Abolishing the Syndrome (#Wattys2016)

Murph

Have you ever looked into someone's eyes, and felt what they must be feeling? Eyes are like screens that display what you feel. But there was something very different about his eyes. His picturesque eyes reflected back a whole gamut of emotions. The moment he locked his eyes on mine, I knew there was no going back. At that instant, I knew that the sight of his eyes would never leave me. They had already taken a place in my mind.

The feeling you get when you look into someone's eyes and see what they must be going through, but you feel absolutely helpless because you can't help them, is painful. You not only start to feel like the other person, but you crave to stop it. I was never familiar with such a feeling until I met him. Somehow all I wanted to do was get to know him, understand him, help him. But I could sense that there was something blocking me from doing so. Maybe it was him.

We have been given tons of homework this week. Teachers have been complaining that we don't take our projects seriously, that we take them for granted. So, our principal, Mr. James announced the day before yesterday that we will be given lots of assignments that will have to be submitted by the end of the week.

I thought I'd ask Jessie and the others if they wanted to complete the projects together. I don't know why I even bother. Of course before even asking Jessie had her excuse ready.

"Do you really think that I'm going to submit these stupid and boring assignments? Especially when I have to attend the Milan Fashion Week. It's the event of the year. I can't believe I'm finally going to attend it", she said with a sly grin on her face.

"Oh my god, I can't believe it too. You're so lucky, Jess!", exclaimed Regina.

"I'm one of the few people in New York who's attending it. It's anyways not that they let anybody attend these events", Jessie interrupted flicking few locks of her hair.

Without further ado, I added, "I guess it's just the three of us then", smiling at Regina and Melissa's direction.

"No way, it's my granny's 81st birthday this weekend. We're hosting a big party. And I can't afford to miss it. Especially when Chad Marshal is going to be there", said Regina in a cheerful tone. Oh and Chad Marshal is the son of Jacob Marshall, one of New York's finest, millionaire tycoon.

I already knew that Melissa's answer would be 'no' too, so I didn't bother asking. It was quite obvious. Why would one of them want to hang out with me suddenly, when they have never  done so? But surprisingly, as I was about to get up from the lunch table, Melissa caught hold of my hand.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?", she asked in a rude tone.
"Since none of you will be there I better start my assignments immediately", I said take my hand back from hers.
"Hello? I never said that I'd be unable to help or do whatever the hell were supposed to do"
"What? You've got to be joking. That's the last thing you'd ever do, Melissa. Hanging out with me"
"Please, since I've got nothing better to do, and the rest will all be away, I'd rather stick with you and complete the assignments. Now chop chop, we've got to attend history", she said getting up from the table.

Even though I should've been surprised, for the hyena had agreed to associate with the deeper, I really didn't care. All I was bothered about was to submit my assignments in time so I get marks which would help me graduate as soon as possible.

~

So as planned we decided to meet at the library at the end of the day. We thought that it'd be easy to just make notes out of a few historical books. And as usual Melissa was late. I had to wait for fifteen minutes. I even sent her a text, and of course she didn't reply. Without wasting any time, I started fishing for books.

The history section is just so big. Surprisingly our library is one of the biggest libraries in the city. One might even get lost here. My eyes quickly went through all the names of the books. Starting from Nazism to present day terrorism there was everything.

I collected a few books and started carrying them around. I turned around the corner to get to the other side, but then boom. I fell on the floor, and all the books went flying. I whispered a small 'ouch', rubbing my forehead. God, that hurt. I got up and scrambled up all the books. I walked towards the person I had crashed against, with a frown on my face, but when I saw him, I literally forgot everything.

In our freshman year, Jake Miller threw this very big party where almost the whole school was invited. It was a wild party. Well, wild enough for people like Jessie and Jake. Anyways, there was this boy that suddenly walked up to Jessie and told her that she was really pretty. She was, I fact. Jessie was beautiful in her own way. Not with her words, or her work but she was just pretty in a very different way. And he recognised that too. But of course, Jessie had to ruin it. She insulted him so badly. You could make out the malice in her eyes. He was hurt, anyone would be.

I'd heard things about him. People said that he was a psychopath, but I didn't believe that. I don't believe in things I hear, until I see it. But what Jessie had said really made him angry, and I couldn't watch him get beaten by Jake and his friends. I walked up in time and told Jessie that Chad Marshal was here, knowing that she would leave that second. I guess I just prevented a big fight.

~

I was still standing there in my mind, but I knew I wasn't. Every time my mind would go back to the moment our eyes met. There was just something different and magical about it. The depth of feelings that his eyes held were astonishing.

Time never seemed to pass by this slow, until that moment. When I looked up at him, one of the books in my hand had fallen down, but it didn't seem to bother me, as I was so engulfed by his eyes.

I can't explain what I felt when I saw him. It's like, even though we were strangers, I had this feeling that deep inside we knew each other better than anyone. And I know he felt that too.

There are some people who can talk to you about themselves day and night, trying to make a good impression and probably trying to seek your attention, and then, well, there are some who tend to shut you out and keep you the farthest from them. And I am the type of person, who tries to make people break away from their loneliness and make them see the world the way it is it naturally, and not the way people want it to be. And that is just what I intend to do in this case as well. I want to know him, so that I can help him.

We must've stared at each other for nearly two minutes. But when I heard Mel's voice I just snapped out of the world of fantasy, and stepped into the world of reality once again. And when I looked up, he was gone.

~

Yay, this must've been one of my longest chapters! Anyhow, I'm really sorry for late updates. And here I though I'd be updating sooner, but of course this is the time when exams enter my life and are hell bent on ruining it. I'll try my best to update.

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Mahima