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PART II - B

OMG this is long, but this chapter needs to be done.

PART II - B

“Who’s Geet?”

Megha had asked the question, but Parth looked as if he was the one who wanted that answered. He looked lost, as if he had no idea how to describe who Geet was. His shoulders had slumped and his whole posture shifted and Megha knew what that looked like. Megha had a happy life, her parents and brothers loved her and supported her through everything. But she had been alive long enough to know what grief looked like, and right now, Parth radiated grief in obscure amounts.

“My ex-girlfriend.” His voice sounded different now. Megha smiled sardonically in sympathy.

“Let me guess, she broke up with you?”

Her heart went out to this boy in front of her, who had loved this girl so much that he had her tattooed to his wrist, even after she broke his heart. At the same time, she felt a wave of resentment towards Geet. Whoever she was, was a fool to ever break his heart , Megha decided.

“No.”

Parth mumbled, looking past Megha.

“No?” she asked gently and Parth looked at her, dead in the eye.

“She died.”

Megha felt as if he had slapped her. She stared, dumbstruck filled with horror.

Oh. My. God!

Megha scrambled her brain. She had no idea what to do. She cringed at the term she had given to Geet a few seconds ago. She had no idea. God! What would she do now? She tried to speak, but her tongue could no longer form and her brain could no longer comprehend words. She stared like an idiot at the boy in front of her who looked as lost as she felt.

“A car was about to hit me. She pushed my out of the way.”

Parth’s voice no longer trembled, it was as clear and Megha felt it pierce through her.

Suddenly every single peculiar thing about Parth Verma fell into place. How he trudged through life with sad eyes and slumped shoulders and Megha felt her heart go out to him. She wanted to console him, to tell him that he was so brave, she wanted to do so many things. She couldn’t do a single thing. She could just stare in horror.

“We were sixteen.”

Fuck!

Megha no longer wanted to be there. She wanted to disappear. She could no longer bear to look at Parth.

“A year after my dad died.”

Holly fuck. Does it ever end?

“That’s what’s with me. That’s what you wanted to figure out.”

Parth sounded resigned, yet also oddly curious. He stared ahead in a peculiar way, as if he hadn’t just said what he had just revealed. He looked as if he had surprised himself.

Megha felt numb. She knew that there was a party, but she could no longer hear the music now. Megha focused all her energy on the boy in front of her, who looked lost and yet strangely calm. He stared at her expectantly.

That’s when Megha saw that that he was waiting for her reaction. He must have done this before, she realized, and he must be used to it by now. People getting uncomfortable and pitying him when he had told them before. And now, he was waiting for her, expecting her to look to him with pity and offer false assurances. The realization shook her. She couldn’t let him down, she couldn’t make a mistake so he’ll push her away forever. She couldn’t dare to screw this up now.