15:30

Twenty

Jay and Verita spent all of their time together. They both had horribly rigid schedules that left little time to accommodate each other, but they managed to do it somehow. They were getting used to the idea of being in a relationship, making necessary adjustments. However, the relationship came with a cost.Verita has managed to conceal her relationship from her mom perfectly but keeping up with everything proved to be more exhausting than she had anticipated. Her grades were dropping and her mother's blood pressure was rising.

Jay was surprisingly doing better than her. She slipped from the first position to somewhere at number six or seven.  Jay kept switching between number two and three. After a long struggle, Avi made it to number one. But Verita felt truly happy for the first time in a really long time. Her mother of coure, was displeased.

Dr. Estelle, being a Harvard lady, didn't take too long to do the math and realized that her daughter was seeing someone. Or she liked someone and hence was distracted. Jay and Verita had commenced their relationship in September but by October, she sensed the whiff of  a relationship on her daughter. Both her daughters were throwing their ambitions away for boys. She felt so disappointed. She expected better fr Verita, because Verita was on her watch. But maybe her own ambition had come in the way, after all, she was a thriving orthodontist with little time for her own daughter. She thought she knew her daughter but her faith was dwindling and so were Verita's prospects of doing well in the impending Board examinations. Every single professor had called Dr. Estelle with the same concern- why was Verita underperforming suddenly? The answer was simple- Jay's kisses were so addictive that Verita simply forgot everything else. It was a dangerous way to live life but Verita who had spent most of her life by the book was finally realizing that there was an entire bookshelf out there.

Her mom observed silently as she embarked upon her academic ruin. She waited for a her daughter to come back to her senses. But it didn't happen. Verita showed no signs of improvement and her mother decided to take matters in her own hands. The timing was terrible.

It was Verita's fifteenth birthday. Jay had planned a special dinner and birthday sex date for her. They had even talked about the new things they were going to experiment with. Verita was really excited. Unsuspecting, she said yet another lie to her mom about how she was spending time with Avi, and left the house. Only this time, her mother followed her around. And noticed her daughter kiss Jay. Her suspicions were confirmed. It was Jay. And then it hit her. Jay's ranking was up while Verita's was declining. Could this be a ploy to get the competition out of the way?

Her mother smiled to herself as she got back into her car and drove home. She wanted to let her daughter have one last night of fun with her boyfriend. After this was going to be judgement day.

Verita had the best night ever. Jay took her back to her place- Sid and his grandmother were out of town. They had sex and watched a movie together, cuddled up in each other's arms. Verita wanted to photograph this memory and store it forever. It was pretty late but thankfully it was a Saturday night. So Verita, after seeking her mother's permission, decided to spend the night with Jay.

Somewhere close to 3 am, neither of them were tired. They just lay in bed, next to each other, staring deeply into each other's eyes. A lover's gaze. The silence was more than comfortable. It was soothing.

Then, without a moment's notice, Jay spoke up. It was a quiet night.

"Verita, my heart," he said softly , stroking her hair.

"Yes J?" she responded, cupping his face.

"Can I say something?"

"Of course."

"Well I've been thinking about this for a while now. Finally I have the courage to say it. Verita Adèle Maxwell, I am in love with you. Passionately, crazily, hopelessly. To the extent where I want to try long distance with you, even after I move to America."