Window and glares.

The evening birds were faintly chirping, and the sky was turning a richer shade of blue, with crimson reminiscences of the sunset. I've always had a strange fascination with the sky. I'm not sure why, but they were so stunning and surreal that I kept staring at them, hoping to discover the mysterious reality behind them. Because in my eyes, everything was just a beautiful façade.

I kept looking at the never-ending horizon while walking.

‘’You might hit a tree, look where you’re going’’ a voice in front of me said bringing me out of my daze.

My cheeks had turned a slight crimson hue, making me internally groan; this is so embarrassing.

I lowered my attention from the stunning show of red and blue to the man who drove me here. His eyes were swollen, and he seemed to have had a decent hour of sleep.

‘’I am sorry to keep you waiting’’ I softly apologized.

"Don't worry, I got a decent hour of nap anyway," he said casually.

I nodded and got in the car after he unlocked it.

"So, did you get everything?" he asked as he reversed the car.

‘’Yeah, kind of. She told me that she would hand me the routine tomorrow’’ I responded, staring out the window.

‘’Tomorrow?’’ He inquired, looking at me through the rear-view mirror.

‘’Yeah, tomorrow I have one of my counseling sessions, so she asked me to collect it that time’’

He nodded, and a comfortable silence settled between us. The wind was bustling, reminding me of the tornado in my life.

‘’You will come back, right?’’ the voice of my little sister echoed in my ears as the memory flashed in my mind, her eyes welling up with unshed tears.

‘’of course’’ I whispered, kissing her forehead with tears continuously streaming down my cheeks.

The car came to a stop, jolting me back to the cruel reality.

When I got out of the car, I noticed the sky had darkened. There was an enormous building with red brick tiles and the words ‘Vad Hostel' written in a rich gold cursive font, much like the building ‘Block E.'

‘’They will send your suitcase to your room’’ the driver informed me. I nodded with a small smile.

‘’Thank you’’ I whispered softly.

‘’Eh- no worries, you differ from the other students I have brought here. They fry my brains the whole way. But you were different, you are different.’’ He emphasized,

‘’I don’t know why you are here, in this place’’ he pointed ‘Vad’, and continued, ‘’but I hope everything works out for you’’ he replied and his lips curved up a little making my eyes widen.

‘’What’s your name?’’ He asked.

‘’Cordelia’’ I replied quietly.

‘’Well, I am Joseph, and best of luck for that’’ he said pointing at Vad once again and turned around to leave.

I stayed rooted in my place until he drove away and then made my way towards the hostel. My new home, more like a beginning of a new chapter of my life.

I walked in through the glass doors; there were very few people walking around. The moment I entered, the few who were in the arena turned their heads towards me.

Some were analyzing me, while some were looking at me with strange eyes, making me squirm in my place.

I lowered my face and started walking. I didn’t know where I was going; I knew nothing about this place. Stopping on my tracks, I glanced around; by this time everyone went back to minding their business.

I pulled out the key of my room from my backpack where the room number was written. I looked around again, in order to find someone who could help me out to find the way to my room; my eyes fell on someone standing near the large window, with the wind gently blowing on their face.

A tall, dark-haired boy wearing a black hoodie was standing there, glancing outside the window. Somehow, I knew he was lost, and he was broken.

Cause, after all, only a broken soul can see through another broken soul.

I strolled up to him, in the hope that he would help me out.

‘’Excuse me’’ I called out softly.

He didn’t respond.

‘’Excuse me’’ I called out again yet a little bit louder this time.

No response.

‘’Excuse-‘’

‘’What do you want?’’ His gruff voice cut me off. He was still gazing outside the window.

‘’Could you help-‘’

‘’No’’ he replied angrily without looking in my direction.

‘’I am new-‘’

‘’Well, I don’t give a fuck, if you are new or not, LEAVE ME ALONE!’’ He growled spinning around and sent me a cold harsh glare.

My body started shaking in fear, as the same terror once again crawled inside me.

‘’I am sorry, I disturbed you’’ I quickly added softly. He looked at me with a weird expression and his eyes softened.

‘’I-will-will ju-just le-leave’’ I stuttered, turning around to leave and heard a groan.

‘’Stop’’ he called out. But I didn’t stop I picked up my pace and started walking faster.

‘’Stop!’’ he called out, grasping my wrist, making me flinch. I yanked my hand away from him.

‘’What?’’ I asked quietly, avoiding his eye contact.

I raised my eyes to look at him when he didn't reply; only to find him staring at me with a scrutinizing gaze, as if he was trying to read me.

When he noticed me looking at him, he cleared his throat.

‘’What is your room number?’’ He asked awkwardly.

‘’No need-‘’

‘’What is your room number?’’ he repeated, raising his eyebrows. I checked the key and raised my head to answer him.

‘’it is 506’’ I replied softly.

He nodded while his eyes softened, looking at me.

‘’I am sorry’’ he replied quietly, making me awkward.

‘’It’s alright’’ I assured with a sad smile.

‘’It’s just, it’s-it’s jus-‘’ he stuttered and groaned, pinching his nose.

‘’it’s fine, I understand’’ I replied with a small smile while he nodded.

‘’It’s on the fifth floor, you can take the elevator’’ he pointed to the elevator and continued, ‘’your room is situated in the right end corner’’

‘’Thanks,’’ I replied with a smile.

‘’No problem’’ he said and rubbed his neck with his hand.

‘’I hope we can forget whatever happened earlier?’’ He asked anxiously.

‘’Sure’’ I replied with a bright smile.

Does that mean he was my friend?

Before I could question him, he already made his way near the window but this time he didn’t look lost, in fact, his lips were a little curved.

Dismissing my thoughts of again nagging him, I made my way towards the elevator.

‘’Welcome, please press the floor number you want to go’’ a robotic female said when I entered the elevator.

Muttering five, I pressed button 5. The doors of the elevator closed making my heart pound in my chest. Releasing a shaky breath, I recomposed myself.

There was no one in the elevator with me, and thank god for that.

While the elevator rose, I rested my head against the elevator wall and stared at the ceiling. I couldn't help but think of how my life had taken a 360-degree turn in a matter of hours.

‘’She’s the culprit, she did this!’’ His words which laced with venom echoed in my ears. I clenched my hands into a fist and closed my eyes to avoid the unwanted tears to fall.

The elevator stopped and tinged once again, indicating that I reached my destination.

The moment I walked out of the elevator, my eyes widened on their own accord.

On the other side of the elevator, stood a tall, muscular boy who was continuously punching another boy on his face.

‘’I am sorry!’’ The guy cried out. I looked around to see if anyone was near, but there was no one. My legs began to tremble as fear gripped my body.

Save him!

A voice in my head exclaimed, but my legs and body were glued in the place where I was standing.

Save him!!

The voice roared louder in my mind, making me take a shaky step with my trembling legs. I didn't know I was crying until I let out a small sob and covered my mouth with my hands,

‘’Please save me!!’’ The boy shouted when he saw me, but the guy beating him didn’t seem to notice me, he kept on hitting that guy in the face, he looked like a man on a mission.

‘’He’s going to kill him’’ I whispered to myself, as tears were streaming down my eyes.

Inhaling sharply I made my way towards them,

‘’Stop!’’ I called out. But he didn’t hear; kept on hitting the boy.

‘’Stop!!’’ I shouted and shoved his large body backward, his steps falter as he backs away. I stood in front of the guy who was disgustingly bleeding. The guy who beat to his pulp was now breathing heavily and raised his eyes to meet mine with a cold, murderous glare.