Young Love

The Empty Classroom

The door creaked as she opened it. The usually unnoticed sound was a loud squel this time, owing to the absence of the usual occupants of the room. Only a single person was on the other side of the door.

"Niel." She called him, "How are you?"

The bigger question was, how she was.

"Hey!" Niel replied, "I'm doing good, how are you?"

"Same old." Came a flying reply.

He didn't exactly know what 'same old' meant, but he was pretty sure it was better than the last time they met.

"And how is...?" Realising that he didn't know her first love's name.

"Ohh, Vivek. Who cares? I have moved on."

"Good to hear that." And then he motioned his hand towards an empty seat beside him saying, "Come, sit with me."

Gladly accepting the proposal, she went and occupied the empty chair. They went to talk about stuff from here and there. The stuff I wouldn't bother to bore my readers with. If you ever had a friend, especially of the other gender, you could imagine what they were talking about.

It was really new for him to bond over somebody so quickly. She saw a saviour in him. He had been there during her most difficult time and that had created a special bond. Even he was happy to find a new friend.

After a series of topic changes they finally arrived here.

"What about coffee? Say on Monday. After school." She asked him.

"Hmm..."

"Aren't we friends now? It's completely normal to drink a cup of coffee right?" She tried to explain.

He was about to reply when the door opened again and a girl's face appeared. She had a squarish face with thin-rimmed rectangular glasses resting on her nose. Hair neatly tied into a long ponytail and a tucked in shirt over a knee-length skirt. She reflected a perfect student, or popularly know as, the nerd.

"Sakshi you need to come quickly. Urgent."

"Yup in a minute." Turning to Niel, "So what do you think?"

Watching the impatient look on her friend's face, he quickly said yes.

"Okay then. This friday, after school. At the coffee shop around the corner. Do you know where it is?"

He nodded in acknowledgement as she raced towards her friend who was still standing by the door. The last think he noticed before she left was a warm smile on a beautiful face.