Falling, Fallen

Close Encounters

As I became increasingly drawn to her, I began devising a plan to meet her daily. Our male physical education teacher is a strict disciplinarian who always kept a watchful eye on students, so I had to be careful not to arouse his suspicion. I carefully crafted a timetable, meticulously looking at the times when she was alone and when our teacher was preoccupied with other tasks. I knew that I couldn't lie to our teacher about why I wanted to meet her, so I had to be cunning and resourceful to make our meetings happen.During the preparations for the annual day event, I was given the responsibility of directing a skit on the life of Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, a renowned Indian agricultural scientist. While I was busy with the rehearsals, I noticed that my favourite person was managing a Himachali dance. I was immediately drawn towards her and started attending her dance practices regularly just to look at her, often leaving my own skit students early. Despite being advised by our principal to improve the finishing of my skit, I kept focusing solely on perfecting her dance performance. My personal reputation was not a concern for me at the time, as my only priority was to make sure my favourite person received the recognition she deserved for her hard work. I was juggling multiple tasks at the time, but I couldn't turn down any requests related to her performance and made sure to complete them first. I took it upon myself to showcase her exceptional personality and aura, as I felt it was my duty to do so. It was the day of the annual event, and my eyes were fixated on her as soon as she entered the room. She was wearing a stunning blue saree with matching heels, and she looked breathtaking. Her beauty surpassed that of even the most renowned pageant queens, like Miss Universe. What's more, she had a talent for makeup that was simply awe-inspiring. She had done the makeup for all of the dance participants and even helped out the other teachers with their looks. On that particular day, I felt a sudden pang of regret for not performing a classical dance, as it would have allowed me to have my makeup done by her. I could still vividly recall the moment when my heart melted as she asked me if the person, she was doing makeup for looked good or not. The innocent and genuine concern she showed towards her work was truly heartwarming. As soon as I noticed that she had a worried expression on her face while searching for the people who were supposed to be on stage, I felt compelled to offer my assistance. Without hesitation, I took it upon myself to help her locate the appointees by making use of all the contacts I had. It was important to me that I be as helpful as possible to her and not just be a burden. I wanted to prove myself to be a valuable asset to her, someone who she could rely on in times of need. Before the performance, I hurried to the venue to make sure everything was in order. Suddenly, one of the dancers experienced a costume malfunction and had to rush downstairs to fix it. I held my breath as I watched her handle the situation with remarkable elegance and composure. She offered her shoulder to the dancer to cry on. She comforted the dancer and listened to her as she expressed her disappointment. It was a touching moment that showed the power of empathy and kindness towards others. As the culmination of a flurry of preparations approached, I found myself feeling drained and uncertain about my ability to deliver a standout performance in the skit. However, all of my concerns dissipated the moment I caught a glimpse of her poised and radiant presence from behind the curtains. As soon as I finished my performance, I quickly made my way towards her to inquire about her thoughts on my performance. I was eager to know her opinion and it mattered to me the most, regardless of what others might have thought.During our conversation, she shared a video with me that featured a fellow student who used to document every moment with her. While watching it, I couldn't help but think about my own inability to record her in the same way. Personally, I've always found mobile phones to be a major distraction and preferred to experience moments with my own eyes rather than through the lens of a camera. In my opinion, no amount of technology can truly capture the essence of a moment like our own senses can. As we were walking down the hallway, a teacher suddenly appeared in front of us, looking anxious. She informed us that my favourite person's bag was missing from the classroom where she had kept it. Without wasting any time, we immediately headed towards the classroom, and I started running faster to reach as fast as I could. I could tell by the look on her face that she was very concerned about her bag, particularly because it contained some important shoes. As we approached the classroom, we saw the bags lying there and the teacher quickly checked them. To our relief, we found both the bags, and it turned out that the teacher had mistakenly checked the wrong class earlier. After the event was over, I found myself reluctantly leaving the venue as my parents had to go to work the following day. As I walked towards the exit, I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment that the night had come to an end so soon. I wanted to capture the experience in some way, to hold onto the memory a little longer, and the thought of taking a picture with her came to mind. However, as I saw her enjoying her dinner, I didn't want to interrupt and thought it best to just wave goodbye and head home.But just as I was about to turn away, to my surprise, she stood up from her seat, leaving her half-eaten dinner behind, and came over to me with a bright smile on her face and reminded me about how I wanted to click pictures with her, and my heart skipped a beat. I couldn't believe it. I nodded eagerly, and we spent a few minutes taking pictures together.As we said our goodbyes, I felt elated and grateful. She had made my day by going out ofher way to make sure that I got to capture the moment, and I knew that it was a memory that I would cherish forever. The annual day event was an absolute delight, and I felt incredibly grateful to have been a part of it. However, my week was about to get even better. As my favourite person was covering a class for substitution, and she asked me if I wanted to tag along with her. Her offer filled me with joy, and I eagerly accepted.On the 22nd of December, I decided to express my love for the special woman in my life by giving her a beautiful rose. The act of gifting a rose has long been a symbol of love and affection, and I wanted to convey just how much she meant to me. Despite the challenges I had to face to find the perfect rose and not to be misunderstood by others, seeing the way she held it close to her face and breathed in its sweet fragrance made all the effort worthwhile. It was a moment that I will always cherish. I bid her goodbye as the winter holidays had started and we would meet next year (after eleven days). It was a long duration for me to be without her. I missed myself during those eleven days. I missed how jolly I was around her.