A Real One

 Part-1: Who Did It?

It was 9 a.m. Everyone was at school. Tina, the popular girl of high school, was gossiping with her friends. Sasha, Jennie, Tyra and Molly was her friends. Sasha said, "It's been 5 minutes since class time has started. Our math teacher isn't here yet. I really hope he's absent." Molly replied, "Yeah, I want a free period too. By the way, have you guys noticed Lily? Why is she always so lonely, doesn't talk to anyone, and studies even during free periods? I know she's new here but it's literally been two weeks." Tina said, "I know right, she seems like such a loner. She probably doesn't even want to make friends, she seems like a nerd." After a while, their science teacher Mrs. Diana entered the classroom. She said, "Everyone, your math class won't be held today. But I want some of you to help me bring your exam copies here. Please come with me to the lab. Tina, will you?" Tina said, "Uhm, can anyone else do it?" "Why, what's wrong? Why don't you want to go? I'm your teacher, you must do as I say." Tina said, "Alright." "I need more three of you to come with me." Ron and Jack, two boys of the class, and Lily agreed to go. 

Then they all came in front of the lab. Mrs. Diana took Jack and Lily inside the lab, telling Tina and Ron to wait outside. Suddenly, Ron put on gloves and took out a remote from a small polythene that was inside his pocket. Tina asked, "Hey! What is that?" Ron said, "The test was really bad. Do you really want your results?" Tina said, "I mean, you're right, but what's up with that remote?" Ron replied, "No one will get their test copies this year. Because they will be completely burnt right now, hahaha." Tina understood something terrible was going to happen because of Ron and his remote. She said, "Wait, is it really what I'm thinking it is? Ron! I'm so confused! There are people inside too. Are you completely insane? It's just an exam result! Give me the remote!" Tina took the remote from his hand but Ron snatched it back. Lily saw Tina taking the remote from inside through the window, and she came close to the window to realize what's wrong. But suddenly, Ron pressed the button of the remote and a small explosion occurred inside the lab, near the locker in which the exam copies were kept. Lily was a little far from the locker as she went near the window, so she wasn't much hurt. But Mrs. Diana and Jack were injured. The exam copies were burnt.

After pressing the remote, Ron threw it and ran inside the lab. he noticed Lily saw the snatching of the remote and went to threaten Lily. He told Lily, "Tell the principal that you didn't see anything. If you even dare to tell anyone what happened, the next explosion will be at your house, not as small as this one, you and your family will lose their lives. Keep that in  mind." Lily said, "Oh my God, where are you getting these bombs from? Why would you do this? What do you want? I'm very confused." Ron replied, "No questions. Just keep your mouth shut or you will die." Meanwhile, the teachers from other classes came to the lab to know where the sound came from. But Ron ran away in this time and went to the principal's office. He brought the principal to the lab. Tina didn't even know what to do. She just stood there in complete shock. The teachers of other classes took Mrs.Diana and Jack to the hospital. They asked Lily, "Are you okay? What happened here!?" Lily told them about the explosion but couldn't say anything about Ron due to fear. The principal saw Tina standing outside the lab and caught her hand. She said, "Tina, Ron told me everything. You should be ashamed of yourself. It's such a loss that our school has a student like you. How could you do this? And how did you manage to do this?" Tina said, ''Ma'am, I swear I did not do anything. Ron did it all and he is lying. Let me explain myself!" But she was taken to the office. The school authority found Tina's fingerprints from the remote. She tried saying that it's because she wanted to stop Ron, but she wasn't believed. There was a chance of her being right, so she wasn't punished fully. But she was suspended for a month. Due to lack of evidence, Ron was left unpunished. 

Lily kept going to the classes normally, ignoring the incident because of Ron's threat, but deep in her mind she always wanted to know the truth fully and reveal it. After a month, Tina could finally come to school again. She came to her friend group and said, "Guys, I'm finally back. I missed you. How are you all?" Tyra replied, "Sorry, Tina, we don't want to hang out with someone as dangerous as you." Tina said, "What! I really didn't do it, you guys aren't believing me?" Sasha said, "Come on, you have a terrible record now. Staying with you will make us look bad." Tina said, "Seriously? Please don't act like this! I thought you guys were my best friends!" But none of them responded to her anymore. Being ignored, she said to herself, "wow", and she went to the last bench all alone. Lily was sitting there. She said, 'Hi, Tina! Welcome back." Tina was surprised and greeted her back. She sat beside Lily. At first, they chatted about studies and other normal things. They had a good talk.

Then Tina asked, "You're the only one that's still nice to me. Why?" Lily replied, "Look, I know you're not responsible for the incident which occurred a month ago. I saw how you tried to stop Ron. He even came to threaten me. I'm so sorry for not speaking up for you, but I was scared to lose my life and my family." Tina said, ''Oh! Well it's totally okay, I understand. I'm just glad that you're not misunderstanding me like everyone else. You know, I used to think you're a loner, but the truth is, I'm a bigger one. None of my friends trust me. But the worse fact is, they don't even care what kind of a person I am, they just care about whether being my friend makes them look good to other people or not. I was so focused on being liked by everyone and being popular, that I forgot to choose genuine friends." Lily said, "I'm sorry that your friends behaved like that. I didn't make friends yet because I'm extremely terrified of fake friends or finding good friends and then losing them. And everyone already has their own friend groups, so I decided not to try that hard and focus on my studies." Tina said, "Lily, I know we just met and earlier I never thought of being your friend, but can I ask you something? Can we become best friends? I've never felt so lonely before. Maybe I sound selfish but-" "Hey, of course! Just promise me to never become a backstabber." Tina smiled and said, "Don't worry, I never will. I was so wrong about you. You're so sweet." Lily said, "It's alright, it's not like I had an amazing impression about you either." Tina replied, "Hey that's offensive!" They both laughed. Lily said, "Please, your friend group is like a group full of mean girls." Tina replied, "Come on, I can't be that bad." Lily said, "You'll see". 

After classes ended, Lily and Tina walked outside the classroom. Tina's old friend group was standing outside. They saw Lily and said, "Look, the loner girl finally got a friend. But who? That's right, the one who was suspended for a month for her terrible act." Tina told Lily, "What the heck, they're literal bullies." Lily said, "Hah, I told you! And you used to be one of them." Tina laughed and said, "Fine, you win." They started knowing about each other. Lily said, "My parents were divorced a few years ago. I heard she loved someone else or something like that. My little brother and my dad are all I have now. My father is a businessman and he is the reason I'm here. He always supported me in  every possible way, since my childhood. What about you?' Tina replied, "I'm fine, I guess. I live with my parents and older brother." They talked for a while and then they both went home.

Part-2: Ron's Secret

The next day, they sat together again. Lily said to Tina, "Okay but, Tina, what is up with Ron? I don't think someone would cause such an explosion just because they did bad on a normal exam." Tina replied, "Exactly, I'm very curious too." "And it's making me uncomfortable that someone like Ron is in our class. He could do so much worse things then, can't he? And I can't accept the fact that he's going unpunished." Tina said, "I feel the same way too. But right now there's nothing we can do." A few days later, a similar incident took place. The final exam of that year was coming up. But another explosion took place in the teacher's room in which all the documents regarding the exam were kept. Luckily, no one was in that room this time. But since two similar incidents took place, the matter got serious. It was clear that someone wants to constantly hamper the school's activities. The class teacher came to Tina and asked, "What is going on, Tina? Explain." Tina said, "What!? You think I did this too? I didn't cause the last incident as well. This school is extremely unfair." Lily said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but this is actually ridiculous. You can't blame her with no proof. What about Ron? He's also a suspect from the last incident." The class teacher replied, "Ron wouldn't do something like this and we can't blame him without reason because he is our Professor Phill's son. Alright I'm sorry, I won't blame you without proof either. You can go now." Lily and Tina thought to themselves, "Unbelievable!"

 The investigation kept going. Tina said to Lily, "I'm sure this is also caused by Ron. We seriously need to do something now." While talking they came outside the school and suddenly, they heard someone run. They looked back and it was Ron. Tina said, "Lily! Stay here. I'm going after him. I can't stand him anymore." Lily said, "Wait, how are you going to deal with him?" But Tina already started running after Ron. They were going towards a forest that was near that school. Even though there were no wild animals, it was dangerous to go to a place like that because people usually don't go there. And someone like Ron was there, so it was unsafe for Tina. So, Lily decided to follow them. Lily reached the place but couldn't find anyone. She looked for five minutes and then finally saw Ron. 

She ran and held Ron's hand tightly. She said, "Ron! Tell me the truth now, or else I will tell everyone about the last incident. Where is Tina? Who are you? Where are you getting the bombs from or whatever they are? Why are you doing all this? Why are you even studying in this school if you wanna ruin everything?" Ron shouted, "Because I hate the whole education system. I hate everything and all these exams. You know, it's stressful but I really would be fine if it weren't for my dad. My dad made my school life so many times worse. I made it to the top 3 students all the time, but my dad needs me to stand first in everything. It's like if I don't get full marks in an exam he wants to kill me. And most importantly, he is extremely violent. He beats me up every time I mess up in a test. I spend each night crying. My father made my life hell. Now I have such hatred towards my school and education which can't be explained in words." Lily replied, "Well, ruining a few exams like this will literally do nothing. Are you mentally insane? Also, I'm sorry for you but this is your personal problem. You can't ruin everyone's education due to this, or play with others' lives. Now tell me, where is Tina?" Ron went from sad to laughing and said, "Haha, I knew you guys would chase me here which is why I ran. You guys know a lot about me, so I'm not going to take a risk.Your dear Tina is tied to a tree near the river, right next to a bomb, and it is a dangerous bomb this time. The remote is with me. The second I press the button, Tina's gone." Lily said, "Ron! What! Give me the remote. We will do whatever you say. Please don't do this Tina." Ron laughed and pressed the button. Lily tried so hard to stop him but couldn't. She heard a very loud sound. She shouted and cried, "Tina! No!" Tears rolled down from her eyes. 

Lily ran to the river. So many trees and everything was burnt. She looked at a tree and saw a burnt rope under that. She realized Tina was there and started crying harder. She couldn't forgive herself because she had the chance to stop Ron but couldn't manage to do it. She sat down all sad. Suddenly, she heard, "Stop crying bro, I'm here."  Lily looked back and saw Tina. She ran to hug her and said, "Wow, I thought you really died. How are you alive?" Tina said, "There was a blade in my pocket which I brought to class today for biology lab. I managed to cut the rope and run from here at the right time." Lily replied, "That's a relief." "So, what's up with Ron? Did you find him?" "Yes, I talked with him. He said he hates the school and education system because of his abusive dad. But I think he is mentally ill because no one would go this far for something like that. He literally tried to murder you. And he doesn't make sense most of the time." They started walking to go back to school, but they found Ron's body lying. He was unconscious. 

Tina said, "Wait, my mom is a psychiatrist, should we take him to her? We don't have anything else to do." Lily said, "That's actually not a bad idea." And so, they took Ron to Tina's mother. After Ron's sense came back, Tina's mom had a talk with him. Then she told Tina and Lily that Ron had a serious mental disorder, which probably happened due to too much stress and depression. Then all of them sat with Ron and talked with him nicely. They told him, "Don't worry, Ron. We understand your problem. We will talk with your dad. Just please promise us to not do something dangerous again." Then they took Ron to the school where his dad Professor Phill was. Tina called Professor Phill and said, "Sir, I need to talk to you about something important. It's about your son Ron. He caused these explosions and the reason is you." Professor Phill replied, "What non sense is this? You are the real culprit, aren't you? That's why you are trying to blame my son." Tina took Professor Phill to Ron to make the concept clear.

Ron said, "Dad, they're right. One day I went with my ex friend group to a secret place where they would buy drugs. I refused to take any drugs but there were other criminals in that place. One of them sold various types of bombs, both dangerous and less dangerous. And I decided to buy some, with the money I stole from you one day. I'm sorry dad, but punish me however you want, I don't even mind because you've already ruined my life by all the pressure you put on me." His dad replied, "What in the world am I hearing!? Also, I only put the pressure on you for your own good and your future." "For my future? You beat me up so often too. You've ruined my will to even try, or live. I feel like I wanna ruin everyone's life now. I've attempted suicide too." Lily said, "Sir, he has developed a serious mental problem due to stress." Professor Phill thought for a while and realized his mistake. He hugged his son and apologized to him. He said he will arrange treatment for Ron's mental health soon too. Then the whole matter became clear to everyone. But Ron wasn't punished as he was mentally ill. The principal said he could start coming to school after his treatment. Then the school authority sincerely apologized to Tina for blaming her and suspending her for a month. After that, things started getting normal again.

Part-3: Lily's Struggle

Day by day, Tina and Lily got closer and closer. After school, they went to different colleges. But their colleges weren't far away, so they would meet often, share notes with each other and gossip a lot. They made friends in college, but none of these friendships were as good as the one between Tina and Lily. Things weren't going bad, until one day Lily's life fell apart. Her father got into a serious car accident. He was taken to the hospital. Lily and her brother came to the hospital. "Dad!", Lily said, "Are you okay?" The doctor said, "Hello miss, yes, he will be able to talk even though he has some serious injuries. But please don't be too loud." Then Lily talked to her dad. Her dad said, "Sweetie, I don't know if I can make it or not." Lily replied, "Don't say that, dad! If you're gone, what will happen to me? What will happen to my brother? You have to stay strong and recover soon." Her dad said, "Lily, dear, I know it will be hard for you to accept this, but I really want you to marry my friend, Mike. He said he likes you a lot. Also, he is rich and lonely. It'll be perfect for both of you. He told me before that he would love to marry you and provide you with everything. And I believe he will agree to let your brother stay with him too, if he sees our condition. Don't worry, my daughter, it'll be okay." Lily said, "Your friend!? That's insane, dad. I'm not marrying a guy of your age." Her dad said, "Haha, he's many years younger than me. It's fine." "Okay, maybe, but we still aren't compatible. Are you insane? Look, I'm not marrying anyone. Get well soon and let everything be normal again." The doctor called Lily and said, "Miss, I'm afraid he's not gonna make it after two or three days. Some of his internal organs are badly damaged." Lily felt so broken. She looked at her dad. All she wanted at that moment, was to see her dad happy. She took a sudden decision and said, ''Dad, I'll do whatever that makes you happy. I'll marry your friend, Mike." Her dad looked a little relieved. 

Lily told Tina the whole story. Tina was so shocked. Tina said, "Lily, I'm so sorry for what happened, but seriously? How could you say yes to marrying out of nowhere? How do you know he's good?" Lily said, "I don't. Please understand me. I don't want my dad to be stressed right now. I have to do it for him. And I don't really have a choice." And so, Lily and Mike's wedding occurred the day after that. Lily decided to do it as soon as possible because she wanted her dad to see what he wanted. Mike put the ring on Lily's finger in the hospital, in front of Lily's dad to make him happy. Then Lily  hugged her dad. Her dad said, "Lily, promise me to hold on to everything and keep going, no matter what happens, okay?" Lily said, "Okay, dad, but nothing will happen, don't worry. You'll get well soon." The day after wedding, Lily got the news which she knew she would get soon, but was expecting a miracle. Sadly, no miracles happened. Lily's dad passed away. Even though Lily knew this would happen, she got very shocked.0

Lily cried, "No! This can't be possible! Dad, you can't leave me like this! I never got the true affection of my mother. You were my everything! Why, just why?" Her voice broke and she was losing her mind. Hearing the news, Tina came running, to reassure Lily. She said, "Oh my God, Lily, I'm so sorry, I understand how you're feeling. Come sit down." Lily held Tina's hand and said, "Tina, why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?" Tina said, "Nothing, life just gets hard sometimes, we have to deal with it. Look, you can't break down or give up. Listen to me. If you don't stay strong, what will happen to your brother? He is just a child. I don't think you can depend fully on Mike. Keep going, study hard, so if something goes wrong with Mike in the future, you can provide for yourself. Lily, don't break down, I'm here with you." And like this, Lily had to start living without her father, and with Mike. Everything changed.

Mike liked Lily but actually, he was ruining Lily's life. Mike, at his job, would get yelled at a lot by his boss. A lot of people in his workplace misbehaved with him too. And Mike would let out his anger on Lily after coming home. He had anger issues. Lily couldn't argue back because she was fully dependent on him. As days passed, it got worse. Lily was being treated like a maid. Now whenever Lily did something wrong or asked for something, mike started to threaten Lily that he would kick her and her brother out of the house. Mike always acted superior to Lily and there wasn't a good relationship between them. Lily felt like a burden. It was killing her but she didn't complain. She never told Tina because she knew Tina would force her to leave the guy but Lily didn't wanna do that since it was kinda her father's last wish. 

A year passed by. One day, Lily's brother was playing in the garden. Suddenly, an insect bit him. The spot became dark. Lily saw it and put a bandage on it, thinking it will get fine just like that. But in the next few hours, his brother started getting weak. After some time, he fainted. Then Lily took him to the hospital. The doctor said, "Mrs. Lily, I'm sorry, the insect was extremely poisonous. The poison spread to his whole body. It's really hard for him to survive now. There is a way to cure him though, but for his medical treatment, you have to pay a huge amount of money." Hearing the amount of money, Lily just knew that it was impossible for her to pay for it. She asked her husband for it, but of course Mike refused to pay that much. It was obvious that her brother will not be alive anymore. Lily had no idea how to deal with things anymore.

Part-4: The Value of Friendship

On the other hand, at Tina's place, a family gathering was arranged. One of Tina's relatives said, "Tina, I love how nice your behavior has become. Not to offend  you, but you used be so stubborn back then and hated meeting us.'' Tina said, "Honestly, I would like to give the credit to my best friend, Lily. After breaking friendship with my toxic friends, Lily's been by my side through all kinds of situations. She's such a sweetheart. She influenced me into being a better person besides healing me." They were having a good time gossiping. One of her cousins wanted to talk to Lily, so Tina video called Lily. But Lily didn't pick up the phone. Tina told her cousin "Give me a second" and went to another side of the room. She thought to herself that Lily always picks up her phone, no matter what. So she called Mike and asked if everything was alright. Mike told her the incident about Lily's brother. Hearing this, Tina got so worried. She remembered that they shared each other's phone location on social media. She checked it and saw that Lily was near a bridge of a big river.

Tina said, "First, she didn't tell me anything about her brother, now what is she doing there? Could it be that- Oh no!" Tina left the family gathering in a hurry and went where Lily was going to, in her father's car. After a while, she reached the bridge. She saw Lily standing at the corner of the bridge with tears in eyes. Tina ran and held Lily's hand and dragged her back. Tina said, "Lily! What the heck are you doing!?" Lily cried, "Let me go, Tina! Why did you come here? Go back. Please! I don't have the will to live anymore. You have no right to stop me." Tina asked her to explain what caused her to take such a step. Lily said, "Who will I live for? The most important person in my life, my father, passed away last year. And I've never told you this, but being with Mike is ruining my life. Now, it's confirmed that I will lose my brother too. With all this pain of losing everyone, how am I supposed to go on? Literally not a single loved one is left, who I will live for." Tina said, "Guess you don't love me then. Am I not worth living for? Lily, don't be insane. There's always a reason to live. Listen to me." 

Lily replied in a loud voice, "Oh you're talking, you're so happy with your perfect little life, how would you understand? What would you need me for?" Hearing this, tears rolled down from Tina's eyes too. Tina said, "I do understand what you're going through and I've always felt bad, but you cannot do this. Also, Lily, if it weren't for you, if you didn't become my friend at my lowest, I would've became depressed. And maybe, I would've been standing where you are now. Directly or indirectly, you saved my life. If you jump, a big part of my life will be vanished. Don't you know how much you matter to me? So, if you jump, I will jump next. Do what you want." Lily stopped for a second and said, "No! Go back, Tina! Leave me alone. Just know that, I love you." Tina said, "I said what I said." Lily wiped her tears and said, "Okay Tina, I'm sorry. I just- I just can't deal with this much, you know?" Tina said, "I know. It's very hard, but I can't let you end your life." Lily looked at Tina and said, "Go back, mate. Your family is waiting for you." "And so is yours."

Lily replied, "How!? Mike isn't my family, he's more like a master. I can't stay with him anymore." "Then leave him! I always knew something was wrong, I could see it in your eyes. But you never told me anything. Look, maybe you're thinking that you would dishonor your dad. But that's not true. Your dad's last wish wasn't actually about you marrying Mike, he just wished for you to be happy even after his death. He thought marrying Mike would be the best for you. But think, if he were alive, would he want you to stay with Mike, knowing how your life is with Mike? And you chose to go completely against your dad's last wish, by wanting to do what you were just about to do." Lily realized Tina was right. She said, "Okay but I'm still losing my entire family. And where will I go if I leave Mike?" Tina replied, "You'll stay with me. I won't accept a No. And, no, you're not losing anyone. I will pay for your brother's treatment. My family loves you, they'll definitely agree. If needed, I will ask people for donations. Many people out there are willing to help others. Don't worry, it's up to me. Nothing will happen to your brother. He's my family too." Lily went silent for a while and hugged Tina tightly. She said, "What did I do to deserve a friend as good as you?" She agreed to go back.

And so, Lily divorced Mike and her brother's treatment started too. Lily looked up at the sky and said, "Dad, I hope you're fine with what I did for my happiness. I believe, if you were here today, and saw me get through all this, you would smile. You would bless my best friend too. Just know that, I miss you a lot." Tina invited Lily to live with her at her house. Lily felt very welcomed there. Lily said, "You don't know how grateful I am to you. Soon I'll manage a job or anything like that, to provide for myself." Tina's family members said, "Sure, but no hurries. Keep in mind that, having you here is not a burden, it's a blessing." 

The next day, Lily was in her room in Tina's home. Someone knocked her door. She opened the door. It was Tina, along with Ron. He discovered from his mental illness. He had flowers in his hand. Tina said, "Lily, this is Ron, from high school, you do remember him. His mental treatment is done and he is a nice guy now." Ron said, "Lily, I've liked you since high school. But I had a lot of issues back then, so I didn't do anything about it. I know this is very sudden, but will you marry me? Your brother will live with me too. I'd love to have a younger brother. You will not feel like a burden, I promise. I'll get you a job in the company my mother owns. You can be a part of providing for the family. I know you'll have second thoughts about living with a man after what you've been through. Take your time, I'll leave the flowers right here." Ron started walking away. Lily said, "Wait. I've started giving everything a second chance. I'll say yes." Ron was happy. Tina smiled and said, "Ooh, Lily you didn't even think twice, what's up?" They all laughed. 

So, the wedding was arranged. On the wedding day, both Ron and Lily looked beautiful. Before the wedding, Lily held Tina's hand. They hugged and while hugging, Tina said, "I'm so happy for you, feels great to see you smile after so long. Thanks for not jumping that day. I can't live without you, silly." Lily replied, "When I first became your friend, I never imagined you would save my life one day and bring back a smile on my face. You truly are, a real one."