Inside the comfort room, Corinna was expecting to engage in a normal conversation with me. Instead, she received a hard slap to her face.
"How could you? Why would you do that to a defenseless lady?"
Screaming at the top of my voice, I berated Corinna for her devious actions the other day.
"What were you talking about?" Corinna shot back. "I haven't done anything wrong."
"I thought you were a nice and honest person," my angry words echoed onto Corinna's ears. "Just the other day you admitted to have been bullied in grade school and transferred to a different institution. I thought you were telling the truth."
"But you lied to me. Yesterday, Francesca tearfully told me that you remained in the same school from elementary to high school. Worse, you were never bullied at all."
I emphatically yelled at Corinna the harsh reality of it all.
"You were just jealous of her. You were indeed the bully, an intimidator."
"You were wrong about me," Corinna tried to explain. "I was never a bully at all. And Francesca and I were still friends. And I'm still a very nice person. Trust me, I was speaking the truth."
"If so, why did you beat up Francesca the other day?" I slowly revealed the truth to Corinna. "I saw you with my own two eyes."
Corinna's face became sweaty as her heart filled with guilt.
"You were at the parking lot with your bodyguards and relentlessly assaulted her," I continued. "I'm extremely mad and furious at what you did."
"I can explain," Corinna restated in an attempt to cover up the truth. "Please allow me to speak."
Enraged at Corinna's violent actions, I carried out the most difficult decision of my life.
"Corinna, you disheartened me. Your actions were very despicable and deceptive at the same time. You were no victim but a predator. And my world has no place for liars like you. From this day forward, your face should be off-limits here. Stop showing up on my face again."
After pausing for a moment to get some fresh air, I walked towards Corinna and issued a stern warning to her.
"Better leave this place, or I'll summon you to the dean," my vengeful words permeating to Corinna's ears.
Corinna slowly made her way to the door. But she was reluctant to leave.
"Get out of my face!!! Get out my face dammit!!!"
"But Christine, please let me explain," Corinna pleaded repeatedly towards me.
"I don't care. Get out!!!" I screamed in anger.
Embarrassed at her actions, Corinna hurriedly left the comfort room in tears. Meanwhile, I went to the sink, washed my face, stared at the mirror and saw myself crying in regret.
All my life, I wanted to be surrounded by good, decent and kind friends who can relate to me in any way, shape or form. But the past few days was different.
I thought I was going to earn a new friend in class. Instead, I found someone who was good at deceiving others and pretending to earn sympathy just to gain attention.
Because of what happened between the two of us, I decided not to attend philosophy class for the day. Instead, I went to the gym and waited for Michelle.
It was already 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, and Michelle had just come out of the shower when she saw me crying. After Michelle changed to her normal clothes, she immediately came out to comfort me.
"Christine, what's the matter?" Michelle questioned.
"Corinna and I had just ceased talking," my voice tearfully admitting towards her. "Michelle, I made the most difficult decision of my life. Corinna was a liar, and liars have no place in society. What she did to Francesca was very despicable and evil, and her attempt to cover up fell on deaf ears. She was no good of a friend at all."
"You did the right thing," Michelle approved of my emotional decision. "Be proud of yourself friend. Standing up to Corinna may have been the most courageous decision of your life. You may have lost a friend, but you undoubtedly gained some valuable experience, and I'm proud for your actions."
Michelle cradled and gently kissed my forehead, and shortly after, we left the gym for the classroom. Fortunately there were still five days away to submit our first photography assignment, so it was enough time for us to complete the homework.
At photography class, Michelle and I sat alongside Taylor, a fourth-year communication arts student. He was a 21-year-old man, around 6'1'' and maintained a well-sculpted physique.
Taylor revealed to us that he played for the collegiate baseball team as an outfielder and had a career batting average of over .300. Taylor also told us he was the league MVP as a sophomore when they won the collegiate championship.
Another classmate, Erin, sat down with us as well. The youthfully petite woman was also in her fourth year, aged 21 and had a medium brown complexion.
Erin stated to us that she was an active member of the student council as a junior and was elected as a secretary. She respectfully declined to run this year to focus on academics.
As the professor lectured on the extensive history of photography, Taylor and Erin urged Michelle and I to join in on the class assignment.
"What can you say?" I sought Michelle.
"As long as they don't cause any disturbance, Taylor and Erin can join in," Michelle unanimously approved their offer.
"Thank you so much. It means a lot for us," Erin said thoughtfully.
So for the next five days, we would be in the same group to work on our first photography assignment. But just as Taylor and Erin promptly began to focus their attention to the professor, they took a brief glimpse of my tear-filled eyes.
"What's the matter with Christine?" Erin approached Michelle.
"She had a terribly gloomy morning," Michelle said soberly. "Unfortunately I don't want to talk about it for now. We can properly discuss this after class."
When class ended, Taylor and Erin eagerly joined us for lunch. While on the way down the hallway, Michelle revealed to both Taylor and Erin about my personal issues surrounding Corinna.
Michelle did not divulge any further details regarding the incident, saying it would only break my sensitive heart. Taylor and Erin reluctantly agreed.
Later that afternoon, Michelle and I were eagerly joined by Ella for film production class. After all the heartbreak I endured this morning, my disposition became a little more cheerful as the day went along.