Lover Is A Day

Chapter 20

Out of all the days that I have lived., yesterday might be my favorite. Actually, second favorite, first is the day I met him.
Why did he do that? Why did he stop and smell my tshirt like that? Maybe I got it all wrong and there is some different reason altogether., which I cannot see. I thought this whole night. Before waking up in the morning. While getting ready for college, driving to college, parking, getting off.
And the next moment I know, I am in the book club. Which is just a classroom, which is free every Friday.
Since I hardly participate in the club, Neha told me that I should recommend a book this time.
‘No, I will pass’, I said
‘Why?’, she asked in a very friendly tone
‘…’
‘He probably doesn’t read books, maybe he’s in the club for a different reason’, Zenna said, with a smirk
Shubham came in late. And with an embarrassed smile he said, ‘Sorry, I am late’
‘It’s okay, we were just getting started’, Neha told him
He came and stood next to me, smiling. ‘Can I come over to your place today after college?’, he whispered
‘Why?’, I asked
‘I want to show you something’, he said ‘Also-’, He pulled out a bag and handed it to me, ‘thanks for your tshirt’. I took it.
Abhi and Mayur came out of nowhere. ‘Why does he have your clothes?’, Mayur asked
‘It’s a long story’, Shubham said
They stood next to us, at the back of the classroom. Some random girls did all the talking, and decided which book was a ‘must read’. And it was again, some romance novel, popular on social media. Which I had absolutely no intention of reading.
Since the club was female dominated, and us four were the only boys. Out of which I was probably the only one who read. So often we were left out.
When the rest of them left. Neha and Zenna came over to us.
‘I’m sorry, I know you guys probably don’t like those kinds of novels’, Neha said, in an apologetic voice
‘Don’t worry, we’re not gonna read them anyways’, Abhi said sincerely
Zenna made eye contact with me, then in a linear motion, eyed at Shubham, who was standing next to me. As if pointing at him, with a teasing smile. I looked away.
‘Since it is recess, should we go to the canteen’, Shubham said
But since the canteen was three floors below, and would probably be packed full at this time, it was decided that two people will go down and bring the food up, and the rest will stay here.
Shubham and Neha volunteered to go, and everyone gave them money and told them what they wanted.
When they left, Abhi decided to shoot his shot, and tried to hit on Zenna. Which was just such a painfully awkward thing to witness.
Somewhere along in the conversation, they started talking about Neha. To which Abhi appeared deep in thought and said, ‘She is nice… but she is a little fat., if she loses some weight, then she will be pretty cute-’
Which was followed by a long silence.
Splash!!! Suddenly, in a quick motion, Zenna threw water on Abhi’s face. Where did she even get the water bottle from? And Abhi was fully drenched too, head to toe.
‘…’
Just then, Shubham and Neha appeared with the food and drinks. Zenna left the room and dragged Neha along with her, ‘Let’s go’, she said. Neha was pulled along with drinks in her hands.
Mayur took out what could be tissue papers or bills from his back pocket, and dabbed Abhi’s face with it., ‘You deserved that’, he muttered under breath.
Shubham stood there, confused, with the food tray still in his hands. He looked at Abhi who was now wet and then at me and asked, ‘What happened?’

‘You shouldn’t have said that!’, Shubham said, after we explained to him what happened
‘I know!’, Abhi said, ‘It sounded abit more polite in my head…’, he said lowly
‘How did that sound polite!?’, Mayur scolded him
‘Just apologize to them’, I said
‘Zenna will never forgive him!... if she even talks to him’, Shubham said ‘Now toh she is very calm, but in junior college she used to be very angry and scary, even boys were scared of her, and after a point, even the teachers stopped calling her parents to complain’
‘Because… the teachers were also scared of her?’, Abhi asked hesitantly but what sounded like genuine fear
‘No. Because they got tired of calling her parents over and over again’, Shubham said, ‘But trust me, she hates you now’
'But I don't understand, I said it about Neha, then why did Zenna get soo pissed?'
‘…’
Abhi sulks, ‘How could you let me?’, he pitifully says to Mayur
‘How could I what? You expect me to punch you in the face everytime before you say something stupid or what!?’, Mayur said
‘That would be less painful’, Abhi said

After college, Shubham left with me. This was the first time, he was in my car, while I drove. He sat in the passenger seat next to me.
‘I don’t even have a driving license!’, he said, ‘When did you learn how to drive?’
‘I have been driving even before I got a driving license’, I said
‘How?’, he didn’t understand for a second. When did, he laughed.
‘Stop the car- lets go here’, he pointed to a Dmart store on the side
‘Why?’, I asked
‘Just do as I say’, he said
I parked the car.
We looked abit out of place in the store, since we were wearing white shirt and black pants with backpacks. But I was wearing a brown jacket on top, and he wore a light blue hoddie.
He pulled a trolley, and pulled me by the cuff. ‘Come here’
‘What are you doing?’, I asked
‘Shopping’, he said
‘Why?’
‘Because today I will teach you how to cook’, he said
He looked at different ingredients and put some in the trolley.
‘Do you have a pressure cooker?’, he asked me
‘What's that’, I asked
He rolled his eyes, and pointed in the direction of kitchenware, at square boxes of pressure cookers.
‘That’, he said
‘No’, I said
‘Okay...’, he said and put down the rice packet, ‘Lets buy a cooker first then’
‘What? No! I don't want it’
‘You should use it! you can’t eat Maggi everyday’
We argued about it for sometime. And finally, he agreed not to buy a cooker. But then he did that thing where he rolls his eyes in the opposite direction and raises one side of his mouth, to show disappointment.
‘Fine... but only a small one’, I said. He looked happy again.
In the end, we did buy a small pressure cooker. At the billing counter, he smiled at me. So, I paid the bill. Then I carried the bag of ingredients and he held the cooker, we put it in the backseat. And drove back to my hostel.

Authors Note:
Edit: I made some changes to the original chapter:)