Read Part I here: http://herethis-therethat.blogspot.in/2011/04/new-love-stories.html
Read Part II here: http://herethis-therethat.blogspot.in/2012/02/new-love-stories-part-ii.html
Read Part III here: http://herethis-therethat.blogspot.in/2013/02/new-love-stories-part-iii.html
"Do you wanna see a picture of Sir-Abs-a-Lot?" Tweetster24 asked her friend.
"Yes, of course," PizzaLover123 replied.
Tweetster24 quickly unlocked her smartphone, tapped a couple of buttons, smiled when she reached the picture, swung the phone around so that her friend could see the picture finally.
PizzaLover123 took the phone from her friend and saw the picture. The guy in the picture was smiling warmly. He was wearing an unbuttoned shirt which showed his well-sculpted abs all the way down to the navel. He had dark eyes which were crinkled in the sun, when this photo was taken, and which made him look all the more adorable. PizzaLover123's heart skipped a beat when she focused back on his smile. She had seen this guy before. And she knew him really well....
It was four years ago, to be exact. PizzaLover123 was still struggling as a teenager on the cusp of adulthood and navigating her way through the cliques of undergraduate college. Most of her time was spent in the library as her girlfriends were busy canoodling with their boyfriends. Her guy friends were off chasing any and every single girl worth their attention. Which is why the library was full of the fat girls and lesbians. And PizzaLover123. The other girls were out enjoying the attention under the warm autumn sun.
The month had just began which meant that new magazines had come in and PizzaLover123 wanted to be among the first to browse through the pages and smell the freshly-printed issues. She always smelled books before reading them. For some reason it calmed her. Reassured that everything in the world was right and there was peace all over. She would flip the pages fast many times if she was tensed. Lesser if she was happy. Today she was not too over the moon and it was her fifth time smelling the new paper and glue.
"Are you going to check that out?"
At the sudden voice, PizzaLover123 was shaken out of her sexual book dream and startled, looked around to locate the source of the voice.
Standing to her left, at the entrance of the two rows of bookshelves, was a boy she had never seen before. He was tanned, had long hair which fell to his shoulders, and a skinny physique. His face was round and full though. And his expression was half amusement and half laughter.
Regaining her senses, she held the magazine to her chest, and said, "You can't check out magazines. You'd know it if you'd ever visited a library before this."
"Hey, hey, hey!" the boy held up his hands. "Don't kill me for asking what would be on anyone's mind if they saw you like that. Looked like you were getting turned on."
PizzaLover123's eyes widened and her face flushed with embarrassment.
"You do a good 'deer in the headlights' expression too," he said. "Ever tried out for the drama club? My friend's a director in the Hindi drama club. I could introduce you."
"No, thanks," PizzaLover123 said in a low voice. She'd been embarrassed enough for the day. She wanted to leave the library but just couldn't. She wanted to check out the other books of the shelves too but the boy was not making any attempts to leave. And she couldn't leave now. Students would start coming in and start checking out and reserving the books and she couldn't let that happen. She wanted all the books to herself.
"Fine by me," he replied and turned his eyes to the bookshelf facing the opposite of the one she was browsing through. "Theatre might never know what it's missing."
"OK, stop! Enough with the jabs."
He laughed and turned to look at her. She looked at him with anger but was still a bit embarrassed. For some reason she couldn't bear being angry at him. His face had a warm and calming quality. Like the books she was smelling.... Was she being turned on in the middle of the library by a human?
"Sorry," he apologised. "What are you reading anyway?"
"It's the latest issue of National Geographic," she replied. "You can tell by their iconic yellow frame."
"Yes, like Time has the red frame," he added.
She looked up at him suddenly, impressed, and smiled. He looked sideways at her too.
"You're impressed, I see. Don't you get that often?"
"From the knuckleheads that go here? No!"
"Hey, I'm one of those knuckleheads too, you know. And so are you."
"Yes," she agreed. "But I'm a bit less knucklehead-y than the rest. Bit more sane."
"You can't be the judge of that."
"No, I can't be," she answered. "But wouldn't you agree?"
He looked at her again an open book in hand, mid-browse.
"Much as I am shocked by your jab, I have to agree with you, miss," he answered.
PizzaLover123 smiled and put the magazine next to her on a stool to browse through later on one of the comfy couches in the library's reading area. Her attention turned to the other books on the shelves.
"Which course are you in?" he asked her. "I'm Economics, final year."
"Pol. Science," she replied. "Second year."
"Politics," he said in a sing-song voice, smiling. "No wonder."
"What?" she asked in an offended tone. "You think Imma feminist beyatch your ass?"
He looked at her with shock. She looked at him and wondered what he was thinking. She'd had this response ready ever since school when the other kids would tease her for being too much of a bookworm, and she'd pick verbal fights with them over the intricacies of national and international politics when all the other kids wanted was to make jokes of the situation. They called her a "Femi-Nazi" to keep her from raining down more political theories and ideologies.
"Actually, no, I'm not afraid of that," he finally answered after a few seconds of silence. "I was wondering that I'd never seen you around as we aren't in the same course."
She realised her mistake."I'm sorry," she told him.
"That's the second time within five minutes. Wonder how many more times you'll say it if we continue this conversation," he said.
"We don't have to continue this conversation," she said matter-of-fact. He looked at her, one eyebrow raised.
"I mean, we could talk about something else," she explained. "That's what I meant."
"Of course," he agreed. "But I do love it when women get all fired up about their causes."
PizzaLover123 rolled her eyes. She strongly restricted herself from responding to that jab. She would only respond if he kept the sexist comments going.
"Rolling your eyes is also an expression of your thoughts, by the way," he said, smiling widely. Now she was stopping herself from even doing that. He was getting on her nerves for sure.
"Do you wanna take all these books and reserve them?" he asked her. He had picked a couple of books from his side of the shelf. "I do wanna catch up on the National Geographic too. Would you mind sharing it with me once you're done?"
She looked at him, puzzled. "Umm...sure, I'd do it. When I'm done reading it."
"Great!" he exclaimed. "Do you want to go to the cafe with me then? I'm a bit thirsty and hungry, both."
"Um...well I have a bottle of water with me and some biscuits," she offered. "Do you want to share those?"
"Oh no, I could not ask that of you," he answered. "I'd rather take milady out and treat her to a really cheap tea or coffee. Which one do you prefer?"
She smiled. But she was also surprised. No guy had asked her to tea or coffee yet. Most guys would say "coffee" but this one gave her an option of either. Not both. That was probably because both of them were on a restricted college budget.
"Tea, please," she replied.
He smiled. "Perfect! Me too."
They looked at each other and smiled. The conversation was moving in a favourable direction for them both.
"Let's go then," PizzaLover123 said.
(To be continued)
Read Part V here: http://herethis-therethat.blogspot.in/2013/02/new-love-stories-part-v.html
Read Part II here: http://herethis-therethat.blogspot.in/2012/02/new-love-stories-part-ii.html
Read Part III here: http://herethis-therethat.blogspot.in/2013/02/new-love-stories-part-iii.html
"Do you wanna see a picture of Sir-Abs-a-Lot?" Tweetster24 asked her friend.
"Yes, of course," PizzaLover123 replied.
Tweetster24 quickly unlocked her smartphone, tapped a couple of buttons, smiled when she reached the picture, swung the phone around so that her friend could see the picture finally.
PizzaLover123 took the phone from her friend and saw the picture. The guy in the picture was smiling warmly. He was wearing an unbuttoned shirt which showed his well-sculpted abs all the way down to the navel. He had dark eyes which were crinkled in the sun, when this photo was taken, and which made him look all the more adorable. PizzaLover123's heart skipped a beat when she focused back on his smile. She had seen this guy before. And she knew him really well....
It was four years ago, to be exact. PizzaLover123 was still struggling as a teenager on the cusp of adulthood and navigating her way through the cliques of undergraduate college. Most of her time was spent in the library as her girlfriends were busy canoodling with their boyfriends. Her guy friends were off chasing any and every single girl worth their attention. Which is why the library was full of the fat girls and lesbians. And PizzaLover123. The other girls were out enjoying the attention under the warm autumn sun.
The month had just began which meant that new magazines had come in and PizzaLover123 wanted to be among the first to browse through the pages and smell the freshly-printed issues. She always smelled books before reading them. For some reason it calmed her. Reassured that everything in the world was right and there was peace all over. She would flip the pages fast many times if she was tensed. Lesser if she was happy. Today she was not too over the moon and it was her fifth time smelling the new paper and glue.
"Are you going to check that out?"
At the sudden voice, PizzaLover123 was shaken out of her sexual book dream and startled, looked around to locate the source of the voice.
Standing to her left, at the entrance of the two rows of bookshelves, was a boy she had never seen before. He was tanned, had long hair which fell to his shoulders, and a skinny physique. His face was round and full though. And his expression was half amusement and half laughter.
Regaining her senses, she held the magazine to her chest, and said, "You can't check out magazines. You'd know it if you'd ever visited a library before this."
"Hey, hey, hey!" the boy held up his hands. "Don't kill me for asking what would be on anyone's mind if they saw you like that. Looked like you were getting turned on."
PizzaLover123's eyes widened and her face flushed with embarrassment.
"You do a good 'deer in the headlights' expression too," he said. "Ever tried out for the drama club? My friend's a director in the Hindi drama club. I could introduce you."
"No, thanks," PizzaLover123 said in a low voice. She'd been embarrassed enough for the day. She wanted to leave the library but just couldn't. She wanted to check out the other books of the shelves too but the boy was not making any attempts to leave. And she couldn't leave now. Students would start coming in and start checking out and reserving the books and she couldn't let that happen. She wanted all the books to herself.
"Fine by me," he replied and turned his eyes to the bookshelf facing the opposite of the one she was browsing through. "Theatre might never know what it's missing."
"OK, stop! Enough with the jabs."
He laughed and turned to look at her. She looked at him with anger but was still a bit embarrassed. For some reason she couldn't bear being angry at him. His face had a warm and calming quality. Like the books she was smelling.... Was she being turned on in the middle of the library by a human?
"Sorry," he apologised. "What are you reading anyway?"
"It's the latest issue of National Geographic," she replied. "You can tell by their iconic yellow frame."
"Yes, like Time has the red frame," he added.
She looked up at him suddenly, impressed, and smiled. He looked sideways at her too.
"You're impressed, I see. Don't you get that often?"
"From the knuckleheads that go here? No!"
"Hey, I'm one of those knuckleheads too, you know. And so are you."
"Yes," she agreed. "But I'm a bit less knucklehead-y than the rest. Bit more sane."
"You can't be the judge of that."
"No, I can't be," she answered. "But wouldn't you agree?"
He looked at her again an open book in hand, mid-browse.
"Much as I am shocked by your jab, I have to agree with you, miss," he answered.
PizzaLover123 smiled and put the magazine next to her on a stool to browse through later on one of the comfy couches in the library's reading area. Her attention turned to the other books on the shelves.
"Which course are you in?" he asked her. "I'm Economics, final year."
"Pol. Science," she replied. "Second year."
"Politics," he said in a sing-song voice, smiling. "No wonder."
"What?" she asked in an offended tone. "You think Imma feminist beyatch your ass?"
He looked at her with shock. She looked at him and wondered what he was thinking. She'd had this response ready ever since school when the other kids would tease her for being too much of a bookworm, and she'd pick verbal fights with them over the intricacies of national and international politics when all the other kids wanted was to make jokes of the situation. They called her a "Femi-Nazi" to keep her from raining down more political theories and ideologies.
"Actually, no, I'm not afraid of that," he finally answered after a few seconds of silence. "I was wondering that I'd never seen you around as we aren't in the same course."
She realised her mistake."I'm sorry," she told him.
"That's the second time within five minutes. Wonder how many more times you'll say it if we continue this conversation," he said.
"We don't have to continue this conversation," she said matter-of-fact. He looked at her, one eyebrow raised.
"I mean, we could talk about something else," she explained. "That's what I meant."
"Of course," he agreed. "But I do love it when women get all fired up about their causes."
PizzaLover123 rolled her eyes. She strongly restricted herself from responding to that jab. She would only respond if he kept the sexist comments going.
"Rolling your eyes is also an expression of your thoughts, by the way," he said, smiling widely. Now she was stopping herself from even doing that. He was getting on her nerves for sure.
"Do you wanna take all these books and reserve them?" he asked her. He had picked a couple of books from his side of the shelf. "I do wanna catch up on the National Geographic too. Would you mind sharing it with me once you're done?"
She looked at him, puzzled. "Umm...sure, I'd do it. When I'm done reading it."
"Great!" he exclaimed. "Do you want to go to the cafe with me then? I'm a bit thirsty and hungry, both."
"Um...well I have a bottle of water with me and some biscuits," she offered. "Do you want to share those?"
"Oh no, I could not ask that of you," he answered. "I'd rather take milady out and treat her to a really cheap tea or coffee. Which one do you prefer?"
She smiled. But she was also surprised. No guy had asked her to tea or coffee yet. Most guys would say "coffee" but this one gave her an option of either. Not both. That was probably because both of them were on a restricted college budget.
"Tea, please," she replied.
He smiled. "Perfect! Me too."
They looked at each other and smiled. The conversation was moving in a favourable direction for them both.
"Let's go then," PizzaLover123 said.
(To be continued)
Read Part V here: http://herethis-therethat.blogspot.in/2013/02/new-love-stories-part-v.html
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