The Thing We Call First Love

Chapter 10 - The New Dimension

As I said, I had no interest in fights. But the one liner that people gave me, made me inquisitive about it. Santhosh, my classmate had won the fight with a lowblow. That's how WWE fans described it. Well, the others gave it another name. 'Ballbreaker' it was. The computer science boy had experienced the worst pain ever. It was worse than a million breakups combined if he had truly loved the girl though. Feeling pity on him, I asked for his name.

They gave me a familiar name but I couldn't make out how I was connected to it. It took me a couple of seconds to figure out. ROHAN! Who knew this name would become one of the most important names in my life.

He was a boy who was my classmate in 7th grade before I was shuffled to another class. Though, I had spent a year studying with him, I didn't know much about him. Yet my mind urged me to go and see him. It urged me to check how he was. I didn't know why but I went immediately.

In no time I was standing in front of his classroom. The news had already spread. There was an unusual crowd in the corridor in front of his class. My eyes searched for him. There he was in the last desk with tears in his eyes. Seeing him, something in me broke.

Unlike the others who just watched, I went to him and enquired how he was. 'I'M IN HELL' was the answer he gave me. I tried to console him. But nothing could make his pain disappear. Since the bell rang, I left for my class.

But his tear struck face never went away. I told Ramya everything about it in the  evening. She could sense the new bond developing - the best true bond I've ever had in my life. But it began in the most weirdest way possible. That was only the beginning, weirdness and Rohan went hand in hand.

He didn't turn up to school for the next two days.  I was worried. I enquired and got his address. It was near the school. I honestly didn't know why I was doing all this. I was on my way to his house but I got lost. I couldn't find his house. I couldn't ask anybody because I didn't know him well. I didn't even know his father's name. With a dejected face,  I turned back.

The next day, he was back to school. It was in the morning assembly that I saw him. He was well. I had a sigh of relief. I smiled at him. He smiled back. Well, that marked the beginning of an awesome journey.

His weirdness and my calmness made an awesome pair. Whatever the situation I was in, he never failed to make me laugh with the weirdness of his. He began visiting my house everyday. We watched movies together. We built a world of our own. A world which we called DIMENSION which no outsider could understand. Even Ramya couldn't comprehend things we thought and spoke.

Small misunderstandings started creeping up between me and Ramya. I could understand. In the beginning it was only Ramya, but now it was Ramya and Rohan. I had to balance. But it was so god damn difficult.

Day by day quarrels started escalating. Messages decreased. I was stuck. I had explained things to Ramya a dozen times. But she couldn't understand. Before I could think of anything, my birthday arrived or should I say our birthday.

My birthday and Ramya's birthday was only a week apart. To be precise, it was 10 days apart. I had saved some money to buy a gift for her. I didn't know what to gift her. I wanted a gift that will show her importance in my life and put an end to all the quarrels. I wanted a gift that will indicate my love indirectly. I wanted a gift that she will cherish.

Before I could make a decision, my birthday came. It was my birthday eve. I was curious of how Rohan and Ramya would celebrate it. My expectations were sky high. But, expectations hurt, doesn't it? I had my biggest disappointment waiting. It was a day where everything in me broke.