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Chewing her lip, Maha looked at the door, the rusty metal door that led to the cubicles or the shower areas of the college. After a rough game of football, where Maha did nothing but run around and get tackled, she was supposed to shower here and then go to her class which took place immediately after fifteen minutes. Going to the dorm would itself take ten minutes so that out of question. For as long as she had been in college, she had never entered the showers, even though she had gone to the men's bathroom and that was a story for another day. Taking in a deep breathe, she entered. Immediately, she had to hold her breath because of two things.

One, The pungent smell of various body sprays, colognes and a hint of something very spicy filled the air around her. Thank God it was not a boy's bathroom at school otherwise the smell of urine would have killed her right on the spot.

Two, as soon as she opened the door, nearly twenty of shirtless, sweaty men greeted her eyes who all looked at her in return. Maha was quaking in her boots as she saw some showering inside the cubicles and the others just getting ready to shower. Seemed like they all were back after some sports too.

When she rounded one row of cubicles, she decided that she definitely could not shower here and hence, turned around to leave when her eyes encountered Ahad. Swallowing to wet her dry throat, she saw as he rubbed his neck once and then held his blue t-shirt from the hem and took it off in one go. Granted, she was mesmerised by the way men always took off their shirts but Ahad and his messy hair, the lean body and taut muscles looked very appetising.

She was in a trance when he saw and looked around hurriedly to assure no one could see them and then, pulled her into an empty cubicle. Suddenly jerked out of her trance where she was day-dreaming about something that made her face red,she let out a shocked cry which was muffled by a rough hand.

With scared eyes, she looked at him and calmed down a little, knowing he won't harm her. But his expressions were hard, he was glaring at her as he turned the tap on so the sound of the flowing water could muffle their voices.

"Yay kya besharmi hai?"
(What nonsense is this?)

Maha stomped on his foot. How dare he call her besharam?

Ahad looked up in defeat like he was complaining to God,
" Yaar, larkiyan tau itni darpok hoti hain, tum kya cheez ho?"
(Man, all girls are scared of everything, what kind of thing are you?)

It might be expected that Maha would say something like 'I'm different' like every other female but instead, she was pinching him on his arm,
"Tumney mjhe cheez kaha? Khud kya ho, shakal dekhi hai?"
(You called me a 'thing'? What do you think you are huh? Ever seen your face?)

Ahad closed his eyes, a small smile dared to lift his lips up but he suppressed it. Every girl was crazy for him and look at her.

" Acha, ab bakwaas bund karo aur seedha yahan sey bahir niklo."
(Okay now shut up and go straight to your room.)

Even though Maha didn't want to stay here herself but Maha won't be herself if she didn't oppose him.

"Kyun? Yahan konsay jinn hain?"
(Why? Are there wolves here or ghosts?)

Ahad deadpanned.
"Jaati ho kay nahi?"
(Will you go or not?)

She raised her chin up, the brown hair of the wig falling into her eyes.
"nahi."
(no.)

He raised one of his brows and gave up, holding his hands in the air like you do in front of someone holding a gun to your head,
"Marzi hai."
(Whatever you want.)

With that he was out of the cubicle and Maha exhaled a breath, watching walk away as the muscles of his back clenched. Turning towards the door, she shut it and then was going to lock it but there was no lock. Furrowing her brows, she exited that one and went to another empty cubicle to see there was no lock there too. After checking multiple ones, she was nearly cringing out of embarrassment as she picked her stuff and left the showers, trying not to look at Ahad who was chucking, standing against the wall with one hand on the wall and the other on his waist.

//////

Ahad felt like he was floating, he was on the seventh cloud. Maybe it was the feeling of being in love for the first time or maybe it was the person who he was in love with.

First he had started to admire her, admire her courage, her 'no shit' attitude, her impulsiveness and her cleverness. Then, he had started liking the way her hair curly hair looked when she let it open if they were alone in the dorm, the way she smiled so often and how she was constantly smirking like she knew your secret, how bit her lip when she was studying. And now, he was in love. He knew he was in love because he would wake up, he would want to see her, he knew he was in love because he liked her even when she was dressed like a man, he would constantly think about her in his classes. He never fell asleep without talking to her, even her constant ramblings soothed his mind. He loved when she would fight with him, she was his tigress.

They were sitting on the sofa, this time watching the match without the boys as they had gone to a party.
After a particularly important sixer, Maha was jumping, yelling,
"Afridi meri jaan! Dil kar raha hai tjhe-"
( Afridi my love! I love you! I want to h-)

"Kya dil kar raha hai hain? Badtameez larki."
(What do you want huh? Stupid girl."

He was suddenly sour, Maha looked at him bitterly, then a smile stretched across her face like cheshire cat.
" Oho take out my money, I won the bet!"

He made a face,
"Konsi shart?"
(Which bet?)

He always did this, Maha didn't back down for a second. Getting closer, she tickled him under his ribs as a warning.
" Chalo chalo nikalo. Boht acha bacha mera."
(Take them out, my sweet child.)

She was coaxing him like a child and he could barely contain a grin due to being incredibly sensitive to tickling.
"Dekho Maha, yey kaam nahi."
( No, Maha. Not this please."

She started tickling him again and he was laughing, moving here and there to stop her but she won't stop. At last he laid down on the floor as she continued to torture him with her fingers, his ribs and his neck under attack. Maha was laughing along him and when she stopped to take a breath, sitting on his thighs with her legs on  i either side, he quickly turned them over, taking charge. Now he was tickling her like crazy and she was laughing like hell, her bell like laugh ringing through the air like a siren.

For a second Ahad was frozen, he felt his heart palpitating. Was this how it felt when you were in love? How could she be so beautiful, so breathtaking? She was against all the society's norms, her hair was wild and curly, never laying down. Her skin was caramel with a touch of rose and she was beautifully outspoken, so sure of what she wanted.

He was stopped tickling her, still supporting himself on his knees above her. She looked at him and was trapped by the emotions in his eyes, her own eyes watering due to laughter. He was bending down a little and Maha felt herself entrapped, she couldn't even bring herself to rub the tears out of her eyes as they fell into her hair, the trance of his black eyes which looked slightly grey right now was so strong.

When his face was right above hers, she let out an embarrassment murmur,
"Yey kya ghatiya harkat thi?"
( What kind of dumb act was this?)

His tongue peeked out to wet his lips which tugged into a shy yet mischievous smirk, one hand coming forward to tuck a stray curl behind her ear with his finger.
" Ghatiya harkat tau mey ab karun ga."
( I will do a dumb act again now.)

She didn't even have a moment to register his words when his lips met hers in an embrace, her whole body became alert and they both finally knew what sparks flying felt like. Maybe it was the feelings of his hands cupping her face or the warmth of his body covering hers, or maybe the oxytocin and dopamine being released, she felt like it was the only moment in her whole life which she had truly lived.

"I love you."
A coarse whisper against her lips brought tears to her eyes, she didn't know why since she never cried but she felt like she could live for these words for the rest of her life.

It was the moment they felt like they had breathed for the first time.

When he stopped and moved his head back, she quickly covered her face with her hands in embarrassment, her whole fave turning red and lips stretching into a shy smile. He was chuckling slowly, a deep laughing vibrating within his chest,
"Kya hua? Bolti bund hogayi?"
(What happened? You shut up finally?)

And then the whole process of her hands slapping his chest started again her his laughter was heard outside by the drowning sun.

////////////

I am crying, my children.

The funniest moment in my entire school life has been when a boy in my batch was given the title of 'oxytocin'.
And the cardboard where the title was handed to him by our head of the department who was like,
"I won't ask why."

Did you like it?

Vote and comment!

(I will update an epilogue for this one too.)

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