Rajesh hadn't yet thought of a proper excuse. He needed to do it fast. They were almost about to reach school. He needed the money. He had 300 bucks but that won't be enough. He would need at least a thousand bucks. Finally he got a good one. And just in time too. They had reached school. His father stopped the car, near to the school. He couldn't go till the school gate due to traffic. As he was about to get off the car, Rajesh acted like he suddenly remembered something. He told his father he needed 700 rupees for the Asset Examination. His father at first didn't seem to believe him but reluctantly gave the money to Rajesh anyway. Rajesh's main concern was over, he had the money. Now all he needed to do was quietly leave without anyone noticing. He went towards the school but didn't go inside. He kept walking till he crossed the school and reached the local bus stop. He took out his mobile, which he had quietly slipped it into his pocket. He called her. She had already reached there. He waited for the next bus, but there was no bus in sight. He was getting late. Finally a bus arrived and he quickly boarded it. Within 15 minutes, he reached there, Gold Cinemas. He quickly went up, as she was waiting for him in the lobby. He reached the lobby and went inside. The lobby was quite crowded. He started looking for her, she had said she was wearing a black top. He got scared as he couldn't see her yet. Did she leave? Was he too late? No he couldn't miss her again. And then he found her. Suddenly his entire surrounding was blurred. He couldn't see anything else. He only saw her, her charming smile, her red cheeks, her cute dimples, her long, soft hair which he loved to touch. She was wearing her favorite red bangles and the crystal earrings that he had gifted her. Suddenly he felt like he hadn't seen her in years. He missed her so much and there she was now. For a moment he completely forgot where he was. He just walked towards her and hugged her tightly. All of a sudden, water dropped down his cheeks. Seeing him, the smile faded from her lips. She looked at his moist eyes. She had missed those eyes so much. It really seemed like a year, since they had last met. She rubbed his eyes gently and tightly held his hands. Hearing the warning bell, they rushed towards the counter. They had come to watch the movie "Gunday". Rajesh did not have much interest in the movie, he only came for her. The movie had started. He brought her favorite caramel popcorn. She was enjoying the movie with her favorite popcorn. But Rajesh wasn't looking at the screen. He only wanted to see that beautiful creation of nature. He watched her gaze fixed to the screen in front, munching the popcorn. He smiled seeing her concentration and excitement. He didn't know how those three hours went away, he didn't even realize what happened in the movie. They walked out of the hall together. They had a tradition, every time they met they would go to Shraddhanjali Kanan. And today, they continued that practice. Rajesh paid for the entry tickets and they went inside. The park wasn't much crowded as it was a working day. She wanted to sit on the swings first. Rajesh smiled, her childish demands were quite impossible to refuse. They went towards the slides. One slide was occupied by a small kid, who had come with her mother. She sat on the other slide. Rajesh pushed the slide from behind. The mother stared at them as she gave her best "you-teenagers" glance at them. Rajesh smiled at her. The mother got shocked seeing this and quickly left with her daughter. Both of them couldn't stop laughing. Rajesh went and sat on the other slide. Both of them looked towards each other. They hadn't done this for so long. He wanted to hold her hands and never let go. He had already lost her once, he couldn't afford to lose her again. They started walking in the garden, holding each other's hands. Her soft hands, how much he had longed for them. He held them tightly in a protective manner. They kept walking till they reached the grass peak. They climbed to the top and sat right below the mangrove tree. Once the tree might have had leaves but from the time he remembered the tree was leafless. But there was a beauty in this tree, it being leafless only increased its beauty. If we slept on the peak and looked up, we could see the beautiful tree with the blue sky in the background. The white clouds surrounding the trees made the scene even more beautiful. The scenery is completed with two or three birds flying by. She sat on the peak and he laid down putting his head on her lap. She touched his hair and gently brushed them. He kept looking at her, her blue eyes was sparkling. The sun rays shined on her dimples brightly. Even the wind was careful of not disturbing her hair. It blew perfectly, just enough for her hair to slightly move. How he had longed for these days again. And today he was finally here, he was so happy he just couldn't speak anything. He could keep staring at her face for hours without blinking. But his perfect moment was ruined by his stomach. He realized they were hungry. Halfheartedly he got up from his dream land, and they went to the nearby fast-food corner. By the time they finished eating it was already 3 o' clock. They were getting late. Rajesh decided to drop her home. They boarded an auto-rickshaw together and went towards her house. Her house was in Commerce, not far from the park. Rajesh felt bad. His day was almost over. Soon they would have to part ways. He looked at her, but she was tensed about something else. It was getting late, her mom had told her to reach home before 3:30 and it was already 3:45. He wanted to tell her he loved her, he wanted to shout everything from his heart. But he didn't, he kept it to himself. Instead he urged the driver to drive faster seeing her nervousness. He held her hand and smiled to console her. But her mother was really scary. Once when she had been late, her mother didn't let her come inside for almost an hour. She had to stay out of the house sitting on the porch. Finally they reached her house. She hurriedly got out and looked at him and smiled, Rajesh raised his hands to say bye. But before he could do anything, suddenly everything became blurred. Everywhere he could see only whiteness. Rajesh opened his eyes. He was in his bed. He got up and sighed. He had again missed his chance. He again failed to tell her goodbye. He looked towards her portrait and smiled. He had taken that picture last year. Ah! Everything changed after that. Two days later, his life changed forever. He rubbed his moist eyes and prepared himself to survive another day...
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