A leap of faith

A bad day at school

It was the last day of school before summer vacation. Last day of the school was special. Everyone was allowed to wear a dress of their choice instead of the regular school uniform. There were no scheduled classes and students could freely move around the campus without restrictions. A bunch of people were playing basketball. Many others walked around in smaller groups talking about their summer vacation plans. Others took the football field.

In this cheerful environment, Dia was however having a very bad day. She had forgotten that today was colored dress day and wore her school uniform to school. She instantly became the target for jokes but there was no way out of this until 1 PM when her dad would come to pick her up.

"Hey Dumbo, didn't your mom & dad buy you any nice clothes to wear today ?" someone called out as she made her way to class.

Dia kept looking down too embarrassed to meet anyone's eyes as she walked into the school . Her class was empty except for a handful of girls sitting and talking in one corner. Feeling alone and lost Dia sat on another corner hoping people would leave her alone.

Meanwhile, Elina, Ayush and gang were having ice cream at the cafeteria when someone told them Dia had come to school dressed in uniform.

"Perfect day to take Miss Pigtail Dia down." said Elina with a wicked smile.

"Not bad Eli, what do you have in mind" asked Ayush, curious as to what evil plans Elina might have thought up today.

"Dude, this Dia girl has like a massive crush on you, I think we could exploit that to make her do something really stupid and end up becoming the laughing stock of the school." Elina revealed her hideous plan.

"Right and then Kushal could film this and we could release it on our ~dumbgirlfails~ channel on Instagram and get some hits." Ayush said quite excited with where this was going.

Dia was in the classroom pretending to be sleeping with her head down on the desk. She heard someone walk in and then the other groups of girls in the room left. She realized the room was quite silent and looked up. The room was now empty. She sighed a breath of relief and looked at her watch. It was 11 AM. 2 more hours until Dad came to pick her up.

She decided to read a book from the class mini library shelf to pass her time.

Someone walked into the room. Dia not wanting to get attention tried not to look up.

"Hey Dia, why are you in the class all by yourself?"

Dia could have recognized that voice anywhere. Too surprised and unable to contain her excitement Dia stammered "He he hello Ayush, I'm just, I don't know, Umm, didn't have anything else to do, so umm, I was just sitting here you know, just reading a book."

"Ok, cool, hey if you don't mind can I talk to you for a bit. Umm, I have been wanting to tell you something on my mind for a long time. It's just that I don't know how to say it." Ayush said while putting on a coy smile. As he said this he started walking closer to Dia.

Dia was blushing crimson.

"Sure, I mean you can always talk to me, like anytime, I mean I am always there for you, you know" said Dia in between stutters.

Ayush came so close to Dia that she could smell the cologne he was wearing. Looking deeply into her eyes, Ayush held Dia's hands and slowly brought them up.

Dia was completely lost in Ayush's deep brown eyes and captivated by his smile. The rest of the world had faded away in the background and she could no longer hear anything else apart from her heart pounding away.

"Dia, I can't speak my heart if you keep looking at me with those big beautiful eyes, would you close them for a minute so I can tell you what's on my mind" said Ayush with an alluring smile.

"Oh .. oo.. oo .. Okay Aa Aa Ayush." Dia was so nervous she could barely speak without a stammer.

Dia closed her eyes.

Next she felt Ayush come closer and whisper in her ears "Dia, you are the girl I have adored secretly for so long but never had the courage to tell you."

"Ayush, you have no idea for how long I have been in love with you" said Dia trembling while dying to just hold Ayush in a tight hug.

"But Dia I don't have a flower or a ring to give you, so can I give you something else" asked Ayush whispering very gently in Dia's ears.

"Ayush, every word you speak is a treasure for me and anything you give me will be a treasure for life" Dia spoke back softly and gently.

"Okay, then come forward my dear with your eyes closed, take a leap of faith!" Implored Ayush.

"Take a leap of faith"

"Take a leap of faith" Ayush's words were echoing in Dia's ears.

Ayush started gently leading Dia by her hands forward.

Dia was in a fairy tale moment not wanting to ever wake up from such a beautiful dream and so she slowly walked forward as Ayush led her.

"Take a leap of faith"

She did not know what hit her first. The coldness of the water or the hysterical laughter of the class. Or the fact that she was lying drenched in a pool. Either way it was a horrid way to be woken up from her fairy tale dream.

As she slowly came to her senses, she stood up to realize that that she was standing in an inflatable pool. She was soaking wet and dripping water from her hair to her toes. 

It took some time for Dia to fully understand what had happened. At first she thought it was an accident. When she saw Ayush and Elina laughing with joy at her peril it was then that she started crying.

While Dia's eyes were closed, the Prank gang had silently moved an inflatable pool filled with water inside the class. They also made sure other boys and girls were gathered right outside the classroom to watch the prank. Ayush had led Dia and pushed her into the pool while Kushal filmed everything from a secret camera hidden in the classroom.

That day Dia stood drenched in the middle of the classroom as her entire class laughed at her and sang "Dumb Girl's leap of faith". Her idea of love was shattered forever.

Dia wasn't sure how long she stood there soaking wet and shivering partly from embarrassment and partly from the cold. But at some point most people left and she found the courage to run away to the girls room where she waited until the school closing bell rang.

When the bell finally rang, she waited for some time until the noise died down and then went out. Dia's dad was there on his motorcycle waiting at the usual spot.

"Hey sweetie, i didn't know it rained today?" asked Dia's father smiling at her daughter.

"Dad, just take me home" Dia said in between tears.

His face became very serious as he realized something was very wrong.

Dia sat on Dad's motorcylce, still sobbing.

From the corner of his eye, Dia's dad spotted a bunch of boys and girls in the distance looking their way and laughing. Aditya was clearly the leader of the pack.

He got ready to get off and get even.

"Dad, no, please, let's just go home" Dia said.

Karmaditya started the motorcycle and it roared off in the distance, his nerves throbbing with revenge. Ayush's face was imprinted on his mind forever. One day, he told himself Ayush would have to pay for making his daughter cry.