Chapter 4 - Good Friends

It has been 3 months since Shivanesh and Amrita became friends. Shivanesh realized that his heart goes out to Amrita in some ways.  He knows that he is a bit attracted to her, but seeing her every day with her boyfriend made him realize that she is very happy with her boyfriend. She was never his to begin with. And he also realized that he also had a girl who he has been dating for a while now.

Adding to the miserable feeling, Vinodini has been ignoring Shivanesh for some time. She was acting really strange. She only talks to him when she needs to. This makes Shivanesh feel really lonely. Looking on the bright sides, Shivanesh realized that he could put a lot of focus on his preparation for his SPM.

During Science class, Amrita came to sit next to Shivanesh.

“Why are you looking so gloomy?” Amrita asked.

“Just stressed. With the important exam is just around the corner. A bit worried,” Shivanesh said.

“Relax. It is not that you are bad in your studies or you are dumb. You are a clever guy. You are clever. A bit of studying, you can score. I believe that you can,” Amrita said.

“Wait. Why are you sitting here and not with Suresh?” Shivanesh asked feeling weird that Amrita is sitting next to him.

“I was rejected,” Amrita said letting out a sigh.

“What?” Shivanesh asked confused.   

“He said he doesn’t want to study with me. Don’t feel like it. He chased me off to ask another girl to sit with him. I am not brilliant enough for him, he says,” Amrita said feeling irritated with her boyfriend.

“What? He must be joking, right? You are the most intelligent girl in our class. He is seriously insane,” Shivanesh said feeling angry of Suresh for mistreating Amrita.

Suresh has been doing such for quite some time. He makes Amrita do his work for him while he is busy flirting with other girls. He sometimes, chase her off to sit somewhere else for him to sit with other girls. He spends more time with Vinodini but somehow Shivanesh never bothered to care much. For him, feelings of the girl in front of him mattered the most.

“Well, it is ok. You have me to depend on,” Shivanesh said, feeling thankful that she chose to sit next to him.

“Yeah, obviously,” Amrita said while resting her head on Shivanesh’s shoulder for a while.

Shivanesh was shocked but he felt warm inside. Amrita ans Shivanesh have been studying together for some time. Being good friends seem to be fine for him because, at leat this way, he would still have her next to him.

 

Everday seem to be very precious to Shivanesh because soon, after the exams, he is not very sure if he is able to see Amrita again.

It was end of the class. After bidding goodbye to Amrita, Shivanesh went to see Vinodini. He wanted to understand the reason of her silent treatment and find out if he is behind it.

“Vino, can I have a minute with you?” Shivanesh asked when he approached her.

“No, I have something to do. I got to go,” Vinodini said while packing her bags.

“Don’t you think I need an explanation?” Shivanesh asked again.

“Explanation? For what?” Vinodini asked pretending not to know what Shivanesh was asking about.

“Well, let’s see. Explanation for why have you been avoiding me? What is the need for the silent treatment? Did I do something wrong? You should tell me if I did something wrong?” Shivanesh asked feeling irritation rising in him because of the attitude that she was giving him.

“You wanted us to be secretive about our relationship. So that is what I am doing,” Vinodini said pointing out that she was doing as what he asked for.

“So, you are avoiding me so that we can go on being secretive? How about not texting or calling me? Or maybe answering my calls? Or at least sitting next to me in class? I thought you exchanged your seat with Amrita so you can sit next to me,” Shivanesh said, clearly trying to control his temper.

“So, this is about Amrita. What is so great about her?” Vinodini started shouting.

“Do not use that tone on me. Don’t talk like as though you have been doing something great. Don’t compare yourself to her. You are nothing compared to her,” “Shivanesh said feeling really angry that Vinodini brought up Amrita into their fight not realizing what he just said.

“Do you hear yourself? I am your girlfriend. But some other girl looks the best to you? Now you see why I avoided you. I am jealous. I am hurt. Even with me sitting next to you, you don’t see my existence,” Vinodini said with tears flowing down her cheeks. She took her bag and just left.

“Shiva. What have you done? How could you have said those things to her?” Shivanesh thought to himself. He realized that the way he has been acting lately was the reason.

#

“Hearing some noise from the classroom, Amrita went back upstairs. She heard voices of people screaming. She opened the door find Vinodini and Shivanesh arguing. As she was listening, she realized that she may have been the reason of their fight. Amrita just closed the door and left, pretending like nothing happened.

#

On his way home, Shivanesh was thinking of ways to make up to what he has done to Vinodini. He felt bad that he was so into making Amrita feel better about her boyfriend’s attitude that he forgot his own girlfriend’s feeling. Eventhough he seem to be comfortable with Amrita’s presence, he shouldn’t have forgotten Vinodini. He also kept on blaming her without realizing that he too should be blamed.

The moment he reached home, Shivanesh started planning of ways to make up to Vinodini. He checked the amount of money that he has been saving. He wrote down his plan in his diary and he wanted to prepare for it tomorrow after school before going to tuition.