Goodbye To My Fake Husband

Dear Vivian...

"Dear Vivian,

Your friends may call you Vivian, but I will call you, 'La Vie en Rose.' It means, seeing beauty in my life every day through you. Just a look at you fills me with joy. No one can estimate the kind of feelings I have towards you. It is uncomfortable. Your beautiful face started appearing in my dreams when you first came to our school in junior grade. And now, I am overwhelmed with the way I feel about you. I can do anything for you. I can jump down from this class because of you. There are various lights in my life, but yours is the brightest. If you leave me, I will groan in darkness. How can I survive the sinking world without you? I want us to be more than friends. Though we are just classmates, you may be surprised to read the language of my heart. These things are real. I will never play with your feelings, nor will I cheat on you. I will hold you more than the way supermarkets hold their eggs. I can touch a live wire because of you. Even if you want me to go into the den of a lion just to prove my love for you, I will do it. Please, be my girlfriend, and I will stay with you till I stop breathing. I will treat you like the Queen you truly are. I care very much about you. If it is convenient for you, you can reply to me in writing, but whatever the case, I am with you. I miss you every day of my life. And another thing that may surprise you is this, whenever any teacher in our class asks you to stand as a way of discipline, my legs start to hurt me. My love, there is an invisible twine that connects both of us. I can continue to write out my feelings for you without stopping, but let's say, this is the first dose. I love you dearly, from Fred."

This was the letter Fred had written to Vivian. The next day, he arrived at school late. From afar, before crossing the gate, he heard the rising noise of the students. This was Edison high school. It was among the best schools in the district. It has a four-story building and three big halls and it was fenced. And Fred's class was on the second floor. As Fred crossed the gate and was walking across the big compound, he heard some students laughing and one said, 'La Vie en Rose.' He smiled because he had used those words in his expression. As he was about to climb the stairs, two female students were coming down and one said, "I will groan in darkness." The other one replied, "in this sinking world." Though they didn't look at him or know him, in fact, they were not in the same class.

Fred passed them and shrugged and climbed to his class. As soon as he stepped his leg into his class, there was an outburst of laughter.

"La Vie en Rose! La Vie en Rose!!" Some shouted. Fear gripped him, but he tried to maintain a calm face and looked at them. He didn't understand what was going on. Out of the thirty-five students in the class, only two were not laughing, Sophia and Kelly. The more he steps each leg further, the more the laughter rang throughout the classroom. One of his classmates said as Fred was passing his seat.

"Fred, come and jump down as you have promised." Hearing those words, they laughed again. At this point, Fred knew something had gone wrong. Then he sat down and his fellow students were still laughing. His eyes came in contact with the blue longboard in the class. There he saw his letter to Vivian pasted on the board. Hundreds of electric impulses left his brain into his body. He felt like disappearing. Now he understood fully why everyone in the class was laughing. Most of them had memorized the letter. They did not need to look at the board to read it, it was coming out of their mouths word for word. Fred stood up with shyness and frowned his face. He went to the board and removed his pasted letter. To him, this was the bravest thing to do under the cloud of mockery. As he turned to his seat, he looked at Vivian and their eyes met. He would have gotten some consolation from her look, but she threw her face away giggly. Fred squeezed the sheet in his hands and went to his seat. He thought that was the end, but he didn't know that this was the beginning.

The vice-principal walked into the class. He wore brown trousers and well-tucked long light-blue sleeves. On his face, he has falling rectangular plain eyeglasses and he bends his head downward to look without the lens. He had a diamond-shaped face and white mustache.

"Who is Fred?"

The entire class kept quiet at once and Fred stood up.

"Why did you paste your feelings everywhere in the school?"

The class jeered at him and kept quiet as the vice principal started talking again.

"If you want to tell someone your feelings, must you paste it everywhere? You better leave your seat and go to every class you paste your letter."

There was a thunderbolt that went through Fred's heart. He could see how his heart was pumping out against his shirt and his breathing was high. His fingers were shivering and his palms became creamy.

Fred stood up, it was as if there were heavy rocks placed on his shoulders. He left his seat with great shyness and his legs were heavy for him to carry. He walked past the man and went to every classroom. As he was entering each classroom, many of the students had mastered some phrases of his letter.

"I am overwhelmed with the way I feel about you… Just a look at you fills me with joy…How can I survive the sinking world without you?"

The more they chanted those words, the more frustrated Fred felt about himself. And the news went around the school that he was the one who wrote the letter. Many of the students in the other classes did not know him facially. But as he went into every class, his face was recognized and it got to a point, he could not raise his head when walking.

When Fred returned to his class, there was already a mathematics teacher writing on the board.

"Why are you just coming?" She turned and asked. She was putting on a white gown with black stripes. Fred didn't know what to say.

"I… " he stammered and added. "Mr. Smith asked me to do something." Before he could finish, someone in the class called out.

"Lover Boy," some in the class laughed, making fun with their lips and eyes.

"Are you the lover boy?" She asked with a smile. "Those words of yours were powerful. You can go to your seat," using her right hand to signal him to his seat.

Fred went to his seat and never stood up even after hearing the break time bell, he remained in his seat. When everyone had gone out of the class, Fred rested his head on his desk. About ten minutes later, he felt a touch on his left shoulder. He raised his head and saw Sophia. Sophia was the closest friend to Vivian, and also, a close neighbor of Fred.

"I bought you your favorite snack and soft drink." And she placed it on the desk. Fred was not willing to take what she bought, but her next statement changed his mind.

"Do not let what happened to you weigh you down. Someone still cares about you. Take this and cheer up." She gave him and left the class when she sensed someone climbing the stairs to the class. Sophia had monolid brown eyes and a pointed nose, and black short hair she always covers with a hat. She was shabby and her height and hips overshadowed her big boobs. Sophia met Kelly at the doorpost. This was Fred's best friend. Both of them were the only ones who didn't mock Fred both in words or action.

Kelly had also bought some snacks for Fred. He walked close to Fred and saw what Sophia bought.

"Who brought them?" Kelly asked.

"Sophia."

"Hmm… I guess she cares about you."

After the closing bell, Fred was the first to leave the class. He thought his classmates may resume the ridicule. He walked very fast and left the school gate and a handful of students were outside at that time. He didn't wait for Kelly, he took a cab and went home. Kelly quickly rushed out of the school, trying to catch Fred, but when he came out, Fred had already entered the moving cab. He ran and waved for him to stop, but both the cabman and Fred could not hear him. Kelly stopped running and watched the car until it became smaller. Kelly had been Fred's closest friend for years. He was a short person, with a cunning look. He had told Fred to express his feelings to Vivian's face, but Fred said he might not be able to tell her all he wanted to say.

The cab stopped at the view of his house, and he came down and closed the door of the car violently. The old cabman looked at the way he slammed the door, then he shook his head and was short of words.

Fred entered the house and saw his mother cleaning her nails in the sitting room. Fred stole her attention when he banged the glass door without care. She raised her head and when she saw the fury on her son's face, she replaced her query with apprehension.

"My love, what is the matter?"

"I'm not going to that school again." He dropped his schoolbag in front of her.

"Why?" She asked, dropping her right leg from the stool.