Into a New World

Locked up in her own thoughts, Lola finally enters a new world hoping that it will help her cover up the scars of the wounds that Rael had opened throughout her heart.

Sarah thanked me and left. I was left in utter confusion. I had mixed feelings one of which was sadness. For the first time in my life, I was sad and it wasn’t because I didn’t like the food, it wasn’t because I missed my favorite show, nor was it because I got 19 out of 20 in an exam. It wasn’t material. I felt sad because I felt empty. I felt betrayed even though there was absolutely no connection between me and Rael. Suddenly, I imagined Rael without the sparks in his eyes. I imagined him with a grin and not the usual sweet smile. 

Rael started dating Sarah. I was bitter about everything, yet I was still excited about seeing him. 

The combination bitterness and excitement became a feeling that I would experience a lot throughout high school because soon, Rael became papular and dated most of my friends. 

The first academic year of my high school journey ended and 8th grade started. Two months into the semester and I heard that Sarah and Rael had broken up. Another month passed and rumors about Rael dating a 9th grader started going around. He, then, broke up with his new girlfriend. And during 9th grade, he started dating one of my best friends, Linda Smith. Like Sarah, Linda was a super pretty and lovely girl. I was happy for them. Linda was dear to my heart and so was Rael, but that wasn’t exactly how I wanted them to be connected. I told myself that “I’m thrilled for them. They look so cute together. And no, I’m not jealous. I don’t have any reason to be jealous”. Thinking back now, that was the beginning of my dishonesty with myself because I wasn’t happy and I never truly thought they were cute together. 

While Rael was changing girlfriends according to week days, I was alone getting more and more attached to him. I was starting to have daydreams about me being his loved one. I should be the one making him smile. I should be the one to touch his face in the garden, not them. 

One day I heard that Linda’s family had found out about Linda and Rael’s relationship and they were asking Linda to break up with him. I was beyond devastated about the news. I was sad because the situation was making Rael sad. So I started praying and praying to God so that he will make everything fine for Rael. I remember how pathetic I was, crying and praying for the guy that I was almost crazy about to have a great life with his girlfriend. They called it quits after some time.

“Rael is dating Laila”

“Did you know Laila dumped Rael yesterday?”

“Melanie just asked Rael out. LOL they’re so pathetic trying to make their exes jealous”

“Oh my God, you won’t believe it. Melanie caught Rael cheating on her with Sally, the 12th grader.”

“Attention! Rael is single again. He deserves the worst to be honest.”

Month after month, year after year, I would hear news about Rael’s new relationships. He was officially the playboy of the school. I was also there, worried about his feelings, wondering whether his girlfriends were nice to him or not, wondering if he was happy, and wishing he would go through only a heavenly path. I was the pathetic one not him. My life was miserable only thinking about him. The sad reality was that he would ignore me everyday, and I was delusional for thinking that way because I was a nobody to him. I wasn’t his friend or girlfriend. 

Finally, I graduated high school. I started to think about myself more. I promised I would love myself and have more respect to myself. This is it!!! College is going to be my happy escape. I won’t be seeing him again. I won’t have to worry about him again. I won’t be miserable anymore. Everything was a part of the sad puberty that I went through. Now that I think about it, I’m unbelievably stupid. I was so excited about entering a new environment. I was happy to finally be free from a pain that was slowly destroying my whole being bit by bit. I got into one of the best universities in the region. My family was a happy one. Everything was going perfectly fine. It was, indeed, too good to be true. 

It was my first day of college and that morning was an exceptionally bright one. I was very nervous, so I popped two calming pills as I left my house. When I entered the college campus, I was overwhelmed by how huge the place was. There were so many students going around talking, studying, laughing, and eating. The atmosphere was very different from high school. Students looked genuinely happy and nice. Everyone was minding their own business. When I was still a high school student, the first thing that would come to my mind when the word “college” was mentioned was freedom and happiness. For some reason, I used to think really highly of university which explains why I thought everyone was thrilled to be a college student on my first day. 

The orientation started and the usual “boasting time” began. 

“We have the best teachers from all over the world. The perfect curriculum for building a generation ready to make the world a better place is available only and only at our university. You are the future of not only this country, but representatives of a bright generation of humanity; therefore, we, as the faculty of the university, are going to take full responsibility of providing you with the best education and environment”

Blah blah blah. They are using all these empty words. what? A private university that is not associated with government? They’re acting like we all don’t know that the president is former politician. Stop using these big words and maintain an average atmosphere until we graduate. 

The orientation was as boring as I imagined. As I was exiting the door of the hall, a girl approached me.

“Nice bag. I like Fendi too.”

“Thank you” I said while smiling. “I like the quality of their products, they last long.”

“I know right. By the way, my name is Eva Brown” I was surprised that someone actually approached me to become my friend as I had a poker face on.

“Lola violet. Nice to meet you.”

“Lola is such a cute name. I assume everyone adores you!” Everyone as in my mom, dad, and siblings. Yeah sure.

“hahaha yeah I’m the youngest daughter, so they have no other choice but to adore me.”  Which was true. I still remember how I used to tell everyone to tell me “I love you the most” even if they were lying. Yes! I was that kind of person who wanted to be lied to just for the sake of feeling loved at that moment. 

“So Lola, let’s go and check out that cafeteria” Eva said with a cute smile.

We were going down the stairs of the main building to the vast cafeteria to potentially eat something.

“How old are you?” Was the first question that I wanted to ask not only her, but every student that passed by me. I was curious about how people my age lived. I was curious about their mottos in life. Whether they were happy or not. Whether college was going to make life any better or not.

“I’m 19. One year older than the majority of you guys” Eva then told me about how her family had started living in Sweden years prior, so she’d spent one year learning the language. 

“Oh but it’s not that bad, is it? Now, I guess you know 2 languages” I tried to reassure her because I didn’t know how else to react.

“Yes, those were some amazing years of my life. I came back home like 3 years ago. So which high school did you attend?” She asked.

“Diamond River High. Located in the poorest part of the city. Ironic, right?” 

“Not really. As far as I know, there are some pretty well-off families around that area. My cousin is from the same school”

That was also true. My family was “well-off” according to the standards.

“Yes, you are right. Who was your cousin again?” I was glad that someone from my high school was attending the same university as me. Since I was a relatively friendly student, I had many friends. 

Little did I know that Eva’s cousin would take me back to square one. 

Author's Note

I hope you enjoy reading the chapter. Feel free to leave your own thoughts and opinions on my writing style and plot.

Reviews

[MidnightKingdom]

It's sad to see a friend go down the wrong path, as this character must be hurting for Rael. Deep characters and I can see you put a lot of detail into each one.

[thalia]

indeed, it is sad and yes, the characters are all very detailed and it will be shown throughout the rest of the chapters. I hope you like it.

[MidnightKingdom]

This is very nice, I look forward to reading the rest

[wordman]

this is a great chapter,getting more interesting

[thalia]

I’m glad you’re enjoying the story so far

[wordman]

me to,you`re welcome