Part IX

The school bell rang giving a warning sign that the gates are about to close, luckily I slid through just in time, only to get surrounded by a large crowd of girls holding roses in their hands?....yes, you heard it right when I said am a mini-celebrity in my school, I meant that I am popular among the school girls who thinks that I am much more handsome than the boys studying in the school. These girls surround and admire me whenever I visit school, stuffing my desk with love letters and offering their tiffin during recess. They ask for my autographs, and in extreme cases, they ask me to pretend to be their boyfriend in exchange for their pocket money, "Business is good" but how to explain to these people that I am not into girls, and I feel extremely uncomfortable when they surround me like this.

Me: (I winked at them and smirked) Alright Ladies, time for classes, hope you don't want teachers to scold me just because I kept you busy with my handsome face?

The girls start blushing and some even fainted, "Drama" I rolled my eyes while sighing, and they start handing the roses to me which I accepted with a smile before they returned to their respective classes. Every coin has two sides, where on one side, the girls were huge fans and were attracted to me, but the boys found me hateful. They often called me ugly and tried to bully me by writing curse words on my desk or even talking behind my back.

Among my classmates, there is a boy called Gouenji Sato, a small Japanese boy with short black hair and black eyes, fair skin, sometimes he secretly stares at me but whenever I look at him, he pretends to be busy reading books or feel too shy to look at my face. Gouenji is the son of my mother's friend, making him a frequent visitor at my house, though we hardly speak, for some reason I don't like him, especially after his mother asked mom to bond the two families through marriage after we grow up. Gouenji approached me after the first period, he looked shy and hesitated before mustering up the courage to speak.

Gouenji: Uhm…Anne, we would be playing football during the sports period…care to join us? (he looked at me with puppy eyes)

Agh….how can I reject him when he asks in such a cute polite manner… one thing I hate about Gouenji is that he is too cute and irresistible making him the second most popular boy after me. I nod slightly before looking away staring at the scenery outside the window, birds flying around in the sky, clouds floating slowly, the bright sun and clear blue sky, it was a hot summer day, I hate to admit it, but I was missing Maria, its already been a week since she left, I feel empty without her, ever since she entered my life I forgot what it means to be lonely. My loneliness disappears when I visit the nearby orphanage, the children there always welcome me with bright smiles, they love and adore me, and I feel peace being surrounded by them.

On the field, the boys have already started playing football without bothering to wait for me, they clearly looked down upon me, Gouenji gave me an apologetic expression before continuing with the game, instead of returning to the classroom or standing at some corner, I choose to join the basketball team for a fun game, I changed into tank top and shorts, tying up my hair into a ponytail. The game continued for an hour and by the time it ended, I was covered in sweat making my black tank top stuck to my body revealing the shape, I fist-bumped with the basketball team congratulating them for the good game before parting ways, I pulled up the tank top wiping my face with it revealing my chest and belly, as the girls watched me with admiration from far, one of the girls approached me noticing that I was feeling hot, as she handed me a water bottle, I smiled at her charmingly as she blushed running away feeling shy. Opening the bottle cap, I poured the water on my face and hair feeling refreshed before going to the changing room and grabbing a towel to wipe my face and dry my hair changing into normal clothes, and returning back to class. My stomach growled due to hunger as I stared out of the window absentmindedly waiting for recess.

Every day after school gets over, I visit a nearby orphanage, using my pocket money to buy chocolates for the children living there, currently, there are 20 children in the orphanage, 2 infants, and 10 children between the age group of 2-6 years and 8 at the age group of 8-14 years. My mother gives monthly donations to the orphanage and comes to look after them whenever she gets free time, in case she is busy, she sends me here saying it's good for my mental health.

The kids tackle and hugged me as soon as I entered the orphanage, jumping around and even smuggling me, I laughed and kept lying on the floor letting them have their way. The kids searched my pockets for candies and the teacher came running frustrated as she scold the children and asked them to let me breathe. The kids moved away obediently and looked down sadly after being scolded, I still lay there staring at the ceiling to catch my breath as I felt tired yet alive being surrounded by these balls of energy and love. The teacher stared at me with concern offering her hand, as I told her hand standing up and smiling at the children warmly.

Teacher : Uhm…I apologize for how the situation escalated, I will make sure to discipline them properly, hope they didn't hurt you. (She says worried because my mother sends fund to the orphanage, and the teacher is always worried that she will cut the money if something was to happen to me).

I shook my head reassuring her that am not hurt before looking at the children again, I got on my knees and opened my arms wide asking them for a hug, the children stared at the teacher who nodded in approval, as the children hugged me enthusiastically but this time maintaining discipline. These are my children, I love them more than anything, they are the only people in this whole world, who don't judge me or make me feel like a demon. They are always there when I feel lonely and need someone when my own family failed to give me that warmth and comfort. I hugged them for a while before walking into the kitchen to help the teacher cook a meal for them along with dessert, after that I went to read stories and play with the children, as I was playing with them.

I had the habit of making up my own stories to narrate, I picked up this habit while babysitting Angela every night. I started telling them of a wolf that used to bully cattle for fun because it made him look more powerful and better than others. The children listened to the story with concentration when one of them looked at me pouting.

Me: What's wrong, Daichi? (I asked him while pulling him onto my lap)

Daichi is a 2 years old boy, cute and chubby, he is innocent but curious about life at the same time. He was left outside the orphanage as an infant when the teacher found him and started raising him along with the other kids. He hugs me while staring at me with his large round eyes as if he has a lot to ask but doesn't know where to start.

Daichi: Why do big bad wolves living in the back alley bully us? Are we like lambs in their eyes? (He says while snuggling me)

Me : What do you mean? (I tilt my head confused while patting him and staring at the other kids for an answer) who is bullying you?

Kid 1: (she hesitated) No…No one sis. Don't mind Daichi…he is making up stories.

Daichi : (he looks at the girl and sticks out his tongue while scolding her) Daichi doesn't lie! You are just too scared…I know Anne sis will help us! (He buries his face in my chest sniffling)

Me : (I stroked Daichi's hair waiting for him to calm down before finally speaking) Who is bullying my lovely Daichi? Big sis will beat them all with a stick (I said funnily)

Daichi: (he looks at me, his eyes sparkling with tears) A-Anne sis….there are bad guys in the back alley….they always make fun of us and even beat us whenever they want. Last week they broke Kenji's arm and he was admitted to the hospital, but the teacher instructed us not to mention this to you because you will get worried.

Me: (my jaw hardens hearing it, I looked at the other kids, then signed to calm my anger before smiling brightly) Big sis, will make them cry, so don't be scared, alright?

They nodded feeling reassured, unfortunately, that day I couldn't look into the matter, because I still have to pick up Angela from the party, after leaving the orphanage I went straight to the house where I dropped my sister, only to find her standing outside with a depressed expression and signing like an adult. Her clothes were torn here and there, her hair was a mess, her accessories missing, and her makeup was ruined with a hint of tears in her eyes, she hugged herself while pouting and staring at the sky blankly. My expression gets darker as I gave out a murderous aura while approaching her, my mood was already worst after hearing that the orphanage kids are being Bullied, and now I am finding that my sister was treated badly at the party, I felt like a ticking bomb ready to blast at the person responsible for Angela's current condition, I stood in front of her trying my best to calm my anger so that I don't scare her.

Me : Who….who did this….to you….(I said in a low voice suppressing my anger for the moment)

Angela: (she looks at me with an expressionless look) Me…I did this to myself. (She signed again looking away)

Me : (my anger turned into confusion as I grabbed her arm making her look into my eyes) What are you talking about? Why would you do this to yourself? Are you trying to protect someone? It's fine Angela, I won't be angry…just tell me the truth. (I said worriedly)

Angela: I am telling the truth…(she says in a bored tone) I did this to myself….they were insulting sis and even said that they are glad that I didn't bring my demon sister to the party or it would have been bad omen….so I beat them up and left the party….I smashed that bitch's face on the cake and wished her a happy birthday, I also crashed her birthday presents and made sure she will forever remember this birthday. (She smiled happily holding my hand as if asking for praise)

That day, I was confirmed, that behind that innocent smile lives a psychopath, I was glad and scared at the same time, but every action has its own consequences, as soon as the words reached Angela's manager, she complained father that I am being a bad influence for her and that he should do something to keep us separated, she even went ahead saying that I should be sent either to boarding school or delinquent center because am a 'bad apple' in the basket, father ignored her remarks but since that day, Angela and my interactions became even harder than before, though it didn't affect our love for each other, it surely made me more lonely and I craved for attention even more, so to pass my time, instead of waiting for humans, I started playing chess with myself, the feeling of controlling the pawns gave me an unknown obsession that grew inside me even without noticing.

To be continued...