2.1 | Vishal and Layla

confessing your feelings to your rival 101

A campfire is supposed to be peaceful and calm; just people sharing quiet laughter over stories and whispered secrets with each other over the crackling orange fire under the starry night sky.

Sure enough, in school tours, there is no such thing as peace anywhere.

Students are howling and dancing around the fire in erratic circles, cackling as if they've never before laughed in their lives. In one aspect, it's nice to see them bounce with energy and laugh without any worries over the exams waiting for them at the end of this month. In another aspect, it's just too chaotic. The teachers who accompanied us have taken a far seat in the corner under the hotel patio, pretending to keep watch when they are busy scrolling YouTube.

Anjali is with a crowd of people, sitting in a circle and chatting with them. She looks at me and beckons me to join her. I almost begin to politely decline her invitation when she madly pokes the air to her left and mouths Vishal and Layla. Only then it dawns on me that I haven't seen Vishal or Layla anywhere.

I join Anjali's group but take a pass at their conversation. Anjali passes me a snack and I shake my head.

Layla is sitting away from everyone and Vishal seems to have been the one who joined her. He sits next to her, a sliver of space between them. "What are you doing out here in the cold?" he asks her, removing his jacket.

"What are you doing here talking to me?" She asks before sucking in a breath at the way Vishal wraps the jacket around her snugly. "Finally decided to talk to me?"

"I thought not talking to you will make you realise how much you miss me and think about being friends. Clearly, it didn't work," Vishal begins. "So, I've come up with a pros and cons list. We smartasses like it simplified when it comes to emotions, don't we?"

Layla has the tiniest smile on her face. "Well, enlighten me, you impatient idiot."

Vishal clears his throat for dramatic effect. "Pros of being friends: you get to talk to someone in school; we already understand each other and know each other best so we will be successful friends; we can study together; we can team up for projects and be the best team ever; we can share secrets; we can take over the world together; we can finally bring relief to our teachers and the principal and we can make the classroom less tense. And we don't even have to change seats. We are already sitting together."

Layla's smile gets bigger. "The cons?"

"One, we might fight and argue often over things since we equally like being in control but we can figure out a solution for that. Two, we might end up not being friends and drift away, although that is impossible since our parents are best friends. Three, we might be the two smartasses everyone hates."

"We are the two smartasses who everyone hates."

"So, obviously the pros weigh more than the cons. We could be best friends, Layla. Even more than that. I rest my case," Vishal says, saying the last part so quickly that the words sound meshed together.

"What did you say? I didn't catch the last part."

"First, tell me what your answer is. Then I will say it," Vishal says, gulping. His romantic feelings towards her is another box of problems that he might want to postpone opening.

Layla glances at him sideways. "Actually, I didn't need your list. I made my own earlier this morning."

"And?" Vishal is nervous. His fingers automatically go to his mouth, his teeth grazing his nails.

"The pros definitely did outweigh the cons," Layla says but Vishal doesn't react. He waits as if there is more to come. "Vishal, I want to be your best friend. Forever, if that position is available."