Chapter 92 - Helpless
After doing the probably the worst thing he had ever done, Adrian stood at the end of the corridor, numb. He didn't know how he felt. Was he sad? Was he upset? Was he suppose to be crying? Should he break stuff near him? Maybe, hurt or bully a junior? No. Adrian didn't understand any of those things. All he felt was… empty. Is that how you describe it? Adrian had even lost sense of touch. James was standing right beside him, literally shaking him to the fullest but Adrian didn't respond to him.
After a few seconds, he placed his hand on his cheek that was still stinging somehow. His fingertips got immersed in the red paint that coated Jennifer's hands a few minutes earlier. He brought his fingers in front of his face and then registered the first thing after long period of numbness. Jennifer hated him. He had hurt Jennifer and now she hated him. Oh my god! What on the literal earth did I do? Adrian turned to James who was looking him with eyes filled with empathy.
He knew how it felt to be ripped off from your loved one. It's like a layer of your skin remains with them. The pain of being skinned alive. Minute by minute. More and more. Cell by cell. Adrian felt his eyes grow moist. He couldn't bring himself to speak anything even though a thousand words were stuck in his throat. He wanted to say something. To talk. To yell. Anything but nothing came out of his dried up throat other than a grunt of psychological pain that he felt before his head hit the ground.
James was standing there, looking at Adrian. He was about to wrap his arm around him to lead him out of the room but he was shocked when he felt nothing there. Within a minute, Adrian was lying flat on the ground as his head hit the floor making a thud sound. He had fainted. "Oh my god! Adrian… Adrian…." James shook him with all that he had. No response. James tried checking if Adrian was still breathing.
To his great relief, slight breath was going on. His was breathing. James picked him up and took him to the school nurse. "He fainted in the hallway." He said before literally dumping him in front of the nurse. James was in full panic mode. Adrian had never fainted. Even when they were in the nastiest mafia situation with blood and intestines spilled all over the floor. He remembered how strong he was when shot by a rival. He was so close to loosing his life but he was still conscious and fighting. The doctor was so shocked at how he survived when they brought him to the hospital. They said that a normal person would have died long ago but Adrian was no where close to even losing consciousness.
And today, nothing happened at all yet he fainted. "Did he have breakfast?" the nurse interrupted James' thoughts. James nodded but he was distracted. He literally zoned out when the nurse took Adrian for further examination. All those flashes of past started coming to his mind when even the strongest had failed to keep up but Adrian was unswerving as ever. All those things he had seen through but today nothing really happened and he fainted? What the hell!
A few minutes later, the nurse came and said, "He has regained consciousness but is not speaking. Do you wish to see him?" James stood up immediately and followed the school nurse near the bed where Adrian was laid, staring at the window near his bed refusing to look at anybody, reply to anyone or care about anything. James tried talking to him multiple times but he didn't reply. "Buddy, look at me at least." He said in hopes of seeing Adrian turn his head but he was disappointed.
James knew that there was only one person Adrian would respond to. "I'll be back." He said to the nurse and headed out of infirmary searching for the only one. Jennifer. He spotted Jennifer near the window of an empty classroom. Her dress was still red but the paint had dried off. Her arms had turned red which proved how much she had struggled to take the paint off her skin. She was shivering because her dress was all wet. James felt so sorry for what he had done. Jennifer was such a sweet girl. She was so nice, polite and loyal to Adrian. Yet, difficult times demand difficult solutions.
James approached Jennifer and put a hand on her shoulder. Jennifer turned to see who he was and quietly turned back again. She was in no mood for talking or playing. "Jennifer, Can we talk?" he said. Jennifer shook her head as a no. "Please." James pleaded. Jennifer didn't reply. "Why is your dress still wet? You could catch a cold." James tried a different approach. "My parents are out of town and half of the servants are on a holiday. My driver is ill." Jennifer sounded more rehearsed than a broadcast show like she had been speaking this in her mind over and over again. Cursing her bad luck and her pitiful condition.
"Can I get you something?" James tried being nice. "Peace. Get out now." Even these words were spoken with so politeness that they did not sound like an insult at all. Jennifer was careful not to hurt James' emotions. Why do you care? I just care too much. "Jennifer, I really need to tell you something." James tried insisting. "Not in the mood. Tell your best friend." Jennifer tried walking from there. James stopped her. "Its about him." James looked down. "Then, I don't even care. If you have come here to convince me on his behalf, leave. I'm not letting him go away with this. He accepted Debbie's kiss. The girl who made me look like I was a whole bunch of chili peppers. That was straight up cheating. I could have tolerated anything but this. I don't tell him to do anything. I don't dominate his life. I am not clingy. I don't force him into anything. Why did he still do this to me?" at the end of her sentence Jennifer felt her voice break.
She could no longer take it anymore. Jennifer decided to walk out leaving James alone in the room staring at her back as she went away leaving him helpless.