Punishment
1018 Words
Dringgg... dringgg...
Her phone kept ringing, but Soraya didn't budge. She thought maybe she should keep her distance from David for a while. She didn't want David to be involved in the problem.
"Why didn't you pick up? Was that a call from a bully?" sked Robert coldly. His voice and eyes looked very sharp and intimidating.
Soraya was stunned, she became even more afraid of this situation.
"I-I'm-" Soraya was silent, she didn't know how to explain to this man that not everyone around her was a bully. It seemed that Soraya had no choice but to answer David's call.
"Hello, David?"
"Where are you? Are you coming today?"
"Yes, I'm coming! Why?"
"No, that's fine! I thought maybe you should stay home and calm yourself over." He said. From the tone of his voice, David sounded worried. As if something was bothering him.
Soraya seemed to understand David's concern. Of course that's not something to say. David asked her to stay at home, that meant there was something that made Soraya better not to come to campus today. However, whatever it was for her would not be much worse than the terrible feeling she felt in that house.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Kerry's face. Yes, Kerry is on her mind. Her eyes seemed to terrorize her. She felt very depressed and suffering.
"I'm coming, I don't want to hide as if I'm the one to blame. I didn't do anything to her, that's why I won't run away!" Soraya hung up the phone. Even though she said it confidently, her hands were shaking. She could hear her heart beating very fast, forcing him to keep on taking deep breaths.
Beside her, Robert didn't budge. There was nothing he wanted to say, from he point of view, he already knew what Soraya was thinking right now.
"Do I really have to go into that room again?" It's raining. She just remembered that most of her belongings were still in the room. The room he shared with Kerry for three months. A room that holds painful and sad memories. A room that holds a big trauma that she will never be able to forget.
"Would you like to get something there?"
"Yes, all my belongings are still there. My books, clothes, bag, shoes, everything I still live there. Since the police brought me in for questioning, I didn't have time to take them all. What should I do? I'm scared very!"
"If you're scared, you don't have to take anything. I'll buy you new clothes and books!"
"That's not the point! There are photos of my family there too, the scarves and sweaters my mom knitted, my favorite books that Matthew gave me and-and-" Soraya started to cry. She felt stupid and regretful that she had brought so many valuables to this place. She should have left at home, in her room which was much more so. It wasn't a dorm room she had to share with a crazy woman who made her have to go through all these bad things.
"Okay, you better think carefully before deciding! I'll be waiting for you at the orange cafe parking lot at 4 pm. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
***
Faculty of Arts
Soraya stepped like a broken robot forced to keep moving. Very stiff and looks pathetic. Even though she had told David so confidently that she didn't want to hide and run away. But in reality, she felt that she was a coward.
In the middle of the bustling corridor, People looked at her scornfully. Whispered as she passed with careful steps. Especially the girls who lived in the same dorm as her who also saw Kerry's body hanging from the ceiling of the room. Soraya didn't know what kind of rumors were spreading about her, but it was clear that it was something she really didn't want to hear.
"You came today?" Kimberly patted her on the shoulder. Soraya gasped and immediately turned around.
"Kim?"
"How are you? Are you feeling better?" Kimberly asked very casually as if ignoring the dozens of pairs of eyes that were on her.
"Yeah, not very well. But you don't have to worry!"
"Thank God, just ignore the disgusting stares from the hyenas here! You know? Sometimes I think that a place filled with educated people like this isn't much different than the Savannah. Every time they see a creature different from them, they'll instantly be intimidating with their eyes. They're ugly! You don't need to be afraid, because actually they won't be able to do anything!"
"Who do you mean can't do anything, huh?" Said David who walked over to them with James.
"Yeah, like you're useless!" Kimberly chirped sarcastically. David growled, it was too early for him to be angry.
"Soraya, how are you? You, are you okay?" James asked. The only person who didn't want to be seen in the pointless debate the two of them had almost every day.
"I'm fine!"
"Your face is pale, maybe you should stay home and rest!"
"I'm fine, James! Thanks for worrying about me!"
"Tch, shameless! Can he still come to campus after that incident?"
Soraya, Kimberly, David and James immediately stopped talking after hearing the words of someone not far from them. They try to remain silent and listen once again to what the person is saying.
"She pretended to be hysterical when she saw Kerry hanging to death! In fact, she was the one who made Kerry do that. What a lunatic! She should have been expelled from campus!"
"That's right, we're all in trouble at this rate because we have to run into crazy sociopaths like hee!"
"I still can't believe she did it, even though her face looks so good and innocent. It turns out that his heart is very rotten and evil. Tch, you demonic woman!"
"Hey, listen! Don't trust innocent looks too much. Have you ever heard the saying, don't look at a book by its cover? I think she's a real example of that saying. It's really hard to believe!"
***
- Writer
