Kindle to Rekindle

32. Distrust

Observations can be deceptive and perceptions based on deceptions can be delusional.

Nimrit got up with a big smile on her face. She was happy her father respected her choice even though he was investigating Nivedya's family. The thought wiped her beautiful smile. What if, Nivedya's family came out guilty? Will it create a rift between them? Nimrit's palms started to sweat thinking about problems that may arise. She quickly got ready to go to school and meet Nivedya. She wanted to tell him how much he meant to her.

Nivedya was unusually quiet in the morning. The secrets that unfolded last night were hard for him to digest. He was glad to meet his new family and was elated with the fact that his lovely tuition teacher was soon going to be the ruler of his state. He had complete faith in her competence but even though he was happy, he somewhere felt cheated too. How could his parents hide such an important chapter of their life from him? Had he not eavesdropped on the conversation, they would have continued hiding the truth.

"I hate secrets." Nivedya declared to his reflection in the mirror before going out of his room.

He behaved normally in front of his parents because they said they had security reasons and anything which meant the safety of Swarnima was acceptable to him. Her parents died to protect his family and if his parents think they owe their life to them, then he wanted to do everything in his capacity to keep Swarnima safe and happy. He will have to hide everything from Nimrit and it wasn't tough but with the unasked promise he gave her that he will share everything, had to go on a break.

Nivedya and Nimrit greeted each other by shaking hands and he held her hand a little longer. She let him because his touch comforted her soul. The nervousness she felt in the morning seemed to vanish.

Nivedya was growing in love each day but the physical attraction he felt towards Nimrit was growing as well. There were several moments where he wanted to hug her or detangle a loose knot in her hair but Nimrit's decision to keep their relation to 'just friends' status in front of everyone other than friends was making him exasperated, with each passing day.

During the drama class, Collin suggested to Nivedya, "You know those jerkasses of class eight have a serious crush on Nimrit. Mark her yours before it's too late."

"I don't know when, dude. We are way past the 'getting to know each other' phase but she insists on waiting. Reason: unknown!" Nivedya's frustration was visible on his face and in his tone.

The drama teacher called the students halting the intense conversation between Nivedya and Collin and asked them to enact the scene in their scripts. Nivedya was good at acting and the teacher was happy with his attempt. She requested him to help Collin rehearse his lines and ended the session after that.

While returning to the class, Collin kept complaining about the drama teacher's drama and Nivedya half-heard him because he was dying to meet Nimrit. The hour-and-a-half drama class separated him from his sweetheart who was in the library busy preparing notes.

"Nivi," Collin stopped midway and called Nivedya. He pointed his finger to the right where Nimrit was standing with Raghav behind an isolated section of the school building.

Nimrit and Raghav were reading something and smiling. Raghav gave a paper back to her and laughed throwing his head back. Nimrit hit him on his arm playfully and Raghav ruffled her hair. The hair in which Nivedya wanted to move his fingers. Raghav gave thumbs up to her and she rejoiced clapping her hands after which they moved in the direction of their respective classes.

"Uh... umm... they are family friends and I guess..." Collin stopped saying further when Nivedya showed his hand to him.

Observations can be deceptive and perceptions based on deceptions can be delusional.