~ 17: The Roommate - Part 2 ~

I cried out in agony. Melissa's hands were right around me, trying to figure out the remedy for the sudden affliction. But neither of us could do much about it.

'The only miracle I believe is the one sent by God!' I screamed at the voice. 'If He has given me the ability to see the future, it is because He wills it and wants me to do a task. And I shall gladly do it with honour.'

It subsided immediately. If a punishment hurt like this, I wondered how much the girl beside me endured. Her weight was healthy since she came from a middle-class family. But the red scars and purple bruises spoke more than a thousand words. She might have broken the bones of her forearm or spinal cord if she had to handle such a torment.

I didn't approach her with that question again. The last thing she would want is a mental disorder from seeing those horrifying scenes. It would be better if she forgot all of them. That was the only mercy that the world could bestow on her rough life.

Her question-marked, concerned face changed back to her light-hearted self when I had reassured her with a thumbs up. She still held my back to support it. It was a marvel that she could be so joyful in a wretched life.

We made our way to the bus and sat in the middle seats. The questions we had for the other poured out like water from a mountain. We must have been the only ones talking nineteen to the dozen, with such fervour, that the others were staring at us, annoyed.

My face flushed whenever I realised my volume was too high. I know that it was morning time and some people tried to complete their lost sleep. Yet, today being the first day, I was unlike them, especially with the coffee I had taken. I would have obeyed their command of keeping quiet on any other day.

The ride was slightly unsteady since we lived on a small hill and yet smooth since the roads were well-kept and refined. A reddish-brown mist covered the tops of the buildings in the heart of the city instead of the outskirts. It was strange to see such a phenomenon.

"That's the only problem that all the cities have," said my friend. "The smog gets so heavy that people catch asthma."

'So 'that' is a smog,' I said to myself.

Learning and yet not seeing such phenomena was the only disastrous thing of studying. It was fun to observe and experiment to find these. Sadly, I didn't have that kind of a knack for science since what we did was nothing, and therefore, boring. I was more than happy to do something I excelled in and experiment with even the cheapest of materials.

The journey turned out to be a little longer as the bus picked up many students on the way. The last stop was near a convenience store, near the alley where I was struck down yesterday. That gave us a lot of time to talk.

I learnt that she was a Language student, starting her first year here. She frankly said that she was a year older than me as circumstances didn't let her get through the entrance exam the first time. Living close to downtown would mean she was considerably wealthy, but that wasn't so. Her life looked so because of the education and care she received, yet it belonged to the upper-middle-class. Surely, even in such a case, she would be treated as people were in palaces.

The girl's shiny black hair and small, kind round face made it easy to befriend her. Her large, warm brown eyes held mirth in them, and they were never really inflicted with sorrow. It must hurt to smile so much, but because of its candour, I was unable to bring myself to ask its demerits.

I was glad that the number of seniors on the bus was outnumbered by the number of freshmen, although older people also sat on the local bus. It was interesting that few seniors took the bus or maybe even lived near the university. They probably forsook them as they were able to earn some good money through internships and live off in a better home.

Melissa spoke heartily about her childhood memories. There very few I could relate to, especially the ones associated with the sea and nature, in general. We recounted the pretty little shells and rare stones that one would find at the shore, how the splish-splash of the waves sounded and felt on a boat and bonfires that were built around the harvest during annual festivals in the mountains when the sun dipped into the sea.

The countless memories couldn't be spoken out at once as the bus arrived at the university. Everyone hopped out at once, jumping over the other to get out, while Melissa and I stayed back till the last of them had cleared out.

With half an hour in our hands, we walked outside the institution, trying to a vague idea of what each side contained. The university was as big as a palace and it took much of our time to get around. It took longer since we were looking at it for the very first time.

Later, we gathered in The Court of Lights as ordered once we reached the main gates. A small morning session was held to introduce the university's facilities, events and activities throughout the year. We were arranged into groups based on the classes we were going to be in. Then, the educators were presented to us formally, with their respective achievements. It seemed that all the reputed people had gotten into the Wildon.

This time, I wanted to tour Melissa around the campus. Being the first day for the newcomers, they didn't schedule any classes in the first half of the day. That gave the students time to get their necessary materials, timetables and required documents since there would be lines throughout the day.

We had three hours before class, so we used it up in first getting Melissa's papers and my card, then her books and later, travelling around the campus. It went faster than usual since Chatty Aidan wasn't there and the pair of us easily kept pace with each other.

It took thirty minutes to go around the whole of the third floor, including the Science and Commerce Sections. There wasn't much to see on the Division of Histories as they were traditional subjects that one studied in school. The models on exhibition were of little interest to us as they weren't quite as marvellous as we expected.

The bell rang through the corridors and people rushed to their respective classes. We watched it while climbing down the stairs, enjoying the momentary freedom. People ran up and down the steps, pushing to one side. In a minute or two, the hallways were empty again and we were free to go down the stairs.

We had just reached the second floor when we saw Aidan climb up. He was more striking in daylight, with the sun rays kissing his wet and sweaty skin. He was rubbing the beads of perspiration off his head when he noticed us.

"How wonderful to see you, Celest," he greeted in a chirpy voice.

"You are being very informal during school hours, sir," I returned, turning away my flushed face.

"Drop that already. If anyone says anything, they can talk it out with me."

His lean, muscular body was clearly visible from his red thin sleeved shirt and grey shorts. The spiked shoes in his hands said that he was training on the track field. It was improper for him to have shown up like that.

But my friend must have liked it for she was clearly drinking him in. I internally facepalmed myself and turned a darker shade of red.

"Is it that hot in here? You look like a tomato," he said, stating the obvious.

"Of course it is," I snapped back softly. "You see how Melissa is looking at you unabashed."

"N-no, not at all," she said, turning red. "I just haven't seen someone like you..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, inclining his body forward with his arm resting on the handrails.

"Don't you have classes to attend to?" I fired at him, coming between the lion and the mouse.

"No, I don't," he answered with a smug smirk. "As a matter of fact, because I'm a genius in Music, the teacher apparently doesn't want me sitting there and wasting time. For this week at least, I'm free from Music lessons."

'Arrogant prick,' I swore under my breath.

"Did you say something?" he questioned with a lifted brow.

"Did you meet Mr Zacharia? I thought that was important," I said quickly. I cursed at myself for trying to get in trouble with a senior.

"That can wait, can't it? After all he's free the who—"

"Oh no, it can't. When you get free time, use it wisely to complete important work."

I pushed him to head away to the counsellor already. He returned a pout, which irked me. There was limited time to get stuff done and with this guy around, everything would go so slowly that I would rather pray for my death than hear his useless prattle.