Let's Get It!

Dustin, everybody’s favorite, a grade A student, a sports legend(already) , loves all kinds of art and is good at them, popular among all the students at his university. Life could never be better when you are as talented and as intelligent as Dustin. Every opportunity just runs to you before you could even think about finding one. You’d predict he busts his butt in studying for becoming this, awesome student. Yeah he does study but the appropriate amount, other than that, he has a great IQ. As for his artistic and sports skills ,it’d seem only plausible that he had extra classes for those, which he attended on his parents persistence. But partially true, because actually he was the one who was driven towards these activities and begged his parents for classes like those;since his parents thought it might disturb his studies. Jealousy almost knocked on your door, didn’t it? But so was our Dustin and destiny had great plans for him.

                        At the beginning of the semester, he was loving all this attention he was getting due to his talents and what not. But as time progressed, it became unbearable for him to be recognized and be engaged in random talks, with people whom he didn’t even know. Don’t get him wrong, he was humble alright, but there is something known as privacy too. It seemed to him that only a miracle could change his luck at privacy. It had become annoying and he was running out of places to hide for some alone time; even his dorm room door would be knocked at random times, so no escape. At one point, he almost thought about failing at tests and performing badly in activities just so people would leave him ,but well his perfectionist attitude was something he had stopped fighting against long ago, so he dropped that plan. He was desperate for ‘me time’. He thought about a weekend getaway but it made no sense in leaving a ton of assignments at his desk with ample time to check and recheck (since he had studied this pattern of always ending up with them at weekends); some perfectionist he was. He was going crazier by the day. One Saturday night at the campus, which was by the way the staple night for parties obviously, Dustin thought to himself, “I’m not gonna go to these stupid parties anymore, they’ll come and go, I gotta do something better with my current situation.” With that, he sneaked out of his room wearing all black, with a small bag and a campus map in his hand, not to hide from the teachers but from the students; since every type of student group had invited him for their party.

He put on some music for morale and within a tap, The Art of Losing by American Hi-Fi began blasting in his earphones(it's a great song,listen to it while reading this part if you'd like!). Well the lyrics were quite ironic for the most part, because none ever called him a loser or cornered him for who he was, still he felt like a loser, for he was losing at his sweet privacy, besides the music was stimulating. He turned on his torch and shone it on the map since it was a little dark at the open ground. He scribbled and circled here and there on the map for atleast 15 minutes. Although he knew he had visited most of the circled spots at the campus, he revisited them and looked at them with multiple perspectives. Disappointment had begun creeping up to him, but he wasn’t a quitter. Another 15 minutes passed as he canceled out more than half of the spots. He stopped at a random place and pulled his hair in frustration, he thought to himself, “ What is wrong with me? Where did that crazy brain of mine go when I needed it the most?!” To add on that, he screamed. Hang on, had someone heard him? Well too late to assure that. A guy with a tower of pizza boxes in his hand had spotted him; yes even in this attire in which he’d get recognized with extreme difficulty. “ Run like hell” was what Dustin thought and that he did successfully. “ Thank God for my love of sports!” he spoke while he sat himself under a tree, somewhere in the middle of the junior and the senior dorms.

Dustin was just staring blankly at the stars in the night sky. “ Too difficult,another day” he thought. At that instant, a figure began to emerge from the junior dorm side, Dustin thought he had lost today and might as well engage himself in a forced conversation with some random student, so he remained rooted to his spot. Just as Dustin thought that the student would stop near him, the student seemed to walk past him. He felt strangely glad and inspired, for some ‘outsourcing’ since this person didn’t seem interested in him so, safe. “Hey!” he shouted as he got up and sprinted a little and the student turned around. She looked tall, yep that as the first and only thing he noticed. She was looking at him a little uncomfortably, as if she didn’t know the famous student in front of her. She knew, but had never talked to him and hence such reaction. “What’s your name?” he asked. “Sadie.” She replied. Dustin kept the conversation going with “ I’m Dustin!” and Sadie replied with a smile. “ What now?” Dustin thought, then nervously laughed and began, “ So I know its gonna sound weird since we just met….but I need some help. Would you be willing?” Sadie replied , “ Okay…. It would be nice if you could tell me what you need me for..” reserved, because obviously. Dustin answered her quickly, “ Oh yeah! I’m so sorry! I should’ve mentioned that before” he nervously giggled ,again but went on, “ I hope I don’t sound narcissistic, but I was looking for a spot at the campus…so that I could escape people’s attention..?” Sadie stared at him for a good second and Dustin thought he had messed up. But Sadie was thinking quite the opposite. She thought that it was plausible, she didn’t know him personally but she didn’t live under a rock to be unaware of his situation. She was stuck herself, she wasn’t great at many things, just an average student but had found every opportunity to get herself embarrassed and bullied by her peers. She didn’t care much because if she let it get to her, life would become miserable and then just like Dustin, she’d be looking for ‘outsourcing’. Dustin was about to apologize and leave but Sadie interrupted and said, “ Okay.” Dustin was shook. “ Okay” that’s it? But he gathered his senses and got in the zone. They sat at a nearby bench and Dustin explained everything he had done till now. Sadie was happy in her mind because she knew exactly the solution to his problem, but had second thoughts about lending the answer without a condition. She thought it would be great to have a person who would automatically shield her from her bullies. So she laid it out . “ I will surely help you.” Dustin’s face lit up. “ But at one condition.” Added Sadie, a little guilty. Dustin’s brain mumbled, “ Here we go again.” She continued, “ It’s nothing big, it’s just that I have a good reputation for being bullied in my department.” Dustin’s heart felt sad. “ I was hoping that you’d be by my side, atleast at breaktimes… so that none would dare to even touch me. I promise to help you too.” With that, Sadie was waiting for Dustin’s reply. So Dustin did. He apologized for her getting bullied on the behalf of her bullies and promised her just as she had promised him. Sadie had given away her secret spot at the campus which was coincidentally near the senior campus, so lucky Dustin. “ I guess we’ll see what rolls out.” Said Dustin and Sadie nodded with a smile. They parted their ways to the respective dorms, well Dustin sneaked back. Laying on his bed, he smiled to himself, for he had saved both his and his new friend’s butt by this deal.

Fast Forward to 4 months

“ Ayye sistaaaAAAA! Let's get it!” Dustin shouted while standing outside Sadie’s room as she shouted through the closed door, “ CominnnnnN!”  You guessed it correct, they had become bffs and the deal worked out for the best. Sadie got rid of her bullies and Dustin had recovered his privacy. Well, because sooner or later Dustin realized(Sadie did help him in that too), that he had to politely address his problem, no matter what others felt about it. So, Sadie and Dustin had not only their precious bond, but a bunch of new friends too, who were very genuine. And that’s how Dustin turned his luck around. Nevermind the people who formed a frown on their faces whenever he walked past them because now, his already perfect life had become better. You might think it petty to fight for privacy, but personal space should, indeed be a cup of everyone’s tea.