I had plenty of moments stored in my memory to keep remembering her. But still, there was some kind of unseen, unusual pain in her absence. Sitting together in the same bench for the past few years, we had so many small and big talks. Sometimes I felt as if she also loved me. Each and every moment I spent with her for those 3 years has been etched in my mind. They still seem vivid to me. She was the Queen of my story and I was her King in that story. There was a different kind of joy while being with her, talking to her. Days used to pass in a snap while being with her. Felt like she was playing in my heart. Cause we were more than friends. Sometimes listening to her singing classic love songs would take away more than half of my day. Felt like she was singing them for me.
Once I even dared to put a love letter in her bag. But couldn't dare to write my name in it. I was a sly one, not daring to express my feelings to someone I love openly.
Such were the days when we were together in class. But then we got separated. Our classroom became different. Days started to grow duller. We still used to talk but was much less than how we used to.
We boys have a very bad habit- not being able to handle parting. And another one being- if a girl looks at us and laugh, we can't differentiate if she is looking at us and laughing or laughing and looking at us. She always used to look at me with a laugh. I didn't know if I was overthinking or not thinking at all. Also if it was wrong or not. I did what I felt was correct.
It was the final day of final exams of class 8. That childhood innocence or whatever you'd call it was slowly leaving. I was no more the king, but she was still my queen. Thinking that I was being too calm but desperate, one day I came in front of her and gave her a love letter. Not like I had given her before, but the previous one didn't have my name on it. But this time, I gave her personally and thought it was not necessary to write my name. She took it and went home and I started waiting for her reply.
I remember every word of that letter. Why would I not? Because it had only 3 sentences in it.
"I can't describe these things, these feelings. Neither can I write nor do I have the guts to say those in front of you. The only thing I know is I love you and will keep loving you."
Now it was just the game of waiting. Like a new born child waiting to drink their mother's milk, like a wife who is waiting for their husband who has gone to work in foreign lands, like a person waiting for a public transport in the evening to return home, like Messi and Rolando waiting for their country to win World Cup, I was waiting for her answer.
The 1 month after exams that I spent felt like eternity. The first day of school after vacations, I went ahead and waited for her on the road she took to go to school. She came and with her many of my dreams were coming.
"So what is your answer?" It was my first sentence when she came in front of me. In reality I hadn't even asked her to think about it, I was just pouring my feelings out to her. Then she took a piece of paper from her bag.