BLOSSOM|| It Was Spring

[ 𝐈𝐈 ]

I sat in the darkness of the night trying to clear my head and emotions. Things were a mess today and life sure took a turn. I shook my head hoping it will help a bit. Thoughts circled in my head. Did I take the wrong decision by breaking up with Piyush?

"Sanju?" I looked up to face Souri.

"Souri... hi? When did u come in?" I dragged the last word as I looked at the open door. Ah, so it was open.

"How long are you going to stay here?"

"I hope that is a rhetorical question coz I have no fucking idea,"

"What is your relationship status at the moment?"

I flinched. I was trying to avoid facing this question.

"Single, I guess?" I replied trying my best to convince myself that yes, I am single.

"You are better off without that son of a bitch you know?" A new voice chimed in. 

I sighed deeply, "Are you two ghosts? When the fuck did you come?"

Aneesha smiled, "We are ghosts,"

I felt a smile spreading on my lips. 

"Ah! She is smiling !" Souri exclaimed. 

"Shut up, I'm not," I said, getting up. "Let's go back, it's late,"

"Hang on, I just reached here. Let me catch my breath," Aneesha whined.

I smiled, sitting back on the ledge. We sat in silence as the cool breeze blew. It was getting pretty comfy and I might have fallen asleep when my mother's shouting from downstairs brought us back to reality. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. 

"Are you two staying over for dinner?" I asked my best friends. It was not an unusual thing or rather it was the most normal thing. The three of us have been friends even before we learnt to speak. But despite all of that, I wanted to stay alone for tonight. I wanted to be alone and find a way to work everything out. So, when I saw them nodding their head, I found myself to be glad. 

I knew that they care about me a lot but I didn't want to trouble them. Not again. 

"We will be leaving, Sanju, but will you be okay?" Souri asked

I nodded. 

"Don't let Piyush ruin your night. You will find someone better," Aneesha added pulling me into a hug. 

"Yeah," I nodded, "I will find someone better,"

Souri looked at her phone and sighed, "Now we really need to go, Annie,"

Aneesha released me from the hug. We made our way downstairs, closing the door of the roof behind us. 

***

I sat down on my bed. It sure felt weird going to sleep without texting Piyush 'Good night' or 'I love you'. Now, you may wonder why on earth did this girl break up if she loved her boyfriend, I mean, ex-boyfriend, so dearly. The answer is simple. He cheated on me. Not once, not twice but thrice. It almost felt like I wasted two years behind someone who didn't even look at me for what I am.

I sighed again. Lately, that's all I have been doing. I felt something warm roll down my cheeks, am I crying? I rubbed it off but more started spilling. I broke down into tears. I hated the feeling of helplessness that embraced me. Maybe I should have let Souri and Aneesha stay. But, they warned me about Piyush long back and I did not listen. Piyush is known for playing girls but I thought I knew him because he is also one of my first friends. Friends, the word suddenly became foreign to me. Do I have friends? Another thought suddenly sprung into my head, where are my best friends now? It was rare for them to skip out on dinner because my mom is an excellent cook. Are they doing something without me?

I closed my eyes trying to block these thoughts and should have fallen asleep because I have no idea about what happened after that. When I opened my eyes it was already morning. I looked at the clock. Fuck. I'm going to be late. It took me around half an hour to get ready and reach school. Aneesha and Souri were waiting for me in the classroom. They waved as I approached them. "We were betting on the fact you will come or not," a deep voice was heard from behind me. I turned around to face the speaker.

"As if I miss school, Mr Cyandeep" I replied.

Sayandeep laughed.

"She never misses school does she?" Rajannya asked. Souri moved from where she was standing so that she can see me.

"Nope, never. Unless I'm dying. That is a different issue," I laughed. My laughter was short-lived because Piyush entered the class. He looked at our group. Even without looking, I could feel the rest glaring at him. Not bad. He deserves it after all. He gave a nervous laugh and went to his friends.

Things were going pretty smoothly until the break. I was walking back to my friends when Piyush suddenly blocked my path.

"Can we talk?" he asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"About what?" I asked back as coldly as I can.

"Us," he replied.

I shook my head. I'm not giving in anymore. No, not again.

"Please?"

"Stop. Please, stop." I tried to walk past him and tripped.

A pair of strong hands caught me. Great, and all I wanted was a normal day. I turned and realized how close we were standing. I almost felt his breath. He leaned in to kiss me. My body inched forward as if in a trance. 'No. No- this isn't happening.' a single thought brought me back to reality. I pushed him away.

"We cannot do this,"

"We can't?" his voice was so sad that it broke me.

I shook my head again, "No,"

Thoughts circled my head, 'Why is this happening? What am I doing wrong?" I felt warm tears rolling down my cheeks once again.

Piyush tried to touch my hand. I flinched and moved backwards.

"Dude, back off," somebody suddenly came and stood before me, "She is not liking this."

I looked up, surprised. It took a fraction of a second for my reaction to change from surprise to shock as I realized who my protector was.