

„You mean try to at least greet and acknowledge them?" asked Marina.

„Exactly, if they don't respond, at least you tried getting their attention. Do you understand what I am saying?" asked Laura, leaning forward to Marina, whose head was down and pondering about the advice that was given.

„I guess, does this mean you don't want to be my friend?" whimpered Marina, looking pale and shaking nervously.

„No, of course I will still be your friend, but I want you to try and make other friends; promise me that you will at least try and make new friends?" pleaded Laura, trying to encourage the shy girl.

„I promise, I promise I'll try," responded Marina, embellishing a smile, which provoked Laura to smile too.

„Good," reacted Laura, as she glanced at the time on her phone and said, „Listen Marina, I need to be getting back, I promised to spend the evening with my friends." Laura stood up, and slung her bag over her shoulder.

„Do you think we can hang out again?" asked Marina quick and jittery, „Sorry I asked, I just wanted to know if it's okay to ask."

Laura sat back down on the bed and hesitated how she was going to respond to Marina's proposal. „Marina, of course it's okay to ask, that's one strength you've proven yourself to have; and you do not need to apologise for it," affirmed Laura.

„Okay, what would you like to do?" asked Marina.

Laura gazed up at the ceiling and answered, „Well I was thinking… how about I give you a make over?" The thought of that idea made Marina chin up and look into Laura's eyes. „I'll bring my make up and other cosmetic kit round, and give you a new image, how's that sound?" asked Laura, clasping her hands together and leaning forward towards Marina.

„That sounds wonderful," approved Marina cheerfully, already quivering with excitement and light in her eyes.

„Come on, give us another hug," requested Laura, moving closer to Marina and wrapping her arms around her, and rested her chin on Marina's right shoulder. Marina had her arms around Laura's neck, and took the opportunity to stroke Laura's soft thick hair with her right hand.

When they let go of each other, Laura stood up and collected the portrait, and held it under her arm. „See you in class tomorrow," said Laura, as she walked to the door to see herself out.

„See you in class tomorrow," replied Marina, watching Laura with her back turned, exiting the dorm and closed the door behind her.

Marina was at peace, and was content that her encounter with Laura went well, and that she gracefully accepted her present. Reflecting and replaying the scenario in her head, Marina wrapped her arms around herself and smiled happily, and started to dream about her next private encounter with Laura.

To be continued...