The premises of their colony was shrouded in darkness as they approached the hostel gate.

"Bas bas, yahi rok do" Naina almost screamed at a little distance from the gate

Sameer put on sudden breaks on hearing her high-pitched squeal and Naina clutched him tightly from the back, almost hugging him to avoid falling off from the bike.

"Pagal ladki, abhi hum gir jaate. Aise koi chillata hai kya? Mere kaan.."

Sameer said angrily, but his mind was still savouring the contours of her, her warm breath tickling his neck, washing him with a feeling he couldn't pinpoint, although the moment had ended as soon as it had begun.

"Mai bhi toh kabse bol rahi hun ki dur mei hi ruk jao. Par tum sunte bhi ho? Gate ke paas chodne se koi bhi galat matlab nikal lega. Aur hazaaron sawal puchenge"

Naina said alighting from the back seat with a jump, pressing his shoulders tightly, lest she fall off.

"Aahh..mera kandha. Dheere nahi utar sakti thi kya?"

"Maine aaj tak koi bhi bike ke peeche nahi baitha. Kitna uncha hota hai yeh. Aur tum..tumhe toh jawani mein budhapa aa
raha hai. Meri kamar, mera kandha..huh!" Naina complained gathering her bags.

"Naina, jyada ho raha hai, haan. Buddha hoga tumhara baap. Aur meri bike agar unchi lag rahi hai toh isiliye kyunki tum bhi toh itni si ho"

"Kya kaha? Zara phir se kehna" Naina said, crossing her arms, angrily.

"Uh oh, lagta hai iske andar ki Devi jaag gayi. Bhaag le Sameer" Sameer muttered under his breath

"Kuch keh rahe the?" Naina raised her eyebrow, waiting for an answer

"Hehe, main keh raha tha ki aaj ka hamara safar bas itna tak hi tha. Chalta hun ab" Sameer said sheepishly and drove away as fast as he could

"Huh. Isse baad mein dekhti hu main" Naina made her way to the gate
_____________________________________________

As she entered her room, she saw her roommate look at her up and down and smirk to herself.

"Main toh tujhe sidhi-saadi behenji types samajhti thi. Tu toh badi tezz nikli re" She said flipping some pages of her book.

"Tum aisa kyun keh rahi ho?" Naina said, confusedly, wiping her hair

"Dekha maine, niche kaise chipak ke kisi bikewale ke saath aa rahi thi. Haye re, rang badalti duniya. Waise kaun tha woh? Bataya nahi kabhi? Tu toh mere aur Kunal pe hi gyan jhadti rehti hai" she asked.

"Tum aur tumhari soch tumhe hi mubarak. Mere baare mein aisa soch bhi kaise sakti ho? Ohhhh..main toh bhul hi gayi. Jo jaisa hai duniya usse waise hi dikhti hai" -

Naina gave back sharply. She was shocked at her thinking that she could have an affair with someone.

"Defensive, huh? Dekh agar tu use idhar laana chahti hai mujhe koi problem nahi hai. Par agar main kisi ko laungi tu kisi se kuch nahi bolegi, deal?" Leena said

By then Naina had zoned her out and was planning to shift to some other room before things got worse here.
So she just nodded to whatever she said and went to have a much needed bath.
What she didn't know that this was gonna change her life in a way she could've never imagined.
____________________________________________

The next day, Naina was waiting at the bus stop as usual, when she saw Sameer waiting too, in the same stop

"Kya baat hai, aaj Maharaj ki shaahi sawari dikhai nahi de rahi?" She came a little closer to him and said to no one, in particular

"Puncture ho gayi hai, peeche ki tyre. Woh kal koi backseat pe baith gaya tha na, tabse"

Sameer said, looking at her. She'd worn a simple cotton churidar today instead of her usual saree. He could never understand the logic of keeping her hair short, while other women flaunted their long hair.

"Accha aisa hai kya? Mujhe laga ki tum itna hawa mein udte rehte ho, toh tumhari bike ki hi hawa nikal gayi"

"Nainaa-" Sameer started to protest, when the bus arrived.

"Bye. Meri sawari toh aa gayi" Naina whispered to him as she smiled to herself and boarded the bus. But she got a shock when she saw Sameer too, coming with her.
He sat with her and gave one of his signature smiles, which often made her heart skip a beat.

"Oye mister, mere piche piche kyun aa gaye. Tumhe kaam par nahi jana hai kya?" She asked in a hushed tone

Sameer, who'd been lost in her till then, came back to reality as he realised he had followed her to the bus, all in a trance.

"Galat bus pe baith gaya hu na?" Sameer said nervously, more to himself, as he looked out of the window

"Poore paagal ho. Tum toh doosre direction mein jaate ho na, toh wahi wali bus lete na?" Naina slapped her head

"Tumhe kaise pata?" Sameer was curious about how she knew which direction his workplace was.

"Uhmm..Ab sawal jawab karoge ya bus se utroge bhi. Mere saath mere school chalna hai kya?"

"Nahi, bacchi toh tum ho, school main kyun jaun?" Sameer said tongue-in-cheek.

"Tum phir se shuru ho gaye?" Naina started pushing him out of the seat

"Haan, aur ek baat, saree pehna karo. Bilkul bhi bacchi nahi lagti" he said, his voice dropping a few notches, developing a more huskier tone

"Toh kaisi lagti hu?" Naina said as if in a trance, enraptured by his voice

"Ab bata kar thappad thodi na khani hai.!" And he was gone at the next moment

Naina looked down from the window as he waved at her from the stop he got down at

"Yeh ladka mere liye haanikarak hai" she decided as she looked at him, calming her rapid breathing, acquired due to his proximity.

On the other side, Sameer's condition was no different.

"Kya ho gaya hai mujhe? Kyun chala gaya uske peeche? Itni bekhayali kaise ho gayi?"

He was asking questions to himself for which he'd no answers. For some things are inexplicable and for him it was his feelings towards Naina

I was heavily disturbed by the news of our show going off air😔. Hence decided to write this part. Please let me know if you want me to continue/not🙂. Any mistakes, please tell me in comments