As I walked into the art room, I was three hours late to meet Shruti. I looked around the room slowly and found Shruti working on her artwork. Memories of yesterday's incident and the teacher's scary face flashed through my mind. If the teacher knew I was late and hadn't taken care of Shruti, it would be disastrous. That thought sent shivers down my spine. I slowly gathered the water bottle we had used last time and dashed out to refill it.
I was still working on minor details, and Rahul was nowhere to be found. I glanced at the clock and thought, "It's been three hours; what's taking him so long?" But then I remembered that he had his personal life too, and he must have been busy. As I pondered, someone waved their hand in front of my face. I looked up to see Rahul's hand, asking if I was thirsty. I was feeling a bit parched, despite drinking plenty of water before starting to paint, so I nodded.
I asked Shruti if she was thirsty, and she nodded her head in agreement. I looked at her hands, completely covered in colors. The only possible way for her to drink water was for me to help her. I opened the cap of the bottle and moved it towards her lips. As I did, I realized what I was doing and felt a sudden jolt of nervousness. I got a closer look at her lips, as I had forgotten my glasses at home. Her pink lips touched the bottle, and I slowly moved it upwards. It was the first time I felt nervous around Shruti; my heart was beating faster and faster each second.
As she had enough water, she took her lips away and tried to slide her front bangs back with the palm of her hand. I slid her front bangs back behind her ears. It was a nerve-wracking experience.
Just then, Teacher Mayuri appeared at the doorway, saying, "Wow! Young love flourishing here. Huh! I didn't know you were this type of person, Rahul." I started, collapsed, and quickly got up, saying, "It's not like that! It's a misunderstanding!"
Teacher Mayuri came closer, a smug look on her face, intentionally teasing me. "Don't tease me," I said, "or Shruti will feel awkward and can't focus on her work anymore." The teacher looked at Shruti and said, "Oh, really?" I followed her gaze and saw Shruti with a bright red face, working on her artwork.
I said, "Okay, let's help Shruti with her work." I started working on my artwork from the previous time. The atmosphere was awkward; we looked at each other and then quickly looked away. I didn't know what to make of my own actions anymore. With this awkward tension between us, we completed our artwork and went to submit it to the teacher in the staff room.