rude awakening

RUDE AWAKENING

When life tosses lemons, no one told me I had to catch them and make lemonade. I had a sheltered childhood , the kind where your parents shield you from the harsh realities of life by always being there as a protective shield. I was a day scholar as opposed to other kids who went to boarding school. I remember how my mother used to reply to the love letters I received before I went away to college. How I miss those days of innocence and thinking that everything was alright with the world.

The day I went away to college was the day the scales fell from my eyes and I saw the world for what it really was. I had never left my comfort zone before and suddenly I was exposed. Here I was , vulnerable and lost and surrounded by experienced former boarding school hardened colleagues. To keep my sanity I bonded with the nearest individual available, my room mate. As fate would have it , we were not only roommates but classmates as we were doing the same program . I had not yet learned that one should never confuse a room mate relationship with a bff kind of relationship. Within a week of knowing this girl ,I had offloaded my innermost secrets to her but she revealed very little of herself. Being a novice in the ways of the world, I did not find this odd and I quickly settled into campus life as my home away from home.

Trouble struck after our first semester results came out. Our campus displays internal results on faculty notice boards so there is free access to all sundry. Roomie-dearest had 3 failed courses out of 6 but yours truly had 6 distinctions. That is when the filth began to flow. She called my then boyfriend on the sly and slandered me. We broke up and I did not know why. She expected me to crumble as I cried and sought solace in her arms but I am a survivor. I threw myself more into my school work which made her move to Plan B. Unbeknown to me she connived with a boy from her home area to befriend me and distract me from my studies. I really liked this boy but at a purely plutonic level. One night, my roommate said she was sleeping over at a girlfriend s residence and I was ok with that but she gave her room key to her home boy. I am generally an early sleeper so by 9 pm it was lights out. The boy unlocked our door and tried to have his way with me. I woke up to a heavy weight on top of me. We struggled and as I was about to scream he became all contrite and apologized for catching me unawares but he assured me he had protection. What cheek !I refused and he left. It never occurred to me that my fellow woman was responsible for my near-rape. The second time , I had invited a classmate for discussions in our room but in the middle of the discussion my roommate upped and left the room ,switching off the light in the process and locking the door behind her .It was there and then that it hit me like a ton of bricks. She probably wanted me pregnant and out of campus .

I finished my first year with distinctions and life lessons. If someone claims to have your back, watch it anyway because you just might find that someone chewing on it!