5. BOTHERED

|Oliver|

The school was filled with several boxes the next day. Everyone came in with different sizes containing all that was listed by the school and the authorities made sure to search every nook and cranny of each box for security reasons. They must have known the nature of the students they were dealing with too, so they took every necessary measure in order to prevent the type of incident that occurred last week.

While waiting for our luggage to be passed, we were ushered to the huge dining hall that was on the right side of the cafeteria. Everyone paired themselves according to their squads and picked plates for their food while I just kept scanning everywhere as I stayed in the queue.

The multiple light bulbs in the hall filled everywhere with bright light that made it a bit difficult for me to stare long at anything around the building, it was blinding.

Three girls were in front of me, and they wouldn’t stop chattering as they fetched their plates and moved forward to the serving area. I was uninterested in their gossip at first until I realized that they were talking about the boy in a coma.

“That’s true. I haven’t visited him ever since then,” I whispered to myself, and a tired sigh followed as I reached for my plate.

“I still cannot comprehend why he did that? He’s so brilliant and smart. He could have just transferred,” one of them.

The second remarked immediately, “Do you think it’s that easy to transfer from here? I am sure that his parents pulled some strings to get him here and have been bragging to everyone about how their child schools at this prestigious school. Do you want them to die of shame? He would have told them about everything happening at home, but their response would be that he should endure for the little time remaining,”

Her sentence got me wondering if my father also pulled some strings before I got accepted to the school, but I didn’t have to wonder for long because it was definitely the truth. My transfer was completed within two days and I even had a special “bag carrier” on my very first day.

Sigh.

“But why was he suddenly the target of Bernard? He was fine until the start of this semester,” the third girl queried.

“That was because Bernard’s toy transferred schools. He needed someone else to replace his toy and I guess it was the perfect fit for him,” the first girl answered unapologetically.

The way they were discussing the boy got me so irritated and mad. They were so unconcerned about his current situation and just made him a topic to keep them busy till the whole situation of settling in is over.

Since they were on the issue and I was so interested, I followed them to their table and grabbed a chair at the other table at the back so I could absorb the tea to the end. I needed to gather all the information I could know where to come in, or deal with Bernard for making an innocent boy lie motionless in the hospital while he walks freely with no sense of guilt.

Come to think about it, we should have police officers visit us and ask some questions, but as expected, the school must have paid them off, given the fact that it will leave a bad reputation for the school.

“I guess the bullying was too much for him so he decided to end it all,” one of them remarked, and they all agreed before they closed his chapter and switched to another topic of the dates they went on last weekend.

No one of them was sympathetic enough to suggest visiting him in the hospital. Cruel!

***

After the brunch, I visited the principal in her office and she changed her wig today. She was putting on a short blonde wig that probably had a beef with her brush because it was so messy and rough with branches poking out at different angles on her head. I couldn’t get myself off its distraction for the first few minutes of my entrance, but her voice dragged me back to why I was there in the first place.

“You made me think you would no longer come back after you disappeared all of a sudden. It’s nice to see you here again,” she said with a thin smile, dragging her thin cheek’s flesh to the back.

“Well, I have no reason to run away. I just took a slight break,” I responded, a little bit firm.

“You are just like your father. He’s always in attack mode. I wonder if it runs in the family,” her next statement slammed me. The red lipstick on her rough lips stained the edge of the white teacup as she took a sip.

So messy!

I have never seen such a person with a very low class. Given her position in the school, she was too tardy.

“Do you have something to say to me? You’ve been standing there for a while,” her blue eyes bore a hole into my face as they poked out under her eyeglasses.

“Well, I am here because of the boy lying in the hospital. Don’t you think you need to do something about it? He ended up that way only because he was bullied by Bernard!” my voice rose with each line unknowingly.

I couldn’t control my emotions anymore.

 “What do you mean being bullied by Bernard? Do you have any evidence that he did that? If you can provide any evidence, I will personally submit it to the police myself,” she countered.

I couldn’t believe that she was being so nonchalant about it. She should have asked me why I thought about that in the first place, but she proceeded to just dismiss my claim by asking for evidence. With the confidence in her tone, it was obvious that she was confident I would never find any.

“And if I find any?”

With a huge mocking smirk, she responded, “Then I will act accordingly.”

“I believe we have a deal then,” I stated and marched out of her office in anger.

***

I didn’t waste any time in looking for the girls that were discussing the boy earlier in the cafeteria, but they shocked me with their responses.

“What do you mean help you? Why should I do that?” one of them scoffed.

The second one playing with her hair packed in two ponytails, giggled in an annoying way before chipping in “You really think you can do something about it? Dream on”

“It would be good to do something meaningful with your time if you are that passionate” the third one jested, and they all laughed before leaving me standing speechless on the stairs.

How could anyone be that cruel? They were not interested in him, even with the amount of injustice he suffered, and nobody seemed to be guilty about it. I was still thinking about what to do when my phone rang.

My driver was around.

I walked to the parking lot to see him since I was confused about why he came back, only for me to see Lucas sitting in the back seat, chewing gum loudly. My legs paused at first as I contemplated if I should go closer or just turn around and leave for the dorm.

“Hey Brother! Don’t tell me that you are not happy to see me,” he yelled out of the window and my eyes rolled on their own before my feet moved forward to close up the distance.

He was the last person I wanted to see at that moment.