LOVE STORY 99- SCHOOL “LOVE” SELDOM IS FORGOTTEN- PART III

The water coolers were thoughtfully placed at different locations in the school- One at every floor. So when she walked to the end of the floor and almost stopped near the BLUESTAR machine at the end, my heart skipped a beat- She was indeed thirsty,wasn't she?

If Fiola had indeed stopped by and drunk from the glass there, that moment would have been long erased from my memory. But the turn of events suggested that while things appeared to happen within moments, this was one of the rare moments in my life. Something told me she was just going to give the cooler a miss. And she did! I just followed her, keeping safe distance so that no more Sister Nivys will get in between..

I followed her down the stairs and onto the lawn of the school- one that was lush green and just showed signs that all the fees money did not quite go down the drain. At the fag end of the lawn, just near the basketball court was another cooler. Only that this was cut off from the crowd. Not many who would have seen us from the school building would have been able to identify us- not with this distance! She took the glass in hand, moved to the bench put over there right under the shade and sat down. Her already short skit slid up a notch higher as she sat cross legged. Again, she placed her hand on her knees and looked at me straight in the eye as she took a sip from the glass.

"You don't wanna sit kya?" Fio asked, looking at me right in the eye.

"Uh..huh...sure..ya.." I sat down beside her,cautious not to sit too close.

"You have a girlfriend?"

I was shocked. You can't even blame me for that. Honestly, a boy's convent never allows you to interact with girls so comfortably. The only other interaction with girls were at inter school sports meets or with girls within your own colony. Alas, I never went out with girls so often, Cricket and Tennis taking up most of my time.
So I was shocked- to hear from a woman i met an hour ago- asking me if i had a girlfriend.

Trying my best to hide my emotions and the shock, I made an effort to be as casual in my reply as possible- "Um...No..none till date.."

And then as if i had to ask her back, I asked -

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"YeSSSS"

My heart sank. She said that YESSS with a big smile. Hell! It's not even important how she said it- she had a boyfriend! Who am I in this picture then? Bhaiyya????I didn't want to entertain any more of such thoughts as my face would have betrayed me and exposed how i felt.

"Oh....Wow...great..."

"Naa..not really great and all...Actually I'm bored now. I want to dump him ya!"

"Dump him? You mean..just..aise hi..?"

"Noo..See, he's kind of...umm..possesive. And I don't really like that. In fact he won't even like me talking to you now like this."

What kind of guy would like that,I thought. But something struck me and then I asked,

"Can he see us now? I mean, is he here?"

"Yea,the Ohm's Disciples contest- He's a part of it."

I always hated Ohm's law. And now I hated it even more!

Thankfully, my mind didn't have to worry about Ohm Baba anymore. Fio's skirt had slid a notch higher, and for the first time in my life, I was talking to a girl even as she was turning me on. I didn't realize she had caught my gaze at her bare flesh.

"Four fingers above the knee..."

"What??"

"That's the rule for the length of the skirt;Four fingers above the knee." She said smilingly, knowing fully she had caught me. She knew it. And she didn't seem to mind.

"That's a sexy rule. Whatever be the logic behind it, I'm sure some people are more than happy." I said.

"Well, I don;t know about some people.." She said as she slowly slid her hands from her knee and up to sit with her hands folded right at her bosom. But as she did that, her fingers "accidentally" pulled the shirt a little higher showing ample skin now."...You sure are loving it" She continued with a grin.

We couldn't afford to sit there for long, as something sure would have gone wrong. At least the place and time were inappropriate.I took the glass she was still holding. My fingers brushed hers, and this time, I knew what I was doing. She always did.

We walked back to the school building. She turned quite a few heads even at that age- partly because most of the boys there were from a Co-ed school where generally skirts aren't that short. For 15 year old kids, at the time, this was simply a cherry on the cake!

We teamed up again with Jag and Binaifer and Aryan and Bhakti. I could Jag and Binaifer still continuing their highly intelligent conversations (read boring) about paleontology and existence of fossilized creatures. Yawn, the very thought makes me yawn! We sat down for lunch in the fairly big hall for assembly for lunch. We got ourselves a corner seat, far from the commotion of the other schools. Shilpa too joined us with a guy for lunch. I saw Aryan and he knew what i felt- a bit insecure. This guy was perhaps a woman's dream when it came to looks- Taller than most of us and fair; He possessed sharp features typical of a north Indian- Punjabi i guessed!
Suddenly, Fio got up from beside me and crossed to stood next to this dude and drew our attention with those killing words: "Hi, Please meet Tarun Arora, my boyfriend!"

"WTF!!!" I felt like shouting that aloud! I didn't have to...My expression did the job. Aryan got my message and put his hand on my shoulder as if to offer condolence. But he wasn't the only one who noticed- Tarun and Fio could read my mind as well, it seemed. Tarun whispered something in her ear, and she had but a question mark on her face.He whisked her away out of the dining hall. I was eager to follow, but i didn't want to make it so evident before Bhakti and Binaifer. Fio and Tarun did not return till we had finished lunch. And with every piece of sandwich I was biting into, I was biting into anger building up within me. Why did she have to leave me just like that?

A couple of hours passed by, and I still saw no signs of her. Finally she walked into our room all alone. Thankfully! It was as if the question I had to ask was written all over my face. She actually tip toed in front of with hands folded,stood in front me shrugging her shoulders. Her eyes conveyed what she wanted to say, but i wanted an explanation- honestly, I was not entitled to any of it, but i took my chances. I was beginning to get a bit possessive too early-perhaps that's what distinguishes our love then and love now.

"Sorry...I was away for quite a while. But.."

"An hour!!"

"ya, but he's my boyfriend for Christ's sake!"

"Oh...Ya..right...I forgot....my mistake.."

I just turned back to my project. I was the only one guarding it. Well, it was more so because I was the only one without anyone to chat with.I pretended to do something with the wires, but perhaps I was not the best at acting. I could feel Fio's hands on my shoulders just then as she said, "Ramm, sorry...Actually, Tarun was jealous that I spent time with you near the cooler, chatting with you all alone. One of his ass***e friends saw us, and tipped the "boss". SO he was no doubt infuriated. He whisked me away to lecture me on all this!!"

"So..what did he eventually have to say?"

"What do you insecure guys generally say" She said with a rather sarcastic tone. "i'm sorry, it's him I am pissed of with."

"No Problem...And what did you have to say?" I asked, almost anticipating the answer in my favour.

"well, he said- Dare you talk to him again! I showed him the finger..and here I am...with you.."

"What!!!You.." As I said, I expected it, but it still shocked me. Se hardly knows me for a few hours...

"Look, he anyways was a jerk! A loser! I just got the opportune moment to tell him that!"

I smiled. She smiled back playfully. The rest of the afternoon was lost in conversation about our families,friends, Likes...I had never till date talked so much about my life or bothered to take interest in anyone's life to this extent. Two hours flew by in a jiffy. And it was time to pack up for the day.

The six of us- Me,Fio,Aryan,Bhakti,Jag and Binaifer walked down the stairs of the school together. We spoke very little though. As we reached the gate, we grouped again into pairs. I turned towards Fio- I wished time zapped by soon and I'll see her tomorrow again. We said good byes and the girls were ready to walk past the gate when i suddenly remembered...

"Fio...Wait...." I called out and walked towards her. She stopped and turned around.

"May I have your phone number please?" I had to gather guts to ask her that. She knew what it meant. We all know what it means.

"I normally don't give out my number you know..." She said.

"Oh.." The disappointment was evident in my voice.

"No No..please don't misunderstand..." '5690407'..she wrote on my palm. She came close enough to write her number on my hand. I simply loved her smell.

"Please don't call after 08:00pm. My dad wouldn't like it! See you....byeeeeee"

Me,Aryan and Jag walked towards our bikes. I was not too sure about Aryan and Jag, but I remember whistling my way home as I pedaled slowly, every pedal push reminding me of Fio! I couldn't pretty much focus on anything else once home. I took care not to wash my hands as it had her number. The worst mistake a guy could ever do is
take a girl's number and not call her.

With no one in the house at the time, I secretly dialed the number..but then cut the phone before the call could go through. My heart beat a million beats as I dialed her number again.

"Hello.." I guessed it must have been Fio.

"Uhh..Hi..Is..Fiola."

"Ramm!!" She identified me, interrupting the question. "Glad you called...dear"

PART IV Soon..