Bus#126W - Chapter 11

I stared at him, thoroughly confused.

“What, it just means that..” I stuttered.

Arpit let go off me and started walking away slowly.

“Arpit, please!” I grabbed his arm tightly, “Why are you taking this seriously!”

He shook my hand off him, “Because,” He started, his voice low and controlled, “You’re supposed to be my friend. You’re supposed to be the one who knows me inside out ..” He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words, “And even you think I’m not good enough. Why Naina?”

I touched his face lightly, “I think you’re wonderful Arpit. The sweetest person I have ever met. I just meant that I cannot imagine the two of us together. But I love you. Surely, you must know that.”

In that moment, there was nobody around us. Not Sneha, not Pooja, not the tens of students walking past us. A small smile started to appear on Arpit’s face.

“I know you do, it’s just..” He hesitated, “When people see me with Sneha, I know what they’re thinking and it sucks that my best friend feels the same way.”

There it was, straight as an arrow. I couldn’t deny his accusations. I hung my head in shame.

“Would it help if I said I’m sorry?” I asked sincerely.

“Yes.” He said simply.

And voila, everything was perfect again. Well, almost everything. I still didn’t like Sneha and I didn’t know why but I had enough sense than to bring it up at that time.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Our perfect moment ruined, we both turned to look at the intruder. Sneha.

Instantly, my hand fell away from his face.

I smiled at her. I could afford to be nice to her. I could at least try.

“Hey Sneha, how are you?” I was as genuine as I could be.

“Hi Naina.” If I didn’t know better, I would have thought she was being icy.

“We’re going to class, see you during lunch?” Arpit told her casually and started walking.

Sneha’s eyes followed him. I could see the sudden hurt in them. She hadn’t expected him to walk away from her.

“Coming Naina?” Arpit called out from a distance.

Sneha turned to me, disbelief reflecting on her face. For some reason, I couldn’t hide my glee too.

 “You bet!” I flashed a bright smile at her, and made my way towards Arpit.