Uncharted bonds

Ch -8 (fight)

As I lay in my room, I was startled by a knock on my door. Curious, I rose to answer it, wondering who it could be since it wasn't time for attendance. To my surprise, it was the girl from the next door—the college girl, or should I say, Kerin's girlfriend. She asked if I knew Kerin, to which I replied affirmatively. She then inquired if he had attended class that day, and upon hearing that he was absent, she thanked me and quickly left. I couldn't help but wonder if something had happened between them. Did she not have his phone number? Nevertheless, I brushed off the thought—I already had enough on my plate. The next day, as I entered the classroom, I was suddenly struck by something—quite literally. It was none other than Kerin, standing at the door. We collided, and I nearly fell, but Jamie managed to catch me from behind. Inside, my mind was in turmoil, feeling as though I was caught in a scene straight out of a drama.

It was incredibly embarrassing; I wished I could just disappear into the ground. Living here was becoming more of a challenge with each passing day. Kerin asked if I was okay, to which Jamie quickly intervened, criticizing Kerin's careless behavior ,urging him to be more mindful and said to walk normally while going out and coming in to the class.Kerin, taken aback, questioned what Jamie meant by "normally." Megh jumped in to defend Kerin, insisting that he did walk normally, and accusing Jamie of being blinded by love. I was stunned by Megh's remark, but before things could escalate further, Kate intervened. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the classroom, advising me to ignore the commotion. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that they were fighting because of me—after all, I was the one who got struck. Just then, Alex arrived and urged both parties to refrain from causing a scene in front of the other classes.

After everyone settled down, I felt a piercing gaze on me. When I turned to my left, I saw Eddy glaring at me. Internally, I was panicking—of course, this had to happen too. Before I could respond, he accused me of being the cause of the conflict between Jamie and Kerin, blaming me for disrupting our unity. His words stung, weighing heavily on my heart. Just as I was about to defend myself, the teacher interrupted, commanding our attention to the board. I swallowed my retort and remained silent. Jasmine, sitting beside me, wore a sympathetic expression and whispered, "It's not your fault. Don't let it get to you.

Students, your after-school classes will begin from tomorrow. Please inform your parents, and

attendance is compulsory," our class in-charge announced. Feeling down, I glanced over and saw Kerin, acting as if nothing had happened, casually chatting away. He approached Jasmine and declared, "You're my sister now," asked her if we were cousins. Jasmine said yes , mentioning that I lived in the house next to hers. "Oh, so you're her neighbor," he mused. "Yes, but we're cousins first," Jasmine clarified. I sat there, quietly listening to their banter until he called me "padosan." Confused, I asked what he meant. "You live in her neighborhood, so you're Jasmin's neighbor and Jasmine is my sister then you are my padosan," he explained. I reluctantly agreed, thinking, "He's such a jerk." Then, as if remembering something, i mentioned that his girlfriend had asked about him. He replied, "Girlfriend? I don't have one." Kerin's shameless response left me stunned, thinking, "In the past, liars used to be scared to death. Nowadays, they don't even catch a cold.