Just The 2 Of Us

Chapter 42: Just a Confession

"I was in this new school, which I didn't like much, but did my best to fit in. There was this group of popular kids that the whole school respected. At that time I was too naïve to realize that their respect was conquered by fear. Of all the cliques in that school, I convinced myself that I was gonna be part of the bad boys clique. There were some challenges I had to complete in order to join them though. I witnessed them make smaller kids drink toilet water, I saw them extort money from other students, tease girls because of their appearances, mistreat weaker kids by throwing stuff at them in the cafeteria..." he paused to sigh, and continued. "And when they weren't beating kids up, they would turn tables and call them names just to humiliate them publicly." An obvious ashamed Ohm paused again and swallowed, as he noticed how Nanon's eyes never left his.

"Go on." he encouraged him, without judgement in his gaze.

"I had to go through these stupid trials, and...I did some fucked up shit too, just to please them. They'd usually get away with the mess they caused. They said they had my back, and that whatever I did no one was going to tell on me. There were some harmless pranks, but some heavy shit too...One day I was given one last mission. I was supposed to mess with who the other students called, "the weird kid that made strange noises during class." I swear to God I didn't know he was disabled. I know I was in the wrong for even wanting to join those guys and make other students' life a living hell, but being part of a higher student hierarchy was what mattered to me back then. So with the help of a few other classmates, I lured the boy to the school rooftop, undressed him to his undies and left him there. I closed the stairwell door that led to the rooftop and he stayed there for a whole day until the janitor found him there, in shock. It was the first time a kid disappeared inside the school. As you can imagine, the whole faculty started to investigate what really happened. Students were being questioned, parents started calling, and the principal was eager to find a culprit. The name of the school was at risk, and the author of that 'prank' had to be punished immediately. After threats of suspension and even expulsion, the bad boy gang put all the blame on me, and I had to deal with the consequences of following their orders. I apologized to the kid, to his parents, to the school staff, and to my teacher, who disciplined me physically in front of both my parents. I wasn't expelled, but I got suspended. From that moment on, I struggled to be a model student, you know? But what I did couldn't be undone anymore, and some kids were still afraid of me, after all, my 'rooftop prank' had outdone many of others performed by the bad boys gang. The disabled kid refused to go to school after what happened, and he would have these fits, every time his mother tried to make him get into the school building. Then when his parents finally gave up on forcing him to keep studying there, they transferred him to some other school. I never saw him again. No student had access to the rooftop after he left school." Ohm finished his confession with bitter tears in his guilty eyes. He wasn't looking at Nanon anymore, he was staring at the silver chain bracelet around his wrist, and rubbing it against his skin. "I will understand if you decide to leave me after hearing all this."

"Are you kidding me?" A sympathetic Nanon cocked his head to the side and brought a hand to Ohm's chin, just to lift his head a little and make his gaze meet his. "Meung, you could start the World War III, and I would still be by your side. You're not bad. What you did was wrong, yes, of course. But you were just a misguided kid, a victim of peer pressure. You were punished, and you learned your lesson. You're a grown up now, you are able to avoid negative influence, and be yourself."

"I suspect that your love for me has clouded your judgement, Non. There were other students in that school, the same age as me, who also went through the same kind of peer pressure, and they didn't end up like me. You can't minimize-"

"Come on, Ohm! I saw a video of an interview you gave at an UNICEF organization event to raise funds for disadvantaged children in 2020. You practically confessed to the interviewer that when young, you were a pretty nasty kid. But you also said that you are not that kid anymore. And I believe that. Would you be capable of harming a helpless, innocent, defenceless, or even disabled person now?" Nanon cut him off briskly.