The school bell rang at 7:40 in the morning.
Students stood in lines, on the assembly ground. They were adjusting their ties. Whispering to each other. The morning sunlight was shining down on them. It reflected off their shoes and white uniforms. The students and the assembly ground and the morning sunlight all looked very ordinary. The students and their white uniforms were a sight.
Except one thing.
Ayaan Malik.
The man stood in the front row he looked really calm and composed. His white shirt was ironed perfectly his tie was lined up right and his shoes were super clean. There was nothing, about the man. He did not have a big smile on his face and he was not moving around too much. The man just stood there calm and quiet like the man was waiting for something to happen to the man.
People just could not. Look at him. It was like eyes were drawn to the man naturally.
The teachers really liked the man. They thought he was a person. The teachers admired him because he was very good, at what he did.
The students really trusted this teacher. He was someone that the students trusted a lot. The students had a lot of faith in this teacher because the students trusted him.
The juniors really looked up to him because he was a person. The juniors thought he was someone. They looked up to him a lot.
"Ayaan, you are exactly the kind of student this school is proud of,"
The principal said this after the assembly was over and he put a hand on the boys shoulder.
You are a person who shows discipline. You have good character. Discipline and character are very important, to you. When people think of you they think of discipline and character.
"Yes, sir. Thank you,"
Ayaan replied softly. He did this with a nod. Ayaan wanted to be respectful so he used a voice and a polite nod.
No excitement.
No pride.
Just acceptance.
As if hearing such words was a daily routine.
Inside the classroom, the reactions were no different.
My friend I want to know how you managed to get marks in maths again. You always seem to do well in maths. I am wondering what your secret is for getting marks in maths. Did you study maths a lot. Is maths just really easy, for you?
You never get really scared before you have to take exams do you? Exams can be pretty tough. You always seem to stay calm. You do not panic before exams that is what I am saying. Do you?
I would like you to share your notes with me. Can you please do that?
Ayaan listened patiently. He smiled a little. Then he passed his notebook forward to the person in front of him. Ayaan wanted to make sure the person got the notebook.
The man never said no to anyone. He always helped people. The man never turned his back on anyone who needed help. He was always willing to lend a hand to people who were struggling. The man never refused anyone who came to him for assistance.
Teachers called him a dream student because he was always very good, at paying attention in class and doing his homework on time. The teachers really liked the fact that he was a dream student. He was the kind of student that every teacher wants to have in their class a real dream student.
Never late.
Never rude.
Never distracted.
People did not see that Ayaan only spoke when he really needed to. Ayaan would only say something when it was really necessary for Ayaan to say it.
His silence wasn't confidence.
It was control.
When it was time for lunch the other kids, in the class ran to the canteen to eat.. Ayaan did not go with them. He stayed behind. Ayaan opened the box that had his lunch in it. However he did not feel like eating anything. Ayaan kept looking out of the window. His eyes were fixed on the window the time. Ayaan just kept staring at the window.
The sky was clear.
The school ground was loud.
Life looked normal. Everything seemed to be going okay. My daily routine was the same. I was doing the things every day. Life was just going on and, on.
To Ayaan the word normal did not mean what it means to people. Normal meant something different to Ayaan. For Ayaan normal was not, like what everyone else thought it was. Ayaan had an idea of what normal is.
A voice came out of nowhere. It was really loud, inside his head. The voice was so sudden that it startled him. The voice just echoed inside his head.
You cannot forget, Ayaan.
The mans fingers tightened around the lunchbox. He was holding the lunchbox tightly. The lunchbox was the one thing he had to eat for the day. The lunchbox was all he had.
"Are you okay?"
The class teacher of his asked him something. His class teacher wanted to know something.
"Yes, ma'am,"
He replied away.
Always the perfect answer.
By evening Ayaan came back, to his home.
The house was silent.
His mother was in the kitchen but you did not hear any utensils being used there was no television playing, in the background. The house felt like someone was there. At the same time the house felt empty.
Ayaan you are home.
The woman said this without turning around.
"Yes,"
He replied while he was taking off his shoes.
They did not say much to each other that was usually all they said to each other.
No questions.
No conversations.
Ayaan went into his room then he shut the door. He pulled the curtains. Turned off the lights. The room was really dark now. Darkness filled Ayaans room it was very dark.
This is where his real life actually began for him the point where everything else that happened before seemed to fade and his real life began.
From, under the bed he pulled out a diary. The cover was all torn up the pages were yellow because they were really old. On the front of the diary there were only two words written:
"Only the Truth."
The man opened the door. He actually opened it. The door was opened by the man.
Then closed it immediately.
The mans hands were shaking badly. His hands were trembling much that he could hardly hold anything. The mans hands were trembling.
"Not today,"
The man whispered to himself.
At 2:13 a.m., the city was asleep.
Ayaan wasn't.
The phone screen of his phone was glowing in the room. It was really dark, in that room and the phone screen of his phone was shining brightly.
I got a message on my phone from a number I do not know.
> Did you really think that the whole thing was over?
Some things never die. They just stay with us forever like memories of times or bad times. We always remember these things, the things that never die.
The mans breathing just stopped. His breathing stopped completely. The breathing of the man stopped.
The person deleted the message. He got rid of the message. The message is gone now because he deleted it.
Turned the phone off.
The feeling in his chest just would not go away. It was still there. The feeling in his chest was really bothering him. The feeling, in his chest was something he could not shake off.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed. The bed was, in front of him and he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He then buried his face in his hands the hands that belonged to him his hands.
I am not perfect
He said in a quiet voice.
I am not the person that people think I am. People have the idea about me. The person they think I am is actually not me all. I am someone different, from what people think of the person they know as me.
A memory came to me -
darkness, rain, a scream… and blood.
Ayaan closed his eyes tight. He did not want to see anything now. Ayaan just wanted everything to go away. So Ayaan squeezed his eyes shut.
The morning when he walked into school with that same calm smile on his face he looked really happy and relaxed just like the day before the school was waiting for him and he was ready to face whatever the day would bring for the school and, for him.
No one had the idea. It was like something that came out of the blue. Nobody saw it coming. The thing about this situation was that people were completely caught off guard by it. No one had the idea what was going on or what was going to happen next, with the situation.
• The boy that they really looked up to was keeping a secret, about his past the boy was hiding something from everyone.
• That the truth was still alive
• And when the thing finally came out it would ruin everything that people had the thing would destroy all of it and that would be very bad the thing would really destroy everything
Ayaan Maliks story is really just getting started now. The story of Ayaan Malik has only just begun to unfold.