I opened my eyes and lifted my head up a little. I found Tayla next to me, sleeping peacefully. I reached over and shook her awake and she moaned, turning over.
"No..."
"Tayla..." I said softly.
She opened her eyes looked at me. She sat up and looked at me.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine now... I think..." I said, looking away. "You should probably go though. If Sansr comes in and finds you then she'll blow a fuse."
"Hmm, what do I care? It's not like we did anything."
"But to anyone else, a woman in a man's dorm would be suspiciously like sex, ya know?"
Tayla nodded and then stretched with a yawn. That lustful feeling came over me again as I watched her stretch, noticing the curve of her body and the length of her long arms. Tayla had always been tall and lean but I never noticed how delicate and beautiful it was.
"You didn't have classes today?"
"No..."
"I see. Well, I have to go and get changed and stuff. I'll come check on you later today."
"I don't need you... You're not my mother."
She flashed me a mischievous smile as she got to the door and then left. I laid back down in the bed and sighed, thinking that I should really clean up the room a little.

"Why haven't you cleaned this room up yet?! I thought I told you I wanted it spotless when I got back from the store!"

I closed my eyes, trying to keep the memories from taking over me. I didn't need all of this shit happening to me again. Seeing Mom always made me think of things but I was over that. I was older and Gerald was gone. He couldn't get to me or my family again.

Dad was laying there, his body limp from all the drugs they had pumped into his system. Mom's back rippled as she straddled him and she seemed to be doing something. She got off of him and zipped up his pants and grabbed his face in her hands.
"Soon, Dexter... Soon, we'll see what my husband has concocted. If nothing else, you were at least good in bed."

I ran to the bathroom, feeling nauseas, my older mind telling me what had happened when my younger mind couldn't understand it. It was so sick, so disgusting and disturbing to know that she had violated him like that. Right in front of my eyes! I vomited into the toilet, so repulsed by what I just realized had happened. I knew what had happened but I had never relived it until now and knowing what was going on... To know that she did it in front of me? I could hear the noises now, the sounds of passion...
"Stop... Get out of my head..." I growled to no one, trying to gain back my bearings. "Go away!"
I slammed the toilet seat down and went to the sink to wash my mouth out and brush my teeth. I rinsed the sink out and washed off the sink from water and decided to take a nice shower to calm my nerves a little. I turned the water on and got in. It was a little cold and I shivered, turning the water up a little.

"Since you decided that you're going to sit in the bottom of the tub and play in the water like it's some sort of waterfall, you can see what a real waterfall feels like."
The icy cold water hit my skin and I squeaked, wanting to get out of the cold and freezing water that was coming from the cold well outside. Gerald grabbed my arm and forced me to stay.
"You want to be in a waterfall? You want to waste all the hot water for your little bath adventures? Then be an adventurer and take things seriously. Waterfalls aren't all warm and cozy; they are freezing cold. Now you shower in this and see how it feels to take a bath in cold water like that."

I shivered, not realizing that I had started to turn the water to cold and quickly threw it to hot. The steam helped me clear my head but I still couldn't shake my memories. They just kept coming back to me in waves, harder and harder on my mind. I just wanted to go back home and be with my dad... I needed to be home...
After I took my shower, I didn't go anywhere or do anything. I knew that if I met someone that I would crack and scream and breakdown. I knew that I wouldn't be able to hold all of my fears inside of me and so I decided it would be best if I just stayed in my room and tried to stay together. No one would see how sad I was... No one would see how low I could get.
No one would see how pitiful I really was.

I heard someone knocking on my door but I didn't look up to see who it was. The door was unlocked so whoever it was would come in on their own. Besides, I was pretty well drunk by that time, having found a nice bottle of vodka under my bed for occasions like this. Dad always told me not to turn to alcohol to get away from my troubles because it only ended in a hangover and such but even for him, when the memories just got too bad, he'd sneak a long night of drinks.
"What's this?" a voice said, a hand reaching for my bottle. "Absolut, huh? Good brand..."
The bottle was taken from me and I felt the person slide down next to me. I turned and saw green hair, so I knew it was either Tayla or Groucho the Trashcan monster from Sesame Street. I laid my head on his shoulder and she put her head on mine.
"Do you want me to call your dad for you?"
I nodded, closing my eyes a little. I heard her whip out her phone and dial the number.
"Hey, Mr. Leoda, it's me Tayla... I'm doing great... Listen, I think Sim is doing that thing again... Yeah... Uh huh... Yeah... Do you want to talk to him?... Sim, you want to talk to your dad?" I shook my head no. "He said he doesn't want to talk... Yeah... Okay... Okay... Yeah, of course I'll stay... Yeah... Absolutely... See ya then, bye."
I heard the phone click and we waited for a moment. She didn't say anything to me, knowing what to do from so many years before when I couldn't control myself. From when I was a little rebellious and scared...

"Hey, whatcha doing sitting here by yourself? You pouting?"
"No..."
"You look like you're not feeling good. Do you want a popsicle?"
"No."
She stood in front of me for another moment and then sat beside me and got in the same position I was in. I looked at her and she looked at me.
"Are you thinking?"
"Kinda..."
"Remembering?" I looked at her and she smiled big. "I do that too."
"They're not good memories."
"Mine aren't either but they're there. They won't ever leave." She said softly and scooted closer to me. "If you want to, you can lean on me when you're sad. I'll be there for you."
"I don't need your help; you're a girl."
"So? If I need your help I come to you, okay? We'll be secret buddies! No one will know about it and we can tell each other everything. You wanna do that?"
"Why?"
"Cuz you look sad, like me. We can tell each other stuff and make each other feel better. Then maybe we'll get more friends and stuff. My mommy always said it's good to have a friend."
"Yeah... okay..."
"Neat!"

"Thank you." I heard myself say.
Tayla turned to me. "For what?"
"Being my friend... For sitting next to me that day."
Tayla put her head back on mine and sighed. "You're welcome."
We stayed like that, waiting for my dad to come and get me.