Truly Madly Deeply

Chapter 5

I paced my room back and forth, anxiety coursing through my veins. All kinds of questions were welling up in my mind. Should I be concerned about this message? Should I tell my brothers? But what if they make fun of me and just tell me to block him? Of course, I have already blocked him yet again but there is something far more ominous about this message as compared to the creepy poetic messages I used to get.

Maybe it's an empty threat. No, I am pretty sure it is an empty threat because just think about it, Misha. He is from Karachi which is a city in another province. He can't possibly know who I am but he seems familiar but I really can't tell much from stalking his profile. Maybe I should tell my brothers.

But what if I tell my brothers and they make me deactivate my account? That would be adding more restrictions to my already restrained freedom of choice. WHAT DO I DO? I had wanted to rip my hair out dramatically but my hair was already thin and weak as whenever, I put my fingers through it, a bunch of loose strands would come out so that was a big no. For now, blocking seemed like the best option. Nothing could happen and if it does, I can just tell my brothers then. No need to make a huge deal out of nothing.

Although, that was how I had convinced myself but it really wasn't helping. I twisted and turned in my bed, looking at the walls and ceiling as overthinking wrecked my mind. It was 3 a.m. and I was wide awake. My head was throbbing with the need for sleep but my brain kept going on and on like an endless loop. I wasn't fond of cursing, my parents condemned it saying it was not ladylike and it corrupted the tongue so swearing was not an option either.

Relax, Misha, I am sure, he is just someone who likes to scare people and play games. Just ignore it, it's not worth it, you have bigger issues at hand like how to ace your exams and get good grades. He should be the least of your concern plus he leaves in Karachi, you live in Lahore, two different cities in two different provinces so relax, I reasoned yet again with myself. It is all just a prank. I kept chanting this to myself as I finally fell asleep at 4 something in the morning.

The alarm started to ring besides my head and I mumbled something into the pillow as I turned it off. I just slept like five minutes ago, I groaned as I picked up the alarm clock but the time on the alarm said otherwise. It was already 6:45 a.m. and I supported myself on my elbows as the streaks of light coming from between my curtains blinded me. Groaning, I rolled in bed until my feet planted on my carpeted floor. Today was going to be a very exhausting day. I could ditch class but cram session was going on and I really needed that.

I took a quick shower to freshen my mind and body but the fatigue was evident and my brain wasn't really going along with my whims. I dragged my feet to the dining table where mom had cooked me an omelet with slices of white bread. I had no appetite this morning. I spaced out after greeting everyone at the table and then looking at my breakfast, not realizing that my family was observing my behavior.

"You don't like the omelet?" Mother asked me, her eyebrows were furrowed with concern as she looked at me and then the food on the table. I shook my head as I mumbled a no.

"I am just not hungry today, I will go with an apple today." I answered as I picked up the apple from the fruit basket and started munching on it.

"You alright, lil sis?" Humayun asked me and I nodded my head absent mindedly. "You don't look okay. Did something happen?" He looked concerned and I scanned the table to see everyone looking at me with worry. I really couldn't arise any suspicions so I just smiled before replying.

"No, I am just sleep deprived."

"Don't push yourself too much. We know you are working hard to get grades but get the right amount of sleep too." Saleem added and I smiled weakly at him. I felt guilty but I didn't want to lie to my family about how a certain message had caused me to have anxiety waves which resulted in sleep deprivation so I simply agreed to what my brother had implied about me studying late at night.

"You are right. I will try to get some rest when I come back from school today." In order to make my family feel less troubled by my actions, against my better judgement, I even ate the breakfast mother had made me which I knew would eventually result in bloating cause I was never really a fan of breakfast. As expected this had a positive effect on everyone who resumed eating leaving me with my half eaten apple and omelet.

It was Qasim's duty again to drop me to school but Humayun had offered to pick me up from school so we went with that schedule. School went by in a flash, mostly because I slept through most classes and spaced out in the others. I was grateful that Humayun had come right on time to pick me up because I really wasn't up for socializing when all I craved was my bed.

"Hey sis, how was your day?" Humayun asked me as he picked up my bag for me and started to walk towards his car. I sat in the passenger seat of the car while he told me he would be right back since he went to meet some juniors of his from the boy's branch of the school. Humayun was a graduate of this school too. He had studied in the boy's branch and always made sure no guy looked at me wrongly while he was still around. He was pretty famous in our school back then because he fell in the handsome category with his athletic physique and playful personality. Plus he had been in the student council as the Head Boy so he was used to all the attention and fame even more.

Fortunately Humayun had brought my phone from the house so I started to play temple run on it while I waited for him to return from wherever he ran off too. Suddenly, I felt like someone was blinking lights at me so I looked up from my phone and noticed that there was a white car parked right in front of ours on the other side that was blinking their headlights at our car.

What kind of idiot blinks head lights in broad daylight?

I frowned as I observed the car. The number plate didn't belong to our city, it had a Karachi number on it. I traced my eyes on the car and noticed that it had the logo of an Audi. Wait a minute, an Audi? I looked up through the windshield and that was when the color drained completely from my face.