A different view

Chapter 23

*A decade ago*

"Preeth your boyfriend is in trouble again!"

"Shh... Don't be so loud. What if he heard you!"

"But I'm not kidding! You remember those bullies who were angry with Beam last time he went to save Kit? I overheard them planning to trick him to go to the shed behind the school!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure"

Preeth ran full speed towards the shed. A man in the parking lot leaning against his car watched her run towards him.

"Everything alright?" the man asked her as she approached him.

Preeth paused to catch her breath. She had a clever thought to ask for help. "Sir, would you accompany me to the shed behind school? My friend could be in trouble" she said.

He looked at her head to toe. "In trouble?" the man asked.

"Yes sir, please?"

"Alright let's go," the man said

The shed was empty. "Maybe I'm early. The bullies were going to come here to beat up my friend." She went in to make sure no one was in. Click. The door was locked in from the inside. "Let's hide here and wait for them to come. We can surprise them and then take them to the principal." the man said approaching her. Preeth sensed something was wrong. The only light in the shed was through a broken window that was above her head. "I think..." Preeth started to say wondering if she could reach the window to call for help. "Do you want me to lift you to look out for them?" the man asked holding her by the waist. Preeth was sweating. She realized she was trapped and the scream in her head never made it to her throat as the man pinned her to the ground and ripped off her clothes.

On the other side of the school, three boys were being reprimanded by a teacher for bad behavior just after they left a note on Beam's desk. Beam passed them on his way back from gym class. On his desk was the note: Come save Kit if you can. We're in the shed behind school. Little did Beam know that Pha and Kit were in the restroom at the time.

Meanwhile, in the shed with a man upon her, Preeth was in dazed exhaustion when there was a knock on the door. She felt the man get off her and the door opened.

"Who are you?" the man at the door asked. It was the school attendant "And what are you doing?"

"Quiet! Take this cash. Do with the girl as you will."

Preeth felt a second pair of hands now on her. There were no more tears left and she blacked out with a searing pain in her legs.

The first man went back outside to the car and started to smoke a cigarette. A lady approached him. "Darling where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."

"Sorry I just lost track of time. I've changed my mind. I don't think this is the right school for Sharp and Shine. It just doesn't have the right vibe. Let's go to the next one"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, hurry up before the next school closes for the day," he said opening the car door for her.

Beam could not believe what he was seeing when he arrived at the shed. He started to scream and shout at the attendant who fled in a panic. Too much time had passed. Preeth was not conscious enough to feel Beam shaking her awake nor was she aware of Pha and Kit entering a few moments later after having seen the note on Beam's desk.

About 5 miles away, the car that had left the same school premises just 10 minutes earlier met with an accident that paralyzed the man waist down as he helplessly looked into the eyes of his dying wife.

The next time Preeth opened her eyes she was looking at her mother crying at her bedside. "Mother, what's wrong" she had asked. "Is Beam alright?"

*End of flashback*

Preeth was clutching her trolley, knuckles white, waiting for her side of the memory to end. From experience, she knew that if she cut off the memory halfway through, her mood became sullen, suicidal even, haunting her to relive it to completion. Once it was through, she forced her mind to think of the good times, the laps she ran during SOTUS, the football games where they won, the bonfire at the beach, the night at the bar when Lin sang on stage and even the evenings she spent with Lin, Tim and Wat and their nonsensical bickering.

A voice from the memory called out to her "Leaving without saying goodbye?" It was Lin.

"How did you..." Preeth started but deep down her heart ached in happiness.

"You're not the only smart one you know. You refused any meet-ups after today so I got suspicious. I never stopped tracking you since the first year. I know you went to buy warm clothes and suitcases this past week so I knew something was up and I saw that you were at the airport this morning..." she slumped next to Preeth

"Lin... I.."

"It's alright, Preeth. I just wanted to see you one last time and wanted to ask you something..." Lin turned sideways facing Preeth. "You're in love aren't you? You're in love with P'.."

Preeth closed her mouth with her palm before she could complete the sentence

"Don't say it. Don't ever say it, please" she whispered begging with her eyes. "I don't want my mind to hear it. I don't want it to be true. I'd rather live in denial. He's not mine, he can never be."

"Is that why you're leaving?"

"No.... I've been living under vigilance for 10 years Lin. Do you know what it's like? If it wasn't for you guys and the seniors, I think I might have gone crazy by now."

"We're still here Preeth. You can still choose to stay..."

"But people move on, and I need to too. Ma had promised when I started university that if I gave her a grandchild she'd let me leave the house. Her intention was for me to come out of my shell and find a nice guy to get married to. I've known for a while now that it's not a possibility. So I bent the rules."

"And gave P'Beam and P'Forth a child they wanted, fulfilling your end of the bargain"

"Yeah. But you know what? Karma is a bitch. Having the baby made me fall deeper for the one I could never have. I went through terrible postpartum depression because of it.

I thought I could be content just watching him from afar and so it was for a while... then it became that watching him happy was even more satisfying... then I wanted to be the reason to make him happy... eventually, the depression showed me that unrequited love is a greed ridden hole Lin, nothing can fill it

That's when I decided I needed to leave"

"You know he cares for you ..." Lin pressed with one last try

"How I wish that was enough" Preeth said in a whisper, tears now falling from the closed eyes.

"So you chose to leave today, perfectly timed so you wouldn't have to attend the baby's naming party which is in a few hours, and didn't leave sooner to ensure no one would be upset for this party"

"You know me..."

"Yeah yeah, you're not big on parties anyway." Lin paused. "They're going to hate you for leaving us like this." Lin punched her on the arm.

"They'll forget in a while... Plus what are best friends for..." Preeth punched her back. Lin reached out and held her hand. She had never done it before in the 5 years they had known each other. She had always respected Preeth's personal space. She never understood why her friend was the way she was at first, but year after year a layer of the secret she held was peeled off leaving Lin feeling an amazing sense of pride in having a friend like her. Her eyes filled up and she hastily wiped them with her other hand.

"You'll be in touch?" Lin asked

"Yeah, but I'm definitely getting rid of this number," Preeth said showing her phone