The College Stalker

It would be wrong to say me and Abhra were just best friends. He had begun to care for me so much; to me it was fucking hard to imagine a life without his presence. That sounds shitty. But it’s true. Being friends with him made me change a lot of my habits.
Coming late to college for instance!

‘I am always too late,
To see the train leaving’

“Aria, when will you ever learn to be on time?” he asked me, as I rushed through the corridor and came to a halt in front of my classroom.
“Someday, for sure” I called back, and opened the door to get permission for entry.
One day I didn’t get so lucky. I was too late to go knock on the door. I plugged in my Ipod, and settled down on the ledge. I was pretty sure no one would be free. I mean, come on – who would bunk the first 11.10 am class, right?
Someone pulled one of the ear pieces out of my ear.
“What is your - ?” I was forced to leave my question unfinished.
Abhra stood there, grinning at me.
“Don’t tell me you caught my habit of being late?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Nah,” he assured me “I was on time. I missed the class on purpose.”
“For me?” my eyes grew wide with wonder.
He seemed a trifle uncomfortable. I burst out laughing. The look on his face instantly quelled me, though.

‘I am always laughing
When it’s, not cool to smile’

Whenever we arranged to meet an hour before classes, or after it, I always felt nice. My day went so well whenever Abhra was around. The fake laughter gave way to real happiness. He was the ideal friend God could have sent me during my troubled times.
“Going to the departmental library now?” asked Abhra, as I exited my classroom.
He was sitting there on the ledge with a couple of his friends.
“Fuck!” I swore “How did you know?”
The only answer I got was a laugh. His friend exchanged meaningful looks, which obviously went beyond my comprehension at least. I smiled at him before going off to the departmental library.

I was barely in the library for ten minutes, when I noticed he’d come in there as well. I selected my books and came back to the common table.
“So what are you busy studying?” he asked.
“Karma sutra” I replied, eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Shut up, idiot!” he scolded me albeit amidst laughter.
“What made you come here?” I asked.
When will I learn to be tactful? I inwardly groaned at myself.
“Um…I have an exam from 2.10 pm” he told me “So if you don’t mind, madam, may I study?”
“Knock yourself out!”

‘I’m always aiming,
But somehow keep missing
So how did you get here?
Something is wrong…’

The bank of the college lake seemed to have become a piece of my heart. There were actually four. The biggest one belonged to the Engineering Faculty. So we went there regularly when we had nothing better to do.
“Do you come here often?” I asked, one fine day as we sat by the lake.
“I used to,” came the reply “When I was in my first year. Pretty messed up, I was back then.”
“And you aren’t now?” I teased him.
“I work part time as a counselor.”
“No, you only work as my counselor.”
It seemed Abhra was ready to fly at me and claw my eyes out. But then he caught sight of the twinkle in my eye and began to laugh.
“You are seriously!” he gasped.
“The most fucked up person you’ve ever seen?” I supplied.
“No. but the craziest one for sure,” he smiled at me “And don’t use such a lot of swearwords. They don’t suit you.”
“Now, why the fu-?” I caught myself in time, seeing the look on his face.

‘Where did I go right?
How did I get you?
How come all this blue sky, is around me
And you found me.
Where did I go right?’

“College will come to an end for me in a month’s time,” Abhra sighed as we made our way towards our department one morning.
“Oh shit. Really?” I asked feeling a little sad. “But you’re going to do your Masters, right?”
“Time will tell.”
“Geesh! You’re one fu – I mean, lousy diplomat.”
I couldn’t get rid of the habit to swear. I had never done it in my school life. It had started right after I began dating my ex-boyfriend. I always had to use the choicest of swears to make him get my point. Swearing was just a bad habit I couldn’t simply get rid off.
“I’m glad to see you’re trying.”
“From using slang’s?” I asked, “Hell, yeah. I am. But you know what? It’s a lot harder getting rid of bad stuff than taking them up.”
“Keep trying, you’ll be surprised.”
“What are you?” I began to tease again, “A fortuneteller?”
Abhra merely laughed at me.

‘I don’t know how I did,
But somehow now I do…’