The next day, because of their injuries, Diana and Antonette asked for leave and stayed in the dormitory. When it was close to the time of their classmates getting back, Antonette got down from her bed and took out her washbasin.
“They are about to come back. I will go to wash first. Otherwise, the bathroom might be occupied later,” she said to Diana.
“Are you sure you can do that on your own? Be careful with your wounds,” Diana said apprehensively.
The dormitory door opened just as Antonette entered the bathroom. It was two of the roommates coming back.
Diana turned to them and smiled. “Antonette must be psychic. She just said you would be back soon, and here you are.”
The two girls looked at each other but didn’t reply.
Diana felt strange. Looking back at them, she saw her roommates were putting away their things and ignoring her.
Did they not hear her? Diana was confused. She looked at their cold faces and asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you guys in a bad mood?”
The girl who slept on the bed beside Diana sneered at her and said, “I just feel that way. Mind your own business.”
Diana was speechless. She turned to the other girl who also wore a weird look. There must be something they weren’t telling her.
“What happened to you?” Diana asked again.
“It’s none of your business. Stop acting as you care!” came the reply from her roommate.
Of course, Diana was never the kind of person to just accept other people being rude to her. Her face changed, and she hit back, “What’s wrong with you? I have done nothing to make you angry, I’m always nice to you. Why do you speak like that to me?”
The girl pointed at Diana and shouted furiously at her, “Always nice to me? If you can be considered a kind person, the whole world has gone crazy!”
“There’s no need to argue with her,” another girl intervened.
“Come on, say it clearly. What have I done to you?” Diana couldn’t bear it anymore and shouted back. She was getting increasingly angry.
“I hate people like you! You act as if you are the kindest, most considerate person in the world. But actually, you are the worst! You’re just a bitch!” the girl shouted back at Diana.
“What did I do to make you call me a bitch? I don’t understand.”
Diana could see the girl was genuinely angry. She calmed down a little, knowing there must be some reason behind it.
They had lived in the same dormitory for years. Although they weren’t close friends, they had never argued like that before. Something must have happened. So there was no use in staying angry, Diana had to figure out what had happened.
“Diana, you can’t blame her. You really are in the wrong this time. I’m mad at you too, “one of the other girls in the room scolded Diana.
The girl sitting on the bed stared at Diana and uttered, “Diana, stop pretending! Do you think nobody knows what you did? Stop acting as nothing happened! Everyone knows what kind of person you truly are! Now Gary and those boys are suffering because of you!”
“I didn’t mean to get him into trouble. If you are talking about what happened yesterday, yes, I am very grateful to them. And I’m not acting as if nothing happened. But it was a mistake. I don’t know why those guys tried to hurt me. I am also a victim in this, it was really scary.”
Hearing her friend mention Gary, Diana understood why she was so angry.
Gary Lawrence was the captain of the basketball team involved in the fight and the most handsome boy in their class. Diana knew several girls had a crush on him, her roommate included. But Gary rejected all their advances. He didn’t want to get into a relationship and enjoyed being single.
“You still say you are innocent! Diana, we know what you did! You can’t shirk your responsibility by saying you don’t know why it happened. If you had not been some guys’ mistress and offended some bad people, nothing would have happened yesterday! You can’t get out of it so easily. If Gary gets punished, I will never forgive you!” The girl was now raging at Diana.
“I don’t know what you are talking about! I never did anything wrong. And I am definitely not anyone’s mistress! I don’t know any of those guys!” Diana was also angry. Why did they blame her? Did she look like the kind of person who would just sit there and take their abuse?
At that moment, Antonette walked out with a bath towel around her neck. “What’s going on? I can hear you from inside the bathroom.”
The girl continued to rant at Diana, “You’re still trying to make excuses for yourself. All the students in our major have been talking about how those people came for you yesterday!” She continued, “Diana, I never thought you were this kind of person, I thought you were a nice girl. How silly I am!”
“What are you guys talking about?” Antonette asked in confusion. But she smiled slightly to herself. What she had told people yesterday seemed to have spread.
One of the other girls pulled Antonette to one side and said angrily, “Antonette, the guys you met yesterday were looking for Diana. That bitch! You treat her so nicely, and she’s put so many of our friends into major trouble!”
Antonette knew clearly what was going on, but she wore a disbelieving look. Shaking her head slightly, she said gently, “What? No way. Diana and I are friends. She is not like that. You must have misunderstood.”
Antonette ran to Diana and whispered to her, “Diana, relax. This is all a big misunderstanding. We have been roommates for years, I know you. So don’t listen to what other people say, just relax. I will figure out what happened! You will be okay.”
Antonette’s words calmed Diana down, and she stopped arguing with the other roommates.
In the other girls’ opinion, Antonette was too good to Diana. She was too close to her and had been tricked by Diana’s performance. So they didn’t hate Antonette like they hated Diana. They considered that liars like Diana were just good at manipulating people.
It was an awkward atmosphere, but Diana didn’t care. After all, she hadn’t done the things they said. Since it was not the truth, why should she be bothered?
However, Kyle noticed her low spirits when he called her later that day.
What happened to her? Why did her voice sound so tired and sad?
Kyle was worried, “Diana, what happened?”
Hearing Kyle’s caring and gentle voice, Diana felt sad.
“I am fine, Kyle.” She didn’t want to tell him what happened. Not only Kyle, but she also didn’t want to talk about it with anyone.
But Kyle was smart. His background made him sensitive to changes in people’s emotions. Although Diana attempted to conceal her feelings, Kyle noticed.
“Diana, you can talk with me about anything. You don’t have to pretend with me,” Kyle said gently and patiently. His words slowly softened Diana’s heart, she was touched by his concern.
“Kyle… I do trust you. But I am not sad, really. I just… I just think about my classmates who saved me from those guys. I don’t know what to do. The counselor will punish them, and it’s because of me. I hate what’s happened, and I don’t know how to change it.”
Diana didn’t mention that her roommates were mistreating her, or the rumors that were going around about her.
Hearing Diana’s words, Kyle finally figured what was on her mind.
“Relax, Diana. Don’t worry about it.” Kyle said gently. He had thought that Diana was frightened by what happened yesterday. But if she was troubled by the students’ punishment, he had ways to help them.
“Kyle, they came to help us. And they got punished for that. I feel…”
Diana hated owing people. And her roommates’ words made her feel even more depressed and guilty.
“You don’t have to worry about that. Trust me. I will handle their punishment. What’s done is done. The most important thing is you didn’t get hurt. Have a nice sleep. Don’t stay up late. Everything will be fine.” Kyle said gently. He knew what he had to do.
***
After hanging up the phone, Kyle went directly to visit the counselor and the dean of their college. He was a master of persuasion. He praised the students who had helped Diana and explained why they broke the curfew.
For one thing, Kyle was an excellent student who always behaved decently, so people trusted what he said. For another, the counselor and the dean had to take his family, with their influence and wealth, into consideration.
As a result of Kyle’s intervention, all the students involved were given a stern telling off, instead of more severe punishment. Kyle had saved them.