The Scent of Hatred

"This is your room. You'll be staying here. My room is next to yours so you can call me if you need anything. There's some snacks in the fridge, you can get whatever you want from there. You can tell me when you feel like to meet the others, I'll show you around. " She took out a key from her pocket and unlocked the door of an empty room.

I thanked her for showing the way and apologized for the earlier incident.We exchanged phone numbers and bid each other goodbye. I entered the room and shut the door behind me.

"So tiring....." I walked to the bedroom and jumped straight into the fluffy bed without taking care of my growling stomach.

*Riiiinng*

I woke up to the ringing of my phone. I searched for my cellphone with my eyes still closed and my head still glued to the pillow. I found my phone beside the pillow and answered the call without checking who it was.

"Hello..?"

"Rai, it's me — Hazel. There's something I need to inform you. This might be surprising but....the others of our batch are throwing a welcoming party for you."

"A party? Do they usually do that for newcomers?" I immediately got up from my bed in surprise.

"They don't. It's kinda weird that they're throwing a party for such a small thing, so just...be careful. Get ready by 6 pm."

"Alright. See you later." I replied.

"See you."

I didn't think much of what she meant by 'be careful' but I certainly didn't expect what was in store for me—...

I hung up the call and checked the time.

"It's 5:30 pm...Wait, what? 5:30?! I slept for 6 hours?!"

I kept my phone aside and walked into the bathroom. After a splash of cold water on my face, I felt better and livelier and the sleepiness faded away from my eyes. When I reached for the wardrobe, I realised that I didn't have any clothes with me, so I decided to go with what I was wearing. It was simple but definitely not that bad for a small party.

I ran my fingers through my bangs to comb my messy hair. After being satisfied with my look, I headed out.

I found Hazel on her wheelchair, tapping her fingers on the armrest. She wore a black turtleneck sweater and jeans with black knee high boots which highlighted her pale features. Her hair was tied into a high ponytail which showed off her complexion. She didn't have any makeup on — not what I expected from a girl.

"Hey." She smiled.

We had a small chat before heading out to the party. I rang the doorbell of the apartment in which the party was supposed to go on.

A girl of our age wearing sassy clothes opened the door and smiled at me, but her smile faltered and disgust filled her eyes when she saw Hazel next to me.

I was sure I heard her mumble under her

breath, "What the...she's here too?"

But nevertheless, she welcomed both of us in.

*Poof!!*

As soon as I entered, I flinched at the sound of party poppers everywhere.

"Welcome to Peace Blossoms, Rai!" They shouted out in unison.

Normally, when met with such a sweet welcome, it would warm anyone's heart. But it wasn't the case for me. I felt really uncomfortable since I've never received that much attention in my life, and Hazel had noticed it too. But I tried to not let it expose to them. I faked a smile and thanked them all for the party.

Everyone was enjoying the music and laughing with each other.

I nervously gulped down a whole glass of lemonade in an instant. I knew from the very beginning that I wouldn't fit in with them and it seems, the same goes for Hazel. She was all alone in one corner, observing everyone and quietly sipping on her orange juice.

So I decided to spark a conversation with her. I was about to call out her name when—

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Come over here, dude!" The boys dragged me into their gang and started introducing themselves to me and naturally, I played along.

*8:00 pm*

I got to know their names — Sam, Aleck, Noah and Ash were the friendliest among all of them — and also that all of them had part time jobs since they didn't really want to put much burden on the director to pay for their personal expenses such as food and clothes...which was really nice of them to do. They also shared their stories of how they'd gotten into this orphanage.

We were casually chatting when the girl with the sassy clothes who welcomed us inside ran up to Noah nervously and gave her phone to him.

"What?" Noah asked the girl in confusion.

"Just watch it!" She whispered anxiously while glancing at me — more like, 'glaring' at me every now and then.

"What's her problem?" I thought and just stared back at her in confusion. Noah's eyes grew wide. He stared back and forth at me and then at the screen of the phone in horror.

"What's wrong? Why do you look like you're about to piss your pants?" The others laugh at his trembling lips.

"T-Take a look yourself..." He gulped nervously.

"Why? What's the matter?" Sam noticed that it wasn't a joke anymore and snatched the phone from him to take a look.

The others surrounded him curiously to take a look at the phone. They gasped in shock and stared at me.

"Y-You are...."

"What's the matter? Why are you all staring at me like that..?" I laughed nervously.

"Get out, you bloody murderer!!" Aleck yelled in anger.

I flinched at his words. Everything was really sudden and I tried to explain but they weren't taking any of that. The others looked at me in disgust and pretended to whisper to each other, even though it was clearly audible.

"Did you see? Rai's in the news!"

"He murdered his mother and his 2 year old sister! Can you believe it?!"

"He's a heartless monster! How could he do that to a 2 year old girl?"

"He's as horrible as sin! Look at those bodies!"

I stood there with my head lowered and my hands were balled up into trembling fists. I could do nothing but give up to their humiliation. No one would listen to me even if I tried to explain. They just saw the first side of the coin — they wouldn't even bother to flip it and see the other side.

"ENOUGH!" I heard a familiar voice.

I turned in the direction of the speaker, and saw Hazel, her brows knit together and her eyes screamed of irritation.

"Why are you so ready to spit garbage out of your mouths without knowing the truth?!" She glared at them.

"You know what? It was a sin for us to invite a murderer and on top of that...YOU." The girl with the sassy clothes rolled her eyes. Hazel had more to say to them but I stopped her. I didn't want to hear any of their humiliations.

"Let's go, Hazel." I urged her.

She gave up "Fine...let's go."

We rushed out of the apartment but I could still hear their words ringing in my ears — 'Murderer'

We were on our way back home but none of us spoke a word.

"Don't mind their words. They're just...like that." She said, breaking the tension between us. I could still see the irritation in her face from earlier.

"They're not the only one who thinks I killed my family. What if they report to the police?" I looked down at my feet.

"They won't. No one goes against the director." She replied.

Suddenly, she halted. On noticing her, I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at her.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She smiled as if she had something interesting going on in her mind.

"You know what? Let's not go home now."

"Why?"

"Just follow me. I wanna show you something." She smiled playfully.

"Where...exactly are we going?" I frowned.

"Oh, come on! Why are you so suspicious? I am not kidnapping you or anything." She slapped my arm.

"Fine..." I gave up and decided to go with her.

After a 20 minutes walk, I found myself standing in front of what seemed like a trail leading into a forest.

"Now I feel like you're actually planning to kidnap me." I stared at the thick, tall trees darkening the trail as it deepened into the forest.

"There's a surprise for you inside." She smiled at me enthusiastically.

"You mean, my death?" I scoffed at her.

"No! Something...really beautiful." She grinned widely and motioned me to follow her.

"Be careful with the wheelchair. The trail seems really bumpy." I warned her, while trying not to trip over a rock in the dark.

"I have been here more than you can imagine. I know every corner of this forest." She replied.

We walked and walked, even though I told her to get back home when a spider got stuck in my hair and I lost my balance, tripped over and hurt my elbow.

"Where are we even going to?" I was getting frustrated by walking through the endless trail of hell.

"Here." She smiled.

I managed to look up after patting off the dried leaves from my hair.

"This is..it? Is this what we came here for?" My shoulders dropped.

All I could see was a plain filled with grasses which looked unattractive in the dark. There was nothing to be so excited about.

"It's not over yet!" She inched closer to the field of grass.

As soon as the grasses stirred on noticing her presence, little beaming lights flew up into the sky and illuminated the vibrant green grasses.

I stared at the scene in awe. I went into the grasses to join her. The little fireflies surrounded the grasses all around us.

"Breathtaking, right? I usually come here when I feel down." She smiled at the fireflies.

"Yeah, it is. And...how did you come to the orphanage, if you don't mind me asking?" I've been curious about it for a while now and this seemed like the best opportunity to ask her.

She glanced at me and then her eyes wandered back to the grasses. "I was

disabled from birth, but my parents still loved me and took great care of me. And one day, they died while protecting me from a man who broke into my house. I was sent to my grandmother's house to live with her but..she, too, gave her life for me. Everyone thought I was unlucky and better off dead than to let others die for me. I remember almost getting strangled to death by my uncle because he blamed me for my grandmother's death. At her funeral, I met the director. He was a close friend of hers and he brought me to stay here." She finished her story and stared at me with a smile, "What about you?"

"Just as unlucky as yours." I smiled at her.

I didn't realise it until today...

The world is too ironic. It takes sadness to know what happiness feels like.

I realised that I wasn't the only one who'd had their world go upside down. There were others like her who stayed strong rather than trying to end their lives. There was one thing true about what my Dad told me once, "Life is like a piano. The white keys show happiness and the black keys show sadness, but as you venture on in life, remember that the black keys also make music."

I still have a long fight ahead of me. And this time, I won't sit back and watch everyone turn their backs on me.