Pain; an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience that everyone goes through at one point in life.

It's said that pain makes one stronger. 

So why was I feeling the exact opposite?

Walking the last few steps inside, I finally slumped down against the wall in a dark corner of my room. A feeling of void and nothingness was consuming me, eating at my insides. 

Everything was crumbling in front of my eyes; my whole world was crashing down to dust and remnants. Yet, I felt nothing.

A rational part of my mind was screaming at me, yelling to let it all out. To cry. To relieve the pain. Yet, no tears dropped from my eyes.

But the wound was still raw. Pulling my knees up to my chest and hugging it tightly, I rocked back and forth and sat reminiscing the last few terrible hours of my life.

Opening my locker, I couldn't help but lean my head against it in giddiness.

The day before yesterday was the best day of my life. I had finally confessed my love to Drake. And it felt amazing to know that the feeling was reciprocated.

I couldn't contain my joy. I wanted to squeal in delight, to let the entire high school know that he was mine now. But no, it had to wait. Drake promised to let this news out as soon as the right time would come. And I trusted him with all my heart. So suppressing all my emotions and the grin that was threatening to break free on my face, I picked my World History book from my locker and closed its door.

I let out a squeal in shock on seeing someone behind my locker door. I clutched my chest to slow down my rapid beating of my heart. There stood Ashley Norman, with her two poses Clara and Cecilia, leaning against the lockers beside mine.

"Oh!" She feigned surprise. "Eloise Hart! Did I scare you? I truly didn't mean to. My apologies," Ashley said with an extra sweet smile, sarcasm dripping from each word.

Glancing at the three of them, I looked past them to see if Drake was coming this way. I didn't want to deal with them right now.

Someone clicked their fingers in front of my face, and my attention was drawn back to Ashley. This time there was not a single hint of a smile on her face. Instead, her face resembled an angry beast, ready to pounce on his prey at any moment.

"So, Hart?" She snapped, causing me to flinch.

"Enjoying your time with Drake Raynott, I see?" Her question caught me off-guard. How did she know? That exact moment my gaze went past her and fell on the person in question himself, walking in our direction. He slowed down when his eyes landed on me, and the three others surrounding me. Slowly he walked towards us, and beside Ashley.

"What's going on?" He asked her with his cocky smirk before glancing at Clara and Cecilia. He did not spare me even a glance. And that was understood; we avoided seeing each other at school at all times. Our relationship was a secret, so if we were seen around questions would've surfaced.

Ashley looked at him and smirked. Walking up to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered "Great job" in his ears in her sultry voice. My eyebrows furrowed. What was going on?

Drake looked confused himself but maintained his cool posture.

"What are you talking about?" He asked her in a gentle yet curious tone. She looked at him with lust-filled eyes, that sent a wave of jealousy through my body. She then turned her narrowed gaze towards my direction and smirked.

"You so won the bet, Drake. Making her confess her 'love' to you? I mean, how did you even manage to do that?" She sent me a disgusted look and looked back at him with her flirtatious smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Drake said in a calm voice and detangled himself from her, taking a step away from her.

"What are you talking about?" I expressed my confusion, and she and her posies let out a laughter. A crowd was starting to form around us, and I could feel the bolts of nervousness shooting inside me. Drake glanced at the crowd as well, before catching my eyes for a split second. He knew I was scared of being in over-crowded places.

"Tell me this, you weirdo... Is being stupid a profession or are you just gifted?" Her sarcastic response made me take a step back in recoil.

"Just quit beating around the bush and come straight to the point," Drake firmly said in his unique British accent.

"I'll tell you," came an all too familiar voice. Matthew Reed walked towards us, with an evil smirk plastered on his face.

"When Matt is here, there's nothing to fear!" He stood beside his best friend, patting his back as if he had achieved Nobel Price for some impossible task.

"What can I say, Drake. I'm so impressed. Great acting skills man!" My confusion was increasing by the minute, and so was my anxiety due to the crowd watching this whole thing.

Matt pulled out his phone from his back pocket before showing us something on his phone screen. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand as I saw what it was.

A video of me and Drake.

At the park.

On the day of confession, that is the day before yesterday.

Matt played the video.

"I love you, Drake Raynott."

I had finally confessed it to him. He stood there, looking at me in shock. It was raining that day, but the heavy downpour around us didn't stop us. It even gave the whole place a romantic touch. A genuine smile spread across his face, as he lifted me into the air and captured my lips in his. The kiss we shared was never like before, this one was passionate, soft and loving all at the same time. He put me down on the ground, never breaking the kiss.

After a moment, we broke away for some air. As our lungs gulped down air greedily, he held my face in between his palms. Looking straight into my eyes, he softly spoke. "I love you, Eloise Hart. I always have these past two years of our relationship. But it took me so long to realise that."

The video had captured the entire moment, except for Drake's confession.

I looked up at him, confusion was written all over my face. What the heck was this all?

Rounds of applause sounded from Ashley and her sidekicks, and Matt side hugged a confused yet smiling Drake wearing a proud grin on his face.

Ashley looked at me and laughed at my face.

"You thought," She managed to say in between her nasal laughter, "That Drake Raynott, the coolest guy in our high school, would be with you, the weirdo nerd?"

"Exactly," exclaimed her posies, letting out a weird high pitched laughter of their own.

It might have shown on my face because Matt looked at me with fake pity.

"Aw, you poor thing. Still didn't get it, did ya?" I watched him silently.

"Well, you just got tricked. My best buddy here," He patted Drake's back in pride, "had-" He was cut off by a nasal voice.

"He had a bet with Roger to make you fall for him. And see? He did!" Ashley let out another bout of laughter, pointing at the video.

I felt like someone had just slapped me across my face. It looked like the time had stopped, as I looked at Drake for answers. He had a mixture of expressions on his face. He had a look of conflict on his face like he was thinking hard about what to say. But then when Matt cheered beside him, he smirked at his best friend. That smirk shattered me.

He might have felt my gaze on him, as he looked up at me for the first time during this whole show. I raised my brows in question, and he just looked away and at his best friend. That felt like another slap in my face like it was meant to wake me up from my dream world.

"Drake, is it true?" I asked him, and the laughter around me quieted down. He sharply looked up on hearing my voice with wide and surprise filled eyes. I gained courage and stepped towards him, standing directly in front of him with my accusatory gaze. Placing my hands on his chest, I could feel his rapid heartbeat. Fisting my hands on his black t-shirt, I shook him.

"Answer me, Drake! Is it true?" I shook him harder when he wouldn't look at me.

"Is it true? Were you faking it all this time? Faking us?" I didn't seize shaking him.

"Look at me!" Hearing the desperation in my voice, he finally looked at me.

"You faked this relationship for two years?" Even though my heart was screaming for him to decline all these accusations, the wheels in my mind were turning at a faster speed and giving a different possibility.

"Tell her Drake, tell her how Roger had challenged you that you could be with any girl but her. Tell her that you gladly accepted the challenge to make the most difficult girl in our high school fall for you, then break her heart in front of everyone!" With every word Matt spoke, my heart clenched more and more.

It felt like hearing his words had boosted Drake's confidence, as he looked at me straight in the eye and said the next few words, that made me let go of his shirt and stumble back.

"Yes, I did it for the bet."

"I trusted you with my whole heart Drake. I opened up to you, let you in my life, and what do you do? Shatter all the trust and faith I'd placed on you. How could you?" I yelled in rage. He let out an evil laugh, the one that didn't reach his eyes. But he had changed, and I had been with him when he was discovering his true, real self. I had been there, all the time.

"You seriously thought that I, Drake Raynott, would be with a nerd like you? Oh please, I have a better class." His words were cutting my heart, piercing through it and wounding it. The look in his eyes was so malicious. Not. They held uncertainty. But my mind wasn't paying attention. It had gone completely blank the moment he spoke.

"You nerd could never match my class even if you tried to. Now please, don't ever show me your face and get out of my l-life!" Was it a fragment of my imagination, or had I heard clearly? His words stung like alcohol on a bleeding wound. The slight hesitation in his voice also didn't go unregistered by my brain. 

Deeply hurt and pained by his words, I looked straight into his ocean blue eyes, whose depth had once mesmerised me.

"I loved you, Drake. I truly did. But you crushed my hope and heart like it meant nothing." I whispered so that only he could hear. And then without bothering to spare him a glance, I turned around and bolted out of the school doors, and ran all the way to my apartment.

I was shattered. Devastated even.

Things were not supposed to go this way. They never were meant to.

I could feel myself slowly drifting away from reality, from everything as the feeling of void blankness inside of me intensified.

But when I whispered those last words to Drake, I did not miss the raw emotions flash across his eyes. There was guilt, pain, sad, confusion, pride. I thought back to all the moments I had spent with him.

The first time I had come across him; him the coolest guy and me the nerdy girl. The times our meetings increased, and we had grown friendlier towards each other. The times we warmed up to each other. And the times when I had a hard time breaking through his hard shell and reaching the real him. The time he had proposed me two years back to become his girlfriend... I had all my firsts with him; first time holding hands, first time embracing a guy, my first kiss, everything. I was the one who saw a different side of him and fell for him.

The guy had given me the best moments and memories to cherish for a lifetime.

But was that all a pretence? Just to win the damn bet? But his eyes told a different story.

I was so conflicted.

But his words? Those words echoed through my mind, as several memories presented themselves in my mind. Even if I move on, if I ever did, those words would always and forever haunt me.

Today he had broken my heart and shattered it to pieces.

But the worst part? I still loved him. I still cared for him with all of me. And that's what hurt the most.

That moment something inside me broke.

Tears after tears rolled down my eyes, as I tightly clenched them shut to stop them from flowing. From showing that I'm weak. That I've failed.

But they continuously flowed down my cheeks like a dam had broken inside of me. Hiccups and sniffs escaped my lips, as I continued to break down. All alone.

A heavy weight settled on my chest, as I clutched my chest over my heart and struggled to breathe.

Continuous gasps racked my body, as it was becoming harder to breathe by every passing minute.

It took me a moment to realise what was happening. And when it did, I immediately sprung into action, holding my chest in a firm grip.

My asthma attacks had reduced considerably over the past two years, and by that, I meant I hardly ever had them. I was with Drake. And he made me happy and I used to forget about all my problems when I was with him. It was solely because of him that I didn't need to carry inhalers anymore.

But it was because of him that I desperately needed them now.

I searched my bedside table, drawers, school bag, cupboard. But any movement was becoming difficult, as at one point I collapsed against the bedside and sat there, clutching my chest and gasping for air.

It felt like my lungs were captured by something evil and were being squeezed by its vicious clutches. A painful groan escaped me, as I struggled to breathe in oxygen. I needed to get help.

It was at that exact moment that my phone rang. I picked it up from near the spilt contents of my bag on the floor, and with one shaky hand pressed the answer button.

Yet no words escaped my mouth. I tried so hard to croak out the word 'help' to whoever it was on the other line. But the phone just simply slid off my shaking hand, and with a clink hit the floor.

Needily gasping for some air to enter my lungs, my body shook and trembled at the same time.

And then, my body was falling. It hit the cold floor with a loud thud, as my eyes crossed and everything became blurry. My whole body felt paralysed, as I vaguely heard someone screaming my name from the other side of the phone.

I felt myself drowning, deeper and deeper into this depth of darkness. The world was closing in around me, suffocating me even more.

And as I lost the last bits of consciousness, my thoughts were surrounded by only one person. My true love.

And then, nothing.

THE END

Word Count: 2660