I was waiting for Pranshi’s response after expressing my feelings to her. The next day when I entered the class, in curiosity to know her response, she was sitting with her best friend and discussing something. Then they both saw me. Her friend stood up and started walking toward me. I was feeling annoyed and thought, “She had promised me that she would not disclose this matter to anyone. Still, she discussed this with her friend. Oh, these girls cannot keep any secret.” Her friend was standing in front of me with a teasing smile.

“Pranshi told me everything about your yesterday’s scene,” she said.

“Hmm, so what do you want?” I replied.

“She is a bit confused about you. Whether you will stay with her or leave her.” Her friend said.

“I told everything to her and of course, I will stay with her. Otherwise, why would I ask her?” I replied with raised eyebrows.

“Actually, these are my words. She didn’t say that. Congrats! She has accepted your proposal.” She smiled and spoke.

After hearing this, I looked at Pranshi, and she was smiling with shyness. I became thrilled. I immediately wanted to go to her and talk. But then, our teacher entered, and we settled to our respective seats. When that class was over, I asked her to meet me at the same place after school. But she said that she would only come with her friend.

I agreed and waited for her at the same place. We were standing face to face. I asked her to give a proper reply to my proposal.

“Vini has already told you, didn’t she?” she said.

“I did not ask her. I have proposed to you. So, you must reply to me on my face.” I gave an intense look to her.

She smiled and said, “Yes, I love you.”

MY LOVE LIFE STARTED

After getting her answer, I was on cloud nine. Then we exchanged our phone numbers. Our relationship was on the track. Three months later, we became very comfortable with each other. My attraction for her went deeper and deeper with the passing of days. I used to rush near her coaching center in the evening and wait for her so that we could hang out with each other.

I was in class ten so; our school used to conduct a lot of practice exams before appearing for the final exam called board exam (class 10). This board exam is considered very crucial in our society. If someone does not perform well in this exam, then it is said that their life will be at a great stake. In the initial days, I used to score good in the practice tests and my teachers had a great expectation from me. But gradually, with increasing of my love for Pranshi, my scores went down. Still, I was not worried about it at all, but my teachers were very concerned. I had high self-confidence that I would do better in the final exams.

Our board exams were near, and the school gave us two weeks of vacation to prepare for the exams. Pranshi did not have a personal cell phone, so she used her mom’s cell phone. It was the seventh of February, known as Rose-day. I was sleeping and, in the morning, my phone ranged. It was her number and when I received the call; I heard someone else’s voice. It was Vini on the other side. They pranked me and pulled my legs for sleeping so late. I felt happiness for the entire day because of her one call in the morning. The next day I expected the same from her, but I was disappointed. My entire day had passed by waiting for her – one phone call. Three days passed. Despite that, I did not get a phone call from her. I became very anxious. Our board exam was round the corner, but my mind was hovering on Pranshi’s phone call.

MY FIRST VALENTINE’S DAY – IT WAS WORTH FORGETTING

It was 14^th of February, known as Valentine’s Day.

“Today she will call. It is our first Valentine’s Day. She might ask me to meet her. What shall I wear?” I was saying this to myself in my mind and whenever my phone would ring, I would expect Pranshi’s name to appear on my phone screen.

For the very first time in my life, I was very happy and waiting for a girl’s call on Valentine’s Day. But she did not call me. This curiosity turned into restlessness and then anger. I was becoming worried about her and wanted to know if she was okay. I was gazing at my phone desperately just to get one call from her, but things were quite opposite to my expectations. I thought to call one of our common friends to know what had happened with her. I called and narrated the whole thing to him in desperation. He tried to pacify me and said that he would check and inform me about her.

My first Valentine’s Day passed but my story did not change. The next day my friend called me up and told me something which I could not even imagine.

HOW COULD SHE DO THIS?

“You know why Pranshi is not calling you?” He said.

“No, I do not know. What happened to her?” I replied.

“She has cheated on you” He said.

“She has gone back to her previous boyfriend. She played a game with you” My friend told me in anger.

“How did you know?” I replied in a choked voice, trying to hold my nerves.

“Because her boyfriend is my friend, and he told me about this.” He spoke.

“Hmmm… Alright, I got my punishment to love someone madly. I should have focused on my studies. But I was hankering after her like a dog. And finally, she ditched me. Alright, Thank You for the information.” I hung up the call.

I wanted to shout and cry, but I was pretty good at holding back my emotions. So, I went out of my home to walk on the nearby playground. I wanted to share that intense pain of my heart with someone, but nobody was there with me. Then I went to her coaching center in the evening to ask her the reason for treating me like this. I stopped her on her way. Her friends were standing with her. I stared at her face with moistened red eyes. I was about to cry, but I did not want to look like a fool in front of her friends. So, I held my emotions.

“Why did you do this to me? What mistake did I do? If I were just a time pass for you, you could have said this. I would not have become mad after you.” I told.

She remained silent.

I became angry and shouted at her.

“Can’t you say anything? I am asking you something. I am not an idiot who is yelling at you in the public. Tell me!”, I said.

Then she responded with some cruel words. Her words were like sharpened arrows that pierced through my heart.

Stay tuned to know what she said to me…