Briar's POV
"Get ready quickly, dolly day dream." Ariana said ruffling my hair and Gretchen laughed.
I threw my hairclip at her and she ran out the door laughing.
“You’ll come by yourself, right?” Gretchen said and I noticed everyone had already left.
“Yeah sure.” I said smiling.
“Don’t be late.” Gretchen said tapping her wrist watch, walking out the door, closing it.
Another reason for us being best friends is because we're roommates. We shifted to the new dorms when we were promoted to high school. And us being six girls, we ended up getting one of the biggest rooms on our floor. Obviously, being together practically all the time, we are more like a family.
Suddenly while dressing up my mom's face came in my head. It's been months and I haven't met my mom and dad. Being a single child, I am pampered thoroughly. But the family legacy of sending your children to boarding school has been a part of the family traditions. So, I was admitted to the school by my parents. But originally belonging from Canada, I meet them once in a year during my vacation, when I get to go back to my home city, Vancouver.
When I was a kid, I used to cry a lot, always asking my parents not to leave. But as I grew up, I became used to living in this school. It's my second home now, though I miss my parents a lot. But I couldn’t escape the tree of familial traditions keeping in mind how even my grandfather's father is a boarding school graduate
When I was born my dad wanted to continue this chain so he got me admitted into this boarding school and Culford Rempten senior secondary school, was one the best school to pick. It's reputation for its academics, sports, dance and music is famous enough for my dad putting me here. My mom wanted me to study in somewhere in Vancouver, but dad insisted for me to study here. He surely didn’t make a bad decision.
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when I heard the morning bell. It was almost a quarter past eight, the starting time for morning service. I quickly took my badge and pinning it to my uniform, went to the door. I took my hand forward to open the door and it jammed. Again.
From past ten days this door has been troubling us. I've put so many complaints and requests to get it fixed but no one came. I tried very hard trying to pull it. I saw the clock again. Time was running fast like bolt, today.
Fuck! I can’t be late.
Pulling the door with all my strength but the lock was stubbornly fixated in one position. Only one option was left. Scream. Call out for someone, if available. So, I did it.
"EXCUSE ME! HELP! IS ANYONE THERE?" I shouted, banging on the door.
"PLEASE HELP ME!" I shouted again.
I screamed while constantly trying to open the door, praying simultaneously maybe some fairy will whack their magic wand and this gate will open. I had almost lost hope but after a few seconds I heard footsteps. I shouted again and I could sense the footsteps getting clearer and faster.
"Who's there?" The man outside asked.
It must be a teacher. Oh! My lifesaver.
"Yes, sir. This door is stuck and it's not opening." I said in panic.
"Wait I'll try." He said and I could sense the pressure on the door.
We both were trying hard for the door open, one pulling from inside and other pushing from outside. My palms were almost red applying so much force on the door handle. But I could feel the door jerking a bit, I knew it would open soon enough. But we both didn’t really look at the consequences and foolishly put the pressure in the same direction.
The gate opened but the person pushing from outside landed right on top of me, as I was right behind it. Lying flat on the floor with a heavy body on top of me, I grumbled in pain and opened my eyes seeing someone unexpected. I was shaken to the core, with butterflies making a feast in my stomach.
Mr. Wilson’s rose with hands on either side of my head and our faces inches apart. The close proximity was enough for his cologne to surround my mind with a lovely mist of the fragrance. But realising the position we were in, he quickly stood up scooping back, while I couldn’t stand up, because my revival from the shock was yet to be confirmed.
He came towards me lending me a hand to get up, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, t-thank you.” I held his hand getting up.
"Is the door always like this?" he asked, pointing at the gate.
"I don't know sir. I've put the fixing request in the office as well, but I didn’t get any response." I said, furrowing my eyebrows, getting embarrassed whenever I catch a glimpse of him looking at me.
"Hmm. Okay, don't worry I'll get it done." He said and I nodded, letting out a weak smile.
"Also, why are you late?" He asked furrowing his eyebrows.
“Actually sir, last night I was doing my work so I slept late and today I woke up a little late and my friends don't let me use the bathroom so I wasn't able to get ready quickly and then they all left me here saying that get ready quickly but when I got ready It was already past eight and I realised I'm late but when I hurried the door jammed but thank god you came and saved me otherwise, I would've gotten late." I said all of it one breath. I was rambling, something I do this when I'm tensed.
“Okay.” I looked up and caught a smile on his face and he left the room, hinting me to follow him behind.
I absolutely hate him.
Luckily because I entered after Mr. Wilson, I wasn’t asked any questions for my late advancement for the assembly. He stood at the right end, with a few teachers, standing out in the crowd. I don’t mind losing my focus, when he is the one, I’m distracted by. But I didn’t like the idea of him teasing me, so my dislike for him was higher.
"Where were you?" Bianca from behind whispered, when I stood in front of her in the hall.
"I'll tell you later." I replied.
"Have a nice day everyone." our teacher said, after giving the last announcements of the day.
"Thank you, ma'am!" Everyone said in unison.
After the dispersal, coming out of the hall I united with my friends. "Who asked you to shut the door so hard? You know, it got stuck again!" I almost shouted.
"It wasn't me. It was Ariana." Gretchen said, looking terrified seeing me angry.
"Why always me? I remember it was Bianca!" Ariana said with her eyes wide pointing at Bianca, a little scared.
"Shut up, I didn't do it, the fuck!" Bianca said irritated.
"Wait, if the door got stuck then how did you come out?" Rosé asked.
"Don't ask." I said making the most horrible face.
They all pulled me to the garden area forcing me to tell what happened. As uninterested I was, I still had to tell them the entire scene and as expected they all laughed.
Bastards!
"So, you guys almost kissed." Bianca said between her laughs.
"I wish I was there to encounter it." Rosé said pouting.
"Me too!" The others said in unison.
"Shut the fuck up y’all." I said going away.
I was so damn irritated. My anger and angst were at a stage where it was ready to be dropped out of my eyes in form of tears and I hate crying, making my eyes go puffy. Maybe it was a funny situation seen from a third person’s perspective. But me being the main protagonist, it was nothing even close to enjoyable.
Weirdly it felt strange because something happens in my stomach every time he's around, but the intensity was a lot higher today. Was it the close proximity? I was not sure, but my heart was beating unnecessarily fast. Especially when he gives me that teasing smile it irritates me and this tickling sensation starts.
I don't like it.
"Sorry, Briar." Ariana said, pulling me towards her. I hugged her, letting out an exhausted breath, resting my face on her shoulder.
"Let's not think about that. It's not like you deliberately wanted that to happen. Right?” She asked and I almost on the verge of tears, pouted.
“Aww, my baby. It was just a coincidence. Don’t think about it much." Ariana said trying to calm me, patting my back, hugging me tightly. I hummed and nodded.
I won’t think about him.
Can I?
Briar's POVThe day was amazing, as the first five periods none of the teachers took classes, because of some meeting they had to attend. Not soon after it was almost time to return to the dorms. Our school gets over at three o’clock in the afternoon and according to the rules we have to get to our dorms by six in the evening. We get a three-hour time lapse, to attend extra classes or roam around the campus.Sometimes we get some extra work like cleaning the classrooms or extra lessons by teachers who are behind in completing the syllabus. Though, I usually spend my time reading books, in the garden area or corridor corners. I was reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, not the first time with this masterpiece, but my admiration never fades away.Jane undeniably is one of the most amazing characters I have encountered in a book. Her perseverance in the face of adversity, her strong personality and wisdom always leaves me awe. There was something about her that I felt deeply connected w
Gareth's POVI was in my office looking for 'Men without women' by Haruki Murakami, the book which mother recommend to me a long time ago. I know very well that she was not trying to mock me about my broken marriage by recommending this book. In fact, she wants me to get married again, but for me, it’s not as easy as it may appear.Three years of devotion and treating her like the goddess of my temple, she didn’t even care to notice the range of my love for her. Our marriage was planned like a business deal between my father’s friend and his company. The careless attempts to make two people close surely didn’t work in our case. While I wholeheartedly abided my mother’s request, her virtue of freedom seemed to be bounded by my presence.My mother still blames herself for the scar she left on my mind, because to her I was simply showing my love for my mother as I allowed another woman to rule over my heart’s territory. I promised to give her everything she desired while that little sill
Briar's POVThe heat I felt last night on my cheeks was still fresh and I just cannot erase that incident from my memory. To put in simple words, my fear made me do something I could never imagine. I hugged my principal and not just hug, I JUMPED AND HUGGED Mr. Wilson. It was just amateurishly exasperating. I know how each time I recall that incident an extremely clear image of Mr. Wilson with that teasing smile, comes in my head.I can only imagine how much fun he must've made of me in his brain. And on top of hugging him, I also rambled in front of him. Fuck my anxiety! My situation strangely keeps getting worse in front of him making it purely awkward for me to come in contact with him.My heart beats faster thinking what happened last night, not just with me, but even Rose. I would’ve gotten mad at her as I was unaware of the other side of the story.When I came back the previous night, nobody was in the dorm. To my surprise, even Gretchen was not the room, because she usually sta
Briar's POVIt felt like the days had become shorter, taking into consideration how I was so consumed in my book. Though I haven't completed reading it yet, because I was reading it slowly; it's an amazing book. I especially adore the delicacy with which Johnathan takes care of Annika.Are coincidences really shaped so beautifully? Just like the gentleness of the wind as life passes by, do people really remain good even after the sun goes down? Maybe, I was thinking too deep into the novel, but I do understand her fondness into being alone due to the trauma, away from everyone; except that one person.Is love really a drug you shouldn’t take, yet it rules over you and drives you insane and makes you test your limits? Ironically, you are simply the only person to be blamed for it. Just like poison ivy, greedily begging for a potion to be poured out the pot of lust, dominated by the craving for that person’s touch; mentally and physically. Almost like being trapped in their chains, the
Gareth's POVThe day was almost over and so was my work. I now realize how much work mom did. I mean, it's just a school and still so many responsibilities; though my company makes my workload increase, but still, I’m near my exhaustion phase hitting, again.I wasn't able to get time to read the book. I tried reading further but last night I left my book in the library, because I had to suddenly attend a few business calls. I always prefer reading in my office, but because the entire place is getting renovated, I had to go to the library.Whenever I read in my room, I always end up getting very sleepy and because I don’t have much time to spare on this, I want to finish this book in a week. Obviously, it isn’t easy, taking in account how horribly impactful this entire piece of writing is. Every other story just brings in something painful to encounter. I was impressed by the human dynamics of relationships that are driven by lust or longing can take a much deeper aspect into consi
Briar's POVOur school's annual day was coming up soon. I was excited, because this year the senior-section’s parents were invited as well. Which meant, I would get to meet my parents before the vacations. This year, was also a lot more special because, one, I was a council member and two, I would be getting an award.The Computer Savvy award. As the title itself suggests, I represented my school last year in a national level computer competition, and I won the award for completing the task, the fastest and with great accuracy. I had always been interested in computers, a lot more than other subjects. I spent time, bettering my skills but soon, I was also able to explore a lot more about the world that survives and exists, online.A basic question I always used to get asked was, whether I can hack into a computer or not. For ethical purposes, yes. But I’d be lying, if I said I never tried unethical hacking. Obviously, hacking into online websites is simpler, than hacking into a well-p
Gareth's POV My book is finally finished after almost a week and my exhaustion level was almost taking me in a different dimension almost. I told my mother about finishing the book, she was happy, but her condition is deteriorating every day. I really wanted to meet her but she specially gave an instruction to my father that he would not let me leave the school on its own. My mother has always been a lot closer to me than anyone else in my family, naturally I also love and respect her the most. She wants me to take care of the school here, though I miss her a lot. This school was probably the only thing she loves more than anything in the entire world. She only, truly genuinely loved this institution, as her passion and connection with teaching, especially teaching girls. She had always been fond of studying, putting into consideration how her mother could never attain the education she deserved. Today she isn’t present in our world, but her words still remains and it always will
Briar's POVIt's been a few days to that incident. I haven't really met him since then. Yes, I had to go to his office for some work, every now and then, but I didn't make eye contact with him. And very expectedly he did the same. Maybe I was more conscious of my surroundings and every inch he moves, was becoming a part of my picture frame, but I somewhat did get the idea.I still can't believe I did that and was actually imagining something that is not just impossible but also extremely wrong. Starting to develop feelings for a man that is not my age, sounds rather like a scandalous deal; something simply I couldn’t afford to do. But what if…Nah!The entire day went wasn’t as eventful, it was rather quiet. Preparations for the Annual Day were going on and my schedule was very uneven. I wasn't really able to attend any class properly, but it wasn’t too bad either. Who wouldn’t like the idea of missing classes without getting scolded. But it was hectic at dorm, since I had to study th