Vijay and Suvarna were close friends since childhood as their mothers were long distance relatives. They had fun together, along with the rest of the kids around their neighbourhood. She liked his mother and father, who had a lot in common with her own parents, and this made her gradually come to like him. In addition, he was gradually developing attractive looks, a greater energy for action and a height difference that quickly separated him from the rest.
By the age of twelve, her feelings of love were strong due her adolescence and this caused her to get annoyed at the other female children that played with him, which often led her to shoving them aside or causing them to fall and injure themselves.
She was a kid, but she was smart for her age and seeing her actions cause other to get injured frightened her. Realising that her strong feelings for him were causing pain to others, she gradually distanced herself from him until a rift had developed between them.
Since then, they spent their childhood, school life and high-school separately like she intended, but fate had other ideas. They were always being placed in the same classes, no matter the grade they were in and would wind up on school activities together as if they were destined for each other. However, neither of them held any conversation and the rift remained the same until their final years.
She could not continue to ignore her feelings any longer and, with support from her two friends, she slowly started to make her advances at the age of seventeen.
--- * ---
There, one day at school, in their science lesson, the both of them heard their teacher explain the science in emotions and how our brain interacts with it all.
“Love is not easy to explain, but at your age, most of you’d already have girlfriend or boyfriend. So, let me tell you that there are two kinds of love at your age; plain love and true love,” he explained, making hand gestures while in the midst of speaking. “Plain love is that you love the opposite gender’s appearance, looks, wealth, and whatever else that are plain to see. Simply put; puppy love.”
His last words made everyone laughed, and he smiled as he continued to say, “Now, true love is different. It’s deeper, stronger and can become painful at certain times. For example, if you think of the person you truly love, then you’d feel your heartbeat a little faster. It might even skip a beat like in the novels.”
“No. It’s the truth. It has happened to countless people before,” he added, seeing the disbelieving looks on their faces. “You’d want to be with them, you’d want them to be with you, spending time, etc. Now, it becomes painful when you can’t spend time with them, when they don’t understand you, and you are rejected because you love them for who they are and not for what they are.”
At that moment, a student raised his hand and asked with a slight croak, “Sir! I got a question.”
“Go on,” the teacher said, nodding at the student with a smile.
“Sir. I was wondering, is it painful if we suddenly get dumped?”
“Well, you’ll definitely feel a lot of pain when that occurs if you truly love them. For puppy love, it’s more of a temporary love and both sides move on without regrets. That’s why, love is painful and separation is like breathing a tightly knit thread. It hurts.”
Vijay turned to look at Suvarna, who resolutely kept her eyes fixed on the teacher. Sighing, he raised a hand and asked, “Sir!”
The teacher, mildly surprised to see the brilliant student raise a hand, which is rare, said, “Yes, Vijay. What is it?”
“Sir, um,” he began, then glanced sideways at Suvarna once before turning back to the teacher. “Sir, I was wondering whether it’s called true love when you’ve been in love with the other party for years, but they don’t understand your feelings? For example, if I were to possess such feelings,” he began and regretted it instantly as all eyes looked at him in surprise.
“It’s just an example! Just an example!” Vijay said hastily, looking around with a wry smile on his face. As the mood seemed to settle, he turned back to the teacher and asked, “Like I was saying sir, if I had feelings from, let’s say, childhood to now for the same person and I’m trying my best to gradually get closer to them. Would that make mine true love?”
For a moment, the teacher thought for a bit before saying, “I would say… yes! Yours is true love because your commitment to love the same person and gradually getting closer to them with your continuous effort… Yes, your feelings are true love indeed.”
Vijay smiled in satisfaction and said, “Thank you, sir.”
After class, Suvarna’s friends giggled as they sat closer to their friend and asked, “What was that about? Asking about his true love or something. It almost sounded like he was aiming for you, Suvarna.”
“He was just speaking generally. He… He said it himself!” Suvarna replied nervously, trying her best to look uninterested despite the edge in her voice. “T-There’s no meaning to it.”
“Oh, stop denying it, Suvarna. He loves you. It’s the truth!”
Suvarna remained silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll try again during lunch,” much to her friends’ delight.
On Vijay’s side, one of his friends asked, “What the heck were you thinking asking such an outrageous question? It’s not like you at all!”
Vijay shrugged his shoulders and asked, “Hey. It’s just a question. Drop it already.”
“Oh, no… I feel it’s something deeper,” another friend said, knowing the true feelings his friend had for Suvarna. He looked around to make sure they were they were the only ones there before saying, “I guess you wanted to confirm that your feelings were true, right?”
Vijay did not speak, but the smile he wore spoke louder than anything he ever said before.
Unfortunately, despite their efforts to get closer with each opportunity they got, they failed at each try. The rift had caused her to become flustered around him and dash away at each attempt she made to converse with him, not knowing that it was causing him to feel utterly hopeless as well.
Feeling dejected, she resigned to watch from afar as he became extremely good at sports and soon headed to join the state cricket league.
What she didn’t realise was that her average looks had greatly improved over the years and turned her into a great beauty. This caused her to gather a lot of attention from the other boys at school, much to Vijay’s dismay. Since childhood, he harboured feelings for her, but not knowing what they were, he maintained his distance while keeping up a front.
Listening to the teachers explain bits of it every year and understanding his own feelings, he became determined to confess to her, but he was unsure of the timing. The point of her maintaining such a rigid distance with him also added to keep him away from her, but his feelings became stronger with each passing year, eventually developing a strong love within for her, which was added on by her now beautiful appearance.
So, taking encouragement from his friends, he made his own efforts to make contact with her, but she would become flustered and dash away. He even changed his routine to going home with his friends only when she also decided to head home, but he kept failing at each try.
He felt dejected, but his friend kept on encouraging him to keep trying. At this time, he continuously received confessions from many other girls from the school, who were attracted by his good looks, helping nature and cheerfulness. Unable to deal with them all, his friends jumped in to help him evade the constant attention.
One day, Suvarna saw him playing sport more eagerly than before, driving fours and sixes with great force. She did not know that he noticed her looking and heightened his effort to make a good impression on her so that he could try again to confess later. His effort worked and Suvarna asked her friends on how to approach him, with them telling her to head down to the field and wait for him to come so that only they will be there.
As planned, once the bell rang, her two friends wished her luck and she headed off to meet with him. Reaching the bottom stairs, she headed towards the field, but when she took the turn, she was startled to find that he was not alone. A girl was there, standing close to him, and he wore a tired look on his face, having just exited the sports lesson.
Before she was noticed, Suvarna jumped behind the wall and hid while eavesdropping on their conversation.
“I love you, Vijay. Please, go out with me,” the unknown girl said much to Suvarna’s dismay.
Suvarna clenched her hands tightly and prayed to the heavens that he would not respond to her feelings.
Vijay, who looked like he was tired of letting these confessions happen, said in a firm voice, “I’m sorry, but I already have someone that I love.”
The unknown girl, shocked by the direct refusal in such a manner, wept and turned around to run away, turning the corner and disappearing along the corridor, completely missing Suvarna in her hiding spot.
Suvarna stood behind the wall, her eyes wide, her face fixed with a mixture of shock and horror. She was glad that he did not respond to the unknown girl’s feelings, but the greater shock of finding out that he loved someone else made her feel as if all the light in the world was extinguished. Waves of shock, horror, dismay and hopelessness washed over her and she clutched at her chest, feeling as if her heart was about to break apart from the shock.
She slid down the wall and knelt on the ground, keeping her mouth shout with her hands while tears trickled down her grief-stricken face. Later, she returned to her friends to their secluded spot and really let herself lose, crying her heart out, with her friends trying their best to console her.
When she finally calmed down, they asked her, “What happened?”
She explained what exactly had happened at the field between Vijay and the unknown girl while looking as if she no longer had any hope in her life.
“Don’t be ridiculous! You still have hope!”
“Did he say who the person he loved was?”
Suvarna shook her head and hiccuped before saying, “No. He didn’t.”
“Then that means you still have a chance to succeed!”
“He’s your childhood friend! He’s also your distant relative! You still got something going for you!”
Suddenly, one of them had an idea and they said, “Maybe, that someone is you!”
At that suggestion, Suvarna was taken by surprise and slowly said, “That’s…!” Shocked at herself, she immediately shook her head and said, “No! That’s not true! I don’t believe it. I won’t!”
“Suvarna…! Don’t be like that! You have hope! Trust us! Trust in yourself!” Her friends said to her, but she continued to shake her head, not wanting to believe in their words as all hopes for her were dashed.
Since then, the slowly receding wall between them quickly solidified and, again, any attempt that Vijay made towards her went unnoticed. He was more proactive than before, trying to call her out even at times because his friends tipped him off that the other boys were trying to confess to her. Feeling that he was going to lose, Vijay became more determined than ever before to confess to her, even swearing to the gods that he would make her his girlfriend by Valentine’s day, which was fast approaching.
Things did not improve with all his efforts put in action as she did not look at him once and even when she did, her eyes were focused elsewhere. The reason for this was because she didn’t know how to face him after hearing his confession to the girl about the unknown girl he seemed to love. With little hope, she would dash away without talking much and leaving him frustrated at each failure.
Eventually, Valentine’s Day came and Vijay sat alongside his friends in class, receiving a lot of gifts from the girls from his age and those younger than him. Meanwhile, Suvarna and her friends also received chocolates and gifts on this eventful day, much to Vijay’s dismay. Earlier, before anyone else arrived, he had ventured forward to hand her his gift, but upon seeing who it was from, Suvarna quickly avoided all contact with him. Startled by her behaviour, her friends leaned forward and whispered in her ear in encouragement.
“Come on. Take it!”
“He’s giving it to you for the first time!”
“This is your chance!”
Suvarna looked troubled by this and, turning to see the eager smile on his face, she felt a strange sensation in her chest. Almost on reflex, she extended her hands out and grabbed the gift from him, causing a bright smile to form on his face. Then, she placed it beside her desk and turned away from him, hiding the thoroughly bewildered expression that formed on her face.
Vijay waited for a few more seconds, waiting expectantly for her to present him with something. Instead, her friends were the ones who both rose to their feet and handed him chocolates and a gift, but he did not receive anything from the person he had patiently waited for. He waited for a few more seconds, wishing he could ask but couldn’t because of the feeling that he might be rejected.
And so, with a dejected look on his face, he turned around and headed for his desk while they watched him go before her friends leaned closer to whisper sharply to their friend.
“What is wrong with you, Suvarna?! That was your chance to grab his attention!”
“Yeah! I totally didn’t expect him to be the first one to give his gift to you! That’s unexpected.”
“Totally! You should’ve given it to him right there!”
Suvarna eyed her friends with a reproachful look on her face and whispered back, “Sorry… I… got nervous and… you know…”
She left her sentence hanging while shifting her eyes elsewhere, causing their friends to give her a look of exasperation. They had seen this repeated pattern of a behaviour from her for the past few years and finally thought it was getting out of hand.
“You will hand him the gift we planned! Okay! Do it during lunch, when everyone’s left and he’s the only one left.”
“His friends will be fine to stay since we’ll stay by your side, make it look like you planned to give it to him at the same time as us. Understood?”
Their friend looked suddenly nervous, but upon catching the glimpse of their expressions, nodded her head meekly in agreement.
Vijay, on the other hand, sat down at his desk with a dejected look on his face and watched while his friends slowly opened their chocolates and tasted them, commenting happily about the taste and the many gifts they got. They were among the top male students that were high achievers and possessed great appearances. Even his friends had girlfriends at that age, leaving Vijay as the only one among them without one.
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“What? You didn’t receive a gift or a chocolate from her?” One of his friends asked, noticing the look on his face.
When he shook his head, another friend said, “Man! Tough luck, dude!”
“I still don’t know why you are so determined to go after her. I mean, the girl is–!”
“Don’t you dare talk bad about her!” Vijay rounded on his friend, a fearsome glare that instantly made his friend go quiet.
Another friend sighed and clapped his depressed friend’s shoulder, saying, “Relax. I’m sure she was nervous and will most likely give it to you when there’s less people around. So, cheer up, will you?”
To such a statement, Vijay could only nod his head and try his best to recover his mood.
After the morning classes were over and it was lunchtime, Vijay and his friends left after nearly all the class had left because Vijay was cramming the notes down due to constantly looking towards the girl he loved. As they left, they were called to a stop and turned to see Suvarna and her friends standing there.
“What's up”
“We have something to give you!” One of Suvarna’s friends said with a grin on her face.
The two girls, slightly pushing Suvarna onward, walked forward and handed their chocolates and gifts. As Vijay’s friends took it, Suvarna’s friends urged Suvarna forward to give her gift to Vijay, which was much larger than what the others received.
“H-H-Here’s… y-y-your… g-g-g-gift…” she stammered, trembling from head to toe, extending her trembling hands out for him to take the gift.
For a moment, Vijay was silent as he stared dumbfounded at the gift. Then, a glow of light slowly shone in his face and he broke into a wide smile as he exclaimed, “Wow! Really? This is for me?!” When she nodded without looking at him, he smiled brightly in great happiness and accepted the gift from her trembling hands.
“Thank you!” He said, smiling broadly at her, feeling his heart leaping with joy.
Suvarna merely nodded and turned away quickly to walk away and was soon followed by her friends, who winked at the four boys. Feeling thrilled at receiving a gift from the person he really loved, he could not stop himself from continuously bragging about the gift he received from her to his friends. They, knowing his true feelings, put up with it for the sake of his happiness, which they haven’t seen for a while due to the continuous rejections he received at her hands.
They went upstairs to their usual spot, the roof of the building, and opened what they got from Suvarna’s friends. It was the usual chocolates and a greeting card, wishing them to be good friends with one another. Vijay, feeling too eager to wait any longer, ripped open the gift box and when his eyes saw what was inside, his smile slowly faded, his energy dropped and was replaced by a look of horror.
Meanwhile, Suvarna said to her friends, “He took it! He took it! He took it!”
“Stop repeating it over and over, Suvarna!” Her friend said, smiling brightly at the great happiness, which was in a while.
“We’re happy for you,” said her other friend with a smile, glad to see her friend in high spirits after the last month being moody.
Suvarna turned to her friend and asked, “You did remember to put in the card, right?”
“Yes, and I’ve made sure to write the note asking him to come to the roof during the second lunch break,” her friend replied with a smile.
Suvarna looked intently at her friend for a few more seconds before heaving a deep sigh and saying, “That’s good. I hope it all goes well.”
The truth was that Suvarna had not bought the cake, nor had the money to do so because her family finance had been tight that month. Still, her friends were there to her rescue, buying the surprise gift and preparing the note so that their friend, who had been depressed all this time, will find true happiness.
And so, the bell for the second lunch break rang and this signalled Suvarna to head to the rooftop with her friends while Vijay made his way to the rooftop from the sports field, having just finished another sports lesson. A few minutes later, Suvarna arrived and found Vijay already standing there facing the fence into the open view.
Her friends held back to watch the scene unfold by saying their words of encouragement.
“Go on!”
“We’re here to support you!”
“Do your best!”
As such, Suvarna walked onto the rooftop and the sound of her footsteps caught his attention, making him turn to face her. She was smiling nervously and looked at his face, which was when she noticed the glum look on his face that made his attractive features become suddenly darker. It made her shiver suddenly as a cool breeze touched her skin, startling her in the process.
When she came to a stop, there was a tense silence with him looking at her with that dark sorrowful look on his face. She could not understand what had happened, not explain why he was clutching the gift she gave him that morning, which she just noticed.
Deciding to break the silence, she plucked her courage and opened her mouth to speak when he suddenly said, “I’m sorry.”
“Eh?” She asked, her words changing into a question due to the surprise of his words.
He quietly walked over to her and extended out the gift to her while saying, “Please, give it the person it was rightfully intended for.”
“Eh…?” She responded slowly, looking thoroughly bewildered by his words.
He forcefully passed it onto her and said, “It seems you’ve mixed up the gifts, so please give this to the one that was originally intended for.”
Suvarna stared up at him in shock, wide eyes staring at him in disbelief, holding the gift box that he forcefully gave her. As he stepped back, she finally found her voice and asked timidly, “W-W-Why…? Why…?! I don’t… understand…!”
A heavy look formed on his face when he replied, “You don’t understand? Then, have a look inside the box and it’ll explain it all.”
Obediently, she quickly took a look inside the box and found a neatly made cream cake with perfectly arranged icing. Then, her eyes widened when she saw the name that was written on the cake.
“Ajay.”
“Ajay?” She asked, puzzled for a moment at the unfamiliar name. “Who…?” Realising the situation in an instant, she looked up with an alarmed look on her face and said, “No! This isn’t what you think!”
“It’s plain and simple to understand, Suvarna,” he replied in a voice devoid of any happiness. Then, he heaved a deep sigh and said, “I thought that maybe I had a chance and when you gave it to me, I was… really happy but it seems that it wasn’t meant for me. If I continued to accept this, then I’d be stealing it. So, no. I don’t want it.”
With that, he walked past her and headed towards the stairs, leaving her standing there stock still. A wild rush of emotions started to smash together inside of her, emotions filled with sadness, grief, depression and agony of hearing such painful words coming from the person she loved. She knew it was a misunderstanding, but her voice got stuck in her throat and no word came out.
Suddenly, a wave of anger, unknown to her till now, rose to the surface and she bellowed, “WAIT!!!”
Her words echoed in the surroundings as it stopped Vijay from walking away, causing him to turn and face her with a surprised look on his face. She slowly turned to face him, and he saw the tears welling up in her eyes and trickle down her face like a fountain.
“Why…? Why…? Why does this… keep… happening…?” She asked, and collapsed onto her knees, crying her heart out.
Vijay instantly became alarmed, saying weakly, “Suvarna? Suvarna! Please stop! Please!”
At that moment, her friends came onto the rooftop after hearing her wailing sounds and shouted, “Vijay! What did you do?!”
He whirled around, looking perplexed as he said, “I don’t know! I haven’t done anything!”
Upon reaching them, they glanced at their friend and saw that she was clutching onto opened gift she presented to him this morning. Shocked, one of them rounded on him while the other went over to console her.
“What the hell is wrong with you, returning the gift that that she lovingly gave you?!”
“No! You’re wrong!” He replied in desperation, waving his hands frantically to prove his innocence. “That cake wasn’t for me! Honest!”
This time, it was her friend who looked confused and asked, “Not for you? What do you mean? It has your name on it!”
“My name?” He asked, looking bewildered. “No. Why would it have my name?”
Realising that something was wrong, the girl focused her attention on her other friend consoling Suvarna and asked, “Hey! Look and tell me what’s the name written on the cake!”
As ordered, the other friend peeked inside the box and was quite surprised.
“Ajay,” she stated, then turned around to ask, “Who’s Ajay?”
Her friend, who was equally as surprised as her, initially repeated by saying, “Ajay? Are you sure?” When her friend confirmed it by double checking, the angry friend closed her eyes and placed a hand on her hip in clear irritation, which she proclaimed by saying, “That stupid shopkeeper Dammit! It’s supposed to be Vijay, not Ajay! I told him clearly as well, but I guess he didn’t hear me properly.”
Vijay looked between them for several seconds in silence, but now decided to ask, “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
The angry friend sighed before she turned to him and explained, “You know that her father lost his job, right?”
“Yeah. My mom told me that they were struggling financially,” he said, nodding in agreement but feeling unsure what that has anything to do with their current situation.
“Yes. Well, they were really tight this month and so, she couldn’t afford to buy the cake. That’s why I bought it in her place, had the shopkeeper write your name on it and even placed that note to get you to come to here, but… damn! I should’ve been more careful…!” She finished, lamenting her mistake.
“She felt hopeless, thinking that you love someone else, but she still didn’t want to give up,” the other friend said imploringly, eying Vijay with sadness.
Vijay stared at Suvarna in disbelief, unsure whether to believe the truth in her words or not. Then, he heard the tearful voice of the girl he loved for so many years finally speak.
“I loved you… for so… long…!” She said, her face crumpling up as more tears streamed down her sorrowful face. “All this time… trying to get close… trying to… to c-c-confess… I… I…”
She could no longer speak as words failed to express the amount of grief she was experiencing. Vijay watched in horror as she cried and cried continuously, as the pain in her chest would not settle down. He knew he was the one at fault for making this happen, he knew that no matter the misunderstanding, it was his fault for making her cry. It was all his fault and there was only one way to make up for it all.
He walked towards her, ignoring the clear attempts her friends made to get in his way, and he knelt down in front of her before saying, “I’m sorry, Suvarna. I’m really sorry, but now… I can finally say that… I… I love you!”
Suvarna, who was in the middle of crying and breathing quickly, looked up in shock by saying, “Eh?!”
To her surprise, she saw that there were tears welling up in his eyes as he continued to say, “On my life, I speak the truth, Suvarna. I’ve loved you for a long time, back from when we were still kids. I always wanted to be with you, for… for… for… many years,” and he too started to cry as his emotions wouldn’t remain contained.
He tried his best to restore his emotions, but they became uncontrollable, making him cry even after he tried wiping the tears away. To his surprise, Suvarna suddenly raised herself off the ground and closed his eyes with her gentle hand, causing him to go stiff at the sudden touch of her hand on his face.
“Vijay! I don’t want to see you like this! You’re always smiling, whether it be with friends or family, and I want to see you just like that! So, please! Stop crying!”
“Yeah! You’re not a baby, are you? Are you?!” Her angry friend exclaimed with furrowed eyebrows.
Vijay clenched his teeth and fists while shedding more tears, causing Suvarna to round on her friends by saying in a loud voice, “It was a misunderstanding!”
“Eh?!” The angry friend said, startled by the sudden look of anger in her friend’s face, who was clearly indignant that Vijay was attacked in such a way. “I didn’t mean—!”
“He understood the mistake and said sorry!” Suvarna continued to say, defending the man, whom she shielded with her arms. “It’s not his fault! It was a misunderstanding!”
The angry girl was alarmed, but the other friend understood and said, “Let us go. We’ve no place in between the quarrels of lovers.”
She moved forward and began dragging the angry friend away, who wore an expression that showed how startled she was by the sudden development. Soon, the two of them disappeared down the stairs and their footsteps disappeared, leaving only the two of them there.
“I’m sorry, Suvarna,” said Vijay, his voice muffled by her hand.
“Eh?” She said, reacting in surprise and withdrawing her hand from his mouth. “No! It’s not your fault! It’s… It’s…!”
“Suvarna, if you don’t stop crying, I’ll jump off this building,” said Vijay, looking seriously at her, with his face stricken with tears.
“Ah!” She exclaimed, looking wide eyes in alarm at him before clamping her hand over his mouth. “No! Don’t say that! Please! See! I’ve… stopped crying!”
As she finished, she sniffed a few times and wiped the tears away in an attempt to smile at him. Even though it was not a natural smile, he felt a little relieved and gently moved her hand away from his mouth in order for him to speak.
“It’s not your fault. It was a misunderstanding,” finished Vijay, making sure she doesn’t attack herself.
“Oh… Uh… Okay…” She said meekly, rather surprised by the firm look in his eyes.
For a few seconds, they remained in silence, an awkward silence that was only disturbed by the sounds of the birds landing nearby. They looked at them and then turned to smile at one another before realising what they were doing and looking down again.
“So… Uh… Vijay,” began Suvarna, being the brave one to speak up first. “Do you… D-Do you… love me?”
She asked the question in an unnaturally loud voice because of the nervousness she was feeling at that time because she wanted to make sure she heard him right the first time.
To her question, Vijay looked surprised before saying in a strong voice, “Yes! With all my heart!”
As a demonstration, he spread his arms out wide in front of her, surprising her in the process. Her eyes widened, and she blushed at the strong confession that he made that made her skip a heartbeat.
He lowered his arms slowly and asked, in an equally nervous voice, “And… do you—?”
“I always have, and I always will!” She replied in a firm voice, looking determined when she said that.
Then, unable to control herself, she moved forward and flung herself at him, hugging him tightly. He was surprised but his expression softened and he too responded, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly.
Several minutes later, the bell rang, signalling the start of their lessons, but the two of them ignored it. Their time together was precious and, at that moment, nothing else mattered to them. So, they shifted their location to the bench that oversaw the view from the top, which was located near the tall fence that was constructed to stop people from leaning over the side of the building.
“I never imagined my first confession would end up like this,” he said finally, smiling wryly at her.
“Me neither,” she stated in agreement. Then, she confessed her idea by saying, “I… imagined my first confession to be in the middle of a lake, where we were sitting on a bench, filled with dancing balls of light all around us.”
Vijay turned to her in an instant in amazement and said, “I think such a thing only happens in the movies, with all the graphics and stuff.”
“You’re right,” she said and laughed.
They remained silent for several more seconds, enjoying the view when Lakshman said, “Uh… Suvarna?”
“Yes,” she responded, prompting him to continue.
He hesitated a bit longer before saying, “I… I’ve been selected to participate in the state cricket league.”
“Really? That’s fantastic! Congratulations!” She replied, looking at him with a face full of happiness and pride. “I always knew you’d make it into the league!”
“Thanks!” He replied, grateful that she was pleased with his performance. However, he still had to say because he said, looking rather worried, “Um… I might not be able to spend time with you because, you know, the training and everything.”
“It’s okay,” she said, so readily that he turned to look at her in amazement. Noticing his expression, she smiled easily and said, “I was prepared beforehand that, in case we do end up becoming lovers and you getting elected to join the league, so I was prepared to enjoy the time we have together before you go off to play for the league.”
Feeling worried, he asked, “Hey. If you’d like, I’ll quit—!”
“No!” She said firmly, looking sternly up at him. “You worked so hard to get in, and you’re going to throw it away just to satisfy me?” She shook her head and turned to face the view before saying, “I will be lying if I said I’ll feel lonely without you around, but… it’s also my duty to encourage you to be the best that you can possibly be.” Then, she turned to give him a stern look while saying, “But, you better win! Got it? I don’t want to see you lose!”
Her eyes momentarily flashed with seriousness, causing him to make a wry smile before suggesting, “Oh! I know. To make up for hurting you and everything, I'll buy you a dress.”
Suvarna was startled by his suggestion, causing him to ask him, “Say what?”
“You heard me,” he said, smiling widely at her. “Mum’s been telling me about this dress that you were interested in the other day and regretted not buying it for you. Wanna buy it?”
This piece of information alarmed her, causing her to say, “Oh no! I was just looking at its price tag! Nothing more. Honest.”
He grinned, seeing through her lies and said, “It’s no big deal. I'm sure mom and dad will be fine to buy it for you since, you know, you're my girlfriend an all.”
She blushed and looked fidgeted with her fingers while saying in a quiet voice, “Thanks.” Then, in an attempt to get back to the main topic, she asked, “That’s only if they accept me as your girlfriend, right? Is there any chance?”
To that, Vijay hesitated for a full second before replying in an unsure voice, “I… think dad will kill me, but… maybe he won’t considering it’s you. I mean, he specifically told me not to get a girlfriend before graduating high-school but I didn't really think about it much since I thought he'll be cool if you become my girlfriend.”
Suvarna seemed surprised and looked embarrassed by him praising her, making her ask him, “Is that why you've been trying to catch my attention all year?” She asked, a shrewd expression on her face.
“Time was running out, and I thought someone might steal you away.”
“I'm not some object to be stolen.”
“Not you… It's your heart. Plus, I was stressed because you kept avoiding me no matter what I try, even times when you suddenly call me and then dash away, leaving me hanging. Its wasn't a pleasant year!”
At his complaining, she wore a sad smile and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Don't be! Right now, this year has become the best now that I've finally gotten the one I had been chasing since childhood!”
She giggled and blushed a little, embarrassed by his manner of speech. Then, realising they were off track from the main topic, she redirected their conversation back on its original course.
“You still haven't answered about your parents agreeing with our union,” she pointed out.
He froze for a moment and turned to look worriedly at her a he said, “I'm… a little worried. Will you be with me when I talk to him about our relationship?”
She was a little taken aback by the clear sign of fear he had for his father, but she understood that it was natural considering his father was a powerful strict man, but who is actually pretty cool when he’s in a good mood.
“It’s okay. I’ll be there. There’s no need to panic, Vijay. Nothing will change between us, even if you fail, because,” and she clasped his head with both hands and pulled him closer to her face before whispering, “you’ll always be… my Vijay.”
The two of them smiled and soon realised, with their heads so close to one another, they could see each other’s lips. Their hearts beat faster and, slowly, they drew their lips closer to one another.
“Hey, Suvarna,” whispered Vijay, pausing for a moment as he felt like saying something at that time.
“Yes?” Suvarna whispered back.
“I forgot to wish you this morning but… Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Those words didn’t register at first, but she soon understood the meaning and blushed while smiling as she whispered, “Yes. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
And they kissed, touching their tender lips together for the first time and, at that moment, the nearby birds took flight. As they rose into the sky, a cool wind lifted the leaves on the ground and scattered them in air, signalling the fresh start of the young couple that was born on that eventful day.