Chapter 37 - Reunited at Last

"Stop, Bent! I changed my mind. Go out. We'll handle her," Zen commanded. Bent freed my leg and thrown my torn clothes onto my face. Soon, I heard his footsteps away until I heard silence. I was still afraid to open my eyes as my tears were freely kissing my cheeks.

"He's gone. Fix yourself," Lura said. But I still did not open my eyes. They saw my body. "I brought my school uniform here. Wear it and shut your mouth or else you'll be a rape victim next time. You don't know what we can do, Kaede. You don't know."

"Don't try us, Kaede. Don't try us," Zen added. "Move. Fix yourself and go home. Stop crying, can you? You're irritating me!"

I opened my eyes and sat down to embrace myself while sobbing. I thought it was done, but I was wrong. Zen and Lura turned off the light as they started moving around the house. "Bye. I hope you enjoy the show," Lura said while holding a flashlight and trying to dazzle me using it. I covered my face using my hand. I did not give her the satisfaction that she wanted. Then, she left the house with Zen.

I immediately stood up while getting my cellphone inside my bag, so I could use it as my flashlight. I quickly wore the uniform that Lura had given me and did my best to compose myself. Mama should not notice that something happened to me. I hurriedly went out the abandoned house and I was able to breathe when there was no one outside. It meant that Bent was not around. I ran in order to go home in an early time possible because I was sure that mama was wondering why I was not home yet. And when I reached our house, mama was really worried about me, and she had so many questions that I had also managed to answer. Fortunately, she believed that everything was okay.

"I'll just talk to someone, but I'll be back," I said to Draco before I smiled to him.

"Okay. Take your time. I'll just wait here."

I wore the best confidence that I could to finally talk to him. It had been a long time since we had a friendly talk and that was way back when we were kids. The last time was when we were playing seesaw. The day when I did not able to say my goodbye to him.

He was with Lura, but I wanted to talk to him as soon as possible. I wanted to start from him. I would talk to Maybelle next. "Hi, Lura! I hope you won't mind if I talk to your boyfriend. I just have something important to say," I said and smiled to the both of them. Dego and Lura had chosen a good spot that was a bit far from the rest of the group.

Lura stood up while Dego remained sitting on the grass. "Go on. I don't care so much," she replied after she raised her right eyebrow.

"Thanks, Lura." I was not sure what would happen next, but I was happy that Dego was in front of me, and we would talk about us.

"I'll just talk to Marc. I'll go ahead," Lura uttered before she finally walked towards where Marc was. I was glad that she had the initiative to give way.

"Sit down. What do you want to say, kitty?" I could not stop myself from smiling when I heard him called me using my nickname that he had given me.

"You still remember it, Scorpy." I could not let the chance to pass without saying his nickname too. He knew that I love cats. I knew that he was stung by a scorpion that was why he hated scorpions. He always told me about the pain that the scorpion brought to him before. I often teased him because he cried when the scorpion stung him when we were young.

"Of course. You're my first friend...first friend who also left me." And what he said pinched my heart big time. How we turned into strangers was something that I did want to happen, but it already happened. He let those words out in a way that would surely hit me hard and he succeeded.

"Sorry. I want to ask for your understanding and forgiveness, Scorpy. It was not easy for me to leave you, but I needed to. I was not able to say my goodbye because we immediately went away and I was so clueless that time that we wouldn't comeback anymore," I explained without directly looking on his eyes. I just could not because it was Dego I was talking with. The man that I lost when I left without saying goodbye.

"But how would you explain the first time you saw me in our campus? You did nothing to approach me even I was smiling at you." His attention was not on me. He was just looking on the trees and he seemed uneasy. I felt that I was the one who was always wrong between us.

"I felt shy to approach you. I didn't know where to start that's why I chose not to talk to you. I wasn't able to smile that time because I was not sure of what I should act and how I should react. I didn't have the courage, I felt weak and guilty for what happened even it was not my own decision to leave you." He also did not initiate to approach me, but I did not question it. He must also have his reasons too. "Corto University became the venue for us to meet again but I was a coward before for not even trying to approach you and have a conversation like this with you. I let the years to just pass without fixing what I had broken. The time came that I was ready to talk to you, but I saw you okay with your new friends and that made me think that you didn't need me anymore. Then, I finally decided to let it be. You with your new friends and me with myself alone. I'm really sorry."

"I thought you didn't care," he uttered and held my hand like how we used to do before. "I'm sorry for being insensitive, kitty."