Argent Eye II

19

When I woke for my lecture, it dawned on me that I would undoubtedly bump into Kate at some point. I didn't know how to feel about it. There was a slim chance that she had nothing to do with it, however a big part of me said that she had all to do with it.

But how could she do that to me? We'd been best friends from the moment we bumped into each other on the first day of uni, when everyone was unsure who to talk to. When nobody knew anyone, it was she who I'd become friends with.

The thought made me a little sad, but I tried to think positively. I wouldn't outwardly accuse her of it, because there was a small chance that she didn't have anything to do with it and that she was just being off with me because she was dealing with her own shit. If that were the case, I'd need to think of an excuse as to why I didn't turn up to breakfast that morning.

I poured myself a mug of tea.

"Good morning." Jake said, walking into the kitchen.

"Hey." I smiled, sipping my tea. "You okay?"

Jake had remained surprisingly cool about the whole incident with the fake Black Prometheum. It came up in the odd conversation, but like with most things, Jake made light of the situation. I guess if you didn't do that, it would end up eating away at you.

"Yeah, I'm good thanks. You?" He reached into his cupboard and pulled out a box of cereal.

"Not too bad." I said.

Jake was just grabbing his milk, when he gasped. "What happened?" He asked.

"Huh?" I asked, confused, but then realised the sleeves of my jumper had ridden up so that you could see the purple rings around my wrist. "Oh." I said. "Long story."

"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

I nodded. "Yeah. It's all good. I would tell you but it actually is quite a long story and I need to leave soon." I chuckled.

"Oh." Jake said. "Well, tell me later, yeah?"

"Will do." I said, and continued getting my bag ready for uni.

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When I arrived, I sat down in my usual seat- I was early, and nobody else had arrived.

I looked up when the door to the lecture theatre opened, then looked again when I realised who was walking through it.

It seemed Kate had to look twice as well when she realised I was sat here. She was shocked. Surprised. Like she wasn't expecting me to be here. It confirmed all my suspicions that she was definitely involved in my kidnapping. Did she think I was dead? Would she really do that to me?

She quickly turned and ran out, but an unprecedented surge of anger seemed to pounce on me, and so I got up and ran after her.

When I got outside, I could see her headed for the bathrooms, but before she could enter I harshly grabbed the back of her jumper and pulled her backwards, causing her to back up against the wall. I kept a hand on her shoulder in case she should try and move.

Her face was a riddle of confusion and... fear? I guess she should be pretty afraid of me right now- I was pissed.

"Why did you do it?" I asked, as tears started streaming down her face. She was shaking her head.

"I'm sorry." She trembled. "I'm sorry. Please-"

"Please, what?" I snapped, feeling the rage build. My hand pressed harder against her shoulder, perhaps unnaturally so. In that moment, I wanted her to know what I could do. I wondered exactly what it was that she knew about me. What had that Doctor told her? Perhaps she hardly knew anything. But what would be worse? If she knew more or less, and then set me up? "You got me kidnapped, Kate!"

My rage was almost instantaneously replaced with hurt. This was my best friend, and she'd turned against me. And it wasn't even a petty argument- I would have been experimented on. Perhaps even tortured. Killed, even. All because of Kate.

I started to cry, loosening my grip on her shoulder.

"I didn't know-"

"Just stop." I said sharply. "I don't wanna hear it."

I started to walk away.

"Wait." She said. I turned to see her holding something out to me, then realised it was my phone. I looked at her in disgust, snatched my phone from her, and then stormed back into the lecture theatre.

When I sat back down, I just kept crying. I couldn't sit here for two hours, listening to David talk about uni work when I knew this was going on. Not when I knew that Kate was responsible.

I grabbed my bag and rushed out, nearly ramming straight into someone.

I looked up to see David.

"Woah, sorry-" he began, then saw my face. "Hey, are you okay? What's wrong?"

I shook my head, wiping my eyes. I couldn't even speak. I needed some air. Without saying a word, I walked past David and outside, went round the back of the building where nobody would be, and slumped against the wall and onto the floor.

I cried a lot.

__________

About half an hour had passed by the time I stopped crying. I could imagine what a mess I looked- red, puffy eyes, and a matching red nose. Rosy cheeks, but not flatteringly so. I couldn't get up, though. I'd been sitting against the wall, on the cold concrete, with my knees pulled up to my chest. Luckily, nobody came round the back of this building.

I pulled my phone out my pocket, which I'd shoved in there when Kate gave it to me. It had a big crack down the middle- I assumed it must have fallen out my pocket when I'd been drugged. That meant that Kate must have seen the whole thing. Either that, or she went back to see if I'd really gone, and then found my phone.

The thought of Kate again nearly brought a fresh wave of tears, but I was interrupted by Irina, who was walking towards me. Without saying anything, she came and sat down next to me.

"Hey." I sniffed, wiping my face again.

"Hey." She said back. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I sighed. I didn't really want to talk about it, but at the same time, I did. Irina seemed very easy to talk to, perhaps more so than David. Maybe it was because she was a woman, that I felt like we could relate to each other more.

"I, uh..." I began, and sniffed again. "Kate is mixed up in all this crap."

Irina frowned, and then sat down on the floor next to me. "What do you mean?"

"This whole business with Doctor Geralds." I said. "She was the reason I got kidnapped the other day."

Irina didn't say anything for a moment, and when I looked at her, it seemed as though she couldn't quite comprehend what I was saying. As though she didn't understand. "Wait, what?" She asked.

"Kate asked me to meet her for breakfast that morning." I began. "It turns out she was only doing that for Doctor Geralds. To lure me into a trap."

"Are you sure?" Irina asked.

I nodded, my lips pursed as I tried not to let anymore tears fall down my face. "Yep." I said. "She gave me this back." I held up my phone. "Looked very surprised to see me this morning."

Irina shook her head in disbelief, and rubbed her hand over her forehead. "Are you okay?" She asked.

I nodded, biting my bottom lip to stop it quivering. But then I looked at her- she looked very concerned. Worried. She felt sorry for me, and I hated that, but I couldn't stop the tears this time. I started crying again, feeling pathetic. I hadn't cried this much in a long time- even when I'd been going through shit when I'd first been stabbed with the Black Prometheum, I hadn't cried this much. I hadn't felt this hurt.

Irina put an arm over my shoulders, and I leaned towards her, letting the tears fall freely down my face.

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