I took a seat on the black sofa as Sophia shuffled through some of her patients' files that rested on the glass desk. The interior gleamed a soothing and relaxing vibe, various shaped ceramics held by the cupboards on the wall.

"How are you this morning, Maya?" Her welcoming voice chirped as she walked towards me. Something about her held an immediate comfortness that held the power to put a restless mind at ease.

"I'm good. Thanks for asking."

The rest she said was creased into a blur. The morning light shone brightly through the glass fronts of the office. The faint tiny dust particles floating in the air illuminated by the permitted white sunshine through the blinds captured my attention.

Sometimes, all we need is to get lost in nothingness only to find ourselves, again. We tend to escape our reality by creating an alternate universe in our mind, an alternate life where we are free of all bounds that tie us and hold us back in our existing life. A room where we are perfect in our own flaws and imperfections, a life we always imagine laying under the sheets of a warm bed at night. A space where we are happy.

Escaping into our in-built fantasized life is so much easier than facing the choking reality. From what it seemed, the most important step to rediscover ourselves is to get out of the comfortable illusion and confront the real, unpleasant world.

And it seemed I wasn't ready for it. Not yet.

"Maya? Are you there?" Her voice pulled me back from my never-ending mindless thoughts.

"Huh? What'd you say?"

"I asked, are you with me, Maya?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." I released a sigh of comfort.

"So... Shall we begin?" She stretched her arm, gesturing for a confirmation and I nod. "So Maya... How do you feel?"

"I-uh... I feel good. Yeah, I feel good. Awesome, actually. I talked to my mom the other day and it's going great."

"That's nice to hear. How do you feel your life had changed after you arrived in Boston?

"It's good. Life is good. I found people who are angels. It was the best decision."

"Do you think mimicking my words will grow the same feeling inside you by just, mimicking it?" She raised an eyebrow, challenging to see what new excuse I would come up with, today.

"Ah, what do you want me to say? It's pretty much the same. I don't feel anything like you've told me. I don't know if I'm happy here because I don't fucking know!"

I regretted my words instantly as they escaped my traitorous lips.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't use that language. It's just... I'm just stressed okay." I squeezed my eyes shut in exasperation.

"It is absolutely fine. You are expressing yourself. You are showing signs of frustration, some sort of feelings. I believe that's an improvement."

Very helpful, doc.

"So Maya, tell me about what made you leave high school and come here, all the way around?" She began to question her rehearsed sentences that she wrote down on her notepad months ago.

"Umm... There isn't any "specific" reason as to why I did that. I just... did."

"Hmm... Did you not like your high school?"

I raised my brow at her incredulously.

"Who does actually? Secretly, we all hate it but not everyone admits it. I hated high school from the core of my soul."

"And why is that?" She asked, spinning her pen around her long fingers.

"Because it's a place where nobody has chills. The sassy, mean girls always look for gossip and weak students to bully, and the guys on the football team or the basketball team are just too proud and think so highly of themselves to even look at other kids other than the "Elites". And-"

She cut me off whilst I was in the middle of my long-prepared speech about "points about why high schools are worst."

"I will have to cut you right in there. The reasons that you just gave, are very accustomed, that we all know about. I want to know what made your high school experience a nightmare for you."

Maybe we could not always run away from the things we are meant to address, one day.

I let in a deep breath before beginning one of my untold stories.

"It happened during my middle school. I wasn't always this confident girl with an amazing body with a perfect figure that everyone, nowadays, kills to have. I didn't always have this. This... body. I was a pudgy, slightly overweight girl, with a chubby face and tummy. During the beginning of my middle school, it didn't really matter though, that I had an " imperfect" body that everyone labeled me with, but then some... incidents occurred and I was mad and... I started eating, in a way that no normal person does. I reached a point where I was on a stage to suffer obesity and the kids in my school made fun of me, and how my body grew double every next day they saw me. Some days, they bullied me for it, locked me in the bathroom, or painted "Fatso" on my locker."

"And so... I decided to stop all that harassment against me and therefore I was put on a diet and it took me nearly 2 years to get in a proper shape and for people to forget that I was ever a fat girl."

"I am so sorry you had to go through it. But you made your way out and emerged brighter and more confident through it and that shows how strong you are." She boosted me up with a heartwarming smile.

"Umm... yeah, I guess so."

"Tell me how did you feel when you were going through it? What was the first thought that would cross your mind when you put through it?"

"You don't know my story."

She nodded her head in agreement, motioning me to go on.

"It is so easy for people to make fun of you, just to boost their own small selfish egos. They do not know what kind of mental or emotional trauma they put you through in just that mere ten seconds. People never want to know the reason behind that particular flaw they are making fun of. It might be a medical condition, or genetics, or side effects of an illness they overcame. No, they never want to know. All they want is to make fun and joke about it or maybe bully. It is beyond my understanding of how some people could be so insensitive."

"The world would be a lot better place if even a quarter of the people realizes it." She scribbled something on her notepad as she said it.

"I wish."

"Next question, what was your reason?" She looked straight up at me.

"Pardon?"

"Everyone has a reason. Everyone has a story. And so do you. You mentioned that due to some certain incident, you decided to lead yourself to obesity. Why is that?"

I sat there staring blankly at her. I thought I was ready to talk about it, I really thought. But it seemed like I'm still not.

"Umm... Uh-I, I-"

"It is okay, Maya. You can tell me. This is a safe space. Not a single word you say will escape out of this office. You can tell me, so we can fix it."

I shook my head, laughing non-audibly. "You can't fix this, Doc, you can't. This is beyond repairable. I am beyond repairable." I sat there for a few more seconds before scrutinizing my watch and continuing, "I think we are done here for today. It's time. It was a nice chat, Sophia. I will see you next week."

I got up from my seat to leave and began walking towards the door.

"But, Maya-"

I slammed the door shut before her words could travel to my ears.

"Fuck!" I yelled, looking up in the air. "I couldn't do it... Again!"

I earned a few nasty and judgy glares and side glances from people around the floor and I made my way towards the lift after.

I checked my home screen displaying a few texts from Niall saying that he would get home late as his sister lured him to bake cookies with her.

I oddly felt nostalgic and replied with an "okay" and stepped out of the building. Finding a cab in this locality would be the same as finding a unicorn and so I booked one and waited for it to arrive.

I should stop by the cafe for some time. I thought to myself.
~

The drive to the cafe Hot Sip took nearly half an hour. The cafe was just a five-minute walk down away from my apartment.

I ordered an Espresso con panna and made a way to the very familiar corner of the cafe.

Sometimes, spending time with ourselves with a cup of our favorite coffee and watching the city go on while we sit in a corner, stopped in our motion, and see them moving forward is all we need to think and know when we are unsure of where to go next or whether the path we chose to walk is the right one.

I unlocked my phone and browsed Instagram in the meantime while I waited for my order to arrive. My fingers reflexively tapped the search icon and typed down the very familiar username that I had now searched for the millionth times.

The caption said; Friends come and go, but true friends leave footprints in your heart.

A picture of the squad together, smiling and holding onto each other, posted a week ago. The smiling faces instantly sculpted a smile on my face as well. They seemed happy, peaceful. He seemed... happy.

I always wondered if I was the only one who thought that the person I constantly checked on, has posted a certain post or status for or about me, to indirectly tell me that this specific thing was dedicated to you.

Guess I am the only one.

Shortly, a server approached my table with my order and I thanked him with a gentle nod and a smile. Soon, I was left alone with my nonsensical rambling thoughts, and I slid my phone aside.

I looked out of the large glass window and got lost in the littlest beauty the city held. A sudden thump on my table pulled me back into reality.

"Lost in your fantasy world again?" A teenage girl asked me with a mischievous smile as she sat down on the seat across me.

Zoey. A thirteen years old teenager who lived next to our home. She was my neighbor and one of the closest things I had as a friend. Weird? I know.

"Oh not really. I'm just... thinking. What are you doing here?" I asked as I took a sip of my coffee.

"They are again fighting. Throwing things in the air. I couldn't do my homework so I came out for a walk." She replied bluntly.

"Your mom and dad are fighting again?"

"Stepdad." She corrected me.

"Oh right. Sorry."

"Never mind. It's an everyday thing now. I barely remember the last time I saw them, not fighting and trying to strangle each other's throats." She stated nonchalantly, looking down.

"Zoey I am so sorry you have to see that. That's just... so cruel to raise a teenager in such an environment. You can come to my place and we can perhaps play scrabble."

Her eyes twinkled up with excitement. "Hell yeah. I would come to your place and we can play and then stalk cute guys together on Instagram. Oh, I remembered, did you stalk your love today?" She squealed in excitement.

"Zoey! Voice down." I whispered and looked around if anybody was shooting us nasty glances.

"Sorry, I just got a tad bit excited. So did you?"

"First of all, he is not my love, he is just a friend and secondly, yes I did and there's nothing new." I answered.

"First, oh, and second, whatever helps you sleep at night. We both know the truth." She smirked at me.

"Stop with that smirk missy, you can't do that to me. I'm the older one here."

"But I'm the more experienced one in this field. So shush! Why don't you call him? What's the issue?" She asked, scratching the tip of her forehead.

"I-uh... It's complicated." I whispered and gulped down the entire content of the cup.

"Nothing is complicated unless you make them. Grow up some balls and friggin call him!"

"I don't have balls! Language, Zoey."

"Oh, you get the context. Just freaking do it. Or better, give me your phone and let me do it." She snatched my phone that was kept aside on the table and started scrolling down my phonebook.

"You wouldn't dare Zoey. You can't do that." I warned her as I attempted to get back my phone.

"Oh, I can. Don't doubt my ability." She answered with a smirk while her eyes were still glued to the screen.

"If you do it, I'm going to text your crush on Instagram and tell him your embarrassing stories and then tell him that you like him." I sat back with folded arms in a victorious posture.

Her expressions immediately shifted to that of horror.

"You wouldn't do it. You can't do it!"

"Oh, I can. Don't doubt my ability." I smirked victoriously this time.

"That's not fair." She pouted while returning my phone to me.

"Life's not fair, sweetie."

"So that's it? You would never call him? Ever?"

"Hmm... Let's make a deal. If you confess to Jake about your little crush, I might consider calling Shawn. Deal?"

I knew she was going to decline it.

"Deal. If I tell him, you have to call Shawn right away, in my presence."

Shit.

"Uh-okay. Done."

A beep chimed through my phone and I unlocked it to find Niall's text.

Meet me at the bar in 2 hours. Take care.

A faint smile appeared on my face and slid the phone inside my pocket and turned towards Zoey.

"I need to go. I'll catch up with you later okay?"

"Dial call?" She asked, resting her back on the chair, with a sarcastic smile.

"Yeah. Need to go. I'll see you later."

I got up from my seat and began walking towards the exit.

"Sure. But remember, Dialler isn't the one for you. I ship you with Pretty Boy. He is the one." Zoey yelled behind me.

"Whatever." I left the cafe and began walking towards my apartment.

Is he really? Is he?

Then why aren't we together?

Hey guys, so here I am back with another update. I am so sorry this took so long but school has been really crazy.

I just wanted to let you guys know that I am leaving for my hostel in 2 days and I won't be back until August it seemed.

Pretty long time, I know. But it is what it is. So yeah, I won't be updating until August so, in the meantime, this is the last chapter that I would be uploading.

I am going to miss you guys so much and I really hope you guys would stick with me till the end. I really hope so.♥
Thank you so much for sticking with me. It means the absolute world to me.

I hope you liked this chapter. Dropdown your views on this chapter.

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I'll see you guys soon.
Stay tuned♡.

~Loveya~( ˘ ³˘)♥