Raymond Mark: Season 1

Chapter 22 - Ghosts

PART 1: FLASHBACK: 4 MONTHS AGO

Raymond was standing in a party suit. He was staring at a fountain in an empty high school foreground. A girl in a red dress came behind him, she was Emma. She laced her fingers with Raymond's.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "Why are you here all by yourself?"

Raymond shook his head. He wanted to tell Emma that he was embarrassing her. Emma chose Raymond to be her prom date. She was a really popular girl in the school and had a lot of people's eyes on her. Raymond was some unknown nerd to most of the school.

"Let's go in," Emma said with a smile. "You still have to dance with me."

"No. Let's go home," Raymond said, "I don't want to go in there." Raymond changed his mind and said,

"Just... leave it. You should enjoy the evening. I am going home."

Raymond took a step, Emma immediately stopped him and said,

"Raymond, you always say that you don't have friends. All your classmates are your friends. They like us. They smile when they see us."

"They're laughing at us," said Raymond. "I don't care about myself, but I can't stand them laughing at you."

"I don't care about that," Emma said frankly. "You shouldn't either."

"You say that now," Raymond said, "But... with time you'll realise that you settled for me when you could have had anyone."

Emma got angry. She moved ahead and grabbed Raymond's collar and said,

"Is this some reason you're pushing me away with? I don't care how popular I am. I care about who's happy with me. You know this. You're too close to me to know this."

Emma let Raymond loose. She calmed herself and continued,

"You know I'm moving to L. A. and I know you don't like that. However, I have told you that I'll think about not moving. Don't flatter yourself by pushing me away so that I can chase my dreams."

Raymond stayed silent. Emma realized whatever was going through his mind. She knew him well.

"You might not believe in love," Emma continued, "But I do. And I know that I love you!"

There was a pause. Raymond had a clear sentence for the response.

"Don't talk like that," he said. "It all suits well in Romantic movies. You know I hate those."

"That doesn't change the reality," Emma said.

"Maybe you should consider telling this to your dear father," Raymond said, "He hates me. And he hates it when I'm with you."

"That's my concern," Emma said, "You should relax."

"No, I can't relax," Raymond said. "It's always been like this. Everyone hates me. Even my parents are partial. My parents, cousins, relatives, neighbours, classmates, and everyone I've ever met hates me. I feel like I am in the wrong world or I am cursed. And you can't realise this. You were loved and pampered like a princess by your father. You have friends who treat you that way too. It kills me from the inside when I know that people will never stop hating me. I hate them who hate me; my classmates, my parents, your father ... "

Emma slapped Raymond. Tears came out of Emma's eyes.

"Calm down!" She said. "You're getting too worked up."

Raymond was still not out of it. He was grateful that Emma slapped him, he knew he was worked up and was speaking nonsense.

Emma took a deep breath and said,