Discomfort

-Outside-

Ben sat in the corner, trembling. What was that just now? A hand touched him on the shoulder. He jerked his head around. Kele sat behind him.

“You okay, man?” he asked. Ben stared at him for a moment. He shook his head.

“No, man,” he said. Kele gave him an odd look.

“What’s wrong, dude?” he asked. Ben felt his skin crawl. How could he put this in words? Kele sat down next to him.

“That bad?” he asked. Ben slowly nodded once. He looked down at his feet. Why was he thinking about that? He thought he had managed to bury that deep down long ago.

“Fuck!” Ben muttered aloud.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Jules asked. He looked up to see his girlfriend standing over him. She had a worried look on his face. Ben sighed.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. Jules folded her arms across her chest.

“Well, you have to say something now,” she said. “You’re the one who shouted fuck out loud.”

“Jules, please,” Kele said. She cut a frozen glare at him. Kele did his best to stay calm.

“You just aren’t helping,” he said. “If he doesn’t want to talk about it. Then he doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?” she asked. Their roommate shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Stay with him, I suppose.” He waited for Jules to snap at him or give him a cutting remark. Instead, Jules frowned and sat down beside Ben.

“Thank you,” Kele whispered.

Meanwhile, Ben found himself going back to his childhood. His parents were never happy together. They weren’t happy apart either. He had gotten used to all of their shouting matches. Deep down, he felt better that his father left them shortly after the school fire in ’92.

But that wasn’t what worried him the most.

“What was she doing in my head?” he asked. His friend and girlfriend looked down at him.

“What did you say?” Jules asked. Her boyfriend didn’t answer. He drew his eyes closed and replayed the seen in his head.

She was standing there, watching him. What was she doing there? Why was she watching him like that? Was… she trying to reach out to him?

“I saw her,” he muttered again.

“What are you talking about?” Jules asked. “Saw who? You’re aren’t making any sense.” Ben slowly lifted his head. He had a strange glassy look in his eyes.

“I saw her,” he said again. “She was there. She was there in my memories.” He got up and wandered out of the room.

“Sweetie?” Jules asked. The man didn’t say a word as he walked out the door. Kele and Jules looked at each other.

“What was that all about?” Jules asked. Her roommate shrugged and shook her head.