"So you disgust me, and I disgust you. Why are we still here together? Why don't you just leave and go talk to that friend of yours?" Kevin asked what seemed to be a rhetorical question, and the next thing he heard was Crystal sniffling and sobbing silently, and that threw him off.
He wanted to walk away, but his heart felt so heavy with compassion, and he felt so guilty leaving Crystal in her state.
So he found himself slowly walking towards the bed and sitting by Crystal, and for what seemed like an eternity, Crystal wept like a baby.
"I'm sorry, Kevin," crystal said between hiccups as she sniffled.
"It's okay," Kevin answered as he swallowed saliva hard and continued to slowly rub Crystal's back as a sign of comfort.
"I haven't been entirely honest with you. I lied about organizing for going back to school," Crystal said as she slowly looked up into Kevin's eyes and she saw how shocked he was.
"I lied because I don't know how to tell you I'm never going back to college," Crystal said in a low voice, and Kevin gasped in shock.
He mocked, removed wax from his ears and squinted his eyes, and asked Crystal if he heard her right.
"Why? Did you defer? Are…you pregnant or something?" Kevin asked for lack of a better reason.
It totally didn't make sense that Crystal would want to drop out of campus.
She had the brains, and she was on a scholarship where everything was being fully paid for.
Everything was going on as well as far as Kevin was concerned.
"No, I'm not pregnant," Crystal answered though she seemed hurt by the question because it implied that Kevin really didn't trust her.
"Then why else would you not go back to school? Nothing else makes sense," Kevin said as he looked at Crystal in anger. "Wait… Are you joking about this and just trying to get my sympathy?"
"I'm serious," Crystal answered in a voice bordering on desperation as Kevin just looked on with a poker face.
"Wait, let me show you something," Crystal said, hurt as she asked Kevin to pass her phone to her.
She unlocked it and gave it to Kevin to see for himself.
"Uh…no…This doesn't make sense, Crystal," Kevin said in shock after reading the mail confirming Crystal's sentence.
"I messed up. I fucking forgot I was on a scholarship. My classmates are from rich families, and all they care about is getting that piece of paper, but I forgot my place. They are canceling the scholarship because I haven't been performing well," Crystal said in a low voice, and without stopping himself, Kevin found himself breaking into a burst of loud laughter, but Crystal ignored him and continued talking.
"Dad said because I messed it up, he won't help me anymore," Crystal added, and Kevin shook his head in disbelief.
"Anymore?" Kevin asked as he tilted his head quizzically.
"Yes. I had been given a warning before. The time I was at home shortly a few months ago," Crystal said in shame as she looked down at her toes which suddenly seemed so big and ugly to her.
"I know you're wondering why I dropped academically," she went on, and Kevin nodded.
"Leisure. I found freedom on campus, and it got into my head. I started attending party after party, sleeping and waking up late and skipping classes, and I honestly don't know what I expected, but here I am."
"You've always been one to stand by your principles, and that's why I loved you, so I want to know how you just threw everything to the wind."
"I always felt like a caged bird at home, and suddenly, I had wings to fly," Crystal explained, and Kevin nodded in understanding.
"But…who were you on the phone with that day?" Kevin asked the question that had been burning in his mind.
Xxx
"Thanks. Don't come to pick me up in the evening. I'll find my way home," Steph politely told the chauffeur who had dropped her and Ivan to campus.
"Can we have dinner outside tonight?" Ivan skeptically asked Steph as he also hurriedly got down from the vehicle, and Steph didn't think twice before shaking her head in denial.
"The paparazzi. Online trolls. I can't have it," she answered as she rushed towards the lecture hall, as did Ivan.
The class went on smoothly, and after the first lesson, Steph walked by Amy's class, and just like old times, the two walked together to the cafeteria.
As they sat and sipped their coffee, they caught up, though Steph didn't have much to say since all her business was already in the public domain.
"Btw, I found out I have a twin sister," Amy said.
Hearing those words, Steph almost choked on her coffee.