Suravi’s surprising proposal

The following day in the morning Suravi called me up to wish me good morning. We talked for about 10 minutes. She invited me to meet her at noon at a near by place. I agreed to come and we hung up. I arrived at the place at noon, and Suravi appeared behind me, asking me to follow her behind a nearby building. I felt nervous as she looked directly into my eyes.

I thought, “What does she want? Why she has called me here?”

Then she said, “You can propose to me one more time and I won’t reject you this time.”

I was unsure how to respond, so I paused before answering, “Last time you had rejected me. So, I am not going to propose to you once more. If you want to be with me, then you have to propose to me.”

Suravi smiled and said, “I want to be with you.”

I replied, “Okay. I accept your proposal”.

She was very happy and we took a selfie together. Then I left the place since I was feeling a bit uncomfortable. I reached home and showed our photo to my elder brother.

Brother’s advice

He smiled and said, “You should focus on your studies at this crucial point in your career. What’s this all about? And what about Pranshi?”

I replied, “Pranshi put me in the friend zone, but Suravi is interested in me. So, I decided to move on with her.”

He said, “Do as you wish but don’t forget that you are in a critical stage of your education. Concentrate on your studies.”

Pranshi’s mixed signals

I was planning to share a photo with my college friends after they challenged me, but I didn’t end up doing so. I shared the news of my new relationship with Pranshi and sent her a photo of me and Suravi to share my happiness. However, her response was a simple “Congratulations!” and then she went offline. I couldn’t comprehend the reason behind her behavior, but I decided not to dwell on it.

Later that evening, Pranshi’s mother and sisters called me to join them in visiting different Pandals for Durga Puja. I agreed to join them but was taken aback by Pranshi’s attitude toward me. She seemed distant and only spoke in taunts. It was like I was seeing a completely different side of her.

Whenever I spoke, she would respond with taunts about Suravi. Her behavior was getting on my nerves, so I decided to confront her.

I asked, “What’s the problem? Why are you speaking to me like that? You were the one who encouraged me to move on and find someone new. Now that I’m with Suravi, why are you constantly taunting me?”

Her eyes moistened and she didn’t say anything. I shouted at her in front of her sisters. Then her elder sister came up and asked, ‘Why are you fighting on the road?”

Then, I walked with them but kept a good distance from Pranshi. I was furious inside, and refused to speak to anyone. After maintaining silence for about 15 minutes, I was able to calm down and gain some clarity. I realized that Pranshi was feeling jealous of Suravi, and perhaps still harbored feelings for me. With this realization, I approached her and apologized, saying, “I’m sorry for shouting at you earlier.”

“I am sorry. I shouldn’t have taunted you,” she said apologetically, looking at me. Then, she smiled as we walked home together.

Difficult to understand Pranshi

Once I reached my house, I texted Pranshi to let her know I had made it home. She replied with a simple “Take care.”

“Do you still have feelings for me?” I asked her.

“No, I don’t have feelings for you,” she replied.

I was skeptical of her answer and asked, “Then why did you behave like a jealous girl? I know the truth even if you try to hide it from me.”

“That’s because I can’t see you with someone else,” she admitted.

I probed further, “What do you mean?”

“Okay…I confess. I have feelings for you. But now Suravi is there in your life. So, please take care of her,” she revealed.

I was taken aback by her confession and asked her, “Then why did you friend-zone me? You could have said this before.”

“Because I was scared whether you would accept me again. I have made a lot of mistakes, and you were furious with me,” she explained.

I decided to end the conversation for the night and told her to go and sleep, adding that we could talk more about it tomorrow.

The night of overwhelming emotions

Her emotions were overwhelming, and I was feeling sad for her. On the other hand, Suravi was making efforts to strengthen our relationship, leaving me in a dilemma.

Initially, I had no romantic feelings for Suravi; I had only pursued her as a challenge from my friends. Meanwhile, the girl I had truly loved was feeling heartbroken over me moving on with someone else. My anger and resentment towards Pranshi transformed into a complex emotion of guilt and justification, which seemed appropriate given the circumstances. I didn’t want her to suffer because of my actions. As a result, I ended up sleeping late that night.

Suravi’s invitation and Pranshi’s call

The following morning, Suravi called me to meet her at the park near my house. I tried to avoid her request, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn her down.

Then Pranshi called me up. “Hey, we are all going to the sea beach. Disha’s friends are also coming. Let’s go. We will relax there.”

“I have promised Suravi to meet her in the park. I can’t come now. But I can come in the evening.” I replied.

“Okay, we will go in the evening then.” She replied and hung up the call.

Despite feeling conflicted, I ultimately decided to go with the flow. I met Suravi at the park, and we spent around 30 minutes together. Later on, I went to the beach with Pranshi and her sisters. While we were there, Pranshi and I sat together on a bench by the seashore. Her sister and their friends sat at another place some distance away from us.

She sat quietly, her chin resting on her fists, gazing at the waves of the sea. Her hair was being gently tousled by the ocean breeze, and I watched her silently from the side, feeling a sense of sadness. We both were silent and the sound from the tides was prominent.

“So, what now?” I broke the silence and asked.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You know very well what I am talking about,” I replied.

“Nothing. You be happy with your Suravi and I will live my life,” she replied.

“Okay. So, you don’t have any problem?”, I asked.

She just nodded her head signaling a “no” with grief-stricken eyes.

“You were crying last night,” I said.

“How did you know?”, she asked surprisingly.

“I know a lot of things about you,” I said.

She didn’t say anything.

“When did you sleep last night?” I asked.

“I cried till 2 o’clock. Then fell asleep,” she replied.

I was shocked. I couldn’t say anything. Her emotions were compelling enough to resume with Pranshi. I went up and brought a bottle of cold drink and a packet of potato chips. I opened the packet and gently passed onto her. She looked down and refused to eat anything. The situation was becoming more and more intense for me. Then suddenly my mom called me and asked me to return home.

The decision to make

Pranshi’s behavior had a deep impact on me, and I felt compelled to clear things with Suravi. Fueled by my desire to make amends, I took a step forward. But little did I know that this decision would lead to a catastrophic mistake.

I had considered telling Suravi that my actions were solely intended to impress my friends and that I didn’t have any romantic feelings for her. However, I found myself unable to follow through with this plan. Meanwhile, Pranshi’s growing affection towards me was starting to shift my focus towards her instead.

The following day, I received a call from one of my college friends who inquired if Suravi and I were dating. In response, I claimed that she had proposed to me and we were now in a relationship.

I responded, “Yes, she actually proposed to me.”

“What? Are you out of your mind? She’s not a suitable match for you,” he exclaimed.

“Why do you say that?” I questioned.

“Because she views people as mere tools to be utilized for her own benefit. I’ve known her since sixth grade and I know her very well,” he warned.

“That’s not something she’s exhibited thus far. However, she does call me at least six times a day and forces me to talk to her, which I don’t really want,” I shared.

“Trust me, within a week, you’ll come to regret your decision,” he asserted.

“Okay, well, I’m not particularly attached to her anyways. Let’s see how things play out,” I replied before ending the call.

After my friend’s warning, I began to reconsider my feelings for Suravi and shifted my attention toward Pranshi. As a result, I started to ignore Suravi’s calls, which made her upset. However, as the college vacation came to an end, I realized that I needed to focus on my studies to secure good grades, so I decided to tell Suravi that I could no longer continue the relationship.

Ironically, it turned out that I had been deceived by both Suravi and Pranshi, and neither of them had genuine feelings for me. It took me a couple of months to figure this out, but I eventually did. It will be great to share how I discovered this, as well as why they had been pretending to like me.

Stay tuned to learn how did I learn that and why they were doing so…