When it rained, it rained love!

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Summer holidays were going really slow, and sluggishly my boredom had started creeping up on me. My 7 days trip to Delhi had gotten my CAD classes postponed by almost month; I had to join in with the next batch.

Besides, there was this other thing that was eating me up. I had no one else to tag along to the classes with. I hated going somewhere alone, and my classes, supposedly, were to last for more than a month.

My friends already were done with this course in the month long winter holidays we had last year, when I preferred being swathed inside a blanket over the stupid classes. Only if I knew then what was stupid, the classes or I!

It was then when I recalled Neha was of the same branch as I and yeah, she might as well need to do with such a course anytime ahead.

But the questions really were, ‘was it really a good idea to ask her to join me?’, ‘what if my feelings for her start heating up again?’

I ditched those doubts from my mind, and persuaded myself in having much control over myself when my feelings are concerned. I dubbed that no such would happen and asking her to join me wouldn’t be much of a big deal.

So I thought of asking her if she wanted to join me for a summer course.

“Hey, hw abt joining with me for CAD classes this mnth? My frnds hav alrdy cmpletd the course nd I need to do it dis tym. I figurd since u might need to do da same course as well, it would be gud if I askd u to join me. Mrovr, the reasn I’m askng u is bcoz I need cmpny.” I texted her.

“U r mean, u knw dat? U jst remember me wenevr u need cmpny. And yes, I was thnkng of joining a course fr dat mattr. Tel me da details. Wenz the class strtng, course fees and all?” she replied.

“Classes r commncng frm june 11^th. Fees r smwhr arnd 3K. Classes wuld be @ 5 in da evng. Wat say? Join me na. I don’t wanna go classes alone.”

“Haha… lemme thnk abt it.

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sure y nt, but I hv to ask my mom thugh I knw she would ask me to. :D” her reply put an instant smile on my face. I had company for what might turn out to be a boring course.

~ Just another day of my CAD classes. ~

As usual, I waited for Neha before going inside our classroom. That one time, when she was the one waiting for me, was the first and last for her; and to keep it that way I had to reach 15 minutes well before my class timings. But I didn’t mind waiting for her, as for each day I could see her come through that gate. It was nothing like I had started developing feelings for her again. I had already planned to stick to the non-emotion vampire brat I had promised to be, to Govind.

She wore a white salwar and kameez that day. With her open hair, small little platinum ear-rings, thin lining of mascara (as she preferred it that way), light red lip-gloss and a simple gold locket around her neckline; she looked ravishing. I shook my head to divert it from the detailing it had just managed to notice.

Meanwhile, she walked up to me and noticed me shaking my head.

“Why are you shaking your head?” she probed, in a voice which I believed had hypnotizing abilities. When did she learn hypnotism?

‘What’s gotten into me today?’ I asked myself, but there wasn’t any reply.

“Umm... nothing…” I said in haste. “You look gorgeous.” Damn, my tongue just slipped!

“Thank you. Let’s go in.” she said, blushing at my encomium.

‘That was easy, but odd at the same time. Now, what has really gotten into me today?’ I asked myself again just to be answered with silence.

We took our seats at the 3^rd bench of the first column. It had become our regular seat over the days, and everyone knew that. The class went on like usual, with Prashant sir teaching us something, asking to work out some problems on our desktops.

Neha would help me with some problems which went over my head at times, and I would do the same when our characters in this case got upturned.

After a 2 hour class, it was time to go. As usual, I would ask Neha if I could offer her lift, and she would agree as she knew I wouldn’t give up anyhow.

As it touched mid-June in the calendar, days had got only hotter. Bhubaneswar recorded highest temperature of all times this year, 46.7 degrees. Evenings were no less than 35 degrees. The only sense of relief the city dwellers had was the arrival of pre-monsoon rain. Yesterday's weather report – according to a news channel – said, ‘It could rain anytime within the next 24 hours.’ 

Fortunately, the weather had eased up a little for us BBSRians that day. It was cloudy that day; maybe it was going to rain. May be the weather reporters should be given an award for predicting with this accuracy.

I had to hurry as I was on road, on my way to drop Neha. After dropping her, I had to return home as well. I didn’t have my rain-coat with me, and the road to Neha’s hostel was the national highway. This meant, if it rained in between there would be no place to that would be a safe haven from the rain. How did I forget bringing that!

“It might rain any second now, it seems. It’s gotten windy.” I said, loud enough for Neha to hear, who was sitting at the back.

“That would be great na? I love the rain, especially when it’s first rain of the season.”

“I love it too, but if it rains we go got no place to roof ourselves to avoid it. Drenching in it might help us catch a cold.” I said, trying to force the gravity of the situation into her brain.

“Let it be. Just drive. If it rains we will see.” As she said that, she stretched her arms sideways to feel the wind. I smiled observing her in the side mirror of my bike. She was so care-free. I liked her for that. Infact, now that I think of, that might have been the reason I fell in love with her in the first place. But I was not in love with her now; I reminded myself that again and again.

‘If I didn’t love her, then why the hell did I have to retell myself that same thing again and again?’ I asked my sleeping devil inside, but it chose to turn a deaf ear to my query.

My fear breathed life as 5 minutes into the road – it started raining. Thick droplets of water hit us; those were like needles striking down on us from the sky. It hurt when the droplets started hitting me in my chest. But the rain wasn’t that intense yet, and I thought I could manage with it.

In a matter of seconds, the rain started hitting real hard and heavy. With, like, million droplets hitting me per second, it was impossible to ramble on my bike any further. ‘Why hasn’t she asked me to stop yet?’ I thought. With the pace at which I was riding, the situation was alarming. I looked at Neha. She had her face directed towards the sky, eyes closed, mouth open and hands delayed side-ways. She was enjoying it.

We were all soaked to the skin now, so there was no point stopping anyway. But the rain had started hitting me pretty hard so I had to stop.

“I’m sorry to disturb you princess but I have to stop. The rain’s battering real hard, and it’s impossible to drive for me.” I said.

“Whatever driver; I don’t want a broken piece of my body at the end of the day when you hit some other vehicle.” She tittered.

“Ha! Ha! Trying to be funny, ehh? I’m serious! We have to stop, until the rain slows down a little. But we have no place to roof ourselves. Seems like, we have to stand in the rain.” My face drooped as the idea of getting a flu threatened me.

But as soon as I was done with my talk, her face lit up; as if she wanted to spend more time in the rain. She always mentioned how she loved the rain, getting soaked in it, and how she loved the idea of dancing in the rain.

We were on the highway. I parked my bike on road side. I parked my butt on it, waiting for the rain to cease as soon as possible. I asked her to sit as well. We had no choice but to get wet. She refused and started jumping in the water that drained just by the road. The water came from higher ground. After few seconds of jumping in it, she moved away from it and started to take turning in circles. The scene was one, like, you in the movies where the actress dances in a song set in the rain.

I could see her clothes, soaked wet, had stick to her body. The translucency it offered at some parts made me imagine her figure built perfect. The rain drops hit her face as she turned it up facing the night, raining sky. The drops of water dispersing after hitting her face, and the flash of lightening build a picture perfect image of hers. Her wet hair would come up on her face every time she twisted her head. How I wished I could capture the moment right then!

 

I started wondering, ‘Was she the one I fell in love with which I now claim to be out of?’

‘What has gotten into me today? Why am I feeling attracted to her? I promised myself I won’t let me fall for her again. I’m over her… I’m over her, right?’ doubts won’t stop themselves from popping up in my head. My mind turned into a messy playground.

‘No... No...!!! I can’t fall in love with her. She loves someone else, and if I fell in love with her, it would only lay grounds for me being miserable and hurt in the end. I should learn to stay from things that can’t ever be mine. She’s my best friend, and I intend to keep our relationship as such.’ I substantiated myself.

My thoughts broke as she called out for me, asking me to join her and dance in the rain. I gestured her that I won’t.

She came towards me, held my hands and dragged me out of my comfortable seat. What followed was just madness all around. ‘She could turn me into a puppet anytime she chooses to’, I thought. We started playing around; jumping in the mud, dancing in circles, chasing each other.

Finally the rain stopped. It must have rained a good 30 minutes. By now, I was almost sure I would be getting my appointment with some sort of flu or fever booked!

I dropped Neha at her hostel and headed back home. My parents wanted to know how I managed to escape the rain, but they could see me dripping wet. I explained what happened, minus the Neha part, to my parents (my mom - to be specific).

I had come home at around at around 8:30 P.M. I dried myself with a towel my mom gave me as soon as she saw me at the gate, soaked! I wasn’t feeling hungry, so I called off my dinner. I went straight to bed and lay on it for a while. I was really tired.

‘Why am I having second thoughts about having any feelings for Neha anymore? I had decided to be non-emotional anymore. I thought, like vampires, I could switch my emotions off anytime, right?’ I doubted. Again, my inner voice turned a deaf ear.

I didn’t notice when I had dozed off. 

~ END ~

“ONLY IF ONE COULD CONTROL WHEN AND WHO TO FALL IN LOVE WITH, HE WOULD BE DUBBED AS GOD"

P.S. Now that you guys have managed to reach the end of this post, somehow, please be generous enough to let me know how you liked it, or not of course! I always encourage criticism, but still I hope I won’t get much this time. I hope you guys liked it and enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. J

- M@NM@Y -