• tab For the whole day Felitia refused to have anything to do with Jared. When it came to dinner, finding Genevieve sitting and chatting with him, she turned her back and left the dining hall. She would eat only with Jared or not eat at all, and now that Genevieve had taken over her role, she saw no point in staying round him any longer. She would have to go hungry until he saw sense.

    tab Jared noticed her leave and stood up to follow her. He wouldn’t give up trying to make amends for all the shattering words he had said to her.
    tab “Jared, leave her. It’s her choice if she chooses to ignore you,” Genevieve insisted. He sighed and sat down again. “Honestly, you need to stop thinking she’s perfect. Name one thing wrong with her.”
    tab “Stop Genevieve,” Jared muttered, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
    tab “Come on, one thing,” she said innocently.
    tab “Well, her attitude can sometimes be a bit sour and rude.”
    tab “Mmmmm,” Genevieve urged him on.
    tab “But, at least she recognises it and apologises.”
    tab “Except this time,” she added.
    tab “But it might not be entirely her fault.” Jared looked at her seriously. “You’re not trying to suck up to me are you?” he asked.
    tab “Is that what she told you?” she pried.
    tab “Yes, actually,” he mumbled.
    tab “Typical! I kind of knew she wouldn’t trust me; but I decided to be nice to her anyway. The thought of taking you away from her had never even crossed my mind!”
    tab “Sorry, just wondering.” He looked distantly across the room. “I’m worried about her.”
    tab “Why?” Genevieve asked.
    tab “She hasn’t eaten all day. By tomorrow, I’m not sure she’ll have enough energy to come to classes.”
    tab “That would be very unfortunate,” she said with false sympathy, but Jared didn’t seem to notice it. He leaned in close to her, looking at her directly.
    tab “Do me a favour; convince her to come to breakfast tomorrow. It would be the best thing for her. Maybe it’ll be the first step towards her listening to you.”
    tab “I’ll do that,” she smiled at him and patted his hand.

    *****


    tab Felitia was curled up on her bed staring above. A single candle lit the room by her bedside. Images flickered in her mind, of Jared and her before Genevieve interfered. Laughing echoed in her skull, the ghost of something long dead and lost in the wind. Then snippets of the fight returned to haunt her. Shouts and screams were the only memories filling her head. The piercing words Jared had said still shocked and tortured her. And then he had tried to apologise; it was completely outrageous! From the hatred in his eyes to saying he loved her, the change was unbelievable. It was not only Jared who had changed but Felitia also. She went from feeling guilty about hiding the truth to being the one who was hurt inside. What he had said was unforgivable, even if her apologised for all eternity. The only thing that would even begin to make amends was if he were to dump Genevieve and realise the truth of her deception. Tears seeped down her face.
    tab At that moment Genevieve stepped into the dormitory. Felitia kept her eyes averted from her; submitting to her deceit would do her no good in the battle for her pride. She had been broken enough for one day.
    tab “The b***h returns,” Genevieve announced seeming proud of herself. “That’s what you must be thinking, eh? Felitia?”
    tab No answer.
    tab “You must be really pissed off at me for stealing your boyfriend.” Genevieve walked slowly over to her. “You know ignoring me isn’t going to do you any good. I’m still going to make your life hell.”
    tab “They say ignorance is bliss,” Felitia mumbled to herself.
    tab “Well not for you darling.” She loomed over her, then slapped her across the face. Felitia said nothing.
    tab “You must think you’re a real smart a**. I heard the entire fight you had with Jared. You really shouldn’t have lied to him. Maybe he would’ve believed you if told him my real intentions straight away. Who would’ve guessed you were right all along.” She slapped Felitia once more. “Poor Jared. Poor, poor, naïve Jared. He’s so sweet and caring. That’s his weakness. He fell for everything. But what surprises me is that he keeps on caring for you. He’s asked me to convince you to come to breakfast tomorrow. So, for his sake, I’m gonna say, you better show up tomorrow!” She slapped her again.
    tab “No,” Felitia said quietly, showing no emotion whatsoever.
    tab “That may be; I couldn’t care less what you decide to do. Either way I’ll still use the situation to my advantage. You were always getting in the way of what I wanted. I’m enjoying seeing you suffer, you worthless, dirty, mangy little b***h!” Genevieve slapped Felitia harder. The cut on her lip reopened and a drop of blood dripped onto the pillow, instantly absorbed. She got to her feet, looking at Genevieve emotionless, except for a tiny spark of intimidating anger in her eyes.
    tab “You’re lucky I’m not like you.” She walked away onto the balcony. Genevieve folded her arms, her tongue in her cheek.
    tab Felitia leaned on the banister, head held low, staring at the forest floor. Another drop of blood fell from her lip, soon curdled by salty tears.
    tab “Felitia,”
    tab Her heart leapt as she heard Jared’s voice from his balcony. She resisted turning her head to answer.
    tab “Come to breakfast tomorrow, please.”
    tab She still gave no reply. The night hid her face in darkness; her injuries were invisible to him.
    tab “You haven’t eaten all day. I’m worried about you.”
    tab Silence, then…
    tab “If you were worried about me, you would ditch Genevieve and go after me, like you used to.”
    tab “You know I can’t do that,” Jared retorted.
    tab “You were saying something about being worried,” she said crudely.
    tab “Felitia, I swear, I…”
    tab “Prove it!” she shouted, eyes ablaze. Jared was speechless. “Or you can forget about me,” she continued spitefully. She walked back inside, not even turning back.

    *****


    tab Felitia kept to her word and didn’t attend breakfast the next day. She overslept, too exhausted to even stir in her bed. By late morning she had finally mustered up the energy to climb out of bed and walk lethargically down to the classrooms. Then she simply didn’t have the will power to attend lessons. She found a bench on the edge of the courtyard and sat brooding for hours until the midday bell rang.
    tab The misty air hung around her. The rays of sunlight attempted to pierce through the veil, but never ultimately succeeded. The weeping willow across the courtyard seemed to join Felitia in her sorrows. Her face was covered by her hair; silent tears kept falling down her face.

    tab Students commuted to the dining hall for lunch, including Genevieve and Jared. She was walking closely by his side and was laughing and chatting with him. Jared had his hands in his pockets, slightly on edge, fiddling with the button like he had been doing for the past six months. Looking into the distance, not really paying much attention to the conversation he was having, he spotted Felitia slouching on a bench in the courtyard he was passing.
    tab “I’ll be just one moment. You go on to lunch. I’ll meet you there,” he said leaving Genevieve before she could answer. She grabbed a hold of his hand to gain his attention.
    tab “Thank you for all the support you gave me today. Last night really was so horrible, I just want you to know how much I really appreciate you being here beside me.” She smiled up at him sickeningly.
    tab “No problem. See ya,” Jared replied quickly, smiling back. He was almost relieved to escape her, but now he had a bigger issue to deal with. He walked over to Felitia, dodging commuters as he went, and sat down on the opposite side of the bench to her.
    tab “Felitia, this is getting ridiculous now. We need to talk.”
    tab She ignored him.
    tab “Are you even listening to me?!” he almost shouted. Felitia remained silent. He moved closer and took a hold of her shoulders.
    tab “Get off me!” she screamed, writhing around, struggling to release herself.
    tab “No! Not until you listen!” He looked around him to check if he had attracted anyone’s attention. Turning back to her he continued in softer tones. “You haven’t eaten since two nights ago. You’re going to make yourself ill at this rate.”
    tab “Why should you care?” she said quietly, eyes low. She had her head turned at an angle and her hair covering half her face, so Jared couldn’t see her injuries.
    tab “Because, I still have faith that things can be resolved and you can change your attitude.”

    tab Felitia pulled a sour face. Jared had stopped apologising and had gone back to trying to convince her to change her ways. There was only one explanation she could think of; Genevieve had lied to him again. She had meant what she had said the night before. She had used Felitia’s decision to her advantage.
    tab “You’ve gone way too far this time, Felitia. Genevieve told me everything you did to her last night.” Jared’s eyes were cold and hostile. Genevieve had completely taken over him, twisting his mind; he would believe anything she told him.
    tab “Damn you,” Felitia muttered on her breath.
    tab “End it Felitia! Come to your senses. Eat something. And make it up with Genevieve, if that’s even possible after what’s happened,” Jared shouted, shaking her gently. Felitia glared at him furiously. She let out a raging, animal-like scream, so angry with the whole of reality. Then before she could stop herself, she slapped him hard across the face.
    tab “Leave me! I don’t want you near me! Just stay away!” she shouted.
    tab “Jared, you should listen to her. She just said she doesn’t want to be with you. Maybe you should leave, respect her decision.” Genevieve was standing behind him, a hand resting on his shoulder.

    tab “Yeah,” Jared agreed as if in a trance. “Maybe I should.” He touched his cheek where he had received the blow from Felitia. He stared at her cold and hard, so shocked she would actually stoop to harming him.

    tab “Let’s go, before she attacks me again.” Genevieve stared bitterly at Felitia. She had replicated a bruise on her right cheek and a cut in her lip, the precise injuries that she had afflicted upon Felitia the night before. If Jared would have been able to see her whole face he would have known something was wrong with Genevieve’s story.
    tab Felitia felt like ending the pain there and then. How could anything get better? Events seemed to get increasingly worse as the days went by. Soon enough she would surely have to suffer the same fate as her mother, driven to the brink of insanity by her own sorrows.

    tab Jared stood up to leave, but suddenly was overcome by a wave of agony. He clutched his stomach and fell back onto the bench. The hellish impulses to kiss Felitia returned to him after nearly four days of remaining dormant, but this time it felt as if he had been slashed in the stomach by some invisible force. Now all his muscles were burning and he felt something push outwards from his spine, cutting its way through his flesh and attempting to break through his skin. It was only his own anger towards Felitia that was stopping him from kissing her, but he felt like if he resisted any longer the pain would kill him.
    tab “What have you done to him you witch?!” Genevieve screamed at Felitia. She wrapped an arm around Jared’s shoulder and placed a hand on his cheek.

    tab Felitia tried her best not to look horrified. She covered her mouth with her hands to hide her terrified face and stepped away backwards from the scene. She stumbled back against a wall, quivering; as much as she tried she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the agonizing sight. Her legs lead her away and once Jared was out of sight she walked away briskly, trying her utmost to keep her composure and not have an emotional breakdown.

    tab “Jared! What’s happening? Can you breathe? Oh gods! What’s happening to you? I don’t know what to do! Just keep breathing, breathing is good.”
    tab Jared tried to stand up but then let out a cry of pain and fell back as another wave of agony overtook him.
    tab “Felitia…” he whispered through clenched teeth. He tried so hard to get her enticing image out of his head. Without her presence it seemed as if the impulses would never cease.
    tab Genevieve laid a hand on his chest.
    tab “Jared, it’s okay. I’m here; I’ll find a way to make you better.” She kissed his cheek softly.
    tab The pain was killed. Jared took a deep breath, breathing in the precious air he always longed for after the experiences had ceased. Then he shuddered as he realised what had made the pain stop. Genevieve had kissed him; the thought was disturbing. The subconscious shock must have made the impulses stop, drawing his mind back from the trance and the urges to kiss Felitia. He felt extremely uncomfortable; Genevieve was getting closer and closer each day and Felitia, further and further away. At this rate, Genevieve would become her substitute, taking over everything that his and Felitia’s friendship had once been. He could never let that happen. He still felt as if he loved Felitia, even in this thorny situation. The arguments about her behaviour, in his mind, were for her own good. To be loving, he would have to help her learn from her mistakes and make life better in the future. But now that future seemed further away than ever. Genevieve kept getting involved, making things worse, even if she didn’t know it.
    tab He stood up once more to leave.
    tab “Jared, we need to get you to see the nurse.” Genevieve followed after him. She took a hold of his hand and clutched it tightly. He wriggled his fingers out of her grasp and kept on walking to the dining hall, ignoring her plea.
    tab “Please Jared. You’re ill; you need to see the nurse.” She clenched his arm.
    tab “I’m fine Genevieve,” he muttered uncomfortably. She placed a hand on his cheek.
    tab “Jared, you were breaking down in pain. This is serious; you need to see the nurse!”
    tab He pushed her hand away from him and stepped away quickly.
    tab “No! Just leave me, I’m fine Genevieve,” he shouted unintentionally. He turned around briskly. “I’m sorry,” he then apologised.
    tab “It’s okay,” she replied. “Let’s go get lunch.”