Playing Her Lover

Part 14 - Symptoms

The loud bell for lunch sharply awoke Sameera, who lay spread-eagled on the nurse's room bed. Her eyes flew open from a deep sleep, and she quickly got up, momentarily confused by where she was. She looked around for a minute before realising that she was in the sick room. The nurse, too, noticed that she was awake now and came by her bed.

"How do you feel now?" the nurse asked, grabbing the thermometer from the nearby bench and handing it over. Sameera simply nodded before checking her temperature. As she heard the beep from the device, Raghav and Nur walked into the room, concerned.
"Are you okay, babe?" he asked. Sameera frowned and signalled at the nurse with her eyes. 'Not here.' She glanced down at the thermometer and saw with relief that the temperature had come down. She showed it to the nurse, who let her go with her friends.

Raghav immediately held her hand when they exited the room. Sameera looked up, an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She suddenly lost all appetite. Raghav looked at her from his height and smiled. She awkwardly returned it, not knowing what to do. He then took his hand away, instead choosing to put it around Sameera's shoulders. This Sameera knew she didn't like. She instantly pulled away. Raghav looked at her, confused.
"Raghav, I'm not the most comfortable with that. Can you maybe not do it?"

"Oh, ok..." he said, dejected. He extended his hand again, which Sameera took with some reluctance. This was a bare minimum, and she had no choice but to do it. or at least, that was what she thought. It became clearer and clearer through lunch that Raghav was a very touchy and clingy person. This was very different from any relationship Sameera had ever been in before. Every other guy had maintained his distance at school, and she had broken up with them way before there was any real chance for closeness. The farthest she had allowed a guy to go was to kiss her - and that was merely because she was curious about how it would feel. It wasn't what the poets claimed it was, that was for sure.

During lunch, Raghav showered her with unwanted attention. She couldn't comprehend why she was feeling this way. After all, this was exactly what she wanted. For Raghav to like her. And now that he was doing that, she didn't want it. She forced her best smile out of her, mentally making a note to wear more blush the next time, to make it seem like his comments genuinely made her flushed. The agonizing lunch went by, but she had more surprises in store once she got to class.

"Sam, you wanna sit next to me?"
"Uhhh... Sure. For this period?"
"No, silly! From now on - every day, every period," he exclaimed, playfully punching her arm. She gave a small smile.
"Sure, why not?" she said and started shifting her books to the bench beside him. As she was doing so, Indu entered the class, presumably back from hanging out with the other theatre kids. Sameera looked at her, and panic entered her soul. She avoided eye contact, looking anywhere but at Indu.

Thankfully, the teacher walked into the class in just a few seconds, and she could breathe easy. She saw Indu glancing at her a couple of times, and a pang of intense guilt washed over her. Raghav thankfully distracted her enough. But Sameera was still wary of this sudden change in Raghav. Sure, he had been friendly enough before, though more courteously, he seemed to have drastically shifted ever since he said yes to her.

"Raghav, do you actually like me? I mean, it seems like... me asking you out changed you so much..."
"Well, of course, ma. Before today, you were just my friend. Now you're my girlfriend. How else would I act around my girlfriend? And, of course - I didn't have any pre-existing crush on you, but who says that'll stop me from liking you now?"
Sameera smiled more relaxedly now. She was his girlfriend. He liked her. What she had been hoping for the past two and a half months had become true. 'I have to credit myself more sometimes,' she chuckled to herself.

The next time he called her his girlfriend, which was right after the period, it had grown old. It felt possessive and plain icky. She was still consolable, though. 'He likes me, he likes me, he likes me,' she repeated to herself, almost as if it was a mantra. When the bell for the last class rang, everyone got up, and Sameera too began packing her bags. Indu stuffed her books inside her bag and looked at Sameera, expecting her to accompany her to the practice room.

Sameera gave her an apologetic look. "I'll join you soon, you go on," she said.
"Okay, come fast then." Indu said, a little dryly. Once Indu left, Sameera realised with a start that only Raghav and she remained in the class. He gave his signature smirk before giving her a quick peck on the cheeks. That served as the breaking point. Sameera sat down on the bench and held her breath, held on to it for dear life. Because the instant he was gone, she broke down. She wanted to pull her hair, scream at the gods, scream at everyone. But she couldn't. So she sobbed uncontrollably into her hands, pulling her knees up to her head.

In the seminar room, the four sat waiting for Sameera. Indu pursed her lips in disapproval, ready to tell Sameera off when she came. But she never did. When 15 minutes had passed, they decided it was too late. Mirzab stopped the scene they had been practising.
"Guys, should I go search for her?" he asked.
"Ya, go give her a nice scolding from me. Finally, she was putting in some effort and now look- back to normal. I shouldn't have expected anything."
"Indu, why are you getting so intense? Calm down, Kanna," Swara consoled her. "You go search for her, Mirzab." Siddhu also came and stood beside Indu, concerned, but also with a sneaky suspicion about Indu's outburst.

Mirzab left the seminar room and went to the first place he thought of - Sameera's classroom. Sure enough, there she was. The sobbing seemed to have subsided, but even from afar, Mirzab could see her red eyes and puffy face. She looked so different from the put-together woman that she always was. Mirzab grew scared. This was drastic. Something bad had happened. He walked into the classroom, trying to maintain a calm aura, so that Sameera wouldn't be further upset due to his emotions.

"Sam? What happened? Why haven't you joined us?" he asked, voice as soft as the fuzzy jackets one buys for trips to the Himalayas. Sameera looked up, eyes devoid of anything. She did not attempt to answer, but put her head back down. Mirzab went and sat right next to her, and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Wanna talk about it?" he asked
"dunno," she mumbled, barely audible.
"You're going to have to speak up, Sam," Mirzab smiled. Sameera turned her head to face him.
"Raghav," she said, with no context or explanation.
"Who's that? The guy you hang out with?"
Sameera nodded, sniffling.
"Did he do something? Did he hurt you?" Mirzab asked, his anger rising.
"No... I asked him out today, and he said yes..."

"Oh my god! Congrats, babe. But why are you this sad then?..." Mirzab's brows came together in confusion. The tears began flowing from Sameera's eyes yet again.
"I don't know man! I thought I'd be so happy, and comfortable and... and overjoyed! But I just feel confused, and icky, and..." she groaned, tilting her head away from Mirzab.

"Okay... Do you know why you feel like that? Did he do something in particular that made you feel like that?" Mirzab asked, gently patting her back.
"He was so lovey-dovey the whole day! Holding my hand, flirting... He even kissed me on the cheek! No guy does that on the first day of a relationship! No guy has ever been that touchy with me. And I've been in a few relationships, trust me," she turned her head back to Mirzab, and ranted.
"But, you're perfectly comfortable being touchy around most people, no? Whenever you become more relaxed, you automatically get touchy," Mirzab asked, a possibility creeping into his mind.
"But I don't feel that comfortable around Raghav! He's my crush bro, how would that happen? And on top of everything - I don't know why, but I feel so guilty! Especially when I see Indu. I hate that I have to go tell her about it! I don't wanna!" she whined.
"Heh?" Mirzab too was thoroughly confused, but the small theory at the back of his mind grew.

"Sam... Can I ask you a question?"
"Mhmm?"
"How did you start liking Raghav?..." His head cocked to one side, knowing that her answer to this might confirm his theory.
"First day of school, I came, and I was looking around for hot guys, pretty much..." Sameera gave a small smile. "I saw him. He looked good. And he seemed to be talking to a lot of people. I thought he was popular. And I decided that I needed to get him to like me - He would be my crush. Why do you ask?"

Mirzab stared at her, blinking far too fast, as if he had heard the most ludicrous thing in the world.
"Babes... I have something that might shake your world a little wittle bit..."
"What?"
"Honestly, I don't even know whether I should tell this or not..." he looked away, contemplating every choice he'd made.
"You can't say shit like that, and expect me to not want to listen to it! Tell me!" Sameera sat up straight, looking directly at Mirzab.
"Darling, the way you described everything about your situation points to a direction..." he said. "A very wonderful direction, according to me - but I'm not quite sure how you would take it..."
"Mirzab. Tell. Me. What. It. Is. Now!" Sameera asked through gritted teeth

"I think you may, kinda, sorta, fully.... might not like men."