4C Chong Mei Sze, Cindy
Irreversible
Evlyn sat in front of her window. Her eyes were infiltrated by rage and hatred, staring off into the pitch black sky. Her mind was making its way back to the same scene again and again.
Never could she believe that Avril, who once was her best friend, could have betrayed her by telling the teacher she had cheated in the examination. She had seen Avril walk out of the staff room, with her eyes avoiding Evlyn’s, yet not shivering one bit when Evlyn walked up to her.
‘I’ve told the teacher,’ said Avril in her not wavering but firm tone.
‘And I’ve told you not to mind my business,’ Evlyn hissed with anger under her breath. ‘You never understand why I needed to cheat. You know why? You don’t need good marks to impress your parents and to gain their recognition. But I’m different, Avril. I need a perfect mark to get love from the adults, which you always take for granted. And by seeing that you have told me off, I now know that even you don’t care about me,’ she turned away to leave, refusing to listening to any explanation.
‘I told the teacher because I care about you,’ Aril grabbed Evlyn’s arm and turned her to face herself, being unaware that she was raising her voice, something that she had never done to Evlyn. ‘I tried to persuade you to admit it, but you never listened. It’s not a right thing to do. I’m just doing this for your own good.’
‘If you’re trying to help, I’m telling you now. It’s not helping. And I wish you had never tried because it’s never helped anyway,’ Evlyn snapped, brushing Avril’s hand off hers, leaving Avril deeply hurt along the corridor.
‘How I wish that you were gone,’ Evlyn muttered under her breath, her voice clipped and filled with dark rage.
It was just an outburst of pure anger. It was never meant to hurt anyone, let alone taking someone’s life.
But what Evlyn didn’t know, was that she was not alone. And those words of frustration were all overheard by the evil spirit.
‘It’s your lucky day today, child, for I would grant you that earnest wish. Wouldn’t it be more thrilling if you could finish it with your very own hands?’ The wicked croaked. Her cunning smile twisted into an ugly, sly grin, and outpoured a chain of hysterical, villainous laughter, echoing along the hallway.
But none of the commotion had been heard by Evlyn and Avril, for they were both lost in their own thoughts. Neither of them noticed how the air seemed to have thickened, how time seemed to have stood still and how even birds and insects outside the school seemed to have stopped in their tracks and tensed up – as if all feared what was to come and were trying their best not to disturb the work of the greatest, if not the evilest. Because there, trailing behind Avril as she eventually took her leave, was a chain of green sparkles, giving off a dangerous glow as if they were sending their last warning.
From that day on, the dual never got close anymore. Every time Avril approached Evlyn, Evlyn would shake her away. Nasty and hurtful words liked shooters striking out from her mouth, wounding Avril’s heart.
The class eventually realized how the two best friends were having a cold war and were divided into two camps. The enmity between the two camps caused the class to have a tense atmosphere every day. Every time Avril approached Evlyn’s new friends, Evlyn would shoot daggers at her.
Avril didn’t understand why Evlyn changed so much. The bright girl was replaced by a grumpy one, who didn’t hesitate to torture her anywhere.
‘Hey traitor, having fun alone?’ Evlyn had spat to her one day at the stairs, not forgetting to shoulder check the other as she walked pass, causing the tray of food Avril was holding to flip and sauce to stain all over her uniform. She had caught a glimpse of how Evlyn’s gang had shot her a scornful look and snickered. It hurt, as if Evlyn had stabbed her right in the heart and left her dying in the stairs, not caring whether she survived or not.
Despite her efforts to fight back the brimming tears, tears spilled over her cheeks and she had to bite her lips hard to prevent herself from falling into a sobbing mess. Anyone who passed by would have been scared to get any closer, for fear that even the slightest touch would cause the broken and fragile figure to once again shatter and disappear into puddles of tears.
Every now and then, other students would see sharp green sparkles shining around Avril and the light only grew stronger as time went on.
Until one day, Avril didn’t come to school. What Evlyn didn’t expect was that everyone was suddenly on Avril’s side. They blamed Evlyn for having been too mean to her, crushing the poor girl and making her suffer.
‘It was all your fault that she left, Evlyn,’ some said, their words edged with criticism.
‘You weren’t that good either,’ others would say.
‘Yeah, just one sneaky cheater,’ another said, receiving thunderous applause.
Avril’s absence was not only imposing impact to the class but also to Evlyn. She suddenly recalled all the good memories she and Avril had had together and realized how Avril had been such a good friend. Leaving her and tormenting her in all ways were selfish acts that she shouldn’t have done. She decided to pay Avril a visit and apologize for being mean to her.
Stepping in Avril’s room, Evlyn could not help letting out a silent cry. There lying on the floor was a pale and lifeless Avril suffocated by a sparkling green snake. Terror struck her and she froze in her spot. She let out a breath that she had been holding in, only to realize that it had been a shaky one.
After all those hurtful words and reckless acts that she had done to Avril, there was no way that she could escape now.
Walking up close and staring into those evil eyes of the snake, Evlyn saw her own reflection strangling her friend. She shivered at the realization that she was the snake, hurting her very own friend all along, about to strangle her to death. Regret swam across her. She couldn’t believe how cruel and brutal she was, being unaware of her own cold-blooded deeds. For one split second, she gazed at her hands, unable to tear her eyes away. Because all she saw was a pair of blood-stained hands.
‘It’s Avril’s blood,’ her voice trembled as fear overwhelmed her. She could feel her hands shaking uncontrollably and she was feeling nauseous, disgusted at what she had done.
Trying to put everything back to normal, Evlyn used all her might to hit the snake. It vanished and left green sparkles scattered on the floor like sawdust. Feeling relieved and out of breath, Evlyn collapsed next to Avril, her hands clutching Avril’s until her knuckles turned white. She was so scared that once she let go Avril would leave without bidding goodbye.
‘Avril?’ she called out, her voice a bare whisper, hinted with uncertainty. Even if Avril did wake up, there was still a possibility that she would reject her. Little did Evlyn expect Avril would forgive her – she didn’t deserve it anyway. But an apology had to be made.
‘Avril?’ she called again. This time her voice was slightly louder, as panic started to surge through her.
The Avril in her hands was so unfamiliar to her. The energetic and cheerful girl that she had known all these years was replaced by a girl too pale, her hands too cold and her breathing too soft.
Evlyn went mad, fear creeping into her. Her hands frantically shook Avril, trying by all means to wake her up, but only to find a deep wound on her neck left by the malevolent snake before it left.
After all, Evlyn was just a human, having the power to hurt others, but could not take back all mistakes she had already made.
Tears burst forth like water from a cracked dam. Pain came in waves worsening every minute as Evlyn let grief take over her, brawling her eyes out and howling in pain, not caring if others could hear her. Because guilt was engraving itself deep into her heart and it didn’t matter anymore.
She had learnt the hard way to never let her selfishness get too far. To always care about the people she loved. To be sensitive to the love that she was receiving and repay with gratefulness.
If selfishness gets too far, it becomes a sword that you cannot take back.