Mr Tormentor

11.45 pm, 30th July.

The calendar alert on my iPad beeped as I lay on my bed, engrossed in my favourite Fanfiction on Harry Potter.

Fifteen more minutes, and I will be Twenty One!

What's the point?

Just like every year, at 12 AM sharp, my childhood bestie cum neighbour Vic aka Victor will climb the ladder next to my bedroom and enter my room as if it was his own. He would then wish me and make me cut the same flavourless dairy free cake (I'm allergic to dairy) sprinkled with even more tasteless jokes, as he once again makes fun of everything about me.

Vic "thinks" he got a great sense of humour.

He just finished training as a Pilot, and as a twenty four year old, he was one of the youngest to graduate from the academy. So, his head and ego are always up in the air, which makes him think he is the best in everything he does.

He thinks he is the best baker in the neighbourhood; so, he bakes my birthday cake and brings it hot off the oven from his home next door, and I still haven't got the courage to tell him how bad it is, even after seven years of him torturing me like this, on every birthday.

Just like I don't have the courage to tell him how much I love him, and want to be more than just his friend!

And guess what... I will spend another year of my pathetic life wishing I did, as I imagine every word and gesture from him to mean something more than it appears to be, longing for his love, only to crash down to reality with a sickening disappointment, every single time.

Aaarrrgh!!! I groaned loudly and buried my face in my favourite pillow. And then quickly looked around, hoping no one heard that!

There... that's me in a nutshell.

Ms Misha aka Mo as all my friends fondly call me.

An utter loser who feels scared to even groan loudly in her bedroom, let alone reveal my true feelings to my best friend from childhood.

Notifications began to flood on my phone with messages from my friends and I felt slightly better. At least the party in the evening with my friends would be good, even though I had no idea where we were going. This year my friends were organising a surprise birthday/farewell party for me, as I am flying off in a week's time to Sydney, to do my Degree in IT. My phone beeped again, and this time it was various memes of Harry Potter, because all my friends knew what a diehard Potterhead I was.

At least Harry had it easy, he didn't have to suffer for three years before he could start dating Ginny!!

I am talking of course of Harry Potter who shares the same birthday with me, just like my favourite author J K Rowling! But I guess I am more like Ginny who had a crush on Harry for five years before Harry became wise enough to realize who his soulmate was.

How simple life would be, if it followed the same pattern as events from your favourite books. Since I never found the courage to open up to Vic, nor found any whiff of interest from him about me, I found my outlet in books.

And Fangirling!!!

I fantasised with characters from my favourite books, living in my eternal lala land and earned another nickname from Vic, "Dream girl"! But Vic is not Harry, nor Tobias; he was a thickhead, who had no clue of my feelings, or how to behave with girls. Forget all that, he doesn't even treat me like a girl!

It doesn't matter now. I am going away from him, from this room which reminds me of him and all the fun moments we spent earlier. He was out of town for past few months to complete his final phase of training and I didn't even blink.

I lie.

I missed him terribly, every damn day.

But I had enough. It was time to move on from my fixation and seek a new life. I must admit, my initial reason to go to Australia for my Masters was to escape from my dreary heartbroken life, but as I came to know more about my University and the course details, my interest became genuine, and now, I was really excited to go. 

I sighed and got up to freshen myself. I should at least look presentable if my friends insist for a live feed on I*******m!! Otherwise, there will be no end to the lectures I would have to endure from my besties Anya and Shaz. I quickly washed my face in the wash basin and patted with towel. I looked critically at my reflection in the mirror, the only time I normally do, because I have no choice. My parents, much against my wishes, fixed a huge mirror there.

A short girl in a loose Pooh bear shirt n shorts, and slightly oily skin, looked back at me. That was another reason why I hated looking at myself in the mirror. My pimples.  And they had the knack of appearing just on my big days, to ruin my mood.

But... hang on! I looked closely at my face and turned the small light next to the mirror. I couldn't see a single noticeable pimple on my face!

Have the gods finally spared me, now that I am turning twenty one?

I felt like jumping and dancing!

I pulled off the clip that was holding my hair and let my lush long hair fall down, the only thing about me I was really proud of!! I pulled out my T Shirt, swirled it around my head like a cowgirl shouting Yeeha and rushed outside the bathroom, only to collide into a solid chest which smelt like a heady mix of all things I have a craving for. 

Mint... Petrichor... Sweet Sweat...Chocolate...Vic...

My left hand automatically clung onto his soft white T Shirt, as my brain tried to process why heart was doing a flip, over and over again!!

I took some deep breaths (just to calm my heart) as I disentangled my Pooh Bear shirt aka cowgirl whip around his face. As I looked up, my eyes paused at those pink lips which curved into a smirk, and as I gazed up further, those mischievous brown eyes, which for some reason looked darker. And his curly hair was covering most of his forehead. For once he didn't put that bloody wax in his hair and I felt truly grateful. My hair is so plain and straight that I love curly hair, and someone with the said lovely curly hair. Those curls... are they as smooth to touch as they look? I could feel the goose bumps on my bare arms now. I gulped nervously and pulled my cami down, which always managed to roll up and put my not so slim waist on full display.

"You are standing two inches from me and still manage to get lost in your dream world! Wow!" Vic whistled in my face.

"I was doing no such thing." I said as I went past him, glad to have some space between us.

"Oh really!" 

Yes, really! I turned around only to notice that his eyebrow had now disappeared behind those soft curls...

Don't look at those curls, goddammit! 

And when I feel mushy, embarrassed or nervous, I resort to the only tools in my defence, - aggression and nonchalance.

"Why are you here?" I blurted out, only to be met with more sarcasm.

"If you have landed back on earth, let me remind you Princess, that in five minutes from now, you are turning twenty one!"

There he goes again. 

Anyone who hears him talk would assume that he was calling me Princess as an endearment. Uhuh... that's just another of his sarcastic nicknames for me, because he thinks that I live too much of a privileged life, pampered and spoilt by my parents.

"I know that! I meant why are you here early? Generally, you come here at 12 am on the dot! And where is your... errmm cake?" I demanded, trying my best to cover my earlier slip up.

Vic opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. I noticed that his eyes glanced briefly at my half naked state.

Like I care!

Well I do actually... But I pretended not to.

I turned away and tugged my cami down on the pretext of scratching my waist.

"Mo" I heard his voice right behind me and I felt my cheeks turning warm.

I turned slowly, making sure my face looked nonchalant.

****** 

A/N

Hi Readers

My story is about teenage love and classic tale of opposites attract.

Misha is a shy, down to earth girl, who is hopelessly in love with her childhood bestie and neighbour Victor, but has no courage to express her love.

Victor is too arrogant and teases Misha to no end, and seems oblivious to her feelings. Him being such a hottie and popular among girls makes Misha even more insecure.

And now she is going off to Australia to do her post graduation.

Will she finally have the courage to express her love to this hot pilot on her Twenty first birthday?