Author’s Note: While I was suffering from a manic episode, I wrote this short story. This is inspired by my own personal experiences with being bipolar. I wish to not be judged as you read this. Please note that I only wrote this to express what it’s like to suffer from this mental illness.
It’s just an ordinary early afternoon day for this particular group of friends. Nothing but the cloudless sunshine in the skies and all the people around them doing their daily routines around the streets.
Spencer, Oliver, Anthony, and Gideon are all strolling together after their trip from a fast-food restaurant; Spencer and Oliver both ordered burgers, fries, and soda while Anthony and Gideon both ordered salads and juice. As they held on to their own paper takeout bags and drinking cups on their way home, they were just having a conversation with one another, just some stereotypical guy-talk.
“And then I said,” Spencer said to the others, “’Kid, you can never pull off that milk crate challenge on TikTok, stick to the cinnamon challenge!’”
Oliver laughs along with Spencer at the thought, but for both Anthony and Gideon, they don’t really find this amusing.
Gideon takes a sip from his drink through a straw, “There’s nothing funny about those TikTok challenges, do you even know how hazardous they can be? People can actually hurt themselves, or worse.”
Oliver replies, “Oh, come on, Gideon. That’s the whole point of them. They’re all about survival instincts, which we may need someday.”
Anthony responds, “Oliver, I have to agree with Gideon. Clearly, those videos have specific warnings about not trying them at home. From what I recalled, a few of them ended up at the hospital for doing such things.”
Spencer chuckles, “Hey, you got to learn someday.” He then takes a sip of his soda.
They resume their mindless conversation about TikTok as they continue to stroll down the streets. After five minutes of certain debates about what they see on social media videos and showing their smartphones to one another to prove their points, their conversation suddenly ends. They continue to walk in silence.
Spencer suddenly breaks the silence, “Damn, I wish Naomi was here with us, she would take sides over who is right about this.”
Gideon says, “Yeah, well, she said this morning that she has something coming up in her mind and couldn’t come.”
Oliver says, “I wonder what Naomi is doing right now without us.”
Anthony responds, “From what I remember, Naomi hasn’t been herself lately. It seems as if she is hiding something from us.”
“You’re right, Anthony,” Gideon responds. “She has been really distant from us these past few days. I wonder if she is OK.”
“We’re her closest friends,” Spencer remarks. “We don’t hide secrets from each other. That’s our code. If we have something to hide, we might as well trust each other to keep it only in the group.”
“Come to think of it,” Oliver takes a sip of his soda before he begins to bring something up. “Naomi also has been acting stranger lately. I mean, is it me, or is her anger getting worse than before? She has been getting mad over small things. I wonder what she is mad about?”
The others thought about that as well. Gideon responds, “Now that you mentioned it, Oliver. It seems that—”
Suddenly, something else is catching their attention. From across the street where they are standing, they see a familiar girl, wearing her rocker-chick attire and her hair tied into a ponytail, entering the butcher shop. They stop and stare to see who it is.
“Is that Naomi?” Spencer asks.
“I think that is her,” Oliver answers.
“What is she doing at the butcher shop?” Anthony asks.
“Not sure,” Gideon answers. “Normally, she would never step down at that place.”
After a couple of minutes, they then see Naomi exiting the butcher shop, this time holding a plastic bag with something inside it. She takes her merchandise out of the bag before throwing it towards the sidewalk to let the wind blow the plastic bag away. In her hands now is some sort of tray covered in plastic wrap. With a closer inspection, the clear-wrapped tray is filled with red ground beef.
The guys continue to watch her. Oliver comments, “Huh, she just bought herself some meat. That’s new.”
Gideon replies, “This is so unlike her.”
The four resume to watch her from the other side of the street. They then notice something that is not usual about her.
They see Naomi holding onto the ground beef protectively in her arms. She then looks side to side, as if she is making sure that she is not seen. After taking brief glimpses around her, she goes to the corner of the butcher shop. Naomi sits down on the concrete with her back leaning against the wall and her knees bent up to her chest. She has her pack of raw meat on her lap. With nothing to stop her…
Naomi unwraps the meat package.
“What is she doing?” Spencer asks the others with incredulousness.
They continue to watch her without her knowledge. What they see next—shocks them.
Naomi digs her hand into the ground beef, taking a handful of it before putting it towards her mouth—and she eats the raw meat. Ravenously.
Anthony, Spencer, Gideon, and Oliver are all shocked and simultaneously disgusted to see Naomi’s action.
“She’s—she’s eating raw meat!” Oliver exclaims.
“Why would she do that?!” Spencer is more shocked than the others and his reaction is also mixed with concern.
They continue to watch her, though very reluctantly, wondering what she would do next.
Naomi remains persistent; after finishing up the first handful of uncooked ground beef, she resumes voraciously eating more handfuls of it. She keeps on going and going until the tray is now empty. Naomi then wipes the remaining raw pieces off the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand. Lastly, she gets up from the ground and—aggressively—throws the empty meat tray into the nearby garbage.
The guys watch her walk away in a different direction; her destination unknown. What they just saw just couldn’t be unseen.
“My God.” Anthony is entire horrified. “I have never seen Naomi act so bizarrely before, let alone her actions.”
“Has she gone mad?” Gideon is as horrified as Anthony. “I think she is going mad!”
“I don’t know,” Spencer answers. “But I think we should interfere. I mean, something is definitely not right about Naomi.” His concern for her is becoming more acute. “I’m starting to get worried about her.”
Oliver replies, “Me, too. We should help her.”
Without hesitation, the four guys make their way home, hoping that Naomi is there by now.
At their five-bedroom mansion, they place their takeouts on the kitchen table and they begin to search around the entire huge house.
“Naomi?” Spencer says her name as he looks around with the others, hoping to see her if she is indeed home. “Naomi, are you here? We need to talk. All of us.”
The search for Naomi continues for the next several minutes. They already checked the main room and anywhere else where they assumed Naomi would be. No luck. When all luck failed, they came to a conclusion about where she could be: her bedroom.
All four guys make their way to the second floor where their own individual bedrooms are located. Each bedroom has its own bathroom, which gives each housemate more privacy. They stand by Naomi’s closed doorway.
“I really hope she’s in there,” Oliver says.
Spencer is just about to touch the doorknob.
“Wait,” Anthony stops him.
“What is it, Anthony?” Spencer turns to him.
Anthony says, “We really shouldn’t barge into Naomi’s room like that. I am not comfortable invading her privacy.”
“Come on,” Spencer answers. “I’ve been in Naomi’s room almost all the time. I’m sure she won’t mind.”
Gideon asks him, “What exactly have you been doing in Naomi’s room?”
Spencer couldn’t help but blush at what he is about to answer. He chuckles and stammers at the same time while rubbing the back of his head, “I, uh… may have hidden in her closet a few times to watch her change clothes and sometimes, I’d sneak into her bathroom to watch her shower behind the curtains. What she didn’t know won’t hurt her, right?”
Gideon and Anthony both scoff at Spencer’s previous activities regarding Naomi. Oliver on the other hand giggles.
Spencer continues, “Hey, I already told you my secret. Now’s the time to find out Naomi’s.” He turns back around and then grabs the doorknob.
Slowly, Spencer opens the door to Naomi’s room. They all enter and look around. Naomi’s room has purple walls, her favorite color. She has her own TV and laptop computer, her floor is full of stuffed animals, there is a tea set on the corner table, and her bed is unmade with pillows strewn around the messy covers.
As they look around, they notice that Naomi is not around.
“You know,” I’ve always wondered what a girl’s room looks like,” Oliver comments. He then sees a life-sized stuffed panda sitting in the corner of her room. “Hey, look! A panda!” He goes to pet the giant toy panda by the belly.
“Forget about the panda, Oliver,” Spencer says to him. “We need to look for Naomi and find out what she is hiding from us.”
Gideon comes up with something, “Maybe if we look around, we could find something that tells us about her. Anthony and I will look around the room. You two,” he points to Spencer and Oliver. “Go check her bathroom.”
The four begin to search around Naomi’s room, hoping for some signs. Gideon goes through her plushies and Anthony rummages through her drawers.
“I still don’t feel like this is right, Gideon,” Anthony says. “This is definitely an invasion of privacy.”
Gideon replies, “I couldn’t agree with you more, Anthony. But this is Naomi we’re talking about. And we need to find out since we’re her friends.”
Both Gideon and Anthony continue to rummage through Naomi’s personal belongings. Suddenly, Gideon finds something underneath her pillow on her bed. He takes it out and examines it.
It’s a purple book with a lock. Gideon turns towards Anthony to show him. “I got something.”
Anthony, too, finds something hidden in one of Naomi’s drawers underneath her undergarments, though he is very uncomfortable to even touch it. “I found something, too, but I don’t know if I should even touch it.” He then walks closer to Gideon, leaving the drawer open. “What did you find?”
Gideon shows the locked book to Anthony, “I think this is Naomi’s diary.”
Then, both Spencer and Oliver come out of Naomi’s bathroom holding what they have found in there.
“Guys,” Oliver says. He and Spencer are both holding small paper boxes in their hands. “Spencer and I found something in there… and we’re not sure what they are.”
Spencer takes something out of the box he’s holding, and Oliver does the same to the one he is carrying. Spencer takes out a large strip of cotton and Oliver takes out a cotton tube with a string attached to it at the end.
“We don’t even know what these things are or what they are for,” Spencer says, holding up the thick cotton strip to show to the rest of the guys. “It looks like some kind of pad with wings on the sides.”
“Yeah,” Oliver says as he holds up the stringed cotton tube to show them as well. “And these tube things with strings. I wonder why Naomi needs these. Does she get chronic nosebleeds or something?”
Gideon and Anthony are both reluctant to explain. Gideon tells the two, “I suggest you both put those away. Those are sanitary pads and tampons.”
“Why does Naomi have these, and we don’t?” Oliver naively asks.
Anthony answer for Gideon, “Just put those away.”
Both Spencer and Oliver did as they say and returned the boxes of pads and tampons back to where they found them in Naomi’s bathroom. They return to the other two.
Gideon says, “I found Naomi’s diary.” He shows Spencer and Oliver the little book. “Maybe if we look through it a little, there may be something. The catch is that we must unlock it first.”
Oliver takes the diary into his hands, “I think I can help with that.” He takes out a bobby pin from the back pocket of his jeans. He inserts the pin into the lock and jimmies it up. It unlocks. Oliver then hands the diary back to Gideon. “There.”
Gideon asks him, “How did you do that?”
Oliver shrugs, “Just because I may not be that smart, doesn’t mean I can’t pick locks. I carry a bobby pin around in case of situations like this.” He puts the pin back into his pocket.
Everyone huddles in as Gideon removes the diary lock and he opens it.
Spencer says, “I just hope there are answers in there.”
Gideon skims through the pages as the others look. The pages are filled in purple ink and Naomi’s neat and feminine handwriting is decipherable enough to read through. He reads out the entries out loud for the others to hear.
Last night, I had a dream about S, A, G, and O all spiking my drink and then they did things to me while I was unconscious. I could feel them entering inside of me and I could even feel the pain. Thank God, this was only a dream, and nothing happened to me yet. This is why I wanted to wait for the right person.
“Whoa,” Spencer comments. “That seminar Naomi went to that day really brainwashed her.”
“Who are S, A, G, and O?” Oliver asks.
“They’re our initials, Oliver.” Gideon answers. “Naomi used some kind of codes in these entries for more private reasons.” He continues to read on.
I have a strange feeling that S, O, G, and A are all too attached to me too much. This is one of the biggest difficulties of being the only girl in this household. Sometimes, they can be perverts when it comes to me. I don’t want to bring any of this up to them, that will make things worse. I just hope that they don’t watch me fall asleep and then gang-rape me or something.
“Where did Naomi get all these thoughts about us?” Anthony asks. “She knows that we would never do such things to her.”
“Maybe she has been streaming too many movies about college dating and rape,” Oliver answers.
Spencer chuckles, “Or maybe she just has some dark fantasies about us.”
Gideon shushes him, “Enough. Let’s just move on.”
Gideon skims through the other entries. He begins to flip through the pages. “About us… about us… about us…. Oh!”
“What is it?” Anthony asks.
“Naomi recently tried out this vegan casserole she made the other day,” Gideon answers. “She even wrote down the recipe on this page. We should try that out.”
“Ooh,” Anthony is astonished.
Spencer cuts in, “Yeah, no one wants to try any of that healthy crap. Right, Oliver?”
“Yuck!” Oliver replies.
Gideon changes the topic, “OK, back to this.” He continues to speed-read and flip through the pages. “Here it is!” He shows them the most recent entry. “This one is dated just yesterday.”
“What does it say?” Oliver inquisitively asks.
“Let see…” Gideon reads the entry out loud.
It’s been exactly six months since I stopped taking Risperdal. I hated taking these pills, they tasted so bitter, and they gave me side effects. Before when I first took them, I gained five pounds and I hated that. That’s why I stopped taking them months ago, so they wouldn’t make me fat. The good thing is that I lost weight. However, these symptoms I’ve been having lately ever since I stopped taking Risperdal were affecting my life. I just can’t go back to those medications. I’m afraid of letting the guys know about this. I worried about what they would think of me. No one can know about this.
Everyone is astonished about what they have found out. Gideon closes the diary and relocks it. “Risperdal? Naomi was taking Risperdal?”
“What’s that?” Spencer asks.
“Risperdal is a prescriptive medication,” Gideon answers. “Although, I don’t remember what they are for, to be honest.”
Oliver is surprised, “Naomi is taking drugs?”
Anthony answers for him, “Prescription drugs, Oliver. They’re not illegal. And they can only be prescribed by a specialist.”
Spencer is even more speechless. “I can’t believe this. So, this is what Naomi has been hiding from us. We’re her best friends. She didn’t have to hide this from us.”
Gideon returns the diary to where he found it. He then makes eye contact with Anthony. “Anthony, did you say you found something before?”
“Yes,” Anthony answers as he points to the opened drawer he just looked through. “In there.”
All four guys walk towards the drawer. Anthony rummages through it again until he finds something. He takes it out from the pile of Naomi’s undergarments. He then shows it to the others before closing the drawer.
It’s an orange pill bottle and inside is full of unused pills. Gideon takes it from him to examine it.
Naomi (last name withheld). Risperdal. 2mg Tablet. Take 1 Tablet By Mouth Every Day.
“It looks like this hasn’t been used at all,” Gideon informs them. “Look, it’s still full.”
“When was this last filled?” Anthony asks.
Gideon reads more to the label. “Exactly six months ago.”
Everyone is bewildered.
Spencer asks, “Was that when Naomi first acted strangely?”
“Could be,” Gideon answers. “It’s just that these are antipsychotics, and they are not meant to be stopped taking.”
Suddenly, they hear the front door of their mansion unlocking, then opening, and then finally closing. The four guys jump at the sound of the door.
“Shit, Naomi’s home!” Spencer says.
“We better get out of here,” Oliver informs.
“No time,” Anthony answers. “I have a feeling that she is heading upstairs to her room.”
With no time to spare, all four panicked, rockstar-clothed guys try to come up with a way to escape from Naomi’s possible wrath if she ever caught them snooping through her room.
“There.” Spencer points to Naomi’s walk-in closet. “We can hide in there. Come on.”
The guys hurriedly hide inside the large closet and Spencer closes the door once they’re all inside. They keep themselves silent to prevent Naomi from hearing them.
Naomi enters her room, talking to her smartphone by ear. “No, I’m pretty sure that nothing is happening to me. I honestly don’t remember much, sometimes I don’t remember what I did whenever I’m having euphoric episodes…”
In the closet, Oliver asks the others in a whisper. “Who is she talking to?” They shrug.
Naomi stands in the middle of her room, entirely oblivious to the guys’ hidden presence. She continues to talk on her phone, “I already told you, I’m fine without the medications. There is no way I’m going back to taking them. I just hate them.” She pauses as she hears the other line. Naomi then resumes, “Listen, I just got home, and all I want to do is lay down on my bed and relax. I’ve had a long day. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” She hangs up and then tosses her phone on top of her unmade bed.
Naomi sighs. She then examines her room, feeling a strange presence surrounding her. She couldn’t help but notice that some of her things were not the way they were when she first left this morning.
“What happened here?” Naomi asks herself.
“Crap,” Oliver whispers again. “She’s noticing.” The remaining guys shush him loudly.
Naomi can hear whispered voices. “Is someone here?” She looks around. “I know I’m not hearing things; I can hear someone hiding somewhere.”
Suddenly, she hears a sneeze coming out of her walk-in closet. Naomi, now feeling suspicious, walks to her closet. She opens the door…
And she sees her four friends collapsing outside of her closet. The guys let out yelps when they hit the floor and land on top of each other.
As they get up, Spencer scolds Gideon. “You just had to sneeze, didn’t you, Gideon?”
Gideon rubs his nose with his index finger and then sniffs. “It’s not my fault I’m allergic to Naomi’s perfume. The scent is all over her clothes.”
Naomi glares at them, “What are you all doing here?”
Spencer steps up towards her, making eye contact. “Naomi, we need to talk.”
Anthony makes eye contact with Naomi as well, “We know what you’ve been hiding from us. Care to explain?”
Naomi answers, “What do you mean? I have nothing to hide.”
Gideon glances at her, “You’ve been acting strange lately and it’s not right for you.”
Oliver glances at her as well, “Yeah, just earlier before, we saw you eating raw meat from the butcher shop you went to.”
“What are you talking about?” Naomi is perplexed. She is not comfortable with four guys staring at her at the same time, regardless of their reactions.
“Don’t hide from us,” Spencer says. “We know what we saw. We were actually there when we saw you chowing down raw meat by the handful. You probably didn’t see us.”
Gideon explains to her, “Do you even know the hazardousness of consuming raw meat? You can contract foodborne illnesses from that.”
“I don’t know what you guys are talking about,” Naomi is even more puzzled.
“Naomi,” Anthony, calmly, goes into detail with her. “Don’t deny this. We all witnessed what we saw there. All we’re asking for is an explanation.”
Naomi sighs, “Look, I really have no idea what you’re talking about. I—I just don’t remember much and sometimes, I just do things without thinking. My mind—my mind is just somewhere else, OK? That’s all I can say about it.”
“Your mind?” Spencer raises his eyebrow at that statement.
“I… please,” Naomi stammers. “There’s nothing that I’m hiding from you four. Now, if you don’t mind…”
“We’re not leaving until you tell us,” Spencer says. “Remember our Honesty Code about not keeping secrets from each other?”
Naomi is suddenly becoming irate. She snarls, “Get out.”
“Naomi—”
“GET OUT! ALL OF YOU! NOW!”
With all her ire, Naomi kicks them out. By the time the guys were forcibly let out of her room and standing outside of her doorway, she slams the door shut and then locks it.
Anthony, Spencer, Oliver, and Gideon are all perplexed at what just happened.
“Wow,” Oliver says to them. “She’s really mad.”
“I’ve never seen Naomi this hostile before,” Anthony says.
“Something is still not right about her,” Spencer informs. “And it’s worrying me even more.”
“Maybe,” Gideon says. “It has something to do with those medications she hasn’t been taking. We need to go back there and find out more about those medications.”
“I still have it right here.” Anthony pulls out Naomi’s medication out of one of his pockets and shows it to them. He hands them to Gideon.
“Great,” Gideon says. “Now, we have it, we can do some research about these pills. Everyone, to the living room. I’ll go get my laptop first.”
At the main room, the four guys sit on the large, cushioned sofa as Gideon clicks the keys on his laptop. Spencer, Oliver, and Anthony look at the screen with him.
“What are we searching for, Gideon?” Oliver asks.
“The information about these pills.” Gideon clicks away without looking at Oliver, keeping his focus on the screen. “Maybe there’s a medical website that explains the full details of it.”
Without wasting time, Gideon finds a suitable site about certain types of medications. Using his trackpad, he clicks on the link and then scrolls through the list.
“No… no… no…” Gideon drones on until he finds the match. “Here it is, Risperdal.” He clicks the link.
“So, what are they for?” Spencer asks.
“I’m reading through them now, Spencer.” Gideon answers. “Please, be patient.” He scrolls down a little more until he gets the full view of the article. He reads them out loud to the others.
Risperdal. General Name: Risperidone. This antipsychotic is commonly used to treat bipolar disorder. It balances the levels of dopamine and serotonin in your brain that helps regulate mood, behavior, and thoughts. Common side effects may include drowsiness, weight gain, and is best if not mixed with alcohol as behavioral issues may worsen.
“Bipolar disorder?” Anthony says.
“What’s that?” Oliver asks.
“Hang on,” Gideon answers. “Let me search that for you for clear understanding.”
He opens another tab and searches “bipolar disorder.” Gideon finds an informative link to the website about mental illnesses. He finds the right link and clicks on it with his trackpad. He reads the information out loud.
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a serious mental illness that causes dramatic changes in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to think clearly. People with bipolar experience high moods called mania and low moods called depression that can last for days or weeks.
Signs and Symptoms: For mania, symptoms include talking excessively, racing thoughts, hostility, insomnia, delusions, reckless behavior, and occasionally, euphoria. For depression, symptoms include extreme fatigue, prolonged sadness, and memory loss. Talk to your health-care provider if you suffer from any of these symptoms.
Everyone remains silent after what they have learned. Gideon closes both tabs and then closes his laptop.
“Guys,” Gideon says. “I think Naomi is bipolar.”
“That explains everything,” Spencer says.
“Yeah,” Oliver says. “It sounds like she has all of those symptoms, judging by her behavior lately.”
The guys are even more concerned about Naomi now that they have the information. Spencer sighs, “What should we do?”
Anthony informs, “One thing we know for sure: if Naomi doesn’t want to talk about this, then I guess it is best if we don’t bring it up to her as per her request.”
“You’re right, Anthony,” Gideon answers.
“But still,” Spencer informs. “We should at least help Naomi. I mean, she cannot be like this for the rest of her life. What if something bad happens to her if she doesn’t treat it right away?”
“I don’t like thinking about this,” Oliver says. “It’s hard for me to not stop worrying about her.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more, Oliver,” Gideon responds.
Suddenly, they hear a loud crash coming from Naomi’s room. They all jump at the sound of it. Then, they heard her screaming.
“AH! WHY IS THERE A PEN WITHOUT A CAP ON?!” There is another crashing sound coming from her.
This is getting serious for the gang to deal with.
“Perhaps we should—” Anthony gets cut off.
“No, remember her request.” Gideon answers.
The gang then hears Naomi coming down the stairs, her socked feet thumping loudly at every step as she descends. They stood up to look at her. This time, Naomi has a pair of purple wireless headphones hanging around her neck as she makes her way to the different room on the ground floor.
Standing several feet away from her, they were about to get in her way. Spencer asks her with her back facing towards them, “Naomi, are you OK?”
Naomi stops walking and then turns around with an emotionless look on her face to briefly look at her friends. The only answer she could give is, “Don’t mind me. Just heading to the library.”
The way she said it is all monotone and nonchalant. She turns back around and places her headphones over her ears. She makes her way to the mansion’s personal library. Strangely, she didn’t even slam the door this time.
“Huh.” Oliver couldn’t help but notice something else. “She suddenly calmed down.”
“Like what the site said about having bipolar disorder,” Gideon informs. “It erratically shifts moods. It’s part of her episode.”
Without Naomi’s knowing, the rest of the gang make their way to the library while at the same time, bracing themselves for her next doable fury.
The library door is open ajar. Anthony silently opens the door a little wider, so that they can get a clearer, perceivable view of Naomi. The four perk their heads over the open door, meticulous enough to not let Naomi see them.
They find her sitting on an overstuffed armchair with her feet up on the ottoman. Nothing is happening currently. Naomi is simply reading a novel while listening to loud death metal from her headphones. Judging by the high volume of the music coming from her headphones, they can tell that she’s listening to Arch Enemy. The growling and screaming lyrics muffle out all the sounds surrounding her despite the complete utter silence. Naomi is surprisingly calm at this moment as she reads her book and listens to the deathly growls.
“Look at her,” Spencer whispers to the others. “She’s just so chilled all of a sudden.”
They continue to stare at her, wondering if something else is going to happen next. Nothing.
The guys step away from the open threshold to give Naomi more personal space for safety reasons. They make eye contact with one another outside of the library, knowing that she cannot hear them at this time.
“We should keep a close eye on her for now,” Gideon informs.
“I agree,” Anthony replies. “We can’t just leave her alone all the time. Chances are that we may not make it on time if Naomi did something more drastic to herself.”
Spencer asks, “How are we going to do that?”
Gideon instantaneously comes up with an idea on how to surveillance Naomi, in case of any urgency. “I got it.” He turns to Oliver. “Oliver, do you still have those discreet cameras in your room?”
Oliver answers, “Yeah, why?”
“I know how to keep track of her without her knowing.”
It’s been one hour, and Gideon is just finishing setting up the cameras on certain places around the mansion where Naomi routinely goes to.
“And that’s the last one,” Gideon says after setting up the last camera on top of the threshold inside of Naomi’s room. He gets down from the step ladder.
“Are you sure this is the right thing to do, Gideon?” Anthony asks.
“Positive.” Gideon says as he takes out his smartphone. “These cameras are highly subtle; Naomi won’t know a thing. Now, let’s get out of her room before she finds out.”
They exit her room and head back to the main room. Gideon goes through his phone, tapping on the screen with his thumb. “I just need to set up this app that connects to these cameras. Whatever the cameras see, the footage will appear on my phone. And…” He resumes tapping with both of his thumbs. “Done. The cameras are now on, and it will capture every one of Naomi’s movements.” He puts his phone in his back pocket.
“I’m pretty sure this is illegal,” Oliver worriedly says.
“Not if it’s about our friend doing something dangerous,” Spencer answers.
“Now remember, guys,” Gideon informs the other three. “Don’t mention any of this to Naomi until I say when the time is right. We don’t want to cause any more trouble for her as we interfere with her life.”
They all agree.
“I’m hungry,” Oliver says.
“Yeah, me too,” Spencer remarks.
“We still have our food from this afternoon,” Oliver reminds them. “Let’s go eat them.”
As they mutually agree that it is time to eat, the four guys head to the kitchen to eat their fast-food takeouts.
It’s been a quiet night. There have been no signs of Naomi suffering from any manic or depressive symptoms throughout the rest of the day. For dinner, Naomi just casually walked to the kitchen and grabbed a full box of leftover pizza from the refrigerator. Without even heating up the pizza, she just took the entire box all the way up to her room and ate them cold in the privacy of her domain. Nothing is happening right now, much to the concern of the rest of the gang. Everyone resumes doing their routines for the rest of the night until it is time for bed.
The next morning comes.
Gideon group texted the others except Naomi about what he has found out from the surveillance app. He told them to meet him in the main room, so that Naomi remains oblivious.
The guys appear in the living room. They are all barefoot and still wearing their pajamas and their hairs are tousled into bedheads.
“Gideon, what have you found out?” Anthony asks him.
“Guys, I’m not sure how to explain this.” Gideon goes through his phone to the surveillance app. “I just found out that something happened to Naomi in the middle of the night, and… it’s shocking.”
“What is it?” Spencer asks.
“Tell us,” Oliver urges.
Gideon prepares to start the video. “Look at this.”
After getting it done, he shows his phone screen to the others. They all surround the small screen in his hand. He plays the video.
What they see in the video… just cannot be unseen.
In the night-visioned video, Naomi appeared in the kitchen, barefoot, her hair being a mess, and wearing nothing but a white T-shirt and black panties with frilly laces. She urgently looked around the dark kitchen, looking frantically back and forth, and side to side. She then looked nervous, but they didn’t know what for. Naomi then had both of her hands touching the back of her head. She resumed looking around for something in the dark. She remained frantic about something.
“What was she doing?” Spencer asks curiously and worriedly. No one answers as they keep watching.
Back in the video, Naomi appeared to be shaken about something. She looked around some more, and still, none of the guys know what she was seeing or looking for. Then, Naomi frantically looked around, all full of panic.
The next part sends chills down their spines.
Naomi stared into the dark space… and she erratically made sudden movements with her hands. She swatted at the empty air, as if she was trying to catch a fly. She repeatedly did the same movements for the next several seconds until she finally gave up.
Then, here comes the most shocking part:
Naomi leaned her lower back against the island table in the center of the kitchen… and she repeatedly punched herself in the head with her fist… multiple times. She continued to hit herself until she bent down a bit to catch her breath with her hands resting on her knees. Naomi then placed both of her hands on top of her head, as if to stop a migraine. She remained in that position for the next several seconds as she appeared to take deep breaths. Finally, Naomi stood up straight, looked around some more, and lastly… she left the kitchen to head back to her room. The rest of the video is completely still and empty.
The video ends. The guys are all shocked and horrified at what they have seen.
“Holy shit,” Oliver says, still unable to wipe the horror out of his face.
“Delusions,” Gideon explains as he turns off his phone before putting it into his pajama pants pocket. “Naomi was experiencing delusions last night. That’s part of her manic episode.”
“I cannot believe it,” Anthony says, still shocked. “It’s… just so hard to see what she’s going through.”
“We need to do something about that,” Spencer answers. “But how?”
They all come up with a plan with how to interfere with Naomi and her mental health. After a moment of thinking, they come up with something… and it’s not going to end well—for her and them.
The guys head upstairs, back to Naomi’s room. Aware that she may have locked her door from the inside, Spencer gently knocks on the door.
“Naomi? Naomi, are you awake? We need to talk,” Spencer says.
They wait a few seconds. They can hear her bed creaking as she gets up and then her footsteps padding against the floor. Naomi unlocks the door and opens it.
By the looks of her, Naomi’s hair is indeed a mess, and she has bags and dark circles underneath her eyes. She glares at them, “What do you want?”
Bracing themselves, they enter her room. Naomi is perplexed about their facial expressions; they’re all serious with a mix of concern. She’s also not happy with them entering her room without her consent.
As Spencer, Oliver, Anthony, and Gideon all make eye contact with her, they couldn’t help but to look at Naomi’s appearance. She’s still wearing her shirt and is still in her panties from last night. They subtly blush in embarrassment—without her knowledge—from seeing Naomi half-naked in front of them. It’s just so awkward for the guys. Naomi ignores their reactions and resumes talking.
“Why are you all here?” She demands. The guys get more serious as they stop blushing.
Spencer gets closer to her, “Naomi…” He’s not sure how to put this. “There’s something… we saw something…”
“What do you mean?” Naomi asks.
Spencer turns to Gideon. “You tell her.”
Gideon steps towards her as well, taking out his phone from his pocket. He turns it on and opens the app.
“Naomi,” Gideon says. “There’s no easy way to tell you this, but… we set up cameras around the household to watch you.”
“YOU WERE STALKING ME?!” Naomi’s ire flares up.
The guys brace themselves even more. Oliver then nervously tells her, “Before you say anything else, we did this for your own good.”
“Yes,” Gideon informs. “The reason why we set up cameras for you is because… we’re all worried about you.”
“What there to worry about me?” Naomi asks, her sudden rage quickly calming down.
Gideon sighs, “Here,” he hands Naomi his phone for her to see for herself. “Take a good look at this.”
Naomi takes the phone into her hands. She taps the screen to press play and the video starts. Her reaction shifts as she sees herself in the video. First, she’s confused… then bewildered… and now, horrified. She gasps towards the ending.
The video ends… and Naomi is all speechless. “How… why…” She meekly returns the phone to Gideon. “What was happening to me? Why all of a sudden?”
“Naomi,” Anthony brings himself closer to her, just a couple of inches apart. “We know about your state of mental health. We know about your bipolar disorder. And we know that you have stopped taking your medications six months ago.”
Naomi remains speechless.
It’s Gideon’s turn to inform her. “You were suffering from delusions in the middle of the night, which is part of your mania. You do know what you’re not supposed to stop taking those medications, right?”
“I…” Naomi stammers.
Suddenly, tears formed in her eyes. They become heavy and she begins to sob. She has her hands to her face to prevent them from seeing her cry. She begins her story to tell the others.
“I’m so sorry! And yes, I do know what I’m bipolar! I recently found out less than a year ago!” Naomi lets her hands down from her face. She wipes the tears off with the back of her hand. She resumes as she tries to hold back her tears.
“Lately, I’ve been feeling strange, which is so unlike me. First, I’m happy, then depressed, and suddenly, I’m all angry for no reason. And I then do reckless things without my own knowledge, like eating a pack of raw meat yesterday. I just couldn’t control myself. I didn’t mean to act hostile to you, guys, and I’m sorry for that.
“So, I went to a psychiatrist to talk about my symptoms, and he diagnosed me with bipolar disorder. He then prescribed me Risperdal. I only took it for a week until I gained weight as a side effect to those pills. Feeling unhappy about the side effects, I decided to stop taking them despite what the psychiatrist said about not stopping.” Naomi pauses to take a deep breath and to sob a little more. She continues, “I’ve been hiding my medications and my mental health from you all, because… because I worry that you four wouldn’t understand it. I just want to prevent being judged by you guys. I should’ve been honest about it in the first place. And… I’m sorry! I’m sorry for breaking the Honesty Code. I just don’t want anything else to happen to me. Please forgive me.”
Naomi continues to sob as more tears form and run down from her eyes. She then sits on the edge of her bed as she waits for their reactions. Nothing from them. Just total silence from them.
After the silence amid her cries—Naomi can feel all four of her friends sitting on the bed next to her. Spencer and Oliver sit beside her with her in between them. Anthony sits next to Oliver and Gideon sits next to Spencer. Naomi can feel Spencer bringing her head on his shoulder and Oliver rubs her back. She is now able to cease her sobs after feeling their touches.
Naomi looks up to make eye contact with all of them with her eyes blurred by her tears. She can see the warm smiles on their faces.
“Naomi, it’s OK,” Spencer whispers to her as he gives her a soft kiss on her forehead as a way to comfort her. “We’re not mad at you.”
She sniffs, “You’re not?”
“No…” Oliver answers. “You’re our best friend. Of course, we’re not mad.”
Gideon speaks up, “And we understand what you’re going through. We won’t judge you. That’s not what we do.”
“Absolutely,” Anthony answers. “We may not be specialist at this kind of condition, but if you ever need someone to talk to, you can always come to us.”
“We’re always here for you, Naomi.” Spencer comments.
Naomi sniffs again and then wipes the tears off her eyes some more. For the first time ever since her diagnosis… she lets out a warm smile that matches theirs.
“Thanks. You guys are the best.” Naomi pulls them in for a group hug.
After they pull themselves apart, Anthony, Gideon, Oliver, and Spencer stand up from the bed. Spencer takes something out of his pajama pants pocket. It’s her medication. He hands them to Naomi.
“I believe these are yours,” Spencer says. “You really should go back to taking them. For us.”
“And if you ever feel any side effects,” Oliver informs her. “I’m sure we can all help you with that. Right, guys?” They all nod in agreement.
Naomi takes her medication from Spencer and holds it into her hands. She smiles, “For you, I’ll continue to take these. For the sake of my mental health.”
She removes the cap and then shakes out one pill as it lands onto her palm. Naomi puts the pill into her mouth and taking her water bottle from her nightstand, she takes a sip and downs the entire thing. She puts the cap back on before placing it on her nightstand next to her water bottle. She waits for a few seconds.
Suddenly, Naomi feels the change. Her happiness has finally return.
“You’re right, I do need this.” Naomi gets up from her bed. “Now, come on. I’m hungry. Let’s have some breakfast.”
Everyone agrees. They exit the room and head towards the kitchen.
From this day forward, nothing bad will happen to Naomi ever again.
As long as she persists in taking what she needed to help heal her mental health.
She has her friends after all.
Her everything.
-By Nicole Cheng, 2024
Become a Fighter, Not a Victim <3 