Taken for Granted

Chapter 8 - College

Final Year

Vivian never called me. I thought I had impressed her by deducting that she was participating in a Science Olympiad as well as figuring that the day was her birthday, not to mention helping her with her exhibition drone. A normal schoolgirl would have been left in awe with half of those, but I guess Vivian is used to guys approach her and play the mentalist card.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear my room door creak open. I see my roommate get in and bolt the door with an unusual urgency. I sense that something's up. He makes his way to his bed and looks at me "Can you keep a secret?"

"You know I can." I sit up straight on my bed.

He had picked up a girl from the Girl's School last year. She was in Twelfth back then and is doing college this year. She apparently found a guy in campus and my roommate did not take it very well.

"They say this..." he reaches into his back pocket "... is the perfect solution to a heartbreak."

My heart is in my mouth when I see what he holds. That same round tablet I was offered in eleventh grade. I look from the tablet to my roommate's face.

"Don't." Is all I manage to get out.

"I thought you wouldn't approve." He sighs.

"Look bro... this is a road you don't wanna take!"

"I think I'll be the judge of that." He dismisses.

"Dude this is not the answer." I know I'm sounding really cliché here, but I mean every word.

"I spent two fulls and a half on this, no way I'm throwing it away."

"But..."

"Enough! My body my decision! End of discussion!" He screams.

I'm appalled at his outburst. I didn't know that he was hurting so much on the inside. I guess this is the kind of time that people turn to drugs, when they can't get a grip on their emotions. I wish I had noticed his plight earlier.

"And what do you even know about love!" He scoffs.

His anger stems from the intense pain that lies underneath. If only I had seen his pain before it progressed to such an excruciating threshold.

"I know because I have been in your exact situation!" There is a devilish certainty to my voice. I don't know if it is anger or the bottled up emotions relating to Noora that I feel even to this day. "Two fulls and a half you say? Well a full is a thousand and a half is half of it: five hundred." Rupees.

He looks taken aback at my knowledge of drug lingo.

"I got the same for a single full in eleventh." Eleventh grade. "And I must tell you, you just got ripped off. I'm pretty sure you could get two for the price you paid but that is not the point." I sigh and continue "This little tablet has the potential to ruin your life permanently! Once you take it, it is nearly impossible to stop. You can't even if you want to! You'll lose everything... just like me."

"What?" There's a look of surprise on his face.

"I turned to exactly that," I point to his hand holding the tablet "one day under similar circumstances. And I must tell you I lost everything! It was only thanks to police intervention that I'm here today! Otherwise I'd probably be rotting away on the streets right now. Nobody will want you when they know you're a drug addict. And all you'll be left with are other addicts and peddlers, who'll turn on you one day. Listen, take this advice from me... whatever you're going through, this is ten times worse!"