Gone Rogue

p r o l o g u e

❝Hey, relax. Just breathe.❞
—Rajveer Chhabra
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Nine Years Ago

THE SUN CAST a faint yellow light through the slowly gathering morning, making the board of St. Vincent's High School glow under it.

The sound of students chattering away filled the lawn that lead to the main building. Most of them were fifteen year olds who sat in groups which were scattered around in the entire lawn.

The school was situated in a small town of Bangalore, India. It was a well-known and a common school for all the kids that grew up in this small town. It was a convent school, but the behaviour of some students often made you question that.

A mild gust of wind blew against a teenage girl's face. Fixing the strap of the bag on her shoulder, she stepped inside the gates of the school. There was a subtle glow around her cheeks with her nose covered up in a few freckles.

She looked anything but confident as she made her way into the school. The keychains of her bag pack which read 'Dior' dangled with every step she took towards the school building.

Reaching inside the senior building, she sighed looking around at the ninth graders, who were also her classmates, buzzing around. She quickly makes her way to the locker, putting in her combination. Then she flips the locker open, revealing a picture which was stuck on the back of the door by her.

A tiny smile forms on her lips as she moves her fingers across it. It was her thirteen year old self with her brother on a ski trip. Clearly remembering the time when the picture was taken by her dad, she let out a small sad laugh looking at her smiling face in the photo.

Poor her, she thought. That little girl had no idea about how her life was going to take a 180 degree flip.

She didn't remember the last time she had smiled like that. That smile on her face had washed away the day since her dad died last summer. People kept telling her how she had to move on but only if they knew how hard it was. She had loved him more than anything and he had always been there for her and her brother; even when her mother left them for another man.

Deciding to end the pity game, she looks away from the picture and begins taking out her books.

She still had her brother and that's what mattered now, she told herself.

When she was searching for her literature book, she felt someone's strong gaze on her. She looked at both her sides to see that everyone was indulged in their own talk. She bit her lower lip and flipped around.

A boy, who she recognised from some of her classes, was standing across from her, his back pressed against the locker as he studied her.

She raises one of her eyebrows but his stare remains fixated on her.

"Excuse me?" She mouths to him, uncomfortable with the way he was studying her.

That seems to have brought him back to his senses as he quickly clears his throat and starts pretending to look around for something.

"Cue the act. You were caught staring." She yells, folding my arms against her chest.

He chuckles, scratching the back of his head. "Nothing. Um, I was just... never mind."

She rolls her eyes, smiling internally and turning around, she shuts her locker. She was about to leave when he catches her off guard.

"Hey, I didn't catch your name."