The Face Of Betrayal

I would like to share with you one of my most profound moments of betrayal.

Two points are necessary to set the scene. First, during my summer stint as a university student in Spain, we would hit the discoteques on the weekends to blow off steam from studying all week. I have never been a big drinker but I love to dance. I am good at it, and in my hey day I could go out every night of the week and never tire of it.

Second, as an English-speaker studying abroad, most pick-up lines would involve practicing English. Whether the intention was to have a cup of coffee or a pretense for hooking up, that was the direction the majority of our conversations would turn.

The combination of these two points is the heart of this story.

One night at our favorite discoteque we were dancing our hearts out. We weren't drinking, just dancing and laughing and having a great time. There were little groups of guys flirting with us at different times, but nothing we were really interested in. A girl or two joined our group, dancing with us, chatting in the general manner one sees when out in a club. She told us her friends wanted to meet with us, that because we were American that they wanted to practice their English with pretty American girls. We said thanks, but no thanks.

We weren't looking for the hassle of flirting with Spanish men. All we wanted to do was dance.

We got thirsty, and the soda machines were upstairs outside on the curb. We girls decided to go up and get a drink. Myself, my American roommate, and these nice, sweet Spanish girls.

We got upstairs, and as we start reading the vending machine a group of guys came out and surrounded us. Or shall I say a gang of guys? The same ones from the club. They were laughing and flirting and joking. Come to another club with us? Please! Please! This other club is so much fun! The music is better! Come! Let's go!

We blow them off, tell them we have our friends here. Thanks but no thanks.

The guys started to get aggressive. Then angry. They wouldn't take no for an answer.

The only way to describe what happened is to say they started trying to herd us into the alley next to the club. We realized that they were not going to let us back into the club, and they were using their bodies to get into our personal space so that we would back up further and further, thereby moving us away from our friends and into that alley.

In the split second I realized what they were doing, I looked up. At the back of the crowd I saw her. Our Spanish "girlfriend". With a smirk on her face. She had set the whole thing up. Having convinced us to come upstairs to cool off and get something to drink, she got us into exactly the situation that her gang of male friends wanted.

I had never felt so betrayed in my life.

It had never occurred to me that a fellow girl would sell us out. How naive I was.