We all want to be free but there are some people whom our society want to chain…

 

Vani sat in the chair still having her eyes glued at her. There was something about her that made her stomach feel sick. Maybe it was butterflies. She had to pull away her eyes when she saw her boyfriend walk in. She focused her attention on the food kept in her plate. She used to love the time of lunch when she used get to see her smile and have one glance of her.

Her best friend, Nikhil slid in chair next to her. He picked one the fries from her plate and asked, “Who are you watching?”

She shook her head and eating her lunch as fast as she can. He followed her gaze and saw Monica and her boyfriend sitting across the room, laughing at some joke. Nikhil said, “You should go and talk to her”

Vani sighed, “There is no such thing. I was just watching where the voice was coming from”

“You can’t hide it from me” he nudged her elbow. She pushed the tray in front of him and left.

 

Her heart was racing fast. Vani wiped her tears with her jacket’s sleeves after coming out of the washroom. She went up to the medical room and informed that she was not feeling well and wanted to go home.

 

Closing the door behind her, she led out a loud scream. She was down in tears and sat on ground, hugging her knees closer.

She wanted to feel safe but being in these clothes made her feel dirty. Wiping her tears hurriedly, she went in for shower. She tried to rub off everything that happened. She changed into a big sweatshirt and a pair of comfortable jeans.

After a while, her mother entered the room with dinner. When she saw her crying, she wrapped her arms around her shoulder saying, “Sweetie, everything will be fine. You had a bad day?”

She shook her head and hugged her mother tightly. Her mother was worried now. She asked, “What happened? You are getting me worried”

Vani pulled back saying, “Mom, I can’t tell you. Something really bad happened”

Pushing her hair-locks back, her mother caressed her cheeks, “I am your mother. You can tell me anything”

She lowered her head and closing her eyes, she started, “Mom, today… when I was in bathroom… actually, there are some girls that bully me and today… they went way too ahead with that. I don’t know how they got to know that I like girls and since that day, they have started teasing me. Today…”

She sobbed, “They touched me mom. They… really touched me mom”

Her mom had just got blank. She dropped her hands and said, “It will be fine. You can take leave for as much days as you want but don’t talk to anyone else about this”

Vani grabbed her mother’s hand, “But mom, they did a bad thing. Aren’t they supposed to get punished for that?”

Her mother shook her head, “I don’t know what to say. But first thing in morning, we are going to see a doctor”

She hugged her mother and started crying again.

 

A big man sat in the chair in front of them. She was holding her mother’s hand tightly. Her mother started saying, “We came here with a problem. Vani…umm…she…I don’t know how…”

Vani lowered her head because she didn’t want to see doctor in eyes when her mother narrated the incident. Her mother said squeezing her hand, “She likes girls”

Vani looked up, shocked. She never thought of this as a problem. Her mother continued, “What is the remedy for that?”

She pulled her hand back asking, “What are you saying? That is not a problem, mom,”

Her mother put her hand on her shoulder saying, “Sweetie, I am mother. I know it will be fine. Doctor will give you medicine and then you would be good to go”

Doctor laughed saying, “Ma’am, this is not disease. It is not a problem”

Her mother snapped, “But she doesn’t like boys. There must be something wrong”

Doctor shook her head, “There is nothing wrong with her. It is just her personality.”

Her mother stood up saying, “If you don’t want to help her, then it is fine. I am going to take her to another doctor”

Vani shouted, “Enough mom, I can’t believe it. It is who I am. It is not something that will go away if I take medicine”

She stormed out of the doctor’s office.

 

Nikhil was sitting by the stairs when Vani stepped down and sat next to him. She said, “I can’t believe it. She made appointment with another doctor for today”

Nikhil punched her arm playfully, “You are the rock. You will get through this. It is just one more year, then you will be adult to make your own decisions”

She nodded, “I know”

He said picking his bag, “I think someone needs to talk to you”

She looked up and saw Monica standing elegantly in front of them. She sat in place of Nikhil saying, “Hey”

“Hey” Vani replied fiddling with her scarf. Monica noticed that she was nervous. She smiled, “I wanted to talk to you. Actually, do you want to hang out sometime?”

“But you have a boyfriend. If you mean as friends, I don’t know”

Monica took her hand and entwined her finger with hers saying, “I didn’t mean as friends. Plus, my “fake” boyfriend says there is a very nice place nearby”

Vani looked at her confused, “What do you mean fake?”

She shrugged, “Apparently, people have hard time accepting me for who I am. So, for my parents, I am dating him but…if you say yes, it could be us who would be really dating”

Vani smiled as Monica kissed the back of her hand.

 

After some years, Vani finally moved out of her parent’s house and accepted the lifestyle she always wanted to live. She spent the time with the people who loved her the way she is.

Sometimes, people don’t accept the way people are and how their personalities are but what we don’t know is, we can’t people and not judge the way they want to be in this world.