Am always with you.....

Chapter 44

BEN

I left his room, and met everybody, literally everybody. Yash was waiting outside, Krish, Nitin and Isha had come to visit Zach. And if these guys weren't enough, Uncle and Aunt were here as well. And they were talking with Yash.

They know him....

I didn't see Jamey. Maybe, he stayed back for school. Trying my best not to show, I told Krish that I was leaving. Aunt Moni saw me and came to me.

"Ben! My boy! How are you? How's Zach?"

I pushed a smile, "I am fine, Aunt. And Zach is fine as well. Go and meet him. I am in bit of rush, right now, got a call from college. You would be staying at Aunt Joe's right? I'll meet you at home."

"Uh...okay."

I ran, till I felt my heart in my ears. I ran, till my brain vibrated with the surge of sudden oxygen. I ran, till my legs and body couldn't take in. I ran away, as fast as I could.

"Ben! Stop!"

It took me a while, to respond to this call. I turned around and saw Krish following me.

"W..ai...t. P..le...a...se."

She pulled me to sit on a nearby bench. After finding some breath, she patted my back, "Do you want to talk about it? It's fine, just empty your heart."

I wanted to cry, but my eyes had ran out of tears.

"He broke up with me. And he is hell-bound on his decision."

"Did you tell him about your feelings?"

"Yeah."

Krish sighed. "I'll try talking to him."

"Don't. Please. I beg you.", I pleaded her.

"What do you plan next?"

"Don't know." I laughed. I really didn't know what to do. Everything seemed worthless. Even my life.

"Ben, whatever you do, promise me, you won't harm yourself."

I looked into her eyes. "I promise." And I meant it.

For the next few days, I didn't attend the college. I knew the consequences, but I couldn't find the motivation. Finally, Venu pulled my ear and dragged my ass to the Uni, "How dare you miss the lectures. You have no right to play with the student's careers."

College kept me busy. In my free time, Venu accompanied me. And yes, I told her everything, apologized for my horrible behaviour. She was kind enough to forgive me. 2 months passed by; sleep had bid me bye long time ago. I kept getting nightmares. Doctor prescribed sleeping pills and meditation. I did follow the first half, and never tried to do the second. Aunt Joe was worried about me, and hence she called Jamey to stay with me, at our old house. Jamey, my angel, was a saviour sent to me. Slowly, I was getting back on track. None of my friends mentioned about Zach. But I never stopped missing him. It was not surprising, even before our break-up, I was used to this feeling. Now, I became immune to the same. Still, I had seizure attacks once in a while, when I missed him like anything. But apart from this, I was fine. What Zach said, proved to be right. He had moved on, and now- I was with Venu.

This was not a reckless decision, I really liked Venu. She understood me, had seen and supported me in my hard times, and all my friends and family liked her, including Zach. The day I asked her, she was on the moon, but then she started rejected me- it took me lots of efforts to convince her that I really liked her, and that it was not a reckless move. There was only one person who hated her- Jamey. I don't know why- but he just couldn't stand her. I thought it was because of Zach. Jamey loves Zach, even more than he loves me. One such day, when I was sitting in the college campus reading a book, I came across a part where the boy gifts the girl a locket. I couldn't help but touch mine. I removed it to look at it. The photo in the locket brought memories; of the day I went to Zach's place for lunch.