Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

21 mins
21.8K


He pushes the door open   only to welcome the sight of an empty classroom. The benches aren’t occupied yet. Well, how could they be? It is still an hour for the school to get started. Still, he slowly drags himself to the last bench of that deserted row and wait for the students to gradually crowd the place. It seems to be a monotonous way to start a day for anyone, especially for a student in his senior year of the school but Aditya Maheshwari was habitual of this routine. And why won’t he be? A year of carrying on with the same routine is enough to turn it into someone’s habit.

Students fill the empty benches steadily and once again Aditya was successful in being neglected, lost in the crowd. Although, saying neglected won’t be cent percent right. He was a popular subject of mystery for, initially, his classmates and then gradually for the entire batch. Many people tried to break that invisible yet strong wall that Aditya had built around him but none could break it. Maybe, no one tried hard enough to get through it. I wish someone did because as the time passed this mysterious boy became a topic of gossip and we can never keep gossips and rumours apart. Soon, the word spread that the mysterious boy lives all alone in an isolated flat, a bit far away from the school and has some dark past. A student once stalked him to his place and started the story. Soon everyone got tired to discuss about the same topic again and again. Nobody actually talked to him from that day onwards. Thus, that aloof soul was left alone and in peace.

The students suddenly stop all their mischief as the boy standing near the door signals the class about the arrival of their teacher. The teacher enters the room. But wait! She isn’t alone today. A girl is also there with her. She is petite but her face reflects maturity. A pair of big spectacles perfectly covers her brown eyes, carrying so much of depth in them. 

“Class, I would like you all to welcome your new classmate, Ms. Aaena Roy.” The teacher says in her bold voice, almost pushing the girl to the centre of the class.

“Hello, Aaena!” all the students sing in unison.

“Hi, everyone!” Aaena says in a cheerful voice, glad by the warm welcome of the students.

“Tell us a little about yourself to the class, Aaena.” Their teacher says.

“As all of you already know my name is Aaena. I was studying at St. Thomas High School. I know it’s gonna be a little tough because it’s mid-session but I had to change my school due to some unavoidable circumstances.” She takes a long breath to speak further.

“It’s nice knowing you Aaena. Please take your seat. We need to start the class.” Her teacher says cutting her out.

Aaena nods and walks forth with a big smile on her face. No matter what the circumstances are, her optimism never lets her down. She knows it will take some time for her to adjust in this new environment, especially, after being a part of an elite society earlier. But she made herself up to embrace this new life, though a little below her standard.

 But she never expected this. As she walks across the rows, she finds everyone  whispering to each other and looking at her  disgustingly. This really hurts her. Aaena’s biggest fear comes alive. Students recognise her as the daughter of the officer who was recently in the news headlines for some scam. Aaena is a gregarious girl always. This reaction from her new classmates on the very first day of her new school was something really unacceptable to her. Literally, everyone gives her a cold shrug. Well, all but one. The guy in the corner seat is sitting with a straight face. She finds it indeed better than those unwanted looks. She walks towards him, under everyone’s gaze. She sits beside him, not bothering to take his permission. He doesn’t react either. People’s actions hardly make any difference to him.

 “Hey!” Aaena says, holding her hand out to Aditya. He responds with a straight face. Aaena takes her hand back. “What’s your name?” again a straight face in response. She keeps on trying to make a conversation but each time all she gets is a straight face in response. Damn. Straight. Face. This is how the first three hours drag. Aaena never had to try this hard to befriend someone. In fact, people usually used to try woo her. She feels a little mortified.

It’s recess now. Aaena thought that maybe in the recess she would be able to interact with some other students and make new friends. With this hope she takes her lunch out of her bag and walks towards a bunch of students circled around a table, sharing and enjoying their meals. They all are laughing at something but suddenly they stop as they see her. This makes Aaena feel a bit awkward but she smiles instead and says “Hey, What are we talking about here?” in a cheery voice, the one that’s usually hard to ignore. But it failed to reach the already prejudiced minds. Everyone glances at each other and then one by one they walk out. One boy even rolls his eyes at her while leaving. This really upsets Aaena. It’s one thing when things don’t go the way you plan. But seeing them go in a way you never had imagined even in your wildest dream is another level. It may not look like the most terrible thing in the world to you. But for Aaena, this was impactful. In her previous school she was immensely popular. She was the head girl of her school and also the president of the school’s debate society. Not only this, Aaena was a trend setter in her school. Girls used to envy her for her   looks complimenting her cheerful smile and the way she could effortlessly carry any look.

But things are different now. No one wants to even talk to her, let alone befriend her. There is no one she can count on as a friend, no one to talk to. She is not used to this silence and emptiness. This time she is really hurt. A tear rolls down her eye. She slowly walks towards her seat. All have left but one, Aditya is still there.

“You can also leave if you want to.” She almost shouts at him sobbing. “You’re not interested in me either. I mean dude, there’s a limit to ignorance. How can you ignore someone for straight three hours? I don’t know what I’ve done to make myself so repelling but I guess you may know. So, seriously, no pressure on you. Don’t sit here. Just leave!” she screams at him.

 Aditya stops eating his lunch and looks at her. Aaena holds her breathe for a second. Finally! Finally, he reacted! Although, his face is still emotionless, at least he responded. He shifts his lunch box towards her and gestured her to eat. Aaena couldn’t say no. His look was firm. Like an obedient child, she takes a bite of his chapatti. Then she looks at him. She finds him observing her. “It’s nice. Did you make it yourself?” she asks him. Aditya sighs. “Just eat.” He says sternly. His voice is heavy, like that of a 30 years old man. He takes out a hanky from his pocket and hands it to her. She wipes the traces her tears had made on her face and hands it back to him. Then remembering his orders again, she decides to concentrate on the chapatti. “Do you mind telling me your name now?” she asks, a little afraid of his unexpected temper. Aditya shakes his head in disbelief.

“You never really shut up, do you?” he says, easing his tone. Aaena gets more scared. She really doesn’t want to piss him off. He studies her expressions and surprisingly smiles. This really shocks her. “Relax, I am not gonna eat you up.” He says, trying to make a joke. 

“Yes! I know that.” She says innocently. After a pause she speaks up again. “You know, this is the longest anyone has taken to tell anyone his name?” Aditya smiles broadly and rolls his eyes at her.

“Aditya Maheshwari.” He tells her.

“Finally!” she says, rolling her eyes back at him. Aditya laughs at her expression. Aaena laughs at the way Aditya is laughing. It is weird, his laugh. Like someone trying out something for the very first time. This is how two abandoned souls made their connection.

A month has now passed and with each passing day, their friendship grows and their bond becomes stronger. They are now each other’s support system and share each other’s emotions too. Well, actually, it is Aaena who speaks more. The girl literally narrates her previous day to him, daily. Also, she shares the memories of her previous school, the elite society and how she is dealing with the changes now. But Aditya is a good listener and never fails to show it. Still, Aaena is fortunate enough to dig out a little more about him. It turns out that Aditya is really good at studies, especially at maths. This really helps Aaena a lot as she always fails to understand the subject. And because he is so intelligent, he is in the school through some scholarship. Moreover, Aditya is the most self-dependent guy she has ever met. He cooks his own lunch, does his own laundry and also gives home tuitions to a few kids to earn his pocket money. He never really talks about his family, though. Aaena doesn’t bother either. She has accepted his ‘mysterious’ personality and treats every single thing he tells her about himself as a bonus. As far as the other students are concerned, they are amazed to find Aditya laugh every now and then. Somehow, they still manage to maintain a distance with both of them. Aditya and Aaena are not bothered either. They are sufficient for each other. They spend their day pulling each other’s leg, giving each other funny names and writing them all over on their bench. They never eat their own lunch and always exchange it. The corner bench has become a second home yet their charming personalities have drawn the attention of the teachers. Teachers are happy with their response in the class; specially Aditya’s and praise Aaena for bringing out this change in him. They also hang out after the school often.

But this closeness of the two of the strangest people in the batch is misinterpreted by some dumb heads of the school. Soon, the rumours spread that Aditya and Aaena are not ‘just friends’. Many tease them and look at them with suspecting eyes but they never let this affect their friendship in any way. They both just pray for a little sanity for their fellow batch mates.

“Aditya Maheshwari, read my lips, you’re gonna rot in hell!” Aaena screams at him, trying to get her hair out of his strong grip. Aditya laughs and pulls her hair tighter. “Ouch! I said, leave me!” Aaena screams even louder. Other students are looking at them amusingly. They are now habitual of this insanity. 

Aaena pulls his collar and tries to choke him. His grip loosens a bit. Aaena tries to pull herself away.

“Class!” their teacher shouts as she enters the room. ''What's going on here?'' 

Aaena and Aditya leave each other, seeing her temper. "Sorry ma'am." they say in unison. 

"Anyway, I have come here to inform you all about the upcoming inter-school debate competition. It's a huge platform. All the schools in the city are going to participate. I think you must grab this opportunity." she says the last line making a direct eye contact with Aaena. 

Aaena freezes in her seat for a second. She acts as if she hasn’t got her message. 

"If any student is interested then please let me know." The teacher says. She then starts with her normal lecture. 

'You should go' Aditya scribbled on the back of his note book and slid it towards Aaena. 

'I don't know.'

'But I do. You MUST go.'

'There will be students from my previous school too.'

'and that's exactly why you're going.'

Aaena looks at him with a puppy face. She seriously doesn't want to face anybody from that elite society she once belonged to and also the one that abandoned her for no fault of her own. Also, if she  goes now, she will represent another school, will be part of another group and she knows how her ex-fake-friends think about it. Yeah, she accepts this new lifestyle and not regrets it much but it is difficult to face someone who you know has a materialistic mindset. This fact shouldn't affect her or anyone in general but, let's accept it, it does. So, somewhere, we all know why Aaena is reluctant to do something she had been a pro at. But how will Aditya understand all these things? Or maybe he does. Maybe this is the only reason he is persuading her to go for it. Maybe he wants her to not only admit her new identity externally but also accept it and be proud of it internally too. 

'Let 'em show what they lost.' he scribbles it, shows it to her but doesn't give her time to reply. 

Aaena rolls her eyes at him. Aditya is stubborn. She knows, there's no point arguing about it. She has to forfeit. And this is exactly what she does and raise both her hands to let him know, although, it wasn't really required. Aditya already knew that he was going to win. He smirks at her. 

Aaena takes a deep breath. The day has already arrived. It is going to be a big day. Not only she has to face her past, she's got to win this competition too. This is the only way she will be able to accept her present genuinely. Today, winning is not just an option but a need. She has to win not only for herself but also for the one who persuaded her into it. She has to win today for Aditya and the selfless and firm support he had shown all these days. Aditya restored Aaena’s confidence in her skills. But it was a bit later when Aaena realised how much faith Aditya has in her.

Once, a guy in their class questioned Aaena’s loyalty towards her new school. He said, “Why shouldn’t we think Aaena is going to lose deliberately to let her darling St. Thomas people win and keep on their tradition to take trophy home like they have been doing for three damn years..” To be honest, this is an extremely modified version of the way that guy actually said that line. Aaena was speechless. She didn’t know how to respond or prove her loyalty to them. But it didn’t take Aditya even a minute to reply “We’ll talk the day when she’ll prove that the trophy never belonged to St. Thomas, it is Ms. Aaena Roy who actually owns it.” And walked away, dragging Aaena along. It was the first day that Aditya had actually spoken to someone in the class except Aaena. That day Aaena promised to herself that no matter what, she will bring the trophy home, the new home. She was mocked a lot but Aditya was always by her side. All she had received earlier were expectations but this time it was faith that introduced itself to her. 

She takes a long breath again and moves towards the stage for the final round. The other competitor, from none other than St. Thomas, is already up there. Aaena looks at her. Had the circumstances been different, she would have been standing in her place, wearing different uniform. She climbs the stage and passes her a smile. It’s no surprise that they already know each other. The judges reintroduce the topic to them and gesture them to start the debate.

Aaena can’t wait to for the night to get over and rush to the school in the morning and tell Aditya about her victory. She did it! She won! She didn’t let anybody down, either her parents or her school. But most importantly, she didn’t let Aditya down. She wishes she had his number. She would have called him, the first thing after the competition. I know it’s a little weird to know that two besties didn’t even have each other’s phone number in this century! But this is how it goes with Aditya. He will be there for his best friend through thick and thin, will fight for her and will always support her emotionally. But ask him a single thing about his personal life, like his locality or his family or his daily routine and he’ll make you feel as if befriending him was the biggest mistake of your life. But Aaena accepted this fact and soon learned to roll with it. She respects his privacy even after opening up completely to him. But soon she started getting irritated, especially at times like this when all she wanted is to talk her heart out to him but can’t. She had fought with him on the subject a few times but always lost. Aditya is a pro at changing the topic. Moreover, her mind got diverted due to the competition as well. But now, she is planning to make Aditya spill the beans. And she is adamant in her decision this time. She is now curious about his life. And let’s be honest here, no one likes it when the person who knows every little detail of your life, sometimes, feel like a stranger to you. 

“Hey! Mom has asked me to invite you for dinner tonight.” Aaena says, beaming with a broad smile she has carried all day long. Well, not really all day long, she got a little annoyed when Aditya reacted like a zombie when she first told him about her victory. But soon she got all cheery when she saw Aditya giving a killing look to the guy who questioned Aaena's loyalty. She was glad to see the pride in Aditya's eyes for her. 

"I can't promise you anything. But I'll try." Aditya says. 

This is exactly the kind of response Aaena was afraid to receive. She wants to celebrate this win with him, the one person who stood by her through all, but by the looks of him it doesn't feel like he is going to let this happen. 

Aaena rolled her eyes at him. "There's no trying Mr. Aditya Maheshwari. You are coming at my place tonight. I'm not hearing any excuses. Got it?" she says sternly.

"Hey! Congrats Aaena!" A girl, who never even cared a small talk or even a smile, surprisingly hopped towards her and hugs her. It is not the first time though something like this is happening with Aaena. Since morning she has received a number of such surprising gestures from not only her classmates but almost the whole school. Success brings popularity. 

Aaena passes a formal smile back and turns back to Aditya. She doesn't even care to say a 'thank you'. Well, why would she? None of them cared about her existence either. Moreover, she is more interested in forcing Aditya to come for the dinner tonight. 

"I haven't heard a 'yes' yet from you Mr. Aditya Maheshwari." she says and gives him a stern look. 

"Okay, I forfeit. I am coming. Happy now?" he says, quietly. 

"Really? Promise?" Aaena asks in shock. She can't believe Aditya has not argued. 

"Yeah. Promise."

"Cool!" she smiles even broadly. 

It's 9 and Aditya is still not here. Aaena told him to be at her place by 8. But it's already an hour late and still there is no sign of him. Aaena is getting infuriated slowly. She can't even ask him where he is or how much time he is going to take or even he is coming or not. Nothing. She should have taken his number today. But he once again resisted it and noted hers to call in any case of emergency. She checks her phone again to see if there's any message or a missed call from an unknown number. But, nothing.

It's 10 now. Aaena's mother, however, made her eat some food, although Aaena was reluctant. She is hurt. Aditya had promised her that he would come. She trusted him. Aditya broke his promise. He broke her trust. After all Aditya did in the past couple of months, he had built a respect for himself in Aaena’s heart. But now, she has to hate him just because of one night. It may seem like a petty issue to you. But for Aaena it is huge. She just detests people who break their promises, no matter how small they are. And she is sure Aditya knows this. Still, he didn’t fulfil his promise.

She is in her room now. The anger steams up in her eyes and starts flowing away in the form of tears. Aditya is going to have one hell of a day tomorrow. God save him!

Aaena climbs the stairs fast. She is half an hour early today. She can’t wait to meet Aditya and ask him why he didn’t come the other night. She reaches the classroom and starts shouting even before entering the gate properly. “Mr. Adi_” she stops as she sees the corner bench empty. Aditya is absent. It is strange. He never took a single leave in the past. She thinks to wait for him; maybe he will get late today. But then decides against it. She knows, if he hasn’t come yet, he is not going to come at all. But she needs him to give her an explanation for yester night. But how? She doesn’t even know where he stays.

Her anger fuels up. She has heard the rumours about the shady past of Aditya as well, but never believed them. She now wishes she did. Wait! That rumour guy, the one who followed him up to his apartment. He got famous after that rumour he had spread.

“Take me to Aditya’s place. RIGHT NOW!” Aaena howls at the rumour guy as soon as he appears in front of the school gate. She doesn’t even let him enter the school. He obviously gets shocked at this mad behaviour and doesn’t respond.

“Am I not clear to you? C’mon! Take me to his place. NOW!” she screams again and the guy understands it is no point arguing or even speaking up anything against it. He does as he is commanded.

In fifteen minutes they are standing in front of his apartment. “Here you go. He lives on the first floor. I’m not gonna come beyond this. The guy is a maniac. Anyways, all the best to you.” He says and heads back to the school.

Aaena takes a long deep breath. Finally! She feels as if something big was now going to come. She climbs up the stairs, thinking what she’s going to say to him.

She stands outside his apartment and as soon as she goes to ring the doorbell, she sees that the door is ajar. She can hear the sound of Aditya laughing but he is not alone. There is a girl too with him. She pushes the door open, quietly. His apartment is spacious but she finds nothing ‘shady’ there. She follows the sound of their voices and stops in front of a room.

She knows it is not right to invade anyone’s personal space like this but breaking promise isn’t the best thing to do either.

She tries to open the door but it is locked from inside. Her anger again takes the form of tears.

Suddenly the chit chat going on inside stops and Aaena hears someone walking towards the door.

Aditya comes out of the room. “AAENA!” he screams the loudest she has ever heard him. He’s evidently not pleased to find her land up at his place like this.

“So is that why you broke your promise. Your little date was obviously much more important than the promise you made to me. So tell me Aditya, how was your night? Did you enjoy it?” she howls at him, taking intervals to sob. 

“Shut up! You can’t land up in my apartment like this and then howl at me for false reasons like this. You wanna know why I didn’t come yesterday? You wanna know who I was with the whole night and because of whom I ditched you for that little dinner party of yours? Then come with Me.” he holds Aaena’s hands firmly and drags her to the room.

“She is my sister. She had a nightmare a couple of days back and is still not over it. That’s why she asked me to stay with her. I couldn’t refuse. We talked and laughed the whole night so that her mind could divert. She is my sole family. If anything would have happened to her then I won’t ever be able to forgive myself.” He says pointing towards a beautiful face with a charming smile. Aaena is shocked. Aditya is still speaking but she has stopped hearing. She is just looking in the direction Aditya is pointing his finger at. There’s no one in the room except both of them. Aditya is pointing towards a picture hanging on the wall.

“Aditya, there is no girl here. It’s just a photo.” She says quietly, almost whispering to herself.

Aditya stops speaking. “You’re like everyone else, Aaena. This is the only reason I don’t let anyone get into my personal life. No one understands.” He takes a pause and then moves close to the picture. “She had an accident more than a year ago. People say that she is dead. I don’t believe them. The scoundrels also burnt her body. But I know she is still alive. She talks to me, daily. You wanna talk to her too? Give it a try, I’m sure you’ll like her.” Aditya takes Aaena’s silence as a ‘yes’. 

“Di, she is my best friend, Aaena. She is annoyed because I didn’t go to her place yesterday for dinner. I told you she will get mad.” He says to the photo.

“Hello Aaena. Please don’t get mad over my brother. He is a nice guy.” Aaena heard a girl saying. But then she realises it was none other than Aditya speaking in a female voice.

It is hard to realise but it is true, Aditya is a psychopath. She assumes that he is not yet over the fact that his sister has left this world. He is traumatized.

She wants to run away. But she can’t. She closes her eyes and remembers the first day she met him. he was the only one there to support him that day and has always been there for her since then. This is now her turn to pay back. 

“It’s nice to meet you.” Aaena smiles. She promises herself that she will not leave Aditya and help him recover.

She makes a promise to be faithful towards her friendship.


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