A College Love Story - Part 9

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The benches on the sports ground were such that they were facing the ground, so that the players could take rest and watch the game. Sometimes other students would also sit and watch their friends play. The ground was situated on one corner of the campus. So when Varsha and Harish sat on a bench, their classroom buildings came behind them.

“So Varsha!” Harish said, “How were your vacations?” Varsha said, “They were good, I had fun.” He asked, “Where did you go?” she said, “Hubli, my hometown, we were Mantur village. That is where my grandparents live.” Harish said, “Oh that is nice, we should take off to a village once in a while to get away from the hustle bustle of the city!” “And what did you do in the vacations?” she asked him. “Oh, me and my family went to Kerala for a few days. Then me, Priya, Vineeth and Raksha went on a trip to Belur and Halebid. We went for two days.”

“Hey, that is so cool! The next time, I will join you guys. How did you go?” Varsha asked. “We took Raksha’s car. Her driver came with us. He also doubled up as our local guardian, and kept us out of trouble.” Harish said with a laugh. “So Varsha, when is your birthday?” she said, “This Saturday. I am very excited about it!” He replied, “Oh so soon? Cool, birthday wishes in advance. What do you plan to do?” and before she could reply, he said, “Where do you plan to take us?” She said, “Where do you want to go?” Harish said, “We’ll discuss with the others and plan it. Cool this Saturday then!” Varsha smiled at his enthusiasm. “When is your birthday, Harish?” she said. He replied, “In January, long way to go.”

There was a brief pause for a while, and both of them were silent. Harish then took a deep breath, and stood up. He turned around, and faced Varsha. “Oh ya, Varsha, I had to tell you something.” She froze, wondering what this was about. “Yes, tell me, Harish.” She replied. He did not answer immediately. Instead he shifted his gaze beyond her, lost in thought. His eyes were fixed on a particular point, but he was not looking at it, he had a glazed, dreamy look about him. He gave a half smile, a half laugh, and then turned to face her. “Actually Priya wanted me to ask you something. She told me to ask you.” Varsha was getting a little confused and scared. Priya wanted Harish to ask her something? Why didn’t she ask Varsha directly? “What did she want to ask me?” Harish did not answer, instead he looked away from her again, in the direction of the buildings. “Actually this is a little difficult for me,” he said, finally tearing his eyes from the distant scene, and looking at her again.

Now Varsha lost her patience. “Harish, you asked me to bunk class, and said you have something important to tell me. Now you waste my time like this? Please tell me what you have to say, otherwise say it in front of the others.” Harish looked a little scared at her outburst. He said, “Yes, I will tell you, it’s just that I need you to be a little patient, Varsha, this is important, please!” She looked away from him in her rage, and missed his expression change from a tensed frown, to a relieved smile. She looked back at him, and saw him smiling at something behind her. This irritated her, and she decided to leave. She unexpectedly stood up, and picked up her bag. “Okay Harish, we will talk later.” He got really scared now, “Wait,” he said, holding up his hands. “I want to tell you something.”

“I want to tell you…. I want to tell you…” as Harish was struggling with words, someone tapped Varsha on her shoulder, and she turned. “I want this idiot to tell you, do you want some cake?” asked Priya. Varsha looked up to see her gang, and a few other friends gathered there, with big grins on their faces. “Happy Birthday in advance, Varhsa!” said Raksha, who was standing next to Priya with a cake in her hand. Varsha was thoroughly confused, and turned to Harish, who looked relieved now. “God! I had the biggest struggle! It is not easy to keep you occupied till they got the cake here!” Priya laughed at him. She asked Varsha, “Did he talk nonsense? I told him to keep you here till we get the cake. He was the only one who could have made you bunk class, because we did not want you to get suspicious about the party!” Varsha said, “You scared me! All of you!”

“What are we waiting for? Let’s get this party started!” said Harish, looking very happy, now that his big job was over. “But, what about class?!” Varsha asked. “Ever heard of the term ‘mass bunk’?” Vineeth asked innocently. “Wont we get into trouble?” she said. “Oh Varsha, you get scared so easily!” said Raksha. They spent the rest of the hour snacking on cake, chips, and Fanta; the absolute necessities of any party. Of course, what birthday cake is complete without smearing it on the birthday baby’s face? They all managed to give Varsha a cake facial, in spite of her feeble protests. When the bell rang announcing the next hour, the group had cleared the place of trash, and cheerfully made their way to their next class. They had presented Varsha a card and a cute top.

She felt happy and touched with her friends’ gesture. It was really a surprise party for her; she had never expected it. She was also thoroughly fooled by Harish’s acting, and his lame attempts to keep her attention diverted. She kept laughing and giggling throughout the day at the memory of Harish all tense and sweaty, with his frequent glances towards the class, wondering why the others did not hurry up. Priya turned to her and said, “Laughing at Harish? He almost cried when I told him to talk to you like that. He did not know what to say, so I suggested this.” Varsha laughed even more at that. “Poor Harish, you are really mean!” Priya smiled and said, “What to do!”

Varsha could not wait to go home and tell her mother what happened in college that day. While leaving class, she spotted Madhav sir in the first floor balcony. He was chatting with another teacher from the Economics department. She wanted to wave at him, but could not do that because of the other teacher. ‘I will talk to him later,’ she thought to herself.

 

Thanks! yes, you are the first poster