Revenge or Revolution?

16.

She had never felt so humiliated and she could not stop crying. Half of her wanted to murder Kyle and the other half wanted to kill herself. It was at that moment when she was heading back to her hostel room, when she ran into a guy. He was also crying and even though at the moment, Sandra was in pain, she couldn't see someone in pain. The caring part of her heart overpowered the sad part and she had to ask him what happened to him. After all, he was coming from the girl's dormitories and it seemed as if someone seriously hurt him.

'I am sorry for being nosy but may I know what happened to you Mr..?' Sandra was as polite as possible and she tried her best to hold back her tears as possible when asking the question.

'You won't understand. All girls do is lie and give false promises. All I wanted to do was marry her and all she did was ...' he could not speak any further. He was sobbing now and Sandra had never seen a guy crying so badly. At that moment, she forgot about her own little incident and she focused herself in helping him at the time.

'Do you want to sit and talk about it? You still haven't told me your name. My name is Sandra.' She was as friendly as she had ever been.

'Hi, Sandra. My name is Brian.' He was still crying but at least he could speak clearly. 'I don't want to bother you. You would also think I am an idiot. Thank you for trying to be so nice.' And Brian had started to walk.

Sandra knew that it must be something major to make a man cry like this and she also knew that one must not be left alone like this.

'Listen, Brian,' she ran behind him to catch up with him. 'There is a place here where we can sit and talk. Do you want to freshen up? There is a common lavatory in the building. I can sense that you don't want to go back to the hostel, but I think you should just go use the basin and wash your face. You won't even have to face anyone. Everyone would be in their room by now.' Sandra said as she checked her watch. It was almost midnight.

'I don't want to bother you, Sandra. You are a kind soul.' Brian was very apologetic.

'You are not bothering me at all. I'll be sitting on the bench near the ground. Let's talk for a while. Even I need a break from my own problems. It would be good for both of us.'

Brian hesitated but agreed and went to freshen up.

Sandra was sitting on the bench when she saw Brian walking near her. She could see in the moonlight that Brian wasn't the smartest person she had seen. It seemed that he didn't workout or anything. He was just some inches taller than her. And he seemed quite thin as compared to what he should be with his height. But he had a beautiful voice and he was the first guy who cried so freely in front of a girl. It clearly meant that he was sensitive. And her recent experiences gave her the feels that it was difficult to find sensitive guys.

'Sandra, it is still okay if you want to go and sleep. I don't want to be any kind of headache to you.' Brian was sincere.

'Tell me what happened to you, Brian.' Sandra used her softest voice. Brian had felt comfortable and he started talking.

'I was in love with Ali. I wanted to marry her as soon as we finish college. She was also so sweet but there are no good people around. It is so frustrating when you like someone with all your heart and they don't give two shits about you.'

Brian seemed genuinely frustrated and sad.

'What did she do, Brian, to make you think like this?'

'She was with me just because she had a bet with her friends if she can make love with me and then throw me out of the hostel while her friends laugh at me. It happened today. I was there and I wrote a letter for her expressing my deepest gratitude when she just dragged me out of her room and made fun of the whole letter in front of all of her friends.' Brian broke down again as he spoke this.

Sandra couldn't believe it – how can someone be like this. Everyone in the girls' hostel knew that Ali was a promiscuous woman. Some would even call her a slut. And Sandra hated her and everyone knew that too. She was a year elder to them and so she didn't cross her paths with her that much. What Brian said increased her hatred towards Ali more than ever.

'At the end, she told me that she doesn't want to be with someone like me. I am a loser. She wants someone who is a player like Kyle or who is cool like Sean.'

Sandra's heart skipped a beat as she heard Kyle's name. She suddenly remembered the incident and felt too ashamed to even sit there in the same clothes. She couldn't speak for a moment. She just froze there.

'What do you think, Sandra?' Brian repeated.

'What did you ask? I am sorry; I drifted away in my thoughts.'

'Do you think she is right assuming that those people are better than me? You probably would. I am a loser and I should know my place.'

'No. Not at all. You are better than them. They are nothing compared to you. They might have more abs but it's what inside that matter.' Sandra was 100% earnest.

'You are just saying it to make me feel better. Anyway, I don't have a date for the dance event now. It's such a shame. I had planned the perfect evening with her. Now I am all alone. I don't want to even finish my year now. Everyone will just make fun of me if I go back there at the event.'

Sandra suddenly remembered about the event. No one had asked her till now. She was also thinking of not going. But Brian seemed to be a nice guy and he was also alone. She should go with him.

'Brian, if you don't mind, we can go together as a couple.' Sandra didn't think that she would ask someone to be her date. But Brian was different. He was charming and simple. He didn't seem like other guys who didn't care about others. Steve was a good person but he was so selfish when he called her on the date, during exams just because he was prepared. Kyle was just disgusting. She was almost done with guys but Brian was different. He was so charming. He was so sensitive. He was everything one would expect from a guy. And Sandra never judged anyone based on their looks anyway. She actually believed that it was what inside that mattered. Most importantly, Brian didn't see women as just some object. He seemed genuine and respected women.

'What? You would be my date?' Brian couldn't believe himself. 'You are gorgeous. Why would someone like you want to dance with a loser like me?'

'You aren't as bad as you think you are.' Sandra said. 'Now, I have to go back to the hostel. They won't let me in if it's past midnight. Let us meet later tomorrow. Go take some rest for now. Goodbye.' Sandra said as she looked at her watch.

She leaned forward for a friendly hug but Brian hesitated and just raised his hand instead. They shook their hands and Sandra went her way thinking what a gentleman Brian was.

******

What happened to him? Brian wasn't the smartest but he was a good person. With almost all the proofs pointing towards him, Sandra still couldn't believe 100% that it was Brian who killed 2 people. Was it even the same Brian who was crying over a girl? If someone is so sensitive, how can they kill 2 people? And with such brutality? And there was this biggest question of all – What was the motive behind it? As far as Sandra knew, Brian had none. They hadn't even been in contact with anyone from the college after they moved out. At that instance, she knew that she has to hear Brian's side of story.