"Well THAT was a landslide that happened back there, wasn't it?", Sensei Nanda asked.
I looked at him with the most annoyed most face that I could come up with, but the guy just couldn't hold back his laughter!
"Come here boy!", he calls out to me with his arms out.
"I saw what happened up there and I know it was embarrassing to witness, but I have good news too!", he smiles at me but cracks up again about the situation after looking at my sad face.
Subconscious Mind:- "Is it bullying if your Sensei makes a mockery out of your self-embarrassment? Oh, is it not? Well fuck it then, John you're a p*ssy if you keep weeping about it."
"Sensei!", I looked at him in the eye and screamed.
"Let's get back to the training already!", I walked back into the Circle of Lumber to practice my kicks.
Hey there MTV, and Welcome to My CRIB!
Those would be my words to you guys before showing off my training arena for the karate competition! Only thing is I don't own any of them :')
Aaanyways.
So at the start of the room, you obviously open the door and walk in to see this Gigantic Mirror from which you can look at your progress once you enter and leave for the day!
*Flexes at the mirror*
Subconscious Mind:- "You know this noodle arms dumbfuck doesn't have a thing to look at in the mirror, other than the size of his head! Jesus, that's a HUGE head!"
*smirks*
Next up we walk into the Padlock Arena!
Here we have Blue coloured, Knee length Punching bags where one can strike at the bag with all the might that he/she has because this guy right here contains 5 kgs of sand in him! *pats the punching bag*
Next, we have the Agility Ring!
You karate is all about speed, the faster your attacks are, the better you would be in both winning and confusing your opponent. Here we have the classic gymnastics/Zumba mattresses that are used for Yoga and Warm-ups so that our bodies are not sore before or after the fight.
Last but not the least, it is the Circle of Lumber!
This section is by far my personal favourite because of the various obstacles in it, we have a wide range of structures designed with extensions of wood to practice with.
Eg:- There is one 3 feet tall, cylindrical timber structure that is placed on a rotating platform. The cylindrical structure is called the Makiwara, in Japanese and we made a few changes and added some spikes on it, that too was made of timber. This was used so that whenever a person strikes at the Makiwara, it is designed to rotate and the spikes would hit the person from the opposite direction. This made us aware that if we know how to attack then we MUST also know how to defend!
*****
2 hours into intense practicing and Sensei Nanda calls out to me.
"John come here, sit.", he exclaimed.
I walked out from the Circle of Lumber and into the main hall adjacent to the Gigantic Mirror and sat down on the floor next to Sensei, while I gasped from the air.
"I see that you have been practicing a lot more than I told you too, I appreciate the fact that you want to win the title but it should not come at the cost of your well being boy.", he said.
I nodded, still trying to catch up some air that I was missing out on.
"The bigger concern here is that we need to assemble a proper karate club where we can make sure that if you are not available for the fights then someone else should step in instead, otherwise there is no point winning the title and having no one to defend it next year."
There was a brief silence after he said that, and it hit me then that what is the use of me trying so hard to win something that I would eventually lose the next competition?
Doubt showered its blessings of Discouragement, Despair, and Devaluation of the Title of Karate in my head. For a second I thought that I should just back out at once and save myself from this nonsensical drama, but then it felt like I heard a whisper from an angel.
"Don't worry about the future or the past boy, it's the present that can be made into reality if you let it!"
This brought me back to the realisation that I MUST keep all my petty thoughts of backing out FAR away from me because first, it comforts you like a caring mother but then later it chokes you down to your own sorrows because of REGRET.
*****
It's 2 pm right now and school will get over at 3 pm so I had to decide whether I would sit for the lecture of Harpreet Sir, who taught us History as a substitute, or I could just walk into the library and read any one of the classics like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and more.
By this time you should have understood that I chose the latter half instead, even though I love history I'd rather just be at peace in an A/c room than listen to a guy talking about his trip to Amritsar in a bike as "history".
*****
I walked upstairs from the basement and up the 1st floor, the 2nd and I stopped at the 3rd floor. The library is on the 4th floor, but as I walked up to the 3rd floor it felt like I got a pungent smell from the boys washroom and at that time I also wanted to freshen up so I decided that I could just check up on the smell too, nevertheless my subconscious kept telling me that it might as well be the smell of piss or something.
Honestly, a piece of advice to girls out there reading this. NEVER enter a boys washroom, even if it's a corporate office! Because that's the only place where we can get frisky and dance around while giving no damn about the principal outside shouting at us to "Come out right now!", we are adapted to the stinky environment.
The smell got the better of my thoughts and I was guaranteed that this wasn't some normal public bathroom smell but something different.
I checked the 1st stall, empty.
I checked the 2nd stall, empty.
I checked the 3rd one, empty again.
There is no way that the "source" of the smell would be in the last stall, wouldn't it? So I opened it and glanced at the.....wait there was supposed to be a one-piece toilet seat in front of...then why is that I can only see black?
Then it moved.
The thing took a step back, and now I could see some parts of the toilet behind it, I looked up to see what was I staring at, and my heart almost SKIPPED a beat!
It was the same guy from the highway that was trying to sell weed to Dhruv and he was somehow in the boy's washroom of my school! He was in an all black jumpsuit, with a leather jacket and a beanie on his head. This time I could have a better look at him, he had scratches on his face that was covered by a heavy beard that accompanied his heavy voice!
"John right?", he asked.
I just stared at him.
"Don't look all confused on as to how I came here.", he added.
Still, I was staring at him, not in an intimidating way, but rather shivering.
"Hey! Don't just stand there. Tell me where is Dhruv!"
He laughed at me, took a deep puff of the cigarette and blew the smoke on my FACE. I ran for my life, trying to not scream for attention but then again this weird man is in my school smoking a cigarette while lectures take place?!
I had so many questions that needed answers, but I knew that nobody would be able to help me because only I had witnessed this that night while Dhruv was completely baked.
I kept running away from the boy's bathroom praying that I'd bump into the principal, hoping that she would be taking rounds of the school.
*crash*
"I'm so sorry Ma'am, but I really need your help right now! There is an Intrude...", I stopped mid sentence realising that I hadn't bumped into the principal in the first place!
"Oh great, aren't you done staring at me and my bosoms? That you literally need to crash into me and drop my books?", it was the random girl from the break.
"Oh I'm sorry, I was just looking for the principal..", I said while helping her clean the mess that I created.
"Looking for the principal eh? So you are into older woman now?", she asked.
"What?", I gave her a confused look.
"No it's funny that you were looking for the principal, but in reality, you would have knocked her out cold instead with this speed!", she laughed.
"Not funny women. I'm not in the mood to listen to your banter, just tell me; have you seen the principal anywhere?", I stood up and dusted myself.
"She might as well be in the office right now, go take your case there.", she said.
"Alright then, sorry to bother you.", I turned around towards the staircase.
"Hey wait, I need to know your name in order to spread a rumor that you like to stare at girls chests. So what would thy noble name be?", she smirked.
I looked her up and down and then walked back up the stairs.
"If you want to spread false accusations against me then there is no need to know my name, if it is for friendship's sake then I'm fine with it. My name is John; John Mathew, and yours?", I acted like a gentleman even though the fear of seeing the man was still on my head.
"Wow, that's a pretty name for a stupid face like yours, why then should I be a secret to you. Mine's Vanessa; Vanessa Ernst. It's a pretty name, I know, you don't need to clarify my doubts on that, and about the rumor well I'll think about it, Jonathan.", she smirks.
"It's John...", I mumbled.
"Naah, that's quite a lame name for you, I'd rather call you Jonathan. Take it or leave it.", she gestured.
"Well, you leave me with no choice..", I said.
"Good, Jonathan it is.", she smiles.
She reaches out for my arm and grabs it.
"No tattoos eh? I'll fix it up later don't worry.", she adds.
I looked at this woman, trying my hardest to decode what she was trying to convey to me, but it was all in vain.
"Alright then I'll see you tomorrow during the break, just keep staring at people and that will make it easier for me to spot you. By the way, what was the problem you had that you urgently need to see the principal?", she walks ahead towards the stairs.
That's when it hits me, that I should be heading to the office right now and not waste my time with the weirdo! God only knows if that man was still in the boy's washroom?
I ran downstairs and she follows suit for some reason, I pushed the office door with such force that it hit the banner that was set on the side of the door and it fell down.
Subconscious Mind:- "Step 1 on how to fuck up a situation EVEN more!"
The staff just stares and is startled as to what just happened. The Vice-principal sees me and storms at the door.
"Hey! What on earth do you think you are doing child?!"
I walked back slowly as the guy literally came face to face with me; not literally because I was short back then, it was more like I was talking to his stomach...Face to Stomach.
"Sir there's an intruder in the 3rd-floor boy's washroom, and he's smoking weed there! Please send someone to take a look at it!", I screamed.
Everyone became silent.
"What did you say?", he asked.
"There is a WEIRDO in the 3rd-floor boy's washroom, GO get him out of there right NOW!", I screamed back.
The office was silent again. I saw Vanessa taking a step back from me, that's when I realised the gravity of the situation that I created... I had just COMMANDED the Vice-principal to do something...
"Alright, we'll check on it right away. Ashok, take five guys with you and check the stalls for this INTRUDER and get him here in ONE piece.", Vice-principal sounded like a gangster.
"And you there, go sit in the clinic with Nurse Lakshmi, she'll take care of you.", he added.
I walked in the clinic with Vanessa with me for some reason and just sat there a good half an hour trying to figure out:-
How did this GUY come here?
And why did he want to see Dhruv?
**************
Hey, there guys/girls! I hope y'all are enjoying this story till now. How did it feel like when the creepy came back in the scene? What do you think, why has he come here? And how?
The following chapters will answer your question, so stayed tuned!
Love <3