With Mangoes And Chocolates | ✓

19. Might just be.

~ Bhavuk ~

I could finally tick off having a late night walk with Manasvi from my wish list. 

"You sure that. . ." She whispered as she cautiously shut off the door. "This is okay?"
"Most probably."
"Your mom. . ."
"Let's hope she doesn't get to know."

She wouldn't. Even if she would, I will be the one to get scolded, not Manasvi. She trusted her way more than she trusted me, to an extent that sometimes I was the subject of their jokes. 

Manasvi looked up and grinned at me. Since I liked her being a normal human and not a popsicle, I'd convinced her to put on more clothes. She loved flannels so she didn't hesitate to pick out a blue one from my cupboard. It completely hid her arms and went down way further than it should've been. 

She scurried to match my pace, still somewhat playing with the cuffs. "I love this shirt. Can I keep it?" 
"Keep it."
"No," she shook her head. "My parents would kill me. But I really like it. Why don't you wear it? It looks nice on you."

"Sarcasm?" I asked.
She shook her head once again. "Sachhi. You do look great."

I grinned ear to ear. Her compliments kind of made my month. I remembered how she once called me smart. . .and that other time she called my smile a piece of art. . .

The silence was thick and deepening. Whenever a breeze passed by, the trees rustled and that was it. Street lights were lit but otherwise, it was dark. We could literally walk like this for an hour without saying a word, and be okay with it.

"Do you see the sky?" she asked.
"Yes."
"How is it?"

"Dark. Limitless."
"And the moon?"
"Kinda bright."
"Reminds you of a song?"

There were hundreds of song with the words sky and moon in it, be it Hindi or English. "Which one?"

"Neele neele ambar par," she sang; her eyes twinkled in the darkness more than ever.
"Seriously?"
"Sing with me, please?"
She knew so well that I couldn't tell her a no.
"Chaand jab aaye," I continued. 

"Pyaar barsaye."
"Hamko tarsaye."
"Ki esa koi saathi ho. . ." She wiggled her eyebrows. 
"Ki esa koi premi ho." I resumed because that was what I got told.

"Pyaas dil ki bujha jaaye. Ha! Kishore Da supremacy!" She laughed. "Didn't know you could sing."

Me neither.

"It's just the way I am, darling," I said, "destined for stardom."
"Oh puh-leez," she rolled her eyes. 

"What? You don't know?"
"Shut up, Thakur. Now tell me, do you see any stars?"
"A few."

I understood. For once in my life, I predicted her move. It was that scene where the main lead talks about stars to the love interest and tells her how much he/she wants to visit a star someday (and become an omelet, but that's movie logic for you). 

"Do they make you feel distant, far?" The script didn't go as planned.
I thought for a second. "Light years far, yes. Impossible to reach, visible to eyes."

She turned to me and held my hand. "Yet, all of our lives revolve around this tiny planet. From day to night, thousands of years. Everything, just here. Only here. Such enormous universe and yet somehow we managed to find each other. Can you believe it?"

I think my heart just now became a flower and exploded.

Every atom of it—electron, proton, neutron, included.

See? The exact reason I liked her so fucking much. Tell me just one—just one teenage girl who talked like that. Who thought about stuff on such a large scale—because the one in front of me had no competition. I could kill for her.