ME & YOU

Leave Me Alone

The loud EDM music from Arjun's house could be heard in the neighbourhood. None of the neighbours could fight back against him because his father could buy the whole neighbourhood. This was truly richness at its peak.

The living room was filled with many people from the school dancing to the beats. There was a huge line near the cans filled with beer. This was the dream house party every teenager would dream to go to. Yet, Kevin felt so out of place in this house. He never preferred the noisy houses. His desperation to talk with Natasha made him do everything his mom advised him not to do. Shruti came with two plastic cups of beer in her hands.

"Here, want to have one?" She offered Kevin.

"No thanks. I don't drink."

"Your Loss." She shrugged.

The loud metal music from the speakers was slowly turning him deaf from hearing anything. Shruti was shaking her body rather than dancing. She was drunk right now. A drunk girl fell over Kevin with their hands slowly stroking her fingers over his chest. He pushes them away onto the other people. The women at the party were like lame people using the other people in the party as walking sticks.

"You are such a weird person," Shruti exclaimed.

"Why?"

"You could have just got a free hug. Why didn't you take it?"

"I don't want it."

"Oh. Why are you gay?" Shruti asked suspiciously.

Kevin got tired of Shruti's questions for the day. He waved his hand and squeezed his way out of the crowd. Finally, he reached some open space. He was suffocating under the sweat and breath of the drunkards. Finally, He could enjoy the cool air touching his face from the open glass door. The cool breeze. He walked outside hypnotized by the thin cold air in his lungs, pulling him out of the dark hell filled with people possessed by Alcohol.

The glass door was the opening to Arjun's backyard. The backyard had a pool in the middle surrounded by a green lawn and flowery bushes next to the fence. It was quiet just like Kevin wanted it. A few couples were making out at the corner. Midst that romantic atmosphere, He noticed a girl playing with her feet in the cold water sitting on the pool's pavement. Natasha. Though he couldn't see her face clearly, as she was looking down at the ripples moving away. 

Kevin's wish had been granted. No one was near Natasha. This was his opportunity to talk to Natasha. He paced forward towards Natasha. She was wearing a beautiful blue frock with her hair tied in a ponytail. Her clear skin shone in the moonlight. He didn't notice all of it earlier. All his thoughts were previously about Arjun's disgusting traits. He told himself so many times that he prepared for this moment. He repeated how the sequence of the conversation would go.

Before he realized it, Kevin reached the marble pavement. He slowly sat next to her quietly. Her side view was so gorgeous with her head down looking quietly at the still water.

"Hey, Natasha. Beautiful day, isn't it?" Kevin said.

Her lips were sealed. He assumed she didn't hear him.

"Hey, Natasha. I am Kevin from..."

"DID I ASK???" She shouted.

Kevin jumped back horrified. When she turned front, he could notice the tears on her face. The black mascara smudged across her eyes. What happened? Why is she crying?

"DID I ASK??" Natasha shouted again. "CAN'T I HAVE MY OWN SPACE."

Everyone in the backyard turned towards the both of them. The music inside the hall stopped too. Everyone started to gather to watch the drama. Arjun's friends ran to call Arjun.

"Natasha, I am sorry. Please don't shout. I didn't mean to..." Kevin pleaded.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU MEANT. YOU WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH ME, RIGHT?" She shouted. The whole crowd gasped in awe. Arjun came at that right moment with his friends carrying cricket bats in their hands.

"Please. Don't shout. I am sorry."

"THEN, LEAVE ME ALONE," Natasha shouted.

Those final words stabbed his heart like a dagger. All his plans to spend time with her were thrown in the bin. She didn't want to be with him. She wanted to be alone. Just alone. Arjun whispered something in Kartik's ears. A group of five people lifted Kevin holding him by his shoulders and thighs with cricket bats. The crowd made an open pathway for Natasha to run into the house with tears pouring out of her eyes.

Kevin's dream had turned into a nightmare. Never in his life did he ever expect to hurt Natasha. Never.

***

Kevin was kneeling on the floor with tears in his eyes. Blood was slowly oozing out of his mouth. Red bruises covered his arms, face and legs. Kartik, Arjun's closest friend and other boys from Arjun's group surrounded him in a circle. They were fiddling with the cricket bats in their hands.

"From where you got so much guts?" Kartik asked.

"Bro, he was just asking if they needed a servant in their house. She shouldn't have gotten angry for that." Another one laughed.

The whole group were shouting with laughter. Kevin kept quiet without saying another word. Kartik rests on one of his knees on the floor. He lifts his chin and looks at him in the eye.

"She is Arjun's remember that Kevin," Kartik warned him with a red-eyed look. "Anywhere, close to my friend's girl or if you even think about her. You are gone. Did you hear it?"

Kevin kept quiet without giving a reply.

"Do you hear me?"

"Yes." Kevin cried out. 

"Kartik, come. Let's go have fun with his slut." One of them said.

Kevin's blood boils in his nerves like a tea kettle. He launches and lands a punch on his face.

"Don't ever say that about her." Kevin spat on his face.

"Seems like nothing went into your head," Kartik shouted.

He swings the bat onto Kevin's head. Kevin fell with the tough blow. Then, the five of them get closer and hit him with their bats. Kevin wraps his hands over his abdomen. After 2 minutes of continuous torture, the five of them walked away. Kevin tried to move his legs but they were paining intensely from within. His leg was covered with red swollen marks.

He checks his pocket and finds the necklace inside.

"If I ever get a chance to be with you, Natasha, you will regret your hate for me. If you don't want to give me a chance, leave it. If I get the chance, I will never leave you. I will never. I want you. Just ME & YOU." He spoke. 

Then, he noticed a slight glow in the necklace. He drops the necklace back in his pocket. He starts to limp slowly towards the road. He had to find a ride home. He walks with his one leg towards the road. The pain in his legs felt like it started to grow around the leg just like a fungus. It was completely numb.

He reached to the left side of the road entering from the forest. It seemed to be an empty highway. He couldn't notice any car. After 5 minutes of waiting, He noticed a Mercedes approaching from afar. He went forward to wave his hand. Unaware of his surroundings, He tripped on a stone next to the road. He fell onto the road. The Mercedes flashlights reached 100 m away from him. The car was moving at full speed. Kevin closed his witnessing the moment of death.

SCREECH!!