Episode - 3
876 Words
Part 5
Jenny’s father didn’t make a big deal out of it. He simply told him,
“Aron, come in and sit. I’ll ask them to bring you some tea.”
Aron had already stepped inside. When Jenny’s mother realized he had come, she walked out from the kitchen.
“Aron, have some breakfast,” she offered.
“No, aunty, I already ate,” Aron replied politely.
But Jennifer immediately turned to her mother.
“Mom, give Aron some breakfast. He’ll eat.”
So he ended up having breakfast there. After finishing and spending a little time with them, he said goodbye and left.
Aron often came at night to see Jenny, and every day they continued speaking over the phone. One day, Aron took Jennifer out. They sat together at a coffee shop, when Jennifer suddenly asked him,
“Take me to your house today. I want to meet your father and mother. You can introduce me to them, can’t you?”
Aron tried to escape with some excuse.
“It won’t be good if we go now. We’ll go another time.”
Jennifer grew annoyed.
“Why did you say that?”
“It’s nothing, Jenny. If they see you now, it won’t be right.”
“Alright then.” She frowned and walked out of the coffee shop, upset.
Aron quickly paid the bill and ran after her, calling out,
“Jenny! Jenny! Stop for a second, let me explain.”
He caught up with her, held her hand, but Jennifer snapped,
“Don’t say anything more!”
“Just listen to me calmly, without getting angry,” he pleaded.
“After Plus Two, I’ll introduce you. By then there won’t be any problem.”
She reluctantly agreed.
For the next few days, most of their conversations happened only over the phone. They didn’t meet in person as often.
Part 6
Vacation ended. Their second-year classes had started. While everyone was returning to school, their classes had begun even before the Plus One batch started.
On her first day of Plus Two, Jennifer entered the classroom. One of their classmates immediately teased her:
“You’ve put on more weight again. You look like an elephant—but at least elephants have some beauty, you don’t even have that. Hey Aron, if you walk with her, it’ll be like an elephant and an ant walking together. In the end, it’s you who’ll get mocked by everyone.”
Aron didn’t reply to that. He only laughed, but Jennifer was deeply hurt by those words.
Classes went on, and after a few days, their Plus One results were announced. Jennifer’s marks were very low.
At the parent–teacher meeting, the teacher questioned her.
“Jennifer, you were studying well before. What happened now? Why did your marks drop?”
She didn’t respond. In her mind, there was only Aron.
A few more days passed, and the new Plus One batch started. But Jennifer still had to walk with her head bowed in front of everyone.
One day, while walking home from school, she told Aron,
“Aron, I’m tired. I can’t do this anymore. I should just quit school.”
“What happened? Why are you saying this?” he asked.
“I can’t handle the insults and teasing anymore. Is there any way for me to lose weight?”
“There’s no such thing. You just have to stop caring about others. Losing weight won’t help. If you lose weight, it won’t suit you. This is better. I like you the way you are.”
“But even you don’t support me when they mock me.”
“I do support you. But they’re my friends too. How can I suddenly fight with them?”
“So who’s more important to you—your friends or me?”
“You’re more important, of course. But I can’t completely avoid them either.”
They kept talking without realizing how much time had passed. Jenny finally said goodbye to Aron and got on the bus home.
Part 7
Halfway through their second year, the school festival began. There were so many programs—dance, music, drama—and for the very first time, a fashion show competition.
Everyone was excited. Since it was the first fashion show in school, many wanted to participate.
When it was time to submit names, Aron’s group of friends were confused about who among them should take part. So they sat together during a free period and discussed.
One of them, half-jokingly, suggested,
“Why don’t we put Jennifer in?”
Everyone laughed at the idea.
But Aron responded,
“That’s actually a good idea. Let’s make Jenny participate. If we give her proper training and she wins, nobody will mock her again.”
Jennifer immediately refused.
“I’m not going. I can’t do things like that. If I go, everyone will just make fun of me even more.”
Aron stood up for her.
“Jenny, you should do it. If there was someone else in our group, we could’ve chosen them. But right now, only you can go.”
Just then, one of Aron’s friends called him aside and whispered something to him. After a while, Aron came back.
- Writer
