18 October 2010

The first day back at school after a long break is like finding one of those Tupperwares – the one middle-class families treasure like gold for centuries to come – in your bag after thinking you lent it to someone. I'm not sure if you're middle class, Babbu so I can explain: losing a single Tupperware box in a middle-class household can shorten your lifespan by a third, just from the thorough scolding alone.

But when you do find it, the bittersweet thrill is completely washed away by the unnecessary reprimandation and it makes you wonder what was the point of all that scolding.

I mean holidays are supposed to be a stress relief, celebrating festivals is supposed to make us happy. I don't understand why all the teachers think that is the perfect time to bombard us with lots of homework, presentations, and projects to occupy all our time. What's the point of a holiday then?

Longingly, I glanced at the school clock for the third time in the last few moments. Time was passing by like a sloth trying to cross the road.

Usually, Raghav Sir's classes were one of the most enjoyable periods in school, and concentrating was no problem at all for me but part of my 'holiday homework' for History class was to prepare a five-minute long highlight summary of the French Revolution. And as if that was not enough pressure already, I was supposed to present it in front of the whole class. Today. Yaay, how fun!

Why was my luck the absolute worst it could be?

Why couldn't I get something like the Mahabharata or Ramayana? That I could comfortably talk about endlessly given how ingrained those stories were since I was a child. What if I mixed up the names or timelines of the French events?

With a palpitating chest, I unfolded my crumpled script and unabashedly scanned through my notes, rote-learning the content. It didn't matter whether I could retain that information or not, all I cared about for the time being was not stammering in front of the class.

Because that would affect my grades and 10th standard was not the time to muck around with grades.

A series of claps came about and Roll number 13 was heading up to the front of the class with his graphic flashcards on one phase of the Mughal Empire. There were eleven minutes left for the school bell to ring.

Even if that boy took up more than his five-minute allotted time, which Raghav Sir was already particular about not crossing and interrupted speeches midway through whenever that happened, there was no skipping my turn for the day – roll number 14.

Out of nowhere came an urgency to pee; I was sure it was out of nervousness, nothing else. I don't have a tiny bladder, Babbu, now you also don't mock me like Abhi does!

When I was desperately praying to Aiyappa to somehow skip through my slot, someone knocked at the glass door and peeked through the gap carefully. "Sorry to interrupt your class, Sir, but is Nandini Murthy here?"

Restlessly, I picked at my nails and stood up, feeling immensely grateful for the saving. "Principal Ma'am wants to see you," he said, handing over a letter through some students to reach Raghav Sir.

My throat dried out from the inside. I quickly scanned the uniform I was wearing that had been crisply ironed, felt my hair that was in a slick high ponytail, and examined my shoes which were sparkling black. What in good heavens had I done to be invited personally by Principal Ma'am?

Raghav Sir nodded at the open letter, and turned around, gesturing me to go out.

In an uneasy attempt to slither away from the punishment, I meekly suggested, "Sir, but the speech..." If I had to compare the two 'punishments', I would any day face a group of thirty-odd judgmental students in my classroom over one deadly principal alone in her cabin.

Besides, how could I forget that she was Manik's mother?

With stark clarity, I recollected how in assembly this morning, I shyly caught a glimpse of Manik who had been deeply engrossed in a conversation with Dhruv and had his hands over his friend's shoulders. It didn't demand a genius to guess what had been going through my mind then, Navya too had sheepishly remarked that my 'lovestruck' tendencies seemed very typical to that of a Bollywood actress in Ranbir Kapoor movies.

He did not look in my direction at that point, but could it be that Nyonika Ma'am saw it and...?

I shook my head painfully when I heard, "Don't worry, I've borrowed the next period too from PT Sir, so we can resume your presentation when you're back." He had said it with a smile but I found no aspect of that comforting.

Locking my hands firmly and rubbing them to replenish some lost warmth, I followed the peon along the quiet eerie corridors, hearing the steady beats of my hammering heart. What would I say if she were to confront me about it? Of course, I would not admit it... I mean, I could not tell her I liked her son, what would she even think of me? And if I didn't, I would be lying and that would technically go against my morals... I thought I could play off the 'he's my brother's best friend' story, technically that wasn't lying but what if...?

"Ow!"

I had bumped into the closed mindlessly once the peon directed me to the cabin. I knocked softly, asking if I could come in.

Opening the door, I tried to cover as many steps as I could in the momentum of my jitters. Until the chair swung around and Mr. Manik Malhotra was gloriously twisting my Appa's pen between his fingers. He was wearing his school blazer and matching navy blue trousers that separated as he occupied the entire chair like he owned it. His tie hung a little loose, which was punishable on disciplinary grounds.

I staggered at my footsteps as a wave of pure relief swept through me and I swiftly shut my eyes, regaining my composure. Having overcome an uncanny train of thoughts and excuses that all amounted to nothing, I felt a mix of anger and gratitude and could not understand which of those feelings dominated. For the time being, I took steady breaths.

Hearing some deep breaths, I scrunched my lids, wondering if that was me or coming from someone else.

When I opened my eyes and helplessly prayed to the sky, a warm hand swiftly wrapped around my wrist and hauled me towards him.

Spiralling into his embrace, I lost balance and fell on his spread lap by the edge of the table. My hair flew onto Manik's face which had mesmerised him as I noticed from the corner of my eye. Thoroughly aware of our bodies, their proximity, and how despite the layers of fabric, heat blazed between us, I quickly hiccupped and clutched the table for balance in an attempt to rise to my feet.

Nyonika Ma'am's cabin, we were in Nyonika Ma'am's cabin.

Completely unfazed by that thought, his hold was tighter this time as he plopped me again into his lap. A waft of his cologne flooded my senses and became too overwhelming that everything else in my mind blanked out. His other arm cradled me as it crossed my stomach and supported my frame at the covered waist, where my tucked shirt met my navy blue coordinating belt.

My skirt was visibly above my knees and that common sense at least resurfaced through the hormonal flush. Bundling my hands against it, I bridged the gap with whatever real estate I had, before desperately eyeing him to let me go. It was beyond impossible to ignore the rush of adrenaline in my body and feeling thoroughly embarrassed about sitting on a boy's lap was fuelling that fire.

"Don't... move." He demanded softly in a drugged tone, seeking the curve of my cheek with his nose tip and dawdling down the crevice of my ear, heading towards my neck. "For your sake."

A breath hitched in my chest cavity, suffocating me from the inside as I resisted releasing a breath. The sheer fright that if I made a slight movement, I would be going against his wish, and the foreboding danger of that act had both coerced me into stilling. For as long as I could.

Manik moved my ponytail to the other shoulder and softly placed his chin on my vacant one, inhaling softly as I fit into his hold perfectly. Melting into him. Like he and I were parts of a whole.

His hug tightened spontaneously, pulling me closer as he mumbled, "Why are you so tense?"

"You told me not to move," I said innocently, sucking on my upper lip and munching away. Where had the uneasiness I felt merely moments ago when he first pulled me towards him gone? Why did this... being in his arms like this... feel right?

He sniggered while his eyes remained closed, nuzzling into the crook of my neck. "Wow, you really do listen to everything I say, hmm?" He amused, interlocking his arms further and drawing me closer.

I snapped out of my dazedness and the anger that had been boiling a few moments prior surfaced. Impulsively, I held his cheeks between my fingers and squished it, turning his head forcibly to meet my eye, "Where is Nyonika Ma'am?"

His boyish face was laced with an impish grin. "And you showcase your rights on me... I like it," He smirked clearly wanting to divert me from the million rupee question I demanded an answer to, "It's a good quality for a girlfriend to have,"

Trying not to blush, I stood – oh, sorry, sat – my ground and warned, "Manik..."

"Somewhere, I don't care." He blurted arrogantly, and then on meeting my confused eye he rectified, "She's on rounds."

"Then why did..." And just like that, it clicked. "You were the one who sent that letter," I said, deeply amazed.

He shrugged casually, ensuring his arms did not loosen around me.

"Koi shak? I mean, any doubt?"

"But why?"

"What a ridiculous question is that? Do I have to keep reminding you every two minutes?"

"I had to leave Raghav Sir's class, Manik," I whined even though the whole plan could not have been better executed. But if I gave him even a hint of that, I would be encouraging his behaviour which I did not want to do. So, for the time being, I let myself celebrate the occasion on my own.

Straightening my expressions, I subduedly said, "Just because your mother is the principal, you..." Manik appeared disinterested just as I trailed off. I wanted to tell him off for misusing his privileges as the boy whose mother runs the school but decided to not voice it out, knowing how he usually reacted to such disapproval. Without a doubt, bringing up his family in our conversations was a trigger point.

I did not want to kindle that further. Shaking my head, I fumbled for other words I could use in its place.

Just then, the school bell rang, and his arms unlocked in a jiffy. No hesitation, he left me promptly.

"Time's up, so go." He grumbled, raking a strained hand through his hair.

That was exactly what he wanted from me, some space to silently process his annoyance on his own, and to come to terms with it in due time. Finally, when I worried myself to death about how to fix the situation, he would naturally cave into my advances as if nothing happened in the first place.

I was not going to give room for that behaviour another time.

What he needed most in situations like those was not space... but actually affection. Affection always made him open up.

Lovingly, I put my arms around his neck. His head distractedly moved from an unfocused point to my hands around his neck, and then slowly, he looked at me through his eyelashes. A flicker of strands of his hair that he raked earlier fell over his forehead. Driven by a feminine urge to play with his hair, I drew a frail line across the wave with my index finger, softly retracing the bounce each time I did it.

He softly gazed at me while I was lost in the ever-so-busy task of playing with his hair. "It doesn't take you more than a minute na, to become a monster," I teased, smiling as I brought my arms in, moving closer.

"Monster. Yeah, right," He uttered against my face, seemingly losing control as his hands drew circles in the air around my body. Giving up the internal battle, four fingers of each hand gently pressed the sides of my waist before nudging me closer. I let a gasp slip.

"Is Nyonika Ma'am going to be away for a while longer?"

"Wh – why are you asking?" He eyed me cursorily, perhaps wondering what my intentions really were.

"Because I want to bunk this class and be with you," I murmured with a soft smile.

He frowned. "Are you on your period or something? Just two minutes ago you were lecturing me about not misusing my privileges and..."

My jaw dropped as he quoted the exact phrases that were running through my mind a while ago. "When did I say all that?" I shockingly asked, because how had he known?

Manik shook his head in disbelief, as his lips mockingly twitched sympathetically. I unconsciously pouted and focused on a point somewhere above us, wondering if I had by any chance indeed been a fool, and vomited those words out. His eyes flickered to my lips for a captive moment followed by an irresistable urge to feel them and caress them with his own.

Under me, his legs shuffled and I grew conscious of whether or not I weighed too much and was hurting him. In another impulsive attempt to hop off, Manik's hand quickly jolted me on the spot, rooting me there. I hissed and twitched at the unexpected coldness, as his gaze followed... to a hand that clutched my thigh.

My bare thigh.

It stayed locked at that target for less than a second, before druggedly he met my eyes. Overpowered by some impure emotions, I broke eye contact and played with the object that had seemed cold to the touch.

His silver bangle.

I cleared my throat consecutively a couple of times before meekly asking, barring my blush from escaping my cheeks, "Can I wear it one day?" His arm that was around my back completely enveloped me and undid the bracelet, placing it in my hands. "Really?" I gleamed.

"Yeah, of course," He uttered distractedly, gazing as I slipped the bangle onto my wrist, holding it against the light. "Why are you so fascinated by it? Don't tell me this is another one of your firefly stories. Manik you know what, it reflects light just like..."

"It reflects light... you know what it reminds –" I stopped mid-sentence as his words interfaced with mine at the same time. How did he know? It made me furious, but not in an enraged way, how did he know everything? "You're impossible, Manik Malhotra!" I gawked, earning a wide grin from him.

Followed by some chuckles.

"Acchha baba, okay... fine... but it's so big for you,"

"But it's yours na?" I shrugged, grinning back at him like a drunk seal.

He blinked slowly as his grin faded.

I leaned closer, the unbearable thud in my chest seeking a companion to stroke or hold. Until my breasts met his torso, and my stomach made way for my heart to flutter south. His tenderly parted lips moved at a snail's speed, hiking my anticipation until I could no longer take the wait anymore. I clutched his undone collar and drew him closer, carefully placing my lips over his.

Feeling his smile curve while his soul reached out for mine and joyfully danced at the delightful union of two teenagers breaking some rules...

At least one of whom could completely surrender herself to certain feelings that deeply consumed her living breathing self.

⭒

This is part 1 of this update, I have more to go for this but I could not stop myself from sharing ASAP.

Because I am in love.

I hope you are too!

Literally in love with them. They make me soooo freaking happy! Sue me! :")