Noah held my hand looking at me with the utmost sad face. I gave an assuring smile holding his arm. It’s the day when he had to leave. He was really sad. No, more than that.
He was outside of my home leaning to his bike. He said “I’ll miss you, Stella.”
I nodded my head saying “I’ll miss you too, Noah. Thanks for everything.” I smiled.
“Thanks?” He questioned.
“Yeah! For the efforts you made to make me come out of my depressed thoughts, for taking me out, for making me laugh and all other things. Our relationship grew within few days, Noah.” I replied.
He smiled listening to me. He said “I’ll meet you soon.”
He sat on his bike holding the bike handles. His baggage was neatly arranged at the sides and back of his bike. He looked like a traveller.
“Drive safe. I don’t understand why you won’t take train or something else.” I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t want to leave my bike here. My favourite.” He replied.
We then talked for few minutes and he started to drive off.
“Call me once you go to your room.” I said and he nodded his head. He then dashed off in jet speed.
I felt really disheartened seeing him go away from me. I started walking inside my home but I stopped when I heard Anna’s voice. She was coming towards me.
“So the thing is I need to go for shopping.” Anna said while walking with me to my room.
We both sat on the bed and I replied “We’ll go later. I’m not in the mood to go out anywhere.” I lay on my bed with my eyes opened, looking at the ceiling.
She lay beside me asking “What happened now? Please don’t tell me you are thinking about Harry.”
I let out a sigh saying “Noah left for his college. I don’t feel good.”
“So the thinking moved from Harry to Noah?” She gave a teasing smile wiggling her eyebrows.
I gave her an angry look shouting “Shut up, Anna. Do not compare them both. Noah is my friend just like you. Don’t you know that? How can you talk like all others?”
“What’s wrong in it, Stella? See, Noah is a good guy. You had been a close friend to him all the time, since childhood. I feel he is good for you.”
“Can you just stop your stupid talk? I don’t have such type of feelings on Noah and he too doesn’t have anything on me. We were friends, we are friends and we will be friends.”
Anna rolled her eyes saying “Fine leave it. Atleast you are thinking less about Harry and less depressed. That’s enough.”
I may project like I got over him, Anna. But my heart is still aching. I told myself looking at her.
“How about shopping now?” She asked again.
Before I opened my mouth to answer anything, she made her cute puppy face. I slammed my forehead with my palm and accepted to go with her.
Weeks passed but Harry’s and mine distance didn’t change but my relationship with Noah kept increasing all the time. We constantly kept texting and talking to each other. He started coming to the town more often than ever before.
Though I completely stopped talking to Harry my relationship with granny didn’t change even a bit. I kept meeting her at her house or she often visits my home or outside. I should tell you the look Harry always gave me when I went to his house for granny… damn! I can find nearly a million curses and feel like he was hitting me with a rod trillion times just with his look.
Between all these things, I experienced a most embarrassing situation. The family dinner. When Harry’s parents arrived the town, they planned a dinner where Harry and I were there too. I tried so much to not go there but you knew my mom, right? Do I need to explain more?
Everyone, who were present at the dinner knew we both had a fight and they tried the hell to make us both talk to eachother thinking us as kids. I wonder how they would react if they know what happened between us. Okay, I should tell you a truth. I thought to talk to Harry many times but I didn’t because I was afraid he would break my heart again and I couldn’t handle that.
That day was not only embarrassing to me but was painful because Granny went unconscious all of a sudden. Everyone was tensed and more than any of us Harry was scared. He was losing his control seeing granny on the hospital bed. I saw his reddened face, trembling hands as well as watery eyes.
Looking at him, my eyes pooled with water. At that moment I felt like going near him and pacify him hugging so tight while assuring him everything would get better. I even made steps towards him forgetting everything but before I did that, the doctor said granny was alright. He immediately ran inside the room and sat beside granny holding her hand.
Harry suggested to take granny to some other places and give any advanced treatment but we all knew it was of no use. Everything was done before they arrived the town. When the doctor said she had only few years in her hands, Harry went aggressive on him. That was Harry. He always go to extremes. Extreme love that no one could show. That is what I wanted. I wanted him to love me to the level of extreme. Think about me as insane but I was still waiting for him to accept me. If he say he loves me, I may accept him without going for second thoughts. I realized love makes a sane person, insane. A saint to a sinner.
After few days of that, Noah came to town at the time of woods party. The party kept reminding me of all the things that happened from the start.
My mom and dad went out of the town as they needed to attend the wedding of one of my distant relatives. I escaped from that telling I had an important college works and my parents too didn’t force me to go with them so I was relaxed. Come on, who will go to the weddings if the people present there not close to us? Moreover they said they were going to stay there for two or three days.
Noah was insisting me to go to the party with him but I didn’t say I would go there with him.
I was in my room talking to Anna. She was trying to make me go with her to the party though I was throwing daggers at her with my looks. How many times she wanted to go there? God!
“Please. Please. Your parents also not here to say anything.” She held my hands pleading.
“Anna, come on! I don’t want to go there. It reminds me of him.” I said putting my palms on my face.
“Whatever place I say, whatever food I order, you always kept saying it reminds you of him. Come on, it’s been really a long time.”
“Anna! Think, you have to come up with another lie to your mom if you want to go there. Why can’t you understand?” I shouted.
“Why can’t you understand, Stella?” I heard Noah’s voice and we both looked at the door entrance. Noah stood there crossing his arms, leaning to the door.
He walked to us asking “Anna kept pleading you but you are so stubborn.” He narrowed his eyebrows.
“Noah?” I rolled my eyes. He sat on the bed beside me.
They both kept asking but I kept saying no.
Noah let out a sigh saying “I came to the town just to go the party with you though I had a project to do.”
I narrowed my eyebrows asking “You came to go there?”
He nodded his head saying “Yes. To go with you.”
“What? But why?” I was confused.
He became silent not answering anything. He seemed he was lost in his thoughts. Anna and I looked at eachother with shocked faces.
“Noah?” I patted his hand.
He replied “I always wanted to go there with you. Since our high school. But I left the town and rest you know. This time I don’t want to miss it.”
“You are not joking, are you?” I looked at him with wide eyes.
“Of course not. I’m serious. Now tell me, are you going there with us? For us? For me?” he asked.
I scoffed hearing him. I looked at them both, who were waiting to hear ‘Yes’ from me. I shook my head annoyed.
After their begging and pleading for many minutes, I said “You guys… fine. I will.” I smiled. Their faces lit up hearing my answer. They spent few hours with me and left.