Submission

CHAPTER : 23

Rose is red
My love is too.

Red like your cheeks
When you blush,
when I stare at you.

You don't know though
Who I am.

A lover,
A stalker,
An admirer.

But I'll forever stay yours
And you'll forever stay mine.

Let God help them
Whoever comes in between.
Because I won't let them
Steal my thing.

Don't tell anyone about this, my love,
Because then you will lose whomever you love.

Your submission is what I want
And your submission is what I'll get.
So don't fight hard,
Give up instead.

Adieu, my love.
Wait for me,
I'll come soon
To steal my moon.

****

The white envelope looked too innocent to hold such life-threatening words in a letter when I saw it sitting on my night stand.

My groggy eyes had just woken up from the alarm clock when it spotted the envelope. Curiosity got the best of me and I didn't wait for a second to open it.

As soon as I did, the world crashed around me and the previous night stroke me like a lightning bolt.

Fear, shame, threats, darkness, and helplessness.

The similar neat cursive handwriting stared back at me, mocking me, daring me, to open my mouth and let out a piercing scream.

My shaking hands somehow found a chair nearby to support my weak legs.

It was the same guy who claimed to be my stalker in my previous letter.

The previous letter was a threat and so was this one. I simply could not wrap my mind around the fact that someone was indeed stalking me. This letter made me devastated. I ran my eyes on each and each and every word at least five times but still I could not believe what I saw. This had to be a dream or rather a nightmare.

I was still shaken up from the previous night and I hoped that it was just an illusion, but the letter in my hands said other things.

I really did not understand why was he after me. There are many pretty girls out there. Hell, Liza is prettier than me. It is as if he likes to see me vulnerable, he likes to torture me.

Just like my parents.

A lonely red rose sat on my night stand, staring at me and reminding me of the events of the previous night a little too harshly. I gingerly picked it up and stared at it, hoping that it will give me some much-needed answers.

He threw me in such a pit where I can not tell anyone about what I am going through. Not even Liza.

The threats were very clear and taking risks is something I hate.

I rubbed my wet cheeks away with my palm and neatly folded the letter back into the envelope.

The dresser on the far side of the room was the best place I could find to hide both the letters.

****

Life is not fair I think. People go away and then come back then go away again. People break your heart and then break it again. We don't know what's happening around us simply because we never notice.

Like Rachel there, sitting alone in a corner in the cafeteria or the famous Abel, sitting with his popular group of friends. I wonder, are they really different from each other or are they just ignorant of their situation which is indeed similar.

People somehow think order and chaos are different from each other.

Abel is famous, but does he have anyone who cares truly about him? Does he have a friend at all or are they just some social climbers?

The same goes for Rachel. She doesn't have any friends except for her personal diary in which she keeps on scrabbling stuff.

I took my tray of food and directed my steps towards her. Liza was having her practical exams due to which she had to miss her lunchtime but being a best friend I could be nothing less than supportive.

"Hi, mind if I sit?" I tried to crack a smile when she scooted over to make space for me.

"So....what made you sit beside the most unpopular and nerdy girl in the whole school?" She asked while keeping her eyes on the piece of sandwich in her hands.

"Who said so? I am sitting beside the best violinist in our school plus the girl who ranked highest in this semester." A cute little smile crept upon her face as she looked up at me.

"Well, you are not so bad yourself. I heard Mr. Dimitri let you play your whole song in our test class while the rest of us could hardly play our first phrase. You are surely his pet." She laughed a little while I joined in too but at the back of my mind, I took some time to let the information sink in.

"Its nothing like that. He didn't pay any attention to whatever I was playing. By the way, how is your training going for the inter-college competition?"

"Don't ask me... I have to share my training classes with Abel Dagwood there." She averted her gaze towards the so-called popular group in the school, sitting on the other side of the cafeteria. "I mean he is such an asshole! He always tries to distract me while Mr. Dimitri doesn't even care what we do. He just sits there, staring at his laptop." She huffed an annoyed sigh and took a bite out of her peanut butter sandwich.

"I feel bad for you." I chuckled and moved my eyes towards the door of the cafeteria, only to get caught by green eyes.

Somehow I cleared my throat and pulled my vision towards Rachel.

"Hey, would you like to sit with me in music class?"

*****

This time I decided to walk straight in and go to my seat without getting distracted.

I held my head low and got inside the music class with my gaze strictly directed towards my feet.

Rachel walked with me, and we both headed to the seats. She sat beside me and gave me a polite smile which I returned.

I could clearly feel the strong piercing gaze pointed towards me from the front of the class, but I swore not to give in to curiosity and lookup.

"Hey, Mr. Dimitri looks totally pissed out, and he is just glaring at you. Did you do something wrong?" Rachel whispered into my ear which made me do the one thing I didn't want to do.

I looked up.