"Anything I want?" I asked.

"Anything you want," He said and smiled.

He stood up from the seat beside me and joined our classmates who were dancing the life out of them with the DJ music and light effects in the bus. They fell on each other during breaks and fell on those who were sitting peacefully whenever there was a turn, nevertheless they continued dancing.

Aman smiled and winked at me as he followed the latest step invented by Abhijith, the class clown. I do not know if Abhijith meant to look sexy by playing that step for 'Chikni Chameli'. For me, it looked like they were puking, except nothing was coming out.

It was our final tour during the two-year D.Ed course and since it was compulsory everyone came along, including me. It wasn't that I hated tours or something, I was from an orthodox family and according to them, class tours weren't right for a girl. It was only when my principal told that not attending the tour would delay or even cancel my course certificate that my parents allowed me to go.

While everyone was enjoying the tour up to the maximum, I was a little torn on the inside.

I was approached with a proposal from a well-known family in the previous week. My parents accepted the proposal and my engagement was done in a hurried manner in just four days. My marriage was fixed on a day which was just  three months away from that day and I was worried.

Sayanth was a great guy but he was a little too conservative for my liking. He did not want me to work or learn further. He was afraid that our family life would be affected and that broke my dreams, no, it shattered them.

I knew that it could be my last independent trip.

I wasn't a good mood to dance with my friends and my sadness must have been apparent on my face and I thought that it must be why Aman came up with that idea. He simply came out of the blue, took the vacant seat beside me and said that he would give me a once in a lifetime opportunity by giving anything I wanted on that day. He said that he would buy it even if it was a ten thousand rupees worthy souvenir.

Our Mukundan sir's whistle took me out of my trance. We reached out destination, Chiklihole dam.

The stony steep on one side and the grassy one on the other side did really attract me. It was a gem to the eyes with a lot of birds flying here and there around the dam. I saw a man fishing by sitting on one of the stones and I couldn't help but wonder if he was not afraid of falling, I pushed back my thought since it was one from a girl who didn't know swimming.

The sky was in it's most beautiful form with the richness in the blue colour and heavenly clouds. They looked like pinched cotton balls that were spread across the sky. For some reason they reminded me of the randomly disciplined alignment of waves.

The dam was at the end of the path and it was worth the walk. The dam looked like the surface of a spoon which had waterfalls from its edges. It was glorious, I 

My friends were busy taking photos and selfies as I walked ahead, trying to immerse into myself wholly. I did not want to waste a moment in the tour by concentrating on something for the future, I wanted to live in the moment.

I sat one of the rocks and let my eyes look at the greenery beyond the reflected blue.

I placed my ear phones and started listening to 'ennu ninte moideen' juke box.Someone pulled my right earphone and I turned to meet the mischievous grin of Aman.

"Did you watch 'Ennu ninte Moideen'?"

I shrugged. I watched it when I was released itself but I was not in a mood to discuss about it.

""Then I will share the story with you,"

"I just want to listen to the songs right , now" I smiled and raised my eyebrows at him. I did not want to offend him, neither did I want to feel offended.  I was about to insert the ear phone when he clapped once.

"Okay, I will simply tell the story and sit beside you, I just want some air from those suffocating selfies and pretending to speak with you will keep them away,"

I nodded and continued listening to the songs. I looked at him every once in a while and couldn't help but smile at the dedicated expressions on his face. However, I allotted more of my time in looking at the vast glory infront of us. Our legs were directed towards the blue symphony which captured everything above. Even the slightest of disturbance, a stone or a fishing hook, increased the beauty of stillness. A small wind passed by and a warmness embraced my worried heart. I licked my dry lips as the smell of jasmine filled my nostrils. I looked beside to see Aman smelling a jasmine perfume's bottle. That was exactly when the jukebox finished and I listened to what I shouldn't have.

"I know that you might find this funny but I have fallen deeply for you , in a way that I could never forget, in a way I fear I would regret. You are going to marry someone after three months , I know, but I just wanted to dispose the burden and just tell..."

I removed my earphone as he looked at me with glossy eyes.

"Kanchana lived for Moideen even after his death, one true love, so did you like the story?"

I did not say anything and simply stared at him.

"Whom am I kidding you were totally drowned in the music, weren't you?" He stood up and dusted his pants. He winked at me before taking careful yet fast steps away from me.

On the way back too, I decided to stay in my own world. I let the chilly wind embrace my frozen heart as I opened the window and let my vision consume the darkness of the dawn. Aman was dancing for another bollywood dance and he shifted his eyes whenever it met mine.

We were late. We reached Iritty at ten'o clock. It was only Aman and I who got down in that stop. I called Sayanth to pick me up as my father was out of town. Aman's house was in the next stop but he wanted to ensure my safety, it was something he told me when we returned from our three day tour in the previous year.

"So you did not want anything after all huh?" He ran his hand through his messy hair.

I smiled.

"I thought that you would at least buy something from that place where we stopped for lunch, what was it's name" He kept his hands inside his pocket.

"something like Nikaga-"

"Ridhima," A loud voice stopped me from continuing further. "This is why I did not want you to go for some stupid trip like this."

Sayanth got out of his black Mercedes car and came to take my bags, He was annoyed but he faked a smile.

"Girls these days! Are you his classmate?" Sayanth asked  Aman.

"Yeah," Aman shrugged.

"Our society is paving it's doom by giving women more freedom than that they deserve isn't it?" Sayanth asked Aman after an awkward period of silence.

"I think it is only empowering us," Aman said and smiled at me.

"We are getting late, do you need a lift?" Sayanth looked at his watch while tapping his feet.

"No, thanks"

I looked at Aman through the rearview mirror as our car went forward and Sayanth started a seminar on the qualities that a woman must have.

"Yes, Yes, I want something," I whispered, low enough so that none but my heart heard it.

"Give my heart back," A tear rolled down my cheeks and I pretended to ignore.