Varun's POV

I was on my bed. It was night time. For a long time now, these two had been a deadly combination for me. They made me want to kill myself everytime they came together. It was as if they whispered into my ears the horrible condition my life was in, everytime I wanted to sleep. They made me feel sorry for myself.

Then what was happening today? They were clearly not doing their jobs well. Their whispers were overshadowed by my achievements today. All of a sudden, I wanted to live. All of a sudden, I wanted to see the sun rise. I wanted to wake up in the morning.

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A hard kick landed on my stomach. The air got knocked out of me as I struggled to breath. But I couldn't let them know that.

Someone lifted me by my collar. It was Ashish, most probably. Not that I could tell. Dark spots were dancing around my eyes.

"This'll teach you." The person holding me said. And it was Mohit, not Ashish.

I was pushed hard to the wall. A blunt edge hit my back and I immediately winced. I knew it was the red brick.

Honestly, I had been beaten up in the dark corner so many times, that I now knew this place like the back of my hand. Not something to be proud of, but it was a fact I couldn't deny.

Multiple feet stomped on me, and I felt an excruciating pain on my shoulder and stomach. I tried getting out but it was of no use. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my teeth to stop myself from screaming. I couldn't give them that pleasure.

The beatings finally stopped. My eyes were still closed. I didn't dare to open them, fearing they would find a new reason to beat me up.

My entire body ached. But I knew this was only going to get worse in a few minutes.

"You will never open your mouth again. Got it?" Ashish asked.

I didn't say anything. I feared anything I said would get them riled up and they'd beat me up again.

"I asked, did you get it!" Ashish shouted.

"Y-y-yes." I said, stammering.

"Good." Mohit said and slapped my shoulder. I winced.

"Whoops." Karan said.

I didn't know how long it had been since I last moved. I just lay there, still, wanting the ground to swallow me whole. Every breath hurt.

"Varun?" A concerned voice reached me. I opened my eyes, and saw a blur image hover over me.

I blinked and waited my vision to shift back to focus. To my dismay, it wasn't Prachi as I had initially expected. It was her other friend.

"Are you ok?" She asked me.

Yeah, totally. I am making love with the floor, that is why I am lying on it.

"Try getting up. I'll take you to the nurse." She said, holding my shoulder. I winced, and wanted to ask her to wait, but couldn't manage to get any sound out of my mouth.

My throat felt like sand paper, it was parched beyond imagination.

With great difficulty, I managed to say, "Water." She immediately understood, and ran upstairs.

After what seemed like an hour, she came back with a bottle of water. I practically snatched it from her and gulped down the cool liquid. I could feel it travel down my oesophagus, cooling the path on its way. I exhaled loudly and closed my eyes, relief flooding into me. My thoughts became clearer.

My eyes were still closed, when something touched my cheekbone. That touch caused electricity to run through me. My heart immediately raced, and I knew this touch had to be Prachi's.

I opened my eyes and saw her face looking down at me, concerned.

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it without saying anything. I knew what she was going to say. She was going to apologise. For some reason, she always took the responsibility of me getting beaten up on her head.

I smiled a small smile to let her know I was fine. The smile caused a stinging pain in my cheekbone.

Apparently my smile was of no use, because the very next second, Prachi broke into sobs.

"I am sorry!" She said, crying quietly. What on earth could I say to stop her?

"Prachi, I think we should take him to the nurse." Prachi's friend intervened.

"Oh my god I am the worst person ever! I am so sorry!" She said again, then held my shoulder and tried pulling me up. It hurt but I let her do whatever she wanted. I didn't want her to have another fit of sobs.

******

"Your shoulder is sprained." The nurse told me. I didn't even know that was possible. However, I did think that my shoulder might've been fractured, cause it really hurt.

"I am so sorry." Prachi said for the tenth time. The amount of her apologies were increasing with time.

"Why are you sorry?' I asked her.

"Because I am a horrible person and I let you get beaten up like that!" She said, sounding close to tears.

"You don't have to be. You cannot do anything about my situation anyway." I said, a little annoyed.

"I can! I just choose not to!" She said her voice cracking.

"I swear if you cry I will kick you out if this room." I threatened her. She looked at me, shocked.

She didn't say anything. Just looked down. I could tell she was a little embarassed from my harsh words.

"Don't cry, that is all I am asking." I told her, hoping she'd get that I was trying to apologise.

"Yeah, ok." She said. She was obviously embarrassed.

I sighed. "I am sorry."

Awkward silence.

"I am sorry?" I tried again.

"What if I say something and you kick me out?" Prachi retorted.

"What else am I supposed to say? You've been crying for who knows how long. All I am asking you is to not cry that much!" I said, trying desperately to explain to her why I said what I said.

Prachi's friend, who's name I had just learnt was Nisha, asked Prachi

"Are the two of you dating?"

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