The Crystal by Jones M (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

She took my word for it and agreed. She stopped bothering me about the issue, believing that I had stopped. She was wrong because I started to cut the inside of my thighs with a razor blade. She didn't know because I made sure she never saw it. The sight of blood flowing against my skin brought a sense of relief that helped me cope up with my mental issues. The nightmares, however, didn't stop. My mother found out that I was still cutting myself a couple of months later and she urged me to seek help. She advised that I needed to move on from the trauma I faced in high school.

At the beginning of senior year, I found myself still seeing the therapist. It took me an unexpectedly long amount of time to feel better about myself. I had been forced to stop cutting myself before I started attending my therapy sessions. In fact, my mother made sure to always keep an eye on me. I even had to share a bedroom with her!

It was humiliating, but I understood why she did it.

On the bright side, I didn't have to drop out of school. I attempted to stop thinking too much in front of other people, and I managed to make a friend. Her name was Selena. We had a lot of things in common. She had just joined the high school I was attending and we immediately became best friends and study buddies. She planned to pursue a career in medicine while I wanted to be a lawyer.

What was weird was that we were cousins. We both came to realize that a month before graduation. Her mother was my father's sister-in-law, married to my uncle on my dad's side. She never talked about her family, and I was curious in knowing the reason. I found out on one particular Friday morning when her mother dropped her off. Her mother insulted her in front of many students. She proceeded to throw Selena's luggage out of her car while yelling "I don't want you around anymore!" before driving out of the school parking lot.

I offered Selena a room at my home. She agreed because she didn't have a place to stay. My mother did not mind. On that same day, she explained that her family was abusive towards her. She happened to mention her mother's full name when she was explaining the events that led to her being homeless. My mom familiarized with the name, and she started stating the names of some people that Selena knew in her family. That was when we realized she was my cousin and my mom's niece. My mother decided to take her in as her own.

Time soon passed. Selena and I had just graduated from high school after receiving our college admittance letters. I had gotten into Princeton while Selena got accepted at Harvard.  We were on summer break, and we were looking for jobs to supply us with cash before we left for college. We managed to find one as Starbucks baristas in the city. It seemed to be a new cafe. It had taken us some time to understand customers' orders and to learn how to use the equipment. On one time, I ended up with a steamed hand. 

Don't ask how.

Selena and I had been working for a month, and the pay was adequate. We were both excited about college, but we were bummed about leaving each other and my mother. She had grown attached to her, and Selena acted like she was also my mother's child. I sometimes found myself wondering what her parents did to her, but then I would discard it. Selena never mentioned the crap she went through, and I understood it as a way of her saying she wanted to put it behind her.

Another day had come, and it did not start well for us.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap," Selena muttered as she rushed into the bathroom while I went for the phone. We had woken up an hour late for our jobs. I dialed a person I hoped would help cover for us.

"Where are you guys?" Rachel screeched into the phone, barely giving me time to say 'hi.' Rachel was a co-worker and acquaintance of ours. She got hired a month before us, and she too was working to save up for college.

"Well, hello to you too," I replied with a fake smile.

"I am in no mood to hear any sarcasm, Emery. Do you know what time it is?" she asked in anger.

"I'm sorry. We overslept, but we're on our way now," I replied on the line.

"You better be," she said before hanging up. I placed the phone on the bed and took out my clothes just as Selena exited the bathroom, fully dressed.

"Who was that?" she asked as she started to curl her black hair with a curling iron.

"It was Rachel." She 'mmh-ed' in acknowledgment. I pulled out a yellow T-shirt with a black jacket and a pair of dark denim jeans before proceeding into the bathroom. When I was done, I went on to straighten my curly dyed-red hair. 

"You do know that we have no time for breakfast, right?" Selena asked.

"Right." We were so late. Then I recalled a place we could quickly get something to eat.

"Wait. We could just grab some on our way—"

"Yeah yeah yeah," my cousin said in a rushed manner before pushing me out of the room.

About forty minutes later, we found ourselves in front of our workplace. No sooner had we opened the door than Rachel came at us.

"Guys! You are an hour late! The manager is fuming," she told us with worry in her eyes. Her blonde hair bobbed as she moved side to side to spot the manager while holding a tray with two Starbucks coffee cups.

"What did you tell him?" Selena asked, mirroring Rachel's expression.

"Nothing. He didn't even ask, but I'm sure he'll ask you," Rachel replied.

"Speaking of the boss..." I trailed off, hoping that the girls would catch on what I was insinuating. Our manager was on his way towards us. He was a brunette with barely any muscle tone. His eyes were barely-hidden by the spectacles he had worn. Despite his looks, the manager could be mean.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire you right now," Geoffrey, our manager, started. Selena and Rachel turned to him. Rachel's eyes had widened before she scurried away, leaving us to deal with the boss.

"We are so sorry," Selena apologized as I nodded. "Emery got a case of zipalostycosis."

I was nodding until I realized what she said. I gave her a weird look.

"How come I haven't heard of it?" he asked with his eyebrows furrowed.

"It's a rare disease that lasts for 12 hours. She got it last night and started puking her guts outs, even this morning. Her fever was up, and she could hardly move. I had to take care of her and make sure she was alright."

The manager gave us a suspicious look.

"I only believe you because of the disease's name. Are you sure she's okay? Is the disease communicable?" he asked.

"I'm feeling better. No need to worry," I replied. Selena nudged me with her left elbow.

"Good. Now get to work," Geoffrey said before striding away from us. Selena and I sighed in relief.

"That was a close one," Rachel said as she returned with two trays. A few minutes later, we were in tune with our jobs. The day progressed, and it was soon time for our lunch break. Rachel was willing to cover for us for thirty minutes because people were barely entering the cafe at the time. 

I walked into the workers' stall to look for Selena with her phone. It was where we ate lunch together. On that particular day, Selena was bobbing her head from side to side with earphones dangling from her ears.

I was about to ask her what she was dancing to, but suddenly, a figure started to appear. It was blurry and irregularly black. I was transfixed by the sight that met my eyes. I turned my attention to Selena, realizing she was too busy to notice anything. I quickly approached her and hastily yanked out one of the earphones.

"What?" she asked in anger as I pointed to the figure that had just formed a person. An erwich.

Erwiches were what were referred to as evil witches. They used to serve Eva, but after she had been thrown into a portal with no way out, they dispersed with no evil plan. However, that lasted for a short amount of time. They decided to wreak havoc in witches' premises. It wasn't usually bad because their attacks happened one to three times a year in the last six years, and they always failed.

However, on the current year, their activities increased. It was the fourth attack towards Selena and me that happened in a month. It seemed like there was someone new that was bringing them together; someone who obviously didn't like the both of us. 

The erwich formed a green ball of fire on his hand. He threw it towards us.

Selena and I shrieked as we ducked to avoid the flaming ball. It exploded behind us, ruining some plates and cups.

"Are you kidding me?" Selena shrieked as she formed her own fireball. 

She threw it towards the figure, and it exploded into flames, leaving soot as a residue. 

"This is getting problematic. Is it me or is something weird going on? It is unusual for them to attack us during the day."

Selena was right, but I couldn't pinpoint the source of the attacks. I chanted a spell to fix the mess the erwich left. The broken cups and plates reattached and reorganized themselves. Soon, everything was as good as new.

"I mean come on! They are attacking us at our workplace. I think they're trying to expose witches to the world."

A shudder ran down my spine at the thought. If word got out about witches, everything would never be the same again. My biggest fear is being kidnapped and having tests done, even if that includes cutting a body. 

But then it's just my thoughts. Who knows what would truly happen?

My thoughts ceased when I spotted Selena resume bobbing her head to the song that may have been playing on her phone. I had forgotten that when we ducked, her earphones yanked out of her phone and the song continued to play in loudspeaker mode.

"What are you listening to?" I asked her. She didn't reply, but she mouthed the lyrics of the song as it continued to play.

♪ If only you saw what I can see,
You'd understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh, oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh, oh,
That's what makes you beautiful ♪

"It's catchy," I said while bobbing my head to the music. "Who sang it?"

"The Ordinary Brothers," Selena replied.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Who?"

She replied with a shocked look.

"You don't know? They're an up and coming boy band. You should listen to their music. It's beautiful. It's emotional."

Selena played the song throughout the remainder of our lunch break.

***********************************************************************************************

Hours later, we were back at our home.

When we entered the house, Selena decided to play the same Ordinary Brothers' song; the same song that she played during our lunch break at work. She started screaming out the lyrics while I mumbled some parts that I didn't know, except the chorus. If she noticed, she didn't mention.

"Oh my goodness!" she suddenly screamed.

"What? Are we under attack? Are we being robbed?" I freaked out.

"No. It's my Google Alerts. The Ordinary Brothers will be performing in New York this Saturday!" She started jumping up and down as she stared at me with a grin.

I gave her a bored look. She replied with a fake apologetic look when she stopped jumping.

"I'm sorry, but it's them. It's really them! They are coming to New York!"

She gasped as if she remembered something.

"We could buy tickets online."

Oh crap.

"I don't get it. What is so big about them? They are musicians and ordinary humans. You act as if they're gods."

"No, I don't!" Selena denied, even though it was a lie.

"Yes, you do. You are one of their... what do you call them? Obers?"

She gasped. I gave her a weird look.

"What?"

"You know what they're called. That means you are a fellow Ober!"

I shook my head at her in disbelief.

"I'm not a fan of theirs. I just started listening to one of their songs. Today!" I emphasized as I made a dramatic exit towards the bathroom.

"You lie fellow Ober!"

I just shook my head at her even though she couldn't see me.

Ober... what a strange name.

After the shower, Selena and I ate together. My mom was going to come in late, so we placed her supper in the refrigerator and retired to bed. However, I couldn't sleep, mostly because Selena was up with her laptop. The bright light being emitted from the screen did nothing in helping me doze off. I groaned as I got up to see what she was doing.

"Selena, would you turn that off?" I yelled, but she didn't hear me. I groaned in exhaustion. Sometimes, I swear my cousin drove me nuts. I pulled the sheets off my body and got up in my pajamas, ready to unplug the