The first day after the college opened, Bella and I went there together.
At the entrance, I saw that boy coming in my direction with a huge smile, which had the power to freeze time so that I could feel it as if it was only for me. Nah, it was definitely for me. My heart drums kept increasing, my lips stretched upward, and my eyes kept the shutters open so that I would not miss any of his moves.
He stood in front of me, smiling. The moment I was going to step forward, my friend jumped into his arms.
"Meet my boyfriend, Phoebus, the boy about whom I told you the other day." Bella said with her smile that couldn't get any wider.
My first crush in 26 years was the boyfriend of my best friend.
I kept staring at him with a smile the same as I had before, then I looked at my friend’s bright face. All I could do was congratulate them and show myself happy for them. She hugged me tightly, but I kept staring at him. I knew it was hard for me, but still, this isn’t the first time that the thing I wanted was taken by others, and this was Bella, who has always supported me in every situation. Why should I take away her happiness? I was literally happy for her; one could tell by my face too.
College ended and I was on my way back home as the girl with whom I went to college had to go with her boyfriend to a café. Does going to a café count as a date? I hope it doesn’t.
No one in the house bothered to ask about my day at college. They better not. I went into my room and slept peacefully until my peace breaker, Bella, called to talk about her café visit with her boyfriend. She was talking like a bird freed from a cage after years. She was happy, but I just tried to ignore every detailed information about their, as she called it, date.
I was wishing someone would give me lots of brownies so that I could erase everything that happened to me today. The first day of the week pissed me off. I was not ready for the next day.
I spoke very softly about me not feeling good to make my mother actually believe I was sick.
She questioned my excitement in the morning, keeping her soft fingers on my cheek. I could have told her about my feelings with the feeling of getting some help from her, but I still remember the time when my sister talked about her boyfriend. My mother crushed all the pictures of that boy and even threatened him to stay away from my sister. It got so bad that we had to change the city.
"Yeah, I guess the cold drink I drank today was not supposed to be consumed. I feel really bad from inside. Weak. Sick. Can you make me some brownies? " I talked as softly as I could.
"If you want to eat brownies, then you don’t have to act sick. I know you very well, Daphne, more than you do. " She spoke with her sharp eyes on me.
"Ma, I am not able to speak much. Do you understand? If you don’t want to make me something, it’s OK, but don’t give me such excuses. " I tried my best to make her feel I was really sick and went back to my room to think if it was enough to make her not let me go out for the next few days or not.
A fudgy, sweet smell went inside my nose and I guess there is vanilla too. It is so satiating that one could even sleep peacefully without exercising or meditating. I jumped into bed, covered myself with a blanket, and waited for my mother to come inside.
There was a knock, and my mother came in with hot brownies. No ice cream, of course, because I have a sore throat.
"Miss Daphne Tuffin, here is your mood lifter. Anything else you need? I am at your service. " My mother was definitely being sarcastic; otherwise I would have told her to close the curtain and play some opera, or at least make some more brownies for dinner.
"Thank you, Ma. You are the best. I don’t need anything else. "
My mother gave me a small smile and turned to go out.
I needed someone by my side, so I asked her to stay.
She sat beside me. I could read her look; her eyes were understanding of whatever was going on inside my mind. I quickly turned to my brownies.
"So delicious!" My mouth tried speaking with a mouth filled with hot brownies.
"Daphne, what’s happening? I can tell you're not sick but unhappy. Something is making you feel low." My mother’s voice showed some concern, but I kept eating my brownies.
I tried to make her feel everything was fine by reminding her that we don't talk while eating without making any eye contact.
I heard a sigh.
"I will go if you won’t tell me. Don’t waste my time. "
How can I forget that I got this attitude from her?
I pleaded with her to stop.
"I remember that my mother told me once that she had a crush on somebody." She waited for some time.
Wait, did she say crush like my crush? I gulped a piece of brownie with my eyes closed, not trying to show my terror.
She went on to say that the boy also loved Granny, but in the past, such relationships before marriage were forbidden, and neither of them expressed their feelings for each other. My grandmother used to be sad, just like I looked at that time, according to my mother, and one day, he vanished. He was nowhere, which made Granny terrified. She went to each of his friends’ houses but could not find him. She ran away from her home far to the east, where she remembered him expressing his wish to go to one of his friends. When my mother said that granny used to be a stalker, there was a little giggle from both of us.
"Delaware. She reached there without any money or clothes. She didn’t even know whether she would find him or not. He stayed on the street for days until he found her famish. He took her into his arms and, as she opened her eyes slightly, all she could say was ‘I love you’."
I forgot everything and asked her to tell me more.
She said that granny was rushed to the hospital and he explained to her the reason for them not being able to be together, which made her shattered. She had no place to go, no way of survival. She was just a senior high school girl. He took her back home forcefully. He asked for her hand from her father. They were shocked, angry and were neither ready to accept his proposal nor to let Granny into the home. She was helpless. Without her parents, life would be hard, but he took her hand and promised to take care of her in every situation. He worked hard to help her complete her studies, and years after completing her studies, he married her and went to Delaware, my mother’s home place.
My mother stopped with a small smile and teary eyes.
"Was that boy Grandpa? Ma, you never told me about it. That’s such a bittersweet story. "
"You know what was more interesting in it?" She looked at me.
"What?" My enthusiasm increased within me.
"Even after six years of living together, they never bothered asking each other’s name." She showed her disbelief.
"This is so romantic!" I jumped out of the blanket and saw her wide shocked eyes.
"Ma, then why are you against such a relationship? You didn’t let Alena do that; she wasn’t even running away. " I got more curious.
"Enough for today. I am too busy. " She took my empty plate and slammed the door.
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the supplies of toiletries in the store nearby.
In the evening, I had to convince my father about me being sick, which was not that tough. I got into bed just before my father came home, and then he rushed into my room after knowing that I was sick, and didn't even bother to remove his hat. He is truly caring. I hope to meet someone like him someday. He massaged my heart with some hot oil and allowed me to have dinner in my room. He really believed I was sick. I got a few days of rest and even managed to avoid Bella coming over to see me. I did feel sad for lying to everyone, but I enjoyed it when my family showed concern for my health and took good care of me. I won’t deny that I did all this to avoid them, Bella and her boyfriend. Furthermore, thinking of them makes me cringe. We never made a pact to join the 'No Boyfriend group’ since I thought we would never be this lucky. Or was it just for me?
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