A New Kind of Scary: Embracing Individuality and Defying Expectations

There was a boy named Rahul and a girl named Namrita. Namrita was the prettiest, and Rahul was the captain of the sports team. They started dating, and Namrita fell in love with him, but Rahul was with her just for his status. College announced a Halloween fest in the starting of this year, including a Halloween-themed fancy dress. They participated in the college's Halloween fancy dress, and they decided to be a zombie bride and groom.

Namrita started to have some issues while talking and some pain in her throat. She thought it might be some infection or something, but when local doctors diagnosed her, she was diagnosed with stage 2 throat cancer. She told no one but Rahul. He supported her and asked her to take the medicine and talk less if it hurt, and to be great again before Halloween because they had a competition to win. She went to the hospital for months for her cancer treatment. She went through major changes, loss of hair, and she went bald in days due to the treatment of cancer. She won the battle against cancer. When she came back from the treatment, everyone teased her for her baldness. She believed that Rahul wouldn't tease her, but he also made fun of her and broke up with her due to his peers and his fame.

Namrita tried to talk to him again, but Rahul and his friends always mocked her. She just distanced herself from everyone, even her friends/classmates. Her behavior seemed like she was in depression. She talked to strangers but not to her peers. She stopped making new friends as she thought that it was the only way to keep herself from being hurt again. People started to call her another Abhishek. He was her classmate who sat with a different person in every period so he couldn't get attached. He also went like this after his best friend broke up with her without telling his mistake or any reason. Namrita was actually becoming another Abhishek.

Everyone mocked her, joked about her baldness, but she never reacted to those people. Some days went by like this. She was learning to live alone, but "a person can exist only but can't live alone." Halloween and Halloween-themed fancy dress came, and she didn't want to participate, but participating alone was part of "learning to live alone." So, she came to the party as a zombie bride. The judges were not from college, and they came up with one new rule that every person had to give a story to their character (they were dressed as). The stories couldn't be copied from any movie.

Namrita wanted to participate, but this new rule demotivated her. The show started, and people came as movie characters, so almost everyone gave a copied story. Namrita was sitting in the corner of the hall, trying to stop her tears as she was feeling very alone. Rahul came up with a story and was about to win, but she registered, so they started calling "next monster is Namrita" and "where is Namrita?" She was ignoring all the announcements. Abhishek was there, ignoring everything, being social as always, but he noticed that Namrita was being called, and she was here, all dressed up, and makeup on. He asked her, "Hey! They're calling you." She screamed at him, "I don't want to go," and she started crying and started murmuring "I want to, I just can't. I'm bald, no one likes me." Abhishek consoled and motivated her. He kind of insulted her, saying, "Well, you don't want someone to win this. You look scary enough to me." However, he said this just to get her attention. After getting her attention, he continued, "These tears are your new makeup, Ms. Weeping Bride. You are what you are, never be ashamed of what you are. You are not weird; you are unique. And now you have a better and real story too. Tell them how your bride bailed on you and how, because of that, a monster is born. More importantly, do you really want to lose to that jerk without even trying?" He may have been running from being social, but that didn't stop him from being the best.

She stood up, raised her hand, and shouted, "I'm Namrita!" Abhishek said, "Thank you and best of luck." Namrita went to the stage and told the whole real story with made-up characters. The judges loved the emotional point, whereas everyone else was just trying to be scary. She won the trophy for being the scariest, and everyone was cheering and clapping for her. However, when the judges gave her the trophy, she gave it to Rahul. Everyone stopped clapping and was shocked. Abhishek started clapping, and she came down and thanked him before leaving the hall.

Abhishek and "another Abhishek" started to talk occasionally, from daily talk to late-night conversations. They became close friends, and Abhishek found his best friend in her. Namrita found her companion in him.

As time went on, Namrita and Abhishek's friendship grew stronger. They started talking to each other daily, and often talked late into the night. Abhishek found his best friend in Namrita, and Namrita found a companion in him. They became inseparable, and would often be seen hanging out together, sharing their thoughts, dreams, and aspirations.

One day, while they were out for a walk, Abhishek asked Namrita if she still had feelings for Rahul. Namrita looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. "No," she said. "I don't have feelings for him anymore. I thought he was the one for me, but he showed me that he wasn't. He left me when I needed him the most. And that's not something I can forgive."

Abhishek nodded, then smiled. "You're better off without him," he said. "He doesn't deserve someone as strong and resilient as you."

Namrita smiled back at him, then took his hand. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you for being there for me when I needed someone. You've been my rock, my support, my friend. And I don't think I could have made it through all of this without you."

Abhishek squeezed her hand, then looked at her. "You don't have to thank me," he said. "I'm just happy to be here for you. Always."

Namrita smiled, feeling grateful for Abhishek's friendship. She knew that with him by her side, she could face anything that life threw at her. Together, they walked down the street, laughing and chatting like they always did, two friends who had found each other when they needed it the most.