Naanam Mozhi Agum

Ninaivugal

A/N: I hope you like this chapter, don't hate me for it too eee hehehe, read and review!

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"Kathir..." she whispered.

Bhumi being the closest to Mullai whipped her head around, in shock. Her mouth fell open, as she clutched Mullai's frozen hand, in urgency. "Kathir?! As in Kathir Kathir? Your Kathir?? Enga di?? Entha colour shirt?!" she whipped her head back to guess the guy, who was the star of their conversations, all these years...

Mullai could barely move, her jaw hit the floor.

No this can't be happening... Kathir lived in Kunnakudi, Kunnakudi was miles away... May be this is a Kathir look alike, that God wanted to send just to piss Mullai off. He liked doing that to her... giving her terrible viva teachers, making her mom the most difficult person to talk to, making her get her first period in chemistry class...

Bringing her childhood crush stand before her very eyes, in the most terribly timed situation ever...

Damn it!

He was looking at her.

Right. At. Her.

If she hadn't spent every day, every minute and every passable second of her school years, observing him,..studying him... gazing at him.... ogling at him; she wouldn't have known it was him. He had changed so much, taller and older. Bhumi, the expert when it comes to things like this, always said that men look better as they age.. and Mullai had to give it to her...she was right.

She had spent days in college wondering... daydreaming... about how he would have turned out now, and what she saw before her, put her measly imagination to shame. The beard and muscle-bound frame, rendered her speechless for a second it felt like she was looking at a stranger.

... But no, he was no stranger, he was Kathir... her kathir...the only guy she ever had eyes for, ever since she was fifteen years old. The countless, hours of hoping to catch a glimpse of him, when he was in football practice, at lunch periods or tiptoeing in assembly line to see him in class line, , or walking past his class a billon times casually, her eyes always searched for him...

And after years of not having the boon of... just... being able to see him, now her glistening orbs didn't seem to want to waste even a second of feasting upon him.

"Soollu dii, which one!!" asked Bhumi bobbing on her feet, whipping her head back and froth from Mullai to the group of men. Bhumi's tug and her base voice, that travelled for miles like siren, made Kavi spin around at the group of men. She turned back to Mullai, whole two mintues later, her face half filled with dreadful surprise, but the other half was ecstatic for her friend.

Mullai got pulled and swayed by Bhumi, as her eye went straight to Kavi, wordlessly moved her mouth unable to expresses her shock. Kavi nodded back to confirm it really was him. "Kakki colour shirt, di' said Kavi, to Bhumi who was still in craning her neck to see them.

"Yaaru kakki shirt?" asked Jenny, Prakash and been in their own arguments, as Bhumi made no attempts to be discreet about looking at them. As Bhumi moved in front to get a better look with her two clueless friends, Kavi fell back to Mullai, and clutched her hand.

"Nee okay ah di.." she asked Mullai softly, but not worriedly, no, for Kavi this was the best thing that could have happened. She was her best friend since childhood, she had seen, masterminded, been in cahoots for every stupid trick that Mullai pulled to be near him or see him, or anything else that had the word 'Kathir' in it. She had also, spent years watching Mullai disregard men left and right, in college. Guys who randomly proposed after seeing her for one day, got the same treatment as guys who were her friend for some time and then proposed... Unconfused, well planned, well rehearsed... Rejection.

After, the first 3 guys, their girls night mostly consisted of coming up with unoffending texts to nice guys, and roast sections to the male chauvinistic creeps.

Well, Mullai was no saint, she had her fair share random harmless flirting and eye candies, with certain guys that she thought were worth her small window of time.

But that was it. It was only ever a small window of time... never anything more... her eyes just never had that sparkled when she was them. Her voice didn't savour their names, every time she said them. Her still feet, never danced restlessly to meet them..

The only time she had ever seen Mullai, like that... head over heels in love... was the duration of her school years... it was only ever for him.

"Ai.." whispered Kavi, pulling Mullai a little, snapping her from the eye contact.

It was like when you have an accident, that your brain gets filled with adrenaline to deal with the accident, that you forget about the intensity of the injuries on you. Mullai had been blatantly gawking at him, that she couldn't register that he had seen her too.

She turned to her friend, panic arising fresh, as the adrenaline slowed down "Ivan inga enna di pandran!" she whisper-shouted. Kavi took a quick glance behind her, "Avan matum illa, avan pakathula paru..."

Mullai braved another glance. "Athu Ravi thane..?" but before Kavi could nod. Bhumi spoke up " You're right, worthu than, ivanukaga college proposals enna marriage proprosal eh reject panalame.." she concluded, giggling with Jenny.

"Ohooo sir than, antha payan ahhh..."drawled Prakash, he had always wondered how one of the prettiest girl in his batch, never got committed. His lack of subtlety in his shock, earned him a stomp on the foot from Kavi.

"Na yarukagavum yaaraiyum reject panala! Ne mothala kathatha... ketrapothu...", she took Kavi's hand "Ai ellame irutathan iruku, avnga nammala pathu iruka vaipu illa, namma ippidi ye escape agirlama?" She pleaded to Kavi, Bhumi and Jenny shook their head in unison, in a flat out No, while Prakash innocently nodded yes, which earned him stomp in his other foot. Eyes watering in pain, he joined the devils in declining Mullai's plea. Mullai glared at them.

Friends ah ithunga...

"Mullai, escape aga nenachalum mudiyathu.." said Kavi with a sad sigh.

"Yen.., tho ippidi pinnadi ponna-" she turned and twisted her head around to see another opening of the fence.

"Definate ah mudiyathu-" Jenny claimed. Look, who wants to stay back now..

"Jenny neeyum paduthatha di-

"Mudiyathu - yennaa avanga ingatha nadanthu varanga" announced Bhumi, the thrill in her voice was so evident. If things were the other way around, Mullai would have done the same, be thrilled and excited, in a completely supportive way for a spineless friend to see her... long lost.. crush. Bhumi and her; they were the same people, like a twin sister, the two funny, loud, talkative vixens of their year. But it's certainly not fun when it's actually happening to her.

Mullai froze in horror, she heard the footsteps get louder. Kavi gave a sympathetic nod forward, confirming her fears.

Damn it...