THE LEFTOVER SPELL

6. FALLING IN LOVE WAS LIKE A HOT SHOWER

“Falling in love was like a hot shower.
It’s like all the electricity’s touching every deepest corner of your bones. Leaving you to shiver in no vain. I LOVE YOU TO THE SQAURE TO THE INFINITY. Now you can’t love me more than I love you ;-)
I was dying to reciprocate my feelings to you last week only. But I wanted to surprise you. Come tomorrow ½ hour early. We can catch the bus together.
HAPPY 10TH FRIENDEVERSERY.”

I woke up earlier than normal. I washed my hair and fixed my appearance for the 10th time. I reached our spot 5 minutes earlier. It is a place behind the bushes beside the bus stop. After waiting for 15 minutes I was getting anxious. It is not like him to ever make me wait. Bus comes at 8:00 am. It was 7:55 am but he still didn’t showed up. My palms were getting sweaty and just couldn’t stop myself from pacing frantically. It was 8:15 am the bus was long gone. I had checked from the spot that he had not taken the bus. After picking the school bag from the ground I hurried down the road towards the school. By the time I reached the school I couldn’t catch my breath. Then I noticed a huge crowd of school bodies inside the gates. While breaking through the crowd I was rubbing my now sweaty palms again and again in my skirt.  Inside the crowd there is a police officer whispering something to the principal madam, her eyes widened and she suddenly covered her mouth with her hands. The police had is holding his back pack. I snatched his bag pack from his. “Why do you have my friend’s bag”? Suddenly there is a silence so loud I can hear my heartbeat in my ears. The principal maam was coming toward me unsure steps. I was backing away from her. Suddenly she gripped my shoulder and looked into my eyes. “I am sorry he is no more. He died in a car accident around 7:20 am this morning. He was....” she is still speaking something but I can’t hear her. He came before me. I will never see his reaction of the text in sent him. I will never see his goofy smile. He came because I asked him to. And most of all I will never see him. Suddenly I was getting felling very light. There was dark patches’ forming in front of my eyes. I saw the panicked face of principal maam before the darkness consumed me.

5 MONTHS LATER

“Bye mom, bye dad. I m going.” I am hurrying towards the door. “Where are you going”? Startled by mom I turned towards her. “School”. I am looking everywhere but her. “Your school is asking why you are not attending the school for last 2 months. I told them they have mistaken, but they sent me the records just now”. By the time she finished yelling her face was flushed and her jaw were clenching. “I was going to tell you about...”. “Tell me what that you have been lying for 2 months about going to school. Where were you all these times? Why didn’t you go to school”?  “I am sorry, I will explain everything to you later, right now I am getting late to school. Believe me, today I am going to school”.  How do you explain to your mother that you hate going to school because every place in there is the biggest reminder of his non-existence. I left the house in so much hurry that I forgot to take my hoddie. I can’t go back to home to take it. I can’t even tell anybody otherwise my parents will lock me up. I have to do something really fast or he will recognize me. I undid my hair tie and covered my face with my hair as much as possible. I took off my socks near the bus stand. Nobody will now recognize me. Now I can freely go to my second home without any fear. After entering the national library I went to the front desk. “You are 10 minutes early. Will this do for today”? She looked at me then passed on the books. I checked the covers and gave a nod and now I am heading towards my spot. After hiding here continuously for two months she has finally grasped my taste in books. I felt someone’s gaze on me, I turned around but there was no one, and the lady at the desk was giving me the look. Someone is definitely watching me from my left side and turned towards left but there was no one. I scanned the whole place; it was early morning so there is only handful of people and they are sitting at the back. Someone is behind me, I turned in an instant, but there is on one. Feeling paranoid I left the place in a hurry. I have to walk fast; I can hear the footstep coming near me. Without thinking I hailed the nearest taxi. “Where to go”? After sitting I turned backward in the backseat to look outside, but there is nobody. “Just drive. Don’t stop until I tell you to”.  I am still looking in the back while giving instruction to the driver. After being assured that there was no one I turned towards the front. “Just drop me at the amusement park”. I am fidgeting in my purse for the money while I instructed the driver. “Good morning maam. Do you know about the latest news?” I have no idea about what he is talking about. I looked up from my purse and saw his eyes in the rear-view mirror. His eyes are so bleak, the shallowest eyes I have ever seen, and I cannot read his eyes. I swallowed nervously. “Few months back the government kidnapped a boy for their thankless task. You see we don’t work under the government, one problem has arise and we need the boy, the government also agreed with us. But the guy is being uncooperative and he...” I am startled to the beyond that it took me a while to realize my cell phone is ringing. Without checking I picked up the phone. “Hello”. I spoke timidly over the phone. “I know you will be beyond shocked but do not shout, you are in danger. Act normal, I will explain everything to you”. I don’t know how to react, do I smile like a manic because I am hearing his voice after 5 months, or do I scream at him for making me go through these entire afflictions. “Tell me where you are”. His was voice was tinted with panic. The driver was eying me from the rear-view mirror. “I ate the breakfast already you do not have to panic. I just crossed the bridge and now I am heading towards the amusement park. And I am in the taxi whose driver has horrible stories”. While talking I held the drivers stairs in the rear-view mirror and at the end I raised my right eyebrow. “Horrible stories? I thought I am a driver who has interesting stories”. He has smirk over his face. “Don’t worry I am in the way and I will save you and don’t you dare hang up.” His voice is getting anxious and worried by every second. Last thing I saw before the darkness embraced me was the nasty gleam in the driver’s eyes who has horrible stories.