We Are A Match [COMPLETED]

Chapter : Twenty One

Chapter : 21

Rishav's POV

This is a fun trip. Note the sarcasm.

I am never bored but today was different. Sitting there in the bus should have had been a fun ride because all the guys and girls around my age were in the bus. But having Ananya beside me was the least bit enjoyable. She was reading a novel and had earphones plugged in, her phone well hidden inside her bag.

We had been strictly prohibited from bringing phones along but I could already make out that nearly everyone in here had their devices with them. I too needed music. But not just on earphones, they hurt the ears after a while.

"Kabir." I called behind my seat.

"Yeah, bro?" he replied.

"You got that JBL Speaker?" I asked.

"No, I don't..." he mumbled.

But Kabir can't lie plainly to me. Ever.

"Kabir...?" I called out louder this time.My voice reverberated through the entire bus, bouncing off the seats and ears. Yes, it was that silent in here.

"Okay, fine. But if it gets seized, you're buying me another one." He surrendered.

Kabir then passed me the speaker from behind. As I connected to to my phone via Bluetooth, I couldn't help but notice the horrified look dawning on Ananya's face.

"What?" I asked her.

"There are two volunteers sitting in here, and you are gonna play songs on this thing? Are you crazy?" she whisper-shouted.

"Watch me," I said as I streamed Drag Me Down by One Direction.

Ananya hid her face in her palms, waiting to hear from the volunteers. I smirked and poked her arm. When she peered up, she had a look worth capturing. The volunteers were nodding their heads to the beat. They too were enjoying!

The bus finally felt lively. The students began to talk and laugh and now did it feel like a trip.

"Not bad Mr Neil," Ananya admitted, fairly impressed.

"You can unplug those earphones now," I said, pointing at her ears. Jesus, even the sight of those things in someone else's ears gives me a pounding headache. 

"Oh, sure," she responded and pulled them off.

The two of us went back to what we were doing. I began to make a playlist to stream on the speaker while Ananya flipped through the pages of her book.

"You know, I think we can talk without sarcastic comments too. No?" Ananya said, her eyes on the book.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"But that won't be fun." 

I looked up to find her smiling at me, her brown eyes gleaming.

"That's right, Brown Owl," I smiled back in an angelic manner, relishing the nickname escaping my lips.

"Hey!" She scowled.

I couldn't help but grin at her scrunched face. Her little nose did look cute.

Suddenly her scowl vanished. Her eyes fixated on my face.

"What?" I asked perplexedly, my lips dropping back into a confused frown.

"No, nothing. Just that you rarely smile," Ananya pointed, her gaze flitting between my eyes and lips in quick succession.

Her observation left me out of words. I didn't know how to counter that.

The volunteer started telling us about the history of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, or simply IIT Delhi.

"So what do you have in mind for the future?" Ananya asked me in a whisper, ignoring the volunteer.

"I have dreamt of one and only one dream. It's to be one of the eleven in the Indian Cricket Team," I answered, equipped with appropriate comebacks in case Ananya comments something about it being an impractical dream. I've dealt with enough relatives who keep slipping in such remarks so it won't come as a surprise if she were to do the same. 

"Are you're parents happy with your choice? You know, because there are millions of Indian boys with the same dream," Ananya asked instead. Her consideration did surprise me, I won't deny that. 

"I know a lot of people will scoff at my words when I tell them I wanna be a cricketer. It's not an easy dream. But I want to prove them all wrong," I said.

And for the first time, I guess, I saw Ananya smile approvingly at me. There was a hint of warmth in her fawn eyes.

"What about you?" I asked.

Ananya's smile faded as my question sank in deeper, forcing me to wonder what was going on in her mind. "What about me? People in my family think that I don't need to work. So much of money already. Why work?" she spoke after a moment and shrugged. Her voice was intermixed with sadness and sarcasm.

"What does Ravi say?" I asked.

She gave a faint, sad laugh.

"What would he say? He will obey to whatever Dad says. That's why he too is gonna be a part of Dad's business and not fulfill his dream of being a cricketer like you," she said.

"Ravi's gonna give up the game?" I asked, baffled. He never told me this.

"Yeah. This is the last of the games he'll be playing," Ananya informed me.

I nodded with a frown. Well, following your own dream is not that easy. Your dream has to have support from your family. Otherwise it's a one-man show. You have to go against the flow and achieve what you want. Moreover, there is a lot at risk: your confidence, the trust people have on you and much more.

But the success is far more valuable than that.