Introvert diary-II

"Aren't you the new student?",  a voice demanded.

"Yes,  m... I am ",  She faltered.

It was her first day in the boarding school. She quickly scanned her belongings, her mother had packed everything neatly for her. She looked at the senior girl who had come to fetch her to her dorm. The stranger looked like a rogue: rough curry hair, freckled face and deep kohl smeared eyes.

The journey from the academic building to her dorm drove her out of her wits. She could see a fright in people's eyes as the senior cleared her way to her dorm. As she neared the dorm, she felt like running back to her parents who by now had left with teary eyes. She bargained with herself for a moment. "You are here to study, to make good memories",  she told herself.

A huge dorm lay ahead with symmetric beds and shelves on both sides . Bed 22, that was allotted to her. She quietly lowered her bags and tried to make peace with what lay ahead. That concrete bed in one damp corner of a huge dorm was all she had for herself.

She looked at the next bed and to her utter surprise it was the same senior who had come to fetch her.  She wanted to strike a conversation but she was never good at it so managed to pass on a nervous smile. The senior seemed disturbed, as if her space had been intruded. She smiled back at her but she knew she was not yet welcomed.

The day faded into evening and she got dragged to the mess counter to fetch tea. She wanted to join the group of girls she spotted near the dorm, they were her new class mates but she didn't want to be an intruder. She quietly went back to her bed and settled to have tea.

"Biscuit loba? ", she heard a whisper.

She could see the same senior that had fetched her this morning offering her a container full of biscuits. She coyly accepted one and this saw the start of their friendship.

Girls were surprised for Amy had no friends and it was unusual for her to trust a new comer.
...

" Oi, uth uth pt jabo lage ", hummed ba

Ba was the only family she had there at school. Her voice was music to her ears. Right from morning pt to dinner, she stood by her like a rock solid pillar. No one dared to harass her by any means for they knew she had Amy ba, the best student of 12th (B) known for her caliber and robust physical strength.

Our Miss Introvert found home in Amy. She would happily do whatever she was asked of. She knew that she could run to her for anything she wanted.

They were poles alike,  Amy was an extrovert, she knew to speak for herself whereas there she was,  a tad introvert yet they had so much in common. They would bet each other over novels and games of chess. They preferred walks over games, chocolates over samosas, solitude over people. They had a world of their own where they preferred everything that the rest of the world didn't.
...

Stifled sobs filled the air of her dorm. She tried to locate the sound. No, it couldn't be Amy. She hardly cried. She was well known for her strength of mind. But what about the sound that she for sure knew was coming out of her bed.

She quietly went to Amy's bed and saw her all huddled up in pain. She wanted to comfort her but she wanted Amy to talk about it to her first rather than she asking for it. Days rolled by, Amy seemed disturbed but she never spoke about it.
...

It was the time of Magh Bihu,  the Assamese festival. The students had prepared a meji where everyone was busy in merry making. The school mess had a festive air too, they were about to have a special dinner.

"Have you seen someone die?", asked Amy

"No",  she replied.She was quite taken aback. They usually never had such conversations.

"I lost my father in one such Magh bihu day", Amy sighed.

She knew not what to say. She never had imagined that a girl so bold could have such pain in her heart. She rarely showed her vulnerable side.

"We were a complete family.  My parents loved me and my sister and tried their level best to gift us the best of everything. From the faded memories I have of my father, I remember him to be a loving man, " Amy choked.

" It's okay ba, you can tell me about it", she managed to whisper.

"He had cancer and he didn't let maa know about it. We were too young to understand. He spent the rest of the days in buying us gifts and clicking pictures. It was the happiest of times. We had no clue that he was fighting a lone fight... ", Amy froze

" And? ", she heard her lips whisper

" And he left us one day unannounced. It was not a natural death. Maybe the pain was unbearable for him so he committed suicide"

She hugged Amy tight, she knew not what to do. Amy wasn't even crying. She was looking out at the fire, the meji which had caught the tallest of flames.

"You know, I knew not what to do after he left, I no more had gifts coming to my house. My maa hardly smiled and my sister was sent to my aunt's place. There was no one to comb my hair, to look after me and to teach me what was right. I finally decided I needed to get out of the house and so  studied hard and got myself into this boarding school. I was afraid people would bully me so I myself became a bully. I became someone who was beyond approach. I scored well in exams and so was always on the good books of teachers. People saw Amy as someone they could never fathom to be." Amy let out a smirk.

"You never bullied me ba, kio? "

"When you walked into my life, I saw something change in me. You accepted me as I was. For the first time, I could see someone taking care of me. You rebuked me like a sister, stood by me like a friend and yet never imposed your presence. You saw me as your guardian figure. You treated me like someone you held dear and were not even afraid of me. I couldn't bully you for I saw a young Amy in you who if was loved and cared for would have grown up to be someone like you "

" She could feel tears streaming through her eyes. When had she become family to this person who seemed so distant was something she failed to understand "

The blazing meji that evening brought home a new Amy who finally had stopped pretending to be someone she wasn't. She left school after a few months as her boards were over but while leaving she left behind a part of her with Miss Introvert. She had taught her to be bold, to be an Amy to someone in need.

She for sure had made some good memories. Amy being one of them.
...