It’s his first day in high school and he is alone. Well the elementary school wasn't a happy place either but the high school has made it worse. He is a commerce student and it’s his first day in high school. The schools a recent one so therearen't much student. The cell phone is allowed in his school which is odd among high schools. He enters his class and puts his bag down and turns his headphone to full volume. He watches as the students come in groups and sit in their choice of seat. Well at least his class has got a lot of them. The first class is economics and as with everywhere in the world its introduction time. He is closing his eyes with his headphones on. “Ouch!” the teacher throws his marker cap at him and he pulls his headphone down “hey you! Yeah you with the headphones, introduce yourself”. He stands up “Hello everyone, I’m Ravin Shrestha...” “Tell me more about yourself, your hobbies, friends, parents?” ouch! Well it wasn't his favorite topic. He doesn't have any friends, none that matters anyway. And his parents don’t live with him and he doesn't know where they are. All he knows is that they live somewhere far but they send him a juicy check anyway. With all his guts he speaks “I’m into dark sketches and writing. I don’t have much friends but I do have some of the great ones. And, I don’t live with my parents.” “Thank you. I expect you to keep your headphones down now.”
He looked on as they introduced themselves. He didn't bother to know them for he knew that he would be alone, no matter what happens. The periods passed and the lunch began. 3 hours of nonstop introduction and useless chitchats of the students had kinda pissed him off? The lunch came and he sat at one corner of the canteen and ate in silence enjoying the peace and calmness within. He looks and watches as they eat. After the lunch it’s back to class again. Bored he tries to sleep but all he gets in response is marker caps. Finally when the day is over he rushes to his house. It’s been like this for two years now, since his parents left him he has been living alone. Elementary school wasn't much fun. He was treated as an outsider, an outcast. In those two years he has modified his house, tearing down the walls and creating a large room which he calls ‘the steam room’ since he blows off his steam in that particular room. The neighbors’ a normal one with a park and a lot of open spaces which is odd to find in Lalitpur, the so called ‘brick city’ as there is a lot of brick alleys known locally as ‘the galli’s’. The most recent activity is that a café opened, right in front of his house. At least he would have a decent cup of coffee now. He smiled and shot straight to his house. He opens up the refrigerator and takes out a mini bottle of ‘Minsk’ which is a sort of Vodka, pours a little bit of it on the glass and goes to the kitchen. The wall between the kitchen and the living room had been torn down recently so he could enjoy TV while cooking. He makes himself a decent lunch i.e. scrambled egg with French toast along with a dark coffee and turns on the TV. Putting aside the Minsk he eats down his lunch and after that he drinks up his Minsk. Well coffee and alcohol isn’t the best combination so he falls asleep very quickly.
He wakes up around 12 am. He looks outside his room window which is on the ground floor. The café next door is still open. He goes out of his house towards the café. The window is open but curtains are closed, and there is some soft music playing. He stays there for a while and then he hears a female voice, “Dad, it’s only been 3 days here and I already miss you.” and he hears someone sobbing. Not knowing what to do he pulls up his notepad from his back pocket and writes a welcome note. “Hey! Welcome to LP. Sorry for eavesdropping but I kina heard your sobbing. Lighten up dude. –your neighbor, Outcasted Phantom” Outcasted Phantom is his alias which he writes down below his dark heart arts. He knocks on the door and goes back to his house with a smile. Once in the house he empties the bottle of Minsk and watches the TV till dawn. At around 5 am he looks out of his window, he is sober by this time and wow! The café’s open. He pulls on his hood and goes towards the café. “Hello aunty. Can I have a cup of coffee?” He puts up a fake smile as he greets the neighbor. “Oh! Hello Ravi. Since you are the first customer here, this one is on the house.” The neighbor replies with the smile. He drinks up the coffee and leaves “ok aunty it’s getting late for school!” “But it’s just 5 am! The school ain’t gonna start for another 2 hours!” “Well I like going there early. I get the chance to get prepared for the day.” He smiles and leaves. And is say again his high schools and odd one, it has no uniform and electronic gadgets are allowed there. The schools starts from 7 am and lasts till 2pm having 4 periods each lasting 1.5 hours with an hour of lunch break after two periods.
So after paying for the coffee he goes to his house and lights up a cigarette. He leaves half an hour after that. Well he is kinda used to it. It’s been like this his entire life. The elementary school was exactly like this but it did have some exceptional days, which left him devastated in the end. After the school it’s back to home again. He now cleans the dishes from the previous night and turns on the TV. His cell phone rings at around 5pm, ‘Maya’ calling. “Where the hell is she calling from?” he picks up his phone grumbling. “Yo!” “Hey, Ravin I’m really sorry for last time… sorry for the way I ended things with you...” “No, you don’t have to be. You made me realize the truth, made me realize that I am an outcast. Actually I am thankful for that.” “Ravi…” “I’m done… done with you, done with having fake friends and useless mates. I know it gets lonely sometimes but I’m satisfied at being alone…at least it’s safe.” he hangs up. Well things had ended badly after the last exam of elementary school with Maya. They used to be best buddies but apparently Maya had faked that. “No! I ain’t gonna dwell on the past memories again.” Saying this he pulls out another bottle of Minsk from the fridge and empties it in a single gulp. The booze soon gets to him and he falls asleep very shortly after that
He wakes up at around 11pm. For some reason he looks at the café immediately after waking up. It’s still open. He goes up to the café and as soon as he reaches the door of the café he sees the ‘Closed’ sign. But he hears a familiar voice, the voice that he heard last night. “Dad, I really miss you.” and some sobbing. He tries to look inside but the curtains too thick but he sees the outline of that person and all he could tell from the outline is that it’s a female and definitely not the aunty. Being the sensitive kind he wishes to go in and give her some comfort. As soon as he is about to knock he realizes that he doesn’t know the person at all but the urge remains. So he writes again “Hey dude. It’s me again. You look like you could really use a friend. Call me at 98********. I just can’t hear you crying every night, it’s been two days straight, and at least try to sleep because I saw your shadow all night long.-your neighbor, Outcasted Phantom” he leaves the note, knocks the door and heads towards his house. Once inside he makes himself a sandwich, a dark coffee and waits for the morning to come.
********
2 weeks later
the days were going normal for him until a few days ago. Oddly enough some of the nerds of the class spoke with him and included him in their group. By then he knew most of the names and it changed the world for him. He was one of the nerds now but he still felt outcasted as he still has no idea what they talk about as they talk in their sciency language. He still sits alone but at least he is not alone in the lunch and during the 5 minutes break after each period he talks with them. In the English class today the teacher, Nawaraj, told that the teens can be classified into 6 different groups i.e. the jocks/ athletes, the gossips, the handsome/beautiful, the friendly, the nerds and the loners. This made him laugh which in turn led him out of the class. Later the teacher asks him what the laugh was about to which he calmly replies “sir I don’t belong into any of those groups. So I just wanted to bail out of the class.” “You don’t say.” He smiles and sends him back to the class. He still had another period to go so he put his head phone on. The last period was of Nepali, which usually makes him sleep and he slept like a bear all throughout the period.
The notice board has a new notice. “This is to inform the students that it is compulsory for all the students to take an extra class starting from Sunday. The options are:
I. Sports(basket ball, football, cricket)
II. Dance/singing or music
III. Articles and literatures (Newspaper, Speeches, and library management)
The students who refuse to choose the extra classes will be put in Library management by default”
He signs up for ‘Article and Literatures’ and shoots straight to home. He prepares his lunch (buffalo steak and salad) and eats them with some Vodka. The alcohol soon takes its tall and he falls asleep.
He wakes up when his cell starts up ringing “Tweet Tweet SMS”. He checks up his cell. The text was from an unknown number. “Hello Outcasted Phantom. It’s the girl from the café. You can call me ‘Obscure Hope’. Thanks for the notes. You made me realize that hope can come from anywhere. I first saw you about two weeks ago while you were going away from the café and all I saw was a guy with a hood. I saw you a few times after that, I think, and still all I saw was a guy with the hood. Seriously, though I still haven’t seen your face. I wanna get to know you but I’m afraid of knowing you as I’ve lost everyone I ever had. My mom died when I was 10 and my dad’s all messed up and I am here alone. Still don’t know why he sent me here though. Having an aunty doesn’t make it much easier. Physically yes but psychologically not much. I’m glad that I have such a good neighbor.” To which he replied “we can just stay text friends. You don’t have to know me. And about your being alone situation, all I can say is that I’ve been there and felt that. To be honest I’m still trying to deal with all my messed up emotions. And I’m glad that you finally decided to reach me out. I was getting alone myself. :D. Good night. And at least try to sleep tonight. I know that you haven’t slept ever since you came here.” He then takes out another bottle of mini Minsk and empties it. It is the only way that he could sleep since sleeping pills are not allowed for people under 20years.
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