Finding a bright side

31st July 2015,

 As I walked into the school today, I was greeted by abundance of red pens, number of cards and bunches of flowers. It was Teacher’s day today.

 Growing up all kids have a specific aim, Something they want to be when they grow up. I never had any. I never knew what I wanted to be but what I did know was what I didn't want to be. I never wanted to be a teacher. But with a twist of fate and a lot of free time in my hands, I somehow ended up being a teacher. A part time teacher, but a teacher nonetheless.

  I can’t say I liked it, being a teacher. To be honest, I really, really didn’t like being a teacher; Most of the kids were loud annoying and horrible during classes. Being a teacher was really tiring. They were such devils that it made me wonder if this was how we treated our teachers and me being a teacher now was karma’s way of getting back at me.

 Like I said, I really disliked being a teacher. I couldn’t see a bright side to it (apart from the salary, of course). That was until today; teacher’s day. As I entered my class (I’m the class teacher of grade 6) I was greeted by little enthusiastic faces with gleeful smiles as the said “Happy teacher’s day.” in a loud singsong voice and then came the flurry of gifts, cards, chocolates and red pens (Still can't figure out what do I do with these huge numbers of red pens).

 I took pictures with these enthusiastic little ones, a happy grin forming on my face. I felt a warm and happy feeling inside me. I guess I was finally finding a bright side to being a teacher and that bright side was love – pure and unadulterated love – and respect from these little ones. Their fondness of me made all those tiring days, spent shouting at them, worth it. And looking at the cards they made for me, I couldn’t help but feel touched. I guess today was the day when I changed my verdict and said, “I kinda do like being a teacher.”   

Regarding 'Love Hppens'

I am sorry. I am so so sorry. This story is no longer a 'work in progress' but is an abandoned project.
I would've continued it. I wanted to. And I tried too. But my muse just picked up its bag and left without a word and the chances of it coming back is equal to none.
I hope this is not a huge disappointment to anyone.

Also, I would like thank everyone and anyone who've ever bothered with the story and encouraged me to continue writing. You people are my precious. (Guess who finally watched LOTR? Me!!)

Star Crossed Lovers

Fire dancing in the darkness air lingered with a taste of wine His hand had found hers their lips met for the last time They were promised a forever but the time they had were numbered days Love wished them to stay together but their fates had chosen different ways Star crossed lovers were they met for a short time With a taste of love, one passed and left the other alone to shine

It was a love blessed to be doomed the day it begin The lovers, meant to grow apart though the love still remain

The Hard Part

With sweaty hands I finally managed to press “send” and few moments later there came a “seen”. I waited and waited, there was nothing but silence. Suddenly he called. I didn’t know what to do. I pressed “reject” sign on the screen. He called and I cancelled again. We did that few more times and then he called again. I knew he wanted answers, he needed them but did he deserve it? I didn’t know. With shaking hands I finally answered. I expected him to ask “why”, scream at me maybe, call me names but all I got was silence. “Hello?” I said.
“Hmm... Why didn’t you pick up the call?” what was that in his voice? Annoyance? Sadness?
“Er… I just uh…”What could I possibly say? How could I say that I was being a coward that I was running away from what was coming, that I didn’t want to face the consequences of what I had done.
“So… did you have your dinner?” he asked again filling the dead silence.
“Yeah...” Why was he doing this? Why wasn’t he saying anything? Why was he acting so normal? Like nothing had happened. I knew he had seen it. I knew that he knew, so why? Finally my curiosity got the best of me and I asked. “You got the message didn’t you?”
“What message?” He was lying! He was lying! I knew he was! I knew he had seen it.
“The one I sent on Facebook?” I asked unsure of his response.
“Nope” Liar!
“I think you should see it.” I tried to keep a cool voice.
"I don't want to" His voice suddenly pleading, filled with the obvious pain. What had I done?
 "You need to." I said sadly though I had already known that he had seen it.
"No I really don't want to, please?" No. No. No. He was doing it wrong! This was supposed to be the easy part! Why is it becoming the hard one then? He deserved this! Or that was what I thought few moments ago... Had I gone too far? Had I been too harsh? He hadn't become serious, had he? He couldn't be! He isn't the type of guy to get serious, at least not so soon... but isn't this what we wanted? Isn't this how he was supposed pay for what he did to her?
"Is it true?" His voice was in the verge of tears. It almost broke my heart. What was I supposed to do now?
 "Yes. Every word of it." I never resented myself more in my life than this particular moment. When had I become so heartless?

"Okay. Thank you." And that very moment he hated me more than ever. "You're welcome." I replied coolly. He gave a small sound of disbelief, pain, hatred and then ended the call. I slowly put my cellphone down feeling numb and empty, hollow. It was over. I had done it. I had broken his heart and all I felt was relief. Relief that it was over.

Love Happens [Chapter 5]

“Reid? Why are you here?”
“Let’s get your mom in first shall we?”He said making me feel all foolish. I got mom inside with Reid’s help. She still seemed quite weak. Draco seated her on the couch and he sat beside her.
“What happened?” he asked Reid.
“Nothing much. It was just a small accident.” Mom answered before Reid could say anything.
“Not you Mom. I want to hear the story from the kid. Ann, Zoey, You two better take mom upstairs.” He said acting all parent on mom. We did as he told and took mom up stairs while he was downstairs talking Reid…. Reid seeing him was still not easy; he still had the same effect on me. Why me????? Can today’s day get any more insane now? First Drew behaves weird and then Reid shows up at my door apparently as the savior of my mother. I wish I had someone to talk to, okay Ann’s there but she’s so excited and handful with her wedding preparations and she’s now looking after mom too, it just doesn't feel right to dump all my problem’s on her. And there’s ‘Ellie’, my supposed to be best friend, who hasn't even called me once over the week. Ellie Ross and I, we 1^st met on girl’s summer camp during my freshmen year. Since it was girl’s summer camp, I had no Drew to hang around with and that’s when I found Ellie. We've been best friends ever since. She is fun to be with, smart, interesting, childish at times, and most importantly: a really good listener and I love her for that but still... right now I really want to kill her. I mean what kind of best friend does not call her best friend who is going through a bad break up? [ >.< ]    Just then I heard my cell-phone ring. Turns out my best friend finally found some time for me. 
“Ellie?”
“Zoey! I missed you!”
“Liar! You never called me! You have no idea what’s happening here...”
“Well you never called me either! And FYI I do know what’s happening. Andrew had given me the good news long ago.”
“Yeah good news.” She absolutely hated Reid. “You knew it and yet you never even bothered to call and check up on me.”
“Well, I was angry at you because it was Andrew who called me and not you, my so-called bestie. Plus I knew that Andrew would be there to take care of you.” Yeah Drew was there. He’s always there. [J] “ by-the-way I’ll be at school tomorrow”
“Thank god you’ll be there tomorrow. I’ve got sooo... much to tell you!”
“What happene—” Arghh! Network disturbance [>.<]
“Hello? Ellie?”
“I can hea—”
“I can’t hear you. Well if you can hear me meet me tomorrow in cafeteria at 10. I've got so much to tell you!! Anyway can’t hear you… hanging up now. Take care”

I hung up and went downstairs. Reid was already gone. Thank God for that ‘because I’m afraid that if I have to see him, talk to him again…. I’d let my guard down and get my heart broken again.….

“He’s a nice guy.” Draco’s voice brought me back to reality.
“Huh?” Draco was sitting at the porch steps. I went over and sat next to him.

“Reid. He’s a nice Kid” Okay so, Draco was away the whole time Reid and I were together so he has no ideas about the Reid drama.
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Maybe?” He asked raising an eyebrow. “You don’t know him?” Oh I know him much more than you do brother.
“I do. We are in the same school”
“Ever thought of dating—”
“Shut Up Draco!” I snapped at him.
“Hey, I’m sorry okay. I was just kidding.”
“No, I’m sorry. It’s just… it’s been a long day.”
“Uh-huh. Wanna talk about it?”  Of course I wanted to talk about it. A part of me wanted to tell him everything and another just reminded me that how much he has going on in his life too….
“Naah! I what I really need is a good night sleep.” I said giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “Good night bro. I’m glad to have you back.”

“Good night Zoe! And remember I’m always there for you.” He said smiling back.

“God can’t you just grant me a single day free from clumsiness?” I complained picking up my books that I had dropped while opening my locker, just then my cell phone started ringing. I fell like my life was in the middle of ultimate chaos. I was already gaining attention from other students and my ringtone, ‘Na na na na’ by MCR (along with the video dialogues -.-) attracted a whole lot more heads to turn in my direction. Not that I cared but still you know it’s….. awkward! I shoved last of my book in my locker and slammed it shut that I finally picked my phone. It was Zoey.
“Hello—”
“ Ellie. Where are you? I’ve been waiting for you here since forever! And why didn’t you pick up my phone?”
“Slow down girl! We agreed to meet at 10:00 and its not even 9:50 yet” I said checking my watch. “Anyway I’m coming. You just keep calm.”
“Well I am calm, you get over here fast. I really need to talk to you.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in 10 mins. Bye.”
“Fast. Bye”

Zoe was sitting at our regular table. I grabbed our coffees and headed over there silently praying that I’d get there without landing head first, since today is definitely not one of my best days.
“So tell me what’s up?”
“First you tell me why exactly did you extend your leave? You were supposed to come back on Sunday!”
“Oh I hade a date” Her eyes widened. “Kidding. No dates. Gran was sick and it was chaos out there so I had to stay!”
“Oh… how is she now?”
“Healthy as a horse.” I replied with a grin. “Now you tell me what’s up with you? Why you so hyper?”
“You won’t believe what happened yesterday!”
“What happened?”
“Reid showed up at my house.”
“Reid? What?” God I hate even the sound of that his name. “Why? You guys are not back together again, are you?” I asked her suspiciously because every time that jerk showed up at her door they got back together.
“No. No. Not that.” Then she told me the complete story he saved her mother and about her brother’s wedding and stuff. I guess she was about to tell me some thing more but just then Andrew appeared, “Hey girls. Ellie! Welcome back!” He said giving me a hug.
“Thanks Andrew!”
“Not fair! I never call you Elizabeth do I?” He said pretending to frown.
“But I like your name. It reminds me of him.” I replied with a wink.

“Yeah right! Your BVB crush.” He clearly seemed annoyed. Oh how I love to annoy him [ :3 ]

Love Happens [Chapter 4]

I wonder what’s wrong with me. It was just a hug… just a simple hug… a hug that we’ve shared so many times before... But why? Why today when I hugged her my heart started pounding like crazy... so loud that I was afraid that she could hear it. I was aware very aware of her, her arms wrapped around me, smell of her…. something exotic… unique… of her own, her breathing against my light shirt… It burned into my skin. It would be a lie…. if I told that I didn't like the way she felt in my arms.
“Drew” I heard her calling me from downstairs. I really need to clear up my head……. Mom , it’s all happening  ‘cause of her…  24hrs ago I was perfectly fine and sane until mom talked to me last night….. after that chat with her, my life stopped making sense, my thoughts, my feeling they all seemed alien to me…. Arghhh! If she only hadn't said what she said to me last night, I wouldn't have been thinking about this and I sure wouldn't have been feeling this … or would I? Damn what’s wrong with me?

“Hey! I’m leaving” She was standing at my door. Her dark brown hair was now pulled up in a pony tail. Had she always been this beautiful? Her brown eyes looked so deep that I felt like I could stare at it forever…. “Drew I think you should walk her home. It’s getting late you know.” Mom announced coming up behind her.
“Hmm... Okay.” I replied giving mom I-hate-you-for-this look. I silently prayed that Zoe would deny and insist on going home alone but she didn't deny and quietly agreed. Well……… even if she had denied, I obviously wouldn't have let her go alone, would I? ‘Cause it’s really getting dark and no neighborhood is quite safe in the dark for anyone to walk alone. Shut up, you’re just making excuses to be with her, little voice at the back of my mind told me the exact thing I didn't want to admit right now.

Mom and Zoe said their goodbyes. Before leaving mom gave me a mischievous grin, the same one that she gave me when I got home last night... Last night, it was when I was working on Zoe’s assignment; mom came up to my room and inquired what was I doing up late. When I told her that I was doing Zoe’s assignment…. Then she asked me a weird question “Why?” Weird ‘cause this is really not the first she ever found me doing Zoe’s work. Still I replied her question and told her what ever happened yesterday and because of it Zoe was probably too exhausted to do her assignment so I was doing it for her. She looked thoughtful… I ignored her and continued to do the assignment. She was silent for a long time before she told me, “I think you are falling in love with her” She told me that I was falling in love, with a girl I've known since forever, just like that. Before my mind could even process what she was saying, she left the room. Now, thanks to her, here I am questioning my sanity. [-.-!]

The walk back home was full of uncomfortable silence. I didn't know what to say; to be more precise I didn't trusted the words that would come out of my mouth when I was so conflicted about my feelings. She was the same girl that she was yesterday, same girl that I've known for years, I was the same guy and yet everything suddenly felt so… different.

Before I knew, we were standing at her front porch. We were in front of her door when I turned to look at her. In the dim light of the porch her brown eyes somehow seemed softer and warmer. “Goodnight Drew.” She said softly. Uncertainly my gaze dropped to her lips. It looked so…. appealing. I was struck by a sudden impulse to bent down and kiss her.

His eyes looked darker. There was something about the way he looked at me… it made me nervous…. It felt as if anytime he would lean down and kiss me… was I just imagining it or…… Suddenly the front door flew open and a familiar voice said “Oops. Did I interrupt a goodnight kiss?” followed by a very familiar laugh. I already knew who it was before I turned to see him.
“Ann! Draco!” Drew and I both said out loud at the same time.
 “You guys are back!” I said giving my dear elder brother a hug.
“Yes we are!” Ann replied.
“How are you kid?” Draco asked Drew while Ann wrapped me in her embrace. Draco, my brother, used to babysit both Drew and I when we were young. I was his younger sister but still he was closer with Drew than he was ever with me. Not that I was jealous or anything. I got my share of elder sibling when he started dating Ann. She was the sister that I never had and the best one I could ever wish for.
“Don’t call me kid any more Drake. I’m almost as tall as you!” Drew replied.
“But do you have muscles this big?” then Draco started showing off his muscles and the complete conversation started to turn into the same old boring and boyish. So, Ann and I headed inside. Ann was a typical blonde by looks…. you know really pretty, tall, skinny and oh those beautiful blue eyes! And the best part about her was the calmness that she possessed; she was the only person I’ve ever known to keep up with Draco’s short temper.
Few minutes later, Draco came in. “Where’s Drew?” Ann asked the exact question that was at the tip of my tongue.
“Oh he went. He said it was getting late and all….. Have you told her?”
“No, I was waiting for you.” Ann replied with a warm smile. He came and stood beside her amd said, “We’re engaged!”
“OhMyGod!! Really?” I could barely contain the excitement in my voice.
“Yes” Ann replied blushing.
“I’m so happy for you guys” I said hugging both Draco and Ann.
“And one more thing …” Ann continued once I released them from my hug “ Be my bride’s maid? if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course! It would be an honor. Thanks Ann! Have you guys told mom yet?”
“Mom’s not home yet” Draco spoke up.
“She is not home yet??” That’s weird.
“You don’t know where she is? I thought you’d know”
“I have no Idea. Haven’t you called her?”
“I did but her cell phone was switched off.”
“She is usually back home from office by seven and always informs me if she’s gonna be late….. Maybe she’s still at office and she forgot to tell me that she was gonna be late.” I added hopefully.
“She’s not at office. I called there too. They said she left at her usual time.” Draco said frowning
I was getting worried now, it was almost nine. It’s unlike her to be late. Mom… where could she be? Every horrifying thought about what might have happened started to invade my mind. An accident or maybe... I knew I was over thinking and I tried to shut away those horrible thoughts but they just wouldn’t go away. I heard Draco say, “I’ll call the police.” I could do nothing more than nod. Just then the doorbell rang. I rushed to the door as soon as I heard it. Ann and Draco followed. I opened the door, Mom was there… standing with a bandage on head and right beside her was…… “Reid?”

Love Happens [Chapter 3]

[Sorry for the late post. Enjoy reading. :) ]


It was after lunch and it was Mrs. Walter's class. As soon as she entered the class, she asked us to submit our assignments. I proudly submitted my assignment which wasn't actually done by me.
"I bet we're gonna get an A." Drew, who was sitting on my right, whispered to me.
"Really? I was hoping for an A⁺." I grinned at him and looked over to my left. His seat was empty; recently he has been missing out from school a lot. Not like I care or something ….. Reid wasn't always like this… I still remember his first day in school, which was now almost a year ago, he was a transfer student. He was shy, he rarely spoke with anyone. We became friends and before we knew it, the friendship turned into relationship. Those were the good days but as they say, nothing lasts forever and we were no exception. Our relationship started failing, we occasionally had arguments but still I thought we could make it work….. And I knew we couldn’t that night when I saw him with his ex-girlfriend Katharine [they had a long term relationship before he was transferred here], They were making out in the schools locker room after the summer carnival. That night was the night when I knew – even though I hadn’t admitted to myself – that everything we had was over.

Mrs. Walters’s class was over. Our Trig teacher, Mr. Wesley was absent so, we had the next class off. Drew brought his bench closer to mine and said, “Listen, I was working on a new cover song.. wanna check it out?”
“Yeah sure! I’ll drop by while going home.” Did I mention that Drew is a amazing singer and is really good with most of his musical instruments.

“Do that! Mom has already started complaining about you and Samantha not coming home often.”
“Oh Jenna! It’s been ages since I’ve last seen her!”
“You met her last Sunday.” he commented raising an eyebrow.

“Oh shut up Drew!”

We both were busy talking when Mrs. Walter suddenly entered the classroom and announced, “Miss Zoey Danvers and Mr. Andrew Tallet. Meet at my office. Right Now!”
I was in a state of shock. I looked at Drew, he looked ….guilty? What The Hell Is Going On? Whole class was staring at us like we were some clowns from the freak show. Walking out of class he whispered to me, “Prepare for the worst.”

 Mrs. Walter’s office was a pale yellow colored room. She absolutely adores ‘Venus Flytrap’ she even has one in her office right over her desk.  Women in her early fifties, tall and a redhead, she was the faculty head of biology department. She wore rectangle faced glasses that made her look a lot mean than she already was. Drew and I, we were both sitting opposite to her while she was yelling at us, “You two thought that you could fool me? These two assignments are exact copy of each other!! Now, I really don’t wanna hear who copied from who or any of your lame excuses for doing so. I……” I honestly didn’t hear what she said next; my attention was totally captivated by the ‘Venus flytrap’ sitting on her desk. What If….. We made an abnormal growing potion on our chemistry lab and use it in the Venus flytrap and then it ate Mrs. Walter…. I know, school life would be a lot more bearable. [3:D] I smiled at my stupid-never-coming-true-evil thoughts and glanced at Drew’s direction, our eyes met and we both grinned. “What are you both smiling about? Does it seem like some kind of joke to you two? This is your final year in school! At least be a little serious ‘bout it for the sake of your future.” She let out a deep sigh and the continued, “You two are going to do assignment on the anaphase and metaphase of mitotic cell division and submit it day after tomorrow, is that clear?”
“Yes mam!” we said together and got up to leave.
“and one more thing you both are going to stay for detention after school today.”
“WHAT?” I heard his voice echoing mine.
“Yes, and this is for not taking your final year seriously! No more arguments. Now you both may leave.”

“Is she crazy? She’s such a bitch I tell you! ”I was all grumbling, more like yelling, on our way back home. “It’s entirely your fault!” I shot Drew a glance.
“What? My fault? You were the one who didn’t do your assignment and now it’s My fault? I just tried to help you!”
“Yeah, great help buddy! You got both of us detention!”
“Well I never thought that she would recognize that both assignments are same especially when I kept mine 4 or 5 files after yours.” He replied sheepishly. “Sorry.” He added.
“Don’t be, you were just trying to help.” I was feeling guilty already.”I’m the one who should be sorry. You did so much for me and yet I was so rude to you.”
“By-the-way at the Mrs. Walter’s office… what were you thinking?”
“huh?” I was totally caught off guard by him suddenly changing the topic. “you tell me first , what were you thinking?”
“um.. well this may sound totally devilish but I was thinking about the Venus Flytrap eating up Mrs. Walter.”
“What?  You too?”
“What do you mean by ‘you too’?  Does that mean You too?.” We both started laughing. For some reason our brain usually works in the same direction and this is not the first time we’ve witnessed it.

We reached in front of Drew’s house. As I was about to say goodbye and leave. Drew grabbed my hand and said sounding betrayed, “Hey! Where you going? You promised you’d stop by to hear my new cover!”

    “I know, Drew but its already late, thanks to mom.”

     “No worry I’ll call Samantha and tell her you’re here. She won’t mind.” He was starting to sound kinda sad.

    “Okay but I won’t stay much long.”

     “That will do” He gave his big heartwarming smile.

      Drew took out his spare key and opened the door.

      “Mom?” he called out.

      “Yeah! I’m in here.” She called out from the kitchen.
“Look who’s here!”

Jenna came out of kitchen wiping her hands. “Zoey!”
“Hey Jenna” I replied as she came over and gave me a warm hug.
“Look at you! You look beautiful than the last time I saw you!”
Drew chuckled and Jenna and I both rolled her eyes at him.
Jenna, now completely ignoring him, continued, “What a great day for you to be here. I’m making Apple Pie!!”
“Lucky me!”
“Yep, plus I remember Apple pie’s your favorite! I’ll get the biggest slice for you.” Jenna said giving me a wink.
“Awe’ thank you Jenna!” Jenna is an amazing person even as a child I adored her. She used to visit often. She and my mom were best friends and that’s how Drew and I met at the first place.

“So…. how’s Sam doing? I haven’t seen her in a while now.”
“Mom? She’s doing fine.”
“Oh well tell her that I’m coming over tomorrow to take her shopping!” She said laughing.
“Will do. But only if you promise to shop for me too.” I replied joining her.
Drew was already gone to change and also to call my mom. I was sitting in the kitchen happily chatting while Jenna was getting the batter into oven, I tried to help but she wouldn’t let me do a thing.
“Zoe! Where are you? Get up here!” Drew was shouting from upstairs.
Jenna and I exchanged looks “The monkey’s going crazy. I’ll go see why!”
“Sure!” Jenna replied laughing.

I knocked at his door and he looked up and said, “When did you start being so formal? Get in already!.
I got in and sat at the edge of his bed. He was holding his acoustic guitar which I choose for him when we went for his guitar hunt last year.
“Okay which song is it?”
“Ever enough.”

“A Rocket To The Moon?”
“Yeah!”
“Be careful! I’m gonna be a harsh judge here. They are one of my favorites!”
“I know!” he said giving me a wink.
 Then he began. Once he started singing I was completely in a trance. I could bet all my money that no- one could’ve sang this song better than him. He completely owned it. Must admit, it was actually better than the original. When he finished I couldn’t help but want more.

“How’s it?”
“It’s actually really really good!”
“Seriously?”
“Nah! I was just kidding.”
“Oh c’mon Zoe. Honest comment please?”
“Okay! It was really good. I have to say it was actually better than the original!”
“Thanks Zoe!” he jumped off his place leaving his guitar and gave me a tight hug.
“Just so you know, I’m gonna die ‘cause of suffocation.”
He immediately pulled back and looked embarrassed.
“Hey it’s okay I was just kidding.” I assured him and yet there was some awkwardness between which was very unusual. He went over to his study desk and opened his laptop. Suddenly an idea popped into my head. “Hey! Where’s your videocam?”
“Why?..... no! We’re not doing it! I am not gonna record that song never ever!’
“But why?”
“Because I don’t want to!” He said matter-of-factly giving an annoying smile. Just then Jenna called out, “Pie’s ready!!!” hearing that we both jumped to our feet and raced downstairs.
The mere sight of the pie was mouth-watering. Its aroma filled the kitchen. As promised Jenna cut out the biggest piece for me. Drew looked at my plate and compared it to his. “That’s not fair! Why Zoe gets the biggest piece????” he complained.
“Stop being such a greedy child, Andrew Tallet!” Jenna scolded him and laughed at his reaction. I joined her taking taste of every nibble of the pie to the fullest. Drew was still complaining but I didn’t mind. The pie was worth listening to him complain. [ :D ] Jenna was indeed the best cook ever!!

 

 

*Snapshot from the music video of  Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran