CHAPTER 12: GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER

“I was a cosplayer,” Clara started her story. “I was really famous with a million TikTok followers. It was really amazing to have that much number of fans to be honest. Sometimes I felt like the lord of the world due to the amount of love I received there. Yes, I was mostly shy to get in front of the camera but once I get there, I know there is no turning back so I always master up enough courage to perform my cosplay. Everything was really great but one day while performing live I had an accident and it affected my eyes. I was actually wearing contacts to change my eye color to match my character but it caused my current eye problem. It caused my pupils to change color from time to time. So, I stopped the cosplay. Though I had a lot my fans contacted me by sending me private messages asking how I was doing, I did not want to resume cosplaying again because I felt really embarrassed. In the end I deleted my account and stopped cosplay forever. And I can’t use contacts again because I may go totally blind if I do.” I was quietly listening and got lost in her story that I did not even realize she was done. She snapped her fingers before my eyes so as to bring me back to reality. “Wait were you queen of cosplay.” I asked and she affirmed. I smiled and told her I was her biggest fan. it’s funny that I could not recognize her from the first time we met. She was the best at cosplaying any character from any movie, cartoon or series. She could even cosplay game and anime characters. Everybody loved her even those who did not like anime or any kind of cosplay. I was really happy to have met her in person. I honestly sounded like a baby high on sugar at that moment. She laughed a little and asked me to tell her about myself. “Well, I guess there is no going back now.” I said and she laughed. “Actually, back then I was not this quiet a person. I use to be really enthusiastic and wanted to be part of everything. I use to be part of everything. I was not only in a band but I was also in a fight club. Its not that we were always fighting but we learnt self-defense. I know all forms of fighting with the exception of Chinese martial arts. That is actually really difficult to study. I tried out for dancing too but I was just not a good dancer so I quit. I joined the regional cadet cops and graduated to the commander of my division in no time. I was also the goal keeper of my community’s junior soccer team. Everyone in the community knew me for all my achievements and for the fact that I was involved in almost all the group and club activities of the community. My mom always said to do my best in everything I did and try as much as possible to always learn from my mistakes and not blame people for it. Her advice always eco in my mind whenever something happens. Despite all this I had a little bit of an anger issue. That was something everybody did not like about me cause when I was angry, there was no going through to me. This got me the name Damon the Demon. I didn’t really care about the fact that people called me that. My mom would always advise me not to overdo it when I get angry and best to just return home when anyone is trying to annoy me. One day, out soccer team went to play with another junior team and their captain was also in my fight club. He was a really notorious bully back then. I did not really care about his bully profile because he and I knew he could never defeat me in a fight. On that day, I was at my prime in the goal post and there was no going through to get a goal. I saved one ball headed for goal and the guy frustrated kicked me in the tummy. At that moment, I lost my mind. My inner demons taking over, I jumped on the boy and gave him the beating of his life. The game was called off due to our fight and so we all headed home. My dad had returned without me knowing and my sister was sent to call me back home. She saw what happened and promised to keep the fact that I beat someone up a secrete. Sadly, for me, the kids who played the game and those who were around to spectate could not stop talking about it and ended up telling their parents when they got home. Eventually my dad found out and I was grounded for a week. On my 15th birthday, my mom was out in Australia conducting a surgery and took the first flight home immediately she was done. When she arrived, she got into a taxi but the taxi never got home. My dad kept calling her phone but she could not be reached. The next we heard was a knock on our front door. Two police officers with their hats in hand came to deliver the most painful news I’ve ever heard in my life. My mom’s taxi run into an accident and fell in a lake. Both the driver and my mom did not make it. My mom did not even know how to swim. Since that time, I shut myself away from society, loosing interest in the things I use to enjoy and staying away from people in general. The rate at which my dad returned from the sea also reduced. My sister was also in the university hostel so I was mostly left alone in a big mansion with nobody to talk to. Bu the age of 17, I was totally okay with the concept of being alone and actually did not find human companionship interesting.” I did not realize it but I had tears running down my eyes as I told Clara my story. Clara also had tears in her running down her cheeks and I wiped off mine. The nurse returned with my medical report and said that I had no toxins in my body so I could leave if I was feeling okay. I thanked the nurse and as we walked out, met Crystal on the way. We told her I was discharged and we returned to the class.