Divya needed a break. Her semester exams were coming up soon and she had buried herself in all the references she could get. Last semester went awful because of her own irresponsibility, but now she was determined to not make that mistake again.

But now with a severe headache and heavy eyes, she was out on a walk in the public park. Neha was unavailable because she was busy preparing for the test she had to give for a scholarship programme, so Divya enjoyed the quiet moment of her solitude with nature. One thing she could never get over about Delhi is its pollution. She was more of a nature loving girl, so she enjoyed a quiet green outing. However, there were still many little kids playing football or cricket. At the corners of the park, she could see many couples whispering sweet nothings to each other.

She drew in a long breath and found a bench with a wide canopy of mango trees surrounding it. The perfect place to relax! She pocketed her hands in her crepe sweatshirt and slowly walked towards it. She plopped down on the bench like a sack of potatoes and stretched her limbs. The sudden wave of serenity flew in her as she heard her bones popping and smiled delightfully when her muscles loosened. She was too stiff.

She leaned her head back at the bench and watched the sunlight peek through the thick umbrella of branches and leaves. 'Winter days should be spent outside' she thought and closed her eyes, trying to cancel out all the other sounds around her. Maybe it was the rustling of leaves that distracted her or the way she was letting herself lull into an afternoon nap, that she didn't hear anyone sitting beside her. Before she could totally give into sleep, she opened her eyes and felt another presence beside her.

"The park is not a place for little girls to be sleeping alone." Vijay teased.

Divya sat abruptly and looked at him, head to toe. She blinked and looked again. Vijay could only be amused by her reaction. "You! What are you doing here?!"

"I live in the same city as far as I can remember. And I guess it is the park nearest to my college, so I came here. Next time tell me if you don't want me to. I can walk a few kilometres more."

He was enjoying this too much. He watched as she fumbled over her words and tried to apologise about how he misinterpreted her sentence or he can visit that park anytime soon. She looked everywhere but at him, which bothered him.

He felt his phone vibrate in the jeans pocket and took out to answer the call. He excused himself, and swiped the answer option, but soon ended the call without even saying a hello. Divya was surprised with this ordeal and hesitantly asked who it was.

"Just a she-devil."

"She devil? An annoying girlfriend...or..?"

"Eww no! My sister." He grumbled.

"You have a sister?!"

" Yes. What is so surprising about it?"

"Nothing like that. Just, I didn't imagine you having a little sister. How old is she?"

"She is 10 years younger than me. So 11, I guess."

"You guess?" Divya raised her eyebrows at his nonchalant answer.

"Eh, I don't care. No matter how old she is, she always plays a part of the sword hanging over my head." Vijay shrugged. This statement elicited laughter from Divya which made the corner of Vijay's mouth twitch.

"I'm sure she is not that bad."

"Yeah, yeah. Just look at her!" He showed her a photo of a girl with a green sundress and ponytail. She was posing elegantly for the photo while eating a scoop of her vanilla ice cream. Her sharp light brown eyes were swimming with mischief and confidence.

"Aww, she is lovely!" Divya squealed.

"Lovely my ass... uhm... sorry, just don't let her age and face fool you. She is a crafty little witch."

"Oh, you are just exaggerating."

"You won't be saying that when you meet her."

"Sure sure." Then she stood up abruptly. "I shall be going back. My exams are coming soon so I have to prepare."

"Let me walk you back."

"Oh no. It's okay. You relax here."

"Too late. I'm coming with you. I need to browse your manga section." And he was off.

"But-" she just jogged behind him.

They walked side by side, stealing glances at each other, unaware of the storm that brewed inside their hearts, taking in the serenity of each other's presence. They watched some children playing catch and saw how they ran away from a big burly man who was busy on his phone. Vijay didn't react but Divya let out a giggle, which drew his attention.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just how height can intimidate little kids so easily. Don't mind me. Just a random weird thought. "

Vijay was puzzled with the statement. But he was able to start another teasing conversation with her.

"So what? When you were a kid, I'm sure you were afraid of it too. "

"Nope. As far as I can remember, I've never been afraid of tall people. "

Vijay smirked, "Really? No guy has ever scared you? "

"There was one. The Paris one. Remember? But it was for another reason. " The mood became a little grim but Vijay changed the subject.

"Hmm... I might have unconsciously scared someone too. "

"Scared of you? Ha! " Divya scoffed amusingly.

"What? You have never been scared of me? " Vijay glanced at her teasingly.

"Nope! Never. " She matched his gaze with a challenge. Seeing this, Vijay's eye glinted in mischief and he leaned down to match her height.

"Never ever? Not even once? " And he moved forward towards her, surprising Divya. She was caught off guard and backpedaled, breaking eye contact. She just shook her head, feeling her heart racing a hundred miles an hour. She looked down at her retreating steps and his steps matched her every moment until she felt a tree hit her back. She looked at him again, his face inches away from her. Divya's breath hitched when he lifted his arms and pressed his palms at the opposite sides of her head on the trunk. She was trapped and frozen in his trance. The background quieted down and the only thing she could hear was her pounding heart. His striking eyes were the only things she could see.

A sense of deja vu hit her. She was thirteen, maybe fourteen when it happened. It was when she was collecting mathematics notebooks from students.

*

" Everyone! Please submit your copies here or I'll be forced to write your names in the defaulters list." A younger Divya with two tight matching braids stood near the teacher's desk, holding a copy and a pen. Some students came to her and submitted their copies on the top of the desk. She smiled at them and then squinted her eyes in the direction where a bunch of guys were whispering something and laughing out loud.

"Yash? Won't you submit your copy?" She addressed a fair looking guy who whispered something to the guys and turned to her.

"Ah yes, I should have, but I forgot my copy at home today." He gave her a grin to which she rolled her eyes and jotted down his name. Seeing that he instantly frowned.

"What about you guys? Shubham? Vijay?" They just looked at her and Shubham smirked.

"What if we don't want to give you our copies?" He said, leaning back in his seat.

Divya raised an eyebrow and wrote his name too. She then looked at Vijay who was sitting sideways watching her. "Come on Divya! Give them a chance." He slurred jokingly," We can give our copies tomorrow."

"Okay then, what about yours?"

"Mine? Oh!" He pretended to look for his copy in his uniform pocket and desk. "I gave it to you, Yash. No? It must be Ani. HEY ANI! YOU HAVE MY MATHS COPY, RIGHT?" he shouted across the classroom making the hum of chatter increase tenfold.

"Everyone quiet!" Divya shouted. She looked at the pile of the notebooks and eyed Jhanvi, who smiled and stood up, taking the pile to the staff room. Without another word, she wrote down Vijay's name as well. Yash was furious now.

"This is not fair, ha Divya? You are just focusing on us. Write down the names of the girls too!" Divya just glared at him and underlined his name. "For disturbing the class." She murmured. He caught on and stood up protesting. She ignored him and wrote others' names.

"Divya! " Yash called once she was finished with everyone. "Please yaar. For us? We are classmates." He attempted one last time.

"Talk to Shubha mam about it. I don't know anything." She dismissed his plea and proceeded to move out of the room.

"Wait!" This time it was Vijay. "Keep the list here, I'm warning you." He looked at her through lidded eyes.

She smirked and slammed her notebook over the teacher's desk, silencing and attracting the whole attention of the class. Some girls started whispering and the guys stopped their chatter.

"Where is the teacher?" Someone whispered.

Divya folded her arms over her chest and looked challengingly at him. "Oh? What are you going to do about it?" Some guys stiffened and Yash and his group started murmuring and smirking among themselves. Vijay stood up abruptly, surprising everyone.

"Vijay." Shubham warned but the former ignored him.

Vijay dragged himself towards Divya lazily, who started to lose her smirk. She didn't expect him to actually come towards her. His gaze on her was unwavering, making her step backwards. He kept moving forwards until Divya was trapped between him and the blackboard. She gripped onto her courage and glared at him, maintaining eye contact. His eyes were slightly red and blurry. They were darkened; the pupil was nearly the same color as hers. 'Drugs' she thought.

He leaned even closer, making Divya put her hand up in defence. She was suddenly scared. 'Maybe he will do something...Why wasn't anyone saying anything?' The class was pindrop silent.

"Wha-What are you doing?" She didn't know when she started stuttering. He didn't answer. "I'll-" She swallowed,"I'll complain to the te-tea-teacher abo-about thi-s." She tried to look anywhere else but his towering body was making it impossible. She tried to slip away but he didn't leave her any space.

"Leave her alone Vijay!" Prerna shouted. Divya thanked god for this. He smirked drunkenly and without breaking eye contact on a squirming Divya, he reached out to her notebook and roughly tore the page that had their name on it. Divya was flabbergasted and glared at him.

"The teacher is coming." Someone shouted and Vijay drew back, making Divya release the breath she was holding. Before she could say anything, he tore the page and threw it in the dustbin. On the cue the teacher entered and asked them to go back to their seats. This win was celebrated by the guys and the girls surrounded Divya asking if she was okay. As for her? She can only glare at Vijay with all the resentment she could muster. Maybe he intimidated her this one time, but she won't back down so easily. Oh she was stubborn!

Let's just say that she had a good memory and secretly wrote and gave the names to her maths teacher and got the guys punished. But his dazed eyes were something that chilled her...

*

But this time there was something different. His eyes were no longer dark and dazed but clear and striking. There was a glint of mischief and clarity that enchanted her. The sunlight made his eyes glow amber from the side, further enrapturing her. She didn't feel scared, no. Instead she could feel herself falling as his gaze pierced her. It was like he wanted to look into her soul and she was allowing him.

He didn't know what came over him cornering her like that. But her wide dark eyes drew him in. Seeing her pupil expand made him delve deeper into her shining eyes and fall further into its abyss. Her eyes whispered something to him, maybe a secret, or hundreds of them. He couldn't stop himself getting spellbound by her smell, her frozen face and her dazzling eyes. His heart pumped in his ears as he felt himself leaning closer.

But before he could do anything, his trance was broken by the gust of wind that blew between them and fluttered Divya's hair over her face. She gasped and blinked, breaking the intensity and he leaned back, now finally to his senses. He poked her in her forehead to which she yelped and glared mockingly at him.

"Just kidding." He grinned and looked at his wrist watch. "Looks like the trip to your dorm has to wait. I have to meet Paritosh right now." He waved and was off. Divya didn't run away this time. No. She stood and watched him go away without turning back. She couldn't help but fight the blush that was heating up her cheeks or the sudden reel back to the moments before as she stood her ground. She knew one thing for sure. She was in big trouble.

***