Lost | ✓

Chapter 18. Last Day

🎶 Ishq Vala Love - Instrumental

Published on 12.06.2022

| AUTHOR'S POV |

Life hardly ever goes according to our plans. It always manages to find some loophole or create one. It's infuriating, isn't it? But when life goes better than you had planned, it's exhilarating. You're soaring and nothing could bring you down it seems.

But what if you don't want to go according to your plans?

What if you want to break every rule that you had made and follow your heart? What if you know it's wrong and yet you want to do it? You know it's going to blow on your face and yet you can't bring yourself to care enough about the consequences. It's like you want to get drenched in the rain knowing very well that doing so will get you sick. It's like that one moment is worth the pain of several others.

It's Saturday. It's the day. The day when it's supposed to be over. Today's the competition day, the last day of that one month where he said to himself, he would've nothing to do with Inaaya hereafter. It's supposed to feel like freedom and relief and taste like fresh air but all he feels is a mindless struggle and wrecked liberty and tastes an air heavy with melancholy.

It doesn't help when he wakes in the morning, all he feels is going back to sleep so he doesn't have to face this day, so he doesn't have to part ways. It doesn't help that his mind is clogged by memories of everything in the past few weeks that made him feel alive and belonged without needing to put in that extra effort and try to fit in. It doesn't help when he comes to the college and sees her with her team in formals, a navy blue blazer with their college badge. It doesn't help when he walks towards all of them, she walks away towards the backstage without noticing his presence. It doesn't help when he comes to know from the others that it's her birthday.

He wishes the team luck and goes and stands somewhere in the corner near the center of the auditorium. His eyes fixed towards the entrance of the backstage as he desperately wishes to get a glimpse of her. It's hard to come to terms already that he won't see her or meet her or talk to her after today. He wants to talk to her about anything or something. He wants to look and stare at her thoughtlessly. As if granting his wishes, she comes out with someone, probably a teacher. She looks a little grim, he notices it but as she talks to that teacher, she's cordial and assuring. The teacher leaves and she spins around without sparing him a glance again and his heart sinks. Maybe it was the strength of his prayers or maybe it was some peculiar connection between them or maybe it was just random but she doesn't move. Instead, she turns around, her high ponytail falling over her left shoulder as she does it.

And when her eyes fall on him, a relief spreads throughout his body and he sighs. It's like she resonates with his feelings because her lips part as she exhales, she laughs, a nervous laugh and her eyes gleam. They stare at each other for what feels like an eternity and then she smiles at him softly and he smiles back at her with the same sincerity and does a thumbs up wishing her luck. She gestures him with her hands that she needs to go now and he nods at her. What he doesn't know is that her eyes had been searching for him since she came to the college. And the smile she gave him? That's the first smile since the day has started that wasn't forced or fake. It was honest and real and it didn't hurt. For the first time in the day, it didn't matter that her Dad was back just minutes before her brithday started and she felt miserable till this moment because she couldn't stop thinking about the 'thank you' she had to say to him when he wished her. It didn't ache anymore because looking at him with his kind eyes and childlike smile that he gives her is healing and hopeful and everything nice.