1

July 2018:

'What do you think of this world, kid? Can you make it an interesting place?' said a fainting voice.

'It's true. It's very boring indeed.'

But everything seemed so blurry. Suddenly, I woke up and it was the mathematics professor Mr. Simon standing beside me.

'So Mr. Adam, it seems that my lecture is boring to you, am I right?'

'No sir. Not at all. I was just sleepy.' I thought for a second. 'Sorry! I meant I was not very attentive,' I said embarrassingly.

'Yeah. I can see that. Please see that you will be marked absent for today's class.' And he then left. The class was over.

'As usual, you never stop surprising me' said Ethan. 'This was your last permissible absent and we have 15 more lectures to go. You will surely fail this subject, Adam.'

'Don't be like that Ethan. Aren't you my best friend?'

'Yeah. Let's see. So let's head back. The day is over and I am hungry. Let's stop by the canteen first,' he said and I followed.

I am a first-year college student in the civil engineering branch at the Royal Institute of Technology (RIT), one of the best engineering colleges in the country.

Ethan is my best friend and he is one of the class toppers. Always lucky to have him especially when the exams are close.

We were sitting in the canteen waiting for our snacks when a familiar face approached us.

'So fellas, what are we discussing?' said Charlie.

'Nothing special brother. It's just Ethan scolding me as usual.'

'Haha! You never learn Adam. Honestly speaking I have never seen anybody directly say to Prof Simon that his class is boring,' said Charlie

'I was just asleep. What can I do? His classes are just so boring. Still, it's just an absent. That's all,' I replied.

'That's the punishment they can give you on paper,' said Ethan.

'What do you mean?' I asked.

'Just wait and watch. He will also give you a bad grade. I am sure of it. All of these professors are just too egoistic. He remembers your face and will give you low class participation marks,' said Ethan.

Damn it. I felt that I was a goner.

In the meantime, our orders arrived and unfortunately, we had to share it with Charlie. Damn. I hated sharing my food. So half-heartedly we shared our food and then Charlie left shamelessly after eating.

Both of us were still hungry and headed back to our dorms.

Our rooms were on the 5th floor and contrary to what we had heard from seniors, the folks from our batch got single rooms. Mine was 506 and Ethan's was 505, the one opposite to mine.

'This time you will surely top the class,' I told Ethan.

'I am not very sure. It's always Seth who tops,' he said. 

'I totally forgot about that guy. It's Alright Ethan. Getting 2nd is a great achievement. See me. I just barely get the passing marks.'

'Adam, it's good for you. You are rich but I am aiming to change my branch to Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) and since our batch is a very small batch of 20, only 1 of us can change the branch.'

'Hmm. I finally understood why you have been so desperately studying from day one. You like the CSE girls that much? I can understand brother. All 20 of us are boys. Not a single girl to talk to. If there was even one good-looking girl in our class, believe me, I'll always be attentive in all of the classes.'

'Haha. Hell no. That's last of my concerns,' he said. 'It's all about the placements. Only CSE guys will get the best jobs while on the other hand we civil guys will only get RIT's tag and nothing else.'

'Is getting a good job this difficult? I am not an academic student brother. I can't correlate much to you.'

'It's Alright. I don't even expect you to,' he said.

It was 10 p.m. already and he left my room to study.

'Damn. I can't understand these topper guys. I can only study just before the exams and they study during the class and then after the class as well. How are the brains of these guys wired? I'll just complete my nap from before,' and I dozed off.

2

January 2019:

A few months have passed by.

The third term was now starting. Our engineering course was designed for 4 years. Each year was subdivided into three terms.

I had just managed to pass the previous two terms and luckily without any backlogs. The current class topper is Seth with a GPA of 9.2 and then the 2nd rank was Ethan with a GPA of 9.05. Quite close aren't they?

It was the usual soil exploration class, the most boring class of all. We had given our class tests and the results were out. The professor was handing out the test papers. He called my name and handed me my sheet. It was 11/20. There was no reaction from the boring prof even though it was pretty good for my level.

He then called Seth and announced that he has topped the test with 20/20. As usual, people applauded him. I was just too bored and tired to do anything. Then he called Ethan and he got 19/20.

'You are doing good Ethan. I hope you can beat Seth the next time,' the prof said to Ethan as he patted his back. Ethan smiled back softly and sat back in his seat. One could easily see the disappointment on his face.

* * *

Over these few months, Ethan had changed a lot.

He was already over 6 feet tall and now he had also become skinny. He had grown his hair and probably had not shaved in months.

We were still neighbors but we had grown distant.

Things were great for the first three months but slowly everything changed. He started to immerse every single bit of his time into studying. He just never came out of his room.

And then how can I forget that incident.

It was the end of our first term. Our results were out.

Me being me got just a GPA of 6.2 and Ethan came second at 8.9. Seth was the topper with 9.2. Ethan and I together saw the top three grades on the student notice board.

We came back to his room and I congratulated him that he had done great. But his reaction was totally unexpected.

His face had become pale. But instead of disappointment, all I could see was fear. I did not know what he was so scared about.

'Are you alright Ethan?' I asked.

His harsh words are still crystal clear in my head.

"It's all because of you. You were the one who took me to those useless movies. You are the one who disturbs me all the time. At your level, such a pathetic GPA might be glorious but only one of us can go to CSE. What am I going to do? What am I going to tell my dad? I am finished."

I was angry with him. Angry that, unlike a man who criticizes himself, he was blaming me for all of his actions. But being a friend I tried to overlook it. 

'You are 19 now. Why fear your dad even now?' I told him back.

He was smart and could surely surpass Seth. And if not, then still life is a long journey. He could easily get his dream job in the future.

But my words never reached him. He just asked me to leave.

From that day onwards things were never the same.

He started ignoring me and reluctantly I did the same. I joined the football team with Charlie and others.

My friend circle changed now and Ethan and I had become just neighbors.

3

January 2019:

In engineering colleges, 3rd term of the 1st year is the last term where all the students are treated as equals.

From the 2nd year onwards students become recognized from the department they belong to.

The rush to switch branch to CSE was on and only 5% of the entire department could make the switch. From our small batch of 20, only 1 could go for the switch.

The current rankings were:

Seth (GPA: 9.2) Ethan (GPA: 9.05) Andrew (GPA: 8.8).

People knew that the only contenders were Seth and Ethan. So the rest of us were just hanging on till the end of the year.

It was the beginning of January when the new term had begun and the prof of soil exploration handed out our first test results. After that, he made an announcement.

'For this term's group project you all will be split into groups of four' he said. Group 1 is of Adam, Ethan, Charlie and Seth.

I was shocked. Me and Ethan were in the same group. On top of that, Seth was also in it. Damn.

After the class, Charlie and I remained behind to talk to the other two but both of them left without anybody knowing.

All the class members were jealous of me and Charlie. We were getting a free ride being in the same group with the two class toppers. But as things stood, we were going downhill.

* * *

The 1st years from civil lived on the 5th floor.

On that same day, me and Charlie went back together to the hostel. As soon as we came out of the hostel lift, we saw a very strange scene.

Ethan was standing in front of room 510 which belonged to Seth.

For two terms, for nearly 6 months, the two toppers had never talked to each other. Like Ethan, Seth was also a strange guy. He was of normal height say 5'8 or 5'9 but he was a shut-in. He never asked any doubts in class. Never raised his hand even though he knew the answers and he never talked to profs outside the class. If he were not the class topper then most of us wouldn't even have noticed that the guy exists, such was his low presence.

Contrary to him Ethan was also antisocial but if there was any opportunity to score good marks, he was always there. And this is what we were seeing right now.

Here he was standing at the door of his arch nemesis just to get grades. Both of us also headed towards him to continue the discussion which the four of us never had in the class.

In the meantime, Seth opened the door and the three of us were standing together in front of him.

'What are you all here for?' he asked.

'We are here to discuss the project as a group,' said Ethan.

'I don't do any group stuff. Now get lost from here.' he replied in his cold voice.

We all were shocked.

'You are the branch topper. You won't do the group project. What are you trying to say Seth?' asked Charlie.

'See people, I don't care about grades as such. I am just killing time. It's just whenever I take any tests, I score full marks. The profs don't like me much as I never talk to them and probably that's why they paired me with the guy who comes 2nd, so that I can learn from him. But I couldn't care less,' said Seth.

'So don't bother me again. Do whatever you want.'

Me and Charlie were surprised. But suddenly I felt a chill.

Ethan threw a punch at Seth's face as hard as he could. Seth fell backwards in his room.

The Ethan I knew always maintained his composure. He always tried never to draw any attention towards him. One could never know what was going on in his mind. But even he got pissed.

'You bastard! How dare you?' he shouted.

'I am working my ass off from the start of the year, trying to beat you but you say you couldn't care less. If you are that uninterested just give up and don't score so that I can move to CSE.'

And suddenly Seth jumped at Ethan and gave a solid punch in his gut. Ethan flew backwards and vomited. Damn.

'He is shorter and way skinner than Ethan and he made him puke with just one punch. How the hell is this bastard so tough?' I thought.

'If you want to compete do it yourself. I am just trying to pass the time. Don't piss me off. I never thought about any branch change. But now that you have told me, I'll get back at you bastard. I'll again be first and will go to CSE now. You have given me a good goal. I'll make you pay dearly for this.'

He then looked at us. Both me and Charlie were frightened.

I would have pissed my pants had he stared for a few seconds longer. He just clenched his teeth and shut his door with a bang.

Ethan got up. He cursed Seth a few times and looked at us. He was angry beyond limits but just clenched his fist and went back to his room. Both me and Charlie were lost for words. What the hell just happened?

The two quietest and most peaceful guys in the class just had a brawl over a stupid class project. I looked at Charlie. He looked at me. We both couldn't control our laughter.

'Damn. Who knew the toppers are such psychos?' he said.

'Yeah that Seth is sure strong. With just one punch he made him puke. What is he a boxing pro?' I said laughingly.

We both moved away laughing. Both of us went back to our rooms.

While coming back I could see that Ethan's room lights were off but couldn't hear any sounds.

'He is not my friend anymore. Why should I bother?' I thought.

I then came back to my room.

As I lay down on my bed a thought stuck me.

It was Seth's room. It was totally empty. No notebooks, no books and not even any laptop or any other accessory. Just a bed, an empty chair and an empty desk.

'How the hell is this guy living? And what sort of genius is he that he doesn't need to practice any of the academic stuff at all,' I thought to myself.

I remembered Ethan's room.

It was like a classic library full of books and one could feel that it was a nerd's room. But Seth's room was totally empty.

'The guy is an unparalleled genius and can pack such a mean punch. What the hell is he? A superhero in disguise,' I laughed to myself.

* * *

Two months passed by.

End-term exams were now near.

We never sat together as a group for the project and after that incident, it became even harder to talk to Ethan.

For the final submission, Ethan himself had done everything without involving anyone of us and submitted the final report.

As expected the report was top notch and we got the best grade for it. We were in turn given a free ride of grades by Ethan. But I felt that the distance between us had grown so much that even a small eye contact with him had become an impossibility.

But the next few days shook everybody. The whole foundation of RIT was shaken up to its core.

4

April 2019:

Our final exams began.

On the very 1st exam, Seth was behaving strangely. His face was paler than usual and his body looked really weak.

Just a few minutes into the exam, he spat blood on his desk and fainted.

Everybody was shaken. The medical team rushed in and took him to the hospital.

Amidst all this chaos all I could see was Ethan.

He was unfazed as he continued writing his exam. I could also see a smile on his face. He was that type of guy. A cold heartless bastard just greedy for grades.

But Seth came back on the 2nd day.

Few people tried to ask him about what happened but he just evaded them all. He sat quietly and immersed himself in the exam paper.

I wondered what the hell is wrong with this guy. Not only he doesn't care about other people but he also not cares about his own health.

'Why are these toppers so fixated on grades? Was this the reason that they are toppers while guys like me are just background characters?' I thought.

I stopped my mind from drifting away further into nonsense and continued with my exam.

Then on the day of the final exam, Ethan did not show up to the examination hall.

We later found out that he had severe diarrhea and fainted in the hostel corridor due to a fever. He was admitted by some students into the hospital who found him passed out in the corridor.

I felt someone had cursed our class. Both the toppers getting ill before the exams and missing them. It really felt too unusual to pass as a mere coincidence.

But even though Ethan had completely cut me off from his life, I still felt bad for the guy. Even though now he was just a selfish bastard but still my heart felt bad for him. There was a good chance that his dream of getting into CSE might well be over now.

* * *

A week later the results came in at night.

I scored 7.4 for this term thanks to the miraculous 10/10 we got in the group project all due to Ethan. The ranks and grades of the top 3 students were listed on the student notice board.

3rd: Andrew (overall GPA: 8.88)

2nd: Ethan (overall GPA: 9.04)

1st: Seth (overall GPA 9.09)

It was decided that Seth was the one who was going to CSE.

My thoughts became the reality. All that time and effort Ethan had put in finally came to null.

I went back to my room and could see the lights of 505 were on but unlike before I didn't have the right to just barge into his room. This was a tough day for him but I hoped he would come back stronger. Maybe we could become friends again.

I stood for a minute staring at his door but then evaded my eyes and came back to my room.

5

May 7th, 2019: The Darkest day in the history of RIT

It was a Friday morning. The final day of our first year.

The hostel was nearly empty as students had left for their homes. I was going back tonight.

I had not seen Ethan for a while now but his room was still locked from inside.

'He also might be going out tonight only,' I thought.

Suddenly the emergency bell of the hostel rang aloud.

Only four people were remaining on our floor. Three of us immediately came out of concern but Ethan was still unbothered. He remained silent in his room.

The hostel warden and the HOD of our department came rushing onto our floor.

'Why are they here?' asked Charlie.

'I don't have any idea,' I replied back.

Seth was the last one but he was just standing in a corner.

The HOD came to us and asked 'when was the last contact you had with prof Samuel?'

'Prof Samuel you say sir? I had not talked with him from the day of the final exam,' I said.

'Same for me as well' said Charlie.

'And what about you Seth?'

'I also did not talk to him lately.'

'Alright. I see,' he said.

'Sir but what is the problem? Is prof Samuel looking for us?' Charlie asked.

'See kids, listen carefully to what I am about to tell you.'

His face became serious and his eyes grew wider. I could feel a chill down my spine.

'Prof Samuel was murdered last night. He was discovered to be dead this morning and police are currently investigating the case.'

None of us could believe what we heard. I saw that even the expressionless Seth's face fell because of disbelief.

'Sir, how can this be? How can a prof be killed in an institution like RIT?' asked Charlie.

'Children we don't know anything yet but he has indeed died.'

Everybody became silent. I could feel the silence deafening my ears.

'The police will ask you some basic questions so do tell them the truth,' he said.

'Yes sir,' was all we could say.

'By the way, are only the three of you remaining here?' he asked.

'Sir Ethan is also here but his room is locked from inside. He might be asleep now.' I told him.

'Go and wake him up. The police need to investigate everybody,' he said.

Me and Charlie went to room 505 and knocked at Ethan's door many times but he did not reply. I thought he might feel I am bothering him and probably will not unlock the door.

In the meantime, the police also came up on our floor. The inspector came to us.

He was a rough looking person dressed in the police uniform which made him quite intimidating.

'Are these three the only remaining ones?'

'Sir there are four actually but the last one is still asleep in his room,' said the HOD.

'Please call him out quickly' he said.

The HOD called Ethan out and knocked on his door multiple times but he still did not open. Now we became concerned.

The inspector was an impatient guy. He asked the warden to open the door immediately with the master key. The warden immediately went down the lift and came back with the master key. He then unlocked Ethan's door as asked.

Prof Samuel's death was a grave incident but the scene that we witnessed was much more horrific. This was the real horror. None of us could ever forget what we saw in that room.

The warden opened the door and he screamed aloud.

Ethan had hung himself from the fan.

I fell backwards. Charlie couldn't hold it either and vomited on the floor.

The police rushed in and took him down. They checked his pulse and he was dead.

The HOD was baffled. Seth came from the corner to see and all he could do was look puzzled and stare down the dead carcass of Ethan.

The HOD immediately turned to us and asked us to leave the spot at once. 'Children shouldn't see such scenes,' he shouted.

We left and stood at a distance from room 505.

Within a day RIT lost a prof and one of the class toppers. It was indeed the darkest day.