I can't Forget her

Fun week

 Fun week

The very next day, I handed over the list of all the students to Neetu ma’m and every year before sports week we are allowed to practice. This is the time for which all the students are excited. This practice week is even better and fun than sports week. We roam around into different classes and help our juniors with their practice sessions. But this year things seem to be quite different because Riya is so busy cheering for Ishaan in his cricket practice sessions that she doesn’t have time for her best friend. I hate Riya for her behaviour but I love her so much that I feel even she has the right to make friends. It wouldn’t be a problem for me if it wasn’t Ishaan for whom she is ignoring me.

I tried really hard not to feel jealous about it but I couldn’t put a hold on my feelings. I decided to go to Riya and talk about it. I went to the ground and found Ishaan and her laughing.

“This guy is going to take my best friend away from me. I can’t let that happen” I said to myself.

“Where the hell are you since morning? You said you will be back in 5 minutes and here you are laughing with stupid people.” I said to Riya in annoyance.

“Yes. I was just cheering for them. I was coming back to you” she cleared her point.

“You should have at least told me. I was looking for you on the second floor and that’s when Meenu told me that you were here” I told her.

Anyone would know that I wasn’t happy with their friendship but sadly, my best friend doesn’t understand.

“Do you have any problem if she cheers for me?” Ishaan joined our conversation.

“No. I don’t have any problem” I corrected him.

“Are you sure?” He moved towards me.

“Yes” I clarified.

“I don’t think so” He got closer.

“I don’t care about what you think and yes, stay away from me” I said, narrowing my eyes.

“What will you do if I won’t? Will you punch me or kick me?” He asked, moving a step closer.

“Ishaan please, stop it” Riya interrupted.

“Riya” a voice came from behind.

“Neetu ma’m is calling you.” said Varun, one of our juniors.

“Guys, please don’t fight and I will see you in the class Aisha” she said and went.

I looked at Ishaan and rolled my eyes, hoping he would move away but he didn’t.

I moved away from him and he blocked my way again.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you even in your senses?” I was irritated.

“Yes! I am in my senses but why are you getting nervous? Are you getting attracted to my good looks?” He said with a smirk on his face just to annoy me.

“Oh please. You and good looks don’t collide.”I said wiggling my brows.

“Excuse me” his facial expressions changed.

I finally managed to annoy him for the very first time.

“Oh! The cool dude Ishaan got annoyed?” I chuckled.

“Not at all, let me look into your eyes” He came closer.

“What?” I didn’t know what to say.

“Your eyes” He looked deeply into them.

“What?” I asked again.

“Your eyes” He kept looking into them.

“What?” I got nervous.

“Your must get your eyes checked. You have poor eye sight.” He laughed.

“That was such a bad joke” I was peeved.

“Whatever” he moved away and I left.

I sat on my bed and started preparing my speech for elocution and we were given the topic “Depression”.

I started browsing and going through different articles to understand the topic and this time I knew I had to give my best because Ishaan was also participating and I had to win the challenge.

I read different articles and realized how difficult it is to deal with depression and how it kills a human from inside. I never knew it was such a terrible thing until before.

It was Saturday and we have spent the entire week having fun, roaming around and chilling.

“Where is this guy? I haven’t seen him since morning.” I thought to myself.

“Hate is such a weird feeling, it keeps you connected to your enemy” I love being philosophical at times.

“Where is your friend?” I asked Riya.

“You mean Ishaan?” she questioned.

“Yes” I replied.

“He hasn’t come to school today. He already told me yesterday that he won’t be coming today” she said.

“Oh” I reacted.

“Why are you asking about him? Are you missing him?” she joked.

“Oh please, I was asking about him because even he is also participating in elocution. Anyways let’s go.” I cleared my point.

Sports week

I woke up to a beautiful morning and was extremely ecstatic because this week was going to be full of fun and excitement. I got ready for school and left home within no time.

As I reached, I found that the entire school was looking colourful as it was decorated with flags, buntings and flowers. Today, we had events like running race, cricket match and carom.

“Aisha! Look at the playground, isn’t it looking beautiful” Riya too was excited.

“Yes! It’s looking pretty” I nodded my head in agreement.

“We will be first having cricket match then running race followed by carom” said Riya.

“Oh! That’s Amazing” I responded.

The cricket match began and Ishaan’s team won the toss and they decided to bowl. I only find these cricket matches interesting in the last over. However, I had to stand with Riya and witness the match.

Ishaan was bowling and Riya’s excitement could be seen through her face. She kept cheering for him and I couldn’t understand what makes this girl go gaga over such an i***t.

First team finished their batting and the score was 299 for 8 wickets in 20 over. They had a break for about 15 minutes and Ishaan came to us. Ignoring my presence he looked at Riya and thanked her for standing in the sun and cheering for his team. Riya blushed and praised him for his bowling. I was pissed off with their stupid conversation. After 15 minutes the match resumed and I couldn’t stand in the sun anymore. I was tired and wanted to take some rest, I asked Riya to come with me but she refused. I made a puppy face in front of her but she insisted to stay there. I was annoyed with her behaviour but I ignored and went to classroom. There were a few students sitting and gossiping. I went to Nisha and sat beside her.

“Where is Riya? How are you today without her?” she asked.

“She is watching cricket match and I was tired so I came here” I replied.

“Ok. So, have you prepared for elocution? I heard that it will be on Friday.” She said.

“Okay. I didn’t know that. Yes! I am almost done with it.” I replied.

“This one is your favourite right?”She took out kitkat bar from her bag and gave it to me.

“Oh yes! You still remember that” I asked in excitement.

“Yes! Of course” she said with a smile.

“We were really good friends few years back if you remember” she said in a sad tone.

Nisha, Riya and I were really good friends in childhood but few years back Nisha and Riya had a fight over something and that’s when Riya stopped talking to her and so did I. They don’t hold any grudges against each other now but the bond somewhere has been lost.

“Yes Of course Nisha. You are still a close friend of mine” I replied with a smile.

“You know Aisha. I miss you being with you at times” Her words were making me feel guilty.

“Yes! I do too. By the way, you remember how we three of us used to eat other’s lunch secretly from their boxes.” I tried to change the topic.

“Yes! And we used to hide their lunch boxes later” She giggled.

We reminisced a few moments from childhood and laughed.

“Divya is calling you Nisha. She has been looking for you everywhere” Nitin, our fellow classmate told Nisha.

“Okay! I am coming” She replied.

“I have to go. It was really nice spending time with you. I will catch you later” she said and left.

It was really nice talking to her. I was happy that I got to spend some time with her. I went to see if the cricket match was over.

I went to Riya and asked her if she isn’t tired of standing in the sun since morning. She was still cheering for Ishaan with the same excitement. With two overs left, Ishaan was resting his bat on the ground. They needed to score 24 runs in 8 balls. He looked to the sky and inhaled mouthful of air.

He score 4 runs and the crowd started shouting, especially Riya. It was actually exciting to see the last 2 overs of the match. He hit another 4 and the crowd started shouting in excitement again. They need 16 runs in 6 balls. The match was getting exciting.

Two balls, two dots in the last over decreased their chances of winning. Last 4 balls were left and Ishaan hit another 4 followed by dot ball which means that he needs to hit two 6 in last two balls. This was something extremely difficult but all of our eyes were glued to the ground. He hit 12 in the last 2 balls and made his team win which made the entire crowd go gaga over him. This was such an extraordinary moment. He moved amongst his team, dirt caked across the front of his shirt, face reddened, eyes blood shot, he still looked in shock. After the victory dance and all the celebration Ishaan came to Riya and started bragging about his exceptional performance.

“Wow! Ishaan, your performance was exceptional.” She started praising him.

“Thank you Riya. I know but this was nothing. I hit 4 sixes in the last four balls and made my school team win” he was talking about his performance last year in his previous school.

“Wow! Are you serious? You are amazing Ishaan” She was overwhelmed.

“Nobody is interested in your previous victories” I interrupted.

“Who is talking to you?” Ishaan said raising his eyebrows.

“I don’t want my best friend to get bored with your talks” I said with a smirk.

“If she can be with such a boring girl like you then I am sure she can handle my boring talks” He gave an evil smile.

“How dare you call me boring?” I questioned with an outburst of rage.

“That’s what you are. You are such a boring girl. I pity Riya for being your best friend” He grinned.

I looked at Riya and she didn’t utter a word. At least here she could have opened her mouth and shut this guy up.

“Riya, Am I boring?” I asked her in annoyance.

“No. You are not” she smiled.

“Riya is such an amazing friend, she cannot hurt her best friend” He said looking at me.

“Anyways Riya, I will catch you later” He said and left.

“He would have still won if you weren’t standing here in the sun” I said to Riya.

I was worried about her Running race and carom match.

“I just wanted to cheer for their team and my darling I know you are worried about my running race and carom match but don’t you know that your best friend is a champion in both the games.” She winked.

“Yes. I know” I smiled.

There was an announcement of running race competition in next 10 minutes. Riya went to the dressing room and changed her dress.

The competition began in no time and I was excited to cheer for Riya just like I do every year.

“Riya, Riya, Riya” I heard a familiar voice from back.

I turned around and found Ishaan.

“Oh so this guy is again here. He is going to steal my best friend” I thought to myself.

The game was clear as Riya was ahead of all the girls and she managed to finish in the first place.

After winning the game she came running to me in excitement. I was overjoyed with her victory. But what broke my heart was Riya ignored me and went to Ishaan to share her happiness.

Their friendship was getting on my nerves now. I controlled my emotions and patted Riya on the back.

“I am proud of you darling”

“See, I told you that I am going to win this year too” she said proudly.

“You were fantastic Riya. Congratulations” Ishaan interrupted.

“Thank you Ishaan and also thanks for standing in the sun for me” She said with huge smile.

“Why are you thanking him? You stood for him for almost 4 hours and he came after you ran halfway.” I said giving a fake smile.

“It’s okay! I am happy that he is here” She kept smiling at him.

“I had to come for you” he said giving me an evil smirk.

“You also have a carom match if you remember” I said pulling her hand.

“Oh yes! Let’s go.” She blinked at Ishaan and came along with me.

Riya’s carom match was about to begin and although I have been doing nothing all the day I was drained. I had no energy.

“I don’t know where this girl gets all this energy from” I thought looking at Riya.

She stood in the sun for almost 4 hours for Ishaan, won a race and now she was sitting here ready for her carom match.

She played four matches and won all of them. Riya turned out to be the winner in this game too.

“Ishaan. Thank you for coming here. You know I won this game” She came to him and said in excitement.

“This is too much. How can this girl ignore me so badly? I have been here since the game began and this guy came 5 minutes ago and she went straight away to him to share her joy” I was extremely annoyed and went to our classroom.

“Why did you leave Aisha?” Riya came to the classroom looking for me.

“Thank God! You remember that you have a best friend too” I said with an exasperated sigh.

“What happened? Why are you so angry at me? Did I do something wrong” anxious, she asked.

“Nothing, you go and talk to Ishaan.” I let my anger burst out.

“Please Aisha, don’t say that. He is just a friend of mine but my darling you are my best friend, my sister and my soulmate.” She said with a puppy face.

“I am sorry” she apologized holding her ears.

“It’s okay. You know I can’t share you with anyone” I gave her a side hug and we both smiled at each other.

It was such a hectic day, I thought to myself sitting on the sofa of my drawing room. I sipped in some coffee from my favourite mug and thought of everything that happened today.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we had many other games. As none of my friends were participating in any of the games, we got a lot of time to have fun together. We sang our favourite songs, danced madly, played many games and gossiped about almost everything.

It was Friday and elocution competition was held today. I was a little nervous this year because I had the pressure of winning. I always feel that the fear of losing steals away my confidence.

“So, are you prepared to lose?” Ishaan patted me on the head.

“No! I am prepared for the win” Irritated, I replied.

“Oh really, let’s see” He smirked.

“Do you remember the challenge? You will have to be my servant for a week if you lose” I reminded him of the challenge.

“Yes! I do remember” He replied.

“So, get ready to be my servant for a week” I smiled.

“Aren’t you being over confident here? What if you lose?” he asked.

“No, I am not.” I replied confidently but deep down I was scared to lose the challenge.

The competition began and one by one all the students went on to the dais and gave their speech. Everyone was giving an exceptional performance.

“All the best” Ishaan said from behind as it was my turn now.

I smiled nervously at him and moved on to the dais. This was the first time I was nervous but I held my breath for a while and started my speech with confidence.

“A very warm and mesmerizing morning to all present here, respected principal madam, teachers and my dear friends I would like to begin my speech on depression with a quote” I greeted all.

“No one wishes to have dark days, sleepless nights where one is struggling to sleep, sad nights where one doesn’t know what to do with life and a dark tunnel in which one is stuck and cannot reach an end. Depression is not a choice.” I started off my speech and then continued

“Depression is the most unpleasant thing one can ever experience. It is indeed the worst of all.. The thing that makes depression worst is that one loses hope that he can ever be happy again and that’s where everything ends. People confuse depression with sadness, a lot of people think that depression and sadness are same but it’s a completely different thing because being sad is a normal feeling but being depressed isn’t normal. It is not healthy..It effects your mental health. It is a kind of mental illness… Such kind of mental illness exists all around us but we fail to understand............” I gave a speech for almost 10 minutes and ended it with

“So, if you know a person who is depressed try resolving their issue without judging them, making fun of them or asking reasons because this is one of the kindest and the most sacred  things you could ever do. Thank you” I went down dais and the crowd began to applaud. I was extremely happy with my performance and now it was Ishaan’s turn.

Ishaan was on dais and he looked at me I gave him a thumbs up sign to wish him good luck. He smiled and started

“As the sun rays announces a new day, I would like to wish my respected principal, teachers and my fellow students a good morning. The word “depressed” is used very casually these days. We just don’t know how many people are suferring from this disease. We get sad due to something and say that we are depressed. But these are two different things and requires different approaches. Sadness can be overcome by experinecing happiness in a second but depression is a long term illness that needs proper care and treatment. The signs and symptoms of depression are that a person becomes weak emotionally, mentally and physically. We see a depressed person and ask him to sum up the courage to fight against and many the world but little did we know that this fight isn’t with the world it’s with himself..............”

He finished his speech and the crowd started applauding for him. I was impressed by his speech and also was a bit scared because I somewhere felt that I was going to lose the challenge.

The results were going to be declared after 15 minutes and I was extremely nervous.

“You did a great job Aisha” Ishaan appreciated me.

I was surprised to see him appreciating me but then he said these words

“But you weren’t better than me. So, get ready to lose the challenge”

I didn’t utter a word and waited for the results to be announced.

“This was a very tough competition. All the students were amazing but two of them blew us away with their speech. Ishaan and Aisha, both were excellent. It was really difficult to decide who stands first” Neetu ma’m said.

I bit my nails in nervousness and looked at Ishaan. He was so confident that he was going to win the challenge and I too knew that I am going to lose the challenge.

“Ishaan is the winner of elocution competition and Aisha stands 2nd” She announced.

I could see the happiness on Ishaan’s face. I was extremely disappointed, not because I lost because I always believed that losing is a part of life but losing to Ishaan was something that hit me really hard. I now had to be his servant for a week.