The arrow of death

Chapter-4

6 months had passed since I had moved to India. Adapting to the changes had been difficult but now I finally felt like I was fitting in. I had finally made some friends and my social anxiety was starting to disappear.

I was sitting on the house's roof with my close friend Arun Goel.  He was probably the first person who had come up to talk to me back when I was new at the school. Most of the people at school avoided me though I don't know why. They probably found it difficult to understand the accent that I had back then.

The sun had almost set. It was October now so the temperatures had dropped quite a bit. It was still pretty hot for most people but, as I think I mentioned, hot temperatures never bothered me.

'Man, it's almost winter now' he said.  'Can't believe that the year is nearly over.'

I smiled. 'Yes, the time has passed pretty quickly.'

'Hey, do you still remember your first day of school?'

'Of course, how could I forget.'

We both laughed as we remembered the incident.

6 months ago

'Are there any new students in this class?' the teacher asked. 'If so then raise your hand'

I raised my hand reluctantly. 

'Would you be so kind as to introduce yourself Mr...?'

'Karan, sir'

'Ok, Karan can  you come over here and introduce yourself to the other students here.'

This is what I had feared.

As I walked toward the front of the class, my legs started getting wobbly. 

Please, not now. I thought.

You see, I have a condition. Whenever I am asked to speak in front of a gathering of people even if it is a small crowd, I tend to get nervous. I am usually not that good with people, especially when unfamiliar with them. And this time was no exception. 

I can do this. I assured myself.

I scanned the classroom as I took a deep breath and prepared myself to speak.

'Good morning everyone' I said. 'I'm Karan Bisht and I recently joined this school.'

Ok, so far so good. I thought.

'I moved here with my father from the States just yesterday. I...' I paused.

Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw a girl. She sat just two desks away from me. As I looked at her, my face suddenly grew hot. My heart started beating faster and I couldn't speak. She was looking in my direction and she smiled. I don't know why but I was pretty sure that she had the prettiest smile I had ever seen.

How didn't I notice her before? I thought.

Then I realized. Though she was pretty, she seemed to blend in with a crowd perfectly. She didn't try to stand out and there was nearly no makeup on her face. Save a little bit of Kajal on her eyes and some blush which made for an all-around natural look. She had her hair tied back in a small ponytail but I could tell that it wasn't very long. And her eyes... man her eyes were beautiful. They had this sort of playful twinkle in them. Like she was about to pinch my cheeks and run away. 

 Perhaps I was staring quite hard (I most definitely was) because she turned her eyes down.

Please look it up. I thought

The teacher looked up from his book.

'Yes, do go on' he said.

I didn't reply. I couldn't make myself speak any further.

'Do you have anything else to say, Mr. Karan?'

'I uh...'

He sighed. 'You may go back to your seat. Next'

Wait, did someone else also raise their hand? I thought.

I looked towards her seat again. She was getting out of her seat.

So she's a new student too? 

'I think I told you to go back to your seat, Mr. Karan.'

'Ah yes, sorry sir.' 

I started walking back to my seat. When she passed me, my feet suddenly felt wobbly again. 

What the hell?! I thought as I started to fall.

I guess I can say that I literally fell "head over heels" for her.

As I started to get up I heard a voice behind my back.

'Are you alright, Karan?' She said.

I turned around slowly and saw her looking down at me.

Great. I thought. I've made a fool of myself in front of her.

'I'm fine.' I said. 'Can I ask, how did you know my name?'

As soon as the words left my mouth I mentally kicked myself.

Idiot! I thought.

I looked at her, embarrassed, and she gave me an amused smile.

'You just introduced yourself, remember?' she said as she smiled.

And it was still the prettiest smile I had seen.

The  present

'Aasha Agarwal' I said dreamily. 'What a pretty name.'

'Why don't you talk to her man' he said. 'You're always talking about her but you still haven't tried talking to her.'

'Nah, I don't think she would be interested in talking with me.'

'Well, you won't ever know if you don't try right.'

'Her friends always surround her.' I said. 'You do know how I behave around people, especially girls.'

'Well, just my advice but you should act quickly. You never know when someone will sweep in and steal your bird.' 

             ****

I sat on the roof by myself for some time. Arun had left a while ago.

'Mom would be pretty mad if I don't reach home before dark.' he said as he walked out of the house.

I looked in the distance at the last rays of sunlight bidding the land farewell for the night. I had always liked watching sunsets by myself. Back in the States, you could barely see the sunset from behind all the skyscrapers.

Sunsets always made me feel happy but also a bit melancholy. It was like a close friend going away from you even if only for the night.

I looked at the sky. The sky was covered in pitch-black darkness except for the stars that looked like white spots scattered randomly across a vast black never-ending ocean. It was a new moon night.

A cold breeze flowed through the air as a chill went up my spine.

Its time.