TWICE THE TRAUMA, THRICE THE THERAPY

3! 2! 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR. The large billboard was a dazzling display of colours so bright they might blind someone. Everyone was either kissing someone, hugging someone or taking pictures. Teenagers started to go out to places they should not be, while parents shielded the eyes of little children to preserve their innocence. "The world will end tonight, and the rate of pregnancies will rise." An old woman grumbled as she walked away. While the black firmament held a clear but skyscraper-filled sky, the packed air was cool and joyful. Demetria exhaled before smiling. She was finally changing schools. She thought about quitting school three times, but her mother insisted that she complete the degree. Her mother has often said, "It may not get you out of poverty but it will at least get you out of illiteracy." So here she was, changing from sociology to Agriculture. Honestly, she blamed herself. She set herself up in the first place by going for a degree like sociology which involves a lot of interaction with people. That is how she met the department's top performer, Natalie Jenkins. Demetria had unintentionally stolen Natalie's alleged boyfriend for their freshman party. The man approached with curiosity, and Demetria, who wanted to socialise, started a discussion with him. How could she possibly have known that he was Natalie's boyfriend? It was obviously not to the clever lady's liking, and to make matters worse, Demetria had inadvertently revealed Natalie's cheating on one of their tests. How, you ask? All Demetria did was rise up from her table, unaware that Natalie was using her back to cover herself. From that moment on, she detested Demetria. It worsened with each semester. From a minor tea spill to blatant humiliation and name-calling, Demetria realised it would be difficult to contend with a wealthy and intelligent girl. The situation worsened to the point that Demetria felt stuck, could hardly attend courses, and started to perform poorly. Since she did not want to trouble her mother about such matters, she informed her that New Teachings University was the greatest in agriculture and that she would want to switch degrees. Believing Demetria had found her passion, Julia Johnson agreed. So it was a personal happy new year for her. Or so she thought when she resumed school a week later and was introduced to Ezra Frazer. He was the first person she talked to as they were in the same department. Demetria Johnson's early years were somewhat typical. She never met her dad, having died before she was born. There were also no photos of him since, in her mother's opinion, it was an isolated incident. Since her mother did not think the local school system was enough for her only and most valuable kid, Demetria had been homeschooled her whole childhood while living in a tiny town. There used to be a friend that came over once in a while. Her name was Medusa. She had curly black hair, long eyelashes and loved wearing long dresses. She was such a lovely, vibrant, and attractive girl that Demetria occasionally wished she was just like her. Growing up, the girls did everything together. Medusa's father, Phillip, was the one who stood up for Demetria, and Medusa's mother, Kate, looked after Demetria while Julia was away. Despite learning together since they were homeschooled, the two girls' bodies developed in separate ways. In contrast to Demetria, who grew up with perfect body proportions and a little excess fat, Medusa was slender and had a model's physique. It seemed as though puberty was out to destroy her self-worth. Demetria had everything big. Breasts, thighs, ass. She felt full all over, and her chubby tummy just made her poor self-esteem worse. However, Medusa was always there to help her, and her closest friend taught her to be happy and to embrace her own body. Demetria's life fell apart when Medusa vanished after turning eighteen. She had always thought they were going to be together forever. However, she had been completely mistaken. Kate and Phillip had hurried to their house that fatal night to inform Julia that they were leaving before giving Julia a little hand mirror to present to Demetria. Her friend wanted her to have it, Julia had told her the next morning. “What's happening? What's going on? It's the dead of the night.” That fateful evening, Julia had questioned Kate as she followed her outside the home wearing a nightgown and bathroom slippers. “It's Medusa.” “What's wrong with her?” “It broke. The protection you gave her broke and-and-and…Julia, we have to go back to Arken.” “Okay, okay. You know where to go right?” Julia asked and Kate nodded. “Kate! Let's go!” Her husband yelled from the car with an unconscious Medusa in the back seat. “Helios. Go to Helios and ask for Dina. She'll help you.” “Thank you, thank you. Take care of Demetria,” Kate said before running off to the car. When Demetria woke up the following morning, Medusa was gone, leaving just the little mirror by her bed. She had sobbed excessively and even became so ill that she needed to be admitted to the hospital. After having her heart broken for the first time by Medusa abandoning her, she had developed abandonment issues and promised herself never to get attached to anyone. Demetria needed to find friends since Julia had stated that she could not live alone forever and that her mother would not even be there for her forever. This is the reason Julia forced them to relocate to the city, and Demetria decided to study sociology, which also did not work out, but she was willing to try again since she did not want to disturb her mother. The woman already had enough on her plate with her work, her grown adult child shouldn't be adding to her list of worries. The state University was a thing of the past and New Teachings private University was now a thing of the present. And possibly, Ezra Frazer could be a thing of the future.