Us │✔

24│Kiss The Girl

Jivika~

"Yesterday I went to Pratik's house."

You know that conversation with your best friend? The one which makes you feel excited but grossed out at the same time? The one which can turn out to be awkward? Yes, that one. I remember in seventh grade when she said 'Yes' to Pratik, how disappointed I was at her. Dating and all at that age, was too much for my then twelve-year old mind to process. The whole day I had not talked to her. And eventually it took me a week to come to terms with it.

The fact that Pratik was a competition to me, both in academics and being Kiara's closest ally, was not a botheration at all. Of course.

"And did you do it? " asked Amaya and Maahi, unable to contain their curiosity. The only two who were not grossed out. And to say I was surprised would be an understatement. Amaya, I could understand. But Maahi? The sane, introverted, lazy topper of ours? No, not really.

"So what did you do?"

"Everything. Except for the fourth base."

"Damn."

Two faces painted with grins, while the other four had their mouths hanging. I was sure that if it were not for Amaya tapping my hanging chin, then probably the bees could've started making their hive in there.

Still not able to digest the information, I moved over to Lavanya to crack a joke. Life seemed to be surprising me every moment. The girl who could not stop rambling at any moment, was lost in her thoughts, quiet and still. Her silence was strange, puzzling even. Snapping my fingers, I gained her attention, not asking her anything. Rather I preferred her telling me on her own will.

"Jivika, a hypothetical situation. A person who is close to you, but not that close. Something like a bond which cannot be labelled. You enjoy being with them, but at the same time, not always. What would you gift this person? Would even gift such a person anything? Are we supposed to?"

My knuckles rapped against the desk.

"Maybe, you should figure out this bond first. Understand where they stand on your priority list. And if they make it to that list, gift them something. Trust me, once you clear out that, it would be easy for you to figure out the gift. And if the person is not in your priority list then, I guess, it wont hurt to wish them."

Nodding in agreement, I watched her eyes bulge out on realization, quite similar to the way they do when she finds the final answer of a Math problem. Jumping on me out of the blue, she yelled on top of her voice and rushed away.

"Thanks Jivi-Ma, got it!"

What was she upto?

Never mind. The date displayed on the half torn Canara Bank calendar stood out bright. Fourth November cleared all the queries brewing in my mind.

"Try using your advice for yourself topper?"

I glared at the intruder. A month, a month since we had a proper conversation. Of course, the unintentional looks passed in between never counted. At no matter how hard I tried, forgetting his rashness of that day was becoming an impossible task for me.

The rest of them had forgotten long back, and let Amaan Chandel parade his way back into the various cliques inside the class. Denying that we had a fall out was pointless. Not wanting to waste another second, I walked away.

Call me stubborn, call me a coward.

I don't care.