The beach was vast and inviting. The waves, dressed with a frilly white border of froth, rushed to welcome them.

Naina was enchanted. She held Sameer's hand and ran towards water. Taking off their footwear, they let the waves reach them. Ever since they had visited Juhu beach, Naina wanted to see more. She wanted to know if all beaches looked the same, since the sea was the same, the water was the same. But this was different from Juhu beach... more serene, massive, beyond measure.

She spread out her hands, letting the wind fill her up with the smell of water. She wondered why it was always said that water had no colour or smell. She could clearly see the various hues of blue and green in the expanse that spread before her... and the distinct smell of beach... it had to be the smell of water.

Suddenly, she was pulled out of her magical world as a splash of water landed on her face. Looking around,she realised everyone was busy enjoying, jumping into waves, splashing each other...  a few had even gone a little ahead, their heads bobbing in and out of water.

Sameer and Rahul were constantly throwing water at them. In no time, the girls were all drenched. Sonali realised that her light coloured outfit was not right for the beach... as it was getting a little see through.

"Naina, main zara room se change karke aati hun... yeh dress kuch theek nahi lag raha", Sonali urgently whispered in Naina's ear.

Naina nodded, giving a worried look, " Main chalun?  Akele kaise jaayegi?"

"Nahi, Rahul hai mere saath... main bas abhi aayi." She explained, gesturing at Rahul.

As they walked back to the cottage, Naina turned her gaze back to the horizon.

And more water fell on her.

"Kya Sameer, poora bhiga diya tumne... khud toh maze se sukhe hue khade ho", she grumbled.

" Toh tum bhi mujhpe paani daal do",  he said playfully.

As Naina bent to splash at him, Sameer ran... and she ran after him. Running against the wind, their hair flying, their feet stepping on rushing or receding waves, they continued till Naina got tired.  Looking back, she realised they had come long way from others. This part of the beach had some rocks. Sameer pulled Naina near one of them, hidden from others.

"Kab tak mere peeche bhagogi? " He teased her, "Tumhare haath nahi aaunga."

She narrowed her eyes, "Achcha", and ran her finger on his cheek.

That was the end of teasing for Sameer. His eyes grew dark in an instant as the breathing became hard. He wrapped his one arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

It was Naina's turn to lose breath.

" Chodo Sameer",  she tried to wriggle out.

" Itna achcha mausam, itni sundar jagah, akele hum... aur aisi aankhon se mujhe dekhti meri jaan... pagal hun jo chod dunga?" Sameer murmured in a husky voice.

His free hand traced her hairline, moving the wet locks away from her face, slowly moving down to the neck, his fingers brushing against her skin as he touched the wet strands. Naina felt the skin burn as his fingers trailed on her neck... not sure whether the heat was passing on from him or arising out of her.

Her eyes started losing focus.

Sameer cleared the neck of all the stuck hair... and bent over to nestle his nose in the soft skin.

A sound escaped her lips, as she threw her head back, giving him more skin to explore.

His hand on her waist tightened as the other one fisted her hair, to keep her head back. He looked at her... closed eyes, head pushed back,  drops of water shining on her exposed skin, lips parted, heavy breathing, her clothes wet, making her more desirable.

The temptation was too much for him... he looked at her shut eyes, slowly bringing his face near her... and started closing the distance between their lips.

A loud noise brought them out of their trance. Naina opened her eyes to see his face dangerously close to her and his gaze on her lips. She instantly turned away.

Noticing a few kids on the beach, she stepped away from him, trying to bring her breathing in control. Not able to look at him, she ran to those kids, to play with them.

Sameer stood rooted to the spot. He kicked himself mentally. What was he about to do? Thank God for those kids... otherwise he would have kissed Naina.

There was nothing wrong in kissing her, he loved her... but she had some boundaries, which he didn't want to cross. His love was too deep to make her feel uncomfortable about their closeness. Naina was a simple, innocent girl from a conservative family of a moderate town... she would be ignorant about intimacy... and he didn't want to scare her.

His desire for her was very strong, but his love for her was stronger... also the respect for her consent. He would never do anything that could make her feel uneasy.

He looked up at the beach, where Naina played with the small children, happily running as they tried to catch her.

Shaking his head to clear out the thoughts, he ran ahead to join them.

"Mujhe bhi apne saath khilaoge?" He smiled enthusiastically at them.

"Haan bhaiya, aap hamari team mein aa jao",  one boy gestured him to come and stand with them.

Another one complained, " Haan, aur aap hi out karo didi ko, hamse nahi pakda jaa raha."

Sameer gave a hi five to them, "Abhi dekho kaise out karta hu tumhari didi ko."

He ran behind Naina as she ran away giggling. They played with the children from a nearby fishermen village, having a great time.

Later, they walked back to the group.

As the sun started to come down, all sat peacefully on the beach, exhausted with the whole day of frolic in wet clothes. They watched in fascination as the ball which was spitting fire till few moments back, became timid and accepted the supremacy of land, or rather, water... bowing down. As if to punish the sun, the sea gulped it down, bringing about a blanket of darkness everywhere.

Tired, the group walked back to their rooms, planning to meet for dinner after their bath.

Sonali occupied the bathroom first as Naina stood in the verandah outside the room, thinking about their moment on the beach. What was about to happen? She had seen a different look in Sameer's eyes... and had a clenching feeling in her own body... why she felt like this? He had touched her so many times... he had been close like this... but his eyes today had a new demand. He wanted to kiss her, she knew that, but he never was close to her cheek... he was rather looking at her lips... the thought again tightened everything in her stomach. Was there something he wanted to say that she didn't understand? Her mind was buzzing... she had too many questions and no one to answer.

"Naina, main aa gayi hun... jaake naha le", Sonali called out from inside.

She sighed, hoping to clear out the webs in her mind... and went in to take bath.

Later,  Naina stood in front of the mirror, combing her hair, still lost.

" Sonali, ek baat puchun?" She called out to her friend, without looking back.

"Kya tujhe... ",  getting no response, she turned.

Sonali was sitting on the bed, clutching a pillow, lost in her own world. She had a dreamy smile on her face.

Naina frowned, moving to her, " Sonali... "

The girl was totally lost to the world.

Naina went to her and shook her shoulder, raising her voice a bit, "Sonaaliii".

She jumped up, looking at Naina as if she had suddenly appeared, " Kya hua?"

"Tujhe kya hua?  Main kabse tujhse baat kar rahi hun... kahan khoyi hui hai?" Naina cribbed.

To her surprise, Sonali blushed, "Kahin nahi... tu bol... kya baat karni hai?"

"Pehle tu bata... yeh sab chakkar kya hai... kahi khoyi hui hai... aise baithe baithe sharma rahi hai... hua kya hai?" Naina was curious.

Sonali gave her a shy smile, "Tu kisiko batayegi toh nahi?"

Getting impatient, Naina shook her head.

"Rahul ne mujhe kiss kiya, pehli baar", she lowered her eyes and blushed again.

" Oho!  Toh isliye laal hui jaa rahi hai",  Naina nudged her.

"Toh apne haath ko dekhke sharma na... ye hawa mein dekhke kyon sharma rahi hai?" Naina was surprised that such a big thing and she had not even looked at her hand once.

It was Sonali's turn to get confused, "Haath ko dekhke? Kyon haath mein kya hai?" She glanced at her hand.

Naina slapped her forehead, "Toh kya pehli baar mein hi gaal pe kiss karne diya?"

Sonali was perplexed,  "Kya bol rahi hai, Naina? Haath, gaal... arre, gaal pe toh bohot baar kar chuka hai... aaj real wala kiya."

"Real wala?" Does it mean what Sameer did on her hand was not real?

Sonali's eyes widened, "Oh God! Naina, tujhe real kiss nahi pata kya?  Tu toh itne time se Sameer ke saath hai...  umm... usne kabhi bola nahi kya?"

It was Naina's turn to go red, "Sameer aisa nahi bolta."

Sonali smiled at her friend's innocence, "Shayad isliye nahi bolta kyonki tu itni budhu hai... waise toh topper hai... aur itna nahi pata french kiss kya hota hai."

Naina was again confused with the new term, "French kiss... matlab jo France mein karte hain?"

Sonali hit her head on the wall.

But Naina wanted to know, "Please bata na... mujhe nahi pata."

Sonali realised how naive this extremely intelligent girl was...  and decided to be her teacher.

"Umm... Sameer ne tujhe kabhi bhi kiss ke liye nahi bola?" She wanted the basics to be clear first.

Naina lowered her eyes.

"Ab seekhna hai toh jo puchungi batana padega",  Sonali was a good taskmaster.

" Bola tha... maine usse haath pe karne bhi diya", she said with downcast eyes.

Sonali held her stomach, laughing hard.

Naina looked up in surprise, wondering what was so funny in this.

When she could talk again, Sonali asked, wiping her eyes, "Tune kabhi kiya hai... Sameer ko... kiss? "

Naina was shy again, telling in a low voice how she had kissed his temple and forehead and his palm once.

"Very good, bohot bahadur hai tu", Sonali suppressed a smile.

Naina smiled back, thinking that she had done the right thing.

Getting up from the bed, Sonali switched on the big TV.

Naina gave her an angry look, "Main tujhse baat kar rahi hun aur tu TV dekhegi?"

Without answering, Sonali checked the contents, satisfied that the newly introduced cable connection was present, along with english movie channel. She selected the same and started an English movie.

Naina didn't know what was going on, "Dekh Sonali, tujhe nahi batana toh mat bata... par yeh english picture laga ke sar mein dard mat kar... kuch samajh bhi aata hai isme tujhe?"

Sonali pulled her down next to herself, pointing towards the TV. Within ten minutes, there was a kissing scene.

"Cheee", Naina squeezed her eyes tight.

Sonali smacked her on the arm, " Ankhein khol aur chup chap dekh...  yeh hota hai french kiss."

By the time Naina opened her eyes, she had missed her first lesson.

"Umm... yeh toh khatam ho gaya",  she looked at her friend.

Sonali turned her face towards the TV, " Dekh, abhi phir aa jayega... english movies mein aata rehta hai."

Lesson 2 and 3 had Naina's complete attention... also making her eyes go wide.

She was more shocked now, "Tune aur Rahul ne... "

"Haan, pyaar karte hain hum, shaadi wala... college ke baad hum shaadi kar lenge... toh phir problem kya hai... thodi hum isse aage kuch kar rahe the?" Sonali was confident.

More confusion for the simple mind of poor girl, "Isse aage kya karoge?"

"Matlab jab tak shaadi nahi hoti control karenge... itna aage nahi badh sakte na... theek nahi hoga".

Naina's mind had completely gone haywire, " Kitna aage... aage kya?" She said loudly in frustration.

Sonali looked at her... wondering if really someone could be this innocent. She herself was a modern girl from Mumbai... she had a cable connection at home and elder cousins as well. She had considerable knowledge about the physical aspect of a relationship and was aware of the limits as well.

But seeing her friend she realised that even in today's world, there were girls who were not aware of such an important issue.

"Teri koi badi behen ya cousin nahi hai kya?" Sonali wanted to know how much was her exposure.

Naina happily answered, "Hai naa, Pooja didi... chachaji ki badi beti hain."

"Unki shaadi hui hai?" Maybe she was also unmarried.

"Haan, teen saal ho gaye... ab toh unka ek pyaara sa golu bhi hai." Naina was reminded of the cute, little brat.

This was a surprise.

"Unhone tujhe kuch nahi bataya shaadi ke baad kya hua?"

Naina wondered if she was to mention the complaints of Pooja didi's mother in law or tell her about the problems her cousin had faced due to her neighbor.

Seeing her hesitation, Sonali deduced that Naina was blank about everything.

She sighed, "Chal, abhi dinner ka time ho gaya hai... abhi chalte hain... wapas aake teri class shuru hogi... aur apna topper dimaag khula rakhna... mujhe jitna pata hai utna hi samjha sakti hun."

They got dressed for dinner and went out to the restaurant.