EVIDENCE 2: THE LAST PETAL

CHAPTER-16

KEITH

The first day when I saw Debbie , I thought of her as a new normal girl and then we got to know that she is an orphan , the whole school did not take it in well and started mocking her for that. I did the same even though I didn't like it , I never liked doing any of that or saying any of the hurtful things to her but I couldn't do anything. I was pressurized by my parents into maintaining the so called reputation of theirs and that is why I had to do anything to make myself someone I'm not. Someone which everyone fears but wants to be with. Whenever I looked at myself in the mirror I just hated myself for the person I've become because of my parents.

Everyone in my school is a bunch of fake teen-agers who just seek out need of approval and specially from me like I'm their god or something , I didn't even like doing all this I just wanted a normal school life with normal friends but as prestigious our school looks from outside it's really not , it hides deep dark secrets within.
My only best friend is Steve he understands me and helps me throughout this most of the time and he's the only nice person aside from Debbie in this school.

It all started with some harmless comments from students around here and then it changed into full fledged bullying but unlike the rest of the weak sensitive kids , she turned out like a fire , that is what I like the most about her , she never took any of our bullshit and always came back with good replies , I loved putting on a fight with her but that day she went a little overboard and that was also because of me , I provoked her due to that we had to go to the principal's office. 

I entered the auditorium for the 'punishment' and when I did I saw her dancing around, she looked so cute and innocent and I recorded that , it wasn't for me to show others but I liked watching that video over and over again although I did kind of use it in my advantage and blackmailed her out of it , I still had to play the typical bad boy in her eyes and besides that I just wanted to have a little fun with her I sound like an extreme jerk but that was most of what I was getting , after this year she'd probably be somewhere out and hopefully enjoying her life and I'll still be here taking after my dad's business even though I don't want to. I wanted to be a pilot , I wanted to go around the world and explore but my dad would never allow me to do anything like that , I gave up on my dreams a long time ago.

She looked very absent minded and troubled throughout the day , she didn't even give a comeback to those who were mocking her with their lame roasts. I noticed her eyes were a little swollen and I really wanted to ask her about what happened, I wanted to comfort her but I couldn't. So I did the best I could think of , before she came to the auditorium I cleaned it completely hoping that she would feel relieved and slightly happy but she looked even more disappointed. I followed her like some crazy stalker just to get a hint about what's going on , what's bothering her. I saw her sit on the bench near the lake and just zoning out. What surprised me was out of nowhere Steve went and sat down near her. What was he doing here? And why is he going and talking to her I thought he hated her too just like the rest of them , even though he never told her anything but he never talked to her too and that is why I thought he doesn't like her either.  Does he like her? I saw them talk and she laughed a little that made something inside me burn , I wanted to do that instead of Steve but I couldn't do anything about it , if only I had a normal family I would be friends with Debbie by now. I walked away from there , they were happy being with each other and she didn't deserve company from someone like me.

A week later I saw her sitting uncomfortably on her chair throughout the day, I asked Clara a very stupid question that when girls sit uncomfortably on their chair what does that mean , she gave me a weird look but answered my question anyway, at first she gave some random answers which I think didn't suit her situation then she said something which made me think and that was the answer. She was on her periods , in recess I ran to the nearest medical store and brought painkillers for her , I thought of getting a chocolate but it would be too weird , I wasn't her boyfriend to begin with I wasn't even her friend in her eyes I was her worst enemy. I hated that but it was better to keep it that way.

Clara asked me where I was and she even asked why I was asking her random questions , I gave her weird but believable answers so that she wouldn't nag me again. I didn't even like being with her , she was always rude to others and very spoilt , a typical ungrateful spoiled brat and I had to be in a relationship with her because of the stupid business deal our fathers had made. They wanted us to get married after our college just to keep both the businesses tied up together. I was so fed up with my life at this point, I wanted some escape from all of this peace for once where I'm not pressured into doing something I don't want to , where I'm a normal kid in school , where I can date whoever I want to , where I can be friends with Debbie , where I can be me just me. I sighed at the thought of it , none of this would be real all I could do was to dream about it.
A dream.... a nice warm dream.