From Teardrops To Billions

“Hey, what’s wrong? Talk to me! Who hurt you?” Nathan asked his little sister, Kamsi, as he picked her up from school.

Other kids were happily hopping onto the school bus, but Nathan still struggled to pay her school fees and could not afford to pay for bus fare. So, Kamsi walked home everyday.

“There’s this girl in my class. She.. she laughed at my shoes and dress because they are worn out. Everyone in the class joined her and they called me an orphan.. even my teacher laughed at me!” Kamsi said between sobs.

Immediately, Nathan charged up and the only thought that entered his head was to hit the teacher and all the other students on their faces to teach them a lesson!

But he simply tightened his grip on Kamsi’s hands. He couldn’t afford to get into a fight with anyone. Once he gets locked in prison, there is no way he would be getting out.

He was alone in this big world and the only money that danced in his account was $2,050 for himself and Kamsi.

“I’ll get you new shoes and clothes soon, Kamsi. Ignore them. They are suckers!” Nathan reassured her as they walked down the busy street with expensive cars driving past them, a reminder of just how poor they are.

Getting to their tiny 1 room apartment on the end of the road, Nathan quickly took a cold bath and wore his poor clothes. He was getting late for his evening classes. He couldn’t afford to miss yet another class. His part time jobs strained him. The good thing was that he was an intelligent soul and would always catch up with lectures.

The poor boy was smart. He knew he could not afford to stay in the dormitory and he could not afford to keep paying for cab rides everyday. So, he rented a tiny apartment very close to the university where he paid $400 monthly.

Thanks to Amanda, his girlfriend of 2 years, he didn’t bother much about spending on a woman. $300 was all she requested for every week. Well, Nathan only wished she was a bit more grateful, considering the fact that he was not a rich dude in any way.

But he never complained. Who else would want to date a broke church rat like him? He was even fortunate, to say the least. Amanda was a pretty damsel. Though she warned Nathan never to address her as his girlfriend on campus, he was okay with it.

She was just so amazing.

Arriving at school, Nathan was welcomed with a scene unfolding a few metres away from his eyes. Many students were gathered outside just beside the student parking centre.

He couldn’t figure what was going on, but he knew it was big. Everyone was screaming happily.

As he began walking to the scene curiously, a hand quickly grabbed him and pulled him back! It was Marcus and Neil, his buddies.

“Hey pals, what’s going on over there?” Nathan asked, pointing to the crowd behind him. “Did the Maths lecturer die?” He chuckled.

Marcus looked at Neil and frowned before looking back at Nathan. “Hey man. Let’s just get to class. You wouldn’t want to see that!”

Nathan became suspicious. They weren’t smiling like oysters like they usually do when they saw him. They both had stiff faces like something bad was happening.

“I don’t understand! I wanna see what’s happening!” Nathan pulled himself from Neil’s grip and began walking towards the crowd.

“Nate come on! Let’s go! You won’t like..” but Marcus’ voice faded into the background noise.

Nathan struggled to find his way through the crowd when he started hearing everyone screaming ‘Amanda!’

‘Amanda!’

‘Amanda!’

Nathan was confused. But his confusion was finally drowned when he saw everything clearly.

His eyes bulged out as soon as he saw Amanda, his girlfriend, covering her face and smiling childishly as another guy slid a ring into her finger.

This guy was David. One of the richest guys in the whole campus. Almost everyone feared and respected him. His father was a millionaire and girls craved to be with him.

But what was more confusing to Nathan was the backdrop. Behind David and Amanda was a black car that looked brand new.

Did David buy the car for her? Because Dave had his own car which he bought just 2 months ago! Could it be that he bought it for Amanda?

Sitting on the car were two guys holding the sign that read:

‘Will you be my girlfriend, Amanda?’

Nathan’s heart leapt out of his chest. He felt his heart wrenching out when he saw Amanda allow David to put the ring on her finger. He felt tears escaping his eyes.

Did Amanda, his girlfriend of 2 years just…

But his tears and sobs were drowned by the crowd that were now cheering..

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

That was when Nathan rose to his feet and began walking towards David and Amanda! He was going to end this nonsense. Right here and right now!