Pervade and Faint

Chapter 4

     

I never sat with her after that day, or at least for a few days. There was still hesitation between us. She started sitting with a girl, who didn't own a drop, as compared to the ocean of beauty which Sophia contained. I wondered whether she was a friend of hers because I didn't remember the last time she had talked to her. I started to sit with a guy named Harris. He talked about nothing but politics. Harris knew nothing except of politics and I knew nothing about politics.

As days passed by, I gradually acclimatized myself to the neighborhood, and the college. I even gave a few tests and achieved some decent grades. The syllabus was simple and easy. Time was passing smoothly. But there was still an incomplete, untouched hour, despite the twenty four hours of a proper day. And I knew exactly what it was.

The approach of weekend
The week finally found its way to the verge, although, it passed quite fast.

When I reached home from college, I began to read, even though we were off for two days. It didn't take more than a minute for me to realize that my biology book had been missing. I forgot it at college, I thought. The first thing that clicked my mind was Sophia. I decided to go to her house and borrow hers .I also wanted to meet her. A week passed by and I didn't even talk to her. I already started to feel anxious for some reason.

I went over to her house. Her mom was at the hospital, and dad at work. Their servant had opened the door for me. He seemed a bit addled, the way he stared at me. He only worked on weekdays.
"I'm here to meet Sophia", I informed, and he let me in. I sat in the living room for a while. He told me that she must be in the backyard. He guided me there. When I entered the backyard, I was pretty amazed. There was a wooden swing under a huge tree with bluish purple flowers. It was a beautiful tree. It was an ideal and perfect place to read, or just sit.

"Wow", I said and looked around. Sophia was standing near the swing, as if she had been waiting for me. Akin to how I had been waiting for her. For a glance, I wondered whether she was she was also as desperate.
"Do you like it?" she asked, referring to the swing. She was more confident than she was back in college. It was probably the decline of academic pressure.
"Like?"

"It's jaw dropping".
She sat on the swing, leaving space for me, just like she did, in college. And that felt like a long time ago. But her generosity was still fresh.
"So you read over here?" I asked and she nodded. "The tree is amazing", I complemented and inhaled the fresh and sweet fragrance. When I looked over at her, she quickly shifted her gaze. She had been staring at me.
"It's a jacaranda", she said quickly, trying to pierce the unconsciousness between us. It took a while for my mind to adjust that name. There was a moment of silence between us. She, again, surreptitiously caught a glance and quickly looked down when our eyes met. She smiled. There was warmth in her smile, which was more pleasant than the sun on a winter day. I really felt something at that moment. And I had never felt like that before.
"I kind of...forgot my biology book in college. I was wondering if I could...borrow yours for a day. I will return it tomorrow", I said. As if by coincidence, she was reading biology. Her book was on the swing with her. She gave me her book and I thanked her. Albeit, I didn't want to leave, but I knew that I had to.

Reluctantly, I stood up, in order to leave, but stopped as soon as I felt her hand on my forearm. Her touch was warm and compelling. I looked back at her. She quickly withdrew her hand, as if she had touched an extremely hot object.
"Wait...let me...get you something", she said and vanished. I stared at me forearm after she left, as it was blessed.

Sophia quickly came back with two glasses of juice. I drank mine in two sips. Due to thirst, or hesitation, I disregarded my ethics.

I thanked her and left, even though I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay longer. But I didn't want mom to sense something.

When I reached back home, Mom asked me what took me so long. She was concerned about me, because it was only my first week. And she didn't want me to get lost, or something related to that. I told her that I met a friend and quickly went to my room, vaguely covering the truth.
I opened her book. The smell of the jacaranda suffused in the whole room. Or it was probably just my imagination. Most probably my imagination, I thought. I scrupulously flipped through the pages, making sure not to cause any damage. I opened the first page and paid attention to the way she had written her name. She had an austere handwriting, marginally cursive. The S was really curvy. The rest of the letters were straight. She wrote a lot in her book, but only related to the topic.

Mom called me down to eat after a while. Dad arrived after ten minutes and all of us ate together. Dad asked me if I liked my clothes or not. I said I liked them, even though I didn't thoroughly see them yet.

"Did you activate your phone yet?" he asked, taking a sip of tea. "What!" I exclaimed, with a mouthful of carrots. I didn't know that he had bought me a phone.
"You didn't see it?" he asked, detaching the cup from his lips. I shook my head. "What have you been up to?" asked dad, reattaching the cup to his lips.
"Loads of work dad", I elucidated, succinctly, took a last bite and rushed back into my room. I opened a few bags. There was a smart-phone and a watch in one of the bags. The watch was pretty fancy and modern.

I charged the phone and waited for it to instigate its first breath.

In the meanwhile, I read some biology. I was awful at Urdu, because I wasn't really used to it. The principal advised me to give extra attention to Urdu. I still didn't get much. However, English was my favorite. Well, I guess my favorite book was biology. But my favorite subject was definitely English.

When my phone took its first breath, I connected it to the internet and logged into my Facebook account. I had very few friends on Facebook, akin to the status of my practical life. After about 5 minutes, I realized that there was nothing much to do on the phone. Except for the wastage of time, it wasn't much. At the age of seventeen, I was au fait with the futility of digital electronics and equipment's. I brought myself back to my books and studied for a while.

When I got really sleepy, I closed all my books and lay lazily on my bed. I picked up Sophia's bio book from the table and placed it on my chest. I brought it closer to my face. I never had that feeling before. As I brought the book near my lips, I figured it out. I knew what was happening to me, as if I was my own doctor. But a man is the doctor of his own heart. He comprehends the petitions of his heart more than anyone else can. Perusing my own heart, I diagnosed my disease. As a matter of fact, I heard my heart, my heartbeat.

I had fallen in love with Sophia Qurashi