Kabhi to nazar milao

Jealous

Next day in college, as Naina reached the class, Sonali came running and hugged her, "Thank you, thank you, Naina... tujhe pata nahi hai tune mere liye kya kia hai... mujhe toh kal raat bhar neend hi nahi aayi."

Naina was happy to see her blushing, "Agar mujhe maloom hota ki tu itni khush hogi toh yeh sab bohot pehle ho jaata... Rahul toh bechara kabse intezaar kar raha tha. "

Sonali looked down sheepishly, "Woh mujhe laga ki Rahul tujhe pasand karta hai."

Naina was shocked, "Mujhe?  Aisa kyon laga tujhe?"

"Tere saath baithta tha na first year mein... tujhse hi madad mangta tha... aur yaad hai, freshers party ke time tujhe kaise dekhkar kavita jaisa kuch bola tha?" Sonali reminded her.

Naina's eyes grew wider, "Freshers party? Matlab Sonali... tabse?"

Sonali again lowered her eyes, "Pehle din se."

Naina let out a sigh, "Aur Rahul aise hi dedh saal se papad bel raha hai... pehle nahi bata sakti thi? "

"Bola na... pehle laga usko tu pasand hai... phir jab tere aur Sameer ke baare mein pata chala... aur Rahul uss baat se itna khush tha toh... ",  she coloured again.

Naina lightly hit her head, " Usse hamesha se tu hi pasand thi."

Sonali smiled, "Ab pata hai... usne kal bataya... ki tere saath toh woh sirf mujh tak pohochane ke liye rehta tha... aur bataya kaise Sameer usse gussa tha jab usse bhi laga ki Rahul tere peeche pada hai."

They both had a good laugh.

As the weeks passed, Sameer continued with his practice sessions and Naina continued to keep notes ready for him when they  sat down to study in the library.

The cricket team cleared the initial qualifying matches and now had to play the finals. Eventually, the day of final match arrived. It was to be held in another college. Sonali and Naina decided to go to watch it... to cheer their boys.

The cricket team travelled together by bus and Naina, along with Sonali, took a rickshaw.

The stadium was full of students from various colleges. The match began with their team batting first. They made a decent score...  Sameer hitting a century and Rahul making 75 runs not out.

Naina cheered loudly, happy to see Sameer play so well.

After a short break, it was time for the other team to bat. They started well. But the bowlers were able to take three wickets in quick succession, making the other team edgy.

Sameer stood near the boundry. As he stopped the ball from hitting the boundry line, Naina cheered repeatedly.

Looking back at her, Sameer smiled. But suddenly his smile faded. He noticed a group of boys sitting right behind Naina and Sonali... seeing their gestures and the way they were looking at his girl, he knew their intentions were far from good.
But he had to concentrate on the match. As another wicket fell, and they waited for new batsman, Sameer tried to tell Naina to shift their seats.  But she couldn't understand due to the loud noise.

Thankfully, match rounded up soon, with their team claiming the trophy. Sameer looked in the direction of stands to see if the girls had moved out. He saw one of the boys touching Naina's hair, she jerked her head and he said sorry. Thinking it to be accidental due to the crowd, Naina moved from there without reacting.

Both girls waited outside the gate. The group of boys came out and noticed them. One of the boys walked up to Naina.

"Excuse me, time kitna hua hai? " He asked.