Those enchanted four and half years

Chapter 7

Ever since Arun had told me about Amey, I started spending restless nights thinking about him, imagining how he would propose to me. Ofcourse I had not shared this with anyone, not even Sufee, Sneha or Nayana; and I was not intending to till it actually happened. I did not want to make a fool of myself if Amey changed his mind. Daily I hoped to catch a glimpse of him somewhere.

One day, I, Sufee and Nayana went to the office for submission of the fees. As we were descending the steps, I was busy balancing various receipts in one hand and my sack and books in the other, I suddenly bumped into someone. Everything in my hands fell on the floor. As I started collecting my things I saw the guy helping pick me up my receipts. He was none other than Amey Shrivastava. As he handed me the receipts, he looked at me and gave a cute smile. I stood there foolishly looking at him.

"Hi," he broke the silence.

"H..Hi," I replied.

"So...How's college?"

"Well, fun till now," I replied.

"Did you meet him?"

"Sorry?"

"Did you meet him?"

"Who?" I was confused.

"Your non-medico?" he smiled.

"Oh...not yet!" I said shyly.

"I am still stand by," he said smilingly.

I smiled and rushed down the steps, before his smile could make me go weak in the knees.

That afternoon, as we fought sleep in the post lunch Physiology lecture, I thought of an innovative way of keeping myself awake.

I wrote a chit 'Had an eventful afternoon' and passed it towards Arun.

'What happened?' he passed the chit towards me.

'Met Amey..." I replied.

'Oh-ho, what did he say??'

'I don't remember.'

'???'

'I was lost in his light brown eyes J'

'Filmy! Tell na..'

'He asked if I had found my guy.'

'And? What did you say.'

'I said no.'

'then?'

'He said he was stand-by'

'That guy sure knows how to flirt,' Arun wrote.

'Don't talk bad about him. I just love him,' I wrote back.

'I will talk..coz I don't love him.'

'You better don't...'

'I have other people to love.'

'Like Ragini?? J'

"Roll numbers 53 and 54," a loud voice thundered. I and Arun stood up.

"What's going on between you two?" the lecturer had caught us. My mind raced to find an answer.

"Sir I had missed out on the last slide. I was copying the points from him." I lied.

"Okay..but don't disturb the class," he said and turned to continue his boring. babble. I winked at Arun as we sat down.

'You are witty,' his next chit came.

'Now shut up and concentrate. My wit wont save us the next time he catches us,' I wrote.

As we finished dissection and came out of the Anatomy department building, I saw Arun standing near a brand new bike, cleaning it with a cloth.

"New bike?" Savita asked him, as we went to see his bike.

"Wow...Pulsar!" I said, touching the body of the shiny new vehicle.

"Want a ride?" he asked us.

Just then, Sufee called me. She was in a hurry to go home as she had to attend some function. I wanted to ride the bike, it looked very tempting.

"Ruta...come fast," Sufee called out again.

"Some other time," I said, "Sufee has to reach home early."

"I will ride with you." Savita too was equally excited about the bike ride.

"Okay then, sit pillion," Arun told her as he sat on the bike and ignited the engine.

"Where will you take me?" Savita asked as she climbed on the seat behind him. I watched as she placed one hand on his shoulder.

"Let's ride on the highway," Arun said, racing the bike. "Bye Ruta."

"Bye," I said as I watched them speed towards the college gate...and felt something in my stomach...a pang of jealousy? Rubbish, I thought as I shook my head. What's so special about riding the bike. And I will too, soon, I thought as I walked towards a waiting Sufee.