Strings Attached

~Chapter 8~

The trip to the Principal's Office is worse than detention, to say the least. Since the Principal is a woman, she gets to see the girl's face and the extent of the injuries I accidentally caused. I get reprimanded for full ten minutes until I can add a word or two from my side. "I'm sorry ma'am. It was an accident." "Don't say sorry to me! She is the one who's hurt, you should apologize to her!" the Princi exclaims, pointing to the girl. I say a small and quick sorry to her which hurts my ego real bad, but I get it over with as fast as I can. Thankfully, she doesn't order me to repeat my expression of regret.

"And now, Mr. Daniyal Hasan, your punishment is that... you will carry her books and do her Economics Homework for the whole month," she announces, extremely pleased with herself. What?!?! Is she for real? "That's all I can think of right now. But keep it in mind, because if I find you lacking in any of the two tasks, you'll be sent straight into detention every day till the month has gone by." "But why Economics?" I ask her incredulously. I hate that silly subject. "Because Ms. Ali cannot think of any other subject that she lags behind in." "Why do I have to do her homework?"

"Because, apparently, you've hurt her head a little too hard, and she isn't so strong. You'll be helping someone for once, Mr. Hasan, be thankful. You'll be doing her a favor, which may help build your character for the future, if you ever try building one." And saying thus, she dismisses us both.

I can't believe what I've landed myself into! Afraid that I'll lash out at her, the girl runs away from me once again, the moment we leave the Principal's Office. I only roll my eyes at her behavior. What does she take me for? A monster?? I ain't gonna eat her up!!

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I don't feel like doing tonight's show. For one thing, I'm not ready and I have no specific song in mind. The second thing, I have to take my guitar for repair... one of its strings is coming out a bit loose. But my need of money weighs down on me like anything. Also, it's a great excuse that'd keep me out of my house for a good few hours.

I don't like seeing all the three of them together, like a family, as they have fun and leave me out. Although, I think it's a hollow kind of fun with fake excitement and sham smiles, just to please dad. I can see it in their faces, the way they feel towards him. It makes me feel sad for him, in spite of everything.

As I get ready to go out, I can't help but play today's incidents in my mind. They were unusual, to say the least. I've never had someone run away from me, that too a girl. She is weird, in all kinds of ways. But I don't feel angry anymore. I'm actually looking forward to seeing her again tomorrow. Carrying her books is a great plus to keep by her side and know what's underneath that sea of black.

And suddenly, I have a perfect song in mind! All of my girls would love it, I'm sure. Just the thought of singing it to the chorus of 'woohoos' from the crowd pumps up my level of enthusiasm and I call Seth and the rest of the Big Bang Boys to get their asses to the PoG asap. And in less than a minute, I'm flying down the road on my motorbike with my guitar snugly wrapped to my back. I don't know why, but I feel a rush I can't describe.

As expected, there are a lot of girls in the crowd tonight. All of them start shouting as I make my appearance inside the bar cum restaurant. It's well lit too, in comparison to all the other nights. I see Seth and all the other boys as they make their way towards me. "Hey, man. Ready to sing?" Chuck, of all people, asks me. I nod and hug him. He hugs me back. "Thanks for coming." "Yeah, no problem."