Diwali Bonus

She invited me along with a few of our friends to her house for Diwali. I tried to dress up my best but my belly decided to pounce off and say hi. I had to hold my breath for the entire day to seem less fat. Chubby boys always have it hard to get girls. Not only are we regarded as Teddy bears and are friend-zoned easily, girls usually prefer the slim or the muscular type. If all the girls want slim or muscular then who will we chubby boys get? Another chubby girl? Hell no!

I saw her for the first time in a traditional outfit which blew my mind away. Red colour half saree with golden borders, a small red bindi on her forehead, Jhumka earrings, half-broken teeth, perfect smile, dimple on cheeks and a gorgeous hair which made my heart skip a beat for a minute and then beat in multiples of seventy-two the next minute. 

All of us burst crackers, took pictures, devoured delectable varieties of sweets and savouries made by her mom and enjoyed the day. Since I arrived late that day I missed the house tour given by her to others. She took me inside her house after our friends left and introduced me to all of her family members including her elder sister whom she often referred to as ‘irritating’. As she introduced me to her elder sister I noticed she subtly made fun of us being a couple. She then took me to her bedroom after which we listened to her songs on her iPod while her sister constantly checked on us and made fun. She got angry and closed the bedroom door. I started to freak out once I realised that it was only her and I in a closed bedroom without any supervision. She sat next to me and asked,

“So what do you want to do next?”

I could not open my mouth as my mind was filled with dirty thoughts which of course I was not going to act on but hey, it is difficult for a teenage boy when it comes to first time experience. I stood up and summoned the last bit of courage and extended my arm towards her. 

“What?”, she asked with a confused face.

“Just listening to songs won’t be enough. We need to dance to it”.

She laughed at my sudden interest in dance and I thought it was over. I walked towards the door in anger while she stopped me by pulling my jeans belt loop and both of us lost balance and fell on the bed on top of each other. She laughed while the both of us got off the bed. 

“Don’t always take things personally Ajay!”, said Geetha. 

“Umm.. But you always make fun of me. Even in class, in front of everyone”, I replied. 

Geetha smiled at me and pinched my cheeks hard. 

“Do you see me running around and pulling the leg of any other boys?”

“No”.

“And why do you think that is the case?”

“Because other boys can’t be teased and tossed around like me”, I replied with a deliberate puppy face though I knew that was not the truth.

“No you dumbo! I do it to only you because I like…. I am comfortable around you and not because of what you said”.

Though I heard her tongue slip about her liking me, I acted as if I did not hear it. Instead, I decided to corner her with words.

“Ohhh…Yes, my mum told me that a person would only tease and give hard time to someone whom they like. Ahh.. Yes! It makes sense now”.

“What yes? Dumbo! Come”, she said while she took my hand and played salsa music on her iPod. Our school offers a free variety of dance classes and we both opted for salsa.

“Hand on my hip Ajay! Not on my butt”.

I laughed and said, “sorry ur dress is slippery”.

Since she was wearing a half-saree, I was directly touching her naked hips which fired all of my hormones. My adrenaline was high and I knew I should not ruin the moment and carried on with the steps. My body shivered when we moved on to the final step in which both the dancer’s body would be the closest. We did the final step of the dance while my body automatically pulled her closer than it should be. The salsa music was complete and the iPod automatically shuffled to a romantic song. Both of us stood there still, very close to each other while our eyes locked on to each other searching for something unknown.

“Well, are you going to do it?”, she asked me while her breath hit my face which gave me goosebumps. I lost my attention for a moment and started to daydream as I stared deep into her eyes. 

“Huh? What? Do what?”, I asked, which for some reason pissed her off. 

“I will see you in class tomorrow”, she said in a serious tone as she broke the dance hold. 

I awkwardly took my bag and left the room. I knew that if this moment passes on I might not get the chance again. I went back to the room one more time, walked briskly towards her and kissed her on the cheek.