Chapter 7

I had a long and exceptionally boring day in classes today. So, I met up with Lucy. I didn't feel like going back to the dorm. Sure I could do with some studying, but I was feeling like my time here was ending, and I should do something else than study for a change.

Our moods changed as soon as Amanda walked past us. I could tell by the smirk on her face, and the blue eyes staring in our direction, she wasn't just planning to walk on by. She had evil written all over her face. The students standing near us laughed and approached, and it hit me...she was going to put on a show, and we were the stars of it.

Then Amanda exaggerated her walk and swayed her hips until she reached Lucy. That was when she came to a dramatic stop.

"Let's get out of here!" I demanded.

But Lucy was in a fighting mood, as she stood her ground and waited for Amanda to draw near.

"I see the slut was busy in the hot tub not just with one of her men, but two!" Amanda laughed as more phones near us chimed, and I realized that having no access to social media was a good thing, but now I just wanted to know what they were all laughing at.

"Nothing better to do than spy like a peeping Tom, I see!" Lucy remarked.

"My man keeps me satisfied!"

They were so close, both of them. Amanda towered Lucy by a couple of inches, but that didn't steer Lucy away. She had her feet firmly on the ground, even with her two-inch heels which she constantly wore. She hated being little, especially because she had a tiny frame.

People ignore short people, Lucy had said more than once, so she made sure that she wore heels all the time. Even if she was going to the gym, she would wear them on the way there and made sure she changed for the way back.

"So, why are you so interested in my love life. We all know that you took that video!"

Amanda spat back, "You have no proof. Besides, it's disgusting. Two men. Oh no, three. Or was the other one vacation?"

Lucy was bored or ready to do something that she was about to regret, because it was then that she walked away.

"See, whore! You can't even answer."

Lucy spun around. "I have two men. Two boyfriends. OK. Yes, one of them broke-up. You happy now?"

Amanda tugged at Lucy's short yellow summer dress and said, "No. I'll be happy when you get kicked off campus. Whores like you don't belong here."

It was as if Lucy had enough, because as Amanda was crying out with fits of laughter, and her audience was clapping in agreement, Lucy slapped her right across the face. Not just once, but twice. It was as if every time Amanda tried to stand-up and gain her composure, it was met with a new slap. I wanted to pull Lucy away from Amanda, because it was getting out of hand. She was hurting Amanda. The rest of the students were idiots. Instead of wanting to stop the fight, they were feeding off it like leeches, and suddenly, I heard bets being placed.

That was when I heard campus security blow their whistle. Amanda tried to defend herself and was tugging at Lucy's hair to get her revenge. Amanda had never been in a fight before, but Lucy was fighting back as if she was a born natural. Lucy does kickboxing classes in the gym, but she wasn't hitting a punching bag; she was hitting a person.

"Stop!" the tall, dark security guy screamed out. He held both Lucy and Amanda as if they were rag dolls. Maybe while Lucy was kicking, she'd lost a shoe, because she was limping as he was trying to stop them from touching each other again.

I didn't know what shocked me more, Lucy ignoring my pleas to stop, the students sighing that no one had won so they wanted their bets back, or campus security trying to tell them to stop. I picked up Lucy's bag as the security officer was now joined by two more, and they ordered them straight to the campus security office. I stood, knowing that the outcome of this would not be good. I hated the fact that Lucy kept things from me. Sure, she didn't have to confide everything in me, but I would have thought that she would have told me she broke up with one of them. I didn't know which one, but I realized why she'd been home so much, whereas when she started her harem, she was never at home.

I followed security, with Amanda with one guy, and Lucy with the other. I didn't have class or anywhere to be. I had to help my friend; I thought of her as my best friend. I just wished she felt the same way about me.

* * *

As soon as Lucy came out of the campus security jail, or so we called it, she cried as I handed her some shoes. I knew she would need them, seeing as she was practically hopping after losing her other shoe in the fight, then tossed the other to the side, so that she could walk straight.

"Thanks, friend." She smiled with make-up smudged on her face. Lucy would never be caught dead with her hair in a complete mess, strands up and down. It was then that I noticed her long dark strands were mixed with short ones too, which meant that Amanda had pulled her hair from the roots.

"Why didn't you tell me you broke up with one?"

I should have waited until we got to our dorm, but then I decided I would just get to the point, find out what really upset her.

She shrugged. "You never asked."

Then she took the lead and walked in front of me. She held the door open and then asked, "You coming?"

I didn't like her attitude, but then again, she had been having a shit day.

As I approached her, she blurted out, "You know the thing that gets me the most. I can take that shit from Amanda and her stupid clones, but you? I mean, I would have thought better of you."

"What?"

"Kiara, you just stood there. You didn't defend me, and then one time I saw you asking to see someone's phone so that you could see the video. I thought we were friends."

Her accusations shocked me because I thought the same thing too. I walked past her to face her, wondering if this was all a dream or if I was hearing her correctly? She really thought that this was my fault. I waited two hours for her to come out, made sure that she had shoes, and now it hit me. When she said friend to me, she was being sarcastic. She didn't think of me as a bestie, let alone a friend; she thought of me as being no better than Amanda.

"I thought that too."

"Thanks for the shoes, but I'm going to spend the night with Tom."

What the heck?

Where was Tom in all this?

If he was such a great guy, if they both were, why didn't they do something. She shifted past me as if I were a piece of trash on the sidewalk, and then carried on walking in the opposite direction. I stood, staring at the space that she once occupied, wondering if this was all part of my imagination.

Did she really come out of the campus security office to have a fight with me?

After waiting for her to come back, and the realization hit me that it really did happened. As I headed to the dorm, thinking about the past few minutes, I wondered what did I really do wrong?

I didn't remember being a terrible friend, only asking her to stop fighting, trying to get her to let go of Amanda, and then waited at the damn security office. She was so fucking ungrateful. I was so upset by her words and actions. I slumped on the lawn outside of the dorm, not feeling the need to go inside. I realized maybe she was right; I did nothing to help her.

What could I have done?

According to Lucy, save her honor. That was pretty hard when she was too busy throwing punches at Amanda.