The Train

9:05 AM, 3rd of August

It's been two days since I had that encounter with Mr. Transferee at the cafe. The next day after that night, I was expecting new treatment from the people around me, like people glaring and whispering with disgust on their faces, but I was wrong. Nothing has changed. He could have told anyone, but he chose not to? What is his end goal?

Whenever I see him in class, he is nothing but the innocent guy and a teacher's pet. Every nerd girl is swarming over him during breaks, but the elite girls know better than to hang out with a charity student.

He is getting on my nerves! What is going inside his head? Should I talk to him?

"Ms. Harper! Since you are not listening AGAIN during my discussion, please bring the papers to my office before lunch," Professor Abrams said.

"I could help, Professor Abrams!" Transferee guy said while raising his right hand and then looked at me and winked.

Oh, God! If looks could kill, I can kill him right there and then.

I could not concentrate during class. All I could ever think is when and how will my life end here in school. I thought I could really "fake it til you make it" until Graduation, but I guess I was just dreaming.

Bell rang for lunch. The transferee guy and I grabbed the papers for Professor Abrams.

"You girls go ahead and have your lunch without me. I still need to pass these papers to Professor Abrams' office," I said to Valerie.

"Wait, what? Can't you just leave it all to Mr. Transferee guy over there to do the heavy lifting, Lu? Or just call another person to do it?" Valerie questioned me with a confused look.

Of course, Valerie! I can absolutely do that, if only he has nothing on me.

"Yeah, I know, but remember Headmistress Brown called me into her office yesterday, and it was Grandpa actually. He told Headmistress Brown that I should be an exemplary student of the school," I explained why the change of behavior. Whenever Grandfather's name pops up, they know best not to go against his word.

"Oh, okay. Then see you later!" Valerie said and then left.

After gathering all the papers from the class, we head towards Professor Abrams' office. I was the one leading the way, and he was quietly following me from behind. The silent treatment is really nerve-wracking. I just want this to be delivered immediately and be off.

Sadly, we are using the emergency staircase up to the Professor's lounge because the students were jam-packed at the elevator. We can't really wait since we have a deadline to catch.

After how many steps we have taken, I stop and breathe in deep. I turned around and faced him. I was shocked to see him smiling.

"My, my… You can't handle the pressure, are you now, Queen B?" he said, smirking.

"P-pressure? What pressure? What are you t-talking about?" I said, obviously stammering and breaking a sweat. I turned my back again away from him and started walking again, but he pulled me into him, causing me to drop the papers. He caressed my face with his index finger and lifted my chin to face him. His other hand was on my back, holding me for me not to lose my balance.

"Don't look so surprised, my Queen. I will not say a word… Not a word, I promise…" He said. I stood up and took the papers that I dropped one by one, yet my hands turned ice cold when I heard him whisper to my right ear his last two words.. "or not."

He continued walking up while I was left dumbfounded to where I was.

I cannot let him be the end of me.

It's a Wednesday. So, dismissal is early compared to Tuesdays and Thursdays. Good thing that my last class for Wednesday is not with the girls, or else I will have to make an excuse again of why I can't go out with them.

I grabbed my things and put everything into my bag. I checked my time, and I still have enough time to grab something to eat before going to the station. Students were walking out of their classes, too, and it was the perfect cover for me to go to the university's back gate. I cannot take the front entrance since I am sure that Valerie and the girls will be there.

After the little encounter with the Transferee guy earlier, I haven't seen him since. I am glad that I will not bump into him now. I really don't want to see him. Ever since I got back, my days have been restless.

Last night, I was trying my best to focus on my studies, but I cannot. I worked up with different scenarios running through my head on what will happen since he knows that I am nothing but a Queen. Yet, what happened today was not something I imagined it to be. Everything is still the same except for the fact that I am walking on eggshells since that Transferee guy knows who I really am and what my life looks like right now.

The back gate is farther than the rest of the buildings in the university. I had to go through the university's garden, which is taken care of by Biologist students. The plants really look green and healthy. I really wish we could go back to the time where we live in a world that is just full of greens where we can breathe in the fresh air and not pollutants.

As soon as I got to the back gate, I walked a few blocks more, grabbed bread from a bakery shop, and then took another cab to the subway station.

It's almost my shift. So I hurried to the storage area and got my bag for work. I did my usual routine - wore my uniform, removed makeup, wore the glasses, and tied up my hair in a ponytail.

As soon as I got out of the bathroom, people rushed towards the train because it was about to arrive. I immediately grabbed my things and let myself be swallowed in the crowd while running towards the train. People were bumping one another, shoulder to shoulder. I just hopped on the train right before it closed its doors. This was the first time that many people are bolting to ride the train at this hour. It's still 4:30, just thirty more minutes before 5 PM.

I was standing in front of the door. It was really crowded. I wasn't able to take my seat as usual. I have to tolerate people just bumping into me when they leave the train.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my hip. I was shocked by the sensation. I tried to turn around and see who it was but I couldn't because there wasn't much space to move. I tried to glance, but the only thing I could see was a hoodie that covered his eyes but not his lustful smile. I wanted to scream, but I felt his hand going down to my thigh. I have never been harassed like this before on public transportation. I froze, and my mind went blank. I closed my eyes and hoped that somebody would notice.

"Help me," my mind screams.

Then I heard a thud. I opened my eyes to see the guy who was harassing me on the floor, wiping the blood on his lip.

"Westside Coast Station 1," the announcer said. People were in shock at what just happened, and that includes me. I felt a hand grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the train. My face was still looking towards my molester, and I just heard from a distance that this person who dragged me out was reporting the harassment that happened to me.

"Miss? Miss?" The second time the police officer called me was the time I snapped back to reality. He tried to touch me, but I immediately stepped back. I don't want to be touched. I felt violated.

"Are you okay? You look pale, and you're shaking?" he said. No words would come out. The only thing I could do was nod at him. The police officer was saying something, but I could not really wrap my head around it.

My phone rang, and I took it out to answer. It was Ms. Ava.

"Selene? Where are you? It's already 5:00 PM. We need you here," she said. I could hear the busy cafe in the background.

"I--I'm at the train station already. I will be there in 5 minutes," I said, desperately trying to pull myself back together.

A hand was still holding my wrist. I looked at who it was, and it was the Transferee guy.

"You?" I said in confusion. "YOU!! DON'T TOUCH ME!" I shouted. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" I cried, horrified when I had just processed what happened to me.

Everyone on the platform looked at me for causing a scene. The transferee guy wanted to get a hold of me to calm me down, but I kept moving away from him. "I just want to be alone," I thought.

I went to the public restroom. I was distorted. I could not think straight. I washed my hands numerous times, hoping that the bad memory would be washed away with it. I also rubbed it on my thighs and hips with hands damp, then I realized I was already crying.

I don't know how many minutes have passed. My phone kept on buzzing. I was already late for work. Miss Ava has been sending me messages looking for me. I washed my face for one last time to reduce its puffiness. I breathed in deep and pulled myself back together.

"This will pass," I said to myself. "You can overcome this. You're stronger than this."

Once I've convinced myself of the lie I just made. I walked out of the restroom, and to my surprise, that transferee guy was there.

"Leave me a--"

"You really should not work your shift tonight. You're not fine. You're shaking," he said in concern.

"It's none of your business. Leave me be," I said and shook his hand off my wrist. A touch made by another person horrifies my entire body.

"And stop touching me!" I shouted.

I was slow in walking. The scene kept on repeating inside my head. Minutes later, I find myself staring at the doorknob of the staff room. The door opened, and Miss Ava was there.

"Selene? What took you so--are you okay? You don't look well." I tried to smile to give her assurance that everything is okay. I duck my head and enter the room.

I kept myself busy with all the orders, running back and forth from the kitchen's main area. It was a busy night, and I was glad for it. Ms. Ava called me and told me that a customer wants me to take his order.

"Take table 7's order," she said. I obediently listened.

I got my pen and paper from my apron to list the customer's order. I looked to see who it is and saw the Transferee guy with a worried face.

"You shouldn't be really working right now," he said while holding the menu and browsing for food to order.

"And you really should stop following me," I snorted back.

"May I take your order now?" I said after a minute of silence.

"One cappuccino, please," he said while putting down the menu and then looking directly at me.

"Can you stop staring?" I asked while jotting down his order details.

"I won't," he said. I took the menu from him and gave the order to our barista.

I let out a big sigh that caught Ms. Ava's attention. "Who is he?" she asked. I shrugged as a reply. "He doesn't seem to be someone you don't know since he has been here since your first day."

"He's just a transferee guy in school that always seems to find his way to my side," I said in disgust.

"Maybe he likes you," she said. My jaw dropped with Miss Ava's comment. I shook my head, thinking of even the slightest possibility of that being true.

"By the way, Miss Ava, can I get another advance today? I really need to at least pay our rent and water. It's due on Friday," I said.

"The manager is not budging anymore, Selene, since you've been asking for advance payments for quite often now. Is your mother really not helping you with your rent?"

"Nope. Not a bit. She's just busy banging one guy and another. She's practically a whore," I said in anger while wiping off some of the mugs.

"Well, I let you borrow some money. Just pay me whenever you can, okay?"

"Really?" I asked, looking at her with a big smile as if a big thorn has been taken out from me. She has always been taking care of me ever since I came to work in this cafe. I feel like we always had this connection that I can't begin to explain.

It's already nine o'clock. After changing into my casual clothes, Ms. Ava handed over to me the borrowed money. I told her that I will pay her back when I have the cash already. I said my goodbyes to my fellow co-workers and walked out of the staff room door. There I see another familiar guy in our school uniform leaning by the wall with his hand over his one shoulder holding his bag and his other hand in his pocket. The moonlight lit half of his face, which I caught his golden eyes staring back at me.

"Why are you still here?" I said, turning my back on him.

"It's late," he said while following me just a few steps back, careful of the distance between us two. He seems to know that I may get triggered again.

"And?"

"Something might happen to you."

"Why do you care?" I said, turning myself to face him. He stopped on his track and stared once again at my brown eyes. It feels like he could read my mind and know what is inside my soul.

"Just because. Are you going somewhere? Or are you going home?" he asked. I was left confused by his answer. What does he mean by "just because"?

"Hey, Mr. Transferee guy!!!" I shouted.

He stopped walking. He lifted his head enough for the moon to shine over it. He covered his eyes with one hand, and he laughed. He looks charming. It is as if he's glowing because of the moonlight.

"You could at least call me by my name. It's the least you could do after I saved you from your molester. My name's Nathaniel Cooper, but you can call me Nate."