Kaitlyn alone

My life at Hartfeld has changed forever. I used to have a girlfriend. Now I don't. I used to have a best friend. Now I don't. Kaitlyn accused me of cheating on her without getting all of the facts which basically ripped my heart out of my chest. I would have rather Kaitlyn had just killed me and gotten it over with. I am slowly going home as if I was walking to the electric chair. I don't think I could go home at all if I wasn't flanked by my friends Becca and Madison. I guess Madison's present which was a teddy bear is helping me some as well. An intermittent tear falls out of my eyes which causes one of my friends to pat my back.

"Have you ever thought about majoring in psychology?" Becca asked me to distract me from my painful dilemma.

"No, why?" I reply while hugging my bear for comfort.

"You would be good at it," Becca persisted. "You were right when you said that I have been mean to people to keep them from hurting me. I have been running away from people for too long, and it's time that I stopped."

I reached behind me to pat Becca's shoulder because I thought she needed it.

"I thought that we were supposed to be taking care of you," Becca mused with a wry grin.

"Friendship works both ways," I explained.

Eventually, my dorm came into view. For a split second, it appeared as a haunted house. A voice in my head told me that I did not belong there anymore and that caused me to cry again.

"Portia, listen to me!" Becca implored while looking into my eyes. "If there is one thing I have learned is that you never have to be afraid to go home. No matter how bad things were for me, I knew that I could always lean on my sister. Inside that dorm are a lot of friends who are going to hug you and do whatever it takes to help you get better."

"Most of them anyway," I squeaked.

"If she is going to be a jerk, then YOU DO NOT NEED HER!" Madison protested.

Madison entered the dorm first with me in the middle. Becca followed with her hands on my back. Of course, the first person I saw was my former friend Kaitlyn who studied at a table and pretended not to notice me. Unfortunately, Abbie was washing dishes when she saw me and broke a glass when she rushed over to see what was going on.

"What happened?" Abbie demanded to know.

"Ask the turncoat!" Becca barked while nodding at Kaitlyn.

"Kaitlyn?" Abbie gasped in shock.

"Where can we take you?" Madison prodded me.

"I just want to lay in my bed," I replied with very little voice.

Becca and Madison took me to my room and helped me lay down with Abbie following to see if she could help. When that task was done, Becca got an incensed look on her face and headed for my door.

"Becca..." Madison started to object, but it was too late because Becca had already slammed my door.

____________________________________________

"YOU EVIL MONSTER!" Becca shrieked while quickly approaching Kaitlyn.

"What?" Kaitlyn spoke indifferently.

"Do you see what you did?" Becca demanded while pointing at my door. "Are you proud of that?"

"I don't have to listen to this," Kaitlyn protested while trying to leave via the front door only to be stopped by Chris who was towering over her with his attitude.

"Sit down and listen to Becca!" Chris demanded which caused Kaitlyn to quickly sit back down.

"Did it ever occur to you to ask Portia why she was hugging me before you ripped her heart out and broke it into a million pieces?" Becca growled. "Have you went out with everyone that you ever hugged? What about your father or your mother?"

"Like you care," Kaitlyn snorted.

"DON'T TELL ME THAT I DON'T CARE!" Becca ranted. "I may not have always treated people with respect. I know that I will be paying for it for a long time, but no one tells me that I don't care!"

"Why do you care?" Kaitlyn wondered.

"I care because I know what it is like to have the one you care about most betray you!" Becca harshly explained.

"Inside that room is the girl who used to be your best friend and you treated her like dirt!" Becca blurted out while pointing at my door just before retreating into my room.

"I don't believe it" Zack exclaimed. "First the Chicago Cubs win the World Series in 2016, and now I'm siding with Becca!"

Zack leaves the dorm.

"How dare you!" Chris blurted out just before exiting the dorm.

"I can't improve on that!" Tyler pointed out as he left.

Kaitlyn now sat in the room alone.