Hey guys :)
So regarding my last two chapters you might have noticed I love my cars. What I would do to drive in one of those baby's. I guess all I can do is keep dreaming, but that doesn't mean I can't give Viraat his own baby, (so I did) And his house, I have no idea if houses like that even exist in the world let alone in NY, if only...
Anyway, thanks for reading, commenting and liking. :)
||Chapter six||
A pool of emotions..
The minds like a closet, the more things you keep closed inside it, the more likely it is for people to give up searching for something inside. Maanvi followed that principle and had managed to shake of the unusual feeling and bury it deep in one the many boxes she had in her minds closet. She was certain she had enough crap in there to keep people out of her closet for an entire lifetime. She noticed him staring at her, "What?"
When he brought her to the pool to show her the beauty of the room, he didn't realise it would be him taken back by what he saw. The indigo lights illuminated her face, bringing out her eyes. A pool of emotions, he noticed, was kept hidden behind her glassy pupils. A pool much deeper than the one he stood near to now. Her wavy hair framed her face almost perfectly and just brushed passed her shoulders. His hand ached to stroke her soft cheeks, revive her of her pain, make her eyes reflect happiness, not sadness. He longed to hug her, keep her close to him, protect her. But was he in a place to do so. Could he protect her if he didn't know what she needed protecting from? Will he be able keep her smiling, before it be became too late?
"What?!" Shit, she caught him staring now what was he meant to say? "What?" Smart, very smart, he acted like he had no clue what she was on about. Unfortunately, she wasn't falling for it, "You know what. Quit staring." "I'm not," he replied defiantly. "Oh really?" she crossed her arms. "Yes really." "I don't believe you." It was probably best for him to make a quick exit, "When do you ever?"
~~~
They were in the kitchen now drinking juice out of coffee mugs. He noticed restlessness in her eyes. "Hey what's wrong partner?" She didn't respond, so he asked again, louder this time.
"Why are you shouting, I'm sitting opposite you," she moaned rubbing her temples. "She speaks!" "What's wrong with you?" "Funny I was about ask you the same thing." She went silent again, okay now he was definitely sure something was up. He decided to give her some time, and amused himself by counting how many sips he could take before she spoke.
He was about to take his 23rd sip, when he heard her voice. "My mom died when I was eight, that was the first time I cried." She was fiddling with her mug, "Three weeks after her death I was sent to live in Clementine's Home for Children." Why was she telling him this? "I'm an only child so I have no blood siblings. I'm not a friends person either, I didn't go to school but was home schooled, actually a better term would be orphanage schooled. When I was 10 they discovered I was apparently a genius child."
She didn't say genius in a smug way nor did she sound too proud or egotistic about it. "I was 13 when I scored a perfect 2400 on my SAT's and offered a place in Harvard, which I declined." "But, I thought you go th.." "In answer to your question, I accepted my place later. I first declined my place because I couldn't leave someone behind, someone special."
He couldn't help thinking it was a boy, even though he knew very well she hated guys, the selfish person he was desperately wished it wasn't a boy. "Who was it?" he tried his best not to sound too hopeful. "Jeevika Di." Di meant sister, as in female, not a boy, Viraat sighed in relief. "Aren't you an only child though?" "I said I don't have any blood siblings, but that doesn't mean I don't have any at all."
~~~
She told him how much she hated the orphanage at first. How every time somebody would talk to her, she would ignore them until they finally left her alone. She then told him about her Di, who wasn't related to her by blood but still loved her unconditionally. Her Di who lived as an orphan since birth, and wanted a little sister badly. Her Di who spoke to her every day and even though Maanvi would ignore her in the beginning, she would never stop narrating her countless stories and had eventually managed to break Maanvi out of her shell. Her Di whom she trusted the most, her first friend, her best companion and finally her sister. The very same Di who studied day and night to get the marks required to apply to Harvard, just so Maanvi would go too.
"I'm only two years younger than her, but she treats me like I'm her baby. Sure I still miss my Mom, but she seems to be able to make it hurt less." She saw him smile, "You know after Di, you're the only person I've trusted enough to make my friend," she said softly.
Maanvi looked at her mug, the orange liquid swirled round the cup, she tried to make rings to distract herself from looking at him. Why? She didn't know. She had nothing to be afraid of cause deep down she knew he would never judge her. Never.
"And did you know, that you're the only friend I have who I'm actually afraid of losing," he replied in the same way she did. She stopped moving her mug. The funny feeling was back, perhaps her boxes came loose, was that even possible, can mental boxes come undone? She shook her head and at the same time she spilled some of the juice on to the table top. This didn't go unnoticed by him so she quickly grabbed some tissue paper and cleaned it up. She sincerely hoped he didn't think she was a total nutcase right now.
Viraat failed to realise her accidentally spill the juice and was lost in deep thought. Her eyes now showed a new emotion, it showed fear. But what was she afraid of? He then noticed the spilt liquid when he felt something sticky on his jacket sleeve. 'Was she scared of spilling the juice?" he scratched his head in thought. "Of course she isn't you idiot, it's something else.." "Did you say something?" "Hmm, sorry what," she gave him a funny look. "Oh, nothing. So how did you get in to Harvard then??"
"Well when everyone found out about the genius orphan freak they wanted to claim her. One was a Harvard prof who offered me a place in their undergraduate program. 'Harvard is the place to enhance your gift,' I remember her saying," she put gift in air quotes, and did a silly British accent.
"It's an American college," he said matter of factly. She shrugged, "I know, but it sounds more snobby like that. Anyway, I declined; as usual there was no way I was going to leave for college without Di. Everyone tried to persuade me but I stayed adamant, finally the prof agreed and said when I was ready to apply, they would be honoured take me. I happily said goodbye and returned to find a very upset Di. She refused to talk to me, she called me selfish and mean for making her feel bad, but in the end she couldn't keep it up, she had to talk to me
But something changed, my carefree Di, who was always laughing and smiling, became a studying robot. No longer did she have free time; no longer did she play pranks with me or go out. Two years later she did her SATs and ended up with a score of 2360. On the day of her results she came into our room with two forms in her hands, and she told me, 'Now will you please go to Harvard.'
That was the second time I cried, my Di, who wasn't even related to me, sacrificed her time to study and get a high score just so both of us could go to College, together. Just so I wouldn't have to give up my place for her, she gave up two years of her life for me."
Maanvi closed her eyes and inhaled softly. She wondered if she had done the right thing, sharing so much information about herself with him. But for some reason, it didn't feel wrong. Instead, it felt right, totally and absolutely right.
When not distracted by her eyes, Viraat's mind dwelled on one question. Why was she telling him this? It was when he saw her close her eyes, he realised the answer.
"Okay two things. A) you are not a freak." Her eyes opened, it was as if she wasn't expecting him to speak. "And B) partner just because I told you my story doesn't mean I expected you to do the same." She looked taken back, "I know but I just thought you also wanted me to share my past." Seriously she actually thought he was like that, "You know for a genius your pretty dumb." "Huh?" "In friendship there are no expectations, no conditions, and no pressure. Friendship is just two people who share a mutual bond called understanding and are able to trust each other." "So what I'm hearing is you weren't curious?" He sighed, "Obviously I was curious, I always am, especially when it comes to you. I'm human. But that doesn't mean I'll force you to tell me and definitely not when it's something you don't want to share and would rather keep to yourself. I don't expect you to do anything you don't want to."
She nodded in response, though all she could think about was, especially when it comes to you, especially when it comes to you. "Partner, are you okay?" She looked at him and smiled, "You know, we seem to ask that to each other a lot." He smiled back, "Well that's one thing I guess we have in common, we're both lost."
They both laughed and then she remembered something. "By the way, I'm not pretty dumb. I told you because I wanted to, not because I felt pressured by you, okay." He sipped his juice, "Okay."
She didn't say she told him because she needed him to know, needed him to understand her. She didn't say she told him because she felt that she could share anything with him or that when he was around her, her boxes came lose. She didn't say told him because she felt scared, scared of what she was experiencing. She didn't say any of that. Instead she said, "Okay."
"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."- Anais Nin
Bye, thanks for reading :)
-Ava
Edited by SmileXD - 11 years ago
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