DEAR, IT'S DARE.

She took a long, deep breath, held my hands, and began to say...

My heart is thinking that she is going to propose to me... But even imagination must have a limit. Even thoughts must have a boundary..

Her eyes sound different this time. She is so excited to say something, but the basic knowledge I earned in the last 45 minutes warned me that something strange was going to happen.

"Thank you so much, Arjun!!!! It’s a dare. I was asked to talk with a stranger while walking... Srishti exclaimed in a rousing tone...Simultaneously, she opened a pink-colored slip, which was inscribed "WALK – TALK." which resembled TIK-TOK..

Suddenly, that statement threw me into the tunnel of truth, making me realise it’s just a TRUTH OR DARE game.. and that girl became a victim of dare.. but I became a winner even without playing..

Then she started moving towards an assemblage of girls with candles.

Then I realised the whole scenario was just the hero understanding the storey at the climax of a thriller film.

Thank God it's a game and everything is true... Her presence suddenly knocked down the doors of reality. I was astonished to see many girls staring at me and whispering to Srishti. This situation reminded me of the Avengers' endgame and assemble scenes.

That huddle of girls started walking towards me. I stood and gave a greeting by waving my hand, then Srishti took a step and introduced me to their friends.

Saying, "Guys, this is Arjun.. such a sweet person.. I would really love to talk to him. " Srishti elaborately created some introduction sentences.. My brain edited the above statement, removing the words "to," "talk, and "to" from it. This gave me a small satisfaction.

Then I gave a fake smile, which most actors give whenever an anchor flatters them at movie launching events...

Kritika, how is my performance? I was born to win. Don't I? " Srishti gave a statement that doesn’t require any proof to prove. Her eyes started shining brighter than stars...

"Dear, Kritika is the one who gave me this task." she said with a smile on her face. The word "dear" made all the girls stun for a fraction of a second.

Yes, I got it: Kritika is Srishti's best friend...I know this fact since I mastered Srishti’s biodata...

My brain taught me to take a snapshot of her feet and worship them on a daily basis.

"I really had a good time, Arjun. It’s all because of you. Hope you remember my wish!" Srishti said with a loving, encrypted voice.

By saying this, her feet started moving with her friends. I felt like my exhaled air was moving towards her hair. I was still standing, feeling the past 45 minutes of memories in a moment..

Pointed hills started walking away from me, at that point, she just looked back and launched a smile missile from her lips, which may have been a boomerang... automatically, my lips generated a heart-felt smile...

My canvas shoe sole was resisting movement from that point, and my fossil watch announced that good time had passed... My dew-covered spectacle glasses indicated that my eyes were busy memorising the beauty of her eyes...

At that instant, I realised what inertia really means. "The body tends to continue in motion or rest unless an external force acts on it." But my external force is moving away from me...

Even the sky began to rain, which, combined with a cool breeze, reminded me that "she is no longer here, to feel warm."

The rain drop fell from the sky, attained a spherical shape due to surface tension, and indicated to me an extraordinary lesson.

Even a raindrop must leave its cloud one day, just as my raindrop in pointed heels and a magnolia handbag did a few minutes ago.

However, the water cycle caused the raindrop to return to the cloud...I was thinking about a water cycle in my life that acts as a medium to create a bond with Srishti..

These raindrop sized thoughts made my cloud resemble normal brain function. Thanks to the water cycle I learned in 5th standard,

Cool breezes forced me to reach my hostel rooms as soon as possible. I arrived at my hostel room after many battles between my heart and brain, soul and body.

My hostel room is not very clean. Books are here and there, just like electrons in JJ Thomson’s plum pudding model. My roommate’s name is Prashanth. He is the one who actually played a key role in attaining Srishti’s biodata. I don’t know from where he collected that data, but it’s far better than most of the TV9 reports...

I just fell on my bed, which was accompanied by a blue bedsheet and two white pillows embedded with cotton, which made my bed the strongest gravitational centre..

My eyes stared at the rotating fan and my thoughts started rotating around Srishti..

I hugged my pillow, imagining her. My eyes were not interested in sleeping, because it might cause my studious brain to forget even a single detail that happened today.

Then suddenly, my workless brain started answering useless questions my heart asked. What is her opinion about me? Does she like my dressing style? Did Kritika select me or Srishti herself select me? What is the name of the feeling that I had on Srishti? What is love? Is this what people call love?

The cyclone of questions shook my brain, then I could see two question marks colliding on my imaginary blackboard, which resulted in the famous shape of a cake on Valentine’s Day.

It was a dark red, and my silent soul announced that this is love, represented by the red-colored heart.

Oh my goodness! My brain screamed and celebrated the small victory.. as if Archimedes had found the physical law of buoyancy. No other scientist in the world has come up with a more creative and conventional explanation for the shape of love...

Will she meet me tomorrow? My heart posed his last question since my eyes were about to sleep.

"All right, then, will you allow my eyes to watch you every day... not just in dreams, but also in reality?" These words reverberated in my ears as they were said by Srishti...

Tomorrow is going to be fantastic!! My heart shouted.. My ears ignored these words since they were busy enjoying the reverberating voice of Srishti.

The following morning,

My eyes were filled with irritation because the susceptibleness-filled ringtone disturbed my sleep. My sleepy eyes struggled to read the name of the caller. It appeared to be Kritika, with a heart emoji at the end of her name.

What the hell? I screamed, which made Prashanth retain consciousness.

"Arjun, it’s my phone!" Prashanth said in a hurry. Some of the mysteries have been solved!

Why do you save Kritika’s name in this manner? I questioned him.

"She is my lover, dude!" His reply made me stunned for a second, which answered the mystery of where he got the Srishti details.

The irritating ringtone continued to disturb us for this whole conversation. To be frank, love songs are really irritating if you have no one to imagine in a romantic way.

"Could you please lift the call?" I requested Prashanth. I don’t know what they are talking about, but Prashanth was staring at me just like Galileo was trying to watch Jupiter's moons from his telescope.

"Bro!! SRISHTI will be waiting for you in the college canteen at 9.30 A.M.

Prashanth broke the silence with some blockbuster news...

His words felt like winning the World Cup with a single ball, or winning the World War with a single bullet. In happiness, I hugged him. As a reciprocating reaction, he showed me his phone, indicating he too had a lover to talk with...

My preparations are really high to impress Srishti during the daytime. My ironed black Road Star shirt, beige coloured chinos, and red Chief black shoes made me look decent and attractive.

The time is 9:25 a.m.

I could see her from a long distance. She waved me, indicating her location, but the fact she might not know is that even in thousands of people, I can find her eyes easily.

I was so close to her that 15 steps from now would be enough to reach her. Suddenly, my red chief black shoes stopped watching a notification on my phone screen.

"I am here!" A text message from Sravani changed my direction quickly. Srishti was astonished for a second, since I was running towards the college entry gate.