Chapter 5

(2 years ago)

"They can't pay, they need decor, they need food. What next? Bring back the Soviet Union?" Emily demanded, banging the stack of bills in front of Michael.

"Dude why is she so pissed?" Michael asked, and Rick said, "She's Emily. Of Course she is pissed"

Tala sighed at the sheer audacity of that dude to speak like this after all the 12th graders put the responsibility of handling the budget on Emily. Their farewell was tomorrow, Michael hadn't submitted the amount for food, Rick hadn't mentioned how much the music system rent was, and Eddy was still counting how many invitation cards to print. The only thing set was… Tala smiled and glanced sideways, where a dual-haired teen was painting their farewell board. Tala was in charge of the stage decoration, and at first, he had elaborate plans. But seeing how no one was willing to pay too much, he had decided to ask Kai for help.

Emily had seemed unsure when he suggested including Kai in the farewell committee, constantly reminding him, "We can only choose 5 children from 10th and 12th, you sure he will be productive? I don't even hear him speak."

But Tala knew Kai would do this for him.

Still it had to be said, he almost didn't.

Since he had moved out of the orphanage and started living in an apartment with help from Mr. D, Kai would constantly come and visit him. Tala was still a child, but in this world where he had no one to call his own, Kai was the only person who docked him to sanity. He was the reason Tala had decided to give all those scholarship tests, meet Mr. D, and even move out of the orphanage he called home all those years. On their brief visits, Kai would narrate what his world outside looked like, and Tala was too eager to be a part of it. Even now, watching this boy work quietly, with so much passion on a favor he asked, Tala felt all those risks were worth it.

But recently, it was getting hard to hold onto those reassurances. When they joined school, Kai and he were inseparable. Teachers had grown to think of them as twins, and nothing made Tala happier than sharing inside jokes and secrets with Kai. However, he felt like this boy was slowly drifting away from him. Over the last year, he barely spoke to him. And worse, Kai kept moving. Tala knew him enough to know that Kai hated travelling like that, yet one day Kai would reply to his texts and then disappear off the face of the earth for a few weeks. When he would go searching for Kai, he would discover Kai was abroad. Even this time, he had caught the boy purely by luck. Tala would haunt Kai's apartment daily, and he was fortunate enough to catch him coming back this time. Just in time to ask him to draw the farewell board…

"Are you even listening?" Emily roared.

"Uhm yeah…. Well, no" Tala shrugged awkwardly. Thankfully, Emily grunted and kept calm instead of going harpy mode on Tala, the way she did on Michael. "So we will have to go and ask the principal to arrange food. Because a certain someone still hasn't found a posh enough place," she said, and Michael winced. "We won't rent speakers, the ones we use for assembly are good enough.", Now it was Rick's turn to make puppy eyes… none of it would work on Emily.

Tala was glad Emily took charge. She was the only practical person in this room, so he agreed at once. Since none of the others had ideas to contribute, the plan was approved. "Tala, come with me to meet Mr. D." Emily got up, "And then we will collect money from students directly now. Make a list, those who don't pay today, let's ask the coordinator to make their parents e-pay."

Tala agreed to this, but a part of him ached that he couldn't sit and watch Kai work. So much chatter was going around them, and still Kai hadn't looked up once from the canvas… Sighing, Tala followed Emily. He knew Emily had picked him for the committee because she needed a 'good student' from class 10 to show the teachers their plans weren't completely senseless.

2 hours. That's how long they had to wait in front of the principal's room before they got to meet Mr. D. During the wait, Tala heard a loud thud from upstairs and saw a bunch of students run towards the source.

"Another fight?" Tala guessed, and Emily nodded without looking up from her book. "I knew leaving Rick and Michael unsupervised was a bad idea," was all she said. But unknown to her, Tala thought of the other silent painter working there, and hoped he was fine. I'll ask Kai for the details he thought, already smiling at the idea of overly animated explanations.

However, when he went back upstairs, what he saw made his soul escape his. Kai was lying on the floor with a nurse checking his head, while Johnny, Michael, and Rick were having a heated argument with their PE teacher. Both Michael and Rick admitted that Kai acted odd all of a sudden when he saw Johnny, and instead of talking it out, Johnny knocked Kai out.

The rest of the conversation was a blur to Tala as he frantically pushed the crowd and landed beside Kai.

To his surprise, Kai was still conscious… his eyes were open and he looked like he had just woken up from sleep. Nothing gave away that he had just been hit by another boy. He looks so vacant. That thought terrified Tala.

"No concussion," the school nurse announced. He can rest in the nurse's room and go back by evening.

Seeing the fun was over, all the students returned to their classes, while the farewell committee got back to work. Instead of joining them, Tala went to the room with Kai. The moment they were alone, Kai said, "The board is ready. I've left it backstage to dry."

"Thanks. Now tell me what happened, "Tala asked.

"You know it" Kai responded.

Tala hated how he now has to pry words out of Kai, while a year ago it was hard to get the boy to shut up.

"Anyway, what are you wearing tomorrow?" He asked, struggling to keep the conversation alive.

No response.

"Kai… DON'T TELL ME YOU WERE PLANNING TO SKIP!" Tala couldn't believe this.

"Maybe" Kai said.

Tala wanted to pull his hair out in frustration. They had spent 10 years here… if not for the rest of the batch, couldn't this boy show up at least to give him company? Tala decided he wouldn't let him skip the farewell.

"Rich boy, will it itch to wear my suit?" he asked, taunting.

Kai just gave a dry smile. A smile, not the witty retorts, Tala noticed. Where was Kai headed? His friend had changed so much… almost unrecognizable.

Pushing all those thoughts aside, Tala dragged Kai to his apartment after school.

"You know you can tell me if I did anything wrong," Tala said, but Kai remained unresponsive. After dinner, the boy slept immediately, and Tala got to work. He looked at his wardrobe and saw the beautiful green coat with the black turtleneck. This was nothing compared to what Kai could afford, but Tala had to save for months to buy this. There's no way Tala would let the art kid in their class look shabby on the last day, so he quickly ironed the dress and kept it next to Kai's side of the bed. He called Julia, arranged a blue shirt to go with the old white blazer he had, and decided to use his uniform pants as the bottom.

The next morning, Kai looked worse. The boy slept throughout the night, but still had dark circles beneath his eyes. The moment he woke, he kept glancing around, as if he expected something to jump out of thin air any moment. Tala asked him to have a shower while he cooked breakfast. But when Kai came out of the bathroom, Tala was left shell-shocked.

Beneath all those layers of uniform Kai wore, he had lost so much weight. When he moved in some angles, Tala could see his rib. And even more surprising was the way the boy stared at the mirror... He was wearing nothing except the towel wrapped around his waist, and still with that transfixed gaze, Tala could tell he had no intentions of changing.

Seeing time run out, Tala made him sit on the dressing table and did his hair. He's so beautiful even in this misery. He thought.

"Want me to help you with the undies too, master?" Tala teased again, but Kai just got up and left.

Now standing in front of the crowd to deliver the farewell speech, Tala read off the script he had written and practiced for weeks. Every now and then he kept glancing at Kai, and with each glimpse he was more sure : every memory he read out now was a lie.

Despite all this, he made sure to mention that Kai had designed and made the farewell board all on his own, in the farewell speech. Everyone gasped and cheered for Kai, some kids still finding it hard to believe that such a detailed piece wasn't printed. After lunch, it was time to part ways. Tala noticed a lot of seniors complimenting Kai's art but Kai wasn't responding.

Now Tala had had enough. Kai had always been a highly introverted boy, but he was hard to hate. Yet now his silence was suffocating everyone. Tala had brushed this off till now, but now Kai's behavior was simply soulless. Does he think everyone will continue to be good to him and carry his life forward even if he ignores them? Tala kept quiet for now, and waited for his moments alone with Kai.

The farewell was a grand success, so the commitee decided to celebrate more at a local cafe that evening, and he and Kai were the last ones to leave.

The boy hadn't spoken to Tala since the event ended. It irked him out if his wits. Tala grabbed Kai by his shoulder and for the nth time today, he was in for a surprise.

Kai was in a pleasant mood and his tone was lighter than usual. Those crimson eyes were back: sharp as a razor. How can he change so fast?

"Rusthead, There's something I want to tell you," Kai said before Tala could ask him anything.

"Huh? Sure go ahead" Tala tried to conceal his excitement. Rusthead? The insults were back and he hoped his Kai was too.

After a long breath, Kai took the bag he carried with him all the time, but stopped when he opened the zip.

"Can you wait while I use the restroom?" He asked.

"No problem." Tala replied offhandedly. But inside he was cursing Kai out. Tala was going to burst with excitement. It had been such a long time since Kai shared a secret with him. Still he managed to look casual.

Looking back, he wouldn't have been this casual—had he known the boy would change completely that night.

Tala waited patiently at first, but the excitement was killing him. Minutes turned into hours, but there was no sign of the boy.

A wave of unease crashed over him. He called Kai multiple times. No reply. The cafe was about to close and the washrooms were empty. Flummoxed, Tala walked home alone…

That was the last time he saw Kai. At least, the Kai he thought he knew.

Because the next time he saw him, Kai was clutching Johnny's lifeless body to his chest. The dead boy's blood seeped into his pure white uniform.

Tala couldn't remember any more details, except that It was raining.

Tala was the only witness.

The sight was chilling, but not as much as the look in Kai's eyes—vacant crimson, as if the person inside had long been swept away.

That's all for the day! Hope their past makes more sense now. Thanks a lot for reading! And a special thanks to everyone who reviewed :)