P. M. | Completed

3 # it'll hurt anyway

Chapter 3:- It'll Hurt Anyway

It was just about midnight, when I reopened my course material on 'Chemical Coordination Of Human Body'. This had cost about ten percent of my monthly paycheck from university tutoring. If it was not worth it, I was going to shave the professor's hair who recommended this. Not that he had much of it anyways.

And it began. Reading, making sense, sticking coloured notes on pages, listing doubts, marking important parts, referring hardly legible class notes and whatnot.

In the midst of Aldosterone, I jerked to the sound of my cell phone ringing. I checked the time on the small digital clock on my table, 2:26 am. Who'd call me this late?

My brain worked too fast as I walked towards the phone, lying on my bed. Lizza's flashed on the screen. Lizza never called me this late. She was an early riser, hardly a night owl like me.

Please let everything be okay. God, please.

Once I picked up she said, "Hello? You dead? No calls, no messages, nothing? You didn't even ask me how my field research went."

I heaved a sigh of relief and set my pounding heart to rest. "You scared me."

"Ugh. Look who's talking. You haven't called in forever."

I crawled into the bed, replied, "Been busy. How was your research?"

"My research was mighty fine. How are you?"

"Good. Did you receive my gift?"

"Holy fucking shit. I loved it!! Guess what? I wore it!!"

"Where?" I asked. Her excitement was contagious, even through the phone.

"The annual function at our uni. And the handbag! Heels! My god, Norah! Must've cost you big bucks."

"Yeah, yeah...talking as if you didn't want me to spend 'big bucks' on your birthday." I air quoted, like she could see me.

"Oh hell if you'd sent me a message, it would've sufficed. But, nevertheless please, please don't do so. The dress was so pretty that Jason asked me out." she said.

"Again??" I exclaimed. This guy was asking her out since forever. But, Lizza was... just not interested anymore, I guess.

"YES!! I swear to God, he's so fucking infuriating. This time, he did it in front of the entire student body. If Mom catches even a smell of this drama...." she let her sentence trail off. We both knew what would happen.

"She won't know, trust me." I tried to reassure her. But, hell, I couldn't even convince myself.

"You kidding? I'm not a 1000 miles away like you, babe. People know people here. One overly social parent or a student could single handedly destroy my life." she worried. And I didn't even have enough optimism left in me.

"True. So, instead think about the solutions to this hypothetical problem. Atleast when the time comes, you'll have something in your defense." I replied, now thinking logically.

"My 4.0 GPA is too proud to admit that I did not understand your formal terms." she said.

I chuckled, "Summon your 4.0 GPA to stalk this Jason guy. He must've done something wrong. Gather a list of his..."

"sins and use it to justify how this guy is an asshole. Got it." she completed.

Yes, we were plotting to reject this guy. Apparently, Jason was smart enough, decent, and his parents made good bucks. Knowing my mother, she'd imagine him as a perfect boyfriend for my sister. And she could be very, very pervasive.