I love you... more (published)

Chapter-5

Megha never mentioned what happened that evening, and I too
preferred to forget that happened as some bad dream. We
went back to our normal routine- school, recess, games etc. I and
Megha used to stay together almost the whole day, from morning till
noon in school and then after at tuition in evening. The school had
accepted us as a couple. I had a really hard time explaining people it
was not true while Megha would not comment on being asked. That
made things worse for me but we didn’t let the things come in
between our friendship.
She had a really bad habit of chatting with me on paper during
classes. Her chats were becoming flirtier with each passing day.
Sometimes she would try to seduce me by her messages and to tell
you the truth, they worked. To horrifying extents I would get turned
on sometimes but then I would pull myself back to reality and tell
her to shut up. I liked it when she teased me. I chatted with Kajal
too, but I didn’t flirt much with her. She did not have that chatting-
punches-capability as hers.
School’s annual function was to be held in mid June. It was late may
and children had started their practices. Half of the class would go
to practice and rest half bunked the classes. Needless to say,
teachers too bunked their classes and sat in staff room enjoying
snacks and tea. I did not participate in any curriculum as neither I
could dance or sing. I sat in class and read novels. That’s how I
killed my time.
I was sitting alone in class trying to understand what biology really
means. Everybody was in auditorium, practicing for the annual day.
I had given up on reading novels as they were not going to help me
in my board exams. So I sat and mugged when others made merry.
While I was thinking how Hershy and Chase has endorsed the
blender, someone slammed a diary on my desk, sound of which
made me leap a foot in air, bringing me back to reality. My reaction
must have been really stupid because Megha was clutching her
stomach and sitting on the floor, laughing at me. I frowned at her
and resumed my study. But you can’t focus on something boring
when you have someone laughing like a monster near you.
‘What?’ I snapped.
‘N…nothing’, she made a straight face trying to hide her laughter.
‘Can’t you see I am studying? Or at least trying to study, unlike you,
who is busy bunking classes’, I rattled.
‘I hope you noticed that classes have been cancelled’, she said
raising her eyebrow.
‘Oh..yaa..yeahh...yes’, I said shaking my head. She laughed again.
I wanted to throw her out of the class. She was distracting me. I
tried mugging another experiment. Still, no luck.
She sat with me, opened the same chapter and started turning the
pages after every 4-5 minutes. Now I really wanted to throw her out.
I turned and gave her an utterly-pissed look. She shrugged her
shoulders and passed me a plane paper. I snatched it from her hand,
trying to show how much busy I was. It had a ‘Hi, I am bored’
written on it. I groaned and wrote ‘I am busy, studying’.
‘Hershy and Chase? Since 1 hour?’
‘Yes, any problem’
‘I completed it in 5 minutes’
‘Wow. Why don’t you change your surname to Einstein?
‘Because he was from physics. Dumbo.’
‘Shut up. Stop annoying me’
‘So what should I do to distract you?’
‘No need, go out, let me study’
I don’t know why but I had an empty feeling after writing that.
What if she decided to go? I didn’t want to be left with only bio for
company. I decided to cut the ‘go out’ part. But before I could do it,
she snatched the paper. I tried not to look at her as she read it. The
next moment she started laughing. I felt relaxed.
‘Oh Imran…’ she moaned.
‘Are you scared of me?’, she wrote and passed me the paper.
‘Of you? Why? Are you a witch?’
‘Yes I am…and I am thinking of making you disappear’
‘Why don’t you disappear?’ This girl was distracting me.
‘What baby? Don’t you want me to disappear you….with me?’
‘Megha, please’
‘Won’t it be wonderful?’
‘Enough Megha, please’
‘Tell me darling’
This was getting bothersome now. The bell rang and the children
started rushing in and out of class. I took the sheet, folded it and put
it in my pocket. I got up, stuffing my books in my bag as fast as I
could. I wanted some fresh air, to be away from her.
In the next class I unzipped my bag and as I took the novel out of it,
she passed another paper to me.
‘Hi again’
‘Hi’, I replied mockingly.
‘Look Imran, I think I’ve fallen for you’. I went numb after reading
her message. What was she trying to say? I read it twice to confirm
what she wrote.
‘Hahaha, very funny’, I replied to tackle the situation.
‘I am very much serious Imran. Look into my eyes’. I was afraid of
her now. I didn’t look into her eyes.
‘Are you in your senses Megha?’
‘Yes. I love you. I don’t know why but I just do. I am in my senses
but I don’t want to be in my senses anymore’. That was cheesy.
I didn’t reply anything to it. I kept that paper with me. She waited
for my reply. Defeated, she came in front of me and to my dignity,
dropped on one knee and said louder than ever before ‘Imran, I am
in love with you, please do me the honor and accept me’.
I sat there speechless. There were few students in class, all were
looking at us. There was pin drop silence, as if they were holding
their breath.
‘Megha, get up’, I said grinding my teeth
‘Quick Imran, tell me what’s in your mind? It hurts sitting like this’,
she said smilingly
What was in my mind? I wanted to run out of the class screaming
for rescue. She was embarrassing me in front of whole class. Really,
what did she think of herself? I asked her again to stand up. Seeing my reaction, she ran out of the class. All were still staring me like I
was a chewing gum stuck up in their shoe. I sat near the window. A
mixture of thoughts ran through my mind. I thought of my ex-
girlfriend. How good we were together. I felt like envying her. I
looked up at trees to console myself. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my
shoulder.
‘Can I talk to you for a moment?’, Kajal asked and she sat next to
me.
‘For a moment, yes’, I answered curtly.
‘She is crying, no, she is wailing in the washroom’
‘So?’
‘She had a bad past and I’ve seen her happy only after you came’
You probably don’t know about my past, I thought.
‘She loves you a lot Imran’
I ignored her.
‘So did I’, she added. This was another shot on my head. I turned my
head towards her so sharply that it almost sprained my neck. I
looked at her wide-eyed. Were these girls crazy? Okay, I knew
Megha had a crush on me but Kajal? And then I thought of Manish,
how upset he would be if he came to know about this.
‘Kajal, you and I are best friends. Let us not ruin our friendship,
okay?’
‘Oh. Okay. I sort of knew the outcome’
‘I want us all to be friends’
She nodded. We sat for a while in silence, looking at the trees
swaying lazily.
‘It feels so good, at least I told you what was in my mind. It’s like a
burden has been lifted off me.’, Kajal said.
‘I know it better than you Kajal. What you felt for me was just
attraction. It happens, I understand’
‘But now I feel I had been stupid to say it, like a moment of passion’
‘It evaporated, didn’t it?’
‘Yes, how do you know?’
‘Don’t know’, I giggled
‘Why don’t you give her a try?’, she raised her eyebrows.
‘I don’t know if you will understand it or not Kajal but for me, love is
not a hit-and-trial thing’, I shrugged.
She was taken aback and was momentarily lost in herself.
‘That was intense’, she said and looked away.
‘I will help you always, I will be there for you whenever you want me
to, I promise’ she said with tears in her eyes.
‘Buzz off Kajal. You are making me emotional’
She punched me hard on my back, I howled and laughed at the same
time.
‘I would have hit you back pretty hard if you weren’t my friend’, I
said in mock anger.
‘You know what, I am glad we are still friends’, she said smilingly.
‘We are best buddies, bitch’ I grinned.
****