The wind had changed its direction. Now it blew me down. Honestly, I wasn't prepared for any debate or personal attack aimed at me. Whatever he was trying to convey, my image and position were at stake.
"What do you mean, Mazmur? Revenge? What for?" I tried not to be defensive.
"You cannot accept the most apparent fact that she is way more brilliant than you. You have acted like a coward in front of her," he said.
"You make no sense, Mazmur. I have to agree with Desiree. She's the one who won the debate competition and brought the trophy for our university. Not Aruna," Sonya spoke up.
"See? I don't get your point," I responded.
"And the problem is you, Mazmur. You've changed. You're so drawn to Aruna," Iqbal quickly added, giving me some space to breathe.
Mazmur solemnly stared at me. Jeez. He had never been like this before! I bet he had learned how I had behaved towards Aruna lately. Worst of all, he was possibly excellent at mind-reading.
"You know, Desiree," he concluded. "People say good friends are like shadows. Appear during our darkest times and vanish as brightness comes. But you, people like you, won't ever have good friends. You always want to be the light, the brightness. You don't have any shadows behind unless your blind fans. You're looking for fans, not friends. You've mistaken me. I'm done with you all, guys."
As soon as he finished his sentence, Mazmur got up and was immediately off. The rest of us stayed silent, waiting for somebody to take action.
I made sure that I was okay inside. It shouldn't have hurt. It shouldn't. But his last words were just nothing but a stiletto. Sharply piercing. And everything seemed to go astray afterwards.
[D]
