Drugged Love (On Hold)

Chapter Six

Elena woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. She rubbed her eyes and searched for the phone on the side table, and picked up the call not caring whose name popped up on the screen.

"Hello?" someone said frantically.

"Aarushi? Hey whatsup? "Elena could place the voice correctly even though she felt sleepy. The previous night she had stayed up a little late than usual texting Ishan and the effect of losing the precious amount of sleep was quite evident.

Aarushi was Elena's bestfriend. Well, a one-way bestfriend, if bestfriends were supposed to share everything, Aarushi told her about a lot and she rarely told Aarushi anything. Elena knew all about her past relationships/flings, her crushes, her favourite boy band, the "one time she got so drunk" story and so on.

Aarushi was one hell of a gossiper. Any rumor arose in school and she was in on it like a cat on a dead mouse. Also, she had a hard time keeping secrets. Elena was sure that there were many things she had told her which she wasn't supposed to and which people had told her to keep a secret. She knew fully well that trusting Aarushi to keep a secret was like walking on thin ice.

Aarushi and Elena had different subjects that meant different classes in school, but they had become friends since Aarushi lived only a few steps away. They were practically neighbours and their mothers were good friends. They were allowed to sleep over at each others' houses, a dreadful affair for Elena as Aarushi would keep gibbering throughout the night.

"Did you hear? The school has been shut down", there was no doubt that that was her voice, rushing from one word to another without any breaks.

"What?" Elena said excitedly. Whatever the reason maybe, she couldn't care less. It meant that she could go back to sleep.

"Yes. Didn't you hear the news? A boy, someone named Aditya from our school passed away last night."

Elena's blood froze. She felt a sense of dread descend upon her. She had never thought that something like this could happen. A boy who lived in the same city as she did and attended the same school everyday like she did was dead. Although he had never seen nor heard his name before, she felt a strange sadness. The reality of the situation was not easy to bear.

Taking the cue from her silence, Aarushi spoke, "Yes, I know I couldn't believe it myself, but it's all over the news. The police were called but they have kept shut till now about the cause of death. Our school's name was all over it too. Listen, are you okay? Should I come over?"

"No, I'm alright, I'll talk later ", she said and hung up.

Having completely lost the desire to sleep, she went downstairs. The weather was cloudy and the house was dimly lit. She carefully tread her steps on the stairs and her mother's voice found her.

"Morning sweetie. Your school's off today "she came closer to her and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Yeah I know mom, did you hear what happened?"

"Yes, I heard it. The poor boy, may he find peace. Now you don't go about thinking a lot about it alright".

Elena loved her mother, and rightly so. She had always been more supportive than restrictive, encouraging Elena, and putting her back on her feet whenever she felt low. She was always there to lend an ear to all her problems. Elena always thought of her to be a powerful strong woman. How mentally strong her sweet mom could be when serious problems crept in their lives.

She felt that she owed her almost all the beautiful parts of her life.

Elena's mother had the same eyes as Elena, and hair which she tied in a perfect bun with two strands falling on either side of her long face with cheekbones that could make a sculptor blush.Elena found her to be a graceful woman, even at her age she could give a Bollywood actress a run for her money. Sometimes Elena envied her mom for being so perfect. Her dad was a very lucky man.

"Yes mom, where's dad? "Elena said switching on the TV in the living room.

"He left early in the morning, some work stuff "her mother shrugged her shoulders.

Elena turned to one of the news channels. A picture of a chubby boy who looked anywhere from 16 to 18 was flashing on the screen. She couldn't recognize him but she knew that he was from her school when on the bottom of the screen in bold white letters the words stared back at her,

Teenager from Stepping Stones High school found murdered

Murdered! The word sent chills down Elena's spine. When Aarushi told her that he had passed away, she had imagined a medical reason or a road accident to be the cause. Apparently, the police had revealed some details about the death.

The news anchor read out the details over pictures of the boy's childhood, his school and the spot where he was murdered being shown repeatedly.

Elena tried to listen carefully, all she could make out was that he was stabbed repeatedly in the chest and stomach in a very dark and secluded road at 11 pm the previous day, Elena had heard about that area before. The boy lay there for quite a long time where he succumbed to his wounds. When a passerby found him there he immediately called the police and an ambulance but the boy had been already dead for a while.

The news channel then showed interviews of some of his family members and closest friends. Elena's hand was across her mouth, she shut down the TV and went back to her room.

She saw that her phone's notification light was blinkin,

Ishan: Hey, did you hear?

She wanted to distract herself. The boy's face, the news reporter's hoarse voice and the words 'murdered', 'stabbed to death' were constantly running around in her head. Without giving it a second thought she called him up,

The phone kept ringing but no one picked up. Frustrated, she threw the phone on her bed, and lay down on the bed. A few minutes later, her phone vibrated,

Ishan had called, she let the phone ring for a few seconds, and then she picked up and vociferously burst out,

"Don't you know how to pick up the phone?"

She knew that his silent meant he was quite taken aback by her sudden outburst, "I'm sorry, I was brushing. Say, what is it?"

Ishan's voice was soothing, it calmed down her nerves a bit. For a moment, she didn't know what to say

"I heard about what happened, I just wanted to talk"

"Yeah, what happened was sad. Are you alright? You seem a bit off"

"No, I'm quite alright. Don't know when the school's going to open"

"Yeah, I heard there will be a memorial service at school in the evening."

"That's nice. You're going?"

"Yes, I am. It's the least we can do" she heard him let out a long sigh.

"Great, then I'll come too", she couldn't catch her tongue in time. She felt stupid.

"Okay sure. I have to go, Mom's calling. I'll see you there" she could sense the excitement in her voice.

"Bye Ishan", she said and hung up.

Elena was not sure if she was attending the memorial service to pay her respects and she was not sure if she should feel guilty for having another reason altogether. Either way, she crept back under the covers and let morning dreams overshadow her chaotic thoughts.

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Hello readers, thank you for being here!!!

I'm sorry and I thank you for bearing with the delay in posting this chapter. Sometimes, it's hard to find the motivation to write. 

Please vote if you like the story, and a feedback(+ve or -ve) would be the best thing you could give me :)

Cheers. You're all awesome xD