Aftermath

"Why the fuck is this bastard here?"

The words echoed inside his mind, driving him to the edge of insanity. Robert walked straight home without stopping by to eat. He decided to distract his mind from the onslaught by doing part of his homework, but to no avail. 'Why? She looked at me as if I were filth,' the look of her eyes was burned into his mind. Her voice repeated those words over and over again.

After Linnea ran off, the air turned suffocating like a humid hot day in a tropical forest. Rob was speechless and pale. The girls recovered first from the shock and turned to glare together at him. Their eyes pierced three holes in his body from the potency of their glares. No words were exchanged in the few seconds they stared at each other, but he could've sworn he heard their eyes barrage him with curses. After five long seconds, which felt like five decades to Rob, the girls turned around and chased after Linnea. Rob remained on his knees for what felt centuries, staring at the white marble which seemed to extend for miles.

Robert made his way to the dorm, opting to ignore the restaurant and having some alone-time. Arriving shortly after, he threw his stuff on a random white plastic chair and turned toward his bed. Robert allowed gravity to do its work as he threw his body in the air above the bed, which produced a piercing creak noise. His eyes surveyed the room.

In the middle of the room stood the bed that accommodated Robert. To the right of the foot of the bed was a small desk and lamp situated against the wall. The only significant thing that remained in the room was the small white closet to the right of the bed. Robert stared up to the ceiling, his mind in trance as it observed the swinging of a suspended light bulb that moved because of the wind that blew from the window above his head.

"Why the fuck is this bastard here?"

*Ding*

'Doesn't this guy get tired?' This was the fourteenth notification sound that rang from the phone. Robert did not move and kept his left arm over both of his eyes. 'I am gonna take a na—'

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

'Fuck o—'

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

'Okay fine, I'll pick it up you bastard.' Robert dragged his body upwards and placed both of his legs to the side of the bed, his feet stung by the cold sensation of the floor. He rubbed his eyes and removed his phone from the charger.

[What the fuck do you want?]

[Why the fuck aren't you at the restaurant?]

Robert smacked his face with his palm, 'Shit, I didn't mean to hit myself that hard.' [I forgot. I am not feeling good today. Am not coming.]

[They've got pudding. Order anything you want. It's on me.] Robert cringed after seeing a string of emojis right after.

[Whatever, I'll be there in 15.] Rob produced the loudest sigh he's ever conceived. He threw the phone on his pillow, slide his feet inside his slippers, and made his way to the bathroom.

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The cars, the streets, her friends, Uncle Bob, and everything in between was a blur for Linnea as she made her way back home. She didn't heed anyone or anything any attention. It wasn't because she was trying to ignore them. It was quite the opposite; she couldn't help herself. The voices of her friends concerns followed her to her front door, but she still didn't bat an eye. There was only one thing on here mind. 'Why the fuck is he here?'

Linnea closed the front door after her and placed her entire body against it, heaving a big sigh. 'I don't want to even thing about it.' Linnea deals with stress by taking showers, so that was exactly what she did. She threw all her stuff beside the front door and slumped her way to the bathroom, taking off her clothes and leaving them scattered around the floor all over the house.

She was home alone most of the time. Her father worked abroad and rarely dropped by the house, and he mother had an office job, forcing her to return late at night. Her relationship with her family wasn't the greatest. She always complained about it to her friends.

Linnea reached the bathroom door fully naked. She twisted the knob and made her way inside, directly stepping into the shower. She turned on the water and started adjusting the temperature to her liking, using the internationally recognized method of poking the water stream until the skin withstood the temperature. She stared at the wall for two minutes, the stream of water raining down on her, without doing anything. And then...

She started singing. Linnea thought about the voice-refining magic the bathroom produced. She noted that her voice sounded like a pop star in the bathroom but like a dying horse outside of it. Singing was a matter reserved for the bathroom—an activity.

After an hour and a half, she left the bathroom, water dripping all over the floor. She got dressed up and rubbed her eyes. Now that she was all relaxed, she picked up all the clothing she laid and put them in the laundry. After folding up everything, she picked up her phone and lied on her bed, her arms fully stretched upwards holding her phone.

*Bang*

'Ouch,' a red mark painted her forehead after gravity controlled her phone. After complaining for a few seconds, her thoughts drifted to Robert, whom she placed in the back of her mind. Linnea's mind was in chaos. She had so many questions, but the most prominent one was why he was here. Furthermore, what were those bruises and scars that were scattered all over his legs and arms? They weren't there. 'Why did this asshole come here? I thought he's had enough of me.' She adjusted her body to get in a comfortable position, 'Surely he knew that I was going to attend this college, so why would he come here after ignoring me for two fucking years?'

Linnea was no idiot. That slip was not an accident. He must've planned it. She knows Robert like the back of her hand. Only he would come up with something like that. So, it wasn't like he didn't know she was here, and he also didn't ignore her. 'Then why..,' Linnea rubbed her temples with her thumbs, 'this makes no sense. Why the fuck is he her—.'

*Ding*

Linnea glanced over her phone and saw a message from her friend Rachel, [Hey girl! Heard you ran off today. Is everything ok?]

[Yeah im fine. I just remembered smth I had to do.]

[oh ok. Do you wanna go out and eat? There's this new restaurant that you just have to try!]

Linnea almost replied with an immediate refusal, but she stopped her thumb a few millimeters off the send button. She deleted everything and typed, [ok, send me the location and I'll be there in 20 mins.]

She picked up her purse, placed her phone and wallet in it, and went out.

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"Didn'f I teww you thaf thif shit is goof?" said Roland stuffing his mouth with a handful of fries. He swallowed and followed up, "Oh come on, you're eating like a pig but not talking. Let's cut to the chase. What the fuck happened?"

A minute of silence ensued. Seeing that Robert was determined to not relay any details, Roland pressed the issue, "Come on lad, you're too easy to read. Whenever you have a problem, you never reply. You also have that gloomy look on your face. Come on, tell me." After a few more attempts of trying to elicit information, Rob finally broke.

Robert told Roland everything that happened. Despite knowing Robert for a long time and having talked to him online, Roland never spoke to Linnea. "So what you're saying," Roland picked up his coke, "is that she gave you that look for no reason?" Roland took a sip, placed the can on the table, and leaned closer, his elbows planted on the table and his face inches away from Rob's, "Are you fucking mental? There's no such thing as no reason. Listen Rob, something must've happened."

"I don't know." Robert stared at the serious brown eyes of Roland. This was the umpteenth time he said I don't know. He couldn't think anymore. He noticed that Roland's long charcoal hair covered one of his eyes. It was one of his famous moment of scrutiny from his friend. He'd always do that whenever he wanted to formulate a judgement.

Roland leaned back, planting his back on the wooden chair, and sighed, "Well, whatever it is, you better fix it fast. News travel fast, my friend. Her partner will find out about this and certainly won't be the happiest man alive."

Robert's world froze when he heard the word partner leave Roland's lips. He completely disregarded his friend's other statements. The only thing that remained in his mind was the repeating echo of the word partner.

"Hello, are you there?" Roland waved his hand in front of Rob's eyes, "burger to Rob, burger to Rob, do you copy?"

Robert snapped back to reality and shook his head, "Yeah, I was just thinking about something unimportant. Anyways, I don't want to talk about this. Let's get the pudding!" Pudding was Rob's favorite thing ever, and it never failed to lift his mood.

Roland grinned and called for the waitress, "Excuse me, can you get us two puddings? Also, can you kindly clean up the table? Thanks!" The restaurant door bell rang mid conversation, but Roland paid it no heed. He turned around only to see Rob's skin colorless and his hands and legs shaking. Roland turned to see what horrid thing Rob witnessed, only to see the exact same sight replicated in a brunette girl that stood by the door next to another person that scanned their faces just like him.