Chapter 17

It was our first day of college. I arrived at college and found Annie busy chatting with her boyfriend. Together, we checked the notice board for our room numbers and found Annie and Sanjay were in the same class as me. "Wow, we are inseparable.", She excitedly said and I laughed at her.

Vihaan came up to us, "Good morning." We greeted him back when Annie asked him about his class.

"Next to yours.", he replied looking at me which I ignored. Aarav arrived and asked him, "Got the room number?" Vihaan nodded. "Let's go." Vihaan followed him to their class.

We got to our class and took a seat. Sanjay arrived and greeted us. I nodded as he sat next to me.

The professor came and today's class passed on with a self-introduction of students in front of the class and a bit of basic. As the bell rang, we left for a break. Both Aarav and Vihaan were waiting for us outside our classroom. We all got together and went for lunch.

Soon, we reached the canteen and got food. Sanjay and I were talking about our subjects and others are busy with themselves. Annie shook my hand and when I looked at her, she signaled me to look in front of me very subtly. As I looked up, I found Vihaan looking sad and even a bit lost in his thoughts while Aarav was talking to him without paying attention. Perhaps he might be thinking deeply about something.

In the evening, Annie left with Joseph while Sanjay also left in his car. Aarav excused himself by saying he had some work in the market. Vihaan and I were the only ones left. I looked at him and was about to talk when he said he would walk home with me. I was surprised, somewhere I also wanted to spend time with him.

I said, "I am not going home." He looked surprised as he asked me, "Where?" I ignored him and asked him to just accompany me.

Soon, we arrived at the park where I would often visit and spend time sitting on the bench and drawing. We both sat on a bench as I took out my drawing book and pencil from my backpack. I looked around and found the kids playing with the ball. They looked joyful which made me smile at them as I soon started drawing.

After a while, when I was focused on drawing, he left to somewhere. When he returned, I found that he got us soft drinks. He handed me one as he took his seat beside me, this time a bit closer. "Thank you," I said. I took a break as we both finished our drinks and I got back to my drawing.

I could feel his eyes on me as he keeps staring at me when I am focused on the drawing. I finished the picture and looked at him, "Why do you keep staring at me?" I asked.

Looking into my eyes, he spoke, "I don't know, but I like to spend time with you. I feel something for you. When I see you being close to Sanjay, I feel outraged and want to take you away from him. I know he is a friend of yours. Still, I feel jealous. I don't want to be a friend of yours anymore." he paused. My breath hitched as he took a deep breath and continued, "I wanted to tell you before, but someone always interrupted me. Today I want to tell you that I like you a lot." He repeated by holding my hand, "I like you," as he got closer and kissed my forehead.

I froze and tried to grasp the reality that he had confessed his feeling to me and also, kissed me on the forehead. He gazed at me eagerly, waiting for my answer. When I did not respond for a few minutes, he shook my hand and asked, "Siya, are you fine?"

Slowly, I stood from the bench and he followed behind. I looked at him, trying to convey my answer through my eyes as if I had no words to say.

He looked worriedly at me as he asked me again if I was okay. I took a deep breath and got a grip on myself.

"I feel the same," I replied in a breath and got ease of my nervousness as I looked at him. Upon hearing my response, he smiled brightly at me which I returned.

We spent the rest of the beautiful evening in the park holding hands and enjoying each other's company. I asked him to keep it a secret from others for a while so that Aarav doesn't get a chance to tease me again which he agreed reluctantly. Later, in the evening, he walked me home and left.

Mom noticed the joy on my face when I returned home and asked, "Did something good happen? You look happy." I hugged her and kissed her cheek, then rushed to my room. I lay on the bed, recalling the cute moment when he confessed and kissed my forehead. I hugged a pillow and squealed as being with him makes me feel like I'm in the clouds.

The next day, I left for college early as Vihaan and I decided to meet at the entrance before everyone. I was about to talk when Annie saw us together. She looked at me suspiciously as she spoke, "You look different today. Something happened?"

"Nothing," I replied looking away. She assessed me for a while and said, "No, you look brightened. What's the matter?"

Vihaan took me by surprise when he told her that we were together. She squealed and hugged me saying she was happy for us. I asked her to keep it a secret and she assured me that no one would know about us. At that moment, Aarav found us together. "What are you guys doing?" he asked, as we were running late. We said it was nothing and walked to our respective classes.

Later, I zoned out the entire lecture. It's a nice feeling to be in love. Spending time with one whom you love and who makes you feel special. Those moments are rare and precious in life.

In the evening, after reaching home, I took my drawing book and decided to put our precious moments together on paper. I decided to sketch all the special moments with him and preserve them with me.