Dumb Charades

Kritvik Bhatt

“It’s too damn late now, no doubt,” I thought as I comfortably lay on the sofa with my legs spread on the right side of my body. My head was tilted down toward my hands, where I was scrolling down my phone. On the right corner of the three-seater sofa, my mom was sitting, watching TV. The sounds of dramatic sound effects typical for an Indian daily soap filled the drawing room.

“I… have lost my chance with her. I lost the girl I love.”

***

Sana Kohli

“Well, now that I think about it… why did he even say hello after so many years?” I thought.

You see, I was still in my classroom—at the middle desk. Like, obviously. The tube-lights on the ceiling of the classroom were turned on, which looked kinda awkward but necessary, you see. My eyes were on the front, where the old woman with white messy hair in a green traditional kurta-pajama sat.

Outside the windows on our left, the sky was still covered with gray clouds. The clouds were getting darker and darker, you see. Well, it seemed like it could rain anytime soon.

“And that’s why she said that to her. Got it?” The teacher said and turned to the little square book in her hands. “Valli then turned to the conductor and…”

Her voice faded in my ears as I got lost in my own thoughts, my eyes glaring aimlessly at the book with a few monotone illustrations. “Like, what if he…” I gulped in. “He even asked me for my social media account. Well, that’s really…” I nodded my head a little. “Well, he might like me.” I moved my right hand up to my face and corrected my mask by my nose. “But why?” I closed my eyes tightly. “No! What am I thinking?!” I opened my eyes slowly again. “Whatever. Let’s see what he’s up to.”

***

Kritvik Bhatt

“Maybe this fever is rising, mom.”

My eyes were narrowed and a little teary because of the heat in my body as I glared at my smartphone screen. “I don’t feel okay, for some reason.”

My mom turned to her left at me. “Dear, you’ve used too much of your smartphone. Keep it and take some rest now. In the evening, you can go play outside with your friends so that you might feel a little better.”

“Y-Yeah, mom,” I replied as I moved my feet down on the ground and started to slowly stand up. “I’m going for a nap.”

My mom turned to me. “Take your medication on time, dear.”

“I am, mom.”

“Good. You’ll be fine soon. Sometimes, fever just rises and drops every now and then, so don’t worry. It’ll go away soon.”

“Hmm,” I nodded as I turned to my right and started to walk to my bedroom. I turned right again, to the two doors, and entered the left one, which opened to my own room.

As I stepped into that room with my bed on my left and my table on my right, I looked at the door to the balcony across both of them. For some reason, it was open, exposing the complete balcony. Across the balcony was the dark sky upon the apartments of those light brown shades.

I stood on the door-frame for some reason, glaring at the balcony. “Jiya… I can’t believe that she and AK…” I thought.

ZRAPP! It was a lightning strike, no doubt.

My body shook a little as I gained back my consciousness. I turned my head right and left reflexively. I then turned to the balcony again, and started to walk in. I pushed the door close behind my back as I walked to the other door.

Click.

I then pulled in the door of the balcony.

Creak. Click.

The room was not completely dark, obviously, but it was enough. I turned my head to my left at the bed at the center of the left wall. My silhouette stood in the middle of that dark room, for some reason… frozen.

“Damn… I’m so… miserable, man.”

I moved my right hand up toward my chest and unlocked my phone. I clicked the Campfire logo and it opened up the next second. I swiped left across the screen, and the DMs opened. I clicked on Jiya’s profile pic and our chats opened.

‘…’

‘No.’

‘So why do you…?’ I had texted.

‘… I got it, Kriti.’

‘Don’t think that… that I don’t like you or stuff like that, man. But…’

‘Okay, bro.’

Thump!

My heart punched on my chest, for some reason. I turned to my keyboard, both my thumbs ready to type, but… they just couldn’t.

“No doubt, I… I shouldn’t message her,” I thought. But, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, exhaled it out of my nose, and then opened my eyes.

My thumbs started to click on the keyboard.

‘I saw your photo with AK. You both look stunning, man! Wish you good luck!’

A ‘read’ text suddenly arrived beneath the message. Then, above my keyboard popped up the message ‘Jiya is typing…’

‘Thanks, bro!’

THUMP!

My heart punched my chest again, for some reason. No doubt, it was painful.

I hurriedly clicked the back button about a dozen times, maybe. I then looked at the time on top of the screen. It was one-forty in the evening. “Damn, I was using my phone for hours, huh?” I thought as I turned it off. I then turned leftward in the dark room and walked beside my bed. With my right hand, I spread the curtains close, and then turned to my left toward my bed. My butt fell on the bed with a pat, and then, I moved my legs up on the bed.

With my back straight, I opened the blanket on top of the bed, beside my feet, and then spread it upon me as I bent my back on the bed, lying on the bed.

I took a deep breath inside my lungs for some reason as I closed my eyes, and then turned my body leftward toward the windows as I exhaled it out loudly.

“Maybe I’m better alone,” I thought. I then opened my eyes and thought. “Yeah, school’s home-time is in just twenty minutes, man. Sana must be in the classroom too… waiting for the school to get over. After all, she’d be alone today.”

***

Sana Kohli

The water was pouring down from the sky all across the city, you see. The clouds had completely covered the sky, darkening the city, and now were pouring rain.

From the back of the school, the mustard buses were running out—filled with students. The whole school building was drenched, just like the bungalows all around it. That’s sad.

A bunch of students stood in the wide reception area. The wide place filled with seats and a desk at the back was crowded, you see. Some were sitting, some were standing, and some were just talking. I stood at the front, looking at the garden outside the building. The bushes and trees were soaked as water poured down. I had my bag hanging on my right shoulder, and my arms were folded around my waist. I looked irritably with my narrowed eyes at the patter of the raindrops just some steps away from me. “Cool. Now I have to wait for fifteen minutes to go home.”

Suddenly, someone patted on my left shoulder.

I turned my head backward. “Daksh?”

“Hi!” He cheerfully replied with a smile beneath his rectangular black spectacles. “You go home by yourself too?”

“Yeah,” I replied with a smile beneath my mask.

He nodded. “So, how are the preparations for pre-boards?”

“Well, I’ve got a lot to catch up, you see. Like, not a lot, but yeah.”

“Ahaha, I completed my syllabus.”

“That’s sad.”

He frowned. “No, that’s not sad, pal.”

I hesitantly replied, “I-I didn’t mean it like that. L-Like, I meant it like—”

“I got it, pal,” The frown on his face disappeared.

I narrowed my eyes. “Whatever, emo.”

He turned his head to the front toward the rain as he stepped to the front and stood beside me.

I too turned my head to the front. “Anyway, I wanna go home, you see.”

“Yeah, I wanna go home too, okay?”

“But they’re not gonna leave us until this rain isn’t over.”

“But, uh, we technically still can.”

I frowned a little as I turned to him. “How?”

He smirked as he turned his eyeballs at me. “See.” He then turned his head and looked toward the gate on our right at the front wall, beside the garden. “There’s no guard right now.” He then slowly twisted his head toward me and then backward at the crowd of students who were chattering. I too turned my head backward. “And everyone is preoccupied.” He then turned his eyes to me, and I looked back at him too. “So, what do you say?”

“Well… let’s do it.”

Above his smile, he frowned.

“Really, let’s do it.”

“But we’ll get drenched.”

“Whatever. If that means I can go home, it’s okay, you see.”

“I guess you wanna go home really bad.”

I smiled.

He nodded, still smiling. “Really, then?”

“Really.”

“O-Okay, then.” He turned his head forward and started to walk out.

I started to walk behind him too. He slowly stepped outside the building into the rain and turned left, soaking his whole shirt.

Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat. Our shoes pattered because of the water on the ground, you see.

Well, he raised his body to his toes, and soon, we both were tiptoeing out of the school. We walked between the garden and our school building silently, making as little noise as possible. You see, it was raining heavily, so our footsteps weren’t really a problem beneath the loud pattering of that rain.

Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat.

“Well, this was not really a good idea, you see,” I whispered.

“I know, pal, but that’s the best we got.”

“Yeah.”

We both turned left and walked a few more steps on the school grounds until we were out. Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat.

Once we stepped outside the school gate, he, like, turned left and started to run, splashing water all around his feet. Splash splash splash splash!

He turned his head backward and shouted, “Run!”

I frowned, but, like, I started to run toward him.

Our feet splashed the water all around us. Our shoes were completely soaked with water as they raised big splashes all around them one after another.

We ran and ran and ran for some time. He was some steps in front of me, and I just followed his back. Suddenly, he stopped.

I too stopped beside him. We both bent down, our hands on our knees. He was panting with his open mouth, and I too was panting beneath my wet mask. I moved my right hand up and pulled my mask down. “Huff, huff! Huff, huff!”

I turned my head to my right to look at him.

“Huff… Huff…” He suddenly turned his eyes to me, and his face turned into a smile. “Ahahaha…”

I chuckled. “Ahahaha… Well, we really did it.”

“Yeah, pal. AHAHAHHAHAHAA!”

“Ahahahahhahaa…” Well, we both laughed heartily together, panting in between our smiles, right in the middle of the street, beneath the pattering raindrops, beside each other.

“I was really happy, you see. Well, he was a really good guy, and, like, we connected well. We had had fun together as kids, and it was still the same between us. Like, we were meeting each other after years, but still, I felt like we had formed some sort of connection, you see. But whatever, I had fun. Even though I was feeling that it was the most depressing day of my life. But, the day had not really ended, you see, and back home, I knew I had to face the same old problems of my life.”