Aye Mere Humsafar |SamAina

06| besotted

AMIDST the crowd that hurried for their classes, Sameer stood there transfixed in his position. The moment felt so surreal that he couldn't get out of the daze immediately. She left suddenly, even before he could snap out of his thoughts, just like she had appeared. He kept staring at her retreating figure and unknowingly a smile graced his lips as he scratched the back of his neck. Something had stirred in his heart when he saw her in the frame but today, there was no motion at all. His world stopped altogether the moment he crossed his path with her. He never expected the the one whom he tried to find so desperately would appear in the blur of a moment. A giddy feeling slowly filled him and as much as it made restless, he didn't want it to stop. Ever.

~♡~

"Children, I hope you've done the homework I'd given you last week. I'll take up all the copies and ask you to solve a few sums on the board after attendance." Shanti Teacher announced to the class and everyone took out their books and copies out with few distressing over how to control the damage they've made by forgeting about their enemy- Maths. Copies were exchanged and it was no less than climbing up the Everest to race against the time and complete the whole exercise of Trigonometry within five minutes.

But that was not the case with Naina. As always, she had completed doing the sums the day it was given. So she didn't worry about getting scolded in front of forty students. Then why couldn't she could just focus in the class? Why did her mind kept playing the accidental meet happened few minutes ago?

Naina almost jumped out of he seat when Swati elbowed her. "Kya hua?" She asked a bit irritatedly when she heard her roll call being taken. Embarrassed, she quickly responded with a mumbling "Present Ma'am!", before receiving a glare from her favourite teacher.

"Aaj kya hua hai tujhko yaar? Kya itni gehri soch mein thi?" Swati whispered beside her and Naina again found herself embarrassed in the wide, curious eyes of her friend.

"Main woh...", she trailed off not knowing what to answer. But then it popped on in her mind. "Talking about that boy every single time doesn't help!"

"Oh, about Sameer? Well, the last time I remember talking about him to you was a long time back."

Naina couldn't understand what to reply so she chose to ignore thoughts about him and remain silent.

The murmurs of the class faded as Shanti Teacher finished taking the attendance. Naina heard footsteps inching towards their class but before she could see the person's face, the chilly wind from the window behind blew away her graph papers. She rushed to pick them up when someone handed them, arranged in her hands and when she looked up, surprised who it was, astounded would be an understatement to describe her state. It was him! What was he doing here? Wait, were they in same class? But Naina couldn't remember seeing him before.

She stood up, not meeting his eyes and and went back to her seat. That's when she heard faint, hushed tones whispering something she couldn't exactly decipher. She looked at him again and saw him smiling at her.

"Hatt na yaar thoda. Thik se dekhne de usse." Naina heard Preeti demanding from behind. What was again with this boy?

Before she could think any further, Shanti Teacher made another announcement. "Children, this is Sameer Maheshwari, a new student of our school and of course, our class. He took admission last week and will be doing classes with you all from today onwards." And then realization dawned upon her. So this was Mr Hawa ka Jhonka, the Sameer they were all gossiping about. Naina snorted mentally how she managed to collide with the same begaana ladka.

Shanti Teacher called Naina and introduced her to Sameer. "Sameer, meet Naina Aggarwal. One of the brightest student and the Prefect of Pragati Vidya Ka Mandir. She'll help you with the notes that's you've missed." She turned her attention back to her and directed, "Naina, inform him about everything after the class gets over."

"Sameer, take your seat." He found himself lucky to have Munna calling him to sit beside him, which was parallel to her. So that was her name. Naina. Suited her well, he thought. After all, it was the eyes which had him besotted since the very first sight. He looked at her, his check resting on his palm, absorbed into the sums and listening attentively to the Teacher. Sameer noticed how she managed to solve each problem first in the class with a calm and composed disposition. He noticed how she grinned like a child when her answer was right and when it wasn't, which was quite rare, she didn't stop redoing it until she was.

After two consecutive classes of solving sums with frowned faces, the bell rang declaring the end of their torture. Naina stood up, arranging the books back in her bag and took a breath in deeply.  He was just another boy in their class whom she'll just give the notes and that will be the end of their interaction. Gaining some confidence, she went to his desk to see him rise from his seat immediately with a smile formed on his lips.

"Hi! I'm Sameer." He extended his hand forward but instead of receiving a handshake he saw her getting a bit awkward. Well, it seemed he was quite oblivious of the forbidden acts. Naina took out a piece of paper, replying, "Uhm, yes. I remember Shanti Ma'am introducing us." And then handing him the chit, she told, "This is the list of all the prescribed books of all the subjects."

Sameer was a bit, well, hurt when she refused shaking hands with him. His eyes drifted from the chit to her eyes, which glanced at the class. Remembering Lochan Sir, their English Teacher being absent, Naina suggested, "Hum library chalein? I'll recommend you some reference books there too."

Sameer followed the path led by Naina through the corridors. She kept on telling him all that has been done in all of their classes. He was never interested in studies but surprisingly, her talks about maths and chemistry didn't bore him at all. He noticed how she beamed while telling him about the books.

A feather suddenly fell and got itself attached to Naina's badge. She pulled it out with a small smile and was about to close her eyes when she thought maybe he wanted it, looking how intently he watched her.

"Tum loge isse?"

"Isse kya hota hai?" Sameer was genuinely confused. He thought Naina would brush that thing off but here she was, quite serious about it.

"Ek wish maang sakte ho." She answered.

"Umm, no thanks. Tum maanglo kuch."

Shrugging, Naina placed the feather on her fist and closed her eyes, blowing it off with hope in her heart.

"Tumne aapna mauka gawa diya."

"Par mujhe toh already mil gaya hai", after a pause, he added, "Mera wish." A slight smirk adorned Sameer's face. Naina strode forward ignoring him and stepped inside the library. Little did she know what he didn't choose was already wished by her.

A/N: Thanks for reading! What do you think Naina wish for? Also please do comment, good or bad, it keeps me motivated to write :)