UGLY

♛Chapter 3♛

|ADI|

I never really liked the heat. It was hot, sticky and humid - the three things I dearly hated. I looked down at the blue smurf towel wrapped around my waist. Beads of water dropped from my wet hair on my bare chest.

This was the fifth time I took a shower yet the warm, sweaty feeling won't go away.

The weather here was pretty hot, hotter than I thought it would be. It was the middle of March and staying under the AC all evening was starting to give me a headache. The only sigh of relief was the little veranda attached to one of the bedrooms. That room was quite airy as compared to the other one.

I quickly plopped down on the bed, stretching my arms and legs. The cold breeze from outside hit against my wet skin, cooling that part momentarily. This room was beautiful, especially the view from the window. While lying down, my eyes gazed at the clear sky, the stars shining like silver dots. Who would have thought I would end up here, chilling out in a towel?

I chuckled to myself as I breathed in the fresh air. For the first time, I felt free. Free from my parents, free from all those college politics, free from my nagging girlfriend, free from my suffocating relatives and finally, free from responsibilities. I felt like I could fly as I stared at the never ending sky outside, glistening all white. The feeling of suffocation was gone.

How I wish everything remained like this.

The clock on my bedside table showed it was half past ten. The lack of sleep during the journey was slowly catching up to me. I yawned a little, rubbing my eyes in the process. However as time passed, my eyelids became heavy. The yawns kept coming back. Before I realized, they had shut down on their own.

"Father! Wait," I tried to reach out to hold his hand. I was back to my ten year old self. It was a hot summer morning. The car was parked outside. My legs were too small to keep up with his long strides. So I ran, the best I could.

I chased and chased for what felt like an eternity.

However, no matter how much I chased after the tall back of my father, his hand was always a little out of my reach. The more I tried to hold that familiar hand, the more it went beyond my grasp.

At one point, I was so far that I could no longer catch up with him. I could only watch from behind. That tall, sturdy figure which made no attempt to look back at his own son.

"Father," I called out again, as my father stepped outside. My mother was waiting out front. Her face was cold, eyes not smiling, lips pressed together. She opened the door to the car and without another word, my father got in.

"Father," I cried out, using the remaining strength in my body, "Please, don't go," I begged, tears spilling out from my baby blue eyes.

I could see his hair peeking out from the car window. His unloving eyes stared at me.

My little legs felt tired, my breath came short. I wanted to swallow but my throat felt dry.

I looked at my mother whose face remained expressionless. She stood there like a rock as the car went out of sight.

"Mother," my fingers reached out. Her familiar perfume filled my nostrils as I took a step closer. I touched the soft fabric of her sundress, the same dress that she wore at her anniversary.

"Don't touch me," she growled, smacking my hand away. I covered my throbbing hand with the other as it turned red to purple.

"Mom, why?" I asked. Her face looked like a shade of blur through my teary eyes. However, I could feel her disappointed gaze on me.

"I wish you were never born." Her tone was so cold that I stood there rooted to the ground, too terrified to move.

I blinked back the tears at the corner of my eyes as the familiar blue ceiling came into view. My heart was hammering inside my chest. I saw something that I wished I didn't. 

"Mother!" I gasped, trying to breathe. My hand shot out towards the ceiling as her fading image slipped through my fingers.

I was wide awake now. My chest tightened at the familiar feeling of suffocation. With a sharp intake of breath, I put my hand over my chest to control my uneven breathing.

However there was someone's hand already in the same exact place. It was warm and small. Shock passed my face as I tried to make out the owner of the soft hand. How come I never noticed it before?

Frantically, I looked around trying to make out what was happening. When my eyes slowly finally adjusted to the darkness, that's when I noticed. A tiny person, almost like a small pet, curled up beside me. He was too close for my liking. His hands were wrapped tightly around my torso and one of his legs were on my thigh.

Strange, how my body liked the warmth of his body against my bare skin. As I listened to his heartbeat, my own heart started to pick up the same rhythm.

"Yuvi, is that you?" I asked, clueless. The room was still dark with the moonlight only falling at the foot of the bed. My eyes drifted across his face trying to make out his features but the lack of light wasn't helping.

"Yuvi?" I jerked him a little. However, he made no movement. He just stayed there like a dead body. There was a mild stench of alcohol coming from his clothes.

"Are you drunk?" I asked but again, zero response.

"Yuvi!" I muttered, "Let me go!"

This time he murmured something under his breath. What was that? I cranked my neck to his side, pressing my ears close to his mouth. "Keya", he murmured again in his sleep.

Keya?

As I looked down skeptically at the figure in my arms who was busy murmuring a stranger's name, I exhaled a sigh. There was something wet on the side of my body where his face was snoring comfortably at his own pace. I reached out my hand to grope in the dark. The only thing I could feel were his eyes which felt wet for some reason.

Was he crying?

"Keya!" he murmured again and this time his hold tightened around me.

My mouth turned into an O as the only possible explanation came up in my mind. Girlfriend drama!

I could only hope he wasn't thinking about his girlfriend with his arms around me. As he slowly sealed the space between us completely, I tried one last time to get out of this awkward situation. But much to my dismay, he didn't even budge. He kept sleeping peacefully using me as his side pillow.

Ten minutes later, failing to wriggle out of his hold, I gave up.

With one hand around him and the other under my head, I closed my eyes again. He seemed to like it because his little body snuggled closer. For some unknown reason his breath felt very soothing. It calmed down my fast heartbeat. It made me forget my earlier nightmare.