BrightWin- For You

Forgotten keys and locked doors

Hey guys! I am back with yet another story starring our beloved BrightWin. After being a silent reader for so long, I wanna be able to deliver my attempt at writing to people and share my experiences and feelings through them. So here it goes!

It was almost time. A total of two minutes left on the clock until it struck 4 indicating the end of school. I gather all my notes and shove them in the binder mindlessly, just wanting this day to be over already.

I take my time standing up and gathering up my belongings deliberately so as to avoid the 'popular crowd' on my way. When the coast was clear, I make my way towards the door, waving my teacher in goodbye and wishing him a good weekend.

Finally, it is friday. We all can agree that Fridays are the most anticipated days of the week in comparison to the hideous mondays. A whole weekend where I don't have to pretend that I am even a tiny bit interested in all the things teenagers like me are apparently supposed to be interested in. I can do things which I actually resonate with.

I make my way through the bleak hallway narrowly missing hitting the huge desk kept in the middle of nowhere. I look down and see a number of pamphlets thrown sleazily all over the desk for students to collect. The least they could do is keep them in a neat pile but then again kids would mess it up again. I sigh and pick up one rumpled pamphlet to know what new is going on on the school.

Your school needs you. Submission of applications for senior class president end by next week. This is your chance to bring a change. It reads. Applications are out? How come I didn't get to know about this? But then again, it's not like I have somebody to keep me posted about new happenings of school. School is a horror ridden nightmare especially when spent alone.

If it was last year, I would, without any hesitation, apply for Senior class president. My best friend would still be here with me instead of sitting miles away in a sumptuous office, probably on beck and call of some self entitled prick who doesn't give two shits about him. But it was his choice. I can't really blame him though. If I would have been offered an intership in a renowned publishing house in my sophomore year itself, I wouldn't have missed on the opportunity too.

I shove the pamphlet into the deepest end of my bag, out of sight. If I were to tell my best friend about it, he would practically push me through the phone virtually, if that's even possible, to make me participate in it. You need to make friends other than me, Bright. I can't always be with you, blah, blah. I don't need that lecture again.

He was right though. He is not with me now and I am more lonely than ever. I am so lost in thoughts that I don't hear the bus arriving at the stop. I quickly run past people and board the bus to home. People look at me angrily for all the pushing and elbowing I had to do to reach to bus. But it's not my fault that it takes 30 minutes between every other bus to arrive.

I don't know about these people, I am definitely not wasting my time here sitting at the bus stop when I could be reading my favorite book. It might be boring to some but books have been companion since forever. The comfort that fictional characters in the books provide me is beyond any comparison.

I am near my stop when I realise I forgot to pick my house keys from the bowl kept near the front gate. I pinch my eyes shut in frustration, scolding myself for such carelessness. I kept the bowl near the front gate so I wouldn't forget it but today I was exceptionally late for school in the morning and my mom was furious on me for it. In hurry to get out of there, I forgot to snatch my keys like I usually do.

My mum wouldn't be back until midnight and my neighbors aren't exactly friendly with us. I contemplate going to any local cafe or something but then I remember that I have access to library of our school. Being a librarian come with its own perks.

I can spend my time there until 7 or 8, since students are preparing for elections which includes organizing meetings and shit like that. I watch as my stop arrives but I remain seated and watch it pass after a break of few minutes to let the passengers in. The bus would go back to the stop near to school so I plug in my earphones, close my eyes and journey my way back towards to school twice in less than twenty four hours. Record.

The next time I open my eyes is when I see the familiar stop which I have seen every single morning of my life since I was, I don't know, 4? Anyways, I step down from the bus and start walking towards the school which is a 5 minutes walk from here. I am usually short on time everyday in the morning, so running is the option I have to resort to not miss the first lecture, so it hardly takes me 2 minutes to reach there but today, I take my time walking nonchalantly. I have all the time in the world to kill so why not absorb the environment as much as I can.

Soon, I reach the familiar gates of Crossword High. I show my Id to the guard sitting at the information booth outside the school and make my way in. I look around and notice that almost all the vehicles are gone except some, which probably belong to the teachers or students who are working on their campaigns for election.

The library is situated at the 2nd floor so I walk towards the lift which is operational for the specially abled people. But since the guard is not present there, I am gonna take advantage of that and ride it instead of climbing the stairs. In no time, I get transported to the 2nd floor and I take in the huge library in my vision. I have been here countless times but it still leaves me wonder strucked sometimes.

The only thing I genuinely appreciate about this school is the efforts they have put in for this library. It is humongous with wide range of selection of books of every genre, from classics to contemporary, literally everything. One could get lost in here if he is not a regular visitor like me. I know this place like the back of my hand. I know exactly where you will find what genre of books.

As I was roaming around in the library privy to the fact that no body is here except me, I suddenly feel someone's presence. As if someone is here, somewhere near me. I look around in order to locate exactly who other than me is hiding in here when I see the odd site in front of me. Well not exactly in front of me but perfectly hidden in the corner, beside the last shelf.

A boy sitting on the floor.

Due to lack of light in the far end of the room, I can't make out his features but he looks to be of my age. He is slumped against the wall, his arms resting on his knees, a cigarette clutched between his two fingers. His eyes are closed and he hasn't realised my presence until now, for which I am grateful for. It gives me time to observe him.

I move slightly ahead to get a closer look at him. He looks tired. He shoulders are tight with tension, his jaw clenched. He looks agitated about something. I wonder why he is upset. Maybe he didn't score well in his exam or maybe he had fight with his parents. Or maybe-

'Get a photo, will you? It will last longer'. A deep voice cuts through the silent air of the library startling me in the process.

So what did you think? Is it just me or do you also think that Win is extra rude here lol. Do let me know and don't forget to vote guys. Thank you so much.

Random Question- Do you, like me, find it annoying when books have not been edited thoroughly and has a lot of grammatical errors? I mean the plot is good but I can't just can't bring myself to read it if it has grammatical errors. 😭