FLAWED | √

¶ CHAPTER 14 ¶

NAAZ

They say pain doesn't always heal, sometimes you just have to learn to live with it. And this is what I am doing. Not from today but for years. I have a very old and deep connection with this word. Since childhood, I saw nothing but pain. But the worst thing was that I had no one to share that pain with. And as I grew older, I started to think that pain was really a small word for me.

Even today when my aunt punished me by not giving me food, it didn't hurt me much. Since childhood, I'm habitual to stay hungry and stay in pain, alone. She thinks, because of me, Sushi's friends don't talk to her like before. 'What is my fault in this?' I didn't even see him after that day. Neither did I go to the pond nor did he come after me. Then where am I wrong?

She doesn't even care that I'm starving since morning and also I didn't eat anything last night. But as usual, I didn't dare to utter a word against her. Wiping my eyes, I laid down as my eyelids were getting heavier and then I don't know when I fell asleep.

I opened my eyes in a jerk due to the constant knock at the door. Looking outside the window, I realized it was dark and maybe I was sleeping for two-three hours.

I got up when I heard the knock again and made my way towards the door, having the thought, it might be uncle and he must have brought food for me as like others he can't keep calm living me hungry. Even due to me he often fights with aunt, I don't appreciate it. I never want them to!

As soon as I opened the door, to my shock, it was not my uncle but it was him who got hurt that day due to me, whom I didn't see for the past few days, whom I didn't expect to come after that day. After knowing my truth! After knowing I was a curse!

"Tusi ethe?" (You here?) I frowned, as I opened the door and saw him standing there, along with his friend, with a sheepish smile on his face. That smile made an unknown feeling cross my heart, something I couldn't explain as I never had experienced it before.

Deewani tu meri...

Main Tera paagal piya...

I was so shocked with the thought of why was he present? I did not expect him to come, especially at this hour. That day when they came to know about me being a misfortune, I was so hurt, but along with that, I felt so relieved that he wouldn't come after me and would not get into any kind of trouble again due to me.

That's the reason I stopped going to the pond to pray, with the thought of what would happen if we accidentally collided with each other again and also, even if my aunt come to know about it, she would not spare me.

'But what is he doing here? What if he again gets hurt due to me?'

But at the same time, it would be an understatement, if I say, I did not feel a ting of happiness inside me. From the past few days, not seeing him around, I thought that he too ran away from me like others. Like others he also thought that I am a curse, that's why he had stopped chasing. But I was wrong! Maybe he is not like others. If he was, then he would not have been in front of me. 'But how can I be happy seeing him around? This is wrong.'

I snapped back to reality when the person beside him, waved at me and mumbled something into the foreign language.

A sudden wave of panic aroused inside me when my aunt's thought crossed my mind and I was about to close the door on their face when he pushed the door a little while saying, "Don't worry your aunt knows that we are here."

'Strange! How does he know what I was thinking?'

"Kyunki tumhare chehre ka dar saf bata raha hai," he again read my mind, which shocked me.