Who's Story is it?

Chapter 8: Aftermath

A few days had passed since that fateful night. It was finally graduation day for the year 12's and at that moment the entire grade was more relieved than anything else. It had been announced on the school notice board that after 36 hours in intensive care and on life support, Neil was showing signs of life and was on track to make a full recovery. He was conscious and so he wouldn't miss his graduation they placed a laptop in his room and started a video call. He was not stable enough to be moved but at the very least they could make him feel a part of it as best they could. The pre rehearsed speeches, music, marches, awards ceremony and everything else went on as usual and everything had just a bit more energy to it this year. The relief after such an ordeal gave everyone new found life and reason to celebrate. Towards the end Noa was asked to take the stage. What he had prepared was an apology letter for his actions. "Ladies, Gentlemen, Students, Teacher and respected guests. I'm here to apologise for my actions on the night of the formal. I know what I did was wrong and unforgivable. I conducted myself in an illegal manner and I almost took the life of an innocent because of it. My reasons for doing so are not valid nor do they justify why I did it. All I can say is I was in a dark place and I let it consume me for that moment. I can't ask any of you to forgive me, but I ask that you accept my apology. Especially you Neil, I'm so sorry about the way I acted. I don't ask for your forgiveness. I just want you to know I'm sorry and I regret everything I did that night. Thank you for listening." As he left the stage a large round of applause could be heard in the background you could hear people yelling out they forgave him. Once all the applauding had stopped Neil took the microphone attached to his laptop and told everyone he forgave Noa and was followed by more applauses. Soon after all the guests of that night were invited for the ceremonial morning tea with the students.

At the venue of the morning tea Ariana saw Z sitting in a corner alone eating his cake almost gleefully. She didn't have the same anger as she did that night towards him but rather her confusion grew. She wanted to know what he meant but he cared about no one. Surely he had to have some kind of emotion for others. And why was he like this. For as long as anyone could remember Z didn't seem like a hateful person. He always seemed kind, smart, and helpful. Even after all that had happen he still looked and felt like the same person. It was just that Ariana knew what he had said which made her question him. With all this confusion she decided she would find her answers today. She would not leave until she was satisfied. She sat next to her and before she could say anything, Z placed his arm on his leg and used his fist as a rest for his chin. He looked straight at Ariana and said, "Well well this sure is a surprise. Why would you come sit next to me after everything I told you yesterday? Are you not still angry at me? Wouldn't you like to tear me apart limb from limb to avenge your boyfriend? Wait no that's not it is it... no your still unsure about me aren't you? You think there might be more to me than what I said the other day. Well I don't know the answer to that but if I'm correct then I'm willing to answer any question you have for me. Heh... heh... heh." Ariana was taken back by how perceptive and how straight forward he was about all this. He showed no hesitation, no sign of trying to hide anything. He seemed like he was willing to be an open book to anyone who would want to read it. She took a deep breath to compose herself and started, "the other night you said you didn't care about anyone. Is that really true, is there no one you care about?"

"Yes... at this moment in time there is no one I care about."

"Ok... but you said at this moment, which means you did at some point right?"

"Yes... my mother, my father, I had an older brother too. I cared about them. I used to care about a lot of people as well. How foolish I was."

"Wait so do don't care about your family then?"

"No... I still care about them. But they can no longer care about me. They all passed away long ago. But that has nothing to do with it. Their deaths did make me sad, but it didn't change me."

"Then what did? Why do you not care about anyone?"

"Cause no one cares about me. No one cares about anyone. All anyone cares about is themselves. Anything people do is to protect their own self-interest. I know what you're thinking now so let me give you some examples. You though Neil and I were friends, but that's wrong. The only reason he cared about me was because he could use me. He used me for my knowledge whenever he could. He never did anything for himself, he relied on me and that's the only reason he kept me around. We knew each other since year 8 and he only started noticing me now cause only now did he realise I was useful to him. That's the only reasons he kept anyone around. Why do you think he only ever talks to the smart people? People come and talk to him all the time but he's never gone up to talk to anyone unless he needed something." Ariana was shocked to hear this revelation. She had no idea that Neil could possibly be like that. Despite this accusations she felt like they were true. If anyone else had said it she wouldn't believe it but for some reason when Z said it, it was hard not to believe him. Z continued "still not convinced yet? I'll give you another example, Winston. Again a friend who knew me since year 8 but we only really became friends in year 10 cause we found a common interest. A game we both played. He would always ask to play this game with me despite he had been playing the game for longer. He just wanted someone who he could relate to. However as time went on the game became more and more popular and he found new friends to play with. And with that the reason for keeping me around slowly decreased and so too did his care about me. Without any benefit to him he had no reason to care about me." Ariana was no now feeling a very different set of emotions. She still had lingering anger towards him but now she felt almost sorry for him. the tone of his voice suggested that he has suffered more than he should of. "Hmph. Don't give me that look. I'm not actually saying I don't care about anyone. I'm just saying as far as I can see there's no one worth caring about right now. All anyone can see of me right now is how I can be useful to them. My mother... my father... my brother... they all cared about me unconditionally. I had no use to them, I was a burden to them and they still cared about me. I'm merely trying to pass the time here waiting till I can find someone who will care about me like that. Someone who'll see me for me and not what I can do for them." After that speech Ariana had no idea how to feel. She felt sad for him because it sounded like he's been alone for so long. She couldn't seem to blame him for what he did anymore. "Has no one really cared for you as a friend? S-surely you had friends in primary school right?"

"Please. The only friend I had in primary school was my brother. Other than that all I had was enemies who wished to make me suffer. Like I said I'm simply passing the time waiting. Believe me or don't when I say I didn't intend for Neil to die that was not my intention. I just simply wanted to see how things would play out. Call it studying... study human behaviour so I can tell if someone cares about me or not. So I won't have my heart broken again... like it always does. No go on. You've heard everything I have to tell you now go and be with the others. You have no reason to stay here." After hearing all this she didn't feel like taking revenge anymore. She was still angry at him but she didn't want to be mad at him for some reason. Instead she leaned over and held him close to him and whispered in his ear "I'll be the first then. I'll be the first one who truly cares about you. I'll be the one who helps you understand people. I'll be the first one who will care for you without wanting anything back." Z's head dropped as he replied "don't be stupid." After a few moments he whispered in almost inaudible voice, "thank you." It almost sounded like he was about to cry and so she let go him to allow him to move somewhere else momentarily. He came back and properly thanked her.

So in the end whose story was this really? Whoreally was the main character? Who was the one who suffered and who was the onewho had the happy ending? Was this really a love story between a man and awoman? Or was this the story of a forgotten human being reclaimed into societyby one person. The one person who decided to listen to him. To hear his storyand try and understand him?