Chapter 1
22nd December 2019 — [5 years ago].
I looked into the crowd, searching for a familiar face until my eyes landed on my best friend, Vedha. She was completely ignoring the girl next to her and was focused on the stage. The girl beside her wouldn’t stop talking, and I wondered what she was saying. I quickly looked away as I realised I should have started the event a minute ago.
With my most practiced friendly smile, I began,
“Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for your patience. I shall begin the event now,”
as enthusiastically as possible, hiding my nervousness.
The stage smelled like something horrible that I couldn’t recognise. It made my stomach churn.
“I welcome our Principal, our honourable guest, to the stage.”
I greeted her as she sat down, silently thanking my gag reflex for not betraying me.
One of my classmates, Rekha, a 3rd year B.Com (A&F) student, presented her with a bouquet of roses. The audience cheered and clapped as I said,
“I request our guest to give us a speech,”
while handing her the microphone and switching mine off.
“Good afternoon everyone. It’s really good to see the students sitting here with curiosity,”
she began with the warmest smile I had ever seen.
I dazed through the rest of her speech as a sudden realisation hit me — I had forgotten where my phone was.
I finished hosting the event, but the whole time I worried about my phone. I searched my backpack, then my classroom. Later, at the bus stop, I asked Vedha if she had seen it.
She handed me my phone and said,
“Did you forget that you gave it to me to record you on stage… Thara?”
She smiled innocently — a crooked smile that always seemed fake, yet somehow didn’t, thanks to my trust issues.
“Did you record?” I asked, avoiding her eyes as we sat at the bus stop. I felt guilty that I couldn’t tell her the truth about my past.
“Yeah! Of course I did.”
She giggled and proudly showed me the video.
I watched the whole thing and realised I had hosted the event so smoothly that no one could tell how nervous I really was.
Vedha spotted her bus arriving. She said goodbye and walked towards it.
I looked at the bus.
Gowtham.
It was Gowtham, sitting by the window seat.
Vedha entered the bus. I got up and ran toward it, but I missed it and fell to the ground. I watched the bus fade from my sight.
“Ahhh!” I screamed as someone lifted me up.
“Thank you,” I said to the man who helped me, brushing dust off my dress.
“You’re welcome,” he replied and left.
At the same time, my bus arrived. I got in and went home.
I ran straight to my room and dozed off, trying hard to forget the same pain I had felt when I lost him before.
