The Greatest Villain of All Time

Chapter 15: Onkar

I'm sitting under the mango tree, its lovely shade protecting me from the sharp rays of the sun. Luckily, a soft breeze brushes her soft fingers over my skin, relieving me a little of the horrible heat of the mid-summer. It's during these days that the teachers make us play outside. And kabbadi? I suck at it. I'm the first one to go out.

It seems Kartik and his team are winning. The girl who goes for a raid is smoothly moving across the ground. Her focused eyes keep a watch on the members of the opposite team and in the blink of an eye, I see her slapping a shoulder and touching her toe with someone's nose before she comes back. A bunch of cheers roared in praise for the girl.

Kavya. That is her name.

Her smile is as bright as the moon on a dark night and warm as the sun like the one in the sky. Her hair is tied in a bun which comes loose now that she is playing. Over the years, I have seen how much she loves playing kabbadi and how she always makes her team win. The small rejoicing of Kavya's successful raid takes its leave when the opposite team's member takes its raid. 

She fixes her gaze, takes her stance, and is ready to pounce on the guy that enters. I had to suppress the laughter after seeing the guy hesitate to raid in. And Kavya is taking utmost advantage of it as she scares him by tapping her feet closer. When the boy's attention sways a bit, she knocks the guy down and eventually, each member is on top of that poor boy.

I smile at how small but feisty she can be. I wonder what she is like when she talks. What are her interests other than kabbadi? I remember hearing that she was one of the minister's daughters. Does that mean she is snobbish in nature or she is– what I'm expecting her to be– a kind, pretty soul?

"Hey," Kartik comes beside me, panting. "You lost again."

"You were just lucky to have Kavya on your team."

"Oh c'mon! Don't be jealous now." He bumps his arm against mine, lips stretched into a sneaky smile.

"What?"

"You wanted to be on her team, right?"

"No!" I push his grinning face to the other side. But retreat my hand because his skin is slick with sweat. "Yucks, you're so sweaty."

"You're crushing on her for too long. Just go and talk."

Kavya is in the other class, class A, which is why I never had a chance to talk to her. If she would have been in our class, I could have found one way or another to have a conversation with her. And when she does come in the lunchtime, she's always with Arasi which for me is a big no-no. 

"Please, I don't want to make unnecessary enemies just by entering that class." Kavya's class is just a bunch of monkeys with a sky-touching ego.

Kartik grunts. "That way you'll never get a chance to date her."

"Date? Who said I'm going to date her?"

"You like her but don't want to date?"

I roll my eyes. "Firstly, I never said I like her. I just have this urge... to talk to her, if that makes any sense. And I'm far from dating anyone now."

I had a girlfriend before. 

She was beautiful indeed. We had conversations outside the school and she was interested in medicine like I am. Sitting on the benches outside the school, we would talk for hours about how Ashwagandha could be used to treat so many ailments. Slowly, the romantic 'gestures' kicked in. Holding hands, sitting together in the class, hugging each other was not meant for me. It was something I didn't enjoy or feel comfortable doing with her at all. And for once, while sitting with her I had a thought of how much a good friend she could be. That was when I knew I never felt attracted to her. I just liked her as a person.