Only Mine Chapter 7: Care Comes From Love

Schools reopened per the usual schedule, the rains kept up the track record of falling at least twice a week, the 12^th standard students were already being told how tough that year would be for them. There were probably only two people in Ahmedabad who were not listening to the stress of board exams but still trying to analyze that small moment which had transpired in the first rain of the season.

Sameer often wondered what he had been up to all those weeks ago. He had never looked at Naina that way or touched her like that… Yeah, he had held her hand… But still… what happened right there was kind of awkward. And just because of that he was not able to see her again or meet her or play his prank. Whenever he thought of pulling a prank of her, he would start thinking what she thinks about that incident. And then he would delay facing her. It had been three weeks already since school started, so that made it four weeks since that incident and it was still as fresh as the first rain in his mind. The way she looked, the way the water moved over her face, the way she gasped softly when he had touched her…

Snap out of it Sameer. What are you doing thinking like this about a girl with oily pigtails and no fashion sense?

But… she looked different in rain. However, in all the last three weeks, he had seen her again four times on his way to school, and she was again in her oily pigtails and socks till knees… That made him firmly believe that everything was alright in the world, that Naina was still the Naina he knew, and that he was still the same Sameer.

Naina also thought about the incident quite often, the way he had looked at her, the way she had noticed his features… It was a first time sensation and it was too strange… But well, she had classified it as an anomaly and tried to forget it… And she might have, if not for Sameer’s totally absurd behavior. He was not talking to her… And he was not playing his prank. What was wrong with him? She hadn’t done anything wrong. Then what? He was in such a good mood that day… But after that he has been totally avoiding her, and she sure didn’t like it.

Two more days passed and the frustration inside her reached to the peak. That day in break time, Preeti prodded her, “you want a cream roll?”

“No, I don’t”, Naina snapped, “and stop disturbing me. Can’t you think of something else apart from food?”

Preeti was never the one to stay silent, so she snapped right back, “of course not… You see, I don’t have a Sameer to keep thinking about.”

Swati giggled. Naina reddened slightly, but quickly replied, “I am not thinking about him.”

Rolling her eyes, Swati suggested, “you don’t have to lie to us… We know that you are upset because he is ignoring you. But if this is so frustrating then why don’t you talk to him and clear the situation?”

Naina stood up, “first, I am not thinking about him… and second, if he doesn’t want to talk then it’s his wish, I am certainly not interested.”

As she stomped out of the canteen, Preeti caught her head in her hands, “I thought love was all mushy and dreamy… but this… this is a headache.”

“A total pain”, Swati agreed.

Naina walked out to the parking lot, trying to calm herself down. It was no good… If she kept on being so antsy then Swati and Preeti would know her state of mind. After all they knew her since childhood. But how could she stay calm when he was not talking to her… it was like being punished for no reason.

She never tried to think why him not talking to her seemed like a punishment… But she decided that if he was going to behave like an ass again then she needed to act. Swati was right… she should clear the situation… but Swati was too sensible about talking and clearing the matter… When it came to Sameer she needed to throw sense out of the window and cook up something new… A new prank. That was the only thing that would get his attention. Nothing major though, because technically it was his turn…. But a tiny one wouldn’t harm.

Luckily that day the last period was English, and the teacher was absent, so it was a free time. Naina decided to sneak out of school fifteen minutes early, but when she went to her friends with an excuse of not feeling good, they simply waved her off. She supposed she had troubled them too much with her bad mood. She still didn’t know how she would get rid of Munna and Pandit, but she was hopeful she would think of something spontaneous. Naturally the easiest target was his bike… and so she finished her task and hid herself behind a large tree in the lawns.

At the end of the day, Sameer came out lost in his own thoughts with a merrily chattering Munna and Pandit behind him. He tried to kick-start his bike, but it didn’t give any response. Frowning he tried again, but the situation remained the same.

Pandit quizzed, “what’s wrong?”

“It won’t start”, Sameer replied puzzled, “I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Munna added, “maybe it’s petrol.”

Sameer shook his head, “no… I filled petrol just yesterday.” Still he shook his bike and tried to check. His eyes narrowed when he couldn’t hear any sound of liquid swishing about in the tank. “Funny”, he murmured and opened the small lid to check. It was empty.

It didn’t take him long to realize the situation, and he sighed, wondering what he should do. He was sure it was her… and this meant she was somewhere nearby probably watching him with deep whiskey brown eyes of hers that had the tendency to hypnotize him.

Ugh Sameer… Get your mind on track. Where was he?

Oh yes… Petrol. He was sure it was her who had emptied his tank. She had played a prank, albeit a small one, even though it wasn’t her turn. He could ignore everything, pretend that his bike was really out of petrol and he hadn’t realized it. He could just walk his bike out along with his friends… That way he wouldn’t have to face her. The idea was tempting… Only thing that stopped him was that she would know he had done that on purpose. There was no way she won’t understand that he had not forgotten about his petrol tank not being empty.

So he sighed, and put his bike on stand again, “you guys go… I will see you later.”

His friends were confused, and Munna queried, “what? Why?”

He shrugged, “just like that… the tank is not empty; it has been emptied.”

“Aah”, Pandit smiled in understanding, “well… have a good talk… then maybe you could stop being such a grouchy bear.”

Sameer rolled his eyes, “no one’s talking… I just want that petrol back.”

“Yeah sure”, Munna grinned, and left with Pandit whistling merrily.

Sameer slipped on his sunglasses, leaned on his bike, and stood staring at the distant sky, not attempting to call her. Behind the tree, Naina frowned. What was wrong with him? He had understood it was her, yet wasn’t calling her out.

What does it matter anyway? You came to talk to him… so go talk.

Yeah, she supposed it shouldn’t matter. But his weird behavior puzzled her, and she had also wanted to improve his mood which sure wasn’t happening. Finally after five minutes she gave up and walked out, watching his back as she approached, wondering if he would turn around and acknowledge her. But he didn’t move, so she circled around the bike and stood in-front of him. He still didn’t say anything, just quirked one eyebrow.

What’s wrong with him? Why such behavior? And at least he should remove his sunglasses.

She gave a very small smile, “Hi… Umm… How are you?”

He frowned, and asked in an irked tone, “what is it with you and my bike? Have some problem…? Slashing tyres, cutting wires, grease, paint and now petrol…”

“I… I just wanted to talk…”, she stammered.

“Talk what?” He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t see what we can talk about.”

She had felt so confident about the prank, perfectly sure that it would lift his mood and he would start talking again. But now his aloof behavior made her confidence falter, still she tried, “what is wrong with you? Why aren’t you talking with me?”

He gave a low sarcastic chuckle, “when did we ever talk? It was all pranks… but now it’s done and over with. You played your last prank before leaving for the vacation. I didn’t do anything… and still you do this childish thing.”

She started to feel angry on his indifference, “is it? We never talked? Then I guess the conversation after your cricket match never happened? And what was that when we met four weeks ago? Or did the rain wash your memory too?”

Sameer didn’t know why he said the next things he did… but in an attempt to escape dealing with the situation, he spoke up, “It was nothing… and you know Naina… there are so many girls who are after me all the time… Just because I talked to you for some time, that doesn’t mean anything… you should know…”

“Enough”, she interrupted, disgust etching on her face, “what did you say? I was behind you… as in trying to get your attention… for what? You might look like a hero Sameer, but that is not all that matters always… at least not to me. And yes, you would have many girls falling all over you, but I am not like that… And nothing… nothing gives you the right to point finger on my character.”

He gaped at her, his mind slowly catching up to the huge blunder he had committed. He tried to say something, but she was not done yet. Her eyes flashed as she continued, “I came here today because I wanted to find out what was it that was troubling you. And now I don’t even know why I put in this effort… You are right… It was nothing… Our conversation, our pranks, that being happy on each other’s success, that sharing cold-drink and tea in rain… We had already aligned that we are not friends, yet I was stupid enough to care, to worry… And look what it got me…”

She fumbled in her bag, and he noticed that she finally had a new bag. Pulling out a bottle, she handed it over to him, “here… your precious petrol. And if you want to settle scores with me for both the pranks then your wish… but this time, it ends here. Don’t ever try and talk to me again.”

He watched with his jaw hanging open as she turned about and started to walk out. Her words rang in his ears especially about him questioning her character and the fact that she had said it all ended here. All these weeks there were uncertainty and inaction from his side, but the finality in her tone, the ultimatum from her, that didn’t sit well with him. It freaked him out.

Oh no… no no no… this wasn’t happening. What have you done Sameer?

“Shit”, he cursed aloud, and dropped the bottle of petrol, starting to run after her. “Naina… wait”, he called out to her, but she didn’t listen, rather started to run.

God this girl…

He ran after her, and soon overtook her, blocking her path. But she was like a little hurricane. She tried to push him aside in her attempts to escape. And desperate to stop her, he caught her arms, pulling her up to him, really close. Their eyes met, and this time though he was still wearing his sunglasses, Naina could see his eyes through them. She averted her gaze, “leave me.”

He panted for breath, “no… please listen to me.”

“You have said enough”, she snapped and again tried to push him away. He tried to control her, but she stomped on his right foot, and he yelped, jumping on one leg, “ouch Naina… It hurts.”

“Good”, she said and stomped his left foot. He lost his balance and fell forward, and since he was still holding onto her she too stumbled backwards. Her hands fisted on the front of his shirt as she tried futilely to gain some balance. In a heartbeat he realized that if they fell, he would fall on top of her… she could be hurt… and so he shifted his hold on her, trying to twist in mid-fall. Somehow awkwardly he managed to fall on his back partially, with her in his arms… again… quite literally. He had his arms around her, her head was on his chest, and she was half on ground, half on him. But, this time he kept his mouth shut, controlling every sassy comment he could ever make on the situation, and instead asked, “are you okay?”

She lifted her head, “leave me… else you would say that I progressed from being after you to falling in your arms.”

He couldn’t control his mouth this time, “you have fallen in my arms before.”

Her eyes narrowed, “I can still kick you; you know… somewhere it could hurt a lot.”

His eyes widened as he understood what she meant or rather which part of his body she meant, and he gasped, “you wouldn’t…”

“No guarantee”, she replied, “unless you leave me right now.”

He felt her leg shift just a little… Afraid of her knee hitting him at the wrong spot, he quickly left her, and she stood up. But as she tried to leave, he got up and held her hand again, “Naina please… just one moment.”

She snapped, still trying to tug free, “what?”

“I didn’t mean to say all that”, he tried to explain while keeping a firm hold on her hand, and keeping himself out of the range of her legs, “it just… it just happened…”

She stopped struggling to get away, but if anything she looked even angrier, “is that so? Well… you should know that things just happen and words just flow only when you really mean them. So you did mean what you told me… you believe that I am like all those dumb idiotic girls who fall all over you just because you are handsome… And… you must also think that I am nothing because I am a Hindi medium student, and have oil in my hair… and God knows what all other faults you must think I have.”

He was slightly amused, and couldn’t help but add, “but your hair is oily…” When she glared at him, he immediately added, “that doesn’t matter to me though…” She rolled her eyes, obviously not believing him, and he said, “you are not letting me speak…”

“You are not trying”, she snapped, “there are not many words to be said, you know…”

He understood her hint, and gulped, but determinedly continued, “I… I was just… so confused…” Sighing he added in a low voice, “about that day. I don’t know what happened… but something did… And I didn’t know what you were thinking about it, so I… I decided to…”

“Push me away”, she finished as he trailed off.

“No”, he corrected, “stay away myself.”

She scowled, “not a very good strategy. Especially when you go around looking so glum that I worry what happened to you.”

He removed his sunglasses and pocketed them, suddenly they felt like a barrier to his vision of her, and curiously queried, “why were you worried about me?”

“I don’t know”, she shrugged.

He couldn’t comprehend the casual attitude. Frowning he asked, “so you are okay…? About that day?”

She raised her eyes to the sky as if seeking help from God, and questioned back, “what do you think happened that day Sameer? So… we didn’t see each other for like two months… and then because we were happy to see each other we shared cold drink… and since it was raining, we had some fun… and there was some weird chemical disturbance going on in the air which probably fused our brains for a minute… and then because you are such a miser and bought only one cup of tea, we had to share that too.”

Weird chemical disturbance that fused our brains… did she just say that?

His bit his lip trying to control, but soon gave up and laughed aloud, “God Naina… are you always this scientific… and try to prove everything with logic…?”

She pulled back her hand from his hold, and folded her arms, “well… I don’t hear any emotional reason from you… and also not hearing what I should.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “ah… do I need to? I told you I didn’t mean it…”

“That is not an excuse”, she replied, “and if you don’t want to… then suit yourself… I have better things to do myself.”

As she turned and took a step away, he said, “but if you leave and end it here, you will still worry about me?”

She stopped, but didn’t look back at him, “maybe… but that is not your concern, right?”

He was amazed by her honest acceptance… She was firm in saying that they were not friends, but she also accepted without any hesitation that all those moments meant something, and she worried about him… Hadn’t she also said that she cared? Yes she had… When had anyone said such things to him? Never… None apart from Nanu and his friends. But this girl… with her oily pigtails and socks till knees was different… And he somehow liked her confidence… She might not be beautiful, she might have horrible fashion sense, but she still carried everything off with just her attitude.

And she knows how to kick your… well…

Better not finish that sentence even in thoughts. He had never met a girl like her… honest, spunky, intelligent and so totally unaffected by his charming good looks. She knew he was handsome, and she had said it too, yet that didn’t add extra credits for him in her book. He had never been so compelled by someone else, usually if he didn’t want to say something he wouldn’t, but today she was waiting and it grated his conscience because he knew he had hurt her… said something he should never have… yet she was still here, talking to him… And he… well… it was strange but it looked like he cared too… otherwise he wouldn’t have been affected by her anger. He resisted for another moment but then gave in with a sigh.

Covering the minimal distance to her, and stood facing her, trying to make his throat work to say what was needed… Somehow there was an urge, and so he took her hand, feeling overjoyed when she didn’t resist. He looked at her face, smiling when she didn’t meet his eyes, her lips pursed in anger… She was a fresh sight he had never seen before… Slowly he whispered, “I am sorry…”

Her lips eased a little, but she still didn’t look at him… He almost chuckled… Of course she wouldn’t look at him, not until she thought he had apologized enough. So he apologized again, “Naina… I am sorry.”

It was still a no go… He left her hand, cupped her chin with his fingers and turned her head to look into her eyes, satisfied when her eyes widened. He didn’t let her turn away, and held his own ear with his free hand, “I am sorry… please… I truly don’t think about you like that… It is just that I say those statements often…”, he sheepishly added, “you know… brag about it in-front of friends… and I was so tensed on seeing you that it kind of slipped from my mouth. I know I hurt you, but trust me, I had no intention.”

When she still didn’t reply, he said, “see… I never apologize to anyone apart from Nanu, Munna and Pandit… but I did now to you, only because I know I truly hurt you and also because I want you to know that I really don’t think those things about you. If I thought you were like those girls I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you. Don’t you understand that?”

She sighed, and smiled a bit, “okay… apology accepted… but if you ever talk like that again… I will… I will…”

He smiled as she thought about appropriate punishment, and suggested, “stomp my feet and kick me where it would hurt the most.”

Her eyes gleamed, “yes.”

He laughed, “alright… I won’t ever talk like that… but I do have mood swings sometimes.”

She rolled her eyes, “all pampered prince do.”

“I am not that”, he immediately replied indignantly, “call me anything but that… and you… you already call me an ass… so stick to that.”

She laughed, “you prefer being called an ass over prince?”

“Yes”, he nodded firmly.

She bit her lip, and a cheeky grin lit up her face, “then I guess you know yourself too well.” And again he couldn’t help but laugh at her sassy replies.

They went home with him driving alongside her half of the way, and he told her about how his Nanu had been surprised when he had reached home totally wet. Naina laughed and asked about his excuse, and also if Nanu had enquired something about the clock prank. He replied with a puzzled expression, “I told him that we didn’t had a chance to stop before it started raining… and the other night Nanu kept on laughing seeing my condition, and informed me you were leaving for your village. Couldn’t you have told me that yourself? I mean… just to remind you… you were literally in my arms.”

“Stop teasing”, she admonished, “and I was not in your arms, we fell down… it’s not like we were talking with each other.”

He chuckled and teased further, “who knows maybe we could be doing that sometime.”

“In your dreams Mr. Maheshwari”, she replied.

That night they both slept with a smile on their faces. It seemed they had crossed a stage in their unnamed mysterious relationship. He knew she was practical enough to ignore his sporadic bursts of insanity, which is what had happened that day in rain. And she knew that he was a moody idiot, or rather ass, whose mouth might sometimes run faster than his brain, but he didn’t mean harm. None of them realized that the care they showed for each other could only come from one special emotion called love.

The new found cordial bonding continued through the next few months tempered with occasional pranks and few more clashes, but if one sulked the other never stopped pacifying, and whenever both sulked their friends would ignore them until they came back to their senses. They six of them also made a few trips to the pani-puri vendor, where Naina finally apologized for using his wares to trick Sameer, and the vendor astonishingly inquired if that meant she had kept the money under his coin box as compensation. When Sameer looked at her, she averted her gaze and shrugged, replying to the vendor, “I don’t know what money you are talking about uncle.” But he knew… he understood that she had tampered with the vendor’s earnings that day, and so she had tried to compensate in her own way. It increased the admiration and respect he had for her by a lot. And he added kind-hearted to the list of adjectives he used to define her.

Sometime along the line she also understood that Sameer was not a pampered prince as she had thought he would be, nor was he a brat… well… not usually… sometimes he would frustrate her so much that she would have no other option other than stomping his feet. He had started to tease her by saying that people would soon start calling him Bigfoot as she had squished his foot too much already. This would usually result in her stomping his foot again. She had also started to enjoy his company even though they never really talked about their personal lives, but still she felt as if there was some kind of strange connection. And the “S” beside “N” on her desk didn’t annoy her so much now.

Meanwhile, as the panel of education government kick-started discussions about the 1997-98 interschool fest, a certain person made slightly more than usual donation for the cause. And being a member of the main panel, and also having some friends internally he put in the names of two schools that he wanted to host the fest this year… He did face some resistance as the choice was unusual, but he convinced the panel that it would be a great example of coordination for the schools in Ahmedabad. And so, two carefully drafted letters were dispatched in envelopes with red seal in each of the chosen school. The man who had moved the pawns on the chessboard, sat on his favorite swing in the lawn in-front of his house, and hummed to the tunes of matchmaker.