The Fate Of My High School Crush
My high school crush was my first girlfriend.
I was that shy-nerdy guy whose only aim in life was to top the class and gather as much knowledge as I could.
She was this tomboy who abused like it was second nature to her.
9th Standard was beautiful, it was when my friends realized I had this huge crush on her. And in 10th standard, when she was shifted to my class from another section, I just couldn’t take my eyes off her. My friends knew more than ever, I was drooling over her.
So, my dear friends went and told her. And for two days I did not go to school fearing the consequences. Gathered a lot of courage and went to school, and amazingly she was there waiting for me.
I am sure most of you have felt that amazing spring inside your tummy when your high school crush responds back in a favorable manner. that first flow of testosterone figuratively colliding with some estrogen.
Damn! The first time your realize you are not that ugly or inferior after all.
She was the Mercedes Benz of cars and me, I was the cycle rickshaw prodding in Old Delhi.
She was like Corona beer, and me, I was Old Monk rum (I meant I was not that bad by saying that I was like Old Monk).
And then it all started, exchanging paper pieces with messages during the class, calling each other on Nokia 3315 that our parents owned, long walks without any conversation, and just smiling looking at each other.
Damn, high school crushes!
And then to summarize it all in a paragraph, both our parents discovered our love letters in our respective bags. We decided to run away, I ran from my home but she did not. Things were screwed up that time. I was sent to Bangalore from Delhi after all these incidents. Her parents changed their phone numbers, deleted her E-mails and then, a miracle happened!
Orkut!
Yes, Orkut happened and I was finally able to get back in touch with her. Called her after a year, lied at home, and went to Delhi to meet her, and realized she was already seeing someone.
Felt bad, real bad, cannot even describe how that feels.
She started lying to me after a few days to ensure I would get through National Defence Academy and fulfill my dream of being a fighter pilot.
Once I got through, she told me clearly she was lying, and she was in love with someone else.
Somehow, I respected her for that. She was considerate enough to not discourage me when I was preparing for NDA. After that, I came to know that the police had raided her house when I had run away from home, and how I had been responsible for the major downs in her life henceforth.
Slept every night of training feeling terrible about myself.
Got commissioned as an officer and was flying fighter jets, when depression finally got better of me and I ran away from Air Force.
She called me even during the period when I was in the run and requested me to return back and not spoil my future.
And me, I was just a blank minded guy filled with frustration, regrets and in denial of the reality.
I was eventually court martialled.
She completed her masters in design from National Institute Of Design and married some other guy. ( Not the guy she said she was in love with.)
She is happily married and is working as a fashion consultant now.
I wish her on her birthday.
I even wrote a novel which had a female protagonist named after her. It is a thriller novel titled India Shining.
I guess, she is doing pretty well now. I do not hate her, to be honest.
She did what she had to. And me, like a lunatic lover did what I had to.
We both were ethical and right in our own ways.
