Flashback

Author

Adwait and Devisha have become best friends after Devisha apologized to Adwait for her behavior. But their friendship is more than just being friends. They both can feel the pull towards each other, the way their hearts start beating rapidly after just looking at the other person.

But they stay quiet. No one has expressed their true feelings yet.

It’s been a year, and now their 12th boards are approaching.
Devisha and Adwait both are thinking about the same thing: after completing their boards, they won’t be able to meet each other, and maybe their love will just become an incomplete story.

Adwait

Bro, what do I do? How do I ask her? What if she gets upset and says no? But if I don’t say anything, it could make things worse.

Who even made this rule that only guys should propose? Why can’t girls do it too? My mind’s just all over the place. I’ve been thinking about how to propose for the past two hours, and I ended up with nothing. My mind works so well usually, but today it seems like it went out for a walk, leaving me alone with the mess—like, what the heck, man. What do I do? How do I do this?

Look, Devi’s favorite color is white. She loves chole bhature, dal makhani, and butter naan in main course. She always says that if anyone wants to date her, they should offer her some ice cream, and she would melt right there and say yes.

But what should I say when I propose?

“Devi, I love you”? Nah, that sounds way too direct.

I’ll try my best to express my feelings, but what if she gets bored and falls asleep?

Man, I don’t even have a friend I can go to for advice.

Let me just Google: How to propose to your crush?

Ugh, if I propose with these suggestions, Devisha might just slap me. I’ll have to come up with something myself.

Author

It’s evening now, and Adwait called Devisha to meet him near the lake near their college.

Adwait was waiting patiently for her to arrive when Devisha arrived there, his breath hitched. He was looking at her with so much love.

Devisha was wearing a white kurti and blue jeans with oxidized jhumkas,
Whereas Adwait was wearing a white shirt.

As soon as their eyes met, the world around them seemed to fade away.

Devisha smiled softly and made her way towards him.

She called out for him, but it seemed that he was lost in his dreamland.

“Oye, hello, kahaan kho gaye?” (Hey, hello, where did you go?) Devisha asks, waving her hands in front of his eyes.

“Uh, kuch nahi, idhar hi hoon.” (Uh, nothing, I'm right here) Adwait says, smiling sheepishly.

They both were now sitting in front of the lake in silence, thinking about their friendship and feelings.

Adwait, deciding to break the silence, cleared his throat.

“Uhm…” Adwait tries to speak, but words didn’t come out of his mouth.

“Kya?” (What?) Devisha questions.

“Woh Devi, tum shanti se suno, beech mein rokna mat mujhe. Woh mai keh raha tha, aaj ka mausam kitna accha hai na?” (Devisha, listen quietly, don’t interrupt me. What I was saying was, how nice the weather is today, right?) Adwait says, struggling with his words.

“Kya?” (What?) Devisha asks, shocked.

“Tu theek toh hai na? Bhai, doctor ko bulaun kya?” (Are you okay? Should I call a doctor?) Devisha says.

“Bhai mat bol yaar mujhe.” (Don’t call me bro, man) Adwait says, rubbing the back of his neck. Then he takes a deep breath.

“DevishaIloveyou.” He says in one breath.

“Aweveveiw waali bhaasha mujhe samajh nahi aati, Adwait. Aaram se bolo.” (I don’t understand this language, Adwait. Speak slowly.) Devisha says.

“I mean, Devisha, mai jis din se tujhe mila hoon, tab se hi teri taraf ek pull feel hota hai. Phir jab hum dost banne, uske baad mujhe dheere dheere tujhse pyaar hone lag gaya. Like jab tu hasti hai, mujhe daant ti hai, ya phir koi question na samjh aane par apna sir khujati hai, every single thing of you. Like, even if you are breathing, it feels so perfect to me. Aur ab humare boards aa rahe hain, uske baad hum colleges change kar denge. Aur agar maine ye baat tujhe aaj nahi batayi toh, I guess zindagi bhar nahi bata paunga. Isliye aaj mai kehta hoon, I love you and only you, for now and forever. Kya tu mujhe tera haath degi? Tera saath degi? Mai kasam khata hoon, tujhe kabhi dhoka nahi dunga, pakka promise. Par please, haan bol de. Please, iss gareeb par thodi si aapki kripa bhar sa do.” (Devisha, from the day I met you, I’ve felt a pull towards you. Then, when we became friends, slowly I started falling for you. Like when you laugh, scold me, or scratch your head when you don’t understand a question, every little thing you do, even your breathing feels perfect to me. And now, our boards are coming up, after which we’ll go to different colleges. And if I don’t tell you this today, I guess I’ll never be able to say it. So today, I say I love you, and only you, for now and forever. Will you give me your hand? Will you be with me? I promise I’ll never hurt you. Please, say yes. Please, bless me, a little.)

Devisha’s heart starts beating at an inhuman speed, she feels all sorts of butterflies dancing in her stomach.

“Adwait, tunne woh bol diya, jo mai bolne ki himmat nahi kar payi. I love you too, Adwait, and will love only you for the rest of my life. Please, mujhe chodke mat jana. Ye haath tujhe de rahi hoon, iss umeed se ki tu kabhi isse nahi chhode ga.” (Adwait, you said what I didn’t have the courage to say. I love you too, Adwait, and will love only you for the rest of my life. Please, don’t leave me. I’m giving you my hand, hoping you will never let go of it.) Devisha says, placing her hands in his and resting her head on his shoulder.

They spend some time there in complete silence, and then go to a nearby cafe to have food.

“Order mai karunga, tu baithi reh idhar.” (I’ll order, you just sit here.) Adwait says, placing their order with the waiter.

After some time, their food arrives.

It was dal makhani, butter naan, and chole bhature.

“Wow, mai ye sab kha rahi hoon, tera order toh kar leta.” (Wow, I’m eating all this, you should’ve ordered for yourself.) Devisha says and takes all the plates near her side of the table.

“Tu bas bolti hai, thodi der baad bolegi, ‘Adwait mera hogya hai. Tu kah le, issliye mai nahi kar raha kuch order apne liye’.” (You always say this. After some time, you’ll say, ‘Adwait I am done, you eat this,’ that’s why I’m not ordering anything for myself.) Adwait says, rolling his eyes because he knows that Devisha can never eat this much.

“Whatever.” Devisha says and digs in.

But as predicted by Adwait, after a few minutes, she gets full.

“Adwait, ye merese nahi khaya ja raha, tu kah le.” (Adwait, I can’t finish this, you eat it.) Devisha says, smiling sheepishly, to which Adwait rolls his eyes and takes the plate to finish the food.

After paying, they both were walking side by side on the street when Devisha sees an ice cream shop.

“Ice cream!” Devisha squeals.

“Abhi toh tera pet bhar gaya tha.” (You were just full.) He asks, amused.

“Ha toh kya, ice cream ke liye extra jagah hai mere pet mein, samjha?” (So what, there’s extra space in my stomach for ice cream, understand?) Devisha says, rolling her eyes and makes her way towards the shop.

“Bhaiya, ek vanilla aur ek butterscotch dena.” (Waiter, give one vanilla and one butterscotch.) Devisha orders.

The vendor gives them the ice creams, they pay the money, and leave from there.

Back to the present

Devisha reads with a soft smile on her lips and eyes wet.
It was beautiful, but meant to be the end.