Love Before Graduation

I stood up. The chair slid back with a slight groan. Burnt ashes were floating in my eyes.

"Brother," I said, "If you want to become a lawyer, bring proof with you. Otherwise, be quiet ."

He showed courage. He tried to grab my notebook."so what will you do...teachers..... Complaining... huh?"

It was a big mistake.

I pulled the notebook so fast that he stumbled a step back.

"Complaining ? I don't need to complain about you," I hummed, "I will make you such in three seconds that even your mother will refuse to recognize you."

Someone whispered from behind, "trying to be clever."

"I am clever," I paused and said, "fast and also hot like a tandoor. Not rotten insects like you, who keep smelling moisture."

"...If you say something against our Bhabhi again, it will not be good. Understood?"

His words were threatening, but his voice did not have any real threat—it just had the hollowness that flows in a crowd. As if he was doing a drama to prove himself and his friends.

I remained calm and looked into his eyes.

"Bhabhi?" I raised my voice a little, which clearly had a tinge of laughter.

"She won't even invite you to the engagement, brother. Dream less."

The other two boys behind him burst out laughing, and that boy stepped back in embarrassment.

I took a step forward. To the door. So close that their shamelessness started getting jealous.

"If you throw the paper again, I will throw your hand at you next time too."

The three of them moved away, looking at each other's faces.

I sat back. Opened the notebook. Wiped off the stain. And smiled—a silent, burnt smile.

"The laws of physics apply to everyone. But to me? I am going to flout those rules."

But then...

A thought crawled into my heart like a snake.

What had happened to Suhina?

I looked towards the window.

She was standing there - alone. Cold, broken. Like a colorless shadow, whose existence is now just a burden.

I looked away.

Nami must be angry if I try to know about suhina. And to tell the truth, Suhina had also stabbed me in the back. She had made me fall in everyone's eyes.

But still...

The emptiness in her eyes, in the way she was standing, pierced straight into my heart.

I hated her.

But sometimes hatred also opens the doors of compassion.

I bent over the notebook again and started writing, but now the words were becoming blurred.

When the work was over, I felt relieved. I reached the ground dragging myself.

"You are late," Nami raised her eyebrows. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

I said in a tired voice, "It took half my life to reach here."

"What happened now?"

"An entire army had blocked my way," I said hitting my chest.

She wrinkled her nose and said, "You yourself are half an army."

"Shut up," I looked at her tiffin, "What are you eating?"

"Samosa," she said reluctantly.

I sank next to her. I plucked her samosa without asking. While chewing it, I said, "By eating samosas, you have become a samosa yourself."

She groaned looking down at her belly, "I've really gained weight."

I pointed towards my waist, "And I have become a warehouse, look!"

Both of us burst into street laughter – the kind of uncontrollable laughter that only comes out in the midst of hunger, fatigue and cheap friendship.

"Now?" Nami asked, trying to hold back her laughter, "War or rest?"

I rested my hands behind my back and looked tiredly at the sky. "Peace talks – with tea and sweets."

"Peace will not come without samosas," she said.

"You've fallen in love with samosas," I teased. "Next, you'll marry one."

She put her hand on her heart, as if she had told a big tale, "I am looking for that – hot, spicy and tightly filled."

She burst out laughing again – the kind that makes your stomach ache and your eyes water.

The sun was falling down tiredly, as if the day had also lost to us. Golden darkness started spreading all around.

"By the way," Nami said, rejecting me, "Thank you, you came."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I would even leave the world for you."

We reached class laughing. The same old classes, the same yawning faces.

The day dragged on.

Finally the final bell rang - as if someone had cut the chains - and everyone ran away.

_______________________________________

[Aira's room]

There was silence outside. Inside, there was just a flickering lamp, shadows dancing on the walls.

I was sitting on the bed - bare legs, loose t-shirt, notebook in one hand, pen in the other which she was unconsciously pressing to my lips.

Thoughts were something else, books were an excuse. Half of the afternoon was engrossed in laughter, half in some unknown fear.

A very clear feeling - this peace will not last long.