Disturbed Personality Disorder

"Can you tell me now what happened in Canada and over the summer that I barely had any contact with you?"

Craige's eyes darted towards Zeanne then back at Katherine. "Katherine, no."

He remembered the last time that he witnessed Zeanne have an episode. He saw how the color slowly drained from her face and felt her body turn cold as warm tears trickled down her cheeks. She was convulsing from the cold that none of them in the room felt. And her lips were trembling as she spoke.

He never wanted to see her in the same state again.

And although it happened quite some time ago and his aunt already assured him many times that Zeanne was getting better, he could not stop himself from worrying about her. Even when she said that Zeanne managed to find a method of her own to distract herself and prevent herself from falling down the pit of that memory, he still could not help but feel uneasy.

This was the reason why he started questioning himself.

He didn't care about anyone before.

Didn't want to.

But there was something that pulled him to her.

By the time he realized what was going on, it was already too late to escape it.

And now, to his utter consternation, he's being protective towards her like a raptor towards its eggs.

Zeanne must have noticed that he was preparing himself for the worst because she smiled at him. "Relax. I got this."

His brows furrowed. "You always say that."

"What's going on?" Mia frowned as she studied the faces of the people in their circle. "Did something bad happen in Canada, Zee? And why does it seem like Craige knows something about it?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Katherine looked at Arthur who clamped his mouth shut. She nodded as understanding dawned on her. "And I understand why YOU would know what's going on. But what I can't believe is that you pretended to be oblivious about it."

"Arthur also knows?" Mia felt betrayed. She knew that Arthur and Zeanne have known each other since they were kids but she believed that she had a closer relationship with Zeanne because the two of them never really talked to each other aside from getting on each other's throats. "Why the hell would Arthur know something that even Katherine and I didn't know?"

Arthur gave her a dry smile. "That's another long story."

"What's with Canada?" Jake asked Trixie who has been keeping her mouth shut the entire time.

"It's a country with good people." Brian spoke quietly as if he was just talking to himself while playing with the paper boat that he made earlier.

Jake rolled his eyes then slapped his hand on the carpet, feeling frustrated. "I mean, what happened there?"

"Isn't that what Katherine is asking Zeanne now?" He pointed out with a relaxed tone contrary to Jake's heated one.

"Does this have something to do with what happened during the audition?" Ameera asked Arthur.

And her question made a line appear on his forehead. "What happened during the audition?"

Ameera raised an eyebrow at him. "You didn't know? She had a panic attack during the audition. Or at least that's what Katherine told us."

His eyes darted towards Katherine. "What panic attack?"

"I told them what I believed it was. Because the only person who probably knew the whole story refused to open his mouth. He just keeps telling me not to ask because it will be bad for Zee." Katherine nodded her head towards Craige's direction.

Zeanne frowned at Katherine's words. She had no idea what they were talking about. 'Did they have a discussion about me because of what happened at the audition?'

Arthur then directed his question at Craige. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

Craige looked at Zeanne who was still confused by the chaotic stream of questions. Even he, himself, was having a hard time in keeping up with the flow of their conversation. "Are you sure that you will be ok? Should I tell them?"

"N-no, I'll do it." Zeanne looked around and her heart started beating fast as everyone's eyes settled on her. She took a deep breath then tightened her grip on Katherine's hand. And in her head, she counted from one to ten before she steadied her eyes on Katherine. "Please don't misunderstand me. It's not that I did not trust you. It's just that… my condition up until recently was really bad that I had no choice but to keep it from you. I was only able to tell Craige because his aunt, who is my therapist, was there."

"I understand. That's why I'm asking if it's okay for you to tell me now?" Katherine nodded with a small smile even though she still hated the fact that Craige knew more than she did.

She smiled. "Yes. I've been a lot better since then. And it's all thanks to Mia's dad and Teacher Kimmy."

Brian turned to Mia. "Your dad?"

Trixie also did the same. "He didn't tell you anything about this?"

And Mia shook her head, not quite sure what to feel about this piece of information. "He never told me anything aside from the panic attacks and insomnia which Zee already told us about."

Brian tilted his head with curiosity. "Your dad is a psychiatrist?"

"He is." She nodded dazedly in response.

Then Jaked exaggeratedly covered his mouth and stared at Zeanne. "Then that means, Zeanne lost her memories?! Is that why she couldn't tell you what happened because she was suffering from amnesia?"

"Why did you think about amnesia as soon as there's a psychiatrist involved?" Ameera chuckled while looking at Jake with wonder. "I think you've watched too many Korean dramas, Jake."

"What else could it be?" Jake's voice started becoming louder again from excitement.

"Split personality?" Trixie offered with a smile. She liked this hyper version of Jake a lot.

"Heuk!" Jake hit her arm lightly. "You're right! What was it called again? Distribu-- differ-- diagnosed? Ah! I got it! It's disturbed personality disorder!"

They all erupted in laughter except for Jake who didn't understand what they were laughing about.

Brian tapped his shoulder with a nod. "Yes, Jake. It is indeed very disturbing. And you're disturbing the discussion."

He shook Brian's hand off with a scowl on his face. "What? Why? Am I not allowed to join the conversation? Just because I'm not girlfriends with Zee? Before these girls even met her, we've been boyfriends for a long time for your information."

'Did he just call me his boyfriend?' Zeanne's eyebrow raised. She knew that Arthur and Jake never really considered her to be a girl but she never thought that they were actually seeing her as a guy. She chuckled in disbelief. 'Now, that explains their rough treatment towards me compared to the other girls.'

Brian shook his head and patted Jake's back. "That's not what I'm saying. Let's just let Zeanne finish then we discuss this later, okay?"

Jake pouted and folded his arms. "Fine. But I'm betting that this is about that disturbed personality disorder."

"Aihooo~" Mia was no longer able to hold herself back and pointed out what the rest of them couldn't. "It's dissociative personality disorder, you dimwitt."

"Dishosha---what?" Jake scratched the back of his head. "What does that even mean?"

Mia rolled her eyes. "Google it later."

Jake narrowed his eyes at Mia. 'She's making it too obvious that she's a daughter of a doctor.'

Seeing that Jake no longer has an intention to interrupt, Katherine turned to Zeanne with a shake of her head. "Before I start forgetting what we're talking about in the first place, can we go back to the topic?"

Ameera mumbled to herself. "I already forgot what the topic was."

"Katherine wanted to know what happened to Zeanne in 'Canada' and during that summer that they lost contact with each other." Craige kindly supplied in a low voice, careful not to let anyone else hear him in fear that it might start another round of disorienting queries.

"Amazing. You were able to remember it amidst all that?" Ameera clapped her index fingers together and whispered back.

"Why are you two looking so chummy?" Arthur whispered while glaring at Craige. "You're not allowed to hit on Ameera. You're taken already."

"I was not hitting on--"

Craige was interrupted by Katherine who also glared at him. "What? You already have a girlfriend?"

"I don't." Craige answered flatly. Then his eyes met Zeanne's and he smiled when saw her cheeks turn red. "At least not yet."

"Why? What is that? What's going on? Who has a girlfriend?" Jake peered over and made everyone else turn to him.

'Not again.' Craige slammed his hand on his forehead and hung his head low, feeling frustrated. 'I want to sleep.'

Arthur chuckled at that sight and clapped his hands together. "Okay, kids. Save it for later. Let's get back to the topic!"

Trixie shook her head. "I can't believe we haven't started with it yet."

Jake nodded in agreement while massaging the back of his neck. "I know, right? But why do I feel so tired already?"