Love never perishes

And then we fell in love

It was two days later when they met again at the college. "Boys and girls, here is to announce that our college house teams are organising a dance festival for the valentine's day week. The winning couple gets a price money of ₹50,000 by the college committee members. Interested ones can register their names before next sunday." Announced the house captain.

Disha's eyes sparkled with hope. She realised how desperately she needed the prize money to pay off her fee as the scholarship had only granted half of the amount for her college and hostel. She knew she had to nail it and bring home the money. This was the only way she could survive longer in the college of her dreams. This was the only way she could get a better job and settle down in the metropolis with her parents as she was living alone in the hostel leaving her parents back in the suburbs of Mumbai. Life back there in her vicinity was miserable. People survived with great difficulties and the potential ones got no opportunitues. She considered herself luckier than the rest for acing her scholarship exam. She was one among the ten out of thousands who had earned this invaluable scholarship and an opportunity towards a better life and education.

She had firmly decided to contest in the competition. Now the biggest challenge for her was to find a dance partner as good as her. She tried and approached everyone from her batch but none showed interest in it and the few who wished to participate were not willing to pair up with her. She was heart broken.

Now the only hope she had was Arun. "How am i going to convince him?" "What if he refuses?" "What if he too makes fun of me?" "What if he mocks me for being broke?" "Who will I approach if he denied?" Disha asked herself several questions even before going up to him. Suddenly Arun appears from the blue. He senses something wrong with Disha and asks her what the matter is. Disha started mumbling and grumbling. She started whispering to herself. "What's wrong with you?" Asked Arun. Disha tried to speak to him when she lisped and stammered and couldn't speak up to him. She simply pointed towards the dance festival bannered and bowed down her head. She looked at Arun with a winked eye hoping to hear a "yes" but to her shock, he simply joined his hands and ran away from her.

Disha knew it was quite a challenge to convince him but he was the only hope left for her. Every morning for 3 days consistenly she tried approaching him but he denied and said he was a real bad dancer and that he would have definitely helped her if it were a basketball event. Disha thought of confessing to him the actual reason behind participating and to let him know how important it was for her to stay in that college.

She gathered all her guts and finally walked up to him in the canteen area. Grabbed his hand infront of everyone and took him to the nearest table. She forced him to sit and listen to her. "I need this badly. This is my only last hope to stay in this college. I couldn't afford being here. I have worked extremeley hard for that scholarship and can't let it go in vain. I need this money." Cried Disha. Arun remained silent for a few minutes. Took Disha into a corner, wiped off her tears. Disha was about to say something when he shut her mouth with his hand on her lips and whispered into her ears "i'm in." Disha couldn't be happier than that. She jumped out of joy and kissed him on his cheek for what he had just said to her. She ran to her friends to tell them the good news.

That night Arun couldn't sleep well. He constantly thought about that one second kiss he got on his cheek. He could do nothing but blush. He didn't know what exactly he felt at that moment. He was just happy about that kiss. He didn't know how far it could go but still there was this spark ignited since that moment which kept him going on.

The next day Disha called him out for a practice session at her hostel room. Since she lived in a 'girls only' hostel, it was a little difficult for them to get Arun to her room but she had her friends at rescue. At night when everyone slept and the route seemed clear enough, Arun jumped through the window and entered into her room. They started practicising but Disha realised Arun was not able to focus properly because of the teasing her girls did so she sent them all to the next door. Now that Disha and Arun were all alone, the practice went quite smoothly. Arun didn't know how to dance. That was the biggest problem for Disha but she somehow managed to teach him the basics in the first few days. The next day she got Arun and herself registered for the fest and this way the practice went on for quite a few days.

The fest was approaching. It was coming in a few days. Now they had to work even harder. Arun started coming to her hostel twice a day now. But the best they could practice was at night as there was no fear of anyone watching them or getting caught. Arum had the constant fear of being caught and beaten up the the fatty maiden of the hostel but still he came everyday regularly just to be with Disha. He didn't know why but he felt something special about her and couldn't stay a single day without watching her. That night they practiced gracefully when Arun rested his hands on her waist. Disha moaned. Got nervous. Arun could see that intensity in her eyes. He took her to the wall and blocked her. He lift her chin up and both looked into each other's eyes. Their hearts pounded faster. They started breathing heavily. Arun tucked her hair behind her ear closed his eyes and gently kissed her on her forehead. Disha moved him away and ran out of the room.

The day had arrived. All were prepared for their performances but to Arun's wonder, Disha wasn't there. He tried searching her everywhere but couldn't find her. She finally arrived. On being asked why she was so late, she said not a word. She didn't even talk to Arun properly. Their performance was the last one and so it was time for them to appear on the stage. 'Lights on', 'focus on', 'music'. They danced with full grace and confidence and as their performance came to an end, the auditorium was filled with the deafening sounf of cheer and applause as the curtains closed.

They both looked at each other. They felt something, but feelings remained unspoken.

The moment of judgement! Everyone's heart pounding! Disha and Arun held each other's hands tightly. Crossed fingers "and on the count of three, the winners of the dancing fest are, DISHA and ARUN, congratulations to you both. You take home ₹50,000 as your price money." Announced the host. The moment Disha heard their name, she knelt on the dias and cried out of happiness, she couldn't express her feelings in words just hugged Arun and looked into his eyes with so much affection. Arun could feel the warmth in her touch. He tried to confess his feelings, but hesitated. He was afraid it could affect their bond and could ruin their friendship. He was not sure if Disha felt the same for him. He was conscious so decided to further shut his feelings within.