If It's Meant To Be.

A peppermint gift

Ever since I knew about the idea of love, I have also known about the grief of love. With Jason, I knew it would definitely end in a bad way even though I was more sure about my love for him than my very existence as a living being. Jason was from a community that was unacceptable for mine and it would have stirred a violent communal clash even if we ever fought through our family. I didn't want to hurt my family and so didn't he. That idea always kept me away from telling him that he meant a lot more to me than a friend. We both knew. But never spoke about it as we knew it would worsen things. Everybody at school knew we had a spark between us, but none were sure.
When I joined the coaching classes to help my way through a couple of science entrance exams, Jason came along. He was brilliant, but found the weekends too hard without me next to him and it is obvious that we were inseparable in school.
Classes were difficult. I loved languages and poetry better than science. Always. But for some reason I nodded yes to my parent's dream of me becoming a doctor or an engineer. School was hard, but the coaching classes were harder and it would give us really less time to talk to each other or at least hold each others hands.

"So how is the new lecturer?" Jason smirked. I rolled my eyes before saying that he was as boring as the rest of them. As he walked away to a bunch of other guys, it pricked me. I would never want him to leave my side because I was too scared to think how much time we had together. I went into an empty class and sat on a bench, wondering who would ever be able to fill Jason's place in my life and trying hard to find a solution that would let us be together forever without hurting our parents. Even though I knew it was impossible, I never wanted to kill the faint voice in my heart that miracles can happen.
"Are you Joan?" A guy asked me with a twisted smile. "Yeah, what happened?" I looked blankly at him. "This is from Robby!" He laughed as he tossed a peppermint towards me. "What?" I asked, totally confused. Before I could get a reply, an anonymous hand from outside, pulled him out of the class room. "Oh, it must be that guy in the next class at school" I always had a 'he has got a crush on me' feeling from that guy. His name was Robby or something. I wondered if he didn't knew about me and Jason as we were quite a popular couple in the school. Not because of me, but Jason was a star in sports and all kind of athletics. It isn't new for me to wonder how he fell for a pale dull person like me. For a moment I imagined his broad bright smile, the sexiest and the cutest I have ever seen in my whole life. I melt like an ice cube placed on a hot pan whenever he flashes that smile upon me.

Hey come on! Jason called me from outside the class as it was time for the next torture session for me. As I stepped out the room, I heard weird giggles all around. People were calling out "Robby..Robby!" And this bugged for the entire day until I found out who the Robby guy actually is. "Guess he is from Ginson High, I don't even know him!" I told Jason as I flushed red with anger. What is this whole fuss about. I found it totally annoying and the timely appearances by him and his friends, giggling and calling out my name killed my patience.

"Hey Joan, Robby says that you look like Aishwarya Rai and Emma Watson blend together," said one of his friends blocking my way on the stairs. "Guys stop it. If he said that, then he is probably blind," I snapped and just walked away.
The next day followed a similar track until Robby spoke to me himself. He was tall and lean. Not any handsome in particular and looked like a complete idiot when he blushed while talking to me. "Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked. Though I loved Jason, he wasn't my boyfriend. But I some how figured it out in my mind that, maybe if I tell him I have one he would back off. "Yes I do. And tell your friends to stop howling my name around the place." He smiled and just went away, which I felt was gentle.

"How annoying" I said aloud as I threw my bag on my bed. It wasn't the first time a guy liked me. But Robby and his friends gave me a hard time not hating them.

Robby was from another school in the town and my friend Susan had introduced me to him on our first day at the coaching class, even though I never remembered his name or face until this whole thing happened. And why would I? I was so crazily and blindly in love with Jason, that sometimes I forget to think of anybody else around me.

I couldn't sleep that whole week with the Jason thing going around in my head. We always met in school and as soon as we came back, texted on phone. The frequent typing on a basic set which I had, always left my fingers numb. But I couldn't care less about it as long as it kept my heart alive. And on Friday night he told me over the phone that he was totally in love with me. I told him I wasn't and it would be better if we stay friends. "Who am I kidding! I love him." The voice in my mind was a lot louder than the one in which I was speaking. And finally after sometime, I agreed to the fact that I loved him too. We both knew it was a short term relationship, but never saying that we love each other would kill both of us from the inside. I slept with tears in my eyes and a smile on my lips that night.