(This is a continued story of Flaw. It may be a bit confusing to suddenly find someone calling out to her. This is actually a flashback of her past. The sequels from now on will actually only be continuations of her one remembered flashback where it will be explained why Carla had suddenly become so hostile towards certain words in the first part and also towards her very own family itself. I hope you will like it and want to know what happens next.)
***
'Hey!' A voice had called out. I had turned around clearly annoyed to be disturbed while i had been sorting out my very important thoughts along with the task of sorting out some very important papers as well.
Both had been too important to ignore at that time.
Addini.
'Hey. Congratulations girl. You made it! You're with me from our section!'
Made it? Then it had hit me. The Rotaract club results of who got selected. Me? From our section of forty two... Only me and Addini had made it?
Getting selected in the Rotaract Club had never really been my dream. It was more of a class bunking excuse since you're called to a lot of drives and social working bullshit. Also because I had nothing to do when the auditions were being held so I had just let myself get tagged along with my friends for it.
I can still remember it. It and been a month ago....
"Do you really want to join this club with your heart?"
"Er....."
"What are your hobbies?"
"When I'm bored I usually do stuff which don't make me feel so bored you know like-"
He had cut me off, nearly squinting his eyes in my direction once, maybe to check just once, if I had really planned to mock him. Part of me had really wanted to do exactly that, seriously, while part of me had just been stating the very obvious statement of every teenager(what was the point of lying anyway?), while the rest of me had just wanted to laugh at the whole situation.
"Why do you want to join this club?"
"Because I'm jobless and free and am thus, ready to do what you tell me if I it is within my own limits."
"Are you doing this for the badge?"
"There's a badge?" I hadn't known that. I hadn't really cared. This was getting me nowhere at all. I had just wanted to get rid of the guy real quick.
He somehow had just barely managed to suppress his own sigh and had waved me off to the nearest desk to write my name and class on the list of at least a hundred more children who had, I'm pretty sure, given a much better interview than me.
So when she told me that I'm there I had just let my jaw drop open and had let my eyes go real wide. Because.....Wow.
That guy must be the most stupidest guy I've ever met so far.
'I'm going in for that badge then.' I said. Anyway it was a win win for me.
The investiture ceremony was a week later and they made us practice like hell. The first day was good enough and I escaped but on the second day......
"Can't run this time Carla.' Bhash said. I groaned and turned towards my best friend.
'Why?!!??'
'They saw you, you great big idiotic buffoon.' I had shrugged at that. 'Now let's get going.' That's right. Baffoon. My bestie really prided her skills in fauna.
We walked down to the auditorium and sat down. Height wise.
Like are you serious? It never really mattered much at all. Not that I'm very short, as I said before. I'm reasonably heightened but still it was a stupid rule because you just had to go to the stage, get the damned badge and then walk off all this time never really earning a glance form the authorities.
Stupid. As I said.
Bhash had woefully looked at me and moved in the front row. Poor kid. She's pretty short heightened anyway to elude the others.
Meanwhile I was stuck behind with all the guys with occasionally thrown in girls. I mean, it's not really bad that way. The guys don't intimidate you and they take you much more seriously if you're tall. But girls are so less here that I nearly wished I was a little shorter.
Don't get me wrong though. I have more boy friends than girl friends anyway. But whatever.
I feel a nudge on my shoulder and it annoys me. No one touches me without my permission. I'm mental that way but I don't really care about that. I've made that rule pretty clear for everyone.
'Remember me?'
No. Not really. He had looked familiar but I just wasn't able to recall. You weren't supposed to say that anyway. What was wrong with giving some introductions to me?
My blank stare told him what he needed an answer to. His face fell noticeably. I laughed at his state.
'What?' He said a bit defensively.
'If you want me to remember you, then better start with the introductions, boy.'
Another reason why people were intimidated by me was because I was studying late. So I was a year elder to all of these people. And this kid was exactly looking like a kid. More immature in fact. Small but reasonably heightened and a smooth skin. None of that mattered much. It was his manner of speaking that made him look like a kid. Otherwise why would he have sat with us folk?
'I'm Adriano Merth and I'm not a boy.'
Had to admit. He had guts to talk to me like that. Everyone knew that I was the eldest here.
A guy on my right hand side had given me a sideways grin. I was famous for many reasons. Some of them being, that I took challenges very seriously, I was extremely good at brains and violence and had an extremely sharp tongue and contacts and resources of almost everywhere and for almost everything.
So Ben had leaned in to Adriano and said,
'New kid huh?'
He looked confused first and then determined that there was no loophole in this to be caught into, said,
'Yeah, so what-'
'There you go. That explains the guts. Stupid idiot.'
I'd beaten several boys at numerous events and they knew better than to initiate it when with me. These guys were like soldiers and had become my family.
Adriano looked blank again.
'I don't understand.' He muttered.
Ben laughed.
'He really is stupid isn't he?'
I joined in. Poor kid. Is all I had thought then.
I couldn't say that now. He definitely proved himself. I hope he hadn't. I hope he'd spared me any introductions and had got beaten instead. But that didn't happen. I fell so hard that I don't think that I'll ever get up. I want to. I do want to get up.
(To be continued....)
©AkshayaGadre