Tears | [BoyxBoy] | English

02

'Is your sister okay now?' Akindu asked putting his hand on my shoulder.

I nodded. 'She is not very well. But now she is holding on as much as she can.'

Akindu put his bag in a corner of the small room and came to me with his prefect's badge on his shirt. 'Let's go. Now on duty. If we get late, the head prefect will eat our heads.'

I smiled. 'Yes... I have to do duty in grade one today. Those little monsters in grade one give me a good headache.'

'Sahesh is also in grade one duty. What can't you guys do if you are together? Go and scare those little ones.'

I knew that there was no task as difficult as being on duty with Sahesh. Sahesh was a fun-loving person, laughing at his frequent jokes, making it difficult to perform duties.

I patted Akindu on the back and stepped towards the grade one classes while making my badge. Sahesh was already standing next to the one-year classes with his hand on a flower bush.

'Oh Miniru... are you here now?' he asked as he saw me approaching him.

I nod. 'Why are you holding your hand to the flower tree? Do you want a girl to pick a flower?'

'If there was even a girl to pluck a flower, she could have plucked it. No one in this school likes me.' I was quite shocked when Sahesh said.

'There are people who like you. Not everyone who likes says they like.' I said as I leaned on the fence next to him.

'Why don't you say you like me now?' Sahesh asked patting my head.

I smiled to hide all the emotions on my face.

'I don't like anyone. After liking each other for a long time, it becomes impossible to take care of my sister.'

Sahesh did not answer. I also watched the struggling children in the classroom in front of us without saying anything.

'Isn't there a way for sister to get better forever? Can't you take care of your sister all the time? Doesn't your father knows good doctors for asthma?' Sahesh asked.

'My sister got medicine from everywhere. It is because of a problem in her chest that the asthma is increasing every day. There ain't anything father won't do for my sister.' I lied.

Everyone thinks that my father treats us well because he has money. Indeed, the father spent generously for us. But he never called us with love. My mother went abroad with my second sister because of a problem she has with my father. My elder brother was also abroad for his further studies. Only Mehansa and I were stuck in the house with father and someone else.

We were alone in this house for eight years.

Both of us had to bear everything alone without telling anything that happened in the house outside the house. Mehansa was usually a quiet person so she did not socialize with many people.

Although we looked like a happy family in front of the world, we were really burning inside.

'Would you mind if I ask you sister out?' I was startled when Sahesh suddenly asked.

I took a moment to think before replying.

'Like this. I like it because of you. But I don't think sister will like you. I think that she's not even able to take care of herself, and that why she will not like anyone else.'

Sahesh smiled. 'Okay, okay. I just asked. Besides, I don't want you to be my brother-in-law. Our mother would love to have someone like you in the family. But it's not right to take the best friend into the family.'

I also joined his laughter. I really had no need to laugh, but because not laughing makes no difference, I laughed.

'Hey! What are you doing?' I asked once because a little boy in the classroom in front of me climbed onto the teacher's desk.

'I'm Super Maann...' the little one squealed as he tried to jump off the table and I jumped forward and caught him.

'Don't do stupid things, dude. Go home and do whatever you want. How can you be superman when you don't even have a cape to fly? First go home and find a cape.'

When I put him down, he looked at me like he was going to kill me.

'Come here Miniru.' Sahesh pulled my hand and pulled me out of the classroom.

'If the little ones...' I gritted my teeth. 'Have we been like this? I only remember how I met you. I remember you crying like a crybaby...'

Sahesh stretched out his hand and slapped me on the back. 'Stupid goose! You can remember them... don't you remember that you couldn't tell the three law's of newton and you got beaten on knees.'

I puffed out my cheeks. 'You don't have to tell me them. Same goes for you. You couldn't mark the history map correctly and you was standing on the table.'

Sahesh looked at me for a while as if to decide whether to pinch my ear or not.

Sahesh was darker in complexion and taller than me. He had a charming smile. There was a time when we were called UGLY MIRROS as we both wore glasses.

Sometimes it bothered me that he was my best friend. If he wasn't my best friend, I would have confessed him already. But being his best friend is also kind of a blessing. I am more close to him because we are besties.

'Forget them now. Let's line them up and sing the Gatha. If the primary school madam comes before the bell rings, Pasan bro will eat our head!'

Pasan bro was our head prefect. He was always trying to take off someone else's prefect badge from our batch. So we all worked very carefully preserving the name.

Sahesh went near the first three classrooms and gathered the children there in queues and I gathered queues near the last three classrooms.

After checking that all the classrooms had lights on, we both stood outside the fence again and waited for the Gatha to begin.

'Bring your sister the day we meet again.' Sahesh said. 'Don't get me wrong now!'

I smiled.

'I mean she can sit in the living room with our mother while watching TV. We can have fun till night. You are not afraid when you are near your sister.'

I nodded my head in agreement. 'That's true, though.'

We both went out to the fence without saying anything and waited again. Sahesh's hand rested on the fence beyond mine. Without him noticing, I moved my hand closer to his, as if our hands were barely touching.

He didn't notice the difference so I let my hand stay in his touch.

His hand was warm. I stared straight ahead as if nothing had happened as a tickling sensation filled my chest.

Sahesh suddenly pulled his hand from my hand. 'I'm going to the other side. Or if a teacher comes, she will ask if we made love here.'

I watched him as he left. For several years I managed not to tell anyone about my feelings for him in any way. But as we grew up, I felt that it was difficult to hold back those feelings.

'Everything is fine.' I muttered to myself.

I firmly believed that everything would turn out well for Mehansa.

Mother will come again. I was holding on to the hope that we would be reunited as a family for Mehansa's sake.

Glancing again at Sahesh standing in the other corner, I put my hands together for Gatha.

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TEARS

2022. 07. 27