When you have a crush (part-1)

Part-1

Yeah, I still remember the first time I saw him.

11th had just begun, many of my older classmates moved away but a lot of new faces came. I hadn't met those newcomers. And he was a new newcomer.

Into the second week of 11th, our class was given duty to serve in the canteen and of course, my girls and I signed up.

Canteen is chaotic. The girls served on one side and the boys on the other. People rushed around with full plates, teachers walking in and out of the kitchen, a long line of students waiting to get their food, the aroma of hot rice and sambhar lingered everywhere and of course the endless chatter.

I remember I was serving sambhar that day. Sambar was special. Everyone loved it, so that made serving it a herculean task. That day, one or two boys didn't come to serve and that made it a whole lot chaotic on the boy's side.

After finishing around 3 large vessels of hot steaming sambhar, I was called to serve at the boy's side for a while. Man, it was a lot more chaotic than I thought. These boys required a lot more serving and I was stirring and pouring steaming sambhar endlessly into the plates of restless high school boys.

It was hot, it was tiring, steam was hitting my face so hard that it turned pink.

I gave one quick stir and was pouring in the next plate when, for a second my eyes got hooked on something and holy shit, that one second... Literally, felt like eternity.

My eyes couldn't move. It sorta got locked. That was the first time our eyes met.

I felt like I.. I wanted this second to go on forever. Those eyes, even through the mist of steam, had a powerful thing to it that makes whoever looking into them feel like they are getting drenched in one of those cool November rains, and I swear, I got drenched the most.

Even with all the rush around me, even with the hot steam and tiredness of that afternoon, for that one second when our eyes met, a spark of something magical ran through my veins and I felt like I was witnessing the winter landscape from Shakespeare's balcony.

...

"Hey, are you here to serve or what??"

The rush, the chattering, the hot steam and all of reality came back.

"Oh sorry.."

....

"How did you serve for so long without even taking a break? That boy's side was too chaotic... And what's with the stupid smile on your face ever since lunch break, what has gotten to you?"

Silence was my answer to that. Only I knew the source of that smile. That smile which blossomed on my face during lunch break and refused to leave my face the whole day.