Chapter 5

The interview finally began, he told me his love for the sport but he still hadn’t spoken about his personal life which for a reporter is the most stressful moment ever. I never really understood why people love this guy so much, it didn’t make sense at all. At this point I was tired with him, he kept bragging about how he’s the greatest player in ever in the college league and how he got so many scouts from major teams all want him. As we finished the interview, I had to make sure that I follow him to this party to understand how his world works. When I got the courage to ask him if I could tag just tag along to see how he is in his element but getting his attention was the hardest thing ever. A girl well his girlfriend came up to him and became so clingy which then led me to waving my hands in front of him. “hello, earth to Nathan”, I was so annoyed that my hands got tired but then I finally got his attention. “what is it?", I sometimes don't get him at all "can't you stop disturbing me and my woman”, he said and I didn’t know what to say but then I went straight to the point and told him that I will follow him to this party to see him in his element. “I know it’s not my comfort zone but I just have to”, I said as I slowly started regretting my words but it was worth a short.

Two hours go by and the party was in full blast, college students being wild as always. I took pictures to help me with the article and this was my first and last party that I am ever attending. People dancing, drinking and lots of making out was all over. Back to my world, I followed Nathan to his friends but his outfit caught my attention, he was in a white t-shirt with a black leather jacket on top with some semi tight black skinny jeans with black boots. I’m not going to lie Jasmine was right about the bad boy vibe. Arriving at his spot he was surrounded by his girlfriend and his friends and this was my opportunity to ask them about how their friend/boyfriend is. An hour goes by and I had gotten useless answers from the group of friends and woman well girlfriend, it didn’t make sense at all. Oh well if they see this in the article it isn’t my fault, I just got what they said. This environment of the party wasn’t me and I was getting agitated by it and hence I decided to leave and find a place to rest. I was this close to telling Nathan that I was leaving but I could tell that he was in his element and he wouldn’t care about my existence but worry about what I would write about him.

As I walked and looked at the beautiful night sky and the stars, they brought memories of my childhood. While walking the hairs on my back instantly stood and it was the same feeling, I got this morning. I started to quicken my pace downhill and then I saw a shadow figure behind me, at this moment my instincts did the thinking for me and that was to run however, the figure ran after me. The good part was that I was wearing boots which meant that I could run fast but then whoever this person was he caught up to me and grabbed me. I started screaming and crying for my life and I was scared as to was happening, then words were said “you deserve to die with your mother as one”, once I heard my mother I wanted to fight this person but I was consumed in pain and fear and what happened next was unexpected. I felt something sharp pierce through my skin and a liquid started spread on my dress. It felt warm and mushy and that’s when I knew I was bleeding. It was my moment and this human in front of me was laughing.

That’s when I noticed a small glimpse of bright light that were beaming. Before I could pick out the voice that was coming towards my direction, I blacked out. From muffling sounds of people to sirens, it was hard to allocate myself if this was a vision of my life as I was dead. However, the smell I was sensing with my puny nose told me I wasn’t dead but was in a hospital. I slowly started to get up and noticed that I was on an uncomfortable bed and that I had a drip attached to my arm. A nurse came up to me and asked if I remembered anything, giving her the no response, she went to call the doctor and he did a few tests on me. As I sat on the hospital bed, I saw Jasmine run in and kept asking me questions, even I don’t remember what happened. “hey, what’s he doing here?” I asked Jasmine and she was far by shocked by my question, “you really did knock your head hard” confused by her statement until she told me he saw someone beating and harassing me and to the point he saw me bleeding. After she told me everything the doctor came in to do some more well extra test to make sure I was okay. “Make sure you get some rest where you’re staying and please be cautious of your surroundings”, I nodded and thanked him for his assistance. Heading out of the room that I was in and made my way to the reception when I saw Nathan sitting on one of the chairs, “I thought you left?”, Jasmine asked as she too was surprised to see him still here. By the way he looked he was very annoyed, I laughed internally by his annoyed face but then his response to her question was one that we both were shocked by, “I wasn’t going to leave the person that’s writing my awesome story”. Just when I thought he cared about my health, he only cared about his image.

After a long debate on who was going to take me to a lodge, Jasmine finally agreed to let him take me were ever he’ll leave me after everything I went through this evening. Sitting in his car was somewhat comfortable but awkward at the same time, a part of me still wondered why people liked him so much, “we are making one quick stop”, I had no say in the situation but knowing this human being there’s no way he would let me say anything. “are you sure you’re not taking me to a sex trafficker, are you?” he laughed at my statement which made me debate in my head if he was serious or not but we were stopping at a restaurant. We got out of the car and made our way to the door, once we were inside it was packed and we couldn’t find a spot, luckily, we found an empty booth to sit, he asked what I wanted to order and I told him was that I was craving a burger. Once he left to give our orders, I took my phone out of my bag, thank goodness it didn’t crack or break. After turning it on and then took out my notepad, I started working on the article. “for someone who got stubbed well nearly died today and was in the hospital sure does love her job”, he spoke as he sat down opposite from me. “It’s best for me to start somewhere so that I don’t struggle during the process”, I said and he looked interested in what I was doing. “Well I hope they aren’t any lies”, he said laughing and here I was not sure on how to respond to his statement. Because as a reporter I had to write down what I found. I looked down at my phone to continue typing out the article draft, this is also another for me in not returning eye contact.

A quarter into typing a waitress came with our food and I noticed that my order was different from what I asked for, that’s when I knew something happened. “Where’s my burger?” asking him in a calm but serious tone, “well since I come here often and I obviously know what kind of food a visitor should try, hence the change in your original order”. In my head I had imagine myself jumping from my side of the table to tackle him but…. I knew that I didn’t have the courage to do it also because he’s an athlete and stronger than me. As we ate, he started talking about how handsome he is and how the ladies love him so much and etc. As he kept on blubbering about his swag, I analysed his body language and everything else and from what I could tell that none of his friends or reporters saw was that he was a lost soul. “I still can’t believe I got interviewed by a 20-year-old undergraduate student”, I’m still surprised by his behaviour that made me ask this question, “why does it matter about how old I am or if I’ve graduated or not?” surprised by my question he decided to answer it “because it’s awesome. I even have a feeling you get a lot of free stuff”. He kept getting dumber and dumber every minute. An Idea popped up in my head so I went with it, “this is my last but final question and I want an honest answer,” he nodded his head informing that he was going to answer. “why do you like fame?”

He looked puzzled by my question. I’ve met a lot of politicians and they’ve been able to answer this question but it’s also way for me to know if they are telling the truth or that they are lying. Back to the situation at hand, he looked calm as if he knew that I was going to interrogate him, “listen Michelle, I did some digging on you and I knew you were going to ask this question”. I couldn’t believe my eyes, what happened to stupid Nathan that I met hours ago cause this one is a whole new image. “Look I don’t know who this is but I’m intrigued to know what you found out about me”. At this point we both gave each other death glares and I know for a fact he was giving up; no one can intimidate me. “I won’t say but to answer your question, I like fame because it brings me peace and helps me with my game”. I honestly wish I could record this write it down but everything I wrote down as a draft I had sent it to my supervisor, curse my perfect good talent in journalism. Wanting to go further with my questions, I looked at my watch and saw that it was 23:30pm.

I kept asking myself how I’m I going to get back home because there was no way I’m staying here. If I was, I would ask Jasmine but then she stays on campus and with the stories she’s told me I really don’t want to be there. Nathan looked at me weirdly and started to mock my stance which bothered me at this point. “What are you doing?”, I asked and he suddenly bursted out into laughter like a total maniac, “honestly your face is priceless, whatever is going through reporter brain has certainly gained my attention”. How do people even love this dude, like on a scale from 1 to 10 I put him at a 2 maybe even 1. I just hope he doesn’t think of anything stupid since it started to get really cold.