Falling Bad

4- Shocking and Daring

"Good evening everyone, welcome to the SSC's kid's showcase. I warmly welcome all of our dear guests, parents and the dear old students of this wonderful alma mater."

I said my lines looking at the audience and smiled as they clapped.
"As a teacher, I had my time in school to perform and show talents and today I'm gonna have two amazing kids with me up here, and I'm gonna leave the mic in their hands to introduce their wonderful friends as they showcase their talents on this stage today."

I introduced the kids and was standing behind them to encourage them and help in need.

I know, for a teacher, my thoughts are wild. My life is different than them all, and I've got many haters out there because of my spirit. My motto is to be that teacher who I always wanted in my life. I was inspired by many of my own, later and with my own self, I do get into quite a lot of trouble for being out of the norm but I rarely care. It breaks me but them, they heal me.

It's a tough job. I wondered for years whether it's the right path for me and whenever I thought about something else I never felt like I'd belong than here, being a teacher.

The show went well. Everyone was happy, as they should be. The kids did a wonderful job in playing their parts, showcasing their talents and the audience was amazed.

Most of the parents came up to the teachers and thanked for encouraging their kids with tearful eyes.
As I was conversing with the parents and various other guests for some time I felt an intense pair of eyes staring at me. I turned to find them. And they held me captive for a long long time, and then it hit me, like a bullet.

My heart jumped.

He saw it and he realized as I realized that we've met.

Well, the long showcase didn't keep my memory intact for a long time now, did it? I remembered them all, here comes the memory train. I know now, I wish I hadn't two hours earlier and confirmed it just now. SHIT!

I quickly excused myself from the conversation and almost ran out. I didn't wanna alert anyone of my sudden change. It has been quite a while now that the show has ended and almost all of the people are gone. Most of the classrooms are empty, except for a parent or two looking for their kid's stuff. I ran downstairs and went to my classroom in the far corner of the building. I held my hand to my heart.

How could I not know? How could I not realize this earlier?
I breathed in and out like a tired dog again. It's happening all over again. I grabbed my water bottle and took a good gulp or two to calm myself down.

He is him. The man with the gun. I won't forget those eyes. I was terrified of my realization. I was terrified for myself. Now I feel stupid. What if he knows that I turned up as a witness? What if that's the reason he came? To find me and kill me? Get rid of me and his slate will be clean with me gone? Oh! What have I done to deserve this? My thoughts raced like a bull in a Spanish festival banging on my head walls and making me go insane, literally.

"Well, well, well. Look who's here." The voice made me turn and look at the man standing in front of me.

"Who are you?" I asked scrunching my eyebrows. This is the last thing I want, some guy trying to flirt when I'm a goddamn damsel in distress.

"Oh! You don't remember. Yeah, I figured. It's been a while, isn't it? You made me run after you like the last time." He said mockingly.

"Ohhh" I said like some idiot, because I'm remembering flashes of memories of that night. Was he the other man who ran after me like a hungry hyena leading his pack?

Now I've got two choices. One pretend. Two just be bold. I've done nothing wrong. And being the typical me, I chose wrong but it was too late to realize because the words have already left my mouth by then.

"Please leave. I don't know why you're here and why now and I don't care." I gathered all of myself and said to him. And of course I was stupid enough to choose option two.

"Look at that. Listen, missy, you ought to be scared right now. You didn't hit your head while jumping off that wall did you?"  He said taking two steps towards me.

I held my ground and put out a brave face.
"Listen. Listen very carefully. I oughtn't to be scared of anyone or of you. Rather you all are ought to be scared of me. I could turn it all upside down for you." I said with all the bravery I had in myself hoping to scare him away. But it was worse.

"And tell them what?" I heard a voice behind the big bulky man standing in front of me. He moved out of my vision allows me to see who's talking. A slender figure in a blue suit approached me.

"And tell them what? That you saw everything about that night? You already did and it didn't work right? Now you want to go back and say that you saw their faces clearly and you know who did it?" He laughed and as he did all my courage melted away. He made me weak.

"So, a teacher."
I stood silently as he walked to me. His words echoed in my ears.

"You think they'll believe you?" He cocked his head to the side.

Gosh! Even if I was scared and he was threatening me, even if he looks like the devil trying to put me in hell, I felt myself being heavy like an iron rod, heated and magnetized by him.

What's this duality? I didn't recognized him when I was doing the bloody tie.

Gosh! I'm so stupid.

The other man laughed. He continued talking as he took step by step towards me,
"You're gonna regret it your whole life." He stopped right in front of me. Making the air tenser. I didn't move. I couldn't. His eyes scanned me for a moment and smirked, then it turned to a small mocking laugh. He turned around and walked two three steps away, allowing me to breathe. My head was down. "You got what you wanted. I never turned in for y'all. Why bother me now?" I asked.

Very brave.

I could hear his laugh. He turned back and said, "I never leave things to get too risky for me."
I let out a laugh. "Then why not finish me right here, huh?" I walked up. That sounded different in the next minute. when he gave a little laugh.

"You really aren't afraid of me?" He said giving his never-ending mocking laugh. "Well," his laughter died, "you'll be. Soon."

Then they walked out. I let out a huge breath that I was holding in and fell into my chair. Gosh, that tension could cut the air.
"What the hell just happened?"
Why now? Oh! Please, God!

I was panicking for a bit there but then I thought to myself long and hard, I f he really wanted to end things, he would've done it way sooner and if he really wanted to scare me off, he could've easily told me that during that bloody tie tying session, he didn't. He didn't do any of that, so, why now after all that and why make it sound like something I'd regret saying and not, well, I'm confused now because it didn't scare me off like it should. Instead it made me curious.

I was unable to gather myself for a while. But when I did, I quickly took my stuff and walked out of the school heading straight home.
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Couldn't find a better picture than my favorite on-screen couple from Ishqbazz (an Indian series)..

Enjoy reading my imagination.

Love,

Writer.