My Soulmate

Chapter 9 - A perfect boy.

Ullash's point of view :

"Ugh! So much studies. I can't do this anymore." I was sitting on the playground bench in my society and talking to myself. I had an extra class today so I told Ethar to go home alone. "Attend all the college classes, then help the teachers, come to coaching, again take extra classes, on top of that keep a so-called smile on my face, why do I have to do all this shit?"

''Who told you to do so?'' I heard a voice behind me and jumped from my seat. I saw Rimti standing behind me. She again said,''If you can't do all these why do you pretend?''

Damn it! I think she heard me. "Wh...what are you saying? Why would I pretend?" I don't know why I started stuttering. 

Rimti sat beside me and said,':I know you pretend to be a good boy. Not pretend, more precisely it has become your habit, hasn’t it?''

I couldn’t say anything after hearing her. But what surprises me the most is that Rimti never talked to me properly then how did she figure it out? 

''Why are you looking at me like that? Are you thinking why I never spoke to you before? To be honest, the fact that your smile is fake and you just pretend to be a good boy annoys me a lot.'' She took a pause and again said, ''I don't know if you remember or not, we went to the same primary school. I have known you since 1st grade.''

I didn’t say anything. I have also known her since 1st grade. Honestly, I'm surprised that she remembered me as we never talked before. Rimti was very carefree and active since childhood. Her result was not that great, yet she used to be tension free. Even if everyone talked behind her back she never gave attention to those. I also used to think that no one wastes their time like her.

''What happened? What are you thinking?''

I came back to my senses and said,"Nothing."

''So, I was saying, you were fine in childhood. You suddenly changed in fifth grade…'

"What! How did I change? And who told you to think about this?" I shouted at her. Oh no..I shouldn’t have done that.,"um..sorry."

''It's okay. Anyways I should say sorry. I really shouldn’t have said like that. Actually we often go home together, so I just can't tolerate your fake behaviour.''

Her words hurted me. Even though what she said was true, I seldom say what is really on my mind. Being good in front of everyone became a habit of mine. Still she can't say that to me like that. I subconsciously said,"you are also very annoying…." Shit I accidently said that out loud. I looked at her with horror.

''Hahah...'' Rimti started laughing, ''What? You spoke your mind loudly?It's still better. It's no harm to show your real emotions. Ethar's emotionless face is also better than your fake smile.''

"Ethar's smile is too rare." I smiled and said, "But he has a beautiful smile.'' 

Rimti looked at me and said, " You know, I noticed that your friends are also fake like you. But Ethar is different. How did you get such a good friend like him?''

I didn’t know how to answer her, she was right. I also think all the people around me don’t think of me as a friend.

"There is something called 'personal space', I think you've never heard of it." After saying this surprisingly, I didn't feel weird speaking my mind.

''Hehe, I have. I will tell you later why I am not maintaining it. First, you tell me  how did you and Ethar become friends? I have a lot of free time, so I'll listen to you.''

I was stuck in such a situation where I couldn’t say no or yes. But it’s not a big personal thing, so I guess I can share it.

"Ethar was transferred to our school in the middle of class seven. Till then, he was living abroad. For some reason, he settled in Bangladesh. Ma'am asked us to be his friend. As he came in the middle of the year and as I was the first boy and class captain, I couldn’t leave him alone. So I decided to be his friend. He didn't say anything to me, I mean I didn't understand if he was really my friend or not. I thought like everyone else he would also like me."

I took a break. Then I started talking again,

"I showed him the school campus and the roads, and introduced him to everyone. Even after doing  all this Ethar didn’t talk much. None could understand his emotions."

''We still can't.'' Rimti started laughing after saying. I also joined her.

"That's true. Though I understand him better than before."

''What happened then?''

"One day, he suddenly asked me,'If you don't want to smile, then why do you smile?'