I'll Be Right Here Madeline

Author’s Note

Dear people, this is my first-ever experience here. I sincerely hope you like this story. There are moments in life that occur within the same 24-hour day but feel monumental, shaping the very trajectory of your existence. They pull you out of monotony, make you uncomfortable, even disoriented, yet they redefine countless days to come. A love story often follows a predictable path—dates, romance, confessions, and a happily ever after. But this isn’t a conventional love story. It is a story of love, but one carved through pain and struggle.

Before you proceed, a gentle warning:This story delves into themes that may be triggering, including emotional distress, mental health struggles, and mature content. Reader discretion is advised.

So, I humbly ask my readers to embrace the slow unfolding of these defining moments. The story is paced according to the weight of its events—sometimes it may feel too fast, other times, too slow. It’s my first attempt at storytelling, and while the rhythm may waver, I promise you will find meaning in the journey, the characters, and the profound messages at its heart.

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The line….was crossed. By him.

And whatever happened afterwards, it was all on him.

Today was an anomaly. A new kind. It was the first day in the past three months when someone interfered with my well-planned and expertly-executed reclusive life at this institution. We were only a week into our 7th semester, and I had gone through one-half of my selfish loner routine of the day. I successfully left my building on-time, right after the last lecture, and I was absolutely comfortable by my choice of voluntarily removing myself from the humdrum of post-class delights of a college-student life. And later that day, I had planned to enjoy a dramatic read of all the critiques on Professor Kwon’s latest paper, by myself, on the bleachers.

But, it all got messed up.

It all got messed up when he held my lungs hostage, and then my bag hostage, then my sweater hostage, and then me hostage,……

Murder it is, then!

I told you, there were only two options left: violation or murder. Why did he have to interfere with my day?In my life?? I could have made it back to campus on-time, if I had not run into him, and my crazy-run-escapade would have only involved my quickie playdate with the ugly baby-sparrows. But he had to act all macho-idiotic , causing me to waste 10-15 minutes of my precious time in search of my bag, which carried nothing but legends of how disorganized I was with note-taking in classes—--with all sorts dirt, food wrappers, and crumpled-up papers .......and I already feel like I am rambling.

So, I will start over. This story did not start today, but it also did. You will find out.

You have to know though, I did not plan my day that way. And....I think you must know how and where it went off-course.

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“Fuck, fuck, Fuuuuuck!”

I squealed with glee, kicking a small piece of rock that laid in my path, as I made my way out of the building’s parking lot. Wiping my eyes with both hands, I shrugged off the dampening rain which was blurring my vision. My boring, vapid, shell of a day on-campus was finally coming to an end. Or the lecture-part of it was. But the rain had certainly made the anticipation for freedom all the more desirable.

Week 1 of the seventh semester - Adios.I thought.

The light drizzle seemed to have rendered an aqua-teal tinge to the entirety of the campus grounds. The starting of the day; with the aforementioned shower forecast, was a solid boost to my spirits, considering I had been having fairly predictable days, every day for the past three months, and that included the damn summer break. Rain has always been a kind-refresher to my old soul. It just had that way of turning my somber dark countenance into a bundle of uncontrollable energy.

So, I was carefully planning my weekend all through Friday, as in during my lectures—-- in terms of school work, assignments, and whatnot. Planning is 70% of the work. If you plan efficiently, you are mentally free to execute. I had to do it to ensure that I was not wasting my very budgeted resource—--time, on some awesome rainy-day-enjoyment. Time was an expensive resource for me as a scholarship kid. As bizarre as it sounds, if you are serious about school, you will find yourself adopting this OCD-approach to time. You have to take things as black and white as I just did. I did my time-planning and once the certainty of free time became clear, I was stress-free about enjoying my awesome-rainy-day to the fullest. And now, I was dying to escape that monstrous building with all its symbols, its walls and people, because I despised and hated them to unimaginable extremes.

Around my fifth lecture of the day, the rain had dialed down to a drizzle, barely noticeable now. I felt my shoulders sinking a bit. But, then the sky shook again. I almost barked in unspeakable bliss.Darker clouds accompanied by thunder lost control and went ahead with the longest ugliest noisiest shower.Another bouncy kick to my spirits!

Rain and the aroma of coffee is like the ultimate combination for a lot of people. More of a predictable one, I suppose. But, I knew that the beautiful weather would now become a nuisance for the majority of the people on-campus; who were already planning to escape to the good cozy cafes, I was sure. Yes, there were at least 20+ such spots spread all across hundred acres of the grassy grounds of the establishment.

But, I had other plans.

Against the window next to my desk, the roar of the thunderous clouds, with the soft but constant pitter-patter of the rain, somehow managed to keep me on-edge throughout the length of the last period. I couldn’t have waited to run out of there. The horror-blue tinge soaking the atmosphere of the campus made it look like a scene from the twilight.My heart marveled at that for some reason.I kept sneaking peeks whenever I could. I should tell you, I loved Twilight precisely because of that coloring-situation.Thatjust dialed down the love right from erotic to somewhere around eerie.Eero-tic.

And the day ended. Finally.

Finally.

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