Fri, 27 Dec, 2024

The Beautiful Scar: Chapter One 'The Bet'

By Dipesh Poudel

Subarna was one angry girl. If someone just looked at her for the first time, they would have wondered what in the world this girl had to be pissed about. She was beautiful, smart, had nice clothes, all the latest gadgets and many friends. She was one of the most popular girls around. She liked to be catered to, which often included making demands to her parents to take her places and so forth.  In short, she was a rich, beautiful and spoiled teenage girl. "It’s all because of that stupid bet ", thought Subarna as she waited for everyone in the library to move out so that she could go and ask that freak Basanta to take her on a date. She never in seven hells would have wanted to go out with that freak Basanta and kill her social image in school. It was because she lost a bet to her arch rival in popularity Manisha. The winner would get to choose a person that the loser had to go on a date with. Basanta was an outcast in high school. He had no friends and was always alone. He had a big scar on his left side of his neck extending to his cheek a little bit. Nobody knew much about him. He was two or three years older than his classmates. Subarna approached him with a decided lack of glee. “Hey, Basanta”, she said. He glanced up at her from where he was sitting in the library. “Um... Hey Subarna, how can I help you?” asked Basanta.”I need a favour, Basanta," she said, standing there, looking at him. “I want you to take me on a date”. Basanta replied “Okay then you decide the date and time and I will decide the place. Call me on this number when you have decided the date and time.” gave her a piece of paper with his cell phone number in it then he went away. Subarna was surprised. All the boys used to jump as if they would touch the sky when they got a chance to take her out on a date. But this guy was so calm that it gave her chills. Later she called him and told him that they were going out on Friday after school.  Basanta picked her up after school. Subarna was hoping that the place her date had chosen would be a nice restaurant or some nice club. Even a bigger surprise hit her when Basanta stopped his bike and told her that they were there. They were at an orphanage. Basanta led Subarna to a big hall inside the orphanage. Small kids were playing in the hall when they arrived. When they saw Basanta, they ran towards him. This took S|ubarna by surprise because all the boys she ever went on date with were always trying to get inside her pants. But this guy was different he did not look at her like other boys. When he looked at her it seemed as if he was trying to look into her heart rather that her body. One little girl approached Subarna and asked her to play with them. She did not want to but could not decline the small girl. After few minutes of playing and talking to those kids she started enjoying it. She did not have to care about her status at school or how these kids would judge her. She was happy, really very happy. She could not remember the last time she was this was happy. When they were climbing down the stairs Subarna asked Basanta why does he come and play with those kids. He replied, “I come here because I like being here. I mean for those little kids it does not matter if you are a criminal or a saint, as long as you play with them you are a good person. They make me realize that I am not a monster.” Subarna wanted to know why he thought of himself as a monster but she hesitated to ask him because at that moment she looked in his eyes and saw something very deep. She could not tell what it was but it was very intense. When they reached outside Subarna's home, Subarna thanked him for a wonderful evening. He smiled and accelerated his bike towards his home. She was really happy that she lost the bet.