Invisible String

the string climbs mountains

Aabha: Hey! Is it okay if I bring a friend along with me?
Maanav: Yeah. Why not?
Aabha: Cool. See you tomorrow.
Maanav: Sure thing.

"He said it's cool." I told Megha.
She nodded while sipping her coffee.
"I have to get going. Set up everything for tomorrow. See ya! PLEASE keep me posted with the details. Bye bye."
"Off course. Have fun." I said and she left riding on her scooter.
"Now, the plan." I chugged my coffee and focused on the talking.
"Tomorrow, 5:30 in the morning, be at my house. Please bring one of your joggers. All I have is jeans. I can't wear those for a trek." I told her.
"Okay cool. Blue joggers or black?"
"Blue."
"Okay. Remind me tonight before going to bed."
"Okay. And please be there on time. He has asked us to arrive at some school. It's the meeting spot before we go off for the actual trek. We'll leave together."
"Okay. Looks like everything is sorted."
"It is. I just hope he doesn't forget me there." I said while lowering my eyes.
Now that I knew he wasn't gonna be with me at all, I almost didn't want to go. I just wanted to get over with this once and for all and never meet him again.

18 May 2023

(Maanav)

"Come on Aahan! Hurry up! I told her we'd be there till six. It's ten past six and it's gonna take us at least ten more minutes to reach there.
"Almost done!" He said while tying his shoelace, "Okay. Let's get going."
I called Aabha while Aahan looked for a rickshaw.
"Hello." She grunted in a sleepy voice. God, she sounded adorable.
"Hey! Have you reached there yet?" I asked her.
"Yeah. I reached here fifteen minutes ago. Where are you?" She asked.
"I'm in the rickshaw right now. I'll be there in ten minutes. Also, do you see a short guy with a Quechua backpack standing there? He might be wearing specs."
There was a pause from her end and then she spoke, "Yeah, yeah I see him. There is one more guy standing with him. Are those your friends?"
"Yep. Go stay with them till I come. Bye bye."
"Okay. Bye."
"Who's the friend she's bringing?" Aahan asked me.
"Megha. That's what she mentioned." I told him.
He nodded his head and we both stayed silent throughout the rest of the ride.
I couldn't wait to meet her. I had planned a lot. The way I was gonna talk to her, the way I was gonna act around her. She would have my full attention. No one else. Off course I would be with my friends too. But today, she was my priority. Number one.

We paid the fare and then looked around before spotting them all standing near the school gate.
Dhruv, one of my friends, waved frantically at us.
We walked to them and there she was, standing with her friend, Megha, looking radiant as always, even with sleepy eyes.
"Hey!" I walked to her, "No difficulty finding the school, right?" I asked her.
"No, not at all. This is my best friend, Megha." She introduced me to her friend.
"Hey, I'm Maanav." I thought of shaking hands with her but then my mind flashed back to the time I first met Aabha and stopped myself.
"So, shall we?" I asked all of them and we soon started walking to the rocky hills.
"Dude. I need to talk to you." Aahan whispered to me.
"What is it?" I asked.
"That Megha, I know her. The girl I was telling you about the other day. I dropped paint on HER shirt. AAAAA. I want to disappear. This is so awkward." He groaned.
"Are you sure? I mean, there's lots of other Meghas, right?"
"I'm damn sure."
"Well, now you're stuck." I shrugged and turned to Aabha, "You guys aren't feeling awkward, right? I hope you introduced yourselves to each other."
"Yeah, we did that." Siddharth said.
We finally reached at the foot of the hills.
It was time.
I had to show her that she meant A LOT to me.

(Aabha)

"Dude! That's the guy who dropped paint on my shirt!" Megha whispered to me aggressively.
"Are you sure? I mean, it's not always that connections like these happen." I said.
"I'm damn sure."
"Well, I think you're stuck with him, just like I am with Maanav."
She sighed deeply and kept walking.
Soon, we reached at the foot of the hills.
"We'll walk in pairs. Dhruv and Siddharth, you both lead us, Navin and Shreyas, you both next, then Megha and Aabha, and me and Aahan at the last, cool?"
Everyone nodded and we started walking and climbing.
"Please feel free to tell me if you get too tired. We'll stop for a break." Maanav said to me, and I nodded.
Not gonna lie, it was DIFFICULT. As fuck. I was out of breath in the first five minutes. Megha, on the other hand, was climbing like a pro. So much, she could easily overtake the boys in the front.
"Have you done this before?" Maanav asked Megha.
"Yeah. I love trekking." She said and continued the climb.
Soon, we reached the first level of the hill. There were three in total. There came one rock where I was having a lot of difficulty to climb on.
Everyone except me, Maanav, and Aahan were ahead.
"Give me your hand." Megha said and she tried to pull me up, but in vain.
I kept slipping due to the sandy soil and small rocks, and my bag, which was a cross body bag unlike others who were carrying a backpack, kept meddling between my legs.
"Wait, we'll do one thing. Aahan, you go up, and Aabha, you give me your bag."
It low-key felt embarrassing as everyone easily climbed up and here I was, struggling to keep up with them.
We did as we were told, and then Aahan stretched out his hand to help me, and I finally climbed up.
My god, I'm never trekking again.
Soon, Maanav climbed up and we all rested in silence for a while.
"Aahan, you pair up with Megha and I'll walk with Aabha. Is that okay?" He asked Aahan.
He gave Maanav a pointed look before saying, "Cool."
Megha looked at me with a 'No. Shit.' look on her face.
This was gonna be fun to watch.
"You have my bag, right?" I asked Maanav.
"Yeah, I do. I'll keep it with me. It was an obstacle anyways." He said casually.
"What? No, no. You can't carry two bags. That'll be a really heavy load for you. It's risky. I'll be okay carrying it, seriously." I said.
"Not as risky and you slipping due to it. And give me your hand. I'll help you climb this thing. No more slipping." He chuckled and stretched out his hand.
I gulped the lump in my throat and held his hand.
Electricity rushed through my body, and I knew it did in his too.

I have no idea what's there in the store for me next.