It was the day before Valentine's Day at Mason High School and the guys were already visiting to the mall and flower shops to get the perfect gift for their gals, and the girls were preparing for their best clothes for siddharth tomorrow. Some girls were buying ingredients of cakes and cookies. Everybody was excited for the Valentine's Day, everyone but Aastha Kirloskar; she was never a fond of Valentine's Day. Not that she's bitter, she just never dated a guy before and never received anything for Valentine's. She's not that much pretty, she's just simple, has a long, dark hair, brown eyes, and little freckles on her cheek. She's one of those girls who wait for the right to talk to them at the right time. But she already has her eyes set on someone. Shlok Agnihotri.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aastha was walking at the hallway together with her best friend, Jyoti. "I can't wait for siddharth tomorrow! I wonder what siddharth would get me for Valentine's," Jyoti said with excitement.
"I hope it's not one of those free coupons in the supermarket. He can be so cheap sometimes," Aastha replied. Jyoti shook her head and rolled her eyes while smiling.
"So, when are you going to talk to Shlok?" She said. "And why would I talk to him?" I asked, "Uh, because you like him ever since you became lab partners last year, and besides, you guys have been hanging around after class every day," her best friend replied.
"I don't know, I just don't want to ruin our relationship. What if I confessed to him and the next day, he'd be different," Aastha said hopelessly. Aastha looked down and felt the little pain on her chest when said the word "different."
"Speaking of which, here he comes," Jyoti said. Aastha turned her head to her left and saw Shlok walking towards them. As Shlok stopped in front of them, Aastha stiffened. "Hey," he said. Shlok smirked and Aastha went pale. Aastha had an effect on Shlok's smile. Jyoti gave Aastha that annoying smile where she knows what's going to happen. Jyoti took her phone out of her bag and pretended she just received a text from siddharth. "Oh, siddharth texted me to meet him at the gym, I'm going to have to leave you two," Jyoti said. Aastha turned to Jyoti and gave her an I-will-kill-you face. "Bye, Aastha! Good to see you, Shlok." Shlok nodded. "You owe for this," Jyoti mouthed and winked at Aastha. "Don't mind her, she's like that every day," Aastha said. "I see," Shlok said, still looking at Jyoti walking away. "So, any plans this Valentine's Day?" Shlok asked. "Oh, you know, just gonna watch some siddharth Cruise movies with my cat, Katy, and eat ice cream. My usual Friday, siddharthorrow's just another day but with a name," she said nonchalantly, trying hard not to show her feeling for him.
"Would you mind changing plans?" he asked genuinely. "What plans do you have in mind?" Aastha asked, hoping it's something related to Valentine's. "I just want to spend my time my pal, you know, our usual thing," he said. "Okay, sure, no problem," she said, almost stammered. "Play it cool, Aastha," her inner conscience said. "Okay, great, I'll pick you up siddharth tomorrow, see you at seven," he said. He smirked again.
"Okay, sure."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, Aastha had never felt more excited. She didn't see Shlok at school and it was a good thing for her. After class, she quickly went back home to get ready for her date with Shlok. She just wore light make up because she didn't want to exaggerate the date. She wore her usual outfit which was her grey and white stripes long sleeves, black jeans, and a pair of converse. While tying her hair up, she heard someone knocking at the door and she already knew it was him.
Before she opened the door, she gussied up a little just to make sure she's ready. She opened the door and saw Shlok, also wearing his usual clothes, red plaid polo, black jeans and a pair of red converse, his hair was standing up and his eyes luminated. Aastha tried to act natural, so she just smiled.
"Hey," Shlok said, lending a hand.
"Hey," she replied, still smiling.
They went to those parking lot movies and watched a movie. After the movie, they hanged out at Burger King to eat. They talked about what's going on to their lives. Shlok's been helping his dad fix their car and he's been taking his little brother to school. Aastha didn't talk that much, she just listened. She just wanted to hear his voice. But there's nothing happening between the two of them. Aastha wanted something to happen, but everything was still the same, their usual thing. It made Aastha a little upset because she was really hoping that Shlok would do something special for him. Aastha was hoping to receive a rose, but she received nothing but a burger and fries.
While walking home in the middle of a cold night, under the radiating moon, they weren't speaking. They just stared at the ground. When suddenly, Jade stopped walking, "There's something I've been wanting to say to you," she said nervously. Shlok just looked at her blankly. "I don't want us to be friends, I want something more. This day, I was expecting a lot. Because I thought that this might be the chance of having a new connection with you. I know that today's just another day but with a name. But c'mon, a girl can also hope. I don't want to hide my feelings anymore. Can't you see that I'm in love with you? Can you be anymore callous from what I've been feeling? You know, it's really hard to hide your feelings from someone you love and realizing that he's not going to love you back. This is not even worth it. My tears are not worthy for you. There, I said it." Aastha was trying to get a grip and trying hard to stop crying. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to let that out, it's just that I care f---" Aastha was stopped by the collision of their lips. Aastha was taken by surprise because she wasn't expecting a kiss from him tonight. After the thought of surprise, Aastha finally kissed back. Shlok traced his hand on her neck as he relish the kiss. Aastha pushed him away to get some air as Shlok removed Aastha's tears on her face. Leaving their forheads sticking.
"Shh -- It's gonna be okay," he said.
"We're gonna okay," he added..
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day at school, Aastha was walking towards her locker. Aastha hasn't told Jyoti about what happened, yet. She just wanted to let her discover by herself. When Aastha opened her locker, she found a red rose inside with a letter. She took out the rose from the locker and opened the letter:
It's going to be okay with the two of us. I'm sorry if I let you think that I was insensitive. But the truth is that it was also hard being with you because every time I'm close to you, I'm trying hard as I can not to kiss you. I've wanted to put you into my arms. I've wanted to hold your hands publicly and telling everyone that you are mine. You're like another world that has not yet unravelled and I want to be the one who'll unravel you through thick and thin, if you'll just let me. Let me discover everything of you so I can tell everybody that you're nothing like any other world, if you'll just let me.
Yesterday was Valentine's Day but it was only a day with a name. Material things don't matter on Valentine's but love. Love always counts. It's always has been.
Arjun
