The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

72 Roger And Poppy (1)

When he was five years old, Roger’s grandparents were already very old. They could no longer play with him. And, two months before Roger’s sixth birthday, his grandfather died.

Roger sat alone in the park in his housing area with a sad face. He’s very lonely. He always wanted to go to school, because at the school, he had many friends who always surrounded him. Roger turned to his nanny who was busy playing with her cell phone on a park bench. He became more sullen.

In the elite residential park, no other kids were playing in broad daylight like this. But Roger got really cranky when he’s at home. He was bored because he had nothing to do on the weekend, other than playing games and watching TV. That was also the reason he had worn glasses since a very young age. Because Roger was very cranky, the nanny finally decided to take him to the park.

Roger’s eyes narrowed to stare far ahead. He saw something moving near the tree growing at the corner side of the garden. Roger glanced at his nanny again, who didn’t look after him at all. Then, he jumped off the swing and ran towards it.

Getting closer, Roger could see that the figure under the tree was a girl around his age who was jumping with a sweaty forehead.

“What are you doing?” Roger asked to surprise the girl.

The girl immediately stopped what she was doing and looked scared. She did not dare to answer the question of the child standing in front of her with a curious face.

“Why are you jumping around? Are you playing a game? Can I join you?” Asked Roger with a happy face. He was a kid who liked to play with other kids. At school, if there was no Roger in, then every game would feel less exciting because Roger was very active and cheerful.

The girl shook her head. Then, she looked up. Roger also looked up to what the girl was seeing. It turned out, there was a heart-shaped balloon stuck in the lower branch of the tree.

.....

“Wow!! There’s a big balloon! Is that yours?” Roger asked with widened eyes. His blue irises were as bright as the sky on that sunny day.

The girl nodded with a sad face. Her eyes filled with tears, about to cry. Roger smiled broadly while pointing confidently at his own chest.

“Don’t worry! Super Roger will save your balloon!” Exclaimed the boy by imitating the superhero style that he often watched on TV.

Then, Roger climbed the tree very nimbly. Then, he tried to reach the dangling in the air string of the balloon with difficulty, and..

“YESS!! I DID IT!!” Roger exclaimed as he crawled back down and jumped anyway when he was already halfway down the tree trunk.

A smile brightened up on the little girl’s face. Her little hands clapped happily, which made Roger’s head grow even bigger. Roger shoved the balloon in front of the girl. But as soon as her hand almost grabbed it, Roger pulled back the balloon string again.

“I already saved it. Can I borrow it for a moment?” Roger asked enthusiastically. The girl who gave a confused expression immediately smiled broadly and nodded.

“HOORAY!!” Roger exclaimed and immediately ran around the park with the pink heart-shaped balloon.

Roger returned to the girl with his clothes and hair soaked with sweat. His smile was the same as his two blue eyes, very bright.

“Thank you!” Roger said by returning the balloon, “What’s your name? Is your house in this resident too? My house is there. The woman there sitting on the bench is my nanny.” Roger explained by pointing his finger to various points, even without being asked.

“My name is Poppy Castonia. I just moved into my new house.” The girl replied with a shy face.

“You mean your new house is here?” Asked Roger happily. Poppy nodded. “YES!! Then, we can play together every day!” he jumped for joy.

“And you.. What’s your name?” Poppy asked in a low voice. Her legs continued to sway to play with the pebbles on the ground as she put her hands behind her back. Her face always wanted to look down. Poppy was a shy girl for sure.

Roger smiled broadly, “My name is Roger Timothy. My dream is to become a superhero! Hiyaaa!!” he reenacted his favourite hero style, made Poppy laugh at his funny behaviour.

Beyond Roger’s expectations, the cute girl named Poppy stretched out her small right hand which was holding the balloon string. He looked at her with a questioning face.

“You can have the balloon. This is for you..” Poppy said with both cheeks blushing.

Roger smiled even widely before taking the string of the big heart-shaped balloon, “Thank you, Poppy! I’ll take good care of it!”

From that day on, Roger and Poppy always played together in the park every afternoon. After getting to know Poppy, one year later, Roger’s grandmother died. It made him very depressed and even more lonely. But, because there was Poppy by his side, Roger’s loneliness could be cured immediately. The two of them became very best friends. Roger often played to Poppy’s house and vice versa.

Although they always played together, Roger and Poppy attend different schools. However, when they were about to enter junior high school, their parents accidentally sent the two kids to the same school. Then, that’s where it all started..

During his friendship with Poppy, Roger sometimes felt confused as to why the girl always looked gloomy and quiet. But Roger thought that his best friend just had that kind of personality from her nature. So, it didn’t bother him too much.

Despite her pretty face, Poppy looked very insecure. She only looked excited when she was practising ballet with her private tutor or when she was playing with Roger. Her beauty was hidden because she always lowered her head and bent her back. The shadow of her hair always covered her sweet face.

Roger didn’t know that in fact, Poppy had been a bully victim at school since she was very young. Roger only found out about this when they finally went to the same school. Incidentally, the junior high school they entered was quite well known and was still in the same area as ??their respective elementary school. So, not a few students from their old school entered the same junior high school.

Roger and Poppy were placed in the same class. Although he had a best friend at his housing estate, Roger also had many friends at school who were always around him. Like the other boys, Roger would sit down and hang out with his fun group. Discussed the topic of boys and played the boys games.

But it’s a different story with Poppy. She sat in the very back seat, alone, without a single friend. Even the girls who were her classmates in elementary school immediately avoided her and scorned her as if Poppy was a very strange girl. Even without Roger’s knowledge, the girl had often bullied her verbally and physically in the female toilet.

Incidentally, the student seats were arranged directly by the homeroom teacher. At that school, the rules for student seating positions were deliberately made. The students who were calm and could follow the lessons well would be placed in the back seat. While the students who couldn’t stay still and couldn’t follow the lessons would be placed in the front row so that every teacher could supervise them properly.

Because Poppy was very quiet, obedient, and able to keep up with her lessons, she got a seat in the back. Meanwhile, Roger, who was part of the group of kids who couldn’t stay still, was placed in the front row.

Seeing Poppy’s very different attitude at school than at home, Roger began to approach her at school. This made him often leave his own group to accompany Poppy. In the end, he could conclude with confidence that Poppy had always been ostracized at school.

“Roger.. Why do you want to be friends with that girl?” Asked his male friend named Eric.

“You mean Poppy?” Roger asked confused. Then Eric nodded, “What’s wrong if I befriend her?”

A girl named Addle perched next to Eric, who was her boyfriend, leaned her back forward and began to whisper, “Don’t you know? Poppy has been ostracized since elementary school. She was very arrogant because her parents were rich. Back then, her mom used to scold four girls in the class who accidentally broke Poppy’s ballet shoes that she had placed on her table. She was so weird. Instead of socializing with the others, she practised that idiot ballet alone at the back of the class. Because of that, no one wanted to be friends with her. I don’t really know since when, but the kids started bullying her and everything that she did would look wrong in their eyes.”

Eric, who also went to the same school as Poppy, then nodded, “Not only that. Her look is also strange and geeky. Just seeing her makes my eyes hurt. And I think the other boys feel the same way. Whenever we talk to her, she always looks down and her eyes never focus. Her voice is small and stutters like a fool. In essence, Poppy Castonia is a freak girl. Just don’t be friends with her, Roger. I’m suggesting you.” The guy explained.

Hearing the couple’s story made Roger clench his fists. Then, he immediately stood up, “It’s the people like you two who make her look weird.” he said before walking away.

Eric and Addle looked at Roger’s back with a surprised face, “Why did he even blame us? What a weirdo..” Eric said.

It wasn’t Poppy’s fault that she was now being ostracized. Roger knew it. Just like his, Poppy’s mother was also a hardworking mother who was busy pursuing her career. Well.. although she wasn’t as bad as Roger’s mother, the time that Poppy’s mother had for her daughter was cut quite much. So, without the woman realising, her daughter was already in big trouble.

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