Young Love

The Sunny Resort

A perfect sunny day for a perfect picnic along with the perfect girl, were Niel's thoughts exactly. Sakshi had something else in mind altogether. Tanisha was in her dream world from the past few weeks and Vivek as usual was absent.

An impromptu visit to a resort on the outskirts of the city was announced by the school. The whole ride, Niel and Tanisha sat talking to each other about things from here and there while Sakshi sitting behind was trying hard not to kill herself by the boring nerd talk. She had lost her best friend to a guy whom she had tried to set her up with in the first place. Her ideas surely backfired on her.

But that was not the only reason Sakshi was uneasy. She had a sneaking suspicious at the back of her mind that Niel was just doing all this to make her jealous. In her heart, she still felt that Neal loved her.

The resort was situated on a slightly hilly area back dropped by greenery of all sorts. There was an air of peace in the area which resonated perfectly with dire needs of city folks. Lots of activities awaited the eager students who descended down the vehicle to take in the scenic beauty.

Niel took off with Tanisha somewhere. Vivek took off with his friends to somewhere. And Sakshi took off with her solace to somewhere else.

Rather distracted by all that was going in her life she needed to clear her mind. A quick dip in the swimming pool could do the trick. The cool serene water in the pool took over her hyperactive brain generating random possibilities and imagining possible scenarios. The water did its magic but the evil force was lurking close by.

Niel and Tanisha were playing with the water in the pool. Splashing some of it on her, he tried to irritate her. She retaliated with a more fierce attack which took the water as far as where Sakshi was standing.

'I'm sorry,' she apologised. Realising that the water hit her friend, 'Sakshi, come and play with us.'

Sakshi turned to the source of the noise and couldn't tell herself if she was more happy or irritated. Neal motioned his hand to call her. It was too late to ignore, unwilling, she wadded through the shallow water.

'Let's play hide and seek,' Sakshi suggested, 'Both of you count and I'll hide.' She added a sarcastic smile.

Ignoring the last comment, they both pulled her towards them.

'Let's play pakda pakdi,' Tanisha suggested, 'Sakshi and I will run; Neal, you catch us.'

Tanisha started running as soon as she finished the sentence. Sakshi more than happy to run away, swam in the opposite direction. Neal, late to realise, obviously ran for the slower target.

'Sakshi, here I come.'

He swam as fast as he could in her direction catching her in a matter of seconds. Cornering her near the wall he caught her by her thin arms.

'Haha. I caught you.'

'What are you doing?' Sakshi yelled.

'Chill, it's just a game.'

'Not that,' she replied, 'I'm talking about Tanisha. What are you doing with her?'

'What do you mean?' he asked.

'I still remember those words, those three words you yelled in front of half our classmates,' she reminded him, 'How can you change so much?'

'What exactly are disturbed about?' He challenged her, 'Me being with Tanisha, who may I remind you, you tried to set me up with in the first place; or are you afraid that I'm actually involved in a serious relationship with someone other than you.'

He said those pain striking words while still holding her hands firm. She set herself free and brought her right hand in contact with his left cheek. A crass sound resonated through the world but the inhabitants of this vast world were too busy to notice such a cliché.

She swam away from his spot as soon as Tanisha came looking for him. After a few hours of loneliness for her and fun for them, it was time to leave.

The sun looked like a perfectly balanced ball sitting on the horizon. Sakshi and Neal came face to face again. After a few hours of thinking, she finally had an answer to his question.

'I don't know what I feel,' she replied, 'But do you know what you feel?' Not a particularly good one albeit it was an answer.

'I do know,' he said confidently, 'I know who I love the most.'

Deep in my heart, even I think there is no confusion about his love for the one girl he wants the most, but I doubt his actions which are confusing everyone around him.

He left her standing alone. She stood there until their shadows merged together into one; she stood still until there was only one silhouette for the two people she cared about. One more than anyone.