Misconceptions, yolo mama [classic books to read .TXT] 📗

Freshman year of college was finally here. New town, new people, and new everything for me to explore. I felt excited, bursting with energy and enthusiasm for my new school; I was proud to be a Hawk. However, it was odd feeling on the bottom of the pecking order. Being a freshman at a huge university was completely different than being a senior at a small high school. Although nervous, I couldn’t wait to explore this new part of my life.
My life was a mess back home in Evera, a small town in North Carolina. It’s not like I ever did anything bad, but people still seemed to steer clear of me. Granted, I had my small group of good friends, but even they weren’t enough to keep me close to that little town. Sometimes, I felt like my family had a curse on it; like everyone else saw something on us that was invisible to my eyes. We would barely get invited to socials and parties, and no one would come to ours. Being an only child, I always wondered what it would be like to share my misery with someone who would understand, but I couldn’t. None of that mattered now, though. I was starting anew.
Everything went great for the first few weeks. I got in the swing of things faster than everyone else and even passed my first exam. I met a few new friends whom I spent most of my time with, and found activities that were good for me. My roommate, Gina, was a doll. She made friends wherever she went, and wanted to help me make as many friends as possible. She was from the area and knew a ton of people. However, everything changed the day I met her boyfriend.
Frank seemed like a nice guy at first; I mean, for the first few minutes of our introduction. As soon as I shook his hand, something happened to him. I felt nothing, but he tensed, his eyes turned cold, and I could almost see hatred pouring out of him. Gina did not notice, because she began to describe me, telling him where I was from and all. “Nora is from Evera, in North Carolina. She’s a Tallon… isn’t that a cool last name? It reminds me of… like… hawks have talons ha ha.” Frank gave a thin smile to humor Gina and nodded, “That is very interesting. We’ll talk more a little later, Gina. I have to run and meet a friend for a favor.” With that, he was gone. I smiled slightly at Gina, “I don’t think he liked me very much…” Gina laughed, “He’s totally shy, Nora. Don’t worry… actually… worry! We need to get ready for the party tonight. I lost track of time. We have an hour to make us both hot.” I smiled and let Gina work her magic. She picked out my clothes, makeup, and did my hair before attending to herself. “You look perfect, Nora. So, so cute!” I thanked her and did what I could to help her get ready. Within an hour, we were ready to go.
The location of the party was in a field outside the campus. There would be a lot of people there, and I was excited to see familiar faces and new ones as well. We drove out and parked the car farther from all the others. With the partying that would be going on tonight, Gina did not want to risk getting her car ruined by some ignorant drunk. We started to walk towards the bon fire when I remembered something important that I wanted to tell her. “Gina, in case we get separated and cant find each other, lets meet back here at 12:30 just to check up on each other, alright?” She agreed and we went off to join the others. Within an hour, it was packed. People were everywhere, ten different songs were playing, and the fire grew higher. I had stopped to talk to a girl from class, discussing how much we disliked the teacher when I heard someone yell my name. I turned, but could not see anyone looking for me. I then realized Gina was out of sight, and it was almost time to meet back at the car. I excused myself from the girl whom I had been talking to and started back towards the car. It was a good distance of a walk… Gina was very cautious. I arrived about ten minutes early, which gave me time to get used to the quiet and get my head together. Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me. I turned, but nothing was there. I shook my head, thinking to myself that I probably drank a little too much too fast. I slowly turned back around, but only made it halfway before my vision turned black.

I awoke in a cold place. The air was stale, as if no breeze had ever touched the walls of the room. There was little light, except for a thin stream coming through the bars of the door. A door. It looked heavy, an antique. My eyes traveled down the length of the door, along the bare, unpaved ground, tracing the small perimeter of the stonewalls surrounding me, but stopped when I saw the tips of my toes. I was barefoot, sore, aching for water and to put my arms down. I then realized I could not move my arms for they were bound by cuffs, above me head, attached to the wall behind me. The panic set into my core when I realized that I could not help myself. I moved, trying desperately to break free. My heart raced with fear as I helplessly attempted to gain control of myself. I did not know where I was; how I got here; who did this, when I would go home. I did not even realize that I had started to cry until my chilled tears fell onto my already cold, bare legs. My sobs were quiet, but they echoed through the room. They quickly turned to gasps as my throat was so parched.
I heard footsteps. They were coming slowly in my direction. They were soft, but loud enough to hear, as if whoever was coming wanted to let me know I would not be alone for long. The footsteps temporarily stopped before the door creaked open. My gasps continued, as did my tears. I was so overcome with fear that I did not even notice the person who had entered the room. I let out cries for help, thrashing my arms at attempts to break the cuffs. Suddenly, hands cupped my face, holding it still. I desperately tried to turn my neck, back away, but the hands were too strong. A voice was talking to me, a deep, smooth voice. “Don’t hurt yourself, darling. Look at me… hey, look at me,” he said, as his grip tightened. I slowly lifted my tear brimmed eyes towards him. “You’re alright, just don’t hurt yourself. It’s okay. Breathe.” I couldn’t help but listen. My heart slowed as I breathed deeply, but I was still shivering, shaking with fear. This man, he terrified me. He was tall, strong, and not much older than me. His jet-black hair was only a shade darker than his eyes. His skin was light, like ivory, but his hands felt warm against my chilled face.
He moved my hair away from my face and brought something to my dry lips. Water. I tilted my head slightly and let the water run into my desert of a mouth, some trickling its way down my chin. “Easy…” he said, pulling the water away, “just a little at a time.” My mouth followed the bottle until I couldn’t stretch my neck any farther. I hung my head, surprised at how exhausted I had become. My tears returned as I took in more of my situation, and my lack of knowledge about it. Again, he lifted my face and moved the hair away from my eyes. “You’ll be okay, just stay still. Stay still.” With those words, he gently released my arms from the cuffs, one at a time. He held my arm at the elbow and wrist as they were released. Although gentle, I still whimpered with pain as he laid my arms at my sides. I did not know how long they had been in the cuffs, but it had been long enough to make my whole shoulder and neck sore. Without the uncomfortable support of the cuffs, I slumped over, barely catching myself with my weak palms. I unexpectedly felt hands touch my sides, which made me jump and gasp with fear. “Easy…” he said, “I’m just helping you up.” I again refused his help, turning away from him as he reached out his arms. He knelt close to me, again, offering his help. I shifted away from him, hitting the wall behind me. I brought my bare legs close to me, widening the gap between us. I was afraid of him, terrified, and he knew it.
He took a step closer to me and I pushed myself back, but I didn’t move as I was already against the wall. For a few minutes we remained like that. He was silent. I was frozen, stuck, trembling. “You need to come with me, just upstairs. It’s cold down here… there is food upstairs too.” I was too scared to even think about eating, or remember the last time I did eat. All I could do was try not to look at him, not let our eyes meet. “Come on, we’re going… I’ll help you,” he said, coming towards me again. I tried to move back again, to the side, anywhere to keep a gap between us, but there was nowhere to retreat to. He put one hand on my arm and wrapped the other around my waste, pulling me up to him. I tried to fight but was too weak to do so. I began to cry, more like gasp, again as he moved me. Once I was up, he tried to let me stand, but my knees failed me. I slumped down, but he caught me, pulling me back up closer to him. I again tried to fight, pushing away with what little force I could exert from my hands, but it was useless. “Shhh… don’t cry, hon; you need to focus, look at me. Look at me… try to stand,” he said, but I could not. Once again, the tears returned. This time, because I knew he knew how helpless I really was. Anything he wanted to do