The story of an obese high school student who falls victim to romantic circumstances.

 

Chapter 18: A few broken steps to a broken heart

August 2013

It was the time of that year when the rains tipped on the floor with the few tears from my eyes, for the first time ever. It had been more than fourteen years since my eyes had seen the tears around it.

Allow me to start from the beginning  of August when I had finally realised the three mistakes I had made that became the reasons for my sorrow.

First Mistake

Friendships day , yes that day was the worse friendships day I could’ve ever come through.

It was a Sunday and I was being tutored in my economics tuition when the orange light began thundering my phone in sync with the beeps of messages that I received.

“May I ?” I asked my tutour and he nodded in approval. I opened the message , it was from Ria. My legs sprung up sending my shoes meters away, yes that was the kind of stupid reaction triggered by excitement.

Goosebumps covered my whole body.

“Just a minute.” I told my tutor excusing myself from the scene. Ria had sent a ‘Hi.’ At such an unexpected hour.

“Hi how are you ?” I said after two minutes had passed after her message.

“Hi dude it’s me Sri. I’m in the tuition.” Came the reply.

It was still her. Must’nt keep a girl waitin , I thought.

“Okay. What happened ?” I sent.

“Nothing. Just like that. ”

“Okay. I’m also in my tuition right now. Can I talk to you later?”

“Yes sure.” She said “study now.”

Then as soon as I got over with my tuition I messaged her,

“Is Sri still there ?”

“Nope. We’re not in the tution anymore.” She typed.

“Okay. Thanks.” I sent my reply. Later that day , (30 seconds to be precise) I called Sri up and asked what happened. He told me 5 different versions of what happened, I don’t know why he liked to mess with me.

The version I found realistic and convincing was this one, “She and I were in the tuition and teacher hadn’t arrived so she asked me who could she chat with. I suggested your name so she sent you a ‘hi’ but you took quite a while to reply so maybe she thought you weren’t interested in chatting. But when she did receive your message she said that it was me not you.”

I fought with him over the phone for messing with me and he accused me of fighting with my best friend over a girl after that he cut the phone.

Later that day Piyush called me and I being in a bad mood said some mean stuff and he cut my call too. Both my friends didn’t want to talk to me on friendship day.

I spent rest of that day cursing myself for doing wrong to both of them. The next day I brought chocolates for them , the kids in my bus and had one extra with me t.

I saw Ria standing ,smiling and talking to Yashika.

I asked Sri, “Hey dude should I give it to her ?”

“What ?” He asked looking up from the news paper on the desk to the chocolate in my hand.

“Yes give it.” He said getting all jumpy.

“Sure ?” I asked him.

He grinned, “of course.” He had said.

I called “Ria”.

She came towards me “Hi.” She greeted as beautifully as an angel in heaven’s cloud would greet.

“You want a chocolate ?” I asked.

“Why ?” Her expressions turned serious (though still beautiful like that of an angel).

“Friendships day.” I said, “Happy friendships day .”

“Hmm, okay. Thanks .” She solemnly said and walked away.

I turned back to Sri with a huge smile. He sat with his hand against his forehead.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” He told me.

“But, but you only told me to..”

” I said ‘give it to me!’ You idiot.” He said. And I realised, Strike One.

Second Mistake

It was just a usual Thursday as it used to be however one thing had recently that made it seem special.

As just the previous day Ria had read few of my poems on facebook as I used to post them on a childish group of mine, she praised my poetry and I being a shy guy making a stupid joke left the conversation in between .

Later on I did try to make up for my mistake but ‘later on’ is not good enough to make up for mistakes.

So I messaged her, “Hi, sorry to leave the conversation.”

I got right at the point. Soon enough, just a minute later I received a reply, “Oh ho, it’s okay.” She had sent.

“So how did you like my poems ?”

“They were awesome, I really read all of them last night.” “Thanks! Any suggestions ?” I asked

“Umm, I’m not an expert on these topics I just found you poems really great .”

“So I guess I’ll have to stay an amateur poet for a while.” I said trying to frame a joke but not a beep beeped on my phone for the while so I sent another message,

“So do you watch movies ?”

“I am not really a movie person but I do watch movies. I prefer going out rather than watching movies. I am such a person who can even go alone if I feel bored” she had typed.

“That’s awesome ! I can’t go alone anywhere because I know I’ll get bored. You’re lucky to have such a mindset ..”

It’s all in the mind.” She sent.

“I hope you don’t mind me using this line of yours in one of my stories, ‘It’s all in the mind’.” I douche-ily asked.

“No. No, not at all. Be free to use it.”

“Thanks. So what are the movies that you found amazing ?”, I asked.

“I mainly watch romantic movies.” She sent, “such as ‘ a walk to remember’ and ‘the notebook.’ Also some genuine movies like ‘just go with it’.”

“Nice.” I replied. “Haven’t you watched ‘before sunset’ and ‘before sunrise’ ?” I asked her.

“No .”

“You can’t follow romantic movies unless you’ve seen these. They’re the best romantic movies ever made.” I told her.

“Okay I’ll watch them after accounts test ” she said.

“I’ll give it to you after the test.” I typed.

“Okay. Thanks “. I realised that I had bored her enough so I was just about to let her go after one last important question.

“Have you seen ‘How I met your mother.’ ?” I sent and just before it could have reached her , her message reached me.

“Hey sorry, got to go. Mom is calling me for dinner. Bye.” She had sent but soon I received a message saying,

“I’ve seen a few episodes but never followed it.” She said. “Okay ” I sent.

“Goodnight ”

“Goodnight. Take care and keep smiling.” I typed. And then she gave me a huge smile.

I had downloaded those two movies and had put them in the pen drive that I had recently bought an hour ago. The next morning being the accounts test I gave it to her and she thanked me. I had also put ‘How I met your mother’ season one in it. Strike Two.

Third Mistake

Okay so this is the point of the chapter you would be expecting to read about my third mistake. Rightfully so , I will serve you the third strike right away .

Okay so this is how it happened and you might really feel it if you try and picture this in your mind.

I was gladly walking in the empty park in my new residence that I lived at, I was glad because Ria had ‘how I met your mother’ and maybe by watching it she could too, obsess over the romance of  Lily and Marshall and well I was walking because I did everyday.

See, loosing weight is difficult but maintaining it is worse.

I walked as cold soothing winds gushed against me under the dark clouded sky. The thunders cracked far away but I just didn’t want to stop walking because happiness had taken toll of my senses that day.

The loud music through my earphones plugged to my ears from my phone had the sound  aspect all covered.

I decided I would message Ria that I had accidentally put ‘how I met your mother’ in the pen drive but she can watch it because it is good.

So I did. Just seconds later I heard a loud beep just to my ears. Instantly I pulled off the earphones and viewed my phone. I nearly jumped off the ground as I saw it was Ria’s text.

Without letting any other breath come my way I opened it just when I felt the rain drizzle from the clouds , on my forehead.

The message said, “Thanks a lot for the movies but please don’t do this next time. I mean don’t give me anything I don’t ask for. I really don’t like taking things. I know it was just some movies but next time please don’t give me anything until I ask for it. Even the chocolate you gave the other day. All this is not needed. Thanks though. ”

The smilee might’ve seemed like a boon but I just knew how unfortunate and weak I was at that moment. A chill ran through my spine.

I stopped walking as the drizzling drops had become thrashing tears of heaven. I felt slight pain in my chest and my head spun for a while. I read the message once again.

“Will remember that the next time.Goodnight ” I sent.

The smilee was just for the sake of not letting my feelings be seen by her.

I felt ashamed and disgusted at myself. I had become just what I feared to be. A stalker, a person who tried to steal another person’s love. The past few weeks I had been ignoring one important aspect , Anuj.

They both loved each other and I being a jerk , I tried to snatch his love from him without intending to do so, but I had realised it just right now.

The rains had begun their usual course as normally as they would.

“Good night ” I received back from her.

Sri had called just that moment as he used everyday at this very time. I picked up.

“Hello.” I spoke.

“How are ya doing mate ?” He said in his cheerful voice.

“I overdid it.” I said.

“What are you talking about ?”

And then I told him how I had been acting as a jerk and how stupid of me it was to keep giving her things.

“Don’t walk in the rain ” he advised me, “and go home, sleep.” “Well that surely makes me feel better.” I said sarcastically.

“It shouldn’t ” he said, “you realise that she didn’t choose you over Anuj and here you are still trying to get her. How many times have I told you to let her go, leave her. She isn’t deserving of such love that you can give her.”

It had started raining even more harshly.

“Now I can’t gift her anything, I had been saving for her since last six months.” I said walking in the heavy rain.

“Don’t you get it ?” He shouted, “sorry to say this but she is not made for you, she is not the one. Stop thinking about her and use that money for something better. Go get yourself a pair of cool shirts or something. ”

” But I love her.”

“Yeah and throw that useless love of yours somewhere in the dumpster, know why? Because she doesn’t want it you idiot.” I cut the phone and shoved it in my pocket.

All the pain attacked me at once, I remembered sights of Ria while taking the chocolate, her thinking of me as a jerk, her sitting and talking to Anuj with eyes in eyes, her saying ‘sorry’ to me when I told her about my love for her, the kids in my bus singing songs for me and her. All of these faded pictures escaped in form of a tear from my eyes accompanying the drops of rain from the sky .

The tears and the rain drops had both covered my face as I looked up at the dark sky . The pain wasn’t getting better with the tears . I looked down at the floor and in the heaviest rain of my life I walked back to my house and shut my room door.

Without changing I simply laid on the bed, that night I couldn’t sleep, because I had realised the third strike had already been called.

My third mistake had been made months ago, it was the hope that made me want to wait for her to come to me just like lily did. But life isn’t a tv show and If it is, I am not exactly in it’s leading cast.

Chapter 19: Letting go

The next day I had my mind made up to let go and with the message from Ria clearly fighting for her interest in the relationship between her and Anuj was the ‘shut door’ I needed to get my head straight.

I was the bad guy in this story from day one, you know one of those books in which the protagonist tries to find out the bad guy but in the end he discovers that it was him who murdered people or other crap, because he is mentally ill or has multiple personality disorders.

These endings really messed up the whole story, made it look like a waste of time. However, in this story I didn’t suffer from any mental illness. I was simply ignorant, mistaking myself for the lover I had forgotten that Anuj held an important place in Ria’s life.

Heart is an evil being , it only takes the stuff it wants to and ignores all that might give it pain yet award long term good.

I realised , it was just like that remarks of Viren and Mohsin about me being better than Anuj were considered over Sri’s logical advice to leave them both alone. And then my hopes were given life , those hopes were false hopes.

I reached school and sat on my assigned seat, that day we were to go for some short trip.

My face showed clear signs of emotional pain and Sri captured it quickly.

“I’m sorry ” he said, “I didn’t want to sound harsh.”He apologised for last night.

“Thanks.” I said trying to smile.

He didn’t understand why I thanked him but I knew.

Piysuh and Mohsin were told about this incident by Sri. Then they both began counselling sessions while we were in the bus to the picnic spot.

I remained quiet and simply heard what they said.

“Just take a girl that you don’t like or hate, say Tulika for example.” Mohsin started , “and she starts helping you and giving you chocolates and movies and other stuff and at that time you are in a relationship with someone, how would you feel ? You would think that she is sick or something. It’s not that I’m saying she thinks you’re sick but she might not like that and also Anuj wouldn’t appreciate it. You’re getting what I’m saying.” He told me.

“Dude, you look at yourself. You are way better now than what you were before, leave her and find new love . Love that reciprocates your love.” Piyushtold me.

“We’re here.” Sri said as the bus stopped to our destination.

That day I reached home and stood in front of the mirror, I could see what change Ria had brought about in me.

Now the blown up tummy of mine had gone to where it belonged, the cheeks that floated out in air had gone to barely cover my cheek bones and the dark face that I had, was now charming with certain freshness.

I was different, better . And just one girl had made it happen. It was she the queen of hearts who had changed me for good. I’m not sure about her remembering me but as far as me remembering her is concerned, I will remember her till the end of me.

Whenever I would see a healthy kid playing with friends, or two teenage kids looking at each other with beautiful chemistry between them, or when someone would ask me of how had I lost so much weight in so less time , or when I try to write a poem about love, maybe when years later my kids would ask me ‘How I met their mother’, a second story too would strike me , I would see the image of Ria just in front of my eyes.

Sometimes the smallest of affairs in life last a lifetime while the other important stuff that is suppose to matter is not brought to sight.

It’s funny how the person whom I shared not more than a one sided affair with , seemed like the most mind-running and heart-beating memory in my life. I surely loved her more than anyone could, even Anuj. But was being selfish the answer to this love. No, being selfish is never the ingredient to a happy and long term relationship.

I could love her with all the life and love I had but could I keep her smiling like Anuj did ? Could I make every next moment of her life special like Anuj did? Could I carry the weight of her happiness and return it in kind, just like Anuj did? Yes, maybe I could but maybe I couldn’t .

I just didn’t think living my life with the word ‘maybe’ in a relationship would result in happiness of both parties.

Ria had fallen in love with Anuj just like I had fallen for her and it wasn’t her mistake, the heart is a selfish being after all. It wants what it wants, Anuj had his heart beating as well and when both their hearts beat in sync , they heard the beats of chemistry ringing and both were committed to keep the hearts beating together.

While I stood in the corner expecting to hear another heart beat to the beats of my heart.

But life is funny, it goes by a book called the ‘right time’ , and this wasn’t just the right time.

I’m sure of one thing that someday when the time is right and my heart beats again, I’ll find a beating heart just for my own heart beats.

As for Ria , she was a queen of hearts.

She came just to set me right, to make me perfect for someone perfect out there. She came to teach me more about love than many remain ignorant of. She came to fill in the holes that were shot at my heart by ’54’.

Every time we fall in love with someone, that someone leaves us changed. Either with empty holes in our heart or after filling those holes.

Love is a wind, it changes us and that change isn’t for forever because someday some ‘queen of hearts’ comes and makes you fall for her and then when she leaves your life, you’ll find yourself fixed.

Just as ’54’ left me scarred with the inability to interact with any girl and feel under confident, well Ria had fixed that and here I stood all changed, changed for nothing but good.

I owed a lot to her, so much that I was ready to undergo all the pain it would take to forget her for now, let her to be happy and be happy for her happiness. I smiled at myself looking at the mirror. She had taught me how to shed tears, she had showed me that I didn’t have a heart of stone.

I could cry and only she had made it happen.

I decided I wouldn’t try to interfere in her life in any way , wouldn’t gift her a thing on her birthday except wishing her an amazing life ahead, I promised I wouldn’t text or call her and most of all I wouldn’t pay attention to anything she did.

This might seem as if I was going to ignore her, and yes that’s what I had to do to let her leave my mind. This might make her feel bad and ignored to see me act like this for some time but for her and Anuj to take their love forward to next levels,  I had to fake my ignorance , so that she can move on and so can i .

So that’s what I did. For the following days I didn’t look at her even when I thought she she would because I knew if our eyes met, I’d be back to square one.

I faked ignoring and not reacting to everything that concerned her , whether it was the teacher’s taunting on her and Anuj sitting together, her topping any test or her downfall or uprise in performance.

I simply sat at the back seat with my friends and smiled at Ria when she wouldn’t be seeing. I owed her a lot and it did no harm to do this much for her.

 

Chapter 20 : The end

I had promised myself to keep my heart from drawing towards her. It was a tough walk, involved a few ups , few downs and a few no-wheres.

Though I was on to my job of trying to not be concerned with anything that concerned her, I still used to come to school just to see her. And the days I didn’t see her followed damp and depressing hours.

One day she fell seriously ill, she was experiencing bad stomach aches and to suppress the pain she put her head down during classes .

However painful the situation was for her she couldn’t stop the smile to spread on her face that Anuj brought with his jokes and some conversations I was just too far off to listen to.

That day I couldn’t stop myself from worrying . All day I thought of ways to ask what had happened, how was she feeling . But it was just in the last few minutes of the day when she had gone to the medical room and the limit of my patience had crossed the line.

So I approached Sarvagya and asked him, “What happened to her ?” Just very casually.

“Nothing. An upset stomach.” He told me.

And then I sat back to my seat and looked where Anuj sat just a few minutes ago.

He wasn’t there, he had gone too, with her to accompany her to the medical room. He was the support she needed and deserved. Smiling while worried I left the cloud of thoughts with her name on it to let go.

In a few days it was her birthday, 8th of September. I had counscelled  myself for not gifting her anything, I didn’t want her to think of me a jerk again(if she had thought the first time), so I kept the money back in my wallet.

The previous night just at 11:58 I started typing a birthday message for her, “Happy Birthday ! Have an awesome year ahead , And have a blast today ” , I sent it by 12 a.m.

I didn’t want her to think I overdid it so that was why I sent such a simple message. And soon I had received “Thanks “, from her.

“Happy birthday” , I said loud enough just for myself to hear and laid to sleep.

It was a Wednesday and the school had given us all a holiday due to a small festival. I was in a damp mood and had planned to sulk in Ria’s thoughts for now.

I got a call from Sri, I answered.

“Yes Bro.” I said trying yet failing to sound happy.

“Open the fourth page of the newspaper.”

“Why ? Everything fine ?” I asked.

“Just do it.” I opened it .

“Yeah .”

“You see the new movies running in theatres right now ?” He asked.

“Yes I do.”

“You see it ?” He asked.

“See what ?”

“Dude ! Please tell me you see it .” He shouted. I squinted to every detail.

“Sorry bro. Don’t get it.” I told him.

“Man !” He said, “There are 3 new movie running right now.” “Level 4 ?” I asked.

“Hell yes level 4 !” He shouted.

“But… My mom dad are out for the day.” I told him consoling and controlling the heavy urge.

“Dude. You are saying no to Newton’s apple, you’re drifting away from Jesus’s hand held candy. What more can I say, you’re refusing the diamond bro ! ” He said in a low pitched serious voice.

“And you need a break dude. From all this business of Ria you had been days for. We both know you’re depressed, let’s make up for lost happiness !” He told me.

“Tell Mohsin to get ready . I’ll meet you at the mall in 30 !” I said after giving a thought. I had to do it. I had to go for the ‘Level 4’ streak. So without anyone in my family knowing I reached the mall at 10.

The money I had saved for Ria’s birthday was to fund the streak and so with it I bought 3 tickets just like Sri did. The first movie started at 10:15 ended at 12:10. It was a superhero movie and we were psyched , firstly because the previous movie was awesome and secondly because we still had two more tickets in hand.

Mohsin joined us for the second movie that started at 12:30 and ended at 2:45 pm.

Bidding him a good bye we left for the third show that was to start at 2:50.

It was at 3:30 that my mom and dad had found of what I had done. They rushed to the mall after seeing the lock on the door of the house. I expected them to take a few more hours but life is full of surprises and sometimes these surprises are not to smile for.

So I and Sri watched the third movie scared and shaking as my mom had told me on the phone, “Shivam, you are in BIG TROUBLE”.

This was the first time I had heard it from my Mom, who was not seeming calm from any part of her voice.

Our last movie ended at 4:45 and my parents picked us up just outside the mall. That day was the only one when I felt no guilt or shame when I was being shouted at by my parents, in fact as I and Sri sat on the back seats we passed on smiles to each other.

We had made history, 7 hours of direct movie watching experience, moreover we smiled as the movies had numbed our brains for a while.

I was grounded as my mom said, “Firstly you sneak out of the house and then watch 2 movies back to back ! No more going out !” She shouted.

Yes , till today she doesn’t know we hadn’t watched 2 but 3 movies. Not a big deal that she would need to know about.

The next day in school as we told people of our 3 movies they were shocked and we had realised the worth of the streak we had just came through.

Because what they said was quite demotivating, “You guys seriously have got no job. Have you !” They had said and we had promised to close down the streak chapter.

Because once you’ve take the trip to moon the only thing left to do is to take the trip back to pavilion .

The next few months were not as harsh as I had thought. Not much had changed, I still used to look at her, though not when she would be. I still used to think about her, though she might have forgotten me. I still used to hang around Viren or Brenden to overhear how were Anuj and Ria together , though pretending to show least of concerns for them.

And I still used to write poems thinking about her, though she might not have read them. I still used to walk for hours every day to maintain my weight, though she didn’t notice me anymore.

I still continued the false story of me and Ria in my bus for all those children who were witnessing true love for the first time.

They still sung those songs as I continued to smile. This year had been the best year of my life. I had truly found love and had changed for the best.

It’s true I’ll never forget her but it’s also true that it would do me no good. October came and went . . Then came November when Boards were just 4 months away. Everyone took to studies, I too got busy . And that was it. That was the end. All that was left was a memory .

Epilouge

It was 14th of April, just two weeks past the boards examination. I had just woke up and it was ten thirty five. Two weeks ago I would’ve gone to the washroom to brush my teeth and get down to studies, today I simply opened my laptop and plugged in my hard drive. Yawning I played one episode of ‘how I met your mother’ .

“Mom !” I shouted.

“What ?” She said in a reply from rooms away.

“Breakfast !” I shouted .

“First take a bath !” She shot back.

“No !” I protested still staring at the laptop screen.

“Go !” She shouted.

“Whatever.” I said to myself and started the episode.

It was the episode in which Marshall wants to be there for the birth of his boy but the problem is that he is in Vegas because of Barney and Lily is in New York.

I had watched this episode at least a hundred times before, yet I found every scene to be as fresh and entertaining as the first time.

I was still tuned to the episode when the bell rang.

“Mom ! ” I shouted, “the bell.”

” I heard it. I’m busy.” She shouted to my dad.

“I’ll open on the way out.” He said as he was going off to work. “Bye Shivam .” He told me.

“Bye. Take care !” I replied, eyes still locked on the laptop screen.

It was just two minutes after that , “What the hell ?” Mohsin said entering my room followed by Sri and Piyush.

“Why aren’t you ready ?” Piysuh shouted.

“Why does your room smell so bad ?” Sri barred me with another question.

“Hi guys.” I said standing up.

“Why are you still in your pyjamas ?” Piyush asked.

“Uhh, because I usually sleep in those. And when in luck, wake up wearing them too.” I told them.

“Dude the farewell is in ten minutes.” Mohsin shouted.

“I’m not going.” I told him.

Sri grabbed one of my shoulder while Piyush took to the other and both of them pushed me in the washroom and threw me a shirt and a trouser.

It took me twenty minutes of getting ready which also included 10 minutes of making my mind after which I came out.

“What is this ?” Sri said with a rough manuscript titled ‘queen of hearts’ in his hands.

“That’s what you did for the last two weeks ?” Piyush said. “Read it.” Mohsin told Sri.

This was a story I had written in memory of Ria on the basis of my diary entries of class 12th.

He began reading it out loud to both Mohsin and Piyush.

I fixed my hair and then fixed myself a sandwich while my mom handed me the cup of coffee that I swallowed in one sip burning my throat and  my inner soul.

We all took a cab while Sri still read and both Piyush and Mohsin listened with complete and pure interest, the story had their characters as well.

As Sri read the last page of the book the cab stopped right in front of our school building just within a good 1 and a half hour after we had started our journey.

Loud music could be heard even when the cab’s windows were rolled up.

Paying our shares to the cab driver we got out. Mohsin patted me on my back.

“Awesome dude !” He told me.

“Seriously, this was good.” Piyush said with a bright smile.

I hid my eyes from the brightness , it was either the overwhelming joy or the scorching sunlight.

Sri breathed heavily as we walked inside, I waited for him to say something but not a word busted from his lips. Maybe he didn’t like the story that much.

Soon we all split up to meet others and have glasses of the cold coffee or areated drinks. I personally went with the cold coffee, couldn’t mess with my weight.

I was shaking hands with a friend when I saw her. In the beautiful traditional green suit with red glass bangles on her wrists. Oh she looked beautiful alright.

That moment my heart took several beats at once and then the next moment forgot to even pump me once. I was speechless and all my senses took a short vacation from being upon my friends to Ria.

She talked to Anuj as he drank the orange drink. She couldn’t possibly see me gaping , however from between the crowd I could see her.

They both smiled and talked. To not to look like an idiot I pulled back all my senses , but my friends had gone.

Looking at Ria had reminded me that Sri still had that book of mine. I started searching for him , meeting many of my friends along the way.

In the end I found him sitting on one of the chairs near the fast food stall, holding the hardcopy of the story.

“What are you doing here ?” I asked him.

He looked up from the book, his face thoroughly expressionless.

“Giving the last chapter a second read.” He told me.

“Okay. Why ?” I asked.

He got up from the chair and shut the book.

” You remember the promise?” He asked.

“What ? When did I ..?” I said trying to recall.

“In the summer , last year. You had promised to give her a story that you had written. Remember that ? I had talked to her in the tuition.”

It came back to me, she had asked me to give her a story that I had written. She had said she’d wait for it.

“Yes. I can recall.” I said.

Sri put his hand on my shoulder and said, “See Shivam, you love her and you know that. You also know that your story has been a twisted one and standing here you still love her as much as you did an year ago but you won’t do anything, and I can’t tell you to go and get her but what I can tell you is that your love was true , still is and she may not accept it yet should know about it. So go and give this story to her..”

“But..” I interrupted.

“Listen.” He said, “don’t wait for her to read it or open it but give it to her and then leave. The ending of your story is really vague, go make it a little more … sure. Go for it, I’ll collect Mohsin and Piyush and then we’ll be ready to go as soon as you are. Meet us at the gate.” He said and handed me the book before I could say anything , then he took off.

Now it was my turn to take off. Through the loud party that I would never attend again, from the crowd of the people I was never to see again, on the ground I would never be walking again I walked towards the girl whom I might never meet again.

There she was, Anuj wasn’t there. Yashika was standing by her side. Both talked about something.

“Hi Shivam !”, Yashika said.

“Hi Yashika.” I told her and finally looked at Ria.

“Hi.” I said to her.

“Hi !” She smiled like as beautiful as ever and my heart missed a beat again.

“I wanted to give this to you.” I told her gazing at the bold letters saying ‘The Queen Of Hearts’ on the front sheet.

I handed it to her.

“What’s this ?” She asked .

“This, this is just me fulfilling a promise.” I smiled and as she opened the page I took off, walked away. I didn’t have the courage to look back.

On my way back I smiled back to all the important people who were present in my life as pillars to my past and this story , Soham raised his glass of orange juice and smiled like Gatsby must have in his parties.

I smiled back at him.

Brenden who stood surrounded by a crowd passed me a smile and I passed one back to him.

Then I saw Tulika and her friends, she smiled at me. I nodded and smiling I walked out towards the important people who stood at the exit gate.

I found Sri , Piyush and Mohsin waiting for me.

Piyush and Mohsin were unknown of what was had I gone to do and what had I come back after doing.

“What took you so long ?” Piyush asked.

“We’ve been waiting for like 5 minutes in this scorching sun. What were you doing?” Mohsin said.

I had nothing to answer.

“He was just editing the last chapter of his book.” Sri smiled and we shared a nod.

And then I smiled because I was terrified out of excitement. We all escaped to our homes. It was just three hours later that I heard the vibrations, rather trembles of my phone.

It was time I realised that I had , ‘one new message’.

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