Sometimes, we won’t know what the future holds for us. The ones we loved, the ones who cared about us, the ones who we never knew, each of them could be the cause of our pain. That is what make life uncertain, but ironically, exciting.

I never liked my town, nor my school. Everyday, it felt exactly the same. Waking up at seven, reaching the school before the bells, listening to all those useless classes. And after all that torture, I have to head back home along with the neighborhood boys, whom never cared about their future. The same shit repeated the next day, the day after that, like I was stuck in a time loop, and I have no control over this.

While reading any new fictional stories or comics in the library, the only thought that came to my mind was, ‘Why can’t my life be more adventurous like the comic book heroes?’ Yeah, I know that they face challenges and enemies, but at least their lives were not static, like mine.

As each day passed, I could sense my life getting boring and boring. That realization made my days even worse. The spiral of my boring and ineffective lifestyle just continued to fall even low, and I had no control over that.

But I was not the only one. Every other person living in this town lived the same shitty life. They do work, earn money, and spend that money on booze. From the beginning of my memory, this was the norm of this town. You are born here, work here, and die here. It was so normalized that no one in this town noticed how hopeless was the life they were leading.

And after seeing all these I concluded that this town was cursed. A curse that binds the future to this town to its past and never allows the future to deviate. It was as if the whole town was stuck in a time loop.

As usual, I was lying on my desk after having lunch. These regrets inside me were beginning to grow stronger for the past few days. It’s been weeks since I had my lunch together with my so-called friends. Sharing food with them didn’t feel right while I was having these thoughts about them.

But since I was a human, and humans were social creatures, I had to make at least a little amount of social interaction. Therefore, instead of eating with my regular company, I tried my lunch together with some of my classmates. It felt novel and weird to be present around my classmates since I never talked to them unless the teacher asked me to. Most of their topics of discussion didn’t match any of my interests, so all I did was nod at their statements and blindly laugh at the unfunny jokes they cracked. After finishing my meal, I returned to my usual seat and started taking a nap. This might be the only thing I considered not boring during my school time.

The bell woke me up from a wired semi-sleep state. Most seats of the class were filled except for the entire back row. Those seats belonged to the bad boys of the class. You can compare them to the boys who always roam around the hidden corners of the school, making bases for them to rest and bullying the weak kids.

The bad boys of our class were different from the usually portrayed bullies. Their sole purpose for coming to the school was to destroy the peace inside the class. It was one thing to be stupid, but a different one to act like stupid. And for that same reason, many others including myself hated them.

The teacher came inside, holding a couple of thick textbooks, and started reciting the lines from the texts like a robot. He never cared if the student understood his class or not. All he wanted to see was an above-average marks from every student in the class, which was practically impossible.  

While he was taking his boring class, entered the bad boys and took their seats without his permission. This was common nowadays, not just for this class, but for every period.

The change in the mood of class was not subtle as an immediate fall in the teacher’s voice occurred. He sounded less active and dead-like, which made it difficult for even the second benchers like me to hear. All in all, this stupid occurrence inside the class was another reason why I hated this school.

The classes ended an hour earlier today due to the report of an unexpected storm. Students living near were advised to reach home as soon as possible, and for others, arrangements were made inside the auditorium for them to stay until the storm passed.

I stayed here, even though my house was nearby. Mainly because it was another excuse for me to not interact with the neighborhood boys. I watched them from the top floor, as they joyfully walked together out of the school gate.

Lines were forming in front of each class as the teachers advised us to walk towards the auditorium. I stood at the last second position of my class. Since our class was at the end of the corridor, we were the last ones to start moving.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

The pouring of the rain intensified as the scattering sound of raindrops echoed and filled the entire corridor.

As I started walking, I caught a silhouette of a person standing at the school roof. The rain made it harder to see through the glass but he was wearing our uniform.

Who the hell was that? Maybe a boy from another class?

 I walked aside from the line and removed my shoe. Haline, the boy standing behind me noticed that but followed the line as I acted like tying my laces. Then as the last person exited the hallway, I ran towards the roof door.

The door was open as the wind brought raindrops inside the building. I climbed the stairs and reached the door. He was there. A boy standing, facing the side walls of the roof.

“Hey, it is dangerous to stand there”. I warned him.

He turned around, showing his wet hair and soaked clothes. The white boy with above-average height was Runa, one of the bad boys from our class. Or you could say the leader.

After glaring at me, he turned his eyes away. For him, I might not even exist here. That was the kind of people they were.

I was not going to get myself rained for some random classmate. I walked down the stairs, but in the mid heard some footsteps approaching.

If it was a student, then I could somehow talk out of it, but if not, then I was going to be in a difficult position.

Without any further thought, I climbed back, rushed outside to the roof, and hid behind the wall.

Runa was already standing there. He frowned at seeing me. Then he also came towards me, to hide.

“How many times should I tell them to keep the roof closed? Well, it’s not like they will listen to me anyway.” A female voice came from the door, then the sound of the door locking.

We both looked at each other and realized we were doomed. The storm was still at its initial stage and it was only going to get wilder from here. If we stayed here during the storm, we were pretty much dead.

“Why did you come here?” Runa blamed me as if I was the one to brought the teacher upstairs.

I could ask you the same question. I thought of a reply but felt too cringed to say it.

“I saw a person standing near the cliff and got curious. Never thought I would meet you up here” I said, while undressing.

I liked rain, but not its coldness. A fluffy bed with a big sheet was all I needed to enjoy the rain.

But standing here, soaking in this damned rain only worsened my condition. And it was a boy I was standing with. A girl could have been a better companion, but Runa was just too manly to enjoy his presence.

Seeing me undressing, he looked away. Soon, I covered my body with my arms.

“Don’t tell me you are a gay?” I asked and took some steps away.

“I am not. I was just surprised.”

His reply only made this situation even more awkward.

Why are surprised to see an undressed man? I wanted to ask. But instead put back my shirt. My chastity was more important than the coldness.

“I said I am not interested in your body” he snapped.

Silence followed. The rain became heavier. I could feel the drops like stones falling from the sky.

“We can stay inside there” he pointed at a small room located near the backside. I have never seen this room before. Actually, it was my first time getting to see the roof.

Both of us walked towards it. It was locked. But before I could exclaim, Runa took a rod from the floor and broke the lock.

He entered the room, and so did I.

“What were you doing here in the rain? Don’t tell me you were going to jump or something?” I mocked him but soon regretted my words.

He stared at the floor without any reply. His face turned into a guilty expression.

Hell, he was really trying to jump off!

Both of us remained silent.

“You know it is a criminal act to kill yourself,” I stated. When I first knew it, I was surprised. But the more you think about it, the more logical it seems. You don’t want the people of your country to just kill themselves.

But it was not something a person who decided to kill himself wanted to hear. What he wanted was some soothing words of forgiveness from someone he loves. I didn’t even know him properly. So, my words would hardly make any difference.

“You are right. I should not kill myself”, he said and forced a smile on him.

This person was more complicated than I thought. A normal person would never smile like this after attempting suicide. A normal one would never try to kill themselves in the first place.

Until the noon classes, he seemed just normal. He was even mocking the teacher along with his friends. But I was not sure of anything. Maybe he was worried, but I just never tried to see him like that. That was the kind of people they were.

The unexpected storm also ended unexpectedly. Hearing how the rain stopped, Runa left the room without saying anything further.

It was 15 minutes past six according to my watch and it was always correct.

I only left after assuring the rain would not come suddenly again. The roof door was broken, probably due to Runa. His muscles were not just for show. I climbed down, as silently as possible. From the top floor, I saw students leaving the school gates. I was able to successfully escape the situation without any issues.

No, there remained an issue.

Today, I saw one of my classmates trying to kill himself. Even though he was a jerk, if I were to hear the news of his death tomorrow, the guilt might haunt me to my life’s end.

But I also didn’t want to get into any more trouble. So, I messaged our class teacher explaining all the things I saw today. I did not mention my name or any of my details in that message and used my second sim to send the message.

It was up to him to believe the message or not. After switching OFF the second sim, I walked out of the gate, alone.

Walking through the wet roads and water-filled drainage was not something I usually see in this town. Nor the sight of people trying to take their lives. The concept of suicide was too rare to this town’s people.

Stone sculptures of all kinds could be seen on my way back to home. Most of them were old enough that no one knew why they were there. A god was assigned to every one of these statues and each god had a different role. The one near to my school was the god of wisdom. That was also the reason why the school was constructed there.

My mom once told me that while she was pregnant with me, the Rain God was the last statue she had seen before entering labour. Hence my name, Rane Hendel.

She believed in them, maybe a little too much. But she never bothered us to do the same.

I reached my home before another rain could occur.