Entwined Lives

IX

The exam season was over and the teachers had begun grading the papers. The Ist UTs for the eleventh grade was never excellent.

Sivi had already gotten her Physics and English marks by the time she fell ill. High fever accompanied by severe cough and cold.

When 11th had just started and Sivi continued in the same school that she had been studying in, most of her friends had decided to discontinue. Only a few of her friends were still there. As nerve wrecking as the thought of her friends not being around for an introvert was, Sivi was relieved that her best guy friend was going to be there. There was another one of her old best friends too, but her friend and she had grown apart over the last couple of years. Sivi was completely relying on her best guy friend, Bry to be by her. But as fate had it, Bry didn't have such a plan. He was more bothered to make new friends, more friends. That was one change.

The other old best friend, Tela, too was in the same bubble. She was dreaming of a day when she would be popular and wanted. That was a milder second change.

The third change was wrecking. Sivi's best friend, her neighbor was moving. Not far, but it sure was a change. No more talking through windows, no more walking across to each other's doors bare feet, no more the same old relationship.

All these took place over a period of couple of months. They shook up Sivi like a bomb, one after the other, leaving no time to adapt before the next bomb fell.

But it helped her in a way no one would want to be helped. It made her cynical, a pessimist. She did still believe in the beauty of life and beyond but it was humans she despised. 'A human is difficult but still sensitive. A group of humans is impossible.' She was slowly transforming into a misanthrope.

But then, something just saved her.

Slowly as the first domino of the bombs dropped, Sivi was starting to hate school. This was the same school, a couple of years later, of whose a single day she used to straight refuse to miss. To her, it wasn't the same school anymore. It was new students, new teachers, a new energy. The corridors that used to be bustling with known voices and cheer was switched with new. And as this reality was slowly taking effect in her mind, she was desperately trying to skip as many days as she could of school. She even crossed the limit of keeping safety in mind. She drank all kinds of liquids hoping they would disturb her immune system visibly, searched all the blogs she could find that might help, but all in vain.

Thus, getting naturally sick felt like bliss to her.

She was successful in skipping 3 consecutive days. There was another surprise in that precious present of sickness of hers, the succeeding 4 days after the 3days that she had missed were also declared as holidays.

Sivi hadn't told her parents the marks she had already gotten. 'Parent-Teacher's Meet shall serve its purpose uninterrupted'. The PTM was scheduled for Saturday, the following week. After this week-break that she was fateful enough to be given, this misanthrope was taking matters into her own hands. She promised,she would take herself seriously, make others take her seriously, be instinctive and free and herself, chase her dreams like a wild dog and be secure,alone.