1.3 | Heartbreaks For Sale

01.

A/N:

First chapter of Heartbreaks for Sale is here. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Don't forget to vote <3

Updates will be spontaneous.

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AKSHARA ZIM WAS BEAUTIFUL. She knew it, her friends knew it and so did every other person who ever laid their eyes on her. But without striding in her Jimmy Choos, swinging her designer handbags or wearing expensive sunglasses even when it's not hot, the road to attaining popularity in WFCA was not a piece of cake. Good thing that instead of money, she had something more attractive.

Akshara exhaled positivity and smeared glitters of instant comfort with every word that fell off her lips and every smile she wore that popularity itself surrendered under her feet like an obedient slave. There was no one in WFCA who didn't know who Akshara was. Or so she thought.

"God, it's freezing," she shivered, rubbing her palms and jumping onto the couch where Jasper was curled up. Jasper was her ex-crush, now best friend. He was a recent victim of heartbreak, the kind that was very familiar to her.

Jasper shifted to make space for her. When she took a peek at his phone, he found him swiping through pictures of him and his ex-girlfriend, Airaa. Akshara sighed, wishing she could drag Airaa back and dump her in Jasper's arms. Even though she harboured the biggest crush on Jasper during the time, she grew to adore them together. It was a shame Airaa had to leave. Akshara thought she was the coolest person.

"You've got to stop doing that," Akshara said, snatching the phone away from him. "She told you she isn't going to call you. Stop waiting for it."

"But what if she changes her mind?" he asked, snatching the phone back from her.

"You and Airaa share your stubbornness. We both know that. And that is why this is the last time I am telling you to stop," she said, tucking her palms under her armpits to find warmth.

Jasper didn't reply. With a thick sigh, he threw the phone on the side table and webbed his fingers behind his head. "I forgot to ask. Have you taken the potion yet?" He glanced at her in question.

The soulmate potion. After years and years of almost-true-loves and harsh we-are-overs, Akshara found the potion that Airaa sold to be the ultimate solution. But it was a tricky little thing, that potion. After consuming it, it only worked for 23 days. In 23 days, if she crossed her soulmate, she would know it through her strongest sense. Jasper told her the feeling was similar to a sugar rush, only this one made you giddy with warmth and emotional overwhelm.

The first time Akshara drank it, it didn't work. Meaning, she was just unlucky. She assumed that maybe her soulmate wasn't even in West Filwa, and was studying his ass off in some top university. Or her soulmate was probably taking a gap year and travelling the world. Without her. Whatever it was, the potion and her hard-earned money went for a total waste.

But Airaa had gifted her a last vial of the potion before she left town. The potion should be consumed only once in a year; the waiting time ended last September. It had been two months since then, but Akshara hadn't gotten the courage to drink it again until last week. With no feelings of connection from her soulmate for seven days, she was already beginning to regret it, thinking she should have waited some more.

"Yeah, I did. Last week," she said, looking anywhere but at him. She didn't want to face the pity he offered her.

"There are 20 more days. You will find your person, Akshara. Don't worry," he consoled her.