One Last Time

Chapter 2 - Get to know you better.

After another period, the bell for the recess rang through the hall and everyone ran out of their classes as if it was there last hope of salvation. Arnav came to me and asked, "Weren't you the one who said she would show me around?"

I smiled at him and we both walked out of the class. I showed him the labs, the play ground, the staffroom, the auditorium, the office etcetera etcetera until finally, he turned to me and said, "I guess we should leave at that for today. Let's sit down somewhere." We went back to the playground and sat down under a tree

"So, specs huh? Read a lot or watch a lot?" He asked.

"I guess a bit of both. More of the reading."

"So you love books. Who's your favorite author?"

"That's really hard to decide."

"Cmon.. Try."

"Okay. I guess Sidney Sheldon, J.K. Rowling, Durjoy Dutta."

"Nice. So the Potter series is a craze?"

"Absolutely! What about you? You read?"

"Yes. Sometimes. Otherwise I just watch sitcoms."

"F.R.I.E.N.D.S.?"

"And Two and a Half Men and.."

"SIMPSONS!" We both screamed and started laughing.

"In F.R.I.E.N.D.S, who's your favorite?" I asked.

"In the girls, Rachel and in the guys, Ross. My favorite couple obviously is Rachel and Ross." He said smiling. When he asked me the same, I replied, "From the girls, definitely Monica. Courteney is amazing! And from the guys Chandler. No mystery as to who my favourite couple is."

"See, I told you you are sweet. Why the rude exterior?" He asked.

I looked at him for a long time but he still waited patiently. "I don't know. Maybe its because I don't trust myself to take care of people's feelings. I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking I am nice. I may trust a person who will later leave me in pieces. I don't want that to happen either."

"Trust issues. I think you are sweet. I don't care what you say but I guess I'll choose to turst you because choice is what matters."

I looked at him again and I felt a weird force pulling me towards him. "Maybe you can."

"Can you trust me?" He asked but I gave no reply. He smiled and looked at his watch. "When does the recess end?" He asked me.

"10:15. Why?"

"It's 10:30." He said and started laughing. I looked at him in shock and ran to class followed by him. By the time we reached the class, half of the period was over. "Where were you both?" Asked Pramod sir, our physics teacher. I kept staring at my shoes when to my utter shock (again), Arnav started explaining. "We're extremely sorry sir. I am new to this school so she was just showing me around. We were in the ground so we didn't hear the bell."

"I don't care. Both of you stay out." Sir said. We both stood on each side of the door and he went back to teaching. "Out of the class on my first day. My parents will be so proud." Arnav said and we both started giggling. We heard sir silence the class as he ordered us to get back inside. We both walked back inside, idiotic grins still stuck on her faces.

"What happened?" Jahnvi asked me as soon as I sat down. I narrated the entire conversation to her and she smiled and said, "He clearly has a crush on you!" I looked at her angrily and she kept smiling. I do not realize how she can be so unaffected by my anger. Geez. "If you like him so much, why don't you date him?" I asked her.

"He likes you. Plus, he's to suave for me."

I am sure if I had been the one to say this, she would've had a comeback but my mind came to a standstill. I turned around to see Arnav talking to Nikita and all of sudden I heard myself call out his name. I chided myself as he turned around and walked towards me. What did you call him for? An excuse.. an excuse! "Wassup Trisha?", he asked.

"What?" I asked.

"You called me."

"I did?" Of course you did idiot!

"Yes you did." Jahnvi interjected from behind me. I gave her a deadly stare and said, "Oh yes. I didn't understand what Sir just taught." I said to him.

"You answered 4 questions out of the 6 he asked."

"Yes. But the two I did not get, what's with them?"

"I don't know. Maybe he taught that when we were in the ground."

"Maybe." I said and he went back to his seat. I breathed a sigh of relief. From the corner of my eye I saw Nikita call him again but he didn't talk to her. I smiled to myself wondering if he really did know why I had called him.

"I know." He said, as a answer to something his partner said and I started laughing ignoring the puzzled looks from everybody.

That night as I lay on my bed, I thought about the conversation we had. Can you trust me? Maybe I can and I slept peacefully after a long time as the sound of his voice clouded my senses.

Just then my phone rang. Jahnvi said the screen. "Hello?" I said half asleep.

"What are you doing?"

"Standing on the brink of the Mariana trench waiting for Kronos to let me in." I said.

"Or... You are thinking about him."

"I've told you a million times and I'm telling you again. I don't know anything about him. He might have a girlfriend, who by the way may be planning to kill me, for all I know."

"Look sweetie, we both know that you did not call him to ask doubts today! Don't deny yourself this. You are a nice person. You just need someone to make you realize that and maybe he's the one."

"I don't know and I am sleepy."

"Oh okay! Good night."

"Night night."

He came closer and I blushed. "You are beautiful." He said and I held his hand as he went down to his knees and flashed out a ring. "Trisha Shahi, will you be mine?" I smiled and said, "Yes." And then I woke up and noticed I was smiling in my sleep. It was the most beautiful dream ever.

The next morning, I got ready as fast as I could and rushed to the bus stop. He was nowhere to be seen. "Ahem." Said a voice and I turned around to see him standing behind me. "Hey." I said.

"I didn't know you came so early." He said.

"I didn't know you came so early."

"I have a reason." He said, smiling.

"Maybe I have one too." I replied, smiling back.

"Let me guess... Me?"

"Maybe. What about you? Me?"

He looked at me for a moment and said, "Yes." Even though he just said one word, I blushed as if he had just said he loved me. The rest of our friends gradually arrived and he went ro his friends and Jahnvi joined me. "What did you decide? Are you going to give him a chance?" She asked. "Um.. Hello." I said. She laughed. "Yeah yeah! Hi! Now tell me!"

"I don't know Jahn. I mean he is sweet. I think he likes me and for some reason I just want to trust him."

"Then do it."

I turned to look at him and saw him cracking jokes and laughing with everybody. At that moment, he turned to look at me. He saw me looking at him and winked. I just smiled. "I think I will." I said to Jahnvi.