Back To Back

~nineteen~

A/N:

I'm so excited about this chapter!!

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Everything seemed to annoy him.

Having to wait in a queue, Archit blabbering about the previous night's football match and most importantly the giggling girls standing before them in the queue.

He forced a nod or two at Archit whenever courtesy demanded for the simple reason that he had no strength to fight with him or even explain the reason for his sour mood.

Vedant tried to zone out.

He tried really hard.

And he was going to thank God in the future for having failed as suddenly he heard,

"One-five-one-one."

His head shot up at the girl before him with surprise, and then his gaze dropped down at the familiar red Nike backpack hanging loosely on one of her shoulders.

Vedant's mind stopped functioning, his eyes stuck up on the familiar black ink smeared on the lower left corner of his old bag, the candy wrappers he'd stuffed into the side pockets during his coaching days seemed to glisten bright, even the faded black Nike logo looked as familiar as ever.

He couldn't believe it himself.

It was her.

She was standing right in front of him.

Or she'd just handed his bag over to some other girl. Which seemed like an absolutely absurd thing to do.

And that only meant one thing.

The girl standing before him, whose giggles he'd found unbearable moments ago was Meera.

A coincidence? Again?

He wanted to whack his head for uttering the cheesiest thing up next.

Was this...destiny?

But he'd never been the kind to want to have a girlfriend desperately. Sure it all seemed comforting, to have someone listen to you, stay by you even when your family isn't and all that, but those were really rosy pictures couples painted.

Relationships like those hardly existed.

So why then, had Meera Modi walked into his life suddenly?

And why did he feel so attached to her that even the thought of handing over her diary back to her seemed to create a very unsettling feeling at the pit of his stomach? Why did he know that when she'd turn around and he'd finally catch a proper glimpse of her, he wouldn't in the slightest bit care if she wasn't drop dead gorgeous?

His thoughts were interrupted, as he watched her carefully place the certificate into the backpack and head for the exit with her giggling lot of friends.

Vedant froze.

He didn't know what to say to her.

He'd thought this moment over so many times in his head. He could swear he'd even finalized particular dialogues he'd say and particular facial expressions he'd maintain.

And yet, standing there he watched her leave helplessly, unable to recall exactly what he'd planned.

He was at a complete loss of words.

She'd almost walked out of the building when he surprised himself by calling out,

"Meera!"

All activity paused, curious gazes glancing his way.

So much for trying to be inconspicuous!

His voice startled his own self, he barely blamed the people around. His voice had been confident, laced with conviction and certainty, in complete contrast to what he was feeling within.

He did a quick thanks to God when people resumed their work, probably realizing there was nothing very eventful to witness; just a guy calling out to a girl.

Vedant could see three female backs before him. And the only thing that separated Meera from the other two was the bag.

Those seconds wherein she stopped on her tracks and turned towards him felt like an eternity. In those few seconds, his mind brought back the blurry image of her he remembered from that night at the departmental store.

When she did turn though, and her eyes met his, he could only nervously gulp.

She on the other hand, looked like she'd seen a ghost.

He watched with amusement as the shock gave way to surprise in her eyes, and then a deep shade of red started to colour her whole face.

She blinked rapidly, her big doe shaped eyes even rounder and even softer with innocence.

Vedant didn't realize when a smile escaped his lips.

She was beautiful, not because she was the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen. She was beautiful, with all her nervousness and confusion. In those few seconds or moments that they gazed at each other, he'd read her like an open book. Just like he'd read her diary.

With her shoulder length hair left stray, a simple sleeveless top with jeans, and of course, her flushed cheeks, she looked as Meera as she could.

Brutally honest and sarcastic within, shy and conscious from the outside.

He took slow steps towards her and watched with more amusement how her eyes widened more than they already had.

Her gaze dropped down to the backpack he clutched and he watched realization brush over her.

"Hi." He almost whispered, as though it were a secret he was sharing with her.

"Hey." She spoke meekly, still seemingly revelling upon the crazy bag swap.

"I'm Vedant. And I think our bags got swapped."

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A/N:

Well, this is the end to 'BACK TO BACK'. I know, the end's abrupt and it was too tiny and I suck for ending it here.

There's a sequel; I promise.

I'm already working on it.

Just to ensure people don't die of the suspense, I'll be putting up the first chapter of the sequel here itself. This is for all those of you who've been dying to see Meera's reaction.

But until I'm done writing the sequel, I'll be off again. I mean I'll still reply to messages and all. It'll just be a writing hiatus for me.

Do let me know how you guys liked this work of mine though. This story is really, really close to my heart. <3

~kimayaa aka Ankita