You're My Serendipity

It's You.

"Are you free right now?"

I jumped a little at that text. I was not entirely free, but maybe I could take out time later. Maybe in an hour or so..
"Can we speak at 10? I'm usually free at that time."
I got an 'Okay' and I was back to studying.

I spent the next hour glancing at the clock every 3 minutes. Finally, it was 10 pm. I waited and waited for her message. And, it was only 10:03. I contemplated on whether or not to message her. At last, I decided not to; I didn't want to seem desperate. Maybe I was, but showing it is never a good sign, right?

Anyways, I received her text after a few minutes. She jumped straight to the point after a 'Hi.'

She talked to me about her feelings and how she had been feeling low all this time.
I must say, she is excellent at hiding her real life. I could hear her voice through her text. But I couldn't quite understand what she needed my help with, or what she was trying to talk about.

We ended up talking on call for about 2 hours. The stuff we talked about, was chosen as randomly as possible. From her weird teacher to my choosing Commerce after 10th grade, everything was random yet somehow connected. A contradiction, ain't it?
I don't know when or how she began trusting me with her feelings and problems. We were always just acquaintance-kinda friends. But I'm glad she trusts me.

But its difficult, knowing that there's nothing between us and still getting my hopes up.

The next evening, her smile was broader than usual when she let a 'Hello' escape from between her rosy lips. I hoped I was the reason for it. Well, other than that, Things were pretty much normal. I could tell you the number of times she looked at me and smiled whilst playing but I won't.

27 is a good number for 2 ½ hours though, right? Oops. Never mind.

We were back to not speaking for a few days. But I'd often look at her beautiful, competitive face while playing. Soon enough, I heard the girls talking about some crush. Jiya stood up and said, 'Good luck on guessing that, guys. I'll leave.'

Wait, she was the one with a crush?

We weren't together, but believe me when I say that I felt slightly betrayed.
Never mind. I had been through it once, I can most definitely move on again. Maybe? I don't know. I don't have it figured out, But things are gonna be okay.

I spent the rest of the week either thinking about who that crush was, or talking to her about the mystery guy, or thinking about food, or about my practical exams, or... Okay, the list goes on for long. The point being, I spent a good amount of my time thinking about a guy who wasn't me.

The girls of the group, too spent their time in a similar fashion. As far as I know.

▪▪▪

A few weeks passed and I started getting habituated to her, blushing whenever the girls tried to guess her crush. Damn, I wish I could be the reason behind that smile. I could never, though.

One windy evening, I saw her take Siya, one of the girls, out on a walk. I tried to look at her without getting caught by anyone. There was that smile again, that pink tint on her cheekbones and that glitter in her eyes as she talked while her hands formed various gestures.

I saw her look at me once as they walked from one point to another. Maybe twice. Never-mind.

About 20 minutes of talking, and they were back on the benches, right across from me. She retained that smile all along, having sudden frequent expressions of nervousness too, but she covered it up quite flawlessly. I'm sure nobody else saw that.

That night I decided to go to bed early, something I usually opt against. Rhea decided on staying up reading that Harry Potter book from her barely-working mobile phone. I honestly don't understand how someone can read novels on their phones. I mean, that touch that fragrance of a new book transports you to another world – the book world. You don't remember Rhea, though? My annoying, little sister whom I could fight with for hours, all for just another Pizza slice. Now you do, don't you?

'I want to sleep. Could you go out?'
'Already? Its only 10:30 pm.'
'Yup. Im tired. Any more questions?'

She was thrown out of the room when she refused to let me sleep in peace. Just kidding! No matter how much I want to do it, I'm unauthorized to do so. Moreover, A single noise and our parents would throw both of us out. Couldn't risk losing a share in the will, if you know what I mean.

She left weirdly fast enough, and I had the room all to myself. I turned the light off and was about to just fall asleep.. but again, I received a snap notifications. I have to start turning them off. They've been annoying lately.

Anyways, I noticed that it was from Jiya. I put the bedsheet over my head and slipped inside it.

"Are you busy right now?"
"Nope. Tell me. What's up?"

"You might probably know about that crush.. Rhea must've told you."
She hadn't but I knew about it. I didn't want to. But I did.

"I do. Heard you guys talking about it the other day."
"Oh, right. Do you want to know who it is?"

I didn't. But at the same time, I wanted to. I wanted to know who she likes. And perhaps try to be like that person.

"Ifyou want to tell me, sure."
"Don't freak out."
Duh, Why would I? Its not like its...
"It's you."