Hearts Entwined (I)

He is a Good Friend

Rahi's POV

Well, would you believe it? Three months into the new class, and I am still alive. Wow. Oh, by the way, my 10th board results came out. I scored really good. Which should have been a celebratory news, right? No, you guessed it wrong. Anyone else in the world would be happy, except my parents. I got 94%, with really good marks in all subjects, and my father's first reaction was...

"Ishhh, just a bit more, and you'd have almost scored 95%. You missed it just by a little bit. Tch."

Regret- at me not getting 95% was more important to them, than my received marks. All my unslept nights were ignored. My mom was out in temple for worshipping, and when she came I told her my marks, and she, as usual, kept her poker face expression and said.

"Why only 92 in physical science? And you said you did everything right in life science, then why only 96?"

Stop Rahi, you are the one who is always antagonizing your parents. They must want good for you only, hence they say such things. Otherwise, they must be happy inside, right? Stop overthinking.

I was dumbfounded, and did not say more. Instead, I called my friends, Pratyusha, Aarshi. Oishi's phone was not reachable. I smiled melancholic. She must have been busy, right?

But ironically, whenever Oishi had called me, I would pick up without hesitation, even before exams or classes.  Jealousy and inferiority can really change years old friendship too, it seems.

Aarshi told me, she was going to get the result sheet from school, today itself. So, I thought to join her. She has scored rightfully more than me, obviously, she is a very hardworking student. I am so happy for her. I made a mental note to not to bother her with my feelings. Pratyusha was here too, and I spoke with her.
She and I used to be very good friends since kindergarten, but we fell apart due to less communication and different sections. But now, together, we were warming up again and speaking more freely to each other. It is just how you click with some person, and that's all it takes.

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~Few weeks later~

The chatter over the boards results died down very soon, because, according to everyone, our batch was post-Covid batch, and our syllabus was lessened, questions were easy, so, obviously, it was no big deal that I had scored good. Everyone scored good. What was the exception? Right?

As always, I accepted both praise, and taunts with ever gracing smile on my face.

One day in school, Aarshi was not sitting with us for some reason, so me and Pratyusha were talking and gossiping. Pratyusha was rambling about her crush and hos he has been texting her back and all. Generally I avoid these conversations, but for some reason, today I absently listened to her. And my overthinking mind stupidly thinking about Anirudh. I have never seen so much determined, dedicated person in my life. Seriously, the way he would speak about getting into medical, getting into the top college of the country and be the best doctor...how his brown eyes would shine like amber when he spoke so passionately. Thinking about him made me smile. Always. I noticed the goosebumps he would get on his forearms when he would speak about these...Only a truly dedicated aspirant can look like this. I hope he really succeeds in his aim.

Listening to Pratyusha, an idea popped in my mind.

"Pratyusha, can I ask a question?" I asked her and she eagerly nodded.

"How do you feel when you talk with your crush?" I asked slowly.

"It feels like floating in a cloud of happiness, giggling, laughing for no reason in any time of the day. Feeling a loss of heartbeat when the text comes. Like this, I think." She sighed dreamily and then straightened up. " Why do you ask, by the way? Who have you got crush on?"