Characters:
Jane & Anne – Priscilla's colleagues
Kimberley – Priscilla's girlfriend who committed suicide (the storyteller)
Vanithy & Maurice – Priscilla's and Kimberley’s girlfriends
Umesh – Kimberley’s boyfriend
It was October 2008, when I first set foot in high school. I was walking with Vanithy, who I had been friends with since the age of 3. Soon Vanithy and I had made new friends at our new school. One of those friends was Umesh. Umesh who was one class up and who had stolen my heart from day one.
As the months progressed and we got more and more used to our new school, slowly but surely a group of friends formed. This group consisted of Vanithy, Maurice, Priscilla and me. What fun we had together!
We studied together, went out together, stayed at each other's houses and shared all our secrets with each other. At least that's what we all thought.
In the first year of school (the course lasted 3 years), Umesh and I became closer and closer. And right before the vacations started, he asked me for a relationship. I was totally over the moon! The boy I had a crush on from day one asked me for a relationship! I said yes right away. And the months that followed were, I think, the best of my life. Because there is no better feeling than being in love, right?
My friends saw how much in love I was. And they seemed happy about it. During that period I often thought about the stories of how my parents were in love with each other at a young age. And they were still together! They had built a life together so far, they were happy with each other. So surely that was possible for me too. Yes. I thought Umesh was the one for me.
Until that one horrible day.
I was already in the last year of high school. It was 2 months before exams. It was 1 day before Priscilla's birthday. She had told us that she would not be home on her birthday itself. She was going to have a picnic in the woods with family, so Maurice, Vanithy and I decided to surprise her by visiting her the night before her birthday. Vanithy would get a small cake from the bakery down the street where she lived, Maurice would buy some softdrinks from the supermarket and I had ordered chicken wings which I quickly fried in some hot oil that evening.
Of all 3 of us, only Vanithy had a car at the time, so she picked up Maurice and me and we drove together to Priscilla's house.
There was no car to be seen in the garage. Was no one home? But we saw some windows open. Bob, Priscilla's dog, knew us very well and instead of barking he came up to us with his tail wagging.
'Priscilla!'
Vanithy called 3 times, but we got no response. 'She's definitely in her bedroom. Then she can't hear us,' Maurice said.
'So do we walk around?', I asked. Priscilla's bedroom was at the back of the house. We walked past the row of flowers on the side of the house to the back. As we approached her room, we heard Priscilla giggle. We looked at each other. And then I heard his voice. I stiffened as did Maurice and Vanithy.
It was silent for a while and then Maurice and Vanithy looked at me. I felt the gazes on me, but I didn't dare look at them.
'Is that...?', Maurice dared not mention the name.
I nodded. My heart broke into a million pieces at that moment, but somewhere deep a little voice wailed that I was mistaken.
Vanithy clasped my right hand and pulled me along. Together the three of us walked to the front of the house.
'What now?', asked Maurice.
Vanithy responded angrily, 'What now! We're getting out of here! How can she do this?'
'No.', I said, 'We're not leaving. We're going to wait here until he comes out.'
'Are you sure?', Vanithy asked.
'Yes, I want to confront him.'
We put all the treats on the little table on the patio and sat down on the chairs that formed a terrace set with the little table.
About an hour later the front door opened and Priscilla and Umesh came out laughing. Both were startled when they saw us sitting there. Umesh turned pale and Priscilla didn't know where to look.
I became cold inside and out. Without blinking I stood up, I opened the box with the cake in it and walked towards Priscilla.
She took 2 steps backwards, but then stood still and looked up. She still dared to look me in the eye!
I smiled at her.
'Congratulations in advance,' I said.
She frowned her eyebrows and seemed confused for a moment. Then she mumbled a thank you. Just as she lowered her head to look at the ground again, I shoved the cake in her face. Part of the cake fell to the ground and large portions of the cream stuck to her face. I turned back to Umesh.
'Look, now you can lick those off her face too', I said. Then I walked to the car, followed by Maurice and Vanithy who hadn't made a peep all this time.
...to be continued...
Thank you for reading.
