Some People are like Asteroids

CHAPTER ONE

12 Months Ago

It's a warm sunrise outside. I'm on my bed, just sitting with the curtains open. Looking out of the window into the whole city view and the hills at the end of the valley. The hills where Aisha wants to go hiking. The hills where Barsha took me hiking once.

Barsha wasn't the type of person to go hiking, I guess she still doesn't go hiking. Last time she posted on her instagram, she looked as if she had put on some weight. So I'm sure she hasn't been hiking lately. She is someone who would sit under the tree and talk about anything. She can go on hours talking about how to make ramen in a better way, but still do it the same way every single time.

It was hard for her to change. Like how she didn't talked to me for more than 2 months even though we were taking on the same bus everyday. It must have been a years ago, somewhere in september. Our second semester classes started and on the very first day of the semester, I saw her. And instantly my eyes just locked into her. She looked exactly like my little sister. I just paused for a while thinking I saw my little sister, but she lives in a different city so it's obviously not her. But she looked exactly like her. I looked away, and I felt weird that she caught me starring at her. It was brief but I think she noticed it. I felt like an idiot! I anyway went to class and after sometime, she entered. Oh! We are in the same class? I hoped someday we share a brief conversation while having tea, where I can say to her that she looks like my little sister, and stop feeling weird about that stare. I hoped!

Wait.

Tea?

Oh no!

I had kept the milk on the stove.

I get out of the bed and rush immediately to the stove and see that it's just about to boil.

I need to have some break fast and rush out cause I'm already late for the movie. Aisha would kill me if I make her wait again.

Aisha has been my friend since the start of the first semester. We have known each other since last 3 years but we have been really close in last one year I guess. Now we are close enough that I could be murdered if I make her wait too much. So I hurry and finally get on the bus. I never panic or hurry once I'm on the bus cause I don't have the control over the bus. I don't even look at the time while I'm on the bus, I just relax. I get in and sit on the window seat.

I'm on the driver side, second seat from the door. The exact same seat when I saw her and my eyes locked into her again. It was maybe two or three days after I saw her first time in the college. After I got on the bus to go to college, I saw her standing and trying to keep herself on her two feets while the bus is moving. She's really short and can't reach the handle on the roof of the bus, so she was holding onto the seats in front of her to keep herself steady. This time I kept starring at her longer than the first time cause she was not looking at me. She really looked like my little sister. Specially her eyes. Big and round eyes. Her silky and shiny black hair, just like my sister's. A shawl that covered her upper body, a purple shawl with dark and sky blue stripes on it and some threads hanging on one end. It looked like it's a hand woven shawl. And her height, again exactly like my sister's. I was just lost in noticing every small detail about her. Suddenly she moved her head slightly, not even to look towards me, but I looked away, not wanting to be noticed for the second time starring at her. I might not be able to recover from the awkwardness of getting caught for starring at her again.

It was like I suddenly came back to reality, and I looked away from her and realized that we were on the same bus. I'm wondering whether she really lived somewhere around here, or she was visiting some friend or family and stayed the night. I don't know why, but I would be glad whichever way it was. We reached our station and we both got off. We used to get off at the same place. We crossed the road through the same crossing. We walked down the same street. We entered college through same gate. We got up the same stairs, and got into the same class and didn't say a single word to each other. Although I walked faster and got ahead of her to make it less awkward. But I guess we were looking at each other at times. Actually, I didn't guessed, I rather hoped! I hoped that she was also looking at me the way I was looking at her. This went on for three to four days a week that we both happened to be in the same bus. And it kept on happening.

For one week.

For two weeks.

For three weeks.

For a month.

For two months.

In those two months. I didn't see her like my sister anymore. Well she still looked like my sister, but I didn't want to call her sister. I want to call her something else. Something that I don't go on saying to anyone. Something, that would make her the sister-in-law of my own sister. My sister would be excited and happy if she comes to know that her brother got a girlfriend, and she even looks like her. Although I was not sure how the 'sister-in-law' was gonna react.

The bus stops!

It's my stop!

Time to rush!

I get off immediately and walk briskly towards the mall. It's not faraway and I'm not much too late. Well I'm pretty late but I have made her wait far worse than this, so I hope that I'm not getting murdered today.

I finally see her through the crowd and it's written in her face that she's annoyed. But not I'm-gonna-murder-you annoyed! She doesn't moves. She just stares at me as I get closer to her with the same annoyed face. I reach her, still the same annoyed face starring at me. I politely say, "Shall we go ma'am?" She doesn't reply but turns around starts walking towards the mall.

"How much time left for the movie?" I ask just to break the silence while we are in the lift.

"Two minutes, thanks to you!" she says in her annoyed voice.

I just make an apologetic face with a grin.

She smiles.

"Here's the ticket" she pulls out two tickets from her pocket, "So popcorn is on you!"

Keeping the same face, I say, " wokey ma'am" She laughs, cause she was the one who gave me this habit of saying 'wokey' instead of 'okay'.

She has influenced me with other habits too. One thing about her is that she is the only one person from my college who got to know me more than the college student that I was. In the college, I wasn't the way I was outside. When I'm with my other friends or family, I'm very open and lively. But in college I don't find someone to open up with.

Except her. She knows me.

Not just my likes and dislike, not just my behaviors, not just my introvert and extrovert personalities, but me! Not things about me, but me! That might be so because we both were introverts? Or maybe we both didn't cared to put on a mask of something that we were not and simply been with each other the way we were, not the way we wanted to be seen, not the way we wanted to be, but just the way we were. Maybe, that is how we knew each other, rather than things about each other. Well we also know a lot of things about each other, but there is a huge difference in knowing about someone and knowing someone.

"The movie was good, right?" she says feeling light after the movie.

"Yah! It was..." I also say it with a satisfied voice.

"Know that you are getting murdered like that villain if you make me wait like that again!" she says giving me a serious mischievous look.

"And I'll come as ghost and scare you?" I reply just continuing into her threat.

"And I'll exorcise you!" she says with even scarier look on her face.

I seriously hope she's kidding. I look at her as if I'm afraid by her life-threatening dialogue.

"Oh god, your drama!" she says while slowly punching me on my arm. And we both laugh.