Heaven And Back

1. Yashda

It's the silent road as we walk through or most probably you can say sneak in through the hostel gate.
"I thought we had to bribe the security uncle but... He's sleeping," Neha whispered trying her best to be silent but the payal in her ankles says otherwise. Won't be surprised if there goes rumour around college tomorrow about hearing payal's noise. "Your payal is a second away from screaming that 'look Neha and Yashda sneaked in the hostel at 12.30 am after doing wholesome garba', aren't they?" I snickered avoiding making any hand movements cause my bangles were in the team of Neha's payal.

Me and Neha being roommates in a hostel and being best friends was a blast.
We had been living in the same room for 3 years now, since we were 18 Neha and I were stuck to each other. She knew all my family shit and I knew hers.
Navratri is going on and no one wants to miss the Garba night.
Let's ignore the fact that the hostel curfew is at 10 p.m. and now it's almost 12.35 a.m.
"Are we gonna climb up?" Neha whispered while tying her dupatta on the left side. "As usual yeah," I whispered back to her.
we cannot bribe the warden. The woman will eat us alive.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

We have been climbing up to our room for like past 3 years since we moved into the hostels. And every time we did that I had my heart beating out like crazy. And yet I used to do it, again and again. At this point, I had crazy enough incidents on my 'top traumatic and thrilling life events' list.
1. Having an unhinged stalker and getting almost kidnapped by him. 2. The most dramatic divorce of my parents. 3. Almost dying out of alcohol addiction. AND 4TH ONE. being on the bad side in the book of my professor Darshan fucking Raval.

Tick. Tick. Tick.
The sound of the clock ticking, my breathing and his breathing was torture to me.
"So pretty to be true. It's a shame how you choose to ignore me. You know how to get on my nerves, don't you?" He held my jaw tighter as I shook my head. And it hurt to the point his nails dug into my skin and I could feel the warm liquid running down my neck, and chin. Slowly slowly which felt like an eternity.
"Trust me. I will ignore the fuck outta you till I die. Even if you strangle me to the death."
"You're not ignoring me right now. Tsk tsk."
Fuck my life. Clearly.
"What do you even want?" I winced in pain while digging my fingernails into his wrist. And I can visibly see I scratched him badly. And still, this man shows no sign of discomfort or pain. The fuck.
No response. He just kept staring at me blankly... no emotions, no guilt, nothing. Even in this pitch-black room, I could see his eyes and it was... blank. Blank to the point of being fatal.
Deep breaths, Yashda.
Breathe.
Breathe.

"Yashda... We are safe here," Neha shook my shoulder as I jerked my head in her direction. Right. We are safe here. I am safe here. However, the possibility of my stalker showing up right now is very high.
We finally climbed up to our room without getting any scratches or getting caught in the camera.
"You did your project, right?" She asked while undressing herself, removing her pastel purple lehenga choli and putting on her fluffy pyjamas. Neha might be one of the finest creations of God. I would never get tired of seeing her, the pitch-black eyes full of warmth, curly hair dangling down her back, olive skin with almond-shaped eyes and her full lip with a perfect cupid bow. A fucking masterpiece.
If I had to describe her in one colour I would choose pink. Feminine, innocent, kind and playful.
"Of course I did," I changed into my normal clothes and wiped off the makeup.
We both were busy taking off our makeup and out of the blue our phones were blowing up with notifications. The group chat of our class was active? Doesn't even happen in Brahmamuhrat.

#1: "You all tomorrow is the ethnic day- and I know 12.45 am isn't the standard time to notify about this." *skull emoji*
(seen by everyone)
Neha: "If most of the people show up in bad outfits it's your fault. Chutiya." *stone-face emoji*
Darshan: "You all motherfuckers got no sleep schedule or something!?"
(seen by everyone)
Yashda: "says the one who is replying to chats as well. I'm assuming people can't type in sleep." *clown emoji*
Neha: *skull emoji*
#2: "busted"
(seen by everyone)
(everyone left the chat.)

Neha glanced in my direction, holding her laughter. Her reaction triggers me and I burst out laughing.
"You forgot that he is our professor," she mutters between her laughter. "Come on. We are not in college taking classes plus he is not that old. He is just like.. 26.." I hit my knees while giggling. "5 years older than us. You sure. Not that old?" She raises a question while rolling on her bed. "Good question," replied flatly as I rolled on my bed.
"Good night, Yashda" she smiled before cocooning inside her blanket.
I looked around the room making sure I locked the door and windows. Anxiety is crippling as the campus gets quieter and the only sound of leaves ruffling the campus cat meowing. I glanced at the window for the last time before closing my eyes and forcing myself to sleep in fear of my stalker sneaking in and grabbing me wherever the fuck he wants. Like I'm his goddamn dog.
And I hate that feeling.

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