Call You Mine

Suman sat across from Shravan on his bed excitedly talking about something as Shravan gazed at her. He still couldn't believe that they had been dating for five months now. These have been the happiest months of his life. Initially, only Kanchan, Avni, and Bunty knew about them. But, his mom had found out about their relationship a couple of months back while the rest of the families still did not know. He had expected his mother to be upset but she was excited as she adored Suman. She promised to keep the secret to herself as she understood that this could change the equations between the families.

There had been something on Shravan's mind for a while but he was afraid to ask Suman as he wasn't sure if she was ready to take their relationship to that level. He found it odd that they had been dating for a while yet they hadn't officially come out as a couple at school. He wanted to show her off and let everyone know how lucky he was to have such an amazing girlfriend. Suman snapped her fingers in front of his face and he broke out of his thoughts. Shravan slowly said, "Hey Sumo, why don't you go to school with me tomorrow instead of going on the bus?"

Suman looked at him nervously, "You mean together? On your bike?"

Shravan gave her a confused look and said, "Yeah, just like how we go to other places together on my bike". Shravan was confused as to why Suman was acting so odd. They went to coffee shops, stores, and lots of other places together on his bike then why was going to school a problem?

Suman sighed, "Shravan, that's different. But, going to school together...everyone will find out about us". Suman didn't want everyone to know about her and Shravan's relationship yet. She wanted to keep it as their little secret. Shravan would often want to post pictures together on his social media but she didn't like that either. Why is it necessary to tell the whole world? Isn't their relationship supposed to be a matter just between them?

Shravan felt a little irritated. "Why is school different? Would it be such a bad thing if everyone found out about us? Wait...are you ashamed of me?" Shravan felt hurt because he thought that Suman was embarrassed to acknowledge him as her boyfriend simply because he was a civilian. The army versus civilian culture in the school still prevailed but Suman always claimed that it didn't matter to her. He thought that she had gotten rid of the thinking but, the truth was she never considered him as her equal.

Suman looked at him with shock. "What? No! That's not the reason, Shravan!" She knew that Shravan felt insecure at times for being from a civilian background whereas she was from an army family. It annoyed her whenever he would bring it up. She admits, it did matter once upon a time but not anymore. But, she was also aware that if at school everyone found out about them, they would be the talk of the town. She didn't want to be in the spotlight and have people gossiping about them.

Shravan looked away and said, "I've noticed that you act differently at school versus when we are alone. Sometimes at school, you act as if I am nothing to you. Why don't you just admit that you're ashamed of me?"

Suman sighed in frustration, "Just stop it, Shravan! That's not true. Why is it so important for you to have everyone know that we are dating? Are we trying to prove something to someone?" Shravan has a different personality from Suman so she knew that there were going to be road bumps along the way in their relationship but she wouldn't give up on him so easily.

Shravan looked down and mumbled, "I just want us to publicly acknowledge our relationship. We've been dating for five months now! I know you value privacy and I, on the other hand, like showing off. But, I just want to tell everyone that I found the most wonderful girl in this world. I want to call you mine, Sumo".

Suman felt touched by his words and her heart melted. They had different personalities therefore, their way of expressing love was also different. Suman held his face and sighed, "Shravan, I'm not ashamed of you. Honestly, you make me so proud everyday by becoming a better version of yourself and there is no one else I'd rather be with. But, you know how the people at our school are, right? It doesn't matter to me but they will make a big deal of an army girl and a civilian boy dating. I just don't want to be involved in all that drama...and what if it affects our relationship?"