ONE LAST TIME (Discontinued)

CHAPTER 1

I stared at the Mirror long and hard. Hoping that miraculously the image in it would shift from pale, bloodshot ghost with dirty, matted hair to a decent, presentable girl who had her first day in college as a Senior.

"Tough luck." I mumbled under my breath and grabbed the hairbrush on the dresser. I yanked it brutally through my tangled tresses, knowing that it hurt me a lot but not caring a single a bit. Pain was a part of my daily routine. Try as a I might, it didn't escape me. I had endured so much of it that, I was immune now, this small pain of my roots being pulled harshly didn't faze me anymore.

I thought back to the time my tresses were silky and long. A year ago. And how he used to run his long fingers through them. The way he used to fan them out purposefully on the pillow of his bed whenever he hovered on top of me. So close, that I could....

I shut my eyes, as my brain travelled down the all too known path. The path of memories. The distant, painful memories that killed me every second of the day.

I thanked the heavens when my phone rang on the dresser and effectively distracted me from the painful path my mind had taken. I glanced at the caller ID and frowned.

Alya.

"Hello" I spoke tentatively wondering why she had called as early as 5:00 am. As far as I knew none of them woke up that early. Especially him. I smiled fondly as I remembered the way I had once woken him early and the way he had snapped at me.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Alya screeched from the other end and I pulled my phone away from my ear, wondering what had gotten into her. As far as I remembered, there was no reason for her to be apologetic.

"What happened?" I said cautiously.

"I know I was supposed to be at your place right now. It's just that-"

"Wait. What?" Alya at my place? That too early in the morning? I checked the wall clock in my room, wondering if I was still asleep and dreaming.

"Nandini! You don't remember!"

I racked my brains really hard to understand what Alya was talking about and then it struck me. Alya and Mukti had made this stupid plan to give me a makeover the first day before college because apparently according to Mukti, these days I looked like I lived in a cemetery. They didn't even bother to hear my protests before they were off to shop for me. Knowing the kind of stuff they both wore, I knew that I wasn't going to wear anything they bought. But after all, they were HIS friends. Stubborn as hell.

"I don't need it Alya." I sighed.

"Yes you do! And I'm so sorry for being late. I just-''

''Alya, Alya chill please. It's not a big deal I'll manage."

"Nandini." Alya spoke in a petulant voice and I could almost imagine her pouting at the other end at her plans going kaput. But I wasn't having it. After the hell of a summer, I had been through, dressing up and make-up was the last thing on my mind. Why should I dress up myself if there was no one to tell me how beautiful I looked?

''Alya" I said back, in a stern voice. I was sure that Alya knew that this was the last thing I was interested in but she won't give up. They had been doing this all summer. Apparently all this was a part of what Mukti called the "New Us Mission". It consisted of many things, shopping like crazy, dressing up, partying like hell had broken loose and getting hangovers that killed you. That's what I had seen them all do for two whole months and I had realized that this was the Fab5 way of dealing with stress, tragedy and grief. They believed in avoiding rather than fighting. Partying rather than mourning. They called it 'moving on' but I knew the truth. I knew how they cried quietly in the dark corners of their sprawling mansions, after the high of alcohol wore off and reality hit them smack in their face. In that aspect we were same. We all mourned at night, knowing that the sun will rise again and it would be another day without two people that haunted our dreams.