Sweet Vengeance

The world seems to slow down as I wait for the hands of time to move forward. I felt a surge of impatience every time I hear the time ticking from the worn out clock that has always been there since I started my freshman year three years ago. The same clock which students from all levels despise looking at because time is a social construct and everyone is tired of that shitty concept. Everyone just wants to go home.

The homeroom was filled with students of different personalities: with first-row benchers being the most attentive and participative in class; middle-row benchers being the most laid-back, only participating in class whenever they feel like to; and lastly, last-row benchers being the most rowdy with an i-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude.

“When will that clock stop working? One more tick from that and I swear my head will explode,” Rae whispered behind my back. We are both situated at the back, the best place since no soul would even notice us. Being her best friend, I feel like I’m obliged to entertain her out of boredom or I’ll regret not doing it.

“I’ve been sitting here for hours. Nothing exciting’s happening!” she added.

“What do you expect? It’s college. It’s boring. Deal with it for one more year,” I replied.

“Do you know how to make it exciting?” I tried so hard to convince myself that I did not just see that stupid sly smirk on her face.

Before I could detain her from doing something stupid, she is about to do something stupid.

She loudly dragged her chair to stand up. Students are now looking at her: some out of curiosity, and some out of anticipation for what she’s about to do next. Maybe just like her, they’ve been looking for something to turn the boring class upside down.

I was about to stop her from embarrassing herself furthermore when my seatmate, Josh, held me by the forearm and said, “no, let her do it. She’s right, you know. Nothing exciting’s happening.”

I sighed in defeat and resigned back on my desk. This is it. This is the moment I will forever regret just because I didn’t entertain Rae enough.

“Friends, classmates, even you, Professor Wilde, lend me your ears!” Rae dramatically started, now in front of the classroom for everyone to see.

It was five minutes before dismissal and everyone’s tired and had enough of this uneventful day. However, just when I thought everyone in the room would just disregard her antics, the exact opposite happened, because every head seems to be more interested with what she has to say than our poor professor.

“Aren’t you all tired? To wake up every day with only two goals in mind: to graduate and be successful? Isn’t it tiring to repeat the same day over and over again, knowing that there is no change happening? We are blinded by the society’s enticing promise that we are all going to be someone someday. Wake up, people! We are all puppets controlled by our own expectations and standards! When in fact, there shouldn’t be any standards at all, because we’re all different and we vary in our strengths. Why do grades exist? Why do rankings exist? Why are we pressured to become someone we are not? Why do schools focus on academically-inclined students rather than those who are mentally-challenged? Why is Annie Carter the smartest of us all?” She pointed at the girl seated in the front row. “Why does she have higher grades when we know to ourselves that we strive even harder just to get decent grades? Why are smarter kids more privileged?”

Her rant appears to be effective, murmurs of agreement can be heard around the cool room. Realization seems to hit the other students like a truck because they all look like they’ve been struck with an idea. What is Rae up to this time?

“I think that’s enough ruckus and unethical rant, Ms. Rae Evans. You’re lucky there’s only three minutes left till dismissal.” Professor Wilde turned his gaze on the rest of us. “Thank your savior here, class. She just wasted two precious minutes from our discussion. And because of that, class dismissed. Go spend your three minutes reforming the educational system, since you think you know too much about it,” Prof Wilde said, but returning his gaze to Rae at the last sentence.

When the class population dispersed and only Rae and I are left in the room, she just smirked at me from the front like she had done something to be proud of.

The sun is almost setting. Hint of orange, yellow, and pink hues can be seen being painted in the sky. It made the ambiance of the environment to become more colorful, more vibrant.  

“You are a pain in the ass,” I said as I was joining her to exit the room.

“Hey, this pain in the ass just saved you three minutes of your time.”

“Like it made much of a difference anyway.”

***

We were nearing the university’s gate when she broke the silence, “shit! I forgot my bag inside!”

Unbelievable. The same girl who stalled us three minutes from class time only for her to leave her bag inside which also takes three minutes to retrieve. “I’m not even gonna ask you why you haven’t noticed yourself holding nothing all the way here,” I monotonously replied.

“Beats me! You should have told me!”

“Just hurry up and fetch it.”

“Give me two minutes and stay here.”

“Duh.”

She ran back as fast as she can. I can hear her faint footsteps as she ascends from stairs to stairs.

The sun is setting and the skies are painted with shameless vermillion and ethereal pink. The campus is still filled with students from all levels, who seem to be enjoying the cool wind of December afternoon. There are couples dating, a group of friends playing tag like they were kids again, and individual students who just want to spend their time with their selves with no company required.

I decided to wait for Rae outside the gate. As I made a beeline towards the gate, I shot her a text saying to meet me up outside.

I waited outside the gate for five minutes, and I checked my phone for any texts from her. No signs from Rae so far. Okay. Don’t panic. Maybe she just ran into some old friends and chatted and got lost track of time, right?

Orange and pink hues turned into grey skies which made the whole atmosphere of the school to be little bit eerie. The noise from the students which made the setting livelier died down. No more dating couples, no more playing friends, and only a few students can be seen inside the school premises. Still, no signs from Rae.

I reached for my phone and called her, but the other line couldn’t be reached. Things are getting a little weird.

I stayed for few more minutes, but then decided that I couldn’t wait any longer. I went back inside the university and started to head back inside our classroom to find out where was Rae all along. Only a few students remained but it made the school feel abandoned and deserted. As if they were lost souls roaming around earth to find some light, to find someone to save them.

When I scaled the last flight of stairs, I heard faint murmurs of what it seemed to be from two men and a lady. Taking precautionary measures, I hid under the stairs and tried to eavesdrop.

“You know what to do,” the lady said. Voice loud and clear, as if she knows that I was hiding from behind the flight of stairs. It seems that I was glued to my position because no matter how hard I will my body to move, I remained in my place. I was in a state of shock. Not because the voice’s owner knows my presence from behind, but because the voice belonged to the least expected person who could do this.

It was Annie Carter’s voice. The smartest girl in our class.

“Filthy little know-it-all, she thought she could convince the class that grades and rankings don’t matter? They do, and I’m at the top of this game.”

The next thing I heard is a loud thud which sounded like a body collapsing to the floor.

It was the body of my very best friend.

Blood drained from my body as soon as I saw the body. My body felt cold and hot at the same time, my limbs can’t move and I only have my arms to support me as I hold the stairs’ railings. Her life was like a sunset, brief but indescribably beautiful. I belted out a small yelp, yet no matter how small that was, she still heard me.

“She’s just behind that stairs, get her,” she commanded.

As soon as she said that, from being immobile and stagnant from the shock, a sudden rush of adrenaline coursed through my body and I bolted the fuck out of that place. Unfortunately, the two men were faster and were able to grab me by the arm.

“Come with us,” two burly men in grey suits said while handcuffing me. “You know what you did.”

I absolutely don’t know any shit with what I did.

“You could have stopped her from doing that stupid speech. But you never did.”

Oh.

But someone stopped me first.

It was Josh.