More Than Friends

SEE YOU SOON

The love notes, the shy hellos, the nervous eye contacts, random smiles, the looking at mirror more than I used to, bunking lectures more often to see her, avoiding friends a little to spend time with her and texting her hopelessly all day. Those days had me in an absolutely different world. I wasn't aware of anything but Vaani. She said a yes and now she was my girlfriend. The not so normal and extremely special girl was mine now. I adored her more than before. I was changing. The changes were positive. I avoided many other girls and wasn't the heartbroken flirt anymore. I could finally see a future with someone and it was her. She made me believe in love stories.

It was three months in 10th standard. Post the summer vacations, I stepped into the school bus and settled on the last seat. On the next stop I saw a girl. She was pretty cute. Perhaps cuter than Vaani. She looked like a junior. She was short in height and her complexion was milky white. She stepped into the bus and sat on the seat just infront of me. Jay missed the bus on last stop so he ran and reached to this stop. He came to me breathing heavily. I offered him water and he sat next to me.

'Oh Hi!' Jay greeted the new girl.
'you know her?' I asked.
'just a classmate. New admission.'
She wasn't a junior.
He continued talking to her. I was watching them talk and she was really polite. Not a pinch of attitude in her tone. Such girls are rare. As far as I know, more the beauty more the attitude. She seemed to be an exception.

I reached the school and met Vaani. She was glowing more than before. I met her two months back before the summer vacations started and she wasn't half as pretty as now. I fell for her all over again. We talked for a few minutes and left for our respective classes. It was now end of relaxation time for teachers. We were back and they had to be prepared for us.

It was the first day of school after vacation and we were kicked out of the class for the second time. It was more pleasure being out of the class those days because I got to see her more this way since Vaani was my junior.

The day ended well and I returned to the school bus. I left the school early today so the bus was empty the moment I reached. I thought of reserving a seat by keeping my bag on it and meet Vaani. So I kept my bag on the last seat as usual and turned around to step down the bus. Meanwhile she entered the bus. The milky white cheeks with loads of red marks on them. Her eyes swollen like she cried all day. It was a moment of eye contact and she looked down again. She stood there still. An innocent tear rolled down her cheeks no matter how hard she tried to hold it back. She closed her fist tightly and her faded face looked beautiful. She was stunning in this look but that doesn't change the fact that she was crying. I asked her if she was okay and she didn't reply me. I stepped down the bus and started moving towards Vaani. I tried to be normal but it wasn't easy. None of the girls had guts to avoid me. I was the handsome one so I had rights to avoid girls. How could she be so rude? I met Vaani and asked her how do I look today and she said hot. I knew it. I fucking knew that I am hot. I look hot always. What made her ignore me then?

The driver alarmed us to get into the bus and I settled in my place. This time she was sitting a little far from me. She was sitting beside a guy from her class. We left for home and the bus got stuck in traffic for a while. She stood up and kept standing for the rest of the way. I was quite sure something was wrong but I wasn't in mood to be humiliated again. So I didn't ask her. I reached home and texted Vaani about my whole day. We never got to talk. I made my Facebook account for her but never have I ever had a chat with her. All my friends found her online but she was never online when I was there. We left messages for each other and the other one replied whenever they came online. It was unsatisfying but beautiful the way it was. I never stopped craving for her and maybe that made it beautiful.

Next morning we went to the morning assembly. No it wasn't for praying. Four of us wanted to checkout girls and the only place that had all the girls of school was assembly ground. So the majority won and we had to attend the prayer. I wasn't among the four who planned to checkout but I didn't mind taking the advantage. So I looked at my left and my eyes didn't leave the left side. I spotted the most beautiful smile in the school. Her eyes were tiny ones that closed when she smiled. She covered her face at times but beauty finds its way out and so did her smile. It wasn't just a sight but an emotion. She could make anyone smile by being this adorable.

Out of the class, far from studies, all we had was our lame jokes to crack and we all were exceptionally good at it. So we had wonderful 35 minutes. The bell rang and teacher stepped out. We were going back to the class and other students were coming out of their classes to relax for a while after the lecture and I accidentally made an eye contact with a girl from the classroom right beside mine. It was the first time I checked out a girl not from head to toe but from forehead to chin.

Not surprising enough it was again Ragini. My friends had provided me with her basic details by now so I knew her name. The first time I saw her she looked like a child (cute and sweet), the second time she had tears rolling down her cheeks but attitude on top. The third time was the morning assembly which made my presence worth. This time was equally special. At a distance of hardly four meters in broad daylight. Her smile as gentle as always and eyes twinkling brighter than the stars. She had Chinese eyes, the little ones and her hair were brown like her eyes. Also she had curls and so I felt good to have equal level of entangled stuffs in our lives. I was entangled with her thoughts and she, with her curls. Looking at her I spoke to myself very confidently that Vaani has got a competition finally. This time I came across every inch of her face and as she walked away I wished to see her soon.