Even After You

Chapter 4

The days advent one by one. Meeting her in the society would have given rise to suspicion within our families. She was a part of the Kho-Kho team, so was I now since I lay hold of the responsibility to train them. We started to spend our time together in school, sometimes around her home in the evenings too. Each time my heart saw her, it fell in love a thousand times more, while even in the deep silence, her eyes would sing a song.

I would have never fallen
If it wasn't for the rain to her wilds
Avarice would have forever left untouched
If her scratches wouldn't have bled them dry
Embellishments would have never been aced
If it had been a home she could never confide
A wand would have never been adorned
if she hadn't been dwelling eternally
as a magic inside

All her veiled sides slowly unraveled while I propped up, either it be her saccharine mood swings or the worst one-liners. She didn't stop building the armor around her, strengthening it somehow, unable to recoup the control she had lost since I stepped into her life. To triumph over her trust was the biggest brawl I had to fight against the voices that echoed inside her head asking her to resist me. A misted bond followed us around until soon the day came for some unwanted 'goodbyes'.

21 December 2018.

As her pains were evading her, she started rearranging the rooms inside her- those which were left untouched now were embraced with faith and conviction. Alike every day, we landed off the bus. While both of us were quiet, walking together through the same lane, she uttered

-"I might go home today."

I turned my head and looked at her. The mornings would be atonal without glance of her euphonious face, sunrise would finally be the brightest since her smile would no longer kick off my day, and the emptiness would bestir inside my flesh, yearning for the pleasure of the redolence she spread. All my thoughts were suddenly saddened. She was herself feeling dreadful since she got to know it. With a dim smile on my face, I asked her

-"And when is that going to happen...I mean, time!?"

-"In the evening. Probably!"

-"An...And, so evening, right? I hope you would come out and we can spend sometime..?" I spoke fumbling.

"I will try..."

She opened the main gate, and took the first step in. She waited, then looked backwards and spoke

-"...Only if my father comes late to pick me up" After taking a deep breath, she continued in her same low and calm voice -"You know, I will miss you, right!? You and all these evenings too!"

Not how I thought goodbyes really were, I rather felt summoned by her mystical love. Everything she had to scribble since so long, she had already done it on me. Being familiar to almost everything about me made her lower down the guards she kept wearing. A total ardent, mad at times and childish at others, I had lived through most of her inaccessible parts in the shortest time. She went in and I continued to walk towards my home.

Unlike every day, I couldn't sleep that afternoon. I was pumped up by the urge to go out and talk to her but there was no other choice than to wait till the dusk. As the clock struck half past 4, I started pulling out the outfits from my closet. I put on a fluorescent jacket, picked up my football and looked at the clock which almost showed 5. I quickly ran out and peeked towards her home. 0273, the number plate hanging in front of a purple-colored two-wheeler which was parked right in front of her doorway. Probably, her father was already here to take her back which meant that it wasn't possible meeting her anymore and all I was left with a single option to wait for her until I see her going back. I started to juggle the ball on my feet impatiently. The ball kept slipping off. It felt impossible to concentrate since each passing second would make me look at her house hoping to just have a single glance of her before she goes away. Uninterestingly, I kept moving the ball when suddenly a short-heighted sturdy man came out of her house. The ball, which was on my feet a moment ago, just rolled down towards somewhere and I had all eyes at the area in front of her house. Behind the man came out Kshiti-chirping. She had a soft smile on her face. The man was her father. She didn't look around her and silently sat behind him. He had already ignited the engine, ready to move and finally he accelerated.