Chapter 32: Nothing can happen to you, you will die single your whole life. Idiot...

As Himanshu pedaled forward on that empty road, it kept getting easier for him to recognize the girl. Even without seeing her face, just from the way she was standing and her body posture, he got this solid feeling that it was no one else but Priya.

​The closer he got while pedaling his cycle, that same sweet and nervous feeling from the classroom started waking up inside him again. Completely against his will, a weird, nervous smile started forming on his tired face.

​But right then... a heavy and piercing voice echoed in his ears.

​"So you’d better stay away from her."

​The moment he remembered this voice and his own reality, a cold, weird panic started spreading through his body. That sweet feeling turned into a bad dream in a split second.

​’Did I seriously have to remember that right now?’

​Gritting his teeth at the memory of his status and that insult, he gripped his cycle’s handles so hard with both hands that his knuckles turned white.

​But as soon as his cycle reached closer to Priya and his eyes suddenly met hers... he just kept staring at her.

​Priya used her other hand to gently tuck the hair blowing in the wind behind her ear. There was a very light, cool, and sweet smile on her face, showing a clear eagerness to talk. She was waiting for Himanshu to stop.

​At that exact moment, the harsh yellow sunlight bounced off the windshield of an oncoming car and hit Himanshu straight in the eyes. Blinded by the light, he remembered it all over again.

​’She’s looking right at you, idiot! Hit the brakes, dammit! Hit the brakes! What the hell are you doing?!’

​But his body was so crushed under his fear and the weight of that ’loser’ tag that his hands flat-out refused to press the brakes.

​Without stopping for even a single second, the cycle passed right in front of Priya.

​Himanshu’s face just looked at Priya with a weird, scared, and nervous smile as he rode past. And Priya, standing behind with her raised hand, was just left blinking in the wind.

​"What the hell did I just do? You’re such a dumbass... a total loser."

​Cursing himself, Himanshu rode way ahead without looking back. He didn’t even have the courage to turn around and look at Priya’s fallen face.

​As he kept riding his cycle and getting closer to his house, that panic inside him was now turning into terrible anger. Anger at himself. Anger at his own cowardly nature.

​Reaching the dark basement of his apartment, while parking his cycle, he kicked the stand open with so much force and anger that... Snap!

That iron stand broke off and fell far away on the ground.

​For a moment, in the silence of the basement, Himanshu’s eyes stayed glued to that broken stand on the ground.

Running a hand through his messy hair falling on his face, he kept glaring at that stand through his fingers.

​Taking a heavy and deep breath, he picked up the cycle and leaned it against the wall.

​And then... his painful scream echoed through the entire empty basement.

​"Aaah!"

​Clenching both his fists tightly, he started stomping his feet on the ground again and again with all his might.

​"You’re hopeless! You’re gonna die single your whole life! Idiot..."

​This pain, this frustration felt exactly like a person who had been wandering thirsty in a desert for years, and right when a clay pot full of water appeared in front of him, he smashed it on the ground with his own hands.

​Dragging his heavy and tired body somehow, he climbed the stairs, reached his flat’s door, and rang the bell. He had that broken cycle stand in one hand and his heavy school bag in the other.

​His hair was completely messed up, his shirt was pulled out of his pants, and there was a weird exhaustion in his eyes. To be honest, the bad condition he had gone to school in this morning, he had come back in a much worse condition now.

​Even after ringing the bell four or five times continuously, when the door didn’t open, Himanshu’s bottled-up frustration started coming out. In anger, he started banging on the door with his fists.

​Even before the sound of the door lock opening came from inside, Himanshu let out his anger and yelled.

​"Mom, who takes this long to open a door..."

​But as soon as the door opened, the word ’Mom’ that came out of Himanshu’s mouth just hung in the air.

​In a single second, just looking at the face standing in front of him, all his blood-boiling anger went as quiet as ice.

​"Mud, what’s with this look? Did you get beaten up?"

​Suppressing his fear and frustration in one jerk, Himanshu tried his best to keep himself calm and spoke in a heavy, tired voice.

​"No. Nothing happened..."

​Without bringing any emotion to his face and trying to hide that painful anger from the Demon, he quietly walked inside.

​And right then... Himanshu heard a very long, loud, and echoing burp right from behind him.

​He spun around. He saw the Demon very casually covering her mouth with her hand and burping.

​Giving her a sharp and tired look, Himanshu locked his bedroom door from the inside without saying anything.

​He was so tired and mentally exhausted that he didn’t even change his clothes. He lay face down on the bed in his school uniform. He fell straight onto the bed like someone had thrown him from above.

​While taunting himself with all the insults in the world, he didn’t even realize when he fell asleep.

Today he had come straight home from school. Otherwise, every time he had to go to a store pretty far from school to buy a new manga, which made him about two hours late reaching home. If there was too much traffic or a crowd in the city, sometimes it even took him three hours.

​Just then, a heavy voice started hitting Himanshu’s ears really loudly.

​"A lion’s paws are broad and powerful, built for both speed and control. Each paw has sharp, retractable claws, which the lion can extend to get a strong grip on its prey."

​The voice was so loud and heavy, it felt like someone in the hall had turned the TV volume all the way up and put on the ’Discovery Channel’.

​Still half-asleep, Himanshu tried to press his ears tightly with his pillow, but the noise was seriously too loud.

​Defeated, he opened one eye. His head felt heavy because his deep sleep was broken so suddenly. Scrunching his face, he looked up at the ceiling and yelled in annoyance.

​"Oh man, what’s the problem now?"

​Gritting his teeth, he looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

It was 7 in the evening!

​The moment he saw the time, he couldn’t believe his own eyes that he had been sleeping for the past five hours without moving an inch.

​He got up quickly, opened the door, and walked towards the hall with fast steps.

​Seeing the view of the hall, his feet stopped right there.

The Demon was sitting on the sofa in front. She had both her legs pulled up on the sofa and she was pressing every single button on the TV remote with all her strength, taking out all her frustration on it.

​And when nothing changed on the TV screen even after pressing all the buttons with full force, the Demon raised her hand in the air to smash the remote on the ground in anger.

​But luckily, before the remote could hit the ground, Himanshu reached his hand out and caught it mid-air.

​As soon as the remote stopped, the Demon glared at Himanshu with her fierce eyes.

Himanshu also refused to back down. His sleep-filled, angry gaze just wouldn’t leave the Demon’s eyes.

​After staring at each other for a second, the Demon loosened her grip and handed the remote to Himanshu.

​Himanshu pressed the volume button on the remote. As the sound started going down, the Demon stretched her neck a little and started looking very carefully at Himanshu’s fingers, trying to see which button he had pressed.

​After the TV volume was lowered, in that quiet atmosphere, Himanshu asked.

​"Did Mom call?"

​Moving her eyes from Himanshu’s hands back to the TV screen, the Demon nodded her head. And a second later she spoke in her same cold voice.

​"She’s gonna be late today."

​Running a hand through the messy hair on his forehead, Himanshu taunted in his mind.

​’Was the half-day even necessary?’

​Because of a five-hour sleep and skipping lunch, it was obvious that his stomach would be growling and he’d be starving by the evening.

​Rubbing his stomach, he went straight towards the kitchen. But as soon as he looked at the kitchen slab and the stove... there was nothing there except empty and used dishes.

​And at that exact moment, Himanshu remembered that echoing, long burp from the Demon a few hours ago.

​He marched out of the kitchen in a jerk and glared at the Demon, saying,

​"You ate all the food."