Residues

Chapter 8

Three kisses that happened between Yash and me changed everything. Each kiss changed me.

The First Kiss: We were alone in the college classroom. We were 19 years old. He was playing a tune on his guitar and I was listening. It was a nice tune. Yash wanted my opinion before he played to anyone else. He said only I was brutally honest.

When he finished, I could only stare at him, because I was kind of mesmerised by the tune. And he came closer and kissed me on my lips.

I was startled. But it felt so good. It lasted only for some seconds. It was soft. But filled with heat and feelings.

He backed off. And we never talked about that kiss ever after that.

The Second Kiss: One of our rich classmates threw a farewell party for our entire batch. Our 4 years of college was ending. We were 21.

It was dark. It was loud. People were drunk and wild. Rihan and Suhani were dancing. Vishwa was flirting with some girl.

Yash and I sat in a corner alone...

The song changed to a slow song. Rihan and Suhani began to slow dance. "Ishi..." Yash called.

I looked at him. "You remember the time we kissed?" he asked.

Of course, I remembered. That was my first and only kiss. He may have kissed a few girls after that. But not me.

I just nodded at him.

"It was actually the most wonderful kiss in my life," Yash said.

"Liar," I said.

"No. It's true." He looked ahead at Rihan and Suhani. Rihan was looking down at Suhani with so much love and affection. It felt like they were in their own bubble. "I was scared of that feeling," Yash mumble, his eyes still fixed on Rihan and Suhani.

I did not move. I did not know what that exactly meant.

But then the song turned to a fast song again. And in the same instant, Yash turned to me and kissed me. I was knocked out of my breath. I held my breath in.

People were going crazy over the new fast song. The lights were so dim that nobody could hardly see anyone. And they just danced wildly.

And I relaxed up and tentatively started kissing Yash back. His tongue graced the inside of my lips and I opened up for him. And we kissed and kept on kissing until the end of that song.

The Third Time: After an argument. In the rain... Hours before he died.

Chapter 8.5

Yash died in a bike crash.

One Rainy Night