Drugged Love (On Hold)

Chapter Ten

Hey everyone! For all the readers that are not from India, this chapter has a a lot of references to rupees in it which is the Indian currency. Just to make it a little easy for you to understand, 1$ is equivalent to almost 60 rupees. So, even 500 rupees is a substantial amount of money for any teenager. Thank you for your time. Happy reading :)

On the first day of the month, Ishan walked back home from school, dismayed, dejected and alone. To say that the last three days had been hard would be an understatement. He had avoided Elena and Elena had seemed to be unaffected by it. He walked straight past her on certain occasions, she'd notice but not say anything.

He walked home, thinking that he'd get his pocket money. 2000 rupees. He'd be able to give back the money to Zakir and Reuben. The pocket money would be over on the first day itself, but keeping borrowings for a long time was not his policy.

Elena had not texted him since that day in the restaurant, and neither had he. He'd stalk her Facebook and Whatsapp and notice that she was posting pictures. A lot of pictures. With Karan, ofcourse. He decided not to stalk her Facebook profile, it would only lead to more dismay. Today, at school he had told Reuben what had happened and Reuben had been skeptical, "Dude, rich pretty girls are just like that. They have so many options, they just don't care. You don't feel bad about it, okay?"

Was it true? Was Elena just another rich pretty girl who didn't care what people like Ishan felt? Ishan's heart didn't let him agree with Reuben. Somewhere and somehow, he still believed that Elena was not that sort of a girl.

He reached home and went up straight to his mom, "Mom its the 1st today. Can I get my pocket money?"

The way his mom's face changed and creases appeared on her wrinkled forehead, he knew he was in for a disappointment. Her mom went inside and came back .

"Ishan, your dad has been working really hard and invested some money in a business. This month you'll have to manage on this much" she said and handed Ishan a 500 rupee note.

Ishan could feel the blood boiling, heart sinking and rage coming up to the surface. He wanted to shout, at his mom for not understanding how hard it was without money. His pocket money was already meagre as compared to other guys at school, and now he'd have to make do with this. He held his anger at bay, and walked out of the house.

Another setback. Nothing was working out at the moment. He thought of asking Zakir for a little more time, but he knew that any money wouldn't come his way until the next month. He'd ask for a little time anyway and figure it out.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Since the last three days, whenever his phone rang he wished so hard for it to be Elena but he was bitterly let down each time. It was Zakir's call. He hesitated but received the call.

"Hello Zakir, "

"I think it's clear why I've called you. It's time to pay back." The cold voice of Zakir greeted him. To the point, as always.

"Umm listen, could you give me a little more time. It's just that I didn't get enough pocket money this month."

Ishan could hear him chuckle on the other side. He said, "Three days. Not more than that. Understood?"

"Yes, absolutely" he was relieved

"And yeah, that offer is still open. You can consider it, I think you need it anyway" said Zakir and hung up.

I need it anyway. The words resonated in his mind. What did he mean by that? He had three days to figure out how to get the money. Well, he could ask his dad for money telling him that he had to buy books, but like always his dad would ask him the next day, where the books were. He could ask Reuben but Reuben was already as broke as him and he had to pay him back already.