WHEN A SHELL MEETS A MASK

By: Fathan Tibyan Rahman, a student at Al-Ghifari Senior High School, Bandung.

“Everybody, we have a new student today, why don’t you introduce yourself?” The teacher said as I walked in to class nervously and everybody there is staring at me like I’m some sort of alien coming from a UFO. I took a deep breath and overcame my nervousness, “Hello everyone, my name is Daya Tubagus, I moved from Indonesia because my father works here, nice to meet you all.” And after I said those sentences, everyone responds with the typical ‘hello’ and some have astonished expressions while some just don’t care about it....

Which is fine.

“Thank you Daya, now you can seat near Mr. Jonathan over there,” the teacher points to the third row and first column and I walked there calmly while trying not to make a fool of myself in a foreign country. I sat down and continued with the lesson.

After the school ended I laid down of my bed, breathing heavily while feeling exhausted at the same time. Even though it wasn’t as bad as I expected since from the flight I always be prepared just in case there is such bullying happens in films or stories.

Everyone there was friendly and it’s really relieving that none of my expectations happens, or at least that’s what I thought, though.

Anyway, the one sat beside me is a guy named John? Yeah he always getting teased and played by bigger guys, maybe the bullies tone it down so they didn’t have to get kicked out in an expensive school?

Poor him, he didn’t even talk to me and he always be disturbed by other students.

*sigh*

Maybe tomorrow I can talk to him and ease his life a little, although he survives mentally throughout previous years, I still took sympathy of him, and I know how I felt if I were in that situation.

It’s another day and this time I talk with the one named John. At recess I approach him while he is drawing some sorts of plant on his textbooks. I said hi and he jolted out as if I’m scaring him or something and he kept staring at me. To break the silence I am the one first to speak.

“Names Daya, Nice to meet you,” I said while offering my hand to him, and he just looked really scared but shakes my hand nonetheless.

“Br-brad.” He speaks with a very low voice. Bread? Is that his name? “Please excuse me, but can you rephrase that sentence a little louder?” I said politely, not wanting to scare him away.

“Brad, My name is Brad” he said nervously. Aww he couldn’t even introduces himself without being quite, I feel so bad for him.

“Hey! New kid! You don’t wanna talk with Mr McPerfect, he’s not fun,” screams one of the kids from his seat. I gulp it down and ignore him before I divert my attention towards Brad “Y-You don’t have to be friends with me, you’ll get bullied too” he whispers and yes I guess he’s right, but I don’t want to do that either. I felt like I’m the one turning into a bully if I abandoning him. “Don’t worry, it’s only a year and besides at college I won’t be seeing them again,” I said, trying to relieve him.

“Really?” He said louder than before and a bit smiling at the same time, and from that moment we started to become really close friends.

Sure enough after a month studying in the school I was getting teased a lot but this is nothing compare to what I had been through before and I think Brad is happier that he had a friend. I was wondering on why he was bullied many times before and it turns out that he had the highest grades and I heard rumors that the smartest person before (Brad was new student too in the second year) is jealous of this and wanted to took down the competition by pranking him, stalking and even more stuff that I couldn’t describe. And yet all of that is useless since he still keeps getting perfect grades despite the treatment he earned from his rival.

We’ve been through a lot of things and we’re pretty much best friends now. Even though I still have some casual friends he’s the closest I have, and we always worked together to get out of problematic situations. Sometimes even one has to sacrifice for the other. He seems to be the brain and I’m the brawn. We hang out while drink soda, plays games. He helps me studies and I helps him a way to be cool and calm at dreaded situations. And even though it was a bit creepy but he once asked me on how I felt before going to school, I guess it’s just a way of him saying that he is worried about me.

Until that time.

It was a month before exams and he and I are pretty much studies hard for the exam, even though Brad stills helps me in some way we started to get a little distance, maybe it’s because of that time he accidentally wounds my legs, maybe he stills feeling guilty even though I repeatedly saying that I’m okay. Man… I couldn’t even blame myself for this.

After school was over Brad forgot one of his note books and I helped him searched for it. It wasn’t in his or my desk so we split up to search for it. Maybe one of the students was pulling a prank and hid his notebook. While searching by myself I make a suspicious look towards one of the locker. One way to indicate a locked locker is a red spot near the key hole.

This one wasn’t locked .

All students are supposed to lock their lockers once leaving it, this one wasn’t and even though no student uses it, it will still locked by the staff. Curiosity got the best of me and I attempted to open it, with no avail.

I assume that the color indicator is broken but I checked on the lock and sure enough it was blocked by tiny twig, using the wits I learned from Brad I took it off and it opens by itself and a text book falls from it and opens to a page with a drawing of a familiar plant in it.

I took interest in this and further examined it. It turns out that it also has drawing of air vent and syringes with a writing that says:

One: test toxin

Two: use antidote

Three: put to air vent

Four: everyone dies

I saw this in horror, who would do this? I read it more and find that toxin is really dangerous once breathed; it will slowly destroy the cell and organs via blood circulatory system, the toxin came from a rarely growing plant. And a drop of one developed leaf from it can kill a grown man in one day, so the one who wrote this is planning to use a bag full of it.

As my feet keep shaking from reading the horrifying conspiracy, someone shouts my name and it was Brad. “Oh thank you for finding my bag, I have to go now though coz I have important business with my family bye!” he said quickly and in a rush as I just stood there, still inside the trance on what the hell is going on? Is that really his book? I then sense something fishy and sprint to chase him down even though he already disappeared in the distance.

I didn’t see him around the school but I do feel burning in the sky, I follow the stench of ashes and find those bullies burning Brad’s books as he kept struggling to free from one of the big guy’s grasp. I was instantly no action.

“Hey if you don’t cut that out I will call the teachers and the cops!” I shout at them while showing my phone calling 911.

“Oh shit is that goody two shoes! Run!” one of them screams and leave Brad and I alone while he just stare at his burning books in silent. I was going to speak but he just picks up his bag and slowly went outside of the corner, and I cancelled questioning about his books. Maybe he writes that scary stuff just to feel satisfied by all of the wrong doing they had done, using a sick imagination is a way to do it. Man, I feel sorry for thinking that he would really do that stuff.

We arrived at his home quietly and he suddenly hugs me. “Thanks for being my friend Daya,” he said before closing his door in front of me and I can hear of him sprinting to his room, I just walked home quietly and still thinking about on how guilty I was.

But I’m still curious though, so I went to the internet to find anything about the plant and there is a plant similar to the drawing and its functions. The plant’s name is Under Flower or Malus Effercio in Latin and like the book said, it can be created into a deadly toxin. It is very illegal to have this kind of plant, plus it’s very hard to grow and recorded to grown only in a few tropical countries. I rested my head on the bed and sighed deeply before drifting to sleep, feeling calm from the information I had gathered.

At the school I was shocked to find that Brad didn’t come to school. This is because he never absent throughout the year, so this is worrying indeed, even by the teacher and asked me to visit him after school, of course before being lightly teased by one of the students.

After some lessons, one student coughs.

Now two.

Now three.

Now a half of the classroom is coughing horribly.

My instinct took over and held my nose as I can hear the rest of the school coughing and vomiting. This can’t be true, he didn’t came today, the culprit must have use Brad’s book, he didn’t came today, I’m starting to cough myself, he didn’t come today, I opened the classroom door and agonizing screams could be heard, he didn’t came today, I must get out of here while I can, he didn’t came today, I’m the only witness in this crime. But this is the first time he didn’t came to school.

I stood in the hallway to the main door and there stood Brad, with nonchalant expression on his face “You did this?” I uttered loudly as he started to smile smugly, the kind of smile an arrogant person would always has.

“Why? Is it because of the bullying?” I said while desperately walked to the exit door. I could feel my body starting to give up on me as he started to laugh manically, “It is foolish for you to think my intentions are because of the discrimination you call ‘bullying’, do you know that I have done worst in the past?” He exclaimed loudly with stares so devilish that I refuse to say that that thing is the Brad I know.

“Impressive that you had survived this far, but then again the antidote was based on your antibodies, good thing I improve the toxin to kill you,” he said taunting me and started to show his bag.

“Are you even Brad?”

“Yes, I’m the Brad that you acquainted with, as you can see the pain of deception came not when it happens but when it’s revealed.” I can’t do anything but stare at him with hate and disbelief, my best friend, the weak and vulnerable person I know turns out to be some sort of criminal or monster. I felt agonizing pain from the very core of my soul and it is caused by the betrayal and toxic. He then throws his bag far behind me.

“Since you helped me with this and all, I guess it is only fair to give you a chance. That bag contains a syringe of antidote, if you want to live I suggest that you get it,” he firmly said as he grins with malice. “Good bye Daya” He mocks my name as he closes the door and I can hear him sprinting out of the ground as I started at the bag that he had thrown.

I have no more time to think, I have to get the bag, I have to survive.

But what if he lies to me? He had won. Even if there is an antidote what should I do then? The only strong evidence I know has been burned, and maybe it is one of his plans to frame me? No I must survive, I will fight the toxin, I will withstand this, I will live to tell the tale.

After a long crawl I finally arrived at its location and rips the zipper apart out of desperation and anger but inside it only empty syringes with the writing ‘Tell God I sent you’ signed by Brad Jonathan

I stood there; helplessly rot as the toxin already going to finish me off.

Flashes of my life clashed before my eyes before everything turns black.

Bandung, 2016.