CHAPTER-22
GENUINENESS
Dhilip’s POV
“Oooo! Come on, come on…let's go. Yes yes almost! Sexy!”, squealed I, letting my fingers dance on the touchpad as colorful sparks decorated my laptop’s screen. “Congrats! You won 900 points! You made it!”, announced the white fancy cursive font in the middle of the screen. I shrugged and whistled to create a rhythm for the curtains hopping at the incidence of the calm breeze and covering the windows opposite my study table.
Sexy! I will clear the haunted hill today and grab the golden badge. Ooooo, save tomorrow for platinum! I moved the Batman avatar of myself to fall down the rock and then pressed a function key to fly across the clear day sky.
“What?!”, exclaimed I, at the red-eyed vampire following me and the sky turning dark accompanied by severe thunderstorms. A skeleton burst out a wicked round of laughter pointing his hands at me. No, no, I can't lose it here. Just miss! Phew! I smiled making myself into the ocean after a long journey involving pirates, water monsters, and avoiding the death of a mermaid, just on the verge. Yes! Yes! I cheered for myself, as the screen displayed a thousand points over and over, in an infinite loop. I closed my eyes and sighed.
“Again? But, I already completed the level”, wondered I, opening my eyes at once continuous notifications knocked my eardrum.
“Who is texting now at 10 PM on Saturday night? In the class group? Oooo!”, thought I, switching to the WhatsApp Web tab. Rohini had dropped a long message on our class group.
“Hi guys, I heard that the entire class is following an account of my name on Instagram. But, I’m not on insta. Please note that someone has created this fake account. Unfollow it immediately and don’t believe any messages or posts from here.”
I threw my mouth open at her announcement. Ooo, but who could do such an insane act? I rolled my eyeballs hither and thither only to recollect Srithika and others in the bad gang ragging Rohini by shooting her video and so on, back during the lunch break, a few weeks ago.
“These people are more dangerous than corona spreading across China and other parts, abroad”, commented a classmate. I nodded to myself.
“Who created it for you? We want to know.”
“Yes, tell us, Rohini.”
“Guys, please ignore the account. Whatever it is, they are our own classmates. Paapa! (Sad) why simply reveal their identities…”
“What? Paapa illa. (They aren’t sad.) How can we just drop the matter? Do you know that it's no less than a cybercrime?”
“Bro, we are scared now. This can happen to anyone anytime.”
Chats from a set of guys went on and on. I shrugged at the notification of Dheeraj leaving the group. What’s this guy? So absurd. Who leaves the class group just like that? Drunkard. He doesn’t even care for her. No humanity, in the first place! I hope Rohini has stopped crushing on him.
“Don’t worry, Rohini. I have raised a complaint in the Instagram help center. The account should be inactivated soon”, texted Umesh.
“Thanks a lot, dude!”, replied Rohini.
Ooo, why does this guy bother it so much? I’m here to save my Rohini. Why should he help her? Dey, limit yourself to friendship that's all. Rohini is my girl. I blushed, slamming my own forehead only to feel the cinematic echo through my thick headphones hugging my head like a hairband.
I agree that love is unanticipated. I also agree that the identity of our lover is a true mystery
until we feel the love!
Following the same lines, one thus ends up falling for a bad partner-the wrong love. It's fine!
Making a wrong decision is common among ordinary homosapiens like you and me.
However, correcting our blunder and returning to our right love is a worthy question whose
answer may either be a ‘YES’ or a ‘NO’ or sometimes a combination of both! There is only one
superpower that can answer this query: ‘TIME’
Aye, Dhilip, what’s wrong with you? Are you feeling jealous? Does it mean that I love Rohini? I bulged my eyes at the gaming screen on which the link to the next level twinkled like serial lights glowing at a wedding reception. I shook my legs restlessly and blew cozy air outside.
“Whatever it is, they are our own classmates. Paapa!”, her text replayed in my mind. I smiled at her genuineness. Aww, just imagine how genuinely she must have loved me! I love your guts, Rohini medam. What a swag you are! I’ve hardly seen a girl like you who prefers to deal with her problems by herself. I chuckled and blushed as the very same text replayed once again, in my mind.
Who are you, Rohini medam? Although the identities of the victims are almost an open secret, she is reluctant to admit to the group. Aww, so sweet of her! I got up from the chair and strolled towards the curtains as her smiling face flashed in my mind. I closed my eyes and blushed as the curtains played on my face.
Rohini, you are indeed impressive. She ought to be every man’s choice, for her considerate attitude. Forget about good looks for they only suffice in the short run. I breathed hard, asking myself, “Leave her genuineness and guts to the corner. She ought to be amazing, I agree. But, will I ever feel for her?... I don’t know if I can feel the same way for her…” I raised my eyebrows and shook my head at the lonely street illuminated only by the tall streetlights spreading yellow radiance.
“Take your time, Dhilip! Love isn’t easy. Hahaha!”, I heard the divine female voice of the angel, from within me. I looked around with my meek and hesitant eyes only to find none.
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I scrolled through a few Insta posts and locked my phone’s screen displaying ten minutes past nine with Monday, 24th Feb 2020, in a bold white font above it. No sooner did I pack my mobile in my pockets than I happened to catch Rohini heading towards my seat. She massaged her bag’s strap on the right shoulder, as she held the free end of the compression strap and blinked her eyes, as usual as one does. Her dark curvy eyelashes greeted Veena and Hassini.
A drop or two of spring’s sweat appeared on my forehead. I felt my heartbeat striving to swim across a tiny pool of sweat accumulating on my eyebrows. What’s happening? Why is she coming here? What’s she gonna tell me?
“Hi!”, greeted Rohini, waving at me.
“Hello!”, greeted I, as she chuckled and sat beside Veena and Hassini, on the desk in front of mine.
Sexy! Good decision, Rohini medam! I chuckled secretly at Srithika’s gang frowning at Rohini. “Why isn’t she sitting with us anymore?”, wondered they, as their gestures conveyed.
“Sad, Machan!”, Sameer whispered to me. I nodded. “How much will they torture her?”
“Good that she realized those backstabbers, at last. I’m glad that she spoke up for herself”, I commented.
“Self-defence, bruh! She tried her best to make them realize too, you know?”
I shook my head and rolled my blank light brown eyes at him.
“Machan, two days ago, in the girls’ washroom, Srithika and the two other girls shouted to the top of their volumes, denying Rohini. How can you call it a fake account? Why do you think we created it? Dheeraj too could have created it, for fun. Who knows?... They went on and on, bro. Such toxic girls! Hardly have we met such characters in life…”
“No, bruh. I’ve met a more sadistic girl. If there is a symbol for toxicity, it would be her..”, began I, as the scene of myself feeding Priya popcorns and dilating my pupils at her venomous ones, at the theater, flashed in my mind.
“Dhilip, stop it otherwise I’ll stop your worlds!”, warned the angel’s divine voice from nowhere. I looked around but failed to trace the source once again.
“Who?”
“Nothing, chuck…”
Jacob patted to call Sameer. “Machan, I agree that those girls have been troubling Rohini and so on. But, why did you use the girls’ washroom?”
I chuckled while Sameer got out of his seat and began beating up Jacob’s back. Kareena and I continued laughing.
“Where is the guys’ washroom? On Mars? It's right beside there…You…”, said Sameer as I shook my head and continued laughing silently. I happened to spot Rohini whispering seriously, at Hassini and Veena, under the bench.
Hmmm, whatever! But, look at our destiny, medam! Why else did you find your seat here, in front of me? Why didn’t Rohini sit anywhere else? I chuckled at her smiling and shaking her head at Vaishnavi sitting in front of her. Perhaps, it was another sign by the great heavens, to bring us closer.
A seat in my vicinity was vacated and reserved on the bench in front of mine, just for me to notice the rose of my life. But, what did I do? Why didn’t I reserve her? Why didn’t I notice my frequent encounters with this girl back during our original life?
Will Dhilip ever realize the reason behind his jealousy?!
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