She was the perfect definition of a tomboy. Surrounded by a gang of boys and some girls, short haircut, tall-looking figure, casual shirt and jeans all day long! The only not-so-fitting part was her cousin/bestie who always tagged along. He was far from a macho man but tried hard to be one! Together, their gang ruled the college. They were the gang leaders. Until he arrived. After he joined, nothing changed. He was a timid, soft-spoken, introverted guy. She teased him as his little brother, "Yo boy!" As fate demands, there's always this fatal attraction between the most timid and the outrageous. He was a silent admirer, but she never cared. At the end of the day, she was a "she" who ultimately cared! Admiration and care can never be hidden for too long. He admired her for all that she was and he wasn’t. She cared for him for all the trouble and bully he had to undergo just for being himself. He admired her, adored her more than anything in the world. Apart from routine, she was the only inspiration for him to get ready for college. She had no strings attached. She just loved life the way it was. She was gifted. She did have her own wishes, but generally, she was a free spirit!
This game of him watching her, admiring her from a distance, and she not knowing it continued for quite a while. One fine day, he was caught red-handed…by that bully, the bestie guy. He pulled him out from behind a pillar from where the silent admirer was living his day watching her walk & talk. To show off his heroism, he did tap a few times on our guy’s head, hitting him physically and emotionally. To add to the insult, he did that in front of his loyal gang, including her. She first seemed untethered, but later she couldn’t hold it. She couldn’t enjoy the sight of him being reprimanded for admiring her secretly. For her, it was no secret. She knew all along, she never minded it. She was in a cusp between enjoying vs. ignoring his adoration. But when he was publicly insulted for it, she was inadvertently part of the insult and injury. So she rubbed it off, walked away as a sign of not bloating this any further. From that day forward, our timid guy never turned around to face her. Deep down, she knew he was hurt but hoped he did not hate her.
Days passed, weeks passed, and months passed. Nothing changed. Our tomboy was still a tomboy, our timid boy was still a boy, and our bestie was, as usual, a bestie! As the final days of college were closing in, the whole class prepared for a trip to the beach. A fun-filled evening at the beach, a night out, and a morning of sad goodbyes was the plan. The evening went great with some games and dinner. Our boy couldn’t hide his feelings for her. He came past his fasting routine, self-starvation punishment, to get the most of her in the one last day. He left no corners, no pillars, no trees, no big shoulders to hide behind, but made sure his eyes captured her every move, every bit of her smile, her cute yet bold shakes (dance moves). Boy, he admired her like she was the only girl on earth and today was the last day to live (if the world was ending, he wanted to be next to her)!
We all know that she knew he was watching, admiring her, literally eating her in his thoughts. As usual, she did not seem to mind, but did care, though. The night bloomed late at the seashore. After all the dancing and playing around, everyone retired to their dorms while a few camped around the beach area. Our boy went to the rocky shore, picked a hard rock, and sat down to rewind and recollect memories of her. He knew the harder he thought about her, the sooner he could sleep…and buzz, he dozed off on the rock. The sound of the waves, the chill winds, nothing seemed to bother him. He slept in peace while his subconscious self sorted all the sweet memories to chew for the rest of his life.
In the middle of the night—we can say pretty late, or some would say early morning, around 3-ish…she walked down the shore, unable to sleep. Can you believe, for the first time in our memory, she was alone! As she walked towards the rocky edges, she noticed our boy sleeping peacefully. There was so much calm amidst the rocking waves and murmuring winds. Something in her head pulled herself towards him. She walked quietly towards him, watched him, probably admired the puny little boy for a bit. She laid down next to him, almost cuddling…She felt him, and boy, he felt her too. All of a sudden, the breezy night became quite serene just for them. They lay down there, cuddled, until the first rays of the sun hit her eyes. She slowly uncurled herself out of his arms and quietly moved out of his space.
It was a bright morning; everyone was fresh yet a tad down in spirit. All the girls (including our tomboy) decided to go to the beach for one fun bath before departing. They were all having fun, splashing water around, thinking about the future, if they will ever get a chance to be happy this way ever! Then came the gang of men, bringing towels and much-needed hope…"We got you!" While all this happened, our little boy was lost in thoughts, sitting at the same rock! He couldn’t comprehend what happened last night. Was it a dream or real? He couldn’t believe it was real, but wasn’t able to settle in with a dream, too. A dream would be just a dream, right! He sat on the rock puzzled, trying to make sense beyond his cognitive capabilities. Unfortunately, this rock was pretty close to the spot our girls were having fun. Our men arrive, and our bestie cousin, seeing the boy on top of the rock, soon ran to catch hold of him, accusing him of obscenely peeping at the girls. This was his heroic moment to show off in front of the girls, being their savior, accusing our timid boy of a crime he had not committed. Our boy was clueless. He could not make sense of what he was being accused of! He did not try to defend himself but was still afloat with his last night’s mystery. It was starting to become loud and quite a show before she stepped in. She came in with full force and told the bestie in her sternest voice, "Leave him alone." Without another single word being uttered or a sight being shared, she left the place and everyone else dispersed too. As she walked away, our boy kept admiring her, adoring her with his timid smile while the bestie just had to disappear to save himself from embarrassment.
Our boy will never know if what happened that night was a dream or something more than that. But her words of rescue, the support she displayed with 3 words, was good enough for him. Better than the 3 words the world usually yearns for! Will he ever meet her again? Will he grow up, will she tone down? Maybe one day, they will get to meet and talk about what happened that night. That's what the future holds, tomorrow! Naalai!
