Stalked by a girl I had rejected

So this happened in 2013-14 when I was in my first year of college. I had moved to a different city from my hometown to study. My hometown is considered conservative, so when I moved, I found out that college girls in my new city were a completely different species. They all had been dating boys since they were 15-16. But I digress.<br><br>I met a girl in my class, who was a year elder to me. She was generally known to have a troubled past. She had been abused by her step father for a long time and had grown up in many foster homes. I never knew how much of it was true but given how messed up she was in life, I’m pretty sure at least a part of it was true.<br><br>She was a tall and attractive girl but I never looked at her in a romantic way. She was the complete opposite of the kind of girls I liked. She had short hair, tattoos, and pierced lips. These were the signs of someone who was trying too hard to appear independent and cool. I had also heard tales of her sleeping around.<br><br>She and I became friends after sometime and she started to tell me about her past traumas. I was sympathetic. I also told her about my own past traumas and she sympathised and gave me a hug for being such a nice and brave person. I felt like I can relate to her and we bonded. She started to text me everyday about her day, her activities, her hopes and dreams, her fears, literally everything. She was the only one I knew who was more pessimistic than me so we both were bonding over our shared pessimism. I was flattered by her attention and as time passed, I found myself to really like her.<br><br>I wasn’t in a good place at that time of my life. I was going through a separation with my long time girlfriend. So when this girl started spending all her time with me, I felt a sense of comfort and love I had not felt in years. I felt like she was someone I could heal with. I never intended to date her but she became my best friend. We would study together, eat together, dance together, and go to the department parties together. She would call me in the morning to wake me up. She would sleep in my hostel room at times. <br><br>Everything was going great when she confessed to me that she had fallen in love with me months ago. I was shocked. I never reciprocated any romantic feelings. I don’t remember even once showing her any kind of romantic affection. I never hugged her, or held her hands, or gave her a kiss. I don’t know what was going through her mind. I tried to talk to her and explain that I don’t feel the same way. I told her that she was my best friend but I wasn’t ready to date again and that I wasn’t in love with her. I tried to act cool.<br><br>She did not take it well. She started crying and asking if I ever liked her. I tried to placate her. I told her that she is attractive and that I was flattered by her. She kept pushing me to tell her if I had ever felt the same way or not. I told her that I didn’t. She left my room. <br><br>I tried to contact her for the rest of the day. She was not responding. I was really worried. She had a history of self harming. I wanted to check if she was okay. After some time, she called me. She kept crying on the phone and told me how I destroyed her. I apologised to her. I told her that I didn’t intend to hurt her and that she will find someone who loves her. She hung up the phone. <br><br>She didn’t respond to any of my calls for the rest of the week. I called her friends to check if she was okay. Her friends told her that she was okay and that she needs time alone. I gave up checking on her when my friends told me that she is playing a trick on me. She comes back to class after a week and acts like nothing happened. I was very uncomfortable. She was acting as if nothing happened and I was feeling guilty.<br><br>Some days passed when she comes to my room and tells me that she meant to say that she was in love with my room mate but was too scared to say. I was flabbergasted but I tried to act cool again. I told her that my room mate was not into her “type”. She asked me what type she was. I sarcastically told her that my room mate wasn’t into girls who slept around. She got mad at me, told me I was a jerk and left. My room mate saw the whole incident and asked me what the hell was going on. I told him everything. He laughed and told me that I am a fool. I tried to call her but she wasn’t responding to any of my calls. I went to talk to her in her hostel room. She was not there. I came back the next day. She wasn’t there again. <br><br>This went on for almost a month. I knew she was avoiding me because I saw her in class everyday. I tried to talk to her many times. Her behaviour was getting weirder and weirder. She would sit on the last bench in the class and stare at me for the whole hour. I would try talking to her every day but she would ignore me. I became paranoid. I felt like she was following me. I would see her standing outside my class, looking at me. I tried to talk to her again. She didn’t respond. I tried to talk to her everyday but she kept ignoring me.<br><br>This went on for almost 5 months. I started to hate her. The day I saw her kissing another guy, I felt a huge sense of relief. She was finally moving on. I felt a huge burden had been lifted. I stopped hating her afterwards. Some days later I saw her in the mess when I was eating dinner alone. When I saw her, she started staring at me again. I felt my blood boil. I went to her and told her that I don’t like her. I’m not interested in her. I asked her why she keeps following me. She kept crying and asked me if I couldn’t see that she was still in love with me. I got mad and told her that I hate her. I asked her why she was dating another guy if she was in love with me. She told me that she was doing it for me. She told me that she was trying to prove that she can be a better girl for me and win me back. <br><br>I was disgusted. I told her to stop whatever she was doing and leave me alone. I told her that I will go to the police if she doesn’t. I walked away and left her crying. After that day, she was not my problem anymore. I never saw her after that day. She didn’t come to any of our classes anymore. I finished my college and moved back to my hometown. She was a big reason for that. I don’t think she will follow me on chambers but girl, if you’re reading this, then know that I am very happy in my life. I hope you are happy too.