Tree of Wishes

Web of Deceit: A Deborah Perspective

I've always had trouble making friends with other girls my age. Many girls would scream and cry at the sight of a spider sitting on a table, minding its own business. I knew better since spiders typically don't bite unless provoked, if it's a spider that can bite humans in the first place. They're more focused on using their venom to catch their next prey, not wasting it on a random stranger. With this in mind, I would gently scoop up the spider, and set it outside before anyone decided to squish it. Unfortunately, most house spiders have adapted to living inside, so putting them outside doesn't help their chances, but there weren't any other options.

Because of my fondness of spiders, I was usually picked on at school as 'Debbie the bug girl'. Arachnids are separate from bugs, which belong in the insect order Hemiptera, yet I didn't have it in me to correct them. My dad liked owning uncommon pets from bearded dragons to ball pythons, but it was when he gave tarantulas a try that I fell in love. I was fascinated by their large fangs, long legs, and how they devoured their prey by liquefying the victim's insides using their digestive enzymes.

My dad let me buy my first tarantula in middle school, and I couldn't have been any happier to have my own pet. I would spend at least an hour each day watching it in its tank, observing how it moved in its environment. Even if our time together was short, I still enjoyed it for what it was, and I had the spider framed after it died to keep it around. I became curious about other types of spiders out there, and would pour hours into watching nature documentaries of them in the wild. It might seem odd fixating on one thing, but you would be surprised at the variety of creatures hiding under such an unappreciated class. From jumping spiders to golden orb weavers to Goliath birdeaters, there were thousands of them out there with their own unique features, waiting to be discovered.

As such, I decided to become an arachnologist so I could center my work on something I was passionate about. Gradmid's Department of Environmental Sciences, an extension of the main Institute of Health and Sciences, had a scholarship program for students interested in working at their facility, so I decided to apply. It was as simple as submitting a report in what field I was interested in. They were highly impressed by my extensive review of the local arachnids and how humans have influenced their numbers in the past twenty years. Combined with my excellent grades in school, I was given a full scholarship and a guaranteed job once I graduated. It was like a dream come true, and my dad couldn't be any prouder.

At first, I thought university would be the same as school, where I simply kept to myself and focused on my studies. Then I met Drake Astor during my undergrad and everything changed. We sat next to each other in biology, a required yet still interesting class, and soon enough we went from simply greeting each other to having full conversations. I was drawn in by his spiky, black hair, dark green eyes, and the two snakebite piercings under his lips. It was as if a nerd and a rocker had a baby, and that baby came out sculpted like a statue. Meanwhile my blonde hair was always in a sloppy bun, my black frames took up a third of my face, and my lack of proper exercise or dieting skills left me all skin and bones.

So when Drake actually handed me his number and offered to take me out for some coffee, I was shocked beyond belief. For a brief moment, I wondered if 'Deborah Astor' was as catchy as 'Deborah Spindel', but I quickly shook it off. One coffee date turned into several, and we started dating before I knew it. He hadn't asked me to be his girlfriend. He just started to refer me as that to his friends and would call me all sorts of pet names, but I went along with it because it's not like I would had said no if he had.

Once it became official and I returned his advances, he started showering me with attention I had never experienced before. He could constantly compliment me even when I was wearing nothing but a sweat shirt and pants, and would buy me all sorts of gifts regardless of the occasion. Since this was my first boyfriend, I figured he was trying to be the best boyfriend possible, which I did appreciate. He would also text me every morning and night and ask me all kinds of questions, ranging from what classes I had to how often I socialized. I didn't have any friends, so he was the only one I hanged with after class, usually watching movies or playing video games. It was strange that he made me start playing games without asking whether or not I knew how to play, but I got pretty good at it after a while.