Chereads / Whispers of the Heart. / Chapter 9 - Broken.

Chapter 9 - Broken.

Surprised gazes met with mine when I raised my head. After I had successfully pulled Aaron from Lim, I repeated what had happened, this time narrating how Lim had saved me.

"So he... " Aaron was stunned to even finish and I nodded.

"He did not touch me. "

"Why did you not say that earlier? " Zara hissed hitting my leg from under the table.

"Well... " I started but was cut off.

"I can't believe this. " Lim breathed exasperatedly as he sat up. "I can't believe you guys... I can't believe that you believed her...like...this is her second week..." he paused, running his finger through his hair. "You...you haven't even known her for that long."

"Lim, you are mistaken here. " Sam pointed out. "She didn't tell us anything, " he paused to look at Aaron. "Someone had only acted out of his foolishness. "

"No, I am at fault here. I should have told you guys. "

"Yes, you should have. " Lim said and Zara hit his arm.

"No, he is right. I deserve it. "

"Tora, don't take his words to heart. " Zara shook her head but I was already on my feet.

"It was nice knowing you all and I am sorry for the misunderstanding. " I apologized before walking away.

"Tora!" I heard them call my name but I was too lightheaded to respond. I felt the world closing on me.

Out of the cafeteria onto the hall, I made a run for the restroom.

Without checking whether someone was in a stall or not, I entered and the tears that I held back began falling down my cheeks, hot and bitter. Slamming the toilet seat close, I sobbed heavily.

I blamed myself for always getting things wrong. I had managed to make friends which excluded Diane and Keith but I went ahead and fucked it up. I was too stupid to realize no one would be friends with a pauper, an abandoned child, a nobody.

My phone rang several times but I ignored it and I ruefully continued to cry. Realizing the person wasn't ready to give up, I switched my phone off.

"Hey." a male's voice came up from outside the stall. "Are you alright? " he asked and I was about to respond when he spoke again. "Oh, I am sorry. You are not."

Silence. Pads of feet against the tiled floor.

"Sorry to disturb you. " A chuckle. "I heard someone crying here and...well I could not keep quiet while...you bore your eyes out. "

I kept my still. Somewhere in my heart, I was thankful for this stranger.

"I don't know why you are crying but I know for sure, it's not worth your tears. "

"You don't even know me. " I croaked out.

"Yeah, I don't know you...but I know those tears can unchange anything." The opening of a door. "Let me guess. " his voice was closer and I realized he was in the stall next to where I was. "You are crying because you just broke up with your boyfriend. "

"No."

"Then, caught him cheating? "

A chuckle escaped my lips and I shook my head.

"No," I said when it hit me that he could not see me.

"You have broken up with him and you are jealous that he is with a new girl real quick. "

This time I laughed.

"No, I don't even have a boyfriend to begin with. "

"What?" he sounded surprised. "You don't? "

"I don't. "

"Why are you crying then? "

I hesitated. An uncomfortable silence dawned on us. He noticed my hesitation and said "No need to tell me, it's not like we know each other. " he chuckled.

A sigh escaped my lips.

"Yeah." I started. After seconds of deliberation. "More reason to tell you. " I muttered.

A screech.

"What? You'll tell me? " he sounded surprised.

"But I'm worried someone might walk in. "

"Let me guess... You are new here. "

"Is it that obvious? "

A scoff.

"Yeah...at least I got something right. " his chuckle reverberated in the restroom and I too smiled. "Nobody comes in here. "

I sat up.

"Why?"

"Two people died in here. One, last year. The other died the year before. "

"Then why are you here? Aren't you scared their ghosts would show up in front of you one day? "

"I credit not such phantasmes as ghostes." he mimicked Hamlet's words in William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet.'

"Dost thou doubt thy senses? They have deceived thee. I am thy father's spirit." I responded and we both burst out in laughter.

The laughter died down and once again it was silent but this time it was so comfortable.

"As a kid, I often felt insecure. " I started. "My mother had abandoned me with my Nana. I hadn't felt it in the beginning but as I began school I felt...empty."

A sad chuckle left my lips.

"Seeing the other kids being picked up by their parents, made me question myself and Nana about the whereabouts of my parents but I never got an adequate answer. It was always 'She is busy'. "

I looked down at my fingers as I laced them together.

"I was stigmatized, the other kids avoided me like a plague and when they were close to me it was to taunt and bully me. I felt like trash, no one was willing to take out. I was broken."

The occasional 'hm' indicated that he was paying attention to me. "Since then I had withdrawn and gave up on every hope that I could have someone to call my friend. Luckily as I grew up I managed to have people to call friends. When I entered this school, I told myself I was going to make as many friends as I wanted. " I smiled as I remembered Aaron, Zara and Sam's faces. "I had those and I was so deep into it that I forgot I was this girl no one ever wanted as a friend. They made me comfortable like they had known me for years, I was happy. " I paused as the tears began building up again. "But I made a foolish mistake and that's all between us. I'm back to the beginning. " I sobbed into my hands.

"Hey, are you there?" I spoke when I heard nothing from him.

"Yeah, I am. You've been through a lot and I don't know what to say." he sighed.

"Enough about me. What are you doing here? " I asked, taking the attention away from me but after pouring this out, I felt like the weight that has been resting on my shoulders these past years reduce.

"I am the definition of a cocky bastard." he scoffed and I turned my face to the direction of his voice.

"What?"

"To be honest, I don't even know how to put it. What's your definition? "

"Arrogant, full of yourself, don't care about other people's feelings... " I listed with one person's face in my head.

"Exactly who I am," he said and I laughed.

"You are kidding 'cause you ain't anything on that list. "

"No, I am. I can say this to you since you can't see me. If we were to meet me, you'd hate me on the spot. "

"Like seriously? "

"I am dead serious. "

Silence.

"I have taken you as a friend though," he said.

"No need to pity me. "

"No, it's not out of pity. I'm not included in those pity party shit. I mean it."

Silence.

The thought of this unknown person speaking to me as his friend went through my head again and again but there were no visible danger signs.

"We can be anonymous to each other," he suggested.

"Yeah, I think that would be fine. "

He ended up scribbling one of his unused digits on a sheet of paper that I had passed to him through the open ceiling of the stall since my phone was off.

"I would just place it by the mirror," he said and I heard the door to his stall open and close. "School is over now. I would leave first. It was nice talking to you, partner. "

"Same here, arrogant prick. "

"Ohh my heart!" he said, time lacing with feigning hurt and I scoffed. "I'm leaving. "

"Bye," I said before hearing the door to the restroom close.