His Dusk, Her Dawn

Chapter 26. First love

"I understand, bro. You thought I will judge you for falling in love with Sandhya? I got a hang of what was going on with you way back, but I wanted to hear it from yourself. I just wished you would have told me sooner."

I couldn't believe it. I think I must have dreamt it, but it was real. Yes, those are the words Ayush told me when I had a discussion with him about Sandhya. I was sure that he might not talk in her favour, but it was relieving to see how he handled it positively.

And, that's not the only thing he said. When I asked him if he was okay if I spent time with her, he was all cool with that. According to him, my personal life didn't include just him. Changes were inevitable and if I chose a person to love, he was no one to be judgemental about it.

"You can love whoever you want, Ved. I know it won't reduce the love you have for me. I will ask you only one thing though: don't you dare forget me because I will be really hurt."

When he said that, I hugged him tightly. I felt light as a heavy weight was taken off my chest. I wouldn't be able to express in words how wonderful I felt after hearing Ayush's reply. After the discussion, I instantly called Sandy Pandy and annoyed her with my useless talks.

She was already irritated and confused with Nikhil's behaviour, but I had to have my daily dose of teasing her. And to solve Nikhil's problem, I had a solution for him. I wasn't sure if it was going to actually work or not, but the poor guy could try his luck.

Thus, when we left for the Inter-College Sports Tournament, I had two worries on my mind, and yes, I wasn't worried about losing the game at all. I was confident in my team.

So, the two worries making me anxious were, A) it was Sandhya's first official match, and I had to handle my happiness of telling her that Ayush had no problem about our interactions, and B) what if Sandhya killed Nikhil in case he goofed up his apology, and she came to bury me alive too as I was also involved in all this mess?

I had to keep calm as not to affect my performance, but the moment I saw my monkey, I became a child again. She was sipping her tea, while waiting for the other sports teams to board the buses as her eyes lingered on the bus that accomodated the basketball team.

Is she looking for me?

I approached her slowly, taking out the melody chocolates and Milkybar from my pocket; the way I was skipping towards her felt like I was jumping over the clouds. I forwarded the chocolates towards her, giving her my best smile, but her narrowed eyes and frowned expression made my heart skip a beat.

Did Nikhil mess up already? Or is it something I did?

"Go to your boyfriend," Sandhya taunted.

Okay, so she was still mad about how I was avoiding her for the last few days. I didn't want to, but I was unsure of how to behave around Ayush. I didn't suspect Sandy Pandy would be that much annoyed because of my ignorance.

Did it make me happy that she was concerned about me? Yes, it did. Am I an idiot to skyrocket my hopes on the basis of her just one reaction? Maybe I am. But I can be an idiot for her. I know I am a lost case now, and I am not sorry about it.

I told Sandhya that I talked to Ayush, and how he wasn't bothered if I talked to her. As expected, she didn't believe me. Unfortunately, I couldn't share the details with her. My smart monkey understood my dilemma and told me to relax.

How can I not love her? Why the hell did I trouble her when we were kids? It was obvious that I was jealous of her and she intimidated me, but I wish I had befriended her instead of fighting with her. I will do my best to make things alright this time.