I NEVER SAID SHE STOLE IT

Nikhil entered the classroom trying hard to conceal a huge grin. His face was lit like a bulb and his vibes were filled with contagious happiness.

“ Nikhil , you look way too happy today. Did something happen ?” asked his benchmate.

“No nothing” he replied while being lost in his own world.

“ Nikhil you are trying way too hard to not smile.” Exclaimed another friend.

“Ofcourse , he came to school today with his crush Reeya” pointing at Reeya who was sitting on the first bench and laughing and giggling with her friend.

Nikhil immediately shushed his friend.

The teacher entered the class and everyone went back to their seats.

“Today I will confess my feelings to Reeya. I am sure she likes me. Her coy smile says it all. Yes, the right thing is to simply empty my heart out instead of bottling up my feelings ..” Nikhil thought to himself.

During the break Nikhil stayed back in the class wondering “ Should I say it to her directly ? no no that would be cringey. Then should I write a letter .what if it didn’t reach her ?” after weighing both the options for nearly fifteen minutes he got frustrated and  tore a page from his book and wrote a short letter for Reeya which said :

“ hey Reeya . Let me put this very straight. I have realized that you are the one who stole my heart.”

“short , sweet and direct” Nikhil thought to himself while proudly folding the paper.

He looked around and took a few steps and then dashed of to Reeya’s bench. He again carefully looked around and then swiftly dropped the letter in Reeya’s desk.

Nikhil went out of the class to catch up with his friends.

Soon the break was over and it was English lecture while everyone was sleepy , Nikhil was searching through his bag.

Disturbed by his constant rambling and fidgeting ma’am called him out “ Nikhil ! child what’s wrong ?”

A worried Nikhil stood up and said “ Ma’am , I can’t find my smartwatch , I am sure that I left it on my bench during the break.”

Ma’am asked Nikhil to go and check the lost and found section after the last class was over.

It was afternoon , Nikhil’s watch was nowhere to be found and it seemed like Reeya also didn’t read his letter till now.

Before the last lecture began Reeya went to the washroom. Her bench-mate Shivangi began arranging her stuff and kept her water bottle in her desk.

The last lecture began and everyone was seated. After 15 minutes, Reeya and Shivangi realized there was water dripping from the desk.

“I kept your water bottle there. Wait! Was it leaking ?” asked Shivangi.

Reeya immediately took out the leaking water bottle and kept it on the floor.

“check your desk if any of your books got wet.”

“No, I didn’t keep any books in here” while casually swaying her hand in the desk. But she found a chit.

Reeya unfolded the paper and her eyes were filled with tears, while Shivangi was furious at the letter.

The last lecture was also over and a gloomy Nikhil was leaving the room when Shivangi asked him to stay back for a moment while Reeya stood behind her with tears in her eyes. Shivangi’s continuous glare was enough to tell him that he was going to be rejected.

After the class was empty, Shivangi took out the same letter from her pocket and asked him “ May I know what is this ?!” she said in an sharp , interrogative tone.

“A..A letter for Reeya” said Nikhil hesitatingly.

“OFCOURSE I KNOW !!” Shivangi stopped abruptly, closed her eyes , took a deep breath and continued “ I know it’s a letter but blaming someone out of the blue is wrong ! and you lost your watch because of your carelessness how can you say Reeya stole it ! Do you have any proof !?”

Behind her stood subtle Reeya on the verge of flooding the room with her tears.

 A confused Nikhil said “ I never said she stole it.” In a desperate tone to prove his innocence.

“ what then how did this letter reach her desk” said Shivangi.

Nikhil took the letter and said while unfolding the paper “ this is a .. amm .

He saw the letter and discovered that the word “ heart” was blurred and the paper was wet.

So now the letter read “ hey Reeya . Let me put this very straight. I have realized that you are the one who stole my *blurred *”.

“ It is a misunderstanding. The word which is blurred actually was supposed to be “ HEART” !” exclaimed Nikhil , staring at the ground in embarrassment.

It took a minute before a sudden realization hit both the girls.

“ so it was a confession letter” said Shivangi in half embarrassed and half awkward tone.

The room was silent and the air was suffocating and awkward. All three stood there avoiding eye-contact with each other.

Nikhil’s bench-mate crashed into the room and killed the silence.

“Nikhil , you smartwatch ! it somehow ended in my bag. Nobody stole it” he finished the sentence with a little annoying laugh.

Nikhil slowly rose his head and gave him a death glare. He left the room while dragging his bench-mate along with him.

The next day Nikhil was pretty unsure about going to school. He thought to himself “ Why did I write a letter, I should have used some other method. Who would have thought a small silly decision would lead to such a huge misunderstanding”.

Anyhow Nikhil decided to go to school and properly apologize to Reeya since she seemed deeply hurt by how the situation unfolded and things turned awkward.

On the way to school someone called out Nikhil’s name , he turned back and saw Reeya waving at him.

“what ??is she waving at me ? No no Nikhil don’t get swayed by your stupid imagination.” Nikhil continued walking.

Reeya suddenly appeared beside him , panting and out of breath. “why didn’t you stop? I called your name too .” said Reeya.

“is it because of what happened yesterday?” Reeya asked nervously.

Before Nikhil could say anything , Reeya abruptly cut him and said “Nikhil , let’s forget everything and start a fresh. At least, we can be friends. We can be , right ?” asked Reeya hopefully.

“definitely ! I was going to apologize today since I thought you were hurt. I am sorry Reeya and thankyou for not letting things turn awkward.” Said Nikhil in a regretful tone.

“OK, OK!! Lets end this topic . here have this” Reeya smiled and handed over a chocolate to Nikhil.