PUNISHED FOR BEING ME

CHAPTER 4

THE DAY WAS GOING AS USUAL AS EVERY OTHER DAY BUT THEN THE SNACKS' BREAK BELL RANG. MY HEART STARTED TO POUND IN ITS CAVITY, MY PALMS STARTED SWEATING AND MY HEAD STARTED TO THROB AS I MADE MY WAY TOWARDS THE THIRD FLOOR BATHROOM. MY CLASS WAS ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF THE BUILDING, AND AS I ASCENDED EACH FLOOR I GREW MORE AND MORE ANXIOUS. I DIDNT KNOW WHAT WAS IN STORE FOR ME. WAS IT ANOTHER RUTHLESS BEATING FOR NO REASON AT ALL LIKE I HAD GOTTEN THE PREVIOUS MONTH OR WAS IT SOME GIRL WANTING TO SOCIALISE AS MY ROOMMATE HAD SUGGESTED. I DIDNT KNOW WHICH ONE OF THE ONLY TWO POSSIBILITIES THAT I COULD THINK OFF, WAS IT GOING TO BE OR WAS THERE SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT IN STORE FOR ME.

THE THIRD FLOOR READ THE SIGNBOARD ON THE WALL FACING THE STAIRS. MY "FATE" WAS NOW JUST A 100 METERS AWAY FROM ME. I REACHED THE DOOR OF THE BATHROOM. I HELD THE DOOR KNOB, ITS COLD METAL MAKING MY TREMBLE MORE THAN THEY ALREADY WERE, AND TURNED IT. THE DOOR SWUNG OPEN AND HIT THE WALL BEHIND IT WITH A LOUD THUD RESONATING IN THE WHOLE CORRIDOR. AS SOON AS I STEPPED IN, OUT NOWHERE A PILLOW CAME AND HIT MY FACE, AND WHEN I OPENED MY EYES STILL RECOVERING FROM THE SHOCK, I FOUND MY SELF SITTING IN MY BED STILL IN MY PYJAMAS.

IT WAS MY HOT ROOMMATE WHO HAD HIT ME WITH THE PILLOW AGAIN TODAY TO WAKE ME UP FOR COLLEGE. IT WAS A DREAM. STILL ADJUSTING MY EYES TO THE "NEW SURROUNDINGS", I PICKED UP ALARM CLOCK, I USED TO KEEP BY MY BEDSIDE, ONLY TO REALISE THAT I HAD OVERSLEPT BY AN HOUR. I PICKED UP MY BUCKET, MY TOILETRIES AND MY TOWEL, AND RUSHED TO THE COMMON WASHROOM THAT THE HOSTEL HAD. I HAD JUST FINISHED BRUSHING WHEN SOMEONE FROM THE BATHING CUBICLES REMARKED THAT WATER WASNT COMING. CURSING MY BAD LUCK, I RAN BACK TO MY ROOM, CHANGED, AND RUSHED TO ATTEND MY CLASSES.

SITTING THROUGH THOSE LONG 50 MINUTE LECTURES WAS QUITE EASY ON A NORMAL DAY, BUT TODAY, EACH PASSING SECOND FELT LIKE A MINUTE, AND EACH MINUTE FELT LIKE AN HOUR. WE USED TO HAVE OUR SNACKS' BREAK AT THE END OF OUR THIRD LECTURE AND WOULD LAST FOR 20 MINUTES OR SO. BY THE TIME THE THIRD PERIOD HAD STARTED, I WAS COMPLETELY OUT OF MY USUAL SELF AND GREW SUPER-RESTLESS.

TRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGG!!!!!!! AS SOON AS THE BELL RANG, I JUMPED UP FROM MY SEAT AND WAS OUT OF THE CLASS IN THE NEXT 10 SECONDS. I WAS THE FIRST ONE TO GO OUT OF THE CLASS, INFACT OUR PROFESSOR WAS STILL IN THE CLASS SUMMING UP WHAT HE HAD TAUGHT US TODAY WHEN I WALKED OUT. QUITE CONTRARY TO MY DREAM, I WASNT TENSED AT ALL AND RACED TO THE THIRD FLOOR. BY THE TIME I REACHED THE THIRD FLOOR, IT WAS FLOODED WITH STUDENTS AND PROFESSORS RETURNING BACK TO THEIR RESPECTIVE STAFF ROOMS. I STEPPED INTO THE WASHROOM HOPING IT MIGHT BE DESERTED, BUT THERE WERE TWO GUYS WHO WERE JUST FINISHING UP THEIR "BUSINESS" AND ONE WAS WASHING HIS HANDS. I STOOD NEAR THE DOOR WAITING FOR TWO OF THE THREE TO LEAVE AS I FIGURED ONE OF THEM MIGHT BE MY MYSTERY TEXTER. ALL THE THREE GUYS WERE MY SENIORS WHOM I IDENTIFIED FROM THE NIGHT OF THE BULLYING. THEY DIDNT SEEM TO IDENTIFY ME, AFTER ALL, WHY WOULD THEY, BUT ON NOTICING ME THEY CLEARLY FIGURED OUT THAT I WAS A JUNIOR AND DIDNT LEAVE ANY REASON TO TEASE ME FOR THE BRIEF TIME THAT THEY WERE IN THERE. IN CONTRAST TO WHAT I THOUGHT, ALL THREE OF THEM LEFT THE WASHROOM. I STOOD THERE ALL ALONE IN THE DESERTED WASHROOM, NOW FEELING A LITTLE AWKWARD TO BE STANDING THERE.

I CHECKED MY WATCH, IT SHOWED 10:45. FIVE MINUTES LEFT BEFORE THE BELL RANG TO MARK THE END OF THE SNACKS' BREAK.

WHEN NO ONE SHOWED UP, I BEGAN TO LEAVE. JUST THEN SOMEONE PULLED ME FROM BEHIND INTO A CUBICLE AND SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENED. SOMETHING THAT I HAD NEVER DONE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

MY WHOLE WORLD HAD WENT BLACK, IT WAS AS IF SOMEONE HAD PULLED OVER A CLOTH OVER MY EYES SO THAT I COULDNT SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING. SOMETIME LATER THE HYPOTHETICAL BLINDFOLD WAS REMOVED AND WHEN I OPENED MY EYES, I WAS STARING AT MY ROOMMATE. I COULDN'T BELIEVE ON WHAT I WAS SEEING. I WAS LYING DOWN IN ONE OF THE CUBICLES WHEN HE CAME AND PICKED ME UP.

IT TURNS OUT DUE TO THE WAY IN WHICH I WAS PULLED INTO THE CUBICLE, MY HEAD HIT ITS WALL DUE TO WHICH I HAD EVIDENTLY BLACKED OUT. MY ROOMMATE TOLD ME THAT, AS I HADNT TURNED UP FOR THE CLASSES AFTER THE SNACKS' BREAK, OUT OF CONCERN, HE HAD COME TO CHECK ON ME. SINCE HE KNEW ABOUT THE TEXT I HAD RECEIVED HE HAD CAME DIRECTLY TO THE THIRD FLOOR WASHROOM.

HE GAVE ME SOME WATER AND THEN WE HEADED BACK TO OUR HOSTEL.

I WAS REALLY SURPRISED WHEN I LEARNT THAT I HAD BLACKED OUT FOR WHAT WAS THE BETTER PART OF THREE HOURS.

WHEN I REACHED MY ROOM, I WASHED MY FACE AND RESTED FOR A BIT. ALL THIS TIME MY ROOMMATE KEPT ON PESTERING ME TO TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED AFTER I REACHED THE WASHROOM THAT I BLACKED OUT.

TO BE HONEST I DIDNT REMEMBER MUCH OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED UNTIL THE TIME THE SUN HAD SET DOWN. BY THE TIME I RECOLLECTED EVERYTHING, MY ROOMMATE HAD LOST HIS INTEREST IN THE TOPIC AND WAS BUSY STUDYING. I CALLED OUT TO HIM AND TOLD HIM TO COME AND LISTEN TO THE STORY. HE AT FIRST PUT UP A GREAT DRAMATIC ACT FOR ACCUSING ME OF TEASING HIM ALL THIS TIME, BUT THEN, AT LAST, HE CAVED.

HE CAME OVER TO MY BED AND PATIENTLY LISTEN AS I GAVE HIM A MINUTE BY MINUTE ACCOUNT OF THE DAY'S INTERESTING HAPPENINGS. HIS PEARL COLOURED EYES WOULD BECOME ENLARGED EVERY NOW AND THEN WHEN SOMETHING PECULIAR WOULD COME ALONG. BY THE END OF THE STORY, HE WAS COMPLETELY SHOCKED. I HAD NEVER SEEN HIS EYES THIS WIDE. IT WAS AS IF HE HAD EXPERIENCED A BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA ON HIS HEAD.

HE AFTER SOMETIME CAME TO MY BED AGAIN AND ASKED IF WHATEVER I TOLD HIM WAS TRUE. TO THIS I REPLIED:

"YES, THERE DEFINITELY WAS A KISS

AND WHILE LEAVING HE TOLD ME TO TAKE A BATH BEFORE COMING THE NEXT TIME"