Chapter 33

How do you tell your friend that you can't hang out with her anymore?

Would I feel bad if my friend did that to me? Yes

Would I forgive my friend after a little while?

Would I be understanding to her?

The last two questions haunted my mind. I couldn't answer those two since I wasn't sure what I would in her situation. I didn't want to be the bad person but I knew that I had no choice. I only hope that Julie forgives me when this is all over and we can be friends again.

"Good morning, everyone!" The chatter soon settled down as the professor entered the room. As the professor took out his computer from his bag, I saw agirl  quickly rush through the door and towards the nearest, hoping that the professor wouldn't notice.

"First of all just because I have my back turned towards you doesn't mean I don't know what you are doing," he looked pointedly at the girl that came in late. "Secondly I hate it when people talk while I am talking. It's rude and simply annoying. Now let's continue with what we were doing yesterday."

The time quickly flew by, and before I knew it, the class had ended. As I walked towards the exit, I noticed Jake indicating to me to follow him. I knew that I shouldn't follow him but my gut was telling me otherwise.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Why did you call me?"

"I know you have the Defesta Ashley." I froze at his words since I didn't know what to say. Nobody knew about the Defesta except Leon and Jake could have only found out was by him. I felt slightly betrayed by Leon since he told Jake without my permission.

"Leon asked for me to help you get rid of the Defesta."

"How can you help me?"

"Come on! Haven't you figured it out yet? I was Leon's friend who had got the Defesta!"

I stared at him in shock. This was Leon's friend that had the Defesta? A sudden realization dawned on me, Jake wasn't always the person he was nowadays. Nowadays he was always brooding and was always impatient. The person Leon described was always happy and he used to make the best jokes in the worst situations.

"You're him?" I whispered, still not believing this was Leon's friend.

"I am guessing from the shock on your face, Leon told you about the person I used to be. Having the Defesta changes your whole life Ashley, trust me when I say that." A distant look appeared on his face. He looked away from me, preventing me from seeing the expression on his face.

"I have to go, but I'll meet you tomorrow same time and place." Before I had the chance to reply he disappeared from my line of vision.

I stared at the place, Jake was just standing a second ago. There were so many questions that were now left unanswered. I jumped from fright when I heard my ringtone.

"Hi."

"Hi, how are you?" Leon asked.

"Jake was your friend that had the Defesta?"

"Where are you? I am coming to meet you."

"How is Jake going to help me? I know that he is your friend but he has changed so much! The friend you described is the complete opposite of Jake! Have you seen the way Jake treats me? He doesn't like me at all!"

"Answer my question, Ashley!" Leon's voice changed from concerned to demanding suddenly.

"I will answer your question after you answer mine."

"I will answer your question when I meet you in person. Now answer my question Ashley, where are you?"

I gritted my teeth in anger, and before I can even comprehend what I am doing, I cut the call. I ran my fingers through my hair, unsure of what I was going to do now. My phone started ringing again. I was about to cut the call, thinking it was Leon but I was shocked to see that it was Shakira.

"Shakira?" My voice was higher than I had anticipated for it to be.

"The one and only!" Hearing her familiar voice soothed me a little and it reminded me of my life before I moved.

"It has been too long! How are you doing? Have you got a good roommate? Are you getting bullied? Have you met any boys? Have you got any friends?" I chuckled at her rant.

"I saw you less than two weeks ago! And to answer your previous questions, I am doing all right. I have a great roommate actually! His name is Leon and I have made friends. The people here are really friendly."

At the back of my mind, my argument with Leon replayed over in my head. I quickly shook my head, in an attempt to relieve my head of the argument.

"How are you doing? I would ask you how the university was but I know that you are still in Peacelville."

"I heard that you met Fred. Ashley, I am so sorry about your parents! If I had known that they were in danger I would have tried my best to save them." To my surprise tears didn't appear in my eyes when I spoke about my parents.

"There was nothing you could have done. Hell, even I couldn't do anything about it. Now let's talk about something more uplifting. I mean my life for the past few days have not been as great so now would be great to hear your boring life inspiring quotes."

"You want to listen to my uninteresting quotes about life? What have you done to the Ashley I knew?" She joked.

"That Ashley didn't know the value of life until she lost bother her parents." There was a beat of silence before Shakira began reciting her inspiring quotes about life.

***

"You do realize we have been talking for almost two hours, right?" I glanced down at my watch and was shocked to see the time. A sudden realization dawned in me.

"Shakira, my nest class in five minutes and it is across the campus. I have to go but I will call you soon!"

"Stay safe, Ashley!"

"You too!"

I put my phone in my bag and ran across the campus, hoping I reach my class in time. I ignored all the glances I got as I pushed past people, hoping they wouldn't get too offended. When I saw my class, I breathed a sigh of relief. I slowed my pace down and slipped into the class, hoping I wasn't too late. I saw the professor didn't notice me as he was too busy searching for something.

My head hung low as I walked to the back of the room. I looked up when I felt someone staring at me. It was Leon. He was sitting in the area of the class where no one else was sitting; he was sitting in the area I was supposed to be sitting in.

I slid into the seat next to him and pretended that nothing was wrong between us. I knew that Leon would confront me, but I also knew that he wouldn't confront me in front of the whole class.

"What are you doing in this class?" I asked Leon, who didn't seem the least bit interested in this class.

"I told you, I wanted to talk to you."

"Not here." I hushed, taking my eyes away from the professor to Leon.

"Then where? We need to talk, now!"

"We will talk later, back in our dorm. Please leave if you cannot be quiet."

"I am staying." With that, the only person who talked in class was the professor excluding the occasional murmurs of students.

"Finally! I have never wanted to leave a class as much as this time!"

"You shouldn't have stayed for the whole class then."

"You are right. I wouldn't have stayed if it was someone else but it was you. I will always be there to protect you." I felt m hear flutter with comfort when I heard his words. "We think we found a way to lure the Defesta out of you and into someone else."

"How could we do that? And even if you did lure the Defesta out of me, who will volunteer to get the Defesta?"

"I would be getting the Defesta," Leon said making me stare wide-eyed at him in shock.