Love Only Happens Once... Don't Miss It

Chapter 6

It was the morning of graduation. Priya grumbles as she turns off her early alarm. "You don't want to go to school today Priya?" Kavitha asks coming out of the bathroom. "School is finishing up soon It doesn't matter if I miss one day or am late one day." She buries herself in the blankets. "Yes it doesn't matter if you miss one day, but if that day happens to be your graduation day...." Priya's eyes fly wide open before she checks her phone. "IT'S GRADUATION DAY SHOOT I CAN'T MISS TODAY!!!" She flies out of her bed and into the washroom, while Kavitha shakes her head smiling.

An hour later Priya's rushing out of her room. "Vaishuuu where are you?! We are going to miss our appointment!" She rambles to Vaishu on the phone. "Chechi was I supposed to pick u up? Sorry Appa dropped me off at the parlour already, um I told Arjun to pick u up since it was getting late come quick with him!" Vaishu replies. "Arjun? Vaishu tell him it's okay I'll ask Akka or Appa to bring me, otherwise I'll come mys-" Priya's interrupted by a knock on the door. Manju opens it and there's Arjun. "Chechi is that mama?" Vaishu asks. Priya groans in reply "okay I'll be there in 10, with Arjun, happy?" Vaishu giggles and cuts the call. "So, are you ready to go?" Arjun asks. Priya nods. They both head outside. "I borrowed my dad's car today so that you won't ruin your makeup with the wind" Arjun says. "Smart" Priya replies. "Well what else did u expect, Arjun na summava?" She rolls her eyes in return and climbs in. They drive off. "So I heard you're going to the beauty parlour? Hmh?" Arjun asks. "How will I compare to you when you add more beauty to ur beauty?" "Ahha? Ice vachathu podum." Priya laughs. "Naan enga ice vaikuren? Unmai thaan sonnean." Arjun replies. Priya pinches his cheek in return. "So sweet!" By then they had gotten to the parlour. Priya quickly jumps and runs inside. Arjun parks the car and waits in the kids section, entertaining the kids there.

"Chechi ur here! Thank god u didn't miss the appointment!" Vaishu squishes Priya into a hug. Priya pinches her arm "all because of u, loosu! How could u forget u were supposed to pick me up!?" Vaishu smirks. "Hey what's with ur face?..." Priya asks suspiciously. She gasps. "This was all your plan wasn't it?! To make me go to grad with Arjun?!" "Looks like you aren't completely a tube light Chechi, yay! " Vaishu starts walking towards their room. "Anyways all our dresses and Jewellery are here, so as soon as they finish we can change and then they will do our makeup and hair!" "It was really kind of atha and mama to buy this package as our grad gift wasn't it?" Priya says. Vaishu nods. "Amma and Appa are so nice lately! But they gave u the gift too, so now I will never be prettier than you!" Vaishu fake pouts. Laughing Priya replies "stop lying you were always the pretty one Vaishu. Don't try to brainwash me loosu !" They laugh and start their beauty treatment.

When it was all finished they both looked stunning.

Vaishu left with her dad and that left Priya searching for Arjun. She looked everywhere before finding him in the kids section. He was reading a story to the little kids there. "He looks so cute with his suit and tie and his dorky glasses..." Priya thought to herself. She tiptoed behind Arjun and motioned for the kids to not say anything. She covered Arjun's eyes and waited. "Who is it?" He asks smiling. Priya stays silent. "Kolundaikala, can u tell me who's behind me?" He asks. Priya motions to the kids to not say anything. "We can't say Anna!" The kids chant. Arjun laughs then feels Priya's hands. Almost immediately he knew who it was. "Hey mangamma, Priya?!" Priya laughs and takes her hands off his eyes. "Eppadi?" She asks. He shrugs. "Anna unga girlfriend super a irrukira" a kid calls out. Priya looks at Arjun, "thank you kutty" she pinches the child's cheek. "Girlfriend a? Iva va? No way. I've Elam yen thaguthi ku set aaghamata!" Arjun laughs. Another girl calls out laughing, "aama, Akka Vera level, Anna ku match a illa!" Priya high fives the little girl while Arjun pouts. "Seri, we have to go now okay? Sorry," Priya says. They say bye and Priya and Arjun climb back into the car. "So how do I look?" Priya asks him. "Why, didn't you look at yourself yet?" He asks. "Why won't u tell me what you think?" She asks. He rolls his eyes with a smile. "Fine you want me to tell you how you look?" He asks. Priya nods excitedly. "Rekka mattum illai indhaal nee oru dhevathai" his eyes soften and Priya's cheeks heat up. Trying to cover her embarrassment she quickly replies all confident. "Thank you! I know, I know naan oru dhevathai thaan!" She turns to look out the window. "Saatharamana dhevathai illa, yennoda dhevathai..." He whispers before turning into the school parking lot. Priya hears this and blushes again. "Mangamma, are you coming?" Arjun asks climbing out. "Ah" Priya replies following him. Throughout the whole ceremony, Arjun kept glancing over at Priya and vice versa. These small continuous glances kept the colour onto their faces and proved that Priya didn't need to wear blush at all, and that putting Arjun near here was enough. In between the love birds, Sukanya, Karthik and Jai were making kissy faces at Arjun when Priya wasn't looking. And the only time Priya wasn't looking was when she was being distracted and teased by Vaishu, who was beside her, for being so obvious about her not so little crush. The two love birds became so obvious to everyone present. Suddenly, "Arjun Swaminathan, BA in Business Studies. The top graduate of the batch!" Arjun jerked to attention and went up to get his diploma. Up on stage, even his proud parents were lost. His only focus was on his love. Priya felt his eyes on her, even within the enormous crowd. Her cheeks heated up and she wouldn't have heard her own name is Vaishu hadn't nudged her. "Priya Unnikrishnan, BA of Dentistry, another batch topper!" She quickly got up to receive her diploma, trying to ignore Arjun's loving but distracting eyes. After they both sat down after getting their diploma they continued their glances and didn't notice another student receiving his diploma. "Subbramanian Vishwa, BA of Dentistry, Distinction 2nd place..."
And hidden in the audience, was another woman who would soon cause trouble in Arjiya's life. She muttered curses to a certain batch topper for stealing that title away from her son...

After the ceremony there was the customary formal dance for all the graduates. The batch toppers were to arrive with a special Intro, so Arjun and Priya, with the rest of the squad left the rest of their classmates to arrive in style. You see, Vaishu was the batch topper in Fashion Studies, Vandhana for psychology, Jai for marketing, Sukanya for biology and karthik for political science.
Precap: The romantic duo lost themselves into each other. The world didn't matter. Their hearts yearned to finally be one. With love surrounding every inch of the two, Arjun leaned in. To his joy, Priya did not back away. She stayed there, staring into his eyes, eager for what was to come. Now, their faces were only centimetres away from each other. Eyes were closed and their grips became tighter... it was the perfect moment...