I'm rooting for you, Troy.

 

Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine. For protective purposes, we’re going to call him Troy. He’s a student at MTSU. So on Thursday, May 4th, 2023, he was helping out with the setup for his college's commencement ceremony that was being held on Saturday. The day was going OK so far. He had finished his last semester exam that morning, returned all his books, and would later be working on a job that would pay $10 an hour. Life couldn't be any sweeter. Oh, and he posted his last Campus Rec social media post (he works for his job’s social media team like me) of this semester, and many people liked it. So, of course, not all moments can stay happy for long. As soon as he gets to work, one of his bosses, Myron, tells him his other boss, James, needs to see him back at the Rec at 2:30 for something. Now his cautious mind automatically jumps into suspicion mode. Especially since Myron says, he doesn't know what it's about. So, fast forward to 2:30, they’re back at the Rec, and James pulls him into the conference room. There are two women there. Troy recognizes one of them, Ms. Abigail Jones, since she's the faculty advisor for a club he’s a part of, and he’s interviewed her a couple of times for some projects. Nice lady. The other is Ms. Linda Woods. They sit him down, and James leaves Troy alone with them. Ms. Woods tells him he’s not in trouble; they just want to talk to him about something. Not going to lie; that made him nervous as hell. And he was right to be. Because never in a million years would he have ever predicted what would come next. Ms. Woods (And I'm going to go ahead and state now that my memory isn't that good when it comes to word-to-word accuracy, so a lot of this is going to be paraphrased from what Troy told me) said that they were here to talk about something that had been brought to their attention involving him, and one of his coworkers, Magnus Rivera. Magnus ******* Rivera. It occurred to me that Taurus men are destined to be the bane of Troy's existence cause they stay making him miserable beyond comprehension and repair. Troy’s sitting there, confused by what's happening, but they cut right to the chase: Magnus has said that he thinks Troy is attracted to him and that he’s been putting himself in positions where he would be close/near him. Let that sink in a minute. Troy’s just sitting there letting that wash over him cause he doesn't know what to think except for: “What the ****?” Apparently, Magnus had gotten the idea that Troy was attracted to him from two third-party sources (2 seniors who worked at the Rec with them, one who apparently doesn't work there anymore, who somehow got this idea in their heads). It makes sense now because a month ago, Troy learned from one of his coworkers/friends, Cora, that Magnus commented to her that he thinks Troy “likes him.” After all, he constantly picks up his shifts. Ignoring that Troy does that for everyone, and that half of those shifts he picked up for Magnus were because he messaged Troy and asked him to. For a while, Troy wondered how he could come to that conclusion. But he bet all the money in his account that it was due to those two idiots who let rumors be the boss of their brains. The women, Ms. Woods and Ms. Jones asked him if any of this was true, and he told them it was not and that he had no idea why he or anyone would come to this idea. He’s barely talked to Magnus outside of work, and if he did, it was probably about work. So, they bring out the main reason for this little visit: Magnus has decided to take out a “No Contact Directive” through the school against him. Little info, a “No Contact Directive” means that Troy will not have any contact with Magnus. No calls, no texts, no social media interaction, no contact through other people, if Troy sees him in a place on campus, then Troy must leave immediately, etc. Again, this is all based on a rumor without evidence to back it up. At this point, Troy’s mind races with all these thoughts and realizations. All he can think is, “Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? What if Magnus is going around and telling people that I'm obsessed with him, stalking him, making me seem like some predatory weirdo, and him the innocent victim? What if people at the job know? What if they believe him over me, and I lose the friends I've worked hard to make? How is this going to affect my senior year? I won't be able to go to parties or maybe even the local bar with friends because he might be there.” So many things are running through his mind, leaving him with this sinking realization: Magnus has single-handedly ruined any chance of Troy enjoying his senior year to the fullest intent. And with that realization, he breaks down in front of Ms. Jones and Ms. Woods in tears. Well, first, he had a mini panic attack, then he started sobbing. He kind of freaked them out because they went and got him tissues and some water. They tried their best to calm him down, asking him questions like his major, what he did for fun, his favorite movies/tv shows, etc. He tried his best to answer them, but he kept losing it. He kept saying, “I didn't do anything wrong.” Troy said he thinks (prayed) they believed him. Ms. Jones said they didn't think he did anything wrong. That the whole situation didn't make sense, that there were too many question marks surrounding it, particularly involving Magnus. The fact that he had no proof, that he was still willing to work alongside Troy but didn't want Troy near him outside of work, and the timing of this. They both told him that sometimes you couldn't help how people look or think about you, they make assumptions about people, and automatically that's the only truth they know. Again paraphrasing. Ms. Jones even hugged him. She said that he shouldn't let this drag him down or let Magnus ruin him, how he views himself, acts, or even his comfort with his place at his job or MTSU. Troy may have said earlier that he wanted to go to a new school when they asked him if there was anything they could do to help. And then he said he didn't know how he would work with Magnus next year, or anyone for that matter, because it felt as if everyone was talking about him behind his back and laughing. Troy felt so low, more than he had ever felt. He wanted nothing more than for it to all end, to go away. He couldn't see the light at the end of the dark tunnel. That's when Ms. Woods asked the dreaded question: Based on how he was asked acting and the situation, was he thinking of hurting himself? Troy sat there in silence because he couldn't bring himself to answer…because he couldn't say no. Because, at that moment, he wanted to. The women looked at each other and decided to take Troy back to Ms. Wood’s office so he could fill out a sort of wellness paper that listed reasons why he shouldn’t pull the life support plug on himself. Troy looked at the schedule and saw that Magnus’s ass was working in the front, possibly sitting at the supervisor's desk right outside the conference room, possibly listening in, laughing at him. Troy couldn't risk walking past him. He had to have them take him out the back. They went and got James so he could let them out. He patted Troy on the shoulder and told him he was sorry that Troy was going through this. That honestly made Troy want to cry more. Flash forward to that moment in the room with Ms. Woods filling out that paper. One part of it was listing the places that made him feel comfortable, and he wanted to write down MTSU’s Rec Center, but he honestly questioned whether he felt comfortable there anymore. Ms. Woods went ahead and wrote it down, telling Troy that he shouldn't let Magnus make a place that he enjoys being at a place he hates going. She was right. Troy loved being at MTSU’s Rec Center. It was a second home on campus, an escape when stuff got too much at school. He enjoyed the company of the patrons and his fellow staff. Magnus tried to take that from him. He's trying to break Troy down, break his spirit into 1000 pieces, and push him away from a place he loves. Magnus is trying to make him feel ashamed while slandering his good name. But all Magnus has done has shown that he is the true villain, the real monster. How someone could be so cruel, I would never know. But one thing I do know is that Troy is stronger than that. He won't let Magnus win. Troy will give Magnus this battle, but he will take home this war. Like the phoenixes of myth, he too will rise again in a fiery blaze from his ashes and be made whole. And he’s asked me to keep him and Magnus in my prayers, too. So I will pray for Magnus and hope he will become a better person one day. But I have advised Troy not to waste any more time letting Magnus control how he, Troy, views himself. To be frank: **** Magnus Rivera. Troy is who he is. And he is a better person than that creep Magnus will ever be. And that is something he can be truly proud of.

Troy, I’m rooting for you.