A hand touched my shoulders and asked," Are you alright? What happened? Why are you sitting alone?"

I turned around and saw a new girl whom I had never met before.

"My stomach is aching...Ouch!! I want to go home.. Please help me", I cried unable to tolerate the pain.

The new girl immediately informed the teachers about my condition. The teachers rushed me to the nearby hospital in one of the teacher's car. While all this happened, I was in a semi- conscious state because of the pain.

I opened my eyes and saw the new girl sitting beside me.

"Where are we?” I asked while trying to sit upright.

“We are at the hospital. How are you feeling now?” asked the new girl.

"I'm alright now. Thank you so much for your help. I have not seen you before. Are you a new student?” asked Gayatri. "

“Actually, I was studying in a different school. This school is nearby my house, my father got me transferred here. I joined just today", said the new girl.

“Thanks again. What's your name?” I asked.

“Alphonsa Jacob...”, said the new girl. That day was the beginning of a new and meaningful friendship in my life. 

Alphonsa was from a highly disciplined family. Her parents were very strict and religious. Such kind of a background was responsible for Alphonsa's serene and kind nature. She was highly spiritual and God fearing girl. As we both grew closer, I became more God fearing and sensitive to other needs. Alphonsa was as affectionate as a mother. She was God sent angel for me.

One day, I gained courage and shared my feelings for Hari with Alphonsa. I was always curious to know whether I was right or wrong.

I said," Alphonsa, I have to tell you something. I love my cousin Hari a lot. I'm just 13...I have always felt I am doing something wrong and that I should control my feelings. But, my feelings for Hari are so strong that I will never be able to forget him or change my mind. What should I do?"

"Trust in God and yourself. If you indeed love him then pray to God daily for his well being and happiness. God will definitely realize your love for Hari and give you what you want. You do not have to feel guilty for love is the purest form of any other emotions. Love is divine. But you must also remember that your parents love you and trust you. They expect you to study well and reach a good position in life. Do not do anything which will hurt them", said Alphonsa. 

Alphonsa's words made me feel motivated and I was full of hopes. I had started loving my life and all this reflected in my academic grades and performances in competitions. Alphonsa had unknowingly kindled the jolt of confidence which was submerged deep within me. I started writing poetries and stories.My sudden improvement captured attention of my teachers. They were amazed to see my achievements. It was the most beautiful year in my academic life.

Meanwhile, Alisha got elected as one of the prefect's that academic year. We got very less opportunity to speak with each other. We both decided to write messages on pieces of paper. But our conversations were very private and we didn't want anybody else to know our secrets. So, Alisha proposed an idea of writing the messages in code words.

"Gayatri, I have an idea. Let us write messages in code words...Aashiq and I write letters to each other in code words. No one would even know what we are writing. I will teach you the code language..", said Alisha taking a pen in her hand. This was the code language:

 

 

We started writing letters in code language to each other which we took home and read secretly.

One day, when I was not around my brother opened my bag while searching for a pencil. He found a letter. It had lot of symbols and looked very strange. He felt something suspicious. He searched my bag further and found the paper containing the secret of the code language.
He compared the letter with the code language symbols. He was shocked to see what was written in the letter. He was confused and wasn't able to decide how to react.

The best school year in my life ended. I was thrilled about my experiences at my school. I wanted to share it with Hari. But I was not sure whether my parents would take me to Hari's place for those vacations. So, I decided to write a letter to Hari to tell him how happy I was.

My dear Hari,

How are you? How are your parents and your brothers? I miss you all a lot. I have lots of things to share with you Hari. So, I am writing this letter to you. I want to tell you how happy I am.

Do you know I scored 50/50 in my Maths exam? My maths teacher was surprised. You should have seen her dumbstruck face while giving me my answer sheet. She looked funny. This year I have scored good marks in other subjects too.

I won first prize in story writing and 2nd prize in poetry writing. I have been selected in school choir group. I am so excited. I love this sudden attention. I love my school like never before. This is all because of my friend Alphonsa. She encourages me to do everything.

How were your exams Hari? We might not be able to meet this year, I feel so. So, I thought of writing this letter to you. You have always made me feel happy and special. So, I wanted to share with you that I have found an equally loving friend in Alphonsa. Please take care and do reply.

                                                                                                                                                                       Yours lovingly,

                                                                                                                                                                            Gayatri.

I posted the letter to Hari. However, my father made an ad-hoc decision to leave for Kerala to visit his mother the very next day. I was not only super excited but also nervous to meet Hari. I wondered how Hari would react to my letter.

We reached Hari's place. All the family members had gathered together when suddenly an unexpected guest arrived at Hari's place. It was the postman. My heart beats increased. I was trembling with fear. The worst was yet to happen. The postman handed over the letter to my father as he was standing near the entrance. All were surprised when they saw that the letter was addressed to Hari and was posted by me. I felt embarrassed and wanted to flee from there. I was worried about my parent’s reaction.

I was stunned by my father's voice when he asked, "Gayatri when did you post this letter? Why didn't you tell me about this letter?"

My father's words were echoing in my ears. I had turned pale and did not utter a word. Meanwhile,Hari's brother ran and yelled in excitement, “Come quickly...Gayatri...let's go...everyone is waiting for you at the fields."

He dragged me by holding my hands and both of us ran towards the fields.

"Phew!!!” I heaved a sigh of relief.

I thanked the Almighty for saving me from an embarrassing situation. When all of us returned from the fields, I saw the letter lying on a table. But before I could get hold of it, Hari snatched it and started reading it. He looked at me askance and smiled in a weird manner. I felt awkward and was not able to look at his face.

I decided to leave when Hari stopped me and said, "Will you come upstairs with me?"

I agreed and both of us sat in a room, upstairs. He started reading my letter aloud. I pressed my hands on my ears. I didn't want to hear him read my letter.

 "What happened? Why did you close your ears? Shall I close the door? Nobody will hear me then ", said Hari while closing the door.

After reading the letter, Hari might have sensed that I had feelings for him. He decided to play a game. He asked me to sit facing him and look into his eyes without blinking my eyes. I looked at him. It was probably for the first time that I was sitting so close to Hari. His heart shaped face glowed with brightness, his forehead looked sculpted, his eyes were soulful, he had a thin line of moustache below his cute snub nose surrounded by the stubble on his face.

"Look into my eyes Gayu, common...” insisted Hari.

I looked into his eyes. His eyes pierced into my soul. My heart began to pump faster. I sweltered and began to sweat profusely. I began to breathe heavily. A rapid jolt of electricity shuddered on me deep inside my body. I was at my emotional apex. Though I tried controlling my emotions, my goose bumps couldn't control any longer and finally emerged out. Before I could see Hari's reaction, my father barged into the room.

He shouted at us, "What the hell are you both doing here? We have been looking for both of you all around the house and fields. "

Both of us were too stunned to react. I left the room with my father. My face had turned red with embarrassment. I wanted to cry loudly. That old pricking pain in my heart had begun to bother me again. I ran towards my mother when I saw her and hugged her tightly. My eyes were red and watery. I held my tears from rolling down as I didn't wanted to gain unnecessary attention. I was also worried how my father would react if I cried at that moment. I was quite throughout that day.

My family decided to leave the next day. I did not bid good bye to anyone. I did not have the courage to look at Hari again. I had a small teddy bear with me with a" Best Friends "jacket printed on it inside my bag.

I kept it on Hari's table with a note-

"For you my best friend Hari. Sorry!"

-Gayatri.

I sat into the taxi with my head bowed down in humiliation. My mind was full of anger and bitterness. However, at that moment I was unaware of the bitterness which was awaiting me back in Mumbai.