Chapter 3 : Only who remembers past

After 4 years

Scene of Tejas, a high school boy waking up in his bed. As he opens his eyes, he sees the fan on his ceiling isn't spinning.

He opens his eyes, full of tiredness, with dark circles and messy hair. He brushes his teeth and takes his breakfast.

Then his mom says to him, "Tejas, you feel tired today… If you need , skip school for today and take rest."

Then he says, "It's alright. I should not skip today's lecture."

He walks out of his house to school with a downcast face. As he reaches his classroom, he walks to his desk and sees it is ruined ..too many bad words written on it in chalk mocking him, like:

"Angry bird." "Can't you be calm? Fire in butt." "Just don't show your face."

His face fills with anger. He looks beside him and notices some students at the back of his desk laughing, holding chalk in their hands. He walks towards them and punches a student, starting to hit him repeatedly. Other students rush in and begin beating Tejas to stop him. Many start kicking him, making him fall to the ground, bleeding.

The other students show no mercy. They murmur among themselves:

 "He deserves this. After all, he's always the one who starts it first."

Tejas looks at his classmates and feels they are staring at him with evil smiles, their eyes piercing into his soul. He feels surrounded by darkness.

One student mutters, "That's enough for today. You jerk, get to your seat before we mess you up even more."

Tejas returns to his seat with a bleeding nose. He sits with his head down, feeling the weight of the shadows around him. But then, he hears a girl laughing.

He sees her.

It's the girl he secretly has a crush on. He just keeps watching her from a distance.

She notices him looking. When their eyes meet, he gently waves his hand to greet her. But suddenly, she shifts her gaze quickly, pretending not to notice him. She adjusts her dress around her neck and looks uncomfortable. Her eyes begin to tear up.

Tejas trembles inside.

Am I really that scary?

Why do people fear me?

Do I look like a monster to them?

Why is there so much hatred toward me?

Is it because of my anger issues? Or the mistakes I made as a child?

Even when I try to change, people pull me back into situations where I lose control...

Then came the realization:

He was not in the darkness.

He looked at his hands.

They were turning black.

"I'm the one who always starts the fight," he muttered. "I'm not surrounded by bad people... I'm the bad one."

"I'm not in darkness. The darkness is inside of me."

In frustration, he began hurting himself, twisting a pen into his thigh as if punishing himself. Other students saw this and whispered:

"He's gone psycho."

Some laughed.

Tejas laid his head on the bench, quietly tearing up.

Later, in class, he grew bored and stared outside the window. He watched some students jumping over the school compound wall, while puppies played in the grass.

Then a chalk flew at his head.

"Tejas!" the teacher yelled. "Why are you staring outside? Come to the board and solve this problem!"

Tejas stood up and calmly solved the problem. He had studied it at home already, hoping the teacher would just let it go.

But the teacher continued scolding him and made him stand outside the class.

After school, Tejas returned home silently, laid on his bed, and stared at the ceiling.

The same fan. Still not spinning.

He closes his eyes

In next moment he opens his eyes it's morning already with the same tired face..but

The fan was spinning.

He got dressed, had breakfast, and walked to school.

When he entered the classroom, something was different.

His bench was cleaner than ever. It had been swapped.

He saw that the guy behind him,the one who used to write on it,had given him his own bench.

Tejas smiled faintly.

That boy came over, sat beside him, and started talking, even joking. It was the first time Tejas felt that kind of friendliness.

After some time, one girl came to him and apologized for what happened yesterday.

It was the girl he had a crush on.

She smiled and said,

"I'm sorry for the way I reacted… I misunderstood you."

Then she handed him a small note.

"This is my contact. I heard you're good at studies… I'd be happy if you helped me understand a few concepts."

It was the first time in years he had heard the kind words…

He was… happy.

Later that day, a group of boys asked him to bunk the last class and hang out. They were the same boys he had seen skipping class before.

He agreed, just to be with them.

They jumped over the compound wall and ran to a grassy riverside spot, where a tree blessed them with its cool shade.

Tejas closed his eyes under that tree. He listened to the laughter of his classmates, lying on the soft grass. He felt peace.

He smiled at the blue sky.

He closed his eyes.

And when he opened them…

He's in his room

The fan wasn't spinning.

His eyes were wet.

That same tired face stared back at him in the mirror.

Only good things happen in dreams.

The Next Day

With his tired face, Tejas went to school and sat at his desk, head down, not caring about the world around him.

"You know previous year seniors are visiting today to give advice and share their experience."

"Really? I bet they'll just fake it to motivate us."

"Yeah, maybe."

The voice of two girls reached his ears.

Two seniors entered the class—one with a brownish skin tone and a big hair tail, the other with a fair complexion, a bindi on her forehead, messy wolf-cut hair, and two gold earrings.

Tejas didn't even look at them.

Nothing excited him anymore.

He just wanted to study. To become an astro-scientist. That was all he had left.

"Good morning everyone, I'm Sira from the previous 10th batch," said the girl with the wolf cut.

"Good morning, I'm Prapti, also from the last batch. We're here to share our experience in this school," said the other.

They introduced themselves, but Tejas kept his head down, barely listening.

Are these seniors really here to motivate us? Whatever… I don't need fake motivation. I have my goal.

"Everyone, I hope you're studying well for your boards. We're here to answer any questions you might have. Feel free to ask!"

"Sis, can I ask something?"

"Of course! Ask whatever you want."

But as they talked, someone from the back bench threw a paper ball at Tejas.

It read:

 "How long are you gonna stick to your bench? Try to stand, depressed boy."

Depressed? I'm not depressed! I try to act cheerful, but they never let me!

He couldn't take it.

As he stood up, he didn't notice the glue on his bench.

His pants ripped.

The sound echoed.

The whole class burst into laughter.

Why am I always the clown…?

He snapped.

He ran to the nearest student and kicked him down.

He didn't even know who did the prank.

But he didn't care.

A group of classmates ganged up on him, dragged him to a corner, and beat him up again.

"I'm always the one who starts it… and always the one who ends up like this."

"Hey! Stop this fight!"

It was Sira.

She rushed in and pushed everyone away, grabbing Tejas's hand to pull him out.

But Tejas, still blinded by rage, accidentally grabbed her collar and stared at her with burning eyes.

She slapped him.

Another senior pulled her back.

"Leave them. We're here to give advice, not fight."

The class continued.

Tejas sat back at his bench, nose bleeding.

The cycle repeated.

Sira noticed him—traumatized, staring at his hands, crying.

"I feel like my hands are turning black," he whispered. "Like I'm a monster. I'm the worst person here."

He realized… the problem wasn't just his classmates.

It was his inability to control his anger.

After school, it rained. The skies were heavy and grey.

Tejas didn't walk home like usual.

Instead, he wandered to a construction site. A building still incomplete.

Sira followed him. She felt something was off.

He climbed to the top floor, standing at the edge, looking down.

Sira followed, slowly climbing up.

Tejas stood still, lost in thought.

Was it because of that accident I caused when I was a kid?

I've regretted it ever since.

Is it my anger? But why does everyone always push me until I snap?

I h

ave nothing left.

Mom, I'm sorry. Dad, I wish I could've become a scientist like you… but I'm not someone who deserves it.

"Hey, depressed boy."

A voice came from behind.

He turned.

It was Sira.

The girl from the previous batch who visited their class.