It was already 4.03 pm and the boys could be here, any moment. I was still getting ready, I could hear Ananya screaming outside, “get out of the washroom, the pool’s gonna wash off your make-up anyway!”, but the kajal was a must-go with my attire and with the last stroke of it, she started banging the door. After the last pose in front of the mirror (the last pose is something which-can-never-be-missed), I finally opened the door and I could hear her sigh of relief and with that she pushed me out (almost threw me) and locked herself in.
“Thank goodness! You opened the door, otherwise she would have drenched us in ‘her’ waterfall instead!!”, giggled Maneesha.
“Eww! That’s really mean! Maybe the pressure was too high to handle”, snapped Riddhima while Maneesha was still giggling on her sarcastic ‘waterfall’ line. 😀
I could hear the bikes outside, “the boys are here. Let’s go”.
I have always loved bike rides; the gush of air on your face, body, gives me the feeling of flying; of freedom, you just need to close your eyes and breathe. Want to accelerate this feeling, just plug in your earphones and put on your favorite playlist on full volume. HEAVEN!
45 minutes of pure bliss on the road, we reached our destination – The Pool!! It was an open area restaurant with pool on its one side and bar the other. The enclosed dining area was something we were least interested in. It was already 5 pm and I did not want to waste a single moment.
*SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!*
There! The guys were already in. But I did not want my beer to wait. #Fact-about-beers – ‘tastes best when it’s chill’. With the beer, I sat near the pool with my legs in water, What-a-Moment!
While enjoying ‘my’ moment, I caught Ankush staring at me. Instantly we both looked away (the obvious reflex in such situations). About Ankush, I had an instant crush on him the day I saw him (first semester); blue jeans, mauve shirt, tall, medium built, the way he talked, his cute killer smile, those eyes; the charm just could not be missed. And by the end of the third semester, we became good friends. But never can I deny how cute he is, and not to forget, he has always given me those best bike rides.
He swam towards me, looked at me with those pretty eyes, and smiled. I reciprocated. He kept swimming gracefully as I watched him.
“Paani main aa”, Ananya screamed, and the next moment I was in the water, the cold blue water. I could feel the weightlessness and I was enjoying my futile floating attempts (attempts because am anything but skinny). After an hour, as it seemed, in water here and there, it was already getting dark. Maneesha and Riddhima had already gone for their snacks. Ankush, with his drooping eyes and smile all over his face, it was evident that the beer had struck him. I could see Ananya with the other guys having her ‘smoke break’.
“Hey” whispered Ankush, and as I turned to say hey, he already had held my waist.
“You are drunk”, I smiled and held his shoulder. He smiled back.
“Hey! You two! SMILE!”, Ananya exclaimed with her phone pointing at us. We both tilted towards each other for the photo facing the camera. And suddenly, I could feel his breathe on my cheek. My heart skipped a beat. I could follow his breathe down my neck. I had an awkward smile on my face; her camera was still focused on us.
What is he trying to do? Is this ‘the moment’? Did he have feelings for me all along? Is this going to be my first kiss? Today? Or is it just the beer?
“AARGGHH!! DAMN IT! STUPID BATTERY! ANYONE HAS A SAMSUNG CHARGER?”, screamed Ananya and went out of the pool.
It was such a sigh of relief. But my heart was pounding twice the normal rate; also with the guilt that he had a girlfriend. The break up was recent. The girl was a neighbor, though not good friends, but friends enough to let the guilt creep in. I felt his rough stubble on my neck, it was ticklish. I was still looking the other way. I could feel his eyes on me. I froze. But we are so good friends and he is drunk. He might not even remember this tomorrow. All the more good, I can get away with it, after all I had a crush on him for a long time. And people do crazy stuff when they get drunk. He was so close that I just needed to turn, and our lips would just find each other.
Then, somehow I just knew, now was the time…
… And I was almost out of the pool. I just could not do it. What felt like forever, was just a moment of minute or two. I turned the other side and walked away (yes, walked away because the pool was just 4 feet deep and am much taller than that!). I mean what was the point?! He won’t remember it anyways and I didn’t want the awkwardness to creep in between us. Why make the status complicated? And moreover, I want my first kiss to be in complete sense and of course, which makes sense.
Why I count it as ¾ of a kiss, 1 – he made the first move (though he was drunk but he made the moment intense and my heart pounded like a ping pong ball!), 2 – I always had a soft corner for him (I still do), 3 – The environment was almost perfect; the pool and not to forget the moon. It’s just the ‘kiss’ which didn’t happen but the moment was there. 😉
I don’t know if he remembers it or not, but even if he does, we both sure have kept our friendship on a higher level than that night and thankfully there is no awkwardness.
But the question still pops in my head sometimes – ‘What if?’
The Snooze Button 