Approx 5 years 2 months before D-day...
"You look beautiful" I peeked through my corner eyes while brushing the stubborn tangles of my hair to find him leaning against the door with a charming smile. He was wearing white shirt over black fitted jeans and a charcoal colored blazer and was looking like a male model. Focus Amy!
"You are late" I spoke flatly without acknowledging his presence and continued looking at the mirror. I could hear his low chuckle before I felt two hands grabbing my waist from behind and his nose in the crook of my shoulders.
"Mmm..You smell good too baby! Are you trying to kill me here?" he murmured against my hair and I felt my resolve breaking. How can you stay angry with a guy who talks like this!
I sighed and turned to tangle my arms around his shoulder blades while he held me by my waist. "You know it's really difficult to stay angry when you talk like this!"
"I know" he smirked and I giggled at his cockiness. "But seriously Amy! Why so much effort for a school farewell party?" he looked down at my peacock blue knee-length dress with a white satin ribbon in the middle.
"Come on Vee! It's your higher secondary farewell and just look at you! To stand beside someone like you...the girl had to look at least ..something" I shrugged and he shook his head in amusement. What?
"Oh! You have got it all wrong babe! The only person anyone would be looking at tonight..is you. I will be having a hard time in not getting into a brawl because of you" he sighed dramatically and I giggled.
"You are too adorable when jealous" I kissed him on his cheek when he pouted at my amusement.
"Tell you what! Let's take tonight's farewell party as a trial run" he tightened his hold on me and pulled me flush against his chest. "If it works out okay and my caveman instincts are subdued..we can go to other parties.. but if not..then any other farewell or prom or whatever thing, we will celebrate them alone..just you and me" he raised an eyebrow and bent down to kiss me but I turned my head.
"Oh really! You mean that..two years later..when I have my higher secondary farewell, we will celebrate it alone?"
"Aah..huh!" he nodded his head.
"And what makes you think that you..are going to be my date even after two years?" I smirked and he jerked his hold to pull me even tighter against him.
"Sweetheart...I..and only I am going to be your date for all the future events in your life, whether you like it or not" he spoke with finality and I smiled at his possessiveness.
"Yes you are! I tightened my hold on his shoulders and brought him closer for the kiss I had evaded earlier.
I opened my eyes to find myself standing in front of my mirror, getting ready for yet another farewell but unfortunately, without a date. It was my higher secondary farewell but he was not here to keep his end of the promise. Oh! What will I give to celebrate this day all alone with him!
I looked down at my blue skin-fitted denims and white lacy top. I knew that it was going to look too plain in front of my peers but I didn't care. I was only going to the party because..well..I don't know! May be because I was the only girl on the face of this earth who had managed to shoo away an important person from her life...twice!
I had been miserable and crappy and depressed for the last one month would be the understatement of the century. It was all planned in my head when I stubbornly threw the "we are over" line on my best friend's face. I was supposed to forget about the one year friendship and therapy and move on to more important aspect of my life..to pass on the next 1913 days. However, what I didn't provision was the fact that Sarthak was...he was so..sweet and honest and caring...and that I would miss him..a lot!
I had maintained the angry charade for a week after our fight but my resolve to hate him started breaking when I heard the local school gossip about the big fight between him and Aditi at the cafeteria over me. I don't know why..but I felt a level of satisfaction in the fact that if he was not talking to me...then Aditi didn't get his attention as well. In spite of my dissolving anger, I skipped that first Sunday of therapy after the fight out of...pride..I guess!
However then came the news of his successful orientation of Psychology. One of my classmates who also happens to be a candidate of the orientation program informed me later that his speech was the best among all the other candidates and nowhere did he use me as a case-study. In fact, when he was asked about the people who inspires him to be a psychologist, he did mention a special friend who according to him was a fighter, and gives him a different view-point for life. Like me, every other student in the school had guessed that he was talking about me.
There is no way to express how shitty I felt at that point of time. I decided that if found a chance, I would lose my so-called ego and talk to him..even apologize to him. But there I was wrong...again. Apparently, Sarthak had long moved on from our friendship and had no interest in mending our relationship. He started ignoring me in class when I sat next to him after a long time, he didn't talk to me when I sat next to him at lunch and simply walked away from the table, he didn't even look at me when I dragged my bike alongside his, while riding home from school. I was on the verge on crying when two weeks earlier he caught up to me in the corridors, and when I thought that his stubbornness is finally breaking down, he explicitly told me that he won't be counselling me anymore and I should not come to his place again. A tear slipped through my eyes as he walked away that day.
So here I was, with all my self-wallowing and loneliness, going to a party I didn't want to, just to see a boy, who refused to talk to me anymore, due to my sheer, utter stupidity.
Way to go, Amara...
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Unlike my previous school in Madhupur, I hadn't made much friends in this school in the last two years. Sarthak had been my only stagnant in this cluster of students..had being the operative word here. Apart from him, people I used to speak to were too-oblivious-to-talk Devesh and back-stabbing-bitch Aditi. Yup! So it was obvious for me to stand all alone at the entrance of the party venue, when others were gathered around in groups, chatting and laughing.
I took a deep breath and entered our school atrium converted into a neon-themed party venue and as I passed the gates, two girls clad in neon tattoos and showing indecent amount of skin for a school party, thrust neon head gear and hand bands in my hands.
"Hundred bucks for both. You can't deny them..they are compulsory" the taller girl shouted over the music nonchalantly.
"I..I.." I was taken aback for a moment and cannot seem to form a word due to which their exasperation grew.
"Are you deaf? We asked for hundred bucks" the shorter girl literally shouted at me and I hurriedly withdrew a hundred note from my sling bag and handed over to the taller girl. She snatched the note and left me standing there all alone. There goes my Uber ride! Now I will have to take a bus home at this hour of the night..Why didn't I bring my bike? You are such a gone case, Amy!
I stopped dwelling upon the fact that I was cunningly looted in the first minute of my arrival at this party and moved further inside the atrium. A long bar-styled table with high chairs was set at one side of the hall although it only served fruit punches and soft drinks. The opposite side of the drinks section constituted the makeshift dance floor, where around fifty students were bouncing right now. I, obviously, chose the drinks section and perched myself on one of the empty chairs before grabbing a nearby pink colored drink from the bar.
I looked over the whole atrium to identify any similar face, one in particular, when my eyes felt upon one of the bouncing figures on the dance floor with long disheveled hair. Sarthak was among that cluster of mad students dancing funnily to the latest Bollywood track. In spite of our current situation, I found myself smiling at his carefreeness. However, with happiness came a tinge of sadness about the fact that I was no more a part or reason of his celebrations.
I knew it was creepy to sit all alone and shamelessly gawk at a particular person in a party, but anything seemed better than locking myself up in my room on a Saturday night and crying upon my boyfriend who was more than five years away. Sarthak may have sensed that he was being watched, since he suddenly stopped moving and turned his head my way, looking right into my eyes. My heartbeat escalated by his gaze. First time...first time in almost a month, he had looked directly into my eyes.
My joy was short lived, as from nowhere, Aditi appeared in my vision area who turned Sarthak's head with a hand on his cheek to make him break eye contact with me and give her his undivided attention. Sarthak, as if breaking out of a haze, looked at her and after a moment broke out in a Sarthak-special grin. She murmured something in his ears to which he laughed out loud and started dancing, this time the bitch in tow. I felt anger welling up my insides and I swallowed down the whole drink in one go, to cool myself down. How dare she? First she talked me against my best friend (well..not exactly talked me against since I was eavesdropping), humiliated me publicly in front of the school, calling me a zombie and charity case and now...she was dancing and laughing with my best friend! And..and what is wrong with HIM? How can he dance with the enemy? Didn't they have a fight in cafeteria, a few days back? Urrghh!
I grabbed another drink and swallowed down in one go. Stupid..Stupid girl! You should never have come here! Meanwhile, two girls from my maths tuition joined me at the bar.
"Hey Amara! How are you? I heard you got the highest marks in the last month's Mathematics Olympiad. Great job..Congratulations" Rohini, I think her name was, squealed with excitement, shaking my hand rigorously. I smiled at her enthusiasm and for the first time in the evening, felt a boost for my self-confidence.
"Thank you! I love maths" I replied unsure of what more to say. The fact was that the Olympiad was a cup of tea in front of the level of sums I have already solved.
"You are so smart.." the other girl exclaimed and my pride boosted up some more. See Sarthak! I don't need you! "Come..dance with us.." she pulled at me to drag me towards the dance floor. I glanced at my former best friend to find him oblivious of my presence and dancing freely with the bitch-troll. I felt irritated at his behavior and decided to enjoy myself without any second thoughts.
As three of us reached the other corner of the dance floor, both the girls started bouncing to the tunes of the song whereas I stayed non-moving. What the hell am I doing? I am dancing here when my boyfriend is in prison and my best friend is not talking to me! I turned to move out of the dance floor area but got blocked by a big chest. Shit! Rajiv!
"So..the little pigeon is without her bodyguard today, huh!" he sneered in his patent disgusting way and caught hold of my right arm hurtfully. "I had been waiting since two years for this opportunity".
I won't lie..I was very, very scared at that moment and could not bring myself to frame words. I turned to my new-found friends for help but they were nowhere to be found. Traitors! I turned back to look at my offender and found a ridiculous smirk on his face from the fact that now, I was at his mercy.
"Leave me, Rajiv" I managed somehow but like any other D-grade movie villain, he laughed at me and started dragging me towards the exit. If I shout, I doubted anyone would be able to hear me. I was jerking up and down trying to escape from his hold, when I felt a firm hand snake around my upper arm of the other hand.
"Any problem here, Firebolt?" his voice was like a bucket of fresh water in the dessert of my miseries. Firebolt! He called me Firebolt..
Rajiv, however unhappy by this intrusion, held me tighter and pulled me against him. "This is non of your business, chocolate boy!" he spat at Sarthak to which the latter chuckled. Seriously! Chuckled!
"You see Pea-brain! This girl...whose hand you had grabbed so hurtfully...anything related to her..IS.MY.BUSINESS.."Sarthak spoke in a don't-mess-with-me voice. Rajiv jerked my hand away at this comment and came with full force on Sarthak.
"I'll show you who is Pea-brain" he spoke through gritted teeth before shooting a well-planned punch on Sarthak's left eye. He jerked back from the impact but to my shock didn't fell down on the ground. I shouted my friend's name in panic that finally brought everyone's attention to the impending fight.
I was about to interfere and drag Sarthak out of this mess when my friend landed a strong punch at Rajiv's stomach, who fell down on the ground by the impact. And then, all hell broke lose!
Damn it! Way to go, Amara!
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