On my first few months in college, I was living in a boarding house in the city. Though the place in general was bound to give a young girl from the province a violent culture shock, the neighbors were nice and friendly.
One of my favorite neighbors was Mandy*. She was a bubbly girl my age, very pretty and surprisingly nice. Just like me, she was just a bed spacer. We hung out a lot at first. I even taught her how to play the guitar. We were having so much fun until we met Jack*.
Jack was a ruggedly handsome guy about two years our senior. He was your ordinary pretty boy who thinks everybody is head-over-heels in love with him. I trusted Mandy’s judgment but I perfectly understood if she was swept off her feet by Jack’s.. flatteries.
After a months, we were surprised and somehow glad to learn that they were still together. Well, maybe we were wrong about Jack after all. Then one day, Mandy talked to me and told she wanted to break up with Jack. She said that her boyfriend was extremely jealous and possessive. In fact, he was actually asking her to run away with him. At 17, Mandy wasn’t ready for that.
That night, I woke up by the noise outside. It seems like Jack was running amok. He couldn’t find Mandy anywhere. He was drunk and had with him a double-bladed dagger. I stayed in my bed and nearly screamed when I saw Mandy beside the drawer at the foot of the bed. She was hiding in my room. I found out that Jack was forcing her to go with him to the province. She slipped away when she had a chance. The neighbors were helping her hide from one house to another.
That night, Jack was picked up by the local authorities. The following day, Mandy’s parents came to get her. I didn’t see her after that.
*not real names
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