The Paragon

By Kisavi Jayawardena

Chapter 08 

“I agree, we should write about it” Savannah spoke out, shooting a sly smile at Eleanor, who only glared in return. 

“I don’t.” Eleanor disagreed, “it’s not relevant to our school, so I don’t see why we should include it in our newspaper” 

“Why not? Is it not a good topic?” Savannah questioned the crowd around the old coffee-brown table. Not getting a response, the blonde girl continued on, “think about it. J can give you all the time you’d need.” 

“Let’s move on” Eleanor tried, before getting cut off by Savannah. 

“What do you think, Julia? Marina? Casey?” Savannah called out, pressing her palms onto the table, she leaned against it, smiling menacingly. 

“We agree” Marina answered, nudging the others to nod along with her. 

“Great then, I’ll write about it” Savannah smirked at Eleanor, taking the sheet of paper from Eleanor’s hand before filling it in. 

Savannah caught up with Eleanor after the school newspaper meeting. Running up behind her, she threw her arm over Eleanor’s shoulders. 

“Want to walk home together, Eleanor?” she chirped up, before getting shrugged off by the girl. 

“Aw come on Ellie, don’t act like we’re not friends” Savannah teased, poking Eleanor’s cheek. 

“Did you hit your head?” Eleanor stopped walking and faced Savannah, who only pretending to cry, before laughing. 

The sarcastic smile on the blonde girl’s face fell, leaving behind a hideous scowl, “Ellie that’s no way to talk to your friend”, Savannah muttered, emphasizing the word ‘friend’. She pushed Eleanor to the ground, and yanked away her backpack. 

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten everything I taught you” Savannah shook her head, looking down at Eleanor, as she rummaged through the bag. Savannah kicked the books and stationery, and she hunched down, “never ever oppose me” she whispered. Pulling Eleanor’s hair, the bully continued on, “because you will lose. You’ve always lost to me, Eleanor. So don’t even try, alright?”. 

——————————————————————————————

Alex was Pandora’s first friend. And she was his. He confided in her, and Pandora trusted him as well. They had met as children, near the lake separating their houses. She had befriended him, and they soon grew inseparable. He had supported her through it all, and so had she. They both found comfort in each other, knowing that no one else would ever understand them, as each other. 

Pandora and Alex could relate to having been born on a pedestal. They both had monsters instead of fathers, and each suffered a different kind of pain. Alex was forced to study in order to one day take on the role his father held, while Pandora was simply being raised as a possession and not a child. They both wished to escape their parents,  and it saddened Alex that only he had succeeded in doing so. After being sent away to live with his grandparents, the stubborn boy ran away with a few of his grandparents’ valuables. Alex later sold it, and used the money to fend for himself, studying hard, he took on many part time jobs as waiters and cleaners. It was at one of his cleaning jobs, where he first saw an art studio. 

Alex had had a passion for drawing and painting, but had never been given the opportunity to fully embrace it. The boy knew he was skilled but was never given any recognition for it, and so he hid it away. His father only frowned upon his talent, breaking all his art possessions and beating his fingers purple, his father warned him not to draw anymore. It was when he came across Alex’s secret stash of charcoal pencils and sketch books, and he burned his son’s palms and the insides of his fingers, before he packed up and shipped him off to Japan. Alex had found it difficult to draw since then. Every ounce of ambition and dreams burnt away to ash, the memories and scars haunted him. But he found comfort in the silence within the cream-colored walls of the studio, and he soon found himself drawing once again. He felt at ease. 

He joined an art school, where he studied architecture and continued to pursue his dream of meeting his childhood friend again. He believed that Pandora would too free herself from Clifford’s clutches, just like he’d freed himself from his father. Alex gripped on tightly to the yellow flicker of hope inside him, where he knew that he’d meet Pandora again. 

Leaning against the black jaguar, Alex flashed a smile at Louise, taking off his sunglasses. 

“What are you doing here?” Pandora questioned, striding out of the hotel, she looked towards Louise. The driver got out and greeted Pandora, reaching towards the door. Louise was cut off by Alex, who only smirked at the driver, and bowed comically at Pandora. 

“Let’s catch up”.

“I’ve got a bust schedule today,” Pandora rejected, “maybe another time”. 

“I can’t believe it. You’re blowing me off to go to another book signing?” Alex pouted. 

“Not a book signing, I’ve got a meeting. Now if you could pleas…” Pandora excused, pushing him off the door of her car. 

“Come on now. Do you even like heading off to meetings? Or are you just doing it to please your father?” 

“Of course not, I’m…” the author began to defend, “I don’t need to tell you anything” she shot back. 

Alex laughed. He couldn’t believe how stuck up she’d gotten. And he found it sad that she’d turned out the way Clifford wanted her to be. 

“Pandora” Alex said, his smile fading away as he saw the chilly emptiness in her eyes. “Why are you doing this?”.

“Because you’re blocking my way” Pandora answered, rolling her eyes at him. 

“I meant, why are you an author? I know you loved writing, but I never pictured you as an author…” The man asked, leaving Pandora in silence. Writing was just an escape to her. And she too never imagined she’d be an author. 

Breaking the silence Alex tried again, “I didn’t think this would be the path you’d choose”. 

“It wasn’t” Pandora admitted, “it was destined for me” she said in a cold and monotonous tone, before getting into the car. 

“I’m sorry. I …” Alex attempted to apologize, but found it difficult to finish. He didn’t know where to begin, apologize for suddenly laving the country, knowing he was her only friend, or for the way she’d turned out. Just like Clifford Alex thought, feeling nothing but disgust for the older man. 

“Don’t apologize,” she interrupted, closing the black door, before Louise drove off. 

He was upset. He had managed to fight the will of his father, the destiny he was given. But she hasn’t. Instead she’d allowed herself to drown in it. Pandora didn’t even have a dream, for she had never had the privilege to dream, unlike Alex. He knew that. And it saddened him.  

——————————————————————————————

Eleanor threw her bag against the wooden book cupboard in her room, shocking Anjali. 

Anjali had noticed her daughter growing distant from her and she wanted to mend this issue. She didn’t understand the reasons behind Eleanor’s sudden bursts of anger, but she didn’t want to press on it and question Eleanor. Anjali believed that if she gave Eleanor her space, the teenager would eventually confide in her. And that’s what she did. 

“Wanna go out today?” Anjali peered into the teenager’s bedroom, “it’s Friday. We can head to the mall”. 

“Yeah, sure mum. Let’s go”, Eleanor agreed. 

There was no doubt that Eleanor loved her mother dearly. And they were close, close like best friends. But neither of them knew how to talk through their arguments, as they’d never really argued up until last week. Anjali ignored the situation, and let Eleanor be, in fear she’d turn out like her mother if she questioned her daughter. Anjali’s mother was strict, which had led her to where she was today, and she could never imagine her, Eleanor resenting her and leaving. So she ignored the change in her daughter’s behaviour. Eleanor didn’t know how to apologize to her mother, but she wanted to. She felt bad, as she could understand the difficulties her mother had been through to give her the life she led today. And Eleanor was grateful to Anjali. 

The three of them wandered around in the mall, window shopping and laughing at the way Anjali would annoy the sales staff. 

“Anjali?” A man questioned them, “it’s been forever”. 

Anjali recognized him. There he was. The man she had once trusted. The man she had once relied on. There he was, the father of her second child, Ezra. 

Fear flooded her veins, Anjali grew pale as she choked out “Andrew”. 

Check up next Friday the 10th of September for Chapter 09 of The Paragon.

By Kisavi Jayawardena