Sarayu

Chapter 3

It was time to go back to school. None of the subjects were able to catch my attention, not even my favorite subject, English, but my friends caught on from there.

It was time for lunch. Vaishali, the tomboy and the strongest of the batch, Krishna, the silent nerd who secretly likes Vaishali, and Rahul, the charming playboy of the school, we're all sitting together. Vaishali was a saxophonist and a trombonist, Krishna was a flutist (of course), Rahul was a percussionist and a pianist, while I was a percussionist and a beginner pianist (because Rahul taught me). We were passionate musicians with a idea of making a band together but our parents didn't agree.

Not only musicians, but we had dream careers. Vaishali wanted to pursue MBA as she had always had the ambition of having her own business. Krishna was a science specialist, so he wanted to get a PhD degree. Rahul wanted to be a musician, but since his parents didn't want him in that field, for now he wanted to settle with doing a music composition minor and a data science major. I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer, because those type of things were interesting to be, don't ask.

Vaishali calls out, "Soooo anyone on your mind right now?" I didn't say a word.

"You still doubt it?" asks Rahul.

"Fine, yes I do."

Krishna says, "Hold up, is it like my life story?"

Vaishali comes and says, "Huh? You like someone?"

Rahul whispers, "Everyone knows who the nerd likes, except the tomboy herself," and we chuckle, while Vaishali rolls her eyes because we do this everyday.

I tell them, "The girl is my Carnatic class teacher's daughter, Sarayu."

"Sounds like a grandma's name..." calls Rahul.

Krishna, the traditionalist, argues, "No, the name is pretty and old-fashioned."

"And that is why it sounds like a grandma's name."

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

"No."

"Yes."

"NO."

"YES."

Annoyed, I call out, "Oh just shut up you too! Krishna wins this argument."

Krishna started, "Ha, haha, haha, hahahahahaaaaa!" Rahul just rolled his eyes, and Vaishali started laughing.

Krishna gave a smile, a real smile, when Vaishali started laughing. It reminded me of the smile I gave when Sarayu gave me a look at the end of class. She was real, and it was shown in her eyes, like how it was shown in Krishna's eyes.

When I was on the bus, I got a thought. I've known Sarayu for only a few weeks, while I've known my classmates and friends for so many years, but why didn't I get such a feeling for them, and why did I get such a feeling for Sarayu.

I wanted to make an answer for myself. Sarayu was so pretty, inside. Her innocence, her talent, her real self, everything about her personality was so pretty, who wouldn't fall in love with her?

I reached home, to see my dad furious, so I tried to slip away to my bedroom quickly, which didn't work. "Abhi, come over here." Shoot, did he read my mind voice?

"Uh, yeah?"

"What do you have to say about this?" And he shows me my social studies average of a 74%, the only C I have, compared to my English, math, and science grades with an A- and 2 A's, which my dad won't see.

"Give me an answer, Abhimanyu." Something my dad me calls when he was angry.

"It was my last two tests, I got a 78 and a 70."

"Fine, we'll get you a tutor for social studies, and classes will start from next week."

I couldn't deal with social studies for even the 45 minutes at school, now I'm going to have to study social studies for another hour?

Days were going by really slowly. Life wasn't interesting, but my grades were lower, compared to last year. Every time I felt overwhelmed, stress, or just low, one face relieved me. Sarayu's face. Her smile. She cured me, and I no longer felt that way. She made me confident about myself, her smile made me say to myself, "I can do this." Some thought I was crazy, while I thought I wasn't wrong.

And then came Saturday. Yes, that day.