Pearl Amore Kapoor has lived her life in the shadows of her parents. She is beautiful and a benevolent girl. Nothing matters to her now more than being kind to others and fulfilling her goals.
Even though she comes from a little village in the distant outskirts of a big city, Pearl is extremely hardworking and holds dreams of visiting the big city one day to work there. Just like any teenage girl in this village, peace prevails as they visit the only high school in the town. She has a best friend called Ria, who is just a tad charlatan and crook. The true image of who she really is is not an obvious factor to Pearl.
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Right now, nothing has ever sounded weirder than the words she just heard from her best friend. ‘’You are too weird to be loved!!‘’
If that did not pierce right through her fragile heart, then nothing else would. Of course, she was weird but not weird enough or unlovable. Of course, Pearl and her best friend had their differences, and all that made her the weird girl of school was the voices in her head and the nightmares that she had.
But she never told anyone about the nightmares, perhaps the fact that she spent most of her night in bed screaming and trying to wake up was what made her cranky and moody the entire day.
‘’What do you mean by that?’’ she asked Ria, suddenly oblivious to the fact that she was realizing all their friendship was a waste. There was a crowd that had formed up around them, the students were cheering for the two girls to fight.
‘’You know exactly what I mean, you are so self-centered. You always make everything about you. You want attention Pearl, that is just who you are.’’ ria spat, maintaining eye contact with her best friend. All this time, this entire argument had sparrow out of one simple incident, when they were talking about the werewolves Ria always loved to read about.
‘’You know damn well that ain't true. You know I seek no attention for myself. Ria, I hate attention. How dare you stand against me and pin such an absurd accusation against me?‘’ She screamed, tears threatening to spill but she held back and stared back at her best friend. She felt the suffocation begin to sip in when people took up her personal space.
She heard the rumors, ‘’the quiet girl is finally standing up for herself.’’
‘’That just what you preach, you dumb bitch, there is nothing about you hating attention. As a matter of fact, you adore it, love it more than anything. You dream of finding a stupid prince charming, getting married in a dumb castle somewhere, you want to become a space journalist Pearl, wake up. That is not even an existing career. Wake up from your stupid dreams and start living in the real life.’’
‘’Settle down, children.’’ Mr.Orman, the class teacher, spoke out as he entered the class.
The students turned to stare at their teacher, all the while, Pearl and Ria had not stopped their stare.
‘’Well, I'll talk about this later,‘’ Ria spoke as she moved in the opposite direction and went to sit at the back. ‘’Is everything okay pearl?‘’ Mr.Orman asked as he glanced over at Pearl, who had been standing glued to the spot.
A lot of students made remarks about them having to fight later, and even though it took the teacher’s attention, he decided to ignore it and order the students to take a seat.
Today marked the day when Pearl’s best friend told her how she felt about her, showing her true self and displaying her diminishing beliefs about the girl. But who cared, when everyone around her was not meant to be trusted.
‘’See me after class Pearl!’’ The teacher spoke once more as he returned to the front of the class and picked up a pile of books he had arrived with.
‘’And so students, let us open to page 62 of the ancient chronicles of baas, now can someone tell me, what do we think about the main character’s behavior whenever the prince around?’’
………………………………..
When the bell rang, the students were easily dismissed by Mr.Orman, he glanced over towards Pearl, who was fast approaching. ‘’Walk with me child,‘’ he said as he gathered his books and headed towards the exit of the classroom.
Mr.Orman was the most loved of all the teachers in the school, his teaching methods were great and he got along with the students fine. He considered his students like his children, he was old but teaching was his passion.
Even though he was almost to retire, he always took time to talk to his students individually whenever he noticed something wrong.
‘’Do you believe anything she said?‘’ he asked, as Pearl walked absentmindedly by his side. ‘’What are you talking about sir?’’ she asked, choosing to act unknowing of everything.
‘’I have been standing by that door for almost ten minutes. I had the entire argument between you and Ria James,‘’ he said, smiling at the girl even though she looked like she would burst into tears.
‘’I don’t know what to believe Mr.Orman. She is supposed to be my best friend. How could she say that to me?‘’ She spoke on the verge of tears.
‘’Let me tell you something Pearl, you are here in school alone. Not to make friends, not make good impressions on your peers, but to build a good future for yourself. Now remind again, what do you want to become in the future?‘’ He asked as he opened the door to his office and ushered the senior student in.
‘’A space journalist,’’ she said smiling, the remembrance of the dreams and goals that she has for herself always lights up her world.
‘’Now what does Ria want to become?’’ Mr. Orman asked, sitting over his coach as he grabbed a little cup from the bottom drawer of his office desk.
‘’A writer, a romance writer,’’ Pearl responded cooly, as she wiped away her tears and looked at her teacher.
‘’Those two worlds may seem similar because a journalist and a writer are quite on the same road, but trust me, child, you are not on the same page,‘’ he said as he poured himself a hot cup of coffee from the steaming kettle on the mahogany table.
‘’What she said is simply showing how different you two are, you will never be the same. You are in school, focus on yourself, on your goals. Go win the math contests like you always do. She will come around when she wants to.’’ he said jovially.
Pearl had never heard something that made more sense than this did. It occurred to her that she might have been pushing a friendship that was not even real.
When she got up from the chair, she had been rethinking how she would focus on her studies and not her non-existent social life.
‘’Thank you, sir,‘’ she spoke as she opened the office door.
‘’You are welcome child, I’m always here when you need someone to talk to,‘’ he said, sipping his coffee and putting it on the table.
‘’Oh and Pearl,‘’ he called out, causing Pearl to turn back and stare at the teacher, ‘’life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.‘’
‘’Will keep that in mind Mr.Orman, thank you once more,‘’ She said as she exited. Her mind raced around that quote, it had to have some meaning to it, there must have been a reason for the teacher to give her that saying.
There was a lot about herself that she did not understand. This beautiful girl is but a gem in the myriad of stones. She's amazingly talented and highly focused in her academics.
The people she had been spending her time with were not worth that effort. Pearl just needed an extra touch of pixie dust to steer her life into a new direction, and whatever it was, destiny was sure to give it to her.
She walked through the forest in silence. Her mind is deep in thought about today's events.
Ria’s voice still rang in her head, it wasn't fair. How could the best friend think of the other like that? how could she belittle her so much that she would go to the extent of telling her that she was too weird to be loved?
She understands her toxicity all this while but dares to walk away from their friendship of what she left.
The sudden howling of the wind as the forest fell in utter silence was what alarmed her. She was used to hearing the sounds that the birds made and the wild rabbits that run around the forest.
But right now, the entire Forest is as silent as a cemetery and no noise will be heard. At this moment even the drop of a pin would have echoed all around the vast place. Her eyes glanced to and from, her fingers becoming sweaty as she was suddenly alarmed of any impending.
She regretted arguing with her best friend. She needed the company right now, especially she was already starting to get worried.
If Ria would have been here, then she would have just Shrugged the mother off because she was impressively courageous. Many times, her best friend had scared off the wild animals that came against them. It always amused Pearl how vastly controlled she was, it was always as though she spoke to them.
As her eyes darted towards the tall tree right at the center of the forest, she saw it, the hand that lay over the ground. A veiny manly arm that lay dormant over the dirt. Pearl froze, she shook her head and convinced herself that it was not worth the curiosity.
But the girl was just as stubborn as her mother, always high-spirited, and would seek after her instincts. Right now, the longing that she felt inside her had been leaking over the entire atmosphere. She could not help but gasp, it was all too beautiful.
She let her feet take slow tiny steps, she allowed herself to move slowly towards the stranger. She craved a better view, to be standing before the stranger and get a better view. Of all the people she had randomly felt, Pearl never felt such a longing as this one, it was like insatiable hunger, if you don't feed, you die.
When she stood before him, her eyes widened, as though a spark had been cast on the beautiful girl. She shook with doubt and inhaled deeply. She felt glued to the spot, her feet unable to move and her hands shaking.
In front of her lay the most gorgeous man she had ever set eyes on. He was magnificent. The color of his eyes was set solely on the way he looked at her. He wasn't afraid to show how love-stricken he also was, he inhaled deeply as he set his eyes on Pearl.
‘’Are you ok sir?’’ Pearl asked worriedly, to her, it was a way to distract herself from the level of attractiveness in this stranger, he was so handsome that she felt an indescribable pull towards him.
But oh! If only she knew what kind of witchcraft her voice would be playing on this handsome stranger!!!