Destined By The Waves

Underneath the stars

Faith

"Tell me something about yourself," Joy says all of a sudden.

I roll my eyes at his words, and raise a brow, "What part of 'I don't like small talk' do you not understand?"

He huffs in annoyance.

"What do you expect me to do, sitting here all day and night? Count the stars or something?", he asks as he lies down on the sandy beach and turns his gaze towards the gazillion stars adorning the night sky.

A cool wind blows occassionally, and the bonfire lit up with twigs and branches from the forest crackles with it. Waves crash on the beach in distance and animals and insects of the forest make mysterious noises every now and then.

"What do you want to know?", I finally ask after observing his bored expression for some time.

Even I am bored beyond words, and we can't be strangers forever, so why not.

"Anything. Your family, friends, college, hobbies, passion, what makes you happy, what makes you sad, whatever you feel like talking about", Joy says with a shrug as he turns his gaze towards me and awaits my response patiently. His eyes aren't judgemental, just plain curious.

"I have a very small family, just my mom and elder sister. I am a Computer Science undergraduate in St Xavier's College."

Just as the college name leaves my mouth, his eyes widen in surprise.

"Even I am from St Xavier's College! Wait, how come I've never seen you before? I mean, I know almost everybody in college, and everybody knows me, how have we never met each other before?", he asks surprisedly.

"I identified our college's name on your jersey when we met," I tell him.
"And, I don't really socialize too much, so probably", I add with a shrug, and Joy shakes his head with disbelief.

"So you're telling me you have never seen me in college? You don't watch football tournaments? We won a really crucial game against St Louis yesterday, damn, what a close match it was! In fact, we were celebrating the victory at the Cruise when...", He trails off and I nod in understanding.

"I am not much of a sports person, so to answer your question, no I never saw you before yesterday", I admit and my mind immediately wanders to last night when I saw him first time, inside the ladies washroom.

"Why were you at the Cruise, by the way? Any special occasion or just partying for fun?", he asks curiously.

"We were celebrating my friend Grace's birthday. I don't really like to party much, just occassionally." I reply and a wave of sadness washes over me when I realize I have no idea when I'll meet my friends again. If I ever meet them.

"So, you're neither a party person, nor a sports person. I am both by the way. But, what's your thing then? What do you enjoy doing?"

"I love reading. A cozy blanket, a cup of coffee and a good book, they are my favorite companions when I am not working."

"Working? You have a job? I thought we established you are in college."

"I work part-time after college. At Pearson Software. I don't like depending on my mom for money anymore. I earn for myself and my tution fee is covered by a scholarship and a loan that I will likely pay off in an year or two", I says proudly.

"Wow, that's...", he looks at me with a hint of admiration in his eyes as he continues, "that's really brave of you. Financial independence at such a young age"

I offer him a warm smile in response.

He continues, "You know I never really cared or thought about money or job in my life. I guess I am lucky my parents are filthy rich. All I do is love football, talk football and  practically breathe for football. When I'm not practicing or playing, I like to party. Or sometimes, just hangout with my buddies at cafeteria and have fun. I guess God has been really gracious to me, and I haven't even been slightly grateful".

He sighs as he looks towards the sky retrospectively. I can practically imagine him concluding that this is some wicked sort of punishment life has given him to mend his ways.

"Hey, you're just enjoying your college life, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, everybody does that. There's plenty of time to get serious once you graduate," I smile at him in an assuring manner.

He smiles back warmly, but gets lost in his thoughts again.

When he doesn't say anything for a while, I continue again, "So football huh?"

His eyes immediately light up and a huge smile spreads across his face.

"Yeah, I just love football so damn much.. I can't imagine a life without it. I even coach a few school kids over weekends, just as a hobby. I spend around two hours practicing every morning, and then we have practice matches in the evening most days too. Especially during tournaments. You know, the game we won yesterday? It was the semi-final and the final is in two days. We have prepared so hard for this tournament, I hope our team wins it."

His voice dips at the end, as he adds, "With or without me."

"Let's not lose hope, Joy. If somebody finds us tomorrow, you will still be able to play," I try to convince him.

He really seems very bothered about missing his match and I can't help but feel bad for him. As bad as I feel about not being able to complete my book, it doesn't feel as awful when compared to him missing out on the match he trained for, every day, for over two hours. It feels unfair.

"What about your family, tell me something about them?," I ask, trying to distract him.

"My dad is a businessman, he runs a hotel chain, and my mom and him are business partners. I don't have any siblings, and mom dad are usually on the move due to their work. So, I am not really missing them much. But, I am missing my football buddies, they are like my family. Especially Ace. Ace and I always hang out together, clubbing, partying, playing. He is like the brother I never had."

"Sounds just like me and Rosie. Even I am not very close with my mom or sister. But, Rosie, my best friend, she is my soul sister. She can read me like an open book when most people can't get beyond the first page."

I sigh and then, continue, "She didn't want to get on the life boat and leave me behind that night. I had promised her I will find help and see her at the shore soon. I can't even imagine how horrible she must be feeling right now. I am sure she will be blaming herself for everything."

Joy looks at me from the ground where he is lying, and reaches out for my hand sympathetically. His hand feels warm against mine, as he lightly squeezes it. This time, the tingles ignited by his touch don't trouble me, and I feel really comfortable in his company.

"Don't think too much, I am sure she'll be trying her best to find you. You'll meet her really soon".

His words feel like an ointment to my aching heart that misses my dear friend more than anything else. I lie down next to him, at about an arm's distance, and gaze towards the sky hopefully.

Suddenly he chuckles heartily and says, "You know, my friends showed no guilt whatsoever in leaving me behind. They got down first and when they realised I won't fit, they just suggested I find another boat and left. Though I know they were probably just too wasted to realize what they were doing."

"Yeah probably, I am sure they will be looking for you too. After all, who would play the final match for our college when one of the star players is missing," I repy teasingly, while stifling a yawn.

"I hope that wasn't sarcastic Faith, because I really am the star player you know", he says proudly.

But I don't find it in me to care if he is the star player or not, because the real stars sang sweet lullabies and pulled me into a deep, sound sleep.

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