Chapter 7: A Broken Guy's Story

Kate Summer's Pov

If you ask a bad person who has matured enough to label themselves as bad, then they will be envious of a good person for they aren't able to regulate their urges and desire the self-control possessed by the latter group. Similarly, if you ask a good person with the same level of maturity, they will express their jealousy for bad people who can do what they want, without being internally constricted by moral reasoning and lead a happier life, as shallow as it may be.

In my opinion, the idea that good and bad people can be generalized into dichotomous moral categories is indeed flawed, but it's what society reacts to and leads to change.

But anyway, if you ask me whom I am envious of, then I will probably look like an imbecile. I envy good and bad people for at least they can conform to a dichotomous connotation of moral character. I ...on the other hand, continue to sink deeper into hell even though I might possess the necessary self-restraint to chain myself back to the earth.

I have never managed to achieve a single thing in my life on my merit. At the beginning of this realization, I felt a sharp sting in my chest but I had come to terms with it and absorbed myself, shaking hands with evil whenever beneficial. I craved recognition and power and I got it. Oh! I got it all right...until all that was left in my life was swallowed by it completely.

When those damned results came and everyone but I passed in the first year (In Wonavilla), I should have been warned and heed to the signs asking me to mend my ways.

Yet, I carried on, dissolving my hands further in the mudhole until the whole of my flesh had been engulfed. Drawn to the mud like an inseparable cluster of dead and dry leaves waiting to be either trampled or blown away by the wind in the inevitable future.

It is just that I didn't expect that wind would turn out to be so fearsome.

I tug my lips between my teeth, not intending to hide my annoyance at being bossed around by my new partner. A partner whose hands hadn't been stained yet with malice like mine.

The sole person in my life whose black eyes sparked so brightly at everything that I felt obliged to prevent them from ever being ensnared by the mala fide of this world.

Well, these feelings were nothing more than momentary reactions after all. Neither one of us held any sort of trust in the other just yet. To make an absurd claim of expelling all the second years, either he was a fool, hell-bent on winning my support for his purpose, or just a madman in the making.

Today, he had called me to Raul's place for a special meeting. Clearly, this guy was way too callous with his class attendance and expected the same behavior from me. Still, I relented and skipped classes by sneaking out right before the homeroom teacher had made her way into the classroom through the backdoor.

On the outside, Raul's place looked like a throwaway food canteen, but on the inside, its facilities and set-up were quite exquisite, and could even give Starbucks cafe a run for their money. I had only dined here a couple of times as I wasn't particularly fond of the flavored drinks, which were the main specialty of this place.

Barely had I placed my right foot inside the place, that I heard an enthusiastic voice calling me out. "Took you long enough, Summer. Come here, quick."

Ignoring the curious gazes of the people dining there towards me, I looked around until I spotted those unmistakable silver curls. He waved at me, wearing the facade of a normal giddy friend. His greyish-black striped vest complemented his black t-shirt quite nicely.

Huh, why was he looking bright today? 

A skin-crawling thought passed through my head for a moment at which I pinched my waist through the light blue top that I had decided to try today. 

Ugh! What was I even thinking? He is nothing but a necessary pest with whom I need to work until my needs are met. 

Wearing a cheerful smile on my face, I waved back at him and pulled a chair beside his table, keeping an eye on the stranger with whom he was interacting a moment ago. He wasn't wearing a school uniform so it was hard to guess his exact year for each year had bit distinct marks for each year on their uniform but by his height and facial hair, he should be at least a sixth year. 

I am sure that he must have felt my gaze towards him and yet he showed not even the slightest interest in even looking toward me. He laid his hands on the table with his fingers of each hand interlocked into each other and glanced at Max who nodded for some reason. 

I suppose introductions are on the way!

Yet even after a whole minute, all I could hear was the unwanted incessant sound of the wall clock ticking loudly in my head. Why was Max so quiet, staring at me so intently? Was he waiting for some kind of realization to hit me? If that was the case, I'd seriously cuss him out right now.

My hands clenched the edge of the table tightly, filled with an eerie restlessness. I could feel the blood accumulating in my veins, ready to burst through with pressure, but I still couldn't afford to relieve it. It was a necessary ingredient in concocting a false impression that my thoughts weren't being displayed on my face.

"I'll start then," Max spoke, at last, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Sorry to put you on the spot like that, Kate. I've confirmed my hypothesis." He gave me a small, comforting smile as if he was deliberately trying to infuriate me. 

Without waiting for my answer, he pointed towards an unknown guy. "You might not know him by his face as he doesn't mingle with juniors like his peers, but you must have heard his name at least once: Tommy Larson, a man delightful whether one listens to his own or others' secret from him."

Tommy Larson...yes, I'd heard that name. In fact, there's never been a month since I came to Wonavilla that I haven't heard his name being uttered in one controversy or another. What was he doing here with Max?

"No need for such flattery, kid. Let's just get on with this story," Tommy rebutted Max with his hoarse voice, dry as amber on the tree in stark contrast to Max's soft tone.

"You're right. I apologize. Just give me a moment." Max bowed his head. I couldn't help but widen my eyes. This was certainly surprising. I haven't had that many interactions with this guy yet, but he sure doesn't seem like the apologetic type, especially for such a reason. What was going on here?

"Kate, as per our deal, I need you to do a simple task for me. All you have to do is listen. Don't think, don't blink, don't react. Just focus your mind. Just stay still in your seat no matter what happens, even if the hellfire engulfs this place." For making such an unreasonable request, Max's face sure appeared to be quite confident as he stared at me expectantly.

I cocked my head amusedly, bracing myself for the story ahead. "Sure, I'll entertain your wish."

With an indicative nod from Max, Tommy conjoined two of his fingers on his left hand together and took a deep breath. "Where to even begin? Alright." 

He sighed "People often say that it's hate and love that drives everything, that determines the self-evaluation of your existence. Yet, it has been proven wrong many times. Our existence is not just so banal to be tied to mere residues that happen to exist everywhere. The desire and the pursuit of it give an existence more thrill."

"If you give an expensive car to a poor person, he will be happy for a while but feel no different than ever before. His life is relatively more convenient, and yet he arrives at his original state again. But if you tell a poor man that by doing a certain thing, he will get an expensive car, then every moment until he gets that car is the moment of unmatched happiness."

"It is the pursuit of happiness that we believe to be definite which makes us happy rather than arriving at final satiety. It makes no sense, does it? Why would we humans ever be happier while chasing our dream and getting closer to it than after we have achieved the dream."

Well, Tommy, you sure delved into dangerous territory, playing with the emotions and vulnerabilities of others in your quest for knowledge.

"This question persisted with me ever since childhood and so once I entered Wonavilla, so instead of working hard to get good grades, which I was already capable of, I decided to embark on a peculiar mission." 

I couldn't make heads and tail out of the fact that Max was making me listen to this bizarre tale but even so, I found myself getting captivated increasingly by the guy's way of speaking.

 Tommy carried on "I wanted to know what everyone desired here. I had no interest in exploiting it but only in its comprehension. And so I did. Starting from the very first year, I hatched secret friendships, earned their trust, and got them to share the darkest of their desires ."

"Yet by the second year, I was already exhausted from this never-ending cumbersome process. Collecting data wasn't enough. I still couldn't find the answers I was looking for. " His eyes beamed with a dangerous gleam. "So I changed my fundamental approach and rather than just being an impassive collector, decided to lure certain select people towards the actualization of their desires. I never imagined how powerful it felt to make others do what you want."

"But I had forgotten in this power-play that I was dealing with humans and not subjects. A few months ran wild and I was exposed. Oh! It was such a hassle to contain it all and when I had done it, I discovered that I had lost all my friends. But now, they could only see me as a necessary nuisance to bribe for protection. The uneasiness in their hearts was so apparent but they continued the deception nonetheless ."

He stopped for a moment, as he clutched his heart as contortions appeared on his cheek.

This was turning out to be one dark tale.

After taking a sip of water, Tommy commenced the tale again "Even the truth of their secrets pale in comparison to the truth of the monstrosity to which they remain blind. After a whole year, I had thought that everything was in the dust as it rightly should have been, and yet here, another confession came, without any premeditation and warning. " 

Tommy turned his gaze towards Max, his eyes detached from everything "This boy understood the real price and he paid it without any undue hesitation. 'Exchange of a story for a story, without sprinkling any lie.' That's my code. So, do you want to guess what question he would have asked in return?"

I raised my eyebrows confused, taken aback by the abrupt question. This very line of conversation was strange, to say the least. How would I know?

"No answer " Larson continued without giving her a chance to reply "That is what he asked. He shared his story with me, giving me a sense of power without expecting anything in return. It was at that moment, I realized there was no answer that I could give to this him for he already believed that he could find it all on his own. "

What...why would Max ever choose that stupid option? It makes no sense to approach a guy who knows all secrets and yet ask him for none. It was like meeting a god and not asking for any boon. Wait, why was he even having Tommy narrate his story to me? What was the point of this meeting?

"I felt sick at the thought of having taken another's secret and given nothing in return. So here, I tell you this story to redeem myself. And with this, Kate Summer, I ask you a simple question. If this boy can easily gather information from anyone, even seniors. Why has he chosen to partner up at all, and that too with you?

The room remained quiet, and my mind was filled with a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. I couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation.