Mayank sat on his desk, it was a hectic day as usual, but he dint feel the usual vigour to work, this particular meeting with Nupur had been very draining. He felt tired, exhausted by the long wait. She was not just his love anymore, he needed her in his life. He missed having her in his life. He hated it that he is not around when she needs him. What sort of love is this, he questioned himself, where they were simply not there for each other, except mentally ofcourse. She was ofcourse a very importance presence in his mind, his every decision was influenced by her in one way or the other, that was good enough for him. Atleast it was, until he saw her again. Now he ached to hold her in his arms, just to know that she was there for him always that is the surety he wanted in his life.
He pushed a small oregami box towards her, she looked at the box and at him. He was determinedly avoiding her gaze and looking only at Mrs Lata their history teacher. She wondered if he were really listening as intendly as he seemed to. She opened the box and was delighted to find the single ear-ring that she had lost in his house. She was however more fascinated by the box as such, it seemed to be hand made by him. Mrs Lata had started distributing the answer sheets for the earlier day's tests. There was some commotion in the class as everybody seemed to be concerned as the test marks counted towards their internal marks. Nupur took advantage of the noise and asked him.. ye tum ne banaya.. holding up the box. He was surprised that she had found out. He was a little embarrassed to admit it, so he nodded a shy yes. She was thrilled would be an understatement, she loved it best when he made things for her, painted stones for her, did those wonderful things she couldnt do. Something he seemed to have left after shifting schools, that he got back to those really made her happy. He was inturn thrilled to see her beaming with happiness.
Ummm Mayank, tumhare padai se dyaan hat rahaa hai kya she asked him.
He looked up at her confused, she pointed at the answer sheets, he had got half a mark less than her. He looked at her amused. She had come first and he had come in second by half a mark and she was ribbing him for that? Woah, this girl is quite the Nautanki, he smiled. She winked at him, he felt his heart doing a few somersaults, he grinned his trademark dimpled smile reserved for her especially when she does sweet things. This time it was her heart that seemed to skip more than a few beats.
damn she muttered..
The days passed, slowly and silently their feelings seemed to be filled with heart flips, butterflies and a lot of shy smiles.
One day in their English class, she passed him a book, he read the cover of the book again confused, this was not the book they were covering in the class, they were supposed to be doing English classics and ACTS OF FAITH dint exactly fall into the category of an "English classic". He looked at her, she said..for you . He looked at her interested, she had given it to him...as a gift..a gift? He could be doing a "pehla Nasha" again..jumping around the class, but he thought it would be inappropriate so smiled in compensation. She was looking strangely shy, looking down at her book as if she intended to learn it by heart. He dropped her pen by mistake, they both bent down to pick it up, causing an uncomfortable closeness, he took the chance to whisper a thanks into her ears. She was blushing furiously by the time they surfaced back.
Their class work was to complete a story from their workbook and the emphasis was on "emotions and feelings" of the teenaged character in love as per Ms D'mello. Mayank and Nupur set out to write the feelings and emotions of the character. Somehow teenage feelings towards another person seemed easy to write after all to write what was in the heart was the easiest thing. This time around Mayank was a solid 2 marks ahead of Nupur. He was now positively smirking, see my feelings seem to be stronger than yours .She looked at him as if he had gone mad. However, she did manage to get back at him with a that I know... As much as it made him happy, it also upset him to think she doesnt care for him as much.She saw the change on his face and felt like kicking herself for wiping the smile off his face. In an effort to cheer him up she said Read the book and tell me what you thought about it...
M - sure...waise what do u love best about this book?
N - I dont know, I could relate to it in some strange way, though it really is unrelated to anything that I have seen in life. It has an interesting love story as a base. Its sort of strange how they fall in love at 13 then life and surroundings separate them, most importanly their faiths separate them and yet they know in their hearts that they love only each other. After all love itself is an act of faith..isnt it?
M - Love is indeed a huge leap of faith. To love someone and not know whether they love you or not,yet continuing to love them. Sounds stragely stupid, yet something that is a supreme act of faith.
They were silent for a moment, the discussion was strange as they had never discussed anything like that before, they also realised, somewhere their thoughts on this one subject matched. They were not as different as they claimed to be.
That Sunday, Nupur was busy listening to Pehla pehla pyaar hai,, on her tape recorder and swirling around the room in her new frilly skirt..she loved the way it made perfect waves as she turned around, she felt like a princess. What she dint realise however is that she was being watched in adoration by two eyes. He came forward and she unknowingly dashed into him, the minute she saw him, she stopped dancing. Rukh kyun gayi...chalo, lets dance..yaad hai rockers dance classes
He asked her. She was feeling strangely shy, they were dance partners as kids, from their local community dances to state level competitions, they were the perfect partners in dance. Not many people knew in their new school, but they could dance in such harmony that their dance teacher often said that they read each other's mind when it came to dance. aww comeon Nupur, for old time's sake.. he took her hand. They moved together, but to add to her woes the song was brimming with words that spelt romance and Mayank had his eyes fixed on hers, so much so that she couldnt help but feel the lyrics of the song ...Pehla pehla pyaar hai, pehli pehli baar hai, jaanke bhi anjaana aisa mera yaar hai...
M - U know I read the book ..kal poora din wahi kar raha tha..
N - oh acha, kaisa laga?
She had no idea why she felt shy on hearing this info.
M - Nupur...
N - ummmm..
M - tumhe lagtha hai ki me Tim ki tarah hoon?
N - nahi..
M - phir tumne mujhe khaas ye book kyun diya he seemed to be smiling slightly
She was beginning to hate his straightforward questions, He was putting her in a fix, she was unable to keep her puzzle alive, she was quite obviously giving him signs of her true feelings for him.
M - I loved the book..aur mera fav part tha.. he paused a bit.
She looked up and waited for his response.
M - their first kiss.. he was smirking positively
N - What?? she was not shy anymore as this piece of news seemed to suddenly wake her up from a dreamlike state [/I]
M - kyun kya hua he was now shaking with silent laughter..
N - What was so good about that ..haaan? She had her hands on her hips and her eyes were narrowed.
M - it was innocent and sweet and u know first kiss is really very special ..
she softened a bit, then said
N - sochna bhi mat.. she replied pointedly and looked down at the floor fixedly.
He was very amused by her reaction, she had just told him not to kiss her? so he teased her some more
M - dont worry mein tumhe kiss nahi karne wale hoon..
N - meine aise kab kaha...
M - waise bhi...mera first kiss tho kab ka ho gaya,,
N - kya???kab kaha kaise...kisse kisse kiss kiya tumne she asked him authoratively with a tinge of jealousy and possessiveness making way into her voice.
M - Relax Nupur, tumhe ...tumhe kiss kiya tha..yaad hai? nursery mein?
he burst out laughing...
She gave him a murderous look, then burst out laughing too..As they were laughing together, Mayank suddenly stopped laughing and stared at her innocent laughter, in a swift movement, he kissed her cheeks, she was too stunned to react, yet couldnt hide the fact that she liked it, for instead of being mad at him, she blushed. The blush only got worse when he whispered in her ears .. this one though I'll remember as my first kiss...
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