Drugged Love (On Hold)

Chapter Fifteen, part One

Elena woke up with a throbbing pain just below her ribs. She could not breathe properly; she tried sucking in as much as she could only to feel the pain grow as the lungs filled her air.

She lit the side lamp and checked the time. It was three am. She wondered if her father was still at home. She crawled over to the window and peeked down towards the gate. His car was not at its usual parking spot. She breathed a sigh of relief.

She switched on the light and searched frantically for her inhaler. She found it on her study table. She pressed it to her mouth and breathed heavily. She felt relieved again.

The pain had reduced considerably. She stood in front of the mirror and lifted her top to examine the bruise just above her stomach. It was healing up faster than she'd expected but the pain still troubled her from time to time.

She tried to fall asleep, shifting and turning. She couldn't sleep on her back. Every time her back rubbed against the bed it would send stinging arrows of pain through her.

She checked her phone only to find that Karan had called 17 times.

Three days ago, she'd found out that he had cheated. He had been on a college trip and there he'd slept, not just once, with a friend of his. Aarushi somehow knew about this and told Elena. Elena never believed it. She was convinced that it was all just a stupid rumor.

An evening after school, while they were sitting in a park, she had asked him about it. Karan stared long and hard into the distance. She understood. His straight hair flowing into the hair and his cut up sleek face which had once drawn her to him now disgusted her.

"It was meaningless Elena. It meant nothing to me. I swear"

He had held her hand. The touch of his skin on her which she'd once treasured made her cringe.

"Ohh come on now. We have been in a relationship since a year, and we have not had sex even once. You want to wait until you pass out of school. So I got a little weak and..."

She shuddered and pulled her hand away. This was nothing like the heartbreak she had faced earlier. There was a calm about it. She was numb, like she had patiently waited for the storm to come and now that it was here she had lost all the will to react. 

"This would not change anything between us right. I love you, you hear me? Say something for God's sake."

She laughed out loud at those words. "I love you".

She somehow knew it was over on the day of her birthday when she'd seen Ishan and Myra together. She was ashamed of herself that she'd run back to Karan. She'd hoped that it could somehow work, that giving up a one year old relationship was stupidity. She already knew the answer then. People refuse to accept the answers that scare them, even when they are right in front of them.

She had got up and ran and ran until his lies faded away into the distance.

"Hey don't go, I'm sorry...I'm sorry...Elena..."

Karan had insistently stalked her everywhere for the past few days and texted her and called her. She had never picked up his calls and ignored his texts. She had even told her mom to not let him in if he turns up at her place. Her mom had understood and did not inquire about it.

An year ago, she felt so lucky that a guy like Karan was with her even though so many girls were after him but now she felt a little satisfied that a hollow relationship had come to its fitting end. She had been anticipating it since that day but being cheated on in the most extreme of ways was not what she had in mind.

She caught her phone vibrate again, Karan's picture flashed across the screen with his muscular toned body and devilish good looks. She knew Karan was trying really hard to get her back and regretted what he'd done but she couldn't find the strength in herself to forgive him.

Besides why would she ever want to be with someone who slept with someone and would be hollow enough to tell her that it was because she was not ready to sleep with him. Ughhh, the words he'd said disgusted her more than what he had done. She couldn't bear to hear his voice ever again.

She collected all the stuff that he'd gifted her—the strawberry necklace, the dresses, the tops, his sweatshirt, their photos and stuffed them carelessly into her bag.

She had made up her mind. She would see him tomorrow after school and return it all and end this once and for all.

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Hi guys.

I am deeply sorry for this late update. Exams are going on in college and I'm afraid I can't update frequently. But, thank you for reading and please vote.