the meet

                              The meet

"The train no 21072 is going to be late by 2  hours"the announcer said over p.s

"Is that the guwahati train"i asked to next person randomly in the waiting room.

"Yes" came a voice from back seat. I turned back...it's a girl. A girl in a Punjabi top red and full sleeved. A blue skin leggings. Looks classy. A teenage classy girl.

"Thank you. Are you to the same train"i asked

"Yes" she replied.

"Then let's pray for it to arrive fast as possible"i said.

Both chuckled for a second.

"I'm swara"

" I'm Aravind and nice to meet you"i said.

"Are you from around here"

"Yeah I'm from vizag. Just studying in guwahati"i said.

"What about you?"i asked her.

"I'm not from here. I came to attend a function"she said.

"That's great"i said.

The next 5 minutes went with awkward silence. I couldn't just stay there. I just got up to roam around. Amazed to notice she's not there. I walked out to a tea stall shocked to see her there.

"Hi there"she smiled.

"Care for some company?"i asked.

"Sure. I'm bored of" she said.

"How about we play a game"i said.

"Like what?"She asked with a spark in her.

"How about we act like hardcore best friends until the train arrives"i said.

She was thinking hard. Before I say it's okay ignore it .....she said

"How about we act like deep lovers until the train arrives"she smiled.

I was a bit shocked and surprised at her response. It's okay man...she's just an open minded girl and you're an open minded boy. Take it cool Don't look soo shocked i said to myself.

"Well then where to start madam"i said dramatically.

"Let's start with restaurant I'm starving o"she said.

I held her hand and she held my wrist with her soft hand leaned over my shoulder while walking.We choose a restaurant inside the station. Sat at a table facing each other.

"What are you studying again"she asked.

"Science and you"i asked.

"Math" she smiled.We ordered paratha for each and a milkshake.

"Let's know about each other"i said.

"Let's play truth or dare"she winked.

My heart pounded for a second.

"I choose truth"i said.

"How many relationships did you have till now"she asked.

"Only one and it ended in a month"i said.

"I choose dare"she said.

"Slap me run away crying as if i cheated"i said laughing . I knew it's hard and she will fail but suddenly she closed her face with hands for a minute. Then she looked at me with all tears and red eyes.Shit she's gonna do it.

She slapped me hard and ran away crying like hell. Now everyone is looking at me. The waiter bought the hot paratha now. I heard some murmurs around me. I paid the bill and got out.

"What took you so long"she asked while i came out.

"No dares any more honey"I meant it.

She laughed and held my hand" sorry sweetie"she said.

We started walking on the platform.

"Let's continue only with truths"she said.

"Okay" "tell me  why your relationship ended so fast"she asked.

"Because I was not ready for it"i said.

"Did you have any relationships"i asked.

She was silent. I turned towards her and held her both hands. " you need not to say something when you're not comfortable with it" i said looking into her eyes.

"It's nothing like that but if i say this you may look at me in different manner like I'm a slut or whore"she's saddening her tone.

"Honey it doesn't matter how many people were there in your life. The way i look at your eyes never change."i said.

Tears from her eyes. She broke down crying. I pulled her and she cried on my shoulder. She held me so hard. I am in shock. I think something terrible happened to her in past. Many wierd looks towards us but we didn't care.

She later cleaned up with a rose tissue."I think I trust you"she said. I smiled assuring.

"Are you okay now"i asked. We sat at a corner.

She took a paper from her bag and gave it to me. I took it blank faced. It read 23 September 2012. It's a report about a case. Bhopal is the location. Incident is sexual assault. I looked at her in horror.

"Read it you'll know"she said. So I started.

A 11 year old school girl was been raped and tortured with indexing tools at 7pm in a pharmaceutical store. Victim identified as swara studying...

"No i can't read it"  my heart swelled.

"That's the reason i don't have any relationships"she said. I couldn't talk. I was about to shed tears. I couldn't control my emotions yet she stares at me as if no harm ever happened to her.

"I get diagnosed in vizag for free. As my reproductive tract is infected and spreading"she said.

"Stop that please" i yelled and shrinked my head into her shoulder. She bought her hands on me and consoled."You're the bravest woman I have ever seen"i whispered.

"And you're the sweetest boy i've ever met"she said. We now hugged for a second.

"Be with me for real"i said holding her hand.

"I want to..That's the reason I played with you"she said.

"I love you""i love you"we both smiled.

We both didn't talk for complete 15 minutes. The train arrived. We went and saw our seats are far away. "So this is a bye then"she said.

"We gotta meet again"i said.She kissed on my forehead. We fixed a date next year to meet.

Although we both don't have phones. She didn't even have Facebook. I gave her my facebook id. We had a good sendoff.

AFTER 2 YEARS

i woke up. It's been 2 years and i didn't meet her yet. She never came. I waited for whole day in the station on the date we fixed. May 30th it is. But i never saw her. Sometimes I feel she may never return. But the time i remember the time we spent, hope raises in me and i wait a whole year in the memories. May be that is how it's supposed to end. Maybe that is how I'm more near to her. In our thoughts.

P.s.-based on true incidents