I OPTICALLY DISCERN YOU

IT EXAM

It was the last day of the school year. Adish sat in his chair, flipping around his admit card, his mind preoccupied.

He knew he shouldn't be thinking about ✨him✨, not right before his last exam of the school year.

But his love was too strong. A sudden gust of mixed feelings flew right through him like a swarm of flies; a feeling he was well acquainted with.

Now he just had to see him.

He ran out of the classroom, frantically searching for room 403. He knew that was where he was. He knew because he had memorized his roll number. Every morning, Adish would optically discern the classroom he was supposed to be in, sometimes at the cost of forgetting to check his own classroom's number.

"Khushraaaaaaaj!!!" He yelled as he ran past several other classrooms filled with confused faces of students as well as teachers.

Adish came to a halt when he reached room 403 and placed his hands on the window. He scoured the classroom for a face that he deemed was 'so beautiful that words would never, in the existence of the universe, ever come close to describing it'. He prayed before their English exam for there to be words that would do justice to describe the boy, but his god left his prayer on seen. After such a disappointing experience with the supernatural, he became a demonist.

When he could not see his beloved through the window, he tried to enter the classroom. He was one step into the classroom when the teacher suddenly materialized out of nowhere and bellowed, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS" and Adish was instantly repulsed. He absolutely hated the lord of the rings movies. He claims to prefer the books, even though he gave up reading because he lost track of the events because his thoughts were only of Khushraj.

However strong his feelings for Khushraj were, he could not stand the lord of the rings movies. He decided to come back after the exam.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

"It is time to confess," he said to himself as he tore the last sheet of his IT question paper, "I can't bear to just be an acquaintance anymore..." he trailed off as he saw Akanksha. Ugh, he couldn't stand her presence. Not since rumors spread about Khushraj's infatuation. He desperately wanted to believe that they were just rumors, that there was still a chance for Khushraj to like him back in a romantic way. 

Akanksha was on her way towards Adish, who eyed her cautiously.

"What are you doing?" She asked, eyes on the paper on his desk. Adish didn't care to respond. He was running out of time. He told himself that it didn't matter if she found out. It didn't matter if anyone found out. He slowly wrote his beloved's name in capital letters in the middle of the page, and then he quickly drew hearts all around it. Akanksha accidentally dropped a lipstick from her pocket. Upon optically discerning it, he snatched it, applied it to his lips, and kissed the paper for good luck. 

He then rushed to room 403 once again, this time feeling too overwhelmed to shout his name. 

And he SPOTTED HIM. 

He saw Khushraj sitting right next to the window, and everything slowed down for a second 

He banged his hands on the glass window and scanned the room. That repulsive teacher was gone. He was free to enter. Suddenly, all eyes were on him, but he didn't feel self conscious, not when his head was filled with thoughts of Khushraj. But he was nervous.

What if he's homophobic? What if he laughs? Is my heart prepared to handle a new type of pain? Is it possible to die of heartbreak?

But no, Khushraj is good. He is knowledgeable and open minded. He wouldn't do that.

Now all that stood in his way were two laughing girls - Anurimaa and Arundhati. He despised them for sitting so close to Khushraj and not even being a little bit affected by his presence?? Inhuman, he thought.

"Show some respect, you lowlifes." He spat.

He ran to the third row, where Khushraj was sitting, laughing with other students. HE WAS ALMOST THERE, but a pair of hands held him back. He struggled to free himself from this blasphemous- no, **holy grip (as he was now a demonist) that kept him from his true love.

He turned to see Khushraj smiling at him through his mask, and his heart melted. It burned and crumbled to ashes. It leapt off a cliff and evaporated mid-air. 

He turned the other way and saw that it was Akanksha who held him back. She let go of him after snatching his paper, tearing it, and throwing it in the bin. Now his heart climbed a mountain, froze, and shattered into pieces.

"You think you can stop me?" He laughed in pain before striding to Khushraj and unmasking him.

"Wtf?" Khushraj was in a complete state of confusion. Adish did not allow him to say anything more. He wouldn't let anyone stop him. Adish crashed his mouth to Khushraj's. He knew he really should have asked, but he never cared for morality anyway. His hands slid up Khushraj's arms, then down his back. He didn't really know where to place them, so he left them there and slid onto the bench next to Khushraj. Adish did not stop until he coudln't hold his breath anymore.

And then he pushed Khushraj away.

A frown appeared on Khushraj's face, and his breathing was labored. In an attempt to say something, he opened his mouth, but Adish rushed to the bathroom. He felt lightheaded. He remembered the feeling of Khushraj's lips on his and it numbed his mouth. Despite his reluctance to wash his lips, the memory of Akanksha's purple lipstick flashes in his mind, so he decided it'd be best to do it.

To be fair, this might be the last time I see Khushraj so it doesn't really matter what his last impression is, yes?