Mysterious Notebook

Bizarre

"Wake up, wake up Annie. WAKE UP!"

I turned on my side and groaned. It felt too early to get up yet. Through half droopy eyes I saw Brown bent over me. I shot straight up on my bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Waking you up. Your mom was knocking on the door. What if she enters the room?!" He whispered to me.

"Holy shit! You've got to hide somewhere."

*knocks*

"Annie! This is the second and the last time I'm gonna call you down for breakfast. Its getting late, I'm telling you."

I picked up the trails of the bedsheet flowing on the floor and ushered Brown to crawl inside, under my bed.

'Get in here, quick!' I whispered urgently.

"Yeah mumma. I .. uhm I'm coming." I said aloud.

I dropped the ends of the bedsheet over again to cover him up.

''What's taking you so long?''

Mom opened the door and looked at me. I was standing in front of my bed awkwardly, trying hard not to gulp.

"You set the table. I'll be right there." I told her.

She didnt look very convinced, however, she made for the door.

"I promise!" I shouted just as the door closed behind her. I stood in a daze staring at the door.

"Sss ss.. Can I come out?" Brown whispered from his hiding.

"Yeah. She's gone. There's no time now, but we need to talk." I replied.

"Uh huh." He picked up his cowboy boots and started pulling them on.

I looked around for an escape route for Brown. The window would have to do for present.

"Here, you got to jump through this." I forced it wide open for him.

"ANNIEE!!!" Mom shouted again from downstairs.

"Coming!" I shouted back in reply.

"Go, go hurry!" I pushed Brown towards the window.

He climbed onto the sill and turned back to me, "I'll meet you at your usual hangout, near the broken bench in the park."

Before I could think of asking him how he came to know about my 'usual hangout', he had already jumped off the ledge. I heard the sound of his landing but I couldnt see him when I peeped out.

I quickly changed and grabbed my bagpack from the desk on my way dowstairs.

It was another unfortunate day at the Uni. I got called by the Dean during the third lecture.

When I entered his cabin, the tension in the air could make me suffocate. He threw the mess of my economics project at my feet. I slowly picked it up and placed it on the table.

"Sir, I am very sorry. I can explain." I began mumbling.

"Then please do, Ann. Please explain me the reason for submitting this project in such a horrible condition!" Mr. David stood up from his chair and started pacing in the room.

"I'm so sorry.. "

"How could you be so shameless? How could you dare to submit this.. this torn and taped, this piece of rubbish, showcasing an absolute disrespect for the subject, the professor and your immense callous attitude?! Tell me! How??"

Tears started brimming in my eyes. I have always been so obedient and disciplined, respectful. This was so unfair. He is misunderstanding me. It is not what he thinks.

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and looked up at him. He was now seated on his chair again, with a stooping posture and a defeated look on his face.

Our Dean was a nice man. I knew him to be good natured. He knew how to manage the staff and the students with his linient character. He hardly ever lost his temper and he was known for his sympathetic personality.

I decided to explain my situation as best as I could. I decided to stand up for myself. To not get intimidated by consequences and to speak up honestly.

The worst that could happen would be I'd get a sound scolding and then I would have to rewrite the project. But what mattered is that I stand up for myself, because in the end, I hadnt done anything wrong. It truly wasnt my fault.

"Sir, please listen to me. It is not what it appears to be. I never intended to disrespect the subject or my professor. I am very sorry if I did, I sincerely am." I told him.

When he didnt make an effort to stop me, I continued with my explanation. I told him everything. How my project got stolen many times before, how it got stolen this time, how I remade it and then that was destroyed, how somebody wrote slangs on my lockers, how people often made me finish their assignments and blackmailed me. While I shared all my past bullying experiences with him, his posture and attitude towards me changed.

By the time, I narrated how I came to submit this project in this horrible state, he even offered me some water and asked me to sit down.

"Well, after hearing your explanation, I think you can be pardoned this once. And I will have someone look into your matter. Bullying is illegal and I shall not allow any student of mine to be bullied here. I am sorry to hear you had to go through all that."

"Yes sir. Thank you." I breathed a sigh of relief. I would be so happy if my bullies would be punished or better yet rustricated from Uni now.

"And inform me whenever any similar thing occurs. I will take strict actions immediately against the culprits."

"Okay sir."

"Do me a favour, give me the names and if you can remember, the I.D. numbers of the students who have bullied you. You have nothing to worry about, they will not be able to cause you any harm in the future. I will take care of it."

After writing down the names I had always loathed on a piece of paper, I left the cabin.

The last lecture had got over a long time back so I went straight for the park.

Shit! I hadnt checked if my diary was anywhere in the room itself, in the morning. Hopefully, after meeting Brown, the mystery regarding the two Brown's will be solved.