A little more than Infinity

Chapter 7 ( The Final Chapter )

Days went by, weeks ran and slowly a month passed. He had no idea about her, not the slightest clue. He wanted her back in his life as much as dreamers want stars, but unfortunately, Rooh is calling never appeared on his screen during the long one month, every day felt like a whole year, she was an important part of his life. He spent the entire month alone, locked in his room. She was the one who painted colours in his gloomy life and no doubt she was a wonderful painter. But the colors were fading without her, he needed her again to introduce happiness to him again. If happiness had a face, it would've been no different than hers. There's no sunshine when she's gone..

Kavya called him several times but he didn't pick up. He tried Alisha's number countless times, but it was switched off. It was strange, a whole month had passed and she hadn't switched her number on, not even once. There was absolutely nothing he could do about it. It was quite strange that he was a stranger to himself without her.

29 June 2016

It was Ashu's birthday. He turned 17. He was one hundred percent sure that she would contact him, she could never forget his birthday. He kept his eyes on the mobile screen when the needles in the cloak hit midnight, but she didn't call. Slowly, the clock was running and the time was passing. The midnight turned into dusk, and dust into broad daylight, he received tons of notifications and calls from people wishing him Happy Birthday but still no text no call from her side. It was hard to swallow but what else he could do? This was his birthday and he didn't want to let it go like this. He never realized how big of a part she was in his life, and how much he loved her, she was inside him, rattling into his bones..
In the evening, when the horizon swallowed the sun, he sat on the roof after a very long time. He started remembering every memory he had of her. How they met totally unexpectedly and how they became friends. How she slapped and hugged him at midnight under the dark night sky.. How much she tried to contact him. How beautiful it was when they were in love. Was that all lie or was she just pretending to be something which she was not?
"If tomorrow brings hope, I hope it brings you"
He texted her number but as usual, it was undelivered.

He felt betrayed and left out. He loved her with every cell of his heart, but apparently it wasn't enough to stick them together.
With every disconnected call and every undelivered message, he started yearning for her even more. When the clock was about to hit 12AM, he received a call. It was Kavya again! He didn't want to talk to anybody except her. He switched off his phone in disappointment.

School started again. Life got busy with studies, extra classes, and tuition. But his nights were reserved for her only just like in the old days. He used to imagine a whole conversation between her and him. He didn't have a single picture of hers so all he could do was imagine. He started waking up late in the night spending most of his night time in imaginary conversations or writing a diary for her. Every page of his diary was filled with imaginary conversation. He denied the existence of the real world and started to believe in that diary only. He had an unbreakable hope that someday at some point in life, they would meet again like they first did, totally unexpected. When that time comes, he'll give her that diary.

Sometimes, it really terrifying to imagine what love can do to a person.

Aman knew about this, but still, he chose to keep the secret. He was concerned for his brother. Deep down he was also praying that Ashu should never find out about this truth. He knew that Ashu would hate him but it was for Ashu's good. He knew Ashu was suffering but he could do nothing. The truth will only make the matter worse so he let him suffer. Maybe time will heal him. Maybe he'll get better with time. Maybe with passing time, he'll forget her, all he could wish or pray for was 'maybe'.. But totally opposite happened, he got so addicted to her, that he broke all the connections with the real world and developed an unbreakable unreal connection with her imagination. It was as addictive as drugs, and like every other addiction in this world, it was destroying him from the inside out. It was ripping apart his life. He was not able to think of anything else than Alisha, like every other addicted person in this world who only thinks about the addiction. From a distance, people could tell that Ashu was sick. Blood-red eyes screamed for sleep, dark circles around the eyes, and an unconventional behavior that was totally unacceptable. The more time passed, the more he became sick. He listened to all of her favorite Eminem songs again and again without a pause. He watched her favorite movie Fault in Our Stars countless times, without having a slight hint that there's a fault in their stars too, a big one.
He never left a night, where he didn't paint her picture in the sky. He was living with her, talking with her without having her. His imagination kept her with him.