SAVE ME

Ch#25 We are here for You

Ch#25 We are here for You

Yohan, Beth, Ellis and myself gathered around Riley in one corner of the room expecting no interruption from the others.

"Just a minute, Riley. Before you start, I want to speak to Ellis, if you don't mind", I asked her. I wanted to know what's going on in his head.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

I tugged onto Ellis and walked away from the circle till we were away from hearing distance. "Ellis, are you sure about this? I don't think this is a good idea", I whispered. He furrowed his brows in confusion and sighed.

"Why are you so against this? Why can't you listen to her side of the story? Don't you want to know her emotions when she did all that to you?"

"I do! But I don't have the courage to listen."

"Why, Al?", he demanded.

"I'm scared. I'm scared that I might have been wrong all these years. What if Emma was just lying to me? What if Emma was the real culprit? I've been loathing her existence for the past five years of my life, Ellis", I let him know my true feelings.

He grabbed my shoulders and looked right into my eyes, "Listen to me, Al. I am doing this for you. I'm sure, somewhere deep down there, you must have been curious to death wanting to listen to her. Why not now? You need not be scared. What she did was wrong. And I am doing this just so that you can get out of that past once and for all. You get it?"

I slowly nodded my head letting his words sink in. He has a point. Remembering the past, would only hurt me. I need to let go of it as well to recover. This might be the opportunity for it.

We joined the circle back and Riley began, "So, where do I begin from?"

"Why not from the very start?", Beth replied.

"Okay then. First of all, I hope you guys know that I am an orphan. I don't even remember the time spent with my biological parents. My very first memories are from my orphanage itself. When I was nine, a father and daughter came by our orphanage. I clicked well with that girl. We immediately became friends on their first visit. My young self wished her father to adopt me so that I could have a happy life forever and after with her as my buddy. And so he did. We became the best of friends rather than being sisters. She always took care of me, supported me and stood for me. She was a mother, a father, a sister and a brother as well to me. We were happy. But that happiness had to come to an end." She paused looking back into her days. I knew where her story was heading to and I wasn't sure if I was ready for it.

"During my school years, I was quite popular. I was everyone's favourite. Everybody loved me and I loved all the attention. But one day, we had a transfer student. She was beautiful. Her long wavy hair, her beautiful smile, the way she speaks, the way she walks, everything about her screamed perfection. I admired her. Like how I had become everyone's number one, she became mine. But soon admiration got filled with jealousy. I sensed how people started liking her more, how she was being everyone's favourite now. And I did not like that. I didn't want her to take my spot. I-I...", she paused. Her eyes began to glisten with tears and I kept clenching and unclenching my fists.

"I was scared. I was scared that my best friend might leave me for her. I was stupid. We had become friends even before the entrance of that new student in our life, even before I had become everyone's favourite. I had forgotten that she became my friend not for my popularity or for my beauty, but for who I was. And I just changed myself because of jealousy. I destroyed the new girl's life." Tears began flowing down her cheeks and I could see the guys glancing at me from the side to check on me if I was fine. I wasn't fine, I wanted to run away. But I wanted to know if she really is guilty about it or not. I tried to calm myself as much as I could.

"All the students wished to have a friendship like ours. So strong, so bold. I used that admiration of theirs to rile up their hearts. My friend had sprained her ankle and was absent from school for a couple of weeks. I used that to my advantage. I spread rumors that the new girl is trying to break our friendship and that she might do it to them as well. I even extended to lying that she tried to seduce guys who were already in a relationship. And everyone believed me. They started to bully her but she never gave in. She answered back her bullies with a proper fight." I could feel my eyes tearing up.

No, Al. Not now! Hold it in!

"I was the one who taught her to not waver in front of her bullies, to fight them back. And she used that method well. She respected me, she looked up to me. And I-I just killed her soul. The bullying increased each day and finally a day came when she was beaten into pulp by the guys of our school. She was dying while I enjoyed the sight. She kept pleading for someone to help her, to save her while the others only kept chanting and laughing at her, including myself", she whispered towards the end. My blood was boiling, I was extremely angry. I could explode at any moment now. Yohan probably sensed this and he held my clenched fists. I looked at him and he shot me the 'just-hold-it-in' look. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in.

You can do it, Al.

I opened my eyes while exhaling and focused all my attention on Riley.

"Suddenly, out of nowhere, my friend came for her rescue. She pushed away the guys and called for the ambulance and took her to the hospital. That day, I not only lost a person who respected me, but also my best friend who was everything to me. Never once did she speak to me ever since that incident. A couple of years passed and I lost my friend once again, forever. She passed away in a car crash last year", she cried while my eyes widened in shock. The person who saved me, who rescued me was no more. I never got to thank her. The tears that I held in for so long, began rolling down my cheeks.

"Everything that has happened ever since that incident, was nothing but a punishment that I deserve. Losing my friend, losing my father, getting locked up in this Base, Dave harassing me were just punishments for the sin I had committed." She paused to look at me and caressed my face. It took all my muscles to not avoid her touch. I found her disgusting.

"Her name was also Alana. Your eyes and your smile resemble her a lot." She let go of her hand and continued, "When I first saw you, I thought you were her. But you would have never helped me out if you were her. Every single day, I keep rewinding that day's incident over and over again. I don't want to forget the kind of monster I was. Reminding myself about that day, helps me from ending my life. I don't deserve to die that easily. I need to go through every pain and difficulty that life throws at me. And that is why I just let Dave do whatever he wants with me. But when you guys", she looked at Yohan, Beth and Ellis and continued, "asked for my help, I decided to stop fulfilling Dave's lewd desires. I wasn't going to repeat the same mistake twice. I lost my best friend when I did not help a dying person. I want to redeem my mistakes", she concluded.

"Just helping others out won't be enough to redeem the sin that you have committed", I blurted out. I could see the worried expressions of the guys, but I couldn't care less.

"You killed a person and you expect us to see you as an angel!? That girl respected you, saw you as her inspiration and you let her die!? You are a demon. I am the stupid one for enrolling into this hell for you!", I snapped.

"For me?", she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"You pleaded to save you and the others when I came for a visit here." I turned to Ellis to answer his doubts. "I am not a monster, unlike a certain someone here. I couldn't unhear those words that I heard that day. 'Save me. Save us', was what she told. I thought I could help you guys out somehow if I come here. And that is why I enrolled into this so-called Stoneridge Academy even after finding out the kind of place this is!" My eyes were brimming with tears. I stormed away from them before they could ask me anything more.

I rushed to the hallway which leads to the cafeteria. I wanted to run away, vanish into thin air. I was feeling suffocated. I began hyperventilating. I cupped my hands and breathed in and out frantically. Soon enough, I felt like I could breathe.

I thought I was fine. I thought I had recovered well. I expected this would help me to let go of my past. But it seems like I just worsened my condition. Tears began flowing down my cheeks uncontrollably. I wanted Aiden beside me, but I had no one. I was all alone.

"You can cry, Alana."

"Cry out to your heart's content."

"We are here for you."