Another Side Of The Story Ch.6

"Good morning class. Today, I going to introduce a new student and has just transferred here. His name is Patrick, please come in and introduce yourself." introduced the teacher as she enter the room with a guy following not far behind her.
"Hello, my name is Patrick. Nice to meet you all" Greeted Patrick. As he turned his face to look at the class and introduce himself to everyone in our class, I immediately realised that he was the same guy he saved me yesterday.
"Belinda, Yuki, he was the guy I meet yesterday. I can't believe he was transferring to this school." I whispered to Belinda and Yuki who were sitting next to me on a table of 4. I turned my head to face the front and found my eyes in his. The moment he noticed me, his mouth started to curve into a warm smile and unconsciously so did I at the same time I could hear all the girls in the room sigh romantically. The teacher looked around the room to find a place for him to sit and a person to show him around the school grounds as she was searching, Patrick decided to make his move first as I watched him walk slowly towards my friends and I while every girl he passed let out a sigh of disappointment.
" So you come to this school too. It is nice to see you again, Dora." Patrick greeted while all the girls glared or were in shock that I had already knew him already. I smiled shyly back at him not sure what to say especially when the whole class was staring right at me.
" Well, Patrick since you seem to already know Dora why don't you sit on her table and she shall show around the school. I hope you don't mind, Dora." instructed the teacher. I nodded in agreement as he sat next to me.

*   *   *

 After the class, Patrick and I had compared timetables and I realised that we had almost every class together other than PE. It so happened that on this day we had every class together and so throughout the day I showed him around the school to our different classes, talking and laughing just like we were at the coffee shop the day before. I felt a lot of eyes following us as we walked by which normally I would feel very uncomfortable with but for some reason when I was with Patrick and just  conversing like normal friends I couldn't feel the gaze as strong as I usually would. In fact at times I completely neglected the fact that there were heaps of eyes gazing at us. During lunch I brought him over to the group of friends that I always seat with to eat.
"Hey guys, let me introduce to you Patrick. He is new today and I thought I invite him to eat with us for lunch." I explained to the group. Belinda, Yuki and Joel greeted him happily however Darren kept silent the whole time.
"Patrick, huh? It is very nice to meet you." Roger said however there was something in his voice that made me feel like he didn't mean what he said.
"Same here," replied Patrick in the same kind of voice. They shook hands with each other and seem to have gripped each others hand extremely tightly as there hands where both slowly turning white. I looked at them suspiciously and confused at there behaviour with each other as it almost looed like they knew each other or had some kind of bad past with each other. They immediately let go as if they were trying to hide any tension that was arising between them however it was pretty obvious something was up. The rest of the lunch time was perfectly fine other than Roger and Patrick who seem to avoid each other and part of me felt that Patrick was starting to distance himself with the group including me. It could have been that I was thinking to much but there was an unusual feeling between us that was different to how we interacted before. Even during the afternoon I felt that he kept his distance as though he didn't want to get involved with me anymore. This feeling made me feel very unease and curious to what the reason behind his mysterious behaviour but I decided to push it aside and continue trying to become good friends with Patrick as I still remember that warm feeling I felt the day before.
"Hey Patrick, if you are not doing anything do you wanna go to the same coffee shop we met at again after school?" I questioned hoping that he would agree and if I had the chance sort out the uncomfortable feeling I was getting from him.
" Umm. . . Sorry, I am actually quite busy this afternoon so I might not be able to come with you. But maybe tomorrow or the day after that." He replied as his voice sounded slightly unease. I nodded feeling a little disappointed and more so worried about what could I have done to made him act this way towards me. I had thought that we had something special or at least could have made good friends but from the way he is acting now it felt that this might not happen anymore. I decided to be more optimistic and keep trying cause I couldn't forget the feeling I got at the coffee shop so I have figure out what could be causing this.

*   *   *

The next day was the same as yesterday afternoon except he avoided me even more to the point I rarely even saw him. I noticed a lot of girls gazing and I knew they must be wondering why Patrick hadn't be around me as often as he was the previous day. This time the gazes made me even more uncomfortable than it usually did as I knew they were judging and probably making up random reason in their heads to figure out what had happen between us. I continued to search for Patrick throughout the day because I needed to know the reason he was avoiding me and what made his attitude change so much towards me. I wasn't able to during lunch time as Belinda, Yuki and I had choir practice therefore the 3 of us left of the music room immediately after he chow down our lunch. While we were practicing me thoughts kept racing through my head trying to figure out whats wrong and the reason for his behaviour but I just couldn't understand.

"Dora, please concentrate. You are going all off tune and in fact you had almost completely stopped singing towards the middle of the song. It is not the time to be daydreaming right now." lectured the teacher as I was knocked back to reality. I apologise and the group restarted the song from the beginning, this time I paid full attention to what I need to do. Towards the 2nd verse, I had to sing solo as I was singing I noticed a familiar figure standing at the door. At first I couldn't recognise but soon enough I realised that it was Patrick standing outside listening, knowing this made me feel more at ease and felt the need to show off as I decided to pay extra attention to my sing. As the song ended, I could see his figure slowly retreating away from the door therefore I ask the music teacher if we could take a couple minute break before rushing outside to catch up to him. However when, I reach outside the room, I could just see him race around the corner and out of sight. Once again I had let him slip away just like the many times I already done so today, I decided that it would have taken to much time to continue the chase and returned back into the room. I will found out the reason for him to avoid me and I want to be able to become friends with him, resolving any misunderstandings there might be between us but it might have to take a while or at least to when I can actually catch up to him and have a proper conversation. I will find out. 

*Sorry too tired to edit this post this time, so please excuse any mistakes but hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless.*

Another Side Of The Story Ch.5

“Hey Dora, What do you have for lunch today? Questioned Roger while taking a bite from the lunch Belinda had made for him the night before. The two of them had been dating for quite some time now and I have never seen the two of them separate from each other than if they had different classes or when they each had to depart to go home. However Roger normally send Belinda home before making his own way back home.
“My mum made fried rice for Darren and I today. How about you? What did Belinda make for you this time? So lucky Belinda never made anything for me before.” I smirked as I teased the new couples Roger blushed and continued to chow down the delicious love bento from Belinda while she begins to talk back to me.
“Hey I made food for you when you came over to my house before? You can’t say I never made anything for you.” Belinda retorted. I laughed and smiled.
“Ahh yes. The chill ramen that almost killed me I remember now.” I replied her teasingly. I could tell Belinda was a little bashful about it and I couldn’t help have a huge smile on my face.
“I never got to taste Belinda’s cooking that is not fair.” called out Yuki with Joel following behind her.
“You don’t need Beautiful to cook for you because you should be worrying about cooking yourself.” I smiled at her. She glared at me as I noticed a small ting of red appear on her cheek while from behind I could see Joel placing his index finger in front of his lips telling me to be quiet and I just couldn’t help but laugh. Everyone could see that Joel has fallen for Yuki ever since we first became friends with him in year 7 but Yuki is oblivious to it. We all knew that before Yuki and Joel mutual have feelings for each other but love truly makes people blind and oblivious to their surroundings.
“Hey what about you don’t you want to make food for anyone in particular?” questioned Roger while everyone stared at me as if there is someone in my life that I would I like and willing to make a lunch for. Everyone seems to be hinting something to me but I never understood what they meant, the only person that is as close to me as Belinda and Yuki was Darren but I always treated him like a friend or maybe even an older brother at times. I didn’t believe that he would have ever had any feelings for me. I didn’t think too much into instead everyone just ate together and talked like we normally would.
“Hey Dora, where is Darren he would usually come with you to sit with us and have lunch.” Belinda asked.  
“Oh, he is has soccer practice so he can’t join us for lunch today and after school in fact. They are practicing really hard for the competition this weekend.” I answered them and they nodded in understanding before continue eating their lunch.

*  *  *

Finally all classes has ended and everyone went their separate ways, Belinda and  Roger left on a date, Joel and Yuki went to catch the train together while Darren stayed behind at school for soccer practice. I left the school grounds walking in the directions of my house while I was listening to music from my phone. Halfway home I decided, I go to the nearby coffee shop across the road to get something warm to drink. It was pretty cold and I really just wanted to run and get a hot chocolate and rush home to the warmth of my room. So without thinking I look from both side few a second before I crossed the road. I suddenly heard a distant beep of a car horn and turned around to see a blue car coming closer and closer to me. Memories of the incident when I was young caused me to stop in the middle of the road forgetting that I should run at of the way. I watched as the car came closer and closer as the tires screeched against the road. My surroundings began to blur as I felt a strong warm arm wrapped around me spinning me out of reach of the car as it forcefully stopped at where I was standing only moments ago. I closed my eyes for a few seconds as my surroundings were spinning in front of my eyes were causing me to feel slightly dizzy. When I reopened them, I noticed two small, dark brown eyes shining at me with a concerned look on his face. I gazed into his eyes for a while forgetting I was still in his arms, something about him kept me from turning away. For some reason, I felt protect, safe and something warm that I never felt before. There is something about him that I just couldn’t put my fingers on but I couldn’t think about that at that moment as we were disturbed be the driver.

“Be careful, you two. You gonna get yourself killed like that.” Yelled the driver before drivng away. I suddenly remember where I was and stood up straight moving out of the warm, protective arms of the strange guy and bowed my head down and thanked him for helping me.

“No problem, I could never stand on the side lines and watch a cute girl like you get hurt.” He smiled sweetly. I blushed and thanked him again, insisting I treat him to something. I had to thank this guy for saving my life and some part of me wanted to know more about him. After some persisting, he agreed and we walked towards the coffee shop and I brought both of us a hot chocolate while we sat inside the shop and started conversing with one another for almost over 2 and half hours. When I finally noticed the time, I apologised as I had to get home before my mum starts to worry about me.

“By the way, my name is Dora. What is your name?” I asked as I stood up ready to leave.

“Patrick. It was very nice to meet you Dora. I hope I can see you again soon. Let’s exchange details and maybe we could talk more next time.” He responded

“Sure,” as I gave him my details while collecting his details. I said my goodbyes and went on my way back home, along the way I saw Darren and walked home with him as he questioned me on why I was so late. Knowing he would worry for me if he knew I nearly got hit by a car, I decided to just tell him I stayed at the coffee shop for over 2 and half hours. I hope I could see that guy again, something about him made me feel something that I still couldn’t but my finger on.  I felt that I would be destined to see him again and I just hoped it would be soon.

Another Side Of The Story Ch.4

Throughout the day, I could feel Darren's gaze on me continuously as if he wants to come up to me and say something however he doesn't know what to say. I continued to avoid him. I wasn't able to face him, not when I can't convince him to be happy and forget the accident when I couldn't move on from my own trauma.  Throughout class, I would either look at the teacher or back down on my desk. I couldn't bear to look at Belinda either cause I knew she would have a worried and concerned look on her face. I needed more time, just a little more time to let me lock up that chest again.
" Alright students, we would now be watching a video about the history of cars. Take mental notes on the video and we would be discussing the content of the video after." explained the teacher as she was preparing the video in front of the class. As I watched a video, I noticed how the modern cars was created and test for the safety of the car. The modelled car in video began accelerating towards a wall until it crashed into the wall resulting in the inflation of the air bag. As I watched that scene, I felt a sudden head rush as I saw flashes of my past race before my eyes. Bright Headlights. Tyres Screeching. A man wearing a black T-Shirt. Blood dripping. Shock yet relief expression. Screams mixed in with sirens. People everywhere from all directions. Crying, screaming, yelling.
" AHHHHHH," I screamed as I pushed my chair back and start crouching on the floor rocking back and forth. Simultaneously Belinda had stood up from her chair and knelt beside me, trying to comfort me.
" Dora, are you ok?" called the teacher as she made her way towards me.
" Not my fault, not my fault, not my fault. Right? Not my fault, he is still here. still here. Not my fault." I mumbled repetitively.
" Miss, I think I should take door outside for a while. She's. . . She is feeling a little stressed and traumatised." explained Belinda as I continued to rock back and forth repeating the same lines over and over again. Teacher looked at me for a second and then agreed as Belinda lead me out of the classroom into the playground. I could feel everyone's eyes including Darren's confused and concerned eyes, on me as the watch me stumble out of the classroom with Belinda. Belinda brought me to a bench near a tree as I continued to mumble the same lines over and over again.

*   *   *

" Miss, May I go to the Bathroom? I am sort of busting." Darren called out once he was allowed to he left the room and in hopes to see me along the way. As he walked out of the building, he noticed Belinda and I in the distance and decided to quietly get closer to listen to what we were talk about.
" Dora, listen to me. It is not your fault. It was an accident. . . an accident. . . Understand An. . . Accident." comforted Belinda but I ignored her and continued to mumble to myself.
" DORA, Look at me." Belinda instructed as she lifted my head up to face her. I looked into to her concerned eyes and I immediately broken down into tears.
" Belinda, It is all my fault. It is all my fault. I shouldn't have ran onto the street. Than. . . Than he wouldn't save me and. . . and he wouldn't die." I cried.
" Dora, look at me. . . It wasn't your fault. You were young and you didn't understand nor did you know that it was a bad idea to run on the street. But you have to know he loved you, your dad loved you otherwise he would have never risked his life to save you. You were worth saving. Don't waste your life time that he protected for, on you crying over an unwanted accident. You know he loved you and you know your friends and family loves you. No one blames you. Ok. No one blames you." Belinda comforted. My sobs began to become more and more quieter as I began to process what Belinda had informed me. She was right, I had already went through some many therapy and wasted some much time mourning and blaming myself when nobody else did.
" Not my fault. No one blames me. Not my fault. No one blames me." I started to mumbled to myself as I reassured myself. The more I reassured, the more calm I felt and I constantly felt Belinda's silently next to me helping me feel my relaxed. After a few minutes I was feeling a lot better and a lot calmer.
" Belinda. . . I think, I'm ok now. Lets go back." I lightly smiled at Belinda as she nodded and stood up to return to the classroom. As we started walking towards the building, we saw Darren standing behind the tree his eyes filled we guilt and not sure what to say. There was a few seconds of silence until I was about to break the silence but not before Belinda. She looked passed him still angry at him from before.
" Let's go back to class. . . You should head back too Darren. The teacher would get worried." she said before taking me back to class. I looked at him as we passed by but he seemed a little to stunned to have noticed. I could hear him behind me as he followed us back to class.
" Ahh, there you guys are I was beginning to worry where you guys were and ask someone to search for you guys. Darren that was a very long toilet break, I might have to reconsider letting you go next time." greeted the teacher as we entered.
" Sorry miss, He was with me. He saw me at the bench earlier and came to check if I was alright. Sorry to have taken up his time for so long." I replied. The teacher understood and replied that she is glad we were safe before instructing us to go back to our seats as she continued our lesson.

*   *   *

It was the end of the school, Darren walked behind me as usual as we walked back home. This time it felt a bit different as I didn't know how to comfort nor did I know how to start a conversation with him after everything that had happened between us. Neither did he.
" Dora. . . Lets go to the park today." Darren finally said. This was the first time other than early today he had properly talked to me since he came back from the accident. I smiled, and agreed as changed my route and headed for the park. Once we arrived at the park we both sat on the swings, gentle rocking back and forth. There was an awkward silence but he decided that he had to say something before it was too late.
". . . I'm very sorry, Dora. . . I. . . I didn't know that. . . I didn't expect. . ." Darren stumbled. He paused before he whispered to himself " Come on. Why is this so hard?"
" It is ok, Darren I understand. You don't expect anyone to know about these feelings. Like I said before I understand." I confirmed.
" Look, I'm sorry. I really didn't wanna hurt you like I did."
" Don't worry. I was a little annoying but I wanted you to cheer up. I know you have to mourn after a loved one has passed on but you have to move on with life, especially what we have been through. Even though we were young and it is hard to let go of your parent or parents at our age or younger but what they did was for us to live on. It is for us to live a full and happily life and we can't let what they sacrificed for us go to waste right? Just like how Belinda comforted me. No one blames you." I cheerfully said. Darren smiled at me and nodded as he reassured that he would return to normal as soon as he can and stop letting me worry.
" And now, race you home." Darren called as he started to sprint out of the park while I raced to catch up.
" Hey not fair, you cheater." I yelled back as we ran all the way home and I felt that we had become a better and closer friends. We were both smiling, laughing and panting when we got home.

Another Side Of The Story Ch.3

" Let's go to the park." I called out to Darren. He stood behind me, his head still staring at the ground. He had been like that ever since we left the school and followed behind me like a shadow. Entering the park I tried many different activities that we would usually do in the past however he would just follow my actions mindlessly. After many futile attempts nothing seem to catch his attention or even get his mind of the miserable thoughts that might be roaming within his head. The sky was slowly darkening as the last light gradually became less visible beyond the horizon.
" It is getting late, we should get home." I mumbled as I felt disheartened from all the useless attempts to cheer Darren up. I forced myself to keep smiling and kept talking to him, trying to make him respond regardless how worthless my attempts were. The minute we got home, he walked ahead and left for his room, he never came out unless called for dinner. I looked at my mum feeling helpless however she gave me an encouraging looking at me as if she knew I would be able to break through his bubble and get him to return to his original personality. I took a deep breathe and tried to look optimistic, telling myself " I can do this. I can get him out of this phase. Believe Dora, you got this. Now I will have to just try again tomorrow, I know I can get through to him. . . Hopefully."

*  *  *

A week went by and nothing I have done seem to have worked, I had even gotten Ryeowook, Yuki and Belinda to help me but he was unresponsive as always and continued to follow behind me like a shadow. The only time he left my side was when he need to go bathroom, recess, lunch or at home when he locked himself in his room. I was slowly beginning to lose hope but I knew that if I had lost hope than there is no chance in him walking out of his grief. 

" Come on Adorable, cheer up we got this, ok. Our hard work will pay of sooner or later. Just smile." comforted Belinda. 

" Your right Beautiful. If we can do this, no one else can. Lets give it another shot." I smiled as we made our way towards Darren who had been sitting at a bench staring at his sandwich without moving a single muscle.  

" Darren~" I called cheerfully even though I knew I wasn't getting a response out of him. 

" You know, Belinda and I were just talking about how you always sit alone. We thought you might like it if you can sat with us. You won't be alone as much and we can have lots of fun." I waited for a response but nothing. 

" You know you can play handball with Ryeowook. He is pretty good. . ." commented Belinda however there was still no response. 

" Come on. . ." said Belinda this time, she grabbed hold of his arm and lightly pulling his arm forward, trying to get him to move. However he shrugged her hand off and remain in place like he hadn't moved at all. 

" Come on Darren. You need to make some friends and you know move on with life. . ." 

" You think it is easy to forget what happened. You think it is easy to see your parents die right in front of you. Do you think I can forget that my parents jumped in front of me to protect me from getting hurt? You don't understand how much it hurts knowing that if it wasn't for me, they might just have survived. YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW BAD I FEEL TO KNOW THAT IF IT WASNT FOR ME THEY WOULD BE ALIVE. . . They jumped in front of me so. . . so that I wouldn't get stabbed by the metal pipe from wing of the airplane. . . It was my fault. . . MY FAULT!!!" Yelled out Darren. Everyone near by turn and faced us simultaneously to see what was all the yelling about. I stood there frozen, tears forcing its way out of my eyes but I tried, I tried so hard to stop them from streaming down my face but, my emotions got the better of me. I didn't know what to say cause every word he spoke felt like daggers piercing though my chest. Memories, pains, nightmares and all the horror flashed back to me in those few words and I couldn't hold them back. He unlocked that hidden chest I kept buried within my heart for these many years and everything inside just came pouring out. Belinda watched him in shock and look towards me with a knowing looked before her eyes saw red as she glared back at Darren.

" YOU THINK, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO UNDERSTAND THESE FEELINGS. YOU DON'T THINK THERE MIGHT BE SOMEONE OUT THERE HE FEELS YOU AND UNDERSTANDS YOU. YOU DON'T EVEN THINK HOW HURTFUL YOUR WORDS TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL. HOW COULD YOU JUST YELL AT YOUR CLOSEST FRIEND WHO TRYING HER BEST TO HELP YOU? HOW. . ." Belinda stopped halfway through her sentence as I had grabbed hold of her arm. She understood that I didn't want her to continue no more. 

" Don't. . . Don't worry. . . I. . . I understand. . . You need time alone and you. . . wish to deal with this by yourself. . . You don't want anyone to. . . ever come close to you cause you scared what they think when then know and your scared that you would hurt them too. You just don't wanna get close to anyone and feel like life is empty like you lost a part of you. . . I understand don't worry. . . Lets go Be. . . Beautiful." I stumbled as I felt that every word was crushing me and pushing me back to the dark days. I grabbed hold of Belinda's hand while wiping away the tears with my other before dragging her away from Darren and the stares of the people around us. Belinda didn't leave her position and stayed put so I walked away without her, feeling that I just need to get away from that place for a while, away from Darren. 

" Darren. . . Dora is trying so hard to help you walk out of your grief. She wants you to be happy and out of everyone in this world she knows you the best and how your feeling. But you keep pushing her away and gone as far as hurting her. I thought that you would have known better or at least knew her better than me. But I guess not. . . You are too caught with yourself that you don't think how others might be feeling. . . I understand. . . But I won't let you hurt my Adorable again." warned Belinda as she walked off following behind me.

*   *   *

Belinda and I sat back with Yuki and Ryeowook who had also heard that yelling and watched me carefully, fully aware of my circumstance. I took a deep breathe trying to calm myself down before smiling at all of them.
" I'm fine, just a little shocked that's all. I need a few minutes to calm down." I reassured them. I fought back the tears that were determined to rush down my cheeks and forced a convincing smile. Yuki and Ryeowook look a little concerned for a few seconds before choosing to believe me but I noticed that Belinda was not convinced at all even though she choose to not bring anything up in case I start to break down. I knew she knew me well but I can't show how upset I was as all the feelings I used to feel before beginning primary school seem to all boil back to the surface and I didn't wanna feel this all over again. It is hard to lock up the chest once it has been open as everything hidden inside had spread all over the place. I just need some time to recompose myself. . . Hopefully soon.