Phir Bhi Tumko Chahunga (Shot 12)

The day at school went on well. Devakshi no more ignored each other in the corridors. Their “Hey Captain” coupled with a bright smile had become a signature pleasantry whenever they met.
After the school was over, Sonakshi along with Elena and Meera was leaving for her home when Dev passed by her in the corridor and whispered to her “Sharp 2:30.” She smiled as he turned back expecting the same.
At home, after her lunch, Sonakshi reached for her phone and found him online. She texted-

“So what’s the plan?”

“Hey! OK so the plan is…I’ll name a few categories and both of us will tell each other our favourites for each category, BUT at the SAME time. So as soon as you read the category i.e. I receive the blue ticks, both of is will answer together. OK?

“Cool! So let’s begin!”

“Favourite T.V. Show”
Sona: KRPKAB
Dev: Friends

“Cuisine”
Sona: Indian
Dev: Indian

“All time favourite food”
Sona: Kadhai paneer+ajwain ki pooriyan
Dev: Ma ke haat ka rajma-chawal

“Street food”
Sona: Paani Poori??
Dev: Gol gappe

“Comedian”
Sona: Kennnyyy????
Dev: Kenny Sebastian

“Indian singer/s (female)”
Sona: Shreya Ghoshal and Lata Ji
Dev: Shreya Ghoshal

“Indian singer/s (male)”
Sona: Shaan and Kishor Kumar
Dev: Arijit Singh

“English singer/s”
Sona: The Chainsmokers
Dev: Chainsmokers

“Recent favourite song”
Sona: Closer
Dev: Closer

“Indian band”
Sona: S.A.N.A.M.
Dev: Sanam

Dev was busy calculating the results while Sonakshi waited for the next category.

“Is that all?” She asked.

“Yup! The score is 7/10!”

“So….deductions?”

“Choices sach mein kaafi milti hain?. Jatin was right!”
(We actually have similar choices!)

“I told you?”

“Yeah! Hey btw do you have any idea about Riya and Ayaan?”

“Of course! The latest, so called “LOVEBIRDS” of the school. I don’t understand if they even realise they’re in class 12. Their careers are at stake and they’re busy with their “Baby-Shona” stuff! Teachers and parents have always been chanting to us all the time to avoid such distractions. But these people only know how to spoil the environment of the school. I feel like complaining against them to the principal….they must drop out of the school at once and get married.”

“Woah! Ma’am relax! They’re in love.”

“So what? Even I’m in lo……
Sonakshi was about to blurt everything out… But luckily she realised it soon. She deleted the last line and retyped-

“This is not love! Showing off to the world that we are ‘do jism ek jaan’. Huh! They are only in “Main tera boyfriend tu meri girlfriend” zone. That’s all! Once the school gets over none of them will even remember the other’s last name. Ayaan is just playing with her feelings and that fool Riya thinks that he really loves her. I bet he’ll ditch her the moment he catches a prettier girl. He’s such a dog!”

“He isn’t that bad yaar! He really likes her. He’s my friend I know him.”

“Of course!…….I can’t believe you’re defending him.”

“They love each other and they admit it. What’s wrong with that?”

“Ya n their friends have been planning their kid’s names, not ashamed of the fact that they’re wasting their parents hard earned money, pretending that they come to school to study.”

“I give up my lord! Main baaton mein tumse kabhi nahi jeet sakta. Let’s change the topic!”

“Hmm…..better!”

“So Miss. Bose aapko kabhi kisi se pyar nahi hua?”
(Have you ever fallen in love with someone?)

You can imagine her reaction, right! She blushed reading this msg of his with a smile pasted on her face, but made it a point not to let out even a hint.

“No! But why?”

“Not even a crush?”

“Hmmm……crush toh bade saare the….Bangalore mein.”
(Ya there were many…..but in Bangalore)

“Delhi mein koi?”
(No one in Delhi?)

Sonakshi smiled to herself and got into the troll-mode.

“Haan”
(Yes)

“Kaun?”
(Who?)

“Main kyun bataun?”
(Why should I tell?)

“Agar tum mujhe bataogi, toh main tumhe apna bataunga.”
(If you tell em your crush I’ll tell you mine!)

“Promise?”

“Pakka promise!”

“OK so Delhi mein my one and only crush was….”

“Was……??????”

“Anuj”

“The singer?”

“Yeah!….but sirf do din ka crush tha…..I was kinda super impressed with his singing when I was new to the school?…..but ab koi crush nahi hai!”
(Ya that was only for two days….right now no crush)

“Ohkkk”

“Ab tumhaari baari!”
(Its your turn now)

“Haan kya?…..kya baari??”
(What turn?)

“Dev!?”

“Haan bolo”
(Ya tell me)

“Batao!!”
(Speak up)

“Kya bataun?”
(What?)

“Tumhara crush”
(Your crush)

“Koi nahi hai yaar…”
(There’s none)

“Bye! Don’t you ever dare talk to me again!”

“Arre…..sach mein koi nahi hai!”
(Seriously, there is no one)

“You’d promised Dev! Don’t lie now.”

“Sach bol raha hoon meri maa.”
(I’m not lying)

“Yeh toh cheating hai….tumne mera crush jaan liya….aur ab apna nahi bata rahe! This is very bad Dev. I never expected this from you. You’ve disappointed me.”
(This is cheating…. You got to know my crush and you’re not telling me yours)

“I’m sorry! I’m kinda shy about this!”

“Hadd hai yaar…..ladki hoke maine tumhe bata diya…and you’re shy? Hopeless!! Come on….You’ll have to tell me Dev….otherwise…..”

“OK fine! There is a girl in my life and I really like her a lot.”

“And her name is…..??”

“Riddhima”

“Riddhima Kohli? Your classmate?”

“Yup!”

Sonakshi knew he wasn’t going to take her name, but she expected it to be either his Mom, or Nikki, or some physics or chemistry or maths book writer. She could never have imagined in the wildest of her dreams that Dev would have a crush on his classmate….that too Riddhima!! She was just not his type! Before Sonakshi could recover from this shock Dev’s msg popped up-

“Have you met her?”

“Yes I have.”

“Did you like her?”

“Ya…she’s good…I mean she’s beautiful, smart, easy to mingle.”

“She’s just perfect! I really like her a lot Sonakshi!”

“Have you told her about this?”

“No! I can’t make it. What if she doesn’t like me? I may even loose a friend in her.”

Sonakshi was gobsmacked. All this time she’d been thinking that she was the only “girl”-friend he had. But she was wrong. She wasn’t special to him. She was just like any other girl in the school. This minor heartbreak left her incapable to talk anymore to him.

“Dev I gotta go….mom’s calling.”

“Ya its OK… We’ll talk later. Bye!”

Dev genuinely had no idea about what Sonakshi had been going through. He only considered her a friend, may be a special friend with whom he could share everything, but nothing more. Riddhima was someone he really liked (at least he thought that he liked her). He had never shared this with anyone, not even Jatin, but now that he had told Sonakshi about her, he felt relieved, he felt happy. Sonakshi on the other hand was fighting with her tears.

“What for am I crying?” She spoke to herself still sobbing. “It wasn’t his fault. Galti meri hi thi jo main apne hi mann mein yeh maan baithi ki shayad woh bhi mujhse……Whatever he did, WAS special, but may be only to me….ho sakta hai uske liye yeh sab normal ho….usne toh kaha bhi tha that he did it all for himself…..it wasn’t for me…..Main hi pagal hoon jo friendship se kuch zyada expect kar rahi thi. BUT!…..I can’t stop loving him. I really can’t. One true love is all I believed in….aur woh mujhe ho chuka hai…..ek tarfa hi sahi….par pyar toh hai.”
(It wasn’t his mistake, it was me who thought that even he loves me. May be whatever he did for me was normal to him…..he had even said he did it all for himself….. I was mad to expect anything beyond friendship. But I love him…though its one sided…but it is love)

She immediately wiped off her tears and smiled looking at the mirror.

“Shahrukh ne kya kaha tha?
Ek tarfa pyar ki taaqat hi kuch aur hoti hai. Aur rishton ki tarah yeh do logo mein nahi bant ti. Sirf mera haq hai ispe.
Mera pyaar mere saath hi rahega, forever. Aur HUM?? Dost hi acche hain!”
(What had shahrukh said, “one sided love is the strongest relation of all, as its strength isn’t divided between two people. Only I have all the rights on it. My love will always be mine. And WE?? we’ll just be friends)

Coming days saw Devakshi’s strengthening friendship. It became a daily routine for them to chat thrice a day. Once in the morning at 6:00, then in the after noon at 2:30 and then at night at 10:30. This was a fixed schedule.

They didn’t talk much in school as they hardly met, except for the corridors, where greeting a “Hey Captain” had become a ritual for them. Dev began sharing each and everything happening in his life with Sonakshi and so did she. She had never been so open to any guy before, obviously because she had never been in love with a guy before. Elena had a hint of all this as not a single day, after the teacher’s day, had passed without Sonakshi speaking about Dev. It was as if there was nothing happening in her life, except for him.

The fact was that, none of them could spend a day without talking to each other and what added to this was Dev’s frequent visits to her home. He always landed up at her doorsteps on the pretext of borrowing her English notes, while she often called him to help her with maths, calculus to be precise. Sona’s mother kinda knew that this bond was a little more than friendship. Asha decided to ask her one day.

Asha: Sona!

Sona: Haan maa
(Yes maa)

Asha: Dev acha ladka hai na?
(Dev is a good boy…right?)

Sona: Haan….hai toh…kyun?
(Ya he is……but why?)

Asha: Toh tujhe pasand hai woh?
(So….do you like him?)

Sona: Pasand hai…but only as a friend and nothing more.
(Yes but only as a friend)

Asha: Are you sure there’s nothing more? Agar aisa kuch hai toh bata de beta.
(If there’s anything more….do let me know)

Sona: Trust me Maa….aisa kuch nahi hai…..we are JUST FRIENDS!

…………………………………………………………..
PRECAP: Hum tum ek kamre mein band ho……aur padosi aa jaaye!?

P.S. Please don’t kill me after this update. Abhi life insurance bhi nahi karwaaya hai maine?! The coming 4 or 5 chapters are going to be really crucial for the story, as the description of this story will be justified and so will be the title. All I ask for, is a little patience and lots of comments.

Love you all!