Don't Panic!

Burgers and Crushes

The parental party committee reached a decision and granted permission on the morning of the party. I had a day's leave at the coaching centre. The party was right near my house and I was completely set to waste a good hour or two of my time. 

At school I ran into Mary. Well it was more or less inevitable that I would, considering we were both Theatre students and there were only seven people in the class. The sir asked us to pair up for an exercise so there I was trying to figure out how to spark a conversation.

"Hey," she smiled. 

"Hi," I said. "Do you know what we're supposed to do?"

"No clue," she shrugged. She looked really cute when she did that. 

"Well I guess we're screwed then."

"Are you coming for the party?" She asked.

"Yeah I think," I replied. "What about you?"

"Of course," Her face lit up with another smile. "Ash is really fun. I'm looking forward to it."

So I guess now I had a reason to go. 

After school, I went home for a quick shower and headed to the party. The restaurant was a really cool joint, mostly haunted by teenagers and younger adults. The rest of the gang was already inside and I was a bit nervous. For one thing, this was the first time I was going to meet all these people at once. For another, I was nervous about Mary being there.

As I pushed open the glass front door, I realised with disappointment that Mary hadn't arrived yet. And then, I saw her.

She had short hair and full lips. A headscarf was wrapped around her neck to mark her for a Muslim and if possible, that only made her even prettier. But the most striking things about her were her eyes; dark, intelligent, sharp. Eyes that could cut you open or melt your heart out. All this I remembered later. At the time, the only thing going through my head was "WOW!".

"Hey," Ash said as he rose to greet me.

"Hey man," I said. "Happy birthday."

I dropped into a seat next to a girl named Arya. The mystery girl was sitting right opposite me. Daemon was chatting to a guy next to her and when he saw me he grinned.

"She's not here yet," he said. 

"Shut up, Daemon." I muttered.

"Who are you talking about?" a girl asked him.

"Isn't it obvious?" He winked. "Mary."

"Well that's never working out," I said. "And it's your fault. You better find me a new girl."

"Oh yeah?" He arched an eyebrow. "How about her?" He gestured to the girl opposite me.

"No!" I said, perhaps a bit louder than I intended. 

"And why not? Am I not good enough for you?" She snapped. 

To be honest, I couldn't think of a reason why not but I was starting have an idea who this girl was.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" I asked. 

"Yes," she said.

"So obviously I can't date you, can I?"

"So you're saying you won't date me out of loyalty to a guy you've never met?" Her eyes looked like they would skin me there and then. 

"Here's some free advice," she said leaning toward me. "If you want a girlfriend, stop whining. Girls don't like sissies." 

And with that she leaned back and my crumpled heart resumed its beating. By now I knew who she was. Her name was Iza. 

"What's your name?" She asked after a while.

"Sirius," I replied. The transformation was immediate. Her eyes lit up and a smile broke through her lips. She had a very pretty smile.

"Oh my god, please tell me you read Harry Potter!" She said.

"Yeah I do," 

"Wow! Apoorva," she called to a girl down the table. "His name is Sirius and he reads Harry Potter!"

Just like that she had gone from snapping at me to blabbering about Harry Potter. Books, music; these things have a power to unite people. This was the first time I learned that. 

After the party, I went home and sent her a friend request. For the longest time, my thoughts kept returning to the way she spoke, the way her eyes lit up at the mention of Harry Potter. 

You can't date her, I told myself. She's way out of your league and she has a boyfriend. Stop thinking about her.

And yet, as I closed my eyes that night, all I saw was her.