The Storm We Started

16| Hangover

"Ugh, I'm never drinking again." Gulnaz exclaimed rolling over on the bed.

Her head felt heavy and felt as if someone was shooting thousand needles at her. She felt like she was going to throw up. Especially after remembering the previous night.

It was afternoon when she woke up, her mother came to her bedroom and scolded her for being lazy and then left her room. She wanted to disappear completely. Hangovers were worst, the high of alcohol leaving her body was like she drowned to a new rock bottom.

She wasn't going to the poetry club today, she decided the moment she woke up. She couldn't face him right now. She was embarrassed and guilty.

With her hormones haywire due to periods and her emotions messy because of hangover, she felt the prickling of tears in her eyes. And soon she was bawling.

She blamed herself for ruining the friendship. The bond they shared with each other. She regretted kissing him.

She remembered his crush. The way he talked about the woman he likes, it made the situation worse. Because how could she kiss him knowing that he likes someone else? That was low for her.

Gulnaz never admitted to herself that she liked shoaib. Before that night she kept herself in denial. It was better for her but it all exploded when she wasn't in her right senses.

And now Gulnaz was fully aware of her crush towards shoaib. Sure he was attractive but his charm draws her in. With his charming smile, with his funny and caring attitude, with his curly hair, the way his eyes shone when he smiled. Everything about him made her like him. With his gentle velvet voice. His tall height and the way he stands over her, making her feel protective in presence of him.

Gulnaz don't know what to do with this feeling. The feeling when he stands close to her, when he laughs with her, when tease her or when wrap his arms around her. It all overwhelmed her.

Because she knew he would never like her.

And it destroyed her. Three men had come to her life and left her in pieces because of a mess she always had been. And shoaib wasn't different. Why would he like her anyway? They don't have matching personality. They're polar opposites.

The girl he likes probably loves poetry like him. Probably writes poems to him. Probably is much beautiful than her.

The thoughts were killing her. More tears left her eyes and she wiped them off. She never wanted to like someone after Dhruv. After other two casuals relationship she had with.

She rubbed her eyes to stop crying and went to the washroom to wash her face. She looked like a mess.

•••

It was Sunday. She missed Saturday's meeting. She was reading Shoaib's texts over and over again while getting ready for the meeting today. He asked if she was feeling okay for she didn't make it to class yesterday. He asked about her health if she was feeling sick because of hangover. But gulnaz didn't reply to any of his messages. She didn't have it in herself to do that.

She left him on seen for a day. And she planned to ghost him after that night. It was better for both of them.

Looking at herself in mirror, Gulnaz looked horrible just as she was feeling it. She did not try to look good today, wearing just her go-to jeans and a normal T-shirt. Her hair was tied in a messy bun. She just didn't had it in herself to look presentable, she just wanted to get over the meeting today.

Getting inside the lecture hall for club meeting, almost everyone had come. She noticed there were few seats available. One of them being beside shoaib.