Thixophobia

Chapter 1

"Hazel, can we become friends?" the new boy said extending his hand.
"No. I am fine alone. " she replied sternly gazing at him and passed by.

The Junior College boys murmured,"She hardly talks to anyone of us. Don't bother."
"But why? I haven't misbehaved."
"Pal, it's not about you. Dunno what's wrong with her. Even the teacher made her sit with different students and expected her to make friends, but she prefers not to talk. Forget it."
"But she looks fine. I mean she is good at studies, decent behaviour and yeah...she looks pretty. "
"Bad luck pal (giggling) ...let's go to the library."

Hazel Matthews is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Matthews. She barely has any friends, although she is good at studies. She is lost in her own world. Wait a minute.. Hazel was a naughty, jovial, and fun loving girl. But now she stays lonely. Well they say... maybe it's because of adolescence and hormonal changes that she is behaving like this since last few years. Maybe.. If they say so.

In the library, everyone was softly murmuring, gossiping and laughing as Hazel entered. She rushed inside and caught up a lonely space. The new boy, Erik, soon joined her and smiled at her waving a 'hi'. Hazel became uneasy and behaved as if she's in some danger. Erik asked "Hazel are you fine?" extending his hand towards her.

"Yea... Yeah!" she stood up jumping from her place, "Just stay away and go from here. Leave me alone." said Hazel in a meek scared voice. Erik replied "Ok relax. I am going. But...are you sure you are fine? "
"Yeah, I am good. Just go..! "
As Eric left from there, he kept turning back looking at Hazel wondering what suddenly went wrong with her. He sat at a distance observing Hazel, still thinking why does she behave this way. The thought was bothering Erik all day, as he found it strange. The more he thought, the more curious he got. He wanted to know more about this pretty looking girl he had come across.

Eric seems to be mesmerized by Hazel's beauty, isn't it? Is he just thinking because he likes her and she has been avoiding him? Is Eric overthinking or actually there was a problem? Was there something that Eric could notice and the others could not? Do you feel the same?

That night while in bed, Erik could not sleep and he was thinking of a way to converse with Hazel or at least know about her. He sat up and looked for her presence on the social media. Little did he know about her, but he managed to find her on the social media. After giving multiple thoughts, he finally decided to send her a friend request and started checking her profile. Due to the privacy settings he could not access much on the profile but just a few pictures and some mutual friends. "She's so cute." he said to himself. He was wondering that she seemed to be happy and smiling in those pictures and that maybe he was just overthinking. He thought maybe she had a bad day and would have been upset with something. He was relieved of his thoughts and went to sleep.

Next day, Eric was constantly and eagerly looking at the door waiting for Hazel. He wanted to talk to the pretty girl he had been thinking about. The moment Hazel entered, joyous Eric jumped up to wave a 'hi' to her. She seemingly ignored him and caught up a lonely place. As Eric was heading to join her, his friends stopped him and advised to leave her alone. Disappointed Eric went back to his place. During the break, he observed that Hazel was still alone. He could not stop himself so he went to those mutual friends on the list and talked to them in a friendly way. In the conversation, he asked about Hazel, to one of them who was said to be Hazel's childhood friend. She said "Gosh! She has changed so much. She was such a lively girl. But the way she behaves now... I certainly avoid talking to her. And anyway let her be in her comfort zone. She has become so arrogant. She doesn't need any friend. So, just let her be..."

Once again it struck Eric that there was some problem. But what? Eric is getting all the more restless and wants to know what exactly happened.

Now that Eric knows that it wasn't a bad day, it's something to do with behavioural change in Hazel, he desperately wants to know what's wrong with her. He is genuinely concerned about this girl who had a lively past but the present...
What will Eric do? Hazel doesn't talk to him and her friends are not only misunderstanding her but also ignorant  that she might have some problem which she is not sharing.

Friends, Eric will try to find, how? we don't know. But if you wish to know what's in the past...
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