Sid was taken to the school's medical room. The doctor was checking his leg. There were Rita Ji, Sana, Shivangi, Kushal and the Coach with him.

The doctor slowly stretched Sid's leg.

"Ahhhhhh!" Sid screamed in pain.

"What happened doctor? Mera beta thik toh hai nah?" Rita Ji asked.

"Thankfully koi serious injury nahi hui hai. Lekin dard bohut zyada hai jo jaane mein waqt lage ga. I would suggest that he should take proper rest." The doctor replied.

"Matlab second half mein Sid khel nahi paayega?" Sana asked.

"I don't think so. Iss condition mein uska khel na sahi nahi rahega."

Sana became very much shocked.

"I think humein substitute player dhund na hoga." The Coach said.

"Nahi Coach Sir. Main khelunga." Sid insisted.

"Don't be stupid. I can't allow you to play in this condition." The Coach said.

"Haan Beta. Yeh sahi keh rahe hai. Tere pair mein lagi hai. Tu abhi nahi khel sakta." Rita Ji said.

"Lekin Mom....."

Before Sid could complete, Sana asked Rita Ji, "Aunty Ji, main baat karu iss se?"

Rita Ji nodded.

Sana sat beside Sid and asked, "Tujhe yakeen hai ki tu khel sakta hai?"

Sid nodded and said, "Haan Sana. Mujhe yakeen hai ki main khel sakta hoon. Aur yeh bhi yakeen hai ki hum jeetenge."

Sana smiled.

"Waise toh mere saath bohut kuch ho sakta tha. Lekin mujhe koi serious injury nahi hui. Paata hai kyu? Kyu ki mere saath yeh hai."

Sid showed the red cotton thread on his wrist.

"Jab tak yeh mere saath hai, mere saath kuch bura nahi ho sakta. And I know we will win."

Sana's eyes became moist hearing that.

She sighed and said to the Coach, "Sir, let him play."

"What are you saying Sana? Sidharth's leg is injured. How can he play?" The Coach said.

"He can." Sana said confidently. Then she looked at Sid and said, "He has to. Sid, aaj tujhe yeh karna hoga. Pure school ki izzat tere haathon mein hai. I know tere pair mein chot hai. Hum sab ko paata hai game mein koi jeet ta hai toh koi haar ta hai. Lekin asli winner woh hota hai jo apne dard ko jeet le. Sid, aaj tujhe apne dard ko jeet na hoga. Tere saath jo conspiracy ki gayi hai woh hum sab ne dekha hai. Lekin woh log yeh baat nahi jaante ki woh tujhe dard toh de sakte hai lekin tujhe tod naki sakte. Aaj tu unhe dikha de ki asli winner kaun hai."

Sid nodded.

"Sir, please let me play." Sid said to the Coach.

The Coach nodded and said, "Okay Sidharth. If you want, you can play."

Everyone smiled hearing that.

"Lekin Sir, aap ek substitute player ka arrange ki jiye." Sana said suddenly.

"Lekin kyu?" The Coach asked.

"Zaroorat pad sakti hai."

Sana paused for a while and then said, "Kushal! Shivangi! Zara baahar aana. Mujhe baat karni hai tum dono se."

They nodded.

Then three of them came outside the medical room.

"Kushal, tujhe sayad yakeen nahi hoga. Lekin tum logo ke team mein koi hai jo indirectly opponent team ko support kar raha hai." Sana said.

"What? Who's that?" Kushal asked being shocked.

"Asim." Sana replied.

"Maine dekha aaj woh acche se nahi khel raha. Lekin woh gaddari kar raha hai? I can't believe this."

"Why are you being shocked? Uski toh adat hai pith peeche vaar karne ki." Shivangi said.

"But why will he do this?" Kushal asked.

"Mujhe aur Sid ko alag karne ke liye." Sana said. "I'm not so sure. But usse maine St. Joseph ke captain ke saath baat karte hue dekha tha. You know we can't take risk. St. Joseph already hum se 3 goal se aage hai. Isliye agar humein jeet na hai toh usse team se nikal na hoga."

"Lekin yeh hum kaise karenge?" Shivangi asked.

"I have a plan." Sana said and whispered something to their ears.

After sometime...

Kushal went to the football ground and went to Asim.

"Sid kaisa hai abhi?" Asim asked.

"Thik hai. Lekin woh khel nahi paayega." Kushal said sadly.

Asim became very happy. He thought that his plan was successful.

"Waise Coach Sir na tujhe school ke store room pe bula rahe hai. Tu zaldi jaa." Kushal said.

"Mujhe kyu bula rahe hai? Woh bhi store room pe?" Asim asked curiously.

"Woh toh nahi paata. Unhone kaha sirf tujhse hi baat karenge. Bohut gusse mein lag rahe the."

Asim became scared.

"Kahi unhe mere baare mein paata toh nahi chal gaya? No Asim, think positive. Agar aisa kuch hua bhi hai toh bhi tu sambhal lega." Asim said in his mind.

Then he left from there.

Kushal smirked looking at him.

Soon Asim entered the school and went to the store room. He couldn't fine the Coach.

"Coach Sir! Apne bulaya hai mujhe?" Asim asked but no response came.

Suddenly someone locked the door of the store room.

"Fuck!"

Asim ran towards the door. He started knocking the door loudly.

"Kaun hai? Just open the fucking door!" Asim screamed.

On the other side of the door, Sana kept a chair.

"Bohut shauk hai nah isse khel khelne ka? Ab main isse dikhati hoon asli khel kya hota hai." Sana said.

Asim was continuously knocking at the door.

"Sana, tu abhi ground pe jaa. Match khatam hone tak main yaaha ruk ti hoon. I'll make sure that he doesn't come out." Shivangi said.

"Ok Shivangi. Tu idhar ka sambhal. Main udhar ka dekhti hoon." Sana said and left from there.
_______________________________________

At The Football Ground...

The match would start soon. The Coach was waiting for Asim.

Suddenly Kushal came to the Coach and said, "Sir, humein ek substitute player ki zaroorat hai."

"Kyu? Asim nahi aayega?" The Coach asked.

"Uski achanak se tabiyat kharab ho gayi thi. Isliye woh Hostel wapas chala gaya." Kushal lied.

"What? How irresponsible!" The Coach said angrily. "At least mujhe baata ke toh jaata. Ek taraf yeh Sidharth hai jo itni chot lagne ke bawajood khel raha hai. Aur dusri taraf woh Asim, zyada kuch hua nahi phir bhi chala gaya."

"Sir chhoriye nah. Waise bhi woh acche se khel nahi raha tha. Jo hua accha hi hua."

"You are right. Okay main Sumit ko kehta hoon. Tumhari position pe woh khele ga aur Asim ki position pe tum."

"Okay Sir!" Kushal said and joined Sid and his team.

Soon Sumit also joined them.

"Asim nahi aaya?" Sid asked Kushal.

"Woh.... Uski tabiyat kharab thi. Isliye Hostel wapas chala gaya." Kushal said.

He lied because Sana told him to do so. She didn't want to give Sid stress.

"Okay koi nahi. Humein iss baar ek acchi strategy bana ni hogi. Jaisa ki humne dekha, woh log phir se mujhe hi target karenge. Karne do unhe. Aisa karne se tumhe rok ne ke liye unke paas zyada players nahi bachenge. Iss hi baat ka fayda utha na hai humein."

Sid made them understand the strategy very well.

"Lekin Bro, agar unhone humein rok ne ki koshis ki toh?" Kushal asked.

Sid smiled and said, "Phir toh aur bhi accha hai. Woh log mujhe weak samajh kar mujhe halke mein le sakte hai. Agar aisa hua toh kuch bhi kar ke ball mujhe pass kar dena. Baki meri zinmedaari."

"Tu kar lega nah?" One player asked.

"Bharosa hai mujh par?" Sid asked.

They all nodded.

"Then let's go. Come on! We can do it!" Sid said loudly.

The players of the opponent team were shocked to see Sid's energy. They didn't expect that he would be able to play.

The second half started. As usual most of the players blocked Sid. Sid somehow passed the ball to Kushal.

He started moving to the goal post. One player of the opponent team tried to stop him. Kushal passed the ball to another player. They followed Sid's strategy and scored a goal.

"Goal!"

Modern City High School scored 3 goals and St. Joseph High School 5.

"Sidharth abhi weak hai. Humein inko rokna hoga. Yeh Asim bhi paata nahi kaha chala gaya?" Vihaan said to his team's players.

They all nodded.

This time, they didn't try to block Sid. Sid took the advantage and started moving to the goal post. He didn't let anyone snatch the ball. He kicked the ball with full force and scored a goal.

"Goal!"

Sana jumped out of joy. Sid's leg was paining very much but he ignored it. Sana could easily understand that and smiled sadly.

They again went back to their positions. The match went on. Meanwhile Sid scored another goal.

Now both the team's scores were equal.

There were only two minutes left for the match to be over. Everyone was very much tensed. None could predict which team would win.

Suddenly a player of the opponent team commited foul by mistake and Sid's team got a penalty kick.

The Coach gave Sid the responsibility of the penalty kick. The spectators were amused as the Coach chose Sid for the penalty kick in spite of his leg being injured. But the Coach had faith on Sid.

Meanwhile...

"Ab toh match khatam hone mein bas kuch hi der baki hai. Ek baar dekh ke aati hoon udhar kya ho raha hai." Shivangi said in her mind.

She was about to go, suddenly her eyes fell on the store room's door.

"Isse bhi khol hi deti hoon. Kyu ki ab yeh bahar aa bhi gaya toh koi fayda hai nahi."

Shivangi removed the chair and slowly opened the door lock. Then she immediately left from there.

After sometime, Asim also came out. He went to the football ground in a hurry. Reaching there, he saw Sid who was about to give the penalty kick.

Everyone was very much nervous. Sid looked at his mother and Sana. Rita Ji was praying to God while Sana was looking at him hopefully. He got some courage seeing them. He kicked the ball with full force and.....

The ball reached the goal post.

"Goal!" Everyone shouted.

Sid couldn't believe himself. He finally did it. He sat on the ground being very much tired. His team players came and hugged him tightly.

Sana's joy had no bounds. Tears of joy started coming out of her eyes. Her Sid won the match.

All the players carried Sid.

The opponent team and Asim were looking at him with full of jealousy.

Suddenly Sid's eyes fell on Sana. She wiped her tears and went away somewhere.
_______________________________________

Asim was standing at a corner being very much disappointed. In spite of trying so much, he couldn't stop Sid from winning the match, he couldn't separate Sid and Sana. No body paid any attention to him except one person.

"Listen dear, tum Asim ho nah?"

Asim heard a female voice and turned. He saw a girl standing in front of him. He found her very attractive.

"Maine suna tha tum hi ne humare school ki match jeetne mein help ki thi?" The girl asked.

"Haan woh main hi tha." Asim replied.

"Ab hum jeet toh nahi paaye but thanks for your support."

"Mention not."

"Can you do me a favour?"

"Of course. Tell me." Asim said being excited.

"Actually mera phone kahi nahi mil raha. Tum mere no. pe ek call karoge please? No. hai...."

The girl told the no. and Asim dialled it. Suddenly a ringing sound came from the girl's bag.

She opened her bag and found her phone.

"Oops! Mere bag mein hi tha. Thanks by the way." The girl said.

Asim smiled.

Then the girl forwarded her hand and said, "It was nice to meet you. I'm Himanshi Khurrana."

Asim shook hands with her and said, "Asim Riyaz!"

"Main ab jaau?" Himanshi asked after sometime.

"Haan!" Asim said still holding her hand.

"Mera haath nahi chhoroge?"

Asim immediately left her hand and said, "Oh sorry!"

"It's ok!" Saying that, Himanshi left from there.

Asim looked at her number on his phone and murmured, "She is so beautiful!"

On the other hand, Rashmi was about to leave with Devoleena.

"Chal Devo, chalte hai. Sid aur Sana ab ek ho jaayenge. Humara yaaha koi kaam nahi hai. Waise jo bhi ho, woh Sid hai bada stupid. Tab hi toh usne mujhe, Rashmi Desai ko reject kiya. Whatever, it was his loss." Rashmi said.

Inside she was sad because she lost and Sana won.

She was going, suddenly she bumped into a guy.

"Dekh kar nahi chal sakte?" She said angrily.

The guy became speechless seeing Rashmi. Rashmi also looked at the guy very carefully.

"Wait! Tumhari shakal kisi se milti hai. Kis se milti hai....." Rashmi tried to remember.

"Haan. Asim se. Tum uske Bhai ho kya?"

"Exactly! Main Asim ka hi Bhai hoon. Umar Riyaz." The guy introduced himself.

"Tum Asim ko kaise jaanti ho?" Umar asked further.

"Uski fri.... Classmate hoon. Rashmi Desai." Rashmi said.

"Aur main Devoleena. You can call me Devo." Devoleena said though nobody asked her.

"Accha Rashmi? I heard about you from Asim. Main aaj uska match dekhne aaya tha. Lekin paata nahi second half ke baad woh kaha chala gaya?"

"I don't know. By the way, can I leave now?" Rashmi said showing attitude.

"Wait! Can I have you number please?" Umar asked directly.

"I don't give my number to strangers." Rashmi said and left from there with Devoleena.

"Number toh main le hi lunga, Asim se. But I have to say, she is very pretty." Umar said in his mind looking at Rashmi.

"Rashmi, tu de deti usse number. Kitna hot hai banda!" Devoleena said.

"Woh khud hi le lega Asim se. Usse number mil jaayega aur mujhe......"

"Kya milega?"

"Milega nahi mil gaya. Naya bakra." Rashmi said.
_______________________________________

Sid entered the school and went to the library. It was dark. He switched on the lights and found Sana sitting on a chair.

"Paata tha tu yaheen hogi." Sid said and smiled.

Sana smiled back and said, "Mujhe bhi paata tha ki tu mujhe dhund hi lega."

After that, they both didn't say anything for sometime. There was an unnatural silence in the library.

Sid broke the ice and said, "Toh..... Main match jeet hi gaya."

"Haan aur ab mujhe......"

Before Sana could complete, Sid said, "Main woh hi kehne aaya tha. Dekh Sana tune mujhse promise toh kiya tha ki agar main yeh match jeet gaya toh tu humesha ke liye meri ho jayegi. But Sana, now I don't want to force you."

"Matlab?" Sana asked being confused.

"It's true that I love you very much. Tere bina mera jeena impossible hai. Isliye maine woh stupid kadam uthaya tha. Main apni responsibilities ko bhul gaya tha. Mom ke baare mein bhi nahi socha maine. I was so irresponsible. But this match made me responsible. Main yeh match sirf tere liye jeet na chahta tha. Lekin dheere dheere practice karte karte na jaane kaise iss team ke saath ek attachment si ho gayi. Mujhe as a captain meri responsibilities samajh aayi. Iss baat ka ehsaas mujhe aur bhi zyada tab hua jab main medical room mein tha aur puri team ki, pure school ki izzat mere haathon mein thi. Tab mujhe laga mujhe yeh match apne liye yaa tere liye nahi, iss school ke liye jeetna hai. Kaise bhi karke apne dard se jeetna hai. And I did it."

Sana's eyes became moist hearing that. Finally Sid understood what she wanted to make him understand. He understood his responsibilities. She felt that today not only Sid but also she became the winner.

Sid paused for a while and said, "Aur rahi baat teri toh, tu koi trophy nahi hai jisse main sirf ek match jeet ne se jeet lunga. Tu ek insaan hai. Teri bhi khud ki marzi hai. I can't force you to love me."

"Sid main woh hi kehna chahti hoon..."

Sid didn't hear her and continued speaking.

"Agar tu mujhse pyaar nahi karti toh mat kar abhi haan. Kyu ki mujhe paata hai ki end mein toh hum dono ko ek hona hi hai because we are destined to be together."

"Sid meri baat sun......"

"I'll wait for you. Aur tere liye toh main humesha wait karne ko taiyaar hoon."

Sana couldn't control herself and said loudly, "Sid I love you!"

"Haan woh sab toh thik hai........Wait! Kya kaha tune abhi?" Sid asked. He couldn't believe what he just heard.

"I love you! I love you so much!" Sana said.

"Phir se kehna." Sid said. He still couldn't believe her words.

"I love you Sid!" Sana said again.

"Say it again."

"I love you!"

"Zor se!" Sid said being extremely happy.

"I LOVE YOU MR. SIDHARTH SHUKLA! I REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVE YOU!" Sana screamed.

Without wasting a moment, Sid gave Sana a bone crushing hug. Sana also hugged him back. They both started shedding tears.

"You don't know how much I was waiting for this day. Thank you for accepting my love, thank you for accepting me. I really love you Sana!" Sid said while crying.

"Thank you for making me complete Sid. And yeah, I love you more." Sana whispered to Sid's ears and kissed his earlobes.

Suddenly Sid broke the hug and asked, "Waise yeh positive wala I love you toh nahi tha nah?"

"Of course not yaar. Romantic wala."

Sid chuckled and again hugged her. They found peace in each other's embrace.

Today their love also won.
_______________________________________

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