This is my birthday gift to my boyfriend. Happy birthday love :* (It mostly sicks to the facts. Mostly)
In a
typically stereotypical fashion, their story started out with antagonism. He
was a jock; she was a geek. They were destined to clash. She hated him
outwardly; sighed inwardly at every corny joke. She catcalled outwardly;
swooned inwardly at every bike stunt he displayed or every goal he scored in
gulley football. He was intrigued by her; he knew he couldn’t observe her
without losing his status quo among his friends, so he sneaked sidelong looks
at her and tried to learn all he could about her. She was partial to kohl; he
liked how it made her eyes shine. He was prone to styling his hair with obscene
amounts of hair gel; she liked how it accentuated his distinctly feline
features. They never shared their admissions with their friends.
She
could never understand his compulsion to make every serious statement a joke.
Every time she make a scornful noise at one of his (in his mind) excellent
quips, he mentally vowed to rile her up all the more. She always went into
raptures of delight when Desi Girl played. When she heard him admit “kadak
gaana hai yaar!” about that very song, she made it a point to loudly proclaim
how much the song got on her nerves. He smirked openly; inwardly he was
confused. He was hoping she would soften towards him on learning they liked the
same song.
They
went for Marathi tuitions together, but they weren’t in the same batch. She
always pretended to be disgruntled on the days their batches were combined. He
did all he could to get her attention. She sneaked glances at him over her
textbook. He was riveted every time it was her turn to read a passage. She was
glad for all the jokes he made, it gave her an excuse to stare at him
legitimately. However, she never graced his efforts by laughing.
His
friends told him that she was a prude. Privately, he never agreed. Her friends
told her that he was bad news. Privately, she agreed whole heartedly. She had
heard him exchange words with people he didn’t like. He made no bones about
going up against girls too. The scars that marred his face only heightened the
aura of danger surrounding him. But which girl didn’t feel viciously attracted
to a bad boy?
One
day he crossed the line. He razzed on about her friend’s boyfriend. She hated
confrontations but she couldn’t bear to see her friends being picked on. She
said a great many things to him; which she began to regret almost immediately.
He said nothing. He defiantly met her eyes but his uncharacteristic silence
unnerved her as she left.
When
her guilt wouldn’t let her sleep, she got his number from a friend who owed
her. She composed an apology. He brushed it aside and extended the olive
branch. From then on, they were friends.
The
day she chose to tell her friends, they immediately told her what a bad idea it
was; fraternizing with someone who was obviously not good company. She refused
to take their advice. The day he chose to tell his friends, they all told him
it was because she liked him. He did not want to believe it just then.
In a
time when message packs did not exist and each message and minute cost a rupee
apiece, their friendship blossomed. She learnt that his favorite clubs were
Liverpool and Arsenal. He learnt that she loved dogs. They learnt that they
both loved Linkin Park. Their previous misconceptions melted away. In the troubled
times of tenth standard, he gladly took all her study tips. She always gave him
a missed call at 4.30 am in lieu of an alarm, so that he could wake up and
study.
When
her school bus was late, she’d see his pass by her house. They always waved to
one another. When he started getting his first vestiges of stubble, she told
him that she liked it. He kept it and faced a reprimand at school for it, but
he didn’t care.
She
invited him to her school fete. When he came, she was busy manning the DJ
stall. He gave a small smile every time her voice declared the next song and
the message it conveyed. He found her once stall duty ended. Even before she
could declare that she was parched, he offered her a glass of 7 Up. He would
not let her pay. She blushed into her glass as she took a sip.
Her
friends would not let up the teasing. She claimed that he would never
reciprocate her feelings, chunky and bespectacled that she was. She hastened to
clarify that she would never jeopardize their friendship. His friends would not
let up the teasing. He remained stoic; not because he didn’t like her, but
because she kept insisting they were nothing more than friends, so he did not
want to be the one to break her illusion.
She
asked him to be her Valentine. He wondered if it were a proposition in
disguise. She told him that even friends could be Valentines. He was
exasperated; at the end of his tether. He couldn’t believe she was still
stringing on this charade. Still, he played along, for her.
That
day, she got a phone call. A prank call. A vicious, malicious prank call that
chipped away at all her self-esteem and had her sobbing at the end of it. He
confessed that he was the one who supplied her number to her tormentors. She
felt stung at his betrayal. He told her that he was not aware of their
intentions when they has asked for her number. Her heart balked at his
explanation, she wanted, so badly, to not believe him, but her mind told her
that he was being sincere. In that moment, he believed her shattered heart and
in a scene that was reminiscent of a few months ago, she told him things that
she should not have. And he did not say a word; which was unlike the scrapper
that he was. All he could do was watch her walk away.
Sense
caught up with her. It was hard to swallow her hurt and call him. He answered
in the middle of the first ring. He brushed away her apology with one of his
own. The last time was the beginning of a friendship. She wondered what this
what the beginning of.
She
admitted that she had always in love with him. He admitted that he had always
been in love with her. And that marked the beginning of something more
- Inquisitive I
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