06: sparkling

Exam week had been exhausting. Nila had stayed in on Saturday and spent the entire day sleeping and cleaning her room which had become a racoon's nest in the past week. She had taken the best shower ever, ordered in food and rewatched Gilmore girls. Priya had roomed outside with her boyfriend for the weekend so it was just Nila and Anamika. They had gone to the beach on Sunday evening and spent quite some money on food trucks.

The well-spent weekend brought Nila back to life and normalcy. It was a well-deserved reward for surviving the week and managing to do all her tests well at the same time. But the weekend went by too soon.

It was a dreary Monday morning all over again and there she was, waiting at the bus stop, extremely pissed at the crowd of students waiting along with her for 29X, which was already late. She prayed she could at least get a space to stand.

As she waited, Nila made a list of things to do. She had assignments to finish by the end of the week and on top of that, they'd be distributing her answer papers through this week (ugh!). Grocery shopping was due and it was her duty this week. Nila wanted to look for online part-time gigs to balance her expenses as well. Her parents were more than willing to send her money but she didn't like asking.

Nila also had to prepare content for her blog and Instagram for the upcoming week. Recently, her content wasn't getting much engagement and she hadn't dedicated much time to it. She had to work on that too.

Even thinking of the list was draining. Nila needed a week full of weekends.

The crown of the bus peeked from the curve at the end of the road and she craned her neck to find it was 29X. The crowd pushed her forward and just as the bus neared, someone stamped on her slipper, making her trip and scrape her toe against the coarse ground. "Fuck," she muttered, bending down to fix her sandals and ignoring the angry red scratch on her feet. By the time she glanced up, the crowd had raced against her and filled the bus.

Guess Karma was not her boyfriend after all.

There were few more people yet to climb into the bus but it was already too full. If she got in, she'd be forced to stand on the stairs which she hated doing. There was no railing to grip and she had despicable balance.

The next bus was in thirty minutes. To get to her college on time, she had to spend extra money on auto which she didn't want to do. Nila had taken a vow to not spend unnecessarily this week. And it was only Monday. She didn't want to go back on her word so soon.

She made a split decision to fuck it and just get in the bus. Hopefully someone would get down at the next stop and give her space to stand. Just as she was about to get in, the bus moved. "Hey!" she huffed but it was barely audible.

Just then she heard a male voice call out. "Anna, people are still getting in. Stop the bus!"

The bus stopped again and Nila quickly hopped in, turning red when the driver scolded for not getting in sooner as if it was her fault the bus moved when she was doing just that.

Nila clung to her bag as the doors slammed shut. The conductor yelled at her to move up from the stairs but there was literally no space for her to stand. There was a middle aged man standing behind her on the last step as she stood on the second step. Three school students stood on the first step. She was sandwiched.

"Ticket!"

This time she had the change ready in her pocket, thank god. She fished it out and tried to find someone to pass it to the conductor when a hand reached out. Nila bent to the right to see it was Vijay. Her heart skipped a beat. Ah, not the time!

She handed him the change but his hand closed around hers and tugged her upwards onto the deck of the bus. "What are you doing?" she mouthed, making eye contact. He simply smiled at her and pulled her so that she was pressed close against him. Nila sucked in a breath as she realised their chests were too close, barely an inch of air between them. She could smell his perfume, so delicious, so manly. She wanted to snake her arms around his neck and cling onto to him, let him hold her forever.

When she caught herself with these thoughts, she shook them out of her mind, scolding her for listening to too many romance novel summaries from

Maya. She must get a grip, dammit.

Vijay didn't wait for her to gather her thoughts or ask what he was upto. He rotated them around slowly, their feet kissing as if they were slow dancing in a tight embrace. When Vijay stopped, Nila had taken his place and he had stepped down to take hers.

She only realised what he intended to do after it was done. "You can't!" she said, trying to come back to her place but he gave her a firm glare. For some reason, it rooted her in her place, a tiny flame of warmth sparkling in her chest at his protective stance.

"Thanks," she said.

"I would have done it for anyone," he replied, making Nila raise her eyebrow. She made an exaggerated sweeping gaze at the people standing next to her and tipped her chin up in challenge.

Pink crawled up his neck and he scratched his nape. "I don't know them," he shrugged.

Vijay passed on her change and made sure she got the ticket. When their hands brushed again, she looked at her fingers and his. Hers were dainty and glistening with moisturiser while his was huge, coarse and looked like it had seen a lot of rough days. It made sense since he was into sports.

When a few people got down at the next stop, Vijay joined her on the deck. He stood next to her and it would have been unaffecting if it was anyone else but with Vijay, she could feel his presence. It was consuming without them even touching.

"Which college do you go to?" he asked out of the blue.

Nila fiddled with the straps of her tote bag. "Uh, Victoria. You?"

"Joseph's."

Joseph's had been her first option to do her masters in. There was so much pressure on her from her family to get into it but even though she performed well in the interview and passed the entrance examinations, she didn't secure a seat. That rejection and the disapproval that came with it from her family cracked a piece of her.

For a tiny second, envy bubbled into her chest.

"Oh, fancy. It's difficult to get into, right? You must be brilliant," Nila said, managing a smile. Her assumptions about Vijay shattered. She had thought he was the rugged rule breaker and fun seeking athlete.

Vijay laughed. "Oh no, I'm a dull-head. I got in through the sports quota. I don't like studying."

Nila hid a wince. It was not to say she was more deserving to be in Joseph's than Vijay but the fact that she had put in so much work and failed stung more at how easy he made his admission sound.

It's okay. Victoria was the second most prestigious college. She was doing great there, she consoled herself.

"Apparently, you like studying. I saw you last week," Vijay continued.

Nila had known he had been watching her. She had felt guilty that she hadn't attempted a conversation with him. But she knew indulging in that sort of pleasure would serve as a big distraction. Daydreaming was one of her admirable qualities and since meeting Vijay, it had become obstructive. She thought about him too often.

"Yeah, it was exam week," she said.

"Bet you aced it. Those all-nighters must have come handy."

She turned red. Nila glanced at him sideways with a sheepish look, "was it that obvious?"

"I've been seeing you for more than two weeks everyday. I think it would be pretty obvious to me. I don't think anyone else noticed, don't worry," he said, amusement playing on his lips.

The first day he'd spoken to her, Vijay had stuttered a lot. She hadn't noticed then but when she replayed the conversation that they had over and over again, Nila realised he had been very nervous.

This time he wasn't. At least it wasn't evident. He was confident and smooth with his words. This type of confidence and his low deep voice was a deadly combination. It sent addictive shivers up her spine.

"Oh, okay. Um, what sport do you play?"

"Athletics. Track."

"You run?"

"Yes, I do. Too fast," he quipped.

"And too arrogant, I see," she said, rolling her lips into a smirk. A lady pushed against her to get down so she shrunk herself towards him. Vijay moved to his left to accommodate her.

"Nah, just confident." He grinned.

"That's a rare thing to see in people these days," Nila said softly. "You must really love it. Running, I mean."

He ran a hand through his curls absent-mindedly and held onto the handle above their heads. "Yeah, I do. It's something I'd never give up. It's hell if I do."

Nila wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even to Sanjay, but for some reason she wondered what it would like to hold Vijay's arm. It was obvious he worked out because she could see his muscle flex and strain against the sleeves of his t-shirt whenever he held the top handles on the bus. Like now.

It felt wrong to think this way but if she ever got an opportunity to hold his arm once, her palm curled just above his elbow, she'd gladly be declared a criminal if she ever passed on it.

"It's nice to see you so passionate about it."

"You are too, aren't you?" he asked. When Nila simply looked at him, he added, "about plants?"

Oh. "Yeah. My grandma got me into gardening and no one's able to pull me out of it ever since. I've been unstoppable with my obsession. My house will soon resemble a botanical garden."

Vijay chuckled. "I think I would love your house then."

Nila paused, wondering if she heard him wrong. He quickly added, "Um, green is my favourite colour. That's why I said that."

"Oh, okay. That's nice," she said, acting normal as if his words didn't do any harm to her heart rate. "I wish mine was green. It should be, considering my plant obsession. But I have an unusual favourite colour."

"What is it?"

"Royal blue."

"I've never heard anyone mention it. It'll be hard to forget this about you," Vijay said, warmth lining his eyes. "Is there any reason, though?"

Nila shook her head. "I am drawn to it, I guess. I own a lot of blue stuff. And royal blue makes up most of it. I even wanted to dye my hair royal blue once in my life if I ever got the chance."

"You love it so much, huh?"

Nila glanced at him with a soft smile. "I think. It's an underrated colour."

Just like the warm nutty brown of Vijay's eyes. And she loved it so much too. So much that it might become her new favourite.

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a/n: how are you liking it so far?