Last days

Chapter 7

The noise of traffic is falling deaf on my ears. Krish is saying something while riding my Vespa, But that is inaudible to me. The world has gone mute, or my thoughts have gone louder I can't seem to decide. All the good moments and memories I spent with her even as a friend pass before my eyes.

A loud horn from an SUV brings me back into the real world, the world of traffic jams and broken hearts. "Forget her man! She was never the right one for you. You'll get the girl you deserve." Krish says. I laugh trying to hide my obvious pain. "Yeah, sure!" I said. We didn't speak till we reached home. He wanted to say something but he chose not to.

I went straight into my room and locked the door behind me. My mom was talking supposedly with her friend on call, so thankfully she didn't notice. I laid on my bed and turned to the wall and fell asleep, tired of her thoughts and tired of myself.

When I woke up It was almost 8, and my pillow was still somewhat wet. My face felt stiff. I stood up and washed my face, looking in the mirror I realized it had been a long time since I cried. It was probably when I was in primary school.

I opened the window in my room, In the distance, I could see the little blinking lights of the sea-link ( The bridge between Bandra and Worli ) The bridge between me and her. It reminded me of Bandra, and of her.

I sat quietly and had my dinner, thankfully both of my parents were too busy in their lives and did not notice my sudden quietness. I went back into the room and opened the books. Ironically, I thought studying would help me distract from her. I picked up a textbook of chemistry and read the first page. It described the course, syllabus and scope of the book.

I was perhaps losing my sanity but for a few hours, I read every word, number and comma that came in my way. By the time I reached page 189, the last page. It was 4 in the morning. I stretched my arms and stood at the open window.

The noisy beast of a city was sleeping, the skyline glimmered at the horizon. And looking at the sea-link felt a little less painful.

I watched into nothingness for an hour or so, as my thoughts rain down on my heart and I realized I lost her. It will never be the same between us. I would never see her again and think of her as I did before. She broke me, and her grandiose image or dream which was in my head. She woke me up.

At 5 AM I decided I wanted to run. I used to run a lot back when I was part of the school's cricket team, alongside Krish. He was the captain and the opening batsman. I was the vice-captain and wicketkeeper. I ran till the end of the road, and I was at the crossroads. I took the left for no reason and kept running. I kept running, taking random turns. I just wanted to run and so that's what I did.

By some unknown coincidences, I found myself at the gates of Sister Angela's home. She lived in an old building, I came here only once. I was in 8th grade and she had told us if we helped her apartment she would purchase new equipment for the school's cricket team. This may seem like child labour, but believe me, it was a trade and a very good one. We had fun painting it and she treated us to the best pancakes in the world.

I turn away from her door, finally deciding not to ring the bell. As I was leaving I heard "Rishabh?" She stood there in her nun school uniform. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"You are young, and these things happen," she said serving me a pancake. And the moment I took a bite of it, I went back to being a kid who had painted these walls with the current beige they have. "Shouldn't you be scolding me for not focusing on my studies?" I asked, "you know? As my teacher and principal."

"On the contrary, I am happy that you are exploring the real life out there. Full of rejections and not all sunshine," she said. I was shocked. "But now that girl has rejected you, put your head into the books." I nodded. She continued, " When you get rejected by someone you love, it will always be painful. It can break the strongest of men and women. But you will have to move on because life will. Trees don't stop to growing if birds don't sit on their branches." she said and looked at my puzzled face. "too complicated for you eh?"

After the pancake, she kicked me out of her apartment and ordered me to be at school on time.

-----

Hello there Readers ❤️! I wrote the complete story,  but now as I am posting it. I am re-writing the ending.  😛️