Chapter 62

2022.09.22

I and Steven rushed out of the mall to get a cab only to be stopped by Barron. "Hey, babes!" Oh, I have not officially introduced Barron to you. It all started on the fourth day to the University. I accidently took down the path were Art students being ragged. Now the medical students are of the serious type and they rarely involve in ragging and I was with Head during the time of ragging so I escaped it. Barron is a senior. He was watching over the freshmen and he is kind of a bully. I even heard from Steven that he comes from a pretty rich family. I was in a hurry to get to the lecture. I tried to push through the crowd. I thought of using the garden to cross. It was not allowed but I thought because of the crowd they would not mind and I had an excuse.

I walked on the corner of the garden near the crowd to avoid any attention. One of the senior saw me. He thought I was escaping the ritual. He held his hand out and screamed. I did not bother. HE came through the crowd and pulled by my arm. I lost my balance because it was unexpected. I fell on to Barron who was just below me. I ripped his three shirt buttons. My heart pounded in the rib cage. 'Oh, s***.' I picked up the three buttons and looked at him. "What the hell! This was my brand new shirt!" Barron screamed. Everyone went quiet. I quickly replied in an apologetic voice. "I am so sorry. I did not mean to. I am a medical student. And I forgot the path. So used this way." I was holding the buttons tightly. "Okay so what are you going to do about my shirt? I can walk around like this." he gestured his hands up and down to his shirt. I turned around and I noticed that I was standing in front of Fashion designing department. A freshman who was a girl stood next to me. I read her tag, she was in the fashion department. "Sister, can I get a needle and a…" I looked at Barron to see for the thread color I needed. "… Light blue or white thread?" Before she handed over he removed his shirt and handed it over.

I sat down and stitched the buttons to the style it was stitched. The freshman were dismissed. Barron stood in front of me with abs flexing and girls getting a sneak peek at him. Even I did. I finished in three minutes. I returned the needle and the thread with a candy. I turned to Barron, "Sorry, about what happened. Thank you for understanding me. I have to go I am already late. I gave him his shirt back with a candy. I ran from the place. I came to the class just a minute late. "You are late." Steven whispered. "I will tell you later." He nodded and we went back to concentrating. So this is how I met Barron. And after that he started hitting on me. I even heard that he barely talks and hits on any girls. Steven said, "You might be special. He is pretty nice guy. Why do not you date him for a while?" "Did he pay you to convince me? Can we stop talking about it?" He would hang around during the intervals and sometimes in front of the lecture hall. I did not entirely hate his presence. He respected my space. If any other boys try to hit on me he would warn them. He was like the ultimate top dog in the senior batch. Sometimes during the time between two lectures I and Steve would sit in the library. He would come and sit with us and study and sometimes I would help him with his design in architecture.

Back to the present. "Do not tell me you are dating this glasses." Barron said with the intention of wanting to get Steven angry. Steven almost never gets angry. He is always calm and collected. "Barron not now. We have to go." "Come on. You never go out with me. Just one day." I saw Lily, her mother and her sister coming out of the store towards us. I turned to Steven. "We really have to go." I looked back at them. They were near us. I turned my head and took the bouquet from Steven's hand and closed my face with it until they pass us. "Why are you hiding? Is that your family?" Barron asked. He turned and said "Hi! You must be Anna's family?" Steven got anxious. Lily's sister saw me. "Oh! Now the B****claims to be her family? How shameless?" Her mother and Lily finally noticed me. "How does she have the guts to stand in front us?" She raised her voice, "Everyone gather around. This is the b**** that ruined both of my girls' life and now she is dating two boys at once." The people in the mall were watching. Lily spoke next, "Are you happy now? I will expose you. You made bullied me and paid the school to favor you." One of the guy took his phone out to video. I quickly turned on my heel, handed the bouquet to Steven and walked out of the mall.

Before I could make any steps more than two. Lily's mother pulled me from my left shoulder, tearing the dress exposing my bra. People gasped. I held the dress from falling apart. Steven put the bouquet and the gifts down making some of the roses to lose its petals. He removed his blazer and put it on me. He was angry. He turned and took back the gifts and the bouquet from the floor. "If you lay another hand on her, I will make you regret. We all know what kind of a S**t you are. Womanizer. Act like a lady." Lily was about to talk back. "Shut your sewage before I rip them apart." The cab had arrived. Steven's phone rang. He held the things in one hand and the other he put around my shoulder and took me to the cab. Barron. Barron he stood there. He became a statue.

We got on to the cab. I was silent. He was fuming. "It was the first time I saw you get angry." He turned towards me and looked back at the window. He was cooling himself down. He suddenly told the driver to stop. He got down and bought two drinks. He handed one to me and asked, "May I ask what is the problem with that woman?" I took a sip. "Sure." I told him the whole story. The driver also joined our conversation. "I am now wondering what kind of story to come up with to tell my mother. I really do not want her to know about any of this." He nodded.

We finally came. I started my recording. I filmed him go in to the house. She ran towards him and hugged. She was beautiful to be honest. She opened the gifts and asked what happened to the bouquet and he gave the lamest excuse that he accidently sat on it. He whispered to his girlfriend's ear. "Hey, you must be Anna. I heard a lot about you from Steven. Come, I have a gift for you." She held by my hand and took me to her room. "I bought you a t-shirt. A baggy one. Steven said you wear these a lot." "Hey! Emma. This is for you." I handed over a small box that contained a ring. And she gave me a t-shirt. I removed the blazer and put on the shirt over my dress and made a knot so that the t-shirt would stay put around my waist. "You are serious in fashion. It looks good and this RING! I never thought to get one like this. Just my size. I love how my name and Steven's is engraved on it." She hugged me tight. I do not do hugs but I hugged her. "To be honest I was insecure when I heard that Steven has female friend only. But I was scared for no reason." "That is pretty obvious. I do not like my guy to hang out with girls either. So I know madam, I will keep my distance." we laughed and exchanged phone numbers.

Steven knocked on the door. "Anna, your ride is here. Better hurry!" I said my goodbyes and left. I was exhausted. I came home and yes they noticed the t-shirt. I told my mother that I ran in to a window. She asked me to lift the t-shirt to see if we can mend the dress. She gasped. "Did you not see that you have scrapes on your skin?" "What?" I dashed to my room and saw in the mirror. I could not clearly see. My mother took a photo. It was three long lines. It was slightly dug in to the skin. I wondered if she was a witch. I could tell my mother had her doubts. Engel asked what happened and I said the same thing. I just want to keep this to myself. I took pictures of the scratches. I saved them on desktop.

There was a message from Emma. 'I am terribly sorry for what happened to you today.' I replied, 'You do not have to be at all. It was meant to happen.' She replied with an emoji. I read the message and let the phone sit on the bed. I took two paracetamol. I was scared if anyone had video the incident. I cannot let my parents know about it. I could not sleep so I had a sleeping tablet.

2022.09.23

My phone was bombarded with mails. It was Barron. I did not read any of them. I took the lunch my mother had packed me and my father dropped me to University. My shoulder was swollen. I could tell that Lily's mother absolutely hate and will not show any sort of mercy.

When I came to the lecture hall. I saw Steven and Barron were in front of the hall. They were waiting for me. I did not reply to any of their messages. Steven was serious. Barron was quite sad. I walked past them to the class. Barron pulled me from my left shoulder. I gasped and pulled away with pain. "You okay?" Barron was almost tearing up. He was truly sorry about what had happened yesterday. "My shoulder is swollen." "Wait what?!" both of them said in a chorus. "Can we talk about this in the lunch?" "Okay. See you in lunch" Barron said and raised his hand to Steven.

"So how bad is it?" Barron asked me handing me a juice box. I kept my lunch box aside and poked the straw in to the juice box. "Kind of bad. The scratch is around a one and half centimeter in depth." Steven was putting a mouthful of rice. "What kind of woman is she? What does she think about herself?" Steven mumbled. "Don't choke yourself with food" I advised Steven. "And Barron if anyone posts a video of yesterday's incident I will never forgive you." "About that I took care of it once you left the mall." "Thoughtful of you. And Steven can I speak to Barron alone?" "Sure." Steven left.

Barron straightened himself. "Ummm, any problem?" "I kept aside the juice box and looked at him. "Barron I know you like me. And you are a really nice guy and not to mention you are very handsome and hot. I was lucky to meet someone like you and I would be blessed if I can spend the rest of my life." "You like me?" "I tried. I cannot. I do not want to pretend to like you. I do not want to hurt you by any means. I think it is best to cut ties." "We can still be friends?" His voice cracked. "I do well know that once you have feelings to someone it is hard going back to friends. You just cannot. Thank you for being really nice even when I gave you cold shoulder. I am not rejecting you because of what happened in the mall. I just do not want to hurt someone who cares for me. Hope you can understand me." He stood and walked away. I know he was tearing up. I clasped my hands hard. I do not know what to do. I really did not know what I was afraid of. I could have dated Barron. He was the sweetest guy I ever met. It just. It just did not feel right. If I keep him hanging further he will miss the wonderful women better than me in his life. I discarded the juice box and left to attend the next lecture.