9 July

...

The next ones to begin their journey are all the 6 members of a clique. Unaware of anything at all, they are enjoying their last moments as school students.

...

"Finally, guys end of these long tiring years. " Luke was the happiest among this clique. All 6 friends are standing at the bus station with their school uniforms still on.

"No more worries about these classes anymore. Life is just so beautiful." (Yes, he is never going to even think of studying again.)

"We still need to study further, this isn't the end." (and it's that girl of the group who can't enjoy and can't let others enjoy as well.) Dayla is the least excited one here.

"Don't ruin the atmosphere, Dayla, Luke said, trying to act in a cute manner."

"Ew!! How many times do I need to tell you not to act cute? It makes me want to throw up." Again, it was Dayla ruining the flow of his happy vibes.

Amira, on the other hand, seems to be excited about something else. And the difference comes because the excitement overflowing from her eyes is from planning a trip with her friends. And she already has plans for it.

Everyone saw this excitement in her eyes, but Arden was the only one who saw the reason for this excitement. Arden is not the type of person with overflowing emotions. Even his mood to speak is a once-in-a-day thing. He used to be a loner until Amira approached her.

....

2 years ago

He acted rude to Amira and shouted her away in front of the entire class when she came to him to ask if he was ok. In her heart, it's her responsibility to take care of the people near her. Because she believes that she can understand the unspoken pain of the people around her and that she must help them. Everyone else except her saw Arden as a rich lunatic, and his shouting at Amira made everything worse.

Even after being treated badly, after school, Amira still went to him in his hiding. (yes, his hiding. Away from everything, his place to escape reality, it was that chair in the park where no one dared to come. Because a year ago a dead body was discovered there. (It's not important that every ML has hiding with splendid views and marvelous stories, right?) So this year a lot of bushes and trees grew around it. Amira knew about his frequent visits to this place for a long time. This time, they both were alone. Arden was sure that she'll show him her true side here. He was sure that she was going to shout back at him and will try to show him his place in people's lives. That is what every single other person in his life has ever done to him. She moved closer to him but didn't dare to sit on the chair. Not because she was scared of Arden, but because it was a thought that scared her. That the ghost will haunt her at night.

"I am sorry if you found my behavior bad today. Maybe I can't enter your comfort zone, but please make sure to have someone in there. You are well aware that you need someone. And it's ok. Try opening up a little. You are a good person, I know this. That's the reason I approached you. I even saw you giving candies to kids in the orphanage. Show your good side to others too. Everybody's gonna love you." She said this, waved a bye to him, and went back on her way home.

It was the first time Arden ever heard someone talking to him in a good way. All he has ever heard about himself was so hateful. Having someone talking to him good was a whole new and greatly pleasing feeling. He now felt guilty about his behavior. He kept thinking about her for a long time.

It was evening now. It was the time he usually gets back home. Not because his parents would worry about him, but it was because of the mosquitos. (These things will never leave you alone. Being heartbroken doesn't mean mosquitoes won't bother you.)

He walked slowly, wishing that he never gets back home. But he still pushed himself there, like every other day, because he can't imagine leaving his younger sister alone.

He finally got home. The security guard opened the door opening to an enormous mansion. This is where he lives. He's supposed to live a happy life, but his parent's superstitious way of thinking has left him alone, with no one to rely on.

He walked through the long garden pathway. The next guard standing near the main door opened the gate. He went in. His parents were sitting on the sofa, placed right in front of the door, facing in the right direction from the door. Arden's room was upstairs. And the stairs were to the left side of the sofa. He wouldn't care less about giving his parents a look, leave alone greeting them. He just silently wanted to go to his room, exactly the same as his parents had wished.

He was almost on the stairs when suddenly his younger sister came running to him and hugged him. Arden felt so good that his tears almost came rolling on his cheeks. But his parents almost got a heart attack on this site.

"How many times do we need to tell you to stay away from this jinx, Jade?" Arden's mother was shouting at the top of her lungs, and his father, on the other hand, came running to them and pushed Arden away. Jade was startled and started crying. What else can a 7-year-old do?

Arden was about to cry, but he forced himself to swallow his tears and silently continued walking. His mother took Jade to the bedroom. But his father was instead shooting hurtfully harsh words at him.

"You know that you are just a curse to my family. Why do you keep coming close to this family? What the heck do we owe you? All you need to do is live like a dead. Can't you even do that properly? Just for two years, right after you finish school, we'll throw you out. Then you'll see how hard it is to make a living. We'll finally be free from you"

Arden didn't even look back and went into his room, threw his bag on the bed, and went to the washroom. 'I'll never cry for these people who don't even treat him like a human.' These are the words that keep him going and stop him from crying. He washed his face and splashed water on it again and again until there was no difference between the tears and the water droplets. Later, he came back out and saw his dinner already lying on his table. He didn't even bother to look at it and without even changing his uniform, he went to bed.

Like every other day, he got up at 4 am and was out of the house at 5. It is not because he is a morning bird, but it's better to leave before anyone else sees him.

He was walking in random directions when he caught a glimpse of Amira, walking in the right direction from the 4 way. Maybe she had a milk bag in her hands. Not many people were on the streets, so if he followed her, she would easily discover him. But still, he had nothing else to do, so he followed her about 100 meters away from her. She seemed lost in her thoughts. She was so lost that she didn't even discover that she was being followed by someone. Amira kept going at the same pace before finally entering the orphanage. Arden didn't show the slightest interest in the reason for her going there so early in the morning. He was quite sure from their last conversation that she cared about the orphans. He just kept walking in the same direction, sitting here and there, listening to music, and enjoying the morning view. After about an hour, he was on his way back from that long, long walk. He again saw Amira, this time getting out of the Orphanage. She had her uniform on this time.

'Is she an orphan? How lucky!' He thought to himself and kept walking at a slow pace. On the other hand, Amira was walking fastly. Unaware of anything at all going around her. She was walking really fast. Just in 15 minutes, she was on the 4-way again. She was still walking, lost. She just kept moving forward. At the same time, a car driver busy on his mobile was coming in this way. Arden saw what was coming next. His reflexes were pretty good. He rushed to her and pulled her away. The car driver and Amira were both unaware of what was about to happen and looked strangely at Arden. The driver didn't bother to stop his car and just went away. He really had his eyes moved away from the screen right when Arden pulled Amira away. If it wasn't for Arden, then it was going to an end for Amira.

"What?! Why are you looking at me like that? Did you really not realize what was about to happen?" Arden was not rude this time. He was merely surprised and was a bit embarrassed as well.

Amira just shook her head in a no. At this, Arden just smiled a small smile. He was not embarrassed anymore, but he was a little caught up by her reaction. He let go of her hand.

"Next time keep your eyes open, at least when you are on this 4 way."

The sudden pull still shook Amira. She just nodded. 'What is he doing here? Actually, the question is that what am I doing here? When did I get here? How am I supposed to react now?' These were the things going on inside her brain. An apparent confusion. It was clearly visible on her face.

....