‘‘Why do you look hesitant, its just tea, no big deal,’’ Barbra nagged my shoulder. I knew it was tea, just simple, perhaps tea and some donuts or cake. ‘‘Its not about the tea, its about the place where we are going to take tea,’’ I sighed. I felt like I was too much, I was already beginning to weigh them down with my problems and my original scared self was coming back too. ‘‘Its just a stupid room where people eat and come out, nothing much, you come out with your belly full,’’ she laughed again. I knew it was a simple room for them, for everyone, but to me it wasn’t. It was the place where I had also experienced my lowest moments on earth. It was the room that was full of bad and pathetic memories. It was the place where Vince bullied me for the first time. We should probably have an anniversary of enmity between us, because bullying me had become his new obsession and hobby, her had been doing it for so long that I even lost touch with being a normal girl. I almost forgot how

My head remained on the locker with my hands clutching my clothes tightly. The voices around me were louder and people hadn’t finished laughing, this was fun, so much fun for them. I felt helpless as a hot open debate began on the next row. A debate loud enough for me to hear. People debating what size my panties were and others speculating that I was bright to have poked holes there to breathe.‘‘Have you noticed that she rarely smells since Vince taught her how to bathe and poke holes in her pants to breathe,’’ a voice said as thunderous laughter followed.‘‘Has anyone noticed that she dresses like a seventeenth century grandmother or its just me?’’ ‘’How did she even recite the whole poem perfectly; something doesn’t add up?’’The discussions were hot and lively as I sat their quietly.I lifted my head up to look around and noticed that the bully was missing. Not the bully, almost the whole class was full of bullies, but the chief bully was nowhere to be seen. Was he even their

12th - April - WHEN THE BULLY FALLS IN LOVE Dear diary, I think that I am finally in love, finally in love. His name is Vince, I know you will be surprised but it is my mission to turn and bring lost souls to light. In the eyes of the world, he is evil, to me, I see more, more than a bully, more than a rude and violent boy. I see someone who needs love, I see someone who craves for attention, I see someone who wants to be given a chance. And I am going to be that girl. I see it in his eyes, the way he looks at me before he turns his facial expressions to confuse the world. Vince loves me and I love him. But no one is ready to admit that. So dear diary, I am writing this, to tell you about the bully, to tell you that the bully will finally fall in love with me. When the bully falls in love and admits it, you’ll be the first one to know. Because I can’t wait for the day when fate and destiny will bring us together. When fate and destiny will bring our lips together. The list of word

I was seated quietly ,trembling, not knowing what to do. Was the bully secretly in love with me too? What could be the problem? What could have transpired. He looked confused today, her couldn’t decide whether to be sweet, rude or arrogant the way he was every day. It was unlike Vince to be anything other than rude, violent and abusive. He was a mixture of all three. All three blended at once to produce a very rude bully who didn’t want to see me win or succeed in life. The whole class couldn’t picture what was going on yet? They couldn’t find something to laugh about too. Everyone was looking at us, not at us but at Vince specifically, demanding answers, answers of why he hadn’t done something big yet, answers of why he hadn’t made a big super human move yet. My crimes were great, they were big, I doubted if Jesus himself would have agreed to die for me today, if at all he came back and God asked him to save Fatrez specifically, would he have died for me. Let alone die, would he hav

Sometimes it felt like everyone else around me had their whole life figured out. They fitted in easily, moved with masses, they didn’t struggle like I did. They didn’t try so hard, they just fit. Pieces of their puzzle just found each other. They made friends easily, got good grades easily, their parents loved them without drama, their families weren’t dysfunctional either. They were just happy and okay. Happy even though they didn’t deserve it. Happy, so happy that I was jealous. They didn’t have to pretend to be okay, pretend to be human. Pretend that they were okay without friends or lie about being an introvert to cover the lack of friendships. Lie that they lived being a loner or anything like that. Faults are usually thick where love is thin. The faults in my life were thick, too thick for me to break out or see the way forward. It only meant that the love in my life was thin, it was hardly there. I didn’t even love myself and kept looking down on me every day. How could anyone