Girl Next Door

CHAPTER 14

Shocked to her marrows, Tifa lay still, trying to process what had just happened. Seconds ticked into minutes and minutes into longer minutes, but Tifa didn't move a limb. And the pig blood? It didn't stop raining. It rained on and on till the source from which it came from exhausted it.

Next thing she heard were ugly remarks and gales of loud laughter. The remarks belonged to students who were in the cafeteria while the laughter was unmistakably from C-TENN. She couldn't mistake their voices for anyone else's.

Bile from nowhere spiraled its way to her throat and tears gathered in her eyes. Her nose which was buried in the small puddle of pig blood that had formed around her face sniffed in the metallic odor of the blood and everything gross filled her head. She wanted to do nothing but puke her insides out.

A feeling of mortification which seemed to choke the life out of her, fluttered in her chest. As she still lay on the floor, she felt her self worth drop each passing minute. She felt worse than s**t as an aura of shame hovered over her.

Everything worsened when she sneezed. The blood from the puddle around her face splashed on her face, leaving red droplets. She also swore that the tip of her tongue had tasted the blood. That was it. She was done lying in the blood. She not only needed a thorough mouthwash but a body wash too.

Mustering every bit of the last courage she had in her, she raised herself up and with support from both her knees and palms, she lifted herself from the floor. Her frame wobbled as she struggled to balance her stance. Pig blood trickled from her knees down her legs, right down to the floor. Her knees had gotten soaked in the blood in the process of her standing from the floor.

More heart wrenching remarks and devilish guffaws hit her ears, making her feel like garbage. Hot flames of embarrassment fanned her insides as she struggled to keep her tears in check, but no matter how hard she tried, more and more of the salty liquid clogged her eyes.

Tifa's eyes which seemed to not stop darting around the cafeteria suddenly fell on Tad. His usual smirk lay at the corner of his lips. The smirk soon morphed into a sly grin, then into a loud laughter.

"Shocked, Freckles?" Tad laughed.

"Now, that's what you get for being selfish. Last time I checked, I wasn't asking you to commit murder. I only asked that you spill the answers to the arithmetic test back in the test hall. Was that too much to ask? It wouldn't have hurt anyone, you know. Let's assume the tables were turned, I'd be nice, shawty"

"The tables would never be turned because I'd never be a dumb scum bag like you!" Tifa wanted to yell, but didn't have the guts to, so she kept mute. She feared that the worst might happen next.

Somehow, she knew that Tad was lying when he said he'd be nice if the situation was reversed. Considering how arrogant and so full of himself he had been, leaking answers in a test hall to a fellow student, the C-TENN being an exception, would have been something hard for him to do, so she swallowed his words with a pinch of salt.

"Anyways, tell me, did you enjoy the shower? Should I tell my boys to rain more? Make it thunder? Make it pour?" Tad's voice interrupted her reverie.

The mention of 'my boys' made Tifa's head whip to the right and there stood Nolan, Eden, Chance and Nebula, smirks and sly grins on their respective faces. In Nolan's hand was a keg with a nozzle and a hose which Eden caressed unromantically, attached to it. She needed no sage to tell her that the keg had been the source of the pig's blood and that Nolan and Eden had been the ones who had sprayed it.

In a bid to teach her a lesson and derive sadistic delight as usual, Tad had told Chance and Nebula to meet up with one of his acquaintances at a not so popular Chinese restaurant and get the pig's blood. Tad had informed this acquaintance of Chance and Nebula's coming and both had closed a deal when Tad paid him a really huge amount.

"Cat caught your tongue, huh?" Tad mocked.

Embarrassed to the core, tired of having tons of eyes on her and tired of the aura of shame that wouldn't stop hovering, Tifa spun on her heels and headed for the door. In her haste to escape the bane of her existence and his ever loyal squad, she slipped and almost fell, courtesy of the puddle of the pig's blood. That made C-TENN and every other person present in the cafeteria roar with laughter.

A tear rolled down her left cheek. Another ran down her right cheek. And then another. Good thing she had grabbed the frame of the door, so she didn't fall. Rather, she staggered backwards then forwards before finally running out of the cafeteria.

Not only did her tears blind her vision as she ran to the bathroom, but strands of her hair as well as they kept falling in her face. Tired of pulling the strands of hair from her face so she could have a clear view of the direction she was running in, she let the tendrils be and didn't care if she stumbled and fell. She had fallen countless times and was used to it.

More tears poured down her cheeks as she kept on running. She came to a halt at the bathroom door. Without demur, she pushed the door open, slammed it close with so much force, she could hear the bang that came right after resonate in her ears.

Leaning against the door, she slowly slid down till her rear came in contact with the floor. Unconsciously, she curled her legs upwards so she was now resting her chin on her knees. Her tresses cascaded all over her back and shoulders as she wrapped her arms around her legs, crying her heart out.

Hurt wasn't enough to describe how she felt at the moment. No word could. As she cried on, her nose reminded her how badly she stank as it kept sniffing in the pungent odor of the blood which was slowly getting dry on her body.

She needed a bath. But she wasn't sure exactly how she was going to go about it. First, she didn't have any personal effects of hers that she was going to change into after taking a shower. Second, she didn't even have the required bathing equipment. Lastly, she had her bank card with her with which she could use to purchase all these things she didn't have, but how she was going to get her bank card was a problem as it was in her backpack back in class and she couldn't bear to walk out of the bathroom in her messy state just to get a bank card. She wouldn't be able to stand the stares and of course, the taunting remarks that would follow.

Realizing how frustrated she was, she cried the more. Her eyes were not only vermillion red with veins in them, but were also puffed up and had bags underneath. Mucus dripped from her nose non stop and she repeatedly used the edge of her shirt to wipe it off as she had no Kleenex or handkerchief with her. The urge to yell out loud or throw a tantrum to vent all her pent up anger, frustration and hurt was strong but she barely had any energy in her for that.

With her back still on the bathroom door, tears running down her cheeks, she thought of different ways to salvage her situation. A whole lot of options ran through her head but none were feasible. More and more frustration set in. A headache followed suit.

Subconsciously, Tifa raised her hands and using her index and middle finger of both hands, she massaged her temple in a bid to make the headache go away and to soothe her nerves but nothing seemed to work. As she bemoaned her lot, she heard a push at the door, then a knock. A voice followed right after and unmistakably, she knew who the voice belonged to: Maja.

Then it clicked: Help had come. The heavens had sent help although she hadn't even offered a prayer. Her tears were enough prayer. As Maja's knocking grew loud, waves of hope washed through her and a smile broke across her lips. Slowly, she shifted away from the door and watched it push open as she rose to her feet.

Maja walked in, threw Tifa a short stare, then walked down to the end of the bathroom where there was an unoccupied toilet for her use. The sound of Maja's urine going down the cistern hit Tifa's ears and she didn't know why she did, but she wondered what color they'd be. Was it chrome yellow like hers was whenever she was down with a fever or titanium or clear whenever she was hale and hearty?

Realizing what she was thinking about, Tifa mentally slapped herself. Here she was wondering what color Maja's urine was when she was supposed to be rehearsing her speech of soliciting for help from Maja. As she previewed what she was going to say to Maja, the sound of the toilet flushing interrupted her rehearsal and she knew she had to wrap it up.

As Maja walked down towards Tifa after washing her hands at the sink, the latter's palms grew sweaty and curled into fists which weren't aiming at punching anyone. If they had to punch, then they'd be directed at no one but C-TENN. Perspiration from nowhere beaded Tifa's forehead as Maja drew closer. Her tongue suddenly felt glued to the roof of her mouth and her lips didn't seem to be giving way anytime soon.

As Maja walked past her, Tifa found her voice. Mustering the last courage she had in her, she spoke up.

"Maja" She started, making Maja pause in her tracks and whip her head to her form.

"Please excuse me. Can you help me out here? I need your help urgently" She continued, giving Maja puppy dog eyes.

"I know I stink and you can't come close, but it's fine. Can you please help me get some clothes, underwears, some bathing stuff and probably a pair of shoes using my bank card? It's in a wallet-like section in the biggest compartment of my backpack which is in class"

"About the clothes, a dress with a scarf would do" She added.

"Lest I forget, here's the pin to my bank card. 024 —" Tifa was saying when she saw Maja c**k her head forward and head for the door.

At first, she thought her eyes were playing games with her but reality dawned on her when she saw Maja grab the door knob and push the door open. Maja was leaving; walking out on her without even caring to hear her out, talk more or less help her out. But the Maja she knew was a nice person, so she called out after her.

"Maja! Maja!" She yelled frantically.

"Can you at least hear me out? I swear, this would be the last time I'd be asking for your help!" She could feel the tears which had dried up gather once more in her eyes.

"Maja!!!" She yelled out once more and she swore she could hear her voice echo in the bathroom, but Maja didn't turn around.

"Maja!" She yelled once more, hoping Maja was going to have a change of heart and at least spare her a glance but her hopes were dashed when Maja just kept on walking till she got lost amongst other students.

Using her leg to slam the bathroom door close, she slid down to the floor but didn't use her knees as some kind of pillow this time around. Instead, her legs were slightly spread on the floor as she hung her head low, her hair hanging on either side of her face. She was back to square one as she watched a tear drop onto the floor.