I'm not promising that the questions that I asked will be answered this chapter, so let's just wait and see, shall we?

To SibunaMockingjay, thank you for those kind words, but I think you are in a worse off situation than me. I may be blowing my problems out of proportion. If you want a friend, I can be one.

Thanks for the reviews, SibunaMockingjay and BlackCat46 (and anyone I may have missed).

Behold, the new chapter.

Mara

"Mara, are you okay?", I hear Trudy's sweet voice as she catches up with me. I was crying under a tree. "I'm sorry Trudy, but I did not mean to do it…", I tell her between sobs. She sits next to me and lets me cry for a moment, then she looks at me in the eyes and asks me, "Is everything alright, Mara?" I nod. "I'm fine, Trudy." "I'm just concerned, Mara. You did not seem like yourself a while ago… You can tell me anything, you know." "Thanks Trudy, but I can't tell you my problem, or you might think that I'm insane." "Of course not, Mara. You are not insane. I won't ever call you that. I promise. Do you want to tell me?"

I think for a moment, but my mind was set. I can't stand keeping this a secret anymore. I had to tell someone, and I'm glad it was Trudy who was here.

"Um-Trudy. Please promise not to tell anyone… Please…" My voice came out a little more nervous than I hoped it would be. "Okay, Mara. I won't." I hesitate for a moment, then say, "Um, Trudy. I think I have multiple personality disorder… I'm not really sure, but I really think I have it." "Oh… I see. Do you remember anything from a while ago, or not?" "No, not really. My memory is a blank…" "Mara, don't worry. You'll be fine… When was the last time she appeared?" "I was still in grade school back then… I thought she was gone by now, but I-I was wrong…" "It's not your fault, Mara. I understand. That was not you."

I'm a bit puzzled as to why Trudy was asking me all these questions, unless she knew someone personally with this disorder. "Trudy, why are you asking me about all this?" Trudy looks at me, and sighs. "Mara, do you know why I know about multiple personality disorder? Because I have it too." My eyes brightened up a bit, but I was in still in disbelief. "Really, Trudy? But how come I have not seen you act different?" "I have acted different, Mara. But luckily, none of you guys were there when my other personalities came up. Not even Victor." "W-wait, personalities?" "Yeah… Why? Do you only have one?" "Yeah, at least I think so…" "That's good, Mara."

We sat on the tree for moments. "I'm scared, Trudy. What if my alter-ego shows up again?" "Don't worry, Mara. Just be calm and don't put yourself into too much stress, and maybe you can limit her appearances. So, do you want to talk about her?" "Okay, Trudy. At least you understand."

I explain what I can remember about her. "Her name is Mary. I think she appears when she thinks that I'm in danger." "So basically, she is protecting you. That's normal for some personalities, although yours is really aggressive and dangerous." "How about you, Trudy? Can you tell me about your other personalities?" "Yes, of course. I have Timothy, a person who is basically scared of everything. Andrea is con artist who uses her smarts to take advantage of others, and Reina. She's very moody and can't control her actions sometimes. There were others, but they disappeared when I started taking medication to relieve my stress. Now only those three appear." I couldn't believe it. How could she manage with 3 other personalities, while I am terrified with only one alter-ego.

"Be strong, Mara. Don't be scared. It's alright. Having another personality is not at all bad. She just wants to protect you after all, right?" "I guess." She looks at the time, "Oh, we should get back now Mara. They might be looking for us already. Remember, I will always be here for you. Feel free to share, but now we have to go back, okay?" "Okay, Trudy."

We stand up from the tree we were sitting on and head back to the paintball place. Oh yeah, paintball. I had forgotten all about that.

Joy and Patricia. What will they say? And the others? What would they think of me, now that I did something terrible to Joy and Patricia. "Trudy, what if they hate me?", I ask her as tears start welling up in my eyes again. "No, no, Mara. Don't think that. They will understand. I'm sure of it." "But how do I explain what happened a while ago?" "Don't worry, I'll take care of it.", she assures me, so we resume walking towards the paintball area.

e talkH

I'm sorry. You might think of this as a disappointing chapter, but I'm not in my best writing form today. I just wanted to post a chapter, so here it is.