Hate and Harmony (On Hold)

Chapter Eight

As soon as the bell rang, he got up and left the class. I packed my bag and walked outside. He was leaning with his back against the wall and whistling leisurely. He had my bracelet that he was swirling in his fingers, very aware that I was looking at him. I knew he was trying to provoke me and it was working.

"Give me that!" I hissed unable to bear any more of this nonsense.

And of course, he again ignored me and started tossing and catching it in mid-air.

My phone beeped and for a bliss moment to ignore the person in front of me, I checked my message.

It was from Gul 'Aliya, where are you? The bus is about to leave.'

I texted back; 'Gul, you go home. Don't worry about me. I'll take a cab home. I'll explain everything later.'

I put the phone back, took a deep breath and said as calmly as I could,
"Shahwaiz, I gave you your hoodie back so now it's your turn to give me back my bracelet," I smiled forcefully at him.

He looked up at me and said with a smile, with an actual smile! "Hmm let me think about it."

"Okay...," I replied, hopeful that he'll finally return it.

He continued playing with my bracelet. A minute passed. Another minute. And another. Annoyed, I said, "Well?"

"Uhh.....No," he turned his smile into a sneer, "You want this?" holding up the bracelet, "Then go and get it," and he threw the bracelet out of the window.

"How dare you!" I yelled rushing to the window.  I looked down at my poor bracelet which was stuck in a bush.

"Oops," Shahwaiz said, giving me a mocking look of pity.

"Ugh! I hate you!" I yelled at him and he just shrugged. I resisted the urge to slap him again, which makes it twice today and went outside to get my bracelet. I looked around frantically and after a couple of minutes, I saw it glinting in the sunlight. I was about to pick it up when someone snatched it from the tips of my fingers.

"You thought I'll give it back that easily?," Shahwaiz said.

Wait a minute, how did he get here so fast?

Shahwaiz raised an eyebrow at my dumbfounded expression and said, "You have to take it from me," and ran towards the gymnasium, leaving me stumbling after him. He threw the doors open and dashed inside the room, gracefully jumping over every obstacle and hurdles like a parkour master.

"Show off," I called out to him, making my way carefully but swiftly towards him, doing my best to avoid all the hurdles.

His evil laugh echoed in the gymnasium, which was empty except for me and that reckless brat.

I picked up pace and ran faster and just when I was about to catch up with him, my stupid fuzzy boot got stuck in a hurdle, there was a short sensation of falling, then I landed face first on the ground. Without standing I could tell that I'd twisted my ankle. I gave a small yelp of pain as I tried to move my feet.

"Really? I thought you had more in you or was this bracelet not precious enough?" Shahwaiz said,  looking at me, unaware of the fact that I'd just twisted my ankle. Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to stand up fell down again. It was impossible to get up but I couldn't just give up, That bracelet was more than a piece of jewelry for me. A lot more. It was the only thing that gave me comfort and courage whenever I felt sick of life. Without it I felt incomplete. I tried to get up again but failed.

Damn it!

I looked up at him, with tears blurring my vision, and saw him coming towards me. I gulped realizing that I was in the gymnasium alone, with a guy. All sorts of negative thoughts were racing through my mind.

''Don't...don't....come near me," I said trying to make my voice sound strong but failing miserably. He stopped right in front of me.

"I said don't-"

"Sshhh"

He cut me off as he kneeled down in front me. He was so close to me that I could inhale the familiar scent of leather and apple cider. Way too close or my liking. His hands reached out towards my leg and I pulled myself away from him, causing another dash of pain to erupt from ankle. I pursed my lips trying not to yelp in pain.

"Get away from me!", I said between my sobs. He cautiously scooted closer and sat down on the floor, with his hand in front of him and his palms towards me.

"Hey listen, I'm not gonna hurt you okay...", he said softly, like I was an injured little animal and he didn't want to scare me.

"Now you need to calm down, so take deep breaths and relax." I did as told and took three deep breaths and felt my body relax.

"I...I'm just gonna take a look at your leg. Okay?"

I nodded. Then he straightened my leg out carefully, removed my shoe and softly held my sore ankle in his hands, examining it. I winced as he perched my foot on his folded leg. I watched as he gently poked at different points around my ankle, asking me if it hurt there and I told him that it didn't. I winced when he poked the point behind my ankle, just above my heel.

He looked up at me, then at my ankle and suddenly twisted it hard.

AAARRGHHH!

Closing my eyes, I cried out, the pain piercing through my leg. But the pain had gone as soon as it came. I opened my eyes slowly and saw Shahwaiz getting up from in front me. I moved my ankle left and right expecting another jolt of pain but none came.

Amazed, I looked up at him and said, "Thank you!". But without saying anything, he turned to leave.

"Hey wait, what about my bracelet!?", I called to his retreating back. He stopped, turned his head towards me and said, "Maybe you should check your wrist. It looks a bit blue.", and left.

Huh!

Confused, I looked down at my wrist and was left astonished to find my precious pale blue bracelet glittering on it. A huge grin spread over my face and I hugged my bracelet to my chest.

Yesss! I finally have it back!

I stood up. The pain in my ankle had completely gone. I went outside to find a cab. After a few minutes I was sitting in a cab, on my way home, thinking about what had just happened. This guy was hella confusing. One moment he was hell bent on annoying the crap out of me. And the other, he was kindly nursing my sore ankle. And maybe, just maybe it was just my imagination but I think I saw a hint of guilt and concern in his eyes when he was examining my ankle. And maybe that's why he gave the bracelet back so easily. His behaviour was really hard to understand.But I decided that I had had my fair share of distress for today. And also for now, I was just really happy that for whatever reason, he had given me my bracelet back. That was all that mattered.

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Hi guyyyys! Hope you are all in the best of health and happiness :)

So here's another chapter. We hope you enjoyed it! :D

And can anyone guess, from where we got the inspiration for this ankle healing scene?

Hint hint: Us desi folks have seen this Bollywood movie probably a hundred times as kids! ;)

The first person to answer correctly wins a cookie! yummm!

And please don't forget to vote!

Lots of love,
-Wewriters