Humiliated

The trees were swaying with the melody of birds chirping. The leaves sounded like they were clapping and rustling as the wind greeted them. Sam walked down the path, alone. He was still in his patient's wardrobe. He decided to take a walk at the hospital's park. He spotted a lady on a wooden bench.

She was looking down to the ground. She seemed to be trembling. Sam walked closer to the lady till he could listen her weeping voice. Sam really wanted to ask the lady so, he sat beside the lady.

" Um.. Miss ? Are you okay ?" Sam asked.

The lady stopped crying and wiped her tears. She looked up to Sam's face. Sam knew her face but couldn't remembered where he saw her before.

" I'm okay.. Just something miserable happened to me and I don't know what to do.. " her voice was trembling.

" Hmm.. If this makes you feel better, I have a bad heart condition and I might die anytime soon. You should enjoy your life. Even if you had a miserable experience, it doesn't define who you are," Sam calmly said to the lady.

The lady smiled. Her smile was weak but a good indicator of a slight happiness sparked in her heart. She sighed and looked to the sky. The blue sky with a fresh decorations of fluffy clouds made her felt calmer.

" You know, if things get worse, I might kill myself. Perhaps that is the only way for me to escape this cruel world," the lady said softly and casually.

Sam was surprised to hear that from her mouth.

" Why would you say that ? You should be strong and don't give up. Not all people can live a normal life like you do," Sam replied the lady with his anxious tone.

The lady looked at him. She was beautiful. Why would a beautiful lady wanted to kill herself ? What happened to her ? Who made her think that way ? All those questions repeated asked in Sam's mind.

" Listen, whatever happened to you, both of us know it is not okay to attempt a suicide. I want you to promise me just be happy," Sam showed the lady his pinky finger.

The lady wrapped her pinky finger around Sam's and nodded. Smile on her face made Sam assured that she was okay. Then, some children were giggling behind Sam that made him turned around and looked. He was jealous of those children that played with their father. They looked so happy playing around.

" Hey look-" Sam wanted to tell the lady about the children but she was not there. Gone. Sam looked around and found nothing but something on the bench. A stalk of red rose. Sam took it and observed it.

" Sam .. Wake up, " a gentle voice woke Sam up.

Sam opened his eyes slowly and looked at the nurse. She wanted to change his sterile water. Meeting the lady was a dream. Sam wondered what was the dream trying to tell him. A bizarre dream for him. It was like a message but he couldn't figure it out.

***

" Is that really her ?" a girl asked her friend while looking at the phone.

Her friend shook her head and raised her shoulder. All the students in the class murmured as they looked at their phones. Some of them couldn't believed the photo but some believed. It might be something to do with someone in the class. Everything is at the tip of one's finger.

Rosie came in the class. First thing she realized was all eyes were on her. She got intimidated by her classmates. She slowly walked to an empty seat while cautiously looked around.

" Well , well , well... Here comes the slut ... Be careful everyone , we have slut in town !" a loud annoying girl came to Rosie and teased her.

Rosie was panicked. Her eyes were shaking. She gasped as the girl touched her shoulder. She turned around and looked at the girl. A girl that always picked a fight with her. Always compete for her position. Wanted to be the spotlight more than Rosie.

" What are you talking about, Hannah?" Rosie raised up on her feet.

" Heh ! Don't tell me you don't know what you did," Hannah scoffed to Rosie's words.

She took her phone and clicked on the screen then showed it to Rosie. Rosie's heart stopped as she saw what was on the screen. It was a photo of her naked. It went viral nationwide. It got shared thousands times.

Hannah snatched her phone from Rosie's hands.

" Now the bright girl of the campus became a pornstar ! " Hannah laughed off while stared at the humiliated girl.

Rosie broke down to tears as she felt the stares were all on her. That explained the glanced she got from the moment she walked to her class. Everyone stared at her like she was naked. She was showered with the disgusted stare from her classmates. She couldn't stand the stares, she took her bag and stormed out of the class.

" What a bitch , Huh !" Hannah scoffed while thinking that she was going to be the campus' bright girl from now on.

Rosie ran off with her might. She still felt there were eyes on her. The whole campus knew about her. She couldn't get away from it. Her face was glistening with her tears.

Then, she bumped into Nathan at the staircase. Her best friend. Nathan is the only person that might help her at the moment. Nathan was walking to the class with Tony. Nathan saw Rosie was looking so miserable. Rosie went to him with hope that Nathan would listen to her.

" Dude, I go first," Tony went first to leave the two alone.

Nathan seemed to be avoiding any eye contact with Rosie. Rosie hugged the man but the hug was only one-sided. Nathan didn't tried to comfort Rosie at all. That made Rosie felt weird.

" Rosie, I have class. Get off me.. " Nathan sounded like he was upset.

Rosie looked at Nathan's face with her teary eyes.

" So now , you are disgusted at me too ? You believed I would do that to myself ?" Rosie asked Nathan with her quivering voice.

Silence. Nathan was actually disappointed because Rosie didn't told him. Imagine your crush had a nude photos in the internet. His heart was crumbling to the ground. Nathan shook his head slowly.

" Nathan.. Please.. Believe me.. I was-" Rosie tried to explain to her best friend but got interrupted by Nathan.

" Why Rosie ? Why would you do this ? and you didn't tell me ? Come on ! " Nathan was clearly in disappointment.

Rosie felt weak and numb. She kneeled down to the floor. She felt like she was pulled by the gravity. Her world was shattered. Damaged. She felt horrible and regret that she went for the date.

" Even my best friend won't listened to me.. " Rosie sobbed.

Feeling bad, Nathan took out a piece of tissue and offered it to Rosie. Rosie was still sobbing hard. It was hard for her. Nathan slowly pulled Rosie to sit on one of the stairs. He sat beside her and wiped her tears by using the tissue.

" I'm sorry.. I'm just disappointed that you didn't tell me about this," Nathan came to his sense where he decided to let down his ego and be there for his crush.

" I should've listened to you. I thought I was doing fine," Rosie whimpered.

Then, she realized who else would share those photos if it was not Jason. She was so mad and got up on her feet.  She left Nathan behind while she was heading to Jason's house to confront him about the photo he leaked.

Nathan looked down and sighed. He has no right to be mad because compared to Jason, he is an outsider. He just kept his anger inside because he just wanted to focus on Rosie. She is everything for him.

***

- At Jason's house -

" JASON ! YOU COME OUT NOW !" Rosie shrieked from the outside of the massive bungalow.

She rang the bell of the house a dozen times. She tried to call Jason repeatedly but no answers. Then, a middle-aged lady in a servant uniform came forward to the gate.

" Aunty , is Jason inside ? I need to meet him right now. Please.." Rosie begged the lady.

" I'm sorry miss.. I can't let anyone go inside without permission," the lady apologized.

" Please aunty.. Or- or just called Jason for me please ! " Rosie begged desperately.

A black BMW pulled up in front of the gate. The engine was shut down. The door slowly opened and Jason smirked to Rosie. Rosie was absolutely was burning with anger in her heart. She went straight to Jason to confront the man.

" YOU DID THIS TO ME ! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME ?!" Rosie hit Jason's chest a few times with her small fists.

Jason didn't felt any pain from the punches. He grabbed Rosie's arms and stopped her from hitting him more.

" Listen here girl. You did that to yourself. You kicked me in my balls, now it's time for me to pay you back," Jason casually mentioned about the incident that made him almost cried from the pain.

" You ruined my life ! You asshole ! You raped m-" Rosie shrieked but her mouth was closed by Jason so she couldn't complete her sentence.

" Here's the thing. Don't you dare tell anyone that I raped you or else I will share the video of you that night," Jason warned Rosie.

Rosie was speechless. She couldn't helped but to shed tears. Jason pushed her aside and got into his car. The automatic sliding gate slid to the right and the car moved slowly into the house compound. Rosie was standing still with her tears rolling down her cheeks while staring at Jason's car. Her world turned dark. The world that was once so bright and the darkness emerged upon her.

***

Sam was on his bed. He stared blankly to the empty white wall. Thinking about the dreams he had. It bothered him as the dream was a nice but weird at the same time. Who was that girl ? Why she said that she wanted to kill herself ? Sam wondered about these questions.

Nick entered the room with some snacks he bought at the mart. He was from the campus to visit Sam. He seemed to be rushed by something.

" Sam ! There's something happened in campus and you have to see this !" Nick put aside the snacks and took out his phone from his pocket.

" What is it ? Don't tell me about the lame gossip, because I'm not up for that," Sam told his best friend.

" Trust me, this one is next level. Here," Nick clicked on a photo and showed it to Sam.

Sam was in shock. The naked girl in the photo was the girl he spoke to in his dream. He noticed the photo was shared about a few hundred thousand times. His heart suddenly thumped faster.

" This girl is a cheerleader from Fashion Design Faculty. Very beautiful. Every girls wanted to be her. But as you may seen here, she might not be that good for a role model," Nick explained.

Sam frowned as he listened to Nick's words. He gave the phone to Nick. He tried to look not bothered by the news even though that girl appeared in his dream.

" Oh yea, Her name is Rosie," Nick added.

Sam gasped. He remembered in the dream he saw a stalk of red rose. Suddenly he felt some pain concentrating on his chest. He grabbed his chest while moaning in pain.

" Argh....."

"Sam ! Are you okay ? Doctor !! Nurse !? Help !" Nick realized his best friend acted the way he did before and he ran out of the room to get help.

***

- At Rosie's house -

Rosie took a deep breath and exhaled. She opened the main door and saw her family members were sitting at the living room. Her mother seemed to be crying as her sister, Gloria was comforting their mother. The room was filled with tension mood.

Rosie slowly walked towards her family while trying not to cry. She knew that her family already knew about the photo as it was massively shared by the internet users.

" YOU STOP RIGHT THERE ! " her father shrieked.

Rosie got startled. She was froze and kept her head down.  Her father got up on his feet and turned around. His face portrayed different emotions at the same time. He was clenching his teeth.

" This is what you do now ?!" the man hollered to his daughter.

Rosie kept her mouth shut because she was afraid to voice out her thoughts. She broke down to tears as she trembled in fear.

" I have given you everything. This is how you pay me back ?! ANSWER ME ! " the man screamed on top of his lungs.

Rosie's mother sobbed harder as her husband screamed at their daughter. Of course, their hearts were crushed to dust as they seen the photo of their naked daughter in the internet. That brought shame to the family.

" It wasn't my fault.. I.. I.. I was raped...." Rosie sobbed.

Her mother and Gloria gasped as they heard that from Rosie's mouth. Rosie's father was in the state of shock with Rosie's words.

" Who did this to you ?! " Rosie's father demanded for the name who did his daughter dirty.

" Ja.. Jason.." Rosie mumbled.

" That son of a bitch !" the man took his car keys and walked out of the house to get the explanation from Jason.

Rosie's mom slowly walked to her precious daughter and hugged her. The warmness of mother's hug made Rosie calmer. From the hug, Rosie knew her mother still cared for her. She felt sorry for not being careful when she was alone.

***

- At the hospital -

Sam was unconscious. His heart was getting weaker. His mother was by his side, holding his hand. His step father sat on the couch meanwhile Nick stood at the corner of the room. All of them were worried about Sam's condition.

Then, the doctor came in with a news.

" Madam, your son is getting weaker. He needs a new heart in order to live a normal life again. I'm sorry to tell you, currently we don't have any donor but we will update you as soon as we have a donor,"

the doctor explained Sam's condition.

" Thank you doctor. I appreciate your help," Sam's mother thanked the doctor with her cracked voice. The doctor walked out of the room, leaving the room in silence. Sam's mother looked at her only child.

She was about to cry. Thinking about her poor child. She just wanted her child to be as healthy as normal people. She brushed her hands through Sam's hair. Her husband came closer to her and patted her back to give her comfort that she needed.

" Aunty, Uncle, I have to go now.. My mom asked me to go back," Nick said slowly to the couple followed by a weak smile.

The couple nodded and Nick made his way out of the room.

- In Nick's car -

His phone suddenly rang. He answered the call. It was his mother.

" Nick ? Where are you ? "

" I'm on my way home ma , Why ?"

" Help me to buy some groceries for our dinner at the supermarket. I will message you the list,"

" Okay ma, "

" Drive safe, "

" Alright,"

Nick put his phone aside and stepped on the accelerator pedal. He headed to the nearest supermarket. A good son. That's Nick.

- At the supermarket -

Nick pushed the old trolley slowly. The trolley was squeaking as the wheels were rusty. It didn't bother Nick as he was looking at his phone for the list that his mother prepared.

He entered every aisles to get all the groceries. One thing in the list that made him clueless. Pickles. It was hard for him to find pickles he was not familiar with the supermarket. His mother loves pickles so much but not Nick. He hates it. He doesn't understand how can his mother loves pickles so much.

As he saw the last bottle of the pickle, he quickly pushed the trolley towards the pickle. His eyes were aiming the pickle bottle. Out of sudden, another trolley was coming from the opposite direction and they crashed into each other.

" Chang ! "

The steel trolleys banged. The sound filled the aisle and that made people turned their heads to the sound. Nick was in shock and he apologized quickly.

" I'm so sorry ! I-" Nick stopped his words as he saw the person with the other trolley.

" You again ? Tsk !" Tony rolled his eyes.

Since the day he fell because of Nick, he hated that man to his gut. Nick was in panic mode. His eyes went everywhere as Tony stared at him with his sharp eyes. They slowly moved the trolley to the side.

At the same time, both of the young men reached out to the last pickle bottle. Tony reached for the top part of the bottle meanwhile Nick grabbed the bottom part of the bottle. They looked at each other.

" This is mine !" they said simultaneously.

They jinxed.

" Give me this! " Tony pulled the bottle towards him.

" No, this is mine !" Nick didn't want to lose the pickle to the rude man.

The two used their strengths to pull the last bottle of pickle as if it was the most precious thing in the world. Tony's veins on his hands showed that he works out a lot. Nick was not excluded. He had a pretty strong grip on the bottle.

" Let me have this. I am the king of pickle !" Tony loves pickle so much.

" No, my mom will kill me if I don't get this for her," Nick defended the bottle.

The situation was quite tense since the two grabbed the bottle using both of their hands. They stared at each other. Some of the people saw them and chuckled to the situation.

" Look ! The worker brought the new stock of pickle ! " Nick pointed to the other side of the aisle.

Tony lost his grip off the bottle and looked behind him. This was the chance for Nick to make the run as he got the pickle. He put bottle in the trolley and pushed the trolley as fast as he can.

Tony was deceived by Nick. He didn't saw any worker. He turned back his head to the pickle and poof ! Nothing but dust. Even Nick was not in his sight.

" That asshole ! " Tony cursed.